LU or LUGH? Polynesian and Celtic analogs and Kōnane, Mū, game of kings

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LU or LUGH? Polynesian and Celtic analogs and Kōnane, Mū, game of kings

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The founder of the Tuimanu’a was Lu / Ru. The root of Lu / Ru in the name of Lu-Fasi-Aitu seems to correspond to the words for “to shake”. In Māori ancient religion he was remembered as the god of earthquakes, akin to Sāmoan MAFUI’E. His name may be associated with ULU, as in “to shake the head”, or MILU, the Hawaiian underworld.

Lu shook the pillars of Heaven in his war against Tagaloa-Lagi, the god of the supreme heaven. He was said to have been “the supporter of Heaven”. This very epithet is reminiscent of Atlas. He may well also be Māui-a-Talaga. Too, suddenly this story seems to resonate with a well known epithet from the primordial Hebrew foundational cosmogony. Lugh, too, fought a primordial enemy across the sea, but in his case the foes were called the Fomorians.

Lugh is credited with the creation of #fidchell & #gwyddbwyll, a game very like #checkers, #chess, and #draughts, and the Polynesian analog called #kōnane. He is described as a tall, red-haired, fair-skinned god, not unlike the Titan precursors that the Polynesians recall from the time of Tagaloa and Maui-ti’e-ti’e.

The combination of morphemes MĪ and LŪ in Hawaiian suggests “Shattered Dreams”.

In the Sāmoan language, combinations of MILI / MILO and LIU, LOU, LOLO’U, LUA, LUE, and LŪLŪ suggests vigorous reciprocating motions of twisting, turning, friction, and shaking as typical of conditions experienced in an earthquake and/or tsunami.

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Sāmoan— ULU = head; breadfruit (resembles a head), possibly comes from U+LIU or U+LOU, or U’U+..., or ‘U’U+... U = to turn U’U = to anoint with oil (as with the head in ritual) ‘U’U = to nudge with the shoulder so as to urge someone to move on MILI = to rub (a reciprocating action) MILO = to twist (a reciprocating action) LIU = to turn (a reciprocating action) LOU = to turn around (a recipe action) LOLO’U = to bend (a reciprocating action) LUA = two; a sign of the dual (a reciprocating quality, as in back AND forth) LUE = to shake LUŌ = to be rough as in high seas (as with violent up and down motions) LŪLŪ = to shake vigorously with more violence than LUE

Hawaiian etymology—

mī 1. vi. Urine; to urinate (less used than mimi). 2. nvi. Dream; to dream. He aha kāu mī? What did you dream about? 3. n. Seventh note in musical scale, ti. 4. n. Me (in songs). Eng. 5. n. Mister. Eng. Mī Laiana, Mr. Lyons.

lū 1. vt. To #scatter, #throw, as ashes; to #sow, #broadcast; to #shed, as a #chicken its #feathers or a #tree its #leaves; to #push #aside; to #drip, as water; to #shake; to #cast off, as grief; to #spend recklessly, #squander, #discard. Pau ke kālā i ka lū ʻia, all the money was squandered. (PPN ruu.)

Māori etymology—

RU (myth.), the god of Earthquakes. He was a son of Langi and Papa ; a brother of Tane, Tu, Rongo, &c. (A. H. M., i. 21), or of Tawhiri-matea — A. H. M., i. App. His full name is Ru-wai-moko-roa, or Ru-ai-moko-roa, or Ru-au-moko. He was a Power dwelling in the world's centre and remaining unborn in the womb of his mother, the Earth — A. H. M., ii. 4. Rua-wai-moko begat Maru-ongaonga, who begat Uetonga, who begat Niwareka— A. H. M., ii. 4. [See also O.P., 115.] In Tahiti, Ru is said to have spread out the sky as a curtain. Mention is made of Ru having been the companion of Hina; but this is probably Kupe, the brother of Hina. In Mangaia, Ru is known as the supporter of the heavens.

RU (ru), to #shake; Ka ngaro te iwi, ka ru te whenua, e I — M. M., 167 : Ru rawa ake a Tu- tunui i a Kae, kia taka at ki raro — Wohl., Trans., vii. 61. Comes from #haruru, to #rumble ; a #rumbling #sound ; taruru, to shake or #rub together ; #oru, a bog ; taoruoru, boggy. 2. To cause to shake : Ka ru i ana makawe — P. M., 57. 3. An #earthquake : A muri iho i te h a a, ko te ru — 1 Nga., xix. ll.

#RURU (ruru), to shake, as to shake the dust from a garment ; to shake hands'. Samoan — lulu, to shake : Va luluina pou tu o le lagi ; Shaking are the pillars of heaven. Lululu, fat cheeks. Cf. lue, to shake (less violently than lulu); galulu, to shake, as a cocoanut not full of juice ; lub, to be rough (of the sea); lalu'u, to shake. #Tahitian — ru, impatience, violent hurry ; hasty; ruru (ruru), to tremble, to shake : Te riaria, e tau man ivi atoa ra lei ruru rahi ; Trembling, which made all my bones shake. Faa-ruru, to cause a self- trembling, as formerly in the case of the prophets ((aura). Cf. rurutaina, trembling, shaking ; rutu, to beat the drum. #Hawaiian— lu, to shake; to kick or remove dust from one's feet ; (b.) to scatter, to throw away small things, as ashes or sand : E lu ana i ka pua kou; Scattering the kou- blossoms, (c.) To drip, as water ; (d.) to sow, as grain ; lulu, to shake, as the dust from anything ; to fan ; to winnow ; (b.) to shake, as the fists in defiance ; (c.) to sow, as grain ; (d.) to scatter or disperse, as a people ; haa-lulu, to tremble; to shake, through fear ; to be afraid ; a trembling : Haalulu ai lalo o Maheleana; Causing fear below Maheleana. (b.) To flap or flutter, as a sail turned into the wind ; lululu, to flap, as a sail when the wind is irregular; nu, to shake; (b.) to groan, to sound. Cf. lulualii, a royal robe, a garment of bird's feathers ; lulu- hua, a sower of seed; kapalulu, to move, to tremble, to shake; to make a tremulous or buzzing sound ; a tremulous sound ; luli, to vibrate, to shake, to rock, to roll ; unsteady ; luliluli, to vibrate; to shake the head in scorn; to overthrow; rule, to shake, as the flesh of a fat person ; to have soft flesh ; lu/e- lule, fat, rolling, shaky, as the flesh of a fat person. Tongan — lulu, to shake, to reel; lulululu, to cause to shake, to tremble ; a shak ing: Te ne lulululu hono nima ki he mouga; He shall shake his hand against the mountain. Cf. lue, to waddle ; luelue, to roll, as a vessel in a calm ; galulu, to shake, to tremble, to reel ; fegalului, to shake to and fro ; feluluaki, to shake, to tremble. #Rarotongan — ruru, to shake ; to make to shake : E ruru au i toku rima ki runt/a ia ratou; I will shake my hand over them. #Marquesan — uu (uu), to shake the head, as a sign of negation; uu-uu, to shake up: Ua upu a uuuu te fenua; Shaken up and mixed up is the earth.

#Mangarevan — ru. to be eager, earnest ; to hasten ; (b.) to tremble with cold or fever; ruru, to shake, to shake up; to move, to stir, to rouse; ru- rage, impatience, eagerness. Cf. heheruru, to vibrate; maru, to tremble, as at a thunder clap, &a; maruru, earthquake; taparuru, to tremble, to shake, not to be firm; aka-eruru- rurit, a redoubled noise.

#Paumotan — ruru, to shake, to tremble. Cf. rutu, a drum; ru- pore, to shake, to shiver ; mrutakina, to shake, to tremble. Ext. Poly. : Nguna — cf. ruru, a trembling.

#Aneityum — of. ru, to whiz, as a stone.

#Solomon Islands — of. lulugulu, cold.

#MIRU (myth.), the goddess guarding the Gates of Death. Sometimes she appears as the goddess of the Under-world, or Hades of the Maori. Her house was called Tatau-o-te-Po (the Door of Night), but sometimes known as Wharekura. Within the abode of Miru sat the inferior deities — viz.: Rapawhenua, Kai-toa, Mokohukuwaru, Tutangatakino, Mutu, Tawheke, Hurukoekoea, Makutu (Witchcraft), the Taputapu, the Ngarara, or Reptile-gods, and the Multitude of the evil deities (te Tini o nga atua kikokiko). Rongomai, a celebrated demi-god ancestor of the Maori, went with Ihinga and others of his tribe to visit the dread Miru in Hades. There they learnt charms and spells, witchcraft, religious songs, dances, games of ti, whai, &c. They also learnt the "guardian-charm," called kaiwhatu. [See KAIWHATU.] One of Rongomai's followers was caught by Miru, and claimed as payment for the knowledge imparted ; but Rongomai and the remainder of his men got safely back to the world again. The weapon of Miru was the tip of her tongue: the unclean tapu was her power (mana). Miru is said to have dwelt upon the earth in ancient days, but her pa (fortress) was overwhelmed and destroyed in the Deluge, because the evil tribes would not listen to the exhortations of #Wi, the good priest of the god #Tane. References may be found in Grey's poems, as follows: Hei arataki, ki te Rerenga Wairua, ki a Miru, p. 88 : Moe rawa iho nei ki te Po, i a Miru ra taku wairua, p. 188 : Aro nui te haere ki roto te Tatau (Tatau-o-te-Po) : Te whare a Miru i rorea ai Kewa, p. 323 ; and an impor tant poem called “Ko te tau i tahuna ai, te Tatau-o-te-Po: te whare o Miru," p. 370.

Hawaii. — Milu was the name of an ancient chief, noted for his wickedness while on earth; he is now the Lord of the Lower-world, to whose dominions departed spirits go, He is the Hawaiian Pluto. Speaking of poverty, one says : E aho ka make ia Milu, loaa ke akua o ka Po; "It is better to die by Milu, and be received by the God of Night." The abode of Milu was in the west ; and the spirits of those who died on the eastern shore of an island always had to cross to the western shore before setting out to the abode of spirits. He is said by some to have his dwelling beneath the ocean. He is the leader of all wicked spirits, and is designated: Akua ino, kupu ino ("The Evil Deity"). There appears to be a Hawaiian version of the " War in Heaven " story. [See TANE.] A multitude of the spirits, or gods, (i kini Akua,) having revolted because they were denied the awa (kava : which means that they were not worshipped, the awa being a sacrificial offering), Tane, the highest god, thrust them down with their leader Milu, into Po, the hell or Nether world, which is called Po-pau-ole, Po-ia-Milu, &c. Although po means night, or darkness, it is not entirely dark, as there was both light and fire — indeed, one of its names is Po-lua- ahi, the pit of fire ; but it does not appear to be a hell of flame ; milu, and milumilu, mean "grand, solemn; wrapped in shadow." Some have returned from this place of shadows: Kaalii was brought back by his father Maluae ; Mokulehua delivered his wife Pue from the power of the god ; and Hiku brought again the spirit of the woman Kawelu and restored her to life.

#Mangaia. — Milu, also known as Miru-kura, is here the veritable Hell-goddess. When the soul of a deceased person has climbed the fatal pua tree which stands in Avaiki (the spirit-world — Hawaiki), it has to drop into a fatal net and is submerged in a lake called Vai-roto-ariki. Thence the half-drowned spirits come tremblingly into the presence of Miru, who feeds them on worms, blackbeetles, etc.; then they are drugged with kava, and thrown into the blazing oven of Miru, who feasts upon them. Miru has four lovely daughters, who prepare the kava; they are named Tapairu. [See TAPAIRU.] The parting words of one about to die were couched in the proverbial saying : Ei ko na ra, tau taeake, ka aere au i te tava ia Miru ("Farewell, brother: I go to the domains of Him").

#Aitutaki. — A brave fellow named Te Kauae, after proceeding to the presence of Miru, was enabled by craft to cheat her and return to the upper world. He described her as of horrible aspect, with only one breast, one arm, and one leg. Miru can be cheated by having a cocoanut kernel, and a piece of sugar-cane, placed close to the stomach of the corpse; thus provided, the soul goes to the paradise in the land of Iva.

In the Malay Islands, Meru (the Olympus of India,) is probably an introduced word, brought by the Brahmin priests. Off-site links: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugh

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NOTES FROM JANUARY 18, 2020

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LŪ (RŪ) is an epithet of Maui, and judging from the account recorded by Westervelt in Hawai'i, likely a specific Maui, namely Maui Akalana (Tagaloa-ata-Lagi, Tagaloa-a-Lagi). The Maui story recounts how Lū and his son Maui together raised the heavenly expanse, much like Hercules and Atlas worked together in concert to hold aloft the skies in turns. Lū went to the south while Maui his son (or grandson) remained in the north. Lū, getting creative, inverted his body and pushed up against the sky with his strong legs, purchasing enough space as to enable the humans of the world to move about freely without having to crouch over, and for plants to continue to grow higher and more abundantly without collision with the ceiling of the sky.

There is a later account of Hercules returning to the Atlas mountains to liberate Atlas from his prison by erecting the twin Pillars of Hercules. This account comes from the historian Strabo who cited the epic poet Pindar as identifying the pillars as "the gates of Gades" which represented the utmost limits reached by Heracles in all of his many travels. Today, it is believed the pillars are the two shorelines of Morocco and Spain along the Strait of Gibraltar. In other words, Hercules turned back towards the saltier, heavier, wine-dark waters of the Mediterranean Sea once he attained the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean, a terrifying prospect to sailors of that age as the Atlantic was regarded as the edge of the known world, perhaps even of the cosmos. Beyond the berth of the Mediterranean swirled chaos and infinite possibilities.

Nearby, in Mauritania, it was believed Atlas was imprisoned atop the peaks of the Atlas mountains, where he was charged to eternally hold aloft the heavens as punishment for his role in the Titanomachy, or War of the Titans against Olympus. Further south, the Richat Structure bears silent testimony to a vast, circular, geological anomaly on the edge of the barren Sahara. This site is a strong candidate for the lost city of Atlantis, swept away by the thundering mile-high wavefront of waters rushing in from the west, sweeping aside all in its path, erasing from existence all evidence of human habitation and animal life, which could have been buried under a million-million tons of oceanic sand and diatoms.

Is this just a myth, or is it a clever mnemonic for remembering an actual historical event?

I have said before that I believe Pharaoh Merneptah, after defeating the Sea Peoples between 1213 BCE and 1203 BCE, liberated some to become his elite bodyguards, captains and crew members of a perpetual exploratory expedition in exile forbidden to return to land. The Great Karnak Inscription recounts Merneptah's defeat of the "Nine Bows". It is interesting to note that in Polynesian lore there are typically nine heavens, with a tenth that is reserved strictly for the most ancient and high god and his family.

I believe the translation of the Sāmoan name of ATA.LAGI.TASI (Atlantis) as: "mirror image of first heaven" "another reflection of the sky"

...suggests a singular place, an unprecedented metropolis that was a colonial expansion of a previous civilization. A study of #Plato's #Critias and #Timaeus offers this very interpretation.

Read the text below from:

Legends of Maui--A Demi-God of Polynesia and His Mother Hina by W. D. Westervelt [1910]

Available online at: https://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/maui/maui06.htm

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MAUI LIFTING THE SKY.

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MAUI'S home was for a long time enveloped by darkness. The heavens had fallen down, or, rather, had not been separated from the earth.

According to some legends, the skies pressed so closely and so heavily upon the earth that when the plants began to grow, all the leaves were necessarily flat. According to other legends, the plants had to push up the clouds a little, and thus caused the leaves to flatten out into larger surface, so that they could better drive the skies back and hold them in place. Thus the leaves became flat at first, and have so remained through all the days of mankind. The plants lifted the sky inch by inch until men were able to crawl about between the heavens and the earth, and thus pass from place to place and visit one another.

After a long time, according to the Hawaiian legends, a man, supposed to be Maui, came to a woman and said: "Give me a drink from your gourd calabash, and I will push the heavens higher." The woman handed the gourd to him. When he had taken a deep draught, he braced himself against the clouds and lifted them to the height of the trees. Again he hoisted the sky and carried it to the tops of the mountains; then with great exertion he thrust it upwards once more, and pressed it to the place it now occupies. Nevertheless dark clouds many times hang low along the eastern slope of Maui's great mountain-Haleakala-and descend in heavy rains upon the hill Kauwiki; but they dare not stay, lest Maui the strong come and hurl them so far away that they cannot come back again.

A man who had been watching the process of lifting the sky ridiculed Maui for attempting such a difficult task. When the clouds rested on the tops of the mountains, Maui turned to punish his critic. The man had fled to the other side of the island, Maui rapidly pursued and finally caught him on the sea coast, not many miles north of the town now known as Lahaina. After a brief struggle the man was changed, according to the story, into a great black rock, which can be seen by any traveler who desires to localize the legends of Hawaii.

In Samoa Tiitii, the latter part of the full name of Mauikiikii, is used as the name of the one who braced his feet against the rocks and pushed the sky up. The foot-prints, some six feet long, are said to be shown by the natives.

Another Samoan story is almost like the raw Hawaiian legend. The heavens had fallen, people crawled, but the leaves pushed up a little; but the sky was uneven. Men tried to walk, but hit their heads, and in this confined space it was very hot. A woman rewarded a man who lifted the sky to its proper place by giving him a drink of water from her cocoanut shell.

A number of small groups of islands in the Pacific have legends of their skies being lifted, but they attribute the labor to the great eels and serpents of the sea.

One of the Ellice group, Niu Island, says that as the serpent began to lift the sky the people clapped their hands and shouted "Lift up!" "High!" "Higher!" But the body of the serpent finally broke into pieces which became islands, and the blood sprinkled its drops on the sky and became stars.

One of the Samoan legends says that a plant called daiga, which had one large umbrella-like leaf, pushed up the sky and gave it its shape.

The Vatupu, or Tracey Islanders, said at one time the sky and rocks were united. Then steam or clouds of smoke rose from the rocks, and, pouring out in volumes, forced the sky away from the earth. Man appeared in these clouds of steam or smoke. Perspiration burst forth as this man forced his way through the heated atmosphere. From this perspiration woman was formed. Then were born three sons, two of whom pushed up the sky. One, in the north, pushed as far as his arms would reach. The one in the south was short and climbed a hill, pushing as he went up, until the sky was in its proper place.

The Gilbert Islanders say the sky was pushed up by men with long poles.

The ancient New Zealanders understood incantations by which they could draw up or discover. They found a land where the sky and the earth were united. They prayed over their stone axe and cut the sky and land apart. "Hau-hau-tu" was the name of the great stone axe by which the sinews of the great heaven above were severed, and Langi (sky) was separated from, Papa (earth).

The New Zealand Maoris were accustomed to say that at first the sky rested close upon the earth and therefore there was utter darkness for ages. Then the six sons of heaven and earth, born during this period of darkness, felt the need of light and discussed the necessity of separating their parents-the sky from the earth-and decided to attempt the work.

Rongo (Hawaiian god Lono) the "father of food plants," attempted to lift the sky, but could not tear it from the earth. Then Tangaroa (Kanaloa), the "father of fish and reptiles," failed. Haumia Tiki-tiki (Maui Kiikii), the "father of wild food plants," could not raise the clouds. Then Tu (Hawaiian Ku), the "father of fierce men," struggled in vain, But Tane (Hawaiian Kane), the "father of giant forests," pushed and lifted until he thrust the sky far up above him. Then they discovered their descendants-the multitude of human beings who had been living on the earth concealed and crushed by the clouds. Afterwards the last son, Tawhiri (father of storms), was angry and waged war against his brothers. He hid in the sheltered hollows of the great skies. There he begot his vast brood of winds and storms with which he finally drove all his brothers and their descendants into hiding places on land and sea. The New Zealanders mention the names of the canoes in which their ancestors fled from the old home Hawaiki.

Tu (father of fierce men) and his descendants, however, conquered wind and storm and have ever since held supremacy.

The New Zealand legends also say that heaven and earth have never lost their love for each other. "The warm sighs of earth ever ascend from the wooded mountains and valleys, and men call them mists. The sky also lets fall frequent tears which men term dew drops."

The Manihiki islanders say that Maui desired to separate the sky from the earth. His father, Ru, was the supporter of the heavens. Maui persuaded him to assist in lifting the burden. Maui went to the north and crept into a place, where, lying prostrate under the sky, he could brace himself against it and push with great power. in the same way Ru went to the south and braced himself against the southern skies. Then they made the signal, and both pressed "with their backs against the solid blue mass." It gave way before the great strength of the father and son. Then they lifted again, bracing themselves with hands and knees against the earth. They crowded it and bent it upward. They were able to stand with the sky resting on their shoulders. They heaved against the bending mass, and it receded rapidly. They quickly put the palms of their hands under it; then the tips of their fingers, and it retreated farther and farther. At last, "drawing themselves out to gigantic proportions, they pushed the entire heavens up to the very lofty position which they have ever since occupied."

But Maui and Ru had not worked perfectly together; therefore the sky was twisted and its surface was very irregular. They determined to smooth the sky before they finished their task, so they took large stone adzes and chipped off the rough protuberances and ridges, until by and by the great arch was cut out and smoothed off. They then took finer tools and chipped and polished until the sky became the beautifully finished blue dome which now bends around the earth.

The Hervey island myth, as related by W. W. Gill, states that Ru, the father of Maui, came from Avaiki (Hawa-iki), the underworld or abode of the spirits of the dead. He found men crowded down by the sky, which was a mass of solid blue stone. He was very sorry when he saw the condition of the inhabitants of the earth, and planned to raise the sky a little. So he planted stakes of different kinds of trees. These were strong enough to hold the sky so far above the earth "that men could stand erect and walk about without inconvenience." This was celebrated in one of the Hervey Island songs:

"Force up the heavens, O, Ru! And let the space be clear."

For this helpful deed Ru received the name "The supporter of the heavens." He was rather proud of his achievement and was gratified because of the praise received. So he came sometimes and looked at the stakes and the beautiful blue sky resting on them. Maui, the son, came along and ridiculed his father for thinking so much of his work. Maui is not represented, in the legends, as possessing a great deal of love and reverence for his relatives provided his affection interfered with his mischief; so it was not at all strange that he laughed at his father. Ru became angry and said to Maui: "Who told youngsters to talk? Take care of yourself, or I will hurl you out of existence."

Maui dared him to try it. Ru quickly seized him and "threw him to a great height." But Maui changed himself to a bird and sank back to earth unharmed.

Then he changed himself back into the form of a man, and, making himself very large, ran and thrust his head between the old man's legs. He pried and lifted until Ru and the sky around him began to give. Another lift and he hurled them both to such a height that the sky could not come back.

Ru himself was entangled among the stars. His head and shoulders stuck fast, and he could not free himself. How he struggled, until the skies shook, while Maui went away. Maui was proud of his achievement in having moved the sky so far away. In this self-rejoicing he quickly forgot his father.

Ru died after a time. "His body rotted away and his bones, of vast proportions, came tumbling down from time to time, and were shivered on the earth into countless fragments. These shattered bones of Ru are scattered over every hill and valley of one of the islands, to the very edge of the sea."

Thus the natives of the Hervey Islands account for the many pieces of porous lava and the small pieces of pumice stone found occasionally in their islands. The "bones" were very light and greatly resembled fragments of real bone. If the fragments were large enough they were sometimes taken and worshiped as gods. One of these pieces, of extraordinary size, was given to Mr. Gill when the natives were bringing in a large collection of idols. "This one was known as 'The Light Stone,' and was worshiped as the god of the wind and the waves. Upon occasions of a hurricane, incantations and offerings of food would be made to it."

Thus, according to different Polynesian legends, Maui raised the sky and made the earth inhabitable for his fellow-men.