Cian infiltrated Balor's crystal tower with the druidess Biróg's help and fathered Lugh with Ethniu. Lugh inherited both Tuatha Dé Danann and Fomorian blood, fulfilling the prophecy of Balor's death.
The god Lugh came to Deichtine in a vision and begot Cú Chulainn, who would inherit his father's radiance and battle-fury to become the greatest warrior Ireland had ever known.
⚠ Compert Con Culainn exists in two recensions with different accounts of the conception — the earlier version involves a more complex sequence of events, while the later simplifies to Lugh visiting Deichtine directly.
Manannan mac Lir fostered the young Lugh, raising him and equipping him with magical arms — including the boat Scuabtuinne, the horse Aonbarr, and the sword Fragarach — preparing him to champion the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, fostered the young Lugh after Manannan mac Lir entrusted him to her care. She raised him on the Plain of Teltown until he came of age to join the Tuatha Dé Danann.
At Tara, Lugh assembled the champions of the Tuatha Dé Danann for war against the Fomorians — the Dagda to spy and negotiate, Ogma to lead the warriors, Goibniu to forge weapons that never missed, and Dian Cécht to heal the wounded at the Well of Sláine. Together they broke Fomorian power at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired.
Balor of the Evil Eye imprisoned his daughter Ethniu in a crystal tower to prevent the prophecy that his grandson would destroy him. Lugh was born despite every precaution, and grandfather and grandson met as fated enemies at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired.
Bres's tyrannical reign over the Tuatha Dé Danann provoked the war that brought Lugh to power. After Bres was deposed and joined the Fomorians, Lugh led the campaign that defeated him at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired — but spared his life when Bres offered to teach the Tuatha Dé Danann when to plough, when to sow, and when to reap.
Despite his half-Fomorian blood through his mother Ethniu, Lugh championed the Tuatha Dé Danann against the Fomorians and destroyed their power at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired.
Lugh killed his grandfather Balor at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired by casting a sling stone through Balor's destructive eye, driving it out the back of his head and turning its gaze upon the Fomorian host.
Lugh slew Cermait for sleeping with his wife, a killing that would be avenged by Cermait's three sons Mac Cuill, Mac Cécht, and Mac Gréine, who drowned Lugh at Loch Lugborta.
Mac Cuill, Mac Cécht, and Mac Gréine avenged their father Cermait by drowning Lugh at Loch Lugborta, repaying the blood-debt for Lugh's killing of their father.
Lugh assumed the High Kingship at Tara when Nuada yielded the throne to the master of all arts, and from Tara he marshaled the Tuatha Dé Danann against the Fomorian host at the Second Battle of Moytura.
After defeating the Fomorians at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, Lugh became king of the Tuatha Dé Danann and ruled Ireland for forty years until his death at the hands of the sons of Cermait.
Lugh established the festival of Lughnasadh in honor of his foster-mother Tailtiu, who died clearing the plains of Ireland for cultivation. The games at Teltown commemorated her sacrifice.
The Tuatha Dé Danann descended through the sky in a dark cloud upon Ireland, bringing with them the arts of sorcery, druidry, and every craft — a divine race who conquered the Fir Bolg and ruled until the coming of the Milesians.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes of the Welsh Mabinogi is the cognate of Irish Lugh. Both share the epithet 'skilled hand/long arm,' divine parentage with mortal complications, and a destiny intertwined with a prophesied death.
Julius Caesar reported that the chief god of the Gauls resembled Mercury and was inventor of all arts. This was Lugus, the continental Celtic form of Lugh, whose name survives in Lugdunum (Lyon) and other Roman-era settlements.
Manannan mac Lir gave Lugh the sword Fragarach, 'The Answerer,' which could cut through any armor and compel truth from anyone threatened with its blade.
When Clann Tuireann murdered his father Cian, Lugh imposed an impossible éric of eight treasures gathered from the ends of the earth. Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba accomplished every task, but Lugh ensured the final quest would kill them, and they died before their father Tuireann despite fulfilling the blood-price.
During the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Lugh appeared to his exhausted son Cú Chulainn, healed his wounds, and held the ford against Connacht's armies for three days while Cú Chulainn slept and recovered.
Nuada Airgetlám recognized Lugh's mastery of every art and yielded the High Kingship of the Tuatha Dé Danann to him for thirteen days before the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, stepping aside so the Ildánach could lead them against the Fomorians.
Lugh led the Tuatha Dé Danann to victory at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired, commanding the gods' war effort and personally slaying Balor to end Fomorian tyranny over Ireland.
The Spear of Lugh, one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann brought from the city of Gorias, was a weapon so bloodthirsty it had to be kept submerged in a cauldron of poppy-water to prevent it from blazing and fighting of its own accord.
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