View source for Dôn

{{short description|Ancestor figure in Welsh legend}}
{{about|the mythological Welsh figure|other|Don (disambiguation)}}
'''Dôn''' ({{IPA|cy|ˈdoːn}}) is an ancestor figure in [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]] legend and literature. She is typically given as the mother of a group known as the "Children of Dôn", including [[Gwydion]], [[Arianrhod]], and [[Gilfaethwy]], among many others. However, antiquarians of the [[early modern period|early modern era]] generally considered Dôn a male figure.<ref name="Bartrum">{{cite book |last1=Bartrum |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Bartrum |url=https://www.llgc.org.uk/fileadmin/fileadmin/docs_gwefan/casgliadau/Drych_Digidol/Deunydd_print/Welsh_Classical_Dictionary/05_D-E-F.pdf |title=A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000 |location=Cardiff |publisher=The National Library of Wales |year=1993 |pages=230–231 |isbn= 978-0907158738 |access-date=2016-11-26 }}</ref>
==The House of Dôn==
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{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Ma| | | | | |Ma=Mathonwy}}
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{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | |GU1| | | | | | | | | |M1|-|GO| GU1=Dôn|M1=[[Math fab Mathonwy]]|GO=[[Goewin]]}}
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{{Tree chart |GU| | | |HG| | | | |GK| | | |GF| | | |AM| GU=[[Gwydion]]|HG=[[Gilfaethwy]]|GK=[[Arianrhod]]|GF=[[Gofannon]]|AM=[[Amaethon]]}}
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{{Tree chart | | | | | | |DA| | | | | | | |Ll|-|BL| DA=[[Dylan Ail Don|Dylan ail Don]]| Ll=[[Lleu Llaw Gyffes]]|BL=[[Blodeuwedd]]}}
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==In astronomy==
'''Llys Dôn''' (literally "The Court of Dôn") is the traditional [[Welsh language|Welsh]] name for the constellation [[Cassiopeia (constellation)|Cassiopeia]]. At least three of Dôn's children also have astronomical associations: Caer Gwydion ("The Castle of [[Gwydion]]") is the traditional Welsh name for the [[Milky Way]], and Caer Arianrhod ("The Castle of [[Arianrhod]]") being the constellation of [[Corona Borealis]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Squire |first1=Charles |title=Celtic Myths and Legends |date=2003 |publisher=[[Parragon]] |location=United Kingdom |isbn=9781842040157 |pages=252–253}}</ref>
==Etymology & Proto-Indo-European Origins==
Dôn has different etymological origins than the Irish Danu; while the former is perhaps a water goddess (cf. the Danube river and the Vedic Danu), Dôn more likely comes from ghdhonos, meaning "the earth."
In this sense, she can be seen as the Welsh version of "dheghom" from [[Proto-Indo-European mythology]], the primordial Earth Goddess from which all other gods originate. It has been suggested that, as a result, the Children of Dôn would be cognate to the Greek Titans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koch |first1=John T. |title=Some Suggestions and Etymologies Reflecting upon the Mythology of the Four Branches |journal=Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium |date=1989 |volume=9 |page=1-10}}</ref>
==See also==
*The House of [[Llŷr]]
*[[Tuatha Dé Danann]]
*[[Danu (Irish goddess)]]
*[[Donn]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*The New Companion to the Literature of Wales, Meic Stephens.
{{Celtic mythology (Welsh)}}
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[[Category:Welsh goddesses]]
[[Category:Mother goddesses]]
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