Badb

deity earth Irish single tradition · 5

Badb is a shapeshifting deity who can take the form of a hag. She is seen as neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent.

↻ synthesized from 5 sources

When

First attested
500 BCE
Attested period
-500 – 2020
Historical notes
Association documented by 17th-century Irish historian Geoffrey Keating.

Relationships

manifests as
hag
syncretized with
Ériu, Macha
consort of
Neit
manifested by
Morrígu
child of
Ernmas

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“shapeshifting deities, such as The Morrígan or Badb, who are seen as neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent”

#6554 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“According to the 17th-century Irish historian Geoffrey Keating (Irish: Seathrún Céitinn), the three sovereignty goddesses associated with Éire, Banbha and Fódla were Badb, Macha and The Morrígan.”

#11039 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“Sometimes she appears as one of three sisters, the daughters of Ernmas: Morrígan, Badb and Macha. Sometimes the trinity consists of Badb, Macha and Anand, collectively known as the Morrígna. Occasionally, Nemain or Fea appear in the various combinations.”

#12919 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“She is often mentioned together with her sisters, "Badb and Morrigu, whose name was Anand". The three (with varying names) are often considered a triple goddess associated with war.”

#15937 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“In classical religious traditions, three separate beings may represent either a triad who typically appear as a group (the Greek Moirai, the Roman Parcae, the Norse Norns, the Baltic Dēkla, Kārta and Laima, or the Irish Badb, Macha and Morrígan)”

#20746 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001