Homebrewed Myth: Danaan creation myth
Posted: 2007-08-18 02:35am
so, kicking around an idea I have, I stumbled upon the idea of how would something responsible for the myths of human gods in turn view their religion and creation myth. For that, what I've linked to the Tuatha de Danaan, I cooked one up. Figured I posted it here for feed back. I also tried to weave a bit of the native american trickster idea in too since the Danaan came from the land in the west and I figure I'd use the Americas as that land
*****
The beginning was simple, Dagda woke up. While Dagda did not remember before he fell asleep or when, he did know that he woke up and that he was Dagda. He also realized that he had nothing to do. So he got up and set about doing something.
Now Dagda had awoken in the place-before-creation, home to nothing yet everything. First Dagda tried to sing to it, and nothing happened. Next he tried to eat it and he could get nothing into his mouth. Many things he tried to do with it, but nothing ever succeeded, Dagda giving up after lashing out in frustration and the nothing not doing anything in return. So Dagda sat down to think.
After a long time of thinking, Dagda realized that he was sitting on the nothing. Thinking back, he remembered that he walked a crossed it also and was floating in it before that. Striking it did nothing as he recalled and so he decided he would go about wrestling the nothing into something.
If he was to wrestle the nothing, that means he would need to find an edge to grasp. Many would think this impossible as how can nothing have an edge? But Dagda is all powerful, and what Dagda wants to do, he does. After a long time searching, he finally found his edge. With one edge in hand, he felt for a second edge and from that edge he found another, toke it in hand and began to wrestle nothing into something.
At first, the nothing was easy to wrestle as Dagda shrank its size with very little effort. But as Dagda forced it smaller and smaller, it began to take more and more of his strength. When it was only little bigger then him, Dagda's struggles became fierce and for many a day did he wrestle the nothingness. When it seemed like he had overcome the nothing, it would began to grow with renewed vigor, but just as the nothing did to Dagda, so did Dagda do to the nothing, meeting each burst of renewed growth with strength pulled from deep inside him. Eventually, Dagda succeeded and the nothing became something: The waters of the world.
Dagda was perplexed. Where before he was dry and standing in emptiness, here he was now waist deep in water, wet and slightly cold. For a long time he stood in silence, his brows knitted in contemplation as he scratched, and tried to figure out what this was.
'It is water' said a tiny voice from by his navel. He looked down then and saw nothing.
'Who said that?' Dagda responded, still straining to see who it was had talked.
'It is I, Dana, your daughter.' came the tiny voice again. Dagda leaned closer to the water then.
'If you are my daughter, then where did you come from? I did not wake up with a daughter nor do I remember one from before I went to sleep.' Of course, he did not remember anything from before he went to sleep.
'You became aroused when you were wrestling with the nothing and engaged in intercourse with it. When you planted your seed in it, it grew with child. Each bout of strength you wrestled with was a kick from me. It finally gave up when it was time for my birth. That is how I, Dana, your daughter, came to be.' Dagda squinted now, and in the dark, he could make out Dana. She was small, much smaller then Dagda himself, and dressed in hides, which he knew they were called but not how they came to be. Her hair was black, like the darkness that surrounded them, and her skin brown. Dagda realized that she looked little liked him and decided she must take after her mother.
'Oh.' And with little else said, he sunk into the water so as to see his daughter better. And there they floated, the water washing the sweat from his skin and also being the receptacle for his urine, which would become the fish in the sea and the shifters. He was unaware of all this and contented himself to float with his wee daughter near his head.
But with time, the air began to stale. Dagda himself was not worried about this as he was all powerful and a little stink would not hurt him, but he remembered his daughter and thought that this might not be good for her.
'Daughter, do you wish for fresh air?' he uttered as he sat up.
'If it pleases you.' Dana responded, carried hither and fro on the waves caused by Dagda's moving.
'How shall I do so?' he asked to no one in particular, staring into the emptiness over their heads.
'You could smash the dome above us.'
'I could smash the dome above us.' repeated Dagda, 'Should I smash the dome above us?' He asked to his daughter.
'You should.' And so he stood and drew back his fist. With a might swing he struck the dome and shattered it, causing a rain of dust and debris. A portion of the dust fell into his eyes, causing them to water and making Dagda rub them. Where his tears fell, they floated above the waves, becoming the Shining Ones and the animals of the sky. As his eyes stopped tearing, Dagda felt the wind blow a crossed him and smelled the fresh air. Thus he was content.
But after a while, Dagda realized that his daughter could not stand like he could in the water and was at the mercy of the waves. He stood grimacing for a long while, pondering what he could do.
'What is it that bothers you father?' spoke Dana from the waves.
'When the air became too stale for you, I broke the vault above us to allow a breeze to flow. But now I feel as if you should be able to stand like I, but I do not know how to make it so.'
'Why do you not pull up the firmament you stand upon?' Dana replied. Dagda looked at her, his brows twisted tight in though.
'Should I pull up that which I stand on?'
'You should.' And with that Dagda reached down, grabbing mud at the bottom of the water with both hands and drawing it up. When he was done, he noticed that the muck was rife with worms, shellfish and other life that was not suited for Dana. So he went about plucking it from the mud and throwing it over his shoulder, causing it to become the Worm People when it landed on other plots of mire. When everything was to his liking, he placed Dana upon the island he had made.
By this time, Dagda had started to grow cold from the wind blowing over his wet skin. He began rubbing his arms as his teeth chattered audibly, his knees knocked, throwing up towering waves and he realized that Dana must feel the same way.
'Daughter, you must be cold, and I must confess, so am I. But I know of no way to warm us.' he forced through clenched teeth.
'You could put a fire in the space above where the vault was.' Dana replied with not a hint of being cold.
'How could I do that? I have nothing to start a fire with.' It was harder this time for him to reply, but he force himself to.
'I bet there are metals and stones in the earth that could let you do so. It would be easy for you to reach in and find them.' Dagda began to bounce gently to keep warm as she spoke this.
'Should I reach into the earth and find these stones and metal?'
'You should.' And so he did, stopping his shivering long enough to grasp a bar of iron and a stone of flint. When he drew them out, he stood tall and struck them up into the sky, sparks leaping merrily every way, forming the stars where they stuck to the emptiness and the Fire Beasts where they singed his skin. But he did not notice this, intent on starting a fire in the sky so as to warm Dana and himself. And eventually he did, the sun springing to life and warming Dagda up.
Dagda laid down on the mud then, allowing the sun to warm him up. Slowly he realized that the drying earth was nothing much to look at, which didn't bother him but might make his daughter unhappy. So he turned on his side and looked upon his daughter for the first time in the light.
'I, Dagda, am not bothered by all this runny mess. But I feel that this might
make you unhappy daughter. So I wish to make you happy. Would you like that?'
'I would indeed like that father.' replied Dana from where she sat on the ground. At this, Dagda sat up and began to think. He thought of all the new things he made, the earth, the sky, the sun and wished to use them all to make the world beautiful. For a long time he sat contemplating, his face screwed up tight. Idly he began swirling the waters with his hand.
'How could I use sun, sky and earth to make everything beautiful?' he muttered to the blowing wind and nothing else in particular.
'You could put animals in the sky, water and on the earth, and plants of all sorts on earth, above and below the water. Flowers could blossom from the plants and the animals could look like those blossoms in turn.' returned Dana casually. As she spoke this, Dagda turned to her and leaned close.
'Should I put animals in sky, water and on the earth and plants where ever there is ground daughter?'
'You should.' And so Dagda leaped to his feet and began working. All amongst the land that Dana sat, he created trees and grasses, blooms and blossoms. He put many flying things into the air and many running things on land. A great many things did he throw away during, sending them to land and grow upon other stretches of mud and of those pieces that were touched by the blood from his blisters the People of the Wild were born. But this Dagda did not notice and still he kept creating until he finally collapsed from exhaustion.
When Dagda awoke, Dana was sitting near his head, weaving plants into a dress. Seeing her like this made him realize that Dana had no one to keep company when he was asleep and that this would make her sad. So, sitting up, he turned to face Dana.
'Daughter, there will be times when I must sleep and you will be awake, and in those times you have no one to keep you company. This, I fear, is going to make you sad. I wish to make you company.' And he nodded assertively, showing that nothing could stop him from doing so. And, as was becoming a common event, Dagda set about thinking of how to do so.
Such was the time that Dagda sat thinking that the trees and plants grew a crossed his back and shoulders. Colonies of birds began to roost in his ears, nose and mouth. Sheep took up living upon his head and neck. So great was the growth of life upon him that it would have been easy to mistake him for the tallest mountain in all of creation.
'How am I to go about creating people to keep my daughter company?' spoke he and a cloud of birds flew from his mouth to carry the message to no where in particular. Now Dana spoke up from the center of a village built by her own hand, stocked by her while Dagda was in contemplation and home to a great magic.
'You should allow me to make them father.' asked Dana as she stood in fine robes with ornaments of precious metals and jewels. Dagda leaned closer then he ever had before.
'Should I let you make them? How could you make them?' his breath was horrific, rife with the stench of generations of bird excrement. No man or woman in existence could stand firm in the face of it, yet Dana did not flinch at all.
'You should father, all it will take is a few hairs from your brow.'
'I shall let you make them then.' replied Dagda and with that he allowed her to pluck a few hairs from his brow. From them she fashioned several dolls and placed them each within in a hut. Dagda furrowed his eyebrows once again in consternation.
'How will this make more people daughter?'
'Upon each house I have placed a great enchantment and filled with items that each of these new men will need for their profession. We shall go to sleep, and when we awake, so shall they.' Dagda understood now and nodded in agreement. With the plan in his head, he let loose a tremendous yawn and went back to sleep. shortly after being joined by Dana. When they both awoke, the new men were sitting around the fire cooking stew and recently caught animals. Dagda looked upon this and was happy.
For a long time they were happy like this. Dagda built himself a great hut while his daughter and her friends explored the world he created for her. They were amazed by the seasons, by storm and quake. Each new thing filled them with delight, but it only did so once. Dagda noticed this and sunk into one of his spells of deep thinking. It was like this that Dana came upon him.
'Father, what is the matter? For a long time you have been happy and content. Now I come upon you as you were before you made all of this.'
'Dana, I must tell you that it saddens me that you and your friends can only take delight from each of my wonders only once. If only there were a way for everything to be new and wondrous forever.' With this a twinkle leaped into Dana's eyes as she figured out a solution to her father's problem.
'Father, you should let me see if I can solve this problem for you. But whatever you do, you must not come out of your hut no matter what you hear. Do you promise me that?'
'Daughter Dana, if you can do so, then I shall let you and I will never leave my hut until you come and tell me it is alright.' Dana left with a smile and quickly began to work. Her plan was to marry and give birth to children to each of the men she helped create. But she could not do so as Dana. Thus she set about making many masks and costumes, weaving great spells into them and creating names of power. Under a different persona, she would marry one of her friends and live with him for a year, birthing many children to him. But at the end of the year, she would die. The great lamenting that arose from this even reached Dagda. Many a time he wished to leave his hut and see what had gone wrong, but each time he remembered his promise at the threshold and turned back, taking up his harp and playing a sorrowful song. In this way Dagda created the seasons.
With time and many winters, the crying grew to be too much. Worried that his works were coming apart, Dagda stormed from his hut when the crying started again. What he came upon he did not expect. Gathered around the resting form of a woman was many people, all dark haired and brown like his Dana. Numerous they were and varied, Dagda could see everything his daughter had created in them. Finally, he spoke.
'Why are you all crying?' boomed his voice when he did not mean it to.
'The mother has died just as she has the winter before and the winter before that. Regardless of whose mother she is, we all gather to remember ours that has past.' answered Nuadha, one of Dana's first born. Dagda's brows touched in the center of his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. Finally he decided to see through to the truth and squinted his eyes. All the charms and glamors laid by Dana were suddenly undone by Dagda and, realizing that her ploy had been discovered, she sat up and removed her costume.
The gathered people cried out in delight, seeing their mother stand before them. Dagda was relieved that his daughter still walked, but he was saddened by what she had put her children through.
'Daughter, why do you make you children cry over your passing?'
'I did not wish for them to do so, but in order for me to make it so everything could be enjoyed for the first time for all time, I had to do so. If I were to marry each of my friends at once, they were fight over me and there would have been much bloodshed. But now there is not and the many sons and daughters live peacefully together. They are my children, the children of Dana.' And from that day forth, they called themselves the Tuatha de Danaan.
One tribe in particular became numerous and spread a crossed all of Dagda's creation, even going as far as to build boats and set off for the rising sun. With time, Dana began to miss them until one day she decided she would go east herself to see if they were alright. But to do so would take great power and, while she was clever and strong, she was not strong enough. So she went to Dagda.
'Father, I wish my children who sailed east. I would go to see if they are alright, but I do not have the strength to cross the ocean.' Dagda looked down, both glad to see his daughter and saddened to see her miss her children so.
'I will help you daughter, but how shall we go? A boat is too slow and none are big enough to fit me. If I walk, you shall surely starve in the palm of my hand. If we had wings we could fly.' came his reply. Dana knew what to do as soon as her father spoke.
'Father, create a cloud big enough for the both of us and we shall fly over the water and to where my children have gone.' Dagda realized the wisdom of this plan and did so, creating a great cloud to carry Dana and himself east. But the Tuatha de Danaan found out and became sad that there mother and grandfather meant to leave them. Many, unwilling to part with them, seized upon the idea to ride the cloud with them and hurried aboard before it left. So great was the cloud that Dagda and Dana did not notice this.
And so the great cloud left, carrying the majority of Dana's children with it as well as herself and her father. Eventually it would set down in the land of Eire, where Dana first came upon her lost children. And the rest, from there, is history.
*****
The beginning was simple, Dagda woke up. While Dagda did not remember before he fell asleep or when, he did know that he woke up and that he was Dagda. He also realized that he had nothing to do. So he got up and set about doing something.
Now Dagda had awoken in the place-before-creation, home to nothing yet everything. First Dagda tried to sing to it, and nothing happened. Next he tried to eat it and he could get nothing into his mouth. Many things he tried to do with it, but nothing ever succeeded, Dagda giving up after lashing out in frustration and the nothing not doing anything in return. So Dagda sat down to think.
After a long time of thinking, Dagda realized that he was sitting on the nothing. Thinking back, he remembered that he walked a crossed it also and was floating in it before that. Striking it did nothing as he recalled and so he decided he would go about wrestling the nothing into something.
If he was to wrestle the nothing, that means he would need to find an edge to grasp. Many would think this impossible as how can nothing have an edge? But Dagda is all powerful, and what Dagda wants to do, he does. After a long time searching, he finally found his edge. With one edge in hand, he felt for a second edge and from that edge he found another, toke it in hand and began to wrestle nothing into something.
At first, the nothing was easy to wrestle as Dagda shrank its size with very little effort. But as Dagda forced it smaller and smaller, it began to take more and more of his strength. When it was only little bigger then him, Dagda's struggles became fierce and for many a day did he wrestle the nothingness. When it seemed like he had overcome the nothing, it would began to grow with renewed vigor, but just as the nothing did to Dagda, so did Dagda do to the nothing, meeting each burst of renewed growth with strength pulled from deep inside him. Eventually, Dagda succeeded and the nothing became something: The waters of the world.
Dagda was perplexed. Where before he was dry and standing in emptiness, here he was now waist deep in water, wet and slightly cold. For a long time he stood in silence, his brows knitted in contemplation as he scratched, and tried to figure out what this was.
'It is water' said a tiny voice from by his navel. He looked down then and saw nothing.
'Who said that?' Dagda responded, still straining to see who it was had talked.
'It is I, Dana, your daughter.' came the tiny voice again. Dagda leaned closer to the water then.
'If you are my daughter, then where did you come from? I did not wake up with a daughter nor do I remember one from before I went to sleep.' Of course, he did not remember anything from before he went to sleep.
'You became aroused when you were wrestling with the nothing and engaged in intercourse with it. When you planted your seed in it, it grew with child. Each bout of strength you wrestled with was a kick from me. It finally gave up when it was time for my birth. That is how I, Dana, your daughter, came to be.' Dagda squinted now, and in the dark, he could make out Dana. She was small, much smaller then Dagda himself, and dressed in hides, which he knew they were called but not how they came to be. Her hair was black, like the darkness that surrounded them, and her skin brown. Dagda realized that she looked little liked him and decided she must take after her mother.
'Oh.' And with little else said, he sunk into the water so as to see his daughter better. And there they floated, the water washing the sweat from his skin and also being the receptacle for his urine, which would become the fish in the sea and the shifters. He was unaware of all this and contented himself to float with his wee daughter near his head.
But with time, the air began to stale. Dagda himself was not worried about this as he was all powerful and a little stink would not hurt him, but he remembered his daughter and thought that this might not be good for her.
'Daughter, do you wish for fresh air?' he uttered as he sat up.
'If it pleases you.' Dana responded, carried hither and fro on the waves caused by Dagda's moving.
'How shall I do so?' he asked to no one in particular, staring into the emptiness over their heads.
'You could smash the dome above us.'
'I could smash the dome above us.' repeated Dagda, 'Should I smash the dome above us?' He asked to his daughter.
'You should.' And so he stood and drew back his fist. With a might swing he struck the dome and shattered it, causing a rain of dust and debris. A portion of the dust fell into his eyes, causing them to water and making Dagda rub them. Where his tears fell, they floated above the waves, becoming the Shining Ones and the animals of the sky. As his eyes stopped tearing, Dagda felt the wind blow a crossed him and smelled the fresh air. Thus he was content.
But after a while, Dagda realized that his daughter could not stand like he could in the water and was at the mercy of the waves. He stood grimacing for a long while, pondering what he could do.
'What is it that bothers you father?' spoke Dana from the waves.
'When the air became too stale for you, I broke the vault above us to allow a breeze to flow. But now I feel as if you should be able to stand like I, but I do not know how to make it so.'
'Why do you not pull up the firmament you stand upon?' Dana replied. Dagda looked at her, his brows twisted tight in though.
'Should I pull up that which I stand on?'
'You should.' And with that Dagda reached down, grabbing mud at the bottom of the water with both hands and drawing it up. When he was done, he noticed that the muck was rife with worms, shellfish and other life that was not suited for Dana. So he went about plucking it from the mud and throwing it over his shoulder, causing it to become the Worm People when it landed on other plots of mire. When everything was to his liking, he placed Dana upon the island he had made.
By this time, Dagda had started to grow cold from the wind blowing over his wet skin. He began rubbing his arms as his teeth chattered audibly, his knees knocked, throwing up towering waves and he realized that Dana must feel the same way.
'Daughter, you must be cold, and I must confess, so am I. But I know of no way to warm us.' he forced through clenched teeth.
'You could put a fire in the space above where the vault was.' Dana replied with not a hint of being cold.
'How could I do that? I have nothing to start a fire with.' It was harder this time for him to reply, but he force himself to.
'I bet there are metals and stones in the earth that could let you do so. It would be easy for you to reach in and find them.' Dagda began to bounce gently to keep warm as she spoke this.
'Should I reach into the earth and find these stones and metal?'
'You should.' And so he did, stopping his shivering long enough to grasp a bar of iron and a stone of flint. When he drew them out, he stood tall and struck them up into the sky, sparks leaping merrily every way, forming the stars where they stuck to the emptiness and the Fire Beasts where they singed his skin. But he did not notice this, intent on starting a fire in the sky so as to warm Dana and himself. And eventually he did, the sun springing to life and warming Dagda up.
Dagda laid down on the mud then, allowing the sun to warm him up. Slowly he realized that the drying earth was nothing much to look at, which didn't bother him but might make his daughter unhappy. So he turned on his side and looked upon his daughter for the first time in the light.
'I, Dagda, am not bothered by all this runny mess. But I feel that this might
make you unhappy daughter. So I wish to make you happy. Would you like that?'
'I would indeed like that father.' replied Dana from where she sat on the ground. At this, Dagda sat up and began to think. He thought of all the new things he made, the earth, the sky, the sun and wished to use them all to make the world beautiful. For a long time he sat contemplating, his face screwed up tight. Idly he began swirling the waters with his hand.
'How could I use sun, sky and earth to make everything beautiful?' he muttered to the blowing wind and nothing else in particular.
'You could put animals in the sky, water and on the earth, and plants of all sorts on earth, above and below the water. Flowers could blossom from the plants and the animals could look like those blossoms in turn.' returned Dana casually. As she spoke this, Dagda turned to her and leaned close.
'Should I put animals in sky, water and on the earth and plants where ever there is ground daughter?'
'You should.' And so Dagda leaped to his feet and began working. All amongst the land that Dana sat, he created trees and grasses, blooms and blossoms. He put many flying things into the air and many running things on land. A great many things did he throw away during, sending them to land and grow upon other stretches of mud and of those pieces that were touched by the blood from his blisters the People of the Wild were born. But this Dagda did not notice and still he kept creating until he finally collapsed from exhaustion.
When Dagda awoke, Dana was sitting near his head, weaving plants into a dress. Seeing her like this made him realize that Dana had no one to keep company when he was asleep and that this would make her sad. So, sitting up, he turned to face Dana.
'Daughter, there will be times when I must sleep and you will be awake, and in those times you have no one to keep you company. This, I fear, is going to make you sad. I wish to make you company.' And he nodded assertively, showing that nothing could stop him from doing so. And, as was becoming a common event, Dagda set about thinking of how to do so.
Such was the time that Dagda sat thinking that the trees and plants grew a crossed his back and shoulders. Colonies of birds began to roost in his ears, nose and mouth. Sheep took up living upon his head and neck. So great was the growth of life upon him that it would have been easy to mistake him for the tallest mountain in all of creation.
'How am I to go about creating people to keep my daughter company?' spoke he and a cloud of birds flew from his mouth to carry the message to no where in particular. Now Dana spoke up from the center of a village built by her own hand, stocked by her while Dagda was in contemplation and home to a great magic.
'You should allow me to make them father.' asked Dana as she stood in fine robes with ornaments of precious metals and jewels. Dagda leaned closer then he ever had before.
'Should I let you make them? How could you make them?' his breath was horrific, rife with the stench of generations of bird excrement. No man or woman in existence could stand firm in the face of it, yet Dana did not flinch at all.
'You should father, all it will take is a few hairs from your brow.'
'I shall let you make them then.' replied Dagda and with that he allowed her to pluck a few hairs from his brow. From them she fashioned several dolls and placed them each within in a hut. Dagda furrowed his eyebrows once again in consternation.
'How will this make more people daughter?'
'Upon each house I have placed a great enchantment and filled with items that each of these new men will need for their profession. We shall go to sleep, and when we awake, so shall they.' Dagda understood now and nodded in agreement. With the plan in his head, he let loose a tremendous yawn and went back to sleep. shortly after being joined by Dana. When they both awoke, the new men were sitting around the fire cooking stew and recently caught animals. Dagda looked upon this and was happy.
For a long time they were happy like this. Dagda built himself a great hut while his daughter and her friends explored the world he created for her. They were amazed by the seasons, by storm and quake. Each new thing filled them with delight, but it only did so once. Dagda noticed this and sunk into one of his spells of deep thinking. It was like this that Dana came upon him.
'Father, what is the matter? For a long time you have been happy and content. Now I come upon you as you were before you made all of this.'
'Dana, I must tell you that it saddens me that you and your friends can only take delight from each of my wonders only once. If only there were a way for everything to be new and wondrous forever.' With this a twinkle leaped into Dana's eyes as she figured out a solution to her father's problem.
'Father, you should let me see if I can solve this problem for you. But whatever you do, you must not come out of your hut no matter what you hear. Do you promise me that?'
'Daughter Dana, if you can do so, then I shall let you and I will never leave my hut until you come and tell me it is alright.' Dana left with a smile and quickly began to work. Her plan was to marry and give birth to children to each of the men she helped create. But she could not do so as Dana. Thus she set about making many masks and costumes, weaving great spells into them and creating names of power. Under a different persona, she would marry one of her friends and live with him for a year, birthing many children to him. But at the end of the year, she would die. The great lamenting that arose from this even reached Dagda. Many a time he wished to leave his hut and see what had gone wrong, but each time he remembered his promise at the threshold and turned back, taking up his harp and playing a sorrowful song. In this way Dagda created the seasons.
With time and many winters, the crying grew to be too much. Worried that his works were coming apart, Dagda stormed from his hut when the crying started again. What he came upon he did not expect. Gathered around the resting form of a woman was many people, all dark haired and brown like his Dana. Numerous they were and varied, Dagda could see everything his daughter had created in them. Finally, he spoke.
'Why are you all crying?' boomed his voice when he did not mean it to.
'The mother has died just as she has the winter before and the winter before that. Regardless of whose mother she is, we all gather to remember ours that has past.' answered Nuadha, one of Dana's first born. Dagda's brows touched in the center of his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. Finally he decided to see through to the truth and squinted his eyes. All the charms and glamors laid by Dana were suddenly undone by Dagda and, realizing that her ploy had been discovered, she sat up and removed her costume.
The gathered people cried out in delight, seeing their mother stand before them. Dagda was relieved that his daughter still walked, but he was saddened by what she had put her children through.
'Daughter, why do you make you children cry over your passing?'
'I did not wish for them to do so, but in order for me to make it so everything could be enjoyed for the first time for all time, I had to do so. If I were to marry each of my friends at once, they were fight over me and there would have been much bloodshed. But now there is not and the many sons and daughters live peacefully together. They are my children, the children of Dana.' And from that day forth, they called themselves the Tuatha de Danaan.
One tribe in particular became numerous and spread a crossed all of Dagda's creation, even going as far as to build boats and set off for the rising sun. With time, Dana began to miss them until one day she decided she would go east herself to see if they were alright. But to do so would take great power and, while she was clever and strong, she was not strong enough. So she went to Dagda.
'Father, I wish my children who sailed east. I would go to see if they are alright, but I do not have the strength to cross the ocean.' Dagda looked down, both glad to see his daughter and saddened to see her miss her children so.
'I will help you daughter, but how shall we go? A boat is too slow and none are big enough to fit me. If I walk, you shall surely starve in the palm of my hand. If we had wings we could fly.' came his reply. Dana knew what to do as soon as her father spoke.
'Father, create a cloud big enough for the both of us and we shall fly over the water and to where my children have gone.' Dagda realized the wisdom of this plan and did so, creating a great cloud to carry Dana and himself east. But the Tuatha de Danaan found out and became sad that there mother and grandfather meant to leave them. Many, unwilling to part with them, seized upon the idea to ride the cloud with them and hurried aboard before it left. So great was the cloud that Dagda and Dana did not notice this.
And so the great cloud left, carrying the majority of Dana's children with it as well as herself and her father. Eventually it would set down in the land of Eire, where Dana first came upon her lost children. And the rest, from there, is history.