Editing Lugh (section)

==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.<ref name=cmt-ss008/> In the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]],'' Cian gives the boy to [[Tailtiu]], queen of the [[Fir Bolg]], in [[fosterage]].<ref>''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html#55 §59] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715225248/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor4.html#55 |date=15 July 2010 }}</ref> In the Dindsenchas, Lugh, the foster-son of Tailtiu, is described as the "son of the Dumb Champion".<ref name=rennes-099/> In the poem Baile Suthain Sith Eamhna Lugh is called "descendant of the poet."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skene |first1=William Forbes |title=Celtic Scotland: Land and people |date=1890 |location=Edinburgh, Scotland |page=413 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDsUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR15 |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916220518/https://books.google.com/books?id=tDsUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR15#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

A [[Folklore|folktale]] told to [[John O'Donovan (scholar)|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.<ref name="odonovan"/>

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 drown 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, [[Goibniu|Gavida]] the smith, in fosterage.<ref name="odonovan">[[John O'Donovan (scholar)|John O'Donovan]] (ed. & trans.), ''Annala Rioghachta Éireann: Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters'' Vol. 1, 1856, pp. 18–21, footnote ''S''; T. W. Rolleston, ''Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race'', 1911, pp. 109–112; [[Augusta, Lady Gregory]], ''Gods and Fighting Men'', 1094, pp. 27–29</ref>

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.<ref name=lge-para314/><ref>Cf. {{harvp|O'Curry|1863|pp=170–171}}, n 161, n162</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|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".<ref name=rennes-ss14&066/>}} Two characters called [[Lugaid (disambiguation)|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,<ref>Vernam Hull (ed. & Trans.), [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/medb.html "''Aided Meidbe'': The Violent Death of Medb"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129042653/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/medb.html |date=29 November 2013 }}, ''Speculum'' v.13 issue 1. (Jan. 1938), pp. 52–61</ref> and [[Lugaid mac Con Roí]] was also known as ''mac Trí Con'', "son of three hounds".<ref>James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 273</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/usnech.html "Deirdre, or the Exile of the sons of Usnech"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514140750/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/usnech.html |date=14 May 2011 }} (ed. & trans. unknown)</ref> 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").<ref>MacKillop 1998, pp. 102–104, 272–273</ref> 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, Ireland|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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bardmythologies.com/lugh/|title=Lugh|website=bardmythologies.com|date=5 June 2014|access-date=2017-08-01|archive-date=1 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801160341/http://bardmythologies.com/lugh/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name=cmt-ss053-083/>

===Sons of Tuireann===
[[Tuireann]] and Cian, Lugh's father, are old enemies, and one day his sons, Brian, [[Iuchar]], and [[Iucharba]] spot Cian in the distance and decide to kill him. They find him hiding in the form of a pig, but Cian tricked the brothers into allowing him to transform back into a man before they killed him, giving Lugh the legal right to claim compensation for a father rather than just a pig. When they try to bury him, the ground spits his body back twice before keeping him down, and eventually confesses that it is a grave to Lugh.<ref>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/turenn.html "The Fate of the Children of Tuirenn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108072326/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/turenn.html |date=8 January 2014 }}, {{harvp|Cross|Slover|1936|pp=49–81}}</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/turenn.html "The Fate of the Children of Tuirenn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108072326/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/turenn.html |date=8 January 2014 }}, {{harvp|Cross|Slover|1936|pp=49–81}}</ref>

===Battle of Magh Tuireadh===
Using the magic artefacts the sons of Tuireann have gathered, Lugh leads the Tuatha Dé Danann in the [[Cath Maige Tuireadh|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.<ref name=cmt-ss120/> Nuada is killed in the battle by Balor. Lugh faces Balor, who opens his terrible, poisonous eye that kills all it looks upon, but Lugh shoots a [[sling (weapon)|sling]] -stone that drives his eye out the back of his head, killing Balor and wreaking havoc on the Fomorian army behind.<ref name=cmt-ss074-167/>

After the victory Lugh finds [[Bres]], the half-Fomorian former king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, alone and unprotected on the battlefield, and Bres begs for his life. If he is spared, he promises, he will ensure that the cows of Ireland always give milk. The Tuatha Dé Danann refuse the offer. He then promises four harvests a year, but the Tuatha Dé Danann say one harvest a year suits them. But Lugh spares his life on the condition that he teach the Tuatha Dé Danann how and when to plough, sow, and reap.<ref name=cmt-ss074-167/>

===Later life and death===
Lugh instituted an event similar to the [[Olympic Games]] called the [[Assembly of Talti]] which finished on [[Lughnasadh]] (1 August) in memory of his foster mother, [[Tailtiu]], at the town that bears her name, now [[Teltown]], [[County Meath]]. He likewise instituted Lughnasadh fairs in the areas of Carman and [[Naas]] in honour of [[Carman]] and Nás, the eponymous tutelary goddesses of these two regions. Horse races and displays of martial arts were important activities at all three fairs. Lughnasadh is a celebration of Lugh's triumph over the spirits of the [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]] who had tried to keep the harvest for themselves. It survived long into Christian times and is still celebrated under a variety of names. ''Lúnasa'' is now the [[Irish language|Irish]] name for the month of August.

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.<ref>{{harvp|Gwynn|1913|pp=216–223}}, ''The Metrical Dindshenchas'' Part III. [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T106500C/text040.html Poem 40: Carn Huí Néit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906025125/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T106500C/text040.html |date=6 September 2009 }}</ref>

Lugh is said to have invented the board game [[fidchell]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/john-gives-celtic-board-game-a-new-lease-of-life-29498070.html |title=John gives Celtic board game a new lease of life |work=Independent.ie |access-date=2017-10-31 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107003907/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/john-gives-celtic-board-game-a-new-lease-of-life-29498070.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

One of his wives, Buach, had an affair with [[Cermait]], son of [[the Dagda]].<ref name=bergin-dagda/> 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 [[Hill of Uisneach#Features|Loch Lugborta]] in [[County Westmeath]]<ref>{{harvp|Gwynn|1924|pp=278–291}}, ''The Metrical Dindshenchas'' Part IV. Poem 86:"[https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500D/text086.html Loch Lugborta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231200130/https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500D/text086.html |date=31 December 2018 }}"</ref> 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.<ref name=bergin-dagda/>

===In other cycles and traditions===
* In the [[Ulster Cycle]] he fathered [[Cúchulainn]] with the mortal maiden [[Deichtine]]. When Cúchulainn lay wounded after a gruelling series of combats during 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 [[Fenian Cycle]] the [[dwarf (mythology)|dwarf]] [[harp]]er [[Cnú Deireóil]] claimed to be Lugh's son.<ref>"[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095619885 Cnú Deireóil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916220618/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095619885 |date=16 September 2024 }}", Mackillop (1998) ed., ''Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''.</ref>
* The [[Luigne]], a people who inhabited Counties [[County Meath|Meath]] and [[County Sligo|Sligo]], claimed descent from him.
* Ainle is listed as the son of Lug Longhand (here called "Leo lam-fota")<ref name=metrical-III-p009/> and is killed by Curnan the Blacklegged in the Rennes Dinsenchas.<ref name=rennes-082/> 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.<ref name=metrical-III-p009>{{harvp|Gwynn|1924|pp=9–11}}, ''The Metrical Dindshenchas'' Part IV. Poem/Story 3:"[https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500D/text003.html Druim Cliab] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916220538/https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T106500D/text003.html |date=16 September 2024 }}", and notes, {{URL|1=https://archive.org/stream/metricaldindsenc04royauoft#page/376/mode/2up |2=p. 377}}</ref>
* 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.