Page:Kuno Meyer - Cath Finntrága.djvu/15

Rh its particulars from the older cycle at a time when the tales of this older cycle were still busily copied.

Another feature equally characteristic of the tales of the Ossianic cycle is the way in which personages of the mythological cycle are brought into contact and connection with the fiann and the men of Erinn generally; and here the part played in them by the Túatha Dé Danand deserves some special consideration. Very different notions and accounts are found to exist at the different periods of Irish epic literature about these Túatha Dé Danand. We can, with more or less certainty, distinguish the following. They were originally a race of gods worshipped by the ancient Irish. Cf. Jubainville, Introduction, p. 174. But, except in their names, no very manifest traces of this belief have come down to us. Among these those which point to the existence of war-goddesses are the most distinct. In the oldest epic cycle, the heroic, only occasional mention is made of them. They appear as supernatural beings or spirits ('demons' in the Christian terminology), able to do harm or good to man. They have their special favourites amongst the heroes whom they protect and assist in fight. Thus in LL. p. 82 b, we read of Cúchulaind jumping into his chariot and proceeding to meet Ferdiad: gura gairsetar imme boccanaig ⁊ bánanaig ⁊ geniti glindi ⁊ demna aeóir, daig dabertis Tuatha Dé Danand a n-gariud immi-sium, co m-bad móti a graín ⁊ a ecla ⁊ a urúad ⁊ a uruamain in cach cath ⁊ in cach cathroí, in cach Comlund ⁊ in cach comruc i teiged. Cf. LU. p. 77 b. 34. The connection of the Túatha Dé Danand with the áes síde is doubtful.

In the mythological cycle, which, as it has come down to us, is of later origin than the heroic cycle, being almost entirely the work of Christian chroniclers, the Túatha Dé Danand have, by an Euhemeristic process, become one of the peoples that arrive in Erinn and take possession of it for some time. But they are called 'demons' nevertheless (LL. p. 13 a, 2), and preserve something of their original character. Thus, according to LL. p. 9 a, they come from the northern islands of the world, where they had acquired druidism and science and