Combe is a being in English folklore, from Southern England. Combe is a toponymic and landscape term denoting a small valley or hollow, especially one without a running watercourse; it appears across place-names in southern and southwestern England and in some continental usages (e.g., cave site names in France). The word has Old English and Proto-Germanic origins and is cognate with Welsh cwm.
Not a supernatural being in the provided sources. Linguistically, the term derives from Old English cumb (Middle English coumbe, cumbe) and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz. It is related through Proto-Indo-European *ḱumbʰ- to words in other languages for a hollow or basin (for example Welsh cwm). The element entered toponymy throughout southern and southwestern England to name hollow valleys and is also used in continental site names for caves and deposits.
As a landscape feature, a combe is described as a steep, narrow valley or a small valley/large hollow on the side of a hill. It is often specifically understood to be a hollow through which a watercourse does not run. Examples in the sources include settlements and features named for such hollows (e.g., Combe Martin village; Combe Haven; archaeological sites named Combe Grenal and Combe Saunière in France).
Not applicable — sources do not attribute any supernatural abilities or behaviors to 'combe.' Discussions concern human use, settlement, archaeology, and naming rather than agency of the landform.
Abandinus
Abandinus is a locally attested Romano‑Celtic theonym known from a single inscribed bronze feather (votive object) dedicated at Godmanchester (the Roman fort Durovigutum) in Cambridgeshire. Scholars interpret him as a local god or male spirit tied to a specific place and possibly associated with a nearby spring or stream; this association is tentative and based on etymological readings of the name.
Abarta (Ábartach)
Abarta (also Ábartach) is a figure of Irish myth who, in surviving accounts, tricks Fionn mac Cumhaill's warriors by giving them a supernatural grey horse that bears them into the Otherworld. Sources variably identify him as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann or as a Fomorian; after the incident he is compelled to release the captured warriors and is refused entry to the Fianna.
Abcán (Abhcán)
Abcán (modern spelling Abhcán) is a named dwarf poet and musician of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth. He appears in a small number of narratives as a musician whose art has soporific power and as the ferryman who brings the goddess Ruad from the Otherworld to the human world.
Abdiel
Abdiel (Hebrew עֲבְדִּיאֵל) is primarily a theophoric Hebrew personal name meaning "servant of El/servant of God," attested once in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chronicles 5:15). In later literature—most notably John Milton's Paradise Lost—Abdiel is reimagined as a faithful seraph who opposes Satan's revolt. The provided sources do not treat Abdiel as an autonomous folkloric spirit type or record rituals or wards associated with the name.
Abhean
Abhean is a named poet of the Tuatha Dé Danann in medieval Irish literature, described as a poet in particular of Lugh and recorded as having been killed by Óengus before Midir in a poem by Fland Mainistreach preserved in the Lebor Gabála Érenn.
Abiel
Abiel is attested in the supplied sources only as a male given name — borne by several historical American individuals and listed as two minor biblical figures. The provided materials contain no evidence presenting Abiel as a supernatural, mythological, or folkloric entity.
Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Abnoba
Abnoba is a Gaulish theonym and toponym attested in Roman-era sources and inscriptions: a localized deity associated with woods, springs and the sources of rivers (notably the Danube) and simultaneously the name applied to a mountain or mountain range in the Black Forest/Baar/Odenwald region. Roman altars equate her with Diana, reflecting syncretic cult practice in frontier provinces.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Achall
Achall is an eponymous mortal woman in the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature whose grief-induced death is given as the origin of the hill-name Achall (identified with the modern Hill of Skryne). She appears as a genealogical and etiological figure tied to Tara and later legendary events at the hill, rather than as a recurring supernatural agent.
Achtland
Achtland is a figure from Irish tradition who, according to the surviving account, was a mortal woman famed for rejecting mortal suitors who married a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and crossed into the síde to become immortal as his wife.
Acionna
Acionna is a local Gallo-Roman water goddess attested by a single votive inscription found at a spring in the Orléanais region. The inscription, discovered by Jollois in 1822 and datable by style to the 2nd century CE, dedicates a portico and ornaments "AUG(ustae) ACIONNAE" and was recovered from the Fontaine de l'Étuvée in Orléans; archaeological work in 2007 uncovered remains of a Gallo-Roman temple and a section of an aqueduct at the site.
Community Record
- [1]Combe - Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors. 'Combe.' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [2]Combe (Wikidata entry). Wikidata: Q16865706other
- [3]Observation. Après 03/1780. Par Monsieur de La Combe, Chirurgien major a Cadix.. Archive.org. Medical/archival record referencing the surname 'de La Combe.'other
- [4]Combe Martin - Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors. 'Combe Martin.' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [5]Combe Valley Way :: Geograph Britain and Ireland. Geograph Britain and Ireland. 'Combe Valley Way.'other
- [6]Combe Haven | Peace News. Peace News. 'Combe Haven' tag/article.other
- [7]Combe Grenal Tools. DonsMaps. 'Combe Grenal Tools' (archaeological site named with 'Combe').other
- [8]Combe Saunière. DonsMaps. 'Combe Saunière' (archaeological/cave site).other