Editing Tuatha Dé Danann (section)

==Description==
The Tuatha Dé Danann are described as a supernatural race, much like idealized humans, who are immune from ageing and sickness, and who have powers of magic.<ref name=koch1693/> The powers most often attributed to the Tuatha Dé Danann are control over the weather and the elements, and the ability to shapeshift themselves and other things.<ref name=koch1693/> They are also said to control the fertility of the land; the tale ''De Gabáil in t-Sída'' says the first Gaels had to establish friendship with the Tuatha Dé Danann before they could raise crops and herds.<ref name=koch1693/>

They live in the [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]], which is described as either a parallel world or a heavenly land beyond the sea or under the earth's surface.<ref name=koch1693/> Many of them are associated with specific places in the landscape, especially the ''sídh'' mounds; the ancient [[burial mound]]s and [[passage tomb]]s which are entrances to Otherworld realms.<ref name=koch1693/><ref name="ohogain"/> The Tuatha Dé Danann can hide themselves with a ''[[féth fíada]]'' ('magic mist')<ref name="ohogain"/> and appear to humans only when they wish to.<ref name=koch1693/>

In some tales, such as ''[[Baile in Scáil]]'', a king receives affirmation of his legitimacy from one of the Tuatha Dé Danann.<ref name=koch1693/> In other tales, a king's right to rule is affirmed by an encounter with an otherworldly woman. It has been argued that the inauguration of Irish kings originally represented his ritual marriage to the goddess of the land (see [[sovereignty goddess]]).<ref name=koch1693/> The Tuatha Dé Danann can also bring doom to unrightful kings.<ref name=koch1693/>

The medieval writers who wrote about the Tuatha Dé Danann were Christians. Sometimes they explained the Tuatha Dé Danann as [[fallen angel]]s; neutral angels who sided neither with God nor [[Lucifer]] and were punished by being forced to dwell on the Earth; or humans who had become highly skilled in magic. However, several writers acknowledged that at least some of them had been gods.<ref name=koch1693/>

There is strong evidence that many of the Tuatha Dé Danann represent the gods of Irish paganism.<ref name=koch1693/><ref name="ohogain"/> The name itself means "tribe of gods", and the ninth-century ''Scél Tuain meic Cairill'' (Tale of [[Tuan mac Cairill]]) speaks of the ''Tuath Dé ocus Andé'', "tribe of gods and un-gods".<ref name=koch1693/> [[Goibniu]], [[Credne]] and [[Luchta]] are called the ''trí dé dáno'', "three gods of craft".<ref name=koch1693/> In ''[[Sanas Cormaic]]'' ([[Cormac mac Cuilennáin|Cormac]]'s Glossary), [[Anu (Irish goddess)|Anu]] is called "mother of the Irish gods", [[Nét]] a "god of war", and [[Brigit]] a "goddess of poets"<ref name=koch1693/> whose father is [[the Dagda]]; his own name meaning "the great god".<ref name=koch1693/> Writing in the seventh century, [[Tírechán]] explained the ''sídh'' folk as "earthly gods" (Latin ''dei terreni''),<ref name=koch1693/> while ''Fiacc's Hymn'' says the Irish adored the ''sídh'' before the coming of [[Saint Patrick]].<ref name=koch1693/> Goibniu, [[Dian Cécht]] the physician, and [[Flidais]] the mistress of animals are invoked in [[incantations]], further evidence that they were seen as supernatural powers.<ref name=koch1693/> Several of the Tuatha Dé Danann are [[cognate]] with [[Ancient Celtic religion|ancient Celtic]] deities: Lugh with [[Lugus]], Brigit with [[Brigantia (goddess)|Brigantia]], Nuada with [[Nodons]], and Ogma with [[Ogmios]].<ref name=koch1693/>

Nevertheless, [[John Carey (Celticist)|John Carey]] notes that it is not wholly accurate to describe all of them as gods in the medieval literature itself. He argues that the literary Tuatha Dé Danann are ''[[sui generis]]'', and suggests "immortals" might be a more neutral term.<ref name=koch1693/>