Llwyr. [W] Son of Llwrion, who owns a magic vessel in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen.

Llychlyn. [W] Country of the Norsemen, "land of lochs." Cognate to the Irish Lochlann. It could well be a synonym for the Otherworld, but some have also chosen to interpret it as a name for Alba. however, Norway is the more common interpretation.

Llyn y Fan. [W] A tale in which a beautiful Otherworld maiden, dwelling in a lake, appears. The hero offers her bread but she , disappears; on her second appearance he offers her dough. On the third appearance, when he offers half-baked bread, the gulf between their two worlds is bridged. But she warns the mortal that if he strikes her three careless blows he will lose her straightaway forever.  They lived at Esgair Llaethy, six miles from the lake out of which she came. They had three sons and a prosperous farm with good livestock. Of course, eventually the husband strikes the three careless blows and she gathers up all the livestock and disappears into the moonlit lake. However, she leaves behind her three sons, and when they grow she appears to them and hands them a satchel of medical recipes and prescriptions, so the three bothers become known as Meddygon Meddfai, the most skilled physicians in all Wales. The story has an echo of the Irish tale of O Laoidhigh (O'Lee), in which a book full of medical recipes and prescriptions was brought from Hy-Breasal. On finding it O Laoidhigh read it and became the greatest physician in Ireland. The Book of the O'Lees (Royal Irish Academy) was written in 1443, partly in Latin and partly in Irish. The pages of writing form patterns resembling astrological symbols. It is a complete system of medicine, treating everything from wounds to hydrophobia.

Llyr. [W] The equivalent of the Irish Lir. Liyr seems to have two wives. The first was Iweriadd (Ireland), by which he fathered Bran and Branwen. Branwen seems to fill the role of a goddess of love. By Penardun, daughter of the mother goddess Don, he gave birth to Manawydan, god of the sea. Penardun then appears to have married Euroswydd and given birth to Nisien and Efnisien. Geoffrey of Monmouth's mention of him as a king, King Leir, caused him to eventually be immortalised as Shakespeare's "King Lear." Liyr was widely venerated in Britain. It is argued that Leicester was Llyr (leir) ceastar, the Old English addition for a fort. Manchester is also argued to contain the name Manawydan with the addition of ceastar.

Llyr, Children of. [W] The second branch of the Mabinogi features Bran the Blessed, his sister Branwen, and Manawydan, the children of Liyr. They have two half-brothers, Efnisien and Nisien, but it is not clear whether they belong to the same father.

Loch. [I] Son of Mofebais and champion of Connacht who wounds Cuchulainn at the combat at the ford. Cuchulainn, however, slays him with the fabulous Gae-Bolg.

Lochlann. [I] The country of the Norsemen, "land of lochs." This is cognate with the Welsh Liychlyn.

Lodan. [I] Son of Lir and father of the goddess Sinend.

Lot. [I] A Fomorii who is wife of Goll and mother of Cichol Grucenchos. She had bloated lips in her breast and four eyes in her back and led the Fomorii into battle against Partholon.

Luchtar. [I] God of carpentry, brother of Goibhniu and Credne. Lugaid. [I] There were several characters bearing this name. One was the son of Ailill Mac Mita, who, at his father's behest, killed the champion Fergus Mac Roth while he was swimming. Another was the son of Cu Rol and killed Cuchulainn's charioteer, Laeg. Others give this name as Laoghaire. Another was Lugaid Riab nDerg ("of the Red Stripes"), whose body was divided into three sections by red stripes, each section resembling part of each of the three men who sired him by Clothra.

Lugh. [I] One of the most important of the Irish gods. The son of Cian and Ethlinn, daughter of Balor of the Evil Eye. Renowned for the splendour of his countenance, he is cleatly a solar deiry and cognate with Lugus in Gaul and Lieu in Wales. He is god of all arts and crafts. Rescued from death as a baby when Balor tried to thwart a prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson, he was fostered by Manannan Mac Lir. In other versions it is Goibhniu, the smith god, who fosters him. He fulfils the prophecy by killing Balor and becomes ruler of the gods when Nuada is killed. He was the father of Cuchulainn by the mortal woman Dechtfre. Lugh fought alongside Cuchulainn during the Taiin war when Cuchulainn began to weaken. He was last seen in his godlike guise when Conn of the Hundred Battles (High King A.D. 177-212) saw him emerge from a magical mist and foretell the length of his reign and the number of his children. However, when the old gods were driven underground, Lugh diminished in people's minds, becoming a fairy craftsman named Lugh-chromain, "little stooping Lugh." Nowall that is left of the potent patron of arts and crafts is the Anglicised version of Lugh-chromain-leprechaun.

Lughnasadh. The feast of the god Lugh, which was introduced by him to commemorate his foster mother, Tailtu. It was one of the four major pre-Christian festivals and was basically an agrarian feast in honour of the harvesting of the crops. Christianity took this feast over as Lammas. The name survives in modern Irish as Lunasa (August), in Manx as Luanistyn (August), and in Scottish Gaelic as Lunasad; for the Lammas festival. In Wales the festival is marked as Calan Awst.

Lugoves. Plural of "Lugus," which occurs on an inscription at Osma, in Spain, and at Avenches, in Switzerland, and is most likely a reference to the triune godhead of Lugos, cognate with the god Lugh (Irish) and LIeu (Welsh).

Lugus. The name of a god that occurs in place-names in Britain and Gaul, cognate with the Irish Lugh and the Welsh LIeu. His inscriptions and monuments are more numerous than any other Celtic god, and it is generally accepted that when Caesar spoke of the Gaulish "Mercury" he was speaking of Lugus. Lugdunum (Lyon) was chosen by Augustus Caesar as the capital of Roman Gaul. It is significant that he ordered the inauguration of a festival in his commemoration to be held on August 1, which obviously continued the older Celtic festival of Lugus. Today in modern Irish, August is still the month of Lunasa, while the feast of Lughnasadh is still celebrated July 31/ August 1. The name appears in many lands: Lyons, Leon, Loudan, and Laon in France; Leiden in Holland; Liegnitz in Silesia; and Carlisle (Luguvalum in Roman times) in England, as well as, it is argued, in the capital city of England itself, whose name is thought to be derived from Lugdunum-hence the Latin "Londinium." There is some argument on this as to whether the name London actually derived from the Celtic root londo, signifying "the wild place."

Loin. [I] The enchanted spear of the Red Branch hero Celtchair, which was left abandoned after the second battle of Magh Tuireadh by one of the De Danaan. When it smelt the blood of an enemy it twisted and writhed in the hands ofits owner, and if blood was not spilt, a cauldron of venom was the only means of quenching it before it turned on its holder.

Luned. [W] A maiden who rescues Owain from imprisonment and gives him a ring to make him invisible. She then brings about his marriage to the Lady of the Fountain. Some time later Owain rescues her from being burnt alive.

Lycanthropy. Shape-changing is a frequent occurrence in Celt myths. Gods and even mortals can change their shapes into many forms, mostly animals. Often a druid can change the shape of his or her victim, hence the Dark Druid of Irish myth changes the goddess Sadb into a fawn. In Welsh myth the treacherous Blodeuwedd, who betrays her husband, Lieu, is changed into an owl and bidden to shun the light of day. Often death comes to the victim while in animal shape. Aoife, changed into a crane for daring to love the son of the sea god Manannin Mac Lir, is killed and her skin made into the famous "crane bag." Often wizards and sorceresses can change themselves into fearsome monsters. The whole idea of lycanthropy is very much in keeping with the old Celtic belief that everything, even inanimate objects such as stones, are possessed of indwelling spirits and that the human spirit, which is immortal, can dwell within other creatures and objects just as well as within human form.