Lugh - Lugh's Name and Nature

Lugh's Name and Nature

Lugh's name was formerly interpreted as deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *leuk-, "flashing light", and he is often surrounded by solar imagery, so from Victorian times he has often been considered a sun god, similar to the Greco-Roman Apollo though historically he is only ever equated with Mercury (citation?). He appears in folklore as a trickster, and in County Mayo thunderstorms were referred to as battles between Lugh and Balor, so he is sometimes considered a storm god: Alexei Kondratiev notes his epithet lonnbeimnech ("fierce striker") and concludes that "if his name has any relation to 'light' it more properly means 'lightning-flash' (as in Breton luc'h and Cornish lughes)". However, Breton and Cornish are Brythonic languages in which Proto-Celtic *k did undergo systematic sound changes into -gh- and -ch-.

Conversely, words containing Lu, as in the word Lugh itself, or lo or le have appeared for millennia always meaning light or sun or sun god. Luwian Apaliunas, Hurrian Aplu, Etruscan Apulu, Homeric Greek: Ἀπόλλων, that is, (λω), Latin Apollo. The form Apaliunas (]x-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš) is attested as a god of Wilusa in a treaty between Alaksandu of Wilusa interpreted as "Alexander of Ilios", and the Hittite great king Muwatalli II ca 1280 BC.

Luwian is closely related to Hittite, and was among the languages spoken during the second and first millennia BC by population groups in central Anatolia, Anatolia (from Greek Aνατολή Anatolē — "East"; also Asia Minor. When the Illyrians migrated to Italy and founded Luceria in Apulia, a temple to Minerva was built. Minerva is the Etruscan and Roman equivalent of Athena. The arms, ( arament and weapons) of Diomedes, given to him by Athena in the Trojan War were said to be were preserved in her temple.

The Lusitanians (or Lusitani in Latin) were an Indo-European people living in the Western Iberian Peninsula. Endovelicus was the most important god. António da Visitação Freire classified the name of "Endovelicus" as a mixed Celtic and Phoenician name, adapted to the Roman language. The End- radical would be from Celtic languages; Bel (or Vel-) would be Phoenician for Lord and - Cus a usual word termination in Latin. The name would suggest Bal, Bel, or Vel, the god Belenus (also Belenos) was a deity worshipped in Gaul, Britain and Celtic areas of Austria and Spain. In the Roman period Belenus was identified with Apollo. Belisama has been claimed to be the consort of Belenus and she was identified with Minerva/Athena. It would seem that the word Lugh is related to every Indo-European language word meaning light.

Lugh's mastery of all arts has led many to link him with the unnamed Gaulish god Julius Caesar identifies with Mercury, whom he describes as the "inventor of all the arts". Caesar describes the Gaulish Mercury as the most revered deity in Gaul, overseeing journeys and business transactions. Juliette Wood interprets Lugh's name as deriving from the Celtic root *lugios, "oath", and the Irish word lugh connotes ideas of "blasphemy, cussing, lies, bond, joint, binding oath", which strengthens the identification with Mercury, who was, among other attributes, a god of contracts.

It is also worth noting that parallels exist between the Irish Lugh, Gaulish Lugus, German Wotan, the English Woden and Norse Odin. Odin was worshipped by the Norse as a god of war among other things including poetry and the arts. Odin may have replaced Tyr as god of war among north Germanic peoples. As such, it may be that Lugh was also worshipped as a god of war by the Irish. On that note it is worth noting that the ultimate Irish warrior hero Cu Chulainn is cited as the son of Lugh.