#Moytura

[innervoiceartblog]

A moonrise viewed from the mound of Shee Lugh on the summit of the ridge of Moytura. In the sky, representing Balor's Eye, is an image of the huge stone basin found in the eastern chamber at Knowth. - Michael O'Flanagan

http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/moytura/moytura1.html

[talonabraxas]

Lugh 'Celtic God' Talon Abraxas

The Irish god of nobility, Lugh of the Long Arm was a master of crafts and a cunning warrior. He was both Ollamh Érenn and King of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and wielded the Spear of Assal, which none could stand against.

His dwellings were at Tara in County Meath, and at Moytura, in County Sligo. His holy day was Lughnasa, which fell on August 1st.

[taisestarr]

Lugh Samildánach’ aspects

Here starts the series of posts about Lugh Samildánach’ aspects. I took the epithets that Lugh has from different myths and associated it with the division of Ireland from the ‘Suidigud Tellaich Temra’ (The Settling of the Manor of Tara): 

knowledge in the west — Scál find (“light phantom”) battle in the north —  Lonnbéimnech/Lonnansclech ("fierce striker") prosperity in the east — Lámfada (“long hand”)   music in the south — Ildánach ("skilled in many arts")  kingship in the centre — Samildánach ("equally skilled in all the arts")

This is how I explain the difference between Ildánach and Samildánach. Ildánach as a potential of Samildánach, young Lugh starting his story. Sam means "together" according to this dictionary. It's all aspects together indeed.

Lugh always has all aspects, I separate them for better understanding in devoting and to follow Lugh’s way of self-improvement. Epithets are associated by their meaning and I’ve never seen such mapping before. I consider Lugh's story in myths as a development path. And that's the path anyone could follow with Lugh's support, as he does support improvement by his nature :)

Here are the parts of myths corresponding to the aspects:

Ildánach is a young Lugh that comes to Tara, telling and proving his skills in ‘The Second Battle of Moytura’. All that “Question me, I am…”. Lugh is called Lonnannsclech and Samildánach in that part of myth, I deliberately choose to name him Ildánach and will explain it later. This is an aspect of an artist and the patron of the arts, the favorite handsome young man that everyone’s loving. It’s similar to Apollo. 

Lugh Lonnbéimnech (or Lonnansclech) is a warrior and trickster from the battle itself in Battle of Moytura and in ‘The Fate of the Children of Turenn’. This aspect is rageful, similar to young Odin and other fierce tricksters, Loki in some way.

Lugh Lámfada is a high king after the victory in the Battle of Moytura. This aspect is related to a calendar myth strongly. He does a lot for nature and he is a balanced ruler. He manipulates the weather, the sun’s movement. He is responsible for the harvest and nature's well-being, Lughnasadh is his festival. This aspect was a tricky one to aggregate. I based my research on this great video by Fortress of Lugh — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrLUdqtyxZk and added some parts of myths and legends to it. This will be a long story :) 

Scál find is how I call Lugh’s manifestation after his death. He is the Scál in ‘Baile in Scáil’, and he is called Scál find in this ancient poem https://ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/kings02.html. Also, Find matches Lugh. To explore this aspect fully, I’ve added Lugh’s appearance in myths about Cú Chulainn: ‘Compert Con Culainn’ and a piece of ‘Táin Bó Cúailnge’, where Lugh comes to Cú Chulainn. This aspect of Lugh is very similar to Manannán.

Lugh Samildánach combines all these aspects, just like a high king in Tara must have skills of all 4 parts. And the young Lugh Ildánach demonstrates skills of every Ireland’s part when he comes to Tara: knowledge, battle, prosperity and music.

Lugh is a god of mastering and development. The way he appears in myths is also a path of self-development. There are keys for anyone in myth and I’ll explain all of them. This will be an interesting journey for several months.

[kellygreen0791]

The Morrigan after the Destruction of King Indech

My obsession with Irish mythology and specifically The Morrigan continues. This digital drawing made without AI and completely on my XPpen Graphics tablet in Photoshop is based on a line in The Second Battle of Moytura. If you want to read more about how and why I created this piece then check out my Patreon link in my bio and support my work. If you want to learn more about Irish Mythology, always learn from native Irish first. I can recommend: https://irishpaganschool.com/

[tuatha-de-danann-blog]

The Morrigan makes it rain fire and blood...

"It was then that Badb and Macha and Morrigan went to the Knoll of the Taking of the Hostages, and to the Hill of Summoning of Hosts at Tara, and sent forth magic showers of sorcery and compact clouds of mist and a furious rain of fire, with a downpour of red blood from the air on the warriors’ heads; and they allowed the Fir Bolg neither rest nor stay for three days and nights." -1st Battle of Moytura

[caraecethrae]

Chris Thompson: There's something about the Dagda . . . He's an earth-shaper, an earth-maker, and one of His strongest points seems to be the separation of dry land from water. It's there in His name, isn't it?

Isolde Carmody: 'It is, yeah. That part of His name where He is Athgen mBethai Brightere . . . the Brightere is "dry land." So He is the Regeneration of the World of Dry Land.'

Thompson: 'That would make Him the land-maker, the island rising out of the water, which makes Him kind of primal.'

Carmody: 'It does, rather. He's also Obthe Olaithbe, the Refuser of The Great Flood . . . So there's these images of holding back the tide or the sea, or even reclaiming land from bog, or. There is that, There's that sense that on a small island, you have to..'

Thompson: 'You need every bit of land.'

Carmody: 'Yeah, and you're constantly under threat from the sea.'

Carmody, I. & Thompson C. (Hosts). Episode 7: Reflections of Moytura – The Landscape of a Story [Audio podcast episode]. In Story Archaeology.

[mask131]

A fantasy read-list: A-2

Fantasy read-list

Part A: Ancient fantasy

2) Mythological fantasy (other mythologies)

Beyond the Greco-Roman mythology, which remained the main source and main influence over European literature for millenia, two other main groups of myths had a huge influence over the later “fantasy” genres.

# On one side, the mythology of Northern Europe (Nordic/Scandinavian, Germanic, but also other ones such as Finnish). When it comes to Norse mythology, two works are the first names that pop-up: the Eddas. Compilations of old legends and mythical poems, they form the main sources of Norse myths. The oldest of the two is the Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda, an ancient compilation of Norse myths and legends in verse. The second Edda is the Prose Edda, so called because it was written in prose by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson (alternate names being Snorri’s Edda or the Younger Edda). Sorri Sturluson also wrote numerous other works of great importance, such as Heimskringla (a historical saga depicting the dynasties of Norse kings, starting with tales intermingled with Norse mythology, before growing increasingly “historically-accurate”) or the Ynglinga saga - some also attributed to him the Egil’s Saga.

Other “tales of the North” include, of course, Beowulf, one of the oldest English poems of history, and the most famous version of the old Germanic legend of the hero Beowulf ; the Germanic Völsunga saga and Nibelungenlied ; as well as the Kalevala - which is a bit late, I’ll admit, it was compiled in the 19th century, so it is from a very different time than the other works listed here, but it is the most complete and influential attempt at recreating the old Finnish mythology. 

# On the other side, the Celtic mythologies. The two most famous are, of course, the Welsh and the Irish mythologies (the third main branch of Celtic religion, the Gaul mythology, was not recorded in texts). 

For Welsh mythology, there is one work to go: the Mabinogion. It is one of the most complete collections of Welsh folktales and legends, and the earliest surviving Welsh prose stories - though a late record feeling the influence of Christianization over the late. It is also one of the earliest appearances of the figure of King Arthur, making it part of the “Matter of Britain”, we’ll talk about later.

For Irish mythology, we have much, MUCH more texts, but hopefully they were already sorted in “series” forming the various “cycles” of Irish mythologies. In order we have: The Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Gods. The Book of Invasions, the Battle of Moytura, the Children of Lir and the Wooing of Etain. The Ulster Cycle, mostly told through the epic The Cattle-Raid of Cooley. The Fianna Cycle, or Fenian Cycle, whose most important work would be Tales of the Elders of Ireland. And finally the Kings’ Cycle, with the famous trilogy of The Madness of Suibhne, The Feast of Dun na nGed, and The Battle of Mag Rath. 

Another famous Irish tale not part of these old mythological cycles, but still defining the early/medieval Irish literature is The Voyage of Bran. 

# While the trio of Greco-Roman, Nordic (Norse/Germanic) and Celtic mythologies were the most influential over the “fantasy literature” as a we know it today, other mythologies should be talked about - due to them either having temporary influences over the history of “supernatural literature” (such as through specific “fashions”), having smaller influences over fantasy works, or being used today to renew the fantasy genre.

The Vedas form the oldest religious texts of Hinduism, and the oldest texts of Sanskrit literature. They are the four sacred books of the early Hinduist religion: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. What is very interesting is that the Vedas are tied to what is called the “Vedic Hinduism”, an ancient, old form of Hinduism, which was centered around a pantheon of deities not too dissimilar to the pantheons of the Greeks, Norse or Celts - the Vedas reflect the form of Hinduist religion and mythology that was still close to its ���Indo-European” mythology roots, a “cousin religion” to those of European Antiquity. Afterward, there was a big change in Hinduism, leading to the rise of a new form of the religion (usually called Puranic if my memory serves me well), this time focused on the famous trinity of deities we know today: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The classic epics and supernatural novels of China have been a source of inspiration for more Asian-influenced fantasy genres. Heavily influenced and shaped by the various mythologies and religions co-existing in China, they include: the Epic of Darkness, the Investiture of the Gods, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, or What the Master does not Speak of - as well as the most famous of them all, THE great epic of China, Journey to the West. If you want less fictionized, more ancient sources, of course the “Five Classics” of Confucianism should be talked about: Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, as well as Spring and Autumn Annals (though the Classic of Poetry and Book of Documents would be the more interesting one, as they contain more mythological texts and subtones - the Book of Changes is about a divination system, the Book of Rites about religious rites and courtly customs, and the Annals is a historical record). And, of course, let’s not forget to mention the “Four Great Folktales” of China: the Legend of the White Snake, the Butterfly Lovers, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, as well as Lady Meng Jiang.

# As for Japanese mythology, there are three main sources of information that form the main corpus of legends and stories of Japan. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), a chronicle in which numerous myths, legends and folktales are collected, and which is considered the oldest literary work of Japan ; the Nihon Shoki, which is one of the oldest chronicles of the history of Japan, and thus a mostly historical document, but which begins with the Japanese creation myths and several Japanese legends found or modified from the Kojiki ; and finally the Fudoki, which are a series of reports of the 8th century that collected the various oral traditions and local legends of each of the Japanese provinces.

# The Mesopotamian mythologies are another group not to be ignored, as they form the oldest piece of literature of history! The legends of Sumer, Akkadia and Babylon can be summed up in a handful of epics and sacred texts - the first of all epics!. You have the three “rival” creation myths: the Atra-Hasis epic for the Akkadians, the Eridu Genesis for the Sumerians and the Enuma Elish story for the Babylonians. And to these three creation myths you should had the two hero-epics of Mesopotamian literature: on one side the story of Adapa and the South Wind, on the other the one and only, most famous of all tales, the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

# And of course, this read-list must include... The Bible. Beyond the numerous mythologies of Antiquity with their polytheistic pantheons and complex set of legends, there is one book that is at the root of the European imagination and has influenced so deeply European culture it is intertwined with it... The Bible. European literary works are imbued with Judeo-Christianity, and as such fantasy works are also deeply reflective of Judeo-Christian themes, legends, motifs and characters. So you have on one side the Ancient Testament, the part of the Bible that the Christians have in common with the Jews (though in Judaism the Ancient Testament is called the “Torah”) - the most famous and influential parts of the Ancient Testament/Torah being the first two books, Genesis (the creation myth) and Exodus (the legend of Moses). And on the other side you have the exclusively Christian part of the Bible, the New Testament - with its two most influential parts being the Gospels (the four canonical records of the life of Jesus, the Christ) and The Book of Revelation (the one people tend to know by its flashier name... The Apocalypse). 

[mewtatedbunnies]

Happy Samhain everyone!!!

Today is the day that An Mórrígan offered Her help to An Dagda for the Second Battle of Moytura. He accepted and They laid together. Samhain is often referred to as Their wedding night, and I think of An Mórrígan bringing back two handfuls of their enemy’s king’s blood as Her wedding present to Him

I hope you all enjoy any festivities you’re participating in today!

And Happy Halloween for those who don’t celebrate Samhain 🎃🎃🎃

[decadentdigest]

«FIRST AND FOREMOST, IRISH.»

There is a podcast produced by the University of Oxford, through which I became aware of an article in the New Yorker

written by Stephen Fry in 1997, after he announced that he had taken on the role of Oscar in the film Wilde. Stephen Fry shared some humorous fan letters he had received in his mailbox. But one of them read: «Dear Mr. Fry, I hope you don't forget that the key, the only key, to Oscar is that he was and is, first and foremost, Irish.»

Not that it would ever be possible to forget Wilde's Irishness, only that one might underestimate it. Over the years, much emphasis has been placed on Wilde's cosmopolitanism, not least because his individualism emerged as early as adolescence, until he became, to all intents and purposes, a homme du monde. He himself uses this description in one of his letters: «Français de sympathie, je suis Irlandais de race, et les Anglais m'ont condamné à parler le langage de Shakespeare.» Especially when we talk about the public figure he managed to create, Wilde was indeed a celebrity: Oxford provided him access to the English cultural scene and society, and the English society provided him with opportunities, in England and beyond.

In this regard, I found it enlightening to read his biography written by Matthew Sturgis in 2018. In the first two chapters, it dwells on Oscar's childhood spent with his parents in rural Ireland among archaeological remains and Celtic legends.* The belief of Lady Wilde that the Greeks were related to the Celts stimulated young Oscar's enthusiasm for the aesthetics of Greek culture. This is a fundamental aspect of Wilde's upbringing, whose eccentric personality stemmed from nothing more than a sense of nationalism and fascination with Irish folklore.

*Sir William Wilde built and owned houses in Bray and Cong. The family used to spend their holidays at Moytura House, on the shores of Lough Corrib, in Cong, County Mayo. Near Cong there is Moytura Conga, the site of the legendary Battle of Moytura, narrated in the Cath Maige Tuired (or The Battle of Magh Tuireadh) - two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish mythology.

[fechin-fiachairecht]

"...and the three sorceresses, Badb, Macha and Morrigan. .. They fixed their pillars in the ground to prevent any one fleeing till the stones should flee."

~Cath Maige Tuired (The First Battle of Moytura)

— Mary Kate Teske

[taisestarr]

Lugh Ildánach’s qualities and devotional acts for this aspect

Summary of Lugh’s Ildánach characteristics. More details on my mapping of Lugh’s aspects to the myths are in this post.

Ildánach is a young Lugh that comes to Tara, telling and proving his skills in ‘The Second Battle of Moytura’. Although he is called Lonnannsclech and Samildánach in that part of myth, I deliberately called him Ildánach here. This will be helpful when I’ll explain which keys of self-improvement Lugh’s story provides to us. Distinguishing Lugh’s aspects is also useful for devotees to specify the area of work.

Lugh represents all parts of Ireland (see this post for details): he is an artisan, a musician, a wiseman and a warrior. He also represents all people of that time: Tuatha Dé Danann by his father, Fomorian by his mother, Fir Bolg by his foster mother and an outsider with the knowledge of reincarnation by his foster father Manannán (I separate Manannán from Tuatha Dé Danann and explain it later). He represents everything and knows everything, cross functional and many-sided.

Lugh Ildánach’s qualities from this post:  

He is an inventor of new games and rules, creative and ingenious. He can see into any situation from different points of view as a master of many skills. He is confident and persistent, he knows himself very well. Lugh Ildánach is also very handsome as several myths tell. I associate all fine arts and aesthetics with him.

Of course, Samildánach as a bigger aspect has all these qualities, but he has much more — and I’ll show it with the next aspects. I distinguish aspects by the parts of Ireland — that’s a new system that I’ve never seen before. Lugh always has skills in all the parts, but every aspect has one distinct direction. I associate Lugh Ildánach with the Music part: 

Music: waterfalls, fairs, nobles, reavers, knowledge, subtlety, musicianship, melody, minstrelsy, wisdom, honour, music, learning, teaching, warriorship, fidchell playing, vehemence, fierceness, poetical art, advocacy, modesty, code, retinue, fertility.

Although Lugh Ildánach is a warrior and a future ruler, I associate this aspect mostly with arts (especially music), self-improvement and self-knowledge. That provides:

Devotional acts for Lugh Ildánach

In my experience, the best devotional acts for Lugh are actions. He is a god of skills and self-development. These 4 directions cover all parts of Ireland that Lugh represents:  

Prosperity — any craft and creation, even if it’s a small improvement. Cooking too! 

Music — any art, especially music (harp music particularly). Listening to Irish music is also good.

Knowledge — any learning and studying, especially of Irish culture.

Battle — martial arts and any workout.

That’s a lot of “any” — and that’s Lugh’s nature! Master of many skills. What else does the myth tells:

exploring your nature to know yourself — any self-awareness methods that fit you. 

assert yourself and be assertive generally. 

be creative, train out-of-the-box thinking, try to look at any situation from different angles.

play board games — that’s what fidchell tells! Especially intellectual ones like chess. I prefer social games with associations or concealed roles — this way you may also be creative and assertive. Strategic games are great too. 

In next post I'll cover personal experience of devotees working with Lugh (including mine).

[oldcrowshag]

It was then that Badb and Macha and Morrigan went to the Knoll of the Taking of the Hostages, and to the Hill of Summoning of Hosts at Tara, and sent forth magic showers of sorcery and compact clouds of mist and a furious rain of fire, with a downpour of red blood from the air on the warriors’ heads; and they allowed the Fir Bolg neither rest nor stay for three days and nights.

The First Battle of Moytura

[spookyseasonfacts]

There is a legend called the Second Battle of Moytura that takes place around the time of Samhain. (Samhain is an ancient festival that influenced the development of Halloween.) It's worth reading just for the graphic sex scene that turns the tide of the battle (line 93). Just like with modern Halloween, two major symbols are superheros and princesses.

[caraecethrae]

Isolde Carmody: 'It's a negotiated space between nature and culture. You can only have a garden if you use natural cycles, but you still have to keep it out, you have to weed..'

Chris Thompson: 'It's interesting, the Christian eschatological, they cannot develop as a people until they leave the garden, you must partake in the tree of knowledge before you can emerge as a people. But then they are thrown out of the garden, you can't return to that state.

Whereas this people, what you have here is, yes you return, but you must constantly balance and work with it, in and out of balance, just like walking. You can't walk until you take a controlled stumble. Until you lose your balance, you can't retain your balance.'

Carmody: 'If you're completely balanced all the time, you can't go anywhere.'

Carmody, I. & Thompson C. (Hosts). Episode 7: Reflections of Moytura – The Landscape of a Story [Audio podcast episode]. In Story Archaeology. https://storyarchaeology.com/the-battle-of-moytura-07-reflections-of-moytura-the-landscape-of-a-story-part-2/

[forfeda-project]

AIRGETLÁM

In the First Battle of Moytura, king Nuada of the Tuatha Dé has his shield-arm severed by the Firbolg champion Sreng, rendering him unfit to rule, as the king could not be blemished. Eochu Bres, son of Elatha, took Nuada's place as king with disasterous consequences for the Tuatha Dé, and resulted in the circumstances that would lead to the better-known Second Battle of Moytura, fought against Bres and his Fomorian army.

To make Nuada whole again, Dian Cecht the physician and Creidne the brazier crafted a maginificent arm of silver that moved and functioned as well as any arm of flesh. Nuada was known from that point on as Airgetlám, "Silver-Hand."

This design features Nuada's eponymous silver hand over a backdrop of smoking bulrushes; a reference to both an alternate version of the story where Dian Cecht's son Miach is able to reattach Nuada's arm using "white wisps of black bulrushes" blackened in fire, and an alleged old Irish cure for severed limbs.

[under-the-lake]

Samhain Part 2 - Celtic Mythology: What Happened Then?

A lot of stories are connected with Samhain. Many legends tell about events that happened at or around that time. Since Samhain was a time to settle debts, conflicts and all that sort of things, it sounds quite natural that some of the key events of the Celtic world took place at that time. Often they are stories about gods or mythical folks. Here are two stories, probably the most well known, and a good first insight into Celtic myths. Beware if you are not familiar with the characters, you might end up like I did at the beginning of my research, learning a completely new language.

And be warned, those two stories are compilations of many sources, so the stories you might be familiar with may differ slightly.

Illustration: Balor’s grave - http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/moytura/moytura2.html

Dramatis Personae

It is never clear, wherever you look, what the genealogy of those people are, unless clearly stated in tales. Therefore I will not try and suggest anything out of those lines.

Warning: I haven't put any illustrations here, because these are stories and you should make your own pictures.

Aillén Mag Midgna - called ‘the burner’, harassed Tara every Samhain until Fionn Mac Cumhaill killed him.

Balor of the Evil Eye - Fomorian king of the Hebrides, his eyelid must be lifted by four men to open, and when so, Balor’s gaze is deadly and can reduce an army to impotence. Granddad of Lug Lámfhota and killed by him in the second Battle of Mag Tuired.

Bres - son of Elatha of the Fomorie and Ériu of the Túatha Dé. Hateful king of the Túatha Dé, replaced Nuadu after the latter had his hand cut. His ungenerous and unkingly rule resulted in his being deposed as king, and his brooding over battle to regain his kingdom, which in turn resulted in the second Battle of Mag Tuired.

Elatha mac Delbaíth - Fomorian king, father of Bres.

Ériu - goddess of Ireland (Éire), mother of Bres. Ériu is one of the Túatha Dé.

Fionn Mac Cumhaill - main hero of the Fenian Cycle, liberator of Tara against Aillén Mac Midgna, one of the aos sídhe.

Lug Lámfhota - son of Eithne daughter of Balor of the Evil Eye, the Fomorian king of the Hebrides, and of Cian son of Dian Cécht, the Túatha Dé god of healing. Lug is therefore the grandson of Balor, and this is important. Lug is also called Lug Samildánach, meaning ‘master of all the arts’, because he indeed masters them all, as will come in handy when he wants to enter Tara.

Nuadu (Nuadu Airgetlám) - king of the Túatha Dé, who loses his hand during the first battle of Mag Tuired and is replaced by Bres, son of Elatha of the Fomoire.

Ogma - orator and warrior. One of the three main champions of the Túatha Dé. The Dagda’s brother.

The aos sídhe - barrow dwellers, people of the sídh, i.e. fairies. Sídh are funeral barrows that open at Samhain and let people walk from one world to the other.

The Dagda - the ‘good god’, leader of the Tátha Dé Danann. Ogma’s brother.

The Fir Bolg - aka the Men (fir) of Builgh, are the fourth of a series of six invaders of early Ireland according to Lebor Gabála Érenn. They were replaced by the Túatha Dé.

The Fomorie - Malevolent deities of early Ireland, constantly raiding and tricking against the inhabitants of Ireland, according to Lebor Gabála Érenn.

The Morrigan - the Irish goddess of war fury.

The Túatha Dé Danann - people of immortals, who precede the mortals in the pseudo-history of Ireland, Lebor Gabála Érenn. Their main foe are the Fomorie.

The Second (and final) Battle of Mag Tuired

The Second Battle of Mag Tuired (various spellings according to language) is said to have happened during Samhain. It is the final battle between the ‘Good god’ the Dagda, Lug, and their spiritual folk the Túatha Dé Danann, and the Fomoire. It is actually one of two texts that recount how the Túatha Dé Danann settled in Ireland and how they were taught agricultural basics by the Fomoire. It is a story of intercourse between men and women of both cultures, producing heroes who choose loyalties and fight each other. A story of oppression and freedom, of magic and war.

The Túatha Dé Danann had come to Ireland from the north, challenged the local people called the Fir Bolg (men of Builg), into either giving them Ireland or fighting. The Fir Bolg, who had been there only 37 years, chose to fight, and the Túatha Dé king Nuadu had his hand cut. The Túatha Dé were still winning, and a truce was called, but the Fir Bolg still chose to fight, and after a while they conceded victory, were allowed to keep a part of Ireland for themselves, and the Túatha Dé Danann settled in. That was the first battle of Mag Tuired.

The Túatha Dé Danann leader Nuadu couldn’t be their king anymore because of a rule set by the goddess Brigid, that no one can be king if their limbs are not complete. So another man, Bres, was chosen as king. Bres was the offspring of a union between a Túatha Dé Danann woman called Ériu and a Fomorian king called Elatha. The Fomorian are the malevolent people, the ones who raid and never settle. Bres, considering himself more loyal to the Fomorie, oppressed his fellow Túatha Dé Danann folk. He set the Dagda to build him a fort and Ogma to fetch wood! Probably even worse, king Bres was not generous. Eventually, the Túatha Dé rebelled, deposed Bres as king, and restored the no-longer crippled Nuadu. The latter had had a new hand made of silver for him by Dian Cecht, the god of physicians (not the only silver hand we know of, is it? Rings a Wormtail bell, Potterheads?).

Bres went away but started plotting for his restoration. He tried to get his fellow Fomorians to help, but most of them, including his parents, agreed he acted foolishly and selfishly. However, Balor of the Evil Eye, king of the Hebrides, agreed to support him. Balor had been told he would be slain by a grandson, but apparently he didn’t think much of this, because he was a danger himself: Balor couldn’t open his eye unless four men lifted his eyelid, but once it was open, any army looking at the eye would be rendered powerless. His look was lethal. Surely such an ally would grant Bres an easy victory, should he consider battle against the Túatha Dé Danann?

Meanwhile, Nuadu was reigning happily at Tara over a now content people, and though the thought of a Fomorian raid nagged him from time to time, he didn't really bother. One day, a foreigner arrived at the gates of Tara with his suite of warriors. He was handsome and looked noble. The tradition was not to let anyone join the household who could not bring a new talent to Tara. The ritual was carried on with the newcomer, who introduced himself to the gatekeepers Camel and Gamel as Lug Lonnansclech, son of Cían son of Dían Cécht, and of Ethne daughter of Balor (see picture, credit British Museum, London). Lug listed his talents, which were smith, champion, harpist, warrior, poet and historian, sorcerer, physician, cupbearer and brazier. Each one was individually countered by the answer ‘We do not need one. We have a [insert talent] already, Luchta mac Lúachada.’ In the end, Lug asks the gatekeeper to ask the king if he has one man who possesses all these arts. The doorkeeper goes to king Nuadu and announces a warrior named Samildánach, meaning ‘master of all arts’, who has come to help Nuadu’s people. Lug then proves his talents by beating all competitors set to confront him. Nuadu recognises Lug’s claim and welcomes him to Tara, eventually stepping down from the throne in Lug’s favour. Lug rules for thirteen years, in peace. However, news from the Fomorie start to trigger people into action, and Lug retires to a secret place with four other leaders to discuss and plan battle. They stay there for three years (or one, depending on sources). The druids and sorcerers of Ireland, the warriors and mountains and all craftsmen of Tara were asked what they would do to ensure the Túatha Dé a victory over the Fomorie.

A week before Samhain, the Dagda went to his house in the north, because he had arranged to meet with a woman there. They united, and she told him she’d kill the king of the Fomorie with the help of the Túatha Dé. And so was done. And the woman was the Morrigan.

Then Lug sent the Dagda over to the Fomorian camp to spy, ask for a truce, and delay the enemy until the Túatha Dé are ready. However, when the Dagda arrives there, the Fomorians humiliate him by making him eat so much porridge and meat he cannot walk. All is not lost though, because on his way back, the Dagda meets Domnu, the Fomorian goddess, who promises to help the Túatha Dé against her own folks.

The Túatha Dé were ready for battle at Samhain. As the battle begins, slaughter follows and soon Mag Tuired is a pool of blood. The Túatha Dé are favoured by all the skills the Tara people possess: warriors are healed by Dian Cécht, Lug comes to battle as a sorcerer to aid his armies. Balor of the Evil Eye, the Fomorian, is ready to strike. He kills Nuadu. However, Lug is ready for the encounter, but he knows he cannot come face to face with his grandad, because of the eye. So he comes up with a plan to strike from afar. He throws a slingstone at Balor’s eye, and the stone goes through it, crashes through the back of Balor’s skull, killing twenty-seven Fomorians on the way. This was the end of the Fomorian resistance. They were all driven away, never to return to Ireland. Bres - remember him? The ungenerous king who wanted revenge and went to Balor for that? - well, Bres, who had sworn to decapitate Lug, cannot honour his promise because he is captured. After some negotiations in which Bres promises impossible things first and is rebuked, Bres is allowed to live so that he can advise farmers about ploughing, sowing and reaping.

And that was a short version of the story of the second battle of Mag Tuired, which happened at Samhain, between the Túatha Dé Danann and their Fomorian enemy, and from which the most important gain was learnings to make agriculture and farming better.

The history of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Aillén Mac Midgna

The aos sídhe, who lived in the barrows called sídh (pronounce ‘shee’), have been believed to be fairies, or Túatha Dé Dannan who had been driven underground, and sometimes even as the pre-Celtic inhabitants of Ireland. They were known to be able to walk freely between their barrows and the world of the living during the period of Samhain. Some say one could actually see the fires lit within the sídh during that time. During the rest of the time, farmers avoided cattle grazing on the sídh and didn’t walk paths leading to and from them.

Fionn mac Cumhaill, apart from being credited for creating the Isle of Man (where he’s known as Finn McCooil) by tearing a huge bit of earth from the province of Ulster and tossing it into the Irish Sea, and being part of a huge lot of tales in Irish folklore (the Fenian Cycle), has a part to play in a tale involving one of the aos sí at Samhain. It is an important tale because it is an important deed Fionn did that night.

It is said that Tara was destroyed yearly during twenty-three years (some sources say nine) at Samhain by one of the Túatha Dé Danann, a fairy musician who lived in Sídh Finnachad, up north. He was called Aillén Mac Midgna, but also went by the nickname ‘the burner’. And for a good reason. Each Samhain, Aillén Mac Midgna came to Tara and played his timpán. It’s a kind of small drum, according to certain sources (MacKillop, 2006) or a precursor of the Celtic harp according to most online sources. Whatever the real form of the instrument, Aillén would come and play sweet music. However, his real intentions were mean. His music rendered listeners sleepy. Once the residents of Tara were asleep, Aillén would puke flaming rocks onto the palace, which would burn to the ground. He would burn it for twenty-three years, and for twenty three years the people of Tara would rebuild it. Fionn suggested he helps Tara get rid of Aillén, in exchange of which service he would be reinstated head of a restored Clan Baíscne (that is yet another story, the one of the fall of Clan Baíscne, but not one for today - any good book on Irish myths will give it to you though). All the nobles, poets and druids of Tara agree with the arrangement. So now, how does Fionn make himself immune to the power of Aillén’s music? Well he owns a spear, which point is so venomous it forbids sleep. Fionn breathes the poison of his own sword, thus making himself immune to the Sleeping Power of music. He is ready. When Aillén, having put the rest of the Tara people to sleep, blurts out his flame, Fionn deflects it with his own cloak, which drives the fire downwards onto the earth, where it creates a huge crater. Like all tyrants, Aillén is a weak thing. He flees north, towards his sídh, once he sees his powers not only challenged but thwarted. Aillén is not fast enough, though. Fionn is at his heels, and soon catches up and impales Aillén on his spear. Fionn chops Aillén’s head off, brings it back to Tara, and displays it on a spike as proof of his victory. The people of Tara keep their promise to Fionn.

And these are two important stories connected with Irish mythology and Samhain. Hope you enjoyed! I did doing the research and learning a lot!

Sources

Online Sources:

http://www.carrowkeel.com/index.html

Text of the Second Battle of Mag Tuired: https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T300010/index.html

Bookses and Papers

Farrar, J., Farrar, S., & Bone, G. (2001). The Complete Dictionary of European Gods and Goddesses. Capall Bann Publishing, Berks, UK.

Harari, Y. N. (2014). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Random House.

MacKillop, J. (2006). Myths and Legends of the Celts. Penguin UK.

Meuleau, M. (2004). Les Celtes en Europe. Ed. Ouest-France.

Rees, A., & Rees, B. (1991). Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales. 1961. Reprint.