‘A Throng Like Crystal’: The medieval perception of the Tuatha Dé Danann in the Lebor Gabála Érenn and their use as a political tool in the long Middle Ages

This thesis examines the Tuatha Dé Danann as observed in the Lebor Gabála Érenn tradition, as well as the perception of these mythological beings in the early to late Middle Ages. Incorporating a wide range of evidence, and with consideration of euhemerist interpretation of pagan figures, it argues that Latin learning and the politics of international identity building shaped the presentation of the Tuatha Dé Danann in the earliest extant Lebor Gabála Érenn versions. Further, the thesis proposes that territorial disputes at a provincial level are responsible for the evolution of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Lebor Gabála Érenn versions of the later Middle Ages, with conflicting accounts of these mythological figures being reflective of counterattacks on attempts by dynasties to claim descent from the Tuatha Dé Danann. Finally, the thesis posits that the Tuatha Dé Danann were a valuable political tool in the Middle Ages, but that this was not because of a divine status; it was due to a euhemerist interpretation that presented pagan ‘gods’ as being historical mortal people who would later be erroneously regarded as gods due to their exceptional accomplishments and contributions to a land.

Publisher

University of Galway

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CC BY-NC-ND

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University of Galway Theses (Research Masters Theses)