by Irish Myths
of silver for him, with movement in every finger of it, and put it
on him. And from that he was called Nuada Argat-lamh, of the
Silver Hand, for ever after.
Now Miach, son of Diancecht, was a better hand at healing
than his father, and had done many things. He met a young man,
having but one eye, at Teamhair one time, and the young man
said: "If you are a good physician you will put an eye in the place
of the eye I lost. " "I could put the eye of that cat in your lap in its
place," said Miach. "I would like that well," said the young man.
So Miach put the cat's eye in his head; but he would as soon have
been without it after, for when he wanted to sleep and take his
rest, it is then the eye would start at the squeaking of the mice, or
the flight of the birds, or the movement of the rushes; and when
he was wanting to watch an army or a gathering, it is then it was
sure to be in a deep sleep.
And Miach was not satisfied with what his father had done to
the king, and he took Nuada's own hand that had been struck off,
and brought it to him and set it in its place, and he said: ''.Joint to
joint, and sinew to sinew. " Three days and three nights he was
with the king; the first day he put the hand against his side, and
the second day against his breast, till it was covered with skin,
and the third day he put bulrushes that were blackened in the fire
on it, and at the end of that time the king was healed.
But Diancecht was vexed when he saw his son doing a better
cure than himself, and he threw his sword at his head, that it cut
the flesh, but the lad healed the wound by means of his skill. Then
Diancecht threw it a second time, that it reached the bone, but the
lad was able to cure the wound. Then he struck him the third time
36
IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
and the fourth, till he cut out the brain, for he knew no physician
could cure him after that blow; and Miach died, and he buried him.
And herbs grew up from his grave, to the number of his joints
and sinews, three hundred and sixty-five. And Airmed, his sister,
came and spread out her cloak and laid out the herbs in it,
according to their virtue. But Diancecht saw her doing that, and
he came and mixed up the herbs, so that no one knows all their
right powers to this day.
Then when the Tuatha de Danaan saw Nuada was well as he
was before, they gathered together to Teamhair, where Bres was,
and they bade him give up the kingship, for he had held it long
enough. So he had to give it up, though he was not very willing,
and Nuada was put back in the kingship again.
There was great vexation on Bres then, and he searched his
mind to know how could he be avenged on those that had put
him out, and how he could gather an army against them; and he
went to his mother, Eri, daughter of Delbaith, and bade her tell
him what his race was.
"I know that well," she said; and she told him then that his
father was a king of the Fomor, Elathan, son of Dalbaech, and
that he came to her one time over a level sea in some great vessel
that seemed to be of silver, but she could not see its shape, and he
himself having the appearance of a young man with yellow hair,
and his clothes sewed with gold, and five rings of gold about his
neck. And she that had refused the love of all the young men of
her own people, gave him her love, and she cried when he left
her. And he gave her a ring from his hand, and bade her give it
only to the man whose finger it would fit, and he went away then
the same way as he had come.
And she brought out the ring then to Bres, and he put it round
his middle finger, and it fitted him well. And they went then
together to the hill where she was the time she saw the silver vessel coming, and down to the strand, and she and Bres and his people set out for the country of the Fomor.
And when they came to that country they found a great plain
THE COMING OF THE TUATHA DE DANAAN
37
with many gatherings of people on it, and they went to the gathering that looked the best, and the people asked where did they come from, and they said they were come from Ireland. "Have
you hounds with you? " they asked them then, for it was the custom at that time, when strangers came to a gathering to give them some friendly challenge. "We have hounds," said Bres. So the
hounds were matched against one another, and the hounds of the
Tuatha de Danaan were better than the hounds of the Fomor.
"Have you horses for a race? " they asked then. "We have," said
Bres. And the horses of the Tuatha de Danaan beat the horses of
the Fomor.
Then they asked was any one among them a good hand with
the sword, and they said Bres was the best. But when he put his
hand to his sword, Elathan, his father, that was among them,
knew the ring, and he asked who was this young man. Then his
mother answered him and told the whole story, and that Bres was
his own son.
There was sorrow on his father then, and he said: "What was it
drove you out of the country you were king over?" And Bres said:
"Nothing drove me out but my own injustice and my own hardness; I took away their treasures from the people, and their jewels, and their food itself. And there were never taxes put on them
before I was their king."
"That is bad," said his father; "it is of their prosperity you had
a right to think more than of your own kingship. And their goodwill would be better than their curses," he said; "and what is it you are come to look for here?" "I am come to look for fighting
men," said Bres, "that I may take Ireland by force. " "You have no
right to get it by injustice when you could not keep it by justice,"
said his father. "What advice have you for me then?" said Bres.
And Elathan bade him go to the chief king of the Fomor,
Balor of the Evil Eye, to see what advice and what help would he
give him.
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BOO K T w o :
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
CHAPTER I.
THE COMING OF LUGH
Now as to Nuada of the Silver Hand, he was holding a great feast
at Teamhair one time, after he was back in the kingship. And
there were two door-keepers at Teamhair, Gamal, son of Figal,
and Camel, son of Riagall. And a young man came to the door
where one of them was, and bade him bring him in to the king.
"Who are you yourself? " said the door-keeper. "I am Lugh, son of
Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of Ethlinn, daughter of Balor,
King of the Fomor," he said; "and I am foster-son of Taillte ,
daughter of the King of the Great Plain, and of Echaid the Rough,
son of Duach. " "What are you skilled in? " said the door-keeper;
"for no one without an art comes into Teamhair." "Question me,"
said Lugh; "I am a carpenter. " "We do not want you; we have a
carpenter ourselves, Luchtar, son of Luachaid. " "Then I am a
smith. " "We have a smith ourselves, Colum Cuaillemech of the
Three New Ways. " "Then I am a champion. " "That is no use to
us; we have a champion before, Ogma, brother to the king. "
"Question me again
," he said; "I am a harper." "That is no use to
us; we have a harper ourselves, Abhean, son of Bicelmos, that the
Men of the Three Gods brought from the hills. " "I am a poet," he
said then, "and a teller of tales. " "That is no use to us; we have a
teller of tales ourselves, Ere, son of Ethaman. " "And I am a magician." "That is no use to us; we have plenty of magicians and people of power. " "I am a physician," he said. "That is no use; we
have Diancecht for our physician." "Let me be a cup-bearer," he
said. "We do not want you; we have nine cup-bearers ourselves."
"I am a good worker in brass." "We have a worker in brass ourselves, that is Credne Cerd. "
Then Lugh said: "Go and ask the king if he has any one man
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
39
that can do all these things, and if he has, I will not ask to come
into Teamhair." The door-keeper went into the king's house then
and told him all that. "There is a young man at the door," he said,
"and his name should be Ildanach, the Master of all Arts, for
all the things the people of your house can do , he himself is
able to do every one of them. " "Try him with the chess-boards,"
said Nuada. So the chess-boards were brought out, and every
game that was played, Lugh won it. And when Nuada was told
that, he said: "Let him in, for the like of him never came into
Teamhair before."
Then the door-keeper let him pass, and he came into the king's
house and sat down in the seat of knowledge. And there was a
great flag-stone there that could hardly be moved by four times
twenty yoke of oxen, and Ogma took it up and hurled it out
through the house, so that it lay on the outside of Teamhair, as a
challenge to Lugh. But Lugh hurled it back again that it lay in the
middle of the king's house. He played the harp for them then, and
he had them laughing and crying, till he put them asleep at the
end with a sleepy tune. And when Nuada saw all the things Lugh
could do, he began to think that by his help the country might
get free of the taxes and the tyranny put on it by the Fomor. And
it is what he did, he came down from his throne, and he put Lugh
on it in his place, for the length of thirteen days, the way they
might all listen to the advice he would give.
This now is the story of the birth of Lugh. The time the Fomor
used to be coming to Ireland, Balor of the Strong Blows, or, as
some called him, of the Evil Eye, was living on the Island of the
Tower of Glass. There was danger for ships that went near that
island, for the Fomor would come out and take them. And some
say the sons of Nemed in the old time, before the Firbolgs were in
Ireland, passed near it in their ships, and what they saw was a
tower of glass in the middle of the sea, and on the tower something that had the appearance of men, and they went against it with Druid spells to attack it. And the Fomor worked against
40
IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
them with Druid spells of their own; and the sons of Nemed
attacked the tower, and it vanished, and they thought it was
destroyed. But a great wave rose over them then, and all their
ships went down and all that were in them.
And the tower was there as it was before, and Balor living in it.
And it is the reason he was called "of the Evil Eye," there was a
power of death in one of his eyes, so that no person could look at
it and live. It is the way it got that power, he was passing one time
by a house where his father's Druids were making spells of death,
and the window being open he looked in, and the smoke of the
poisonous spells was rising up, and it went into his eye. And from
that time he had to keep it closed unless he wanted to be the
death of some enemy, and then the men that were with him
would lift the eyelid with a ring of ivory.
Now a Druid foretold one time that it was by his own grandson he would get his death. And he had at that time but one child, a daughter whose name was Ethlinn; and when he heard
what the Druid said, he shut her up in the tower on the island.
And he put twelve women with her to take charge of her and to
guard her, and he bade them never to let her see a man or hear
the name of a man.
So Ethlinn was brought up in the tower, and she grew to be
very beautiful; and sometimes she would see men passing in the
currachs, and sometimes she would see a man in her dreams. But
when she would speak of that to the women, they would give her
no answer.
So there was no fear on Balor, and he went on with war and
robbery as he was used, seizing every ship that passed by, and
sometimes going over to Ireland to do destruction there.
Now it chanced at that time there were three brothers of the
Tuatha de Danaan living together in a place that was called Druim
na Teine, the Ridge of the Fire, Goibniu and Samthainn and Cian.
Cian was a lord of land, and Goibniu was the smith that had such
a great name. Now Cian had a wonderful cow, the Glas Gaibhnenn, and her milk never failed. And every one that heard of her
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
4 1
coveted her, and many had tried to steal her away, so that she had
to be watched night and day.
And one time Cian was wanting some swords made, and he
went to Goibnius forge, and he brought the Glas Gaibhnenn with
him, holding her by a halter. When he came to the forge his two
brothers were there together, for Samthainn had brought some steel
to have weapons made for himself, and Cian bade Samthainn to
hold the halter while he went into the forge to speak with Goibniu.
Now Balor had set his mind for a long time on the Glas Gaibhnenn, but he had never been able to get near her up to this time.
And he was watching not far off, and when he saw Samthainn
holding the cow, he put on the appearance of a little boy, having red
hair, and came up to him and told him he heard his two brothers
that were in the forge saying to one another that they would use all
his steel for their own swords, and make his of iron. "By my word,"
said Samthainn, "they will not deceive me so easily. Let you hold
the cow, little lad," he said, "and I will go in to them." With that he
rushed into the forge, and great anger on him. And no sooner did
Balor get the halter in his hand than he set out, dragging the Glas
along with him, to the strand, and across the sea to his own island.
When Cian saw his brother coming in he rushed out, and
there he saw Balor and the Glas out in the sea. And he had nothing to do then but to reproach his brother, and to wander about as if his wits had left him, not knowing what way to get his cow
back from Balor. At last he went to a Druid to ask an advice from
him; and it is what the Druid told him, that so long as Balor lived,
the cow would never be brought back, for no one would go
within reach of his Evil Eye.
Cian went then to a woman-Druid, Birog of the Mountain, for
her help. And she dressed him in a woman's clothes, and brought
him across the sea in a blast of wind, to the tower where Ethlinn was . Then she called to the women in the tower, and asked them for shelter for a high queen
she was after saving from
some hardship, and the women in the tower did not like to refuse
a woman of the Tuatha de Danaan, and they let her and her
42
IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
comrade in. Then Birog by her enchantments put them all into a
deep sleep, and Cian went to speak with Ethlinn. And when she
saw him she said that was the face she had seen in her dreams. So
she gave him her love; but after a while he was brought away
again on a blast of wind.
And when her time came, Ethlinn gave birth to a son. And
when Balor knew that, he bade his people put the child in a cloth
and fasten it with a pin, and throw him into a current of the sea.
And as they were carrying the child across an arm of the sea, the
pin dropped out, and the child slipped from the cloth into the
water, and they thought he was drowned. But he was brought
away by Birog of the Mountain, and she brought him to his father
Cian; and he gave him to be fostered by Taillte, daughter of the
King of the Great Plain. It is thus Lugh was born and reared.
And some say Balor came and struck the head of Cian on a
white stone, that has the blood marks on it to this day; but it is
likely it was some other man he struck the head off, for it was by
the sons of Tuireann that Cian came to his death.
And after Lugh had come to Teamhair, and made his mind up
to join with his father's people against the Fomor, he put his mind
to the work; and he went to a quiet place in Grellach Dollaid,
with Nuada and the Dagda, and with Ogma; and Goibniu and
Diancecht were called to them there. A full year they stopped
there, making their plans together in secret, the way the Fomor
would not know they were going to rise against them till such
time as all would be ready, and till they would know what their
strength was. And it is from that council the place got the name
afterwards of "The Whisper of the Men of Dea."
And they broke up the council, and agreed to meet again that
day three years, and every one of them went his own way, and
Lugh went back to his own friends, the sons of Manannan.
And it was a good while after that, Nuada was holding a great
assembly of the people on the Hill of Uisnech, on the west side of
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
43
Teamhair. And they were not long there before they saw an armed
