MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLEis called Arcatlám, “silver arm.” However, this physical
blemish renders Núadu unsuitable for kingship and he
is replaced by Bres, the son of the king of the Fomoiri
(“demons from over the sea”) and a woman of the
Túatha Dé Danann. Bres proves himself in battle by
overthrowing the Fir Bolg and exiling them to Connacht
and distant coastal islands.
The second battle of Mag Tuired (Cath Maige
Tuired) is probably the most important of the mytho-
logical tales because of its narrative sophistication and
its inclusion of almost all the known Irish gods. The
earliest versions are an eleventh- or twelfth-century
composition based on Old Irish material, and a version
that was incorporated into Lebor Gabála Érenn in the
eleventh century. It was influenced by Lebor Gabála
Érenn, from which it draws accounts of the first battle
of Mag Tuired and the loss of Núadu’s arm. This is an
important prelude to the second battle, as it explains
how Bres came to be king of the Túatha Dé Danann.
Bres’s rule is unjust, and he forces the champions of
the Túatha Dé Danann to perform demeaning tasks.
When the poet Coirpre is treated inhospitably, he com-
poses a satire on Bres after which the Túatha Dé
Danann expel him. Bres then seeks help from the
Fomoiri. Meanwhile, Núadu’s arm grows back and he
is restored to the kingship. The Túatha Dé choose Lug
as their leader in battle. In the subsequent conflict with
the Fomoiri, Núadu is slain by Balor whose single eye,
when opened, paralyses the opposing army. Lug and
Balor are engaged in combat when Balor again opens
his eye, but Lug slays him with a slingshot in a scene
reminiscent of the biblical story of David and Goliath.
The Túatha Dé Danann win the battle and drive their
enemies into the sea. Bres, however, is spared when
he promises to teach the victors the secrets of agricul-
ture. Lug, the Dagda, and Ogma pursue the Fomoiri
to Bres’s banqueting hall where they retrieve their
cattle and the Dagda’s harp.
Various attempts have been made to distill ancient
myth from the surviving texts. T. F. O’Rahilly’s theory
that the original myth dealt with the defeat of the sun-
god Balor by the divine hero Lug has been discredited.
Dumézil places the tale within the context of Indo-
European myth according to which battle is waged by
representatives of the first (sacred) and second (martial)
functions against the third function (material), resulting
in the integration of the three functions. This is repre-
sented here by the defeat of the Fomoiri by Núadu and
Lug and the divulging of the secrets of agriculture by
Bres to the victors. While this interpretation requires
some modification to accommodate the extant narra-
tive, it has been widely accepted. The story also func-
tions as an exemplary myth embodying and validating
in dramatic form the ideology of its originators. This
is done here negatively through the portrayal of unde-
sirable characters such as Bres, and affirmatively
through the depiction of positive role models such as
Lug. In doing so it explores the nature of kinship and
kingship, intertribal and intratribal relationships, and
the interplay between social and cosmic order.
Other interpretations have focused on the signifi-
cance and meaning of the tale within its contemporary
context, indicating that monastic writers had a pro-
found influence on the form of the tale. The negative
portrayal of the cáinte(“satirist”) who overburdens the
unfortunate Dagda may be clerically inspired. The
threat from the Fomoiri is depicted as an alliance
among Scandinavian forces intent upon the conquest
of Ireland, and this may be a reflection of the threat
from the Viking incursions of the ninth century when
the tale was first written. The text may have had an
overarching contemporary political message, namely,
the importance of unity around the Tara kingship in
order to repel foreign attacks. If so, it could be regarded
as propaganda for the Uí Néill dynasty that controlled
the kingship of Tara during this period.Aislinge Óengusso
(The Dream of Óengus)
This Old Irish story tells how Óengus, son of the Dagda
and Bóann, fell ill after seeing a beautiful maiden in a
dream. The forces of the otherworld are marshaled to
reveal that the woman is Cáer Iborméith from Síd
Úamain in Connacht, and the assistance of Ailill and
Medb, king and queen of Connacht, is enlisted to pro-
cure her from her father. It is revealed that she takes the
form of a swan every other year and her father reveals
where she will be the following Samain. Óengus goes
to her there, and, in the form of swans, they sleep
together before going to Brug na Bóinne. The episode
is used to explain Óengus’s participation in the cattleraid
of Cooley in the Ulster Cycle.Tochmarc Étaíne
(The Courtship of Étaín)
This is actually a sequence of three interrelated stories.
In the first, Midir of Brí Léith obtains as compensation
for an alleged injury Étaín, the fairest of all the maid-
ens of Ireland and daughter of Ailill, king of northeast
Ulster. However, in her jealousy Midir’s first wife,
Fúamnach, turns her consecutively into a pool of water,
a worm, and a fly or butterfly. A wind conjured up by
Fúamnach drives Étaín out to sea, and she wanders the
coast for seven years. She eventually encounters Óengus,
son of the Dagda, who carries her in a crystal cage
until Fúamnach again drives her off. She falls into the