from Cath Maige Tuired, edited by Elizabeth Gray This is our first encounter with Lug in our text. The main part concerns Lug’s listing of his crafts, with the door-keeper’s counter-listing of the craftspeople already in Tara. It is beautifully formulaic, and an opportunity for the storyteller to list many of the dramatis personae of…
Tag: Lug
Lunacy at Lughnasagh – Our Lughnasagh Celebrations
The Lughnasagh games The Lughnasagh (or Lughasad / Lúnasa / Lughnasadh…) games, inaugurated by Lugh in honour of his foster mother, may be of as old a lineage as the Olympic games. Twenty one years ago, I thought it might be a good idea to create our own modern version of the games on my own…
Lugh Who? Where did Lugh come from?
In the Irish stories, Lugh, sometimes Lug, is a central and popular figure. To summarise his story, as it is given in text and tale, he is a child born in secret to a Fomoire mother and a Dé Danann father. In text, his father and mother are contracted to each other to form an…
The Coming of Lugh
The Door-Keeper Speaks… Who is this young warrior who came late to the gate of Tara, after the feasting was begun? Who is this fine and shining youth who stood before me, Camall Mac Riagail, gate-keeper of the Túatha Dé? Oh, he was pleasant to look upon, his cloak threaded with gold. He was tall…
The Battle of Moytura 03: Techt Lugo – The Coming of Lug
Lug Lámfhada has a Long Arm indeed, stretching all the way from Continental Celts to the Insular Isles. His role is central to Cath Maige Tuired, but how does he relate to the other dramatis personae of the tale? Join the Story Archaeologists as we dust off this iconic hero. Don’t forget to subscribe to…
Bres in Other Texts
Bres Mac Elathan appears in a number of texts besides Cath Maige Tuired, and often in a more sympathetic light. He appears as one of the Túatha Dé Danann, as in Tocmairc Étaíne, “The Wooing of Étaín”, where the Dagda sends Elcmar of the Brug away on business to Bres in Mag nInis so that…
The Story of Bres
It wasn’t his fault. How could one so noble, so beautiful, have been at fault? He was the golden youth, the beloved one chosen by his mother’s people. How could it all have gone so wrong? How had his golden dreams become so tarnished? He had grown up with his mother’s glowing stories. “When you…
Four Cities, Four Teachers, Four Treasures
There is much curiosity surrounding the four cities and teachers named in the opening lines of Cath Maige Tuired. The names are archaic-sounding, with their -ias endings. The “cities” do not seem identifiable with any geographic location, ancient or modern. And aside from this brief appearance, the “teachers” are never heard from again. However, the…
The Birth of Lugh ~ The oral tradition
The birth of Lugh, as recounted in the podcast, is found only in the oral tradition, most commonly in Donagal. It was collected and written down as “Balor on Tory Island” 1894). As the book is now out of copyright, you can read it online or download it for free from Archive.org: http://archive.org/details/herotalesofirela00curtuoft
The Birth Of Lugh
The air was rippled with watery sunshine. But through one small round window shone a bright brave sunbeam, clear and golden, cutting its way into the dim glow of the room. And in its cutting sat Ethlinn. She sat still, facing the window, facing the clear light, the fresh air; and a tear flowed down…