How Lugh shows what the Irish cared about

Welcome to the History of Ireland Last episode we learned about Bress’s origins Explored how bad a job he was doing ruling Ireland And unpacked why a healing god would kill his own son Today we’re back to see what happens to Bress after the two a day got sick of him And see how Bress was used and compared with other characters To give us a sense of what the ancient Irish cared about This is the second battle of Moitora, part two

With Ireland in a terrible state All the two a day came together and gathered before Bress Declaring he was not fit to rule Please just let me finish out my seven year term, Bress begged Then I’ll happily step down as king The assembly agreed as long as they were promised freedom from tribute or payment until then You’ll have what you ask, Bress said But Bress had a cunning plan Unwilling to lose his crown, he asked for this delay So that he might gather warriors to take back possession of Ireland by force

So, then he went to his mother Eru and asked her where his family was She brought Bress to the hill where she had seen the vessel of silver in the sea She gave him the ring that had been given to her And it fit his middle finger perfectly Then she told Bress the truth of his ancestry That he was the son of a Fomorian Whether Bress was shocked or not by this news, we’ll never know But he did see an opportunity in it

Bress, his mother and their people travelled far Until they reached the land of the Fomorians When they arrived, the Fomorians demanded to know who they were And Bress told them they were men from Ireland Finding this out, the Fomorians asked whether they had dogs For at that time it was the custom when a group of men visited another To challenge them to a friendly contest And so, the dogs raced and the swifter hounds of the two a day won Next, the one-armed and one-legged Fomorians asked if they had steeds for a horse race Bress answered, we have And the two a day won again As their steeds were swifter than that of the Fomorians as well Finally, the Fomorians asked if they had anyone good at swordplay Bress was the best of his men And so he put his hand on his sword

And as he did, Elitha stood out from the crowd of Fomorians His father had recognized the ring Who are you? Elitha asked Before Bress could answer, his mother Eru stepped forward He is your son, Eru said Then she told Elitha everything that had happened to Bress His father was sorrowful What need has brought you out of the lands you ruled? he asked Nothing but my own injustice and arrogance, Bress replied I deprived them of their valuables and possessions and their own food Neither tribute nor payment was ever taken from them until now That is bad, said the father, which was a bit of an understatement Then he added a little bit of wisdom Better their prosperity than their kingship Better their prayers than their curses Why have you come here? I have come to ask you for warriors, Bress replied I would take that land by force You should not gain it by injustice If you cannot gain it by justice, Elitha warned Refusing to help his son What advice have you for me then? Bress asked

Elitha told him to visit the Fomorians champion, Baelor Grandson of Nett, the king of the Hebrides And Indic Macteddaun, the king of the Fomorians Unlike Bress’s father, they were more than happy to help As they hated the Tuath Dé and feared the Tuath Dé would shake free of their shackles Without Bress as king So the Fomorians gathered all the forces from Lachlan westward to Ireland To impose their tribute and their rule upon the Tuath Dé by force And they made a single bridge of ships from the Hebrides to Ireland Never came to Ireland a host more horrible or fearful than that of the Fomorians

Meanwhile, after Bress was ousted from the kingdom of Ireland Núadh ar Gatlobh, with his arm restored, again became king of the Tuath Dé And to celebrate, he held a mighty feast in Tarra Now, there were two doorkeepers at Tarra Gamal Macfeagal and Camal MacGregal On the night in question, Camal was on guard And while guarding the door, he saw strange company coming towards him Led by a handsome, well-built young warrior with a king’s crown The doorkeeper asked, who is there? Here, there is Lug Lominslach, son of Cian, son of Jancat And of Etna, daughter of Baelor, the Fomorian I am the foster son of Tealchu, the daughter of Magmar, king of Spain Well, that’s all very good, Camal said But what art do you practice? No one without an art can enter Tarra

Question me, I’m a carpenter, Lug replied Sorry, we have a carpenter, we need you not Question me, I’m a smith, Lug said, undeterred We have a smith already, Colm Ceolán Nock, of the Three New Techniques Question me, I’m a champion, Lug continued Sorry, we’ve already got one, Ogma MacEthland, Camal said Question me, I’m a harper, Lug said, presumably getting a little worried at this point We do not need you, we have a harper already, Avon MacBickelmos Who the men of the Three Gods chose in the Shade Mounds Question me, I’m a poet and a historian We do not need you, we have a poet and a historian Question me, I’m a sorcerer We do not need you, we have sorcerers already Our druids and our people of power are numerous Question me, I’m a doctor We do not need you, we have Dan Cat Question me, I’m a cupbearer We do not need you, we have nine of those Question me, I can work with brass We need you not

At this point, Lug had worked through all the most important artistic skills And he paused for a moment Ask the king, he said, a little smugly Whether he is one man who possesses all these arts If he has, I will not be able to enter Tara So the doorkeeper went to King Nuada and said A warrior comes to the door And his name should be Samaldahnach Master of all arts Because all the arts your household practices He can bloody well do them He is a man of each and every art Nuada said, try him with the fickle boards The chess boards To see if he really is a master of all arts And lo behold, Lug or Samaldahnach won every game Nuada watched him and said Let him in, for never before has a man like him entered into this wrath

Lug came into the door and sat down in the sage’s seat For he was a sage in every art As Lug sat down, one hero, Ogma, feeling jealous maybe Grabbed a great flagstone and threw it out of Tara But Lug simply picked it up and put it back in its place Then, as if it was nothing, he started playing the harp The first night, he played a sleep song for the hosts and for the king And cast them into sleep from that hour to the same time the following day Then he played a sad song, so that they were crying and lamenting And finally, he played a happy song, so that they were in merriment and joy

Now, Nuada knew that the Fomorians were coming to reinstate Bress as king And he knew they would continue to subjugate and tax the two a day if they won But after meeting Lug, Nuada began to think That maybe the two a day could fend off the Fomorians if Lug was king And so, Nuada held a council to consider the situation After which he decided to exchange seats with Lug And so, Samuel Darnoch took the throne

The next day, Lug and Nuada, along with the Dagda, Ogma, Gobnu and Jancat Started to secretly make plans to defeat the Fomorians The druids of Ireland were summoned to them Together with their physicians and their charioteers and their smiths And their wealthy landowners and their lawyers They gathered together in Tara and the great hall was packed with men of all arts Lug, with the two a day assembled around him, asked the host in a loud voice What power do you wield?

First, Gobnu the smith spoke It’s not hard to say For every spear or sword that breaks in battle I will provide a new weapon in its place No spear I make will miss No skin that it pierces will taste life afterwards Next, Jancat spoke It’s not hard to say Any man who’d be wounded, unless his head cut off, brain or spinal cord severed Will be perfectly whole in battle the next day Credna, the brazier, spoke next Not hard to answer I will supply rivets for their spears, hilts for their swords, bosses and rims for their shields Lugta, the carpenter, added I’ll supply whatever shields and spear shafts they need

Ogma, a huge, strong champion, lumbered forward What is your power in battle? Lug asked It is not hard to say, Ogma replied in a deep voice I am a match for the Fomorian king and can hold my own against twenty-seven of his friends I’ll win a third of the battle for us

Then, the door in the back of the room creaked open And a hush settled over the crowd as the Morrigan, the war goddess, arrived She lightly stepped through the crowd of men until she stood at the front of the hall She spoke quietly, her pale face framed by raven-dark hair I shall pursue what was watched I will be able to kill I will be able to destroy those who might be subdued It was quiet for a moment as the host shuddered to think the power the Morrigan possessed

After a moment, Mothgen, a sorcerer, spoke next, saying I will shake the mountains of Ireland beneath the Fomorians so that the summits fall to the ground And it will seem to our enemy that the twelve chief mountains of Ireland are fighting on behalf of the Tuadé After Mothgen came the cupbearers, simple men who served the Tuadé, but even they had power to provide We will pit the twelve great locks of Ireland against the Fomorians so they can’t find water We’ll hide the twelve chief rivers of Ireland and we’ll provide drink for the men of Ireland even if they remain in battle for seven years

More and more people came to announce their power Corpora, the poet, promised to satirise and shame the Fomorians Luggs, two witches, said they would enchant the trees and stones and sods of earth and set them against the Fomorians The druid Feagol declared I will cause three showers of fire to pour on the faces of the Fomorian host I will take two-thirds of their bravery and strength And I will trap their urine in their bodies and the bodies of their horses Meanwhile, every breath the Tuadé take will increase their strength and bravery Even if they remain in battle for seven years, they will not be weary at all

Soon, the entire assembly had decided their power and how they would wield it, all but one After hearing all of this, the Dagda raised his heavy frame from a chair in the back of the hall and spoke in a deep, resonant voice All this power which ye boast, I will wield it all myself I will fight for the men of Ireland with mutual smiting and destruction and wizardry Their bones under my club will soon be as many as hailstones under the feet of herds of horses And as he finished, the group began to chant You are the Dagda, the Dagda, the Dagda, the good god, the good god That name stuck to him forevermore

Then they disbanded the council to meet that day three years later And after the preparation for the battle had been settled Log and the Dagda and Ogma went to the three gods of Danu who gave Log equipment for the battle Which they had been preparing for him for seven years And there we’ll leave our story for today

This whole section of the Second Battle of Moitora is a fascinating breakdown of old Irish ideas of power Both the skills considered important and how one should wield them First, we see what the Irish considered poor leadership in the form of Bress He creates an island that’s out of balance He goes killing, the father god digging trenches, the poets carrying wood Bress is selfish and prideful and refuses to let his throne be taken from him

Then we’re introduced to Log And here we literally get a list of the skills seen as important to the Irish I love the idea of a smith who knew the three new techniques What those techniques are, we can only guess at But we see Log is a master of all arts, even chess And there’s an interesting historical aside here The translation of that word, Ficil, it does mean chess But the game they were more likely playing was older than chess It’s very hard to say definitively what the rules of Ficil were But we know it was played on a 7x7 board and would have involved capturing pieces Historians believe it evolved from a Roman game, Lodus Latrunculorum Or the game of highwaymen It features a lot in Irish myth and in some stories Log was even the inventor But by the 15th century the rules had long been forgotten And the word Ficil had become synonymous with the game of chess we know today It was a big deal in the stories and it’s fascinating So Log is a master of this game And that’s what tips Nuida over the edge

And here we see the difference between Nuida and Bress While Nuida is king, everyone has their role and everyone’s talents are used effectively And more importantly, Nuida steps down This lack of pride and this idea of putting the people before yourself Was seen as one of the most important things a king could do in ancient Irish society So the Tuida are all about balance While the Fomorians, we’ll see, are all about overabundance and imbalance And then finally, there’s some fascinating mirroring going on between Bress and Log Bress is half Fomorian, half Tuida, on his mother’s side While Log is half Tuida, half Fomorian, but on his father’s side It’s an interesting divide and mirroring that will be explored even further as the story goes on

Now, before I go, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the history of Log as a figure a little bit more Log, or a variation thereof, was worshipped as a god amongst Celtic people in Ireland, Britain and continental Europe Known generally as Lugas If you’ve heard of the festival of Lunasa, that would have been a celebration associated with Log It was traditionally held on the 1st of August and marks the beginning of the harvest season This was a festival that survived in some places right up until the 20th century There’d be competitions, athletic contests, horse racing, matchmaking, feasting and trading And it all ties back to our hero, Log, or the god Lugas Caesar even writes about a Gaulish god, who he compares to Mercury, that many have interpreted as a reference to Lugas Later, he was linked to the sun and compared to the likes of Apollo and Mercury So that was more of a 19th century revivalist take on the figure without any real basis in history And we’ll explore that revivalism at a later date

Now, in Ireland, you had at least two ancient tribes in Connacht and Mead associated with Log And those were Lugni and Lugni Temro, Lugni of Tarra There were even personal names derived from Log, such as Lugat, meaning he who venerates Lugas Which were used long after Ireland was Christianised Again, it’s an example of an important pagan god being repurposed into a character for the Philean monks Who were riding the second battle of Mortora And you can see here, he’s Samaldonach, he is the all-talented, all-powerful Log And you’ll see how the Christian monks gave a little bit of a Christian tint to Log Comparing him to the likes of David, as we get later into the story Log and various interpretations of him will pop up again and again in Irish mythology He gets really important when we come to the story of Cú Chulainn He’s kind of a big deal, and has a long and wide history across what you would call wider Celtic society

Next episode, we’re going to learn more about another important figure And follow the Dagda as he prepares for battle Thanks for listening Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts And if you’re enjoying it, give us a review on Apple Podcasts or tell your friends It really helps If you want to go further, you can support the show, get ad-free listening and bonus content on our Patreon page Simply follow the Patreon link in the show notes or visit our website, thehistoryofireland.com You can also get in touch through the website or on Facebook and Twitter It’s always great hearing from you guys And if I’ve made a mistake, please do let me know

The History of Ireland was written and produced by me, Kevin Dolan With music by Liam Doyle and additional help from assistant producer Aoife Murphy This podcast was recorded in the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Cú Chulainn Nation Sovereignty was never ceded