The Irish god Lugh was linked to the crops and stormy weather in August. He was brave in fight, knew a lot about everything, and was also a Druid. Besides being a famous king and a member of a strange race, he also had a magical spear. His legendary beginnings and epic stories have been studied and praised for a very long time.
Lugh was the Celtic god of trouble and was known as a trickster god. Lugh of a Long Arm was another name for the god of kings, justice, and power. In Celtic mythology, he was also a smart and skilled warrior who was an important part of many wonders. Discover how Lugh of a Long Arm became so well-known in the stories of his home country by reading on. There are many names for Lugh, but the name most people know him by is Lugh of a Long Arm. People gave him this name because of the powerful Spear of Assal he carried in battle. He was a good fighter and had a smart mind, which he often used in battle. He was worshiped by the Celts as their god of trouble, light, justice, kings, and rule. He had a number of honorifics.
People often wrote his last name as Lug, which could mean different things. This phrase may have come from the Old English word “laugh,” which means “to swear by.” As he was linked to serious vows, this translation is not completely wrong. It’s possible that his name means “bright” in another sense. People worshiped him as the god of light because of how powerful his spear was. Lugh had a staff that could not be broken, but he was also good with many other weapons. Lugh lived in Tara, which was the royal seat. His skill won him fame both on and off the battlefield, and one of his sons went on to become a legendary soldier in his own right.
Dรบin Cedh was Lugh’s grandfather. He was a famous doctor in the Celtic pantheon called the Tuatha Dรฉ Danann. These were the names of his parents: Cian and Ethniu. During the Tuatha Dรฉ Danann’s fight for power in Ireland, her family fought against the Fomorians and beat them. Lugh felt pulled between two different worlds because of this, but in the end, his liminality served his purpose and helped him become the future king.
He could have come from one of two places: his parents never got married, or King Balor was told that his grandson would kill him. He locked his daughter Ethniu up in a house on Tory Island so she could never get married or have kids. Cian could get to the tower with the help of fairy Birรณg’s magic. Following this, he slept with Ethniu and made her have triplets. Her father did find out, though, that she was pregnant. A servant gave all of the kids a quick swim in the water when they were born and then sent them on their way. One of the kids got away from the helper, though, and the fairy woman saved them. Lugh’s father raised him on his own after she gave him back to him. Some other people helped raise Lugh as he grew up, but it’s not clear what happened to Ethniu after that.
In addition to his parents, Lugh was raised by a number of mythical people. It was said that their names came from Celtic gods Manannรกn mac Lir, Tailtiu, and Gavida. Myths say that as he got older, he got married many times. Some of his women were named Beach, Bu, and Nรกs. Ibic was born to him and Nรกs, who was the daughter of a British king. The person Deichtine was either his wife or girlfriend. With this wife, he had the famous warrior C Chulainn.
Since he did so much in his “lifetime” and had so many powers, Lugh is likely one of the most well-known gods in Celtic lore. When he was old enough, Lugh went to see King Nuada of a Silver Hand in the court of the Tuatha Dรฉ Danann at Tara. This happened before the fight between the gods and the Firbolg and the Fomorians, who were the first people to live on the Emerald Isle. In King Nuada’s court, it was expected that guests would bring gifts. Lugh described his skills that made him fit to work for the king.
It turned out that everyone he talked about had already said those things, as the king’s doorkeeper confirmed. Then Lugh used his intelligence to ask the doorkeeper if the king had a warrior who was a “master of all skills.” The doorkeeper answered that the king did not have such a warrior. This is why Lugh was made Chief Ollam, which means “master of all skills,” at the court of King Nuada. Nuada asked Lugh to help him plan for the coming battle because he knew that Lugh had been told to kill his grandfather.
There was a scary Firbolg that the gods had to fight before they could beat the Fomorians and take over the Isle. King Nuada hurt his hand in fight and had to give up, which was bad luck for the gods. As a rule set by King Nuada himself, only a fit king or queen could sit on the throne. In his place, High King Bres was made. Bres was half-Firbolg, just like Lugh, so he backed their cause. He made the gods work for the Firbolg for 27 years. At this point, Lugh’s grandfather, who was the doctor to the gods, made King Nuada a silver hand that healed him. When he was finally ready, Nuada removed Bres from power and became king. Once the Firbolg were beaten, Lugh helped King Nuada plan the war against the Fomorians. He talked to the Phantom Queen, one of the three faces of the Morrigan, about this.
Cian, Lugh’s father, was killed by Tuireann’s children before the gods ever fought the Fomorians. Three boys, Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, found Cian, who had magically turned into a pig. They were almost able to kill them, but he changed back into a person to finish one more job. He told his successor to get payback on the person who killed him, and then he died.
The sons thought they had finally done it when they tried to bury Cian, but he kept coming back to life. Lugh was traveling one day when he came across an odd burying ground. He was confused and asked, “Who is buried here?” It broke his heart to learn that his father had been killed, but the ground told him what to do. In response, he had a dinner party and asked his boys to a feast, which they agreed to.
He asked the boys at the feast what they would need to feel righteous if their father were killed, and they said “death.” After that, he gave them some jobs to do, which they all did. But their father begged them to do the hardest job possible, and Lugh said no. So, they almost killed themselves while doing the task. After Lugh failed to save her family by giving them medicine, Tuireann also died from her pain.
The Fomorians and the gods got back together in County Sligo after the gods were taken prisoner and the Firbolg were beaten. Lugh may have come from the Fomorians, but he fought bravely for the gods anyway. Between the gods, there were many deaths. One of these gods was King Nuada, who was killed by Fomorians King Balor. But the dream said Lugh would kill his grandfather. He aimed his slingshot far away and hit Balor in the eye with a stone, killing him quickly. They needed death in order to win, and Morrigan gave it to them. The gods were able to drive the Fomorians into the water with the help of the Morrigans’ magic.
After the war, Lugh was made king of the Tuatha Dรฉ Danann. Once the Firbolg and Fomorians were defeated, the gods were able to rule their new land in peace and wealth because he had shown that he was strong and loyal. When the ousted king Bres went to him to say he was sorry for betraying them, he was kind. They agreed, but Lugh insisted that Bres show the gods how and where to till the ground. Bres agreed to do what was asked.
There was peace and plenty in Ireland when Lugh was in charge. But the Tuatha Dรฉ Danann knew they couldn’t keep Bres alive once they got what they wanted from him. Lugh came up with a clever plan: he had 300 fake cows made and filled with poisoned red milk. He put three gallons of the spoiled milk into pails and gave them to Bres. Bres drank what was inside. That’s exactly what Bres did, and he died very quickly. The Tuatha Dรฉ Danann were finally given justice after being harmed and ruled over for hundreds of years.
Lugh was a god for forty years. A lot of people liked his wife Beach, but he got mad when she started seeing Ceramic. He killed her boyfriend and thought he was dead, but Cermait’s boys caught him and killed him in a lake to get back at their father. The lake was given the name Loch Lugborta. The death of Lugh meant that a Tuatha Dรฉ Danann was about to die. As a spirit, he lived in Trแบฃng, which is also called “The Land of the Young” in Irish and Celtic legend. There was a time when he went to the mortal realms and mated with a human woman. Their child, C Chulainn, would become Ulster’s famous hero and warrior. He once rushed to the side of the fighter C Chulainn when he was badly hurt and about to die. Lugh found his dead son and saved him.
