Manannán mac Lir
Faber-Castell Watercolour-Pencils “Albrecht Dürer”
watercolour paper 300g/m²
He is said to be the son of Lir (also called Ler, which both means "sea" in Old Irish), a sea god in Irish mythology.
He is supposed to be even older than the Tuatha Dé Danann.
He is considered a ruler of the Otherworld and he is the guardian of the mists that shroud this world from ours. Sometimes he is portrayed as a "trickster" (I really don't like the word) and his cloak changes colours.
I did draw him the way I see him - and for me, his cloak changes its colour with the Irish sea. Here it is the stormy sea which mirrors in the colours.
He is also connected with the Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blessed - where heroes and other favored mortals in Greek and Celtic mythology were received by the gods into a blissful paradise - and Mag Mell (meaning "plain of joy"), a mythical realm achievable through death and glory. Mag Mell is supposed to be an island far to the west of Ireland or a kingdom beneath the ocean. and was visitied by numerous Irish heroes and monks. Just like Tír na nÓg it's a place of eternal youth and beauty.
According to legend, Manannán possesses a boat that needs no sail and that was built without nails, the Wave Sweeper, a cloak made of mists which makes him invisible, a flaming helmet and a sword named Fragarach (the "avenger") that never misses its target. His horse Aonbharr of the Flowing Mane carries him above sea and ground and the god Lugh received many beautiful and magical gifts from him.
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