The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge
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Title: The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge
Translator: Joseph Dunn
Release date: August 7, 2005 [eBook #16464]
Most recently updated: December 12, 2020
Language: English
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THE ANCIENT IRISH EPIC TALE
TÁIN BÓ CÚALNGE
"THE CUALNGE CATTLE-RAID"
Now for the first time done entire into English
out of the Irish of the Book of Leinster
and Allied Manuscripts
By
JOSEPH DUNN
Professor at the Catholic University
Washington
WITH TWO PAGES IN FACSIMILÉ OF THE MANUSCRIPTS
[Illustration: "Daig concechlabat fin hErend & Alban inn ainm sin, & bat
lana beóil fer n-hErend & Alban din anmun sin."]
Book of Leinster, fo. 64a.
"For the men of Erin and Alba shall hear that
name (Cuchulain) and the mouths of the men of Erin
and Alba shall be full of that name."
LONDON
DAVID NUTT
17 GRAPE STREET, NEW OXFORD STREET, W.C
1914
To the Memory of
MY MOTHER
* * * * *
[Illustration: FACSIMILE, PAGE 55--_from the Book of Leinster_.]
* * * * *
CONTENTS
Preface, xi.
I The Pillow-talk, 1.
II The Occasion of the Táin, 5.
III The Rising-out of the Men of Connacht at Cruachan Ai, 10.
IV The Foretelling, 13.
V The Route of the Táin, 19.
VI The March of the Host, 21.
VII The Youthful Exploits of Cuchulain, 46.
VIIa The Slaying of the Smith's Hound by Cuchulain, 54.
VIIb The Taking of Arms by Cuchulain and
The Slaying of the Three Sons of Necht Scenè, 60.
VIIc A Separate Version as far as the Slaying Of Orlam, 80.
VIII The Slaying of Orlam, 82.
VIIIa The Slaying of the Three MacArach, 85.
VIIIb The Combat of Lethan and Cuchulain, 86.
VIIIc The Killing of the Squirrel and of the Tame Bird, 88.
VIIId The Slaying of Lochè, 93.
VIIIe The Killing of Uala, 95.
VIIIf The Harrying of Cualnge, 99.
IX The Proposals, 104.
X The Violent Death of Etarcumul, 115.
XI The Slaying of Nathcrantail, 126.
XII The Finding of the Bull, 132.
XIIa The Death of Forgemen, 136.
XIIb The Slaying of Redg the Lampoonist, 137.
XIIc The Meeting of Cuchulain and Finnabair, 139.
XIId The Combat of Munremar and Curoi, 141.
XIIe The Slaughter of the Boy-troop, 143.
XIIf The Slaughter of the King's Bodyguard, 145.
XIII The Combat of Cûr with Cuchulain, 146.
XIV The Slaying of Ferbaeth, 150.
XIVa The Combat of Larinè MacNois, 155.
XIVb The Colloquy of the Morrigan and Cuchulain, 161.
XV The Combat of Loch and Cuchulain, and
The Slaying of Loch son of Mofemis, 163.
XVI The Violation of the Agreement, 175.
XVIa The Healing of the Morrigan, 177.
XVII The Great Rout on the Plain of Murthemne, 180.
XVIIa The Slaughter of the Youths of Ulster, 184.
XVIIb The Scythed Chariot, 187.
XVIIc The Appearance of Cuchulain, 195.
XVIId Dubthach's Jealousy, 198.
XVIII The Slaying of Oengus son of Oenlam, 201.
XVIIIa The Misthrow at Belach Eoin, 202.
XVIIIb The Disguising of Tamon, 204.
XIX The Battle of Fergus and Cuchulain, 205.
XIXa The Head-place of Ferchu, 209.
XIXb Mann's Fight, 211.
XIXc The Combat of Calatin's Children, 213.
XX The Combat of Ferdiad and Cuchulain, 217.
XXI Cuchulain and the Rivers, 268.
XXII Cethern's Strait-fight, 269.
XXIIa Cethern's Bloody Wounds, 273.
XXIII The Tooth-fight of Fintan, 283.
XXIIIa The Red-Shame of Menn, 285.
XXIIIb The Accoutrement of the Charioteers, 287.
XXIIIc The White-fight of Rochad, 288.
XXIIId Iliach's Clump-fight, 292.
XXIIIe The Deer-stalking of Amargin in Taltiu, 295.
XXIIIf The Adventures of Curoi son of Darè, 296.
XXIV The Repeated Warning of Sualtaim, 298.
XXIVa The Agitation of Celtchar, 306.
XXV The Array of the Host, 309.
XXVI The Decision of the Battle, 345.
XXVII The Battle of Garech, 348.
XXVIIa The Muster of the Men of Erin, 351.
XXVIII The Battle of the Bulls, 363.
XXIX The Account of the Brown Bull of Cualnge, 366.
Index of Place and Personal Names, 371.
* * * * *
[Illustration: FACSIMILE PAGE 55--_from Leabhar na h-Uidhri_.]
* * * * *
PREFACE
The Gaelic Literature of Ireland is vast in extent and rich in quality. The
inedited manuscript materials, if published, would occupy several hundred
large volumes. Of this mass only a small portion has as yet been explored
by scholars. Nevertheless three saga-cycles stand out from the rest,
distinguished for their compass, age and literary worth, those, namely, of
the gods, of the demigod Cuchulain, and of Finn son of Cumhall. The
Cuchulain cycle, also called the Ulster cycle--from the home of its hero in
the North of Ireland--forms the core of this great mass of epic material.
It is also known as the cycle of Conchobar, the king round whom the Ulster
warriors mustered, and, finally, it has been called the Red Branch Cycle
from the name of the banqueting hall at Emain Macha in Ulster.
Only a few of the hundred or more tales which once belonged to this cycle
have survived. There are some dozen in particular, technically known as
_Remscéla_ or "Foretales," because they lead up to and explain the great
Táin, the Táin Bó Cúalnge, "The Cualnge Cattle-raid," the Iliad of Ireland,
as it has been called, the queen of Irish epic tales, and the wildest and
most fascinating saga-tale, not only of the entire Celtic world, but even
of all western Europe.
The mediaeval Irish scholars catalogued their native literature under
several heads, probably as an aid to the memory of the professional poets
or story-tellers whose stock-in-trade it was, and to one of these divisions
they gave the name _Táinte_, plural of _Táin_. By this term, which is most
often followed by the genitive plural _bó_, "cows," they meant "a driving,"
or "a reaving," or even "a drove" or "herd" of cattle. It is only by
extension of meaning that this title is applied to the Táin Bó Cúalnge, the
most famous representative of the class, for it is not, strictly speaking,
with the driving of cattle that it deals but with that of the Brown Bull of
Cualnge. But, since to carry off the bull implies the carrying off of the
herd of which he was the head, and as the "Brown" is always represented as
accompanied by his fifty heifers, there were sufficient grounds for putting
the Brown Bull Quest in the class of Cow-spoils.
The prominence accorded to this class of stories in the early literature of
Ireland is not to be wondered at when the economic situation of the country
and the stage of civilization of which they are the faithful mirror is
borne in mind.[1] Since all wars are waged for gain, and since among the
Irish, who are still very much a nation of cattle raisers, cattle was the
chief article of wealth and measure of value,[2] so marauding expeditions
from one district into another for cattle must have been of frequent
occurrence, just as among the North American Indians tribal wars used to be
waged for the acquisition of horses. That this had been a common practice
among their kinsmen on the Continent also we learn from Caesar's account of
the Germans (and Celts?) who, he says, practised warfare not only for a
means of subsistence but also for exercising their warriors. How long-lived
the custom has been amongst the Gaelic Celts, as an occupation or as a
pastime, is evident not only from the plundering incursions or "creaghs"[3]
as they are called in the Highlands and described by Scott in _Waverley_
and _The Fair Maid of Perth_, but also from the "cattle-drives" which have
been resorted to in our own day in Ireland, though these latter had a
different motive than plunder. As has been observed by Sir Henry Sumner
Maine, Lord Macaulay was mistaken in ascribing this custom to "some native
vice of Irish character," for, as every student of ancient Ireland may
perceive, it is rather to be regarded as "a survival, an ancient and
inveterate habit" of the race.
One of these many Cattle-preys was the Táin Bó Cúalnge,[4] which, there can
be little doubt, had behind it no mere myth but some kernel of actual
fact. Its historical basis is that a Connacht chieftain and his lady went
to war with Ulster about a drove of cattle. The importance of a racial
struggle between the north-east province and the remaining four grand
provinces of Ireland cannot be ascribed to it. There is, it is true, strong
evidence to show that two chief centres, political, if not cultural and
national, existed at the time of the Táin in Ireland, Cruachan Ai, near the
present Rathcroghan in Connacht, and Emain Macha, the Navan Fort, two miles
west of Armagh in Ulster, and it is with the friendly or hostile relations
of these two that the Ultonian cycle of tales deals. Ulster, or, more
precisely, the eastern portion of the Province, was the scene of all the
Cattle-raids, and there is a degree of truth in the couplet,--
"Leinster for breeding, And Ulster for reaving;
Munster for reading, And Connacht for thieving."
But there are no indications of a racial clash or war of tribes. With the
exception of the Oghamic writings inscribed on the pillar-stones by
Cuchulain, which seem to require interpretation to the men of Connacht by
Ulstermen, the description of the warriors mustered by the Connacht warrior
queen and those gathered round King Conchobar of Ulster accord quite
closely.
The Táin Bó Cúalnge is the work not of any one man but of a corporation of
artists known as _filid_. The author of the Táin in its present state,
whoever he may have been, was a strong partisan of Ulster and never misses
an opportunity of flattering the pride of her chieftains. Later a kind of
reaction against the pre-eminence given to Ulster and the glorification of
its hero sets in, and a group of stories arises in which the war takes a
different end and Cuchulain is shown to disadvantage, finally to fall at
the hands of a Munster champion. It is to this southern province that the
saga-cycle which followed the Cuchulain at an interval of two hundred years
belongs, namely, the Fenian saga,--the saga of Finn son of Cumhall, which
still flourishes among the Gaelic speakers of Ireland and Scotland, while
the Cuchulain stories have almost died out among them. The mingling of the
two sagas is the work of the eighteenth-century Scots Lowlander, James
Macpherson.
The Táin Bó Cúalnge is one of the most precious monuments of the world's
literature, both because of the poetic worth it evidences at an early stage
of civilization, and for the light it throws on the life of the people
among whom it originated and that of their ancestors centuries earlier. It
is not less valuable and curious because it shows us the earlier stages of
an epic--an epic in the making--which it does better perhaps than any other
work in literature. Ireland had at hand all the materials for a great
national epic, a wealth of saga-material replete with interesting episodes,
picturesque and dramatic incidents and strongly defined personages, yet she
never found her Homer, a gifted poet to embrace her entire literary wealth,
to piece the disjointed fragments together, smooth the asperities and hand
down to posterity the finished epic of the Celtic world, superior, perhaps,
to the Iliad or the Odyssey. What has come down to us is "a sort of
patchwork epic," as Prescott called the Ballads of the Cid, a popular
epopee in all its native roughness, wild phantasy and extravagance of deed
and description as it developed during successive generations. It resembles
the frame of some huge ship left unfinished by the builders on the beach
and covered with shells and drift from the sea of Celtic tradition. From
the historical standpoint, however, and as a picture of the old barbaric
Celtic culture, and as a pure expression of elemental passion, it is of
more importance to have the genuine tradition as it developed amongst the
people, unvarnished by poetic art and uninfluenced by the example of older
and alien societies.
According to the Chronicles of Ireland, as formulated in the Annals of
Tigernach,[5] who died in 1088, King Conchobar of Ulster began to reign in
the year 30 B.C., and he is said to have died of grief at the news that
Christ had been crucified. His reign therefore lasted about sixty
years. Cuchulain died in the year 39 A.D. in the twenty-seventh year of
his age, as we learn from the following entry: "The death of Cuchulain, the
bravest hero of the Irish, by Lugaid son of Three Hounds, king of Munster,
and by Erc, king of Tara, son of Carbre Niafer, and by the three sons of
Calatin of Connacht. Seven years was his age when he assumed arms,
seventeen was his age when he followed the Driving of the Kine of Cualnge,
but twenty-seven years was his age when he died."[6]
A very different account is given in the manuscript known as H. 3. 17,
Trinity College, Dublin, quoted by O'Curry in his _Manuscript Materials_,
page 508. The passage concludes with the statement: "So that the year of
the Táin was the fifty-ninth year of Cuchulain's age, from the night of his
birth to the night of his death." The record first quoted, however, is
partly corroborated by the following passage which I translate from the
Book of Ballymote, facsimilé edition, page 13, col. a, lines 9-21: "In the
fourteenth year of the reign of Conairè (killed in 40 B.C.) and of
Conchobar, the Blessed Virgin was born. At that time Cuchulain had
completed thirteen years; and in the fourth year after the birth of Mary,
the expedition of the Kine of Cualnge took place ... that is, in the
eighteenth year of the reign of Conairè. Cuchulain had completed his
seventeenth year at that time. That is, it was in the thirty-second year of
the reign of Octavius Augustus that the same expedition took place. Eight
years after the Táin Bó Cúalnge, Christ was born, and Mary had completed
twelve years then, and that was in the fortieth year of the reign of
Octavius Augustus; and in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Conairè and
Conchobar, and in the second year after the birth of Christ, Cuchulain
died. And twenty-seven years was Cuchulain's age at that time."
These apparent synchronisms, of course, may only rest upon the imagination
of the Christian annalists of Ireland, who hoped to exalt their ancient
rulers and heroes by bringing them into relation with and even making them
participate in the events of the life of the Saviour. But in placing the
date of the expedition of the Táin at about the beginning of the Christian
era, Irish tradition is undoubtedly correct, as appears from the character
of the civilization depicted in the Ulster tales, which corresponds in a
remarkable degree with what authors of antiquity have recorded of the Celts
and with the character of the age which archaeologists call "la Tène," or
"Late Celtic," which terminates at the beginning of the first century of
our era. Oral tradition was perhaps occupied for five hundred years working
over and developing the story of the Táin, and by the close of the fifth
century the saga to which it belonged was substantially the one we have
now. The text of the tale must have been completed by the first half of the
seventh century, and, as we shall see, its oldest extant version, the Book
of the Dun, dates from about the year 1100.
But, whatever may be the precise dates of these events, which we are not in
a position to determine more accurately, the composition of the Táin
Bó Cúalnge antedates by a considerable margin the epic tales of the
Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians, the Franks and the Germans. It is the
oldest epic tale of western Europe, and it and the cycle of tales to which
it belongs form "the oldest existing literature of any of the peoples to
the north of the Alps."[7] The deeds it recounts belong to the heroic age
of Ireland three hundred years before the introduction of Christianity into
the island, and its spirit never ceased to remain markedly pagan. The
mythology that permeates it is one of the most primitive manifestations of
the personification of the natural forces which the Celts worshipped. Its
historical background, social organization, chivalry, mood and thought and
its heroic ideal are to a large extent, and with perhaps some pre-Aryan
survivals, not only those of the insular Celts of two thousand years ago,
but also of the important and wide-spread Celtic race with whom Caesar
fought and who in an earlier period had sacked Rome and made themselves
feared even in Greece and Asia Minor.
The following is the Argument of the Táin Bó Cúalnge, which, for the sake
of convenience, is here divided into sections:
I. The Prologue
One night at the palace of Cruachan in Connacht, a dispute arose between
Queen Medb, the sometime wife of Conchobar, king of Ulster, and her consort
Ailill, as to the amount of their respective possessions. It may be
remarked in passing that in those days in Ireland, married women retained
their private fortune independent of their husbands, as well as the dowry
secured to them in marriage. To procure the evidence of their wealth, the
royal pair sent messengers to assemble all their chattels which, on
comparison, were found to be equal, excepting only that among Ailill's kine
was a lordly bull called Finnbennach, "the Whitehorned," whose match was
not to be found in the herds of the queen.
II. The Embassage to Darè and the Occasion of the Táin
As we might expect, Medb was chagrined at the discovery. Now her herald
macRoth had told her that Darè macFiachna, a landowner of Cualnge, a
district in the territory of her former husband, possessed an even more
wonderful bull than Ailill's, called Donn Cualnge, "the Brown Bull of
Cualnge." So she despatched macRoth to Darè to pray for the loan of the
bull.
Darè received the queen's messengers hospitably and readily granted her
request, but in the course of the entertainment, one of the messengers,
deep in his cups, spoke against Darè, and he, hearing this, withdrew his
promise and swore that he would never hand over the Brown Bull of Cualnge.
III. The Gathering of Medb's Forces
The impetuous queen, enraged at the failure of her mission, immediately
mustered a formidable army, composed not only of her Connachtmen but also
of allies from all parts of Ireland, wherewith to undertake the invasion of
Ulster. On her side were the Ulster chieftains who had gone into exile into
Connacht after the treacherous slaughter of the sons of Usnech by King
Conchobar of Ulster. Chief among them was Fergus, who, moreover, had a
personal grievance against Conchobar. For, while Fergus was king of Ulster,
he had courted the widow Ness and, in order to win her, promised to
abdicate for the term of one year in favour of her son Conchobar. But when
the term had elapsed, the youth refused to relinquish the throne, and
Fergus in anger entered the service of Medb of Connacht. There he was
loaded with favours, became the counsellor of the realm and, as appears
from more than one allusion in the tale, the more than friend of the wife
of King Ailill.
The four leagued provinces of Ireland being gathered at Cruachan, the
guidance of the host was entrusted to Fergus, because he was acquainted
with the province of Ulster through which they were to march, and at
the beginning of winter--a point emphasized by the exponents of the
sun-theory--the mighty host, including in its ranks the king and queen and
some of the greatest warriors of Ireland, with the princess Finnabair as a
lure, set forth on the raid into Ulster.
They crossed the Shannon near Athlone and, marching through the province of
Meath, arrived at the borders of Cualnge. Fortunately for the invaders, the
expedition took place while the Ulstermen lay prostrate in their _cess_, or
"Pains," a mysterious state of debility or torpor which was inflicted on
them periodically in consequence of an ancient curse laid upon Conchobar
and the warriors of Ulster as a punishment for a wrong done to the goddess
Macha. This strange malady, resembling the _couvade_ among certain savage
nations, ordinarily lasted five days and four nights, but on this occasion
the Ulstermen were prostrate from the beginning of November till the
beginning of February. During all that time the burden of defending the
province fell on the shoulders of the youthful champion Cuchulain, who had
in his particular charge the plain of Murthemne, the nearest district to
Cualnge, the goal of the expedition. For Cuchulain and his father Sualtaim
were alone exempt from the curse and the "Pains" which had befallen the
remainder of the champions of Ulster.
IV. The Youthful Exploits of Cuchulain
The Connacht host had not proceeded far when they came upon evidence of
some mighty force that opposed them. In answer to the inquiries of Ailill
and Medb, Fergus explains that it is Cuchulain who disputes their further
advance, and, as evidence of the superhuman strength and prowess of the
Ulster youth, then in the seventeenth year of his age, the Ulster exiles
recount the mighty deeds he had performed in his boyhood, chief among which
is the tale according to which, as eric for the killing of the hound of
Culann the Smith, the boy-hero Setanta assumed the station and the name
which ever after clung to him of Cuchulain, "the Hound of Culann."
V. The Single Combats of Cuchulain
Cuchulain agrees to allow the Connacht host to continue their march on
condition that every day they send one of their champions to meet him in
single combat. When he shall have killed his opponent, the host shall halt
and pitch camp until the following morning. Medb agrees to abide by these
terms. In each of the contests which ensue, the heroic youth is victorious
and slays many of the most celebrated warriors on the side of Connacht.
The severest of all these single combats was the one in which he had as
opponent his former friend and foster-brother Ferdiad. At the end of a
four days' battle, in which both adversaries exhibited astounding deeds of
valour, Ferdiad fell by the hands of Cuchulain.
Impatient at these delays, Medb broke the sacred laws of ancient Irish
chivalry and led her army into Ulster, overrunning the province, pillaging
and burning as she went, even up to the walls of Emain Macha, the residence
of Conchobar, and finally took possession of the Brown Bull of Cualnge.
VI. The Gathering of the Ulstermen and the Final Battle of the Táin
By this time King Conchobar and his warriors have come out of their
debility and summoned their forces to an eminence in Slane of Meath. The
great gathering of the Ulstermen is reported to Medb by her trusty herald
macRoth, and from his description of the leaders and their troops, their
exiled countryman Fergus designates them to the nobles of Connacht. In the
final battle Medb's army is repulsed and retreats in flight into Connacht.
Thus each host has had its share of the fortunes of war: Medb has laid
waste the lands of her divorced husband and carried off the Brown Bull of
Cualnge, the prize of war, while on the other hand, Conchobar has won the
victory in the great battle of Garech and Ilgarech.
VII. The End of the two Bulls
On the way back to Connacht, the Brown Bull of Cualnge emitted such
terrible bellowings that they reached the ears of the Whitehorned remaining
at home in his stall in Cruachan, whence he rushed at full speed to attack
the other. A furious battle took place between the bulls, but the Brown was
the stronger, and raising his rival on his horns he shook the Whitehorned
into fragments over all Ireland. He then returned in fury to Ulster, and in
his wild rage dashed his head against a rock and was killed.
The Táin Bó Cúalnge has been preserved, more or less complete, in a score
of manuscripts ranging in date from the beginning of the twelfth to the
middle of the nineteenth century. There probably existed other manuscripts
containing not only the Táin as we have it but even episodes now wanting in
it. All of the extant manuscripts go back to versions which date from the
seventh century or earlier. No manuscript of the Táin is wholly in the
language of the time when it was copied, but, under the cloak of the
contemporaneous orthography, contains forms and words so obsolete that they
were not understood by the copyist, so that glossaries had to be compiled
to explain them.
It is by a singular good fortune that this, the greatest of all the epic
tales of the Irish, has been handed down to our day in the two most ancient
and, for that reason, most precious of the great Middle Irish collections
of miscellaneous contents known as the _Leabhar na hUidhre_, "the Book of
The Dun (Cow)," and the Book of Leinster. The former and older of these
vellum manuscripts (abbreviated LU.) is kept in the Library of the Royal
Irish Academy at Dublin. It must have been written about the beginning of
the twelfth century, for its compiler and writer, Moelmuire macCeilechair
(Kelleher), is known to have been slain at Clonmacnois in the year 1106;
some of its linguistic forms, however, are as old as the eighth century
glosses. Unfortunately, LU.'s account of the Táin is incomplete at the
beginning and the end, but the latter portion is made good by the closely
related, though independent, version contained in the manuscript known as
the Yellow Book of Lecan (abbreviated YBL.). This manuscript was written
about the year 1391 and it is also kept in Dublin in the Library of Trinity
College. To the same group as LU. and YBL., which for the sake of
convenience we may call version A, belong also the British Museum MSS.,
Egerton 1782, a large fragment, and Egerton 114, both dating from the
fifteenth or sixteenth century.
Version B comprises the closely related accounts of the Táin as contained
in the Book of Leinster (abbreviated LL.) and the following MSS.: Stowe
984 (Royal Irish Academy), written in the year 1633 and giving, except for
the loss of a leaf, a complete story of the Táin; H. 1. 13 (Trinity
College, Dublin), written in the year 1745 and giving the Táin entire;
Additional 18748 (abbreviated Add.), British Museum, copied in the year
1800 from a 1730 original; Egerton 209 and Egerton 106 (British Museum),
both fragments and dating from the eighteenth century. Fragments of a
modern version are also found in MS. LIX, Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.
To version C belong only fragments: H. 2. 17 (Trinity College, Dublin),
dating from the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth
century; the almost identical Egerton 93 (British Museum), consisting of
only ten leaves and dating from nearly a century later, and H. 2. 12
(Trinity College, Dublin), consisting of only two pages.[8]
The manuscripts belonging to each of these versions, A, B, and C, have
sufficient traits in common to place them in a group by themselves. The
question of the relationship of these manuscripts to one another and of the
character of the suppositional archetype from which they are all descended
is a most intricate one and one which has given rise to considerable
discussion. The question still awaits a definite answer, which may never be
forthcoming, because of the disappearance not only of the first draft of
the Táin, but also of that of some of its later redactions. We must not
overlook the possibility, either, of an otherwise faithful copyist having
inserted in the text before him a passage, or even an entire episode, of
his own fabrication. This, no doubt, happened not infrequently, especially
in the earlier period of the copying of Irish manuscripts, and a single
insertion of this kind, or the omission, intentionally or by oversight, of
a part of the original from the copy might, it will easily be seen, lead
one to conclude that there once existed a form of the story which as a
matter of fact never existed.
The version of the Táin which I have chosen as the basis for my translation
is the one found in the Book of Leinster (_Leabhar Laighneach_), a
voluminous vellum manuscript sometime called the Book of Glendalough and
now kept in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, catalogue number
H. 2. 18. Only a part of the original book remains. It dates from about the
year 1150. This date is established by two entries in the manuscript
itself: "Aed son of Crimthann (Hugh macGriffin) hath written this book and
out of many books hath he compiled it" (facsimilé, at the bottom of page
313). Who this Aed was will be clear from the other entry. It appears that
he had lent the manuscript while still unfinished to Finn macGorman, who
was Bishop of Kildare from 1148 and died in the year 1160, and who on
returning the book wrote in it the following laudatory note in Irish to
Aed: "(Life) and health from Finn, the Bishop of Kildare, to Aed son of
Crimthann, tutor of the chief king (i.e. of King Dermod macMurrogh, the
infamous prince who half a century later invited Strongbow and the Normans
to come over from Wales to Ireland) of Mug Nuadat's Half (i.e. of Leinster
and Munster), and successor of Colum son of Crimthann (this Colum was abbot
of Tir da ghlass the modern Terryglas on the shore of Lough Derg, in the
County Tipperary--and died in the year 548), and chief historian of
Leinster in respect of wisdom and intelligence, and cultivation of books,
science and learning. And let the conclusion of this little tale (i.e. the
story of Ailill Aulom son of Mug Nuadat, the beginning of which was
contained in the book which Finn returns) be written for me accurately by
thee, O cunning Aed, thou man of the sparkling intellect. May it be long
before we are without thee. My desire is that thou shouldst always be with
us. And let macLonan's Songbook be given to me, that I may understand the
sense of the poems that are in it. _Et vale in Christo._"[9]
It would seem from another note in the manuscript[10] that the Book of
Leinster afterwards belonged to some admirer of King Dermod, for he wrote:
"O Mary! Great was the deed that was done in Ireland this day, the kalends
of August (1166)--Dermod, son of Donnoch macMurrogh, King of Leinster and
of the (Dublin) Danes to be banished by the men of Ireland over the sea
eastwards. Woe, woe is me, O Lord, what shall I do!"[11]
My reason for founding the translation on the LL. version, in spite of the
fact that its composition is posterior by half a century to that of LU.,
was not merely out of respect for the injunction of the scribe of the _ne
varietur_ and to merit his blessing (page 369), but also because LL.'s is
the oldest _complete_ version of the Táin extant. Though as a rule (and as
is easily discernible from a comparison of LU. and LL.), the shorter,
terser and cruder the form of a tale is, the more primitive it is, yet it
is not always the oldest preserved form of a work that represents the
most ancient form of the story. Indeed, it is not at all improbable
that LL. contains elements which represent a tradition antedating the
composition of LU. At all events, LL. has these strong points in its
favour, that, of all the versions, it is the most uniform and consistent,
the most artistically arranged, the one with most colour and imagination,
and the one which lends itself most readily to translation, both in itself
and because of the convenient Irish text provided by Professor Windisch's
edition. In order to present the Táin in its completest form, however, I
have adopted the novel plan of incorporating in the LL. account the
translations of what are known as conflate readings. These, as a rule, I
have taken from no manuscript that does not demonstrably go back to a
twelfth or earlier century redaction. Some of these additions consist of
but a single word: others extend over several pages. This dovetailing could
not always be accomplished with perfect accuracy, but no variants have been
added that do not cohere with the context or destroy the continuity of the
story. Whatever slight inconsistencies there may be in the accounts of
single episodes, they are outweighed, in my opinion, by the value and
interest of the additions. In all cases, however, the reader can control
the translation by means of the foot-notes which indicate the sources and
distinguish the accretions from the basic text. The numerous passages in
which Eg. 1782 agrees with LU. and YBL. have not all been marked. The
asterisk shows the beginning of each fresh page in the lithographic
facsimilé of LL., and the numbers following "W" in the upper left hand
margin show the corresponding lines in the edition of the Irish text by
Windisch.
* * * * *
In general, I believe it should be the aim of a translator to give a
faithful rather than a literal version of his original. But, owing to the
fact that so little of Celtic scholarship has filtered down even to the
upper strata of the educated public and to the additional fact that the
subject matter is so incongruous to English thought, the first object of
the translator from the Old Irish must continue to be, for some time to
come, rather exactness in rendering than elegance, even at the risk of the
translation appearing laboured and puerile. This should not, however, be
carried to the extent of distorting his own idiom in order to imitate the
idiomatic turns and expressions of the original. In this translation, I
have endeavoured to keep as close to the sense and the literary form of the
original as possible, but when there is conflict between the two
desiderata, I have not hesitated to give the first the preference. I have
also made use of a deliberately archaic English as, in my opinion,
harmonizing better with the subject. It means much to the reader of the
translation of an Old Irish text to have the atmosphere of the original
transferred as perfectly as may be, and this end is attained by preserving
its archaisms and quaintness of phrase, its repetitions and inherent
crudities and even, without suppression or attenuation, the grossness of
speech of our less prudish ancestors, which is also a mark of certain
primitive habits of life but which an over-fastidious translator through
delicacy of feeling might wish to omit. These side-lights on the
semi-barbaric setting of the Old Irish sagas are of scarcely less interest
and value than the literature itself.
The Táin Bó Cúalnge, like most of the Irish saga-tales as they have come
down to us in their Middle Irish dress, is chiefly in prose, but
interspersed with verse. The verse-structure is very intricate and is
mostly in strophic form composed of verses of fixed syllabic length, rhymed
and richly furnished with alliteration. There is a third form of speech
which is neither prose nor verse, but partakes of the character of both, a
sort of irregular, rhymeless verse, without strophic division and
exceedingly rich in alliteration, internal rhyme and assonance. This kind
of speech, resembling in a way the dithyrambic passages in the Old
Testament, was known to the native Irish scholars as _rosc_ and it is
usually marked in the manuscripts by the abbreviation _R_. It was used in
short, impetuous outbursts on occasions of triumph or mourning.
While, on the whole, I believe the student will feel himself safer with a
prose translation of a poem than with one in verse, it has seemed to me
that a uniform translation of the Táin Bó Cúalnge in prose would destroy
one of its special characteristics, which is that in it both prose and
verse are mingled. It was not in my power, however, to reproduce at once
closely and clearly the metrical schemes and the rich musical quality of
the Irish and at the same time compress within the compass of the Irish
measure such an analytic language as English, which has to express by means
of auxiliaries what is accomplished in Early Irish by inflection. But I
hope to have accomplished the main object of distinguishing the verse from
the prose without sacrifice of the thought by the simple device of turning
the verse-passages into lines of the same syllabic length as those of the
original--which is most often the normal seven-syllable line--but without
any attempt at imitating the rhyme-system or alliteration.
In order not to swell the volume of the book, the notes have been reduced
to the indispensable minimum, reserving the commentary and the apparatus of
illustrative material for another volume, which we hope some day to be able
to issue, wherein more definitely critical questions can be discussed.
There are a few Irish words which have been retained in the translation and
which require a word of explanation: The Old Irish _geis_ (later, also
_geas_[12]; plural _geasa_) has as much right to a place in the English
vocabulary as the Polynesian word _tabu_, by which it is often translated.
It is sometimes Englished "injunction," "condition," "prohibition," "bond,"
"ban," "charm," "magical decree," or translated by the Scots-Gaelic
"spells," none of which, however, expresses the idea which the word had
according to the ancient laws of Ireland. It was an adjuration by the
honour of a man, and was either positive or negative. The person adjured
was either compelled or made in duty bound to do a certain thing, or, more
commonly, was prohibited from doing it. The Old Irish _gilla_ is often
translated "vassal," "youth," "boy," "fellow," "messenger," "servant,"
"page," "squire" and "guide," but these words bear false connotations for
the society of the time, as does the Anglicised form of the word, "gillie,"
which smacks of modern sport. It meant originally a youth in the third of
the six ages of man. Compare the sense of the word _varlet_ or _valet_ in
English, which was once "a more honourable title; for all young gentlemen,
untill they come to be eighteen years of age, were termed so" (Cotgrave),
and of the same word in Old French, which was "un jeune homme de condition
honorable" (J. Loth, _Les Mabinogion_, I, page 40, note). A _liss_ or
_rath_ is a fortified place enclosed by a circular mound or trench, or
both. A _dûn_ is a fortified residence surrounded by an earthen rampart.
In the case of names of places and persons, I have thought it best to
adhere as closely as possible to the spellings used in the LL. manuscript
itself. It is of the utmost importance to get the names of Irish places and
of Irish heroes correctly determined and to discard their English corrupted
spellings. There are certain barbarisms, however, such as Slane (Slemain),
Boyne (Boann), and perhaps even Cooley (Cualnge), which have been
stereotyped in their English dress and nothing is to be gained by reforming
them. The forms _Erin_ (dative of _Eriu_, the genuine and poetic name of
the island) and _Alba_ have been retained throughout instead of the hybrids
"Ireland" and "Scotland." Final _e_ is occasionally marked with a grave
(_e.g._ Manè, Darè) to show that it is not silent as it often is in
English.
I quite perceive that I have not always succeeded in reproducing the
precise shade of meaning of words certain of which had become antiquated
and even unintelligible to the native scholars of the later Middle Irish
period themselves. This is especially true of the passages in _rosc_, which
are fortunately not numerous and which were probably intentionally made as
obscure and allusive as possible, the object being, perhaps, as much the
music of the words as the sense. Indeed, in some cases, I have considered
myself fortunate if I have succeeded in getting their mere drift. No one
takes to heart more than the present writer the truth of Zimmer's remark,
that "it needs no great courage to affirm that _not one_ of the living
Celtic scholars, _with_ all the aids at their disposal, possesses such a
ready understanding of the contents of, for example, the most important Old
Irish saga-text, "The Cualnge Cattle-raid," as was required thirty or more
years ago in Germany of a good Gymnasium graduate in the matter of the
Homeric poems and _without_ aids of any kind."[13] However, in spite of its
defects, I trust I have not incurred the censure of Don Quijote[14] by
doing what he accuses bad translators of and shown the wrong side of the
tapestry, thereby obscuring the beauty and exactness of the work, and I
venture to hope that my translation may prove of service in leading
students to take an interest in the language and literature of Ireland.
WORKS ON THE TÁIN BÓ CÚALNGE
(Our Bibliography has no Pretension at being Complete)
The Táin has been analysed by J.T. Gilbert, in the facsimilé edition of
LU., pages xvi-xviii, based on O'Curry's unpublished account written about
1853; by Eugene O'Curry in his "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of
Ancient Irish History," pages 28-40, Dublin, 1861; by John Rhys in his
"Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic
Heathendom," page 136, the Hibbert Lectures, London, 1898; by J.A.
MacCulloch in "The Religion of the Ancient Celts," pages 127 and 141,
London, 1911; in the Celtic Magazine, vol. xiii, pages 427-430, Inverness,
1888; by Don. Mackinnon in the Celtic Review, vol. iv, page 92, Edinburgh,
1907-8; by H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, in Bibliothèque de l'école des
chartes, tome xl, pages 148-150, Paris, 1879; by Bryan O'Looney, in the
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Second Series, vol. I, pages
242-248, Dublin, 1879; by H. Lichtenberger, "Le Poème et la Légende des
Nibelungen," pages 432-434, Paris, 1891; by Eleanor Hull, in "A Text Book
of Irish Literature," Pt. I, p. 24, Dublin and London, 1906; by Victor
Tourneur, "La Formation du Táin Bó Cúalnge," in Mélanges Godefroid Kurth,
II, 413-424, Liège, 1908; by E.C. Quiggin, in the Encyclopedia Britannica,
11th edition, page 626.
The text of the Táin is found in whole or in part in the facsimilé reprints
published by the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 1870 and following; viz.: the
Book of Leinster, folios 53b-104b; the Book of the Dun Cow, folios 55a-82b,
and the Yellow Book of Lecan, folios 17a.-53a; in "Die Altirische
Heldensage, Táin Bó Cúalnge, herausgegeben von Ernst Windisch, Irische
Texte, Extraband, Leipzig, 1905"; from LU. and YBL., by John Strachan and
J.G. O'Keeffe, as a supplement to Ériu, vol. i, Dublin, 1904 and fol.; our
references to LU. and YBL. are from this edition as far as it appeared;
from that point, the references to YBL. are to the pages of the facsimilé
edition; the LU. text of several passages also is given by John Strachan in
his "Stories from the Tain," which first appeared in Irisleabhar na
Gaedhilge ("The Gaelic Journal"), Dublin; reprinted, London and Dublin,
1908; Max Nettlau, "The Fer Diad Episode of the Tain Bo Cuailnge," Revue
Celtique, tome x, pages 330-346, tome xi, pages 23-32, 318-343; "The
Fragment of the Tain Bo Cuailnge in MS. Egerton 93," Revue Celtique, tome
xiv, pages 254-266, tome xv, pages 62-78, 198-208; R. Thurneysen, "Táin Bó
Cúailghni nach H. 2. 17," Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, Bd. viii,
S. 525-554; E. Windisch, "Táin Bó Cúailnge nach der Handschrift Egerton
1782," Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, Bd. ix, S. 121-158. The text
of "The Fight at the Ford," from the Murphy MS. 103 (written about 1760),
is printed in Irisleabhar Muighe Nuadhad, Dublin, 1911, pp. 84-90.
The Táin has been translated by Bryan O'Looney in a manuscript entitled
"Tain Bo Cualnge. Translated from the original vellum manuscript known as
the Book of Leinster, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. To which
are added the ancient Prologues, Prefaces, and the Pretales or Stories,
Adventures which preceded the principal Expedition or Tain, from various
vellum MSS. in the Libraries of Trinity College and the Royal Irish
Academy, Dublin, 1872." (A good translation, for its time. For O'Looney's
works on the Táin, see the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Second
Series, Vol. i, No. 11, Polite Literature and Antiquities, Dublin, 1875;
for W.J. Hennessy's, see The Academy, No. 873, Lee, "Dictionary of National
Biography," xxv, 1891, pages 424-425, and V. Tourneur, "Esquisse d'une
histoire des études celtiques," page 90, note 5.) The Royal Irish Academy
contains another manuscript translation of the Táin (24, M, 39), by John
O'Daly, 1857. It is a wretched translation. In one place, O'Daly speaks of
William Rily as the translator. L. Winifred Faraday's "The Cattle-Raid of
Cualnge," London, 1904, is based on LU. and YBL. Two copies of a complete
translation of the LL. text dating from about 1850 is in the possession
of John Quinn, Esq., of New York City. H. d'Arbois de Jubainville
translated the Táin from the LL. text, but with many omissions: "Enlèvement
[du Taureau Divin et] des Vaches de Cooley," Revue Celtique, tomes
xxviii-xxxii, Paris, 1907 and fl. Eleanor Hull's "The Cuchullin Saga,"
London, 1898, contains (pages 111-227) an analysis of the Táin and a
translation by Standish H. O'Grady of portions of the Add. 18748 text. "The
Táin, An Irish Epic told in English Verse," by Mary A. Hutton, Dublin,
1907, and Lady Augusta Gregory's, "Cuchulain of Muirthemne," London, 1903,
are paraphrases. The episode "The Boyish Feats of Cuchulinn" was translated
by Eugene O'Curry, "On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish,"
Vol. i, Introduction, pages 359-366, and the episode "The Fight of Ferdiad
and Cuchulaind," was translated by W.K. Sullivan, ibid., Vol. ii, Lectures,
Vol. i, Appendix, pages 413-463.
Important studies on the Táin have come from the pen of Heinrich Zimmer:
"Über den compilatorischen Charakter der irischen Sagentexte im sogenannten
Lebor na hUidre," Kuhn's Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, Bd.
xxviii, 1887, pages 417-689, and especially pages 426-554; "Keltische
Beiträge," Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum und deutsche Litteratur,
Vol. xxxii, 1888, pages 196-334; "Beiträge zur Erklärung irischer
Sagentexte," Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, Bd. i, pages 74-101, and
Bd. iii, pages 285-303. See also, William Ridgeway, "The Date of the first
Shaping of the Cuchulainn Saga," Oxford, 1907; H. d'Arbois de Jubainville,
"Étude sur le Táin Bó Cúalnge," Revue Celtique, tome xxviii, 1907, pages
17-40; Alfred Nutt, "Cuchulainn, the Irish Achilles," in Popular Studies in
Mythology, Romance and Folklore, No. 8, London, 1900. The Celtic Magazine,
Vol. xiii, pages 319-326, 351-359, Inverness, 1888, contains an English
translation of a degenerated Scottish Gaelic version taken down by A.A.
Carmichael, in Benbecula; the Gaelic text was printed in the Transactions
of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, Vol. ii. In the same volume of the
Celtic Magazine, pages 514-516, is a translation of a version of the Táin,
taken down in the island of Eigg. Eleanor Hull's "Cuchulain, the Hound of
Ulster," London, 1911, is a retelling of the story for younger readers. The
following, bearing more or less closely upon the Táin, are also to be
mentioned: Harry G. Tempest, "Dun Dealgan, Cuchulain's Home Fort," Dundalk,
1910; A.M. Skelly, "Cuchulain of Muirtheimhne," Dublin, 1908; Standish
O'Grady, "The Coming of Cuculain," London, 1894, "In the Gates of the
North," Kilkenny, 1901, "Cuculain, A Prose Epic," London, 1882 and the same
author's "History of Ireland: the Heroic Period," London, 1878-80; "The
High Deeds of Finn, and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland," by
T.W. Rolleston, London, 1910; Stephen Gwynn, "Celtic Sagas Re-told," in his
"To-day and To-morrow in Ireland," pages 38-58, Dublin, 1903; Edward
Thomas, "Celtic Stories," Oxford, 1911; "Children of Kings," by W. Lorcan
O'Byrne, London, 1904, and "The Boy Hero of Erin," by Charles Squire,
London, 1907.
Among the many poems which have taken their theme from the Táin and the
deeds of Cuchulain may be mentioned: "The Foray of Queen Meave," by Aubrey
de Vere, Poetic Works, London, 1882, vol. ii, pages 255-343; "The Old Age
of Queen Maeve," by William Butler Yeats, Collected Works, vol. I, page 41,
London, 1908; "The Defenders of the Ford," by Alice Milligan, in her "Hero
Lays," page 50, Dublin, 1908; George Sigerson, "Bards of the Gael and the
Gall," London, 1897; "The Tain-Quest," by Sir Samuel Ferguson, in his "Lays
of the Western Gael and other Poems," Dublin, 1897; "The Red Branch Crests,
A Trilogy," by Charles Leonard Moore, London, 1906; "The Laughter of
Scathach," by Fiona Macleod, in "The Washer of the Ford and Barbaric
Tales"; Hector Maclean, "Ultonian Hero-Ballads collected in the Highlands
and Western Isles of Scotland," Glasgow, 1892; ballad versions from
Scotland are found in Leabhar na Feinne, pages 1 and fol., in J.G.
Campbell's "The Fians," pages 6 and fol., and in the Book of the Dean
of Lismore.
Finally, scenes from the Táin have been dramatized by Canon Peter O'Leary,
in the Cork "Weekly Examiner," April 14, 1900 and fol., by Sir Samuel
Ferguson, "The Naming of Cuchulain: A Dramatic Scene," first played in
Belfast, March 9, 1910; in "The Triumph of Maeve," A Romance in dramatic
form, 1906; "Cuchulain," etc., (A Cycle of Plays, by S. and J. Varian,
Dublin), and in "The Boy-Deeds of Cuchulain," A Pageant in three Acts,
performed in Dublin in 1909.
[1] "L'histoire entière de l'Irlande est une énigme si on n'a pas sans
cesse à l'esprit ce fait primordial que le climat humide de l'île est
tout à fait contraire à la culture des céréales, mais en revanche
éminemment favorable à l'élevage du bétail, surtout de la race bovine,
car le climat est encore trop humide pour l'espèce ovine." F. Lot, in
_La Grande Encyclopédie_, xx, 956.
[2] As it is to this day in some parts of Ireland, and as for example
a female slave was sometimes appraised at three head of cattle among
the ancient Gaels.
[3] In fact the Clan Mackay was known as the Clan of the creaghs, and
their perpetuation was enjoined on the rising generation from the
cradle; See _The Old Highlands_, vol. III., p. 338, Glasgow.
[4] Pronounced approximately _Thawin' bow Hooln'ya_.
[5] _Revue Celtique_, 1895, tome xvi. pp. 405-406; _Rerum Hibernicarum
Scriptores_, ii. 14.
[6] _Mors Conchulaind fortissimi herois Scottorum la Lugaid mac trí
con, i. ri Muman, agus la Ercc, i. ri Temrach, mac Coirpri Niad fir,
agus la trí maccu Calattin de Chonnachtaib; vii. mbliadna a aes intan
rogab gaisced. xvii. mbliadna dano a aes intan mbói indegaid Tána Bó
Cúalnge. xxvii. bliadna immorro a aes intan atbath. Revue Celtique,_
tome xvi. page 407.
[7] Ridgeway.
[8] See H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, _Essai d'un catalogue de la
littérature épique de l'Irlande_, Paris, 1883, pages 214-216, and the
Supplement to the same by G. Dottin, _Revue Celtique_, t. xxxiii,
pages 34-35; Donald Mackinnon, _A Descriptive Catalogue of Gaelic
Manuscripts_, Edinburgh, 1912, pp. 174, 220; E. Windisch, Táin Bó
Cúalnge, _Einleitung und Vorrede_, S. lx. ff.
[9] Facsimilé, page 288, foot margin.
[10] Facsimilé, page 275, top margin.
[11] Vd. Robert Atkinson, _The Book of Leinster_, Introduction, pages
7-8; J.H. Todd, _Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, Rerum Britannicarum medii
aevi scriptores_, 1867, Introduction, pages ix and ff. Eugene O'Curry,
_On the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History_, page 186;
Ernst Windisch, _Táin Bó Cúalnge_, pages 910-911.
[12] Pronounced _gesh_ or _gas_.
[13] "Es gehört keine grosse Kühnheit dazu zu behaupten, dass keiner
der lebenden Keltologen beispielsweise von dem wichtigsten altirischen
Sagentext 'Der Rinderraub von Cualnge' ... mit allen vorhandenen
Hilfsmitteln ein solches fortlaufendes Verständnis des Inhalts hat,
wie von einem guten Gymnasialabiturienten hinsichtlich der homerischen
Gedichte ohne jegliches Hilfsmittel vor gut 30 Jahren in Deutschland
verlangt wurde."--_Die Kultur der Gegenwart_, herausgegeben von Paul
Hinneberg, Berlin, 1909. Teil I, Abt. xi, I. S. 75.
[14] Part II, chap, lxii (Garnier Hermanos edition, page 711).
* * * * *
[Page 1]
Here beginneth Táin Bó Cúalnge
The Cualnge Cattle-raid
I
THE PILLOW-TALK
[W.1.] [LL.fo.53.] Once of a time, that Ailill and Medb had spread their
royal bed in Cruachan, the stronghold of Connacht, such was the pillow-talk
that befell betwixt them:
Quoth Ailill: "True is the saying, lady, 'She is a well-off woman that is a
rich man's wife.'" "Aye, that she is," answered the wife; "but wherefore
opin'st thou so?" "For this," Ailill replied, "that thou art this day
better off than the day that first I took thee." Then answered Medb: "As
well-off was I before I ever saw thee." "It was a wealth, forsooth, we
never heard nor knew of," Ailill said; "but a woman's wealth was all thou
hadst, and foes from lands next thine were used to carry off the spoil and
booty that they took from thee." "Not so was I," quoth Medb; "the High King
of Erin himself was my sire, Eocho Fedlech ('the Enduring') son of Finn, by
name, who was son of Findoman, son of Finden, son of Findguin, son of Rogen
Ruad ('the Red'), son of Rigen, son of Blathacht, son of Beothacht, son of
Enna Agnech, son of Oengus Turbech. Of daughters, had he six: Derbriu,
Ethne and Ele, Clothru, Mugain and Medb, myself, that was the noblest and
seemliest of them. 'Twas I was the goodliest of them in bounty [W.17.] and
gift-giving, [1]in riches and treasures.[1] 'Twas I was best of them in
battle and strife and combat. 'Twas I that had fifteen hundred royal
mercenaries of the sons of aliens exiled from their own land, and as many
more of the sons of freemen of the land. And there were ten men with every
one of these hirelings, [2]and nine men with every hireling,[2] and eight
men with every hireling, and seven men with every hireling, and six men
with every hireling, and five men with every hireling, [3]and four men with
every hireling,[3] and three men with every hireling, and two men with
every hireling, and one hireling with every hireling. These were as a
standing household-guard," continued Medb; "hence hath my father bestowed
one of the five provinces of Erin upon me, even the province of Cruachan;
wherefore 'Medb of Cruachan' am I called. Men came from Finn son of Ross
Ruad ('the Red'), king of Leinster, to seel me [4]for a wife, and I refused
him;[4] and from Carbre Niafer ('the Champion') son of Ross Ruad ('the
Red'), king of Temair,[a] [5]to woo me, and I refused him;[5] and they came
from Conchobar son of Fachtna Fathach ('the Mighty'), king of Ulster,
[6]and I refused him in like wise.[6] They came from Eocho Bec ('the
Small'), and I went not; for 'tis I that exacted a singular bride-gift,
such as no woman before me had ever required of a man of the men of Erin,
namely, a husband without avarice, without jealousy, without fear. For
should he be mean, the man with whom I should live, we were ill-matched
together, inasmuch as I am great [LL.fo.54a.] in largess and gift-giving,
and it would be a disgrace for my husband if I should be better [W.34.] at
spending than he, [1]and for it to be said that I was superior in wealth
and treasures to him[1], while no disgrace would it be were one as great as
the other[a]. Were my husband a coward, 'twere as unfit for us to be mated,
for I by myself and alone break battles and fights and combats, and 'twould
be a reproach for my husband should his wife be more full of life than
himself, and no reproach our being equally bold. Should he be jealous, the
husband with whom I should live, that too would not suit me, for there
never was a time that I had not my paramour[b]. Howbeit, such a husband
have I found, namely in thee thyself, Ailill son of Ross Ruad ('the Red')
of Leinster. Thou wast not churlish; thou wast not jealous; thou wast not a
sluggard. It was I plighted thee, and gave purchase-price to thee, which
of right belongs to the bride--of clothing, namely, the raiment of twelve
men, a chariot worth thrice seven bondmaids, the breadth of thy face of red
gold[c], the weight of thy left forearm of silvered bronze. Whoso brings
shame and sorrow and madness upon thee, no claim for compensation nor
satisfaction hast thou therefor that I myself have not, [2]but it is to me
the compensation belongs,"[2] said Medb, "for a man dependent upon a
woman's maintenance is what thou art."[d]
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] Stowe and H. 1. 13.
[3-3] Stowe and H. 1. 13.
[4-4] Stowe and Add.
[a] That is, from the supreme king of Ireland.
[5-5] Stowe and Add.
[6-6] Stowe and Add.
[1-1] Stowe and, similarly Add.
[a] A short sentence in LL., which is probably corrupt, is omitted
here.
[b] Literally, "A man behind (in) the shadow of another."
[c] Instead of a ring, which would be given to the bride.
[2-2] Add. and H. 1. 13.
[d] For a detailed explanation of this entire passage see H. Zimmer,
in the _Sitzungsberichte der Köninglich Preussischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften_, 16 Februar, 1911. _philosophisch historischen Classe,
Seite 217_.
"Nay, not such was my state," said Ailill; "but two brothers had I; one of
them over Temair, the other over Leinster; namely, Finn, over Leinster, and
Carbre, over Temair. I left the kingship to them because they were [W.52.]
older but not superior to me in largess and bounty. Nor heard I of province
in Erin under woman's keeping but this province alone. And for this I came
and assumed the kingship here as my mother's successor; for Mata of Muresc,
daughter of Magach [1]of Connacht,[1] was my mother. And who could there be
for me to have as my queen better than thyself, being, as thou wert,
daughter of the High King of Erin?" "Yet so it is," pursued Medb, "my
fortune is greater than thine." "I marvel at that," Ailill made answer,
"for there is none that hath greater treasures and riches and wealth than
I: yea, to my knowledge there is not."
[1-1] Add. and H. 1. 13.
* * * * *
[Page 5]
II
[1]THE OCCASION OF THE TÁIN[1]
[W.62.] Then were brought to them the least precious of their possessions,
that they might know which of them had the more treasures, riches and
wealth. Their pails and their cauldrons and their iron-wrought vessels,
their jugs and their keeves and their eared pitchers were fetched to them.
[1-1] Add. and Stowe.
Likewise, their rings and their bracelets and their thumb-rings and their
golden treasures were fetched to them, and their apparel, both purple and
blue and black and green, yellow, vari-coloured and gray, dun, mottled and
brindled.
Their numerous flocks of sheep were led in from fields and meeds and
plains. These were counted and compared, and found to be equal, of like
size, of like number; however, there was an uncommonly fine ram over Medb's
sheep, and he was equal in worth to a bondmaid, but a corresponding ram was
over the ewes of Ailill.
Their horses and steeds and studs were brought from pastures and paddocks.
There was a noteworthy horse in Medb's herd and he was of the value of a
bondmaid; a horse to match was found among Ailill's.
Then were their numerous droves of swine driven from woods and shelving
glens and wolds. These were numbered and counted and claimed. There was a
noteworthy boar With Medb, and yet another with Ailill.
Next they brought before them their droves of cattle [W.77.] and their
herds and their roaming flocks from the brakes and wastes of the province.
These were counted and numbered and claimed, and were the same for both,
equal in size, equal in number, except only there was an especial bull
of the bawn of Ailill, and he was a calf of one of Medb's cows, and
Finnbennach ('the Whitehorned') was his name. But he, deeming it no honour
to be in a woman's possession, [LL.fo.54b.] had left and gone over to the
kine of the king. And it was the same to Medb as if she owned not a
pennyworth, forasmuch as she had not a bull of his size amongst her cattle.
Then it was that macRoth the messenger was summoned to Medb, and Medb
strictly bade macRoth to learn where there might be found a bull of that
likeness in any of the provinces of Erin. "Verily," said macRoth, "I know
where the bull is that is best and better again, in the province of Ulster,
in the hundred of Cualnge, in the house of Darè son of Fiachna; even Donn
Cualnge ('the Brown Bull of Cualnge') he is called."
"Go thou to him, macRoth, and ask for me of Darè the loan for a year of the
Brown Bull of Cualnge, and at the year's end he shall have the meed of the
loan, to wit, fifty heifers and the Donn Cualnge himself. And bear thou a
further boon with thee, macRoth. Should the border-folk and those of the
country grudge the loan of that rare jewel that is the Brown Bull of
Cualnge, let Darè himself come with his bull, and he shall get a measure
equalling his own land of the smooth Plain of Ai and a chariot of the worth
of thrice seven bondmaids and he shall enjoy my own close friendship."[a]
[a] Literally, "Habebit amicitiam fermoris mei."
Thereupon the messengers fared forth to the house of Darè son of Fiachna.
This was the number wherewith macRoth went, namely, nine couriers. Anon
welcome was [W.99.] lavished on macRoth in Darè's house--fitting, welcome
it was--chief messenger of all was macRoth. Darè asked of macRoth what had
brought him upon the journey and why he was come. The messenger announced
the cause for which he was come and related the contention between Medb and
Ailill.
"And it is to beg the loan of the Brown Bull of Cualnge to match the
Whitehorned that I am come," said he; "and thou shalt receive the hire of
his loan, even fifty heifers and the Brown of Cualnge himself. And yet more
I may add: Come thyself with thy bull and thou shalt have of the land of
the smooth soil of Mag Ai as much as thou ownest here, and a chariot of the
worth of thrice seven bondmaids and enjoy Medb's friendship to boot."
At these words Darè was well pleased, and he leaped for joy so that the
seams of his flock-bed rent in twain beneath him.
"By the truth of our conscience," said he; "however the Ulstermen take it,
[1]whether ill or well,[1] this time this jewel shall be delivered to
Ailill and to Medb, the Brown of Cualnge to wit, into the land of
Connacht." Well pleased was macRoth at the words of the son of Fiachna.
[1-1] Stowe and Add.
Thereupon they were served, and straw and fresh rushes were spread under
them. The choicest of food was brought to them and a feast was served to
them and soon they were noisy and drunken. And a discourse took place
between two of the messengers. "'Tis true what I say," spoke the one; "good
is the man in whose house we are." "Of a truth, he is good." "Nay, is there
one among all the men of Ulster better than he?" persisted the first. "In
sooth, there is," answered the second messenger. "Better is Conchobar whose
man he is, [2]Conchobar who holds the kingship of the province.[2] And
though all the Ulstermen [W.120.] gathered around him, it were no shame
for them. Yet is it passing good of Darè, that what had been a task for the
four mighty provinces of Erin to bear away from the land of Ulster, even
the Brown Bull of Cualnge, is surrendered so freely to us nine footmen."
[2-2] Stowe and Add.
Hereupon a third runner had his say: "What is this ye dispute about?" he
asked. "Yon runner says, 'A good man is the man in whose house we are.'"
"Yea, he is good," saith the other. "Is there among all the Ulstermen any
that is better than he?" demanded the first runner further. "Aye, there
is," answered the second runner; "better is Conchobar whose man he is; and
though all the Ulstermen gathered around him, it were no shame for them.
Yet, truly good it is of Darè, that what had been a task for four of the
grand provinces of Erin to bear away out of the borders of Ulster is handed
over even unto us nine footmen." "I would not grudge to see a retch of
blood and gore in the mouth whereout that was said; for, were the bull not
given [LL.fo.55a.] willingly, yet should he be taken by force!"
At that moment it was that Darè macFiachna's chief steward came into the
house and with him a man with drink and another with food, and he heard the
foolish words of the runners; and anger came upon him, and he set down
their food and drink for them and he neither said to them, "Eat," nor did
he say, "Eat not."
Straightway he went into the house where was Darè macFiachna and said: "Was
it thou that hast given that notable jewel to the messengers, the Brown
Bull of Cualnge?" "Yea, it was I," Darè made answer. "Verily, it was not
the part of a king to give him. For it is true what they say: Unless thou
hadst bestowed him of thine own free will, so wouldst thou yield him in
despite of thee by the host of Ailill and Medb and by the great cunning of
Fergus macRoig." "I swear by the gods whom I worship," [W.143.] [1]spoke
Darè,[1] "they shall in no wise take by foul means what they cannot take by
fair!"
[1-1] Stowe and Add.
There they abide till morning. Betimes on the morrow the runners arise and
proceed to the house where is Darè. "Acquaint us, lord, how we may reach
the place where the Brown Bull of Cualnge is kept." "Nay then," saith Darè;
"but were it my wont to deal foully with messengers or with travelling folk
or with them that go by the road, not one of you would depart alive!" "How
sayest thou?" quoth macRoth. "Great cause there is," replied Darè; "ye
said, unless I yielded in good sort, I should yield to the might of
Ailill's host and Medb's and the great cunning of Fergus."
"Even so," said macRoth, "whatever the runners drunken with thine ale and
thy viands have said, 'tis not for thee to heed nor mind, nor yet to be
charged on Ailill and on Medb." "For all that, macRoth, this time I will
not give my bull, if ever I can help it!"
Back then the messengers go till they arrive at Cruachan, the stronghold of
Connacht. Medb asks their tidings, and macRoth makes known the same: that
they had not brought his bull from Darè. "And the reason?" demanded Medb.
MacRoth recounts to her how the dispute arose. "There is no need to polish
knots over such affairs as that, macRoth; for it was known," said Medb, "if
the Brown Bull of Cualnge would not be given with their will, he would be
taken in their despite, and taken he shall be!"
[2]To this point is recounted the Occasion of the Táin.[2]
[2-2] Stowe and Add.
* * * * *
[Page 10]
III
[1]THE RISING-OUT OF THE MEN OF CONNACHT AT CRUACHAN AI[1]
[W.161.] [2]A mighty host was now assembled by the men of Connacht, that
is, by Ailill and Medb, and they sent word to the three other provinces,
and[2] messengers were despatched from Medb to the Manè that they should
gather in Cruachan, the seven Manè with their seven divisions; to wit: Manè
"Motherlike," Manè "Fatherlike," and Manè "All-comprehending", [3]'twas he
that possessed the form of his mother and of his father and the dignity of
them both;[3] Manè "Mildly-submissive," and Manè "Greatly-submissive," Manè
"Boastful" [4]and Manè "the Dumb."[4]
[1-1] Add.
[2-2] LU. 1-2; with these words, the LU. version begins, fo. 55a.
[3-3] LU. 182.
[4-4] Stowe and Add.
Other messengers were despatched [5]by Ailill[5] to the sons of Maga; to
wit: to Cet ('the First') son of Maga, Anluan ('the Brilliant Light') son
of Maga, and Maccorb ('Chariot-child') son of Maga, and Bascell ('the
Lunatic') son of Maga, and En ('the Bird') son of Maga, Dochè son of Maga;
and Scandal ('Insult') son of Maga.
[5-5] Eg. 1782.
These came, and this was their muster, thirty hundred armed men. Other
messengers were despatched from them to Cormac Conlongas ('the Exile') son
of Conchobar and to Fergus macRoig, and they also came, thirty hundred
their number.
[W.173.] [1]Now Cormac had three companies which came to Cruachan.[1]
Before all, the first company. A covering of close-shorn [2]black[2] hair
upon them. Green mantles and [3]many-coloured cloaks[3] wound about them;
therein, silvern brooches. Tunics of thread of gold next to their skin,
[4]reaching down to their knees,[4] with interweaving of red gold.
Bright-handled swords they bore, with guards of silver. [5]Long shields
they bore, and there was a broad, grey spearhead on a slender shaft in the
hand of each man.[5] "Is that Cormac, yonder?" all and every one asked.
"Not he, indeed," Medb made answer.
[1-1] LU. 7.
[2-2] Add.
[3-3] LU. 8.
[4-4] LU. 9.
[5-5] LU. 9-10.
The second troop. Newly shorn hair they wore [6]and manes on the back of
their heads,[6] [7]fair, comely indeed.[7] Dark-blue cloaks they all had
about them. Next to their skin, gleaming-white tunics, [LL.fo.55b.] [8]with
red ornamentation, reaching down to their calves.[8] Swords they had with
round hilts of gold and silvern fist-guards, [9]and shining shields upon
them and five-pronged spears in their hands.[9] "Is yonder man Cormac?" all
the people asked. "Nay, verily, that is not he," Medb made answer.
[6-6] Eg. 1782.
[7-7] Add.
[8-8] LU. 11-12.
[9-9] LU. 12-13.
[10]Then came[10] the last troop. Hair cut broad they wore; fair-yellow,
deep-golden, loose-flowing back hair [11]down to their shoulders[11] upon
them. Purple cloaks, fairly bedizened, about them; golden, embellished
brooches over their breasts; [12]and they had curved shields with sharp,
chiselled edges around them and spears as long as the pillars of a king's
house in the hand of each man.[12] Fine, long, silken tunics [13]with
hoods[13] they wore to the very instep. Together they raised their feet,
and together they set them down again. "Is that Cormac, yonder?" asked
all. "Aye, it is he, [14]this time,[14]" Medb made answer.
[10-10] Eg. 1782.
[11-11] LU. 16.
[12-12] LU. 17-18.
[13-13] LU. 15.
[14-14] Eg. 1782.
[W.186.] [1]Thus the four provinces of Erin gathered in Cruachan Ai.[1]
They pitched their camp and quarters that night, so that a thick cloud of
smoke and fire rose between the four fords of Ai, which are, Ath Moga, Ath
Bercna, Ath Slissen and Ath Coltna. And they tarried for the full space of
a fortnight in Cruachan, the hostel of Connacht, in wassail and drink and
every disport, to the end that their march and muster might be easier.
[2]And their poets and druids would not let them depart from thence till
the end of a fortnight while awaiting good omen.[2] And then it was that
Medb bade her charioteer to harness her horses for her, that she might go
to address herself to her druid, to seek for light and for augury from him.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] LU. 20-21.
* * * * *
[Page 13]
IV
THE FORETELLING[a]
[W.194.] When Medb was come to the place where her druid was, she craved
light and augury of him. "Many there be," saith Medb, "who do part with
their kinsmen and friends here to-day, and from their homes and their
lands, from father and from mother; and unless unscathed every one shall
return, upon me will they cast their sighs and their ban, [1]for it is I
that have assembled this levy.[1] Yet there goeth not forth nor stayeth
there at home any dearer to me than are we to ourselves. And do thou
discover for us whether we ourselves shall return, or whether we shall
never return."
[a] This heading is taken from the colophon at the end of the chapter.
[1-1] LU. 23-24.
And the druid made answer, "Whoever comes not, thou thyself shalt come."
[2]"Wait, then," spake the charioteer," let me wheel the chariot by the
right,[b] that thus the power of a good omen may arise that we return
again."[2] Then the charioteer wheeled his chariot round and Medb went back
[3]again,[3] when she espied a thing that surprised her: A lone virgin
[4]of marriageable age[4] standing on the hindpole of a chariot a little
way off drawing nigh her. And thus the maiden appeared: Weaving lace was
she, and in her right hand was a bordering rod of silvered [W.204.] bronze
with its seven strips of red gold at the sides. A many-spotted green mantle
around her; a bulging, strong-headed pin [1]of gold[1] in the mantle over
her bosom; [2]a hooded tunic, with red interweaving, about her.[2] A ruddy,
fair-faced countenance she had, [3]narrow below and broad above.[3] She had
a blue-grey and laughing eye; [4]each eye had three pupils.[4] [5]Dark and
black were her eyebrows; the soft, black lashes threw a shadow to the
middle of her cheeks.[5] Red and thin were her lips. Shiny and pearly were
her teeth; thou wouldst believe they were showers of white pearls that had
rained into her head. Like to fresh Parthian crimson were her lips. As
sweet as the strings of lutes [6]when long sustained they are played by
master players' hands[6] was the melodious sound of her voice and her fair
speech.
[2-2] LU. 24-25.
[b] Right-hand wise, as a sign of a good omen.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
[3-3] LU. 29.
[4-4] LU. 35-36.
[5-5] LU. 31.
[6-6] Adopting Windisch's emendation of the text.
As white as snow in one night fallen was the sheen of her skin and her body
that shone outside of her dress. Slender and very white were her feet;
rosy, even, sharp-round nails she had; [7]two sandals with golden buckles
about them.[7] Fair-yellow, long, golden hair she wore; three braids of
hair [8]she wore; two tresses were wound[8] around her head; the other
tress [9]from behind[9] threw a shadow down on her calves. [10]The maiden
carried arms, and two black horses were under her chariot.[10]
[7-7] LU. 29.
[8-8] Eg. 1782.
[9-9] Add.
[10-10] LU. 36.
Medb gazed at her. "And what doest thou here now, O maiden?" asked Medb. "I
impart [LL.fo.56a.] to thee thine advantage and good fortune in thy
gathering and muster of the four mighty provinces of Erin against the land
of Ulster on the Raid for the Kine of Cualnge." "Wherefore doest thou this
for me?" asked Medb. "Much cause have I. A bondmaid 'mid thy people am I."
"Who of [W.220.] my people art thou [1]and what is thy name[1]?" asked
Medb. "Not hard, in sooth, to say. The prophetess Fedelm, from the Sid
('the Fairy Mound') of Cruachan, [2]a poetess of Connacht[2] am I."
[3]"Whence comest thou?" asked Medb. "From Alba, after learning prophetic
skill," the maiden made answer. "Hast thou the form of divination?"[b]
"Verily, have I," the maiden said.[3] [4]"Look, then, for me, how will my
undertaking be." The maiden looked. Then spake Medb:--[4]
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
[3-3] LU. 39-41.
[b] _Imbass forosna_, 'illumination between the hands.'
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
"Good now,
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
[5]Fedelm answered and spoke:[5]
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
[5-5] Eg. 1782.
[6]"That is no true augury,"[6] said Medb. "Verily, Conchobar [7]with the
Ulstermen[7] is in his 'Pains' in Emain; thither fared my messengers [8]and
brought me true tidings[8]; naught is there that we need dread from
Ulster's men. But speak truth, O Fedelm:--
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
[6-6] LU. 44.
[7-7] Eg. 1782.
[8-8] Eg. 1782.
[9]"That is no true augury.[9] Cuscraid Mend ('the Stammerer') of Macha,
Conchobar's son, is in Inis Cuscraid ('Cuscraid's Isle') in his 'Pains.'
Thither fared my messengers; naught need we fear from Ulster's men. But
speak truth, O Fedelm:--
[W.233.] "Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
[9-9] LU. 48.
"Eogan, Durthacht's son, is in Rath Airthir ('the Eastern Rath') in his
'Pains.' Thither went my messengers. Naught need we dread from Ulster's
men. But speak truth, O Fedelm:--
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
"Celtchar, Uthechar's son, is in his fort [1]at Lethglas[1] in his 'Pains,'
[2]and a third of the Ulstermen with him.[2] Thither fared my messengers.
Naught have we to fear from Ulster's men. [3]And Fergus son of Roig son of
Eochaid is with us here in exile, and thirty hundred with him.[3] But speak
truth, O Fedelm:--
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
[1-1] LU. 50.
[2-2] LU. 49.
[3-3] LU. 50-51.
"Meseemeth this not as it seemeth to thee," quoth Medb, "for when Erin's
men shall assemble in one place, there quarrels will arise and broils,
contentions and disputes amongst them about the ordering of themselves in
the van or rear, at ford or river, over who shall be first at killing a
boar or a stag or a deer or a hare. But, [4]look now again for us and[4]
speak truth, O Fedelm:--
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
[4-4] LU. 55.
Therewith she began to prophesy and to foretell the coming of Cuchulain to
the men of Erin, and she chanted a lay:--
[W.255.] "[a]Fair, of deeds, the man I see;
Wounded sore is his fair skin;
On his brow shines hero's light;
Victory's seat is in his face!
"Seven gems of champions brave
Deck the centre of his orbs;
Naked are the spears he bears,
And he hooks a red cloak round!
"Noblest face is his, I see;
He respects all womankind.
Young the lad and fresh his hue,
With a dragon's form in fight!
"I know not who is the Hound,
Culann's hight,[b] [1]of fairest fame[1];
But I know full well this host
Will be smitten red by him!
"Four small swords--a brilliant feat--
He supports in either hand;
These he'll ply upon the host,
Each to do its special deed!
"His Gae Bulga,[c] too, he wields,
With his sword and javelin.
Lo, the man in red cloak girt
Sets his foot on every hill!
"Two spears [2]from the chariot's left[2]
He casts forth in orgy wild.
And his form I saw till now
Well I know will change its guise!
"On to battle now he comes;
If ye watch not, ye are doomed.
This is he seeks ye in fight
Brave Cuchulain, Sualtaim's son!
"All your host he'll smite in twain,
Till he works your utter ruin.
[W.291.] All your heads ye'll leave with him.
Fedelm, prophet-maid, hides not!
"Gore shall flow from warriors' wounds;
Long 'twill live in memory.
[LL.fo.56b.] Bodies hacked and wives in tears,
Through the Smith's Hound[a] whom I see!"
[a] The Eg. 1782 version of this poem differs in several details
from LL.
[b] That is, Cu Chulain, 'the Hound of Culann.'
[1-1] Tranlating from LU. 65, Stowe and Add.
[c] The _Gae Bulga_, 'barbed spear,' which only Cuchulain could wield.
[2-2] Translating from LU. 72, Add. and Stowe; 'from the left,' as a
sign of enmity.
[a] That is, Cuchulain. See page 17.
Thus far the Augury and the Prophecy and the Preface of the Tale, and the
Occasion of its invention and conception, and the Pillow-talk which Ailill
and Medb had in Cruachan. [1]Next follows the Body of the Tale itself.[1]
[1-1] Stowe and Add.
* * * * *
[Page 19]
V
THIS IS THE ROUTE OF THE TÁIN
[W.301.] and the Beginning of the Expedition and the Names of the Roads
which the hosts of the four of the five grand provinces of Erin took into
the land of Ulster. [1]On Monday after Summer's end[1] [2]they set forth
and proceeded:[2]
[1-1] LU. 81.
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
[3]South-east from Cruachan Ai,[3] by Mag Cruimm, over Tuaim Mona ('the
Hill of Turf'), by Turloch Teora Crich ('the Creek of three Lands'), by Cul
('the Nook') of Silinne, by Dubloch ('Black Lough'), [4]by Fid Dubh ('Black
Woods'),[4] by Badbgna, by Coltain, by the Shannon, by Glune Gabur, by Mag
Trega, by Tethba in the north, by Tethba in the south, by Cul ('the Nook'),
by Ochain, northwards by Uatu, eastwards by Tiarthechta, by Ord ('the
Hammer'), by Slaiss ('the Strokes'), [5]southwards,[5] by Indeoin ('the
Anvil'), by Carn, by Meath, by Ortrach, by Findglassa Assail, ('White
Stream of Assail'), by Drong, by Delt, by Duelt, by Delinn, by Selaig, by
Slabra, by Slechta, where swords hewed out roads before Medb and Ailill, by
Cul ('the Nook') of Siblinne, by Dub ('the Blackwater'), by Ochonn
[6]southwards,[6] by Catha, by Cromma [7]southwards,[7] by Tromma,
[8]eastwards[8] by Fodromma, by Slane, by Gort Slane, [9]to the south
of[9] Druim Liccè, by Ath Gabla, by Ardachad ('Highfield'), [W.356.]
[1]northwards[1] by Feorainn, by Finnabair ('White Plain'), by Assa
[2]southwards,[2] by Airne, by Aurthuile, by Druim Salfind ('Salfind
Ridge'), by Druim Cain, by Druim Caimthechta, by Druim macDega, by the
little Eo Dond ('Brown Tree'), by the great Eo Dond, by Meide in Togmaill
('Ferret's Neck'), by Meide in Eoin, ('Bird's Neck'), by Baille ('the
Town'), by Aile, by Dall Scena, by Ball Scena, by Ross Mor ('Great Point'),
by Scuap ('the Broom'), by Imscuap, by Cenn Ferna, by Anmag, by Fid Mor
('Great Wood') in Crannach of Cualnge, [3]by Colbtha, by Crond in
Cualnge,[3] by Druim Cain on the road to Midluachar, [4]from Finnabair of
Cualnge. It is at that point that the hosts of Erin divided over the
province in pursuit of the bull. For it was by way of those places they
went until they reached Finnabair. Here endeth the Title. The Story
begineth in order.[4]
[3-3] Stowe and Add.
[4-4] LU. 87, Stowe and Add.
[5-5] LU. 96. and Stowe.
[6-6] Eg. 1782.
[7-7] Eg. 1782.
[8-8] LU. 113.
[9-9] LU. 116.
[1-1] LU. 119.
[2-2] LU. 121.
[3-3] LU. 146-148.
[4-4] LU. 149-161.
* * * * *
[Page 21]
VI
THE MARCH OF THE HOST
[W.389.] On the first stage the hosts went [1]from Cruachan,[1] they slept
the night at Cul Silinne, [2]where to-day is Cargin's Lough.[2] And [3]in
that place[3] was fixed the tent of Ailill son of Ross, [4]and the
trappings were arranged, both bedding and bed-clothes.[4] The tent of
Fergus macRoig was on his right hand; Cormac Conlongas, Conchobar's son,
was beside him; Ith macEtgaith next to that; Fiachu macFiraba, [5]the son
of Conchobar's daughter,[5] at its side; [6]Conall Cernach at its side,[6]
Gobnenn macLurnig at the side of that. The place of Ailill's tent was on
the right on the march, and thirty hundred men of Ulster beside him. And
the thirty hundred men of Ulster on his right hand had he to the end that
the whispered talk and conversation and the choice supplies of food and of
drink might be the nearer to them.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] Translating from Stowe.
[4-4] LU. 156-157.
[5-5] LU. 160.
[6-6] Eg. 1782.
Medb of Cruachan, [7]daughter of Eocho Fedlech,[7] moreover, was at
Ailill's left. Finnabair ('Fairbrow'), [8]daughter of Ailill and Medb,[8]
at her side, [9]besides servants and henchmen.[9] Next, Flidais Foltchain
('of the Lovely Hair'), wife first of Ailill Finn ('the Fair'). She took
part in the Cow-spoil of Cualnge after she had slept with Fergus; and she
it was that every seventh night brought sustenance [W.404.] in milk to the
men of Erin on the march, for king and queen and prince and poet and pupil.
[7-7] LU. 160.
[8-8] LU. 161.
[9-9] Eg. 1782.
Medb remained in the rear of the host that day in quest of tidings and
augury [LL.fo.57a.] and knowledge. [1]She called to her charioteer to get
ready her nine chariots for her,[1] [2]to make a circuit of the camp[2]
that she might learn who was loath and who eager to take part in the
hosting. [3]With nine chariots[a] she was wont to travel, that the dust of
the great host might not soil her.[3] Medb suffered not her chariot to be
let down nor her horses unyoked until she had made a circuit of the camp.
[1-1] LU. 153.
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
[3-3] Gloss in LU. fo. 56b, 3.
[a] Following the emendation suggested by L. Chr. Stern, _Zeitschrift
für Celtische Philologie, Band_ II, S. 417, LU. has 'nine charioteers.'
Then, [4]when she had reviewed the host,[4] were Medb's horses unyoked and
her chariots let down, and she took her place beside Ailill macMata. And
Ailill asked tidings of Medb: who was eager and who was loath for the
warfare. "Futile for all is the emprise but for one troop only, [5]namely
the division of the Galian ('of Leinster'),"[5] quoth Medb. [6]"Why blamest
thou these men?" queried Ailill. "It is not that we blame them," Medb made
answer.[6] "What good service then have these done that they are praised
above all?" asked Ailill. "There is reason to praise them," said Medb.
[7]"Splendid are the warriors.[7] When the others begin making their pens
and pitching their camp, these have finished building their bothies and
huts. When the rest are building their bothies and huts, these have
finished preparing their food and drink. When the rest are preparing their
food and drink, these have finished eating and feasting, [8]and their harps
are playing for them.[8] When all the others have finished eating and
feasting, these are by that [W.422.] time asleep. And even as their
servants and thralls are distinguished above the servants and thralls of
the men of Erin, so shall their heroes and champions be distinguished
beyond the heroes and champions of the men of Erin this time on this
hosting. [1]It is folly then for these to go, since it is those others will
enjoy the victory of the host.[1]" "So much the better, I trow," replied
Ailill; "for it is with us they go and it is for us they fight." "They
shall not go with us nor shall they fight for us." [2]cried Medb.[2] "Let
them stay at home then," said Ailill. "Stay they shall not," answered
Medb. "[3]They will fall on us in the rear and will seize our land against
us.[3]" "What shall they do then," Finnabair[a] asked, "if they go not out
nor yet remain at home?" "Death and destruction and slaughter is what I
desire for them," answered Medb. "For shame then on thy speech," spake
Ailill; "[4]'tis a woman's advice,[4] for that they pitch their tents
and make their pens so promptly and unwearily." "By the truth of my
conscience," cried Fergus, [5]"not thus shall it happen, for they are
allies of us men of Ulster.[5] No one shall do them to death but he that
does death to myself [6]along with them!"[6]
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
[5-5] LU. 164 and Stowe.
[6-6] LU. 165.
[7-7] LU. 165.
[8-8] LU. 168.
[1-1] LU. 169.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] LU. 171-172.
[a] 'Ailill,' in Eg. 1782.
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
[5-5] LU. 175-176.
[6-6] Stowe
"Not to me oughtest thou thus to speak, O Fergus," then cried Medb, "for I
have hosts enough to slay and slaughter thee with the division of
Leinstermen round thee. For there are the seven Manè, [7]that is, my seven
sons[7] with their seven divisions, and the sons of Maga with their
[8]seven[8] divisions, and Ailill with his division, and I myself with my
own body-guard besides. We are strong enough here to kill and slaughter
thee with thy cantred of the Leinstermen round thee!"
[7-7] LU. 179.
[8-8] Add.
"It befits thee not thus to speak to me," said Fergus, [W.439.] "for
I have with me here [1]in alliance with us Ulstermen,[1] the seven
Under-kings of Munster, with their seven cantreds. [2]Here we have what is
best of the youths of Ulster, even the division of the Black Banishment.[2]
Here we have what is best of the noble youths of Ulster, even the division
of the Galian ('of Leinster'). Furthermore, I myself am bond and surety and
guarantee for them, since ever they left their own native land. [3]I will
give thee battle in the midst of the camp,[3] and to me will they hold
steadfast on the day of battle. More than all that," added Fergus, "these
men shall be no subject of dispute. By that I mean I will never forsake
them. [4]For the rest, we will care for these warriors, to the end that
they get not the upper hand of the host.
[1-1] LU. 184.
[2-2] Reading with Stowe; LL. appears to be corrupt. This was the name
given to Fergus, Cormac and the other exiles from Ulster.
[3-3] Eg. 1782.
"The number of our force is seventeen cantreds, besides our rabble and our
women-folk--for with each king was his queen in Medb's company--and our
striplings; the eighteenth division is namely the cantred of the Galian.[4]
This division of Leinstermen I will distribute among [5]all the host of[5]
the men of Erin in such wise that no five men of them shall be in any one
place." "That pleaseth me well," said Medb: "let them be as they may, if
only they be not in the battle-order of the ranks where they now are in
such great force."
[4-4] LU. 187-192.
[5-5] Eg. 1782.
Forthwith Fergus distributed the cantred [6]of the Galian[6] among the men
of Erin in such wise that there were not five men of them in any one place.
[6-6] Stowe and Add.
[LL.fo.57b.] Thereupon, the troops set out on their way and march. It was
no easy thing [7]for their kings and their leaders[7] to attend to that
mighty host. They took part in the expedition [W.453.] according to the
several tribes and according to the several stems and the several districts
wherewith they had come, to the end that they might see one other and know
one other, that each man might be with his comrades and with his friends
and with his kinsfolk on the march. They declared that in such wise they
should go. They also took counsel in what manner they should proceed on
their hosting. Thus they declared they should proceed: Each host with its
king, each troop with its lord, and each band with its captain; each king
and each prince of the men of Erin [1]by a separate route[1] on his halting
height apart. They took counsel who was most proper to seek tidings in
advance of the host between the two provinces. And they said it was Fergus,
inasmuch as the expedition was an obligatory one with him, for it was he
that had been seven years in the kingship of Ulster. And [2]after Conchobar
had usurped the kingship and[2] after the murder of the sons of Usnech who
were under his protection and surety, Fergus left the Ultonians, and for
seventeen years he was away from Ulster in exile and in enmity. For that
reason it was fitting that he above all should go after tidings.
[7-7] Stowe.
[1-1] Stowe and Add.
[2-2] Stowe and Add.
So [3]the lead of the way was entrusted to Fergus.[3] Fergus before all
fared forth to seek tidings, and a feeling of [4]love and[4] affection for
his kindred of the men of Ulster came over him, and he led the troops
astray in a great circuit to the north and the south. And he despatched
messengers with warnings to the Ulstermen, [5]who were at that time in
their 'Pains' except Cuchulain and his father Sualtaim.[5] And he began to
detain and delay the host [6]until such time as the men of Ulster should
have gathered together an army.[6] [7]Because of affection he did so.[7]
[3-3] Eg. 1782.
[4-4] Stowe.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 217.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 227.
[7-7] Eg. 1782.
[W.472.] Medb perceived this and she upbraided him for it, and chanted the
lay:--
Medb: "Fergus, speak, what shall we say?
What may mean this devious way?
For we wander north and south;
Over other lands we stray!"
Fergus: "Medb, why art thou so perturbed?
There's no treacherous purpose here.
Ulster's land it is, O queen,
Over which I've led thy host!"
Medb: "Ailill, splendid with his hosts,
[1]Fears thee lest thou should'st betray.[1]
Thou hast not bent all thy mind
To direct us on our way!"
Fergus: "Not to bring the host to harm
Make these changing circuits I.
Haply could I now avoid
Sualtach's son, the Blacksmith's Hound!"[a]
Medb: "Ill of thee to wrong our host,
Fergus, son of Ross the Red;
Much good hast thou found with us,
Fergus, in thy banishment!"
"[2]If thou showest our foemen love,
No more shalt thou lead our troops;
Haply someone else we'll find
To direct us on our way![2]"
[1-1] Reading with LU. and YBL. 252.
[a] That is, Cuchulain.
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
"I will be in the van of the troops no longer," cried Fergus; "but do thou
find another to go before them." For all that, Fergus kept his place in
the van of the troops.
The four mighty provinces of Erin passed that night on Cul Silinne. The
sharp, keen-edged anxiety for Cuchulain came upon Fergus and he warned the
men of Erin to be on their guard, because there would come upon them the
rapacious lion, and the doom of foes, the vanquisher of multitudes, and the
chief of retainers, the mangler of great hosts, the hand that dispenseth
[3]treasures,[3] and the flaming [W.502.] torch, even Cuchulain son of
Sualtaim.[a] And thus he foreshowed him and chanted a lay, and Medb
responded:--
Fergus: "Well for ye to heed and watch,
With array of arms and men.
He will come, the one we fear,
Murthemne's great, deedful youth!"
Medb: "How so dear, this battle-rede,
Comes from thee, [LL.fo.58a.] Roig's son most bold.
Men and arms have I enough
To attend Cuchulain here!"
Fergus: "Thou shalt need them, Medb of Ai,
Men and arms for battle hard,
With the grey steed's[b] horseman brave.
All the night and all the day!"
Medb: "I have kept here in reserve
Heroes fit for fight and spoil;
Thirty hundred hostage-chiefs,
Leinster's bravest champions they.
Fighting men from Cruachan fair,
Braves from clear-streamed Luachair,
Four full realms of goodly Gaels
Will defend me from this man!"
Fergus: "Rich in troops from Mourne and Bann,
Blood he'll draw o'er shafts of spears;
He will cast to mire and sand
These three thousand Leinstermen.
With the swallow's swiftest speed,
With the rush of biting wind,
So bounds on my dear brave Hound,
Breathing slaughter on his foes!"
Medb: "Fergus, should he come 'tween us,
To Cuchulain bear this word:
He were prudent to stay still;
Cruachan holds a check in store."
Fergus: "Valiant will the slaughter be
Badb's wild daughter[c] gloats upon.
For the Blacksmith's Hound will spill
Showers of blood on hosts of men!"
[3-3] Stowe and Add.
[a] MS.: _Sualtach._
[b] _Liath Mache_ ('the Roan of Macha'), the name of one of Cuchulain's
two horses.
[c] That is, the goddess or fury of battle.
[W.540.] After this lay the men of the four grand provinces of Erin marched
[1]on the morrow[1] over Moin Coltna ('the Marsh of Coltain') eastwards
that day; and there met them eight score deer [2]in a single herd.[2] The
troops spread out and surrounded and killed them so that none of them
escaped.
[1-1] LU. 195.
[2-2] Stowe and Add.
But there is one event to add: Although the division of the Galian had been
dispersed [3]among the men of Erin,[3] [4]wherever there was a man of the
Galian, it was he that got them, except[4] five deer only which was the men
of Erin's share thereof, so that one division took all the eight score
deer.
[3-3] Stowe and Add.
[4-4] LU. 196.
[5]Then they proceed to Mag Trega and they unyoke there and prepare their
food. It is said that it is there that Dubthach recited this stave:--
"Grant ye have not heard till now,
Giving ear to Dubthach's fray:
Dire-black war upon ye waits,
'Gainst the Whitehorned of Queen Medb![a]
"There will come the chief of hosts,[b]
War for Murthemne to wage.
Ravens shall drink garden's milk,[c]
This the fruit of swineherds' strife (?)[d]
"Turfy Cron will hold them back,
Keep them back from Murthemne,[5]
[9]Till the warriors' work is done
On Ochainè's northern mount!
"'Quick,' to Cormac, Ailill cries;
'Go and seek ye out your son,
Loose no cattle from the fields,
Lest the din of the host reach them!'
"Battle they'll have here eftsoon,
Medb and one third of the host.
Corpses will be scattered wide
If the Wildman[a] come to you!"
[a] Literally, 'of Ailill's spouse.'
[b] That is, Cuchulain.
[c] A kenning for 'blood.'
[d] Referring to the two bulls, the Brown and the Whitehorned, which
were the re-incarnations through seven intermediate stages of two
divine swineherds of the gods of the under-world. The story is told in
_Irische Texte_, iii, i, pp. 230-275.
[5-5] LU. 198-205.
[a] Literally, 'the Contorted one'; that is, Cuchulain.
Then Nemain, [1]the Badb to wit,[1] attacked them, and that was not the
quietest of nights they had, with the noise of the churl, namely Dubthach,
in their[b] sleep. Such fears he scattered amongst the host straightway,
and he hurled a great stone at the throng till Medb came to check him. They
continued their march then till they slept a night in Granard Tethba in the
north,[9] [2]after the host had made a circuitous way across sloughs and
streams.[2]
[1-1] Gloss in YBL. 211.
[b] 'his' Eg. 1782.
[9-9] YBL. and LU. 206-215. With this passage YBL. begins, fo. 17a.
[2-2] LU. 215.
[W.547.] It was on that same day, [3]after the coming of the warning from
Fergus[3] [4]to the Ulstermen,[4] that Cuchulain son of Sualtaim, [5]and
Sualtaim[5] Sidech ('of the Fairy Mound'), his father, [6]when they had
received the warning from Fergus,[6] came so near [7]on their watch for the
host[7] that their horses grazed in pasture round the pillar-stone on Ard
Cuillenn ('the Height of Cuillenn'). Sualtaim's horses cropped the grass
north of the pillar-stone close to the ground; Cuchulain's cropped the
grass south of the pillar-stone even to the ground and the bare stones.
"Well, O master Sualtaim," said Cuchulain; "the thought of the host is
fixed sharp upon me [8]to-night,[8] so do thou depart for us with warnings
to the men of Ulster, that they remain not in the smooth plains but that
they betake themselves to the woods and wastes and steep glens of the
province, if so they may keep out of the way of the men of Erin." "And
thou, lad, what wilt thou do?" "I must go southwards to Temair to keep
tryst with the [W.556.] maid[a] of Fedlimid Nocruthach ('of the Nine
Forms') [1]Conchobar's daughter,[1] according to my own agreement, till
morning." "Alas, that one should go [2]on such a journey,"[2] said
Sualtaim, "and leave the Ulstermen under the feet of their foes and their
enemies for the sake of a tryst with a woman!" "For all that, I needs must
go. For, an I go not, the troth of men will be held for false and the
promises of women held for true."
[3-3] LU. 218
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
[5-5] _Sualtach_, in LL.
[6-6] Eg. 1782.
[7-7] Eg. 1782.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 220.
[a] "Who was secretly as a concubine with Cuchulain"; gloss in LU. and
YBL. 222 and Eg. 1782.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] Stowe and Add.
Sualtaim departed with warnings to the men of Ulster. Cuchulain strode
into the wood, and there, with a single blow, he lopped the prime sapling
of an oak, root and top, and with only one foot and one hand and one eye he
exerted himself; and he made a twig-ring thereof and set an ogam[b] script
on the plug of the ring, and set the ring round the narrow part of the
pillar-stone on Ard ('the Height') of Cuillenn. He forced the ring till it
reached the thick of the pillar-stone. Thereafter Cuchulain went his way to
his tryst with the woman.
[b] The old kind of writing of the Irish.
Touching the men of Erin, the account follows here: They came up to the
pillar-stone at Ard Cuillenn, [3]which is called Crossa Coil to-day,[3] and
they began looking out upon the province that was unknown to them, the
province of Ulster. And two of Medb's people went always before them in the
van of the host, at every camp and on every march, at every ford and every
river [LL.fo.58b.] and every gap. They were wont to do so [4]that they
might save the brooches and cushions and cloaks of the host, so that the
dust of the multitude might not soil them[4] and that no stain might come
on the princes' raiment in the crowd or the crush of the hosts or the
throng;--these were the two sons of Nera, who was the son of Nuathar,
[W.575.] son of Tacan, two sons of the house-stewards of Cruachan, Err and
Innell, to wit. Fraech and Fochnam were the names of their charioteers.
[3-3] Eg. 1782.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 245-246.
The nobles of Erin arrived at the pillar-stone and they there beheld the
signs of the browsing of the horses, cropping around the pillar, and they
looked close at the rude hoop which the royal hero had left behind about
the pillar-stone. [1]Then sat they down to wait till the army should come,
the while their musicians played to them.[1] And Ailill took the withy in
his hand and placed it in Fergus' hand, and Fergus read the ogam script
graven on the plug of the withy, and made known to the men of Erin what was
the meaning of the ogam writing that was on it. [2]When Medb came, she
asked, "Why wait ye here?" "Because of yonder withy we wait," Fergus made
answer; "there is an ogam writing on its binding and this is what it saith:
'Let no one go past here till a man be found to throw a withy like unto
this, using only one hand and made of a single branch, and I except my
master Fergus.' Truly," Fergus added, "it was Cuchulain threw it, and it
was his steeds that grazed this plain." And he placed the hoop in the hands
of the druids,[2] and it is thus he began to recite and he pronounced a
lay:--
"What bespeaks this withe to us,
What purports its secret rede?
And what number cast it here,
Was it one man or a host?
"If ye go past here this night,
And bide not [3]one night[3] in camp.
On ye'll come the tear-flesh Hound;
Yours the blame, if ye it scorn!
"[4]Evil on the host he'll bring,[4]
If ye go your way past this.
[W.596.] Find, ye druids, find out here,
For what cause this withe was made!"
[1]A druid speaks[1]:
"Cut by hero, cast by chief,
As a perfect trap for foes.
Stayer of lords--with hosts of men--
One man cast it with one hand!
"With fierce rage the battle 'gins
Of the Smith's Hound of Red Branch.[a]
Bound to meet this madman's rage;
This the name that's on the withe!
[2]"Would the king's host have its will--
Else they break the law of war--
Let some one man of ye cast,
As one man this withe did cast![2]
"Woes to bring with hundred fights
On four realms of Erin's land;
Naught I know 'less it be this
For what cause the withe was made!"
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 250.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 252-258.
[3-3] Reading with Stowe, Add. and H. 1. 13.
[4-4] Reading with LU. and YBL. 261.
[1-1] LU., marginal note.
[a] The name of the festal hall of the kings of Ulster.
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
After that lay: "I pledge you my word," said Fergus, "if so ye set at
naught yon withy and the royal hero that made it, [3]and if ye go beyond[3]
without passing a night's camp and quarterage here, or until a man of you
make a withy of like kind, using but one foot and one eye and one hand,
even as he made it, [4]certain it is, whether ye be[4] under the ground or
in a tight-shut house, [5]the man that wrote the ogam hereon[5] will bring
slaughter and bloodshed upon ye before the hour of rising on the morrow, if
ye make light of him!" "That, surely, would not be pleasing to us," quoth
Medb, "that any one should [6]straightway[6] spill our blood or besmirch us
red, now that we are come to this unknown province, even to the province of
Ulster. More pleasing would it be to us, to spill another's blood and
redden him." "Far be it from us to set this [W.618.] withy at naught," said
Ailill, "nor shall we make little of the royal hero that wrought it, rather
will we resort to the shelter of this great wood, [1]that is, Fidduin,
('the Wood of the Dûn')[1] southwards till morning. There will we pitch our
camp and quarters."
[3-3] LU. 270.
[4-4] Reading with Stowe.
[5-5] LU. 271.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 273.
[1-1] A gloss in YBL. 274; found also in Eg. 1782.
Thereupon the hosts advanced, and as they went they felled the wood with
their swords before their chariots, so that Slechta ('the Hewn Road') is
still the by-name of that place where is Partraige Beca ('the Lesser
Partry') south-west of Cenannas na Rig ('Kells of the Kings') near Cul
Sibrille.
[2]According to other books, it is told as follows: After they had come to
[3]Fidduin[3] they saw a chariot and therein a beautiful maiden. It is
there that the conversation between Medb and Fedelm the seeress took place
that we spoke of before, and it is after the answer she made to Medb that
the wood was cut down: "Look for me," said Medb, "how my journey will be."
"It is hard for me," the maiden made answer, "for no glance of eye can I
cast upon them in the wood." "Then it is plough-land this shall be," quoth
Medb; "we will cut down the wood." Now, this was done, so that this is the
name of the place, Slechta, to wit.[2]
[2-2] YBL. 276-283.
[3-3] '_Fedaduin_,' MS.
[4]They slept in Cul Sibrille, which is Cenannas.[4] A heavy snow fell on
them that night, and so great it was that it reached to the shoulders[a]
of the men and to the flanks of the horses and to the poles[b] of the
chariots, so that all the provinces of Erin were one level plane from the
snow. But no huts nor bothies nor tents did they set up that night, nor did
they [LL.fo.59.] prepare food nor drink, nor made they a meal nor repast.
None of the men of Erin [W.630.] wot whether friend or foe was next him
until the bright hour of sunrise on the morrow.
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
[a] 'Girdles,' LU. and YBL. 284; 'shields,' Eg. 1782.
[b] 'Wheels,' LU. and YBL. 285 and Eg. 1782.
Certain it is that the men of Erin experienced not a night of encampment or
of station that held more discomfort or hardship for them than that night
[1]with the snow[1] at Cul Sibrille. The four grand provinces of Erin moved
out early on the morrow [2]with the rising of the bright-shining sun
glistening on the snow[2] and marched on from that part into another.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 287.
[2-2] Reading with Stowe.
Now, as regards Cuchulain: It was far from being early when he arose
[3]from his tryst.[3] And then he ate a meal and took a repast, and [4]he
remained until he had[4] washed himself and bathed on that day.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 288.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 289.
He called to his charioteer to lead out the horses and yoke the chariot.
The charioteer led out the horses and yoked the chariot, and Cuchulain
mounted his chariot. And they came on the track of the army. They found
the trail of the men of Erin leading past them from that part into another.
"Alas, O master Laeg," cried Cuchulain, "by no good luck went we to our
tryst with the woman last night. [5]Would that we had not gone thither nor
betrayed the Ultonians.[5] This is the least that might be looked for from
him that keeps guard on the marches, a cry, or a shout, or an alarm, or to
call, 'Who goes the road?' This it fell not unto us to say. The men of Erin
have gone past us, [6]without warning, without complaint,[6] into the land
of Ulster." "I foretold thee that, O Cuchulain," said Laeg. "Even though
thou wentest to thy woman-tryst [7]last night,[7] such a disgrace would
come upon thee." "Good now, O Laeg, go thou for us on the trail of the host
and make an estimate of them, and discover [W.649.] for us in what number
the men of Erin went by us."
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 290.
[6-6] Stowe.
[7-7] Stowe.
Laeg came on the track of the host, and he went to the front of the trail
and he came on its sides and he went to the back of it. "Thou art confused
in thy counting, O Laeg, my master," quoth Cuchulain. "Confused I must be,"
Laeg replied. [1]"It is not confusedly that I should see, if I should go,"
said Cuchulain.[1] "Come into the chariot then, and I will make a reckoning
of them." The charioteer mounted the chariot and Cuchulain went on the
trail of the hosts and [2]after a long while[2] he made a reckoning of
them. [3]"Even thou, it is not easy for thee.[3] Thou art perplexed in thy
counting, my little Cuchulain," quoth Laeg. "Not perplexed," answered
Cuchulain; [4]"it is easier for me than for thee.[4] [5]For I have three
magical virtues: Gift of sight, gift of understanding, and gift of
reckoning.[5] For I know the number wherewith the hosts went past us,
namely, eighteen cantreds. Nay more: the eighteenth cantred has been
distributed among [6]the entire host of[6] the men of Erin, [7]so that
their number is not clear, namely, that of the cantred of Leinstermen."[7]
[8]This here is the third cunningest [9]and most difficult[9] reckoning
that ever was made in Erin. These were: The reckoning by Cuchulain of the
men of Erin on the Táin, the reckoning by Lug Lamfota ('Long-hand') of the
host of the Fomorians [10]in the Battle of Moytura,[10] and the reckoning
by Incel of the host in the Hostel of Da Derga.[8]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 294-295.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 297.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 297.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 297-298.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 298-299.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 302.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 302.
[8-8] Stowe.
[9-9] LU. fo. 58a, in the margin.
[10-10] LU. fo. 58a, in the margin.
Now, many and divers were the magic virtues that were in Cuchulain [11]that
were in no one else in his day.[11] Excellence of form, excellence of
shape, excellence of build, excellence [W.661.] in swimming, excellence in
horsemanship, excellence in chess and in draughts, excellence in battle,
excellence in contest, excellence in single combat, excellence in
reckoning, excellence in speech, excellence in counsel, excellence in
bearing, excellence in laying waste and in plundering from the neighbouring
border.
[11-11] Stowe, and LU. fo. 58a, 24, marginal note.
"Good, my friend Laeg. Brace the horses for us to the chariot; lay on the
goad for us on the horses; drive on the chariot for us and give thy left[a]
board to the hosts, to see can we overtake the van or the rear or the midst
of the hosts, for I will cease to live unless there fall by my hand this
night a friend or foe of the men of Erin."
[a] A sign of enmity.
Then it was that the charioteer gave the prick to the steeds. He turned his
left board to the hosts till he arrived at Turloch[b] Caille More ('the
Creek of the Great Wood') northwards of Cnogba na Rig ('Knowth of the
Kings') which is called Ath Gabla ('the Ford of the Fork'). [1]Thereupon
Cuchulain went round the host till he came to Ath Grenca.[1] He went into
the wood at that place and sprang out of his chariot, and he lopped off a
four-pronged fork, root and top, with a single stroke [2]of his sword.[2]
He pointed and charred it and put a writing in ogam on its side, and he
gave it a long throw from the hinder part of his chariot with the tip of a
single hand, in such wise that two-thirds of it sank into the ground and
only one-third was above it [3]in the mid part of the stream, so that no
chariot could go thereby on this side or that.[3]
[b] _Belach_ ('the Pass'), Eg. 1782.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 304.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 305.
Then it was that the same two striplings surprised him, namely, the two
sons of Nera son of Nuathar son of Tacan, while engaged in that feat. And
they vied which of the twain [4]would be the first to fight and contend
with Cuchuain, which of them[4] would inflict the first wound upon [W.680.]
him and be the first to behead him. Cuchulain turned on them, and
straightway he struck off their four heads [1]from themselves [2]Eirr and
Indell[2] and [3]from Foich and Fochlam,[3] their drivers,[1] and he fixed
a head of each man of them on each of the prongs of the pole. And Cuchulain
let the horses of the party go back in the direction of the men of Erin, to
return by the same road, their reins loose [4]around their ears[4] and
their bellies red and the bodies of the warriors dripping their blood down
outside on the ribs of the chariots. [5]Thus he did,[5] for he deemed it no
honour nor deemed he it fair to take horses or garments or arms from
corpses or from the dead. And then the troops saw the horses of the party
that had gone out in advance before them, and the headless bodies of the
warriors oozing their blood down on the ribs of the chariots ([6]and their
crimsoned trappings upon them[6]). The van of the army waited for the rear
to come up, and all were thrown into confusion of striking, that is as much
as to say, into a tumult of arms.
[4-4] Stowe.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 306.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 306.
[4-4] Stowe.
[5-5] Stowe.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 310.
Medb and Fergus and the Manè and the sons of Maga drew near. For in this
wise was Medb wont to travel, and nine chariots with her alone; two of
these chariots before her, and two chariots behind, and two chariots at
either side, and her own chariot in the middle between them. This is why
Medb did so, that the turves from the horses' hoofs, or the flakes of foam
from the bridle-bits, or the dust of the mighty host or of the numerous
throng might not reach the queen's diadem of gold [7]which she wore round
her head.[7] "What have we here?" queried Medb. "Not hard to say," each and
all made answer; [LL.fo.60.] "the horses of the band that went out before
us are here and their bodies lacking their heads in their chariots." They
held [W.702.] a council and they felt certain it was the sign of a
multitude and of the approach of a mighty host, and that it was the
Ulstermen that had come [1]and that it was a battle that had taken place
before them on the ford.[1] And this was the counsel they took: to
despatch Cormac Conlongas, Conchobar's son, from them to learn what was at
the ford; because, even though the Ulstermen might be there, they would not
kill the son of their own king. Thereupon Cormac Conlongas, Conchobar's
son, set forth and this was the complement with which he went, ten hundred
in addition to twenty hundred armed men, to ascertain what was at the
ford. And when he was come, he saw naught save the fork in the middle of
the ford, with four heads upon it dripping their blood down along the stem
of the fork into the stream of the river, [2]and a writing in ogam on the
side,[2] and the signs of the two horses and the track of a single
chariot-driver and the marks of a single warrior leading out of the ford
going therefrom to the eastward. [3]By that time,[3] the nobles of Erin
had drawn nigh to the ford and they all began to look closely at the fork.
They marvelled and wondered who had set up the trophy. [4]"Are yonder
heads those of our people?" Medb asked. "They are our people's, and
our chosen ones'," answered Ailill. One of their men deciphered the
ogam-writing that was on the side of the fork, to wit: 'A single man cast
this fork with but a single hand; and go ye not past it till one man of you
throw it with one hand, excepting Fergus.'[4] "What name have ye men of
Ulster for this ford till now, Fergus?" asked Ailill. "Ath Grenca,"[a]
answered Fergus; "and Ath Gabla ('Ford of the Fork') shall now be its name
forever from this fork," said Fergus. And he recited the lay:--
[7-7] Stowe.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 313.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 314.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 314-318.
[a] So Stowe; LL. has '_Grena_.'
[W.719.] "Grenca's ford shall change its name,
From the strong and fierce Hound's deed.
Here we see a four-pronged fork,
Set to prove all Erin's men!
"On two points--as sign of war--
Are Fraech's head and Fochnam's head;
On its other points are thrust
Err's head and Innell's withal!
"And yon ogam on its side,
Find, ye druids, in due form,
Who has set it upright there?
What host drove it in the ground?"
(A druid answers:)
"Yon forked pole--with fearful strength--
Which thou seest, Fergus, there,
One man cut, to welcome us,
With one perfect stroke of sword!
"Pointed it and shouldered it--
Though this was no light exploit--
After that he flung it down,
To uproot for one of you!
"Grenca was its name till now--
All will keep its memory--
Fork-ford[a] be its name for aye,
From the fork that's in the ford!"
[a] That is, _Ath Gabla_.
After the lay, spake Ailill: "I marvel and wonder, O Fergus, who could have
sharpened the fork and slain with such speed the four that had gone out
before us." "Fitter it were to marvel and wonder at him who with a single
stroke lopped the fork which thou seest, root and top, pointed and charred
it and flung it the length of a throw from the hinder part of his chariot,
from the tip of a single hand, so that it sank over two-thirds into the
ground and that naught save one-third is above; nor was a hole first dug
with his sword, but through a grey stone's flag it was thrust, and thus it
is geis for the men of Erin to proceed to the bed of this ford till one of
ye pull out the fork with the tip of one hand, even as he erewhile drove it
down."
"Thou art of our hosts, O Fergus," said Medb; [W.753.] [1]avert this
necessity from us,[1] and do thou draw the fork for us from the bed of the
ford." "Let a chariot be brought me," cried Fergus, [2]"till I draw it out,
that it may be seen that its butt is of one hewing."[2] And a chariot was
brought to Fergus, and Fergus laid hold [3]with a truly mighty grip[3] on
the fork, and he made splinters and [LL.fo.61a.] scraps of the chariot.
"Let another chariot be brought me," cried Fergus. [4]Another[4] chariot
was brought to Fergus, and Fergus made a tug at the fork and again made
fragments and splinters of the chariot, [5]both its box and its yoke and
its wheels.[5] "Again let a chariot be brought me," cried Fergus. And
Fergus exerted his strength on the fork, and made pieces and bits of the
chariot. There where the seventeen[a] chariots of the Connachtmen's
chariots were, Fergus made pieces and bits of them all, and yet he failed
to draw the fork from the bed of the ford. "Come now, let it be, O Fergus,"
cried Medb; "break our people's chariots no more. For hadst thou not been
now engaged on this hosting, [6]by this time[6] should we have come to
Ulster, driving divers spoils and cattle-herds with us. We wot wherefore
thou workest all this, to delay and detain the host till the Ulstermen rise
from their 'Pains' and offer us battle, the battle of the Táin."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 322.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 324.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] Stowe.
[5-5] Stowe.
[a] "Fourteen," LU. and YBL. 325 and Eg. 1782.
[6-6] Stowe.
"Bring me a swift chariot," cried Fergus. And his own chariot was brought
to Fergus, and Fergus gave a tug at the fork, and nor wheel nor floor nor
one of the chariot-poles creaked nor cracked. Even though it was with his
strength and prowess that the one had driven it down, with his might and
doughtiness the other drew it out,--the battle-champion, the gap-breaker of
hundreds, the crushing sledge, the stone-of-battle for enemies, the
[W.777.] head of retainers, the foe of hosts, the hacking of masses, the
flaming torch and the leader of mighty combat. He drew it up with the tip
of one hand till it reached the slope of his shoulder, and he placed the
fork in Ailill's hand. Ailill scanned it; he regarded it near. "The fork,
meseems, is all the more perfect," quoth Ailill; "for a single stroke I see
on it from butt to top." "Aye, all the more perfect," Fergus replied. And
Fergus began to sing praise [1]of Cuchulain,[1] and he made a lay
thereon:--
"Here behold the famous fork,
By which cruel Cuchulain stood.
Here he left, for hurt to all,
Four heads of his border-foes!
"Surely he'd not flee therefrom,
'Fore aught man, how brave or bold.
Though the scatheless[a] Hound this left,
On its hard rind there is gore!
"To its hurt the host goes east,
Seeking Cualnge's wild Brown bull.
[2]Warriors' cleaving there shall be,[2]
'Neath Cuchulain's baneful sword!
"No gain will their[b] stout bull be,
For which sharp-armed war will rage;
At the fall of each head's skull
Erin's every tribe shall weep!
"I have nothing to relate
As regards Dechtirè's son.[c]
Men and women hear the tale
Of this fork, how it came here!"
[1-1] Stowe.
[a] Literally, 'painless,' referring to Cuchulain's exemption from the
_cess_ or 'debility' of the Ulstermen.
[2-2] Reading with Stowe and H. 1. 13.
[b] Translating from Stowe; LL. has 'his' or 'its.'
[c] That is, Cuchulain.
After this lay: "Let us pitch our booths and tents," said Ailill, "and let
us make ready food and drink, and let us sing songs and strike up harps,
and let us eat and [W.807.] regale ourselves, for, of a truth, never before
nor since knew the men of Erin a night of encampment or of entrenchment
that held sorer discomfort or distress for them than yester-night. [1]Let
us give heed to the manner of folk to whom we go and let us hear somewhat
of their deeds and famous tales."[1]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 329-330.
They raised their booths and pitched their tents. They got ready
[LL.fo.61b.] their food and drink, and songs were sung and harping intoned
by them, and feasting and eating indulged in, [2]and they were told of the
feats of Cuchulain.[2]
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 331.
And Ailill inquired of Fergus: "I marvel and wonder who could have come to
us to our lands and slain so quickly the four that had gone out before
us. Is it likely that Conchobar son of Fachtna Fatach ('the Mighty'), High
King of Ulster, has come to us?" "It is never likely that he has," Fergus
answered; "for a shame it would be to speak ill of him in his absence.
There is nothing he would not stake for the sake of his honour. For if he
had come hither [3]to the border of the land[3], there would have come
armies and troops and the pick of the men of Erin that are with him. And
even though against him in one and the same place, and in one mass and one
march and one camp, and on one and the same hill were the men of Erin and
Alba, Britons and Saxons, he would give them battle, before him they would
break and it is not he that would be routed."
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 333.
"A question, then: Who would be like to have come to us? Is it like that
Cuscraid Mend ('the Stammerer') of Macha would have come, Conchobar's son,
from Inis Cuscraid?" "Nay then, it is not; he, the son of the High King,"
Fergus answered. "There is nothing he would not hazard for the sake of his
honour. For were it he that had come hither, there would have come the
[W.827.] sons of kings and the royal leaders [1]of Ulster and Erin[1] that
are serving as hirelings with him. And though there might be against him in
one and the same place, in one mass and one march and one camp, and on one
and the same hill the men of Erin and Alba, Britons and Saxons, he would
give them battle, before him they would break and it is not he that would
be routed."
[1-1] Stowe.
"I ask, then, whether Eogan son of Durthacht, King of Fernmag, would have
come?" "In sooth, it is not likely. For, had he come hither, the pick of
the men of Fernmag would have come with him, battle he would give them,
before him they would break, and it is not he that would be routed."
"I ask, then: Who would be likely to have come to us? Is it likely that he
would have come, Celtchai son of Uthechar?" "No more is it likely that it
was he. A shame it would be to make light of him in his absence, him the
battle-stone for the foes of the province, the head of all the retainers
and the gate-of-battle of Ulster. And even should there be against him in
one place and one mass and one march and one camp, and on one and the same
hill all the men of Erin from the west to the east, from the south to the
north, battle he would give them, before him they would break and it is not
he that would be routed."
"I ask, then: Who would be like to have come to us?" [2]asked Ailill.[2]
[3]"I know not," Fergus replied,[3] "unless it be the little lad, my
nursling and Conchobar's. Cuchulain ('the Wolf-dog of Culann the Smith')
he is called. [4]He is the one who could have done the deed," answered
Fergus. "He it is who could have lopped the tree with one blow from its
root, could have killed the four with the quickness wherewith they were
killed and could have come to the border with his charioteer."[4]
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 337-340.
[W.843.] "Of a truth," spake Ailill, "I heard from ye of this little boy
once on a time in Cruachan. What might be the age of this little boy now?"
"It is by no means his age that is most formidable in him," answered
Fergus. "Because, manful were his deeds, those of that lad, at a time when
he was younger than he [1]now[1] is. [2]In his fifth year he went in quest
of warlike deeds among the lads of Emain Macha. In his sixth[a] year he
went to learn skill in arms and feats with Scathach,[2] [3]and he went to
woo Emer;[3] [4]in his seventh[b] year he took arms; in his seventeenth
year he is at this time."[4] "How so!" exclaimed Medb. "Is there even now
amongst the Ulstermen one his equal in age that is more redoubtable than
he?" "We have not found there [5]a man-at-arms that is harder,[5] [6]nor a
point that is keener, more terrible nor quicker,[6] nor a more bloodthirsty
wolf, [7]nor a raven more flesh-loving,[7] nor a wilder warrior, nor a
match of his age that would reach to a third or a fourth [LL.fo.62a.] the
likes of Cuchulain. Thou findest not there," Fergus went on, "a hero his
peer, [8]nor a lion that is fiercer, nor a plank of battle,[8] nor a sledge
of destruction, [9]nor a gate of combat,[9] nor a doom of hosts, nor a
contest of valour that would be of more worth than Cuchulain. Thou findest
not there one that could equal his age and his growth, [10]his dress[10]
[11]and his terror,[11] his size and his splendour, [12]his fame and his
voice, his shape and his power,[12] his form and his speech, his strength
and his feats and his valour, [13]his smiting, his heat and his anger,[13]
his dash, his assault and attack, his dealing of [W.857.] doom and
affliction, his roar, his speed, his fury, his rage, and his quick triumph
with the feat of nine men on each sword's point[a] above him, like unto
Cuchulain."
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 342-345.
[a] 'Seventh,' YBL. 344.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 345.
[4-4] LU. 346-347, and, similarly, YBL.
[b] "Eight," YBL.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 349.
[6-6] LU. 349-350.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 350.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 351-352.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 352.
[10-10] LU. and YBL. 354.
[11-11] YBL. 354.
[12-12] LU. and YBL. 355-356.
[13-13 LU. and YBL. 356-357.
[a] Reading with Stowe, LU. and YBL. 359, which is more intelligible
than 'on each hair,' which is the translation of LL.
"We make not much import of him," quoth Medb. "It is but a single body he
has; he shuns being wounded; he avoids being taken. They do say his age is
but that of a girl to be wed. [1]His deeds of manhood have not yet come,[1]
nor will he hold out against tried men, this young, beardless elf-man of
whom thou spokest." [2]"We say not so,"[2] replied Fergus, "for manful were
the deeds of the lad at a time when he was younger than he [3]now[3] is."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 363.
[2-2] 'That is not true,' Stowe.
[3-3] Stowe.
* * * * *
[Page 46]
VII
THE YOUTHFUL EXPLOITS OF CUCHULAIN
[W.865.] "Now this lad was reared in the house of his father and mother at
Dairgthech[1] ('the Oak House' (?)), namely, in the plain of Murthemne,
and the tales of the youths of Emain were told to him. [2]For there are
[3]always[3] thrice fifty boys at play there," said Fergus.[2] "Forasmuch
as in this wise Conchobar passed his reign ever since he, the king, assumed
his sovereignty, to wit: As soon as he arose, forthwith in settling the
cares and affairs of the province; thereafter, the day he divided in three:
first, the first third he spent a-watching the youths play games of skill
and of hurling; the next third of the day, a-playing draughts and chess,
and the last third a-feasting on meat and [4]a-quaffing[4] ale, till sleep
possessed them all, the while minstrels and harpers lulled him to sleep.
For all that I am a long time in banishment because of him, I give my
word," said Fergus, "there is not in Erin nor in Alba a warrior the like
of Conchobar."
[1] Reading with LU. and YBL. 367.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 368-369.
[3-3] Eg. 1782.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 371.
"And the lad was told the tales of the boys and the boy-troop in Emain; and
the child said to his mother, he would go to have part in the games on the
play-field of Emain. "It is too soon for thee, little son," said his
mother; "wait till there go with thee a champion of the champions of
[W.880.] Ulster, or some of the attendants of Conchobar to enjoin thy
protection and thy safety on the boy-troop." "I think it too long for that,
my mother," the little lad answered, "I will not wait for it. But do thou
show me what place lies Emain [1]Macha."[1] [2]"Northwards, there;[2] it is
far away from thee," said his mother, "the place wherein it lies, [3]and
the way is hard.[3] Sliab Fuait lies between thee and Emain." "At all
hazards, I will essay it," he answered.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 376-377.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 377.
"The boy fared forth and took his playthings with him. [4]His little
lath-shield[4] he took, and his hurley of bronze and his ball of silver;
and he took his little javelin for throwing; and his toy-staff he took with
its fire-hardened butt-end, and he began to shorten the length of his
journey with them. He would give the ball a stroke [LL.fo.62b.] with the
hurl-bat, so that he sent it a long distance from him. Then with a second
throw he would cast his hurley so that it went a distance no shorter than
the first throw. He would hurl his little darts, and let fly his toy-staff,
and make a wild chase after them. Then he would catch up his hurl-bat and
pick up the ball and snatch up the dart, and the stock of the toy-staff had
not touched the ground when he caught its tip which was in the air.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 380.
"He went his way to the mound-seat of Emain, where was the boy-troop.
Thrice fifty youths were with Folloman, Conchobar's son, at their games on
the fair-green of Emain.
"The little lad went on to the play-field into the midst of the boys, and
he whipped the ball between his two legs away from them, nor did he suffer
it to travel higher up than the top of his knee, nor did he let it lower
down than his ankle, and he drove it and held it between his two legs and
not one of the boys was able to get a prod nor a stroke nor a blow nor a
shot at it, so that he carried it over the [W.904.] brink of the goal away
from them. [1]Then he goes to the youths without binding them to protect
him. For no one used to approach them on their play-field without first
securing from them a pledge of protection. He was weetless thereof.[1]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 382-384.
"Then they all gazed upon him. They wondered and marvelled. "Come, boys!"
cried Folloman, Conchobar's son, [2]"the urchin insults us.[2] Throw
yourselves all on yon fellow, and his death shall come at my hands; for it
is geis among you for any youth to come into your game, without first
entrusting his safety to you. And do you all attack him together, for we
know that yon wight is some one of the heroes of Ulster; and they shall not
make it their wont to break into your sports without first entrusting their
safety and protection to you."
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 384-385.
"Thereupon they all set upon him together. They cast their thrice fifty
hurl-bats at the poll of the boy's head. He raises his single toy-staff
and wards off the thrice fifty hurlies, [3]so that they neither hurt him
nor harm him,[3] [4]and he takes a load of them on his back.[4] Then they
throw their thrice fifty balls at the lad. He raises his upper arm and his
forearm and the palms of his hands [5]against them[5] and parries the
thrice fifty balls, [6]and he catches them, each single ball in his
bosom.[6] They throw at him the thrice fifty play-spears charred at the
end. The boy raises his little lath-shield [7]against them[7] and fends off
the thrice fifty play-staffs, [8]and they all remain stuck in his
lath-shield.[8] [9]Thereupon contortions took hold of him. Thou wouldst
have weened it was a hammering wherewith each hair was hammered into his
head, with such an uprising it rose. Thou wouldst have weened it was a
spark of fire that was on every single hair there. He closed one of his
eyes so that it was no wider than the eye of a needle. He opened the other
wide so that it was as big as the mouth of a mead-cup.[a] He stretched his
mouth from his jaw-bones to his ears; he opened his mouth wide to his jaw
so that his gullet was seen. The champion's light rose up from his
crown.[9]
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 391.
[5-5] Stowe.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 389.
[7-7] Stowe.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 387.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 391-397.
[a] Or, 'a wooden beaker,' YBL. 395.
[W.919.] "It was then he ran in among them. He scattered fifty king's sons
of them over the ground underneath him [1]before they got to the gate of
Emain.[1] Five[b] of them," Fergus continued, "dashed headlong between me
and Conchobar, where we were playing chess, even on Cennchaem ('Fair-head')
[2]the chessboard of Conchobar,[2] on the mound-seat of Emain. The little
boy pursued them to cut them off. [3]Then he sprang over the chessboard
after the nine.[3] Conchobar seized the little lad by the wrists. "Hold,
little boy. I see 'tis not gently thou dealest with the boy-band." "Good
reason I have," quoth the little lad. [4]"From home, from mother and father
I came to play with them, and they have not been good to me.[4] I had not a
guest's honour at the hands of the boy-troop on my arrival, for all that I
came from far-away lands." "How is that? Who art thou, [5]and what is thy
name?"[5] asked Conchobar. "Little Setanta am I, son of Sualtaim. Son am I
to Dechtirè, thine own sister; and not through thee did I expect to be thus
aggrieved." "How so, little one?" said Conchobar. "Knewest thou not that it
is forbidden among the boy-troop, that it is geis for them for any boy to
approach them in their land without first claiming his protection from
them?" "I knew it not," said the lad. [W.932.] "Had I known it, I would
have been on my guard against them." "Good, now, ye boys," Conchobar cried;
"take ye upon you the protection of the little lad." "We grant it, indeed,"
they made answer.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 398.
[b] 'Nine,' LU. and YBL. 399 and Eg. 1782.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 400.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 403-404.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 405.
"The little lad went [LL.fo.63a.] [1]into the game again[1] under the
protection of the boy-troop. Thereupon they loosed hands from him, and once
more he rushed amongst them [2]throughout the house.[2] He laid low fifty
of their princes on the ground under him. Their fathers thought it was
death he had given them. That was it not, but stunned they were with
front-blows and mid-blows and long-blows. "Hold!" cried Conchobar. "Why art
thou yet at them?" "I swear by my gods whom I worship" (said the boy) "they
shall all come under my protection and shielding, as I have put myself
under their protection and shielding. Otherwise I shall not lighten my
hands off them until I have brought them all to earth." "Well, little lad,
take thou upon thee the protection of the boy-troop." "I grant it, indeed,"
said the lad. Thereupon the boy-troop went under his protection and
shielding.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 410.
"[3]Then they all went back to the play-field, and the boys whom he had
overthrown there arose. Their nurses and tutors helped them.
"Now, once upon a time," continued Fergus, "when he was a gilla, he slept
not in Emain Macha till morning." "Tell me," Conchobar said to him, "why
sleepest thou not [4]in Emain Macha, Cuchulain?"[4] "I sleep not, unless it
be equally high at my head and my feet." Then Conchobar had a pillar-stone
set up at his head and another at his feet, and between them a bed apart
was made for him.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 413-481.
[4-4] YBL. 418.
"Another time a certain man went to wake him, and the lad struck him with
his fist in [1]the neck or in[1] the forehead, so that it drove in the
front of his forehead on to his brain and he overthrew the pillar-stone
with his forearm." "It is known," exclaimed Ailill, "that that was the
fist of a champion and the arm of a hero." "And from that time," continued
Fergus, "no one durst wake him, so that he used to wake of himself.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
"Then, another time, he played ball on the play-field east of Emain, and he
was alone on one side against the thrice fifty boys. He always worsted in
every game in the east (?) in this way. Thereafter the lad began to use his
fists on them, so that fifty boys of them died thereof. He took to flight
then, till he took refuge under the cushion of Conchobar's couch. The
Ulstermen sprang up all around him. I, too, sprang up, and Conchobar,
thereat. The lad himself rose up under the couch, so that he hove up the
couch and the thirty warriors that were on it withal, so that he bore it
into the middle of the house. Straightway the Ulstermen sat around him in
the house. We settled it then," continued Fergus, "and reconciled the
boy-troop to him afterwards.
"The broil of war arose between Ulster and Eogan son of Durthacht. The
Ulstermen go forth to the war. The lad Setanta is left behind asleep. The
men of Ulster are beaten. Conchobar and Cuscraid Menn ('the Stammerer') of
Macha are left on the field and many besides them. Their groans awaken the
lad. Thereat he stretches himself, so that the two stones are snapped that
are near him. This took place in the presence of Bricriu yonder," Fergus
added. "Then he gets up. I meet him at the door of the liss, I being
severely wounded. "Hey, God keep thy life,[a] O Fergus my master," says he;
"where is Conchobar?" "I know not," I answer. Thereupon he goes out. The
night is dark. He makes for the battlefield, until he sees before him a man
and half his head on him and half of another man on his back. "Help me,
Cuchulain," he cries; "I have been stricken, and I bear on my back half of
my brother. Carry it for me a while." "I will not carry it," says he.
Thereupon the man throws the load at him. Cuchulain throws it back from
him. They grapple with one another. Cuchulain is overthrown. Then I heard
something. It was Badb[a] from the corpses: "Ill the stuff of a warrior
that is there under the feet of a phantom." Thereat Cuchulain arises from
underneath him, and he strikes off his head with his playing-stick and
proceeds to drive the ball before him over the field of battle.
[a] A Christian salutation.
[a] The war-fury.
"Is my master Conchobar on this battle-field?" That one makes answer. He
goes towards him, to where he espies him in a ditch and the earth piled
around him on both sides to hide him. "Wherefore art thou come to the
battle-field?" Conchobar asks; "is it that thou mightst see mortal terror
there?" Then Cuchulain lifts him out of the ditch. The six strong men of
Ulster that were with us could not have lifted him out more bravely. "Get
thee before us to yonder house," says Conchobar, [1]"to make me a fire
there." He kindles a great fire for him. "Good now," quoth Conchobar,[1]
"if one would bring me a roast pig, I would live." "I will go fetch it,"
says Cuchulain. Thereupon he sallies out, when he sees a man at a
cooking-pit in the heart of the wood. One of his hands holds his weapons
therein, the other roasts the pork. Ill-favoured, indeed, is the man. For
the which, Cuchulain attacks him and takes his head and his pig with
him. Conchobar eats the pig then. "Let us go to our house," says Conchobar.
They meet Cuscraid son of Conchobar and there were heavy wounds on
him. Cuchulain carries him on his back. The three then proceed to Emain
Macha.
[1-1] YBL. 461.
"Another time the Ulstermen were in their 'Pains.' Now, there was no
'Pains' amongst us," Fergus continued, "in women or boys, nor in any one
outside the borders of Ulster, nor in Cuchulain and his father. [1]It was
for this reason no one dared shed the blood of the men of Ulster, for that
the 'Pains' fell on the one that wounded them.[1] There came thrice nine
men from the Isles of Faiche. They pass over our rear fort, the whiles we
are in our 'Pains.' The women scream in the fort. The youths are in the
play-field. They come at the cry. When the boys catch sight of the swarthy
men, they all take to flight save Cuchulain alone. He hurls the hand-stones
and his playing-staff at them. He slays nine of them and they leave fifty
wounds on him and proceed thence on their journey.[3]
[1-1] LU., edition of Strachan and O'Keeffe, page 19, note 23.
[3-3] LU., and YBL. 413-481; see page 50.
[W.947.] "A youngster did that deed," Fergus continued, "at the close of
five years after his birth, when he overthrew the sons of champions and
warriors at the very door of their liss and dûn. No need is there of wonder
or surprise, [2]if he should do great deeds,[2] if he should come to the
confines of the land, if he should cut off the four-pronged fork, if he
should slay one man or two men or three men or four men, when there are
seventeen full years of him now on the Cattle-lifting of Cualnge."
[4]"In sooth, then, we know that youth," spoke out Conall Cernach ('the
Victorious'), "and it is all the better we should know him, for he is a
fosterling of our own."[4]
[2-2] Eg. 1782.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 484-485.
* * * * *
[Page 54]
VIIa
THE SLAYING OF THE SMITH'S HOUND BY CUCHULAIN, AND THE REASON HE IS CALLED
CUCHULAIN
[W.956.] Then it was that Cormac Conlongas son of Conchobar spake: "Again
that little lad performed a second deed in the following year." "What deed
was that?" asked Ailill.
[1]"A goodly smith there was in the land of Ulster, Culann the Smith, by
name.[1] He made ready a feast for Conchobar and set out for Emain to
invite him. He made known to him that only a few should come with him, that
he should bring none but a true guest along, forasmuch as it was not a
domain or lands of his own that he had, but [2]the fruit of his two
hands,[2] his sledges and anvils, his fists and his tongs. Conchobar
replied that only a few would go to him.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] LU and YBL 489.
"Culann went back to the stithy to prepare and make ready meat and drink
[3]in readiness for the king.[3] Conchobar sat in Emain till it was time to
set out [4]for the feast,[4] till came the close of the day. The king put
his fine, light travelling apparel about him, [5]and went with fifty
chariot-chiefs of those that were noblest and most illustrious of the
heroes,[5] and betook him to the boys [6]before starting,[6] to bid them
farewell. [7]It was always [W.968.] his custom to visit and revisit them
when going and coming, to seek his blessing of the boys.[7] Conchobar came
on to the fair-green, and he saw a thing that astounded him: Thrice fifty
boys at one end of the green and a single boy at the other, and the single
boy won the victory at the goal and at hurling from the thrice fifty
boys. When it was at hole-play they were--a game of hole that used to be
played on the fair-green of Emain--and it was their turn to drive and his
to keep guard, he would catch the thrice fifty balls just outside of the
hole, and not one went by him into the hole. When it was their turn to keep
guard and his to drive, he would send the thrice fifty balls into the hole
without fail, [1]and the boys were unable to ward them off.[1] When it was
at tearing off each other's garments they played, he would strip off them
their thrice fifty suits [2]so that they were quite naked,[2] and they were
not able all of them to take as much as the brooch from his mantle. When it
was at wrestling they were, he would throw those same thrice fifty boys to
the ground under him, and they did not succeed all of them around him in
lifting him up. Conchobar looked with wonder at the little lad. "O, ye
youths," cried [LL.fo.63b.] Conchobar. "Hail to the land whence cometh the
lad ye see, if the deeds of his manhood shall be such as are those of his
boyhood!" "Tis not just to speak thus," exclaimed Fergus; "e'en as the
little lad grows, so will his deeds of manhood grow with him." "The little
lad shall be called to us, that he may come with us to enjoy the feast to
which we go." The little lad was summoned to Conchobar. "Good, my lad,"
said Conchobar. "Come thou with us to enjoy the feast whereto we go, [3]for
thou art a guest."[3] "Nay, but I will not go," the little boy answered.
"How so?" asked Conchobar. [W.990.] "Forasmuch as the boys have not yet
had their fill of games and of sport, and I will not leave them till they
have had enough play." "It is too long for us to await thee till then,
little boy, and by no means shall we wait." "Go then before us," said the
little boy, "and I will follow after ye." "Thou knowest naught of the way,
little boy," said Conchobar. "I will follow the trail of the company and of
the horses and chariots."
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] Stowe.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 489-491.
[6-6] Stowe.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 492-494.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 497.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 502.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 507.
"Thereafter Conchobar came to the house of Culann the Smith. The king was
waited upon and all were shown honour, as befitted their rank and calling
and privileges, nobility and gentle accomplishment. Straw and fresh rushes
were spread out under them. They commenced to carouse and make merry.
Culann inquired of Conchobar: "Hast thou, O king, appointed any to come
after thee this night to this dûn?" "No, I appointed no one," replied
Conchobar, for he had forgotten the little lad whom he had charged to come
after him. "Why so?" asked Conchobar. "An excellent bloodhound have I,
[1]that was brought from Spain.[1] [2]There are three[a] chains upon him,
and three men at each chain. Because of our goods and our cattle he is
slipped and the liss is closed.[2] When his dog-chain is loosed from him,
no one dares approach the same cantred with him to make a course or a
circuit, and he knows no one but myself. The power of hundreds is in him
for strength." Then spake Conchobar, "Let the dûn be opened for the
ban-dog, that he may guard the cantred." The dog-chain is taken off the
ban-dog, and he makes a swift round of the cantred. And he comes to the
mound whereon he was wont to keep guard of the stead, and there he was, his
head couched on his paws, and wild, untameable, furious, savage, ferocious,
ready for fight was the dog that was there.
[1-1] LU. 513.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 512-513.
[a] 'four,' Eg. 1782.
[W.1013.] "As for the boys: They were in Emain until the time came for them
to disperse. Each of them went to the house of his father and mother, of
his foster-mother and foster-father. Then the little lad went on the trail
of the party, till he reached the house of Culann the Smith. He began to
shorten the way as he went with his play-things. [1]He threw his ball and
threw his club after it, so that it hit the ball. The one throw was no
greater than the other. Then he threw his staff after them both, so that it
reached the ball and the club before ever they fell.[1] [2]Soon the lad
came up.[2] When he was nigh to the green of the fort wherein were Culann
and Conchobar, he threw all his play-things before him except only the
ball. The watch-dog descried the lad and bayed at him, so that in all the
countryside was heard the howl of the watch-hound. And not a division of
feasting was what he was inclined to make of him, but to swallow him down
at one gulp past the cavity [LL.fo.64a.] of his chest and the width of his
throat and the pipe of his breast. [3]And it interfered not with the lad's
play, although the hound made for him.[3] And the lad had not with him any
means of defence, but he hurled an unerring cast of the ball, so that it
passed through the gullet of the watch-dog's neck and carried the guts
within him out through his back door, and he laid hold of the hound by the
two legs and dashed him against a pillar-stone [4]that was near him, so
that every limb of him sprang apart,[4] so that he broke into bits all over
the ground.[a] Conchobar heard the yelp of the ban-dog. [5]Conchobar and
his people could not move; they weened they would not find the lad alive
before them.[5] "Alas, O warriors," cried Conchobar; "in no good luck
[W.1029.] have we come to enjoy this feast." "How so?" asked all. "The
little lad who has come to meet me, my sister's son, Setanta son of
Sualtaim, is undone through the hound." As one man, arose all the renowned
men of Ulster. Though a door of the hostel was thrown wide open, they all
rushed in the other direction out over the palings of the fortress. But
fast as they all got there, faster than all arrived Fergus, and he lifted
the little lad from the ground on the slope of his shoulder and bore him
into the presence of Conchobar. [1]They put him on Conchobar's knee. A
great alarm arose amongst them that the king's sister's son should have
been all but killed.[1] And Culann came out, and he saw his slaughter-hound
in many pieces. He felt his heart beating against his breast. Whereupon he
went into the dûn. "Welcome thy coming, little lad," said Culann, "because
of thy mother and father, but not welcome is thy coming for thine own
sake. [2]Yet would that I had not made a feast."[2] "What hast thou against
the lad?" queried Conchobar. "Not luckily for me hast thou come to quaff
my ale and to eat my food; for my substance is now a wealth gone to waste,
and my livelihood is a livelihood lost [3]now after my dog.[3] [4]He hath
kept honour and life for me.[4] Good was the friend thou hast robbed me of,
[5]even my dog,[5] in that he tended my herds and flocks and stock for me;
[6]he was the protection of all our cattle, both afield and at home."[6]
"Be not angered thereat, O Culann my master," said the little boy. [7]"It
is no great matter,[7] for I will pass a just judgement upon it." "What
judgement thereon wilt thou pass, lad?" Conchobar asked. "If there is a
whelp of the breed of that dog in Erin, he shall be reared by me till he be
fit to do [W.1049.] business as was his sire. [1]Till then[1] myself will
be the hound to protect his flocks and his cattle and his land [2]and even
himself[2] in the meanwhile. [3]And I will safeguard the whole plain of
Murthemne, and no one will carry off flock nor herd without that I know
it."[3]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 515-518.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 514.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 518-519.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 525.
[a] According to the LU.-YBL. version, Cuchulain seized the hound with
one hand by the apple of the throat and with the other by the back.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 519-521.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 529-530.
[2-2] LU and YBL. 532.
[3-3] Stowe, YBL. and LU. 533-534.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 334.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 535.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 536.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 537.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] Literally, 'thyself,' LU. and YBL. 539.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 540-541.
"Well hast thou given judgement, little lad," said Conchobar. "In sooth,
we [4]ourselves[4] could not give one that would be better," said
Cathba.[a] "Why should it not be from this that thou shouldst take the name
Cuchulain, ('Wolfhound of Culann')?" "Nay, then," answered the lad; "dearer
to me mine own name, Setanta son of Sualtaim." "Say not so, lad," Cathba
continued; "for the men of Erin and Alba shall hear that name and the
mouths of the men of Erin and Alba shall be full of that name!" "It
pleaseth me so, whatever the name that is given me," quoth the little
lad. Hence the famous name that stuck to him, namely Cuchulain, after he
had killed the hound that was Culann's the Smith's.
[4-4] Stowe.
[a] The name of Conchobar's druid.
"A little lad did that deed," [LL.fo.64b.] added Cormac Conlongas son of
Conchobar, "when he had completed six years after his birth, when he slew
the watch-dog that hosts nor companies dared not approach in the same
cantred. No need would there be of wonder or of surprise if he should come
to the edge of the marches, if he should cut off the four-pronged fork, if
he should slay one man or two men or three men or four men, now when his
seventeen years are completed on the Cattle-driving of Cualnge!"
* * * * *
[Page 60]
VIIb
[1]THE TAKING OF ARMS BY CUCHULAIN AND[1]
[2]THE SLAYING OF THE THREE SONS OF NECHT SCENE IS NOW TOLD HERE[2]
[W.1068.] "The little lad performed a third deed in the following year,"
said Fiachu son of Firaba. "What deed performed he?" asked Ailill.
[1-1] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] LU. fo. 61a, in the margin.
"Cathba the druid was [3]with his son, namely Conchobar son of Ness,[3]
imparting [4]learning[4] to his pupils in the north-east of Emain, and
eight[a] [5]eager[5] pupils in the class of druidic cunning were with
him. [6]That is the number that Cathba instructed.[6] [7]One of them[7]
questioned his teacher, what fortune and presage might there be for the day
they were in, whether it was good or whether it was ill. Then spake Cathba:
"The little boy that takes arms [8]this day[8] shall be splendid and
renowned [9]for deeds of arms[9] [10]above the youths of Erin [11]and the
tales of his high deeds shall be told[11] forever,[10] but he shall be
short-lived and fleeting." Cuchulain overheard what he said, though far
off at his play-feats south-west of Emain; and he threw away all his
play-things and hastened to Conchobar's sleep-room [12]to ask for arms.[12]
"All [W.1077.] good attend thee, O king of the Fenè!" cried the little lad.
"This greeting is the speech of one soliciting something of some one. What
wouldst thou, lad?" said Conchobar. "To take arms," the lad made answer.
"Who hath advised thee, little boy?" asked Conchobar. "Cathba the druid,"
said the lad. "He would not deceive thee, little boy," said Conchobar.
Conchobar gave him two spears and a sword and a shield. The little boy
shook and brandished the arms [1]in the middle of the house[1] so that he
made small pieces and fragments of them. Conchobar gave him other two
spears and a shield and a sword. He shook and brandished, flourished and
poised them, so that he shivered them into small pieces and fragments.
There where were the fourteen[a] suits of arms which Conchobar had in
Emain, [2]in reserve in case of breaking of weapons or[2] for equipping the
youths and the boys--to the end that whatever boy assumed arms, it might be
Conchobar that gave him the equipment of battle, and the victory of cunning
would be his thenceforward--even so, this little boy made splinters and
fragments of them all.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 547.
[4-4] Stowe.
[a] 'One hundred' is the number in LU. and YBL. 547.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 548.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 548.
[7-7] Stowe.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 550.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 551.
[10-10] LU. and YBL. 551-552.
[11-11] Stowe.
[12-12] LU. and YBL. 553.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 557.
[a] 'Fifteen,' LU. and YBL. 556; 'seventeen,' Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 557.
"Truly these arms here are not good, O Conchobar my master," the stripling
cried. "Herefrom cometh not what is worthy of me." Conchobar gave him his
own two spears and his shield and his sword. He shook and he brandished, he
bent and he poised them so that tip touched butt, and he brake not the arms
and they bore up against him, [3]and he saluted the king whose arms they
were.[3] "Truly, these arms are good," said the little boy; "they are
suited to me. Hail to the king whose arms and equipment these are. Hail to
the land whereout he is come!"
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 559-560.
"Then Cathba the druid chanced to come into the tent, and what he said was,
"Hath he yonder taken arms?" [W.1101.] Cathba asked. "Aye, then, it must
be," Conchobar answered. "Not by [1]his[1] mother's son would I wish them
to be taken this day," said Cathba. "How so? Was it not thyself advised
him?" Conchobar asked. "Not I, in faith," replied Cathba. "What mean'st
thou, bewitched elf-man?" cried Conchobar [2]to Cuchulain.[2] "Is it a lie
thou hast told us?" [LL.fo.65a.] "But be not wroth [3]thereat,[3] O my
master Conchobar," said the little boy. [4]"No lie have I told;[4] for yet
is it he that advised me, [5]when he taught his other pupils this
morning.[5] For his pupil asked him what luck might lie in the day, and he
said: The youth that took arms on this day would be illustrious and famous,
[6]that his name would be over the men of Erin for ever, and that no evil
result would be on him thereafter,[6] except that he would be fleeting and
short-lived. [7]To the south of Emain I heard him, and then I came to
thee."[7] "That I avow to be true," spake Cathba. [8]"Good indeed is the
day,[8] glorious and renowned shalt thou be, [9]the one that taketh
arms,[9] yet passing and short lived!" "Noble the gift!" cried Cuchulain.
[10]"Little it recks me,[10] though I should be but one day and one night
in the world, if only the fame of me and of my deeds live after me!"
[1-1] Reading with Stowe, LU. and YBL. 563.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 566.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 567.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 567.
[6-6] Stowe.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 568.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 569.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 570.
[10-10] Stowe.
"[11] Another day one of them asked of the druids for what that day would
be propitious. "The one that mounts a chariot to-day," Cathba answered,
"his name will be renowned over Erin for ever." Now Cuchulain heard that.
He went to Conchobar and said to him, "O Conchobar my master, give me a
chariot!" He gave him a chariot.[11] [W.1113.] "Come, lad, mount the
chariot, for this is the next thing for thee."
[11-11] LU. and YBL. 573-577.
"He mounted the chariot. [1]He put his hands between the two poles of the
chariot,[1] and the first chariot he mounted withal he shook and tossed
about him till he reduced it to splinters and fragments. He mounted the
second chariot, so that he made small pieces and fragments of it in like
manner. Further he made pieces of the third chariot. There where were the
seventeen[a] chariots which Conchobar kept for the boy-troop and youths in
Emain, the lad made small pieces and fragments of them and they did not
withstand him. "These chariots here are not good, O my master Conchobar,"
said the little boy; "my merit cometh not from them." "Where is Ibar[b] son
of Riangabair?" asked Conchobar. "Here, in sooth, am I," Ibar answered.
"Take with thee mine own two steeds for him yonder, and yoke my chariot."
Thereupon the charioteer took the horses and yoked the chariot. Then the
little boy mounted the chariot [2]and Conchobar's charioteer with him.[2]
He shook the chariot about him, and it withstood him, and he broke it
not. "Truly this chariot is good," cried the lad, "and this chariot is
suited to me." [3]The charioteer turned the chariot under him.[3] "Prithee,
little boy," said Ibar, [4]"come out[c] of the chariot now[4] and let the
horses out on their pasture." "It is yet too soon, O Ibar," the lad
answered. [5]"The horses are fair. I, too, am fair, their little lad.[5]
[6]Only[6] let us go on a circuit of Emain to-day [7]and thou shalt have a
reward therefor,[7] to-day being my first day of [W.1132.] taking arms, to
the end that it be a victory of cunning for me."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 578.
[a] 'Twelve,' LU. and YBL. 579.
[b] The name of Conchobar's charioteer.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 580-581 and Eg. 1782.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 581.
[c] Following the emendation suggested by Strachan and O'Keeffe, page
23, note 21.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 582.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 583.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 584.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 585.
"Thrice they made the circuit of Emain. "Leave the horses now to their
grazing, O little boy," said Ibar. "It is yet too soon, O Ibar," the little
lad answered; "let us keep on, that the boys may give me a blessing to-day
the first day of my taking arms." They kept their course to the place where
the boys were. "Is it arms he yonder has taken?" each one asked. "Of a
truth, are they." "May it be for victory, for first wounding and triumph.
But we deem it too soon for thee to take arms, because thou departest from
us at the game-feats." "By no means will I leave ye, but for luck I took
arms this day." "Now, little boy, leave the horses to their grazing," said
Ibar. "It is still too soon for that, O Ibar," the lad answered. [1]"Ply
the goad on the horses," said he. "What way, then?" the charioteer
asked. "As far as the road shall lead," answered Cuchulain.[1] "And this
great road winding by us, what way leads it?" the lad asked. "What is that
to thee?" Ibar answered. "But thou art a pleasant wight, I trow, little
lad," quoth Ibar. "I wish, fellow, to inquire about the high-road of the
province, what stretch it goes?" "To Ath na Foraire ('the Ford of
Watching') in Sliab Fuait it goes," Ibar answered. "Wherefore is it called
'the Ford of Watching,' knowest thou?" "Yea, I know it well," Ibar made
answer. "A stout warrior of Ulster is on watch and on guard there [2]every
day,[2] so that there come no strange youths into Ulster to challenge them
to battle, and he is a champion to give battle in behalf of the whole
province. Likewise if men of song leave the Ulstermen [LL.fo.65b.] and the
province in dudgeon, he is there to soothe them by proffering treasures and
valuables, and so to save the honour of the province. Again, if men of song
[W.1155.] enter the land, he is the man that is their surety that they win
the favour of Conchobar, so that songs and lays made for him will be the
first to be sung after their arrival in Emain." "Knowest thou who is at the
ford to-day?" "Yea, I know," Ibar answered; "Conall Cernach ('the
Triumphant'), the heroic, warlike son of Amargin, royal champion of Erin,"
Ibar answered. "Thither guide us, fellow, that so we reach the ford."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 589-590.
[2-2] Stowe.
"Onwards they drove into sight of the ford where was Conall. [1]Now it fell
to Conall Cernach to guard the province that day. For each champion of
Ulster spent his day on Sliab Fuait to protect him that came with a lay or
to fight with a warrior, so that some one would be there to meet him, in
order that none might come to Emain unperceived.[1] "Are those arms he
yonder has taken?" asked Conall. "Of a truth, are they," Ibar made
answer. "May it be for victory and for triumph and first wounding," said
Conall; "but we think it too soon for thee to take arms, because thou art
not yet capable of deeds. Were it surety he needed, he that should come
hither," he continued, "so wouldst thou furnish a perfect warrant amongst
the Ulstermen, and the nobles of the province would rise up to support thee
in the contest." "What dost thou here, O Conall my master?" asked the
lad. "Watch and ward of the province, lad, I keep here," Conall made
answer. "Do thou go home now, O master Conall," said the lad, "and leave
me the watch and guard of the province to keep here." "Say not so, little
son," replied Conall; [2]"'twould be enough, were it to protect one that
came with a song; were it to fight with a man, however, that is still too
soon for thee[2]; thou art not yet able to cope with a goodly warrior."
"Then, will I keep on to the south," [W.1172.] said the little boy, "to
Fertas ('the Bank') of Loch Echtrann for a while; [1]champions are wont to
take stand there;[1] perchance I may redden my hands on friend or on foe
this day." "I will go, little boy," said Conall, "to save thee, that thou
go not alone [2]into peril[2] on the border." "Not so," said the lad. "But
I will go," said Conall; "for the men of Ulster will blame me for leaving
thee to go alone on the border."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 592-596.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 599-601.
[1-1] LU.and YBL. 603.
[2-2] Stowe.
"Conall's horses were caught for him and his chariot was yoked and he set
out to protect the little boy. When Conall came up abreast of him,
Cuchulain felt certain that, even though a chance came to him, Conall would
not permit him to use it. He picked up a hand-stone from the ground which
was the full of his grasp. He hurled it from him [3]from his sling[3] the
length of a stone-shot at the yoke of Conall's chariot, so that he broke
the chariot-collar[a] in two and thereby Conall fell to the ground, so that
the nape of his neck went out from his shoulder. "What have we here, boy?"
asked Conall; [4]"why threwest thou the stone?"[4] "It is I threw it to see
if my cast be straight, or how I cast at all, or if I have the stuff of a
warrior in me." "A bane on thy cast and a bane on thyself as well. E'en
though thou leavest thy head this time with thine enemies, I will go no
further to protect thee." "'Twas what I craved of thee," answered he; "for
it is geis amongst you men of Ulster to proceed, after a mishap has
befallen your chariots. [5]Go back[5] [6]to Emain,[6] [7]O Conall, and
leave me here to keep watch." "That pleaseth me well," replied Conall.[7]
Conall turned back northwards again to the Ford of Watching. [8]Thereafter
Conall Cernach went not past that place.[8]
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 604.
[a] In LU. and YBL., 'the shaft of the chariot.'
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 605-606.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 608.
[6-6] LU. 608.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 609-610.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 610.
[W.1192.] As for the little boy, he fared southwards to Fertas Locha
Echtrann. He remained there till the end of the day [1]and they found no
one there before them.[1] "If we dared tell thee, little boy," spoke Ibar,
"it were time for us to return to Emain [LL.fo.66a.] now; for dealing and
carving and dispensing of food is long since begun in Emain, and there is a
place assigned for thee there. Every day it is appointed thee to sit
between Conchobar's feet, while for me there is naught but to tarry among
the hostlers and tumblers of Conchobar's household. [2]For that reason,[2]
methinks it is time to have a scramble[a] among them." "Fetch then the
horses for us." The charioteer fetched the horses and the lad mounted the
chariot. "But, O Ibar, what hill is that there now, the hill to the north?"
the lad asked. "Now, that is Sliab Moduirn," Ibar answered. [3]"Let us go
and get there," said Cuchulain. Then they go on till they reach it.[3]
[4]When they reached the mountain, Cuchulain asked,[4] "And what is that
white cairn yonder on the height of the mountain?" "And that is Finncharn
('the White Cairn') of Sliab Moduirn," Ibar answered. "But yonder cairn is
beautiful," exclaimed the lad. "It surely is beautiful," Ibar answered.
"Lead on, fellow, till we reach yonder cairn." "Well, but thou art both a
pleasant and tedious inquisitor, I see," exclaimed Ibar; "but this is my
first [5]journey and my first[5] time with thee. It shall be my last time
till the very day of doom, if once I get back to Emain."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 612.
[2-2] Stowe.
[a] Or, more literally, 'a clawing match.'
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 615-616.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 616.
[5-5] Stowe.
"Howbeit they went to the top of the hill. "It is pleasant here, O Ibar,"
the little boy exclaimed. "Point out to me Ulster on every side, for I am
no wise acquainted with the land of my master Conchobar." The horseman
[W.1211.] pointed him out Ulster all around him. He pointed him out the
hills and the fields and the mounts of the province on every side. He
pointed him out the plains and the dûns and the strongholds of the
province. "'Tis a goodly sight, O Ibar," exclaimed the little lad. "What is
that indented, angular, bordered and glenny plain to the south of us?"
"Mag Breg," replied Ibar. "Tell thou to me the buildings and forts of that
plain." The gilla taught him [1]the name of every chief dûn between Temair
and Cenannas,[1] Temair and Taltiu, Cletech and Cnogba and Brug ('the
Fort') of Mac ind Oc. [2]He pointed out to him then[2] the dûn of the
[3]three[3] sons of Necht Scenè ('the Fierce'): [4]Foill and Fandall and
Tuachall, their names;[4] [5]Fer Ulli son of Lugaid was their father, and
Necht [6]from the mouth of the[6] Scenè was their mother. Now the Ulstermen
had slain their father; it was for that reason they were at war with
Ulster.[5] "But are those not Necht's sons, that boast that not more of the
Ulstermen are alive than have fallen at their hands?" "The same, in sooth,"
answered the gilla. "On with us to the dûn of the macNechta," cried the
little boy. "Alas, in truth, that thou sayest so," quoth Ibar; [7]"'tis
a peril for us."[7] [8]"Truly, not to avoid it do we go," answered
Cuchulain.[8] "We know it is an act of great folly for us to say so, but
whoever may go," said Ibar, "it will not be myself." "Living or dead, go
there thou shalt," the little boy cried. "'Tis alive I shall go to the
south," answered Ibar, "and dead I shall be left at the dûn, I know, even
at the dûn of the macNechta."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 620.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 623.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 623.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 624.
[5-5] LU. 623, marginal note.
[6-6] LU. 623, gloss.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 627.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 628.
"They push on to the dûn [1]and they unharness their horses in the place
where the bog and the river meet south [W.1227.] of the dûn of the
macNechta.[1] And the little boy sprang out of the chariot onto the
green. Thus was the green of the dûn, with a pillar-stone upon it and an
iron band around that, and a band for prowess it was, and there was a
writing in ogam at its joint, and this is the writing it bore: 'Whoever
should come to the green, if he be a champion, it is geis for him to depart
from the green without giving challenge to single combat.[1] The lad
deciphered the writing and put his two arms around the pillar-stone. Just
as the pillar-stone was with its ring, he flung it [2]with a cast of his
hand[2] into the moat, so that a wave passed over it. "Methinks," spake
Ibar, "it is no better now than to be where it was. And we know thou shalt
now get on this green the thing thou desirest, even the token of death,
yea, of doom and destruction!" [3]For it was the violation of a geis of
the sons of Necht Scenè to do that thing.[3] "Good, O Ibar, spread the
chariot-coverings and its skins for me that I may [LL.fo.66b.] snatch a
little sleep." "Woe is me, that thou sayest so," answered the gilla; "for a
foeman's land is this and not a green for diversion." [4]And Cuchulain said
to the gilla, "Do not awaken me for a few but awaken me for many."[4] The
gilla arranged the chariot-coverings and its skins [5]under Cuchulain, and
the lad fell asleep on the green.[5]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 629.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 630.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 631.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 634-635.
[5-5] Stowe.
"Then came one of the macNechta on to the fair-green, to wit, Foill son of
Necht. [6]Then was the charioteer sore afraid, for he durst not waken him,
for Cuchulain had told him at first not to waken him for a few.[6] "Unyoke
not the horses, gilla," cried Foill. "I am not fain to, at all," answered
Ibar; "the reins and the lines are still in my hand." "Whose horses are
those, then?" Foill asked. [W.1246.] "Two of Conchobar's horses," answered
the gilla; "the two of the dappled heads." "That is the knowledge I have of
them. And what hath brought these steeds here to the borders?" "A tender
youth that has assumed arms amongst us [1]to-day for luck and good
omen,"[1] the horseboy answered, "is come to the edges of the marshes to
display his comeliness." "May it not be for victory nor for triumph, [2]his
first-taking of arms,"[2] exclaimed Foill. [3]"Let him not stop in our land
and let the horses not graze here any longer.[3] If I knew he was fit for
deeds, it is dead he should go back northwards to Emain and not alive!" "In
good sooth, he is not fit for deeds," Ibar answered; "it is by no means
right to say it of him; it is the seventh year since he was taken from the
crib. [4]Think not to earn enmity,"[a] Ibar said further to the warrior;
"and moreover the child sleepeth."[4]
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 635-638.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 641.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 642.
[a] That is, the enmity of the Ulstermen by slaying Cuchulain.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 644-645.
"The little lad raised his face from the ground and drew his hand over his
face, and he became as one crimson wheelball from his crown to the
ground. [5]"Not a child am I, at all, but it is to seek battle with a man
that this child here is come.[5] Aye, but I am fit for deeds!" the lad
cried. [6]"That pleaseth me well," said the champion;[6] "but more like
than what thou sayest, meseemeth, thou art not fit for deeds." "Thou wilt
know that better if we go to the ford. But, go fetch thy weapons, for I see
it is in the guise of a churl thou art come, and I slay nor charioteers nor
grooms nor folk without arms." The man went apace after his arms.
[7]"Now[7] thou shouldst have a care for us against yonder man [8]that
comes to meet thee,[8] little lad," said Ibar. "And why so?" [W.1262.]
asked the lad. "Foill son of Necht is the man thou seest. Neither points
nor edges of weapons can harm him." "Not before me shouldst thou say that,
O Ibar," quoth the lad. "I will put my hand to the lath-trick for him,
namely, to the apple of twice-melted iron, and it will light upon the disc
of his shield and on the flat of his forehead, and it will carry away the
size of an apple of his brain out through the back of his head, so that it
will make a sieve-hole outside of his head, till the light of the sky will
be visible through his head."
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 645-646.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 647.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 649.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 649.
"Foill son of Necht came forth. Cuchulain took the lath-trick in hand for
him and threw it from him the length of his cast, so that it lighted on the
flat of his shield and on the front of his forehead and carried away the
bulk of an apple of his brain out through the back of his head, so that it
made a sieve-hole thereof outside of his head, till the light of the sky
might be seen through his head. [1]He went to him then[1] and struck off
the head from the trunk. [2]Thereafter he bore away his spoils and his
head with him.[2]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 665.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 655.
"Then came the second son out on the green, [3]his name[3] Tuachall ('the
Cunning') son of Necht. "Aha, I see thou wouldst boast of this deed," quoth
Tuachall. "In the first place I deem it no cause to boast for slaying one
champion," said Cuchulain; "thou shalt not boast of it this time, for thou
shalt fall by my hand." "Off with thee for thine arms, then, for 'tis not
as a warrior thou art come." The man rushed after his arms. "Thou shouldst
have a care for us against yon man, lad," said Ibar. "How so?" the lad
asked. "Tuachall son of Necht is the man thou beholdest. [4]And he is
nowise miss-named, for he falls not by arms at all.[4] Unless thou worstest
him with the first blow or with the first shot or with the first touch,
[LL.fo.67a.] thou wilt not worst him [W.1283.] ever, because of his
craftiness and the skill wherewith he plays round the points of the
weapons." "That should not be said before me, O Ibar," cried the lad. [1]"I
swear by the god by whom my people swear, he shall never again ply
his skill on the men of Ulster.[1] I will put my hand on Conchobar's
well-tempered lance, on the Craisech Nemè ('the Venomous Lance'). [2]It
will be an outlaw's hand to him.[2] It will light on the shield over his
belly, and it will crush through his ribs on the farther side after
piercing his heart in his breast. That would be the smiting cast of an
enemy and not the friendliness of a fellow countryman![a] From me he shall
not get sick-nursing or care till the brink of doom."
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 662-663.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 651-652.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 653; probably a proverbial expression.
[a] The force of Cuchulain's boast lay in the fact that, according to
the Brehon Laws, if the aggressor were not a native or of the same
class as the injured party, he was exempt from the law of compensation.
"Tuachall son of Necht came forth on the green, and the lad laid his hand
on Conchobar's lance against him, and it struck the shield above his belly
and broke through the ribs on the farther side after piercing his heart
within his breast. He struck off his head or ever it reached the ground.
[3]Thereafter Cuchulain carried off his head and his spoils with him to his
own charioteer.[3]
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 666.
"Then came the youngest of the sons forth on the green, namely, Fandall son
of Necht. "Fools were the folk who fought with thee here," cried Fandall.
"How, now!" cried the lad. "Come down to the pool, where thy foot findeth
not bottom." Fandall rushed on to the pool. "Thou shouldst be wary for us
of him, little boy," said Ibar. "Why should I then?" asked the lad.
"Fandall son of Necht is the man whom thou seest. For this he bears the
name Fandall ('the Swallow'): like a swallow or weasel[b] he courseth the
sea; the swimmers of the world [W.1302.] cannot reach him." "Thou shouldst
not speak thus before me, O Ibar," said the lad. [1]"I swear, never again
will he ply that feat on the men of Ulster.[1] Thou knowest the river that
is in our land, in Emain, the Callann. When the boys frequent it with their
games of sport and when the water is not beneath them, [2]if the surface is
not reached by them all,[2] I do carry a boy over it on either of my palms
and a boy on either of my shoulders, and I myself do not even wet my ankles
under the weight of them."
[b] LU. and YBL. have 'a swan.'
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 657-658.
[2-2] Stowe. That is, when the water is over their heads.
"They met upon the water [3]and they engaged in wrestling upon it,[3] and
the little boy closed his arms over Fandall, so that the sea came up even
with him, and he gave him a deft blow with Conchobar's sword and chopped
off his head from the trunk, and left the body to go down with the stream,
and he carried off the head [4]and the spoils[4] with him.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 661.
"Thereupon Cuchulain went into the dûn and pillaged the place and burned it
so that its buildings were no higher than its walls. And they turned on
their way to Sliab Fuait and carried the three heads of Necht's sons with
them. [5]Soon Cuchulain heard the cry of their mother after them, of Necht
Scenè, namely."[5] [6]"Now I will not give over my spoils," cried
Cuchulain, "till I reach Emain Macha." Thereupon Cuchulain and Ibar set out
for Emain Macha with their spoils. It was then Cuchulain spoke to his
charioteer: "Thou didst promise us a good run," said Cuchulain, "and we
need it now because of the storm and pursuit that is after us." Forthwith
they hasten to Sliab Fuait. Such was the speed of the course they held over
Breg, after the urging of the charioteer, that the horses of the chariot
overtook the wind and the birds in [W.1317.] their flight and Cuchulain
caught the throw he had cast from his sling or ever it reached the ground.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 667-668.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 669-679.
"When they came to Sliab Fuait[6] they espied a herd of wild deer before
them. "What are those many cattle, O Ibar, those nimble ones yonder?" asked
the lad; "are they tame or are they other deer?" "They are real wild deer,
indeed," Ibar answered; "herds of wild deer that haunt the wastes of Sliab
Fuait." [1]"Which," asked Cuchulain, "would the men of Ulster deem best,
to bring them dead or alive?" "More wonderful, alive," answered the
charioteer; "not every one can do it so; but dead, there is none of them
cannot do it. Thou canst not do this, carry off any of them alive." "Truly
I can," said Cuchulain.[1] "Ply the goad for us on the horses [2]into the
bog,[2] to see can we take some of them." The charioteer drove a goad into
the horses. It was beyond the power of the king's overfat steeds to keep up
with the deer. [3]Soon the horses stuck in the marsh.[3] The lad got down
from the chariot and [4]as the fruit of his run and his race, in the morass
which was around him,[4] he caught two of the swift, stout deer. He
fastened them to the back poles and the bows and the thongs of the chariot.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 669-679.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 681-686.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 686.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 687.
[4-4] Stowe.
"They continued their way to the mound-seat of Emain, where they saw flocks
of white swans flying by them. "What are those birds there, O Ibar?" the
lad asked; "are yonder birds tame [LL.fo.67.] or are they other birds?"
"Indeed, they are real wild birds," Ibar answered; "flocks of swans are
they that come from the rocks and crags and islands of the great sea
without, to feed on the plains and smooth spots of Erin." "Which would be
stranger [5]to the Ulstermen,[5] O Ibar, for them to be fetched alive to
Emain or dead?" asked the lad. "Stranger far, alive," [W.1333.] Ibar
answered, "for not every one succeeds in taking the birds alive, [1]while
they are many that take them dead."[1] Then did the lad perform one of his
lesser feats upon them: [2]he put a small stone in his sling,[2] so that he
brought down eight[a] of the birds; and then he performed a greater feat:
[3]he threw a large stone at them[3] and he brought down sixteen[b] of
their number. [4]With his return stroke all that was done.[4] He fastened
them to the hind poles and the bows and the thongs and the ropes and the
traces of the chariot.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 692.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] Stowe.
[a] 'Seven,' LU. and YBL. 695.
[3-3] Stowe.
[b] 'Twelve,' LU. and YBL. 696.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 696-697.
"Take the birds along with thee, O Ibar," cried the lad [5]to his
charioteer. If I myself go to take them," he added, "the wild deer will
spring upon thee."[5] "I am in sore straits," answered Ibar; "[6]I find it
not easy to go."[6] "What may it be?" asked the lad. "Great cause have
I. [7]The horses have become wild, so that I cannot go by them.[7] If I
stir at all from where I am, the chariot's iron wheels will cut me down
[8]because of their sharpness[8] and because of the strength and the power
and the might of the career of the horses. If I make any move, the horns of
the deer will pierce and gore me, [9]for the horns of the stag have filled
the whole space between the two shafts of the chariot."[9] "Ah, no true
champion art thou any longer, O Ibar," [10]said the lad;[10] [11]"step thus
from his horn.[11] [12]I swear by the god by whom the Ulstermen swear,[12]
because of the look I shall give at the horses they will not depart from
the straight way; at the look I shall give at the deer they will bend their
heads in fear and awe of me; [13]they will not dare move,[13] and [W.1346.]
it will be safe for thee e'en though thou goest in front of their horns."
[1]And so it was done. Cuchulain fastened the reins.[1] [2]Then[2] [3]the
charioteer[3] [4]went and collected the birds, and he bound them to the
hind poles and to the thongs and the traces of the chariot.[4] [5]Thus it
was that he proceeded to Emain Macha: the wild deer behind his chariot, and
the flock of swans flying over the same, and the three heads of the sons of
Necht Scenè [6]and the jewels, treasures and wealth of their enemies
arranged[6] in his chariot.[5]
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 698-699.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 699.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 700.
[8-8] LU. and YBL. 702.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 703.
[10-10] Stowe.
[11-11] LU. and YBL. 703.
[12-12] LU. and YBL. 704.
[13-13] LU. and YBL. 706.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 707.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 708.
[4-4] Stowe.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 709-711.
[6-6] H. 2. 17.
"[7]Thereupon[7] they went on till [8]bravely, boldly, battle-victoriously,
boastingly, blade-redded,[8] they reached [9]the fair plain of[9] Emain. It
was then Lebarcham, [10]the watch in Emain Macha,[10] [11]came forth
and[11] discerned them, she, the daughter of Aue ('Ear') and of Adarc
('Horn') [12]and she hastened to Conchobar's house, her eye restless in her
head and her tongue faltering in her jaw.[12] "A single chariot-fighter is
here, [13]coming towards Emain Macha,"[13] cried Lebarcham, "and his coming
is fearful. The heads of his foes all red in his chariot with him.
Beautiful, all-white birds he has hovering around in the chariot. With him
are wild, untamed deer, bound and fettered, shackled and pinioned. And
[14]I give my word,[14] if he be not attended to this night, [15]blood will
flow over Conchobar's province by him and[15] the youths of Ulster will
fall by his hand." "We know him, that chariot-fighter," spake Conchobar;
"[16]belike it is[16] the little gilla, my sister's son, who went to the
edge of the marches [17]at the beginning of the day,[17] [W.1355.] who has
reddened his hands and is still unsated of combat, and unless he be
attended to, all the youths of Emain will fall by his hand." [1]Soon he
turned the left[a] side of his chariot towards Emain, and this was geis for
Emain. And Cuchulain cried, "I swear by the god by whom the Ulstermen
swear, if a man be not found to engage with me, I will spill the blood of
every one in the dûn!"[1]
[7-7] H. 2. 17.
[8-8] H. 2. 17.
[9-9] H. 2. 17.
[10-10] LU. and YBL. 713.
[11-11] H. 2. 17.
[12-12] H. 2. 17.
[13-13] H. 2. 17.
[14-14] H. 2. 17.
[15-15] H. 2. 17.
[16-16] H. 2. 17.
[17-17] H. 2. 17.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 715-718.
[a] To turn the left side was an insult and sign of hostility.
"And this was the counsel they agreed to follow: to let out the womenfolk
to meet the youth, namely, thrice fifty women, even ten and seven-score
bold, stark-naked women, at one and the same time, and their chieftainess,
Scannlach ('the Wanton') before them, to discover their persons and their
shame[b] to him. [2]"Let the young women go," said Conchobar, "and bare
their paps and their breasts and their swelling bosoms, and if he be a true
warrior he will not withstand being bound, and he shall be placed in a vat
of cold water until his anger go from him."[2] [3]Thereupon[3] the young
women all [4]arose and[4] marched out, [5]and these are the names of those
queens: Sgamalus and Sgannlach and Sgiathan, Feidlim and Deigtini
Finnchas, and Finngheal and Fidniam and Niam, daughter of Celtchar son of
Uthechar[5]; and they discovered their nakedness and all their shame to
him. [6]"These are the warriors that will meet thee to-day," quoth Mugain,
wife of Conchobar son of Ness.[6] The lad hid his face from them and turned
his gaze on the chariot, that he might not see the nakedness or the shame
of the women.[c] Then the lad was lifted out of the chariot. He was placed
in three vats of cold water to extinguish his wrath; and the first vat into
which he was put burst its staves and its hoops like the cracking of nuts
around him. [W.1367.] The next vat [1]into which he went[1] [2]boiled with
bubbles as big as fists[2] therefrom. The third vat [3]into which he
went,[3] some men might endure it and others might not. Then the boy's
wrath went down.
[b] 'Breasts,' LU. and YBL. 720.
[2-2] H. 2. 17.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
[4-4] H. 2. 17.
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 720-721.
[c] This exposure was a powerful magico-religious symbol and had a
quasi-sacred or ritual character.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] Translating from Stowe and H. 2. 17.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
"[4]Thereupon he came out,[4] and his [5]festive[5] garments were put on
him [6]by Mugain the queen.[6] His comeliness appeared on him [LL.fo.68a.]
and he made a crimson wheel-ball of himself from his crown to the
ground. [7]A shout was raised at the bluish purple about him.[7]
[8]Beautiful then was the lad[8] [9]that was raised up in view.[9] Seven
toes he had to each of his two feet, and seven fingers to each of his two
hands, and seven pupils to each of his two kingly eyes, and seven gems of
the brilliance of the eye was each separate pupil. Four spots of down on
either of his two cheeks: a blue spot, a purple spot, a green spot, a
yellow spot. Fifty strands of bright-yellow hair from one ear to the other,
like to a comb of birch twigs or like to a brooch of pale gold in the face
of the sun. A clear, white, shorn spot was upon him, as if a cow had licked
it. A [10]fair, laced[10] green[a] mantle about him; a silver pin therein
[11]over his white breast, so that the eyes of men could not look at it for
its gleam and its brightness.[11] A [12]hooded[12] tunic of thread of gold
about him. [13]A magnificent, fair-coloured, dark purple shield he bore.
Two hard, five-pointed spears in his hand. A diadem of gold round his
head.[13] And the lad was seated between the two feet of Conchobar, [14]and
that was his couch ever after,[14] and the king began to stroke his
close-shorn hair.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 726.
[5-5] Stowe.
[6-6] LU. 726.
[7-7] H. 2. 17. Thurneysen, _Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, Bd.
VIII, S. 538, note 13, understands this to mean, 'a bluish purple cloak
was thrown around him.'
[8-8] Stowe and H. 2. 17.
[9-9] H. 2. 17.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
[a] 'Blue,' LU. and YBL. 727 and Eg. 1782.
[11-11] H. 2. 17.
[12-12] LU. and YBL. 727.
[13-13] H. 2. 17.
[14-14] LU. and YBL. 728.
[W.1381.] "A mere lad accomplished these deeds at the end of seven years
after his birth," [1]continued Fiachu son of Fiarba;[1] "for he overcame
heroes and battle-champions at whose hands two-thirds of the men of Ulster
had fallen, and these had not got their revenge on them until that scion
rose up for them. No need then is there of wonder or of surprise, though he
came to the border, though he slew one man or two men or three men or four
men, [2]though he cut off the four-headed pole with one cut and one blow of
his shining sword[2] when now are fulfilled his seventeen years at the time
of the Táin Bó Cúalnge."
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 729-730.
[2-2] H. 2. 17.
[3]Albeit gladness, joy and happiness was the part of the men of Ulster for
that, sorrow, grief and unhappiness was the part of the men of Erin, for
they knew that the little lad that had done those deeds in the time of his
boyhood, it would be no wonder if he should do great deeds of valour in the
time of his manhood.[3]
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
These, accordingly, are some of the youthful exploits of Cuchulain on the
Raid for the Kine of Cualnge, and the Prologue of the Tale, and the Names
of the Roads and the March of the Host up to this Point.
The Story proper is this which follows now.
* * * * *
[Page 80]
VIIc
[1]BELOW IS A SEPARATE VERSION AS FAR AS THE SLAYING OF ORLAM
"Let us fare forth now," quoth Ailill. Thereafter they reached Mag Mucceda
('the plain of the Swineherd.') Cuchulain lopped off an oak that was before
him in that place and set an ogam-writing on its side. This is what was on
it: 'That no one should pass by till a chariot-warrior with a chariot
should overleap it.'
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 733-766.
They pitch there their tents and proceed to leap over the oak in their
chariots. Thereat thirty horses fall and thirty chariots are broken. Now,
Belach Anè ('the Pass of Sport') is the name of that place forever.
They bide there till morning. Fraech [2]son of Fidach[2] was summoned to
them. "Help us, O Fraech," spake Medb; "deliver us from the strait we are
in. Rise up for us to meet Cuchulain, if perchance thou wilt fight him."
[2-2] YBL. 741.
Betimes in the morning, with nine men Fraech went out from thence till he
arrived at Ath Fuait, when he saw the youth Cuchulain bathing in the
river. "Bide here," spake Fraech to his people, "till I fight with yonder
man; he is not good in the water," said he. He doffs his clothes and goes
into the water to meet him. "Come not before me," cried Cuchulain; "it
shall be thy death and it would grieve me to kill thee." "Nay, but I will
go," answered Fraech, "so that we come together in the water, and it
behoves thee to engage with me." "Settle that as seemeth thee good,"
Cuchulain made answer. "Each of us with his arms round the other," said
Fraech. They fall to wrestling for a long time in the water and Fraech is
thrust under. Cuchulain brings him above again. "This time," spake
Cuchulain, "wilt thou acknowledge that I saved thee?" "I will not," Fraech
answered. Cuchulain thrusts him under again, so that Fraech is destroyed.
He is placed on the ground. His people bear the body [10]with them[10] to
the camp. Ath Fraeich ('Fraech's Ford') is the name of that ford for
ever. All the army keen [2]their[2] Fraech, till they see a troop of women,
in green tunics standing over the corpse of Fraech son of Fidach. These
women bear him into the fairy dwelling. Sid Fraeich ('Fraech's Mound') is
the name of the Elfmound ever since.
[10-10] Eg. 1782.
[2-2] YBL. 758.
Fergus leaps over the oak-stump in his [3]own[3] chariot [4]and knocks off
its head.[4] [5]According to another version,[5] they proceed till they
reach [6]Ath Meislir.[6] Cuchulain destroys six of them there, namely,
[7]Meislir _et reliqua_,[7] [8]the six Dungals of Irrus.[8]
[3-3] Eg. 1782.
[4-4] Eg. 1782.
[5-5] YBL. 762.
[6-6] Reading with YBL. '_Ath Taiten_,' LU. 762.
[7-7] YBL. 763.
[8-8] LU. 763.
They go thence to Fornocht. Medb had a whelp named Baiscnè. Cuchulain made
a cast at him, so that he struck off his head. Now, Druim ('Ridge') is the
name of that place ever after.[1]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 733-766 (see page 80).
[9]According to another version, however, it is there
that the youth who was in the chariot by the side of Medb
and the pet bird were slain by the casts, but, according to
this version, that happened after the slaying of Orlam.[9]
[9] YBL. 766-769.
* * * * *
[Page 82]
VIII
THE SLAYING OF ORLAM
[W.1393.] The four grand provinces of Erin set forth on the morrow
eastwards over Cronn ('the Round'), which is a mountain. Cuchulain had
gone out before them, till he came upon the charioteer of Orlam son of
Aililla and of Medb. This was at Tamlacht Orlaim ('Orlam's Gravestone')
[1]a little to the[1] north of Disert Lochaid ('Lochat's Hermitage'). The
charioteer was engaged in cutting chariot-poles from a holly-tree in the
wood. [2]But according to another version it is the hind pole of
Cuchulain's chariot that was broken and it was to cut a pole he had gone
when Orlam's charioteer came up.[2] [3]According to this version, it was
the charioteer who was cutting the pole.[3]
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 772.
[2-2] YBL. 773-775.
[3-3] LU. 773-775.
[4]Not long was the battle-victorious Hound there when he heard a sound and
an uproar.[4] "Behold, O Laeg," cried Cuchulain; "[5]who of the host of the
foe have come into this land to carry off a share of cattle and booty from
the province wherein they came?[5] How bold are the ways of the Ulstermen,
if it be they that cut down the woods in this fashion in the face of the
men of Erin. But, [6]check the horses and hold the chariot.[6] Tarry thou
here a little, till I know who cuts down the woods in this manner." Then
Cuchulain went on till he came up to [7]Orlam's[7] charioteer, [W.1401.]
[1]to stop him; he thought he was one of the men of Ulster.[1] "What dost
thou here, gilla?" asked Cuchulain. "Indeed, then," answered the gilla, "I
cut chariot-poles from this holm, because our chariots were broken
yesterday in pursuit of that famous wildling, namely Cuchulain. And for thy
manhood's sake, young warrior, pray come to my aid, so that that famous
Cuchulain come not upon me." "Take thy choice, gilla," said Cuchulain, "to
gather or to trim them, either." "I will see to gathering them, for it is
easier," [2]the gilla answered.[2] Cuchulain started to cut the poles and
he drew them between the forks of his feet and his hands against their
bends and their knots, so that he made them smooth and straight and
slippery and trimmed; he polished them so that not even a midge could find
footing thereon when he had passed them away from him. Then full sure the
gilla gazed upon him. "Far then, meseems, from fitting is the task I put on
thee. [3]And for love of thy valour,[3] who art thou, say, O warrior?" the
gilla asked, [4]for he was sore affrighted.[4] "That same renowned
Cuchulain am I of whom thou spakest [5]a while ago[5] in the morning." "Woe
is me then, by reason of this," cried the gilla; "for this am I lost
forever." [LL.fo.68b.] [6]"Whence comest thou [7]and who art thou[7]?"
Cuchulain asked. "Charioteer am I of Orlam, Ailill's son and Medb's,"[6]
[8]said he.[8] [9]"Fear nothing;[9] I will not slay thee at all, boy," said
Cuchulain; "for I slay nor charioteers nor horseboys nor persons unarmed.
But, prithee, where is thy master, [10]gilla[10]?" "Over yond
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