Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn (Irish "the hound of Culann", pronounced ['kuː ˈxʌlənʲ]), known as Sétanta (pronounded ['ʃeːdandə]) as a child, is the teenage hero of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, sometimes referred to as "the Irish Achilles" for his choice of a short but glorious life. His mother is Deichtire, sister of Conchobar, king of the Ulaid. His mother's husband Súaltaim mac Róich passes as his father, but his real father is the apparent deity Lug mac Ethlenn. He is the central character of the Táin Bó Cúailnge or "Cattle Raid of Cooley", in which he single-handedly defends the Ulaid against an invasion launched by queen Medb of the Connachta, and various stories tell of his birth, death, and other adventures. When particularly enraged in battle he sometimes undergoes a ríastrad, or "distortion", which transforms him into an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe.

Legendary biography

Birth

Two early versions of Cú Chulainn's birth survive. The first, Compert Con Culainn ("The conception of Cú Chulainn"), derives from the lost Book of Druimm Snechta and thus dates to the early 8th century. The second, Feis Tige Becfholtaig ("The passing of the night in Becfholtach's house", is only slighly later, dating to the late 8th or early 9th century.

In the first, Conchobar and his retinue, including his charioteer Deichtire (his sister or his daughter in different versions of the text) take to their chariots to hunt a flock of magical birds. The hunt takes them south, and snow begins to fall. They seek shelter, and find a house where they are made welcome and served food and drink. Their host's wife goes into labour in the next room, and Deichtire helps deliver a baby boy. At the same time, outside the house, a mare gives birth to two colts. In the morning, the Ulaid find themselves at the Brug na Bóinde (the megalithic tomb now known as Newgrange). The house, the host and his wife are gone, but the baby and the two colts remain. Deichtire takes the child home and nurses him, but he soon falls ill and dies. Lug appears to her, reveals he had been their host that night, and tells her he has put his child in her womb, whom she is to name Sétanta. Her pregnancy is a scandal as she is betrothed to Súaltaim, and it is suspected that Conchobar fathered the child while drunk, so Deichtire beats her belly until she is "virgin-whole", sleeps with Súaltaim, and has a son whom she names Sétanta.

The later version contains many of the same story-elements, but arranges them differently. Deichtire, Conchobar's sister, and her fifty maidens, go missing for three years, and then come to Emain Macha, the Ulaid capital, in the form of a flock of a magical birds, which the Ulaid hunt as before until snow obliges them to seek shelter. Again their host is Lug, but this time his wife, who again gives birth while the Ulaid are entertained, is Deichire herself. The child is named Sétanta, and the noblemen of the Ulaid argue over which of them should foster him. Eventually it is decided that several of them will share his fosterage: Conchobar himself; the wise Sencha mac Ailella, who will teach him wisdom and eloquence; the wealthy Blaí Briugu, who will provide for him; the noble warrior Fergus mac Róich, who will teach him to protect the weak; and the poet Amergin mac Echit, who will educate him, and his wife, Conchobar's sister Findchóem, who will nurse him. He is brought up in Amergin and Findchóem's house on Muirthemne Plain in County Louth, alongside their own son Conall Cernach.

Childhood

The Táin Bó Cúailnge contains a sequence known as Macgnímrada Con Culainn ("Cú Chulainn's boyhood deeds"), in which Ulaid exiles in Medb's army tell stories of Cú Chulainn's childhood. These stories tell how Sétanta comes to Emain Macha and joins the youth-corps there, his superhuman abilities allowing him to overcome many boys at once. The story of how he gained the name Cú Chulainn is then told. Culann the smith invites Conchobar to a feast at his house. Conchobar seems Sétanta playing hurling, and is so impressed with his abilities he invites him to come to feast as his guest. Sétanta promises to follow him as soon as the game is over. But when Conchobar arrives at Culann's house he forgets, and Culann looses his ferocious guard dog to protect the house. When Sétanta arrives the dog attacks him, but he kills it in self-defence. He then promises Culann that he will train a pup to replace it, and until it is able to do the job, he will guard Culann's house himself. Cathbad the druid announces that his name will henceforth will be Cú Chulainn or "Culann's Hound".

The next story tells how Cú Chulainn first took arms. Elements of this story are alluded to in the 7th century poem Ro-mbáe laithu rordu rind ("we had a great day of plying spear-points"), attributed to Cú Chulainn himself, making it the oldest attested part of Cú Chulainn's story. Cúchulainn overhears Cathbad prophesying to his students that anyone who takes arms that day will have everlasting fame, and immediately goes to Conchobar and asks for arms. Only Conchobar's own weapons withstand his strength. When he sees Cú Chulainn has been armed, he grieves, for his prophesy was not complete: anyone who took arms that day would have everlasting fame, but his life would be short.

Later, Cathbad makes a similar prophesy about the future fame of anyone who first rides a chariot that day, and Cúchulainn demands a chariot from Conchobar. Again, only Conchobar's own chariot withstands his strength. He sets off in the chariot and kills the three sons of Nechta Scéne, who have boasted they have killed more Ulaid than there are Ulaid still living, and takes their heads as trophies. On his way home, he captures a stag and a flock of swans and ties them to the chariot. He arrives back at Emain Macha in a frenzy, and the Ulaid are afraid he will slaughter them all, so Conchobar's wife Mugain leads the women out to bare their breasts at him. When he averts his eyes, the men wrestle him into a barrel of cold water, which explodes from the heat of his body. He is put in a second barrel, which boils, and a third, which warms to a pleasant temperature.

Military training and marriage

(to follow)