Editing Mesgegra (section)

== Comparative analyses ==

Mesgegra's [[Brain balls|brain-ball]] has been likened to the ''táthlum'' or ''táthluib'' "sling-stone", such as the [[Lugh#Sling-stone|Lugh's sling-stone]] which was a hardened ball of blood and sand.<ref name=gwynn-tathlum/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Lugh's tathlum is described in a poem translated by O'Curry.<ref name=ocurry-manners2-p252/>}}

The one-handed ({{langx|fr|{{linktext|manchot}}}}) Mesgegra fighting Connal with a hand tied has been paralleled with [[Nuada of the Silver Arm]] and his arm-cutting foe Sreng whose name can mean "cord" or "tug away", as well as with the Norse god [[Týr]] who lost one hand in order to bind [[Fenris wolf]].{{sfnp|Scowcroft|1995|p=147}} The one-handed figure appears alongside a one-eyed ({{langx|fr|{{linktext|borgne}}}}) Eochaid mac Luchta, the king of South Connacht, whose Norse counterpart is [[Óðinn]].{{sfnp|Scowcroft|1995|p=147}} Scowcroft conjectures there was some wisdom-gaining underlying theme, similar to Óðinn losing an eye in [[Mimir's Well]], as the strange nut that Mesgegra ate is reminiscent of the hazelnut of water-pool of Segais which imparted wisdom to the [[Salmon of Knowledge]].{{sfnp|Scowcroft|1995|p=147}}