Cian
In Irish mythology, Cían, nicknamed Scal Balb, was the son of Dian Cecht, the physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and best known as the father of Lugh Lamhfada. Cían's brothers were Cu, Cethen, and Miach.
Cían was slain by the Sons of Tuireann, for which Lugh demanded various treasures around the world as éraic, according to the account in the "Book of Invasions" as well as the late romance version "The Fate of the Children of Tuireann".
Name
Cían means "enduring one"; cían signifying "long, enduring, far, distant".Scal Balb is a nickname borne by other personages and means "dumb champion", with "dumb" in the sense of unable to make speech.
By most accounts, Lug's mother is the Fomorian princess Ethniu, but according to an interpolated text the LGE, Cian is also known by the name Ethlend. Under that assumption, "Lug mac Ethlend" becomes a patronymic designation. A clearly patronymic instance, from a different source altogether, is "Lug mac Ethlend maic Tigernmais " in the story Baile an scáil, where Lug's father must be "Ethliu mac Tigernmais".
Genealogy
In the saga Cath Maige Tuired Cian's union with Ethniu is a dynastic marriage following an alliance between the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians, and Ethniu bore him a son, Lugh. In the Lebor Gabála Érenn Cian gives the boy Lugh to Tailtiu, queen of the Fir Bolg, in fosterage.His brothers are Cu, Cethen, Miach sons of Dian Cecht, according to a tract in the LGE. Cian, Cu and Cethen are called "three sons of Cáinte " in the romance version of "The Fate of the Children of Tuireann", with O'Curry commenting that the identity of Cáinte is uncertain.
Death and revenge
Cían's demise, and the consequent revenge by his son Lugh, forcing on the perpetrators the impossible quest for treasures is told in Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann, the full romance of which only survives in late manuscripts, though synopses of the tale survive in medieval redactions of the LGE.In the story, Cían was killed by the sons of Tuireann—Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba—after trying unsuccessfully to escape from them in the form of a pig.
Lug set them a series of seemingly impossible quests as recompense. They achieved them all but were fatally wounded in completing the last one. Despite Tuireann's pleas, Lug denied them the use of one of the items they had retrieved, the magic pigskin of Tuis that healed all wounds. They died of their wounds, and Tuireann died of grief over their bodies.
Cian's marriage
There may have been a fuller account of Cian's bridal quest in medieval tradition, but they have only survived in orally transmitted folktales. The folktale concerns the magical cow Glas Gaibhnenn.Cian's names in folklore
The name of the hero should be Cian mac Cáinte in proper Irish, but is phonetically transcribed as Kian mac Kontje in the tale "The Gloss Gavlen", collected by Larminie.The hero's name corrupted to Mac Cinnfhaelaidh in a different version of the tale printed in footnote by John O'Donovan. This name "Mac Cinnfhaelaidh" has been explained to mean "Son of Wolf's Head".
The hero is Fin MacKinealy in "Balor on Tory Island" collected by Curtin, and echoed as Fionn mac Cionnfhaolaidh in its Irish version edited by Lloyd. In these, the siblings are named Gial Duv and Donn.
Synopsis of Donovan's version
The synopsis of the cow tale as printed by O'Donovan is as follows; the tale has also been retold by Lady Gregory, and her emendations will be noted below as well.
In a place called Druim na Teine or "Fiery Ridge" where a forge was kept, there lived three brothers, Gavida, Mac Samthainn and Mac Cinnfhaelaidh. Across the sea on Tory Island there lived a famous warrior named Balor, with one eye in the middle of the forehead, and another eye with a basilisk-like power in the back of his head.
Balor learns from a druid's prophecy that he will be killed by his own grandson. To prevent this he imprisons his only daughter Ethnea in the tower which stands on a tall rock formation called the Tor Mór, or "Great Tower".
Mac Kineely owns a prolific milch-cow called "Glos Gavlin", which is coveted by everyone including Balor. While the cow is in the care of Mac Kineely's brother Mac Samthainn, Balor appears in the form of a little red-haired boy and tricks him into handing him the cow. Mac Kineely=Cian wishes to reclaim the cow, but is advised that he can only succeed when Balor is dead. Cian then consults Biroge of the Mountain, who is his leanan sídhe or familiar spirit and a banshee and she transports him by magic to the top of Balor's tower, where he seduces Ehnea.
In time Ethnea gives birth to triplets, which Balor gathers up in a sheet and sends out to be drowned in a whirlpool. The messenger drowns two of the babies but unwittingly drops one child into the harbour, where he is rescued by Biróg. She takes the baby to his father, who gives him to his brother, Gavida the smith, in fosterage.
As noted, Cian's offspring is not explicitly called "Lugh" in O'Donovan's version of the cow folktale, but the boy is called "Dul Dauna" in Larminie's collected folktale. The name Dul Dauna taken at face value is glossed as "the blind stubborn" by Larminie and "black surly one" by Westropp, but is also thought to be a corruption of Lugh's byname Ildanach "master of all knowledge". However, the boy is called by something close to the god's name, namely Lui Lavada in two tales collected by Curtin.
Cian's death by Balor
In Donovan's version, Mac Kineely=Cian does not succeed in regaining the magic cow in his life time. It is told that Mac Kineely's head was struck off by Balor, and a piece of white stone was permanently tainted with the blood, running in the form of red veins. The supposed veined marble was propped on a pillar and became a local monument known as "Clogh-an-Neely".Welsh counterpart
Some scholars argue that the Welsh deity Gwydion is the counterpart to Cian.The story of the birth of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, the Welsh incarnation of Lugh, occurs in the Mabinogi tale of Math fab Mathonwy . Although the tale does not explicitly identify Lleu's father, it has been asserted that Lleu was Gwydion's "incestuously begotten son", thus making Gwydion the Welsh equivalent of Cian.
The emphasis of study is the parallel between Gwydion and Cian=MacKineely of Irish folktale in the case of Welsh scholar John Rhys has pursued.
One parallel is that the newborn are unwanted by their forebears and condemned to die, but survive. And the paralleling theme is recognizable as the ubiquitous one of "King and His Prophesied Death" according to other scholars. And certainly the prophecy of death by the hand of one's child or grandchild occurs in the Cian-Balor folktale as well as the Greek stories of Perseus and Oedipus Rex.