Dagon, Ugaritic Dagan, is the West Semitic grain god, attested at Ebla and Mari in the third millennium and later at Terqa and Ugarit, where he is called the father of Baal; the Philistines adopted him at Ashdod, and 1 Samuel 5 tells of his image falling before the ark. The name comes from the Semitic root for grain, Hebrew dagan, and the notion that he was a fish-tailed merman rests on a mistaken etymology, Hebrew dag, fish, and on Milton and later fantasy rather than on any ancient source.
Modern Practice
Dagon is worked at the harvest and in the store, by growers and by anyone whose work is keeping food against a bad season. He has been badly served by modern fantasy, and the entry puts the grain back at the centre where the sources have it.