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KidaGreenleaf β Lugh and the Morrigan
Published: 2008-10-19 00:22:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 9775; Favourites: 216; Downloads: 1332
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Lug/Lugh/Lugos & Morrigu/The Morrigan/Andraste, etc. etc...These are my two favorite Celtic deities. Lugh is sort of like Apollo, sort of like Hermes, can't really describe him. The Morrigu is the sweet ass female war deity. They are HARDCORE.
This picture is 4 years old. I was wayyyy influenced by Keira Knightley's Guinevere get up in that shiteous King Arthur movie.
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Comments: 49
I think the best way to describe Lugh is Apollonian attitude and emphasis on the arts, but his methods and heroics are more in line with Loki's more positive portrayals. Lugh and The Morrigan were often contrasted because they were both fertility deities (and war deities but EVERY Celtic god was a war deity). Lugh represented virility and rational, masculine energy while the Morrigan represented rebirth and emotional, feminine energy. As a consequence, The Morrigan had purview of cattle (representing motherhood) and corvids (representing life coming from death) and was also a berserker style goddess in contrast with Lugh's more strategic based warfare (a nice subversion of the more Greek Ares=berserker and Athena=strategist). Apparently they both hated each other and really wanted to bang. Because even in ancient Ireland, angry sex is a thing.
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Although their skin tone and tribal tats are similar, I like that you made Lugh and the MorrΓgan's hair different colors. It gave the picture a whole yin-yang feel or "two sides of the same coin" feel. Happy Lughnasadh!
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is this piece going to be offered as a print at any time
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Thanks for the interest! I will certainly look into it.
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Really love this piece. Just very...evocative is the word I think I want here. Only thing the catches me is that Lugh should probably have some sort of facial hair, as that was an important thing to early Irish men. You can see it illustrated in some of the tales of Cuchulain. One of his flaws was that he was beardless and could not grow one, he is frequently made fun of or dismissed because of it by those who don't know better. Of course, Cuchulain is said to be Lugh's son, so maybe a line of connection could be drawn there. On the other hand, if you've seen something that describes Lugh as beardless I'd love to see it.
In anycase, wonderful work again. I feel inspired.
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The most used desciption I've heard for Lugh was "Lewy Long-Hand" or "Lugh Son of the Sun." What that means in terms of what he is, I have no idea, but then Celtic mythology was always more smoke and mirrors and black and white fact.
Morrigan was a strange lady, warriors wanted her to favour them but her eblem the raven/crow was considered a bad omen.
Personally I like the way you've drawn this, they look Celtish, but the ears give them that hint of not quite human.
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Long Handed was old slang for multitalented. When he tried to enter the pantheon he listed all of his heroic talents and skills (swordsmanship, harp playing, poetry, smithing, etc) he was denied a position because another god(dess) already could do that and was better, but when he pointed out that none of them could do ALL of that he was accepted as the god of heroes and the multitalented. His other moniker, Son of the Sun, was because he was the son of Balor, the one eyed king of the formorians. Balor was also the god of everything bad about the sun (which was part of why Lugh killed him). Hope this helps
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Well, Morrigan certainly has always interested me, though I tend more toward Dagda ;D I love how you portray the interesting tribal tats. You eve inspired me to add some to a character that I have been building for something I am writing about the iron age Tuatha de Danann being incarnated as humans. This is awesome work. <3
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I love this piece! Morrigan is my matron goddess, and my boyfriend's patron god is Lugh. Oddly, we're also playing a roleplaying game called Scion where our characters are the children of Morrigan and Lugh. 
Great work, Great representation, Great color!
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Thank you! People seem to be fond of pairing these two up. I like that they compliment each other.
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You're welcome! I agree, they compliment each other well.
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They both look awesome. Well done is all I can say.
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Very beautiful. Haven't seen any portrayals like that before. And at the risk of sounding cheesy, "I love what you've done with her hair!"
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Thanks, me too! I wanted to draw rivers of blood but it looked to macabre so I made them red ribbons.
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Gorgeous image! This definitely does the Celtic gods justice.
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Pic may be 4 years old, but I like it a lot. Especially those blue spirals you did well.
Have to look around and see if you have more, ha ha
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Well, it is amazing. You especially got the Morrigan down well....feathers!
And 'shiteous' would be a good description of that movie. For example: Sarmatia.
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I'm so uber picky about Lugh because he's Daddy for me, but this is just frickin' awesome.
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It's great to see the lord and lady of death together.
Thank you for depicting them in a beautiful,but natural way.Just like the celts would have
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Thanks for your comment. I love the Celtic death gods. They're so much more multi-faceted than a lot of other culture's visions of death.
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My goodness. You need to make a print of this. 
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Gosh! Maybe i will....
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You seriously hit me in my soul. 
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Wow, this is one of my most favorite comments ever. All artists dream of making a connection with someone viewing their work. Thanks again for your words.
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LOL! This is so funny! My favorite deity is Lugh and my best friend's patron goddess is Morrigan! Its seriously a combination I never expected to find in one art piece! This is awesome! I love it!
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Aw, they're my faves! You guys have great taste!
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And you as well!
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The Celtic Gods ROCK!
They are much more fun than the Greek and Roman ones. They actually make fun instead of just making humans miserable .
And Lugh is the most fun of them all. Will always love how he owned the guardsman at the gate of the Tuatha de Dannan's castle.
And Morrigan, well yes.
She is a FEMALE war-goddess how awesome is that ?
Let it be clear I LOVE the pic
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Thanks much! Yeah, im pretty crazy about the countless Celtic gods. They have a good time being immortal.
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Lugh was the Son of the Son, also sometimes called Llewy of the Long Arm. he doesn't really compare with deities from other pantheons since like alot of Celtic deities he had dual roles and identities. There's a book called "On Raven's Wing" which vaguely references both deities. Beyond that I haven't heard much about him either, so I'm probably not helping here...
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Lleu Llaw is a different god people associate them but they are not the same. so your wrong and right
Lugh was of the long arm Lleu was not.
And Lugh is not the Sun god nor were his parents.
As for Lleu I cannot say for sure he's an Anglo welsh god.
And what he means is Lugh relates to the god Mercury not Appolo(he relates to Apollo in the some aspects), because Lugh is the God of many feats or God of the arts, it's actually Julius Caesar who makes this association.
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They are different names and stories for more or less the same deity. The names all come to have some meaning like "Bright" or "Bright One."Β Julius Caesar made the association with Lugos, not Lugh (he didn't really have much knowledge of Ireland) which is the name for more or less the same deity as known by the Gauls.
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Great drawing - the composition and drawing are great and I especially like the way the border hints at Celtic knot work.
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Thanks! Yeah, I had originally planned to surround their heads with a knotwork border, but then I read that knotwork is actually post-Christian and I wanted this picture to be pre-Christian.
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You know I honestly don't see much of Keira in that lol I think it's beautiful! I love the colors! I think this is awesome for being an older piece ^^
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I agree, I can see the influencing. But I LOVE the picture, I don't care if it's old. It's a beautiful piece. ^_^
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This is absolutely insanely wonderful on many levels.
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They're wesome
My favorite s Cernunnos. He's charming
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Yeah, I'm due for a Cernunnos drawing.
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Can't wait for it ^^
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All hail Morrigan the Demon Queen!!
Fantastic work
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OH, hey, I remember Lugh and the Morrigan...! Really nice work.
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Great pic! Llugh's hawt. XD As is Morrigan, but yeah...rrrff! Nice work :3
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