[248] Various attributes
are personified as their descendants, Wisdom being son of all
three.[249] Though some of these attributes may have been actual gods,
especially Ecne or Wisdom, yet it is more probable that the
personification is the result of the subtleties of bardic science, of
which similar examples occur.[250] On the other hand, the fact that Ecne
is the son of three brothers, may recall some early practice of
polyandry of which instances are met with in the sagas.[251] M. D'Arbois
has suggested that Iuchar and Iucharba are mere duplicates of Brian, who
usually takes the leading place, and he identifies them with three kings
of the Tuatha Dea reigning at the time of the Milesian invasion--
MacCuill, MacCecht, and MacGrainne, so called, according to Keating,
because the hazel (_coll_), the plough (_cecht_), and the sun (_grian_)
were "gods of worship" to them. Both groups are grandsons of Dagda, and
M. D'Arbois regards this second group as also triplicates of one god,
because their wives Fotla, Banba, and Eriu all bear names of Ireland
itself, are personifications of the land, and thus may be "reduced to
unity."[252] While this reasoning is ingenious, it should be remembered
that we must not lay too much stress upon Irish divine genealogies,
while each group of three may have been similar local gods associated at
a later time as brothers. Their separate personality is suggested by the
fact that the Tuatha De Danann are called after them "the Men of the
Three Gods," and their supremacy appears in the incident of Dagda, Lug,
and Ogma consulting them before the fight at Mag-tured--a natural
proceeding if they were gods of knowledge or destiny.[253] The brothers
are said to have slain the god Cian, and to have been themselves slain
by Lug, and on this seems to have been based the story of _The Children
of Tuirenn_, in which they perish through their exertions in obtaining
the _eric_ demanded by Lug.[254] Here they are sons of Tuirenn, but more
usually their mother Danu or Brigit is mentioned.
Another son of Brigit's was Ogma, master of poetry and inventor of
_ogham_ writing, the word being derived from his name.[255] It is more
probable that Ogma's name is a derivative from some word signifying
"speech" or "writing," and that the connection with "ogham" may be a
mere folk-etymology. Ogma appears as the champion of the gods,[256] a
position given him perhaps from the primitive custom of rousing the
warriors' emotions by eloquent speeches before a battle. Similarly the
Babylonian Marduk, "seer of the gods," was also their champion in fight.
Ogma fought and died at Mag-tured; but in other accounts he survives,
captures Tethra's sword, goes on the quest for Dagda's harp, and is
given a _sid_ after the Milesian victory. Ogma's counterpart in Gaul is
Ogmios, a Herakles and a god of eloquence, thus bearing the dual
character of Ogma, while Ogma's epithet _grianainech_, "of the smiling
countenance," recalls Lucian's account of the "smiling face" of
Ogmios.[257] Ogma's high position is the result of the admiration of
bardic eloquence among the Celts, whose loquacity was proverbial, and to
him its origin was doubtless ascribed, as well as that of poetry. The
genealogists explain his relationship to the other divinities in
different ways, but these confusions may result from the fact that gods
had more than one name, of which the annalists made separate
personalities. Most usually Ogma is called Brigit's son. Her functions
were like his own, but in spite of the increasing supremacy of gods over
goddesses, he never really eclipsed her.
Among other culture gods were those associated with the arts and
crafts--the development of Celtic art in metal-work necessitating the
existence of gods of this art. Such a god is Goibniu, eponymous god of
smiths (Old Ir. _goba_, "smith"), and the divine craftsman at the battle
of Mag-tured, making spears which never failed to kill.[258] Smiths have
everywhere been regarded as uncanny--a tradition surviving from the