Niul. [I] Son of Feinius Farsaidh, a famous wise teacher invited by the Ipharaoh Cingris to settle in Egypt. He marries Cingris' daughter Scota; their son is Goidel. Niul befriends Aaron, and Moses heals Goidel from the bite of a serpent, it being foretold that no serpent would live in the land of the Gaels.

Nodens. See Nudd.

Noidhiu. [I] Son of Fingel. His father was a mysterious god who slept with Fingel. She gave birth after nine years and nine months. She wanted to destroy the child, but the baby uttered nine judgments and obtained the right to live.

Noinden. [I] The curse put on the men of Ulster by Macha, sometimes called "The Birth Pangs of Ulster."

Nos Galan-Gaeof. [W] The Welsh winter festival, equivalent to the Samhain Feis.

Nuada. [I] Chief druid of Cahir Mor, a king and ancestor of Fionn Mac Cumhail who built the fortress on the Hill of Allen. More famous, however, is Nuada Argetlamh, Nuada of the Silver Hand. He appears as the supreme leader of the gods, possessed of a sword from which none could escape. He was the first ruler of the De Danaan on their arrival in Ireland but lost his hand at the first battle of Magh Tuireadh fighting against the Firbolg. The god of medicine, Dian cecht, made him a silver hand, but later Dian cecht's son, Miach, made him a new hand of flesh and blood with which he regained his position, displacing the half-Fomorii, Bres. Nuada set off the events that led to the second battle of Magh Tuireadh against the Fomorii. In this battle Nuada and his wife, Macha, are slain by Balor of the Evil Eye. Nuada is cognate with the Welsh Nudd of the Silver Hand. The name also appears in the form of Nodens. There is a third Nuada, Nuada Necht. He is a king who directly preceded Conaire Mor as the High King.

Nudd. [W] Nudd is cognate with Lludd and in this form is clearly identified with Nuada of the Silver Hand. See Lludd Llaw Ereint. A temple to Nodens, by which Roman soldiers in Britain came to know him, was founded at Lydney by the Severn. He is referred to in triad fashion (with Mordaf and Rhydderch) as one of the three generous ones of Britain.

Numbers. Numerology plays a significant and symbolic part in all Celtic myth. Some numbers can be particularly noted. Five, for example. There are five great roads in Ireland, five provinces (cuigi,the word for a province, means, literally, a fifth), five celebrated hostels, five paths of law, five prohibitions for provincial kings. Fionn Cumhail counts in fives, as do the people of the sidhe. There are five masters to each art, Cuchulainn has five wheels painted on his shield, and a medieval tract on language teaches that five words are adjudged to be a breath of the poet.  There is the number nine. It is argued that the Celts had a nine-day week; Medb rides off to Ulster with nine chariots; Cuchulainn has nine weapons; the curse on Ulster is for nine times nine generations; there are the nine judgments of Noidhiu and there is Niall of the Nine Hostages. In Welsh law the ninth day of the month marks the end of the beginning of a period, and a house was considered to have nine components (indeed, in Ireland, Bricriu's Hall has nine rooms). Three nines, twenty-seven, also becomes significant. Twelve, too, is important, for kings usually have twelve companions. Seventeen also occurs. Events are listed as taking place after periods of seventeen days or seventeen years; a youth becomes a man on his seventeenth birthday; a druid suggests to Mael Duin that he take seventeen men on his voyage, and on the fabulous Island ofbvWomen they are greeted by seventeen maidens. Lastly, the number thirty-three occurs as a frequent numerical symbol.

Nuts of Knowledge. [I] Nine hazelnuts of wisdom grew over Segais' Well (sometimes Conlai's Well). The nuts dropped into the well, causing bubbles of mystic inspiration. The Well of Segais is said to have formed the Boyne River. The salmon Fintan had eaten of the Nuts of Knowledge and settled in a pool, where the druid Finegas caught it and gave it to his pupil Fion Mac Cumhail to cook. Fionn's thumb brushed against the salmon and he sucked the spot where it was burnt, thus obtaining knowledge. The tale has a remarkable similarity to that of Gwion Bach, who also burnt his thumb while preparing a magic dish for his mistress. By sucking the spot, he, too, obtains wisdom, but is chased through many reincarnations until he emerges as Taliesin.

Nynniaw. [W] A son of Beli and brother of Peibaw. Nynniaw and Peibaw were tWo kings of Britain. They had a quarral over the meaning of the stars in the sky and went to war with one another . Their armies were destroyed and the lands laid waste. Finally they were turned into oxen as a punishment for their stupidity.