Enbarr

The Enbarr of Manannán, or Enbarr of the Flowing Mane,^[1] (also written Aenbharr, Aonbharr, Aonbárr, Énbarr, Enbhárr; Classical Irish: Aonḃaɼɼ Mhanannáin) was the name in the Irish Mythological Cycle of the horse of Lugh Lamh-fada (Irish: Luġ Láṁḟada), which could traverse both land and sea. In the story [A]oidhe Chloinne Tuireann (The Fate of the Children of Tuireann), Lugh refuses to loan it, claiming that would be the loan of a loan, but later had to lend the self-navigating currach (coracle boat) called Sguaba Tuinne (Wave-sweeper).^[2]

The meaning of this name has variously explained as "One Mane" (O'Curry)^[2] [aon "one" + barr "hair, tip, horse's mane"], "Froth" (Cormac's glossary) ^[3] [én "water" + barr "cacumen, spuma"], and "unique supremacy" (Mackillop's Dictionary).

The name Embarr ("imagination") seems to have been ascribed as being Niamh's horse.^[4] A certain horse does carry Oisín and his would-be bride Niamh across the sea to Tír na nÓg, according to the Laoi Oisín as ṫír na n-óg (The lay of Oisín in the land of youth) by Mícheál Coimín (1676–1760).

References

1. Joyce, P. W., tr. "The Fate of the Children of Turenn", in Old Celtic Romances (1894) pp.37-95
2. Eugene O'Curry ed., The Fate of the Children of Tuireann, The Atlantis IV (1863), 157-240. Meaning of "Aonbarr" glossed on p.163 n145.
3. O'Donovan tr., Sanas Chormaic, (1868), p.66
4. Tena Bastian,Tami Zigo, Tips and Tidbits for the Horse Lover (2007), p.55