Lugh or Lug (; ) is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a saviour. He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts. Lugh also has associations with oaths, truth, and the law, He is also associated with intelligence. Lugh is linked with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which bears his name. His most common epithets are Lámfada ( ; "long hand" or "long arm", possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler) and Samildánach ( ; "equally skilled in many arts").

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 and a sling stone and owns a hound named Failinis. He is said to have invented fidchell, ball games, and horse racing. suggesting that he was originally a god of oaths and sworn contracts. for this reason, most modern specialists in Celtic languages no longer accept this etymology.

Epithets

  • ( ("long hand") – possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler
  • ("young warrior / hero")

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 a spear-wielding horseman.

When he appears before the wounded Cú Chulainn in the Táin Bó Cúalnge he is described as follows:

<blockquote>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.</blockquote>

Elsewhere Lugh is described as a tall young man with bright red cheeks, white sides, a bronze-coloured face and blood-coloured hair.

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.

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.

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. In the Dindsenchas, Lugh, the foster-son of Tailtiu, is described as the "son of the Dumb Champion".

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.

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.

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 of Osmuinn,

;Bibliography

; (Baile In Scáil, The Phantom's Trance)

  • via Celtic Literature Collective, accessed 5 August 2019

; (Cath Maige Tuired)

  • via sacred-texts.com
  • , text via Internet Archive, text via CELT

; (Compert Con Culainn)

;(LGE<!-- -->)

; (Metrical Dindshenchas)

<!--

  • via CELT
  • via CELT-->
  • , via CELT
  • , snippet via Google, via CELT

;(Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann, The Death of the Children of Tuireann)

  • (Some of the earlier notes on MSS in the earlier edition are wanting)
  • https://www.dias.ie/wp-content/uploads/2002/11/tionol2002_baillie.pdf

(M G L Baillie

School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University, Belfast)

; (Rennes Dindshenchas)

  • , text via Internet Archive; e-text via UCD
  • , text via Internet Archive; e-text via UCD

; (Táin Bó Cuailnge, The Cattle Raid of Cooley)

  • .

;(Other)

  • Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover. Ancient Irish Tales, Henry Holt & Company, Inc., 1936. .
  • Ellis, Peter Berresford. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. .
  • MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. .
  • Ovist, Krista L. The integration of Mercury and Lugus: Myth and history in late Iron Age and early Roman Gaul. Chicago: University of Chicago Divinity School dissertation, pp.&nbsp;703, 2004. (link)
  • Wood, Juliette. The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art. Thorsons Publishers, 2002. .