Lugh
Lugh | |
---|---|
God of Justice, war, kingship, craftsmen, skills, trade and harvests. | |
Member of the Cúchulainn (mortal) | |
Equivalents | |
Roman equivalent | Mercury |
Lugh or Lug (Old Irish:
In mythology, Lugh is the son of Cian and Ethniu (or Ethliu). He is the maternal grandson of the Fomorian tyrant Balor, whom Lugh kills in the Battle of Mag Tuired. Lugh's son is the hero Cú Chulainn, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lugh.
Lugh has several magical possessions. He wields an unstoppable fiery spear, a sling stone, and owns a hound named Failinis. He is said to have invented fidchell, ball games, and horse racing.[4]
He corresponds to the pan-
Name
Etymology
The meaning of Lugh's name is still a matter of debate. Some scholars propose that it derives from a suggested
Epithets
- Lámfada ([ˈl̪ˠaːβˠ ad̪ˠə] ("Long Hand") - possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler[3]
- Ildánach ("skilled in many arts")
- Samildánach ("equally skilled in all the arts")[11]
- Lonnansclech[12]
- Lonnbéimnech ("fierce striker")
- Macnia ("youthful warrior/hero")[3]
- Conmac ("hound-son")[13]
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 also as a spear-wielding horseman.[14]
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.[15]
Elsewhere Lugh is described as a tall young man with bright red cheeks, white sides, a bronze-coloured face and blood-coloured hair.[16]
Finally, 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.[17]
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.[18]
Mythology
Birth
Lugh's father is
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. 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 Ethniu. 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.[23]
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.
Lugh joins the Tuatha Dé Danann
As a young man Lugh travels to
Sons of Tuireann
Battle of Magh Tuireadh
Using the magic artefacts the sons of Tuireann have gathered, Lugh leads the Tuatha Dé Danann in the
Later life and death
Lugh instituted an event similar to the
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.[35]
Lugh is said to have invented the board game fidchell.[36]
One of his wives, Buach, had an affair with Cermait, son of the Dagda.[37] Lugh killed him in revenge, but Cermait's sons, Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Gréine, killed Lugh in return, spearing him through the foot then drowning him in Loch Lugborta in County Westmeath[38] 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.[37]
In other cycles and traditions
- In 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
- The , claimed descent from him.
- Ainle is listed as the son of Lug Longhand (here called "Leo lam-fota")[40] and is killed by Curnan the Blacklegged in the Rennes Dinsenchas.[41] 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.[40]
- 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).[3] He is the maternal grandson of the Fomorian tyrant Balor, whom Lugh kills in the Battle of Mag Tuired. Lugh's son is the hero Cú Chulainn, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lugh.[42][43]
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).[44] Nás was buried at Naas, County Kildare, which is said to named after her. Lugh had a son, Ibic "of the horses", by Nás.[45] 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 Scuabtuinne / Sguaba Tuinne ("Wave-Sweeper"),[46] his armour and helmet.
Lugh's spear
Lugh's spear (sleg), according to the text of
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[49] which adds that the incantation "Ibar (Yew)" made the cast always hit its mark, and "Athibar (Re-Yew)" caused the spear to return.[50]
In a full narrative version called [A]oidhe Chloinne Tuireann (The Fate of the Children of Tuireann),[51] from copies no earlier than the 17th century,[52] Lugh demands the spear named Ar-éadbair or Areadbhair (Early Modern Irish: Aꞃéadḃaiꞃ) which belonged to Pisear, king of Persia. Areadbhair's 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"[53] 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),[54] 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 (H 3. 17), col. 723, discussed in the Lúin page).[55]
Lugh's projectile weapon, whether a dart or missile, was envisioned to be symbolic of lightning-weapon.[56]
Lugh's sling rod, named "Lugh's Chain", was the rainbow and the Milky Way, according to popular writer Charles Squire.[57] 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.[57] 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.[57]
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.[58] The narrative Cath Maige Tured, preserved in a unique 16th-century copy, words it slightly different saying that Lugh used the sling-stone[c] to destroy the evil eye of Balor of the Piercing Eye (Bolur Birugderc).[59]
The ammunition that Lugh used was not just a stone, but a tathlum the first quatrain of which is as follows:
Táthlum tromm thenntide tenn |
A tathlum, heavy, fiery, firm, |
—Meyer (1905) ed.[63] | —O'Curry (1873) tr.[61] |
The poem goes on to describe the composition of this tathlum, as being formed from the bloods collected from toads, bears, lions, vipers and the neck-base[64] of Osmuinn,[d] mixed with the sands of the Armorian Sea and the Red Sea.[61]
Fragarach
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
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).[46]
In the
Lugh's hound
Failinis was the name of the whelp of the King of Ioruaidhe that Lugh demanded as éiric (a forfeit) in the
Comparative mythology
Lugh corresponds to the pan-
St. Mologa has been theorized to be a Christian continuation of the god Lugh.[70]
Toponymy
The County of Louth in
The modern city of Lyon was founded as Colonia Copia Felix Munatia in 43 BC, but by the end of the first century AD had come to be 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
- Irish mythology in popular culture: Lugh
- Perseus, whose birth is similar to that of Lugh's
- Táin Bó Flidhais
- Triglav (mythology)
- Triple deity
Explanatory notes
- ^ e.g. According to the Rennes Dindsenchas §14, Cú killed Cethen, and there once was a well-known phrase that "Thou hast acted for me Cú and Cethen".[26]
- ^ However, Vernam Hull edited a "Four Jewels" text which swaps weapons between owners in the attached verse portion, making it Lug's sword that came from Gorias. Something similar happens in the verse invoked in Geoffrey Keating's History of Ireland, and in Comyn ed. tr., Lugh's sword is from Gorias, Lugh's spear is from Findias (Lugh becomes owner of both).
- Old Irish: liic talma § 133, i.e. lía "stone" of the 'tailm "sling".
- ^ O'Curry italicizes it as a proper name. Meyer edits the text as ós muin, but Edward J. Gwynn sheds no light as to meaning since he skips over this ingredient while listing up all the other components derived from animals.[62]
- ^ The four verses excerpted by O'Curry do not include the hound's name, but the text actually does mention Failinis, the name of the hound in the full texts edited by Stokes and by Stern.
References
- Citations
- ^ a b Olmsted, Garrett. The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans. University of Innsbruck, 1994. p.117
- ^ a b Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2004. pp.296-297
- ^ a b c d Koch, John T. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2006. p.1200
- ^ a b c d e Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. pp.273-276
- ^ Brophy, Michael (1886). Sketches of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Burns and Oates. pp. 146, 158.
- ISBN 978-1-296-02343-0.
- ^ Matasović, Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 9, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009, p. 247.
- ^ Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §134, ed. CMT §134; Stokes (1891), pp. 100–101
- ^ Peter Schrijver, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Rodopi, 1995, pp. 348-348
- ^ See, however, Matasović, Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 9, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009, p. 248: "*Lugu … perhaps originally 'the shining one'".
- ^ a b Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §53–83, ed. CMT §53–83; Stokes (1891), pp. 74–83
- ^ Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §74, ed. CMT §55; Stokes (1891), pp. 74–75
- ^ MacNeill, Eoin. Duanaire Finn: The book of the Lays of Fionn. Irish Texts Society, 1953. p.205
- ^ Baile in Scáil: The Phantom's Frenzy, Dillon (1946), pp. 11–14;text via Celtic Literature Collective, accessed 5 August 2019
- ^ O'Rahilly, Cecile. "Táin Bó Cúalnge Recension 1". Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College, Cork. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ Ó Dálaigh, Gofraidh Fionn. "Ar an doirseoir ris an deaghlaoch". suburbanbanshee.net. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ The Fate of the Children of Tuireann, O'Curry (1863), pp. 176–177
- ^ Oide Cloinne Tuireann. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son. 1901. p. 67. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §8, ed. CMT §8; Stokes (1891), pp. 58–59
- ^ Lebor Gabála Érenn §59
- ^ Rennes Dinnsenchas, #99 "Tailtiu", Stokes (1895), pp. 50–51
- ^ Skene, William Forbes (1890). Celtic Scotland: Land and people. Edinburgh, Scotland. p. 413.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Augusta, Lady Gregory, Gods and Fighting Men, 1094, pp. 27–29
- ^ Macalister (1941) ed. tr. Lebor Gabála Érenn,¶314
- ^ Cf. O'Curry (1863), pp. 170–171, n 161, n162
- ^ Rennes Dinnsenchas, §14, #66 "Áth Luain" Stokes (1894), pp. 285–286, 464–466
- ^ Vernam Hull (ed. & Trans.), "Aided Meidbe: The Violent Death of Medb", Speculum v.13 issue 1. (Jan. 1938), pp. 52–61
- ^ James MacKillop, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 273
- ^ "Deirdre, or the Exile of the sons of Usnech" (ed. & trans. unknown)
- ^ MacKillop 1998, pp. 102–104, 272–273
- ^ "Lugh". bardmythologies.com. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ "The Fate of the Children of Tuirenn", Cross & Slover (1936), pp. 49–81
- ^ Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §120, ed. CMT §120; Stokes (1891), pp. 92–93
- ^ Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §74, ed. CMT §74; Stokes (1891), pp. 80–111
- ^ Gwynn (1913), pp. 216–223, The Metrical Dindshenchas Part III. Poem 40: Carn Huí Néit
- ^ "John gives Celtic board game a new lease of life". Independent.ie. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- ^ a b Bergin, Osborn (1927), Roger Sherman Loomis (ed.), "How the Dagda Got His Magic Staff", Medieval studies in memory of Gertrude Schoepperle Loomis, H. Champion, p. 399 e-text via www.maryjones.us
- ^ Gwynn (1924), pp. 278–291, The Metrical Dindshenchas Part IV. Poem 86:"Loch Lugborta"
- ^ "Cnú Deireóil", Mackillop (1998) ed., Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.
- ^ a b Gwynn (1924), pp. 9–11, The Metrical Dindshenchas Part IV. Poem/Story 3:"Druim Cliab", and notes, p. 377
- ^ Rennes Dinnsenchas, #82 "Druim Cliab", Stokes (1895), pp. 32–33
- ^ Evans-Wentz, Walter (1911). The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, p.369
- ^ Hull, Eleanor (1898). The Cuchullin Saga in Irish Literature.
- ^ Gwynn (1913), pp. 40–47 The Metrical Dindshenchas, Part 3. Poem 4: Cnogba
- ^ Gwynn (1913), pp. 48–53 The Metrical Dindshenchas, Part 3. Poem 5: Nás
- ^ a b O'Curry (1863) tr., p. 193, 192n "Scuabtuinné, that is, the Besom, or Sweeper of the Waves"
- ^ Squire, Charles (n.d.), "Chapter 5: The Gods of the Gaels", Celtic Myth And Legend Poetry And Romance, London: Gresham Publishing Company, p. 62. Originally published under the title The Mythology of the British Islands, London: Blackie and Son, 1905. Reprinted as Celtic Myth And Legend Poetry And Romance, sans date.
- ^ Hall, Vernam (1930) ed. tr., "The four jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann", Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 18: 73–89. "No battle was maintained against the spear of Lug or against him who had it in his hand,"
- ^ a b Macalister (1941) ed. tr. Lebor Gabála Érenn, ¶305, ¶315, ¶357.
- ^ Macalister (1941) ed. tr. Lebor Gabála Érenn, ¶319, Poem LXV, pp. 282–291
- ^ O'Curry (1863), pp. 157–240, O'Duffy (1888), Cross & Slover (1936), pp. 49–81
- JSTOR 20521320
- ^ Joyce, P. W. (Patrick Weston), 1827–1914, tr. "The Fate of the Children of Turenn; or, The Quest for the Eric-Fine", Old Celtic Romances (3rd ed., 1907) (reprint 1920)
- ^ The Fate of the Children of Tuireann, O'Curry (1863), pp. 204–205
- Expulsion of the Déssi, Kuno Meyer, Anecdota, I, pp. 15–24.
- ^ O'Rahilly, T. F. Early Irish History and Mythology (1946), pp. 60–65
- ^ a b c Squire (n.d.), p. 62.
- ^ op. cit. ¶312, ¶312, ¶364
- ^ Gray (1982) tr., The Second Battle of Moytura §133, ed. CMT §133; Stokes (1891), pp. 100–101
- ^ eDIL s.v. táthluib
- ^ a b c O'Curry, Eugene (1873). "Lecture XII Sling-Stones of composition manufacture". On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish. Vol. 2. Williams and Norgate. p. 252.
- ^ JSTOR 23037229.
- ^ Meyer, Kuno, ed. (1905), "Von dem Schleuderstein Tathlum", Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, 5: 504
- ^ eDIL s.v. méide 'the lower part of the neck at its union with the trunk '
- ^ Macalister ed., ¶319 (loc. cit.)
- ^ Stern, L. Chr. ed., tr. (into German), in: "Eine ossianische Ballade aus dem XII. Jahrhundert", Festschrift Whitley Stokes zum siebzigsten Geburtstage, 1900, pp. 7–12, edited from LL 207b
- ^ Whitley Stokes, Book of Lismore, fo. 153 b. recension of the ballad in the Notice on Festschrift above, in: Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, 3, p. 432–
- ^ O'Curry, Eugene (1862), ed. tr. "Tri Thruaighe na Scéalaigheachta (Three Sorrows of Storytelling)" The Atlantis 3: 396–7.
- ^ Ward, Alan (2011). The Myths of the Gods: Structures in Irish Mythology. p.13
- ^ a b c d Borlase, William Copeland (1897). The Dolmens of Ireland. Indiana University: Chapman and Hall. pp. 796, 802, 806, 813.
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6:17
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