Pictish Mystic · Lore · Fomorians
Rúadán: the Fomorian Spy with a Foot in Both Camps
Rúadán was the son of Bres and of Bríg, the daughter of the Dagda: a son of the Fomoire and a grandson of the Túatha Dé. In Cath Maige Tuired, the Fomoire sent him to spy on his mother's people. This is his story, told from the Fomorian side.
Kin to Both Sides
The text calls him “Rúadán, the son of Bres and of Brig, the daughter of the Dagda”. His father was the half-Fomorian king Bres. His mother was a daughter of the Dagda. The Fomoire chose him “because he was a son and a grandson of the Túatha Dé”.
What the Fomoire Saw
Before the second battle of Mag Tuired, the Fomoire saw something they could not match. Their spears and swords stayed blunted, and their dead “did not come back the next day”. The Túatha Dé's weapons were renewed each day by Goibniu the smith, Luchta the carpenter and Crédne the brazier. Their mortally wounded were cast into the well called Sláine while Dían Cécht, Octriuil, Míach and Airmed chanted over it, “and they were alive when they came out.”
The Spy
Rúadán went to see for himself. He came back and “described to the Fomoire the work of the smith and the carpenter and the brazier and the four physicians who were around the well.” Then “they sent him back to kill one of the áes dána, Goibniu.”
The Spear of the Maternal Kin
He asked the smith for a spearpoint, the brazier for its rivets and the carpenter for its shaft, “and everything was given to him as he asked.” Crón, a woman grinding weapons, ground it. So the spear came to him from his mother's kin, and the text says a weaver's beam was still called “the spear of the maternal kin” in Ireland.
The Strike
“Rúadán turned and wounded Goibniu. He pulled out the spear and hurled it at Rúadán so that it went through him; and he died in his father's presence in the Fomorian assembly.”
The First Keening
“Bríg came and keened for her son. At first she shrieked, in the end she wept. Then for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland.” Goibniu went into the well, and he became whole.
From Their Side
This part is a reading, not the text: Rúadán did what his father's people asked, against his mother's people, and there was no healing well for him.
Sources
- Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, translated by Elizabeth A. Gray, CELT (T300010): https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010.html
Story told by John.
These are legends from medieval manuscripts, not recorded history.
First shared on TikTok @johnshaw333.
Source note: the translation used here is published by CELT (University College Cork) and marked by CELT for academic research and teaching use only. This article retells the tale in our own words with brief quotations and full citation, and is provided for entertainment purposes only.
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