DAGDA

Real Name: Eochaidh Ollathair

Identity/Class: Celtic God

Occupation: Ruler of the Celtic Gods, God of Magic, Wisdom and Heaven

Group Membership: Tuatha Da Danaan (Celtic Gods)

Affiliations: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Lady of the Lake, Merlyn, Arthur Pendragon, Thor, the gods of Asgard; has been invoked by Dr. Druid; possibly Kyllian;

Enemies: Seth, Bres, Bodb Derg, the Fomore, Leah, Loki, Manchester Gods, Master Wilson

Known Relatives: Elathan/Belenus (estranged father), Danu/Gaea (mother); Carman/Belisama (aunt); Gwydion, Leir, Amaethon (brothers), Arianrhod/Becuma, Penardun (sisters); Eochaid Bres (half-brother); Morrigan (wife); Oghma, Mider, Bodb Dearg (sons); Andraste/Badb, Brigit, Rhiannon/Epona (daughters); Oenghus/Anghus (son by Boann); Dulb, Dothar, Diancecht (sons by Carman/Belisama); Eriu, Banbha, Fodhla (daughters by Anu/Aine), Lleu Llaw Gyffes, Dylan (nephews); Boann, Be Find (sisters-in-law); Luchtine, Creidne, Goibnu, Cernunnos, Arawn/Donn, Anpao (grandsons); Niamh/Nimue/Lady of the Lake (grandniece); Delbaeth (grandfather); Nuadhu/Net (great-grandfather);

Aliases: Daghda (Druid God), The Great God of the Druids, Eochaidh Ollathair (Father of All), Ruad Rofhessa (Red One of Perfect Knowledge;
Sucellus The Hammer God

Base of Operations: Avalon on the Dimension of Otherworld

First Appearance: (Referenced) REH's the Dark Man; (Marvel) Savage Tales I#4 (May, 1974); (seen) Thor I#398 (December, 1988)

Powers/Abilities: The Dagda possesses greater strength, power and mystical potential than any other Celtic god and may be equal to Zeus and Odin in power. He has superhuman strength (Class 75-100), endurance, agility and considerable magic power to open dimensional portals, grant power to mortals, hurl energy and perceive phenomenon on a cosmic scale. He can also alter his form to the attributes required in his various incarnations and hence as Taranis appears to be more muscle-bound than in his regular, portly form.

Physical Description: As Dagda in his native dimension, he appears as an extremely portly man with a full beard. As Taranis, he retains the beard, but appears to be older and much more muscular.

History: (Celtic Myth) - The Dagda is the son of the Fomor King Elathan and Danu who were seeking to create a force for good from within the evil and corruption of the Fomore. She raised the Dagda and his other siblings on Earth and as a god, they led many attempts to oust the Fomore hold from ancient Eire. Recognizing the Dagda as his son, Elathan seduced the Dagda's daughter, Eriu, and she gave birth to Eochaidh Bres, the trickster of the Celtic Gods. When the Fomore sought to conquer heaven from their father Nuadhu (known as Net to the Fir Bholg), Bres became King of Eire without anyone knowing the knowledge of his father's identity. Revealing it, Bres surrendered both heaven and earth to the Fomore and reduced the Danaans to serving menial roles. Confined to digging ditches, the Dagda once more led his brethren and supporters against the Fomore and conquered both heaven and earth. Becoming god of heaven, he divided Eire among his sons and sought worship from throughout Ancient Ireland and Briton.

(Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica) - After the Dagda became the Tuatha de Danaan's ruler, Bodb Derg became consumed with greed, believing himself a more capable leader. He soon ran afoul of the storm god Leir who felt his own battle prowess entitled him to succeed the Dagda as ruler. When Bodb Derg attempted to assume control of the Tuatha de Danaan by force, he was defeated and banished to Annwn.

(Thor I#398-399) - In modern years, Dagda supported Leir's choice to head to the aid of the Asgardians against Seth after Thor had vanquished one of Seth's beasts from Avalon. He located Asgard, and sent their best warriors to Asgard's aid, and even conducted the battle strategy from afar.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#30/4) - Dagda tried to assuage Leir's choice to renew hostilities with the Fomore. He manipulated a group of insects to take the idea of war out of them.

(Thor I#417) - Dagda once more located Asgard, unaware that Leir had fallen in love with Sif, the Asgardian goddess of the hunt. When Leir admitted his decision to kidnap her and make her his bride, he started to close the portal, but Leir and Caber jumped through it before it closed completely.

(Dr. Strange Annual#3)- As the sky-god Taranis, the Dagda, and his wife Morrigan supported their grandson Cernunnos in granting power to Kyllian in his oath to defend evil as their own representative on earth.

(Journey into Mystery I#639 (fb) ) - Master Wilson met for a parley with King Arthur, Dagda, the Lady of the Lake, Captain Britain and Merlyn, but no compromise was found and a war began.

(Journey into Mystery I#639) - Dagda was present in Camelot when King Arthur called everyone to arms against the Manchester Gods.

(Journey into Mystery I#641) - Dagda, King Arthur, Merlyn, the Lady of the Lake and Captain Britain met at the Round Table in Camelot to discuss tactics when Herne the Hunter arrived to tell them that the lines had collapsed and the wall was breached by the Manchester Gods after their enemies had destroyed the legendary sites connected to Otherworld in Britain. An emissary Engel of the Manchester God came to Avalon's leader to suggest a treaty. A short time later Dagda was present when King Arthur signed a peace treaty with Master Wilson, turning Otherworld into a more democratic domain.

Comments: Adapted by Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz.

A number of the Celtic Gods are referenced in the Hyborian era, by Conan and others, especially the Cimmerians. Dagda is among these, although to the best of my knowledge he has never been in that era. How this fits into his history will likely remain undetermined.

Much of this history is an attempt to streamline Marvel's haphazard Celtic Gods by throwing some speculation and actual Celtic Myth at it. Time will tell if it will be proven correct.
--i.e.. It was confirmed that Dagda and Taranis are not the same person. Along those lines, William also proposed that the Nuada seen in the Infinity Gauntlet was in fact Dagda posing as Nuada. The reason for this is that there if confusion regarding whether the character Nauda is the Celtic God Nuada/Nuadhu, or just a poser. I could continue, and make this much more confusing (like trying to figure out Celtic mythology in general), but I'll stop here.--Snood.

In Celtic Myth, The Dagda's brother, Leir/Llyr was god of sea and storm. This is the same god as Marvel's Leir.

The Dagda's grandniece, Niamh/Nimue is credited in the Arthurian Cycle as being the Lady of the Lake who gave King Arthur Excalibur. She is not to be confused with the Nimue/Vivian who was a mistress of Merlin.

Information on Dagda from the Dictionary of Pagan Gods and Goddesses:
DAGDA Earth and father god. Dagda possesses a bottomless cauldron of plenty and rules the seasons with the music of his harp. With his mighty club Dagda can slay nine men with a single blow, and with its small end he can bring them back to life. On the day of the New Year, Dagda mates with the raven goddess of the Morrigan who while making love straddles a river with one foot on each bank. A slightly comical figure.

From High Priestess GreenHag:

• He is the unquestionable king and father figure of the Tuatha Da Dannan, full of strength, wisdom, sexual potency; terrible in battle, a god of fertility and abundance, and a skilled musician to boot. Yet there is something paradoxical and ambivalent about him. He seems to have inspired both respect and mockery. He is portrayed as gross and fat-bellied and dressed like a peasant.
• The Good God played a leading part in the defeat of the Fomors at the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredt; and the other end of the Tuatha's reign. He was a formidable warrior. His club was so huge that it took nine ordinary men to life it, and when it dragged along the ground it created a furrow like the boundary between provinces. With one end he could slay nine men at a time, yet with the other he could restore them to life. He was thus an archetypal God of death and rebirth....
• The Good God - The Dagda of the Tuatha de Danaan is described as the supreme King, and his name is explained so, "for it was he performed miracles and saw to the weather and the harvest." The Dagda says to all the other gods, "All that you promise to do, I shall do myself alone." ...This inclusiveness of skills derives from the fact that he was a god of druidry, "for it is he that had perfection of heathen science."
• The Dagda is famous for his feats. It is he who survives the superhuman tests imposed on him by the enemy Fomorians. He is made to eat up a porridge made of fourscore gallons of milk, goats, sheep and pigs, and succeeds in returning to his people, though his belly is so distended he can scarcely stagger away, nor will his tunic cover his backside.
• This element of comic vulgarity is a recurrent feature in the myths concerning the Good God. He seems to stem from a very early set of native myths, apart from his great knowledge and all inclusive prowess, he is very unique.

Journey into Mystery additions by Markus Raymond.

Profile by: William Uchtman

Clarifications: Dagda should not be confused with:

• Taranis, one of the demons summoned by Morgan Le Fay, @ Black Knight II#4
• Magda, wife of Magneto, @ Vision and the Scarlet Witch I#4
• Hafga, of the Tetrarchs of Entropy, @ Avengers I#329