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I am the fire of the eyelid of the mighty waterfall, the good god of druidism, of the Tour de Danann, the mighty one of great knowledge, and horseman. Great Father are my three names.
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Few gods of the Gaels are as well known as the Dagda in the medieval tales. He is both exalted as a great king, father, and druid, and the object of mockery. He is said to have been the king in the beginning, yet presented as a later lord whose rule goes unexplained. He is known by many names and is the father of many important gods, but his nature is mysterious, hidden beneath the seven cowls that obscure his face. What is the true nature of this Great Father, husband of the frightening Morrigan? A druid, a trickster, a liar, a digger of the earth, and the distributor of the mounds? Who is the Dagda?
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In the intoxication of the Ulsterman, Corai mac Dairi is provided the most detailed description of the god in any surviving sources. "I saw a large-eyed, large-thighed, noble, great, immensely tall man with a splendid grey cloak about him, with seven short black, equally smooth cowls around him, shorter was each upper one, longer each lower. At either side of him were nine men. In his hand was a dreadful iron staff, on which was a furious end and a smooth end. His play and amusement consisted in laying the furious end on the heads of the nine, whom he would kill in the space of a moment. He would then lay the smooth end on them, so that he would reanimate them in the same time."
"Many geysers has the one described," said Corai. "Who is that then?" asked a little one. "Not hard to tell," said Corai. "The great Dagda, son of Ethiu, the good god of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He magnified valor in conflict. He brought confusion upon the host in the morning this day, and no one in the host sees him."
It should be obvious from the description that he is not the Gaelic Thor, as he is sometimes wrongly depicted. He is a complex figure that can only be understood when examining in detail his various associations within the overall Indo-European worldview. He is a god with many names, though he is most commonly known as the Dagda or Daga in modern Gaelic pronunciation. Medieval commentators generally believed it meant "the good god," which is often accepted by modern scholars as well. "Good" isn't intended to have a moral connotation here, but is used in terms of ability.
When the god Nuada asks the Dagda what tasks he will perform in the great battle, he replied that "the power which ye boast, I shall wield it all myself." "It is you who are the Dagda," said everyone. "Wherefore thenceforward the name Dagda adhered to him." In other words, since he vows to be able to wield all of the skills previously mentioned, he is called the good god because he is greatly skilled at everything. He makes his comment after Mathgen the sorcerer said he would cast the mountains of Ireland upon the Fomorians and roll their summits against the ground. The cupbearers vowed to remove all the water from the rivers of Ireland to make the Fomorians die of thirst, and Fiergo the Druid said he would cast fire on the faces of the Fomorians, robbing them of their senses and strength, and bind their urine, but he would increase the bravery and strength of the men of Ireland. The Dagda claims the ability to wield all of the powers that the sorcerers and druids professed, and it is with these arts that he is most often connected.
The tale of the Dagda is a confused one, obscured by Christianization of original tales. In the typical story presented in the book, "The Taking of Ireland," we are told that he is one of three central kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Nuada holds the sword of Nuada, Lugh the spear of Gorius, and the Dagda the cauldron from Murias. He accompanied Nuada when he led the Tuatha Dé to Ireland in the dark clouds and fought against the Fomorians. Then he aided Lugh in the second battle of Magh Tuired against the Fomorians, and finally, he served as king when Lugh was overthrown by the sons of Kermit. However, this structure is likely not the original one, or at least not the only one. As the Great Father and the Father of Existence, as he refers to himself in the second battle of Magh Tuired, he may have been the first king. No definite myth survives about his rule, but he is always thought to be lord of the Sidhe, or sídhe in modern pronunciation, the fairy mounds and burial mounds of ancient kings. He is said to have been killed by a poisoned dart of Cathleen, wife of Balor. His gravesite is the Brug na Boinne, the most famous burial site of kings who are believed to enjoy a bright afterlife in his abode, filled with endless food and drink. In one tale, his home is at Uisnech, from where he could look out over all of Ireland.
One of the most used names for the Dagda is "Eochaid," in modern pronunciation meaning "horseman, great father." The title "Eochaid" is directly cognate with the name given to the Norse god Odin, "All-Father." This cannot be a coincidence, and a number of aspects of Norse Odin have a common origin with the Dagda. Often, he is simply referred to as "Echath," and many later legendary kings named Echath may be named after him and are occasionally associated with similar mythical themes. The name is derived from the word for "horse," and it is likely that in an earlier period, he was not the great horseman, but the great horse.
The third common name of the Dagda is "Ruad Rofessa," the mighty one of great knowledge, sometimes translated as "red one of great knowledge." It is explained in the Book of Leinster that "Ergna," meaning understanding, is a son of "Acne," wisdom, who is the son of the three gods of art, who are the sons of Brigid, who is a lore master, who is the daughter of the Dagda, who is the mighty one of great knowledge. It explains that the Dagda is the son of all of the arts, Macha Nullán Dána, and that he was the youth who had every art. Knowledge and poetry are consistently linked to him. He is sometimes called "Dagda of the Songs." When historical figures are compared to him in praise poetry, it is in the context of them being extremely knowledgeable or master poets. Saint Cormac, who is both a king and a noted scholar who composed Cormac's Glossary, is given such praise in the Book of Leinster: "Coilemac the wonderful sage, after the form of the Dagda, I declare, son of Culenin, a clear song with great beautiful chanting." His children are likewise connected to these themes. Brigid, or Bride, his daughter, is called the goddess of the Fíli. His son, Angus mac Óg, or Aengus, is connected to prophecy and knowledge. A third son, Kermit, is sometimes called "Honeymouth" or "the Harper." Under the name "Fer Ben," the Dagda is also called the "father of Rigberth," meaning "king bard," which may in fact be another name for Kermit. "Aed," or in modern Gaelic pronunciation, simply means "fire," and is cognate with the Latin word for temple, derived from the altar fire. The Dagda is not only a master of music and poetry but connected to its origin.
In the Táin Bó Fraích, it is said the illustrious triad are three brothers, namely Sorrow-strain, Joy-strain, and Sleep-strain. Bóan from the sheath is the mother of the triad. It is from the music which Uafna, the Dagda's harper, played that the three are named. "That in Shenchas of All," says, "who is the king over all Ériu? Sweet-sounding, radiant. Who but the skillful Dagda?" He is also the god of druidry, or magic. In the Battle of Magh Tuired, he proclaims that "I will take the side of the men of Ireland with noble slaughter and complete destruction and witchcraft." In the typically available translation, this last word appears instead as "sorcery," but in Gaelic, *amidíthi* refers specifically to witchcraft, from *amith*, meaning a witch, hag, or other female magical figure. He possesses all magic, even that which is generally relegated to women, akin to Odin's practice of *seidr*. The word for "complete destruction" here, *admilid*, can also be translated as "blight," "hindering," "derangement," "casting the evil eye," or other harmful magical effects, and it is this meaning which may be intended when he is described to Corai going about the troops, he is spreading confusion, increasing the desire to fight, something also connected to his wife, the Morrigan. When his son Kermit declares that he has all the magical powers of his father, he declares that he will turn the blades and points of Lugh's weapons and render them useless.
In "The Taking of the Sheath," it says of him: "There was a wondrous king over the Tuatha Dé Danann in Ireland, Dagon by name, the Dagda. Great was his power, even over the sons of Míl after they had seized the land. For the dwarfs they damaged the grain and the milk of the sons of Míl until they made a treaty with the Dagda. Thereafter, they preserved their grains and their milk for them." "Dagon" may mean something like "greatly good," but it may also refer to the Semitic god mentioned in the Bible, Dagon, which appears in Old Gaelic texts. How much they knew of the nature of Dagon beyond what is said of him in the Bible is hard to say, but he is a fertility god. If they knew it or not, it does align with many powers ascribed to the Dagda.
Of the fort of Allach, it is said: "Allach, the hill where the Dagda slept. Red or its flowers, many its houses, view its plunderings, plum its stones." Though there were many gods and many different tribal names for them, the early Gaelic pantheon seems to have revolved around three chief deities: Nuada, Lugh, and the Dagda, not always by these names. They are associated with different aspects of nature, the mind, and social roles. All three of them are inevitably involved in weather and seasonal change in their own ways. Nuada was said to bring the gods to Ireland in clouds that covered the sun, and he is linked to water. Lugh summons the fierce powers of floods, winds, lightning, and light of the sun and moon. The Dagda, however, was believed to rule over the seasons or weather in relation to produce, profit, and crops.
In "The Wooing of Aine," it says: "His other name was the Dagda, for it was he who used to do the miracles and ruled the seasons and the produce for them." This aspect is also emphasized in the Sidhe mounds that he ascribes to himself: "the Sidhe of the wide milk fields," "Oy Asith," the sheep-growing Sidhe, "Banya," the white Sidhe, perhaps referring to Banya as in milk. It is also one of the key associations of his daughter, Brigid, who manages domesticated animals and ensures the bounty.
In the household of the Brug na Boinne, it is said: "Behold the fairy mound before your eyes. It is plain for you to see. It is a kingly dwelling. It was built by the harsh Dagda. It was a shelter, it was a keep, renowned for strength. Entertainment was made by him for the king in the mound by means of lasting deception. Thence is named it is not a question without a key mound of refuse before the eyes of the hosts." The idea that the Dagda made the mound, which is also called the mound of refuse, links it to the idea which Kú Chulainn states in "The Wooing of Etain" when it says that after Lugh's victory, the Tuatha Dé put on a giant feast for him, and that the hill at Tailltu was the refuse from that feast. This appears to be the same type of myth applied to a different site. The Dagda is presented as being a cook for High King Conchobar, consistently connecting the Dagda with food.
The connection between the Dagda and crops may be related to control over the seasons. In the Battle of Magh Tuired, when he and his brothers Ogma and Lugh come to the camp of the Fomorians to retrieve his stolen harp, he calls out: "Come, Dagda Blah, come, come summer, come winter, mouths of harps and bags and pipes." The exact translation of the first name, "Dagda Blah," is not certain, but it may be from *daur da blah*, meaning "oak of two shouts, plains, or borders," or it may be from *daort habla*, meaning "murmuring apple." The second name means "the four-angled harp," but more strictly, "the harmonized four angles." It is shown here related to the ordering of the seasons, as well as the origin of all music, the cosmic harmony which is represented by the harmonious flowing of time, which the Fomorians disrupted and which must be taken back from them for order to be restored. Lugh overcomes the Fomorian army through military force; the Dagda restores harmony through the retrieval of his harp. This association with seasons and produce may be similar to Greek Chronos and Roman Saturn, both progenitor gods linked to seasons and crops.
A Dindsenchas tale about Mag Muirthemne describes how the Dagda drove water from the land along with an octopus. Some say this shows that he was a thunder god, as he battles a sea monster akin to Thor, but the context of this battle is different. The battle is purely a magical chant, and the focus is on removing the waters from the land, contrary to the nature of a storm god. It would seem.
In the tale of the birth of his son Angus, he makes nine months appear like one day. Brigid, adopted as a Christian saint but originally a daughter of the Dagda, is connected to fire and sun. Saint Broccan's hymn to her says: "A day of reaping for her, it was well reaped, no fault was found there with my pious one, it was dry weather ever in her field, though the land around poured heavy rain." Another hymn says: "Brigid, every good woman, flame golden sparkling, may she bear us to the eternal kingdom. The sun, fiery, radiant." A special symbol called Saint Brigid's cross is made out of reeds and is solar in nature. However, her primary functions are with maintaining livestock, feeding the household, and producing plenty, including financial wealth.
The Dagda also has a son called Aed, meaning "fire," and is sometimes himself called Aed. However, it's explained in relation to the Dagda that this Aed actually means "I" rather than "fire." Scottish Gaelic folklore says Angus and Brigid became rulers of summer. Brigid was held captive during the winter, Mybera, but eventually she and Angus came to rule as Bera weakened during the hottest days of summer. Bera sends the thunderhag to battle them, or in some cases, she comes herself. This thunderhag doesn't bring rain but actually withholds it, causing fires and droughts to sweep the land. Both Angus and Brigid are powerless to stop her, so they call the hero Connell Curnew, and he climbs a hill and casts a spear at the clouds as the thunderhag is rolling by in her chariot, causing the chariot wheel to break, the clouds, and bring the rains. This shows that Angus and Brigid are unable to affect the weather, not only the rains but also summer itself. They are dependent upon the seasonal cycle and the lightning hero god.
Angus and Brigid's rule of summer may have more to do with the growth of plants and fertility of earth, and they are thought to personify aspects of the season and are thus connected to the powers of the sun of that season. Angus's title *Mac Óg*, or "young's son," is suggestive, perhaps of fresh growth that emerges up from the earth. In a Dindsenchas house entry for the Brug, it calls Angus "the son of the bold tree," suggestive of exactly this idea of vegetative growth. An identical concept is found concerning the Slavic god Yarilo, a god of plant life and fertility, whose name comes from an Indo-European root meaning "summer" or "spring." The name Angus means "one power," which is to imply sexual desire and the force of uniting. He is said to spread love through his birds, which, however, was believed to be a deadly disease in Britain and Gaul. He was known as Mabon or Maponos, linked with Roman Apollo, but Welsh tales of Mabon show he was like in Gaelic tradition, thought to dwell in the earth.
Brigid is connected with the celebration of Imbolc, explained in Cormac's Glossary as "the time that sheep's milk comes," which requires the ewe to be impregnated. This is likely related to the name of one of the Dagda's homes, *Oy Asith*, meaning "growing sheep." Her connection to sun and fire is probably similar to that of Angus as seasonal expressions of powers of the sun, heat, and fertility. Yet, during the winter, Brigid may have been thought to dwell beneath the earth, emerging alongside the milk of ewes and the budding of trees as expressions of her power, a power whose origin resides in the Dagda. According to the *Carmina Gadelica*, the sighting of a snake emerging on Brigid's day was a good sign from her that winter was coming to an end. Yet, there is hardly a more Catholic symbol than a serpent.
The etymology of Kermit's name is not certain. It may refer to *kermith*, meaning "lopping" or "trimming." He is best known for sleeping with or stealing away Lugh's wife, and he has three children, which may well have been born of Lugh's wife, who are commonly known as Mac Uil, Mac Uirt, and Mac Grien – "son of the hazel," "son of the plow," and "son of the sun." They are paired with Ériu, Banba, and Fódla, the triple goddesses of Ireland, though it doesn't tell us much. It continues a theme of sun, crops, and knowledge. The hazelnut is one of the prime symbols of druidic knowledge in Ireland, and this knowledge was derived from the Dagda.
Aengus's entry for Druim Suamaig says: "Tulach *dér*, meaning hill of tears, to wit, the tears of the great Dagda, which he shed in bewailing his son Kermit." Then he beheld the blaze of destruction. Another version changes Kermit's name for Aed, the Dagda's other son, but it possibly refers to either the way that they were killed or to their funeral pyre. In a few tales, people involved in adultery are burned in hilltop fires. It is possible that in origin, Aed was the god of the sacrificial fire and the funeral pyre, both of which send sacrifices and the dead into the realm of the gods. This fire would have been created by a druid, and thus the fire was the son of the druid god.
The Dagda gave his son Aed mac Floichros, meaning "the plain of wet wood," that he dwells within a place called "wet wood." This suggests that he was fire itself, and some tales mention Vulcan, using the Roman god of fire's name, as dwelling within the mounds beneath the earth. He fell in love with Echrid, meaning "steeds," but she refused his advances because she was married to Caudhal, perhaps meaning "animal hide." The Dagda told his son to take her by force and to take Caudhal prisoner. All of the woman's family rose up to rescue her, and they stormed the house of Aed and won her back. The Dagda musters all his sons to make war, but Elcvar the judge stopped them and awarded lands from the Dagda to the wronged party. This location seems to refer to a small island off the east coast, now called Ireland's Eye, an English translation of a Norse name. But given that Aed, in relation to a name for the Dagda, is explained as meaning "I," perhaps this Norse name and this myth somehow are related. It also sleeps with Tethra, either meaning "a scowled crow" or "the sea," and was killed by her husband, Korken, which means "pointed head."
Finally, under the name Aed Avrith, the Dagda is said to have been the father of Laithrith, mentioned in several *Senchas* tales and in "The Wasting Sickness of Cú Chulainn," where Cú Chulainn helps Laithrith wage a battle in the underworld, akin to the Welsh tale where Arawn, the king of the underworld, has Pwyll fight a battle for him. Laithrith appears as a ruler of the underworld of Mag Mell, surrounded by many daughters of the Dagda.
Fán is also a daughter of the Dagda, linked to Cú Chulainn's near-death experience. He is also father of Ange, a name possibly referring to a heavy burden. She has gathered many sticks to make herself a new tub because the one the Dagda had made for her dripped when the sea was at full tide but would not drip when it was at low tide. The tale explains the tides through the Dagda's peculiar manufacture of the earth's boundaries. Yet, despite solar and fire connections of some of the Dagda's children, the god himself is not pictured as luminous. He is a concealed god who dresses in dark, earthy colors. He creates a massive boundary ditch around the provinces called the Track of the Dagda's Staff, linking him to the boundaries. He also created many such ditches around fortresses, which King Bres had tasked him with during his inglorious rule. His island of learning was "Muirless," with "muir" likely meaning "earthen ditches, mounds, and walls." One of his names is Cera, meaning "dark one," and he is once called "Ceren the Clod," meaning "dark one of the ditches."
In "The Fitness of Names," it is said he was a god of the earth to them due to the greatness of his power. In the tale of "The Invasion of Nemed," the Dagda is referred to as Ferben, a name the Dagda also gives to himself in the Battle of Magh Tuired, most likely meaning "horned man," and he is called "King of the Land," *Rí nachir*, referring to the ground or earth. In Gaul and Britain, there are archaeological examples of such a horned man, most famously on the Gundestrup Cauldron. It is possible that this figure represents a god akin to the Dagda, and symbolism around this god suggests he was a lord of the earth. The Dagda has many epithets that suggest such a nature, such as *dú* meaning "dark" or "brown," *dúr* "hard, drawn, solid," *drechwar* "reddish-brown face," and this large face is compared to the size of a field. "Dress" can be used to describe the surface of the ground, and in English, we say "face of the earth." He is often linked to *ruad*, which refers to a reddish-brown color, such as the fur of a deer. He is also once called "Dagda Drechur," which may mean "earth-faced" or "soil-faced."
In the Battle of Magh Tuired, a comical scene unfolds after the Dagda is sent by Lugh to spy on and delay the Fomorians. The Dagda is offered a massive amount of porridge, for he was said to greatly love it, but it was provided to him in a giant pit in the earth. This was done to mock him, but also so that he could not reproach them for being inhospitable, meaning that the Dagda also oversaw hospitality, something closely linked to his daughter Brigid as well. Yet, this practice of feeding a god from a hole in the earth is exactly akin to real methods of sacrifice to deities of the earth, for which there is archaeological evidence for in Britain. Afterwards, he is so full, his belly is as big as a cauldron. He then comes across a beautiful young woman whom he desires, but she wrestles him to the ground, overpowering him, throwing him down, and beating the crap out of him, literally. She is the daughter of Indech, the king of the Fomorians, and the scene is intended to be silly, but it may be connected to the use of manure on fields afterwards. She demands a ride on his back, as if he were a horse. He is described in that scene as wearing horse-haired boots with the fur turned outward, and in a more archaic period, he may have been thought of as a horse. Indech's daughter wants a ride to her father's house, but as he is the king of the Fomorians, that would be in the other world, or at the very least, conceptualized as somewhere across the sea. Yet, the Dagda does give her a ride there on his back and copulates with her there, showing his ability to travel to the underworld and his close connection to it. It's likely part of the reason he was chosen by Lugh for this mission to the Fomorians. One of the many names he uses to refer to himself in the scene is "Fer Ben" or "Ferban Brewer," meaning "horned man of the border." The copulation is also an expression of his fertility, and it's the second time in one short tale that he engages in it. It was said that he put large stones in his belt, and that they fell to the earth, which some people called the testicles of the Dagda. His sons are also involved in episodes where they steal the wives of other gods, and he himself does this with the conception of Angus.
The most obvious symbol, however, of the Dagda's mastery over earthly fertility is his cauldron, one of the four sacred artifacts of the gods. It never runs dry and is able to satisfy all who come to it. He received it and his magical training from the island of Murias, with "mur" either referring to the earthen mound or dike, or to abundance. He possesses a girdle for cooking, and his wife, the Morrigan, has a cooking spit.
In the tale "Da Derga's Hostel," the Dagda is described as a fair-looking man with gray hair who is the cook for King Conchobar, along with two apprentices, Strength and Accomplishment. Though we may not picture the Dagda as a chef, it shows he was consistently connected with the provision of food, and this also extends to the realm of the dead, where the kings in death reside in the home of the Dagda or Angus and feast and drink endlessly. Also connected with fertility is his status as Great Father. In his dialogue with Indech's daughter, he refers to himself as "the Great Father of Existence and the Denier of the Great Decay," suggesting he brought the world into being and maintains it from destruction. Though the Gaelic creation myth has been destroyed beyond the possibility of genuine recovery, the Dagda may have been an instrumental figure in it.
His mother is Ethniu, pronounced today as Enya, the same mother as Lugh, and sometimes also said to be the mother of Dian Cecht, Goibniu, and sometimes Ogma. The name Ethniu may be related to *ethach*, meaning "cattle," and is once said to be another name for Boann, which originally meant "white cow." In origin, she may have been the great cow goddess, the same as the magical cow known as Glas Gaimlenn, and similar to Norse Audhumla. The Dagda's father is Elatha, a Fomorian, whose name means "art." He appears to have been an abstract concept used to explain the descent of the gods of art. His wife is the Morrigan, her name is thought to mean "great queen," and would be a good match for the Great Father, although it may be related to *mór*, as in nightmare. She is described as the lamia of the Gaels, a frightening figure who contrives the deaths of men and instigates wars. There is some evidence to suggest that she was at one point an aspect of an earth goddess. The "Paps of the Dagda," consort sometimes identified as the Morrigan, other times Ana, are hills near the Brug complex where Kermit was said to be born. Yet, in surviving sources, her overriding characterization is frightening and connected with war and death. We can tentatively compare this to how Roman Saturn was originally paired with the goddess Lua, who is offered bloodied weapons of war and linked to death and destruction.
The Dagda's mistress is the daughter of the Fomorian king. Not much is known about her, not even her name for certain, but that she is the daughter of Indech reinforces her underworld connections. Finally, the Dagda's typical weapon is probably not a club, and certainly not a thunderclub. In the earliest sources, it is called the *Lorga Aduathmar*, the dreadful or abominable staff. *Lorga* goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lorgos*, which referred to both clubs and staffs. In Old Gaelic, the *loddog* could refer to a wand or staff of office, like a scepter, or a staff of columba, a club, a hurley stick, or really any long-handled wooden implement. In translations of Greek and Roman stories, *lordog* is sometimes used to refer to the caduceus of Hermes.
A story is told of how he obtained this staff after his son Kermit was killed by High King Lugh for having taken his wife. The Dagda traveled all over the world to find a way to bring him back from the dead. Somewhere in the far east of the world, he finds three brothers traveling down a road with their father's great treasures: a magic staff, a cloak of shape-change, and a shirt that protects against sickness and sorrow. They explain that the staff they carry can kill with one end and revive with the other. He asks them if he can see it for a moment, and when they hand it to him, he strikes them dead with it, then uses it to revive Kermit, perhaps the world's first highway robbery. Its furious end was called the *Anfood*, and in later sources, sometimes the staff itself is called *Lorga Anfoot*, meaning "the furious or stormy staff." This meaning of "storm" is not the heart of the word, however, which is formed as a negative of *fith*, meaning "calm." One end is calm, the other is not calm. *Anfood* takes the meaning of storm to describe weather which is not calm. This is not the description of a lightning weapon, but rather it is an artifact that holds the power of life and death. In modern Scottish Gaelic, *anag* is the descendant of *Anfood*. It carries the meaning of "roaring, raging of sea," a sea which is not calm, but it also means "breath, lung, power, the activity of breathing." The breath is closely linked to the soul and the force of life. Certainly, the Dagda's staff is intended to demonstrate mastery over a spirit force and the power of reincarnation, which in turn could be connected to the wind. It's very similar in nature to the staff of Hermes.
In a Gaelic version of the Aeneid, it describes Mercury's staff in the following way: "And he brought his wing to staff, namely, one of the ends is with life, and the other end is with death."
One of the Dagda's more secretive names is *Aed Avrith*. At the beginning of the tale of how he got his staff, he proclaims: "I am Aed Avrith of Ace Ruid, namely the good god of druidism of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the mighty one of great knowledge, and the horseman, Great Father are my three names." A straightforward translation of this name means "fire of the eyelid," but this is not the true meaning. It's explained that *Aed* in this case means "I," because the eye is the fire of the eyelid. In the Celtic thought, the connection between fire and eye seems to be very ancient, for the Indo-European word for sun, *sóul*, has become a Gaelic word meaning "I," *súil*. The use of *Aed* in relation to the Dagda utilizes the same associations between light, fire, and sight that lead to the word for sun meaning "I."
Various tales are attached to *Ace Ruid*, one of the most repeated is that *Aedh* son of Badarn, father of Macha, drowned in a *shruid*, giving it the name. Before this, it was said to have been named *Ace Dúin*, and this is important because *Dúin* is one of the epithets commonly given to the Dagda, but it is also the name of the god of the house of the dead, who is in some cases said to be the son of the daughter. Now, we cannot know for certain that this *Aed Ruid* is the same as *Aed Avrith*, but there is good reason to think so. What was special about the falls of Ruid, known as Acoir in English, is that they were a famous salmon area. Salmon are linked to knowledge in both Gaelic and Welsh sources. *Ae* through *A* drowned there. The Dagda proclaimed that he dwells there, but it is also where the legendary wise man Fintan mac Bocra lost his eye in the form of a salmon. Fintan possessed all the knowledge of all the people who had ever been in Ireland. He had lived for thousands of years, taking the form of different animals every time he grew old. When he was in the form of a salmon, he lapped out of the water at *Ethruit* in the winter and got stuck on the ice. An eagle, who had also lived since the earliest days, came down and ate his eye, and ever since, he had been one-eyed. A separate tale features a different one-eyed salmon who lives in the falls, calling himself *Gúal*, meaning "one-eyed." It isn't a coincidence that the most famous wiseman of Ireland loses his eye at a location connected to the Dagda and a one-eyed salmon. There are echoes here that strongly suggest that this tale has an identical origin with Odin sacrificing his eye and placing it in the well of Mimir, both of which likely go back to a common Indo-European source.
A tale in the Dindsenchas tells how King Echid was one-eyed and had to give up his remaining eye to a trickster who threatened to curse him. In Indo-European traditions, knowledge is related to the underworld in many cases. To gain knowledge, especially of the future, one must journey to the underworld and speak with the dead. Odysseus does this in the Odyssey, Óðinn does this, and in Gaelic tradition, it is said that people would seek out Angus, the son of the Dagda, to unsow and night at the Brug, the one night of the year that it was opened, and the people would see the children of the Dagda lingering on the grave mounds. Knowledge was also thought to be concentrated in hazelnuts that grew in the otherworld around the sources of the waters, where they would drop into the waters and be eaten by salmon, who would then possess all knowledge. Anyone who caught and ate this salmon would obtain its knowledge. Cognate tales exist between Gaelic, Welsh, Slavic, and Norse about obtaining knowledge from tasting a salmon or dragon while being cooked. The Dagda is the master of that knowledge, but he is a devious god who has many names, many forms, and many lies.
Cormac's Glossary says the following: "Names of the wife of the Dagda: Lie, Guile, and Disgrace." This is hardly the only example of these qualities being connected to the god. One of his homes is *Bél na Liag*, meaning "belly of lies." He lies to Elcvar in order to sleep with his wife. He coaches his son Angus in how to rob the Brug, either through guile or sword point. He kills Críndel the satirist by sneaking gold into his food, causing him to choke to death on it, and then he is able to escape punishment through crafty wordplay. He is sent by Lugh to deceive and delay the Fomorian forces, and he succeeds in winning the support of the daughter of Indech. He steals his magical staff by murdering its owners, and he steals his harp from the Fomorian camp. He tells Aed to take Echid by force and imprison her husband. He rules over mounds, and he destroyed the grains and milk of the Gaels until they made a treaty with him. He is a deceptive god who comes in many forms: cloaked, hooded, with a staff that kills with one end and revives with the other, who is a son of art, and who is the god who possesses every art. And perhaps, until now, he has succeeded in deceiving a great many people who have been interested in Gaelic mythology as to his true nature.
It is said when the sons of Míl reached Ériu, their sage Asity circumvented the Tuatha Dé Danann so that Ériu was left to the partition of Amargan Glúinmar, son of Míl. For he was a king poet and a king judge, and he divided Ériu into two parts and gave the part that was underground to the Tuatha Dé and the other part to the sons of Míl, his own mortal people. The Tuatha Dé went into the hills and fairy places, so that they spoke with the fairy folk underground. This period of going underground is connected to the rule of the Dagda or his children. It is often thought or explained that this is the imposition of Christianity which drove the gods of the sky beneath the earth, yet it may well have been exactly how this particular branch of gods around the Dagda was conceived of to begin with.
Among the Greeks, there is a god known as Polymnos, "the one of many names." The reason he is given many names is because there is a reluctance to use his true name; he's instead called things like "the wealthy one," "host of many," "the unseen one," "wealthy father," "killer," "giver of good counsel," "receiver of many." He holds the great cornucopia of wealth with one hand and a dreadful staff with the other. He is called Zeus of the Earth. He rules the invisible world, the world that exists behind his cloaking helmet, the underworld. That god, of course, is Hades, brother of Zeus, ruler of the broad world beneath the earth, the unseen realm. The Dagda is not identical to the Greek conception of Hades, but he does appear to be a ruler of the spirit world and the earth. Of all places, he is most associated with the Brug na Boinne, otherwise called Newgrange. Its Gaelic name may originally mean "womb of the white cow," however, that womb is a passageway into the underworld from which spirits emerge at Samhain, and where, within historical memory, dead kings were buried.
The Dindsenchas century says: "Here slept a married pair after the battle of Magh Tuired, yonder the great lady and the dark Dagda, not obscure as a dwelling there." "The Taking of the Sheath" says: "Then Dargon departed from there, and the Mac Óg remained in his sheath. That is a wondrous land, there are three trees perpetually bearing fruit, and an ever-living pig, and a hoof, and a cooked pig, and a vessel with excellent liquor, and all of this never grows less." This is the conception of the otherworld, dwelling place of dead kings who are eternally provided for, akin to the idea of the Dagda's inexhaustible cauldron. The fairy mounds that the Dagda rules and distributes are mounds of the dead. His homes become the homes of kings upon their death. Unlike in Greek tradition, that underworld is bright rather than dark and gloomy, more akin to the Elysian Fields, but it is an underworld nonetheless. This does not appear to be a Christianization of the Dagda, but is his original conception.
There is a noticeable rift between Lugh, the Fomorian killer, and the family of the Dagda. Not a single one of the Dagda's sons participated in the fight against the Fomorians, save perhaps Bóð Derc, meaning "red crow," who doesn't appear in many of the early sources. Instead, several fought with the Fomorians. Brigid was in the camp of the Fomorians alongside her husband Bres. Their son Ruadán tried to kill the god Goibniu, and when he was felled by the smith's return blow, Brigid invented keening, a type of mourning for the dead. Angus mac Óg also fought with the Fomorians.
That Dindsenchas' entry for Tuam Regan says: "Reagan of the children of Impious Ham, from the army of strong smiting Balor, was a warrior of prowess and exploits, whom none could face in equal battle. Reagan, it was dangerous beyond dispute, that engaged the combat. He was leader of the retinue of red-armed Angus mac Indór, with all his army. The warrior went his way in good sooth, when he had slain the warrior woman to demand an unjust tribute from the host of the Gaels through an unrighteous claim. There met him face to face, unaided, the king's son of the Gael. They fought a stern fight, hard by the rock of Asool's son, the spot where the Fomor's head was struck off. It was a doughty deed. His called after him Tuam Regan."
The Annals of Tigernach record the following for the year 1084: "A great pestilence in this year, which killed a fourth of the men of Ireland. It began in the south and spread throughout the four quarters of Ireland. This is the cause of that pestilence, namely, demons that came out of the north islands of the world, three battalions, and in each battalion there were thirty and ten hundred and two thousand." As Angus Óg, the son of the Dagda, told to Gilla Logain, who used to haunt the fairy mounds every year at sowing. Interesting is that Christians in 1084 were so desperate they were seeking out the aid of pagan gods. Angus was sought for information because he could reveal the knowledge of the other world, and he is sought by one who is named the servant of Bright Lugh.
Ogma was said to have written the first Ogham message in order to warn Lugh about his wife, saying that "she will be taken unless the birch guard against it." The exact role of the birch here is mysterious, but it was used in ancient Gaelic purification rites and weddings, as medieval accounts say it was placed in the house and its leaves upon the floor on the wedding day. We see the same struggle over a wife in Welsh myth: Say's wife Lódi, with flower face, who is made of flowers by Math and Gurion and offered to Say as his wife due to his mother's curse against him. However, she falls in love with Grono Pepper, a name which may mean "radiant heron," and together they kill him. Féi is later revived from an oak tree by Gwydion and pays the blow back. The same myth also appears contained in the tale of the feud between Cú Chulainn and Cúroi over Bláthnaid, partially cognate with "bloody." With these stories, it seems to emulate a myth concerning Lugh and another god who fight for possession of a goddess of the fertile earth, a type of Gaelic Persephone. Perhaps the same dynamic exists in Slavic folklore in the theft of Perun's wife or cattle by Veles, lord of the underworld.
It isn't clear there is much space here between the identity of Kermit and his father, as Kermit himself declares when he says: "I am the son of that Dagda, and all the wizardry and magic that he had, I have, and all the knowledge that he learned from that host, I have it."
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That the tale of Lugh and Kermit may be thought of as an extension of a struggle between Lugh and the Dagda may show up in the tale of Lughaid Rínderg, a very important High King. He kills Ferbáe Fer Ben, who had horns growing from his head. Ferben kills Claw through Lughaid's mother, who is also his wife. Lughaid hunts him down and strikes him dead upon the summit of Slieve Ullain, a passage grave atop the mountain used to be named for him. Given that Dúin, who is clearly identified as a lord of the house of the dead, is thought to be a son of the Dagda, this reinforces the idea that the Dagda is the lord of the underworld, and that many of his children have Catholic connections.
The Dagda holds great sway over the grains and the milk. However, he could also have the opposite power, the taking of the shee. "The Taking of the Sheath" says: "Even though it belonged to the sons of Míl after the conquest of the country, for the Tuatha Dé destroyed the corn and the milk round about the sons of Míl until they made an alliance with the Dagda. Afterwards, he saved their corn and milk." The power of the shee folk over the crops and milk is one of the most attested beliefs of the Gaels, and very similar to the power of Germanic elves or dwarfs. However, we also hear of another figure, not in myth so much as in cult practice and Christian accounts, connected to the crops: Crom Cruach. Crom is also asked to preserve crops and milk and is known from a 9th-century source as *Cen Crúach*, meaning "the head or leader of stack mountain," rick, or even slaughter. Eventually, he becomes known as Crom Dubh, meaning "the dark crooked one," because *Cen Crúach* is appealed to in order to protect milk and grains. Some have thought this figure may be a representation of the Dagda or a god akin to him. In living folklore, Crom Dubh is linked to Lughnasa, and in the past, scholars have recreated a speculative myth about this god, one which is likely mistaken. This isn't the place to dwell on the nature of Crom, saved to say that the name Crom Dubh is a Christian name, a name applied to the god to re-label him with a more depreciating name, but the god was originally believed to be luminous and represented with a golden image. Crom is not the Dagda, though they have certain overlapping functions.
The overwhelming evidence suggests that the Dagda was primarily a god of the earth. He digs in the earth, he ensures the harmony of the seasons, the flow of energy, of life and time, the crops, and likely elements of the weather. His son Aed may have been the altar fire used for sacrifices and the cremation fire, which would send the dead to the abode of the Dagda. He was also believed to be the origin of music. He has long been thought by some to be Dis Pater of the Gauls, whom Julius Caesar mentioned, or Sucellus, who holds the great pot and the long-shafted hammer. However, it should not be excluded that such a figure could have been interpreted as Mercury. The Dagda is linked to borders, to the heaven and underworld. He is the mighty one of great knowledge, the son of every art, who is a trickster, a liar, a thief. His harp is the origin of music and seasons, and he can move between worlds. He's chosen as an envoy or a messenger to the Fomorians, and he's a lord of wealth and abundance and carries a staff which gives life with one end and takes it with the other.
We may have further evidence for how the Dagda was interpreted by the Gaels themselves. He may have been equated with the Semitic god Dagon, but another equation may appear in the tale "The Battle of Findchorad," where it says: "They were telling their druids to find out for them what would be the consequences of the battle, and which of them would be defeated. They offered sacrifices to Mars, to Osiris, to Jove, and to Apollo. These are the sacrifices they offered: the flesh of dogs, pigs, and cats. Afterwards, it went upon the hides of old hairless bulls, and on the hurdles of rowan trees, and their faces north towards Hell." In Britain, Nodens, cognate with Nuada, was equated at least sometimes with Mars. Mabon, cognate with Mac Óg, was matched with Apollo. Yet, what Gaelic god would be interpreted as Osiris? What medieval scholars would have known about Osiris came from Greek sources such as Plutarch. He describes the symbols of Osiris as being an eye and a scepter, and he connects him to fertility and death. From this list, only Osiris and Jupiter could be interpreted as the Dagda, but other than the Dagda's link to fertility, he does not actually share structural similarities to Jupiter.
The nature of the Dagda is perhaps best put in the text "The Fitness of Names": "Dagda, that is the good god. He was an excellent god of the gentiles, for the Tuatha Dé Danann worshiped him, for he was a god of the earth to them for the greatness of his power. Echid, that is greater was he than his father or O. A great father to the Tuatha Dé Danann was he. Ruad Rofessa, that is, it was he who had all of the knowledge of the gentiles, and it was he who had the three multiple forms. A god of knowledge, of harvest, of seasons, of harmony and music, the good god of druidism, the great god of existence, the lord of the earth."
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