Got this from Wikipedia.
In
Irish mythology,
Elatha or
Elada (modern spelling:
Ealadha) was a king of the
Fomorians and the father of
Bres by
Ériu of the
Tuatha Dé Danann. The imagery surrounding him suggests he may once have been a
sun[1] or
moon god.
Elatha is quoted as being the "The beautiful Miltonic prince of darkness with golden hair". He was the son of
Dalbaech and a king of the
Fomor, he was father of
Bres by
Eri, a woman of the
Tuatha Dé Danann.
He came to her over the sea in a vessel of silver, himself having the
appearance of a young man with yellow hair, wearing clothes of gold and
five gold
torcs. He was one of the
Fomor who took part in the
Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh.
During the
Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh, Elatha, son of
Dalbaech, watched over
Dagda's magic harp,
Uaithne,
sometimes called Dur-da-Bla, "the Oak of Two Blossoms," and sometimes
Coir-cethar-chuin, "the Four-Angled Music." He is said to have a sense
of humor and a sense of nobility.
Though considered to be the
Fomorian father of
Eochu Bres, Elatha (Elada) was also the father of the
Dagda,
Ogma, a son named
Delbaeth, and
Elloth (the father of
Manannan mac Lir) according to the
Lebor Gabála Érenn. The mother of these
Tuatha De Danann chiefs may have been
Ethne, the mother of
Lug, based on
Ogma' often cited matronymic "mac Ethliu." Since
Ethne was
Fomorian, this means they are all
Fomorians.
This is rather confusing, but may betray the battle between the two
groups as actually being about the new generation of gods displacing the
older generation.
She told him that his father was Elatha, one of the Kings of the
Fomorians; that he had come to her one time over a level sea in a great
vessel that seemed to be of silver; that he himself had the appearance
of a young man with yellow hair, his clothes decked with gold and five
rings of gold around his neck. She had refused the love of all the young
men of her own people, had given him her love and cried when he had
left her.[citation needed]
Before he left he had given her a ring from his own hand and had bade her give it only to the man whose finger it would fit.
Eri brought out the ring and put it on the finger of
Bres and it fit him well. She and
Bres and some of their followers then set out of the land of the
Fomorians. At long last they came to that faraway land. Elatha the local King saw the ring on
Bres’ hand and asked him the whole story and said that
Bres was his own son. Elatha then asked
Bres what it was that drove him out of his own country and his own kingship.
Bres
answered truthfully: “Nothing drove me out but my own injustice and my
own hardness; I took away their treasures from the people and their
jewels and their food itself. And there were never taxes put on them
before I was their King. And still I am come to look for fighting men
that I may take Ireland by force”. Elatha listened and then bade him go
to the chief King of the
Fomorians,
Balar of the Evil Eye.
[citation needed]
Names
These are the names that Elatha has gone by and where that name stems from.
Elathan is used incorrectly by Squire and Lady Gregory, as
Elathan is the genitive case of Elatha and means 'of Elatha'.
According to Lady Gregory the etymologie of
Elatha is "art" or "knowledge" in the bardic sense.
[2] The name Elathan could also mean "(he) of the art" the
n is justified in this case. This could explain why Ogma (inventor of the ogham script) is son of Elatha(n) (bardic knowledge).
