Dec 15, 2023
Listen to the prayer to river goddess Dā́nu! (By Björn
Ekdahl)
Few things are as Indo-European as Dā́nu. She is one of the
oldest Indo-European deities there is. In fact, the term Danu or
Danava (plural of Danu) appears to form the very substratum of
Indo-European identity per se. Note how Homer continuously refers
to his ’Greek’ people as Danaans in the Iliad and Odyssey. Those
who know the Celtic mythology know that Tuatha Dé Danann
(the people/tribe of Danu) is what the Celts called the original
mythical race they were children of. The construction Don- or Dan-
is an extremely common name of rivers all over Europe. We have
giant rivers like Danube (Donau in German and
Scandinavian), Don, Donets, Dniepr,
Dnjestr and Dysna. Several rivers in Britain
called Don. We have the city of Donetsk, we have the whole
country of Denmark (Danmark in Danish) and the nationality
Dane. And so it comes as no surprise that the Vedic river
goddess is called Dānu in Rig Veda, that the Brythonic had goddess
Don, the Romans called the god of river Danube Danuvius,
that the Irish had Danan/Danu, mother goddess of the Tuatha dé
Danann and so on and so on.
Dā́nu is the mother of primordial waters – a goddess of rivers, all
holy waters and of fertility. The giver of life and of fertility to
the land. This is why all Indo-European pagan peoples worshiped by
rivers and gave votive offerings in rivers and springs, for
fertility and health. Dā́nu is holy water personified.
Listen to this prayer while contemplating your own roots and
identity!