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A summary of the Irish Mythological Cycle myth The Second Battle of Moytura as translated by Whitley Stokes in 1891.
In the northern reaches of the world, the Tuatha Dé Danann mastered the dark arts and druidry in four mystical cities: Falias, Gorias, Findias, and Murias.
From these strongholds, they brought four hallowed talismans to Ireland: the roaring Stone of Fál, the invincible Spear of Lugh, the irresistible Sword of Nuada, and the Dagda’s Cauldron, from which no company left hungry.
They arrived in Ireland under a shroud of mist, having burned their ships to ensure there was no retreat.
After defeating the Fir Bolg at the first battle of Moytura—where King Nuada lost his hand—the Tuatha Dé faced a new internal crisis.
Because a king had to be “whole,” the silver-handed Nuada was deposed in favor of Bres, a man of great beauty but half-Fomorian blood.
Bres proved a tyrant.
He squeezed the land dry, forcing the Dagda to dig earthworks and the champion Ogma to haul firewood.
Under his joyless rule, the knives of the nobles went ungreased and the poets remained silent, until the bard Corpre delivered the first satire of Ireland, causing Bres to wither.
The deposed king fled to his Fomorian kin, raising a “bridge of ships” to reclaim the throne.
Meanwhile, the multi-skilled Lugh Samildánach arrived at Tara, earning the throne by proving he mastered every art.
At the Second Battle of Moytura, the Tuatha Dé fought with divine industry:
Goibniu the smith forged eternal weapons, and Dian-cecht healed the fallen in a magical well.
Though Nuada fell to the death-dealing gaze of Balor of the Piercing Eye, Lugh struck the giant’s eye through his skull with a sling-stone.
The Fomorians were routed, and the Morrígan proclaimed a victory that echoed from the rivermouths to the royal heights, even as she whispered dark prophecies of a world yet to come.