Gofannon
Welsh · deity · mythic prehistoric · Recorded classification
Divine smith of the Children of Dôn, whose aid is sought to set a plough in Culhwch ac Olwen.
Parentage
- parent: Dôn
Domains
- smithcraft metalwork
Powers
- forges and sets the iron of Amaethon's plough, work he will do only for a rightful king
- Slays Dylan Eil Ton with a single blow
Epithets
- the divine smith Son of Dôn, the smith-god of the Welsh (cognate of Irish Goibniu)Math fab Mathonwy; the Welsh Triads (primary)
Relations
- sibling: AmaethonFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Dôn) per the figures' cited genealogy.
- sibling: GilfaethwyFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Dôn) per the figures' cited genealogy.
- sibling: GwydionFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Dôn) per the figures' cited genealogy.
- equated with: GoibniuReciprocal of irish_goibniu.equated-with — Exact cognates < Celtic *gobann- 'smith' (cf. Gaulish Gobannos, absent from this corpus). Goibniu is a living mythic smith-leech-brewer; Gofannon a faded literary echo (Math, Culhwch) — name secure, lore asymmetric.J. T. Koch (ed.), Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia (2006), s.v. 'Gofannon' (secondary); J. MacKillop, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (1998) (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Culhwch ac Olwen; Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi, Fourth Branch (Math) (primary)