Amaethon
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In Welsh mythology, Amaethon or Amathaon ( Welsh "great or divine ploughman, farmer, labourer"), was a son of Dôn and a presumed agricultural deity.
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mythic representation
In Culhwch and Olwen he was the only man who could till a certain field, one of the impossible tasks Culhwch had been set before he could win Olwen's hand. In the Welsh Triads he taught magic to his brother Gwydion. In the poem Cad Goddeu he stole a dog, lapwing and roebuck from Arawn, king of Annwn (the underworld), leading to a war between Arawn and the Children of Dôn. Gwydion used his magic staff to turn trees into warriors who helped the children of Dôn win.
Etymology
This theonym appears to be derived from Proto-Celtic *Ambaxtonos meaning "great ploughman" (ultimately from *ambhi-ag-to- (q.v. [1] [2] [3]). Following accepted sound laws elucidating systematic diachronic phonological sound change in Celtic proto-linguistics (q.v. [4] [5] [6] [7]), the Romano-British form of this Proto-Celtic theonym is likely to have been *Ambaxtonos.
Bibliography
- Ellis, Peter Berresford, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology(Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, (1994): ISBN 0195089618
- MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0192801201.
- Wood, Juliette, The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art, Thorsons Publishers (2002): ISBN 0007640595