Lugh

Balor, king of the Fomorians, learned that his grandson would kill him. He confined his daughter Eithne in a high tower on Tory Island, where she would see no man and bear no child. Balor had also taken the Glas Ghaibhleann, a magical cow that never ceased giving milk. Cian cared for the cow, although some accounts call him its owner and others make him its herdsman for a magical smith.

The smith threatened Cian unless he recovered the cow. Cian crossed to Tory Island with the help of the druid woman Biróg. Disguised as a woman, he entered the tower and stayed with Eithne. She bore three sons, including Lugh.

When Balor discovered this, he ordered the children to be thrown into the sea. Two were lost, but Cian rescued one. That child was Lugh. Tailtiu later raised him, and he became associated with Manannán mac Lir. Lugh became a god and hero of the Tuatha Dé Danann, while remaining half-Fomorian through Balor.

The Tuatha Dé Danann first questioned whether Lugh had a place among them. They already had people skilled in separate arts. Lugh said that he could practise each art and asked whether anyone among them possessed all these skills. They admitted that they had no such person and accepted him. He was called Samildánach, meaning the one of many skills.

At the second battle of Mag Tuired, Lugh fought Balor. He struck his grandfather's eye with a sling stone in one account. Another gives him a magical spear made by Goibniu. The blow blinded Balor, and the Fomorians were defeated.

Dechtire received Lugh's seed in a form that differs between accounts. He came to her in a dream or while she was awake. She may have been in human form or in the shape of a bird. Another account gives the child no father. Dechtire saw a tiny worm in a glass of wine, recognised the chance to bear a hero, and drank it. When the child was ready to be born, she vomited him out. She remained a virgin while becoming his mother.

A different account begins when the Ulstermen, tired from their travels, found a spacious house. A man and woman welcomed them. During the night, the woman went into labour. Deichtine entered the storeroom and helped her deliver a boy. Outside, a mare gave birth to two foals. The Ulstermen took charge of the baby and gave him the foals. Deichtine nursed him.

At dawn, the house and its inhabitants had vanished. The baby, the foals and the Ulstermen's horses were left behind. The warriors carried the child to Emain Macha and raised him there until he became a boy. He later fell ill and died, and the Ulstermen lamented him. Deichtine grieved deeply.

In another version, the child survived and was called Sétanta. The warriors of Ulster disputed who should raise him. The leading heroes agreed to share the task. Fergus Mac Róich taught him the manly arts, Findchóem nursed him, Conall Cernach became his foster brother, and Conchobar became his foster father.

Balor ordered his servants to raise the great eyelid covering his single eye. Its gaze caused instant death. While the lid was only partly open, Lugh took a sling and hurled a stone into the eye. The blow blinded Balor, drove the eye into his brain and killed him. This fulfilled the prophecy that Balor would die at the hand of his grandson.

The prophecy had led Balor to confine his daughter Eithne in a tower on Tory Island. He believed that a girl who never saw a man could not bear a child. He had also stolen the Glas Ghaibhleann, a cow that never ceased giving milk, from Cian, who cared for it on the mainland. Cian wanted the cow returned. With the help of Biróg, a woman druid, he entered the tower disguised as a woman and stayed with Eithne until she bore triplets, including Lugh.

When Balor discovered the children, he ordered all three to be thrown into the sea. Cian saved one, Lugh, who was therefore Balor's grandson. Lugh was half-Fomorian, but fought with the Tuatha Dé Danann against the Fomorians at the second battle of Mag Tuired.

The battle continued for days, and many warriors fell. Balor killed Nuada, king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, before coming against Lugh. After Lugh killed him, the Fomorian forces lost heart. The Tuatha Dé Danann drove them back to the sea, captured Bres and ended Fomorian rule. One account says that Lugh was made king after the victory.

Cermait’s sons attacked Lugh at Loch Lugborta to avenge their father. Lugh had killed Cermait after finding him with Buach. The sons killed Lugh at the loch, and his death ended his time as champion of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Lugh bore the names Lug, Luga, Lui Lavada, Lugh Lámfhoda and Lugh Samildánach. He was the son of Cian and Eithne, the daughter of Balor, the Fomorian king of the Evil Eye. A prophet warned Balor that his grandson would kill him, so Balor kept Eithne from men in a tower. Cian defeated this plan by dressing as a woman and entering the tower. Eithne bore three sons. Balor threw them into the sea, but Cian saved one, Lugh.

Lugh later joined the Tuatha Dé Danann and fought on their side against the Fomorians. He fulfilled the prophecy when he met Balor in battle and killed him with a slingshot or a magical spear made by Goibniu. Lugh fathered Cúchulainn with Dechtire, a human woman, and later fought beside his son during the Táin Bó Cuailnge. No connection joined Cúchulainn to the attack at Loch Lugborta.

Lugh also prophesied Conn of the Hundred Battles’ future while the king waited in a druid’s fog. Lugh then disappeared from Ireland. In one telling, a leprechaun was linked with his name, which was translated as little stooping Lugh. At Loch Lugborta, Cermait’s sons took their revenge and Lugh died.