The Book of Invasions

The Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh

The Formorians come in Force to Inis Fail and the Dagda goes to Spy

It was not long after Lugh that the Fomorians came and landed at Scetne. The whole host of the Fomorians came this time, with their king, Balor, of the Strong Blows and the Evil Eye. Along with them; came Bres, and Indech, a king of the Fomorians, and Elathan, son of Lobos, and Goll and Ingol, and Octriallach, son of Indech, and Elathan, son of Dealbaodh.

Lugh took counsel with the Dagda and they decided between them that the Dagda should go to spy out the Fomorians, and to delay them till such time as the men of Inis Fail would come to the battle.

So the Dagda went forth to their camp, and he asked them for a delay, and they said they were willing to grant him that but only if he ate with them as they ate. To make sport of him, the Fomorians made broth for him, for they knew he had a great love for broth. They filled the king's cauldron with four times twenty gallons of new milk, and the same of meal and fat, and they put in goats and sheep and pigs, and boiled all together. They poured it all out into a great vat they had buried in a hole in the ground. They called the Dagda to it then, and told him he should eat his fill, the way the Fomorians do, thus they could not be reproached for want of hospitality the way Bres was. “However, we shall make an end of you if you leave any part of it after you, for this we would deem an insult to our hospitality,” Indech warned.

So the Dagda took the ladle which was big enough for a man and a woman to lie in the bowl of it, and he took out bits with it, the half of a salted pig, and a quarter of lard as such bits would be. “If the broth tastes as well as these bits taste, this is good food,” he remarked. In like manner he went on putting the full of the ladle into his mouth till the vat was empty. When all was seemingly gone he scraped the sides of the vat to bring forth any that might be left there.

Then sleep came upon him after eating so much, and the Fomorians were laughing at him, for his belly was the size of the cauldron of a great house. Indech son of Domnu then placed the Dagda in his daughter Sodelb’s charge and they went forth together. After a while, and heavy as he was, they made their way toward his home. Yet it was not unusual for the Dagda to disport himself in an undignified manner. Ancient as he was he preferred ancient rustic garments so despite his power he was often mistaken for a country bumpkin.

On this occasion he was indeed a sorry sight. His attire was unsightly, a cape to the hollow of the elbows, and a brown coat, long in the breast and short behind, and on his feet brogues of horse hide, with the hair outside. In his hand he held a wheeled fork, such as it would take eight men to carry. So the track he left after him was deep enough for the boundary ditch of a province. This fork he used to convey his great weapon or club.

Soon a great pain pervaded The Dagda’s bowls and he went off to a hollow he had found nearby and there emptied out his bowls. As the Dagda was getting out of the hole he beheld Sodelb watching him from where she had waited so long for him to finish. She commanded him to carry her henceforth upon his back. She tried to force him to take her upon his back three times but this he refused. “There is a geis that prevents me from carrying any who would not call me by my name.” he said “Then what is your name?” she asked. “My name is Fer Benn (Man of the Mountains),” he said. “That name is too much,” she said “get up and carry me on your back, Fer Benn.” “That is indeed not my name,” he said. “Then what is?” she asked. “Fer Benn Bruach,” he answered. “Get up and carry me on your back, Fer Benn Bruach,” she said. “That is not my name.” he said “What is?” she asked. This exchange continued for a long time until he finally told her the whole of his name. She immediately commanded him thus. “Get up and carry me on your back, Fer Benn Bruach Brogaill Broumide Cerbad Caic Rolaig Buile Labair Cerrce Di Brig Oldathair Boith Athgen mBethai Brightere Tri Carboid Roth Rimaire Riog Scothe Obthe Olaithbe.” So he took her up upon his back and carried her hence.

He then put three stones in his belt and each stone fell from it in turn. As this occurred the girl Sodelb jumped on him and wacked him across the butt. As she did this her curly bush was thus revealed. Quickly they turned to wrestling on the ground and the Dagda became aroused. Soon their struggles became amorous and the Dagda gained a new mistress. A mark remains at Beltraw Strand where they coupled.

The Dagda’s Cleverness and the Mighty Powers of the Gods

When he came back among the Tuatha de Danaan, the Dagda recounted his mission. “Good,” he said “our warriors are now well prepared for battle. I delayed the Fomorians as you asked by allowing them to have sport with me and make fun of me. Thus were they amused for many days,” he said “but also I did get a rough count of their numbers and their present positions.” He drew those positions so all the chiefs of the Tuatha de Danaan could behold them.

While the Dagda was away Lugh had called together the Druids, and smiths, and physicians, and law-makers, and chariot-drivers of Ireland, to make plans for the battle. He asked the great magician Mathgen: “What can you do to help in the battle?” “Through my power,” Mathgen declared “I shall throw down all the mountains of Inis Fail on the Fomorians, until their tops shall be rolling on the ground. I shall bring the twelve chief mountains of Ireland to aid you,” he said. “Slieve Leag, Denda Ulad, Bennai Boirche Bri Ruri, Slieve Bladma, Slieve Snechtae, Slieve Mis, Blai-Slieve, Nemthann, Slieve Macca Belgodon, Segois and Cruachan Aigle, all shall fight for you.”

Then he asked the cup-bearers: “What help can you contrbute?” “We shall put a strong thirst on the Fomorians,” they said, “and then we shall bring the twelve chief lochs of Ireland before them. However great their thirst may be, they shall find no water in them: Derc-Loch, Loch Luimnech, Loch Orbsen, Loch Righ, Loch Mescdhae, Loch Cuan, Loch Laeig, Loch Echach, Loch Febail, Loch Decket, Loch Riach, Mor-Loch. We shall go,” they said, “to the twelve chief rivers of Ireland: the Buas, the Boinn, the Banna, the Nem, the Laoi, the Sionnan, the Muaid, the Sligech, the Samair, the Fionn, the Ruirtech, the Siuir; and they will all be hidden away from the Fomorians. In this way they shall not find a drop in them. But as for the men of Inis Fail," they said, "there shall be drink for them even if they were to be in the battle to the end of seven years.”

“Figol, son of Mamos, the Druid,” Lugh asked, “what would you do in the battle?” “I shall bring down three showers of fire to pour on the faces of the army of the Fomorians,” he said “and I shall take from them two-thirds of their bravery and their strength, and I shall put sickness on their bodies, and on the bodies of their horses. But as to the men of Inis Fail," he said, "every breath they breathe shall increase their strength and bravery; and even if they are seven years in the battle they shall never be tired.”

Then Lugh asked his two witches, Bechulle and Dianan: “What power can you bring to the battle?” "We shall put enchantment on the trees and the stones and the sods of the earth,” they promised, “till they become an armed host against the Fomorians, and put terror on them and put them to the rout.” Then Lugh asked Carpre, the poet, son of Etain: “What can you do?” "I shall make a satire on them,” said Carpre, “at sunrise, with the wind from the north, and I on a hill-top with my back to a thorn-tree, and a stone and a thorn in my hand. With that satire," he said, "I shall put shame on them and demoralizing enchantment, such that they shall not be able to stand against fighting men.”

Then he asked Goibniu the Smith: “What shall you he be able to do in the battle great smith?” “I shall do much,” he said, "for even if the men of Ireland battle to the end of seven years, for every sword that is broken and for every spear that is lost from its shaft, I shall make a new one to take its place. No spear-point made by my hand," he said, "shall ever miss its mark; and no man it touches shall ever taste life again. That is far more than Dolb, the smith of the Fomorians, can do,” he declared.

“And you, Credne,” Lugh said then to his worker in brass, "what help can you give to our men in the battle?” “It is not hard to tell that," “I shall supply that which is most needed in battles,” said Credne, “rivets for your spears and hilts for your swords and bosses and rims for your shields.”

“And you, Luchta," to his carpenter he said "what shall you contribute?” "I shall give the men what they most want and need strong shields and spear shafts," said Luchta.

Then he asked Dian Cecht, the physician: “What shall you do in the battle?” "Every man that shall be wounded there, unless his head is struck off, or his brain or his marrow cut through, I shall make him whole and sound again for the battle of the morrow. I and my children shall heal the injured, revive the exhausted and even raise the dead.”

Then the Dagda said: “Those great things you are boasting you can do, I too shall also do them, all by myself.” “It is you who is the good god!” they teased, and they all gave a great shout of laughter.

Then Lugh spoke to the whole army, and his words put strength in them so that each one felt himself imbued with the spirit of all the high gods who they plainly beheld before them. His words roused courage, resoluteness and a sense of nigh invincibility.

Then when the delay was at an end, the Fomorians and the men of the Tuatha de Danaan drew nearer one another till they came to the plain of Magh Tuireadh. Now that was not the same Magh Tuireadh where the first battle was fought, it was further north, near Ess Dara.

Then the two armies threatened one another. “The Tuatha de Danaan are daring to offer battle to us,” said Bres to Indech, son of De Domnann. “I give my word," Indech replied, “it is in small pieces their bones shall be, if they do not give in to us and pay their tribute.”

The Power of the Tuatha de Danaan Unleashed

Mathgen the great and powerful draoi among the Tuatha de Danaan gathered his small troop of draoithe and they sat within a sacred glade and began to chant and weave magic into the air about them. Darkness gathered about them laced with fiery energy and this they sent forth all across the land of Inis Fail. The whole of Inis Fail then shook as twelve of the great mountains of Inis Fail began to move and break free of their roots deep within the earth. Many buildings fell and those inside were crushed and both the Fomorians and the Tuatha de Danaan were among them. As the mountains moved, boulders were shaken loose and ran down their sides and landslides and mud slides also occurred and anything that was on or near them surely died. Fortunately those that died were mostly Fomorians who were caught unawares. They fell down the mountains unable to keep hold and were crushed with falling rocks and debris.

Nuada King of the Tuatha de Danaan quickly sent a messenger to Mathgen requesting that he stop lest all Inis Fail be destroyed by their actions as the ground beneath his feet shook worse and worse as each moment passed. He went unto Mathgen and they talked for many hours and Mathgen took the King’s Counsel and the twelve mountains of Inis Fail stopped moving and the ground of Inis Fail stopped shaking. His counsel was that they should not try to move all twelve mountains at once but rather lift up large boulders into the air and gather them near Magh Tuireadh where the battle would be and this they did and the rocks piled up till they were as high as a mountain that now stood close to the plain. As reports came in to Nuada as to where the ships of the Fomorians had landed Mathgen sent his group of draoithe forth to those ports and they each rained down boulders upon the ships cracking them open and sinking them and leaving the Fomorians no means of retreat.

A Storm of Fire and Two Sisters Lead the Battle

By this time the invading force of the Fomorians had left their ships and had met with their brothers who had been living hidden in dark places among the people of Inis Fail. As they approached the great plain of Magh Tuireadh, Figol, son of Mamos, and Mamos the Druid himself caused a storm of fire to fall upon the Fomorians. Many of the weaker Fomorians fell and were burned alive. However, most of the Fomorians were mighty, and the fire that rained down upon them barely warmed their thick leathery skins. Nor did it burn their long greasy scrub like hair. Yet three times fire rained down upon the Fomorians and three times did many fall. However, it had little effect as the Fomorians came pouring into Magh Tuireadh and roared their angry challenge at the Tuatha de Danaan.

The Fomorians came forward beating their shields with spears and swords and the Tuatha de Danaan stood calmly waiting for them to come in close. Then Nuada and Ogma in their chariots started a charge, and the middle of the Tuatha de Danaan charged forward, however, the cavalry at the sides charged outward from the middle force and circled round the Fomorian warriors and came in at their sides almost surrounding them. One side was led by Badb (The Morrigan) and the other side was led by her sister Nemain (Anand). While this was happening The Dagda picked up one of the boulders left by Mathgen and his draoithe. He did this part by magic and part by strength and he hurled it at the oncoming Fomorians. The boulder landed in the middle of the Fomorian warriors crushing many but also causing terror and confusion. This the Dagda did again and again and many of the others of great strength and magic followed his lead. Thus the Fomorians found themselves attacked in front on the sides and in the middle all at once, so that fear and terror was upon them.

The Poet Speaks and the Formorians Lose Heart

On top of that Carpre, the poet, son of Etain spoke calmly into the wind with his thorn in his hand and the Fomorians lost their determination and bravery and began to turn and try to run, but there was nowhere to go as their own warriors bared the way.

Soon the trees, the grass, the plants and the bushes reached out with their small and tender entwining blades and branches and caught hold of the warriors of the Tuatha de Danaan and tried to hold them fast or trip them up. But they could not hold them. So the Fomorians turned back on their own people and began to press toward the rear. In their hast, the Fomorians stepped on their fellows and knocked them down. Then fire burst from the ground beneath the Tuatha de Danaan warriors, but they were prepared for it, and spells guarded their skin and prevented it being burned.

The Tuatha de Danaan followed after the Fomorians but they vanished into the hide holes in the forest and vanished, all except the giants who also then roamed the forest striking swiftly at any of the Tuatha de Danaan who foolishly appeared. This being the case the Tuatha de Danaan withdrew from the forest and made their way back to their encampment as night was falling.

The Meeting Between the Dagda and the Morrigan

The Dagda had a house at Glenn Etin in the north. He remembered during the battle that it was his custom to meet The Morrigan each year on the day of Samain which it then was. So he went to find The Morrigan and where he found her was at the Unish of Corand washing her genitals, with one of her two feet by Allod Echae. That is to say she had one foot in Echumech by water in the south and her other by Loscondoib by water in the north. Nine plaits of hair were undone upon her head hanging in nine loosened locks. When The Dagda beheld her thus he was inspired with lust and soon after he had spoken to her they make union together. From that time hence the “laying down of the married couple” was the name of that place. This was the way with The Dagda and the Morrigan for though lovers, they were not constant in each other’s company and indeed The Morrigan only became aroused in times of war.

After they were finished she advised the Dagda to strip all the land that was in Mag Scetne, so it could not support the Fomorians. “Call together the Tuatha de Danaan of Ireland to meet at the Ford of Unsen,” she advised him. “I shall go to Scetne and injure, with magic, the high king of the Fomorians, called Indech,” she informed him, “and I promise that I shall take the blood of his heart and kidneys and so take his battle-ardor from him. With this blood I shall would make magic and imbue the gathered hosts of Tuatha de Danaan with his strength and courage.” From her two palms, striking, and groaning warlike, by the Ford of Unsen she worked her terrible magic. Because of the magical injury done to the king there it was called the “Ford of Utter Destruction” hence forth.

The Formorians Charged Out of the Forest

The next day the Fomorians again appeared out of the forest and a Fomorian draoi (magicians) cast a spell that made the Tuatha de Danaan ravenously hungry. So hungry were they that they could not think clearly about fighting and they were severely distracted.

However, the two witches of the Tuatha de Danaan, Bechulle and Dianan who had been gathering herbs the previous day now bought the full force of their powers to the fray. They enchanted the trees and the stones and the sods of the earth, and they morphed and transformed them till they become a fully armed host that rose up against the Fomorians, and attacked them from behind. The Fomorian draoithe animated the rest of the forest to wrap around them and try to hold them. So a huge battle erupted in the forest of trees fighting tree people and stone people and people made of earth. But the trees being firmly rooted in the ground used this to advantage, and those that the witches had raised up that were still in the forest were caught fast there. But many escaped the forest and it was these that surprised the Fomorians from behind. Beholding the forces of the Fomorians caught in this vice from front and back gave heart to the Tuatha de Danaan and put terror into the Fomorians. Still the mightiest of the Fomorians were sent to the sides of the battle and they cut a path for the rest of their warriors to escape the vice like grip of the Tuatha de Danaan and again they escaped back into the forest. Click here to continue.

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