View source for Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann

{{short description|Four magical items supposedly brought by the Tuatha Dé Danann to Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
In the [[Mythological Cycle]] of [[early Irish literature]], the '''four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann''' are four magical items which the [[mythology|mythological]] [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] are supposed to have brought with them from the four island cities Murias, Falias, Gorias, and Findias when they arrived in Ireland.
==Sources==
Together the four treasures form the subject of at least three [[Middle Irish]] texts:
*an anecdote in an interpolated recension of the legendary ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' ("The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), here '''LG''',
*the introduction, interpolated from ''Lebor Gabála'', of ''[[Cath Maige Tuired]]'' ("The Second Battle of Mag Tuired"), here '''CMT''',<ref>Although the text may go back to the 9th century, this introductory section seems to have been inserted by a Middle Irish redactor on the basis of ''Lebor Gabála''. See Gerard Murphy, "Notes on ''Cath Maige Tuired''." ''[[Éigse]]'' 7 (1954). p. 195.</ref> and
*"The Four Jewels", a later, short text in the [[Yellow Book of Lecan]], consisting of a prose introduction and a poem.
In the 17th century, [[Geoffrey Keating]] drew on a version of the former for his ''[[Foras Feasa ar Éirinn]]''.<ref>Keating, ''Foras feasa ar Éirinn''. Book 1, section 10.</ref>
==Summary==
The first recension of ''Lebor Gabála'' describes the Tuatha Dé Danann as having resided in "the northern islands of the world", where they were instructed in the magic arts, before finally moving in dark clouds to [[Connacht|Connaught]] in Ireland. It mentions only the ''[[Lia Fáil]]'' as having been imported from across the sea.<ref>''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', ed. and tr. R. A. S. Macalister. ''Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland''. Part IV. Irish Texts Society 41. First Redaction. §§ 55–57.</ref>
One of the recensions of ''Lebor Gabála'', ''Cath Maige Tuired'' and a separate text elaborate on these events. CMT and LG tell that there were four cities located on the northern islands of the world (''i n-insib tūascertachaib in domain''), called Falias, Gorias, Findias and Murias.<ref name="auto">''Lebar Gabála Érenn'' Part IV § 203; ''Cath Maige Tuired'' §§ 1–2.</ref> "The Four Jewels" also refers to the cities, but appears to locate them at ''[[Lochlann]]'' and contends that the Tuatha Dé crossed the seas in their fleet rather than in a mist. The Tuatha Dé Danann—described as the offspring of [[Béothach]] son of Iarbonel—landed here to be instructed in the magic arts, embracing druidry (''druidecht''), knowledge (''fis''), prophecy (''fáitsine'') and skill in magic (''amainsecht''). Each island is said to have had its poet (''[[fili]]'') who was skilled in occult arts.<ref name="auto"/>
When the Tuatha Dé migrated to Ireland, they are said to have brought four magical instruments from these cities:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Treasures of the Tuatha Dé
! City
! Poet
! Item
! Properties
|-
| Falias
| Morfessa or Fessus
| [[Lia Fáil|Stone of Fál (''Lia Fáil'')]]
| It would cry out beneath the king who took the sovereignty of Ireland. It was supposedly located near the [[Hill of Tara]] in [[County Meath]].
|-
| Goirias or Gorias
| Esras
| [[Spear of Lugh|Spear (''sleg'') of Lugh]]
| No battle was ever sustained against it or against the man who held it.
|-
| Findias or Finias
| Uiscias or Uscias
| Sword (''claideb/claiomh'')<!--DO NOT CHANGE "sword of Nuada" here to "[[Claíomh Solais]]". It is not called that in Four Jewels texts, thus mythographically speaking, not equatable to the "sword of light" attested in Scottish and Irish folktales --> which belonged to [[Nuada Airgetlám|Núada]]
| No one ever escaped from it once it was drawn from its sheath, and no one could resist it. The sword is also described in the Tain legend as "Nuadu's Cainnel"—a glowing bright torch.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Táin: From the Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailnge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-WoRsfK99UC&q=Nuadu%27s+Cainnel&pg=PA5|date=26 September 2002|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-150639-0|page=5}}</ref>
|-
| Muirias or Murias
| Semias
| Cauldron (''coire'') of the [[The Dagda|Dagda]]
| No company ever went away from it unsatisfied (also known as the ''Coire ansic'').
|}
A. C. L. Brown and [[R. S. Loomis]] equate Lug's spear with the [[Lúin of Celtchar|''Lúin'' of Celtchar]], which in ''[[Togail Bruidne Dá Derga]]'' is said to have been discovered in the Battle of Mag Tuired. There is however no sign of a literary tradition which connects the two weapons. A different spear belonging to Lug is the so-called spear of Assal in ''Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann''. It was brought back to Lug by the [[sons of Tuireann]] in atonement for their killing of [[Cian]].
==See also==
*[[Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
*''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'', ed. and tr. R.A.S. Macalister. ''Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland''. Part IV. Irish Texts Society 41. London, 1941. Section VII, § 304–5. [http://pw1.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/celtic/four-jewels-of-tuatha-ie.htm Portion of the text reproduced here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609101309/http://pw1.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/celtic/four-jewels-of-tuatha-ie.htm |date=9 June 2011 }}.
*''[[Cath Maige Tuired]]'', ed. and tr. Elizabeth A. Gray, ''Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired''. Irish Texts Society 52. Kildare, 1982.
*"The Four jewels", Middle Irish poem with prose introduction in the [[Yellow Book of Lecan]], ed. and tr. Vernam Hull. "The four jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann." ''[[Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie]]'' 18 (1930): 73–89. [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G300008 Edition available from CELT]. Translation available [http://maryjones.us/ctexts/jewels.html here] (Mary Jones) and [http://pw1.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/celtic/four-jewels-of-tuatha-ie.htm here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609101309/http://pw1.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/celtic/four-jewels-of-tuatha-ie.htm |date=9 June 2011 }} (proof-corrected). Hull's article includes commentary.
*[[Geoffrey Keating]], '' Foras feasa ar Éirinn. The History of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating'', ed. and tr. D. Comyn and P.S. Dinneen, ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn le Seathrún Céitinn''. 4 vols: vols 1–3. Irish Texts Society 4, 8 and 9. London: David Nutt, 1902–1914.
==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal |last= Gray |first= Elizabeth A. |title=''Cath Maige Tuired'': myth and structure (1-24) |journal= Éigse |volume=18 |year=1981 |pages= 183–209 }}
*[[Georges Dumézil|Dumézil, Georges]]. ''Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus. Essai sur la conception indo-européenne de la société et sur les origines de Rome''. Gallimard, Paris, 1941. Esp. p.&nbsp;228.
{{Celtic mythology (Mythological)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Jewels Of The Tuatha De Danann}}
[[Category:Tuatha Dé Danann]]
[[Category:Cultural lists]]
[[Category:Mythological Cycle]]
[[Category:Mythological objects]]
[[Category:Legendary treasures]]
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