Nechtan

What it is

Nechtan is a being from Irish myth. A spring where the River Boyne rises is named for him, and that water is tied to knowledge. He is married to Boann, the goddess who gives the Boyne its name. Some accounts treat Nechtan as a second name for Nuada. His home is Síd Nechtain, an otherworld place that corresponds in myth to Carbury Hill. In the Dindsenchas he is both husband of Boann and son of Nuadu; other passages give him a different father. He is a water deity in the record, and horses are part of his imagery.

Where it comes from

The name and figure are old, and their beginnings are not settled. Georges Dumézil suggested a link between Nechtan and the Romano-British Nodens, the Roman Neptunus, and the Persian and Vedic gods called Apam Napat. One proposed root is Proto-Indo-European *nepot-, 'descendant' or 'sister's son'; another is *nebh-, 'damp, wet'. A further proposal connects the name to Old Irish necht, 'clean, pure, white', and a root for washing. That would place him near other well and river beings: the English neck, Swedish Näck, German Nixe and Dutch nikker, water spirits whose Old Norse relative nykr takes the form of a horse. The derivation is uncertain.

How it is done

The well is not open to all: only Nechtan and his three cup-bearers, Flesc, Lam and Luam, may go to it. Nine hazel trees stand over it and drop nuts into the water. The Salmon of Wisdom swims there and eats those nuts. In the tale, a person who eats part of that salmon gains knowledge of all things. These are story events rather than a recorded ritual.

Tools and materials

The well is surrounded by nine hazel trees, and their nuts carry wisdom into the water. The salmon in the well feeds on those nuts, and the fish is the object that can pass knowledge to a person. The spring itself is the central marker, named Nechtan's Well. In the wider etymology, horses belong to the imagery around Nechtan: he is linked with Elcmar, whose name means Lord of horses, and with Neptunus and Norse water spirits seen in horse form. The three cup-bearers are part of the well's story.

What it is for

The well in his story holds knowledge, and its hazels and salmon carry that knowledge. He is the one permitted to approach it, with his cup-bearers. His marriage to Boann ties him to the river's source. In the Dindsenchas he appears as husband and son; in the Book of Invasions he kills Cairpre and is killed by Sigmall, Midir's grandson.

Peoples and places

The figure belongs to Irish myth, and the Boyne is its river. The name spread beyond Ireland: Nechtan or Nectan was common in Celtic naming, and Pictish kings often bore it. Nectan of Hartland, placed in the fifth century, is patron of Hartland in Devon; some argue he is a Christianized form of the god, while others treat him as a person. MacNaughton comes from MacNeachdainn, 'Son of Nechtan'. A Cornish site near Tintagel is called St Nectan's Kieve, a name given in Victorian times; in 1799 the place was known as Nathan's Cave and recalled a local landowner.

What people believe

In the stories, wisdom is a substance in the landscape. Hazel nuts fall from nine trees into Tobar Segais, and the salmon that eats them becomes a source of all knowledge for whoever eats the fish. Nechtan's right to the well is shared only with Flesc, Lam and Luam, his cup-bearers. The Dindsenchas places him in a family of gods and heroes, with Boann as wife and Nuadu as father in one account, while other passages name Labraid or call him mac Namat. The Book of Invasions gives him Nama as father and Caicher as brother. These variant kin lists show a figure told in more than one way.

How scholars and sceptics see it

Georges Dumézil read the name through comparison: he proposed a family link with Nodens, Neptunus and Apam Napat. Linguists have offered more than one root, including 'descendant', 'damp, wet', and a washing root behind Old Irish necht, 'clean, pure, white'. That last idea places Nechtan beside water beings such as the English neck, Swedish Näck, German Nixe and Dutch nikker. The variant fathers in the Dindsenchas and the Book of Invasions have drawn attention to how the figure shifts between texts. The equation with Nuada is presented as a belief, not a fixed fact.

Compare and confuse

Nechtan is sometimes treated as another name for Nuada. Irish texts also use his name and Elcmar's name for the same figure; Elcmar means Lord of horses. His well is also called Tobar Segais. Related water beings appear in other languages: the English neck, Swedish Näck, German Nixe, Dutch nikker and Old Norse nykr. Dumézil compared him with Nodens, Neptunus and Apam Napat. Mímir is a Norse figure with a wisdom well.

Today

The name lives in several places. Pictish kings carried Nechtan, and Nectan of Hartland remains patron of a Devon parish; some hold that this saint is the god in Christian form. A Cornish glen near Tintagel uses the name St Nectan's Kieve, though the Victorian attribution is not historical: the spot was Nathan's Cave in 1799 and took its name from a landowner. MacNaughton, from MacNeachdainn or 'Son of Nechtan', keeps the name in a surname. The mythic well and its salmon remain in retellings of Irish myth.

Questions people ask about Nechtan

Good reading and sources

• Nechtan (mythology) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data