Editing Lugh (section)

==Possessions==
Lugh possessed a number of magical items, retrieved by the sons of Tuirill Piccreo in Middle Irish redactions of the [[Lebor Gabála Érenn|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 mac Lir|Manannán]] as the sword [[Fragarach]], the horse [[Enbarr]] (Aonbarr), the boat {{lang|ga|Scuabtuinne}} / {{lang|ga|Sguaba Tuinne}} ("Wave-Sweeper"),<ref name=ocurry-oct-scuabatuinne>{{harvp|O'Curry|1863}} tr., p. 193, 192n "Scuabtuinné, that is, the Besom, or Sweeper of the Waves"</ref> his armour and helmet.

===Lugh's spear===
{{see also|Lúin of Celtchar}}
Lugh's spear ({{lang|ga|sleg}}), according to the text of [[The four jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann|The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann]], was said to be impossible to overcome,<ref>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,"</ref> taken to Ireland from [[Gorias]] (or Findias).<ref name=lge-para305&315&357/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|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).}}

Lugh obtained the Spear of Assal ({{langx|ga|links=no|Gae Assail}}) as fine ({{lang|ga|éric}}) imposed on the children of Tuirill Piccreo (or Biccreo), according to the short account in {{lang|ga|Lebor Gabála Érenn}}<ref name=lge-para305&315&357/> which adds that the incantation "Ibar ([[Taxus baccata|Yew]])" made the cast always hit its mark, and "Athibar (Re-Yew)" caused the spear to return.<ref name=lge-para319&poemLXV/>

In a full narrative version called {{lang|ga|[A]oidhe Chloinne Tuireann}} (The Fate of the Children of Tuireann),<ref>{{harvp|O'Curry|1863|pp=157–240}}, {{harvp|O'Duffy|1888}}, {{harvp|Cross|Slover|1936|pp=49–81}}</ref> from copies no earlier than the 17th century,<ref name=bruford/> Lugh demands the spear named ''Ar-éadbair'' or ''Areadbhair'' ([[Early Modern Irish]]: {{lang|ga|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"<ref>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''  [https://archive.org/details/oldcelticromance00joyciala/ (3rd ed., 1907) (reprint 1920)]</ref> in translation.

There is yet another name that Lugh's spear goes by: "A [yew] tree, the finest of the wood" (Early Modern Irish: {{lang|ga|eó bo háille d'ḟíoḋḃaiḃ}}),<ref>''The Fate of the Children of Tuireann'', {{harvp|O'Curry|1863|pp=204–205}}</ref> occurring in an inserted verse within ''The Fate of the Children of Tuireann''. "The famous yew of the wood" ({{lang|ga|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 of Celtchar|Lúin]] page).<ref>This tract was recapped by Hennessy (1889), in his {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=OooNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR14 |2=introduction, p. xiv}}, to his edition of ''[[Mesca Ulad]]''. The tract occurs in the manuscript of TCD MS 1336 (H 3. 17) immediately after the ''h'' text of the [[Expulsion of the Déisi|Expulsion of the Déssi]], Kuno Meyer, ''Anecdota'', I, pp. 15–24.</ref>

Lugh's projectile weapon, whether a dart or missile, was envisioned to be symbolic of lightning-weapon.<ref>[[T. F. O'Rahilly|O'Rahilly, T. F.]] ''Early Irish History and Mythology'' (1946), pp. 60–65</ref>

Lugh's sling rod, named "Lugh's Chain", was the rainbow and the Milky Way, according to popular writer Charles Squire.{{sfnp|Squire|1905|p=62}} 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.{{sfnp|Squire|1905|p=62}} 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.{{sfnp|Squire|1905|p=62}}

===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 [[Cath Maige Tuired|Battle of Magh Tuired]].<ref>''op. cit.'' ¶312, ¶312, ¶364</ref> The narrative {{lang|ga|Cath Maige Tured}}, preserved in a unique 16th-century copy, words it slightly different saying that Lugh used the sling-stone{{efn|{{langx|sga|liic talma}} § 133, i.e. {{lang|ga|lía}} "stone" of the '{{lang|ga|tailm}} "sling".}} to destroy the evil eye of Balor of the Piercing Eye (Bolur Birugderc).<ref name=cmt-133/>

The ammunition that Lugh used was not just a stone, but a ''tathlum''<ref>eDIL s.v. [http://www.dil.ie/40228 táthluib] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303082341/http://www.dil.ie/40228 |date=3 March 2020 }}</ref> according to a certain poem in Egerton MS. 1782 ([[olim]] W.  Monck Mason MS.),<ref name=ocurry-manners2-p252/><ref name=gwynn-tathlum/> the first quatrain of which is as follows:
{{Verse translation
 | lang       = ga
 | italicsoff = 
 | rtl1       = 
 | Táthlum tromm thenntide tenn
   robūi ag Tūath Dé Danann,
   hī robriss súil Balair búain
   tall ar toghail in tromshlúaigh 
 | A tathlum, heavy, fiery, firm,
   Which the Tuatha Dé Danann had with them,
   It was that broke the fierce Balor's eye,
   Of old, in the battle of the great armies.
 | attr1      =Meyer (1905) ed.<ref>{{citation |editor-last=Meyer |editor-first=Kuno |editor-link=Kuno Meyer |title=Von dem Schleuderstein Tathlum<!--: aus Egerton 1782, fo. 41 a1. übersetzt von O'Curry, ''Manners and Customs'' II, S. 252--> |journal=Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie |volume=5 |year=1905 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s7Qw1tGXmCUC&pg=PA504 |page=504 |access-date=3 March 2020 |archive-date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916221128/https://books.google.com/books?id=s7Qw1tGXmCUC&pg=PA504#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
 | attr2      =O'Curry (1873) tr.<ref name=ocurry-manners2-p252>{{cite book |last=O'Curry |first=Eugene |author-link=Eugene O'Curry |chapter=Lecture XII Sling-Stones of composition manufacture |title=On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish |volume=2 |publisher=Williams and Norgate |year=1873 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IX0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA252 |page=252 |access-date=3 March 2020 |archive-date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916221123/https://books.google.com/books?id=IX0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA252#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> 
}}

The poem goes on to describe the composition of this tathlum, as being formed from the blood collected from toads, bears, lions, vipers and the neck-base<ref>eDIL s.v. [http://www.dil.ie/31755 méide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916221140/https://dil.ie/31755 |date=16 September 2024 }} 'the lower part of the neck at its union with the trunk '</ref> of Osmuinn,{{efn|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.<ref name=gwynn-tathlum/>}} mixed with the sands of the Armorian Sea and the Red Sea.<ref name=ocurry-manners2-p252/>

===Fragarach===
Lugh is also seen girt with the Freagarthach (better known as [[Fragarach]]), the sword of [[Manannán mac Lir|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 [[Enbarr|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" ({{langx|ga|links=no|Sguaba Tuinne}}).<ref name=ocurry-oct-scuabatuinne/>

In the [[Lebor Gabála]],<ref>Macalister ed.,  ¶319 (loc. cit.)</ref> 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===
{{main|Failinis}}
Failinis was the name of the whelp of the King of Ioruaidhe that Lugh demanded as éiric (a forfeit) in the [[Tuireann|''Oidhead Chloinne Tuireann'']]. This concurs with the name of the hound mentioned in an "[[Ossianic]] Ballad",<ref>Stern, L. Chr. ed., tr. (into German), in: "Eine ossianische Ballade aus dem XII. Jahrhundert", [https://books.google.com/books?id=s6wCAAAAMAAJ ''Festschrift Whitley Stokes zum siebzigsten Geburtstage''], 1900, pp. 7–12, edited from LL 207b</ref> sometimes referred to by its opening line "{{lang|ga|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),<ref>Whitley Stokes, Book of Lismore, fo. 153 b. recension of the ballad in the Notice on ''Festschrift'' above, in: [https://books.google.com/books?id=_hLEikZQOWYC ''Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie'', '''3'''], p. 432–</ref> 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"<ref>O'Curry, Eugene (1862), ed. tr. "Tri Thruaighe na Scéalaigheachta (Three Sorrows of Storytelling)" [https://books.google.com/books?id=yOsAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA396 ''The Atlantis''] '''3''': 396–7.</ref>{{efn|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.}}