man." "And I am
a magician." "That is no use to us; we have plenty of magicians and
people of power." "I am a physician," he said. "That is no use; we have
Diancecht-for our physician." "Let me be a cup-bearer," he said. "We do
not want you; we have nine cup-bearers ourselves." "I am a good worker
in brass." "We have a worker in brass ourselves, that is Credne Cerd."

Then Lugh said: "Go and ask the king if he has any one man that can do
all these things, and if he has, I will not ask to come into Teamhair."
The door-keeper went into the king's house then and told him all that.
"There is a young man at the door," he said, "and his name should be the
Ildanach, the Master of all Arts, for all the things the people of your
house can do, he himself is able to do every one of them." "Try him with
the chess-boards," said Nuada. So the chess-boards were brought out, and
every game that was played, Lugh won it. And when Nuada was told that,
he said: "Let him in, for the like of him never came into Teamhair
before."

Then the door-keeper let him pass, and he came into the king's house and
sat down in the seat of knowledge. And there was a great flag-stone
there that could hardly be moved by four times twenty yoke of oxen, and
Ogma took it up and hurled it out through the house, so that it lay on
the outside of Teamhair, as a challenge to Lugh. But Lugh hurled it back
again that it lay in the middle of the king's house. He played the harp
for them then, and he had them laughing and crying, till he put them
asleep at the end with a sleepy tune. And when Nuada saw all the things
Lugh could do, he began to think that by his help the country might get
free of the taxes and the tyranny put on it by the Fomor. And it is what
he did, he came down from his throne, and he put Lugh on it in his
place, for the length of thirteen days, the way they might all listen to
the advice he would give.

This now is the story of the birth of Lugh. The time the Fomor used to
be coming to Ireland, Balor of the Strong Blows, or, as some called
him, of the Evil Eye, was living on the Island of the Tower of Glass.
There was danger for ships that went near that island, for the Fomor
would come out and take them. And some say the sons of Nemed in the old
time, before the Firbolgs were in Ireland, passed near it in their
ships, and what they saw was a tower of glass in the middle of the sea,
and on the tower something that had the appearance of men, and the