InIrish mythology, theBadb (Old Irish,pronounced[baðβ]), or inmodern IrishBadhbh[1] (Irish pronunciation:[bˠəu],Munster Irish:[bˠəiw])—also meaning 'crow'—is awar goddess who takes the form of a crow, and is thus sometimes known asBadb Catha ('battle crow').[2] She is known to cause fear and confusion among soldiers to move the tide of battle to her favoured side. Badb may also appear prior to a battle to foreshadow the extent of the carnage to come, or to predict the death of a notable person. She would sometimes do this through wailing cries, leading to comparisons with thebean-sídhe (banshee).
With her sisters,Macha andthe Morrigan or Anand, Badb is part of atrio of war goddesses known asthe three Morrígna.[3][4][5]
In Irish legends, Badb is associated with war and death, appearing either to foreshadow imminent bloodshed or to participate in battles, where she creates confusion among the soldiers. As a harbinger of doom, she appears in a number of different guises. InTogail Bruidne Dá Derga, she takes the form of an ugly hag who prophesiesConaire Mór's downfall.[6] She appears in a similar guise inTogail Bruidne Dá Choca to foretell the slaying of Cormac Condloinges, as well as taking the form of a "washer at the ford"—a woman washing Cormac's chariot and harness in a ford in what was considered an omen of death.[6][7] The cries of Badb may also be an ill omen: Cormac's impending death is foreshadowed with the words "The red-mouthed badbs will cry around the house, / For bodies they will be solicitous" and "Pale badbs shall shriek".[8] In this role she has much in common with the bean-sídhe.[9]
She was also regularly depicted as an active participant in warfare; indeed, the battlefield was sometimes referred to as "the garden of the Badb".[10] During theFirst Battle of Mag Tuired, Badb—along with her sisters, Macha and Morrígan—fights on the side of theTuatha Dé Danann. Using their magic, the three sisters incite fear and confusion among theFir Bolg army, conjuring "compact clouds of mist and a furious rain of fire" and allowing their enemies "neither rest nor stay for three days and nights".[11] Badb plays a similar role in theTáin Bó Cúailnge, terrorising and disorienting the forces ofQueen Medb and causing many to fall on their own weapons.[8] She would often take the form of a screaming raven or crow, striking fear into those who heard her,[12] and could also be heard as a voice among the corpses on a battlefield.[6]
Following the defeat of theFomorians by theTuatha Dé Danann in theSecond Battle of Mag Tuired, Badb (or the Morrígan daughter of Ernmas)[5] instead of predicting doom, now sings a prophecy celebrating the victory and a time of peace,
Middle Irish [819-820][4] Modern English[13] Sith co nem.
Nem co doman.
Doman fo ním,
nert hi cach,
án forlann,
lan do mil,
mid co saith.
Sam hi ngam...Peace up to heaven.
Heaven down to earth.
Earth beneath heaven,
Strength in each,
A cup very full,
Full of honey;
Mead in abundance.
Summer in winter...
Then she delivers a prophecy of the eventual end of the world, "foretelling every evil that would be therein, and every disease and every vengeance. Wherefore then she sang this lay below.":[5]
Middle Irish [831-832,833,837-840][14] Modern English[15] Ni accus bith nombeo baid:
sam cin blatha,
beti bai cin blichda,mna can feli
fir gan gail.
Gabala can righ...
feda cin mes.
Muir can toradh.
sen saobretha.
Brecfásach mbrithiom-
braithiomh
cech fer.
Foglaid cech mac.
Ragaid mac i lligie a athar.
Ragaid
athair a lligi a meic.
Cliamain cach a brathar.
Ni sia nech mnai assa
tigh...
olc aimser
immera mac a athair,
imera ingen...I shall not see a world which will be dear to me:
Summer without blossoms,
Cattle will be without milk,Women without modesty,
Men without valour.
Conquests without a king...
Woods without mast.[16]
Sea without produce...
False judgements of old men.
False precedents of lawyers,
Every man
a betrayer.
Every son a reaver.
The son will go to the bed of his father,
The father
will go to the bed of his son.
Each his brother's brother-in-law.
He will not seek any woman outside his
house...
An evil time,
Son will deceive his father,
Daughter will deceive...
Badb is often identified as one ofthe Morrígna, a trio of Irish war goddesses, although there exist a number of conflicting accounts on this subject. InLebor Gabála Érenn, Badb, Macha and Morrígan make up the Morrígna trinity and are named as daughters of the farming goddessErnmas.[3] According to this version, she is also the sister ofÉriu,Banba andFódla, the three matron goddesses of Ireland, who give their names to the land.[3] Other accounts identify the trio as daughters of the druid Cailitin and his wife.
Lebor Gabála Érenn also states that Badb is one of the two wives of the war godNeit.[3] Less commonly, she has been described as the wife of the Fomorian kingTethra.[9]
In her role as a terrifying battlefield goddess and harbinger of doom, Badb closely resemblesNemain. Like Badb, Nemain is identified as a wife of Neit. Writers have sometimes used their names interchangeably, suggesting that they may in fact be a single goddess.[9] On the other hand,W. M. Hennessy notes that Badb and Nemain were said to have different sets of parents, suggesting that they may not be entirely identical figures.[8]
Badb also appears to be closely related to theGaulish goddessCatubodua, or Bodua.[9]
Pointing to variants such as Irishbadhbh 'hoodie crow, a fairy, a scold,' Early Irishbadb, 'crow, demon,'Badba, Welshbod, 'kite,' the Gaulish nameBodv-, inBodvo-gnatus and the Welsh nameBodnod, Macbain (1982) suggests *bodwā- as theProto-Celtic ancestral form. However,Julius Pokorny (1959:203) suggests *badwā- on the basis of similar data. Both MacBain (1982) andJulius Pokorny (1959:203) correlate the element withNorseböð,genitiveboðvar, 'war,' and Anglo-Saxonbeadu,genitivebeadwe, 'battle,' suggesting that the word originally denoted 'battle' or 'strife.'Julius Pokorny (1959:203) presents the element as an extended form of theProto-Indo-European root *bhedh- 'pierce, dig.' To this root Pokorny also links the Sanskritbádhate, 'oppress,' and the Lithuanianbádas, 'famine'.
W. M. Hennessy argues that the wordbodb orbadb originally meantrage,fury, orviolence, and came to mean a witch, fairy, or goddess, represented in folklore by the scald-crow, or royston-crow.[8] Peter O'Connell's 1819Irish Dictionary defines the Badb as a "bean-sidhe, a female fairy, phantom, or spectre, supposed to be attached to certain families, and to appear sometimes in the form of squall-crows, or royston-crows" andbadb-catha as "Fionog, a royston-crow, a squall crow". Other entries relate to her triple nature: "Macha, i. e. a royston-crow;Morrighain, i. e. the great fairy;Neamhan, i. e.Badb catha nó feannóg; abadb catha, or royston-crow."[17]