[gothic-l] slightly O.T. - Danaans, Milesians, and Northmen

[Nikolai]

I came across this this morn, and became curious.
This legend speaks of the Tuatha de' Danaan originating from
Isles in the North (North of Eire). Could they be speaking of
Orkney, ...Iceland, ...Norway? Could the Danaan have been
Vikings?


"The Book of Invasions say that the Tuatha de Danaan came to
Ireland from the isles of the north, not in boats or marching
over land but wafting purposefully through the air as an army of
spirits, alighting softly on the field on the first day of May.
Bringing withthem their four great magical possessions: The
Stone of Destiny, the flashing spear of their warrior-god Lugh,
the sword of Nuada, and the great cauldron of their all-powerful
god, the Daghda. They carried light, beautifully crafted and
decorated swords and spears, whereas those of the current
residents, the Fir Bolgs, seemed crude and blunt. The Fir Bolgs
had been a peaceful people but became jealous and suspicious of
the the newcomers.

  The Fir Bolgs declared war on the Tuatha de Danaan. A great
battle was fought near the western coast, where the Fir Bolgs
lost heavily. The Childern of the goddess Danu won all of
Ireland in the battle, but allowed the Fir Bolgs to remain in
the western province of Connacht. Not all went the Danaans' way,
however. In the battle the king of the Danaans, Nuada, lost his
arm. This meant his abdication, because, according to Danaan
law, the king should have no physical defect of any kinds.

  In Nuada's place they elected Bres, whose mother came of that
evil, shapeless race, the Formorians. Bres turned out to be an
oppressive, churlish individual ill-equipped to rule. Sitting at
Tara, he managed the affairs of the island so badly that the
Formorians regained some of the initiative and psychological
advantage they had long ago lost to the Nemedians.

  Developing a successful guerrilla strategy, they began raiding
the Danaan settlements. The Danaans realized they had to get rid
of Bres - so the poet Carbery satirized him, a fate all men of
any stature feared more than death.

  The Danaans then engaged the Formorians in many battles,
creating many of the heroes and gods of ancient Ireland. In the
Second Battle of Moytura, the evil reign of the Formorians
ended. The bards' verses of the battle recounted how the
battlefield had rolled with noise like thunder as the shields of
the enemy broke asunder, how the wind had sung as the spears and
javelins hurtled through the air and how the swords had flashed
like the forked lightning thrown down by the fingers of the
gods.

  After many hundreds of years of peace, on the first day of
May, a platoon of tall and beautiful men landed on a shore in
the southwest. Warriors all, they had come from Spain, sons of
the king, Mil. They defeated every attack the Danaans made on
them. In the end, peace was agreed upon, and the country was
divided between them. All below the ground was given to the
Danaans. They still live down there, spirits beneath the earth;
they still have their magic and they still practise their
wizardry and tell stories drawn from the memories of the old
days. All of Ireland above the ground was thenceforth ruled by
the tall warriors from Spain, the Milesians
- or, as we now know them, the Celts."

Adapted from Legends of the Celts by Frank Delaney.




=====
bis später,
Nikolai
^^O^^
http://www.geocities.com/gothwitches
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GothicMichiana
"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before." ~ Edgar Allen Poe

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