KAH MOY-uh TOO-rig
The medieval tale recounting the Tuatha Dé Danann's war against the Fomorians.
Cath Maige Tuired survives in a single 16th-century manuscript copy of an older text, and tells of the Second Battle of Moytura: the Tuatha Dé Danann, led by Lugh, overthrow the tyrannical Fomorian king Balor and his kin. It is the primary source for Lugh's rise to kingship and the manner of Balor's death.
The tale begins with the Tuatha Dé Danann under the kingship of Bres, who is half Fomorian and proves a harsh, miserly ruler. Nuada, who had lost his arm in the first battle and so could not remain king, is later restored when a silver arm is made for him, and Bres is deposed.
Lugh then arrives at Tara and gains admittance by showing he is skilled in every craft. As the war approaches, the craftsmen Goibniu, Luchta and Credne make weapons, and the Dagda and the Morrígan play their parts. Lugh kills Balor, whose destructive eye gives him his power, and the Fomorians are driven out. The text is also an important source for early Irish ideas of kingship.
| Cycle | Entries here | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| The Mythological Cycle | 21 | The oldest of the four cycles, telling of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the successive invasions of Ireland. |
| The Fenian Cycle | 7 | Tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna, set generations after the Ulster Cycle in a world of hunting, romance, and roaming adventure. |
| The Ulster Cycle | 12 | The heroic tales of Conchobar mac Nessa's court at Emain Macha, centered on Cú Chulainn and the great cattle raid of the Táin Bó Cúailnge. |
| The Historical Cycle | 1 | Also the Cycle of the Kings — legendary and semi-legendary tales of Ireland's High Kings, treated by medieval scribes as genuine national history. |
Cath Maige Tuired ("The Battle of Moytura") is a medieval Irish text describing the decisive wars between the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians, including the loss and restoration of King Nuada's arm and Lugh's killing of Balor.
There are two, told in separate texts: the First Battle, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann defeat the Fir Bolg but Nuada loses his arm, and the Second Battle, the larger conflict against the Fomorians in which Lugh kills Balor.
The surviving manuscript of the Second Battle dates from the 16th century, though the text itself is believed to preserve much older material, some possibly dating back to the 9th century.