DON

in Celtic mythology, leader of one of two warring families of gods; according to one interpretation, the Children of Dn were the powers of light, constantly in conflict with the Children of Llyr, the powers of darkness. In another view, the conflict was a struggle between indigenous gods and those of an invading people. Although Dn and other Welsh deities had Irish analogues (the Irish goddess Danu, e.g.), the stories surrounding them differed, and the Welsh mythology has only partially survived. Dn's children included Gwydion, a master of magic, poetry, and music and a warrior who clashed frequently with various gods, and Aranrhod, a sky goddess and symbol of fertility, who bore Gwydion twin sons: Dylan, a sea god, and Lleu Llaw Gyffes (Lleu of the Dexterous Hand), whom many scholars consider analogous to the Irish god Lug.