In Irish legend, the white crested waves of the sea are poetically called the horses of Manannán mac Lir, an Irish sea deity and the guardian between worlds. To the Celts, the Blessed Isles that lie beyond the sea are the gateways to the Otherworlds, where the soul journeys to after death. Manannán is the guardian of these gateways between the worlds. Older than the Tuatha Dé Danann, Manannán mac Lir was married to the beautiful goddess, Fand, and father of Niamh of the Golden Hair.