Lugh

1905 illustration of Lugh's bloodthirsty magical spear by H. R. Millar

Lugh or Lug (Irish: [luɣ]; Modern Irish: Lú [luː]) is one of the most prominent gods in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a savior,^[1] he is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts.^[2] He is also associated with oaths, truth and the law,^[1] and therefore with rightful kingship.^[3] Lugh is linked with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which bears his name, he corresponds to the pan-Celtic god Lugus, and his Welsh counterpart is Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He has also been equated with Mercury.^[4] Sometimes he is interpreted as a storm god^[5] and, less often today, as a sun god.^[2] Lugh is known by the epithets Lámfada ([ˈlaːwad̪ˠə], "of the long arm," possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler),^[3] Ildánach ("skilled in many arts"), Samildánach ("equally skilled in many arts"), Lonnbéimnech ("fierce striker"), Macnia ("youthful warrior/hero")^[3] and Conmac ("hound-son").^[6]

Lugh is given the matriname mac Ethlenn or mac Ethnenn ("son of Ethliu or Ethniu", his mother) and the patriname mac Cein ("son of Cian", his father),^[3] he is the maternal grandson of the Fomorian tyrant Balor, whom Lugh kills in the Battle of Mag Tuired. His foster-father is the sea god Manannán. Lugh's son is the hero Cú Chulainn, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lugh.^[7][8]

Lugh has several magical possessions, he wields an unstoppable fiery spear, a sling stone, and a sword named Fragarach ("the answerer"). He also owns a self-sailing boat named Scuabtuinne ("wave sweeper"), a horse named Enbarr, and a hound named Failinis, he is said to have invented fidchell (a Gaelic equivalent of chess), ball games, and horse racing.^[4]

In Irish tradition[edit]

Lugh
Member of the Tuatha Dé Danann
Abodes	Cath Maige Tuired Tara
Weapons	Gae Assail Fragarach Tathlum
Animals	Failinis Enbarr
Festivals	Lughnasadh Aonach Tailteann
Personal information
Consorts	Buí Nás Deichtine (mortal)
Children	Ibic Ebliu Cúchulainn (mortal)
Parents	Cian Ethniu

Birth[edit]

Lugh's father is Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and his mother is Ethniu: daughter of Balor, of the Fomorians. In Cath Maige Tuired their union is a dynastic marriage following an alliance between the Tuatha Dé and the Fomorians.^[9] In the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Cian gives the boy to Tailtiu, queen of the Fir Bolg, in fosterage.^[10] In the Dindsenchas, Lugh, the foster-son of Tailtiu, is described as the "son of the Dumb Champion".^[11]

A folktale told to John O'Donovan by Shane O'Dugan of Tory Island in 1835 recounts the birth of a grandson of Balor who grows up to kill his grandfather; the grandson is unnamed, his father is called Mac Cinnfhaelaidh and the manner of his killing of Balor is different, but it has been taken as a version of the birth of Lugh, and was adapted as such by Lady Gregory. In this tale, Balor hears a druid's prophecy that he will be killed by his own grandson. To prevent this he imprisons his only daughter in the Tór Mór (great tower) of Tory Island, she is cared for by twelve women, who are to prevent her ever meeting or even learning of the existence of men. On the mainland, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh owns a magic cow who gives such abundant milk that everyone, including Balor, wants to possess her. While the cow is in the care of Mac Cinnfhaelaidh's brother Mac Samthainn, Balor appears in the form of a little red-haired boy and tricks him into giving him the cow. Looking for revenge, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh calls on a leanan sídhe (fairy woman) called Biróg, who transports him by magic to the top of Balor's tower, where he seduces Eithne. In time she gives birth to triplets, which Balor gathers up in a sheet and sends to be drowned in a whirlpool; the messenger drowns two of the babies but unwittingly drops one child into the harbour, where he is rescued by Biróg. She takes him to his father, who gives him to his brother, Gavida the smith, in fosterage.^[12]

There may be further triplism associated with his birth, his father in the folktale is one of a triad of brothers, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh, Gavida, and Mac Samthainn, and his father in the medieval texts, Cian, is often mentioned together with his brothers Cú and Cethen.^[13][14] Lebor Gabála Érenn^[15] Two characters called Lugaid, a popular medieval Irish name thought to derive from Lugh, have three fathers: Lugaid Riab nDerg (Lugaid of the Red Stripes) was the son of the three Findemna or fair triplets,^[16] and Lugaid mac Con Roí was also known as mac Trí Con, "son of three hounds".^[17] 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;^[18] the canine imagery continues with Cian's brother Cú ("hound"), another Lugaid, Lugaid Mac Con (son of a hound), and Lugh's son Cúchulainn ("Culann's Hound").^[19] A fourth Lugaid was Lugaid Loígde, a legendary King of Tara and ancestor of (or inspiration for) Lugaid Mac Con.

Lugh joins the Tuatha Dé Danann[edit]

As a young man Lugh travels to Tara to join the court of King Nuada of the Tuatha Dé Danann; the doorkeeper will not let him in unless he has a skill he can use to serve the king. He offers his services as a wright, a smith, a champion, a swordsman, a harpist, a hero, a poet, historian, a sorcerer, and a craftsman, but each time is rejected as the Tuatha Dé Danann already have someone with that skill; when Lugh asks if they have anyone with all those skills simultaneously, the doorkeeper has to admit defeat, and Lugh joins the court and is appointed Chief Ollam of Ireland.^[20] He wins a flagstone-throwing contest against Ogma, the champion, and entertains the court with his harp; the Tuatha Dé Danann are, at that time, oppressed by the Fomorians, and Lugh is amazed how meekly they accept their oppression. Nuada wonders if this young man could lead them to freedom. Lugh is given command over the Tuatha Dé Danann, and he begins making preparations for war.^[21]

Sons of Tuireann[edit]

Tuireann and Cian, Lugh's father, are old enemies, and one day his sons, Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba spot Cian in the distance and decide to kill him, they find him hiding in the form of a pig, but Cian tricked the brothers into allowing him to transform back to a man before they killed him, giving Lugh the legal right to claim compensation for a father rather than just a pig. When they try to bury him, the ground spits his body back twice before keeping him down, and eventually confesses that it is a grave to Lugh. Lugh holds a feast and invites the brothers, and during it he asks them what they would demand as compensation for the murder of their father, they reply that death would be the only just demand, and Lugh agrees. He then accuses them of the murder of his father, Cian, and sets them a series of seemingly impossible quests; the brothers go on an adventure and achieve them all except the last one, which will surely kill them. Despite Tuireann's pleas, Lugh demands that they proceed and, when they are all fatally wounded, he denies them the use of one of the items they have retrieved, a magic pigskin which heals all wounds, they die of their wounds and Tuireann dies of grief over their bodies.^[22]

Battle of Magh Tuireadh[edit]

Using the magic artifacts the sons of Tuireann have gathered, Lugh leads the Tuatha Dé Danann in the Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh against the Fomorians. Nuada is killed in the battle by Balor. Lugh faces Balor, who opens his terrible, poisonous eye that kills all it looks upon, but Lugh shoots a sling-stone that drives his eye out the back of his head, wreaking havoc on the Fomorian army behind. After the victory Lugh finds Bres, the half-Fomorian former king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, alone and unprotected on the battlefield, and Bres begs for his life. If he is spared, he promises, he will ensure that the cows of Ireland always give milk; the Tuatha Dé Danann refuse the offer. He then promises four harvests a year, but the Tuatha Dé Danann say one harvest a year suits them, but Lugh spares his life on the condition that he teach the Tuatha Dé Danann how and when to plough, sow, and reap.^[23]

Later life and death[edit]

Lugh instituted an event similar to the Olympic games called the Assembly of Talti which finished on Lughnasadh (1 August) in memory of his foster-mother, Tailtiu, 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 Otherworld 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.

According to a poem of the dindsenchas, Lugh was responsible for the death of Bres, he made 300 wooden cows, and filled them with a bitter, poisonous red liquid which was then "milked" into pails and offered to Bres to drink. Bres, who was under an obligation not to refuse hospitality, drank it down without flinching, and it killed him.^[24]

Lugh is said to have invented the board game fidchell.^[25]

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. Lugh had a son, Ibic, by Nás,^[26] his daughter or sister was Ebliu, who married Fintan. By the mortal Deichtine, he had another son, the hero Cú Chulainn.

One of his wives, Buach, had an affair with Cermait, son of the Dagda.^[27] Lugh killed him in revenge, but Cermait's sons, Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Gréine, killed Lugh in return, drowning him in Loch Lugborta, he had ruled for forty years. Cermait was later revived by his father, the Dagda, who used the smooth or healing end of his staff to bring Cermait back to life.^[27]

In other cycles and traditions[edit]

• 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.^[28]
• The Luigne, a people who inhabited Counties Meath and Sligo, claimed descent from him.
• Ainle is listed as the son of Lug Longhand and is killed by Curnan the Blacklegged in the Rennes Dinsenchas.^[29] Ainle, whose name means "champion" is described as being renowned and glorious, but in the same poetic verse is also described as being a weakling with no grip in battle.^[30]
• In the Dindsenchas, Luat the son of Scal Balb (another name of Cian) is mentioned as the husband of Bairend.^[31]

Possessions[edit]

Lug possessed a number of magical items, retrieved by the sons of Tuirill Piccreo in Middle Irish redactions of the Lebor Gabála. Not all the items are listed here; the late narrative Fate of the Children of Tuireann not only gives a list of items gathered for Lugh, but also endows him with such gifts from the sea god Manannán as the sword Fragarach, the horse Enbarr (Aonbarr), the boat Scuabtuinne / Sguaba Tuinne ("Wave-Sweeper"),^[32] his armour and helmet.

Lugh's spear[edit]

Lugh's spear (sleg), according to the text of The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was said to be impossible to overcome,^[33] taken to Ireland from Gorias (or Findias).^[34]

Lugh obtained the Spear of Assal (Irish: Gae Assail) as fine (éric) imposed on the children of Tuirill Piccreo (or Biccreo), according to the short account in Lebor Gabála Érenn (Poem LXV, 319),^[34] which adds that the incantation "Ibar (Yew)" made the cast always hit its mark, and "Athibar (Re-Yew)" caused the spear to return.

In a full narrative version called [A]oidhe Chloinne Tuireann (The Fate of the Children of Tuireann),^[35][36] from copies no earlier than the 18th century, Lugh demands the spear named Ar-éadbair or Areadbhair (Early Modern Irish: Aꞃéadḃaiꞃ) which belonged to Pisear, king of Persia, that its tip had to be kept immersed in a pot of water to keep it from igniting, a property similar to the Lúin of Celtchar; this spear is also called "Slaughterer"^[37] in translation.

There is yet another name that Lugh's spear goes by: "A [yew] tree, the finest of the wood" (Early Modern Irish: eó bo háille d'ḟíoḋḃaiḃ),^[35]:204-5 occurring in an inserted verse within The Fate of the Children of Tuireann. "The famous yew of the wood" (ibar alai fhidbaidha) is also the name that Lugh's spear is given in a tract which alleges that it, the Lúin of Celtchar and the spear Crimall that blinded Cormac Mac Airt were one and the same weapon (tract in TCD MS 1336 (olim H 3. 17), col. 723, discussed in the Lúin page).^[38]

Lugh's projectile weapon, whether a dart or missile, was envisioned by symbolic of lightning-weapon.^[39] Lugh's sling rod, named "Lugh's Chain", was the rainbow and the Milky Way. Unlike the rod-sling, Lugh had no need to wield the spear himself, it was alive and thirsted so for blood that only by steeping its head in a sleeping-draught of pounded fresh poppy seeds 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 it tore through the ranks of the enemy once slipped from the leash, never tired of slaying.^[40]

Sling-stone[edit]

According to the brief accounts in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Lugh used the "sling-stone" (cloich tabaill) to slay his grandfather, Balor the Strong-Smiter in the Battle of Magh Tuired;^[41] the narrative Cath Maige Tured, preserved in a unique 16th century copy, words it slightly different saying that Lugh used the sling-stone (here liic talma § 133, i.e. lía "stone" of the 'tailm "sling") to destroy the evil eye of Balor of the Piercing Eye (Bolur Birugderc).^[42]

A certain poem recorded by O'Curry in English translation^[43] says that the missile fired by Lugh was a tathlum (táthluib "(slingstone made of) cement").

Fragarach[edit]

Lugh is also seen girt with the Freagarthach (better known as Fragarach), the sword of Manannán, in the assembly of the Tuatha Dé Danann in the Fate of the Children of Tuireann.

Lugh's horse and magic boat[edit]

Lugh had a horse named Aenbharr which could fare over both land and sea. Like much of his equipment, it was furnished to him by the sea god Manannán mac Lir; when the Children of Tuireann asked to borrow this horse, Lugh begrudged them, saying it would not be proper to make a loan of a loan. Consequently, Lugh was unable to refuse their request to use Lugh's currach (coracle) or boat, the "Wave-Sweeper" (Irish: Sguaba Tuinne).^[32]

In the Lebor Gabála,^[44] Gainne and Rea were the names of the pair of horses belonging to the king of the isle of Sicily [on the (Tyrrhene sea)], which Lug demanded as éric from the sons of Tuirill Briccreo.

Lugh's hound[edit]

Failinis was the name of the whelp of the King of Ioruaidhe that Lugh demanded as éiric (a forfeit) in the Oidhead Chloinne Tuireann; this concurs with the name of the hound mentioned in an "Ossianic Ballad",^[45] sometimes referred to by its opening line "Dám Thrír Táncatair Ille (They came here as a band of three)". In the ballad, the hound is called Ṡalinnis (Shalinnis) or Failinis (in the Lismore text),^[46] and belonged to a threesome from Iruaide whom the Fianna encounter, it is described as "the ancient grayhound... that had been with Lugh of the Mantles, / Given him by the sons of Tuireann Bicreann;..."^[47]

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.

O'Curry's excerpt ends here, but the subsequent verse runs "The three full-fledged heroes are called Sél, Donait and Domhnán; the dog of the fairest figure, Failinis was brought to Finn". This threesome also appears in Acallamh na Sénorach though in that work the wonder-dog is called Fer Mac.

Name and nature[edit]

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The meaning Lugh's name is still a matter of debate and no scholarly consensus exists; some scholars propose it is ultimately a derivative of the Proto-Indo-Europea root *(h2)lewgh- meaning "to bind by oath" (compare Old Irish luige and Welsh llw, both meaning "oath, vow, act of swearing" and derived from a suffixed Proto-Celtic form, *lugiyo-, "oath"),^[48] suggesting he was originally a god of oaths and sworn contracts.^[4] In the past his name was generally believed to come from the Proto-Indo-European root *leuk-, "flashing light", so from Victorian times he has often been considered a sun god, similar to the Greco-Roman Apollo; though the figure of Lugh from Irish literature seems to be a better match with the Celtic Mercury as described by Julius Caesar in his De Bello Gallico.^[4] There are serious phonological issues with deriving the name from Proto-Indo-European *leuk-, however, notably that Proto-Indo-European *-k- never produced Proto-Celtic *-g-;^[49] for this reason, modern specialists in Celtic languages no longer accept this etymology.

Lugh appears in folklore as a trickster, and in County Mayo thunderstorms were referred to as battles between Lugh and Balor, so he is sometimes considered a storm god. Lugh's mastery of all arts has led many to link him with the unnamed Gaulish god Julius Caesar identifies with Mercury, whom he describes as the "inventor of all the arts".^[50] Caesar describes the Gaulish Mercury as the most revered deity in Gaul, overseeing journeys and business transactions.

Locations named after Lugh[edit]

The County of Louth in Ireland is named after the village of Louth, which is named after the God Lugh. Historically, the place name has had various spellings; "Lugmad", "Lughmhaigh", and "Lughmhadh" (see Historic Names List, for full listing). Lú is the modern simplified spelling.

See also[edit]

• Irish mythology in popular culture: Lugh
• Táin Bó Flidhais
• Perseus
• Mercury

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Primary sources[edit]

• R.A.S. Macalister (ed.). Lebor Gabála Érenn [The Book of the Taking of Ireland]. Dublin: Irish Texts Society.
• Baile In Scáil, The Phantom's Trance
• Cath Maige Tuireadh, The (second) Battle of Magh Tuireadh
• Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann, The Death of the Children of Tuireann
• Compert Con Culainn (Recension I), ed. A.G. van Hamel (1933). Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories. Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 3. Dublin: DIAS. pp. 1–8.
• Kinsella, Thomas. The Táin, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-19-280373-5.
• Táin Bó Cuailnge, The Cattle Raid of Cooley
• Metrical Dindshenchas

Secondary sources[edit]

• 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.
• 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.