List of night deities

The Norse night goddess Nótt riding her horse, in a 19th-century painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo

A night deity is a goddess or god in mythology associated with night, the night sky, or darkness. They commonly feature in polytheistic religions. The following is a list of night deities in various mythologies.

Arabian

Aztec

  • Lords of the Night, a group of nine gods, each of whom ruled over a particular night
  • Itzpapalotl – fearsome skeletal goddess of the stars
  • Metztli, god or goddess of the moon, night and farmers
  • Tezcatlipoca, god of the night sky, the night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, enmity, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty, war and strife
  • Yohaulticetl, lunar goddess known as the "Lady of the Night"

Canaanite

Egyptian

  • Apep, the serpent god, deification of evil and darkness
  • Kuk, uncreated god and the personification of the primordial darkness
  • Khonsu, god of the moon
  • Nut, goddess of night also associated with rebirth

Etruscan

  • Artume (also called Aritimi, Artames, or Artumes), Etruscan goddess of night

Greek

  • Artemis, goddess of the hunt who was commonly associated with the moon
  • Asteria, goddess of nocturnal oracles and the stars
  • Hecate, goddess of witchcraft who was commonly associated with the moon
  • Erebus, primordial god of darkness
  • Nyx, primordial goddess of night
  • Achlys, primordial goddess of the clouding of eyes after death, the eternal night, and poison
  • Phobetor, god of nightmares
  • Phantasos, god of surreal dreams
  • Morpheus, god of dreams
  • Hypnos, god of sleep
  • Selene, goddess of the moon

Hindu

  • Ratri, goddess of night
  • Chandra, god of the moon
  • Rahu, a celestial deity of darkness and eclipse
  • Indra, god of the sky, ruler of all other sky gods

Iranic

  • Ahriman, god of darkness, night and evils.

Lithuanian

  • Aušrinė, goddess of the morning star
  • Breksta, goddess of twilight and dreams, who protects people from sunset to sunrise
  • Mėnuo, god of the moon
  • Vakarinė, goddess of the evening star
  • Žvaigždės, goddesses of the stars and planets

Māori

Norse

  • Nótt, female personification of night

Roman

  • Nox, primordial goddess of night; equivalent to the Greek goddess Nyx
  • Scotus, primordial god of darkness; equivalent to the Greek god Erebus
  • Summanus, god of nocturnal thunder
  • Somnus, god of sleep, equivalent to Hypnos.
  • Trivia, goddess of sorcery, ghosts, tombs, death, and torches, equivalent to Hecate.
  • Luna, goddess of the moon, equivalent to Selene.
  • Latona, an equivalent to the goddesses Leto and Asteria.
  • Diana, goddess of the hunt, the nature and the moon, equivalent to Artemis.

Slavic

  • Zorya, two guardian goddesses, representing the morning and evening stars.

See also

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