Cuchulain

(European mythology)

Semi-legendary Irish hero, said to have lived in the first century. His father was Lug, a Tuatha chieftain. Cuchulainn was a youth of extraordinary beauty, stature, and gaiety, the favourite of ladies and poets, yet he changed into an appalling spectacle ‘when the battle-frenzy was upon him’. His body trembled violently; his heels and calves appeared in front; one eye receded into his head, the other stood out huge and red on his cheek; a man's head could go into his mouth; his hair bristled like hawthorn, with a drop of blood on each single hair; and from the ridge of his crown there arose a thick column of dark blood like the mast of a great ship. The archetypal warrior, seized by such a paroxysm, was terrible to behold. On one occasion, when his chariot was ‘graced with the bleeding heads of his enemies’, he charged round the fortress of Emain Macha screaming for a fight. Very quickly, a way had to be found to abate his immense fury. And one was found. Out of Emain Macha came 150 women, naked, with vats of cold water, to calm the warrior. Cuchulainn, embarrassed or perhaps amazed at such a display of womanhood, looked away, at which they thrust him in the first vat of cold water. It burst asunder. A second vat boiled. The third became only very hot. Thus was the hero subdued, and the fortress saved.

The ancient heroes of Ireland were fierce head-hunters, daring cattlerustlers, and mighty eaters. Their feasts as well as their fights were conducted on a superhuman level. Often a challenge or a boast in the hall led to a contest, so as to determine which warrior should carve the champion's portion, the first slice of the roast pig. Cuchulainn, however, was without equal: sets of weapons he shattered with his strength; chariots he reduced to fragments; whole armies he faced single-handed; monsters fled his deadly blows; few dared to challenge him; while he was the admiration of women. The cycle of tales about Cuchulainn greatly influenced the development of Arthurian tradition, in Wales, Brittany, and England.

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Cú Chulainn, hero of the Ulster cycle and the central figure of Táin Bó Cuailnge, where his heroic deeds and supernatural powers play a dominant part in the narrative. He is also a figure of recurrent interest for later Irish and Anglo-Irish writers. The story of his origin as given in Compert Chon Culainn (Birth of Cú Chulainn) relates that he was fathered by the god Lug [see Irish mythology] on Deichtine, and brought up as Sétanta. His boyhood deeds (macgnímartha), narrated by Fergus in Táin Bó Cuailnge, mark him out as destined to become a famous if short-lived warrior. According to Fergus he received his name when Sétanta, being late for a feast at the house of Culann the smith, is attacked by the hound guarding the enclosure and kills it. The smith complains of his loss, and Sétanta undertakes to act as his guard-dog, at which the druid Cathbad renames him Cú Chulainn (the hound of Culann). In Tochmarc Emire he courts and wins Emer despite the opposition of her father, Forgall Manach. This tale also recounts his training in arms in Scotland by the amazon Scáthach, and his coupling with her opponent Aífe, after he has defeated her in combat. Aided Oenfhir Aífe relates how their son Connle later comes to Ireland, where he is slain by his father. In Fled Bricrenn Cú Chulainn takes the hero's portion, surpassing Conall Cernach, another hero of the Ulaid. Serglige Chon Culainn tells how he is torn between his earthly love for Emer (or Eithne in Gubai, according to another version) and Fand from the otherworld. In Aided Chon Culainn, Cú Chulainn's death tale, Lugaid, the son of Cú Roí whom he has slain, comes against him with other enemies. He breaks a geis by eating the flesh of a dog, and at the end, while dying of his wounds, straps himself to a pillar-stone so that he can fight to the last.

Legendary hero warrior of Irish romance, son of the solar god Lugh and Dectera. His name means "Hound of Cullan," and his mighty deeds dominate Ulster lore. In order to marry Emer, daughter of Forgall, he was obliged to pass through the ordeals of the Land of Shadow and the warrior goddess Skatha, cross the Bridge of Leaps, learn the arts of war, and slay 100 men. Cuchulain also featured in the great Cattle Raid of Quelgny, described in the Book of Leinster of Finn MacGorman, bishop of Kildare, recorded in 1150.

In the twelfth century Book of the Dun Cow, Cuchulain is summoned from hell by St. Patrick to describe the terrors of hell to the pagan king of Ireland Laery MacNeill. As a result, the King was converted to Christianity and Cuchulain allowed to enter heaven. The deeds of Cuchulain as related in the Ulster Cycle of the Knights of the Red Branch are thought to have influenced the development of traditions of King Arthur in Wales and England.