Miach- Celtic GodDeity
Also known as: Miach mac Dian Cécht
Description
Where his father Dian Cécht could only replace Nuada's severed arm with silver, Miach grew back the king's flesh and bone with healing beyond anything the Tuatha Dé Danann had known. His reward was four blows of his father's sword, each deeper than the last, until the final stroke split his skull.
Mythology & Lore
The Restoration of Nuada's Arm
When Nuada Airgetlám lost his arm at the First Battle of Mag Tuired, the physician-god Dian Cécht crafted a replacement of silver that moved as well as a natural limb. This was considered a marvel. But Nuada had been deposed from the kingship because of his blemish, for the law of the Tuatha Dé Danann held that no king could rule with a physical imperfection.
Miach, Dian Cécht's son, went further than his father's craft. According to the Cath Maige Tuired, Miach restored Nuada's arm entirely, growing back flesh and bone. Some accounts describe him chanting over the severed arm for nine days and nights: three days held against his side, three at his chest, and three with white marrow-reeds. The arm was made whole. With his body restored, Nuada could reclaim the kingship, ending the disastrous reign of Bres the Beautiful.
The Father's Jealousy
Dian Cécht could not bear being surpassed by his own son. In a rage of professional jealousy, he struck Miach with his sword. The first blow cut the skin. Miach healed it. The second blow cut to the bone. Miach healed that too. The third blow reached the membrane of the brain. Miach healed even this wound. The fourth blow cleaved through the brain itself, and Miach died.
The Cath Maige Tuired records this killing without any judgment against Dian Cécht, though the narrative weight falls heavily on the tragedy. The greatest healer among the Tuatha Dé Danann was destroyed not by enemy forces but by his own father's inability to accept being surpassed.
The Herbs of the Grave
From Miach's grave, 365 healing herbs grew, one for each joint and sinew of the human body. His sister Airmed gathered them and laid them out on her cloak, organizing them according to their properties, creating what would have been a complete pharmacopoeia of herbal medicine. But Dian Cécht, still consumed by jealousy even beyond his son's death, overturned the cloak and scattered the herbs until their proper order was lost forever. This is why, according to the tale, no one possesses full knowledge of herbal cures.
Relationships
- Slain by
- Member of