In medieval Welsh sources Dôn appears as an ancestral mother who gives rise to a family of important mythic personages often referred to as the 'Children of Dôn.' Bonedd yr Arwyr (the Gentry of the Heroes) supplies an extended list of named offspring (for example Gwydion, Arianrhod, Gilfaethwy and others such as Aidden, Cynan, Digant, Elawg, Elestron, Eunydd, Hedd, Hunawg, Idwal). Medieval tradition maps members of her house onto landscape and sky: Llys Dôn ('The Court of Dôn') is the traditional Welsh name for the constellation Cassiopeia; Caer Gwydion is used for the Milky Way; Caer Arianrhod for Corona Borealis. Early modern antiquarians sometimes treated Dôn as male, a reception-history detail noted in the sources rather than a feature of the medieval portrayal.
The supplied medieval and reference material does not record a specific physical or iconographic description of Dôn. She is presented in textual genealogy and toponymy rather than in accounts of bodily form or depiction.
No specific acts, powers, or interventions are attributed to Dôn in the provided sources; her significance in the material is genealogical and cosmological. Powers and deeds in the corpus are normally ascribed to individual members of her household (for example Gwydion or Arianrhod) rather than to Dôn herself.
Dáinn
Dáinn is a named figure in Old Norse poetic tradition variously listed among the dwarfs (dvergar) and invoked as an elven name in other contexts. Attested as an artisan-name in Hyndluljóð and as an onomastic/rune-related name in Hávamál, the name also appears attached to a legendary sword (Dáinsleif) and to a deer-shaped constellation in Norse stellar lore.
Dáire
Dáire is an Old Irish personal and ancestral name borne by multiple legendary figures in early Irish tradition; it functions as an eponymous ancestor and royal figure cluster associated with sovereignty, fertility/sexual potency, and martial/otherworldly associations rather than a single coherent supernatural being.
Déjanire
Déjanire is the mortal wife of Heracles (Hercule) in classical myth as retold in modern French theatrical and operatic adaptations. In the cited materials she functions as a dramatic character whose act of giving a tunic soaked in Nessus's blood—presented to her as magically restorative but actually poisonous—precipitates Hercule's agonized death and apotheosis.
Dían Cécht
Dían Cécht is the professional healer of the Tuatha Dé Danann in medieval Irish myth. Presented as a master of remedies, salves, sacred wells, and prosthetic craft (notably the silver arm of Nuada), he functions as the gods' physician and head of a hereditary healing household.
Dís (dísir)
In Norse/North Germanic tradition, a dís (pl. dísir) is a collective term for female supernatural beings whose roles range from protective ancestral spirits and fertility figures to fate‑linked women comparable to valkyries or norns; they are invoked in both private and public cult (notably the dísablót) and can be benevolent or hostile toward humans.
Dísir
In Norse tradition, the dísir are a class of female supernatural beings associated with fate, fertility, and the welfare of kin; they may be protective guardians of clans or ambivalent/hostile toward mortals and are venerated in rites called dísablót.
Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar
In the Prose Edda framework these are two contrasted classes of álfar (elves): Ljósálfar ('light-elves') associated with luminous, upper heavens and described as “fairer than the sun,” and Dökkálfar ('dark-elves') associated with subterranean dwelling and described as “blacker than pitch.” Scholarly sources debate whether Snorri’s binary reflects older Norse ideas or a later, possibly Christian-influenced ordering and whether dökkálfar overlap with svartálfar or dwarfs.
Dúnedain
The Dúnedain are a lineage of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium descended from the Edain and the Númenóreans. They are renowned for their long lifespans (in earlier generations), martial skill, keen senses, and historical role as rulers of Númenor and later as the kingdoms and rangers of Arnor and Gondor; the name in Sindarin literally means 'Men of the West.'
Dúrnir (Durnir)
Dúrnir (also spelled Durnir) is an Old Norse mythic proper name attested in skaldic verse and in later medieval name-lists. He is presented in the skaldic corpus and Dverga heiti as a dwarf-name but also appears in Snorri Sturluson’s Nafnaþulur among giant (jötunn) names, indicating fluid classification in the transmitted sources.
Dēdimunda Dēyiyō
A locally venerated Sinhalese Buddhist guardian deity of Sri Lanka, regarded as a principal protector of the Buddha Śāsana and a tutelary figure invoked for healing, protection from spirits and epidemics, and assistance with fertility. His cult is institutionally centered at the Aluthnuwara Sri Dadimunda Devale and other regional devalayas.
Dīpankara Buddha
A Buddha of the past in Buddhist sacred history who, according to traditional narratives, recognized and predicted the future Buddhahood of the bodhisattva Sumedha (a previous life of Gautama/Śākyamuni). He is venerated in ritual contexts, represented in Asian Buddhist art, and commemorated in contemporary temple and festival practices.
Dīpaṅkara
Dīpaṅkara is a Buddha of the past in Buddhist tradition, known chiefly for predicting that the bodhisattva Sumedha would in a future age become the Buddha Gautama. Placed in vast cosmological time, he functions as an exemplar and a source of prophetic recognition in Buddhist hagiography and later devotional practice.
Community Record
- [1]Dôn. Wikipedia, 'Dôn' entrywiki