Tuatha Dé Danann (Tuatha Dé Danann)

The old gods of Ireland, arriving in a mist with four treasures, and leaving underground.

The Tuatha Dé Danann are the Irish gods, handled by Christian compilers who could not say so. In the Book of Invasions they are one more wave of human settlers, skilled beyond others in druidry and craft. Underneath that, barely disguised, are the deities: the Dagda, Lugh, Brigid, the Morrígan, Manannán, Nuadha.

They came, the tradition says, in a mist, having burned their ships behind them so that no retreat was possible, and the smoke is why the sky was dark for three days.

They came from four cities, and brought one treasure from each. From Falias, the Lia Fáil, the stone that cried out under the rightful king, which stands on the Hill of Tara. From Gorias, the sword of Nuadha, from which no one escaped once it was drawn. From Findias, the spear of Lugh, which guaranteed victory. From Murias, the cauldron of the Dagda, which never left anyone unsatisfied.

They beat the Fir Bholg at the first battle of Mag Tuired and the Fomorians at the second, and ruled Ireland until the Milesians came. Beaten in turn, they did not leave. The agreement divided the country horizontally: the Milesians took what was above ground, the Tuatha Dé took what was below. They went into the sídhe, the mounds, and became the aos sí.

Dana or Danu, whose people they are called, barely appears anywhere. The mother goddess in the name is almost entirely absent from the stories.