The Sword Smith of the Celtic Gods.

Name: Goibniu (pronounced Go-Van-On), Goibhniu, From the Irish Gaelic goba "smith."

SYMBOLS: Sword, hammer, Lance Head, Beer.

IMAGE: I have been unable to find any reliable descriptions of Giobniu, though I would say it is
safe to say that he would appear as a muscular essence of Celt manhood.

HOLY BOOKS: Perhaps the account of the battle of Mag Tuireadh, Children of Lir, Gods & Giants,
the story of the tuatha de danann by Lady Gregory and others.

HOLY DAYS: Unknown.

PLACE OF WORSHIP: In the smithworks, before a battle, at a feast over the beer.

MAJOR TABOOS: N/A

FORM OF WORSHIP: Unknown. It's possible, and perhaps probable that his name may have been
invoked in the blessing of weapons.

Regarded not just as weapons, but as tools there is a long tradition of Irish soldiers uttering charms
and incantations over their swords prior to battle up to and beyond the Iron Age.

This was in large part inspired by such tales as Ogma's sword which he took from the Formorian
king Tethra, that had the power of speech and turned against any who told a lie while holding it, the Sword of Light of Draoi which had the power to
both give protection and remove baneful spells, and the swords of Goibniu that always fatally hit their mark.

SYNODEITIES: Gofannon; Govannon (Welsh version of Goibniu), Gaban (Legend) not a deity,
he was a swordsmith of legend who according to the Polistoire Del Eglise De Christ De Caunterbyre forged the sword of Sir Gawain in 14 A.D. It is
thought that the legend is a survival of Goibniu. Saint Gobinet the Roman Catholic patroness of beekeepers however is not, as some claim, a later
avatar of Goibniu. Gobinet is just the feminine version of an Irish boys name. / Hephaistos (Greek) / Wayland Smith (Anglo Saxon) /
Ama-Tsu-Mara (Shinto) / Ilmarinen / (Finnish) / Kotar (Syrian) / Qaynan (Pre-Islamic Arabia)

RELATIVES: Denu (mother), Luchtaine & Creidhne (brothers.)

Details:

Goibniu is the smith god who along with his two brothers Luchtaine the carpenter & Credne the
bronze and goldsmith made the weapons of the Tuatha de Danann.

These however were no ordinary weapons that Goibniu made. As he said to his family before they
faced the Fomors. "I will replace every broken lance and sword with a new one, even though the war last seven years. And I will make the lances so
well that they shall never miss their mark, or fail to kill... the fate of the fighting will be decided by my lances,"

While today we might be more interested in the seeming fact that Goibniu invented the defense
contract. (sure kill swords and lances? Imagine the sweet deal he can demand at the end of that seven years!) The Fomors were far more
impressed with the fact that even though their enemies weapons did brake in battle they and their supposed dead holder would return the next day.

It was because of this that the Fomors sent Ruadan to spy on them. Engaging in the first bit of
industrial espionage Ruadan sees the three brothers at work, as Goibniu forges lance-heads and sword blades in just 3 hammer blows,
Luchtaine cuts lance shafts with just 3 axe blows & Credne compleats the job by fixing the heads to shafts with just thee blows of his fist!

Asking for one of the lances Ruadan takes it and runs Goibniu though the middle, much to Ruadan's
chagrin Goibniu turns it instead into the first example of radical piercing by plucking it out and
killing Ruadan with it.

Taken by his two brothers to Dianchect and his daughter, the physicians of the Tuatha de Danann,
they dip him in the Spring of Healing which returns him to full productivity.

This healing seems however to be more than the common miracle, due perhaps to his being brought
back after being struck by a weapon that always kills and with only one blow, for in later tales we find that Goibniu is credited with the brewing of a
beer that grants healing.

Terry Keith McCombs

magentashadow@webtv.net

-- Labor Gabala Erenn: A find tucadh claidhim nuada, ni thernadh nech usdha, O dobatha intig bodha, ni gebtha fris.

Translation: From that bright place came the Sword of Renewal. It's singular spirit cannot be escaped. Oh wretched life, you increase when it is drawn from it's sheath. Is it not deserved?

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