Nuada Airgetlám
Celtic Pantheon
The first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who lost his arm in battle and his throne with it—until Dian Cécht forged him a working hand of silver.
Nuada led the **Tuatha Dé Danann** when they invaded Ireland and fought the First Battle of Mag Tuired against the **Fir Bolg**. Though his people won, Nuada lost his right arm to the Fir Bolg champion Sreng. Because a king must be physically perfect, Nuada was forced to abdicate in favor of **Bres**, a half-Fomorian whose reign proved tyrannical. The physician god **Dian Cécht** fashioned Nuada a working arm of silver, earning him the epithet Airgetlám ("Silver Hand"). Later, Dian Cécht's son Miach replaced the silver with one of flesh, and Nuada reclaimed his throne—only to fall in the Second Battle of Mag Tuired against **Balor of the Evil Eye**.
Nuada Airgetlám is the archetypal king of Irish mythology, embodying both the glory and the limitations of sovereignty. His story illustrates the Celtic belief that a king's physical wholeness reflects the health of the land itself—a concept central to Irish sacral kingship.
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