Through the Veil Transcripts

Episode 4 - The Tuatha De Danann

The battle raged onward. It burned and broke the land that had been so carefully tended.

The people of Nemed, your people, had fallen back, and fallen back.

Each time, with heavy casualties, as your ancient foe pressed ever onward.

The terrible Fomorian hosts, creatures of the deep underground and undersea, are poised to deliver a final, decisive blow.

And in that fall, your people were separated and scattered.

In haste, you load as many of your people as you can save into a ship and sail north, fleeing your ancestral home.

As the sun rises on your new exile, a fire burns in you.

A drive to return home.

You know to do that will require knowledge. It will require power. It will require talent.

Your journey has only just begun.

 

According to myth, long before the Celts arrived in Ireland, the island was populated by several mythical peoples.

But, during the great Deluge, or perhaps a great battle, they were driven from their home and scattered.

In time, the descendants of those people would return bearing new knowledge, and new names.

Chief among them, the Tuatha De Danann. The People of the Goddess.

The story and histories of the Tuatha De Danann are complicated. And filled with contradiction.

They are called gods in some tales. Kings in others. Many of them became associated with saints as their history was recorded by Christian monks.

The monks modified the stories to an extent, sometimes calling them fallen angels who were neither good nor evil.

But a few things were constant throughout all the stories.

The Tuatha De Danann were immortal. They wielded powerful magic that could shape the land and bend nature. And they would eventually become the Aos Si, better known as fairies.

 

This is not a fairy tale. Not yet.

This is the story of a proud and powerful people that ruled the ancient Ireland of myth for centuries until the arrival of the Celts.

The story that sets the stage for many centuries of folklore and story.

The tales of the Tuatha De Danann establish the mythology that fuels Ireland’s stories of fairies, witches, spirits, and more.

 

I am Andrew Eagle. And I am very excited to invite you to join me as I explore the roots of a rich mythology, and pass Through the Veil.

 

Medieval writers who recorded these myths claimed many forms for the Tuatha De Danann. But their identities remained fairly constant.

The Dagda, one of the chief gods, who represented magic, wisdom, strength, and agriculture. He was a father-figure in myth, and possessed command over life and death.

The Morrigan, the great phantom queen. Associated with war and fate. She could predict doom, death, or victory in battle. However, she is also a guardian. Serving to protect the territory and its people.

Manannan, a powerful god of the sea, associated with both the Tuatha De Danann and their ancient enemies the Fomorians. He wields powerful magical artifacts and serves in two roles. The first as ruler and guardian of the Otherworld, responsible for ferrying souls to their afterlife. The second as trickster who liked to create mischief for his brethren among the gods.

And many more. There were gods of craftsmanship, a god of healing, and many other domains. Some hold strong parallels among the pantheon of other Celtic peoples.

 

You and your people, the few that survived, sailed north.

In order to return to your home, you would need to gather your strength.

And so you ventured farther than your people had gone before.

Your voyage is long. Years pass at sea, only stopping in four coastal cities. Each offers the teachings of their wisest sage, and a powerful treasure to help you on your journey.

In Falias, you meet Morfessa who teaches architecture, and how to construct walls to protect your people in the future. And provides the Lia Fail, a stone that will roar with thunder when a rightful king sits upon it.

In Goirias, Esras offers knowledge of magic and kindness. When you leave, he gives your people the gift of a powerful sword - the claiomh solais.

In Findias, Uiscias teaches wisdom and science. Offering a greater knowledge of the workings of the world. He also provides a treasure. A spear enchanted to make its wielder unconquerable.

And in Murias, their wisest sage Semias teaches your people the secrets of necromancy among other magics. When you leave, he offers your great leader the Daghda an enchanted cauldron that can feed a host of any size and never be drained.

With powerful magic and many a treasure in hand…

You and your people finally turn your sails back toward your home. To reclaim what is yours.

The people who met you along your journey came to call you and your people by a new name: The Tuatha De Danann.

 

Little can be identified about the four cities of the Tuatha De Danann.

The stories of the cities leave out any details that could be used to identify them with few exceptions.

The stories all match up on a few things. The names of the cities are consistent.

Their spelling changes depending on region and translation, as is normal for stories that are mostly shared through oral tradition.

But their identities are constant. In addition, the four treasures received are important objects that are always the same, and appear in many subsequent myths.

The actual abilities and powers provided by the magical objects are not always consistent. Some stories afford them more power than others.

Stories of their return to Ireland describe an arrival truly deserving of a mythic force.

The version in Lebor Gabala Erenn, which details their return, describes it vividly.

They came to Ireland “in dark clouds, landed on the mountains, and they brought a darkness over the sun for three days and three nights.”

It is said in most reports that once they made land fall they burned the ships they had arrived in so they could not retreat.

They arrived ready for war.

 

The seemingly impossible has happened.

When you make landfall, you are prepared to face your old foe.

The terrible Fomorians that drove you out. But they are gone.

And in their absence the land has been settled by a different people. A new people.

At first, you strike a deal with them.

You agree to share the island, with each group ruling over half.

They soon proved they could not be trusted however, and betrayed the deal struck.

They left your people no choice. And your king at the time, Nuada, led your people in war.

You were victorious, driving them away.

And with that victory, there was peace. Peace that your people would rule over for many years.

 

There are many versions of what happened when the Tuatha De Danann returned to Ireland.

Variations on what faction they found, and who they faced.

The most common version says that the king of the Tuatha De Danann, Nuada, led the battle against the Firbolg, a people that had found an abandoned Ireland many years before and colonized it.

During that battle, Nuada was injured and could no longer serve as king.

In response, there were a series of power struggles. First, the half-Fomorian, half Tuatha De Danann, Bres took power. Eventually he was replaced by a healed Nuada.

Bres, jealous of Nuada’s return, asked for help from Balor, the king of the Fomorians which started a series of battles against their ages old enemy once again.

During those battles, Balor was slain, but not before he killed Nuada.

Many of the stories involving the Tuatha take place in the time period after the second battle against the Fomorians.

Speaking of the Fomorians, they are an interesting group in the mythology.

Equal parts god and monster, they were, in many ways the destructive aspects of the Tuatha De Danann. They were individuals with great power and magic, who were long-lived or immortal. Most often they were simply foes.

But they also intermingled with the Tuatha De Danann. Suggesting a far more complicated relationship than the surface of most stories.

And in the end, all the stories of the Tuatha De Danann come to the same conclusion.

 

Long after your people faced and defeated their ancient foes, a new people arrived.

Calling themselves the Milesians, they bring with them new gods, powerful gods and weapons.

It becomes clear incredibly quickly that were you to face them in the open field of combat, there would be no hope of victory.

The leaders of your people, three goddesses and their husbands, bring a plan before you and the rest. They know that you cannot hope to defeat the invaders in combat, so you will use your magic to defeat them.

The three kings, husbands of the goddesses, propose a deal to the Milesians. They would leave the land for several days, anchoring offshore, while the Tuatha discussed a truce to end the war between the two people.

Once all the Milesians had boarded their ships and anchored nearby, your greatest druids conjured a powerful storm to attempt to destroy and scatter them.

But then, the impossible happened.

One of the invaders, a man you have met during meetings with their leaders, a poet named Amergin, calmed the sea.

He spoke such beautiful verse that the sea itself would not harm him.

There was no choice left. You had to surrender.

The Milesians agreed to divide the land equally between themselves and your people, but Amergin was clever.

He gave the land above ground to the Milesians, and the underground portions to you and yours.

The Milesians led your people underground into the Sidhe mounds and the deal was sealed.

 

The conclusion of the story is not a happy one for the Tuatha De Danann.

Their defeat at the hands of the Milesians, better known as the Celts, left them abandoned and forgotten beneath the burial mounds that dotted Ireland.

Over time, while the gods of the Celts gained traction and following, it is said that the power of the Tuatha De Danann faded. Their original names and grace diminished.

They became the Aos Si. The Fair Folk.

They became Fairies.

 

Fairy stories, have a special place in my heart.

They were the first pieces of folk lore that really captured my imagination.

I could picture the Otherworld so clearly.

A beautiful and strange world populated by creatures that were dangerous without being evil, helpful without being good.

They were mischievous and strange and wild.

So similar to us, and so alien.

Fairies are a distorted mirror, and their stories reveal as much about us as people, as they do about the creatures within the pages.

I hope that you have enjoyed this episode of Through the Veil and I’m glad you joined me.

If you found your time well spent, I encourage you to subscribe to get new episodes weekly wherever you listen as we continue our exploration of folk lore, legend, myth, and magic.

If you have topics you would like to hear covered: Email me at throughtheveilpodcast@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @ThroughVeil.

And as always, thank you for listening.

Andrew Eagle