Balor

Balor is a leader of the Fomorians and the most destructive figure on their side in The Second Battle of Mag Tuired. His single eye is normally closed, its lid so heavy that attendants must raise it with hooks or poles. Once opened, the gaze strips strength from the host before it and brings ruin without the need for a weapon. The Fomorians come from across the sea to oppress Ireland and exact tribute from the Tuatha De Danann; Balor's eye gives that domination its clearest form. It needs only to see.

On the plain of Mag Tuired, Balor orders the lid lifted so that the opposing army will stand inside the deadly gaze. Lugh acts first. A stone from his sling drives through the eye and out the back of Balor's head, casting the eye toward the Fomorian ranks, where its destruction falls upon its own people. The medieval account makes Lugh Balor's grandson, so the killing is also a transfer between generations: a young king ends the old maritime power with one exact shot.

Later Irish folklore enlarges the family story. A prophecy says that Balor will die by his grandson, so he imprisons his daughter in a high tower; fate nevertheless brings about Lugh's birth and survival. The tower, secret visitor, and rescued infant do not all belong to one uniform medieval version and should be distinguished from the central battle narrative. Modern art also multiplies eye coverings or turns Balor into a generic cyclops. The older outline is starker: a Fomorian lord, an eyelid that must be raised, and a weaponised gaze turned backward at the instant of defeat.