Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER IV: THE EARLY MILESIAN KINGS 121CHAPTER IV: THE EARLYMILESIAN KINGSThe Danaans after the Milesian ConquestThe kings and heroes of the Milesian race now fill theforeground of the stage in Irish legendary history. But, as wehave indicated, the Danaan divinities are by no means forgotten.The fairyland in which they dwell is ordinarily inaccessible tomortals, yet it is ever near at hand; the invisible barriers maybe, and often are, crossed by mortal men, and the Danaansthemselves frequently come forth from them; mortals may winbrides of Faëry who mysteriously leave them after a while, andwomen bear glorious children of supernatural fatherhood. Yetwhatever the Danaans may have been in the original pre-Christianconceptions of the Celtic Irish, it would be a mistake to supposethat they figure in the legends, as these have now come downto us, in the light of gods as we understand this term. Theyare for the most part radiantly beautiful, they are immortal (withlimitations), and they wield mysterious powers of sorcery andenchantment. But no sort of moral governance of the world isever for a moment ascribed to them, nor (in the bardic literature)is any act of worship paid to them. They do not die naturally,but they can be slain both by each other and by mortals, and onthe whole the mortal race is the stronger. Their strength whenthey come into conflict (as frequently happens) with men lies instratagem and illusion; when the issue can be fairly knit betweenthe rival powers it is the human that conquers. The early kingsand heroes of the Milesian race are, indeed, often represented asso mightily endowed with supernatural power that it is impossibleto draw a clear distinction between them and the People of Dana