BOOK OF THE DUN COW (Lebor na hUidre) – In the past, Balladeer’s Blog has done deep dives into gods, goddesses and epics from Hawaiian, Inuit, Navajo, Choctaw, Ainu, Nyanga, Norse, Shinto, Aztec mythology and many, many more pantheons. This kicks off a multi-part look at the various works in Ireland’s Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow.
For anyone not familiar with this collection of ancient material, it features cultural, historical and mythological material mixed together in many forms from around 1,000 AD and much earlier. I will be examining the material section by section.
SIX AGES OF THE WORLD (Sex aetates mundi) – This was one of the many texts from many Christian-influenced cultures that viewed the world from Creation through Jesus Christ as being Six Ages. In this fictional context each age was roughly 1,000 years.
The First Age lasted from Adam and Eve to Noah and the Great Flood. The Second Age ran from that time period up to the time of Abraham. The Third Age covered Abraham to King David. The Fourth Age picked up from King David to the Babylonian Captivity. The Fifth Age lasted from there to the Birth of Jesus. And the Sixth Age ran through the life of Jesus and everything afterward.
The assumption that, per these ages, the Sixth Age would end 1,000 years after Christ’s birth contributed to fears of the End of the World occurring around 1,000 AD. Some belief systems add a Seventh Age, as in the supposed 1,000 years of peace, aka the Millenium, which would follow the return of Jesus. Continue reading
THE SOUL’S JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF THE DEATH-GOD PATOBKIA – Like many other groups of people the Tupari distinguished between an animating force and an actual spirit. 
The Pabid, meanwhile, journeys far away from the land of the living, completely blind as it makes its way. First it proceeds over the backs of two gigantic male and female crocodiles. The male crocodile attacks the moon god Puepa at times, causing eclipses of the moon, and the female crocodile attacks the sun goddess Karam at other times, causing eclipses of the sun. Though Puepa and Karam are both elderly they are still powerful – Karam more than Puepa in fact – and always drive the crocodiles away eventually. 
TEZCATLIPOCA – The god of sorcery and human sacrifice as well as the patron deity of thieves and other evildoers. Tezcatlipoca was originally also a war god but his martial attributes were later taken over by Huitzilopochtli. Many myths about Tezcatlipoca involve his conflicts with the wind and culture god Quetzelcoatl, conflicts that even caused the destruction of two of the previous worlds. 
For more entries on the gods and goddesses of Inuit mythology click here: 
KIKOMIHCI – The god who created human beings and animal life after the supreme deity Ibofanaga was finished creating the Earth, the heavens and the underground world. Kikomihci animated people and other animals with their “ghosts” which could leave their bodies at night in dreams and wander around, returning to their host body by morning to avoid causing illness. 
ARKOANYO – The bird-creating deity who often protected his fellow divinities, especially from the storm god Valedjad. That god often grew so angry with his fellow deities that he unleashed powerful storms on them, sometimes destroying lesser deities who dared to oppose him. 
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