Old Gods to Fairy-folk
Tuatha Dé Danann means the “People of the Goddess Danu.” They are a primarily Irish pantheon descended from a great mother goddess, about whom very little is recorded. According to legend, these divine ancestors of the Celts built the Sídhe-mounds, stone circles, and ancient tombs that dot the Irish landscape. When the Celts first arrived in Ireland, they immediately assigned these mysterious, abandoned places to their ancient ancestral gods, imagining these locations as doorways to the Otherworld.
The oldest of the Tuatha Dé Danann was the goddess Danu, also called Anu or Anand, or Don by the Welsh. Very little is recorded about the goddess. Near Tara, the mythical home of the gods, are two raised earthworks resembling breasts, called the “paps of Anu,” likely symbolizing the goddess as the embodiment of the land. Even from ancient times, the goddess was closely linked to horses and husbandry, and she is also closely associated with other mother goddesses — Epona, Macha, and the Morrigan.
An old superstition about fairies is that they fear iron, which may be used to ward them off. This may stem from early Iron Age settlers' attempts to explain discoveries of stone weapons and implements left behind by these early Stone Age residents.
Gods of the Dé Danann
The ranks of the Dé Danann are seemingly unlimited in number. Originally, different localities had their own tribal deities, who were often very closely related; over time, many of these blended together, and some took on the aspects of others. The best-known gods of the Dé Danann are these:
Im Dagda, “The Good God,” the son of Danu
Nuada of the Silver Arm, god of war and divine justice
Lugh of the Long Arms, “son of the sun” and “Lugh the many-skilled,” a pre-Irish Celtic god
Ogmios, Oghma, or Ogma, god of poetry and eloquence, of Gaulish origin
Manannan mac Lir, god of the sea and weather
Angus mac Oc, the son of Lir and a god of love, sometime guardian of Mag Mell or the Blessed Isles
Triple Goddesses
A number of triple goddesses are associated with the Dé Danann. They are triple in the sense that they are usually portrayed with three aspects or personalities, sometimes portrayed as sisters in later literature. The triple goddesses are related to the Matronae of the European Celts. They are closely linked to the land, and many at one time or another were goddesses of sovereignty, personifications of the earth and the symbolic spouses of its rulers. Triple goddesses of the Dé Danann include these:
Epona, a goddess of horses and cavalry
The Morrigan, goddess of fertility, war, and death
Brigid, goddess of metalworking, poetry, and fire
In the tales of the Invasion Cycle, the Tuatha Dé Danann are recast as the ancient race who lived in Ireland before the coming of the Milesian Celts. They are described as a race of mystical sorcerers of great skill, whose druids could raise the dead and even conceal the entirety of their people in mist.
With these skills, they wrest the island from the grasp of the clumsy and poorly equipped Fir Bolg (“bag men”) in the first of two legendary battles at Mag Tuireadh. In the second great battle, they defeat the fearsome Fomorian giants and drive them into the sea. They do not fare as well with the next invaders, who call themselves the “Sons of Míl” and bring their own magic with them.
Into the Mists
Historians gives the name Milesians to the “Sons of Míl,” a semi-mythical invasion force of Spanish Celts. The Milesians were followers of the Gaulish (some say Scythian) leader Golam, known by his title Míl Espáine, the “Soldier of Hispania.” Míl's legend tells that he dreamed his descendents would someday rule Ireland, and he fights his way westward with an army, intending to take it by force. Míl is killed in battle before reaching the island, but his wife and sons carry on his quest.
The Tuatha Dé Danann are a powerful race, but the Milesians, with the aid of their powerful bard, Amergin, eventually defeat them. The Milesians then settle on the land they call Eire, after the wife of a defeated Danann king. The Milesians are the last of the invaders and the ancestors of the modern Irish.
After their loss at the hands of the Milesians, the Tuatha Dé Danann retreat fully into the Otherworld. Upon reaching a truce with the Milesians, they agree to divide the land between them, with the Milesians taking the visible world and the Dé Danann choosing the Otherworld, which is mysteriously located both to the West and under the earth. The Tuatha Dé Danann are led into the Sídhe-mounds by the Dagda and remain hidden from human view. They occasionally appear in the human world to aid in battles, engage in mischief, or entice mortals into their realm.
Playwright William Shakespeare's Mab, Queen of the Fairies, is likely none other than Madb, the Dé Danann queen of the Ulster Cycle who contends with Fionn for possession of the Brown Bull of Cooley. Over time, most of the Irish gods became relegated to the Land of Faerie.
People of the Sídhe
Over time, the old religion faded away, but the Celtic sense of the Otherworld did not. Even long after Christianity flowed through every acre of Celtic land, the denizens of the Sídhe remained. In many cases they took on a sinister cast and were viewed with great superstition. Sometimes, they were called fey, after the Roman fata, or “fates,” because to see a fairy was an omen of an impending death — a sign that the veil was thinning, and a journey to the Otherworld was imminent.
Once a divine race of warriors, the people of the Sidhe were now regarded as supernatural, tricksy folk who often worked mischief on mortals, which ranged from pranks like souring the milk of cows to stealing children or causing disease. They were superstitiously referred to as the “fair folk” or “good people,” in hopes that such an utterance of respect would deflect mischief.
