Afterword
A little note about Irish mythology and places in Daughter of Light.
My lovely beta, Anne, did point out at one point that while Maeve might be well versed in Irish mythology, my readers may not be. So I thought a little explanation about some of the myths alluded to would be handy for you.
Our main thread concerns Lugh (pronounced Loo) Lamfada and his impressive position as one of the Tuatha de Danaan. The Tuatha de Danaan are a race of people that arrived in Ireland, so it is said, at Beltaine (May Day) from the North, possibly Norway. They did not simply walk onto the island without a fight though, for the Fir Bolg were already there and very fond of their position as rulers of the island. Needless to say, fierce battles followed, most notable of these was Magh Tuiredh (Moytura) and the Tuatha de Danaan were victorious, taking the ancient and important hill at Tara. Their leader at that time was Nuada and, although he won the battle, he lost his hand during the fight. The Danaan law stated that only a man in perfect shape could rule the Danaan and so he lost his kingship to a beautiful young man named Bres. Unfortunately for the Danaan Bres was not exactly the bee’s knees when it came to being king and the Danaan soon became frustrated with him. He was a bit of a skinflint and liked his taxes, not something the chieftains of the Danaan appreciated. As they plotted against him, to little avail, Dian Cécht, the physician, crafted a new hand of silver (Peter Pettigrew anyone?). This enabled Nuada to once again take the kingship, as it was a perfectly functioning replica of the hand he had lost.
With Nuada back at the helm contentment reigned for a time, although the Formor were a constant problem. (Another race of people inhabiting the island with designs on ruling it) Our friend Lugh enters the tale in quite a show-stopping manner. During a feast at Tara a young man approaches the door-keepers. When the door-keepers ask him for his name he tells them that he is Lugh, son of Cian of the Danaan and Eithlinn, daughter of Balor; King of the Formor. They ask him what he is skilled in and so ensues a long list of the things that Lugh can turn his hand to; carpenter, smith, champion, harper, poet, magician, cup-bearer, and brass-worker – in short Lugh was fairly handy. But the door-keepers told him they already had all of these things so why should they admit him into Tara.
Lugh told them to go and ask Nuada if he had someone who was all of those things combined and if Nuada had such a person he would leave and not ask to enter Tara. Nuada then told them to bring out the chessboards to see how Lugh did at the game and every game that was played the newcomer won. Seeing this Nuada immediately allowed him entry and gave him the seat of knowledge. He further impressed the court by taking on their champion, Ogma, in a flagstone throwing competition and winning and by playing the harp for all those assembled. Having seen Lugh’s immense skill in anything that was put before him Nuada came to the conclusion that Lugh was the person to lead the Danann in the ultimate defeat of the Formor and so he stepped down from his kingship and made Lugh king of the Danaan in his place.
Lugh’s parentage was very important. His grandfather Balor was destined to be killed at the hands of his grandson. To prevent this he locked his daughter, Lugh’s mother, into a tower. Cian, with the help of a druid, broke into the tower and seduced Eithlinn. She became pregnant and bore three sons. Balor, when he learned of this, threw the babies into the ocean where two drowned but the third, Lugh, was saved and given to Mannannan Mac Lir, God of the sea, as a foster child.
Lugh’s greatest moment came when he defeated the Formorians at the second battle of Magh Tuiredh. The Formorians had become increasingly more belligerent and demanding, which lead to Lugh finally raising an army against them and defeating them with some certainty. He also fulfilled the prophecy that his grandfather had tried to dodge by killing Balor with a slingshot or an arrow, depending on which version you read.
Lugh instigated the festival Lughnasadh, which is held on the first of August, in memory of his foster mother Tailtiu. It was held in a town that now bears her name; Telltown in County Meath. Lughnasadh has survived through the years and is still celebrated in many parts of the world as the triumph of Lugh over the Otherworld, who would try and make the harvests fail.
His supposed death (supposed because we all know that immortals never die!) came about because one of his wives had an affair with Cermait, son of the Dagda. Lugh killed Cermait in revenge but Cermait’s sons in turn killed Lugh, drowning him in a loch. He had ruled for a total of forty years but his presence is seen again in later myths.
The fact that he was used by the Gods to father the three girls in the story echoes his own birth as a triplet. He also fathered one other child, Cúchulainn, the greatest hero Ireland has even known. Cúchulainn’s mother was a mortal who Lugh captured and took from her mortal husband for a time. It would take too long to go into the boy’s exploits here but an excellent source is Cúchulainn of Muirthemne by Lady Augusta Gregory. Suffice it to say this makes him Maeve’s half-brother, a fact she has yet to fully appreciate… although she did realise were her wedding riongs came from. The vision she has at the altar is very significant in terms of her long dead half-sibling.
As for locations, well Abbeylara sits in the gentle folds of the Wicklow countryside above Dublin. I had no definate location in mind when I placed it there, it could one of many old Irish estates that pepper the area. Meath was chosen for the wedding because of it’s mystical connections. Ardnarea as it appears in the story does not exist. There are real Ardnareas but this is not one of them. The name itself means Hill of the Executions… I thought that was fitting given Severus’ view of the wedding day.
As for the cottage in Antrim where Remus, Maeve and Ron took shelter. That exists. Sitting on the lower slopes of a mountain in Antrim it is exactly as it is in the story. It’s a place I have spent many a happy summer week and it has taken no imagination on my part to describe it. Fair Head also exists and is a stunning sight, rising up to dominate the town of Ballycastle. Whether harpies go hunting there, I cannot say. We’ll see a bit more of this part of the country in the summer interlude. (but hopefully no Harpies)