マッハ

マッハ（Macha）は、ケルト神話に伝わる戦いの三女神の一柱。正確には古アイルランド語でヴァハと呼ばれ、その名は「戦」、または「怒り」を意味する。 「赤い鬣（たてがみ）のマッハ（Macha Mong Ruad）」または「赤毛のマッハ（Macha Dearg）」と呼ばれることもある。

馬、戦い、豊饒、および主権を司ると言われる。赤い髪に真っ赤なドレスとマントに身を包み、赤い一本足の馬に引かせた戦車で戦場を駆け巡り、戦士達を戦闘の狂気の渦へ導くとされている。モリガンが魔法の他に槍を用いて戦うのに対し、マッハは常に魔法のみを用いて戦う。戦死者の首を食べるとされ、敵の首を門に飾るケルトの風習は「ヴァハの木の実の餌」と呼ばれ、彼女への供物だといわれている。

神話ではデルバイス（Delbáeth）神と女神エルンワス（Ernmas）の間の娘で、モリガン、バズヴとは三姉妹だとされている。フィル・ヴォルグ族との戦いでは魔法を駆使してトゥアハ・デ・ダナーンの勝利に貢献したが、フォモール族との戦いでバロールにヌアザと共に殺された。マッハは何度も転生を繰り返し、ネヴェズ族の族長の妻やミレ族の王女、クルンヌッフ（Cruinniuc）（クルンチュー）の妻たる妖精となって度々神話に登場している。

マッハ（アイルランド語発音：[ˈmˠaxə]）は、古代アイルランドのアルスター州に関連する君主神で、特にナヴァン要塞（Eamhain Mhacha）とアーマー遺跡（Ard Mhacha）は彼女にちなんで名付けられている。アイルランド神話や民間伝承にはマッハと呼ばれる人物がいくつか登場するが、いずれも同じ女神を起源とすると考えられている。マッハは「モリグナ三姉妹」と呼ばれる三姉妹の一人と言われている。他の主権を司る女神と同様に、マッハは土地、豊穣、王権、戦争、馬と関連している。

プロインシアス・マック・カナは3人のマッハを論じている。ネメドの妻マッハ、チンバエスの女王マッハ、クルンチュの妻マッハであり、彼女はウルステルマン族の衰弱を招いた。グレゴリー・トナーはマッハ・モン・ルアードを加えて4人を論じた。

語源・通称

この名称は、原ケルト語で「平原」を表す*makajā（主格*makajās「平原の」）に由来すると推定される。現代のスコットランド・ゲール語では、語源的に関連する用語machairは、家畜が継続的に踏みつけ、放牧することによって維持されている肥沃な草原を指す。

In the Dindsenchas Macha is called Grian Banchure, the "Sun of Womanfolk" and is referred to as the daughter of Midir of Brí Léith.

Macha, daughter of Partholón

A poem in the Lebor Gabála Érenn mentions Macha as one of the daughters of Partholón, leader of the first settlement of Ireland after the flood, although it records nothing about her.

Macha, wife of Nemed

Various sources record a second Macha as the wife of Nemed, leader of the second settlement of Ireland after the flood. She was the first of Nemed's people to die in Ireland – twelve years after their arrival according to Geoffrey Keating, twelve days after their arrival according to the Annals of the Four Masters. It is said that the hilltop where she was buried was named after her: Ard Mhacha, "Macha's high place". The surrounding woodland was cleared by Nemed's folk and named Magh Mhacha, "Macha's plain". She is described as the daughter of red-weaponed Aed, as the raven of the raids and diffuser of all excellences.

Macha, daughter of Ernmas

Macha, daughter of Ernmas, of the Tuatha Dé Danann, appears in many early sources. 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. O'Mulconry's Glossary, a thirteenth-century compilation of glosses from medieval manuscripts preserved in the Yellow Book of Lecan, describes Macha as "one of the three morrígna" (the plural of Morrígan), and says the term Mesrad Machae, "the mast of Macha", refers to "the heads of men that have been slaughtered". A version of the same gloss in MS H.3.18 identifies Macha with Badb, calling the trio "raven women" who instigate battle. Keating explicitly calls them "goddesses", but medieval Irish tradition was keen to remove all trace of pre-Christian religion. Macha is said to have been killed by Balor during the battle with the Fomorians.

Macha Mong Ruad

Macha Mong Ruad ("red hair"), daughter of Áed Rúad ("red fire" or "fire lord" – a name of the Dagda), was, according to medieval legend and historical tradition, the only queen in the List of High Kings of Ireland. Her father Áed rotated the kingship with his cousins Díthorba and Cimbáeth, seven years at a time. Áed died after his third stint as king, and when his turn came round again, Macha claimed the kingship. Díthorba and Cimbáeth refused to allow a woman to take the throne, and a battle ensued. Macha won, and Díthorba was killed. She won a second battle against Díthorba's sons, who fled into the wilderness of Connacht. She married Cimbáeth, with whom she shared the kingship. Macha pursued Díthorba's sons alone, disguised as a leper, and overcame each of them in turn when they tried to have sex with her, tied them up, and carried the three of them bodily to Ulster. The Ulstermen wanted to have them killed, but Macha instead enslaved them and forced them to build Emain Macha (Navan Fort near Armagh), to be the capital of the Ulaid, marking out its boundaries with her brooch (explaining the name Emain Macha as eó-muin Macha or "Macha's neck-brooch"). Macha ruled together with Cimbáeth for seven years, until he died of plague at Emain Macha, and then a further fourteen years on her own, until she was killed by Rechtaid Rígderg. The Lebor Gabála synchronises her reign to that of Ptolemy I Soter (323–283 BC). The chronology of Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates her reign to 468–461 BC, the Annals of the Four Masters to 661–654 BC.

Marie-Louise Sjoestedt writes of this figure: "In the person of this second Macha we discover a new aspect of the local goddess, that of the warrior and dominator; and this is combined with the sexual aspect in a specific manner which reappears in other myths, the male partner or partners being dominated by the female."

Macha, wife of Cruinniuc

Macha, daughter of Sainrith mac Imbaith, was the wife of Cruinniuc, an Ulster farmer. Some time after the death of Cruinniuc's first wife, Macha appears at his house. Without speaking, she begins keeping the house and acting as his wife. Soon she becomes pregnant by him. As long as they were together Cruinniuc's wealth grew. When he leaves to attend a festival organised by the king of Ulster, she warns him that she will only stay with him so long as he does not speak of her to anyone, and he promises to say nothing. However, during a chariot race, he boasts that his wife can run faster than the king's horses. The king orders Cruinniuc be held on pain of death unless he can make good on his claim. Although she is heavily pregnant, Macha is brought to the gathering and the king forces her to race the horses. She wins the race, but then cries out in pain as she gives birth to twins on the finish line; a boy named Fír ("True") and a girl named Fial ("Modest"). For disrespecting and humiliating her, she curses the men of Ulster to be overcome with weakness—as weak "as a woman in childbirth"—at the time of their greatest need. This weakness would last for five days and the curse would last for nine generations. Thereafter, the place where Macha gave birth would be called Emain Macha, or "Macha's twins".

This tale, The Debility of the Ulstermen (Noínden Ulad) explains the meaning of the name Emain Macha, and explains why none of the Ulstermen but the semi-divine hero Cúchulainn could resist the invasion of Ulster in the Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). It shows that Macha, as goddess of the land and sovereignty, can be vengeful if disrespected, and how the rule of a bad king leads to disaster.

This Macha is particularly associated with horses—it is perhaps significant that twin colts were born on the same day as Cúchulainn, and that one of his chariot-horses was called Liath Macha or "Macha's Grey"—and she is often compared with the Welsh mythological figure Rhiannon.

Relationships of the Machas

Macha is named as the wife of Nemed, son of Agnoman, or alternately as the wife of Crund, son of Agnoman, which may indicate an identity of Nemed with Crund. Macha is also named as the daughter of Midir and Aed the Red.

See also

• Cliodna
• Grian
• Mongfind

References

Citations

Bibliography

• テンプレート:Cite journal

Further reading

• Tatár, Maria Magdolna. "The Cult of Macha in Eastern Europe". In: The Journal of the Indo-European Studies (JIES) Volume 35, Number 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 2007. pp. 323–344.

参考文献

• Wikipedia：マッハ (ケルト神話)（最終閲覧日：23-02-28）
  • 松村一男『世界の神々の事典 - 神・精霊・英雄の神話と伝説 - 』学研〈Books Esoterica 事典シリーズ 5〉、2004年、ISBN 978-4-05-603367-0
  • STUDIO-M『ケルト - 幻想の神々 - 』ジャパン・ミックス、1997年、ISBN 978-4-88321-355-9
  • 山北篤監修、稲葉義明他著 『西洋神名事典』新紀元社、1999年、ISBN 978-4-88317-342-6
  • 健部伸明と怪兵隊『虚空の神々』新紀元社〈Truth in Fantasy 6〉、1990年、ISBN 978-4-915146-24-4
  • 池上正太『ケルト神話』新紀元社〈Truth In Fantasy 85〉、2011年、ISBN 978-4-7753-0868-4

関連項目

• モリガン
• バズヴ