Lugh

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Lugh (earlier Lug, modern Irish Lú, pronounced /luː/) is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. He is known by the epithets Lámhfhada ("long hand"), for his skill with a spear or sling, Samh-ildánach ("Summer-multi-talented", "skilled in many arts"), Lonnbeimnech ("sword-shouter") and Macnia ("boy hero"), and by the matronymic mac Ethlenn or mac Ethnenn ("son of Ethliu or Ethniu"). He is a reflex of the pan-Celtic god Lugus, and his Welsh counterpart is Lleu Llaw Gyffes "Lugh Strong Hand".

Contents 1 Lugh in Irish tradition 1.1 Birth 1.2 Lugh joins the Tuatha Dé Danann 1.3 The sons of Tuireann 1.4 The Battle of Magh Tuireadh 1.5 Later life and death 1.6 Lugh in other cycles and traditions 1.7 Lugh’s weapons 1.8 Lugh’s hound 2 Lugh's name and nature 3 Popular culture 4 References 4.1 Notes 4.2 Irish texts 4.3 Secondary sources

[edit] Lugh in Irish tradition

[edit] Birth

Lugh's father was Cian ("Distance") of the Tuatha Dé Danann and his mother was Ethniu (Eithne/Enya), daughter of Balor, of the Fomorians. Their union is presented as a dynastic marriage between the two peoples in the Book of Invasions, but later folklore tells a more elaborate story, reminiscent of the birth of Perseus from Greek mythology. According to a prophecy, Balor was to be killed by his grandson, so he locked his daughter Ethniu in a tower of crystal, usually located on Tory Island, to keep her from becoming pregnant. However, Cian, with the help of the druidess Birog, managed to enter the tower and seduce her. She gave birth to triplets, but Balor threw them into the ocean. Two of the babies either drowned or turned into seals (compare the birth of Dylan and his twin, Llew Llaw Gyffes in Welsh mythology), but Birog saved one, Lugh, and gave him to Manannan mac Lir, who became his foster father. He was nursed by Tailtiu.

There may be further triplism associated with his birth. His father, Cian, is usually mentioned together with his brothers Cú ("hound") and Cethen, who nonetheless have no stories of their own, and two characters called Lugaid, a popular medieval Irish name thought to derive from Lugh, have three fathers: Lugaid Riab nDerg (Lughiadh of the Red Speckles) was the son of the three Findemna or fair triplets, and Lugaid mac Con Roí was also known as mac Trí Con, "son of three hounds". Notably, in Ireland's other great "sequestered maiden" story, the tragedy of Deirdre, the king's intended is carried off by three brothers, who are hunters with hounds. The canine imagery continues with another Lugaid, Lugaid mac Con, and of course Lugh's son Cúchulainn ("Culann's Hound"). In some stories Cian was able to transform into a dog. Perhaps in a lost version of the myth, Ethniu was impregnated by three brothers with canine associations.

[edit] Lugh joins the Tuatha Dé Danann

As a young man Lugh travelled to Tara to join the court of king Nuada of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The doorkeeper would not let him in unless he had a skill with which to serve the king. He offered his services as a wright, a smith, a champion, a swordsman, a harpist, a hero, a poet and historian, a sorcerer, and a craftsman, but each time was rejected as the Tuatha Dé Danann already had someone with that skill. But when Lugh asked if they had anyone with all those skills simultaneously, the doorkeeper had to admit defeat, and Lugh joined the court. He won a flagstone-throwing contest against Ogma, the champion, and entertained the court with his harp.

The Tuatha Dé were at that time oppressed by the Fomorians, and Lugh was amazed how meekly they accepted this. Nuada began to wonder if this young man could lead them to freedom. Lugh was given command over the Tuatha Dé, and he began making preparations for war.

[edit] The sons of Tuireann

When the sons of Tuireann, Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba, killed his father, Cian (who was in the form of a pig at the time), Lugh set them a series of seemingly impossible quests as recompense. They achieved them all, but were fatally wounded in completing the last one. Despite Tuireann's pleas, Lugh denied them the use of one of the items they had retrieved, a magic pigskin which healed all wounds. They died of their wounds, and Tuireann died of grief over their bodies.

[edit] The Battle of Magh Tuireadh

Using the magic artifacts the sons of Tuireann had gathered, Lugh led the Tuatha Dé Danann in the Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh against the Fomorians. Nuada was killed in the battle by Balor. Lugh faced Balor, who opened his terrible, poisonous eye that killed all it looked upon, but Lugh shot a sling-stone (or in some versions, threw a spear) that drove his eye out the back of his head, wreaking havoc on the Fomorian army behind.

After the victory Lugh found Bres, the half-Fomorian former king of the Tuatha Dé, alone and unprotected on the battlefield, and Bres begged for his life. If he was spared, he promised, he would ensure that the cows of Ireland always gave milk. The Tuatha Dé refused the offer. He then promised four harvests a year, but the Tuatha Dé said one harvest a year suited them. But Lugh spared his life on the condition that he teach the Tuatha Dé how and when to plough, sow and reap. It is widely held by scholars that the battle between Lugh and Balor reflects a common Indo-European motif, the battle between the youthful hero and his tyrant Grandfather.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Later life and death

Lugh instituted a harvest fair during the festival of Lughnasadh in memory of his foster-mother, Tailtiu, held on 1 August at the town that bears her name (now Teltown, County Meath). He likewise instituted Lughnasadh fairs in the areas of Carman and Naas in honour of Carman and Nás, the eponymous tutelary goddess of these two regions. Horse races and displays of martial arts were important activities at all three fairs. However, Lughnasadh itself is a celebration of Lugh's triumph over the spirits of the Other World who had tried to keep the harvest for themselves. It survived long into Christian times and is still celebrated under a variety of names. Lúnasa is now the Irish name for the month of August.

Lug is said to have invented the board game fidchell. He had a dog called Failinis.

He had several wives, including Buí and Nás, daughters of Ruadri, king of Britain. Buí lived and was buried at Knowth. Nás was buried at Naas, County Kildare, which is named after her. Lug had a son, Ibic, by Nás.^[1] His daughter or sister was Ebliu, who married Fintan. One of his wives, unnamed, had an affair with Cermait, son of the Dagda. Lug killed him in revenge, but Cermait's sons, Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht and Mac Gréine, killed Lug in return, drowning him in Loch Lugborta. He had ruled for forty years.

[edit] Lugh in other cycles and traditions

• In the Ulster Cycle he fathered Cúchulainn with the mortal maiden Deichtine. When Cúchulainn lay wounded after a gruelling series of combats during the Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley), Lugh appeared and healed his wounds over a period of three days.
• In Baile in Scáil (The Phantom's Trance), a story of the Historical Cycle, Lugh appeared in a vision to Conn of the Hundred Battles. Enthroned on a daïs, he directed a beautiful woman called the Sovereignty of Ireland to serve Conn a portion of meat and a cup of red ale, ritually confirming his right to rule and the dynasty that would follow him.
• In the Fenian Cycle the dwarf harper Cnú Deireóil claimed to be Lugh's son.
• The Luigne, a people who inhabited Counties Meath and Sligo, claimed descent from him.

[edit] Lugh’s weapons

Lugh’s sling rod was the rainbow and the Milky Way was called "Lugh's Chain". He also had a magic spear, which, unlike the rod-sling, he had no need to wield, himself; for it was alive, and thirsted so for blood that only by steeping its head in a sleeping-draught of pounded poppy leaves could it be kept at rest. When battle was near, it was drawn out; then it roared and struggled against its thongs; fire flashed from it; and, once slipped from the leash, it tore through and through the ranks of the enemy, never tired of slaying.

[edit] Lugh’s hound

Another of his possessions was a magic hound which an ancient poem, one attributed to the Fenian hero, Caoilte, calls,

“

That hound of mightiest deeds, Which was irresistible in hardness of combat, Was better than wealth ever known, A ball of fire every night. Other virtues had that beautiful hound (Better this property than any other property), Mead or wine would grow of it, Should it bathe in spring water.

”

[edit] Lugh's name and nature

Lugh's name was formerly interpreted as deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *leuk-, "flashing light", and he is often surrounded by solar imagery, so from Victorian times he has often been considered a sun god, similar to the Greco-Roman Apollo. He appears in folklore as a trickster, and in County Mayo thunderstorms were referred to as battles between Lug and Balor, so he is sometimes considered a storm god: Alexei Kondratiev notes his epithet lonnbeimnech ("fierce striker") and concludes that "if his name has any relation to 'light' it more properly means 'lightning-flash' (as in Breton luc'h and Cornish lughes)".^[2] However, Breton and Cornish are Brythonic languages in which Proto-Celtic *k did undergo systematic sound changes into -gh- and -ch-. This change did not occur in Irish, so it is unlikely that Lugh derives from the root *leuk-, nor is it related to any other Proto-Indo-European root connoting luminosity. The name may be derived from a Proto-Celtic compound such as *φlū-wgū-s, which would convey the meaning of ‘flowing vigour,’ or else from *φlūgū-s meaning ‘flight, flying, soaring, etc.’

This god’s name may also be cognate with Latin lugubris "mournful, pertaining to mourning," from lugere "to mourn," from a Proto-Indo-European base *leug- "to emotionally upset, disturb" (cf. Greek lygros "mournful, sad," Sanskrit rujati "breaks, torments," Latvian lauzit "to break the heart"). This would give the Proto-Celtic word *lugu-s a meaning akin to “upsetting power,” making him etymologically cognate with the Norse god Loki.

The name may equally be analysed as a compound of two Proto-Indo-European bases: *pleu- "flow, float" (cf. O.E. flowan, from P.Gmc. *flo-;. Du. vloeien "to flow," O.N. floa "to deluge," O.H.G. flouwen "to rinse, wash"; cf. Skt. plavate "navigates, swims," plavayati "overflows;" Armenian helum "I pour;" Gk. plyno "I wash," pleo "swim, go by sea;" L. pluere "to rain;" O.C.S. plovo "to flow, navigate;" Lith. pilu "to pour out," plauti "rinse") and *gheu- “to pour out.” The would enable the reconstruction of a Proto-Celtic word *φlu-gu-s connoting the notions of “flowing gush” and “floating gust.”

Lugh's mastery of all arts has led many to link him with the un-named Gaulish god Julius Caesar identifies with Mercury, whom he describes as the "inventor of all the arts".^[3] Caesar describes the Gaulish Mercury as the most revered deity in Gaul, overseeing journeys and business transactions. Juliette Wood interprets Lugh's name as deriving from the Celtic root *lugios, "oath", and the Irish word lugh connotes ideas of "blasphemy, cussing, lies, bond, joint, binding oath",^[4] which strengthens the identification with Mercury, who was, among other attributes, a god of contracts.

In Irish tradition Lug is associated with youth, kingship and healing, and his mastery of all arts suggests he transcends all divine functions. Like his Gaulish counterpart Lugus, he was compared with the archangel Michael.

[edit] Popular culture

• In The Bard's Tale, a computer game, Lugh is one of the three guardians that the Bard must defeat in order to free the princess Caleigh. Lugh in this setting is an ally of the druid-lord Finneoch, and resembles a clockwork gladiator, with an army of metal soldiers at his disposal.
• In the computer game Nethack, Lugh is the lawful deity for the knight character class. He, along with Brigit and Manannan Mac Lir, make up the three gods of the Celtic mythos.
• In the massively-multiplayer role-playing game Dark Age of Camelot, the Celtic-themed realm of Hibernia is ruled by King Lug Lamfhota, who also serves as the realm's primary deity.
• In the comic book X-O Manowar(1991), the main character, Aric Dacia, was a worshiper of Lugh.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Irish texts

• Lebor Gabála Érenn - The Book of Invasions
• Cath Maige Tuireadh - The (second) Battle of Magh Tuireadh
• Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann - The Death of the Children of Tuireann
• Compert Con Culainn - The Conception of Cúchulainn
• Táin Bó Cuailnge - The Cattle Raid of Cooley
• Baile in Scáil - The Phantom's Trance
• Metrical Dindshenchas

[edit] Secondary sources

• Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover. "Ancient Irish Tales, Henry Holt & Company, Inc., 1936. ISBN 1-56619-889-5
• Ellis, Peter Berresford. "Dictionary of Celtic Mythology." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-19-508961-8
• Kinsella, Thomas. "The Táin, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-19-280373-5
• MacKillop, James. "Dictionary of Celtic Mythology." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.
• Ovist, Krista L. "The integration of Mercury and Lugus: Myth and history in late Iron Age and early Roman Gaul." Chicago: University of Chicago Divinity School dissertation, pp. 703, 2004.(link)
• Wood, Juliette. "The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art." Thorsons Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-00-764059-5
• Lugh's Song, by T. Thorn Coyle, summarizes and recounts several of the myths about Lugh.

Preceded by Nuada

High King of Ireland AFM 1870-1830 BC FFE 1447-1407 BC

Succeeded by Eochaid Ollathair