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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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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANCIENT
IRISH EPIC TALE TÁIN BÓ CÚALNGE ***

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

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

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.

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 manuscript10 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 geas12; 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 Quijote14 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' bō Hūln'ya (θα: n bo: χu:
lpə).

[5]
Revue Celtique, 1895, tome xvi. pp. 405-406; Rerum
Hibernicarum Scriptores, ii. 14.

[6]
Mois 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).

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, 1in 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, 2and 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, 3and 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 4for a wife, and I refused
him;4 and from Carbre Niafer ('the Champion') son of Ross Ruad ('the

Red'), king of Temair,a 5to woo me, and I refused him;5 and they came from
Conchobar son of Fachtna Fathach ('the Mighty'), king of Ulster, 6and 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, 1and for it to be
said that I was superior in wealth and treasures to him1, while no disgrace
would it be were one as great as the othera. 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 paramourb.
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 goldc, 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, 2but
it is to me the compensation belongs,"2 said Medb, "for a man dependent
upon a woman's maintenance is what thou art."d
"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 1of 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."

II. 1THE OCCASION OF THE TÁIN1
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.
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
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.
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, 2Conchobar 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."
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. 1spoke Darè,1
"they shall in no wise take by foul means what they cannot take by fair!"
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

III. 1THE RISING-OUT OF THE MEN OF
CONNACHT AT CRUACHAN AI1
W. 161. 2A 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, and2
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" 4and Manè "the Dumb."4

Other messengers were despatched 5by Ailill5 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.
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. 1Now Cormac had three companies which came to Cruachan.1
Before all, the first company. A covering of close-shorn 2black2 hair upon
them. Green mantles and 3many-coloured cloaks3 wound about them;
therein, silvern brooches. Tunics of thread of gold next to their skin,
4reaching down to their knees,4 with interweaving of red gold. Bright-

handled swords they bore, with guards of silver. 5Long 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.

The second troop. Newly shorn hair they wore 6and manes on the back of
their heads,6 7fair, comely indeed.7 Dark-blue cloaks they all had about
them. Next to their skin, gleaming-white tunics, *LL. fo. 55b. 8with red
ornamentation, reaching down to their calves.8 Swords they had with round
hilts of gold and silvern fist-guards, 9and 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.
10Then came10 the last troop. Hair cut broad they wore; fair-yellow, deep-

golden, loose-flowing back hair 11down to their shoulders11 upon them.
Purple cloaks, fairly bedizened, about them; golden, embellished brooches
over their breasts; 12and 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 13with hoods13 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, 14this time,14"
Medb made answer.

W. 186. 1Thus 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. 2And
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.

IV. THE FORETELLINGa
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, 1for 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."
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 3again,3 when
she espied a thing that surprised her: A lone virgin 4of marriageable age4
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 1of gold1 in the mantle over her bosom; 2a hooded tunic, with
red interweaving, about her.2 A ruddy, fair-faced countenance she had,
3narrow below and broad above.3 She had a blue-grey and laughing eye;
4
each eye had three pupils.4 5Dark 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 6when long
sustained they are played by master players' hands6 was the melodious
sound of her voice and her fair speech.
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; 7two sandals with golden buckles about
them.7 Fair-yellow, long, golden hair she wore; three braids of hair 8she
wore; two tresses were wound8 around her head; the other tress 9from
behind9 threw a shadow down on her calves. 10The maiden carried arms,
and two black horses were under her chariot.10
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 1and what is thy name1?" asked
Medb. "Not hard, in sooth, to say. The prophetess Fedelm, from the Sid
('the Fairy Mound') of Cruachan, 2a poetess of Connacht2 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
"Good now,

"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
5Fedelm answered and spoke:5

"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
6"That is no true augury,"6 said Medb. "Verily, Conchobar 7with the
Ulstermen7 is in his 'Pains' in Emain; thither fared my messengers 8and
brought me true tidings8; 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!"
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!"

"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 1at Lethglas1 in his 'Pains,' 2and a
third of the Ulstermen with him.2 Thither fared my messengers. Naught
have we to fear from Ulster's men. 3And 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!"

"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, 4look now again for us and4 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!"

Therewith she began to prophesy and to foretell the coming of Cuchulain to
the men of Erin, and she chanted a lay:—
W. 255.

"aFair, 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 1of fairest fame1;
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 2from the chariot's left2
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.
All your heads ye'll leave with him.
Fedelm, prophet-maid, hides not!
W. 291. LL. fo. 56b.

"Gore shall flow from warriors' wounds;
Long 'twill live in memory.
Bodies hacked and wives in tears,
Through the Smith's Hounda whom I see!"

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. 1Next follows the Body of the Tale itself.1

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. 1On Monday after Summer's end1 2they set forth and
proceeded:2
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'), 4by 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'), 5southwards,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
6southwards,6 by Catha, by Cromma 7southwards,7 by Tromma, 8eastwards8

by Fodromma, by Slane, by Gort Slane, 9to the south of9 Druim Liccè, by
Ath Gabla, by Ardachad ('Highfield'), W. 356. 1northwards1 by Feorainn, by
Finnabair ('White Plain'), by Assa 2southwards,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, 3by
Colbtha, by Crond in Cualnge,3 by Druim Cain on the road to Midluachar,
4from 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

VI. THE MARCH OF THE HOST
W. 389. On the first stage the hosts went 1from Cruachan,1 they slept the
night at Cul Silinne, 2where to-day is Cargin's Lough.2 And 3in that place3
was fixed the tent of Ailill son of Ross, 4and 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, 5the son of Conchobar's daughter,5 at its
side; 6Conall 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.

Medb of Cruachan, 7daughter of Eocho Fedlech,7 moreover, was at Ailill's
left. Finnabair ('Fairbrow'), 8daughter 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.
Medb remained in the rear of the host that day in quest of tidings and
augury *LL. fo. 57a. and knowledge. 1She called to her charioteer to get ready
her nine chariots for her,1 2to make a circuit of the camp2 that she might
learn who was loath and who eager to take part in the hosting. 3With nine
chariotsa 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.

Then, 4when 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, 5namely 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, 8and 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. 1It 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." 2cried
Medb.2 "Let them stay at home then," said Ailill. "Stay they shall not,"
answered Medb. "3They will fall on us in the rear and will seize our land
against us.3" "What shall they do then," Finnabaira 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 6along with
them!"6
"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, 7that is, my seven
sons7 with their seven divisions, and the sons of Maga with their 8seven8
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!"

"It befits thee not thus to speak to me," said Fergus, W. 439. "for I have with
me here 1in alliance with us Ulstermen,1 the seven Under-kings of Munster,
with their seven cantreds. 2Here 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. 3I 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. 4For the rest, we will care
for these warriors, to the end that they get not the upper hand of the host.
"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 5all the host of5 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."

Forthwith Fergus distributed the cantred 6of the Galian6 among the men of
Erin in such wise that there were not five men of them in any one place.
*
LL. fo. 57b. Thereupon, the troops set out on their way and march. It was no
7 7
easy thing for their kings and their leaders 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 1by a separate route1 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 2after Conchobar had usurped the
kingship and2 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.

So 3the lead of the way was entrusted to Fergus.3 Fergus before all fared
forth to seek tidings, and a feeling of 4love and4 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, 5who were at that time in their 'Pains' except
Cuchulain and his father Sualtaim.5 And he began to detain and delay the
host 6until such time as the men of Ulster should have gathered together an
army.6 7Because of affection he did so.7

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,
1Fears 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!"

"2If 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"
"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
3treasures,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:LL. fo. 58a.

"How so dear, this battle-rede,
Comes from thee, * 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'sb 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 daughterc gloats upon.
For the Blacksmith's Hound will spill
Showers of blood on hosts of men!"

W. 540. After this lay the men of the four grand provinces of Erin marched
1on the morrow1 over Moin Coltna ('the Marsh of Coltain') eastwards that

day; and there met them eight score deer 2in a single herd.2 The troops
spread out and surrounded and killed them so that none of them escaped.
But there is one event to add: Although the division of the Galian had been
dispersed 3among the men of Erin,3 4wherever there was a man of the
Galian, it was he that got them, except4 five deer only which was the men
of Erin's share thereof, so that one division took all the eight score deer.
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 Wildmana come to you!"

Then Nemain, 1the 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
theirb 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 2after the host had made a circuitous way across sloughs and
streams.2
3
W. 547. It was on that same day, after the coming of the warning from
Fergus3 4to the Ulstermen,4 that Cuchulain son of Sualtaim, 5and Sualtaim5
Sidech ('of the Fairy Mound'), his father, 6when they had received the
warning from Fergus,6 came so near 7on their watch for the host7 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 8to-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. maida of Fedlimid
Nocruthach ('of the Nine Forms') 1Conchobar's daughter,1 according to my
own agreement, till morning." "Alas, that one should go 2on 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."
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 ogamb 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.
Touching the men of Erin, the account follows here: They came up to the
pillar-stone at Ard Cuillenn, 3which 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 4that they
might save the brooches and cushions and cloaks of the host, so that the
dust of the multitude might not soil them4 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.
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. 1Then 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. 2When 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 3one night3 in camp.
On ye'll come the tear-flesh Hound;
Yours the blame, if ye it scorn!

"4Evil on the host he'll bring,4
If ye go your way past this.
Find, ye druids, find out here,
For what cause this withe was made!"

W. 596. 1A druid speaks1:

"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!"

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, 3and if ye go beyond3 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, 4certain it is, whether ye be4 under the ground or in a tight-shut

house, 5the man that wrote the ogam hereon5 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 6straightway6 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, 1that is, Fidduin, ('the Wood of the Dûn')1 southwards till
morning. There will we pitch our camp and quarters."
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.
2According to other books, it is told as follows: After they had come to
3
Fidduin3 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
4They 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 shouldersa of the men
and to the flanks of the horses and to the polesb 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.
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

1with the snow1 at Cul Sibrille. The four grand provinces of Erin moved out

early on the morrow 2with the rising of the bright-shining sun glistening on
the snow2 and marched on from that part into another.

Now, as regards Cuchulain: It was far from being early when he arose 3from
his tryst.3 And then he ate a meal and took a repast, and 4he remained until
he had4 washed himself and bathed on that day.
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. 5Would 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,
6without 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 7last 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."
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 2after a long while2 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 5For 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 6the entire host of6 the men
of Erin, 7so that their number is not clear, namely, that of the cantred of
Leinstermen."7 8This here is the third cunningest 9and most difficult9
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 10in the Battle of Moytura,10 and
the reckoning by Incel of the host in the Hostel of Da Derga.8
Now, many and divers were the magic virtues that were in Cuchulain 11that
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.
"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 lefta
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."
Then it was that the charioteer gave the prick to the steeds. He turned his
left board to the hosts till he arrived at Turlochb 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'). 1Thereupon 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 2of 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 3in
the mid part of the stream, so that no chariot could go thereby on this side
or that.3
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 4would be the first to fight and contend with
Cuchuain, which of them4 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 1from themselves 2Eirr and Indell2 and 3from
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 4around their ears4 and their bellies red and the
bodies of the warriors dripping their blood down outside on the ribs of the
chariots. 5Thus 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 (6and their crimsoned trappings upon them6). 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.
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 7which 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
1and 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, 2and 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. 3By 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:—
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-forda be its name for aye,
From the fork that's in the ford!"
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. 1avert 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 3with a truly mighty grip3 on the fork, and he made
splinters and *LL. fo. 61a. scraps of the chariot. "Let another chariot be
brought me," cried Fergus. 4Another4 chariot was brought to Fergus, and
Fergus made a tug at the fork and again made fragments and splinters of the
chariot, 5both 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 seventeena 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, 6by this time6 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."
"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 1of
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 scathelessa 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 theirb 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!"
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. 1Let us give heed to
the manner of folk to whom we go and let us hear somewhat of their deeds
and famous tales."1

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, 2and they were told of the feats of
Cuchulain.2
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 3to
the border of the land3, 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."
"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 1of Ulster and Erin1 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."
"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?" 2asked 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.
4He 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
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 1now1 is. 2In his fifth year he went in quest of warlike
deeds among the lads of Emain Macha. In his sixtha year he went to learn
skill in arms and feats with Scathach,2 3and he went to woo Emer;3 4in his

seventhb 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 5a man-at-arms that is harder,5 6nor a point that is keener, more
terrible nor quicker,6 nor a more bloodthirsty wolf, 7nor 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, 8nor a lion that is fiercer, nor a plank of
battle,8 nor a sledge of destruction, 9nor 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, 10his
dress10 11and his terror,11 his size and his splendour, 12his fame and his
voice, his shape and his power,12 his form and his speech, his strength and
his feats and his valour, 13his 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 pointa above him, like unto Cuchulain."
"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. 1His 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 3now3 is."

VII. THE YOUTHFUL EXPLOITS OF
CUCHULAIN
W. 865. "Now this lad was reared in the house of his father and mother at
Dairgthech1 ('the Oak House' (?)), namely, in the plain of Murthemne, and
the tales of the youths of Emain were told to him. 2For there are 3always3
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 4a-quaffing4 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."
"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 1Macha."1 2"Northwards, there;2 it is far away from thee," said his
mother, "the place wherein it lies, 3and the way is hard.3 Sliab Fuait lies
between thee and Emain." "At all hazards, I will essay it," he answered.

"The boy fared forth and took his playthings with him. 4His little lath-
shield4 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.
"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. 1Then 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
"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."
"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, 3so that they neither hurt him nor harm him,3 4and 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
5against them5 and parries the thrice fifty balls, 6and 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 7against them7 and

fends off the thrice fifty play-staffs, 8and they all remain stuck in his lath-
shield.8 9Thereupon 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
W. 919. "It was then he ran in among them. He scattered fifty king's sons of
1
them over the ground underneath him before they got to the gate of
Emain.1 Fiveb of them," Fergus continued, "dashed headlong between me
and Conchobar, where we were playing chess, even on Cennchaem ('Fair-
head') 2the chessboard of Conchobar,2 on the mound-seat of Emain. The
little boy pursued them to cut them off. 3Then 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, 5and 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.

"The little lad went *LL. fo. 63a. 1into the game again1 under the protection of
the boy-troop. Thereupon they loosed hands from him, and once more he
rushed amongst them 2throughout 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.

"3Then 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 4in 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.
"Another time a certain man went to wake him, and the lad struck him with
his fist in 1the neck or in1 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.
"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 Badba 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.
"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.

"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. 1It 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
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, 2if 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

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 2the 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.
"Culann went back to the stithy to prepare and make ready meat and drink
3in readiness for the king.3 Conchobar sat in Emain till it was time to set out
4for the feast,4 till came the close of the day. The king put his fine, light

travelling apparel about him, 5and went with fifty chariot-chiefs of those
that were noblest and most illustrious of the heroes,5 and betook him to the
boys 6before starting,6 to bid them farewell. 7It 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, 1and 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 2so 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, 3for 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."
"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 2There are threea 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.
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. 1He 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 2Soon 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. 3And 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 4that 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. 5Conchobar
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. 1They 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. 2Yet 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 3now after my dog.3 4He hath kept honour and
life for me.4 Good was the friend thou hast robbed me of, 5even my dog,5 in
that he tended my herds and flocks and stock for me; 6he 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 then1 myself will be the hound to protect his flocks and his cattle and
his land 2and even himself2 in the meanwhile. 3And I will safeguard the
whole plain of Murthemne, and no one will carry off flock nor herd without
that I know it."3
""Well hast thou given judgement, little lad," said Conchobar. "In sooth, we
4
ourselves4 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.

"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!"

VIIb. 1THE TAKING OF ARMS BY
CUCHULAIN AND1 2THE SLAYING OF THE
THREE SONS OF NECHT SCENE IS NOW
TOLD HERE2
W. 1068. "The little lad performed a third deed in the following year," said
Fiachu son of Firaba. "What deed performed he?" asked Ailill.

"Cathba the druid was 3with his son, namely Conchobar son of Ness,3
imparting 4learning4 to his pupils in the north-east of Emain, and eighta
5eager5 pupils in the class of druidic cunning were with him. 6That is the

number that Cathba instructed.6 7One of them7 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 8this day8 shall be splendid and renowned 9for deeds of arms9 10above
the youths of Erin 11and the tales of his high deeds shall be told11 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 12to 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 1in the middle of the house1 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 fourteena suits of arms which Conchobar had in Emain, 2in
reserve in case of breaking of weapons or2 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.
""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, 3and 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!"
"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 1his1 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 2to Cuchulain.2 "Is it a
lie thou hast told us?" *LL. fo. 65a. "But be not wroth 3thereat,3 O my master
Conchobar," said the little boy. 4"No lie have I told;4 for yet is it he that
advised me, 5when 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, 6that 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. 7To 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, 9the 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!"

"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."

"He mounted the chariot. 1He 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
seventeena 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 Ibarb 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 2and 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." 3The charioteer turned the chariot under him.3 "Prithee, little
boy," said Ibar, 4"come outc of the chariot now4 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 6Only6 let us go on a circuit of
Emain to-day 7and 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."
"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 2every 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."

"Onwards they drove into sight of the ford where was Conall. 1Now 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 thee2; 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; 1champions
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 2into peril2 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."
"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 3from his sling3 the
length of a stone-shot at the yoke of Conall's chariot, so that he broke the
chariot-collara 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. 5Go back5
6to Emain,6 7O 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. 8Thereafter Conall Cernach went not past that place.8
W. 1192. As for the little boy, he fared southwards to Fertas Locha Echtrann.
He remained there till the end of the day 1and 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. 2For that reason,2
methinks it is time to have a scramblea 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 4When 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 5journey and my first5 time with
thee. It shall be my last time till the very day of doom, if once I get back to
Emain."
"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. 2He
pointed out to him then2 the dûn of the 3three3 sons of Necht Scenè ('the
Fierce'): 4Foill and Fandall and Tuachall, their names;4 5Fer Ulli son of
Lugaid was their father, and Necht 6from the mouth of the6 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."

"They push on to the dûn 1and 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 2with a cast of his hand2 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!" 3For 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." 4And
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 5under
Cuchulain, and the lad fell asleep on the green.5
"Then came one of the macNechta on to the fair-green, to wit, Foill son of
Necht. 6Then 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 1to-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, 2his 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. 4Think not to earn
enmity,"a Ibar said further to the warrior; "and moreover the child
sleepeth."4
"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"Now7 thou shouldst have a
care for us against yonder man 8that 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."
"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. 1He went to him then1 and struck off the head from the
trunk. 2Thereafter he bore away his spoils and his head with him.2

"Then came the second son out on the green, 3his name3 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. 4And 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'). 2It 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."
"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. 3Thereafter
Cuchulain carried off his head and his spoils with him to his own
charioteer.3
"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 weaselb 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, 2if 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."

"They met upon the water 3and 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 4and the spoils4 with him.
"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. 5Soon 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.

"When they came to Sliab Fuait6 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 2into 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. 3Soon the horses stuck in the marsh.3 The lad got down from the

chariot and 4as 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.
"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 5to
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, 1while they are many that take them
dead."1 Then did the lad perform one of his lesser feats upon them: 2he put
a small stone in his sling,2 so that he brought down eighta of the birds; and
then he performed a greater feat: 3he threw a large stone at them3 and he
brought down sixteenb of their number. 4With 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.

""Take the birds along with thee, O Ibar," cried the lad 5to 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; "6I find it not easy to go."6 "What may it
be?" asked the lad. "Great cause have I. 7The 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 8because of their sharpness8 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, 9for 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," 10said the lad;10 11"step
thus from his horn.11 12I 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; 13they will not dare move,13 and W. 1346. it will be safe
for thee e'en though thou goest in front of their horns." 1And so it was done.

Cuchulain fastened the reins.1 2Then2 3the charioteer3 4went and collected
the birds, and he bound them to the hind poles and to the thongs and the
traces of the chariot.4 5Thus 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 6and the jewels, treasures
and wealth of their enemies arranged6 in his chariot.5

"7Thereupon7 they went on till 8bravely, boldly, battle-victoriously,
boastingly, blade-redded,8 they reached 9the fair plain of9 Emain. It was
then Lebarcham, 10the watch in Emain Macha,10 11came forth and11
discerned them, she, the daughter of Aue ('Ear') and of Adarc ('Horn') 12and
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, 13coming
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 14I give my word,14 if he be not
attended to this night, 15blood will flow over Conchobar's province by him
and15 the youths of Ulster will fall by his hand." "We know him, that
chariot-fighter," spake Conchobar; "16belike it is16 the little gilla, my sister's
son, who went to the edge of the marches 17at 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." 1Soon he
turned the lefta 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
"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
shameb 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 3Thereupon3 the young women all
4
arose and4 marched out, 5and 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 Uthechar5;
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 1into which he went1 2boiled with bubbles as big as fists2
therefrom. The third vat 3into which he went,3 some men might endure it
and others might not. Then the boy's wrath went down.

"4Thereupon he came out,4 and his 5festive5 garments were put on him 6by
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. 7A
shout was raised at the bluish purple about him.7 8Beautiful then was the
lad8 9that 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 10fair, laced10 greena mantle about him; a silver pin
therein 11over his white breast, so that the eyes of men could not look at it
for its gleam and its brightness.11 A 12hooded12 tunic of thread of gold about
him. 13A 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, 14and that was his couch
ever after,14 and the king began to stroke his close-shorn hair.

W. 1381. "A mere lad accomplished these deeds at the end of seven years after
his birth," 1continued 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 sword2 when now are fulfilled his seventeen years at the time of the
Táin Bó Cúalnge."
3Albeit 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
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.

VIIc. 1BELOW 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.'
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 2son of Fidach2 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."
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 10with them10 to the camp. Ath Fraeich ('Fraech's Ford') is the
name of that ford for ever. All the army keen 2their2 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.

Fergus leaps over the oak-stump in his 3own3 chariot 4and knocks off its
head.4 5According to another version,5 they proceed till they reach 6Ath
Meislir.6 Cuchulain destroys six of them there, namely, 7Meislir et reliqua,7
8the six Dungals of Irrus.8

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
9According 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

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') 1a little to the1
north of Disert Lochaid ('Lochat's Hermitage'). The charioteer was engaged
in cutting chariot-poles from a holly-tree in the wood. 2But 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
3According to this version, it was the charioteer who was cutting the pole.3

4Not long was the battle-victorious Hound there when he heard a sound and

an uproar.4 "Behold, O Laeg," cried Cuchulain; "5who 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, 6check 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 7Orlam's7 charioteer, W. 1401. 1to 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," 2the 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. 3And for love of thy valour,3

who art thou, say, O warrior?" the gilla asked, 4for he was sore affrighted.4
"That same renowned Cuchulain am I of whom thou spakest 5a while ago5
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 7and who art
thou7?" Cuchulain asked. "Charioteer am I of Orlam, Ailill's son and
Medb's,"6 8said 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, 10gilla10?" "Over yonder by the trench,
11with his back to the pillar-stone,11" answered the gilla. "Off with thee

thither to him and bear him a warning that he be on his guard. For if we
meet he shall fall by my hand."
1 1 2
W. 1419. Thereupon the charioteer repaired by one way to his master, and
Cuchulain went by another,2 and fast as the gilla sped to Orlam, faster still
Cuchulain did reach him 3and offered him combat3 and he struck off his
head, and raising it aloft displayed it to the men of Erin, 4and he flourished
it in the presence of the host.4 5Then he put the head on the charioteer's
back and said, "Take this with thee, and so go to the camp. Unless thou
goest so, a stone out of my sling will reach thee."
When the charioteer came nigh to the camp he took the head from his back
and told his adventures to Ailill and Medb. "It is not the same, this exploit
and the catching of birds," quoth she. "And he told me" (said the boy),
"unless I brought it on my back to the camp, he would break my head with
a stone."5 6Hence Leaca Orlaim ('Orlam's Flagstones') to the north of Disert
Lochaid is the name of the place where he fell. Tamlachta ('Gravestones') is
another name for it, and it is for this reason it is so called because of the
little gravestones and the violent deaths which Cuchulain worked on it."6

VIIIa. 1THE SLAYING OF THE THREE
MacARACH1
W. 1425. Then came the three macArach on to the ford at Ard Ciannacht to
encounter Cuchulain: Lon ('Ousel'), Uala ('Pride'), and Diliu ('Deluge');—
Meslir ('Lir's Fosterling'), and Meslaoc ('Hero's Fosterling'), and Meslethain
('Lethan's Fosterling') were the names of their charioteers. This is why they
came to engage with Cuchulain, for the deed he had done the day before
they deemed past bearing, when the two sons of Nera son of Nuatar, son of
Tacan, were slain at Ath Gabla ('Fork-ford'), and Orlam, Ailill's son and
Medb's, was slain withal and his head displayed to the men of Erin, so that
2their desire was2 to kill Cuchulain in the same manner 3in revenge for

him,3 4and that they should be the ones to rid the host of that pest4 and
bring his head with them to set it aloft. They went into the wood and cut off
three 5great5 white-hazel wood-strips (and put them) into the hands of their
charioteers, so that the six of them might engage in battle at one and the
same time with Cuchulain. Cuchulain turned on them and smote their six
heads from them. Thus fell the macArach at the hands of Cuchulain,
6because they observed not fair fight with him. At that same time Orlam's

charioteer was between Ailill and Medb. Cuchulain slung a stone at him, so
that it broke his head and his brains came out over his ears. Fertedil was his
name. Hence it is not true that Cuchulain slew no charioteers. Albeit he
slew them not without fault.6

VIIIb. 1THE COMBAT OF LETHAN AND
CUCHULAIN1
W. 1439. There came also Lethan ('the Broad') to his ford on the Nith in the
land of Conalle Murthemni, to fight with Cuchulain. 2He was angered at
what Cuchulain had wrought.2 He came upon him at the ford. Ath Carpait
('Chariot-ford') is the name of the ford where they fought, for their chariots
were broken in the combat on the ford. It is there that Mulcha, 3Lethan's
charioteer,3 fell on the 4shoulder of the4 hill between the two fords, 5for he
had offered battle and combat to Laeg son of Riangabair.5 Hence it is called
Guala Mulchi ('Mulcha's Shoulder') ever since. It is there, too, that
Cuchulain and Lethan met, and Lethan fell at Cuchulain's hands and he
smote his head from his neck on the ford and left it therewith, that is, he left
the head with the trunk. Wherefore the name of the ford 6of the Nith6 was
called Ath Lethain ('Lethain's Ford') ever since in the district of Conalle
Murthemni.

Then came 7unto them7 the Crutti Cainbili ('the Tuneful Harpers'), from Ess
Ruaid in the north to amuse them, 8out of friendship for Ailill and Medb.8
They opined it was to spy upon them 9they were come9 from Ulster.
10When they came within sight of the camp of the men of Erin, fear, terror,

and dread possessed them,10 and the hosts pursued W. 1450. them as never
men pursued, far and wide, till they escaped them in the shapes of deer near
the standing stones at Lia Mor ('Great Stone') 1in the north.1 For though
they were known as the 'Mellifluous Harpers' they were 2druids,2 men of
great cunning and great power of augury and magic.

VIIIc. 1THE KILLING OF THE SQUIRREL
AND OF THE TAME BIRD1
W. 1456. Then Cuchulain made a threat 2in Methè2 that wherever he saw
Medb he would cast a stone at her and that it would not go far from the side
of her head. That he also fulfilled. In the place where he saw Medb west of
the ford he cast a stone from his sling at her, so that it killed the pet bird that
was on her shoulder. Medb passed over the ford eastwards, and again he
cast a stone from his sling at her east of the ford, so that it killed the tame
squirrel that was on her shoulder. Hence the names of those places are still,
Meide in Togmail ('Squirrel's Neck') and Meide ind Eoin ('Bird's Neck').
And Ath Srethe ('Ford of the Throw') is the name of the ford over which
Cuchulain cast the stone from his sling.
3Then Reuin was drowned in his lake. Hence is Loch Reuin. "Your
companion is not afar off from you," cried Ailill to the Manè. They stood up
and looked around. When they sat down again, Cuchulain struck one of
them so that his head was split. "It is well it was thou hast essayed that; thya
mirth was not seemly," quoth Manè the fool; "it is I would have taken his
head off." Cuchulain flung a stone at him, so that his head was split. Thus
these people were slain: Orlam, first of all, on his hill; the three sons of
Aracha on their ford; Fertidil in his ... (?); Maenan on his hill. "I swear by
the god by whom my people swear," cried Ailill; "the man that scoffs at
Cuchulain here I will make two halves of. But above all let us hasten our
way by day and by night," Ailill continued, "till we come to Cualnge. That
man will slay two-thirds of your host in this fashion."3
1Then did the men of Erin deliberate about going to ravage and lay waste

Mag Breg and Meath and the plain of Conall and the land of Cuchulain; and
it was in the presence of Fergus macRoig they discussed it.1
W. 1465. The four grand provinces of Erin moved out on the morrow, and
began to harry the plains of Breg and Murthemne. And the sharp, keen-

edged anxiety *LL. fo. 69a. for Cuchulain came over his fosterer Fergus. And
he bade the men of Erin be on their guard that night, for that Cuchulain
would come upon them. And here again he sang in his praise, as we wrote it
before,b and he uttered the lay:—

"If Cuchulain, Cualnge's Hound,
And Red Branch chiefs on you come,
Men will welter in their blood,
Laying waste Murthemne's plain!
4"Woe to him possesses wealth,

'Less he find a way to 'scape;
And your wives will be enslaved,
And your chiefs fill pools of blood!4

"Far away hec held his course,
Till he reached Armenia's heights;
Battle dared he, past his wont,
And the Burnt-breastsd put to death!

"Hardest for him was to drive
Necht's sons from their chieftest haunts;
And the smith's hound—mighty deed—
Hath he slain with single hand!

W. 1483.

"More than this I've naught to say,
As concerns Dechtirè's son;
My belief, in troth, is this:
Ye will now meet with your fate."

After this lay, that was the day that Donn ('the Brown Bull') of Cualnge
came into the land of Marginè 1to Sliab Culinn1 and with him fifty heifers
of the heifers 2of Ulster;2 and there he was pawing and digging up the earth
in that place, 3in the land of Marginè, in Cualnge;3 that is, he flung the turf
over him with his heels. 4While the hosts were marching over Mag Breg,

Cuchulain in the meanwhile laid hands on their camps.4 It was on the same
day that the Morrigan, daughter of Ernmas, 5the prophetess5 of the fairy-
folk, came 6in the form of a bird,6 and she perched on the standing-stone in
Temair of Cualnge giving the Brown Bull of Cualnge warning 7and
lamentations7 before the men of Erin. Then she began to address him and
what she said was this: "Good, now, O luckless one, thou Brown Bull of
Cualnge," so spake the Morrigan; "take heed; for the men of Erin. 8are on
thy track and seeking thee8 and they will come upon thee, and 9if thou art
taken9 they will carry thee away to their camp 10like any ox on a raid,10
unless thou art on thy guard." And she commenced to give warning to him
in this fashion, 11telling him he would be slain on the Táin, and she
delivered this judgement11 and spake these words aloud:a—

"Knows not the restless Brown of the 12truly deadly12 W. 1502. fray that is not
uncertain?—A raven'sa croak—The raven that doth not conceal—Foes
range your checkered plain—1Troops on raids1—I have a secret—Ye shall
know ... The waving fields—The deep-green grass ... and rich, soft plain—
Wealth of flowers' splendour—Badb's cow-lowing—Wild the raven—Dead
the men—A tale of woe—Battle-stormsb on Cualnge evermore, to the death
of mighty sons—Kith looking on the death of kin!"
2When the Brown Bull of Cualnge heard those words2 he moved on to

Glenn na Samaisce ('Heifers' Glen') in Sliab Culinn ('Hollymount') 3in the
north of Ulster,3 and fifty of his heifers with him, 4and his herdsman
accompanied him; Forgemen was the name of the cowherd.4 5And he threw
off the thrice fifty boys who were wont to play on his back and he destroyed
two-thirds of the boys.5 This was one of the magic virtues of the Brown
Bull of Cualnge: Fifty heifers he would cover every day. These calved
before that same hour on the next day and such of them that calved not 6at
the due time6 burst with the calves, because they could not suffer the
begetting of the Brown Bull of Cualnge. One of the magic virtues of the
Brown Bull of Cualnge were the fifty 7grown7 youths who engaged in
games, 8who8 on his fine back 9found room9 every evening 10to play
draughts and assemblyc and leaping10; 11he would not put them from him
nor would he totter under them.11 Another of the magic virtues of the

Brown Bull of Cualnge was the hundred warriors W. 1535. he screened from
the heat and the cold under his shadow and shelter. Another of the magic
virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge was that no goblin nor boggart nor
sprite of the glen dared come into one and the same cantred with him.
Another of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge was his musical
lowing every evening as he returned to his haggard, his shed and his byre. It
was music enough and delight for a man in the north and in the south, 1in
the east and the west,1 and in the middle of the cantred of Cualnge, the
lowing he made at even as he came to his haggard, his shed, and his byre.
These, then, are some of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge.
Thereupon on the morrow the hosts proceeded among the rocks and dunes
of the land of Conalle Murthemni. 3Cuchulain killed no one from Sailè ('the
Sea') around Dorthè in the land of Conalle, until he reached Cualnge. At
that time Cuchulain was in Cuincè, 2that is a mountain.2 He had threatened
that, where he would see Medb, he would hurl a stone at her head. It was
not easy to do this, for it was thus Medb went, with half the host around her
and their canopy of shields over her head.3 And Medb ordered a canopy of
shields to be held over her head in order that Cuchulain might not strike her
from the hills or hillocks or heights. Howbeit on that day, no killing nor
attack came from Cuchulain upon the men of Erin, in the land of
Murthemne among the rocks and dunes of Conalle Murthemni.

VIIId. 1THE SLAYING OF LOCHE1
W. 1552. The warriors of four of the five grand provinces of Erin bided their
time in Redè Lochè in Cualnge and pitched camp and took quarters therein
for that night. Medb bade her fair handmaiden from amongst her attendants
to go for her to the river for water for drinking and washing. Lochè was the
name of the maiden. Thereupon Lochè went, and fiftya women in her train
and the queen's diadem of gold on her head. And Cuchulain 2espied them
and he2 3put a stone on his sling and3 cast *LL. fo. 69b. a stone from his
4
staff4-sling at her, so that he broke the diadem of gold in three pieces and
killed the maiden on her plain. Thence is Redè Lochè ('the Plain of Lochè')
in Cualnge. For Cuchulain had thought, for want of acquaintance and
knowledge, that it was Medb that was there.
5From Finnabair of Cualnge the hosts divided and set the country on fire.

They gathered all their women and boys and girls and cattle in Cualnge
together so that they all were in Finnabair. "Ye have not fared well," quoth
Medb; "I see not the bull amongst you." "He is not in the land at all,"
replied every one. They summoned Lothar, the cowherd, to Medb. "Where,
thinkest thou, is the bull?" she asked. "I have great fear to tell," said the
cowherd. "The night," said he, "that the Ulstermen fell into their 'Pains,' the
Donn went and three score heifers along with him; and he is at Dubcaire
Glinni Gat ('the Black Corrie of the Osier-glen')." "Rise," said Medb, "and
take a withy between each two of you." And they do accordingly. Hence is
the name, Glenn Gatt, of that glen.
Then they led the bull to Finnabair. In the place where the bull saw Lothar,
the cowherd, he attacked him, and soon he carried his entrails out on his
horns and together with his thrice fifty heifers he attacked the camp, so that
fifty warriors perished. Hence this is the Tragical Death of Lothar on the
Táin 1and the Finding of the Bull according to this version.1 2Thereafter the
bull went from them away from the camp and they knew not whither he had
gone from them and they were ashamed. Medb asked the cowherd if he

might know where the bull was. "I trow he is in the wilds of Sliab Culinn."2
Then they turned back ravaging Cualnge and they found not the bull there.5

VIIIe. 1THE KILLING OF UALA1
2
W. 1563. Early2 on the morrow the hosts continued their way 3to lay waste
the plain of Murthemne and to sack Mag Breg and Meath and Machaire
Conaill ('Conall's Plain') and the land of Cualnge. It was then that the
streams and rivers of Conalle Murthemni rose to the tops of the trees, and
the streams of the Cronn rose withal, until the hosts arrived at Glaiss Cruinn
('Cronn's Stream').3 And they attempted the stream and failed to cross it
4because of the size of its waves,4 5so that they slept on its bank.5 And

Cluain Carpat ('Chariot-meadow') is the name of the first place where they
reached it. This is why Cluain Carpat is the name of that place, because of
the hundreda chariots which the river carried away from them to the sea.
Medb ordered her people that one of the warriors should go try the river.
And 6on the morrow6 there arose a great, stout, 7wonderful7 warrior of the
8particular8 people of Medb 9and Ailill,9 Uala by name, and he took on his

back a massy rock, 10to the end that Glaiss Cruinn might not carry him
back.10 And he went to essay the stream, and the stream threw him back
dead, lifeless, with his W. 1571. stone on his back 1and so he was drowned.1
Medb ordered that he be lifted 2out of the river then2 3by the men of Erin3
and his grave dug 4and his keen made4 and his stone raised 5over his grave,5
so that it is thence Lia Ualann ('Uala's Stone') 6on the road near the stream6
in the land of Cualnge.
Cuchulain clung close to the hosts that day provoking them to encounter
and combat. 7Four and seven score kings fell at his hands at that same
stream,7 and he slew a hundred of their 8armed,8 9kinglike9 warriors around
Roen and Roi, the two chroniclers of the Táin. 10This is the reason the
account of the Táin was lost and had to be sought afterwards for so long a
time.10
Medb called upon her people to go meet Cuchulain in encounter and
combat 11for the sake of the hosts.11 "It will not be I," and "It will not be I,"
spake each and every one from his place. "No caitiff is due from my people.

Even though one should be due, it is not I would go to oppose Cuchulain,
for no easy thing is it to do battle with him."
12When they had failed to find the Donn Cualnge,12 the hosts kept their way

along the river 13around the river Cronn to its source,13 being unable to
cross it, till they reached the place where the river rises out of the
mountains, and, had they wished it, they would have gone between the river
and the mountain, but Medb would not allow it, so they had to dig and
hollow out the mountain. W. 1585. before her in order 1that their trace might
remain there forever and1 that it might be for a shame and reproach to
Ulster.
2
They tarried there three days and three nights till they had dug out the earth
before them.2 And Bernais ('the Gap') of the 4Foray of Medb and the Gap of
the4 Foray of Cualnge is another name for the place ever since, for it is
through it the drove afterwards passed. 3There Cuchulain killed Cronn and
Coemdele and ...3
The warriors of the four grand provinces of Erin pitched camp and took
quarters that night at Belat Aileain ('the Island's Crossway'). Belat Aileain
was its name up to then, but Glenn Tail ('Glen of Shedding') is henceforth
its name because of the abundance of curds and of milk 5and of new warm
milk5 which the droves of cattle and the flocks 6of the land of Conalle and
Murthemne6 yielded there 7that night7 for the men of Erin. And Liasa Liac
('Stone Sheds') is another name for it 8to this day,8 and it is for this it bears
that name, for it is there that the men of Erin raised cattle-stalls and byres
for their herds and droves 9between Cualnge and Conalle.9 10Botha is still
another name for it, for the men of Erin erected bothies and huts there.10
The four of the five grand provinces of Erin took up the march until they
reached the Sechair 11in the west on the morrow.11 Sechair was the name of
the river hitherto; Glaiss Gatlaig ('Osier-water') is its name henceforward.
12
And Glaiss Gatlaig rose up against them.12 Now this is the reason it had
that name, for it was in osiers and ropes that the men of Erin brought W. 1599.
their flocks and droves over across it, and the entire host let their osiers and
ropes drift with the stream after crossing. Hence the name, Glaiss Gatlaig.

1Then they slept at Druim Fenè in Conalle. These then are their stages from

Cualnge to the plain (of Conalle Murthemni) according to this version.
Other authors 2of this Work2 and other books aver that they followed
another way on their journeyings from Finnabair to Conalle.1

VIIIf. 1THE HARRYING OF CUALNGE
FOLLOWETH HERE BELOW1
2After every one had come with their spoils and they were all gathered in

Finnabair of Cualnge, Medb spake: "Let the camp be divided here," said
Medb; "the foray cannot be caried on by a single road. Let Ailill with half
his force go by Midluachair. We and Fergus will go by Bernas Bo Ulad ('the
Pass of the Cattle of Ulster')." "Not fair is the part that has fallen to us of the
force," said Fergus; "the cattle cannot be driven over the mountain without
dividing." This then is done. Hence cometh Bernas Bo Ulad ('the Pass of
the Cattle of Ulster').
Then spake Ailill to his charioteer Cuillius: "Find out for me to-day Medb
and Fergus. I wot not what hath led them to keep thus together. I would fain
have a token from thee." Cuillius went where Medb and Fergus wantoned.
The pair dallied behind while the warriors continued their march. Cuillius
stole near them and they perceived not the spy. It happened that Fergus'
sword lay close by him. Cuillius drew it from its sheath and left the sheath
empty. Then Cuillius betook himself to Ailill. "Well?" said Ailill. "Well,
then," replied 3Cuillius;3 "thou knowest the signification of this token. As
thou hast thought," continued Cuillius, "it is thus I discovered them, lying
together." "It is so, then." Each of them laughs, at the other. "It is well so,"
said Ailill; "she had no choice; to win his help on the Táin she hath done it.
Keep the sword carefully by thee," said Ailill; "put it beneath thy seat in the
chariot and a linen cloth wrapped round it."
When Fergus got up to take his sword, "Alas!" cried he. "What aileth thee?"
Medb asked. "An ill deed have I done Ailill," said he. "Wait thou here till I
come out of the wood," said Fergus, "and wonder not though it be long till I
come." It happened that Medb knew not of the loss of the sword. Fergus
went out taking his charioteer's sword with him in his hand, and he
fashioned a sword from a tree in the wood. Hence is Fid Mor Thruailli
('Great Scabbard-Wood') in Ulster.

"Let us hasten after our comrades," said Fergus. The forces of all came
together in the plain. They raised their tents. Fergus was summoned to Ailill
for a game of chess. When Fergus entered the tent Ailill laughed at him.a
Cuchulain came so that he was before Ath Cruinn ('the Ford of the Cronn').
"O master Laeg," he cried to his driver, "here are the hosts for us." "I swear
by the gods," said the charioteer, "I will do a mighty feat in the eyes of
chariot-fighters, in quick spurring-on of the slender steeds; with yokes of
silver and golden wheels shall they be urged on (?) in triumph. Thou shalt
ride before heads of kings. The steeds I guide will bring victory with their
bounding." "Take heed, O Laeg," said Cuchulain; "hold the reins for the
great triumph of Macha, that the horses drag thee not over the mass at the ...
(?) of a woman. Let us go over the straight plain of these ... (?). I call on the
waters to help me," cried Cuchulain. "I beseech heaven and earth and the
Cronn above all."

Then the Cronn opposes them,a
Holds them back from Murthemne,
Till the heroes'b work is done
On the mount of Ocainè!c

Therewith the water rose up till it was in the tops of the trees.
Manè son of Ailill and Medb marched in advance of the rest. Cuchulain
slew him on the ford and thirty horsemen of his people were drowned.
Again Cuchulain laid low twice sixteen warriors of theirs near the stream.
The warriors of Erin pitched their tents near the ford. Lugaid son of Nos
1
grandson of Lomarc1 Allcomach went to parley with Cuchulain. Thirty
horsemen were with him. "Welcome to thee, O Lugaid," cried Cuchulain.
"Should a flock of birds graze upon the plain of Murthemne, thou shalt have
a wild goose with half the other. Should fish come to the falls or to the bays,
thou shalt have a salmon with as much again. Thou shalt have the three
sprigs, even a sprig of cresses, a sprig of laver, and a sprig of sea-grass;
there will be a man to take thy place at the ford." "This welcome is truly
meant," replied Lugaid; "the choice of people for the youth whom I desire!"
"Splendid are your hosts," said Cuchulain. "It will be no misfortune," said
Lugaid, "for thee to stand up alone before them." "True courage and valour

have I," Cuchulain made answer. "Lugaid, my master," said Cuchulain, "do
the hosts fear me?" "By the god," Lugaid made answer, "I swear that no one
man of them nor two men dares make water outside the camp unless twenty
or thirty go with him." "It will be something for them," said Cuchulain, "if I
begin to cast from my sling. He will be fit for thee, O Lugaid, this
companion thou hast in Ulster, 1if the men oppose me one by one.1 Say,
then, what wouldst thou?" asked Cuchulain. "A truce with my host." "Thou
shalt have it, provided there be a token therefor. And tell my master Fergus
that there shall be a token on the host. Tell the leeches that there shall be a
token on the host, and let them swear to preserve my life and let them
provide me each night with provision."
Lugaid went from him. It happened that Fergus was in the tent with Ailill.
Lugaid called him out and reported that (proposal of Cuchulain's) to him.
Then Ailill was heard:a
"I swear by the god, I cannot," said 3Fergus,3 "unless I ask the lad. Help me,
O Lugaid," said Fergus. "Do thou go to him, to see whether Ailill with a
division may come to me to my company. Take him an ox with salt pork
and a keg of wine." Thereupon Lugaid goes to Cuchulain and tells him that.
"'Tis the same to me whether he go," said Cuchulain. Then the two hosts
unite. They remain there till night, 4or until they spend thirty nights there.4
Cuchulain destroyed thirty of their warriors with his sling. "Your
journeyings will be ill-starred," said Fergus (to Medb and Ailill); "the men
of Ulster will come out of their 'Pains' and will grind you down to the earth
and the gravel. Evil is the battle-corner wherein we are." He proceeds to Cul
Airthir ('the Eastern Nook'). Cuchulain slays thirty of their heroes on Ath
Duirn ('Ford of the Fist'). Now they could not reach Cul Airthir till night.
Cuchulain killed thirty of their men there and they raised their tents in that
place. In the morning Ailill's charioteer, Cuillius to wit, was washing the
wheel-bands in the ford. Cuchulain struck him with a stone so that he killed
him. Hence is Ath Cuillne ('Ford of Destruction') in Cul Airthir.'2

IX. THE PROPOSALS
W. 1603. The four grand provinces of Erin proceeded till they pitched camp
and took quarters in Druim En ('Birds' Ridge') in the land of Conalle
Murthemni, 1and they slept there1 that night, 2as we said before,2 and
Cuchulain held himself at Ferta Illergaib ('the Burial-mound on the Slopes')
hard by them that night, and he, Cuchulain, shook, brandished and
flourished his weapons that night. 3Every night of the three nights they were
there he made casts from his sling at them, from Ochaine nearby,3 so that
one hundred warriors of the host perished of fright and fear and dread of
Cuchulain. 4"Not long will our host endure in this way with Cuchulain,"
quoth Ailill.4 Medb called upon Fiachu son of Ferfebè of the Ulstermen to
go parley with Cuchulain, to come to some terms with him. "What terms
shall be given him?" asked Fiachu son of Ferfebè. "Not hard to answer,"
Medb replied: "He shall be recompensed 5for the loss of his lands and
estates,5 for whosoever has been slain of the Ulstermen, so that it be paid to
him as the men of Erin adjudge 6according to the will of the Ulstermen and
of Fergus and of the nobles of the men of Erin who are in this camp and
encampment.6 Entertainment shall be his at all times in Cruachan; wine and
*
W. 1614. mead shall be poured LL. fo. 70a. out for him. 1He shall have from the
plain of Ai the equal of the plain of Murthemne and the best chariot that is
in Ai and the equipment of twelve men. Offer, if it please him more, the
plain wherein he was reared and thrice seven bondmaids.1 And he shall
come into my service and Ailill's, for that is more seemly for him than to be
in the service of the lordling with whom he is, 2even of Conchobar son of
Fachtna Fathatch.2
Accordingly this was the greatest word of scorn and insult spoken on the
Cow-Raid of Cualnge, to make a lordling of the best king of a province in
Erin, even of Conchobar.
Then came Fiachu son of Ferfebè to converse with Cuchulain. Cuchulain
bade him welcome. "3Welcome thy coming and thine arrival, O Fiachu,"

said Cuchulain.3 "I regard that welcome as truly meant," 4said Fiachu.4 "It
is truly meant for thee" 5replied Cuchulain5; "6and thou shalt have a night of
hospitality this night." "Victory and a blessing attend thee, O fosterling,"
replied Fiachu. "Not for hospitality am I come, but6 to parley with thee am I
come from Medb, 7and to bring thee terms."7 "What hast thou brought with
thee?" "Thou shalt be recompensed for whatsoever was destroyed of Ulster
which shall be paid thee as best the men of Erin adjudge. Entertainment
shalt thou enjoy in Cruachan; wine and mead shall be poured out for thee
and thou shalt enter the service of Ailill and Medb, for that is more seemly
for thee than to be in the service of the lordling with whom thou art." "Nay,
of a truth," answered Cuchulain, "I would not sell my mother's brothera for
any other king!" "Further," 8continued Fiachu,8 "that W. 1627. thou comest to-
morrow to a tryst with Medb and Fergus in Glenn Fochaine.
1Therewith Fiachu left behind a wish for long life and health with
Cuchulain.1
Accordingly, early on the morrow, Cuchulain set forth for Glenn Fochaine.
Likewise Medb and Fergus went to meet him. And Medb looked narrowly
at Cuchulain, and her spirit chafed her at him that day, for no bigger than
the bulk of a stripling did he seem to her. "Is that yonder the renowned
Cuchulain thou speakest of, O Fergus?" asked Medb, 2"of whom it is said
amongst ye Ulstermen that there is not in Erin a warrior for whom he is not
a match and mighty combat?" "Not in Erin alone, did we say," Fergus made
answer; "but there is not in the world a warrior for whom he is not a match
and mighty combat."2 And Medb began to address Fergus and she made this
lay:—
Medb:

"If that be the noble Hound,
Of whom ye of Ulster boast,
What man e'er stout foe hath faced,
Will fend him from Erin's men!"

Fergus:

"Howe'er young the Hound thou seest,
That Murthemne's Plain doth course,
That man hath not stood on earth
Whom he'd crush not with his might!"

Medb:

"We will bring this warrior terms;
If he slight them, he is mad:
Half his cows, his women, half.
He shall change his way of fight!"

Fergus:

"My wish, that yell not o'ercome
This Hound from proud Murthemne!
Deeds he fears not—fierce and bright—
This I know, if it be he!"

"Accost Cuchulain, O Fergus," said Medb. "Nay, then," quoth Fergus, "but
do thou accost him thyself, for ye are not asunder here in the valley, in
Glenn Fochaine." W. 1653. And Medb began to address Cuchulain and she
made a lay, 1to which he responded:1
Medb:

"Culann's Hound, whom quatrains praise,a
Keep thy staff-sling far from us;
Thy fierce, famed fight hath us ruined,
Hath us broken and confused!"

Cuchulain:

"Medb of Mur, he, Maga's son,
No base arrant wight am I.
While I live I'll never cease
Cualnge's raid to harass sore!"

Medb:

"If thou wilt take this from us,
Valiant chief, thou Cualnge's Hound;
Half thy cows, thy women, half,
Thou shalt have 2through fear of thee!"2

Cuchulain:

"As by right of thrusts am I
Ulster's champion and defence,
Naught I'll yield till I retrieve
Cow and woman ta'en from Gael!"

Medb:

"What thou askest is too much,
After slaughtering our fair troops,
That we keep but steeds and gauds,
All because of one sole man!"

Cuchulain:

"Eocho's daughter, fair, of Fal,
I'm not good at wars of words;
Though a warrior—b fair the cheer—b
Counsel mine is little worth!"

Medb:

"Shame thou hast none for what thou sayest,
O Dechtirè's lordlyc son!
Famous are the terms for thee,
O thou battling Culann's Hound!"

When this lay was finished, Cuchulain accepted none of the terms which
she had offered. In such wise they parted in the valley and withdrew in
equal anger on the one side and on the other.

The warriors of four of the five grand provinces of Erin pitched camp and
took quarters for three days and three nights at Druim En ('Birds' Ridge') in
Conalle Murthemni, but neither huts nor tents did they set up, nor did they
W. 1688. engage in feasts or repasts, nor sang they songs nor carols those
three nights. And Cuchulain destroyed a hundred of their warriors every
night ere the bright hour of sunrise on the morrow.
LL. fo. 70b. "Our hosts will not last long in this fashion," said Medb, "if
Cuchulain slays a hundred of our warriors every night. Wherefore is a
proposal not made to him and do we not parley with him?" "What might the
proposal be?" asked Ailill. "Let the cattle that have milk be given to him
and the captive women from amongst our booty. And he on his side shall
check his staff-sling from the men of Erin and give leave to the hosts to
sleep, 1even though he slay them by day."1 "Who shall go with that
proposal?" Ailill asked. "Who," answered Medb, "but macRoth the 2chief2
runner!" "Nay, but I will not go," said macRoth, "for I am in no way
experienced and know not where Cuchulain may be, 3and even though I
should meet him, I should not know him.3" "Ask Fergus," quoth Medb;
"like enough he knows 4where he is.4" "Nay, then, I know it not," answered
Fergus; "but I trow he is 5in the snow5 between Fochain and the sea, taking
the wind and the sun after his sleeplessness last night, killing and
slaughtering the host single handed." And so it truly was. 6Then on that
errand to Delga macRoth set forth, the messenger of Ailill and Medb. He it
is that circles Erin in one day. There it is that Fergus opined that Cuchulain
would be, in Delga.6

Heavy snow fell that night so that all the 7five7 provinces of Erin were a
white plane with the snow. And Cuchulain doffed the seven-score waxed,
boardlike tunics which were used to be held under cords and strings next his
skin, in order that his sense might not be deranged when W. 1709. the fit of
his fury came on him. And the snow melted for thirty feet all around him,
because of the intensity of the warrior's heat and the warmth of Cuchulain's
body. And the gilla 1remained a good distance from him for he1 could not
endure to remain near him because of the might of his rage and the warrior's
fury and the heat of his body. "A single warrior approacheth, O Cuchulain,"
cried Laeg 2to Cuchulain.2 "What manner of warrior is he?" asked

Cuchulain. "A brown, broad-faced, handsome fellow; 3a yellow head of hair
and a linen ornament round it3; a splendid, brown, 4hooded4 cloak, 5with
red ornamentation,5 about him; a fine, bronze pin in his cloak; a leathern
three-striped doublet next his skin; two gapped shoes between his two feet
and the ground; a white-hazel dog-staff in one of his hands; a single-edged
sword with ornaments of walrus-tooth on its hilt in the other. "Good, O
gilla," quoth Cuchulain, "these be the tokens of a herald. One of the heralds
of Erin is he to bring me message and offer of parley."

Now was macRoth arrived at the place where Laeg was, "6How now6!
What is thy title as vassal, O gilla? "macRoth asked. "Vassal am I to the
youth up yonder," the gilla made answer. MacRoth came to the place where
Cuchulain was. 7Cuchulain was sitting in the snow there up to his two hips
with nothing about him ... his mantle.7 "8How now8! What is thy name as
vassal, O warrior?" asked macRoth. "Vassal am I to Conchobar son of
Fachtna Fathach, 9son of the High King of this province."9 "Hast not
something, 10a name10 more special than that?" "Tis enough for the nonce,"
answered Cuchulain. "Haply, thou knowest where I might find that famous
Cuchulain of whom the men W. 1729. of Erin clamour now on this foray?"
"What wouldst thou say to him that thou wouldst not to me?" asked
Cuchulain. "To parley with him am I come on the part of Ailill and Medb,
with terms and friendly intercourse for him." "What terms hast thou brought
with thee for him?" "The milch-kine and the bondwomen of the booty he
shall have, and for him to hold back his staff-sling from the hosts, for not
pleasant is the thunder-feat he works every evening upon them." "Even
though the one thou seekest were really at hand, he would not accept the
proposals thou askest." "1How so, then," said macRoth1; "for the
Ulstermen, as amends for their honour and in reprisal for injuries and satires
and hindrances 2and for bands of troops and marauders,2 will kill 3for meat
in the winter3 the milch-cows ye have captured, should they happen to have
no yeld cattle. And, what is more, they will bring their bondwomen to bed
to them, and thus will grow up a base progeny on the side of the mothers in
the land of Ulster, 4and loath I am to leave after me such a disgrace on the
men of Ulster.4

MacRoth went his way back 5to the camp of the men of Erin to where Ailill
and Medb and Fergus were.5 "What! Didst thou not find him?" Medb asked.
"Verily, 6I know not, but6 I found a surly, angry, hateful, wrathful gilla 7in
the snow7 betwixt Fochain and the sea. Sooth to say, I know not if he were
Cuchulain." "Hath he accepted these proposals 8from thee?"8 "Nay then, he
hath not." And macRoth related 9unto them all his answer,9 the reason why
he did not accept them. "It was he himself with whom thou spakest," said
Fergus.
"Another offer shall be made him," said Medb. "What is the offer?" asked
Ailill. "There shall be given to him W. 1747. the yeld cattle and the noblest of
the captive women of the booty, and his sling shall be checked from the
hosts, for not pleasant is the thunder-feat he works on them every evening."
"Who should go make this covenant?" 1said they.1 "Who but macRoth 2the
king's envoy,"2 3said every one.3 "Yea, I will go," said macRoth, "because
this time I know him."
4Thereupon4 macRoth 5arose and5 came to parley with Cuchulain. "To

parley with thee am I come this time 6with other terms,6 for I wis it is thou
art the renowned Cuchulain." "What hast thou brought with thee now?"
7
Cuchulain asked.7 "What is dry of the kine and what is noblest of the
captives 8shalt thou get,8 and hold thy staff-sling *LL. fo. 71a. from the men of
Erin and suffer the men of Erin to go to sleep, for not pleasant is the
thunder-feat thou workest upon them every evening." "I accept not that
offer, because, as amends for their honour, the Ulstermen will kill the dry
cattle. For the men of Ulster are honourable men and they would remain
wholly without dry kine and milch-kine. They would bring their free
women ye have captured to the querns and to the kneading-troughs and into
bondage and 9other9 serfdom 10besides.10 11This would be a disgrace.11
Loath I should be to leave after me this shame in Ulster, that slave-girls and
bondmaids should be made of the daughters of kings and princes of Ulster."
"Is there any offer at all thou wilt accept this time?" 12said macRoth12 "Aye,
but there is," answered Cuchulain. "Then wilt thou tell me the offer?" asked
macRoth. "By my word," Cuchulain made answer, "'tis not I that will tell
you." "It is a question, then," said macRoth. "If there be among you in the
camp," said Cuchulain, "one that knows the terms I demand, let W. 1766. him

inform you, 1and I will abide thereby."1 "And if there be not?"2 said
macRoth. "If there be not," said Cuchulain,2 "let no one come near me any
more with offers or with friendly intercourse 3or concerning aught other
injunction,3 for, whosoever may come, it will be the term of his life!"

MacRoth came back 4to the camp and station of the men of Erin, to where
Ailill, Medb, and Fergus were,4 and Medb asked his tidings. "Didst thou
find him?" Medb asked. "In truth, I found him," macRoth replied. "Hath he
accepted 5the terms?"5 "He hath not accepted," replied macRoth. "6How
so;" said Ailill,6 "is there an offer he will accept?" "There is one, he said,"
7answered macRoth.7 "Hath he made known to thee this offer?" "This is his

word," said macRoth, "that he himself would not disclose it to ye." "'Tis a
question, then," said Medb. "But" (macRoth continued), "should there be
one in our midst that knows his terms, that one would tell it to me." "And if
there be not," 8said Ailill. "And if there be not,"8 (answered macRoth), "let
no one go seek him any more. But, there is one thing I promise 9thee,"9 said
macRoth; "even though the kingdom of Erin were 10given me10 for it, I for
one would not go 11on these same legs to that place11 to parley with him
12
again."12 13"Belike, Fergus knows," quoth Ailill.13 Therewith Medb
looked at Fergus. "What are the terms yonder man demands, O Fergus?
"Medb asked. 14"I know what the man meant to disclose.14 I see no
advantage at all for ye in the terms he demands," Fergus replied. "15But15
what are those terms?" asked Medb. "16Not difficult to say," replied
Fergus.16 "That a single champion of W. 1782. the men of Erin 1be sent1 to
fight 2and contend2 with him every day. The while he slayeth that man, the
army will be permitted to continue its march. Then, when he will have slain
that man, another warrior shall be sent to meet him on the ford. Either that,
or the men of Erin shall halt and camp there till sunrise's bright hour in the
morning. 3And, by the ford whereon his single-handed battle and fight takes
place, the cattle shall not be taken by day or by night, to see if there come to
him help from the men of Ulster. And I wonder," continued Fergus, "how
long it will be till they come out of their 'Pains.'3 4Whatever Ulstermen are
injured or wounded nearby him, your leeches shall heal them and ye shall
not be paid for the price of their healing. Whatever daughter of kings or of
princes of the men of Erin shall love him, ye shall bring her to him together

with her purchase and bride-price.4 And further, Cuchulain's food and
clothing shall be provided by you, 5so long as he will be5 on this
expedition." 6"Good, O Fergus,"6 asked Ailill,a 7"will he abate aught of
these terms?" "In sooth, will he," replied Fergus; "namely, he will not exact
to be fed and clothed by you, but of himself will provide food and
clothing."7
"By our conscience," said Ailill, "this is a grievous proposal." "What he
asks is good," replied Medb; "and he shall obtain those terms, for we deem
it easier to bear that he should have one of our warriors every day than a
hundred every night." "Who will go and make known those terms to
Cuchulain?" "Who, then, but Fergus?" replied Medb. "8Come now, O
Fergus," said Medb; "take upon thee to fulfil and make good those terms to
him."8 "Nevermore!" said Fergus. "Why not?" asked Ailill. 9"I fear ye will
not make true and fulfil them for W. 1792. me." "They will truly be fulfilled,"
said Medb.9 (Then said Fergus:) "Bonds and covenants, pledges and bail
shall be given for abiding by those terms and for their fulfilment towards
Cuchulain." "I abide by it," said Medb, and she fast bound Fergus to them
in like manner.

X. 1THE VIOLENT DEATH OF ETARCUMUL1
2
W. 1798. Fergus' horses were brought and his chariot was hitched and Fergus
set forth on that errand.2 And two horses were brought for Etarcumul son of
Fid and of Lethrinn, a soft youth of the people of Medb and of Ailill. 3Now
Etarcumul followed Fergus.3 "Whither goest thou?" Fergus demanded. "We
go with thee," Etarcumul made answer. 4"And why goest thou with me?"
asked Fergus.4 "To behold the form and appearance of Cuchulain, and to
gaze upon him, 5for he is unknown to me."5 "Wilt thou do my bidding,"
said Fergus, "thou wilt in no wise go thither." "Why shall I not, pray?" 6"I
would not have thee go," said Fergus; "and it is not out of hatred of thee,
only I should be loath to have combat between thee and Cuchulain.6 Thy
light-heartedness, 7thy haughtiness and thy pride7 and thine
overweeningness (I know), but (I also know) the fierceness and valour and
hostility, the 8violence and vehemence8 of the youth against whom thou
goest, 9even Cuchulain.9 And methinks ye will have contention before ye
part. 10No good will come from your meeting."10 "Art thou not able to
come between us 11to protect me?"11 W. 1806. "I am, to be sure," Fergus
answered, "provided thou thyself seek not the combat1 and treat not what he
says with contempt."1 "I will not seek it," 2said Etarcumul,2 "till the very
day of doom!"

Then they went their ways 3in two chariots to Delga,3 to come up to
Cuchulain where Cuchulain was between Fochain and the sea. 4There it is
that he was that day, with his back to the pillar-stone at Crich Rois,4 playing
draughts with Laeg, 5to wit, his charioteer.5 6The back of his head was
turned towards them that approached and Laeg faced them.6 And not a
7
living7 thing entered the 8entire8 plain without Laeg perceiving it and,
notwithstanding, he continued to win every other game of draughts from
Cuchulain. "A lone warrior cometh towards us 9over the plain,9 10my
master10 Cucuc," spake Laeg. "What manner of warrior?" queried

Cuchulain. 11"A fine, large chariot is there," said he.11 12"But what sort of
chariot?"12 "As large as one of the chief mountains that are highest on a
great plain appears to me *LL. fo. 71b. the chariot that is under the warrior;
13and I would liken to the battlements of one of the vast, royal seats of the

province the chariot that is in the trappings of those horses;13 as large as one
of the noble trees on a main fort's green meseems the curly, tressed, fair-
yellow, all-golden hair hanging loose around the man's head; a purple
mantle fringed with thread of gold 14wrapped14 around him; a golden,
ornamented brooch in the mantle 15over his breast;15 16a bright-shining,
hooded shirt, with red embroidery of red gold trussed up on his white W.
16
1819. skin; a broad and grey-shafted lance, 1perforated from mimasca to
'horn,'1 flaming red in his hand; over him, a bossed, plaited shield, 2curved,
with an engraved edge of silvered bronze,2 3with applied ornaments of red
gold thereon,3 and a boss of red gold; a lengthy sword, as long as the oar4 of
a huge currach 5on a wild, stormy night,5 6resting on the two thighs6 of the
great haughty warrior that is within the chariot.4"
"Holla! Welcome the coming of this guest to us!" cried Cuchulain. "We
know the man; it is my master Fergus that cometh hither. 7Empty is the
great paddle that my master Fergus carries," said Cuchulain; "for there is no
sword in its sheath but a sword of wood. For I have heard," Cuchulain
continued, "that Ailill got a chance at him and Medb as they lay, and he
took away Fergus' sword from him and gave it to his charioteer to take care
of, and the sword of wood was put into its sheath."7
"Yet another single chariot-fighter I see coming towards us. With fulness of
skill and beauty and splendour his horses speed." 8"A young, tender gilla in
armour is in the chariot.8" "One of the youths of the men of Erin is he, O
my master Laeg," responded Cuchulain. "To scan my appearance and form
is that man come, for I am renowned amongst them in the midst of their
camp, 9and they know me not at all."9

Fergus came up 10to where Cuchulain was10 and he sprang from the chariot,
and Cuchulain bade him 11a hearty11 welcome. 12"Welcome to thine arrival
and thy coming, O my master Fergus!" cried Cuchulain; "and a night's W.
1831. lodging shalt thou have here this night."12 1"Thy hospitality and eke

thy welcome1 I take for true," Fergus responded. "Verily, it is truly meant
for thee," said Cuchulain; "for comes there a brace of birds into the plain,
thou shalt have a wild goose with half the other. If fish rise to the river-
mouths, 2to the stones or waterfalls,2 thou shalt have a salmon with as much
again. Thou shalt have a handful of watercress and a handful of sea-grass
and a handful of laver 3and a drink from the sand3 4afterwards.4 If thou hast
a fight or combat 5with warrior before thee,5 I myself will go in thy stead to
the ford. 6I will bear the fight that thou mayest return safe to the camp and
the fort of the men of Erin on the morrow,6 7and thou shalt lie on a litter of
fresh rushes till heavy sleep and slumber come on thee,7 8and I will watch
and guard thee as long as thou sleepest."8 "Well, then, 9mayest thou have
victory and blessing, O fosterling," said Fergus.9 "We know of what sort is
thy hospitality on this occasion, on the Cow-spoil of Cualnge. 10But, not to
claim that are we come,10 11a night's hospitality of thee, but to fulfil and
make good the terms thou askest.11 As for this compact which thou hast
asked of the men of Erin, single-handed combat with one man, thou shalt
have it. It is for that I am come, to bind thee thereto, and do thou take it
upon thee." "I pledge myself truly," said Cuchulain, 13provided fair play and
single-handed combat be granted to me.13 "And, O, my master Fergus, 14do
thou take upon thee the pact," said Cuchulain. "I bind myself to it," replied
Fergus.14 W. 1841. And no longer than that did he remain in parley, lest the
men of Erin should say they were betrayed or deserted by Fergus for his
disciple. Fergus' two horses were brought and his chariot was harnessed and
he went back.
Etarcumul tarried behind gazing for a long time at Cuchulain. "At what
starest thou, gilla?" asked Cuchulain. "I look at thee," said Etarcumul. "In
truth then, thou hast not far to look," said Cuchulain. 1"There is no need of
straining thine eye for that; not far from thee within sight, thine eye seeth
what is not smaller than I nor bigger.1 If thou but knewest how angered is
the little creature thou regardest, myself, to wit! And how then do I appear
unto thee gazing upon me?" "Thou pleasest me as thou art; a comely,
2shapely,2 wonderful, beautiful youth thou art, with brilliant, striking,

various feats. Yet as for rating thee where goodly warriors are or forward
youths or heroes of bravery or sledges of destruction, we count thee not nor

consider thee at all. 3I know not why thou shouldst be feared by any one. I
behold nothing of terror or fearfulness or of the overpowering of a host in
thee. So, a comely youth with arms of wood and with showy feats is all
thou art!"3 4"Though thou revilest me,"4 said Cuchulain, "it is a surety for
thee that thou camest from the camp under the protection of Fergus, 5as
thou well knowest.5 For the rest, I swear by my gods whom I worship, were
it not for the honour of Fergus, it would be only bits of thy bones and shreds
of thy limbs, 6thy reins drawn and thy quarters scattered6 that would be
brought back to the camp 7behind thy horses and chariot!"7 "But threaten
me no longer W. 1858. in this wise, 1Cuchulain1!" 2cried Etarcumul;2 "for the
3
wonderful3 terms thou didst exact of the men of Erin, 4that fair play and4
combat with one man 5should be granted thee,5 none other of the men of
Erin but mine own self will come to-morrow 6at morn's early hour on the
ford6 to attack thee."

"Come out, then," 7said Cuchulain,7 "and howso early thou comest, thou
wilt find me here. I will not fly before thee. 8Before no man have I put foot
in flight till now on the Plunder of the Kine of Cualnge and neither will I fly
before thee!"8
Etarcumul returned 9from Methè and Cethè,9 and began to talk with his
driver. "I must needs fight with Cuchulain to-morrow, gilla," said
Etarcumul, 10"for I gave my word to go."10 "'Tis true, thou didst," quoth the
charioteer. *LL. fo. 72a. "Howbeit, I know not wilt thou fulfil it." "But what is
better 11for us,11 to fulfil it to-morrow or forthwith to-night?" "To our
thinking," said the gilla, "albeit no victory is to be won by fighting to-
morrow, there is still less to be gained by fighting to-night, for thy combat
12
and hurt12 is the nearer." "13Be that as it may," said he13; "turn the
14horses and14 chariot back again 15from the hill15 for us, gilla, 16till we go

to the ford of combat,16 for I swear by the gods whom I worship, I will not
return 17to the camp17 till the end of life and time, till I bring with me the
head of that young wildling, 18even18 the head of Cuchulain, for a trophy!"
The charioteer wheeled the chariot again towards the W. 1871. ford. They
brought the lefta board to face the pair in a line with the ford. Laeg marked

1this and he cried1 2to Cuchulain2: ("Wist thou) the last chariot-fighter that

was here a while ago, O Cucuc?" "What of him?" asked Cuchulain. "He has
brought his left board towards us in the direction of the ford." "It is
Etarcumul, O gilla, who seeks me in combat. 3I owe no refusal,3 but far
from pleased am I thereat 4that he should come and seek combat of me. And
unwelcome is his coming,4 because of the honour of my foster-father
5
Fergus5 under whom he came forth from the camp 6of the men of Erin.6
But not that I would protect him do I thus. Fetch me my arms, gilla, to the
ford. 7Bring me my horse and my chariot after me.7 I deem it no honour for
myself if 8the fellow8 reaches the ford before me." And straightway
Cuchulain betook himself to the ford, and he bared his sword over his fair,
well-knit spalls and he was ready on the ford to await Etarcumul.
Then, too, came Etarcumul. "What seekest thou, gilla?" demanded
Cuchulain. "Battle with thee I seek," replied Etarcumul. "Hadst thou been
advised by me," said Cuchulain, "thou wouldst never have come. 9I do not
desire what thou demandest of me.9 10I have no thought of fighting or
contending with thee, Etarcumul.10 Because of the honour of Fergus under
whom thou camest out of the camp 11and station of the men of Erin,11 and
not because I would spare thee, do I behave thus." 12"Thou hast no choice
but to fight," replied Etarcumul.12 Thereupon Cuchulain gave him a long-
blow whereby W. 1886. he cut away the sod that was under the soles of his
feet, so that he was stretched out like a sack on his back, and 1his limbs in
the air1 and the sod on his belly. Had Cuchulain wished it it is two pieces he
might have made of him. 2"Hold, fellow.2 Off with thee now, for I have
given thee warning. 3It mislikes me to cleanse my hands in thee. I would
have cloven thee into many parts long since but for Fergus."3 "I will not go.
We will fight on," said Etarcumul. Cuchulain dealt him a well-aimed edge-
stroke. 4With the edge of his sword4 he sheared the hair from him from poll
to forehead, from one ear to the other, as if it were with a light, keen razor
he had been shorn. 5Not a scratch of his skin gave blood.5 6"Hold, fellow.6
Get thee home now," said Cuchulain, "for a laughing-stock I have made of
thee." "I go not," 7rejoined Etarcumul.7 "We will fight to the end, till I take
thy head and thy spoils and boast over thee, or till thou takest my head and
my spoils and boastest over me!" "So let it be, what thou saidst last, that it

shall be. I will take thy head and thy spoils and boast over thee!" 8When
now the churl became troublesome and persistent,8 Cuchulain 9sprang from
the ground, so that he alighted on the edge of Etarcumul's shield, and he9
dealt him a cleaving-blow on the crown of the head, so that it drove to his
navel. He dealt him a second crosswise stroke, so that at the one time the
three portions of his body came to the ground. Thus fell Etarcumul son of
Fid and of Lethrinn.
10Then Etarcumul's charioteer went his way after Fergus,10 and Fergus

knew not that the combat had been. For thus was his wont: 11From the day
Fergus took warrior's arms in hand,11 he never for aught looked back,
whether at W. 1904. sitting or at rising or when travelling or walking, in battle
or fight or combat, lest some one might say it was out of fear he looked
back, but ever he looked at the thing that was before and beside him.
1Fergus saw the chariot go past him and a single man in it.1 2And when2

Etarcumul's squire came up abreast of Fergus, Fergus asked, "But, where is
thy lord, gilla?" "He fell a while since at the ford by the hand of Cuchulain,"
the gilla made answer. "That indeed was not fair!" exclaimed Fergus, "for
that elf-like sprite to wrong me in him that came under my safeguard 3and
protection3 4from the camp and fort of the men of Erin.4 Turn the chariot for
us, gilla," cried Fergus, "that we may go to 5the ford of fight and combat5
for a parley with Cuchulain."
Thereupon the driver wheeled the chariot. They fared thither towards the
ford. 6Fergus turned to rebuke Cuchulain.6 "How darest thou offend me,
thou wild, 7perverse, little7 elf-man," cried Fergus, "in him that came under
my safeguard and protection? 8Thou thinkest my club short."8 *LL. fo. 72b.
9
"Be not wroth with me, my master Fergus," said Cuchulain.9 "After the
nurture and care thou didst bestow on me 10and the Ulstermen bestowed
and Conchobar10 tell me, which wouldst thou hold better, 11for the
Ulstermen to be conquered without anyone to punish them but me alone
and11 for him to triumph and boast over me, or for me to triumph and boast
over him? And yet more, 12of his own fault he fell.12 Ask his own gilla
which of us was in fault in respect of the other; 13it was none other but
he.13a 1Reproach me not, O Fergus my master." He bent down so that

Fergus' chariot went past him thrice. "Ask his charioteer, is it I that have
caused it?" "Not thou indeed," answered his charioteer. "He said,"
Cuchulain went on, "he would not go till either he took my head or he left
me his own."1 2Then Etarcumul's gilla related to Fergus how it all befel.
When Fergus heard that, what he said was:2 W. 1921. "Liefer to me what thou
hast done, 3O fosterling," said Fergus, "that Etarcumul is slain, and3 a
blessing on the hand that smote him, 4for it is he that was overweening."4
So then they bound two spancels about the ankle-joints of Etarcumul's feet
and he was dragged along behind his horses and chariot. At every rock that
was rough for him, his lungs and his liver were left on the stones and the
rugged places. At every place that was smooth for him, his skilfully severed
limbs came together again round the horses. In this wise he was dragged
through the camp to the door of the tent of Ailill and Medb: "There's your
young warrior for you," cried Fergus, "for 'Every restoration together with
its restitution' is what the law saith."a Medb came forth to the door of her
tent and she raised her 5quick, splitting,5 loud voice 6of a warrior.6 Quoth
Medb. "Truly, methought that great was the heat and the wrath of this
young hound 7on leaving us awhile since7 at the beginning of the day as he
went from the camp. 8It is no fortune for a tender youth that falls on thee
now.8 We had thought that the honour under which he went, even the
honour of Fergus, was not the honour of a dastard!" "What hath crazed the
virago and wench?" cried Fergus. "Good lack, W. 1935. is it fitting for the
mongrel to seek the Hound of battle whom 1the warriors and champions1 of
four of the five grand provinces of Erin dare not approach nor withstand?
What, I myself was glad to escape whole from him!"
2
Etarcumul's grave was then dug and his tombstone erected; his name was
written in ogam and they raised the keen over him. Cuchulain shot not from
his sling at them that night2 3and the women and maidens were brought
over to him and half the cattle, and they brought provision to him by day.3
In this manner fell Etarcumul and such was the combat of Etarcumul with
Cuchulain.

XI. 1THE SLAYING OF NATHCRANTAIL1
2
Then the men of Erin held counsel who would be fit to fight and contend
with Cuchulain and drive him off from the men of Erin.2 3"What man have
ye to face Cuchulain to-morrow?" asked Lugaid. "They will give him to
thee to-morrow," answered Manè son of Ailill. "We find no one to meet
him," quoth Medb; "let us have a truce with him then till a man be found to
oppose him." This they obtain. "Whither will ye turn," asked Ailill, "to find
the man to oppose Cuchulain?" "There is not in Erin," Medb answered,
"one that could be got to meet him unless Curoi macDarè come, or
Nathcrantail the warrior." A man of Curoi's people was in the tent. "Curoi
will not come," said he; "he weens enough of his people have come!" "Let a
message be sent then for Nathcrantail."3 W. 1941. Then arose a huge warrior
of Medb's people, Nathcrantail by name. 4Manè Andoe ('the Unslow') goes
to him. They tell him their message. "Come with us for the sake of the
honour of Connacht." "I will not go," said he, "unless they give Finnabair to
me." Afterwards he goes with them. They bring his armour in a car from the
east of Connacht and place it in the camp.4 5Then was Nathcrantail called
into the tent of Ailill and Medb.5 6"Wherefore am I summoned to ye?"
Nathcrantail asked. "It would please us well," Medb replied, "werest thou to
fight and contend with Cuchulain on the ford and ward him off from us at
the morning hour early on the morrow.6 1Thou shalt have Finnabair," said
Medb, "for going to fight yonder man." "I will do it," said he.1 2He engaged
to undertake the battle and combat and that night be made ready, and early
on the morrow Nathcrantail arose for the battle and combat and he took his
warlike implements with him to the fight, and though early he arose,
Cuchulain arose still earlier.2 3That night Lugaid came to Cuchulain.
"Nathcrantail comes to meet thee to-morrow. Alas for thee, thou wilt not
withstand him." "That matters not," Cuchulain made answer.3a
4On the morrow Nathcrantail went forth from the camp4 and he came to

attack Cuchulain. W. 1942. He did not deign to bring along arms but thrice
nine spits of holly after being sharpened, burnt and hardened in fire. And

there before him on the pond was Cuchulain 5a-fowling and his chariot hard
by him,5b and there was no shelter whatever. 6And when Nathcrantail
perceived Cuchulain6 he 7straightway7 cast a dart at Cuchulain. Cuchulain
sprang 8from the middle of the ground8 till he came on the tip of the dart.
9
And he performed a feat on the point of the dart and it hindered him not
from catching the birds.9 And again Nathcrantail threw a second dart.
Nathcrantail threw a third dart and Cuchulain sprang on the point of the
second W. 1951. dart and so on till he was on the point of the last dart. It was
then, 1when Nathcrantail threw the ninth dart,1 that the flock of birds
2
which Cuchulain pursued2 on the plain 3flew away from Cuchulain.3
Cuchulain chased them even as any bird 4of the air.4 5He hopped on the
points of the darts like a bird from each dart to the next, pursuing the birds5
that they might not escape him but that they might leave behind a portion of
food for the night. For this is what sustained and served Cuchulain, fish and
fowl and game on the Cualnge Cow-spoil. Something more remains to be
told: Nathcrantail deemed full surely that Cuchulain went from him in rout
of defeat and flight. And he went his way till he came to the door of the tent
of Ailill and Medb and he lifted up his loud voice 6of a warrior6: "That
famous Cuchulain that ye so talk of ran and fled in defeat 7before me when
he came to me7 in the morning." "We knew," spake Medb, "it would be
even so when able warriors and goodly youths met him, that this beardless
imp would not hold out; for when a mighty warrior, 8Nathcrantail to wit,8
came upon him, he withstood him not but before him he ran away!"

And Fergus heard that, and Fergus 9and the Ulstermen9 were sore angered
that any one should boast that Cuchulain had fled. And Fergus addressed
himself to Fiachu, Feraba's son, that he should go to rebuke Cuchulain.
"And tell *LL. fo. 73a. him it is an honour for him to oppose the hosts for as
long or as short a space as he does deeds of valour upon them, but that it
were fitter for him to hide himself than to fly before any one of their
warriors, 10forasmuch as the dishonour would be not greater for him than
for the rest of Ulster."10
W. 1969. Thereupon Fiachu went to address Cuchulain. Cuchulain bade him
welcome. "I trow that welcome to be truly meant, but it is for counsel with
thee I am come from thy fosterer Fergus. And he has said, 'It would be a

glory for thee to oppose the hosts for as long or as short a space as thou
doest valiantly 1with them;1 but it would be fitter for thee to hide thyself
than to fly before any one of their warriors!'" "How now, who makes that
boast among ye?" Cuchulain asked. "Nathcrantail, of a surety," Fiachu
answered. "How may this be? Dost not know, thou and Fergus and the
nobles of Ulster, that I slay no charioteers nor heralds nor unarmed people?
And he bore no arms but a spit of wood. And I would not slay Nathcrantail
until he had arms. And do thou tell him, let him come here early in the
morning, 2till he is between Ochainè and the sea, and however early he
comes, he will find me here2 and I will not fly before him!"
3Fiachu went back to the camp3 4and to the station of the men of Erin, and

he bound Nathcrantail to go to the ford of combat on the morrow. They
bided there that night,4 and it seemed long to Nathcrantail till day with its
light came for him to attack Cuchulain. He set out early on the morrow to
attack Cuchulain. Cuchulain arose early 5and came to his place of meeting5
and his wrath bided with him on that day. And 6after his night's vigil,6 with
an angry cast he threw his cloak around him, so that it passed over the
pillar-stone 7near by, the size of himself,7 and snapped the pillar-stone off
from the ground between himself and his cloak. And he was aware of
naught because of the measure of anger that had come on and raged in him.
Then, too, came Nathcrantail. 8His arms were brought with him on a
wagon,8 and he spake, "Where is W. 1987. this Cuchulain?" shouted
Nathcrantail. "Why, over yonder 1near the pillar-stone before thee,"1
answered Cormac Conlongas son of Conchobar. "Not such was the shape
wherein he appeared to me yesterday," said Nathcrantail. "Repel yon
warrior," quoth Cormac, "and it will be the same for thee as if thou repellest
Cuchulain!" 2"Art thou Cuchulain?" "And if I am?" answered Cuchulain.
"If thou be truly he," said Nathcrantail, "I would not bring a lambkin's head
to the camp. I will not take thy head, the head of a beardless boy." "It is not
I at all," said Cuchulain; "go find him around the hill!" Cuchulain hastens to
Laeg. "Rub a false beard on me; I cannot get the warrior to fight with me
beardless." This was done for him. He goes to meet Nathcrantail on the hill.
"Methinks that more fitting. Now fight with me fairly," said Nathcrantail.
"Thou shalt have thy wish, if only we know it," Cuchulain made answer. "I
will make a cast at thee," said Nathcrantail, "and thou shalt not avoid it." "I

will not avoid it except on high," said Cuchulain. Nathcrantail makes a cast
at him. Cuchulain springs on high before it. "'Tis ill of thee to avoid the
cast," cried Nathcrantail. "Avoid then my cast on high!" quoth Cuchulain.
Cuchulain lets the spear fly at him and it went on high, so that from above it
alighted on Nathcrantail's crown and through him it went to the ground.
"Alas," said he, "the best warrior in Erin art thou," spake Nathcrantail.
"Four and twenty sons have I in the camp. I will go and tell them what
hidden treasure I have and then return for thee to behead me, for I shall die
if the spear be taken out of my head." "It is well," quoth Cuchulain; "thou
shalt come back." Then Nathcrantail returns to the camp. They all come to
meet him. "Where is the madman's head with thee?" 1every one asks.1
"Wait, ye warriors, till I tell my tale to my sons and return to do battle with
Cuchulain."2

W. 1992. Soon came Nathcrantail 3to seek Cuchulain3 and he made a wide
sweep with his sword at Cuchulain. 4Cuchulain leaps on high,4 so that the
sword encountered the pillar of stone that was between Cuchulain and his
cloak, and the sword broke 5atwain5 on the pillar-stone. 6Then Cuchulain
became filled with rage, as he had been with the boys in Emain, and6 he
sprang from the ground and alighted on the top of the boss of Nathcrantail's
shield and dealt him a side stroke over the upper edge of the shield, so that
he struck off his head from his trunk. He raised his hand quickly again and
gave him another blow on the top of the trunk so that he cleft him in twain
down to the ground. 7His four severed parts fell to the ground.7 Thus fell
Nathcrantail slain by Cuchulain. Whereupon Cuchulain spoke 8the verse:—
8

"Now that Nathcrantail has fallen,
9There will be increase of strife!9

Would that Medb had battle 10now,10
And the third part of the host!"

XII. 1THE FINDING OF THE BULL1
2
W. 2007. Thereafter on the morrow2 Medb proceeded with a third of the host
of the men of Erin about her, 3and she set forth by the highroad of
Midluachair3 till she reached Dûn Sobairche in the north. And Cuchulain
pressed heavily on Medb that day. 4Medb went on to Cuib to seek the bull
and Cuchulain pursued her. Now on the road to Midluachair she had gone
to invade Ulster and Cruthne as far as Dûn Sobairche.4 5There it is that
Cuchulain slew all those we have mentioned in Cuib.5 Cuchulain killed Fer
Taidle, whence cometh Taidle; and 6as they went northwards6 he killed the
macBuachalla ('the Herdsman's sons') 7at their cairn,7 whence cometh Carn
macBuachalla; and he killed Luasce on the slopes, whence Lettre Luasc
('the Watery Slopes of Luasc'); and he slew Bobulge in his marsh, whence
Grellach ('the Trampled Place') of Bubulge; and he slew Murthemne on his
hill, whence Delga ('the Points') of Murthemne; 8he slew Nathcoirpthe at
his trees, Cruthen on his ford, Marc on his hill, Meille on his mound and
Bodb in his tower.8 It was afterwards then W. 2016. that Cuchulain turned
back from the north 1to Mag Murthemni,1 to protect and defend his own
borders and land, for dearer to him was 2his own land and inheritance and
belongings2 than the land and territory and belongings of another.
It was then too that he came upon the Fir Crandce ('the men of Crannach')
3from whom cometh Crannach in Murthemne;3 to wit, the two Artinne and

the two sons of Lecc, the two sons of Durcride, the two sons of Gabul, and
Drucht and Delt and Dathen, Tae and Tualang and Turscur, and Torc Glaisse
and Glass and Glassne, which are the same as the twenty men of Fochard.
Cuchulain surprised them as they were pitching *LL. fo. 73b. camp in advance
of all others—4ten cup-bearers and ten men-of-arms they were4—so that
they fell by his hand.
Then it was that Buide ('the Yellow') son of Ban Blai ('the White') from
5Sliab Culinn ('Hollymount'),5 the country of Ailill and Medb, and

belonging to the special followers of 6Ailill and6 Medb, met Cuchulain.

Four and twentya warriors 7was their strength.7 A 8blue8 mantle enwrapping
each man, the Brown Bull of Cualnge plunging and careering before them
after he had been brought from Glenn na Samaisce ('Heifers' Glen') to Sliab
Culinn, and fifty of his heifers with him. 9Cuchulain advances to meet
them.9 "Whence bring ye the drove, 10ye men?"10 Cuchulain asks. "From
yonder mountain," Buide answers. 11"Where are its herdsmen?" Cuchulain
asks. "One is here where we found him," the warrior answers. Cuchulain
made three leaps after them, seeking to speak W. 2031. with them, as far as
the ford. Then it was he spoke to the leader11, "What is thine own name?"
said Cuchulain. "One that neither loves thee nor fears thee," Buide made
answer; "Buide son of Ban Blai am I, from the country of Ailill and Medb."
1"Wella-day, O Buide," cried Cuchulain; "haste to the ford below that we

exchange a couple of throws with each other." They came to the ford and
exchanged a couple of throws there.1 "Lo, here for thee this short spear,"
said Cuchulain, and he casts the spear at him. It struck the shield over his
belly, so that it shattered three ribs in his farther side after piercing his heart
in his bosom. And Buide son of Ban Blai fell 2on the ford.2 So that thence is
Ath Buidi ('Athboy') in Crich Roiss ('the land of Ross').

For as long or as short a space as 3these bold champions and battle-
warriors3 were engaged in this work of exchanging their two short spears—
for it was not in a moment they had accomplished it—the Brown Bull of
Cualnge was carried away in quick course and career 4by the eight great
men4 to the camp 5of the men of Erin5 as swiftly as any beeve can be
brought to a camp. 6They opined then it would not be hard to deal with
Cuchulain if only his spear were got from him.6 From this accordingly
came the greatest shame and grief and madness that was brought on
Cuchulain on that hosting.

As regards Medb: every ford 7and every hill7 whereon she stopped, Ath
Medba ('Medb's Ford') 8and Dindgna Medba ('Medb's Hill')8 is its name.
Every place wherein she pitched her tent, Pupall Medba ('Medb's Tent') is
its name. Every spot she rested her horselash, Bili Medba ('Medb's Tree') is
its name.

On this circuit Medb 9turned back from the north after W. 2047. she had
remained a fortnight laying waste the province9 1and plundering the land of
the Picts and of Cualnge and the land of Conall son of Amargin,1 and
having offered battle 2one night2 to Findmor ('the Fair-large') wife of
Celtchar 3son of Uthechar3 at the gate of Dûn Sobairche; and she slew
Findmor and laid waste Dûn Sobairche; 5and, after taking Dûn Sobairche
from her, she brought fifty of 4her4 women into the province of Dalriada.5
6
Then she had them hanged and crucified. Whence cometh Mas na Righna
('Queen's Buttock') as the name of the hill, from their hanging.6
Then came the warriors of four of the five grand provinces of Erin at the
end of a long fortnighta to camp and station 7at Fochard,7 together with
Medb and Ailill and the company that were bringing the bull.

XIIa. THE DEATH OF FORGEMEN
W. 2054. And the bull's cowherd would not allow them 1to carry off1 the
Brown Bull of Cualnge, so that they urged on the bull, beating shafts on
shields, till they drove him into a narrow gap, and the herd trampled the
cowherd's body thirty feet into the ground, so that they made fragments and
shreds of his body. Forgemen was the neatherd's name. 2And this is the
name of the hill, Forgemen.2 This then is the Death of Forgemen on the
Cattle-prey of Cualnge. 3Now there was no peril to them that night so long
as a man was got to ward off Cuchulain from them on the ford.3

XIIb. 1HERE IS NARRATED THE SLAYING OF
REDG THE LAMPOONIST1
W. 2061. When the men of Erin had come together in one place, both Medb
and Ailill and the force that was bringing the bull to the camp and
enclosure, they all declared Cuchulain would be no more valiant than
another 2of the men of Erin2 were it not for the wonderful little trick he
possessed, the spearlet of Cuchulain. Accordingly the men of Erin
despatched from them Redg, Medb'sa jester, to demand the light javelin 3of
Cuchulain.3
So Redg 4came forward to where Cuchulain was and4 asked for the little
javelin, but Cuchulain did not give him the little javelin 5at once5; he did
not deem it good and proper to yield it. 6"Give me thy spear," said the jester.
"Nay then, I will not," answered Cuchulain; "but I will give thee treasure."
"I will not take it," said the jester. Then he wounded the jester because he
would not accept from him what he had offered him.6 Redg declared he
would deprive Cuchulain of his honour 7unless he got the little javelin.7
Thereupon Cuchulain hurled the javelin at him, so that it struck him in the
nape of the neckb and fell out through his mouth on the ground. And the
only words Redg uttered were these, "This precious gift is readily W. 2072.
ours," and his soul separated from his body at the ford. Therefrom that ford
is ever since called Ath Solom Shet ('Ford of the Ready Treasure'). And the
copper of the javelin was thrown into the river. Hence is Uman-Sruth
('Copperstream') ever after.
1"Let us ask for a sword-truce from Cuchulain," says Ailill. "Let Lugaid go

to him," one and all answer. Then Lugaid goes to parley with him. "How
now do I stand with the host?" Cuchulain asks. "Disgraceful indeed is the
thing thou hast demanded of them," Lugaid answers, "even this, that thou
shouldst have thy women and maidens and half of thy kine. But more
grievous than all do they hold it that they themselves should be killed and
thou provisioned."

Every day there fell a man by Cuchulain till the end of a week. 2Then2 faith
is broken with Cuchulain. Twenty are despatched at one time to attack him
and he destroys them all. "Go to him, O Fergus," says Ailill, "that he may
vouchsafe us a change of place." A while after this they proceed to Cronech.
These are they that fell in single combat with him in that place, to wit: the
two Roth, the two Luan, two women-thieves, ten fools, ten cup-bearers, the
ten Fergus, the six Fedelm, the six Fiachu. Now these were all killed by him
in single combat.
When their tents were pitched by them in Cronech they discussed what they
had best do with Cuchulain. "I know," quoth Medb, "what is best here. Let
some one go to him from us for a sword-pact from him in respect of the
host, and he shall have half the cattle that are here." This message they
bring to him. "I will do it," said Cuchulain, "provided the bond is not
broken by you1 3to-morrow.3"

XIIc. 1HERE IS TOLD THE MEETING OF
CUCHULAIN AND FINNABAIR1
2"Let a message be sent to him," said Ailill, "that Finnabair my daughter

will be bestowed on him, and for him to keep away from the hosts." Manè
Athramail ('Fatherlike') goes to him. But first he addresses himself to Laeg.
"Whose man art thou?" spake Manè. Now Laeg made no answer. Thrice
Manè addressed him in this 3same3 wise. "Cuchulain's man," Laeg answers,
"and provoke me not, lest it happen I strike thy head off thee!" "This man is
mad," quoth Manè as he leaves him. Then he goes to accost Cuchulain. It
was there Cuchulain had doffed his tunic, and the 4deep4 snow was around
him where he sat, up to his belt, and the snow had melted a cubit around
him for the greatness of the heat of the hero. And Manè addressed him three
times in like manner, whose man he was? "Conchobar's man, and do not
provoke me. For if thou provokest me any longer I will strike thy head off
thee as one strikes off the head of a blackbird!" "No easy thing," quoth
Manè, "to speak to these two." Thereupon Manè leaves them and tells his
tale to Ailill and Medb.
"Let Lugaid go to him," said Ailill, "and offer him the girl." Thereupon
Lugaid goes and repeats this to Cuchulain. "O master Lugaid," quoth
Cuchulain, "it is a snare!" "It is the word of a king; he hath said it," Lugaid
answered; "there can be no snare in it." "So be it," said Cuchulain.
Forthwith Lugaid leaves him and takes that answer to Ailill and Medb. "Let
the fool go forth in my form," said Ailill, "and the king's crown on his head,
and let him stand some way off from Cuchulain lest he know him; and let
the girl go with him and let the fool promise her to him, and let them depart
quickly in this wise. And methinks ye will play a trick on him thus, so that
he will not stop you any further till he comes with the Ulstermen to the
battle."
Then the fool goes to him and the girl along with him, and from afar he
addresses Cuchulain. The Hound comes to meet him. It happened he knew

by the man's speech that he was a fool. A slingstone that was in his hand he
threw at him so that it entered his head and bore out his brains. He comes
up to the maiden, cuts off her two tresses and thrusts a stone through her
cloak and her tunic, and plants a standing-stone through the middle of the
fool. Their two pillar-stones are there, even the pillar-stone of Finnabair and
the pillar-stone of the fool.
Cuchulain left them in this plight. A party was sent out from Ailill and
Medb to search for their people, for it was long they thought they were
gone, when they saw them in this wise. This thing was noised abroad by all
the host in the camp. Thereafter there was no truce for them with
Cuchulain.2

XIId. 1HERE THE COMBAT OF MUNREMAR
AND CUROI1
2While the hosts were there in the evening they perceived that one stone fell

on them coming from the east and another from the west to meet it. The
stones met one another in the air and kept falling between Fergus' camp, the
camp of Ailill and the camp of Nera. This sport and play continued from
that hour till the same hour on the next day, and the hosts spent the time
sitting down, with their shields over their heads to protect them from the
blocks of stones, till the plain was full of the boulders, whence cometh Mag
Clochair ('the Stony Plain'). Now it happened it was Curoi macDarè did
this. He had come to bring help to his people and had taken his stand in
Cotal to fight against Munremar son of Gerrcend.a The latter had come
from Emain Macha to succour Cuchulain and had taken his stand on Ard
('the Height') of Roch. Curoi knew there was not in the host a man to
compete with Munremar. These then it was who carried on this sport
between them. The army prayed them to cease. Whereupon Munremar and
Curoi made peace, and Curoi withdrew to his house and Munremar to
Emain Macha and Munremar came not again till the day of the battle. As
for Curoi, he came not till the combat of Ferdiad.
"Pray Cuchulain," said Medb and Ailill, "that he suffer us to change our
place." This then was granted to them and the change was made.
The 'Pains' of the Ulstermen left them then. When now they awoke from
their 'Pains,' bands of them came continually upon the host to restrain it
again.

XIIe. 1THE SLAUGHTER OF THE BOY-
TROOP1a
Now the youths of Ulster discussed the matter among themselves in Emain
Macha. "Alas for us," said they, "that our friend Cuchulain has no one to
succour him!" "I would ask then," spake Fiachu Fulech ('the Bloody') son of
Ferfebè and own brother to Fiachub Fialdana ('the Generous-daring') son of
Ferfebè, "shall I have a company from you to go to him with help?"
Thrice fifty youths accompany him with their play-clubs, and that was a
third of the boy-troop of Ulster. The army saw them drawing near them over
the plain. "A great army approaches us over the plain," spake Ailill Fergus
goes to espy them. "Some of the youths of Ulster are they," said he, "and it
is to succour Cuchulain they come." "Let a troop go to meet them," said
Ailill, "unknown to Cuchulain; for if they unite with him ye will never
overcome them." Thrice fifty warriors went out to meet them. They fell at
one another's hands, so that not one of them got off alive of the number of
the youths of Lia Toll. Hence is Lia ('the Stone') of Fiachu son of Ferfebè,
for it is there that he fell.
"Take counsel," quoth Ailill; "inquire of Cuchulain about letting you go
from hence, for ye will not go past him by force, now that his flame of
valour has risen." For it was usual with him, when his hero's flame arose in
him, that his feet would turn back on him and his buttocks, before him, and
the knobs of his calves would come on his shins, and one eye would be in
his head and the other one out of his head. A man's head would have gone
into his mouth. There was not a hair on him that was not as sharp as the
thorn of the haw, and a drop of blood was on each single hair. He would
recognize neither comrades nor friends. Alike he would strike them before
and behind. Therefrom it was that the men of Connacht gave Cuchulain the
name Riastartha ('the Contorted One').

XIIf. 1THE SLAUGHTER OF THE KING'S
BODYGUARD1
"Let us ask for a sword-truce from Cuchulain," said Ailill and Medb.
Lugaid goes to him and Cuchulain accords the truce. "Put a man for me on
the ford to-morrow," said Cuchulain. There happened to be with Medb six
royal hirelings, to wit: six princes of the Clans of Deda, the three Dubs ('the
Blacks') of Imlech, and the three Dergs ('the Reds') of Sruthair, by name.
"Why should it not be for us," quoth they, "to go and attack Cuchulain?" So
the next day they went and Cuchulain put an end to the six of them.2

XIII. 1THE COMBAT OF CÛR WITH
CUCHULAIN1
W. 2076. The men of Erin discussed among themselves who of them would be
fit to attack 2and contend with2 Cuchulain, *LL. fo. 74a. 3and drive him off
from them on the ford at the morning-hour early on the morrow.3 And what
they all said was that Cûr ('the Hero') son of Da Loth should be the one to
attack him. For thus it stood with Cûr: No joy was it to be his bedfellow or
to live with him. 4He from whom he drew blood is dead ere the ninth day.4
And 5the men of Erin5 said: "Even should it be Cûr that falls, a trouble 6and
care6 would be removed from the hosts; 7for it is not easy to be with him in
regard to sitting, eating or sleeping.7 Should it be Cuchulain, it would be so
much the better." Cûr was summoned to Medb's tent. "For what do they
want me?" Cûr asked. "To engage with Cuchulain," replied Medb, 8"to do
battle, and ward him off from us on the ford at the morning hour early on
the morrow."8 9Cûr deemed it not fitting to go and contend with a beardless
boy.9 "Little ye rate our worth. Nay, but it is wonderful how ye regard it.
Too tender is the youth with whom ye compare me. Had I known 10I was
sent against him10 I would not have come myself. I would have lads
11enough11 of W. 2086. his age from amongst my people to go meet him on a

ford."
"Indeed, it is easy to talk so," quoth Cormac Conlongas son of Conchobar.
"It would be well worth while for thyself if by thee fell Cuchulain."
1"Howbeit," said Cûr, "since on myself it falls,1 make ye ready a journey
2
for me2 at morn's early hour on the morrow, for a pleasure I will make of
the way 3to this fight,3 4a-going to meet Cuchulain.4 It is not this will detain
you, namely the killing of yonder wildling, Cuchulain!"
5There they passed the night.5 Then early on the morrow morn arose Cûr

macDa Loth 6and he came to the ford of battle and combat; and however
early he arose, earlier still Cuchulain arose.6 A cart-load of arms was taken

along with him wherewith to engage with Cuchulain, and he began to ply
his weapons, seeking to kill Cuchulain.

Now Cuchulain had gone early that day 7to practise7 his feats 8of valour and
prowess.8 These are the names of them all: the Apple-feat, and the Edge-
feat, and the Level Shield-feat, and the Little Dart-feat, and the Rope-feat,
and the Body-feat, and the Feat of Catt, and the Hero's Salmon-leap,a and
the Pole-cast, and the Leap over a Blow (?), and the Folding of a noble
Chariot-fighter, and the Gae Bulga ('the Barbed Spear') and the Vantage (?)
of Swiftness, and the Wheel-feat, 9and the Rim-feat,9 and the Over-Breath-
feat, and the Breaking of a Sword, and the Champion's Cry, and the
Measured Stroke, and the Side Stroke, and the Running up a Lance and
standing erect on its Point, and the Binding of the 10noble10 Hero (around
spear points).
W. 2121. Now this is the reason Cuchulain was wont to practise early every
morning each of those feats 1with the agility of a single hand, as best a
wild-cat may,1 in order that they might not depart from him through
forgetfulness or lack of remembrance.
And macDa Loth waited beside his shield until the third part of the day,
2
plying his weapons,2 seeking the chance to kill Cuchulain; 3and not the
stroke of a blow reached Cuchulain, because of the intensity of his feats,
nor was he aware that a warrior was thrusting at him.3 It was then Laega
4looked at him4 and spake to Cuchulain, "Hark! Cucuc. Attend to the

warrior that seeks to kill thee." Then it was that Cuchulain glanced at him
and then it was that he raised and threw the eight apples on high 5and cast
the ninth apple5 a throw's length from him at Cûr macDa Loth, so that it
struck on the disk of his shield 6between the edge and the body of the
shield6 and on the forehead 7of the churl,7 so that it carried the size of an
apple of his brains out through the back of his head. Thus fell Cûr macDa
Loth also at the hand of Cuchulain. 8According to another version8 9it was
in Imslige Glendamnach that Cûr fell.9
10
Fergus greeted each one there and this is what he said:10 "If your
engagements and pledges bind you now," said Fergus, "another warrior ye

must send to him yonder on the ford; else, do ye keep to your camp and
your quarters here till the bright hour of sunrise on the morrow, for Cûr son
of Da Loth is fallen." 11"We will grant that," said Medb, "and we will not
pitch tents nor take quarters here now, but we will remain where we were
last night in camp.11 W. 2136. Considering why we have come, it is the same
to us even though we remain in those same tents."
1The four great provinces of Erin1 remained in that camp till Cûr son of Da

Loth had fallen, and Loth son of Da Bro and Srub Darè son of Feradach and
2Morc2 son of Tri Aigneach. These then fell in single combat with

Cuchulain. But it is tedious to recount one by one the cunning and valour of
each man of them.

XIV. 1THE SLAYING OF FERBAETH ('THE
WITLESS')1
2Then again the men of Erin took counsel who would be fit to fight and do

combat with Cuchulain and to ward him off from them on the ford at the
morning-hour early on the morrow. What they each and all said was, that it
would be his own friend and companion and the man who was his equal in
arms and feats, even Ferbaeth son of Ferbend.
Then was Ferbaeth son of Ferbend summoned to them, to the tent of Ailill
and Medb. "Wherefore do ye call me to you?" Ferbaeth asked. "In sooth, it
would please us," Medb answered, "for thee to do battle and contend with
Cuchulain, and to ward him off from us on the ford at the morning hour
early on the morrow."

Great rewards they promised to him for making the battle and combat.2
3
Finnabair is given to him for this and the kingdom of his race, for he was
their choice to combat Cuchulain. He was the man they thought worthy of
him, for they both had learned the same service in arms with Scathach.3
4
"I have no desire to act thus," Ferbaeth protested. "Cuchulain is my foster-
brother and of everlasting covenant with me. Yet will I go meet him to-
morrow, so shall I strike off his head!" "It will be thou that canst do it,"
Medb made answer.4
W. 2143. Then it was that Cuchulain said to his charioteer, namely to Laeg:
"Betake thee thither, O master Laeg," said Cuchulain, "to the camp of the
men of Erin, and bear a greeting *LL. fo. 74b. from me to my comrades and
foster-brothers and age-mates. Bear a greeting to Ferdiad son of Daman,
and to Ferdet son of Daman, and to Brass son of Ferb, and to Lugaid son of
Nos, and to Lugaid son of Solamach, to Ferbaeth son of Baetan, and to
Ferbaeth son of Ferbend, and a particular greeting withal to mine own
foster-brother, to Lugaid son of Nos, for that he is the one man that still has
friendliness and friendship with me now on the hosting. And bear him a

blessing. 1Let it be asked diligently of him1 that he may tell thee who 2of
the men of Erin2 will come to attack me on the morrow."
Then Laeg went his way to the camp of the men of Erin and brought the
aforementioned greetings to the comrades and foster-brothers of Cuchulain.
And he also went into the tent of Lugaid son of Nos. Lugaid bade him
welcome. "I take 3that welcome3 to be truly meant," said Laeg. "'Tis truly
meant for thee," replied Lugaid. "To converse with thee am I come from
Cuchulain," said Laeg, "and I bring these greetings truly and earnestly from
him to the end that thou tell me who comes to fight with Cuchulain to-day."
4"Truly not lucky is it for Cuchulain," said Lugaid, "the strait wherein he is

alone against the men of Erin.4 The curse of his fellowship and brotherhood
and of his friendship and affection 5and of his arms5 be upon that man; even
his own real foster-brother himself, 6even the companion of us both,6
Ferbaeth son of Ferbend. 7He it is that comes to meet him to-morrow.7 He
was invited into the tent of 8Ailill and8 Medb a while W. 2165. since. The
daughter Finnabair was set by his side. It is she who fills up the drinking-
horns for him; it is she who gives him a kiss with every drink that he takes;
it is she who serveth the food 1to him.1 Not for every one with Medb is the
alea that is poured out for Ferbaeth 2till he is drunk.2 Only fifty wagon-loads
of it have been brought to the camp."
Then with heavy head, sorrowful, downcast, heaving sighs, Laeg retraced
his steps to Cuchulain. "With heavy head, sorrowful, downcast and sighing,
my master Laeg comes to meet me," said Cuchulain. "It must be that one of
my brothers-in-arms comes to attack me." For he regarded as worse a man
of the same training in arms as himself than aught other warrior. "Hail now,
O Laeg my friend," cried Cuchulain; "who comes to attack me to-day?"
"The curse of his fellowship and brotherhood, of his friendship and
affection be upon him; even thine own real foster-brother himself, namely
Ferbaeth son of Ferbend. A while ago he was summoned into the tent of
Medb. The maiden was set by his side; It is she who fills up the drinking-
horns for him; it is she who gives him a kiss with every drink; it is she who
serveth his food. Not for every one with Medb is the ale that is poured out
for Ferbaeth. Only fifty wagon-loads of it have been brought to the camp."

3Cuchulain bade Laeg go to Lugaid, that he come to talk with him. Lugaid

came to Cuchulain. "So Ferbaeth comes to oppose me to-morrow," said
Cuchulain. "Aye, then," answered Lugaid.3 4"Evil is this day," cried
Cuchulain. "I shall not be alive thereafter. Two of the same age are we, two
of equal deftness, two of equal weight, when we come together. O Lugaid,
greet him for me. Tell him, also, it is not the part of true valour to come to
oppose me. Tell him to come meet me to-night to speak with me."
Lugaid brought back this word to Ferbaeth. Now inasmuch as Ferbaeth
shunned not the parley,4 W. 2183. he by no means waited till morn but he
went straightway 1to the glen1 2that night2 to recant his friendship with
Cuchulain, 3and Fiachu son of Ferfebè went with him.3 And Cuchulain
called to mind the friendship and fellowship and brotherhood 5that had been
between them,5 6and Scathach, the nurse of them both;6 and Ferbaeth would
not consent to forego the fight.a 7"I must fight," said Ferbaeth. "I have
promised it 8to Medb."8 9"Friendship with thee then is at an end,"9 cried
Cuchulain,7 and in anger he left him and drove the sole of his foot against a
holly-spit 10in the glen,10 so that it pierced through flesh and bone and skin
11and came out by his knee.11 12Thereat Cuchulain became frantic, and he

gave a strong tug and12 drew the spit out from its roots, 13from sinew and
bone, from flesh and from skin.13 14"Go not, Ferbaeth, till thou seest the
find I have made." "Throw it then," cried Ferbaeth.14 And Cuchulain threw
the holly-spit over his shoulder after Ferbaeth, and he would as lief that it
reached him or that it reached him not. The spit struck Ferbaeth in the nape
of the neck,b so that it passed out through his W. 2192. mouth 1in front1 and
fell to the ground, and thus Ferbaeth fell 2backward into the glen.2

"Now that was a good throw, Cucuc!" cried 3Fiachu son of Ferfebè,3 4who
was on the mound between the two camps,4 for he considered it a good
throw to kill that warrior with a spit of holly. Hence it is that Focherd
Murthemni ('the good Cast of Murthemne') is the name of the place where
they were.
5Straightway Ferbaeth died in the glen. Hence cometh Glenn Ferbaeth.

Something was heard. It was Fergus who sang:—

"Fool'sa emprise was thine, Ferbaeth,
That did bring thee to thy grave.
Ruin hath come on anger here;
Thy last end in Croen Corann!

Fithi was the hill's old name,
In Croenech in Murthemne.
'Ferbaeth' now shall be the name
Of the plain where Ferbaeth fell!"5

XIVa. 1THE COMBAT OF LARINE MacNOIS1
2
Lugaid spake: "Let one of you be ready on the morrow to go against that
other." "There shall not any one at all be found to go," quoth Ailill, "unless
guile be used. Whatever man comes to you, give him wine, so that his soul
may be glad, and let him be told that that is all the wine that has been
brought to Cruachan: 'It would grieve us that thou shouldst drink water in
our camp.' And let Finnabair be placed on his right hand and let him be told,
'She shall go with thee if thou bring us the head of the Contorted.'" So a
summons was sent to each warrior, one on each night, and those words used
to be told him. Cuchulain killed every man of them in turn. At length no one
could be got to attack him.2

W. 2197. 3"Good,3 my master Laeg," 4said Cuchulain,4 "go for me to the
5 5 6
camp of the men of Erin to hold converse with Lugaid macNois, my
friend, my companion and my foster-brother,6 7and bear him a greeting
from me and bear him my blessing, for he is the one man that keeps amity
and friendship with me on the great hosting of the Cattle-raid of Cualnge.7
And discover 8in what way they are in the camp,8 whether or no anything
has W. 2199. happened to Ferbaeth,a 1whether Ferbaeth has reached the
camp;1 2and inquire for me if the cast I made a while ago reached Ferbaeth
or did not reach, and if it did reach him,2 ask who 3of the men of Erin3
comes to meet me 4to fight and do battle with me at the morning hour early4
on the morrow."

Laeg proceeds to Lugaid's tent. Lugaid bids him welcome. 5"Welcome to
thy coming and arrival, O Laeg," said Lugaid.5 "I take that welcome as truly
meant," Laeg replied. "It is truly meant for thee," quoth Lugaid, 6"and thou
shalt have entertainment here to-night."6 7"Victory and blessing shalt thou
have," said Laeg; "but not for entertainment am I come, but7 to hold
converse with thee am I come from 8thine own friend and companion and8
foster-brother, 9from Cuchulain,9 that thou mayest tell me whether Ferbaeth

10was smitten."10 "He was," answered Lugaid, "and a blessing on the hand

that smote him, for he fell dead in the valley a while ago." "Tell me who
11
of the men of Erin11 comes to-morrow to 12combat and12 fight with
Cuchulain 13at the morning hour early on the morrow?"13 "They are
persuading a brother of mine own to go meet him, a foolish, haughty
arrogant youth, yet dealing stout blows and stubborn. 14And he has agreed
to do the battle and combat.14 And it is to this end they will send him to
fight Cuchulain, that he, my brother, may fall at his hands, so that I myself
must then go to avenge him upon Cuchulain. But I will not go there till the
very day of doom. Larinè great-grandson W. 2211. of Blathmac is that brother.
1And, do thou tell Cuchulain to come to Ferbaeth's Glen and1 I will go
2thither2 to speak with Cuchulain about him," said Lugaid.

3
Laeg betook him to where Cuchulain was.3 Lugaid's two horses were taken
and his chariot was yoked to them 4and4 he came 5to Glen Ferbaeth5 to his
tryst with Cuchulain, so that a parley was had between them. 6The two
champions and battle-warriors gave each other welcome.6 Then it was that
Lugaid spake: 7"There is no condition that could be promised to me for
fighting and combating with thee," said Lugaid, "and there is no condition
on which I would undertake it, but7 they are persuading a brother of mine to
come fight thee 8on the morrow,8 to-wit, a foolish, dull, uncouth youth,
dealing stout blows. 9They brought him into the tent of Ailill and Medb and
he has engaged to do the battle and combat with thee.9 10He is befooled
about the same maiden.10 And it is for this reason they are to send him to
fight thee, that he may fall at thy hands, 11so that we two may quarrel,11 and
to see if I myself will come to avenge him upon thee. But I will not, till the
very day of doom. And by the fellowship that is between us, 12and by the
rearing and nurture I bestowed on thee and thou didst bestow on me, bear
me no grudge because of Larinè.12 Slay not my brother 13lest thou shouldst
leave me brotherless."13

"By my conscience, truly," cried Cuchulain, 14kill him I will not, but14 the
next thing to death will I inflict on him. 15No worse would it be for him to
die than what I W. 2222. will give him."15 "I give thee leave. 1It would please

me well shouldst thou beat him sorely,1 for to my dishonour he comes to
attack thee."

Thereupon Cuchulain went back and Lugaid returned to the camp 2lest the
men of Erin should say it was betraying them or forsaking them he was if
he remained longer parleying with Cuchulain.2

Then 3on the next day3 it was that Larinè son of Nos, 4brother of Lugaid
king of Munster,4 was summoned to the tent of Ailill and Medb, and
Finnabair was placed by his side. It was she that filled up the drinking-
horns for him and gave him a kiss with each draught that he took and served
him his food. "Not to every one with Medb is given the drink that is poured
out for Ferbaeth or for Larinè," quoth Finnabair; "only the load of fifty
wagons of it was brought to the camp."a
5Medb looked at the pair. "Yonder pair rejoiceth my heart," said she.5

"Whom wouldst thou say?" asked 6Ailill.6 "The man yonder, 7in truth,"7
said she. "What of him?" asked Ailill. "It is thy wont to set the mind on that
which is far from the purpose (Medb answered). It were more becoming for
thee to bestow thy thought on the couple in whom are united the greatest
distinction and beauty to be found on any road in Erin, namely Finnabair,
8my daughter,8 and Larinè macNois. 9'Twould be fitting to bring them

together."9 "I regard them as thou dost," answered Ailill; 10"I will not
oppose thee herein. He shall have her if only he brings me the head of
Cuchulain."a "Aye, bring it I will," said Larinè.10 W. 2235. It was then that
Larinè shook and tossed himself with joy, so that the sewings of the flock
bed burst under him and the mead of the camp was speckled with its
feathers.
1They passed the night there.1 Larinè longed for day with its full light 2to

go2 to attack Cuchulain. At the early day-dawn on the morrow he came,
3
and the maiden came too to embolden him,3 and he brought a wagon-load
of arms with him, and he came on to the ford to encounter Cuchulain. The
mighty warriors of the camp and station considered it not a goodly enough
sight to view the combat of Larinè; only the women and boys and girls,
4thrice fifty of them,4 went to scoff and to jeer at his battle.

Cuchulain went to meet him at the ford and he deemed it unbecoming to
bring along arms 5or to ply weapons upon him,5 so Cuchulain came to the
encounter unarmed 6except for the weapons he wrested from his opponent.6
7And when Larinè reached the ford, Cuchulain saw him and made a rush at

him.7 Cuchulain knocked all of Larinè's weapons out of his hand as one
might knock toys out of the hand of an infant. Cuchulain ground and
bruised him between his arms, he lashed him and clasped him, he squeezed
him and shook him, so that he spilled all the dirt out of him, 8so that the
ford was defiled with his dung8 9and the air was fouled with his dust9 and
an 10unclean, filthy10 wrack of cloud arose in the four airts wherein he was.
Then from the middle of the ford Cuchulain hurled Larinè far from him
across through the camp 11till he fell into Lugaid's two hands11 at the door
of the tent of his brother. W. 2252. Howbeit 1from that time forth1 2for the
remainder of his life2 he never got up without a 3sigh and a3 groan, and 4he
never lay down without hurt, and he never stood up without a moan;4 5as
long as he lived5 he never ate 6a meal6 without plaint, and never
thenceforward was he free from weakness of the loins and oppression of the
chest and without cramps and the frequent need which obliged him to go
out. Still he is the only man that made escape, 7yea though a bad escape,7
after combat with Cuchulain on the Cualnge Cattle-raid. Nevertheless that
maiming took effect upon him, so that it afterwards brought him his death.
Such then is the Combat of Larinè on the Táin Bó Cualnge.

XIVb. 1THE COLLOQUY OF THE MORRIGAN
AND CUCHULAIN1
2Then Cuchulain saw draw near him a young woman with a dress of every

colour about her and her appearance was most surpassing. "Who art thou?"
Cuchulain asked. "Daughter of Buan ('the Eternal'), the king," she
answered. "I am come to thee; I have loved thee for the high tales they tell
of thee and have brought my treasures and cattle with me." "Not good is the
time thou hast come. Is not our condition weakened through hunger? Not
easy then would it be for me to foregather with a woman the while I am
engaged in this struggle." "Herein I will come to thy help." "Not for the
love of a womana did I take this in hand." "This then shall be thy lot," said
she, "when I come against thee what time thou art contending with men: In
the shape of an eel I will come beneath thy feet in the ford; so shalt thou
fall." "More likely that, methinks, than daughter of a king! I will seize
thee," said he, "in the fork of my toes till thy ribs are broken, and thou shalt
remain in such sorry plight till there come my sentence of blessing on thee."
"In the shape of a grey she-wolf will I drive the cattle on to the ford against
thee." "I will cast a stone from my sling at thee, so shall it smash thine eye
in thy head" (said he), "and thou wilt so remain maimed till my sentence of
blessing come on thee." "I will attack thee," said she, "in the shape of a
hornless red heifer at the head of the cattle, so that they will overwhelm
thee on the waters and fords and pools and thou wilt not see me before
thee." "I will," replied he, "fling a stone at thee that will break thy leg under
thee, and thou wilt thus be lamed till my sentence of blessing come on
thee." Therewith she went from him.2

XV. 1HERE FOLLOWETH THE COMBAT OF
LOCH AND CUCHULAIN ON THE TÁIN,1
2AND THE SLAYING OF LOCH SON OF
MOFEMIS2
3Then it was debated by the men of Erin who would be fitted to fight and

contend with Cuchulain and ward him off from them on the ford at the
morning-hour early on the morrow. What they all agreed was that it should
be Loch Mor ('the Great') son of Mofemis, the royal champion of Munster.3
W. 2260. It was then that Loch Mor son of Mofemis was summoned 4like the
rest4 to the pavilion of Ailill and Medb, 5and he was promised the equal of
Mag Murthemni of the smooth field of Mag Ai, and the accoutrement of
twelve men, and a chariot of the value of seven bondmaids.5 "What would
ye of me?" asked Loch. "To have fight with Cuchulain," replied Medb. "I
will not go on that errand, for I esteem it no honour nor becoming to attack
a tender, young, smooth-chinned, beardless boy. 6'Tis not seemly to speak
thus to me, and ask it not of me.6 And not to belittle him do I say it, but I
have 7a doughty brother, 8the match of himself,"8 said Loch,7 "a man to
confront him, Long macEmonis, to wit, and he will rejoice to accept an
offer from you; 9and it were fitting for him to contend with Cuchulain for
Long has no beard on cheek or lip any more than Cuchulain."9
1
W. 2266. Thereupon1 Long was summoned to the tent of Ailill and Medb,
and Medb promised him great gifts, even livery for twelve men of cloth of
every colour, and a chariot worth foura times seven bondmaids, and
Finnabair to wife for him alone, and at all times entertainment in Cruachan,
and that wineb would be poured out for him.
2
They passed there that night and he engaged to do the battle and combat,
and early on the morrow2 went Long 3to the ford of battle and combat3 to

seek Cuchulain, and Cuchulain slew him and 5they brought him dead into
the presence of his brother, namely of Loch. And Loch 4came forth and
raised up his loud, quick voice and4 cried, had he known it was a bearded
man that slew him, he would slay him for it.5 6And it was in the presence of
Medb that he said it.6 7"Lead a battle-force against him," Medb cried to her
host, "over the ford from the west, that ye may cross, and let the law of fair
fight be broken with Cuchulain." The seven Manè the warriors went first,
till they saw him to the west of the edge of the ford. He wore his festive
raiment on that day and the women clambered on the men that they might
behold him. "It grieves me," said Medb. "I cannot see the boy because of
whom they go there." "Thy mind would not be the easier for that," quoth
Lethrenn, Ailill's horseboy, "if thou shouldst see him." Cuchulain came to
the ford as he was. "What man is that yonder, O Fergus?" asked Medb.c
And Medb, too, climbed on the men to get a look W. 2272. at him.7 1Then1
Medb called upon 2her handmaid for two woman-bands,2 3fifty or twice
fifty3 of her women, to go speak with Cuchulain and to charge him to put a
false beard on. The woman-troop went their way to Cuchulain and told him
to put a false beard on 4if he wished to engage in battle or combat with
goodly warriors or with goodly youths of the men of Erin;4 5that sport was
made of him in the camp for that he had no beard, and that no good warrior
would go meet him but only madmen. It were easier to make a false beard:5
"For no brave warrior in the camp thinks it seemly to come fight with thee,
and thou beardless," 6said they.6 7"If that please me," said Cuchulain, "then
I shall do it."7 Thereupon Cuchulain 8took a handful of grass and speaking a
spell over it he8 bedaubed himself a beard 9in order to obtain combat with a
man, namely with Loch.9 And he came onto the knoll overlooking the men
of Erin and made that beard manifest to them all, 10so that every one
thought it was a real beard he had.10 11"'Tis true," spake the women,a
"Cuchulain has a beard. It is fitting for a warrior to fight with him." They
said that to urge on Loch.11 Loch son of Mofemis saw it, and what he said
was, "Why, that is a beard on Cuchulain!" "It is what I perceive," Medb
answered. Medb promised the same great terms to Loch to put a check to
Cuchulain. 12"I will not undertake the fight till the end of seven days from
this day," exclaimed Loch. "Not fitting is it for us to leave that man
unattacked for all that time," Medb answered. "Let us put a warrior every

night to spy upon him if, peradventure, we might get a chance at him." This
then they did. A warrior went every night to spy upon him and he slew them
all. These are the names of the men who fell there: the seven Conall, the
seven Oengus, the seven Uargus, the seven Celtri, the eight Fiach, the ten
Ailill, the ten Delbrath, the ten Tasach. These are the deeds of that week on
Ath Grenca.
Medb sought counsel, what was best to be done with Cuchulain, for she was
sore grieved at all of her host that had been slain by him. This is the counsel
she took: To despatch keen, high-spirited men at one time to attack him
when he would come to an appointment she would make to speak with him.
For she had a tryst the next day with Cuchulain, to conclude the pretence of
a truce with him in order to get a chance at him. She sent forth messengers
to seek him to advise him to come to her, and thus it was that he should
come, unarmed, for she herself would not come but with her women
attendants to converse with him.

The runner, namely Traigtren ('Strongfoot') 1son of Traiglethan
('Broadfoot')1 went to the place where Cuchulain was and gave him Medb's
message. Cuchulain promised that he would do her will. "How liketh it thee
to meet Medb to-morrow, O Cuchulain?" asked Laeg. "Even as Medb
desires it," answered Cuchulain. "Great are Medb's deeds," said the
charioteer; "I fear a hand behind the back with her." "How is it to be done
2by us2 then?" asked he. "Thy sword at thy waist," the charioteer answered,

"that thou be not taken off thy guard. For a warrior is not entitled to his
honour-price if he be taken without arms, and it is the coward's law that
falls to him in this manner." "Let it be so, then," said Cuchulain.
Now it was on Ard ('the Height') of Aignech which is called Fochard to-day
that the meeting took place. Then fared Medb to the tryst and she stationed
fourteen men of those that were bravest of her bodyguard in ambush against
him. These were they: the two Glassinè, the two sons of Buccridi, the two
Ardan, the two sons of Liccè, the two Glasogma, the two sons of Crund,
Drucht and Delt and Dathen, Tea and Tascur and Tualang, Taur and Glesè.
Then Cuchulain comes to meet her. The men rise against him. Fourteen
spears are hurled at him at the same time. The Hound defends himself, so
that neither his skin nor protection (?) is touched and he turns in upon them

and kills them, the fourteen men. Hence these are the 'Fourteen men of
Fochard.' And they are also the 'Men of Cronech,' for it is in Cronech at
Fochard they were slain. And it is of this Cuchulain spake:—

"Good my skilla in champion's deeds.
Valorous are the strokes I deal
On the brilliant phantom host.
War with numerous bands I wage,
For the fall of warlike chief—
This, Medb's purpose and Ailill's—
Direful (?) hatred hath been raised!"b

This is the reason why the name Focherd clung to that place, to wit: Fo
'Good' and Cerd 'Art,' which signifieth 'Good the feat of arms' that
happened to Cuchulain there.

Then came Cuchulain and he overtook 1the hosts1 pitching camp, and there
were slain the two Daigri, the two Anli and the four Dungai of Imlech. And
there Medb began to urge on Loch: "Great is the scorn that is made of thee,"
said she, "that the man that killed thy brother should be destroying our host
2here before thee2 and thou not attack him. For sure we are that such as he

yonder, that great and fierce madman, will not be able to withstand the
valour and rage of a warrior such as thou art. And, further, from one and the
same instructress the art was acquired by you both."12
W. 2283. "I will go forth and attack him," cried Loch. Loch went to attack
Cuchulain, 1to take vengeance on him for his brother,1 2for it was shown
him that Cuchulain had a beard;2 so they met on the ford where Long had
fallen. "Let us move to the upper ford," said Loch, "for I will not fight on
this ford," since he held it defiled, 3cursed and unclean,3 the ford whereon
his brother had fallen. 4Now when Cuchulain came to look for the ford, the
men drove the cattle across.4 5"The cattle5 6will be across thy water here to-
day," said Gabran6 7the poet.7 8Hence cometh Ath Tarteise ('the Ford over
thy Water') and Tir Mor Tarteise ('the Great Land over thy Water').8
Thereafter they fought on the upper ford 9between Methè and Cethè at the

head of Tir Mor,9 10and they were for a long space and time at their feats
wounding and striking each other.10

Then it was that the Morrigan daughter of 11Aed11 Ernmas came from the
fairy dwellings to destroy Cuchulain. For she had threatened on the Cattle-
raid of Regomain a that she would come to undo Cuchulain what time he
would be 13in sore distress13 when engaged in 14battle and14 combat with a
goodly warrior, 15with Loch,15 in the course of the Cattle-spoil of Cualnge.
Thither then the Morrigan W. 2293. came in the shape of a white, 1hornless,1
red-eared heifer, with fifty heifers about her and a chain of silvered bronze
between each two of the heifers. 2She bursts upon the pools and fords at the
head of the cattle. It was then that Cuchulain said, "I cannot see the fords
for the waters."2 The women 3came with their strange sorcery, and3
constrained Cuchulain by geasa and by inviolable bonds 4to check the
heifer for them4 lest she should escape from him without harm. Cuchulain
made an unerring cast 5from his sling-stick5 at her, so that he shattered one
of the Morrigan's eyes.
6Now when the men met on the ford and began to fight and to struggle, and

when each of them was about to strike the other,6 the Morrigan came thither
in the shape of a slippery, black eel down the stream. Then she came on the
linn and she coiled 7three folds7 8and twists8 around the 9two9 feet 10and the
thighs and forks10 of Cuchulain, 11till he was lying on his back athwart the
ford11 12and his limbs in the air.12
While Cuchulain was busied freeing himself 13and before he was able to
rise,13 Loch wounded him crosswise through the breast, 14so that the speara
went through him14 15and the ford was gore-red with his blood.15 16"Ill,
indeed," cried Fergus, "is this deed in the face of the foe. Let some of ye
taunt him, ye men," he cried to his people, "to the end that he fall not in
vain!"
Bricriu Nemthenga ('Of the Venom-tongue') son of Carbad arose and began
to revile Cuchulain. "Thy strength has gone from thee," said he, "when a
little salmon overthrows thee even now when the Ulstermen are about to
come out of their 'Pains.'16 1Hard it would be for thee to take on thee

warrior's deeds in the presence of the men of Erin and to repel a stout
warrior clad in his armour!"1
2
Then2 3at this incitation3 4Cuchulain arose,4 5and with his left heel he
smote the eel on the head,5 6so that its ribs broke within it6 7and he
destroyed one half of its brains after smashing half of its head.7 8And the
cattle were driven by force past the hosts to the east and they even carried
away the tents on their horns at the thunder-feat the two warriors made on
the ford.8
W. 2302. The Morrigan next came in the form of a rough, grey-red bitch-wolf
9with wide open jaws9 10and she bit Cuchulain in the arm10 11and drove the

cattle against him westwards,11 12and Cuchulain made a cast of his little
javelin at her, strongly, vehemently, so that it shattered one eye in her
head.12 During this space of time, whether long or short, while Cuchulain
was engaged in freeing himself, Loch wounded him 13through the loins.13
Thereupon Cuchulain chanted a lay.a
14
Then did Cuchulain to the Morrigan the three things he had threatened her
on the Cattle-raid of Regomain,14 and his anger arose within him and he
*
LL. fo. 75a. wounded Loch with the Gae Bulga ('the Barbed-spear'), so that it
passed through W. 2307. his heart in his breast. 1For truly it must have been
that Cuchulain could not suffer the treacherous blows and the violence of
Loch Mor the warrior, and he called for the Gae Bulgae from Laeg son of
Riangabair. And the charioteer sent the Gae Bulga down the stream and
Cuchulain made it ready. And when Loch heard that, he gave a lunge down
with his shield, so that he drove it over two-thirds deep into the pebbles and
sand and gravel of the ford. And then Cuchulain let go the Barbed-spear
upwards, so as to strike Loch over the border of his hauberk and the rim of
his shield.1 2And it pierced his body's covering, for Loch wore a horn skin
when fighting with a man,2 3so that his farther side was pierced clear after
his heart had been thrust through in his breast.3
4"That is enough now," spake Loch; "I am smitten by that.4 5For thine

honour's sake5 6and on the truth of thy valour and skill in arms,6 grant me a
boon now, O Cuchulain," said Loch. "What boon askest thou?" "'Tis no

boon of quarter nor a prayer of cowardice that I make of thee," said Loch.
"But fall back a step from me 7and permit me to rise,7 that it be on my face
to the east I fall and not on my back to the west toward the warriors of Erin,
to the end that no man of them shall say, 8if I fall on my back,8 it was in
retreat or in flight I was before thee, for fallen I have by the Gae Bulga!"
"That will I do," answered Cuchulain, "for 'tis a 9true9 warrior's prayer that
thou makest."

And Cuchulain stepped back, 10so that Loch fell on his face, and his soul
parted from his body and Laeg despoiled him.10 11Cuchulain cut off his
head then.11 Hence cometh W. 2314. the name the ford bears ever since,
namely Ath Traged ('Foot-ford') in Cenn Tire Moir ('Great Headland'). 1It
was then they broke their terms of fair fight that day with Cuchulain, when
five men went against him at one time, namely the two Cruaid, the two
Calad and Derothor. All alone, Cuchulain killed them. Hence cometh
Coicsius Focherda ('Fochard's Fortnight') and Coicer Oengoirt ('Five
Warriors in one Field'). Or it may be, fifteen days Cuchulain passed in
Fochard and it is hence cometh Coicsius Focherda on the Táin.1
And deep distressa possessed Cuchulain that day 2more than any other day2
for his being all alone on the Táin, 3confronting four of the five grand
provinces of Erin,3 4and he sank into swoons and faints.4 Thereupon
Cuchulain enjoined upon Laeg his charioteer to go to the men of Ulster, that
they should come to defend their drove. 5And, on rising, this is what he
said:5 6"Good, O Laeg, get thee to Emain to the Ulstermen, and bid them
come henceforward to look after their drove for I can defend their fords no
longer. For surely it is not fair fight nor equal contest for any man for the
Morrigan to oppose and overpower him and Loch to wound and pierce
him."6 And weariness of heart and weakness overcame him, and he gave
utterance to a lay:—

"Rise, O Laeg, arouse the hosts,
Say for me in Emain strong:
I am worn each day in fight,
Full of wounds, and bathed in gore!

"My right side and eke my left:
Hard to say which suffers worse;
Fingin'sb hand hath touched them not,
Stanching blood with strips of wood!

W. 2329.

"Bring this word to Conchobar dear,
I am weak, with wounded sides.
Greatly has he changed in mien,
Dechtire's fond, rich-trooped son!

"I alone these cattle guard,
Leave them not, yet hold them not.
Ill my plight, no hope for me,
Thus alone on many fords!

"Showers of blood rain on my arms,
Full of hateful wounds am I.
No friend comes to help me here,
Save my charioteer alone!

"Few make music here for me,
Joy I've none in single horn.
When the mingled trumpets sound,a
This is sweetest from the drone!

"This old saying, ages old:—
'Single log gives forth no flame;'
Let there be a two or three,
Up the firebrands all will blaze!

"One sole log burns not so well
As when one burns by its side.
Guile can be employed on one;
Single mill-stone doth not grind!

"Hast not heard at every time,
'One is duped'?—'tis true of me.
That is why I cannot last
These long battles of the hosts!

"However small a host may be,
It receives some thought and pains;
Take but this: its daily meat
On one fork is never cooked!

"Thus alone I've faced the host,
By the ford in broad Cantire;
Many came, both Loch and Badb,
As foretold in 'Regomain!'b

"Loch has mangled my two thighs;
Me the grey-red wolf hath bit;
Loch my sidesc has wounded sore,
And the eel has dragged me down!

"With my spear I kept her off;
I put out the she-wolf's eye;
And I broke her lower leg,
At the outset of the strife!
W. 2371.

"Then when Laeg sent Aifè's spear,a
Down the stream—like swarm of bees—
That sharp deadly spear I hurled,
Loch, 1Mobebuis'1 son, fell there!

"Will not Ulster battle give

To Ailill and Eocho's lass,b
While I linger here in pain,
Full of wounds and bathed in blood?
LL. fo. 75b.

"Tell the splendid Ulster chiefs
They shall come to guard their drove.
Maga's sonsc have seized their kine
And have portioned them all out!

"Fight on fight—though much I vowed,
I have kept my word in all.
For pure honour's sake I fight;
'Tis too much to fight alone!

"Vultures joyful at the breach
In Ailill's and in Medb's camp.
Mournful cries of woe are heard;
On Murthemne's plain is grief!

"Conchobar comes not out with help;
In the fight, no troops of his.
Should one leave him thus alone,
Hard 'twould be his rage to tell!
1"Men have almost worn me out

In these single-handed fights;
Warrior's deeds I cannot do,
Now that I must fight alone!"1
2
Although Cuchulain spoke thus, he had no strength for Laeg to leave him.2
This then is the Combat of Loch Mor ('the Great') son of Mofemis against
Cuchulain on the Driving of the Kine of Cualnge.

XVI. 1THE VIOLATION OF THE
AGREEMENT1
2Then were five men sent against Cuchulain on the morrow to contend with

him and he killed them, so that they fell by his hand, and 'the Five of Cenn
Cursighi' was their name.2 W. 2400. Then it was that Medb despatched six
men at one and the same time to attack Cuchulain, to wit: Traig ('Foot') and
Dorn ('Fist') and Dernu ('Palm'), Col ('Sin') and Accuisa ('Curse') and Eraisè
('Heresy'), three druid-men and three druid-women, 3their three wives.3
Cuchulain attacked them, 4the six of them, and struck off their six heads,4
so that they fell at his hands 5on this side of Ath Tire Moire ('Big Land's
Ford') at Methè and Cethè.5
6
Then it was that Fergus demanded of his sureties that fair-dealing should
not be broken with Cuchulain. And it was there that Cuchulain was at that
time,6 7that is, at Delga Murthemni. Then Cuchulain killed Fota in his field,
Bomailcè on his ford, Salach in his homestead, Muinè in his fort, Luar in
Lethbera, Fertoithle in Toithle. These are the names of these lands forever,
every place in which each man of them fell.7
Forasmuch as covenant and terms of single combat had been broken with
Cuchulain, Cuchulain took his sling in hand that day and began to shoot at
the host from Delga ('the Little Dart') in the south, 8in Murthemne.8 Though
W. 2406. numerous were the men of Erin on that day, not one of them durst
turn his face southwards 1towards Cuchulain, towards the side where he
was1 2between Delga and the sea,2 whether dog, or horse, or man. 3So that
he slew an hundred warriors till came the bright hour of sunrise on the
morrow.3

XVIa. 1THE HEALING OF THE MORRIGAN1
2
W. 2410. Great weariness came over Cuchulain after that night, and a great
thirst, after his exhaustion.2 Then it was that the Morrigan, daughter of
Emmas, came from the fairy dwellings, in the guise of an old hag, 3with
wasted knees, long-legged,3 4blind and lame,4 engaged in milking a
5tawny,5 three-teated 6milch6 cow before the eyes of Cuchulain.a And for

this reason she came in this fashion, that she might have redress from
Cuchulain. For none whom Cuchulain ever wounded recovered therefrom
without himself aided in the healing. Cuchulain, maddened with thirst,
begged her for a milking. She gave him a milking of one of the teats 7and
straightway Cuchulain drank it.7 "May this be a cure in time for me, 8old
crone," quoth Cuchulain, "and the blessing of gods and of non-gods upon
thee!" said he;8 and one of the queen's eyes became whole thereby. He
begged the milking of 9another9 teat. 10She milked the cow's second teat
and10 gave it to him and 11he drank it and said,11 "May she straightway be
sound that gave it." 12Then her head was healed so that it was whole.12 He
begged a third drink W. 2418. 1of the hag.1 2She milked the cow's third teat2
and gave him the milking of the teat 3and he drank it.3 "A blessing on thee
of gods and of non-gods, O woman! 4Good is the help and succour thou
gavest me."4 5And her leg was made whole thereby.5 6Now these were their
gods, the mighty folk: and these were their non-gods, the folk of
husbandry.6 And the queen was healed 7forthwith.7 8"Well, Cuchulain,8
9thou saidst to me," spake the Morrigan, "I should not get healing 10nor

succour10 from thee forever." "Had I known it was thou," Cuchulain made
answer, "I would never have healed thee." Or, it may be Drong Conculainn
('Cuchulain's Throng') on Tarthesc is the name of this tale in the Reaving of
the Kine of Cualnge.9
11Then it was she alighted in the form of a royston crow on the bramble that

grows over Grelach Dolair ('the Stamping-ground of Dolar') in Mag
Murthemni. "Ominous is the appearance of a bird in this place above all,"

quoth Cuchulain. Hence cometh Sgè nah Einchi ('Crow's Bramble') as a
name of Murthemne.11

Then Medb ordered out the hundred 12armed12 warriors 13of her body-
guard13 at one and the same time to assail Cuchulain. Cuchulain attacked
them all, so that they fell by his hand 14at Ath Ceit Cuilè ('Ford of the First
Crime').14 "It is a dishonour for us that our people are slaughtered in this
wise," quoth Medb. "It is not the first destruction that has befallen us from
that same man," replied Ailill. Hence Cuilenn Cind Duni ('The Destruction
of the Head W. 2426. of the Dûn') is henceforth the name of the place where
they were,1 the mound whereon Medb and Ailill tarried that night.1 Hence
Ath Cro ('Gory Ford') is the name of the ford where they were, 2and Glass
Cro ('River of Gore') the name of the stream.2 And fittingly, too, because of
the abundance of gore and blood that went with the flow of the river.

XVII. THE GREAT ROUT ON THE PLAIN OF
MURTHEMNE FOLLOWETH HERE BELOW
W. 2431. 1That night1 the warriors of four of the five grand provinces of Erin
pitched camp and made their station in the place called Breslech Mor ('the
Great Rout') in the Plain of Murthemne. Their portion of cattle and spoils
they sent on before them to the south to the cow-stalls of Ulster. *LL. fo. 76a.
Cuchulain took station at Ferta ('the Gravemound') at Lerga ('the Slopes')
hard by them. And his charioteer kindled him a fire on the evening of that
night, namely Laeg son of Riangabair. Cuchulain saw far away in the
distance the fiery glitter of the bright-golden arms over the heads of four of
the five grand provinces of Erin, in the setting of the sun in the clouds of
evening. Great anger and rage possessed him at their sight, because of the
multitude of his foes, because of the number of his enemies 2and opponents,
and because of the few that were to avenge his sores and his wounds upon
them.2
3Then Cuchulain arose and3 he grasped his two spears and his shield and

his sword. He shook his shield and brandished his spears and wielded his
sword and sent out the hero's shout from his throat, so that the fiends and
goblins and sprites of the glens and demons of the air gave answer for the
fearfulness of the shout 4that he lifted on W. 2444. high,4 until Nemain,
1which is Badb,1 brought confusion on the host. The warriors of the four

provinces of Erin made such a clangour of arms with the points of their
spears and their weapons that an hundred 2strong, stout-sturdy2 warriors of
them fell dead that night of fright and of heartbreak in the middle of the
camp and quarters 3of the men of Erin at the awfulness of the horror and the
shout which Cuchulain lifted on high.3
As Laeg stood there he descried something: A single man coming from the
north-eastern quarter athwart the camp of the four grand provinces of Erin
making directly for him. "A single man here cometh towards us now,
Cucucan," cried Laeg. "But what manner of man is he?" Cuchulain asked.

"Not hard to say," 4Laeg made answer.4 "A great, well-favoured man, then.
Broad, close-shorn hair upon him, and yellow and curly his back hair. A
green mantle wrapped around him. A brooch of white silvera in the mantle
over his breast. A kirtle of silk fit for a king, with red interweaving of ruddy
gold he wears trussed up on his fair skin and reaching down to his knees.
5A great one-edged sword in his hand.5 A black shield with hard rim of

silvered bronze thereon. A five-barbed spear in his hand. A pronged bye-
spear beside it. Marvellous, in sooth, the feats and the sport and the play
that he makes. But him no one heeds, nor gives he heed to any one. 6No one
shows him courtesy nor does he show courtesy to any one,6 like as if none
saw him in the camp of the four grand provinces of Erin." "In sooth, O
fosterling," answered Cuchulain, "it is one of my friends of fairy kin 7that
comes7 to take pity upon me, because they know the great distress wherein I
am now all alone against the four grand provinces of Erin on the Plunder of
the Kine of W. 2463. Cualnge, 1killing a man on the ford each day and fifty
each night, for the men of Erin grant me not fair fight nor the terms of
single combat from noon of each day."1
Now in this, Cuchulain spoke truth. When the young warrior was come up
to Cuchulain he bespoke him and condoled with him 2for the greatness of
his toil and the length of time he had passed without sleep.2 3"This is brave
of thee, O Cuchulain," quoth he. "It is not much, at all," replied Cuchulain.
"But I will bring thee help," said the young warrior. "Who then art thou?"
asked Cuchulain. "Thy father from Faery am I, even Lug son of Ethliu."
"Yea, heavy are the bloody wounds upon me; let thy healing be speedy."3
"Sleep then awhile, O Cuchulain," said the young warrior, "thy heavy fit of
sleep by Ferta in Lerga ('the Gravemound on the Slopes') till the end of
three days and three nights and I will oppose the hosts during that time."
4He examined each wound so that it became clean. Then he sang him the

'men's low strain' till Cuchulain fell asleep withal. It was then Lug recited4
5the Spell-chant of Lug.5

Accordingly Cuchulain slept his heavy fit of sleep at 'the Gravemound on
the Slopes' till the end of three days and three nights. And well he might
sleep. Yet as great as was his sleep, even so great was his weariness. For
from the Monday before Samaina ('Summer-end') even to the Wednesday

after Spring-beginning,b Cuchulain slept not for all that space, except for a
brief snatch after mid-day, leaning against his spear, and his head on his W.
*
2475. fist, and his fist clasping his spear, and his spear on his knee, LL. fo. 76b.
but hewing and cutting, slaying and destroying four of the five grand
provinces of Erin during that time.

Then it was that the warrior 1from Faery1 laid plants from the fairy-rath and
healing herbs and put a healing charm into the cuts and stabs, into the sores
and gaping wounds of Cuchulain, so that Cuchulain recovered during his
sleep without ever perceiving it.

XVIIa. THE SLAUGHTER OF THE YOUTHS
OF ULSTERa
W. 2482. That was the time the youths came out of the north from Emain
1 1
Macha to the help of Cuchulain. Thrice fifty boys of the sons of the kings
of Ulster, accompanying Follomain, Conchobar's son, and three battles they
offered to the hosts, so that thrice their number fell and the youths also fell,
save Conchobar's son Follomain. Follomain vowed that never till the very
day of doom and of life would he return to Emain unless he should bring
Ailill's head with him together with the diadem of gold that was on it. That
was no easy thing for him to achieve, for the two sons of Bethè son of Ban
—the two sons of Ailill's foster-mother and foster-father 2to whom King
Ailill's diadem had been entrusted2—attacked and wounded 3Follomain,3 so
that he fell by their hands. This then is the Massacre of the youths of Ulster
and of Follomain son of Conchobar.
Touching Cuchulain, he remained in his sound, heavy sleep till the end of
three days and three nights at the 'Gravemound on the Slopes.' Thereafter
Cuchulain arose from his sleep. He passed his hand over his face and he
became as a wildb wheel-thunder (?) from his crown to the ground, and he
felt his courage strengthened, and he would have W. 2497. been able to go
into an assembly or on a march or to a tryst with a woman or to an ale-
house or into one of the chief assemblies of Erin. "How long am I asleep
now, young warrior?" Cuchulain asked. "Three days and three nights," the
young warrior made answer. "Woe is me for that!" quoth Cuchulain. "Why
so?" asked the young warrior. "For that the hosts have not been attacked in
that time," answered Cuchulain. "Nay, not so were they spared," the young
warrior made answer. "I would fain inquire who then attacked them?"
Cuchulain asked. "The youths came hither out of the north from Emain
Macha, thrice fifty boys accompanying Follomain, Conchobar's son, and
they the sons of the kings of Ulster. And three battles they offered the hosts
in the space of the three days and three nights wherein thou wast till now
asleep, and thrice their number are fallen at their hands and the youths

themselves are fallen except Follomain 1alone,1 Conchobar's son. And
Follomain vowed that never till the very day of doom and of life 3would he
return 2north2 to Emain Macha till he carried off Ailill's head with the
diadem of gold which was on it. Howbeit not such was his luck, for he fell
at the hands of the two sons of Bethè son of Ban, after engaging in battle
with them."3

"Alas, that I was not 4there4 in my strength!" cried Cuchulain; "for had I
been in my strength the youths would not have fallen, as now they have,
and Follomain would not have perished." "But this avow, O Cucan,"a 5said
the young warrior;5 "it is no reproach to thine honour and no disgrace to thy
valour." "Bide here this night with us, young warrior," said Cuchulain, "that
together we avenge the youths on the hosts." "Nay then, I may not tarry,"
answered the W. 2515. young warrior. 1"Why so?" asked Cuchulain. "Easy to
say," replied the young warrior;1 "for however prodigious the deeds of
valour and skill in arms one may perform in thy company, not on him will
fall the glory nor the honour nor the fame but on thyself. For this reason
will I not tarry with thee, but do thou thyself try thy feats of arms 2and the
strength of thy hands2 alone on the hosts, for not with them is the power
over thy life on this occasion."
3Then the young warrior from Faery went from him and they knew not

what way he had gone. "Good, O my master Laeg," said Cuchulain;
"together we will go to avenge the youths on the hosts." "I will go with
thee," Laeg made answer.3 "And the scythed chariot, my friend Laeg," said
Cuchulain. "Canst thou get it ready? If thou canst get it ready and hast its
equipment, make it ready, and if its equipment is not at hand, make it not
ready."

XVIIb. THE SCYTHED CHARIOT
W. 2525. Thereupon the charioteer arose and donned his yeoman's suit for
charioteering. Of this *LL. fo. 77a. yeoman's suit for charioteering, this is what
he put on him: His soft kirtle of skin which was light and airy, which was
smooth and sparkling, which was stitched and of buckskin, so that it
hindered not the movements of his arms outside. Over that he put outside an
over-mantle of raven's feathers, which Simon Magus had made 1as a gift1
2
for Darius2 3Nero,3 king of the Romans. Darius bestowed it upon
Conchobar; Conchobar gave it to Cuchulain; Cuchulain presented it to
4Laeg son of Riangabair,4 his charioteer. The same charioteer took the

crested, plated, four-bordered battle-cap with variety of every colour and
every figure, reaching 5down5 over the middle of his shoulders behind. It
was an adornment for him and not an encumbrance. With his hand he
placed the red-yellow frontlet—like one red-golden strip of glowing gold
smelted over the edge of an anvil—on his forehead as a token of
charioteering, to distinguish him from his master. He opened the hobbles
that fastened his steeds and grasped his gold-mounted goad in his right
hand. In his left hand he seized the lines, that is, the bridle-reins of his
horses for restraining his steeds before performing his charioteering.
W. 2542. He next threw the iron-sheathed gold-bedecked coats of mail over
1
his horses, so that they covered them from forehead to forehand. The
chariot was1 2studded with2 dartlets, lancelets, spearlets, and hardened spits,
so that every portion of the frame bristled with points in that chariot and
every corner and end and point and face of that chariot was a passage of
laceration.
Then cast he a spell of concealment over his horses and over his fellow, so
that they were not visible to any one in the camp, while all in the camp were
visible to them, 3and over this veil of protection he wounded each one and
through it and behind it.3 Well indeed was it that he cast that charm, for on
that day the charioteer had to perform the three gifts of charioteership,

namely leaping over a cleft in the ranks, unerring driving, and the handling
of the goad.

Then 4arose4 the champion and battle-warrior and the instrument of Badb's
corpse-folda among the men of the earth,c Cuchulain son of Sualtaim, and
he donned his war-dress of battle and fight and combat. To that war-dress of
battle and fight and combat which he put about him belonged seven and
twentyb waxed, board-like, equally close skin-tunics which were girded by
cords and swathings and ropes on his fair skin, to the end that his wit and
reason might not become deranged when the violence of his nature came
over him.
Over him he put on the outside his battle-girdle of a champion, of tough,
tanned, stout leather cut from the forequarters of seven ox-hides of
yearlings, so that it reached from the slender parts of his waist to the stout
part under W. 2562. his arm-pits. He was used to wear it to keep off spears
and points and irons and lances and arrows. For in like manner they would
bound back from it as if from stone or rock or horn they rebounded. Then
he took his silken, glossy trews with their band of spotted pale-gold against
the soft lower parts of his loins. His brown, well-sewn kilt of brown leather
from the shoulders of four ox-hides of yearlings, with his battle-girdle of
cow-skins, he put underneath over the shining silken trews on the outside,
1so that it covered him from the slender part of his waist to the thick part of

his thighs and reached up to the battle-belt of the hero.1 Then the king-hero
*
LL. fo. 77a. 2and king-warrior2 seized his battle-arms of battle and fight and
combat. This is what belonged to those warlike weapons of battle: He took
his eight little swords together with the bright-faced, tusk-hilted
straightsword 3along with his quiver;3 he took his eight little spears besides
his five-pronged spear; he took his eight little darts together with his javelin
with its walrus-tooth ornaments; he took his eight little shafts along with his
play-staff; he took his eight shields for feats together with his dark-red bent-
shield, whereon a show-boar could lie in its hollow boss, with its very
sharp, razor-like, keen-cutting, hard 4iron4 rim all around it, so that it would
cut a hair against the stream because of its sharpness and fineness and
keenness. When the young warrior would perform the edge-feat withal, it
was the same whether he cut with his shield or his spear or his sword. Next
he put round his head his crested war-helm of battle and fight and combat,

5wherein were four carbuncle-gems on each point and each end to adorn it,5

whereout was uttered the cry of an hundred young warriors with the long-
drawn wail from each of its angles and corners. W. 2583. For this was the way
that the fiends, the goblins and the sprites of the glens and the demons of
the air screamed before and above and around him, what time he went forth
for the shedding of blood of heroes and champions, 1exulting in the mighty
deeds wrought underneath it1. His veil of concealment was thrown over him
then, of raiment from Tir Tairngirè ('the Land of Promise') which had been
brought to him 2as a gift2 by Manannan son of Ler ('the Sea') from the king
of Tir na Sorcha ('the Land of Light'), 3his foster-father in magic3. 4His fair,
purple-red fan was placed in front of his face. Past it and through it and
over it everything was visible to him and no one wounded him past it nor
through it nor over it4.

Then took place the first twisting-fit 5and rage5 of 6the royal hero6
Cuchulain, so that he made a terrible, many-shaped, wonderful, unheard of
thing of himself. His flesh trembled about him like a pole against the torrent
or like a bulrush against the stream, every member and every joint and
every point and every knuckle of him from crown to ground. He made a
mad whirling-feat of his body within his hide. His feet and his shins and his
knees slid so that they came behind him. His heels and his calves and his
hams shifted so that they passed to the front. The muscles of his calves
moved so that they came to the front of his shins, so that each huge knot
was the size of a soldier's balled fist. He stretched the sinews of his head so
that they stood out on the nape of his neck, and as large as the head of a
month-old child was each of the hill-like lumps, huge, incalculable, vast,
immeasurable.
He next made a ruddy bowl of his face and his countenance. He gulped
down one eye into his head so that it W. 2603. would be hard work if a wild
crane succeeded in drawing it out on to the middle of his cheek from the
rear of his skull. Its mate sprang forth till it came out on his cheek, 1so that
it was the size of a five-fist kettle, and he made a red berry thereof out in
front of his head.1 His mouth was distorted monstrously 2and twisted up to
his ears2. He drew the cheek from the jaw-bone so that the interior of his
throat was to be seen. His lungs and his lights stood out so that they
fluttered in his mouth and his gullet. He struck a mad lion's blow with the

upper jaw 3on its fellow3 so that as large as a wether's fleece of a three year
old was each 4red,4 fiery flake 5which his teeth forced5 into his mouth from
his gullet. There was heard the loud clap of his heart against his breast like
the yelp of a howling bloodhound or like a lion going among bears. *LL. fo.
78a. There were seen the atorches of the Badb,a and the rain clouds of
poison, and the sparks of glowing-red fire, 6blazing and flashing6 in hazes
and mists over his head with the seething of the truly-wild wrath that rose
up above him. His hair bristled all over his head like branches of a redthorn
thrust into a gap in a great hedge. Had a king's apple-tree laden with royal
fruit been shaken around him, scarce an apple of them all would have
passed over him to the ground, but rather would an apple have stayed stuck
on each single hair there, for the twisting of the anger which met it as it rose
from his hair above him. The Lon Laith ('Champion's Light') stood out of
his forehead, so that it was as long and as thick as a warrior's whetstone, 7so
that it was as long as his nose, till he got furious handling the shields,
thrusting out the charioteer, destroying the hosts.7 As high, as thick, as
strong, as steady, as long as the sail-tree of some huge W. 2623. prime ship
was the straight spout of dark blood which arose right on high from the very
ridgepole of his crown, so that a black fog of witchery was made thereof
like to the smoke from a king's hostel what time the king comes to be
ministered to at nightfall of a winter's day.
When now this contortion had been completed in Cuchulain, then it was
that the hero of valour sprang into his scythed war-chariot, with its iron
sickles, its thin blades, its hooks and its hard spikes, with its hero's fore-
prongs, with its opening fixtures, with its stinging nails that were fastened
to the poles and thongs and bows and lines of the chariot, 1lacerating heads
and bones and bodies, legs and necks and shoulders.1

It was then he delivered 2over his chariot2 the thunder-feat of a hundred and
the thunder-feat of two hundred and the thunder-feat of three hundred and
the thunder-feat of four hundred, and he ceased at the thunder-feat of five
hundred. For he did not deem it too much that such a great number should
fall by his hand at his first onset and first battle-assault on four of the five
grand provinces of Erin, 3while avenging on them the slaughter of the
youths and of Follomain son of Conchobar,3 In such wise fared he forth for

to seek his foes, and he drove his chariot in a wide circuit round about the
hosts of the four grand provinces of Erin. And he led his chariot a heavy
way. The chariot's iron wheels sank into the ground so that 4the earth dug
up by the iron wheels4 might have served for a dûn and a fortress, so did the
chariot's iron wheels cut into the ground. For in like manner the clods and
boulders and rocks and the clumps and the shingle of the earth arose up
outside on a height with the iron wheels. It was for this cause he made this
circling 5hedge5 of the Badb W. 2646. round about the hosts of four of the five
grand provinces of Erin, that they might not escape him nor get away before
he would come on them to press a reprisal for the boys. And he went into
the midst of the ranks and mowed down huge walls of the corpses of his
foes 1and enemies and opponents1 in a great circle round about the host.
And he made the onslaught of a foe amongst foes upon them, so that they
fell sole to sole, neck to neck, 2arm to arm, elbow to elbow, and rib to rib,
3such was the closeness of their bodies,3 and there were pools of ruddy

blood where they moved.2 Thrice again in this manner he circled them
round, so that he left them in beds of six in a great ring around them, even
the soles of three to the backs of three men in a circle around the camp.
Hence Sessrech Bresligè ('Great sixfold Slaughter')a is the name of this
event on the Táin, and it is one of the three unreckonable events of the Táin,
which were, to wit, Sessrech Bresligè, Immsligè Glennamnach ('the Mutual
Slaying at Glennamain'), and the battle of Garech *LL. fo. 78b. and Ilgarech;
only that here, hound and horse and man were one to him 4in the great rout
on Mag Murthemni that night avenging the youths on four of the five grand
provinces of Erin.4
What others say is that Lug son of Ethliu fought on Cuchulain's side at the
Sessrech Bresligè.
Their number is not known and it cannot be reckoned how many fell there
of the rabble rout, but only their chiefs have been counted. Here below are
their names, to wit:—
The two Cruad, two Calad, two Cir, two Ciar, two Ecell, three Cromm,
three Cur, three Combirgè, four Feochar, four Furachar, four Cassè, four
Fota, five Caur, five Cerman, W. 2679. five Cobtach, six Saxan, six Duach,
six Darè, 1six Dunchadh, six Daimiach,1 seven Rochad, seven Ronan, seven

Rurthech, eight Rochlad, eight Rochtad, eight Rindach, 2eight Corprè,2
eight Malach, nine Daigith, nine Darè, nine Damach, ten Fiach, ten Fiacach,
ten Fedlimid.

Ten and six-scoreb kings, 3leaders and men of the land,3 Cuchulain laid low
in the great slaughter on the Plain of Murthemne, besides a countless horde
of dogs and horses and women and boys and children and common folk; for
there escaped not a third man of the men of Erin 4without a wound or a hurt
or a blueing or a reddening or a lump or a mark or breaking of thigh or of
leg or of shinbone,4 without having hip-bone broken or half his skull or an
eye hurt, or without an enduring mark for the course of his life. 5And he left
them then after inflicting that battle upon them, without having his blood
drawn or wound brought on himself or on his charioteer or on either of his
horses.5

XVIIc. 1THE ACCOUNT OF THE
APPEARANCE OF CUCHULAIN1
W. 2706. 2Early2 the next morning Cuchulain came to observe the host and to
display his comely, beautiful form to the matrons and dames and girls and
maidens and poets and men of art,a for he did not consider it an honour nor
becoming, the 3wild,3 proud shape of magic which had been manifested to
them the night before. It was for that then that he came to exhibit his
comely, beautiful form on that day.
Truly fair was the youth that came there to display his form to the hosts,
Cuchulain, to wit son of Sualtaim 4son of Boefoltach ('Of little possessions')
son of Morfoltach ('Of great possessions') son of Red Neil macRudhraidi.4
Three heads of hair he wore; brown at the skin, blood-red in the middle, a
golden-yellow crown what thatched it. Beautiful was the arrangement of the
hair, with three coils of hair wound round the nape of his neck, so that like
to a strand of thread of gold was each thread-like, loose-flowing, deep-
golden, magnificent, long-tressed, splendid, beauteous-hued hair as it fell
down over his shoulders. A hundred bright-purple windings of gold-flaming
red gold at his neck. A hundred salmon-coloured (?) cords strung with
carbuncles as a covering round his head. Four spots on either of his two
cheeks, even a yellow spot, and a green spot, and a blue spot, W. 2722. and a
purple spot. Seven jewels of the eye's brilliance was either of his kingly
eyes. Seven toes to either of his two feet. Seven fingers to either of his two
hands, with the clutch of hawk's claw, with the grip of hedgehog's talon in
every separate one of them.
He also put on him that day his fair-day dress. To this apparel about him
belonged, namely, a beautiful, well-fitting, purple, fringed, five-folded
mantle. A white brooch of 1silvered bronze or of1 white silver incrusted
with burnished gold over his fair white breast, as if it were a full-fulgent
lantern that eyes of men could not behold *LL. fo. 79a. for its resplendence
and crystal shining. A 2striped2 chest-jacket of silk on his skin, fairly

adorned with borders and braidings and trimmings of gold and silver and
silvered bronze; it reached to the upper hem of his dark, brown-red warlike
breeches of royal silk. A magnificent, brown-purple buckler he bore, 3with
five wheels of gold on it,3 with a rim of pure white silver around it. A gold-
hilted hammered sword 4with ivory guards, raised high at his girdle4 at his
left side. A long grey-edged spear together with a trenchant bye-spear for
defence, with thongs for throwing and with rivets of whitened bronze,
alongside him in the chariot. Nine heads he bore in one of his hands and ten
in the other, and these he brandished before the hosts in token of his
prowess and cunning. 5This then was a night's attack for Cuchulain on the
hosts of four of the five provinces of Erin.5 Medb hid her face beneath a
shelter of shields lest Cuchulain should cast at her that day.

Then it was that the maidens 6of Connacht6 besought the men of Erin to lift
them up on the flat of the shields above the warriors' shoulders; 7and the
women 8of Munster8 clomb on the men7 to behold the aspect of W. 2746.
Cuchulain. For they marvelled at the beautiful, comely appearance he
showed them that day compared with the low, arrogant shape of magic in
which they had seen him the night before.

XVIId. DUBTHACH'S JEALOUSYa
1
W. 2749. And Dubthach's wife prayed to be lifted to regard the form of
Cuchulain.1 Then it was that jealousy, ill-will and envy possessed Dubthach
Doel ('the Black-tongue')b of Ulster because of his wife 2in regard to
Cuchulain; for he saw his wife climb on the men to get a glimpse of
Cuchulain;2 and he counselled the hosts to act treacherously towards
Cuchulain and to entrap him, even to lay up an ambush around him on all
sides to the end that he might fall by them. And he spake these words:—

"If this be the Twisted one,
By him shall men's bodies fall;
Shrieks there shall be round the liss;
Deeds to tell of shall be wrought!

"Stones shall be on graves from him;
Kingly martyrs shall increase.
Not well have ye battle found
On the slopes with this wild Hound!
3"If this be the Twisted one,

Men shall soon be slain by him;
'Neath his feet shall corpses lie;
Under bushes mantles white!3

"Now the Wildman's form I see,
Ninec heads dangling by his side;
Shattered spoils he has, behold;
Tend heads as his treasure great!

W. 2766.

"And your women, too, I see,
Raise their heads above the lines;

I behold your puissant queen
Makes no move t'engage in fight!

"Were it mine to give advice,
Men would be on every side,
That they soon might end his life;
If this be the Twisted one!"
Fergus macRoig heard this and he deemed it an outrage that Dubthach
should counsel how to betray Cuchulain to the hosts. And he reached him a
strong, sharp kick with his foot away from him, so that Dubthach struck
with his mouth against the group outside. And Fergus reproached him for
all the wrongs and iniquities and treachery and shameful deeds he had ever
done to the Ulstermen of old and anew. And then he spake these words:—

"If this 'Black-tongue' Dubthach be,
Let him skulk behind the hosts;
No good hath he ever wrought,
Since he slew the princesses!a

"Base and foul, the deed he wrought:
Fiachu, Conchobar's son, he slew.
No more fair was heard of him:
Carbrè's death, Fedilmid's son!

"Ne'er for Ulster's weal doth aim
Lugaid's son, Casruba's scion;b
Such is how he acts to men:
Whom he stabs not he incites!

"Ulster's exiles it would grieve
If their beardless boyc should fall.
If on you come Ulster's troops
They will make your herds their spoil!

"Strewn afar your herds will be
By the rising Ulstermen.
Tales there'll be of mighty deeds

That will tell of far-famed queens!
W. 2800.

1"Corpses will be under foot,1
2
Food there'll be at ravens' rests;2
Bucklers lying on the slopes;
Wild and furious deeds increase!
3"I behold just now your wives

Raise their heads above the ranks.
I behold your puissant queen
Moves not to engage in war!3

LL. fo. 79b.

"Valour none nor generous deed
Comes from Lugaid's craven son;
Nor will kings see lances red,
If this 'Black-tongue' Dubthach be!"

Thus far 'The Scythed Chariot.'a

XVIII. 1THE SLAYING OF OENGUS SON OF
OENLAM1
W. 2814. Then it was that a very bold young warrior of the Ulstermen came
nigh the hosts; his bye-name was Oengus son of Oenlam Gabè ('the One-
handed Smith'). And he drove the hosts before him from Moda Loga, which
at that time was called Lugmud, to Ath da Fert ('the Ford of the Two
Gravemounds') in Sliab Fuait. 2And he suffered them not to go by, but he
showered them with stones.2 What scholars say is: If Oengus son of
Oenlam Gabè had fought them in single combat, 3two-thirds of3 the host
would have fallen before that by him in single battle 4at Emain Macha.4
Howbeit it was by no means so that they acted, but they attacked him from
ambush on every side, till he fell at their hands 5in unequal fight5 at Ath da
Fert in Sliab Fuait.

XVIIIa. HERE NOW IS TOLD THE
MISTHROW AT BELACH EOIN.
W. 2823. Then came to them Fiacha Fialdana ('the Generous and Intrepid') of
the Ulstermen to speak with the son of his mother's sister, namely with
Manè Andoè ('the Unslow') of the Connachtmen. And thus he came, and
Dubthach Doel ('the Black Tongue') of Ulster with him. It was in this wise
that Manè Andoè came, and Dochè son of Maga along with him. When now
Dochè macMagach espied Fiacha Fialdana, he straightway hurled a spear at
him, but so that it went through his own friend, through Dubthach Doel of
Ulster. Then Fiacha Fialdana hurled a spear at Dochè macMagach, so that it
went through his own friend, through Manè Andoè of Connacht. Thereupon
said the men of Erin: "A mishap in throwing," they said, "is what hath
happened to the men, for each of them to kill his friend and nearest
relation." Hence this is entitled Imroll Belaig Eoin ('the Misthrow at Bird-
pass'). And 'the Other Misthrow at Bird-pass' is another name for it.
1Or it may be this from which cometh Imroll Belaig Eoin: The hosts

proceed to Belach Eoin ('Bird-pass'). Their two troops wait there. Diarmait
macConchobar of the Ulstermen comes from the north. "Let a horseman
start from you," cries Diarmait, "that Manè may come with one man to
parley with me, and I will go with another man to parley with him." A while
thereafter they meet "I am come," says Diarmait, "from Conchobar, with
commands to Ailill and Medb that they let the cows go and make good all
the ill they have done here and bring hither the bulla from the west to meet
the other bull,b to the end that they may encounter, since Medb has pledged
it." "I will go," says Manè, "to tell them." He takes this message to Medb
and Ailill. "This cannot be had of Medb," Manè reported. "Let us make a
fair exchange of arms, then," says Diarmait, "if perchance that pleaseth thee
better." "I am content," replies Manè. Each of them casts his spear at the
other so that both of them die, and hence the name of this place is Imroll
Belaig Eoin. Their forces rush upon one another. Three-score of each force
fall. Hence is Ard in Dirma ('the Height of the Troop').1

XVIIIb. HERE NOW FOLLOWETH THE
DISGUISING OF TAMON
W. 2837. Then said the men of Erin to Tamon the fool that he should don the
garments of Ailill and the king's golden shawl, and go to the ford that was
close before them. So he put the garments and golden shawl of Ailill upon
him. 1Ailill's people placed the king's diadem on the head of Tamon the
fool, for Ailill dared not wear it himself,1 and he went on to the ford under
their eyes. The men of Erin began to scoff and to shout and jeer at him. "It
is a disguising of Tamon ('a Stump') for thee, O Tamon the fool," they cried,
"with the dress and the golden shawl of Ailill upon thee!" When Cuchulain
saw him, it seemed to him in his ignorance and lack of knowledge that it
was Ailill himself that was there. And he slung a stone from his staff-sling
at him so that 2his head was broken thereby2 and Tamon the fool was
smitten lifeless where he was on the ford. Hence Ath Tamuin ('the Ford of a
Stump') 3is the name of that ford ever since3 and 'the Disguising of Tamon'
4is the name of the tale.4

XIX. 1THE BATTLE OF FERGUS AND
CUCHULAIN1
W. 2851. The hosts of the four grand provinces of Erin pitched camp and
entrenched themselves for that night at the pillar-stone in Crich Roiss ('the
Borders of Ross'). Then Medb called upon the men of Erin for one of them
to contend and do battle with Cuchulain on the morrow. And every one of
them spake thus: "It shall not be I! it shall not be I!" 2cried each from his
place.2 "No victim is owing from my people, 3and even if one were it would
not be myself whom ye would send as a victim in his stead.3 4I will not be
the man to go in his place to fight with Cuchulain till the very day of doom
and of life!"4

Thereupon Medb summoned Fergus to 5go forth and5 contend and fight
with Cuchulain, 6to drive him off from them on the ford6 7at the early
morning-hour7 8on the morrow,8 for that the men of Erin had failed her 9to
go and do battle with him.9 "Ill would it befit me," quoth Fergus, "to fight
with a callow young lad without any beard, and mine own disciple, 10the
fosterling of Ulster,10 11the foster-child that sat on Conchobar's knee, the lad
from Craeb Ruad ('Red Branch')."11 Howbeit Medb W. 2861. murmured sore
that Fergus foreswore her combat and battle. 1They filled him with wine till
he was heavily drunken and then they questioned him about going to the
combat.1 They bode the night in that place. Early on the morrow Fergus
arose, 2since they importuned him urgently,2 3and his horses were got ready
for him and his chariot harnessed3 and he fared forth to the place of combat
where Cuchulain was.
4When now4 Cuchulain saw him coming nigh, 5this is what he said:5
6
"Welcome thine arrival and thy coming, O my master Fergus," spoke
Cuchulain. "Truly given we esteem thy greeting," Fergus answered. "It is
truly given for thee, O Fergus" said Cuchulain; "and thou shalt have a
night's lodging here this night." "Success and a blessing attend thee, O

fosterling; not for hospitality from thee am I come, but to fight and do battle
with thee."6 "A vain surety *LL. fo. 80a. is the one wherewith my master
Fergus comes to me; for no sword is in the sheath of the great staff he
bears." It was true what he said. A year before this tale,a 7before the
expedition of the Táin,7 Ailill had found Fergus going to a tryst with Medb
on the hillside in Cruachan and his sword on a 8branch8 near by him. And
Ailill had torn the sword from its sheath and put a wooden sword in its
stead and vowed he would not restore him the sword till came the day of the
great battle, 9when the men of Erin would clash in the great battle of the
Cualnge Cattle-raid at Garech and Ilgarech.9 10"It is a perilous thing for
thee to come to a place of fight, O my master Fergus, without thy sword."10
"It matters not to me, O fosterling," replied Fergus; "for had I a sword in
this, it never would cut thee nor be plied on thee. But, by W. 2874. the honour
and training I bestowed upon thee and the Ulstermen and Conchobar
bestowed, 1by the troth of thy valour and knighthood1 I adjure thee, give
way before me this day in the presence of the men of Erin!" "Truly I am
loath 2to do that,"2 answered Cuchulain, "to flee before any one man on the
Cattle-spoil of Cualnge." "Nay then it is not a thing to be taken amiss by
thee," said Fergus; "for I in my turn will retreat before thee when thou wilt
be covered with wounds and dripping with gore and pierced with holes in
the battle of the Táin. And when I alone shall turn in flight 3before thee,3 so
will all the men of Erin also flee 4before thee in like manner."4 So zealous
was Cuchulain to do whatever made for Ulster's weal that he had his chariot
brought to him, and he mounted his chariot and he went in confusion and
flight 5from Fergus in the presence5 of the men of Erin. 6As far as Grellach
Dolluid ('the Stamping-place at Dolluid') he fled, in order that Fergus might
give way before him on the day of the battle.6 7When7 the men of Erin saw
that, 8they were joyful, and what they said was this:8 "He is fled from thee!
He is fled from thee, O Fergus!" cried all. "Pursue him, pursue him
9quickly,9 O Fergus," Medb cried, "that he do not escape thee." "Nay then,"

said Fergus, "I will pursue him no further. 10It is not like a tryst. Yon fellow
is too speedy for me.10 For however little ye may make of the flight I have
put him to, none of the men of Erin, 11not even four of the five provinces of
Erin11 could have obtained so much as that of him on the Cow-creagh of
Cualnge. For this cause, till the men of Erin take turns in single combat, I

will not engage again with this same man." Hence here we have the
12'White12 W. 2891. Battle' of Fergus 1on the Táin thus far; and it is for this

cause it is called the 'White Battle,' because no 'blood on weapons'a resulted
therefrom.1 2They continue their march past Cuchulain and pitch camp in
Crich Roiss.2

XIXa. HERE NOW COMETH THE HEAD-
PLACE OF FERCHU
W. 2893. Ferchu Longsech ('the Exile'), 1a wonderful warrior from Loch Ce,
outlawed from his land by Ailill and Medb,1 although of the Connachtmen,
was engaged in battle and plunder with Ailill and Medb. From the day these
came to the kingship, there never was a time that he fared to their camp or
took part in their expeditions or shared in their straits or their needs or their
hardships, but he was ever at their heels, pillaging and plundering their
borders and land. At that time he sojourned in the eastern part of Mag Ai.
Twelvea men was his muster. He learned that a single man checked and
stopped four of the five grand provinces of Erin from Monday at Summer's
end till the beginning of Spring, slaying a man on the ford every one of
those days and a hundred warriors every night. He weighed his plan privily
with his people. "What better plan could we devise?" quoth he, "than to go
and attack yonder man that checketh and stoppeth four of the five grand
provinces of Erin, and bring his head and his arms with us to Ailill and
Medb? However great the injuries and wrongs we have done to Ailill and
Medb, we shall obtain our peace therefor, if only that man fall by our hand."
2He made no doubt that if Cuchulain fell through him, the eastern territory

of Connacht would be his.2 Now this was the W. 2908. resolve they took, and
they proceeded to where Cuchulain was 1at Ath Aladh ('Speckled Ford') on
the Plain of Murthemne.1 And when they came, 2they espied the lone
warrior and knew that it was Cuchulain.2 It was not fair fight nor combat
with one they vouchsafed him, but at one and the same time the twelve men
fell upon him 3so that their spears sank up to their middles into his shield.3
Cuchulain on his part 4drew his sword from the sheath of the Badb to attack
them, and he fell to to cut away their weapons and to lighten his shield.
Then he4 turned on them, 5front and back, to the left and the right,5 and
straightway he smote off their twelve heads; 6and he engaged in a furious,
bloody and violent battle with Ferchu himself, after killing his people. And
not long did it avail Ferchu thus, for he fell at last by Cuchulain,6 7and

Cuchulain cut off Ferchu's head to the east of the ford.7 And he set up
twelve stones in the earth for them, and he put the head of each one of them
on its stone and he likewise put Ferchu Longsech's head on its stone. Hence
Cinnit Ferchon Longsig is 8henceforth the name of8 the place where Ferchu
Longsech left his head 9and his twelve men theirs and their arms and their
trophies,9 to wit, Cenn-aitt Ferchon ('the Head-place of Ferchu').

XIXb. 1MANN'S FIGHT1
2
Medb despatched Mann son of Muresc son of Darè, of the Dommandach,
to fight with Cuchulain. Own brothers were he and Daman, Ferdiad's father.
A man, rough, inordinate in eating and sleeping was this Mann. An ill-
tongued foul-mouthed man like Dubthach Doel ('Black-tongue') of Ulster. A
man, stout, mighty, with strength of limb like Munremur ('Thick-neck') son
of Gerrcend ('Short-head'). A fiery champion like Triscoth, the strong man
of Conchobar's household. "I will go," said he, "and unarmed, and I will
grind him between my hands, for I consider it no honour nor credit to use
arms against a beardless madcap such as he."
Therewith he went to attack Cuchulain. There he was, himself and his
charioteer on the ford watching the host. "A lone warrior approacheth us
here," cried Laeg to Cuchulain. "What manner of man?" asked Cuchulain.
"A dark, black man, strong, bull-like, and he unarmed." "Let him go by
thee," said Cuchulain. At that he comes nigh them. "To fight with thee am I
come," Mann announced. Therewith they fell to wrestling for a long time,
and thrice Mann threw Cuchulain, till the charioteer incited Cuchulain.
"Were it the champion's portion thou wast contending for in Emain," spake
Laeg, "thou wouldst be all powerful over the young bloods in Emain!" At
these words the hero's wrath and warrior's rage returned to Cuchulain, so
that he overcame Mann at the pillar-stone and he fell to pieces in morsels.
Hence cometh Mag Mandachta ('the Plain of Mann's death').2

XIXc. 1THE COMBAT OF CALATIN'S
CHILDREN1
W. 2918. Then was it debated by the men of Erin who would be fit to contend
and cope with Cuchulain at the morning hour early on the next day. What
they all said was, that Calatin Dana ('the Bold') would be the one, with his
seven and twenty sons and his grandsona Glass macDelga. Thus were they:
Poison was on every man of them and poison on every weapon of their
arms; and not one of them missed his throw, and there was no one on whom
one of them drew blood that, if he succumbed not on the spot, would not be
dead before the end of the ninth day. Great gifts were promised to them for
engaging to do battle and to contend *LL. fo. 80b. 2with Cuchulain.2 And they
took the matter in hand, and it should be in the presence of Fergus that the
covenant would be made. But Fergus refused to have part therein, for what
they 3all3 contended was that they would hold it as a single combat, 4a
combat, to wit, of4 Calatin Dana and his seven and twenty sons and his
grandson Glass macDelga; for their contention was that his son was a limb
of his limbs and a part of his parts, and that to Calatin Dana belonged all
that proceeded from his body.
Fergus betook himself to his tent and to his people and he breathed his sigh
of weariness aloud. "Grievous it W. 2935. seems to us, the deed to be done
here on the morrow," quoth Fergus. "What deed may that be?" asked his
people. "The slaying of Cuchulain," answered Fergus. "Alas," said they,
"who should kill him?" "Calatin Dana," he replied, "with his seven and
twenty sons and his grandson Glass macDelga. For this is their nature:
Poison is on every man of them and poison on every weapon of their arms;
and there is no one on whom one of them draws blood, that, if he succumb
not on the spot, will not be dead before the end of the ninth day. And there
is no one 1of you1 that would go and learn for me and be witness of the
battle and fight and bring me news how Cuchulain died on whom I would
not bestow my blessing and armour." "I will go thither," spake Fiachu son
of Ferfebè.

They abode so that night. Early on the morrow Calatin Dana arose with his
seven and twenty sons and his grandson Glass macDelga, and they went
forward to where Cuchulain was. And there went also Fiachu son of
Ferfebè. And when Calatin arrived at the place where Cuchulain was, they
forthwith hurled their nine and twenty spears, and not one of them went
past him by a misthrow. Cuchulain played the edge-feat with his shield, so
that all the spears sank up to their middles into the shield. But for all that
theirs was no erring cast, not one of the spears was blooded or reddened
upon him. Thereupon Cuchulain drew 2his2 sword from the sheath of the
Badb, to cut away the weapons and lighten the shield that was on him.
While thus engaged, they rushed in upon him and delivered their nine and
twenty right fists at the same time on his head. They smote him and curbed
him withal, till his face and his countenance and visage met the sand and
gravel of the ford. Cuchulain raised his warrior's shout aloud and his cry of
unequal combat, so that there was not an Ulsterman W. 2962. alive 1in the
camp1 of those that were not asleep but heard it. Then 2when they all had
reached for their swords,2 came Fiachu son of Ferfebè 3after them out of the
camp,3 and he saw what they did and a qualm of 4love and4 the bond of
kindred came over him, and 5when he saw all their hands raised against
Cuchulain, he leaped from his chariot and5 drew his sword from the sheath
of the Badb and dealt them a blow, so that he cut off their nine and twenty
right fists from them at one stroke, and they all fell backwards from the
intensity of the exertion and hold which they had.
Cuchulain raised his head and drew breath and gave a sigh of weariness and
perceived who it was that had come to his aid. "A ready relief, O foster-
brother, 6what thou hast done,"6 said Cuchulain. "Although for thee a ready
relief," said Fiachu, "yet is it not so for us. Even though we are the best
division of three thousand of the Clann Rudraige in the camp and station of
the men of Erin, 7nevertheless this small thing is a breach of covenant in us
men of Ulster. If one of Calatin's children reaches the camp,7 we shall all be
brought under the mouth of spear and of sword, however feeble thou mayst
deem the blow I struck, if this treason be found in us." "I give my word,"
quoth Cuchulain; "so soon as I raise my head and draw breath, 8not a man
of them shall reach the camp alive,8 and unless thou thyself tellest the tale
not one of these ever will tell it!"

With that, Cuchulain turned on them, and he fell to smiting and hewing
them, so that he sent them *LL. fo. 81a. from him in small disjointed pieces
and divided quarters eastwards and westwards along the ford. A single man
got away from him, trusting to his speed while Cuchulain was busied W.
2981. beheading the rest; it was Glass macDelga. And Cuchulain raced after
him like a blast of wind, and Glass ran on round the tent of Ailill and Medb,
and all he could pant out was, "Fiach! Fiach!"a when Cuchulain fetched him
a stroke that cut off his head.
"'Tis quick work was made of that man," quoth Medb. "What debt was that
he spoke of, O Fergus?" "I know not," Fergus answered, "unless it be some
one in the camp and quarters that owed him a debt. It is that which troubled
his mind. But be that as it may," continued Fergus, "it is a debt of blood and
flesh for him. And upon my word," Fergus added, "now are his debts paid
to him for good and all!"
In this wise fell Calatin Dana ('the Bold') at the hands of Cuchulain,
together with his seven and twenty sons and his grandson Glass macDelga
1and the two sons of Ficcè with them, two bold warriors of Ulster who had

come to use their strength on the host.1 So that for evermore in the bed of
the ford is still the rock whereabout they had their strife and struggle 2and
their slaughtering of each other;2 and the mark of their sword-hilts is in it
and of their knees and their elbows 3and their fists3 and the butt-ends of
their spears. 4And their nine and twenty standing stones were set up there.4
Hence Fuil Iairn ('Blood of Iron') to the westb of Ath Firdead ('Ferdiad's
Ford') is the name of the ford. It is for this it is called Fuil Iairn, because of
the 'blood over weapons'c that was there.

Thus far then 5this exploit on the Táin,5 the Combat of the Clann Calatin 6of
his children and his grandson with Cuchulain,6 7when they went to do battle
with Cuchulain.7

XX. THE COMBAT OF FERDIAD 1AND
CUCHULAIN1
2The four grand provinces of Erin were side by side and against Cuchulain,

from Monday before Samain-tidea to Wednesday after Spring-beginning,
and without leave to work harm or vent their rage on the province of Ulster,
while yet all the Ulstermen were sunk in their nine days' 'Pains,' and Conall
Cernach ('the Victorious') sought out battle in strange foreign lands paying
the tribute and tax of Ulster. Great was the plight and strait of Cuchulain
during that time, for he was not a day or a night without fierce, fiery combat
waged on him by the men of Erin, until he killed Calatin with his seven and
twenty sons and Fraech son of Fiadach and performed many deeds and
successes which are not enumerated here. Now this was sore and grievous
for Medb and for Ailill.2
W. 3001. Then the men of Erin took counsel who would be fit 3to send to the
3 4 4
ford to fight and do battle with Cuchulain, to drive him off from them at
the morning hour early on the morrow.
5With one accord5 they declared that it should be Ferdiad son of Daman son

of Darè, the great and valiant warrior of the men of Domnann, 6the horn-
skin from Irrus Domnann, the irresistible force, and the battle-rock of
destruction, the own, dear, foster-brother of Cuchulain.6 W. 3005. 1And fitting
it was for him to go thither,1 for well-matched and alike was their manner of
fight and of combat. Under the same instructresses had they done skilful
deeds of valour and arms, when learning the art with Scathach ('the
Modest') and with Uathach ('the Dreadful') and with Aifè ('the Handsome').
2Yet was it the felling of an oak with one's fists, and the stretching of the

hand into a serpent's nest, and a spring into the lair of a lion, for hero or
champion in the world, aside from Cuchulain, to fight or combat with
Ferdiad on whatever ford or river or mere he set his shield.2 And neither of
them overmatched the other, save in the feat of the Gae Bulga ('the Barbed

Spear') which Cuchulain possessed. Howbeit, against this, Ferdiad was
horn-skinned when fighting and in combat with a warrior on the ford; 3and
they thought he could avoid the Gae Bulga and defend himself against it,
because of the horn about him of such kind that neither arms nor multitude
of edges could pierce it.3

Then were messengers and envoys sent 4from Medb and Ailill4 to Ferdiad.
Ferdiad denied them their will, and dismissed and sent back the messengers,
and he went not with them, for he knew wherefore they would have him, to
fight and combat with his friend, with his comrade and foster-brother,
5Cuchulain.5

Then did Medb despatch the druids 6and the poets of the camp,6 the
lampoonists and hard-attackers,a for Ferdiad, to the end that they might
make three satires to stay him and three scoffing speeches against him, 7to
mock at him and revile and disgrace him,7 that they might raise three
blisters on his face, Blame, Blemish and Disgrace, 8that he might not find a
place in the world to lay his head,8 W. 3021. if he came not 1with them1 2to
the tent of Medb and Ailill on the foray.2

Ferdiad came with them for the sake of his own honour and 3for fear of
their bringing shame on him,3 forasmuch as he deemed it better to fall by
the shafts of valour and bravery and skill, than to fall by the shafts of satire,
abuse and reproach. And when 4Ferdiad4 was come 5into the camp,5 6Medb
and Ailill beheld him, and great and most wonderful joy possessed them,
and they sent him to where their trusty people were, and 6he was honoured
and waited on, and choice, well-flavoured strong liquor was poured out for
him till he became drunken and merry. 7Finnabair, daughter of Ailill and
Medb, was seated at his side. It was Finnabair that placed her hand on every
goblet and cup Ferdiad quaffed. She it was that gave him three kisses with
every cup that he took. She it was that passed him sweet-smelling apples
over the bosom of her tunic. This is what she ceased not to say, that her
darling and her chosen sweetheart of the world's men was Ferdiad.7 8And
when Medb got Ferdiad drunken and merry,8 great rewards were promised
him if he would make the fight and combat.

9When now Ferdiad was satisfied, happy and joyful, it was that Medb

spoke: "Hail now, Ferdiad. Dost know the occasion wherefore thou art
summoned to this tent?" "I know not, in truth," Ferdiad replied; "unless it
be that the nobles of the men of Erin are here. Why is it less fitting for me
to be here than any other good warrior?" "'Tis not that, forsooth," answered
Medb: "but to give thee9 a chariot worth foura times seven bondmaids, and
the apparel of two men and ten men, of cloth of every colour, W. 3028. and
the equivalent 1of the Plain of Murthemne1 of the rich Plain of Ai, 2and that
thou shouldst be at all times in Cruachan, and wine be poured out for thee
there; the freedom of thy descendants and thy race forever,2 free of tribute,
free of rent, without constraint to encamp or take part in our expeditions,
* 3
LL. fo. 81b. without duress for thy son, or for thy grandson, or for thy great-
grandson, till the end of time and existence;3 4this leaf-shaped golden
brooch of mine shall be thine, wherein are ten-score ounces, and ten-score
half ounces, and ten-score scruples, and ten-score quarters;4 Finnabair, 5my
daughter and Ailill's,5 to be thine own one wife, 6and mine own most
intimate friendship, if thou exactest that withal." "He needs it not," they
cried, one and all; "great are the rewards and gifts!"6
Such were the words of Medb, and she spake them here and Ferdiad
responded:—
Medb:

"Great rewards in arm-rings,
Share of plain and forest,
Freedom of thy children
From this day till doom!
Ferdiad son of Daman,
More than thou couldst hope for,
Why shouldst thou refuse it,
That which all would take?"

Ferdiad:

"Naught I'll take without bond—
No ill spearman am I—

Hard on me to-morrow:
Great will be the strife!
Hound that's hight of Culann,
How his thrust is grievous!
No soft thing to stand him;
Rude will be the wound!"
W. 3056.

Medb:

"Champions will be surety,
Thou needst not keep hostings.
Reins and splendid horses
Shall be given as pledge!
Ferdiad, good, of battle,
For that thou art dauntless,
Thou shalt be my lover,
Past all, free of cain!"

Ferdiad:

"Without bond I'll go not
To engage in ford-feats;
It will live till doomsday
In full strength and force.
Ne'er I'll yield—who hears me,
Whoe'er counts upon me—
Without sun- and moon-oath,
Without sea and land!"

Medb:

"Why then dost delay it?
Bind it as it please thee,
By kings' hands and princes',
Who will stand for thee!
Lo, I will repay thee,a
Thou shalt have thine asking,

For I know thou'lt slaughter
Man that meeteth thee!"
Ferdiad:

"Nay, without six sureties—
It shall not be fewer—
Ere I do my exploits
There where hosts will be!
Should my will be granted,
I swear, though unequal,
That I'll meet in combat
Cuchulain the brave!"

Medb:

"Domnall, then, or Carbrè,
Niaman famed for slaughter,
Or e'en folk of barddom,
Natheless, thou shalt have.
Bind thyself on Morann,
Wouldst thou its fulfilment,
Bind on smooth Man's Carbrè,
And our two sons, bind!"

Ferdiad:

"Medb, with wealth of cunning,
Whom no spouse can bridle,
Thou it is that herdest
Cruachan of the mounds!
High thy fame and wild power!
Mine the fine pied satin;
Give thy gold and silver,
Which were proffered me!"

W. 3100.Medb:

"To thee, foremost champion,
I will give my ringed brooch.
From this day till Sunday,
Shall thy respite be!
Warrior, mighty, famous,
All the earth's fair treasures
Shall to thee be given;
Everything be thine!

"Finnabair of the champions (?),
Queen of western Erin,
When thou'st slain the Smith's Hound,
Ferdiad, she's thine!"

Ferdiad:
1"Should I have Finnabair to wife,

Falls of Ai and Cruachan too,
And to dwell for alway there,
I'd not seek the deedful Hound!

"Equal skill to me and him—"
Thus spake Ferdiad withal—
"The same nurses raised usa both,
And with them we learned our art.

"Not for fear of battle hard,
Noble Eocho Fedlech's maid,
Would I shun the Blacksmith's Hound,
But my heart bleeds for his love!"

Medb:

"Thou shalt have, dear, bright-scaledb man,c
One swift, proud, high-mettled steed.
Thou shalt have domains and land
And shalt stay not from the fight (?)!"

Ferdiad:

"But that Medb entreated so,
And that poets' tongues did urge,
I'd not go for hard rewards
To contend with mine own friend!"

Medb:

"Son of Daman of white cheeks,
Shouldst thou check this heroes' Hound,
E'er so long thy fame will live,
When thou comest from Ferdiad's Ford!"1
2Then said they, one and all, those gifts were great. 3"'Tis true, they are

great.3 But though they are," said W. 3113. Ferdiad, "with Medb herself I will
leave them, and I will not accept them if it be to do battle or combat with
my foster-brother, the man of my alliance and affection, 1and my equal in
skill of arms,1 namely, with Cuchulain." And he said:—

"Greatest toil, 2this, greatest toil,2
Battle with the Hound of gore!
Liefer would I battle twice
With two hundred men of Fal!

"Sad the fight, 2and sad the fight,2
I and Hound of feats shall wage!
We shall hack both flesh and blood;
Skin and body we shall hew!

"Sad, O god, 2yea, sad, O god,2

That a woman should us part!
My heart's half, the blameless Hound;
Half the brave Hound's heart am I!

"By my shield, 2O, by my shield,2
If Ath Cliath's brave Hound should fall,
I will drive my slender glaive
Through my heart, my side, my breast!

"By my sword, 2O, by my sword,2
If the Hound of Glen Bolg fall!
No man after him I'll slay,
Till I o'er the world's brink spring!

"By my hand, 2O, by my hand!2
Falls the Hound of Glen in Sgail,
Medb with all her host I'll kill,
And then no more men of Fal!

"By my spear, 2O, by my spear!2
Should Ath Cro's brave Hound be slain,
I'll be buried in his grave;
May one grave hide me and him!
3
"Liefer would I, 2liefer far,2
Arms should slay me in fierce fight,
Than the death of heroes' Hound,"a
Should be food for ravenous birds?3

"Tell him this, 2O, tell him this,2
To the Hound of beauteous hue,
Fearless Scathach hath foretold
My fall on a ford through him!
W. 3149.

"Woe to Medb, 1yea, woe to Medb,1
Who hath used her 3guile3 on us;

She hath set me face to face
'Gainst Cuchulain—hard the toil!"
"Ye men," spake Medb, in the wonted fashion of stirring up disunion and
dissension, 4as if she had not heard Ferdiad at all,4 "true is the word
Cuchulain speaks." "What word is that?" asked Ferdiad. "He said, then,"
replied Medb, "he would not think it too much if thou shouldst fall by his
hands in the choicest feat of his skill in arms, in the land whereto he should
come." "It was not just for him to speak so," quoth Ferdiad; "for it is not
cowardice or lack of boldness that he hath ever seen in me 5by day or by
night.5 6And I speak not so to him, for I have it not to say of him.6 And I
swear by my arms 7of valour,7 if it be true that he spoke so, I will be the
first man of the men of Erin to contend with him on the morrow, 8how loath
soever I am to do so!"8
9And he gave his word in the presence of them all that he would go and

meet Cuchulain. For it pleased Medb, if Ferdiad should fail to go, to have
them as a witness against him, in order that she might say it was fear or
dread that caused him to break his word.9 "A blessing 10and victory10 upon
thee for that!" said Medb; "it pleaseth me more than for thee to show fear
and lack of boldness. For every man loves his own land, and how is it better
for him to seek the welfare of Ulster, 11because his mother was descended
from the Ulstermen,11 than for thee to seek the welfare of Connacht,2 12as
thou art the son of a king of Connacht?"12
Then it was that Medb obtained from Ferdiad the easy W. 3163. surety of a
covenant to fight and contend on the morrow with six warriors 1of the
champions of Erin,1 or to fight and contend with Cuchulain alone, if to him
this last seemed lighter. Ferdiad obtained 2of Medb2 the easy surety, 3as he
thought,3 to send the aforesaid six men for the fulfilment of the terms which
had been promised him, should Cuchulain fall at his hands.
4There was a wonderful warrior of the Ulstermen present at that covenant,

and that was Fergus macRoig. Fergus betook him to his tent. "Woe is me,
for the deed that will be done on the morning of the morrow!" "What deed
is that?" his tent-folk asked. "My good fosterling Cuchulain will be slain!"
"Good lack! who makes that boast?" "Not hard to say: None other but his

dear, devoted foster-brother, Ferdiad son of Daman. Why bear ye not my
blessing," Fergus continued, "and let one of you go with a warning and
mercy to Cuchulain, if perchance he would leave the ford on the morn of
the morrow?" "As we live," said they; "though it were thyself was on the
ford of battle, we would not go near him to seek thee." "Come, my lad,"
cried Fergus, "get our horses for us, and yoke the chariot!"4
Then were Fergus' horses fetched for him and his chariot was yoked, and he
came forward to the place 5of combat5 where Cuchulain was, to inform him
6of the challenge, that Ferdiad was to fight with him.6

7"A chariot cometh hither towards us, O Cuchulain!" cried Laeg. For in this

wise was the gilla, with his back towards his lord. He used to win every
other game of draughts and of chess from his master. Watch and guard of
the four airts was he besides. "What manner of chariot is it?" asked
Cuchulain. "A chariot like to a royal fort, huge, with its yoke, strong,
golden; with its great board of copper; with its shafts of bronze; with its
thin-framed, dry-bodied box (?) ... set on two horses, black, swift, stout,
strong-forked, thick-set, under beautiful shafts. One kingly, broad-eyed
warrior is the combatant in the chariot. A curly, forked beard he wears that
reaches below outside over the smooth lower part of his soft tunic, which
would shelter fifty warriors on a day of storm and rain under the heavy
shield of the warrior's beard. A bent buckler, white, beautiful, of many
colours, he bears, with three stout-wrought chains, so that there is room
from edge to edge for four troops of ten men behind the leather of the shield
which hangs upon the broad back of the warrior. A long, hard-edged, broad,
red sword in a sheath woven and twisted of white silver, over the ... of the
battle-warrior. A strong, three-ridged spear, wound and banded with all-
gleaming white silver he has lying across the chariot."
"Not difficult to recognize him," said Cuchulain: "'tis my master Fergus that
cometh hither with a warning and with compassion for me, before all the
four provinces of Erin."
7
W. 3172. Fergus drew nigh and sprang from his chariot. Cuchulain bade him
welcome. *LL. fo. 82a. "Welcome is thy coming, O my master Fergus!" cried
Cuchulain. 1"If a flock of birds comes into the plain, thou shalt have a duck
with half of another. If a fish comes into the river-mouths, thou shalt have a

salmon with half of another. A handful of water-cress and a bunch of laver
and a sprig of sea-grass and a drink of cold water from the sand thou shalt
have thereafter." "Tis an outlaw's portion, that," said Fergus. "Tis true; 'tis
an outlaw's portion is mine," answered Cuchulain.1 "Truly intended,
methinks, the welcome, O W. 3174. fosterling," said Fergus. "But, 1were it for
this I came, I should think it better to leave it.1 It is for this I am here, to
inform thee who comes to fight and contend with thee at the morning hour
early on the morrow." "E'en so will we hear it from thee," said Cuchulain.
"Thine own friend and comrade and foster-brother, the man thine equal in
feats and in skill of arms and in deeds, Ferdiad son of Daman son of Darè,
the great and mighty warrior of the men of Domnann." 2"As my soul
liveth,"2 replied Cuchulain, "it is not to an encounter we wish our friend to
come, and 3not for fear, but for love and affection of him;3 4and almost I
would prefer to fall by the hand of that warrior than for him to fall by
mine."4 "It is even for that," answered Fergus, "thou shouldst be on thy
guard and prepared. 5Say not that thou hast no fear of Ferdiad, for it is
fitting that thou shouldst have fear and dread before fighting with Ferdiad.5
For unlike all to whom it fell to fight and contend with thee on the Cualnge
Cattle-raid on this occasion is Ferdiad son of Daman son of Darè, 9for he
hath a horny skin about him 6in battle against a man,6 7a belt,7 8equally
strong, victorious in battle,8 and neither points nor edges are reddened upon
it9 10in the hour of strife and anger. For he is the fury of a lion, and the
bursting of wrath, and the blow of doom, and the wave that drowneth
foes."10 12"Speak not thus!" cried Cuchulain, "for I swear 11by my arms of
valour,11 the oath that my people swear, that every limb and every joint will
be as soft as a pliant rush in the bed of a river under the point of sword, if
he show himself to me on the ford!12 Truly am I here," said Cuchulain,
"checking and W. 3185. staying four of the five grand provinces of Erin from
Monday ata Summer's end tillb the beginning of spring, 1and I have not left
my post for a night's disport, through stoutly opposing the men of Erin on
the Cattle-lifting of Cualnge.1 And in all this time, I have not put foot in
retreat before any one man 2nor before a multitude,2 and methinks just as
little will I turn foot in flight before him."

3And thus spake he, that it was not fear of Ferdiad that caused his anxiety

for the fight, but his love for him. 3And, on his part, so spake Fergus,
putting him on his guard 4because of Ferdiad's strength,4 and he said these
words and Cuchulain responded:—
Fergus:

"O Cuchulain—splendid deed—
Lo, 'tis time for thee to rise.
Here in rage against thee comes
Ferdiad, red-faced Daman's son!"

Cuchulain:

"Here am I—no easy task—c
Holding Erin's men at bay;
Foot I've never turned in flight
In my fight with single foe!"

Fergus:

"Dour the man when anger moves,
Owing to his gore-red glaive;
Ferdiad wears a skin of horn,
'Gainst which fight nor might prevails!"

Cuchulain:

"Be thou still; urge not thy tale,
Fergus of the mighty arms.
On no land and on no ground,
For me is there aught defeat!"

Fergus:

"Fierce the man with scores of deeds;
No light thing, him to subdue.
Strong as hundreds—brave his mien—

Point pricks not, edge cuts him not!"
Cuchulain:

"If we clash upon the ford,
I and Ferdiad of known skill,
We'll not part without we know:
Fierce will be our weapon fight!"

W. 3214.Fergus:

"More I'd wish it than reward,
O Cuchulain of red sword,
Thou shouldst be the one to bring
Eastward haughty Ferdiad's spoils!"

Cuchulain:

"Now I give my word and vow,
Though unskilled in strife of words,
It is I will conquer this
Son of Daman macDarè!"

Fergus:

"It is I brought east the host,
Thus requiting Ulster's wrong.
With me came they from their lands,
With their heroes and their chiefs!"

Cuchulain:

"Were not Conchobar in the 'Pains,'
Hard 'twould be to come near us.
Never Medb of Mag in Scail
On more tearful march had come!"

Fergus:

"Greatest deed awaits thy hand:
Fight with Ferdiad, Daman's son.
Hard stern arms with stubborn edge,b
Shalt thou have, thou Culann's Hound!"
1
After that,1 Fergus returned to the camp and halting-place 2of the men of
Erin,2 3lest the men of Erin should say he was betraying them or forsaking
them, if he should remain longer than he did conversing with Cuchulain.
And they took farewell of each other.3
4
Now as regards the charioteer of Cuchulain 5after Fergus went from them:5
"What wilt thou do to-night?" asked Laeg. "What, indeed?" said Cuchulain.
"It will be thus" (said the charioteer) "Ferdiad will come to attack thee, with
new beauty of plaiting and dressing of hair, and washing and bathing, and
the four provinces of Erin with him to look at the combat. I would that thou
wouldst go where thou wilt get a like adorning for thyself, to the place
where is Emer Foltchain ('Emer of the Beautiful Hair,' thy wife), 6daughter
of Forgal Monach,6 at Cairthenn in Cluan da Dam, ('two Oxen's Meadow')
in Sliab Fuait, 1where thou wilt get even such an adorning for thyself."1 2"It
is fitting to do so," said Cuchulain.2 Then Cuchulain went thither that night
3to Dundelgan,3 and passed the night with his wife. His doings from that

time are not related here now.4
W. 3235. 5As for5 Ferdiad, he betook himself to his tent and to his people, and
imparted to them the easy surety which Medb had obtained from him to do
combat and battle with six warriors on the morrow, or to do combat and
battle with Cuchulain alone, if he thought it a lighter task. He made known
to them also the fair terms he had obtained from Medb of sending the same
six warriors for the fulfilment of the covenant she had made with him,
should Cuchulain fall by his hands.
6The folk of Ferdiad were not joyful, blithe, cheerful or merry that night,6
*
LL. fo. 82b. but they were sad, sorrowful and downcast, for they knew that
where the two champions and the two bulwarks in a gap for a hundred, 7the
two pillars of battle and strife of the men of Erin7 8of that time8 met in
combat, one or other of them would fall there or both would fall, and if it

should be one of them, they believed it would be 9their king and9 their own
lord 10that would fall there,10 for it was not easy to contend and do battle
with Cuchulain on the Raid for the Kine of Cualnge.
Ferdiad slept right heavily the first part of the night, but when the end of the
night was come, his sleep and his heaviness left him. And the anxiousness
of the combat and the battle came upon him. 11But most troubled in spirit
was he that he should allow all the treasures to pass from him, and the
maiden, by reason of combat with one man. Unless he fought with that one
man, he must needs fight with six champions on the morrow. What
tormented him more than that was, should he once show himself on the ford
to Cuchulain he was certain he would never have power of head or of life
ever after. And Ferdiad arose early on the morrow.11 W. 3252. And he charged
his charioteer to take his horses and to yoke his chariot. The charioteer
sought to dissuade him 1from that journey.1 2"By our word,"2 said the gilla,
"'twould be better for theea 3to remain than to go thither," said he; "for, not
more do I commend it for thee than I condemn it."3 "Hold thy peace about
us, boy!" quoth Ferdiad, 4"for we will brook no interference from any one
concerning this journey.4 5For the promise we gave to Medb and Ailill in
the presence of the men of Erin, it would shame us to break it; for they
would say it was fear or dread that caused us to break it. And, by my
conscience, I would almost liefer fall myself by Cuchulain's hand than that
he should fall by mine on this occasion. And should Cuchulain fall by my
hand on the ford of combat, then shall Medb and many of the men of Erin
fall by my hand because of the pledge they extorted from me, and I drunken
and merry.5 And in this manner he spake, 6conversing with the charioteer,6
and he uttered these words, 7the little lay that follows, urging on the
charioteer,7 and the henchman responded:—
Ferdiad:

"Let's haste to th' encounter,
To battle with this man;
The ford we will come to,
O'er which Badb will shriek!
To meet with Cuchulain,
To wound his slight body,

To thrust the spear through him
So that he may die!"
W. 3266.The Henchman:

"To stay it were better;
Your threats are not gentle;
Death's sickness will one have,
And sad will ye part!
To meet Ulster's noblest,
To meet whence ill cometh;
Long will men speak of it.
Alas, for youra course!"

Ferdiad:

"Not fair what thou speakest;
No fear hath the warrior;
We owe no one meekness;
We stay not for thee!
Hush, gilla, about us!
The time will bring strong hearts;
More meet strength than weakness;
1
Let's on to the tryst!"1

Ferdiad's horses were now brought forth and his chariot was hitched, and he
set out 2from the camp2 for the ford of battle when yet day with its full light
had not come there for him. 3"My lad," spake Ferdiad, "it is not fitting that
we make our journey without bidding farewell to the men of Erin. Turn the
horses and the chariot for us towards the men of Erin." Thrice the servant
turned the heads of the horses and the chariot towards the men of Erin.
Then he came upon Medb letting her water from her on the floor of the tent.
"Ailill, sleepest thou still?" asked Medb. "Not so!" replied Ailill. "Dost hear
thy new son-in-law taking farewell, of thee?" "Is that what he doth?" asked
Ailill. "'Tis that, verily," Medb made answer; "but I swear by what my tribe
swears, not on the same feet will the man who makes that greeting come
back to you." "Howbeit, we have profited by a happy alliance of marriage

with him," quoth Ailill; "if only Cuchulain falls by his hand, I should be
pleased if they both fell, yet would I prefer that Ferdiad should escape."
Ferdiad came to the ford of combat. "Look, my lad!" said Ferdiad, "is
Cuchulain on the ford?" "That he is not," replied the gilla. "Look well for
us," said Ferdiad. "Cuchulain is not a little speck where he would be in
hiding," answered the gilla. "'Tis true, then, my lad; till this day Cuchulain
hath not heard of a goodly warrior coming to meet him on the Cow-spoil of
Cualnge, and now when he has heard of one, he has left the ford."
"Shame for thee to slander Cuchulain in his absence. Rememberest thou not
when ye gave battle to German Garbglas above the borders of the Tyrrhene
Sea, thou leftest thy sword with the hosts, and it was Cuchulain who slew a
hundred warriors till he reached it and brought it to thee? And mindest thou
well where we were that night?" the gilla asked further. "I know not,"
Ferdiad answered. "At the house of Scathach's steward," said the other;
"and thou wentest ... and proudly in advance of us all into the house. The
churl gave thee a blow with his three-pointed fork in the small of the back,
so that thou flewest like a bolt out over the door. Cuchulain came in and
gave the churl a blow with his sword, so that he made two pieces of him. I
was their house-steward whilst ye were in that place. If it were that day,
thou wouldst not say thou wast a better warrior than Cuchulain." "Wrong is
what thou hast done, O gilla," said Ferdiad; "for I would not have come to
the combat, hadst thou spoken thus to me at first. Why dost thou not lay the
chariot-poles at my side and the skin-coverings under my head, that so I
may sleep now?" "Alas," said the gilla, "'tis a sorry sleep before deer and
packs of wolves here!" "How so, gilla? Art thou not able to keep watch and
guard for me?" "I am," the gilla answered; "unless they come in clouds or in
the air to attack thee, they shall not come from east or from west to attack
thee without warning, without notice."3 "Come, gilla," said Ferdiad,
1
"unharness the horses and1 W. 3285. spread for me the cushions and skins of
my chariot under me here, so that I sleep off my heavy fit of sleep and
slumber here, for I slept not the last part of the night with the anxiousness
of the battle and combat."

The gilla unharnessed the horses; he unfastened the chariot under him, 1and
spread beneath him the chariot-cloths.1 He slept off the heavy fit of sleep
that was on him. 2The gilla remained on watch and guard for him.2

Now how Cuchulain fared 3is related3 here: He arose not till the day with its
bright light had come to him, lest the men of Erin might say it was fear or
fright of the champion he had, if he should arise 4early.4 And when day with
its full light had come, he 5passed his hand over his face and5 bade his
charioteer take his horses and yoke them to his chariot. "Come, gilla," said
Cuchulain, "take out our horses for us and harness our chariot, for an early
riser is the warrior appointed to meet us, Ferdiad son of Daman son of Darè.
6If Ferdiad awaits us, he must needs think it long."6 "The horses are taken

out," 7said the gilla;7 "the chariot is harnessed. Mount, and be it no shame to
thy valour 8to go thither!"8 9Cuchulain stepped into the chariot and they
pressed forward to the ford.9 Then it was that the cutting, feat-performing,
battle-winning, red-sworded hero, Cuchulain son of Sualtaim, mounted his
chariot, so that there shrieked around him the goblins and fiends and the
sprites of the glens and the demons of the air; for the Tuatha De Danann
('the Folk of the Goddess Danu') were wont to set up their cries around him,
to the end that the dread and the fear and the fright and the terror of him
might be so much the greater in every W. 3304. battle and on every field, in
every fight and in every combat wherein he went.

Not long had Ferdiad's charioteer waited when he heard something: 1A rush
and a crash and a hurtling sound, and a din and a thunder,1 *LL. fo. 83a. and a
clatter and a clash, namely, the shield-cry of feat-shields, and the jangle of
javelins, and the deed-striking of swords, and the thud of the helmet, 2and
the ring of spears,2 and the clang of the cuirass, and the striking of arms, the
fury of feats, the straining of ropes, and the whirr of wheels, and the
creaking of the chariot, and the trampling of horses' hoofs, and the deep
voice of the hero and battle-warrior 3in grave speech with his servant3 on
his way to the ford to attack his opponent.

The servant came and touched his master with his hand 4and awakened
him.4 "Ferdiad, master," said the youth, "rise up! They are here to meet thee
at the ford." 5Then5 6Ferdiad arose and girt his body in his war-dress of
battle and combat.6 And the gilla spake these words:—

"The roll of a chariot,
Its fair yoke of silver;

A man great and stalwart
O'ertops the strong car!
O'er Bri Ross, o'er Branè
Their swift path they hasten;
Past Old-tree Town'sa tree-stump,
Victorious they speed!

"A sly Hound that driveth,
A fair chief that urgeth,
A free hawk that speedeth
His steeds towards the south!
Gore-coloured, the Cua,b
'Tis sure he will take us;
We know—vain to hide it—
He brings us defeat!c
W. 3335.

"Woe him on the hillock,
The brave Hound before him;
Last year I foretold it,
That some time he'd come!
Hound from Emain Macha,
Hound formed of all colours,
The Border-hound, War-hound,
I hear what I've heard!"

"Come, gilla," said Ferdiad; "for what reason laudest thou this man ever
since I am come from my house? And it is almost a cause for strife with
thee that thou hast praised him thus highly. But, Ailill and Medb have
prophesied to me that this man will fall by my hand. And since it is for a
reward, he shall quickly be torn asunder by me. 1And make ready the arms
on the ford against his coming." "Should I turn my face backward," said the
gilla; "methinks the poles of yon chariot will pass through the back of my
neck." "Too much, my lad," said Ferdiad, "dost thou praise Cuchulain, for
not a reward has he given thee for praising,1 but it is time to fetch help."
And he spake these words, and the henchman responded:—

Ferdiad:

"'Tis time now to help me;
Be silent! cease praising!
'Twas no deed of friendship,
No doom o'er the brink (?)a
The Champion of Cualnge,
Thou seest 'midst proud feats,
For that it's for guerdon,
Shall quickly be slain!"b

The Henchman:

"I see Cualnge's hero,
With feats overweening,
Not fleeing he flees us,
But towards us he comes.
He runneth—not slowly—
Though cunning—not sparing—
Like water 'down high cliff
Or thunderbolt quick!"

W. 3365.Ferdiad:

"'Tis cause of a quarrel,
So much thou hast praised him;
And why hast thou chose him,
Since I am from home?
And now they extol him,
They fall to proclaim him;
None come to attack him,
But soft simple men (?)."
1Here followeth the Description of Cuchulain's chariot, one of the three

chief Chariots of the Tale of the Foray of Cualnge.1
It was not long that Ferdiad's charioteer remained there when he saw
something: 2"How beholdest thou Cuchulain?" asked Ferdiad of his

charioteer. "I behold," said he,2 "a beautiful, live-pointed chariot, 3broad
above, of white crystal, with a thick yoke of gold, with stout plates of
copper, with shafts of bronze, with wheel-bands of bronze covered with
silver,3 approaching with swiftness, with speed, with perfect skill; with a
green shade, with a thin-framed, dry-bodied (?) box surmounted with feats
of cunning, 4straight-poled,4 as long as a warrior's sword. 5On this5 was
room for a hero's seven arms, the fair seat for its lord; 6two wheels, dark,
black; a pole of tin, with red enamel, of a beautiful colour; two inlaid,
golden bridles.6 7This chariot was placed7 behind two fleet steeds, 8nimble,
furious, small-headed,8 bounding, large-eared, 9small-snouted, sharp-
beaked, red-chested,9 gaily prancing, with inflateda nostrils, broad-chested,
quick-hearted, high-flanked, broad-hoofed, slender-limbed, overpowering
and resolute. A grey, broad-hipped, small-stepping, long-maned horse,
10
whose name was Liath ('the Roan') of Macha,10 was under W. 3379. one of
the yokes of the chariot; a black, crispèd-maned, swift-moving, broad-
backed horse, 1whose name was Dubh ('the Black') of Sithleann,1 under the
other. Like unto a hawk after its prey on a sharp tempestuous day, or to a
tearing blast of wind of Spring on a March day over the back of a plain, or
unto a startled stag when first roused by the hounds in the first of the chase,
*
LL. fo. 83b. were Cuchulain's two horses before the chariot, as if they were
on glowing, fiery flags, so that they shook the earth and made it tremble
with the fleetness of their course.
2
"In the front of this chariot is a man with fair, curly, long hair. There is
around him a cloak, blue, Parthian purple. A spear with red and keen-cutting
blades, flaming-red in his hand. The semblance of three heads of hair he
has, namely, brown hair next to the skin of his head, blood-red hair in the
middle, a crown of gold is the third head of hair.
"Beautiful is the arrangement of that hair so that it makes three coils down
behind over his shoulders. Even as a thread of gold it seems, when its hue
has been wrought over the edge of an anvil; or like to the yellow of bees
whereon shines the sun on a summer's day is the shining of each single hair
of his hair. Seven toes he has on each of his feet and seven fingers on each
of his hands and the brilliance of a very great fire is around his eye.

"Befitting him is the charioteer beside him, with curly, jet-black hair, shorn
broad over his head. A cowled garment around him, open at the elbows. A
horse-whip, very fine and golden in his hand, and a light-grey cloak
wrapped around him, and a goad of white silver in his hand. He plies the
goad on the horses whatever way would go the deed-renowned warrior that
is in the chariot."2
And Cuchulain reached the ford. Ferdiad waited on W. 3387. the south side of
the ford; Cuchulain stood on the north side. Ferdiad bade welcome to
Cuchulain. "Welcome is thy coming, O Cuchulain!" said Ferdiad. "Truly
spoken meseemed thy welcome till now," answered Cuchulain; "but to-day
I put no more trust in it. And, O Ferdiad," said Cuchulain, "it were fitter for
me to bid thee welcome than that thou should'st welcome me; for it is thou
that art come to the land and province wherein I dwell; and it is not fitting
for thee to come to contend and do battle with me, but it were fitter for me
to go to contend and do battle with thee. For before thee in flight are my
women and my boys and my youths, my steeds and my troops of horses,
my droves, my flocks and my herds of cattle."
"Good, O Cuchulain," spake Ferdiad; "what has ever brought thee out to
contend and do battle with me? For when we were 1together1 with Scathach
and with Uathach and with Aifè, 2thou wast not a man worthy of me, for2
thou wast my serving-man, even for arming my spear and dressing my
bed." "That was indeed true," answered Cuchulain; "because of my youth
and my littleness did I so much for thee, but this is by no means my mood
this day. For there is not a warrior in the world I would not drive off this
day 3in the field of battle and combat."3
4
It was not long before they met in the middle of the ford.4 And then it was
that each of them cast sharp-cutting reproaches at the other, renouncing his
friendship; and Ferdiad spake these words there, and Cuchulain responded:
—
Ferdiad:

"What led thee, O Cua,
To fight a strong champion?
Thy flesh will be gore-red

O'er smoke of thy steeds!
Alas for thy journey,
A kindling of firebrands;
In sore need of healing,
If home thou shouldst reach!"
W. 3417.Cuchulain:

"I'm come before warriors
Around the herd's wild Boar,a
Before troops and hundreds,
To drown thee in deep.
In anger, to prove thee
In hundred-fold battle,
Till on thee come havoc,
Defending thy head!"

Ferdiad:

"Here stands one to crush thee,
'Tis I will destroy thee,
1 1
...
From me there shall come
The flight of their warriors
In presence of Ulster,
That long they'll remember
The loss that was theirs!"

Cuchulain:

"How then shall we combat?
For wrongs shall we heave sighs?
Despite all, we'll go there,
To fight on the ford!
Or is it with hard swords,
Or e'en with red spear-points,
Before hosts to slay thee,
If 2thy2 hour hath come?"

Ferdiad:

"'Fore sunset, 'fore nightfall—
If need be, then guard thee—
I'll fight thee at Bairchè,
Not bloodlessly fight!
The Ulstermen call thee,
'He has him!' Oh, hearken!
The sight will distress them
That through them will passb!"

Cuchulain:

"In danger's gap fallen,
At hand is thy life's term;
On thee plied be weapons,
Not gentle the skill!
One champion will slay thee;
We both will encounter;
No more shalt lead forays,
3
From this day till Doom!"3

W. 3457.Ferdiad:

"Avaunt with thy warnings,
Thou world's greatest braggart;
Nor guerdon nor pardon,
1Low warrior for thee!1

'Tis I that well know thee,
Thou heart of a cageling
This lad merely tickles—
Without skill or force!"

Cuchulain:

"When we were with Scathach,
For wonted arms training,
Together we'd fare forth,

To seek every fight.
Thou wast my heart's comrade.
My clan and my kinsman;
Ne'er found I one dearer;
Thy loss would be sad!"
Ferdiad:LL. fo. 84a.

"Thou wager'st thine honour
Unless we do battle;
Before the cock croweth,
Thy head on a spit!
Cuchulain of Cualnge,
Mad frenzy hath seized thee
All ill we'll wreak on thee,
For thine is the sin!"

"Come now, O Ferdiad," cried Cuchulain, "not meet was it for thee to come
to contend and do battle with me, because of the instigation and
intermeddling of Ailill and Medb, 2and because of the false promises that
they made thee. Because of their deceitful terms and of the maiden have
many good men been slain.2 And all that came 3because of those promises
of deceit,3 neither profit nor success did it bring them, and they have fallen
by me. And none the more, 4O Ferdiad,4 shall it win victory or increase of
fame for thee; and, 5as they all fell,5 shalt thou too fall by my hand!" Thus
he spake, W. 3486. and he further uttered these words and Ferdiad hearkened
to him:—

"Come not nigh me, noble chief,
Ferdiad, comrade, Daman's son.
Worse for thee than 'tis for me;
Thou'lt bring sorrow to a host!

"Come not nigh me 'gainst all right;
Thy last bed is made by me.
Why shouldst thou alone escape
From the prowess of my arms?

"Shall not great feats thee undo,
Though thou'rt purple, horny-skinned?
And the maid thou boastest of,
Shall not, Daman's son, be thine!

"Finnabair, Medb's daughter fair,
Great her charms though they may be,
Fair as is the damsel's form,
She's for thee not to enjoy!

"Finnabair, the king's own child,
Is the lure, if truth be told;
Many they whom she's deceived
And undone as she has thee!

"Break not, weetless, oath with me;
Break not friendship, break not bond;
Break not promise, break not word;
Come not nigh me, noble chief!

"Fifty chiefs obtained in plight
This same maid, a proffer vain.
Through me went they to their graves;
Spear-right all they had from me!

"Though for brave was held Ferbaeth,
With whom was a warriors' train,
In short space I quelled his rage;
Him I slew with one sole blow!

"Srubdarè—sore sank his might—
Darling of the noblest dames,
Time there was when great his fame—
Gold nor raiment saved him not!

"Were she mine affianced wife,
Smiled on me this fair land's head,a
I would not thy body hurt.

Right nor left, in front, behind!"

W. 3527. "Good, O Ferdiad!" cried Cuchulain. 1A pity it is for thee to abandon
my alliance and my friendship for the sake of a woman that has been
trafficked to fifty other warriors before thee, and it would be long before I
would forsake thee for that woman.1 Therefore, it is not right for thee to
come to fight and combat with me; for when we were with Scathach and
with Uathach and with Aifè, 2we were together in practice of valour and
arms of the world, and2 it was together we were used to seek out every
battle and every battle-field, every combat and every contest, every wood
and every desert, every covert and every recess." And thus he spake and he
uttered these words:—
Cuchulain:

"We were heart-companions once;
We were comrades in the woods;
We were men that shared a bed,
When we slept the heavy sleep,
After hard and weary fights.
Into many lands, so strange,
Side by side we sallied forth,
And we ranged the woodlands through,
When with Scathach we learned arms!"

Ferdiad:

"O Cuchulain, rich in feats,
Hard the trade we both have learned;
Treason hath o'ercome our love;
Thy first wounding hath been bought;
Think not of our friendship more,
Cua, it avails thee not!"

"Too long are we now in this way," quoth Ferdiad; "and what arms shall we
resort to to-day, O Cuchulain?" "With thee is thy choice of weapons this
day till night time," answered Cuchulain, "for thou art he that first didst
reach the ford." "Rememberest thou at all," asked Ferdiad, "the choice

deeds of arms we were wont to practise with Scathach and with Uathach
and with Aifè?" "Indeed, and I do remember," answered Cuchulain. "If thou
rememberest, let us begin 3with them."3
W. 3555. They betook them to their choicest deeds of arms. They took upon
them two equally-matched shields for feats, and their eight-edged targes for
feats, and their eight small darts, and their eight straightswords with
ornaments of walrus-tooth and their eight lesser, ivoried spears which flew
from them and to them like bees *LL. fo. 84b. on a day of fine weather.
They cast no weapon that struck not. Each of them was busy casting at the
other with those missiles from morning's early twilight till noon at mid-day,
the while they overcame their various feats with the bosses and hollows of
their feat-shields. However great the excellence of the throwing on either
side, equally great was the excellence of the defence, so that during all that
time neither of them bled or reddened the other. "Let us cease now from this
bout of arms, O Cuchulain," said Ferdiad; "for it is not by such our decision
will come." "Yea, surely, let us cease, if the time hath come," answered
Cuchulain. 1Then1 they ceased. They threw their feat-tackle from them into
the hands of their charioteers.
"To what weapons shall we resort next, O Cuchulain?" asked Ferdiad.
"Thine is the choice of weapons till nightfall," replied Cuchulain; "for thou
art he that didst first reach the ford." "Let us begin, then," said Ferdiad,
"with our straight-cut, smooth-hardened throwing-spears, with cords of full-
hard flax on them." "Aye, let us begin then," assented Cuchulain. Then they
took on them two hard shields, equally strong. They fell to their straight-
cut, smooth-hardened spears with cords of full-hard flax on them. Each of
them was engaged in casting at the other with the spears from the middle of
noon 2till yellowness came over the sun2 at the hour of evening's sundown.
However great the excellence of the defence, equally great was the
excellence of the throwing on either side, so that W. 3578. each of them bled
and reddened and wounded the other during that time. 1"Wouldst thou fain
make a truce, O Cucugan?"a asked Ferdiad. "It would please me," replied
Cuchulain; "for whoso begins with arms has the right to desist."1 "Let us
leave off from this now, O Cuchulain," said Ferdiad. "Aye, let us leave off,

an the time hath come," answered Cuchulain. So they ceased. They threw
their arms from them into the hands of their charioteers.

Thereupon each of them went toward the other 2in the middle of the ford,2
and each of them put his hand on the other's neck and gave him three kisses
3
in remembrance of his fellowship and friendship.3 Their horses were in
one and the same paddock that night, and their charioteers at one and the
same fire; and their charioteers made ready a litter-bed of fresh rushes for
them with pillows for wounded men on them. Then came healing and
curing folk to heal and to cure them, and they laid healing herbs and grasses
and a curing charm on their cuts and stabs, their gashes and many wounds.
Of every healing herb and grass and curing charm that 4was brought from
the fairy dwellings of Erin to Cuchulain and4 was applied to the cuts and
stabs, to the gashes and many wounds of Cuchulain, a like portion thereof
he sent across the ford westward to Ferdiad, 5to put to his wounds and his
pools of gore,5 so that the men of Erin should not have it to say, should
Ferdiad fall at his hands, it was more than his share of care had been given
to him.
Of every food and of every savoury, soothing and strong drink that was
brought by the men of Erin to Ferdiad, a like portion thereof he sent over
the ford northwards to Cuchulain; for the purveyors of Ferdiad were more
numerous than the purveyors of Cuchulain. All the men of Erin were
purveyors to Ferdiad, to the end that he might keep W. 3598. Cuchulain off
from them. But only the inhabitants of Mag Breg ('the Plain of Breg') were
purveyors to Cuchulain. They were wont to come daily, that is, every night,
to converse with him.
They bided there that night. Early on the morrow they arose and went their
ways to the ford of combat. "To what weapons shall we resort on this day, O
Ferdiad?" asked Cuchulain. *LL. fo. 85a. "Thine is the choosing of weapons
till night time," Ferdiad made answer, "because it was I had my choice of
weapons on the day aforegone." "Let us take, then," said Cuchulain, "to our
great, well-tempered lances to-day, for we think that the thrusting will bring
nearer the decisive battle to-day than did the casting of yesterday. Let our
horses be brought to us and our chariots yoked, to the end that we engage in
combat over our horses and chariots on this day." "Aye, let us go so,"

Ferdiad assented. Thereupon they girded two full-firm broad-shields on
them for that day. They took to their great, well-tempered lances on that
day. Either of them began to pierce and to drive, to throw and to press down
the other, from early morning's twilight till the hour of evening's close. If it
were the wont for birds in flight to fly through the bodies of men, they
could have passed through their bodies on that day and carried away pieces
of blood and flesh through their wounds and their sores into the clouds and
the air all around. And when the hour of evening's close was come, their
horses were spent and their drivers were wearied, and they themselves, the
heroes and warriors of valour, were exhausted. "Let us give over now, O
Ferdiad," said Cuchulain, "for our horses are spent and our drivers tired,
and when they are exhausted, why should we too not be exhausted?" And in
this wise he spake, and he uttered these words at that place:—

"We need not our chariots break—
This, a struggle fit for giants.
Place the hobbles on the steeds,
Now that din of arms is o'er!"

W. 3626. "Yea, we will cease, if the time hath come," replied Ferdiad. They
ceased 1then.1 They threw their arms away from them into the hands of
their charioteers. Each of them came towards his fellow. Each laid his hand
on the other's neck and gave him three kisses. Their horses were in the one
pen that night, and their charioteers at the one fire. Their charioteers
prepared 2two2 litter-beds of fresh rushes for them with pillows for
wounded men on them. The curing and healing men came to attend and
watch and mark them that night; for naught else could they do, because of
the direfulness of their cuts and their stabs, their gashes and their numerous
wounds, but apply to them philtres and spells and charms, to staunch their
blood and their bleeding and their deadly pains. Of every magic potion and
every spell and every charm that was applied to the cuts and stabs of
Cuchulain, their like share he sent over the ford westwards to Ferdiad. Of
every food and every savoury, soothing and strong drink that was brought
by the men of Erin to Ferdiad, an equal portion he sent over the ford
northwards to Cuchulain, for the victuallers of Ferdiad were more numerous
than the victuallers of Cuchulain. For all the men of Erin were Ferdiad's
nourishers, to the end that he might ward off Cuchulain from them. But the

indwellers of the Plain of Breg alone were Cuchulain's nourishers. They
were wont to come daily, that is, every night, to converse with him.
They abode there that night. Early on the morrow they arose and repaired to
the ford of combat. Cuchulain marked an evil mien and a dark mood that
day 3beyond every other day3 on Ferdiad. "It is evil thou appearest to-day,
O Ferdiad," spake Cuchulain; "thy hair has W. 3653. become darka to-day, and
thine eye has grown drowsy, and thine upright form *LL. fo. 85b. and thy
features and thy gait have gone from thee!" "Truly not for fear nor for dread
of thee is that happened to me to-day," answered Ferdiad; "for there is not
in Erin this day a warrior I could not repel!" 1"Alas, O Ferdiad," said
Cuchulain, "a pity it is for thee to oppose thy foster-brother and thy
comrade and friend, on the counsel of any woman in the world!" "A pity it
is, O Cuchulain," Ferdiad responded. "But, should I part without a struggle
with thee, I should be in ill repute forever with Medb and with the nobles of
the four grand provinces of Erin." "A pity it is, O Ferdiad," said Cuchulain;
"not on the counsel of all the men and women in the world would I desert
thee or would I do thee harm. And almost would it make a clot of gore of
my heart to be combating with thee!"1
And Cuchulain lamented and moaned, and he spake these words and
Ferdiad responded:—
Cuchulain:

"Ferdiad, ah, if it be thou,
Well I know thou'rt doomed to die!
To have gone at woman's hest,
Forced to fight thy comrade sworn!"

Ferdiad:

"O Cuchulain—wise decree—
Loyal champion, hero true,
Each man is constrained to go
'Neath the sod that hides his grave!"

Cuchulain:

"Finnabair, Medb's daughter fair,
Stately maiden though she be,
Not for love they'll give to thee,
But to prove thy kingly might!"

Ferdiad:

"Provèd was my might long since,
Cu of gentle spirit thou.
Of one braver I've not heard;
Till to-day I have not found!"

Cuchulain:

"Thou art he provoked this fight,
Son of Daman, Darè's son,
To have gone at woman's word,
Swords to cross with thine old friend!"

W. 3679.Ferdiad:

"Should we then unfought depart,
Brothers though we are, bold Hound,
Ill would be my word and fame
With Ailill and Cruachan's Medb!"

Cuchulain:

"Food has not yet passed his lips,
Nay nor has he yet been born,
Son of king or blameless queen,
For whom I would work thee harm!"

Ferdiad:

"Culann's Hound, with floods of deeds,
Medb, not thou, hath us betrayed;
Fame and victory thou shalt have;

Not on thee we lay our fault!"
Cuchulain:

"Clotted gore is my brave heart,
Near I'm parted from my soul;
Wrongful 'tis—with hosts of deeds—
Ferdiad, dear, to fight with thee!"
1After this colloquy, Ferdiad spake:1 "How much soever thou findest fault

with me to-day," said Ferdiad, 2"for my ill-boding mien and evil doing, it
will be as an offset to my prowess." And he said,2 "To what weapons shall
we resort to-day?" "With thyself is the choice of weapons to-day till night
time," replied Cuchulain, "for it is I that chose on the day gone by." "Let us
resort, then," said Ferdiad, "to our heavy, hard-smiting swords this day, for
we trow that the smiting each other will bring us nearer to the decision of
battle to-day than was our piercing each other on yesterday." "Let us go
then, by all means," responded Cuchulain.
Then they took two full-great long-shields upon them for that day. They
turned to their heavy, hard-smiting swords. Each of them fell to strike and
to hew, to lay low and cut down, to slay and undo 3his fellow,3 till as large
as the head of a month-old child was each lump and each cut, 4each clutter
and each clot of gore4 that each of them took from the shoulders and thighs
and shoulder-blades of the other.
W. 3708. Each of them was engaged in smiting the other in this way from the
twilight of early morning till the hour of evening's close. "Let us leave off
from this now, O Cuchulain!" cried Ferdiad. "Aye, let us leave off, if the
hour has come," said Cuchulain. They parted 1then, and1 threw their arms
away from them into the hands of their charioteers. Though it had been the
meeting of two happy, blithe, cheerful, joyful men, their parting that night
was of two that were sad, sorrowful and full of suffering. 2They parted
without a kiss a blessing or aught other sign of friendship, and their servants
disarmed the steeds, the squires and the heroes; no healing or curing herbs
were sent from Cuchulain to Ferdiad that night, and no food nor drink was

brought from Ferdiad to him.2 Their horses were not in the same paddock
that night. Their charioteers were not at the same fire.
They passed there that night. It was then that Ferdiad arose early on the
morrow and went alone to the ford of combat, 3and dauntless, vengeful and
mighty was the man that went thither that day, even Ferdiad son of Daman.3
For he knew that that would be the decisive day of the battle and combat;
and he knew that one or other of them would fall there that day, or that they
both would fall. It was then he donned his battle-weed of battle and fight
and combat, *LL. fo. 86a. or ever Cuchulain came to meet him. And thus was
the manner of this harness of battle and fight and combat: He put his silken,
glossy trews with its border of speckled gold, next to his white skin. Over
this, outside, he put his brown-leathern, well-sewed kilt. Outside of this he
put a huge, goodly flag, the size of a millstone, 4the shallow (?) stone of
adamant which he had brought from Africa and which neither points nor
edges could pierce.4 He put his solid, very deep, iron kilt of twice molten
iron over the huge, goodly flag as large as a millstone, through W. 3730. fear
and dread of the Gae Bulga on that day. About his head he put his crested
war-cap of battle and fight and combat, whereon were forty carbuncle-gems
beautifully adorning it and studded with red-enamel and crystal and rubies
and with 1shining stones1 of the Eastern world. His angry, fierce-striking
spear he seized in his right hand. On his left side he hung his curved battle-
falchion, 2which would cut a hair against the stream with its keenness and
sharpness,2 with its golden pommel and its rounded hilt of red gold. On the
arch-slope of his back he slung his massive, fine-buffalo shield 3of a
warrior,3 whereon were fifty bosses, wherein a boar could be shown in each
of its bosses, apart from the great central boss of red gold. Ferdiad
performed divers, brilliant, manifold, marvellous feats on high that day,
unlearned from any one before, neither from foster-mother nor from foster-
father, neither from Scathach nor from Uathach nor from Aifè, but he found
them of himself that day in the face of Cuchulain.
Cuchulain likewise came to the ford, and he beheld the various, brilliant,
manifold, wonderful feats that Ferdiad performed on high. "Thou seest
yonder, O Laeg my master, the divers, bright, numerous, marvellous feats
that Ferdiad performs on high, and I shall receive yon feats one after the

other, and, therefore, 4O Laeg," cried Cuchulain,4 "if defeat be my lot this
day, do thou prick me on and taunt me and speak evil to me, so that the
more my spirit and anger shall rise in me. If, however, before me his defeat
takes place, say thou so to me and praise me and speak me fair, to the end
that the greater may be my courage!" "It shall surely be done so, if need be,
O Cucuc," Laeg answered.
Then Cuchulain, too, girded his war-harness of battle and W. 3757. fight and
combat about him, and performed all kinds of splendid, manifold,
marvellous feats on high that day which he had not learned from any one
before, neither with Scathach nor with Uathach nor with Aifè.
Ferdiad observed those feats, and he knew they would be plied against him
in turn. "To what weapons shall we resort 1to-day1, O Ferdiad?" asked
Cuchulain. "With thee is thy choice of weapons till night time," Ferdiad
responded. "Let us go to the 'Feat of the Ford,' then," said Cuchulain. "Aye,
let us do so," answered Ferdiad. Albeit Ferdiad spoke that, he deemed it the
most grievous thing whereto he could go, for he knew that in that sort
Cuchulain used to destroy every hero and every battle-soldier who fought
with him in the 'Feat of the Ford.'
Great indeed was the deed that was done on the ford that day. The two
heroes, the two champions, the two chariot-fighters of the west of Europe,
the two bright torches of valour of the Gael, the two hands of dispensing
favour and of giving rewards 2and jewels and treasures2 in the west of the
northern world, *LL. fo. 86b. 3the two veterans3 of skill and the two keys of
bravery of the Gael, 4the man for quelling the variance and discord of
Connacht, the man for guarding the cattle and herds of Ulster4, to be
brought together in encounter as from afar, 5set to slay each other or to kill
one of them5, through the sowing of dissension and the incitement of Ailill
and Medb.
Each of them was busy hurling at the other in those deeds of arms from
early morning's gloaming till the middle of noon. When mid-day came, the
rage of the men became wild, and each drew nearer to the other.
Thereupon Cuchulain gave one spring once from the bank of the ford till he
stood upon the boss of Ferdiad macDaman's shield, seeking to reach his

head and to strike W. 3779. it from above over the rim of the shield.
Straightway Ferdiad gave the shield a blow with his left elbow, so that
Cuchulain went from him like a bird onto the brink of the ford. Again
Cuchulain sprang from the brink of the ford, so that he alighted upon the
boss of Ferdiad macDaman's shield, that he might reach his head and strike
it over the rim of the shield from above. Ferdiad gave the shield a thrust
with his left knee, so that Cuchulain went from him like an infant onto the
bank of the ford.

Laeg espied that. "Woe then, 1O Cuchulain!"1 cried Laeg; 2"meseems2 the
battle-warrior that is against thee hath shaken thee as a fond woman shakes
her child. He hath washed thee as a cup is washed in a tub. He hath ground
thee as a mill grinds soft malt. He hath pierced thee as a tool bores through
an oak. He hath bound thee as the bindweed binds the trees. He hath
pounced on thee as a hawk pounces on little birds, so that no more hast thou
right or title or claim to valour or skill in arms till the very day of doom and
of life, thou little imp of an elf-man!" cried Laeg.
Thereat for the third time, Cuchulain arose with the speed of the wind, and
the swiftness of a swallow, and the dash of a dragon, and the strength (of a
lion) 3into the clouds3 of the air, till he alighted on the boss of the shield of
Ferdiad son of Daman, so as to reach his head that he might strike it from
above over the rim of his shield. Then it was that the battle-warrior gave the
shield a 4violent and powerful4 shake, so that Cuchulain flew from it into
the middle of the ford, the same as if he had not sprung at all.
It was then the first twisting-fit of Cuchulain took place, so that a swelling
and inflation filled him like breath in a bladder, until he made a dreadful,
terrible, many-coloured, wonderful bow of himself, so that as big as a giant
or a man W. 3805. of the sea was the hugely-brave warrior towering directly
over Ferdiad.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that their heads
encountered above and their feet below and their hands in the middle over
the rims and bosses of the shields.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that their shields burst and
split from their rims to their centres.

Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that their spears bent and
turned and shivered from their tips to their rivets.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that the boccanach and
the bananach ('the puck-faced Fays' and 'the white-faced Fays') and the
sprites of the glens and the eldritch beings of the air screamed from the rims
of their shields and from the guards of their swords and from the tips of
their spears.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that they forced the river
out of its bed and out of its course, so that there might have been a reclining
place *LL. fo. 87a. for a king or a queen in the middle of the ford, and not a
drop of water was in it but what fell there with the trampling and slipping
which the two heroes and the two battle-warriors made in the middle of the
ford.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that the steeds of the Gael
broke loose affrighted and plunging with madness and fury, so that their
chains and their shackles, their traces and tethers snapped, and the women
and children and pygmy-folk, the weak and the madmen among the men of
Erin brake out through the camp south-westward.
At that time they were at the edge-feat of swords. It was then Ferdiad
caught Cuchulain in an unguarded moment, and he gave him a thrust with
his tusk-hilted blade, so that he buried it in his breast, and his blood fell into
his belt, W. 3831. till the ford became crimsoned with the clotted blood from
the battle-warrior's body. Cuchulain endured it not, under Ferdiad's attack,
with his death-bringing, heavy blows, and his long strokes and his mighty,
middle slashes at him.
1
Then Cuchulain bethought him of his friends from Faery and of his mighty
folk who would come to defend him and of his scholars to protect him,
what time he would be hard pressed in the combat. It was then that Dolb
and Indolb arrived to help and to succour their friend, namely Cuchulain,
2and one of them went on either side of him and they smote Ferdiad, the

three of them, and Ferdiad did not perceive the men from Sid ('the Faery
Dwelling')2. Then it was that Ferdiad felt the onset of the three together
smiting his shield against him, and he gave all his care and attention thereto,

and thence he called to mind that, when they were with Scathach and with
Uathach 3learning together, Dolb and Indolb used to come to help
Cuchulain out of every stress wherein he was.3 Ferdiad spake: "Not alike
are our foster-brothership and our comradeship, O Cuchulain," quoth he.
"How so, then?" asked Cuchulain. "Thy friends of the Fairy-folk have
succoured thee, and thou didst not disclose them to me before," said
Ferdiad. "Not easy for me were that," answered Cuchulain; "for if the magic
veil be once revealed to one of the sons of Milè,a none of the Tuatha De
Danann ('the Folk of the Goddess Danu') will have power to practise
concealment or magic. And why complainest thou here, 4O Ferdiad?" said
Cuchulain.4 "Thou hast a horn skin whereby to multiply feats and deeds of
arms on me, and thou hast not shown me how it is closed or how it is
opened."
Then it was they displayed all their skill and secret cunning to one another,
so that there was not a secret of W. 3851. either of them kept from the other
except the Gae Bulga, which was Cuchulain's. Howbeit, when the Fairy
friends found Cuchulain had been wounded, each of them inflicted three
great, heavy wounds on him, on Ferdiad, to wit. It was then that Ferdiad
made a cast to the right, so that he slew Dolb with that goodly cast. Then
followed the two woundings and the two throws that overcame him, till
Ferdiad made a second throw towards Cuchulain's left, and with that throw
he stretched low and killed Indolb dead on the floor of the ford. Hence it is
that the story-teller sang the rann:—

"Why is this called Ferdiad's Ford,
E'en though three men on it fell?
None the less it washed their spoils—
It is Dolb's and Indolb's Ford!"

What need to relate further! When the devoted, equally great siresa 2and
champions,2 and the hard, battle-victorious wild beasts that fought for
Cuchulain had fallen, it greatly strengthened the courage of Ferdiad, so that
he gave two blows for every blow of Cuchulain's. When Laeg son of
Riangabair saw his lord being overcome by the crushing blows of the
champion who oppressed him, Laeg began to stir up and rebuke Cuchulain,
in such a way that a swelling and an inflation filled Cuchulain 3from top to

ground,3 as the wind fills a spread, open banner, so that he made a dreadful,
wonderful bow of himself like a sky-bow in a shower of rain, and he made
for Ferdiad with the violence of a dragon or the strength of a blood-hound.1
And Cuchulain called for the Gae Bulga from Laeg son of Riangabair. This
was its nature: With the stream it was made ready, and from between the
fork of the foot W. 3874. it was cast; the wound of a single spear it gave when
entering the body, and thirtya barbs had it when it opened, and it could not
be drawn out of a man's flesh till 1the flesh1 had been cut about it.
2
Thereupon Laeg came forward to the brink of the river and to the place
where the fresh water was dammed, and the Gae Bulga was sharpened and
set in position. He filled the pool and stopped the stream and checked the
tide of the ford. Ferdiad's charioteer watched the work, for Ferdiad had said
to him early 3in the morning:3 "Now, gilla, do thou hold back Laeg from me
to-day, and I will hold back Cuchulain from thee 4and thy men forever."4
"This is a pity," quoth the henchman; "no match for him am I; for a man to
combat a hundred is he 5amongst the men of Erin,5 and that am I not. Still,
however slight his help, it shall not come to his lord past me."
6Thus were the henchmen: two brothers were they, namely, Idb son of

Riangabair, and Laegc son of Riangabair. As for Id son of Riangabair,6 he
was then watching his brother 7thus making the dam7 till he filled the pools
and went to set the Gae Bulga downwards. It was then that Id went up and
released the stream and opened the dam and undid the fixing of the Gae
Bulga. Cuchulain became deep purple and red all over when he saw the
setting undone on the Gae Bulga. He sprang from the top of the ground so
that he alighted light and quick on the rim of Ferdiad's shield. Ferdiad gave
a 8strong8 shake to the shield, so that he hurled Cuchulain the measure of
nine paces out to the westward over the ford. Then Cuchulain called and
shouted to Laeg to set about preparing the Gae Bulga for him. Laeg
hastened to the pool and began the work. Id W. 3895. ran and opened the dam
and released it before the stream. Laeg sprang at his brother and they
grappled on the spot. Laeg threw Id and handled him sorely, for he was
loath to use weapons upon him. Ferdiad pursued Cuchulain westwards over
the ford. Cuchulain sprang on the rim of the shield. Ferdiad shook the
shield, so that he sent Cuchulain the space of nine paces eastwards over the

ford. Cuchulain called and shouted to Laeg, 1and bade him stop the stream
and make ready the spear.1 Laeg attempted to come nigh it, but Ferdiad's
charioteer let him not, so that Laeg turned on him and left him on the sedgy
bottom of the ford. He gave him many a heavy blow with clenched fist on
the face and countenance, so that he broke his mouth and his nose and put
out his eyes and his sight, 3and left him lying wounded (?) and full of
terror.3 And forthwith Laeg left him and filled the pool and checked the
stream and stilled the noise of the river's voice, and set in position the Gae
Bulga. After some time Ferdiad's charioteer arose from his death-cloud, and
set his hand on his face and countenance, and he looked away towards the
ford of combat and saw Laeg fixing the Gae Bulga. He ran again to the pool
and made a breach in the dike quickly and speedily, so that the river burst
out in its booming, bounding, bellying, bank-breaking billows making its
own wild course. Cuchulain became purple and red all over when he saw
the setting of the Gae Bulga had been disturbed, and for the third time he
sprang from the top of the ground and alighted on the edge of Ferdiad's
shield, so as to strike him over the shield from above. Ferdiad gave a blow
with his left knee against the leather of the bare shield, so that Cuchulain
was thrown into the waves of the ford.
Thereupon Ferdiad gave three severe woundings to Cuchulain. Cuchulain
cried and shouted 4loudly4 to Laeg to make ready the Gae Bulga for him.
Laeg attempted to W. 3919. get near it, but Ferdiad's charioteer prevented
him. Then Laeg grew 1very1 wroth 3at his brother3 and he made a spring at
him, and he closed his long, full-valiant hands over him, so that he quickly
threw him to the ground and straightway 4bound4 him. And 5then5 he went
from him quickly and courageously, so that he filled the pool and stayed the
stream and set the Gae Bulga. And he cried out to Cuchulain that it was
served, for it was not to be discharged without a quick word of warning
before it. Hence it is that Laeg cried out:—

"Ware! beware the Gae Bulga,
Battle-winning Culann's hound!" et reliqua.
6
And he sent it to Cuchulain along the stream.6

Then it was that Cuchulain let fly the white Gae Bulga from the fork of his
irresistible right foot. 7Ferdiad began to defend the ford against Cuchulain,
so that the noble Cu arose with the swiftness of a swallow and the wail of
the storm-play in the rafters of the firmament, so that he laid hold of the
breadth of his two feet of the bed of the ford, in spite of the champion.7
Ferdiad prepared for the feat according to the testimony thereof. He
lowered his shield, so that the spear went over its edge into the watery,
water-cold river. And he looked at Cuchulain, and he saw all his various,
venomous feats made ready, and he knew not to which of them he should
first give answer, whether to the 'Fist's breast-spear,' or to the 'Wild shield's
broad-spear,' or to the 'Short spear from the middle of the palm,' or to the
white Gae Bulga over the fair, watery river.2
8When Ferdiad saw that his gilla had been thrown8 and heard the Gae Bulga

called for, he thrust his shield down to protect the lower part of his body.
Cuchulain gripped the short spear 9which was in his hand,9 cast it W. 3938.
off the palm of his hand over the rim of the shield and over the edge of the
1corselet and1 horn-skin, so that its farther half was visible after piercing his

heart in his bosom. Ferdiad gave a thrust of his shield upwards to protect
the upper part of his body, though it was help that came too late. The gilla
set the Gae Bulga down the stream, and Cuchulain caught it in the fork of
his foot, and 2when Ferdiad raised his shield2 Cuchulain threw the Gae
Bulga as far as he could cast 3underneath3 at Ferdiad, so that it passed
through the strong, thick, iron apron of wrought iron, and broke in three
parts the huge, goodly stone the size of a millstone, so that it cut its way
through the body's protection into him, till every joint and every limb was
filled with its barbs.
"Ah, that now sufficeth," sighed Ferdiad: "I am fallen of that! But, yet one
thing more: mightily didst thou drive with thy right foot. And 'twas not fair
of thee for me to fall by thy hand." And he yet spake and uttered these
words:—

"O Cu of grand feats,
Unfairly I'm slain!
Thy guilt clings to me;
My blood falls on thee!

"No meed for the wretcha
Who treads treason's gap.
Now weak is my voice;
Ah, gone is my bloom!

"My ribs' armour bursts,
My heart is all gore;
I battled not well;
I'm smitten, O Cu!
4
"Unfair, side by side,
To come to the ford.
'Gainst my noble wardb
Hath Medb turned my hand!

"There'll come rooks and crows
To gaze on my arms,
To eat flesh and blood.
A tale, Cu, for thee!"4
W. 3964. Thereupon Cuchulain hastened towards Ferdiad and clasped his two
arms about him, and bore him with all his arms and his armour and his
dress northwards over the ford, that so it should be 1with his face1 to the
northa of the ford the triumph took place and not to the westb of the ford
with the men of Erin. *LL. fo. 87b. Cuchulain laid Ferdiad there on the ground,
and a cloud and a faint and a swoon came over Cuchulain there by the head
of Ferdiad. Laeg espied it, and the men of Erin all arose for the attack upon
him. "Come, O Cucuc," cried Laeg; "arise now 2from thy trance,2 for the
men of Erin will come to attack us, and it is not single combat they will
allow us, now that Ferdiad son of Daman son of Darè is fallen by thee."
"What availeth it me to arise, O gilla," moaned Cuchulain, "now that this
one is fallen by my hand?" In this wise the gilla spake and he uttered these
words and Cuchulain responded:—
Laeg:

"Now arise, O Emain's Hound;

Now most fits thee courage high.
Ferdiad hast thou thrown—of hosts—
God's fate! How thy fight was hard!"
Cuchulain:

"What avails me courage now?
I'm oppressed with rage and grief,
For the deed that I have done
On his body sworded sore!"

Laeg:

"It becomes thee not to weep;
Fitter for thee to exult!
Yon red-speared one thee hath left
Plaintful, wounded, steeped in gore!"

Cuchulain:

"Even had he cleaved my leg,
And one hand had severed too;
Woe, that Ferdiad—who rode steeds—
Shall not ever be in life!"

W. 3993.Laeg:

"Liefer far what's come to pass,
To the maidens of Red Branch;
He to die, thou to remain;
They grudge not that ye should part!"

Cuchulain:

"From the day I Cualnge left,
Seeking high and splendid Medb,
Carnage has she had—with fame—
Of her warriors whom I've slain!"

Laeg:

"Thou hast had no sleep in peace,
In pursuit of thy great Táin;
Though thy troop was few and small,
Oft thou wouldst rise at early morn!"

Cuchulain began to lament and bemoan Ferdiad, and he spake the words:

"Alas, O Ferdiad," 1spake he,1 "'twas thine ill fortune thou didst not take
counsel with any of those that knew my real deeds of valour and arms,
before we met in clash of battle!
"Unhappy for thee that Laeg son of Riangabair did not make thee blush in
regard to our comradeship!
"Unhappy for thee that the truly faithful warning of Fergus thou didst not
take!
"Unhappy for thee that dear, trophied, triumphant, battle-victorious Conall
counselled thee not in regard to our comradeship!
2
"For those men would not have spoken in obedience to the messages or
desires or orders or false words of promise of the fair-haired women of
Connacht.
"For well do those men know that there will not be born a being that will
perform deeds so tremendous and so great 3among the Connachtmen as I,3
till the very day of doom and of everlasting life, whether at handling of
shield and buckler, at plying of spear and sword, at playing at draughts and
chess, at driving of steeds and chariots."2
4
And he spake these warm words, sadly, sorrowfully in praise of Ferdiad:—
4

W. 4022. "There shall not be found the hand of a hero that will wound
warrior's flesh, like cloud-coloured Ferdiad!
1"There shall not be heard from the gapa the cry of red-mouthed Badbb to

the winged, shade-speckled flocks!1

"There shall not be one that will contend for Cruachan that will obtain
covenants equal to thine, till the very day of doom and of life henceforward,
O red-cheeked son of Daman!" said Cuchulain.
Then it was that Cuchulain arose and stood over Ferdiad: "Ah, Ferdiad,"
spake Cuchulain "greatly have the men of Erin deceived and abandoned
thee, to bring thee to contend and do battle *LL. fo. 88a. with me. For no easy
thing is it to contend and do battle with me on the Raid for the Kine of
Cualnge! 2And yet, never before have I found combat that was so sore or
distressed me so as thy combat, save the combat with Oenfer Aifè,c mine
one own son."2 Thus he spake, and he uttered these words:—

"Ah, Ferdiad, betrayed to death.
Our last meeting, oh, how sad!
Thou to die, I to remain.
Ever sad our long farewell!

"When we over yonder dwelt
With our Scathach, steadfast, true,
This we thought till end of time,
That our friendship ne'er would end!

"Dear to me thy noble blush;
Dear thy comely, perfect form;
Dear thine eye, blue-grey and clear;
Dear thy wisdom and thy speech!

"Never strode to rending fight,
Never wrath and manhood held,
Nor slung shield across broad back,
One like thee, Daman's red son!

W. 4051.

"Never have I met till now,
Since I Oenfer Aifè slew,
One thy peer in deeds of arms,
Never have I found, Ferdiad!

"Finnabair, Medb's daughter fair,
Beauteous, lovely though she be,
As a gad round sand or stones,
She was shown to thee, Ferdiad!"
Then Cuchulain turned to gaze on Ferdiad. "Ah, my master Laeg," cried
Cuchulain, "now strip Ferdiad and take his armour and garments off him,
that I may see the brooch for the sake of which he entered on the combat
and fight 1with me."1 Laeg came up and stripped Ferdiad. He took his
armour and garments off him and he saw the brooch 2and he placed the
brooch in Cuchulain's hand,2 and Cuchulain began to lament and complain
3over Ferdiad,3 and he spake these words:—

"Alas, golden brooch;
Ferdiad of the hosts,
O good smiter, strong,
Victorious thy hand!

"Thy hair blond and curled,
A wealth fair and grand.
Thy soft, leaf-shaped belt
Around thee till death!

"Our comradeship dear;
Thy noble eye's gleam;
Thy golden-rimmed shield;
Thy sword,a treasures worth!
4"Thy white-silver torque

Thy noble arm binds.
Thy chess-board worth wealth;
Thy fair, ruddy cheek!4

"To fall by my hand,
I own was not just!
'Twas no noble fight.
Alas, golden brooch!

1"Thy death at Cu's hand

Was dire, O dear calf!a
Unequal the shield
Thou hadst for the strife!

"Unfair was our fight,
Our woe and defeat!
Fair the great chief;
Each host overcome
And put under foot!
Alas, golden brooch!"1

W. 4092. "Come, O Laeg my master," cried Cuchulain; "now cut open Ferdiad
and take the Gae Bulga out, because I may not be without my weapons."
Laeg came and cut open Ferdiad and he took the Gae Bulga out of him. And
Cuchulain saw his weapons bloody and red-stained by the side of Ferdiad,
and he uttered these words:—

"O Ferdiad, in gloom we meet.
Thee I see both red and pale.
I myself with unwashed arms;
Thou liest in thy bed of gore!

"Were we yonder in the East,
Scathach and our Uathach near,
There would not be pallid lips
Twixt us two, and arms of strife!

"Thus spake Scathach trenchantly (?),
Words of warning, strong and stern:
'Go ye all to furious fight;
German, blue-eyed, fierce will come!'

"Unto Ferdiad then I spake,
And to Lugaid generous,
To the son of fair Baetan,b
German we would go to meet!

"We came to the battle-rock,
Over Lake Linn Formait's shore.
And four hundred men we broughtc
From the Isles of the Athissech!

"As I stood and Ferdiad brave
At the gate of German's fort,
I slew Rinn the son of Nel;
He slew Ruad son of Fornel!

W. 4122. LL. fo. 88b.

"Ferdiad slew upon the slope
Blath, of Colba 'Red-sword' son.
Lugaid, fierce and swift, then slew
Mugairne of the Tyrrhene Sea!

"I slew, after going in,
Four times fifty grim, wild men.
Ferdiad killed—a furious horde—
Dam Dremenn and Dam Dilenn!

"We laid waste shrewd German's fort
O'er the broad, bespangled sea.
German we brought home alive
To our Scathach of broad shield!

"Then our famous nurse made fast
Our blood-pacta of amity,
That our angers should not rise
'Mongst the tribes of noble Elg!

"Sad the morn, a day in March,
Which struck down weak Daman's son.
Woe is me, the friend is fall'n
Whom I pledged in red blood's draught!a

"Were it there I saw thy death,
Midst the great Greeks' warrior-bands,
I'd not live on after thee,
But together we would die!

"Woe, what us befel therefrom,
Us, dear Scathach's fosterlings,
Me sore wounded, red with blood,
Thee no more to drive thy car!

"Woe, what us befel therefrom,