batch.motif.celtic-irish-gods-and-fighting-men-gregory-gutenberg-l1361-l1459
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-gods-and-fighting-men-gregory-gutenberg-l1361-l1459
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
passage_locator:
label: 'CHAPTER II. THE REIGN OF BRES / BOOK TWO: LUGH OF THE LONG HAND. / CHAPTER
I. THE COMING OF LUGH / CHAPTER II. THE SONS OF TUIREANN; lines 1361-1459'
start: '1361'
end: '1459'
translation: Gods and Fighting Men
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Lugh learns that the Fomor have landed and plundered Bodb Dearg's country,
asks Nuada and then his own kin for help, and sends Cian, Cu, and Ceithen to gather
support. Cian encounters the hostile sons of Tuireann, changes himself into a
pig with a Druid rod, is detected by Brian, hunted with transformed hounds, restored
to human form, and killed with stones. The earth repeatedly rejects his buried
body before finally keeping it on the seventh burial. Lugh travels westward toward
the Fomor camp and their spoils.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Lugh is at Teamhair when he is told that the Fomor have landed at Eas Dara
and spoiled Bodb Dearg's country.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Lugh asks Nuada for help against the Fomor, but Nuada is unwilling because
the destruction was done to Bodb Dearg and not to himself.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Cian, Cu, and Ceithen greet Lugh and offer to keep off a hundred enemies each;
Lugh instead asks them to gather the Riders of the Sidhe to him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Cu and Ceithen go south, while Cian goes north to the Plain of Muirthemne.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Cian encounters three armed sons of Tuireann, whose family is in hatred and
enmity with the sons of Cainte.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Seeing that his brothers are not with him, Cian strikes himself with a Druid
rod and takes the shape of a pig in a herd.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Brian recognizes that the armed man has become one of the pigs and says he
is no friend to them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Brian strikes his two brothers with a Druid rod and turns them into two thin,
fast hounds to track the enchanted pig.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The enchanted pig separates from the herd, runs toward a wood, and is pierced
by Brian's spear at the wood's edge.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The wounded pig speaks, identifies himself as Cian son of Cainte, and asks
for protection.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: Brian refuses protection and says that even if life returned seven times to
Cian, he would take it every time.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: Cian asks to return to his own shape, and Brian agrees because he says it
is easier to kill a man than a pig.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: Cian says that being killed in human shape will bring a heavier fine than
if he had been killed as a pig, and that the arms used will tell the deed to his
son.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: Brian says Cian will be killed not with weapons but with stones lying on the
ground.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:15
text: The sons of Tuireann pelt Cian with stones until he is reduced to a broken
heap.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:16
text: The sons of Tuireann bury Cian's body six times, and the earth casts it up
each time; on the seventh burial, the earth keeps it.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:17
text: After the killing, the sons of Tuireann go on to join Lugh for the battle.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:18
text: Lugh travels westward through named places until he reaches the Great Plain
of the Fair, where the Fomor are with the spoils of Connacht.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Lugh of the Long Hand
description: A figure at Teamhair who seeks help against the Fomor and later travels
westward toward them.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Nuada
description: The king to whom Lugh reports the Fomor landing and from whom Lugh
requests help.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the Fomor
description: A group said to have landed at Eas Dara, spoiled Bodb Dearg's country,
and later to be at the Great Plain of the Fair with spoils.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bodb Dearg
description: The owner or ruler of the country said to have been spoiled by the
Fomor.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Cian son of Cainte
description: Lugh's father, brother of Cu and Ceithen, who changes into a pig, is
hunted, returns to human shape, and is killed by the sons of Tuireann.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Cu
description: A brother of Cian and Ceithen, one of the sons of Cainte, sent south
after meeting Lugh.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Ceithen
description: A brother of Cian and Cu, one of the sons of Cainte, sent south after
meeting Lugh.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Brian
description: One of the sons of Tuireann who detects Cian's transformation, transforms
his brothers into hounds, wounds Cian, refuses him protection, and directs his
killing with stones.
role_refs:
- role:9
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Brian's two brothers, sons of Tuireann
description: The other two sons of Tuireann, changed by Brian into hounds and involved
in the killing and burial of Cian.
role_refs:
- role:9
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Riders of the Sidhe
description: A group Lugh asks Cian, Cu, and Ceithen to gather to him from every
place where they are.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
roles:
- id: role:1
label: war leader seeking aid
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Lugh asks for help to give battle to the Fomor and requests that the Riders
of the Sidhe be gathered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: father and son relation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:5
basis: Cian is identified as Lugh's father, and Cian says the deed will be told
to his son.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: reluctant king
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Nuada is king and is not minded to avenge the destruction done to Bodb Dearg.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: invading raiders
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The Fomor are said to have landed, spoiled Bodb Dearg's country, and held
spoils.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:9
- id: role:5
label: plundered party
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Fomor are said to have spoiled Bodb Dearg's country.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: shape-changed fugitive
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Cian uses a Druid rod to take the shape of a pig and hide in a herd.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: murder victim
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Cian is hunted, denied mercy, and killed with stones by the sons of Tuireann.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: dispatched helpers
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
basis: Cu and Ceithen promise battle-help and then go south as Lugh asks for the
Riders of the Sidhe to be gathered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:9
label: hostile pursuers and killers
assigned_to:
- fig:8
- fig:9
basis: The sons of Tuireann are enemies of Cian's family, pursue him, and kill him
with stones.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: role:10
label: recognizer of enchantment
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Brian identifies that the vanished armed man has become one of the pigs and
distinguishes the enchanted beast.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:11
label: hounds by transformation
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Brian turns his two brothers into thin, fast hounds to track Cian in pig
form.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:12
label: summoned otherworld troop
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Lugh asks that the Riders of the Sidhe be gathered to him from every place
where they are.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Manannan's horse Aonbharr
literal_form: A named horse made ready by Lugh before he rides out of Teamhair.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: Druid rod
literal_form: A rod used by Cian to become a pig and by Brian to turn his brothers
into hounds.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: pig shape
literal_form: The form Cian takes within a herd of pigs.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: hound shapes
literal_form: Two thin, fast hounds into which Brian changes his brothers for tracking
the enchanted pig.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: spear cast
literal_form: Brian's spear cast that pierces Cian while Cian is in pig form.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: stones as killing instruments
literal_form: Stones lying on the ground used to kill Cian instead of weapons.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:7
label: earth rejecting the murdered body
literal_form: The earth casts up Cian's buried body six times before keeping it
on the seventh burial.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Lugh seeks help against the Fomor
summary: Lugh learns of the Fomor landing and plundering, asks Nuada for help, receives
an unsatisfactory answer, and rides out of Teamhair.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Lugh sends his kin to gather support
summary: Lugh meets Cian, Cu, and Ceithen; they offer battle support, and Lugh asks
them to gather the Riders of the Sidhe.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:10
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Cian hides in pig form
summary: Cian encounters the hostile sons of Tuireann, judges himself outnumbered,
and changes himself into a pig among a herd.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Brian detects and hunts the transformed Cian
summary: Brian recognizes the transformation, turns his brothers into hounds, and
tracks the enchanted pig until it separates from the herd and is struck by his
spear.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Cian is restored and killed
summary: Cian identifies himself, requests protection and then mercy, returns to
human shape, warns of the heavy fine, and is killed with stones.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: The earth rejects Cian's burial
summary: The sons of Tuireann bury Cian's body repeatedly; the earth casts it up
six times and keeps it only on the seventh burial.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Lugh reaches the Fomor's location
summary: Lugh continues westward through a sequence of named places to the Great
Plain of the Fair, where the Fomor are with spoils.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: magical shapeshifting for concealment and pursuit
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Cian uses a Druid rod to become a pig among a herd, and Brian uses a Druid
rod to change his brothers into hounds to track him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents transformations as actions using Druid rods; it does
not explain the broader nature or rules of the magic.
- id: motif:2
label: hostile kin-groups and killing of a hero's father
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_parent_child
basis: Cian is Lugh's father, belongs to a family in enmity with the sons of Tuireann,
and says that the killing will be made known to his son and require an exceptional
fine.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage establishes the father-son relation and Cian's warning, but
does not yet narrate Lugh's response or the payment of the fine.
- id: motif:3
label: earth refusing to receive a murdered body
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: After Cian is killed, the earth casts up his buried body six times and retains
it only on the seventh burial.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes an anomalous reaction by the earth but does not
explicitly call it a divine judgment.
- id: motif:4
label: speech from animal form revealing human identity
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: After the pig is speared, it cries out, speaks with a man's voice, and identifies
itself as Cian son of Cainte.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is part of the same transformation sequence as motif:1, not necessarily
a separate independent motif.
- id: motif:5
label: attempt to evade prophetic disclosure by changing the murder weapon
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Cian says the arms used to kill him will tell the deed to his son, and Brian
responds that he will be killed with stones rather than weapons.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not state whether the use of stones succeeds or fails
in concealing the deed.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1361-1376
quote_or_summary: Lugh at Teamhair learns that the Fomor have landed at Eas Dara
and spoiled Bodb Dearg's country; he asks Nuada for help, but Nuada is unwilling,
and Lugh rides westward after making ready Aonbharr.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1376-1388
quote_or_summary: Lugh meets Cian, Cu, and Ceithen, who offer to keep off a hundred
enemies each; Lugh asks instead that they gather the Riders of the Sidhe to him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1389-1399
quote_or_summary: Cu and Ceithen go south, Cian goes north to the Plain of Muirthemne,
and he sees the three armed sons of Tuireann; the sons of Tuireann and sons of
Cainte are said to be in hatred and enmity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1400-1406
quote_or_summary: Cian, lacking his two brothers, decides to fall back; seeing a
herd of pigs, he strikes himself with a Druid rod and takes the shape of a pig
rooting among the herd.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1407-1424
quote_or_summary: Brian says the vanished armed man has become one of the pigs and
is no friend to them; he then strikes his two brothers with a Druid rod and turns
them into two thin, fast hounds to track the enchanted pig.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1425-1439
quote_or_summary: The pig separates from the herd, runs toward a wood, and Brian's
spear pierces it; the pig speaks, identifies itself as Cian son of Cainte, asks
for protection, and is allowed to return to human shape before being killed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1440-1449
quote_or_summary: Cian asks for mercy, says killing him in human shape will bring
an exceptionally heavy fine, and says the arms used will tell the deed to his
son; Brian answers that stones, not weapons, will kill him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 1450-1458
quote_or_summary: The sons of Tuireann stone Cian, bury him, and "the earth would
not receive that murder" until the seventh burial.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 1458-1459 and following passage end
quote_or_summary: The sons of Tuireann go on to join Lugh; Lugh travels westward
through named places to the Great Plain of the Fair, where the Fomor are with
the spoils of Connacht.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The main narrative actions and figures are explicit in the supplied passage.
Motif labels are limited to the available taxonomy where directly supported; broader
implications of Cian's death and fine require later context not included here.
No external comparison claims were made.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Comparison claims are empty because the passage does not itself establish a comparison with another text or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-gods-and-fighting-men-gregory-gutenberg__l1361-l1459
passage_sha256=8b22537cff4f1ee21b0a00e12a069f9830e1d2548fdef10f0c81e9ea769d2992