The Dagda

The Tuatha revere their father figure even while they mock him as an oaf, sometimes in the same breath. The Dagda is a seed at the fuzzy center of the Tuatha/Fomorian family tree, and thanks to his prodigious list of lovers no one’s sure exactly how. He’s commonly acknowledged as Elatha’s son, and father of Brigid and Aengus among others. He fosters many divine orphans, as well.

Few outside the pantheon understand the Dagda’s lofty position. He eats, drinks, sleeps, and ruts with abandon, hardly the sagacious and mysterious figure they expect from the most powerful sídhe sorcerer. Yet he, like his Scions, knows much more than he lets on. The Tuatha call him Dagda, the “good God,” not as a statement of morality but one of talent, for his ability to perform any magical feat claimed by any druid in history. Unlike Lugh, the Dagda’s breadth of expertise is innate and effortless. His Scions are prodigies and savants who need no training to eclipse their rivals.

The Dagda embodies Enech as a battle God of fertility and plenty. His famed cauldron, one of the Tuatha’s Four Treasures, feeds all comers to satisfaction no matter how numerous. He singlehandedly builds fortresses and walls to protect his people. He fights and leads armies, acting as advisor and strategist as well as front-line warrior with his enormous club that both slays and heals. People seek out his Scions for advice, tutoring, and training of all kinds, and they cheerfully provide — for a price. Those in the know can perform certain favors for the Fair Folk to access hidden libraries connected to the Dagda’s Otherworld realm.