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with the Firbolgs led by Erc. The Dé Danaan won but Nuada’s hand was struck off and the god of medicine, Dian Cécht, replaced it with a silver one. The second battle was between the Dé Danaan and the Fomorii. Nuada was slain in this battle by Balor of the Evil Eye, who was in turn slain by Lugh Lámhfada.
[I] There are several people called Maine in Irish myth, but they are usually minor characters. The seven sons of Ailill and Medb of Connacht are all called Maine. The most prominent, however, is a Norse prince who, in one version of the tragic tale of Deirdre and the sons of Usna, is the person who kills Naoise and his brothers.
Manx equivalent of Manannán Mac Lir/Manawydan Fab Llyr.
[I] The major sea god, son of Lir. He ruled from Emain Ablach (Emain of the Apple Trees) in Tír Tairnigiri (Land of Promise). His wife was Fand, the Pearl of Beauty. His appearance is always as a noble and handsome warrior, but he is a shape-changer and can drive his chariot over the waves as if they were a plain. Although he sired children among the gods, such as Gaiar, whose affair with Bécuma caused her expulsion from the Land of Promise, Manannán also sired human children like Mongán. In one version of Mongán’s begetting, Manannán is said to have appeared to Fachtna, the king, who was being worsted in a battle, and offered to help him if he could go, disguised as Fachtna, and sleep with his wife. To this Fachtna agrees. The child of this union became a great king and mighty warrior. This tale is remarkably similar to that of the conception and birth of Arthur in Brythonic Celtic myth.
Manannán appears more frequently than most gods, creating storms or wrecking Milesian ships, appearing to Bran at the start of his epic voyage, and conducting Cormac Mac Art around Tír Tairnigiri. When the Dagda resigns the leadership of the gods, it is Manannán who refuses to accept the succession of the Bodb Dearg and retreats into seclusion.
[W] See Manannán Mac Lir. Manawydan, son of Llyr, the counterpart of the Irish sea god Manannán, son of Lir, forms a close though not exact parallel. However, we can assume that they were a single deity known and venerated among both linguistic Celtic groupings. In the Third Branch of the Mabinogion, Manawydan is represented as a wise and patient counsellor, but
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