2. Machas 3: Morrigan/Queen Medb
Mórrígan
Medb
three sisters
Queen of Connaught
Medb ~ “mead”
sovereignty goddess
matrilinealism?
multiple royal husbands
"M. of the friendly thighs”
sexual satisfaction from 36 men in succession
instigator of Cattleraid of Cooley

3. Medb’s Tomb (Knocknarea [Cnoc na Ré], Co. Sligo)

4. Synopsis of Táin
(10) Queen Medb of Connaught invades Ulaid to steal finest bull in Ireland: the Brown Bull of Ulaid. (11) The Ulaid men are stricken with noínden. (12) Cú Chulainn sets border-traps, single-handedly defends Ulaid against Connaught’s best men in a series of single combats. (13) Cú Chulainn fights and kills foster-brother Ferdiad. (14) Cú Chulainn’s wounds healed by god Lugh. (15) Ulaid men revive from noínden, and with Cú Chulainn defeat army of Connaught.

5. Death of Ferdiad Cú Chulainn penetrating weapon (gae Bolga) Ferdiad
(1) Ferdiad and Cú Chulainn evenly matched: Ferdiad covered with impenetrable bone armor/skin; Cú Chulainn armed with gae Bolga, which pierces everything.
Cú Chulainn
penetrating weapon (gae Bolga)
Ferdiad
impenetrable armor/skin (horn)

6. Death of Ferdiad
(1) Ferdiad and Cú Chulainn evenly matched: Ferdiad covered with impenetrable bone armor/skin; Cú Chulainn armed with gae Bolga, which pierces everything. (2) Ferdiad shamed into fighting Cú Chulainn, and vice-versa. (3) Ferdiad and Cú Chulainn fight chivalrous duels on three days. (4) Each night, they send each other medicines to heal each’s wounds. (5) Cú Chulainn kills Ferdiad with gae Bolga.

7. flyting
[During battle between Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad, Cú Chulainn’s charioteer Loeg insults him to arouse his frenzy:] “Well, now!” he said. “Your enemy shook you then as easily as a loving mother slaps her son! He tossed you aside as if he was rinsing a cup in a tub! He crushed you like a millstone crushing fine malt! He went through you like a drill through an oak! He bound you in knots like a creeper entangling a tree! He pounced on you like a hawk on a little girl! From this day on,” Loeg said, “you have no right or claim or title to great deeds of daring.”

8. Death of Ferdiad
(1) Ferdiad shamed into fighting Cú Chulainn, and vice-versa. (2) Ferdiad and Cú Chulainn evenly matched: Ferdiad covered with impenetrable bone armor/skin; Cú Chulainn armed with gae Bolga, which pierces everything. (3) Ferdiad and Cú Chulainn fight chivalrous duels on three days. (4) Each night, they send each other medicines to heal each’s wounds. (5) Cú Chulainn kills Ferdiad with gae Bolga.

9. Synopsis of Táin
(10) Queen Medb of Connaught invades Ulaid to steal finest bull in Ireland: the Brown Bull of Ulaid. (11) Ulaid men are stricken with noínden. (12) Cú Chulainn sets border-traps, single-handedly defends Ulaid against Connaught’s best men in series of single combats. (13) Cú Chulainn fights and kills foster-brother Ferdiad. (14) Cú Chulainn’s wounds healed by god Lugh. (15) Ulaid men revive from noínden, and with Cú Chulainn defeat army of Connaught.

10. Lugh

11. Synopsis of Táin
(10) Queen Medb of Connaught invades Ulaid to steal finest bull in Ireland: the Brown Bull of Ulaid. (11) Ulaid men are stricken with noínden. (12) Cú Chulainn sets border-traps, single-handedly defends Ulaid against Connaught’s best men in series of single combats. (13) Cú Chulainn fights and kills foster-brother Ferdiad. (14) Cú Chulainn’s wounds healed by god Lugh. (15) Ulaid men revive from noínden, and with Cú Chulainn defeat army of Connaught.

12. CU CHULAINN 3

13. Cú Chulainn Pattern DEPARTURE Exploits
beheading contest with giant Cú Roí
murder of son Connla
journey to Otherworld
single-handedly defends Ulaid against army from Connacht (Táin = Cattleraid of Cooley)
defeat of one-eyed giant Goll mac Carbada
defeat of Cailitin and 27 children

14. Lugh vs. Balor

15. Cú Chulainn Pattern DEPARTURE Exploits
beheading contest with giant Cú Roí
murder of son Connla
journey to Otherworld
single-handedly defends Ulaid against army from Connacht (Táin = Cattleraid of Cooley)
defeat of one-eyed giant Goll mac Carbada
defeat of Cailitin and 27 children

16. Cailitin
• druidic / Fomhoirian associations • single body merged with those of 27 sons • defeat and murder by Cú Chulainn

17. Cú Chulainn Pattern RETURN Death
6 children of Cailitin trained by Medb
Cú Chulainn violates geis
Cú Chulainn tricked into giving up weapons
Cú Chulainn beheaded by Lugaid mac Con Roí
Lugaid mac con Roí beheaded by Conall Cernach
Cú Chulainn seen flying in phantom chariot

18. Death of Cú Chulainn
(1) Cú Chulainn kills Fomoire Cailitin. (2) Wife of Cailitin bears 3 daughters and 3 sons. (3) Medb mutilates children and trains them in druidic magic for 17 years. (4) 3 hags offer Cú Chulainn meal of dog meat; hand that touches it withers. (5) Lugaid mac con Roí tricks Cú Chulainn into giving up his weapons by calling him uncharitable. (6) Wounded Cú Chulainn ties himself to pillar-stone. (7) Lugaid mac con Roí beheads Cú Chulainn to avenge death of Cú Roí. (8) Conall Cernach beheads Lugaid mac con Roí to avenge death of Cú Chulainn.

19. Death of Cú Chulainn
(1) Cú Chulainn kills Fomoire Cailitin (body merged with that of 27 sons). (2) Wife of Cailitin bears 3 daughters and 3 sons. (3) Medb mutilates children and trains them in druidic magic for 17 years. (4) 3 hags offer Cú Chulainn meal of dog meat; hand that touches it withers. (5) Lugaid mac con Roí tricks Cú Chulainn into giving up his weapons (6) Wounded Cú Chulainn ties himself to pillar-stone. (7) Lugaid mac con Roí beheads Cú Chulainn to avenge death of Cú Roí. (8) Conall Cernach beheads Lugaid mac con Roí to avenge death of Cú Chulainn.

20. Geis
geis (pl. gessa) : prohibition that restricts behavior of a hero, generally handicapping him and foreshadowing the terms of his death Limits (gessa) for Cú Chulainn guard borders of Ulaid stop all trespassers refuse no hospitality eat no dog meat

21. Death of Cú Chulainn
(1) Cú Chulainn kills Fomoire Cailitin (body merged with that of 27 sons). (2) Wife of Cailitin bears 3 daughters and 3 sons. (3) Medb mutilates children (one arm, one leg, one eye) and trains them in druidic magic for 17 years. (4) 3 hags offer Cú Chulainn meal of dog meat; hand that touches it withers. (5) Lugaid mac con Roí tricks Cú Chulainn into giving up his weapons. (6) Wounded Cú Chulainn ties himself to pillar-stone. (7) Lugaid mac con Roí beheads Cú Chulainn to avenge death of Cú Roí. (8) Conall Cernach beheads Lugaid mac con Roí to avenge death of Cú Chulainn.

22. Death of Cú Chulainn
Then Lugaid flung the spear and struck Cú Chulainn, and his bowels came out on the cushion of the chariot, and his only horse fled away and left him dying alone on the plain. Then said Cú Chulainn, “I would like to go as far as that loch to drink a drink.” “We give you leave,” said they, “provided that you come to us again.” “I will bid you come for me,” said Cú Chulainn, “if I cannot come myself.” Then he gathered his bowels into his breast, and went forth to the loch. And there he drank his drink, and washed himself, and came forth to die, calling on his foes to come to meet him. He went to a pillar-stone which is in the plain, and he put his breast-girdle round it that he might not die seated nor lying down, but that he might die standing up.

23. Death Pillar. Death of Cú Chulainn Knockbridge, Co. Louth
Death Pillar Death of Cú Chulainn Knockbridge, Co. Louth Sculpture by Oliver Shepherd (1916) Main Post Office, Dublin

24. Death of Cú Chulainn
(1) Cú Chulainn kills Fomoire Cailitin (body merged with that of 27 sons). (2) Wife of Cailitin bears 3 daughters and 3 sons. (3) Medb mutilates children (one arm, one leg, one eye) and trains them in druidic magic for 17 years. (4) 3 hags offer Cú Chulainn meal of dog meat; hand that touches it withers. (5) Lugaid mac con Roí tricks Cú Chulainn into giving up his weapons. (6) Wounded Cú Chulainn ties himself to pillar-stone. (7) Lugaid mac con Roí beheads Cú Chulainn to avenge death of Cú Roí. (8) Conall Cernach beheads Lugaid mac con Roí to avenge death of Cú Chulainn.

25. Giant of Cerne Abbas (= Dagda? =Cú Roi?)
He saw a giant man coming towards him, not a handsome fellow, either, but broad- shouldered, fat-mouthed, puffy-eyed, short- toothed, horribly wrinkled, beetle-browed, horrible and angry, strong, violent, ruthless, arrogant, destructive, snorting, big-sinewed, strong-forearmed, brave, rough, and rustic. Cropped black hair he had, and a dun garment on him, and his rump swelled out under his tunic; there were filthy old shoes on his feet, and on his back he carried a great, heavy club, the size of a mill shaft.

26. Cú Roi (“Hound of the Plain”)
From the time he took arms until his death, Cú Roi never reddened his sword in Eriu, and the food of Eriu did not pass his lips once he had reached the age of seven, for Eriu could not contain his strength and valor and courage and pride and fame and supremacy... When it came time to go to bed, Bláthnait (“Blossom”) said that Cú Chulainn would have to watch over the stronghold each night until Cú Roi returned. Whatever part of the world Cú Roi might be in, he sang a spell over his stronghold each night; it would then revolve as swiftly as a mill wheel turns, so that its entrance was never found after sunset. —Briccriu's Feast: Gantz 246f.

27. Caherconree (Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry)

28. Cú Roi
Cú Roi + Blaithnait Lugaid

29. Deaths of Cú Chulainn & Lugaid mac Con Roí
Then Lugaid arranged Cú Chulainn’s hair over his shoulder, and cut off his head. And then fell the sword from Cú Chulainn’s hand, and smote off Lugaid’s right hand, which fell on the ground. And Cú Chulainn’s right hand was cut off in revenge for this. Lugaid and the hosts then marched away, carrying with them Cú Chulainn’s head and his right hand, and they came to Tara...
[Conall Cernach fights Lugaid to avenge Cú Chulainn.]
“I know now,” said Lugaid, “that you will not go till you take my head with you, since we took Cú Chulainn’s head from him. So take,” said he, “my head, and add my realm to your realm, and my valor to your valor. For I prefer that you should be the best hero in Erin.”


Then Conall the Victorious cut off Lugaid’s head. And Conall and his Ulstermen then returned to Emain Macha.

30. More Triangles

31. head-hunting La Tène Culture (2nd cent. BCE)
[The Gauls] cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses. The blood-stained spoils they hand over to their attendants and carry off as booty, while striking up a paean and singing a song of victory, and they nail up these first fruits upon their houses just as those who lay low wild animals in certain kinds of hunting. They embalm in cedar oil the heads of the most distinguished enemies and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display them with pride to strangers...
—Diodorus Siculus, Biblioteca Historica 29

32. head-hunting

33. Cú Chulainn X Cú Roí Lugaid mac Con Roí X Cú Chulainn Conall Cernach X Lugaid mac Con Roí

34. Triangle: Beheading Contest

35. Deaths of Cú Chulainn & Lugaid mac Con Roí
Then Lugaid arranged Cú Chulainn’s hair over his shoulder, and cut off his head. And then fell the sword from Cú Chulainn’s hand, and smote off Lugaid’s right hand, which fell on the ground. And Cú Chulainn’s right hand was cut off in revenge for this. Lugaid and the hosts then marched away, carrying with them Cú Chulainn’s head and his right hand, and they came to Tara...
[Conall Cernach fights Lugaid to avenge Cú Chulainn.]
“I know now,” said Lugaid, “that you will not go till you take my head with you, since we took Cú Chulainn’s head from him. So take,” said he, “my head, and add my realm to your realm, and my valor to your valor. For I prefer that you should be the best hero in Erin.”


Then Conall the Victorious cut off Lugaid’s head. And Conall and his Ulstermen then returned to Emain Macha.
But the soul of Cú Chulainn appeared there to the thrice fifty queens who had loved him, and they saw him floating in his phantom chariot over Emain Macha, and they heard him chant a mystic song of the coming of Christ and the Day of Doom.

36. Heroic Vulnerability
• death of hero usually over-determined • druidic curses • violation of gessa • threat of humiliation (glam dícenn) • divine machinery (Mórrígan) • mythic subtext of beheading competition • hero as fragile • corruptibility of flesh (Gilgamesh) • “Achilles’ heel” • gessa as network of tripwires

37. Hero Pattern BIRTH Mixed Status CHILDHOOD Signs of Election Separation
Education
DEPARTURE
Call
Sidekick
Journey
Exploits
Encounters
RETURN / DEATH
Failure
Reconciliation
Death
MEMORIALIZATION
Myth & Ritual

38. Hero Pattern (Gilgamesh)
BIRTH
Mixed Status
divine + human parents
CHILDHOOD
Signs of Election
Separation
Education
superior abilities as child/teen
removal from home due to threat
mysterious teacher
DEPARTURE
Call
Sidekick
Journey
Exploits
Encounters
desire for glory / urgent mission
double
unexplored terrain
monsters (cosmogonic)
young woman/old woman/old man
RETURN / DEATH
Failure
Reconciliation
Death
death of sidekick
bond with others
heroic funeral
MEMORIALIZATION
Myth & Ritual
center of community

39. Gilgamesh
"O Utu, let me speak a word to you, give ear to what I say! Let me tell you something, may you give thought to it! In my city a man dies, and the heart is stricken, a man perishes, and the heart feels pain. I raised my head on the rampart, my gaze fell on a corpse drifting down the river, afloat on the water: I too shall become like that, just so shall I be! No man can stretch to the sky, no matter how broad! Since no man can escape life's end, I will enter the mountain and set up my name. Where names are set up, I will set up my name, where names are not set up, I will set up gods' names.” from Bilgame$ and Huwawa Ver. A (tr. A. George)

40. Themes in Mesopotamian Thought
Order vs. Chaos, Culture vs. Nature • combat myth • antagonistic relation with nature • instability of life in Mes0potamia Heroism • heroic narrative repeats cosmogonic narrative • fatalism and mortality • river, mountain, and civil engineering

41. Hero Pattern (Cú Chulainn)
BIRTH
Mixed Status
divine + human parents
CHILDHOOD
Signs of Election
Separation
Education
superior abilities as child/teen
removal from home due to threat
mysterious teacher
DEPARTURE
Call
Sidekick
Journey
Exploits
Encounters
desire for glory / urgent mission
double
unexplored terrain
monsters (cosmogonic)
young woman/old woman/old man
RETURN / DEATH
Failure
Reconciliation
Death
geis
bond with others
heroic funeral
MEMORIALIZATION
Myth & Ritual
center of community

42. Celtic Mythic/Religious Themes
Nature • animism • transmigration • lack of clearly differentiated functions Heroism • death not terminal • cycles of beheading • absence of sidekick • violence casual or comic

43. Then Lugaid flung the spear and struck Cú Chulainn, and his bowels came out on the cushion of the chariot…Then said Cú Chulainn, “I would like to go as far as that loch to drink a drink.” …Then he gathered his bowels into his breast, and went forth to the loch. And there he drank his drink, and washed himself, and came forth to die, calling on his foes to come to meet him. He went to a pillar-stone which is in the plain, and he put his breast-girdle round it that he might not die seated nor lying down, but that he might die standing up. Then Lugaid arranged Cú Chulainn’s hair over his shoulder, and cut off his head. And then the sword fell from Cú Chulainn’s hand, and cut off Lugaid’s right hand... Lugaid and the hosts then marched away, carrying with them Cú Chulainn’s head…

44. Regeneration