Nuada

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Nuada or Núadu Argatlám [ 'nuaðu' argadlaːv ] ("Nuadu with the silver hand") is a legendary figure in the Celtic mythology of Ireland . He is king of the Túatha Dé Danann and the father or grandfather of Bresal . He has a sword called Fragarach, this sword is one of the four treasures of the Danu .

mythology

After the Lebor Gabala Eirenn , Nuada loses his arm in the first battle of Mag Tuired of the Túatha De Danann against the Firbolg , which the Firbolg warrior Sreng cuts off. Since he is no longer allowed to be king as a cripple, the half- fomoir Bress , the son of Erius , is elected king. The famous doctor of Túatha Dian Cecht and the skilled craftsman Credne made Nuada an arm out of silver, which is why he has been nicknamed airgetlám ("the one with the silver hand") since then . According to a later tradition, Miach , Dian Cecht's son, lets him grow a new arm with a spell, with his sister Airmed helping him. Bress, unpopular for his avarice and injustice, is expelled and Nuada reinstated in his old office.

When Lugh appears at his court and proves to be superior in all skills, Nuada voluntarily surrenders his throne to him. Nuada dies in the second battle of Mag Tuired by the Evil Eye of Balor .

In the Irish legend around Fionn mac Cumhaill , the heroic leader of the Fianna von Leinster , he is referred to as a descendant of Nuada, as he is the son of Tadg mac Nuadat .

The figure of Nuada perhaps goes back to the Celtic deity Nodon , a British god of war who was equated with Mars . An equivalent to the Germanic god Tyr is also assumed. Nuada can be equated with the Cymric Lludd or Nudd.

literature

  • Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. FJByrne: Irish Kings and High-Kings. London 1973, fig. 10.
  2. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 661.
  3. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 500 f.
  4. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 1043.
  5. Jan de Vries : Old Germanic history of religion. 2 vol., Berlin 1956.