Show Notes
He's remembered as a warrior, a poet, a healer, and a craftsman all at once, and an entire Celtic harvest festival still carries his name three thousand years later. In our Lughnasadh season finale, we're meeting Lugh- the many-skilled god behind it all. We'll trace his rise from a prophecy to one of the most well-documented festivals in the ancient Celtic world. For more Celtic-inspired stories and resources, subscribe to Wild Kin on Substack
References R.A. Stewart Macalister (trans.), Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland (Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1938–1956), Part IV. Whitley Stokes, trans., "The Second Battle of Moytura," CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College Cork. Julius Caesar, Gallic War, Book VI, chapter 17, trans. W.A. McDevitte & W.S. Bohn, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University. Lady Augusta Gregory, "The Coming of Lugh," in Gods and Fighting Men (1904), Book Two: "Lugh of the Long Hand," Project Gutenberg.
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At the height of the Lughnasadh fair, families gathered from across the land to trade, to settle disputes, and, some say, for matchmaking. This episode traces what we actually know about marriage at the ancient festival, and the surprisingly practical unions recognized under Brehon law. For more Celtic-inspired stories, subscribe to Wild Kin Studio on Substack Sources - Eska, Charlene M. Cáin Lánamna: An Old Irish Tract on Marriage and Divorce Law. Leiden: Brill, 2010. - MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962. - Howard Goldbaum, "Teltown (Tailteann)," Voices from the Dawn, July 25, 2010. - L. Winifred Faraday (trans.), "The Cattle Raid of Cualnge," sacred-texts.com, 1904. - Pádraig Bambury and Stephen Beechinor (eds.), "The Annals of Ulster," CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College Cork, 2008.
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