Today we’re going to be talking about one of the primary gods in the Celtic pantheon: Lugh Long-Arm.
Lugh Long-Arm (called such because of his skill with a spear) appears early in the Celtic myths, during a time of war. A little bit of backstory is needed to set the stage for his coming.
I mentioned in my Intro that the Celtic gods (the Tuatha De Danann) were often opposed by a race of warriors called the Fomorians. After a long period of fighting the two races struck an uneasy truce with one another. Ostensibly at peace, marriages took place between the two peoples. Two notable births resulted from these unions - Bres, who was eventually named King of both peoples, and Lugh. The father of Lugh’s father was Diancecht, Celtic god of medicine. Despite being part Fomorian, Lugh would soon come to be worshipped as one of the Tuatha De Danann.
(Something interesting that I hadn’t considered - Lugh was only Fomorian on his mother’s side. I wonder if it was only the race of the father that counted for the child?)
When our story begins, the Tuatha De did not know of Lugh’s existence. They were distracted, perhaps, by the actions of King Bres. When he was made king Bres was an honest, fair man. He promised to give up his crown if the people he ruled ever asked him to. Soon, however, Bres began to favor the Fomorians. He treated the Tuatha De quite unfairly, essentially making them into his servants; it was not long before they demanded that he give up his crown.
Haven given his word, Bres was forced to agree to abdicate - but he struck a deal with the Tuatha De Danann to allow him to rule for another seven years before stepping down. Bres wanted this extension of his reign so that he would have time to raise an army to crush the Tuatha De - after all, if no one was left to demand that he step down, he could remain king forever...
(Insert maniacal laughter here.)
Ahem. Sorry. Bres found a willing army in the Fomorians, who hated the Tuatha De passionately despite their peace treaty. Bres’ father, a Fomorian, finally met and claimed his son before sending him to gain the support of various Fomorian kings - because, while Bres was the high king, various tribes and factions had kings of their own who ruled over them but answered to the high king.
(An interesting part of Celtic mythology - and an interesting look into the culture of the time - are the references to adults finally being “claimed” by their real parents. Fostering was a common practice at the time; children, even infants, would be sent away to be raised by a family not their own. When they became adults, they returned home to their birth families.
Sometimes children were raised by an enemy of their family in an attempt to force peace - think Theon and the Starks in Game of Thrones. At other times, fostering was a way for the child to learn things their parents couldn’t teach them and to see more of the world - sort of like studying abroad while staying in a foster home. I’d imagine this was especially useful for the working-class families who practiced fostering; a boy could learn shepherding from his birth-father and blacksmithing from his foster-father, giving him knowledge of two trade professions instead of just one. Pretty nifty, right?)
While Bres was raising an army, the Tuatha De Danann were having a party. (Seems like the thing to do when someone’s trying to kill you, right?) This party was actually unrelated to Bres’ actions. Nuada, king of the Tuatha De, was celebrating because an old injury of his had been healed. He threw a feast in his home, Tara, and invited all of the Tuatha De Danann for a roaring good time.
(Wondering where you've heard Nuada's name before? He was the main villain in
Hellboy II: The Golden Army)
Someone had to guard the party, of course - and so it was that Nuada’s doorkeeper remained outside and saw Lugh approaching. Lugh introduced himself as the grandson of Diancecht, member of the Tuatha De Danann, and requested entrance to the party.
The doorkeeper held him back, insisting that no one was allowed to enter Tara unless they had a skill that would benefit the Tuatha De Danann. When asked what he could do to aid his people, Lugh replied that he was a carpenter. The doorman refused him entrance, since there was already a carpenter inside. Lugh then claimed to be a blacksmith, a warrior, a sorcerer, and a strategist, amongst many, many other things. Each time the doorkeeper shot him down, saying that someone with such skills could already be found within Tara.
At last Lugh stopped listing his merits. He told the doorkeeper to go to King Nuada and tell him of Lugh’s presence. It was true that the king had blacksmiths and fighters, medicine makers and historians - but did Nuada have one man who was all of those things?
Nuada was thrilled when he heard of all that Lugh claimed he could do. He sent out his best player of chess to test Lugh, who bested him handily. King Nuada then welcomed Lugh to Tara and gave him a seat of honor.
When the evil plans of Bres and the Fomorians became known to Nuada, he appointed Lugh as head strategist for the Tuatha De Danann. This was a very wise choice. Lugh assessed each of the Tuatha De and came up with a plan that played to their strengths. They spent the rest of Bres’ seven year extension finalizing strategies, making weapons, and learning about the tactics of the Fomorians.
When the seven years were up, the armies of the Fomorians and the Tuatha De assembled - but
the Tuatha De Danann were missing one of their members. It had been decided that Lugh was too valuable to risk losing on the battlefield. Against his will, Lugh found himself under armed guard, forced to stay away from the battle.
This speaks to how highly the Tuatha De valued Lugh. Their own king, Nuada, was allowed to fight on the front lines - but the newcomer to their ranks was forced to stay behind for his safety.
The battle was finally joined during the evening of Samhain (an old Celtic celebration that was converted to Halloween in more recent years). The fighting waged fiercely for several days, at which point the Fomorians began to notice something strange. Casualties had been almost equal on both sides...and yet, each morning the same number of Tuatha De Danann rose to fight against the Fomorians. There was never any sign of injured or dead in the morning, despite there being plenty of both in the evenings. Confused, and beginning to be outnumbered, the Fomorians sent a spy into the camp of the Tuatha De Danann in an attempt to figure out what was happening.
The spy was horrified by what he saw. Lugh had come up with a brilliant strategy. His grandfather Diancecht worked with other Tuatha De who had healing powers; they had enchanted a well so that any who were dropped into it were healed...even the dead. Each night the dead and wounded members of the Tuatha De Danann were taken to the well, and they emerged from it as good as new - rather like a video game respawn point! Their gear was repaired overnight by Tuatha De who specialized in blacksmithing and carpentry, so that there was never a shortage of weapons or armor.
Desperate to put a stop to this, the Fomorian spy chucked his spear at Goibniu, the god who was manning the forge. Only wounded, Goibniu pulled the spear out of his side and cast it at the Fomorian. Though mortally injured, the spy still managed to make it back to the Fomorian camp and tell them about the healing well of the Tuatha De Danann. During the night the Fomorian army came and filled the well with stones, depriving the Tuatha De of their source of healing.
After that the battle was more equal - save for one thing. Lugh Long-Arm had managed to escape his guards and now fought on the front lines, shouting encouragement to the Tuatha De Danann.
The battle was furious, and many died. Then one of the Fomorians kings Bres had recruited stepped forward: Balor, the grandfather of Lugh. He attacked King Nuada and managed to slay the ruler of the Tuatha De. Enraged, Lugh fought his way to Balor and killed him in revenge. Spurred on by this victory, the Tuatha De Danann doubled their efforts. Bit by bit they pushed back the Fomorians, eventually driving them into the sea. Bres was among the retreating army, which fled from the wrath of the Tuatha De Danann.
At last, Ireland was free from the Fomorians.
I’ll end my story there. I find it interesting that Lugh went from being completely unknown to being the most important of the Tuatha De Danann (he gets named King and succeeds Nuada) - rather like Marduk from Mesopotamian mythology. What did you guys think of his strategy? Pretty clever, right?
This introduction to Lugh was important, because next week we’re going to be talking about his son: Cu Chulainn, often called the boy hero of Ireland. I’m excited! I’ll see you guys in a week!
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