Editing Badb (section)

==Etymology==
Pointing to variants such as Irish ''badhbh'' 'hoodie crow, a fairy, a scold,' Early Irish ''badb'', 'crow, demon,' ''Badba'', Welsh ''bod'', 'kite,' the Gaulish name ''Bodv''-, in ''Bodvo-gnatus'' and the Welsh name ''Bodnod'', Macbain (1982) suggests *''bodwā''- as the [[Proto-Celtic]] ancestral form. However, [[Julius Pokorny]] (1959:203) suggests *''badwā''- on the basis of similar data. Both MacBain (1982) and [[Julius Pokorny]] (1959:203) correlate the element with [[Old Norse|Norse]] ''böð'', [[genitive]] ''boðvar'', 'war,' and Anglo-Saxon ''beadu'', [[genitive]] ''beadwe'', 'battle,' suggesting that the word originally denoted '[[Enyo|battle]]' or '[[Eris (mythology)|strife]].' [[Julius Pokorny]] (1959:203) presents the element as an extended form of the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root *''bhedh''- 'pierce, dig.' To this root Pokorny also links the Sanskrit ''bádhate'', 'oppress,' and the Lithuanian ''bádas'', 'famine'.

W. M. Hennessy argues that the word ''bodb'' or ''badb'' originally meant ''rage'', ''fury'', or ''violence'', and came to mean a witch, fairy, or goddess, represented in folklore by the scald-crow, or royston-crow.<ref name="Ancient">Hennessy, W. M., "The Ancient Irish Goddess of War", ''Revue Celtique'' 1, 1870–72, pp. 32–37</ref> Peter O'Connell's 1819 ''Irish Dictionary'' defines the Badb as a "''[[banshee|bean-sidhe]]'', a female fairy, phantom, or spectre, supposed to be attached to certain families, and to appear sometimes in the form of squall-crows, or royston-crows" and ''badb-catha'' as "''Fionog'', a royston-crow, a squall crow". Other entries relate to her triple nature: "''Macha'', i. e. a royston-crow; ''Morrighain'', i. e. the great fairy; ''Neamhan'', i. e. ''Badb catha nó feannóg''; a ''badb catha'', or royston-crow."<ref>Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz, ''The Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries'', 1911, pp. 304–305</ref>