Ernmas bore the three war goddesses of the Tuatha Dé Danann — the Morrígan, Badb, and Macha — terrible sisters who haunted battlefields in the shapes of crows and drove warriors to frenzy or foretold their doom.
The Dagda and the Morrígan united at the River Unius before the Second Battle of Mag Tuired. In exchange for their union, the Morrígan pledged to use her magic against the Fomorian king Indech, draining the blood and courage from his heart.
Badb Catha, the battle crow, screams over the carnage of war as a manifestation of the Morrígan — her shriek alone could kill warriors with terror, and her presence over a battlefield foretold slaughter.
⚠ Lebor Gabála Érenn lists Badb as a daughter of Ernmas alongside the Morrígan, making them sisters rather than aspects. The conflation of distinct figures into a triple goddess is a scholarly interpretation based on interchangeable use of names in battle narratives.
Macha manifests as the sovereignty face of the Morrígan, binding kingship to the land — she cursed the men of Ulster with the pangs of childbirth and gave her name to Emain Macha, the royal seat of the Ulaid.
⚠ Lebor Gabála Érenn lists Macha as a separate daughter of Ernmas alongside the Morrígan. Multiple distinct figures named Macha appear across Irish texts, and their conflation into a single aspect of the Morrígan remains debated.
Nemain, an aspect of The Morrigan embodying the frenzy of battle, drove warriors to madness with her war cry the night before combat — when she shrieked over the camps, a hundred men died of terror.
⚠ Some recensions of the Táin name Nemain where others name Badb, suggesting the war goddesses were sometimes interchangeable. Lebor Gabála Érenn lists Nemain separately as wife of Neit rather than as an aspect of the Morrígan.
The Tuatha Dé Danann descended through the sky in a dark cloud upon Ireland, bringing with them the arts of sorcery, druidry, and every craft — a divine race who conquered the Fir Bolg and ruled until the coming of the Milesians.
The Morrígan offered her love to Cú Chulainn during the Táin, but he rejected her. She attacked him at the ford as an eel, a wolf, and a heifer. Later, disguised as an old woman, she tricked him into healing her wounds with his blessing.
The Morrígan prophesied the Tuatha Dé Danann's victory before the Second Battle of Mag Tuired and after the slaughter sang a poem of triumph over the land, then foretold the world's end in a vision of decay.
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