Editing Aengus (section)

===Irish mythology===
[[File:Newgrange, Ireland 001.jpg|thumb|The entrance of [[Newgrange]]]]
[[The Dagda]] has an affair with [[Boann]], the goddess of the River Boyne. She lives at [[Newgrange|Brú na Bóinne]] with her husband [[Elcmar]]. The Dagda impregnates her after sending Elcmar away on a one-day errand. To hide the pregnancy from Elcmar, the Dagda casts a spell on him, making "the sun stand still" so he will not notice the passing of time. Meanwhile, Boann gives birth to Aengus. Eventually, Aengus learns that the Dagda is his true father and asks him for a portion of land. In some versions of the tale—probably the original, from ''[[The Wooing of Etain]]''—the Dagda helps Aengus take ownership of the Brú from Elcmar. Aengus asks and is given the Brú for ''láa ocus aidche''; because in Old Irish this could mean either "a day and a night" or "day and night", Aengus claims it forever. Other versions have Aengus taking over the Brú from the Dagda himself by using the same trick. The Brú is then named ''Brug maic ind Óig'' after him.<ref>Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p.39</ref><ref name="Hensey">Hensey, Robert. Re-discovering the winter solstice alignment at Newgrange, in ''The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology''. Oxford University Press, 2017. pp.11-13</ref> In ''The Wooing of Etain'' version, [[Midir]] is Aengus's foster-father.<ref>[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T300012/index.html The Wooing of Étaíne] CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts</ref> 

It has been suggested that this tale represents the [[winter solstice]] illumination of Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne, during which the sunbeam (the Dagda) enters the inner chamber (the womb of Boann) when the [[Sun path|sun's path]] stands still. The word ''solstice'' (Irish ''grianstad'') means sun-standstill. The conception of Aengus may represent the 'rebirth' of the sun at the winter solstice, him taking over the Brú from an older god representing the growing sun taking over from the waning sun.<ref name="Hensey"/><ref>Anthony Murphy and Richard Moore. "Chapter 8, Newgrange: Womb of the Moon", ''Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers''. Liffey Press, 2008. pp.160-172</ref> [[Dáithí Ó hÓgáin]] suggested the tale probably dramatizes the idea "that the blooming of youth denies the process of aging - at the youthful stage of life time passes slowly and vitality seems to be permanent".<ref name="mythlegendromance"/> 

In ''The Fosterage of the House of the Two Pails'', a similar story is related in which [[Manannán mac Lir]], called the High King over all the Tuath Dé, convinces Aengus to cast a spell by reciting a poem called "Luck and Prosperity" to his foster-father Elcmar. The spell forces Elcmar from the Brú until "ogham and pillar, heaven and earth, and the sun and the moon have been blended together". Elcmar then tells Aengus that he would have given him the Brú if he had but asked, but due to Manannán's incantation, he and his people will face woe and madness for the rest of their days. In this telling of the story, Aengus expresses remorse for banishing Elcmar and his people.<ref name=Fermoy />

Aengus kills [[Lugh|Lugh Lámhfhada]]'s poet for lying about his brother [[Cermait|Ogma an Cermait]]. The poet claims that Ogma an Cermait had an affair with one of Lugh's wives.

In ''[[The Wooing of Etain]]'', Aengus is able to partially lift a spell against [[Étaín]], the horse goddess he won for his brother Midir. In a jealous rage, Midir's wife [[Fuamnach]] turns Étaín into a beautiful fly. Returning Étaín into her human form at night, Aengus makes her his lover until Fuamnach discovers the secret and drives Étaín away. Aengus kills his foster mother for her treachery.

In another tale Aengus falls in love with a girl he sees in his dreams. His mother, Boann, goddess of the River Boyne, and a cow goddess whose milk formed the Milky Way (Bealach na Bó Finne, or the White Cow's Way in Irish), searches Ireland for a year, then his father, the Dagda, does the same. Finally, King [[Bodb Derg]] of [[Munster]] finds her after a further year.<ref name=MJ-Oengus>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/oengus.html The Dream of Oengus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131124041701/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/oengus.html |date=2013-11-24 }} The Celtic Literature Collective</ref>

Aengus visits the lake of the Dragon's Mouth and finds 150 girls chained in pairs, including [[Caer Ibormeith]], the girl from his dreams, among them. Every second [[Samhain]], Caer and the other girls transform into [[swan]]s for a year. Aengus is told he can marry Caer if he can identify her in swan form. Aengus turns himself into a swan and they fly away, singing beautiful music that puts all who listen to sleep for three days and nights.<ref name=MJ-Oengus />

In other legends Aengus is able to repair broken bodies and return them to life.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Similarities have been observed between Aengus and the Greek god [[Hermes]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sergent |first1=Bernard |title=Celto-Hemlenica VI: Hermès et Aengus |journal=Bibliothèque des cahiers de l'institut de linguistique de Louvain |date=1994 |volume=73 |page=185 |isbn=9789068315868 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YblCNVg8avgC&q=%C3%93engus&pg=PA185 |access-date=3 August 2019}}</ref>