Lugh
| Religion in NetHack |
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In NetHack, Lugh is the lawful god of the Knight pantheon.
Origin
Lugh, or Lug, is an Irish mythological figure that is a member of the supernatural race known as the Tuatha Dé Danann. His most common epithets are Lámfada (Modern Irish Lámhfhada, "long hand" or "long arm", possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler) and Samildánach (Modern Irish Samhaildánach, "equally skilled in many arts"), and the former name is sometimes anglicized as "Lew of the Long Hand". He corresponds to the pan-Celtic god Lugus, and his Welsh counterpart is Lleu Llaw Gyffes; he has also been equated with the Roman Mercury.
Lugh is the son of Cian and Ethniu (or Ethliu) and the maternal grandson of the Fomorian tyrant Balor, whom Lugh kills in the Battle of Mag Tuired - his son is the hero Cú Chulainn, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lugh. Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman, and a saviour, and is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts; Lugh also has associations with oaths, truth, the law, and rightful kingship. The harvest festival of Lughnasadh is named for him. Lugh is said to have invented the ancient Celtic boardgame of fidchell, ball games, and horse racing; he is depicted as wielding an unstoppable fiery spear and a sling stone, and owns a hound named Failinis.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Lugh is a lawful god of holiness, and his minions consist of warhorses, white unicorns, couatls, ki-rins, and giant eagles. His crowning gift is Clarent, a lawful Knight-favoring artifact long sword.
Clarent has +1d10 to-hit and +1d20 bonus damage against thick-skinned monsters, and does not resist being held second to Excalibur when twoweaponing, though it may incur a to-hit penalty in the offhand due to its weight. Clarent can be used to cut through stone, giving it an additional +2 to-hit bonus against thick-skinned monsters and phasing monsters, and a character that is devoutly lawful can use the #untrap extended command to pull Clarent out of a stone wall if it is embedded in one. While wielded or kept in the secondary weapon slot, Clarent doubles the bonus pets receive from the beast mastery skill, and invoking Clarent can detect all pets on the level and increase their tameness.
Encyclopedia entry
Both "Lugh" and the alternate spelling "Lug" return this entry:
Lugh, or Lug, was the sun god of the Irish Celts. One of his
weapons was a rod-sling which worshippers sometimes saw in
the sky as a rainbow. As a tribal god, he was particularly
skilled in the use of his massive, invincible spear, which
fought on its own accord. One of his epithets is _lamfhada_
(of the long arm). He was a young and apparently more
attractive deity than Dagda, the father of the gods. Being
able to shapeshift, his name translates as lynx.
