Smithing deities

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 32. Chapters: Smithing goddesses, Smithing gods, Hephaestus, Athena, Brigid, Aulë, Gofannon, Ogoun, Seker, Luchtaine, Creidhne, Goibniu, Vulcan, Inari Okami, Ikenga, Vishvakarman, Wayland the Smith, Ilmarinen, Svarog, Gobannus, Tvastar, Kothar-wa-Khasis, Hadúr, Ucuetis, Sethlans, Kotar, Ninegal, Qaynan. Excerpt: In Greek mythology Athena or Athene ( or ; Attic: , Athena or , Athenaia; Epic: , Athenaie; Ionic: , Athene; Doric: , Athana), also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene ( ; ¿a¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿¿¿; ¿a¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿¿¿), is the goddess of wisdom, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, female arts, crafts, justice and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens. The Athenians built the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos). Athena's veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis), many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias (¿¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿¿¿¿ "Athena of the city"). Athens and Athena bear etymologically connected names. The Greek philosopher Plato (429-347 BC) identified her with the Libyan deity Neith, the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period, who was also identified with weaving. This is sensible, as some Greeks identified Athena's birthplace, in certain mythological renditions, as being beside Libya's Triton River. Classicist Martin Bernal created the "Black Athena Theory" to explain this associated origin by claiming that the conception of Neith was brought to Greece from Egypt, along with "an enormous number of features of civilization and culture in the third and second millennia." Athena as the goddess of philosophy became an aspect of the cult in Classical Greece during the late 5th century BC. She was the patroness of various crafts, especially weaving, as Athena Ergane; the metalwork of weapons also fell under her patronage. She led battles (Athena Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena Parthenos) as the disciplined, strategic side of war