The Dagda

The Dagda leads the Tuatha Dé Danann and keeps the great mound by the River Boyne. The High God looks like a burly, weathered man in his mid-forties, with ruddy cheeks, calloused hands, and calm dark grey eyes peering from beneath bushy brows. A faint, faded scar marks his forehead, and his reddish-brown beard is flecked with grey. His long brown hair is pulled back, and he wears a simple tunic of unbleached wool, scuffed leather boots, and a shaggy brown cloak fastened with a bronze brooch at his wide belt.

He keeps the balance of the world without haughtiness or grand ceremony. He settles land disputes, mends stone fences, feeds anyone who wanders into his camp, and listens to the harp until sunrise. Nearby rests his massive, gnarled club mounted on a small wheeled carriage, along with an iron cauldron bubbling perpetually over a peat fire.

In conversation, The Dagda is steady, plainspoken, and sensible. He readily welcomes travellers to warm themselves, but he does not hand out supper for nothing: he asks for news from the road, a song, or a hand around the stead. He has no patience for idle braggarts, though he will gladly heap seconds into the bowl of anyone with an honest tale.