Lugh

Etymology The meaning of Lugh's name is still a matter of debate. Some scholars propose that it derives from a suggested Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to bind by oath" (compare Old Irish and Welsh , both meaning "oath, vow, act of swearing" and derived from a suffixed Proto-Celtic form, , "oath"), suggesting that he was originally a god of oaths and sworn contracts. for this reason, most modern specialists in Celtic languages no longer accept this etymology. Epithets • ( ("long hand") – possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler • ("young warrior / hero") ==Description==

Lugh is typically described as a youthful warrior. In the brief narrative Baile in Scáil, Lugh is described as being very large and very beautiful and a spear-wielding horseman. When he appears before the wounded Cú Chulainn in the Táin Bó Cúalnge he is described as follows: A man fair and tall, with a great head of curly yellow hair. He has a green mantle wrapped about him and a brooch of white silver in the mantle over his breast. Next to his white skin, he wears a tunic of royal satin with red-gold insertion reaching to his knees. He carries a black shield with a hard boss of white-bronze. In his hand a five-pointed spear and next to it a forked javelin. Wonderful is the play and sport and diversion that he makes (with these weapons). But none accosts him and he accosts none as if no one could see him. Elsewhere Lugh is described as a tall young man with bright red cheeks, white sides, a bronze-coloured face and blood-coloured hair. In The Fate of the Children of Turenn Lugh's appearance is compared to the sun on several occasions. He is described by Bres as follows: : Then arose Breas, the son of Balar, and he said: "It is a wonder to me", said he, "that the sun to rise in the west today, and in the east every other day". "It would be better that it wer so", said the druids. "What else is it?" said he. "The radiance of the face of Lugh of the Long Arms", said they. Elsewhere in the same passage, the following remark is made: : ... they were not long there when they saw an army and a goodly host coming towards them from the East, and in the vanguard there was one young man high in authority over all; and like to the setting sun was the radiance of his face and forehead, and they were unable to gaze upon his countenance on account of its splendour. And this is who it was - Lugh Lamhfhada Loinnbheimionach ... from the Land of Promise ... and when the Cathbarr (Manannan's helmet) was let off of him the appearance of his face and forehead was as brilliant as the sun on a dry summer's day. ==Mythology==

Birth Lugh's father is Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and his mother is Ethniu (Eithne in Modern Irish), 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. In the Dindsenchas, Lugh, the foster-son of Tailtiu, is described as the "son of the Dumb Champion". 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 from ever meeting or even learning of the existence of men. 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, whereas in the Lebor Gabála, his father Cian is mentioned alongside his brothers Cú and Cethen. 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, and Lugaid mac Con Roí was also known as mac Trí Con, "son of three hounds". 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 Cian's brother Cú ("hound"), another Lugaid, Lugaid Mac Con (son of a hound), and Lugh's son Cúchulainn ("Culann's Hound"). 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 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, a 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. 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 at 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. 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 on 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. Battle of Magh Tuireadh Using the magic artefacts the sons of Tuireann have gathered, Lugh leads the Tuatha Dé Danann in the Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh against the Fomorians. Prior to the battle, Lugh asked each man and woman in his army what art he or she would bring to the fray. He then addressed his army in speech, which elevated each warrior's spirit to that of a king or lord. Lugh is said to have invented the board game fidchell. One of his wives, Buach, had an affair with Cermait, son of the Dagda. 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. • The Luigne, a people who inhabited Counties Meath and Sligo, claimed descent from him. • Ainle is listed as the son of Lug Longhand (here called "Leo lam-fota") • Lugh appears in folklore as a trickster, and in County Mayo thunderstorms were referred to as battles between Lugh and Balor, which leads some to speculate that he was a storm god. ==Family==

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). He had several wives, including Buí (AKA Buach or Bua "Victory") and Nás, daughters of Ruadri Ruad, king of Britain. Buí lived and was buried at Knowth (Cnogba). Nás was buried at Naas, County Kildare, which is said to be named after her. Lugh had a son, Ibic "of the horses", by Nás. It is said that Nás dies with the noise of combat. Therefore it is difficult to know where she dies. Lugh's daughter or sister was Ebliu, who married Fintan. By the mortal Deichtine, Lugh was the father to the hero Cú Chulainn. ==Possessions==

Lugh 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 / ("Wave-Sweeper"), his armour and helmet. Lugh's spear Lugh's spear (), according to the text of The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was said to be impossible to overcome, taken to Ireland from Gorias (or Findias). from copies no earlier than the 17th century, in translation. There is yet another name that Lugh's spear goes by: "A [yew] tree, the finest of the wood" (Early Modern Irish: ), occurring in an inserted verse within The Fate of the Children of Tuireann. "The famous yew of the wood" () 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 (H 3. 17), col. 723, discussed in the Lúin page). Lugh's projectile weapon, whether a dart or missile, was envisioned to be symbolic of lightning-weapon. Lugh's sling rod, named "Lugh's Chain", was the rainbow and the Milky Way, according to popular writer Charles Squire. Squire adds that Lugh's spear which needed no wielding was alive and thirsted so for blood that only by steeping its head in a sleeping-draught of pounded fresh poppy leaves could it be kept at rest. When a 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. Sling-stone 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. The narrative , preserved in a unique 16th-century copy, words it slightly different saying that Lugh used the sling-stone to destroy the evil eye of Balor of the Piercing Eye (Bolur Birugderc). according to a certain poem in Egerton MS. 1782 (olim W. Monck Mason MS.), of Osmuinn, mixed with the sands of the Armorian Sea and the Red Sea. 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 éraic from the sons of Tuirill Briccreo. Lugh's hound 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", sometimes referred to by its opening line " (They came here as a band of three)". In the ballad, the hound is called Ṡalinnis (Shalinnis) or Failinis (in the Lismore text), and belonged to a threesome from Iruaide whom the Fianna encounter. It is described as "the ancient greyhound... that had been with Lugh of the Mantles, / Given him by the sons of Tuireann Bicreann" ==Comparative mythology==

Lugh has been connected with the pan-Celtic god Lugus. Through Lugus, John Rhys has argued Lugh is cognate with the Welsh mythological figure Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Sometimes Lugh is interpreted as a storm god and, less often today, as a sun god. Lugh's mastery of all arts led Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville to link Lugus with the unnamed Gaulish god whom Julius Caesar identifies with Mercury and describes as the "inventor of all the arts". St. Mologa has been theorized to be a Christian continuation of the god Lugh. ==Toponymy==

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. Other places named for Lugh include the cairn at Seelewey (Suidhe Lughaidh, or Lug's Seat), Dunlewey, and Rath-Lugaidh in Carney, Sligo. Seelewey was located in Moyturra Chonlainn and, according to local folklore, was a place where giants used to gather in olden days. The modern city of Lyon was founded as Colonia Copia Felix Munatia in 43 BC. By the end of the first century AD it was known as "Lugdunum", a Latinized variant of the ancient Gaulish name *Lugudunon, meaning "Fortress of Lugh". One of the four regions in Galicia is called Lugo, in honour of this god. ==See also==

References ;Citations ;Bibliography ; (Baile In Scáil, The Phantom's Trance) • via Celtic Literature Collective, accessed 5 August 2019 ; (Cath Maige Tuired) • via sacred-texts.com • , text via Internet Archive, text via CELT ; (Compert Con Culainn) • ;(LGE) • ; (Metrical Dindshenchas) • , via CELT • , snippet via Google, via CELT ;(Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann, The Death of the Children of Tuireann) • • • • (Some of the earlier notes on MSS in the earlier edition are wanting) • https://www.dias.ie/wp-content/uploads/2002/11/tionol2002_baillie.pdf (M G L Baillie School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University, Belfast) ; (Rennes Dindshenchas) • , text via Internet Archive; e-text via UCD • , text via Internet Archive; e-text via UCD ; (Táin Bó Cuailnge, The Cattle Raid of Cooley) • . ;(Other) • Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover. Ancient Irish Tales, Henry Holt & Company, Inc., 1936. . • Ellis, Peter Berresford. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. . • MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. . • 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. .