The Dagda's third great possession is a living harp, Uaithne, richly ornamented, which only he can play and which has power over both emotion and time. With it he can sound the three noble strains of music, the strain of sorrow that brings weeping, the strain of joy that brings laughter, and the strain of sleep that brings rest, and, crucially, he plays the harp to keep the seasons in their proper order, calling them forth each in its turn. In one memorable episode the harp is stolen by the enemies of his people, the Fomorians, and the Dagda must recover it, summoning it out of their hall by name so that it flies to his hand.
The Dagda is also remembered for his robust humour: a much-loved passage of the Second Battle of Mag Tuired has him forced by his enemies to eat a colossal quantity of porridge from a hole in the ground, which he devours to the last, dragging his belly comically behind him. His unions with the goddesses Boann, associated with the River Boyne, and the Morrigan are important in the mythology. In the Dagda the Irish imagined the divine father as a figure of overflowing abundance, of power over life and death, and of the music that orders the turning year.