Cú Chulainn

A prophecy of glory reached Cú Chulainn, and he seized weapons. He set out in a chariot with his charioteer, Ibor, on his first outing. Ibor warned him that danger lay ahead, but the boy would not turn back. They travelled through Mag mBreg, and Ibor named the forts, fields, fords, settlements, strongholds and fortresses between Temair and Cenannos. He pointed out the fort of the three sons of Nechta Scéne.

The brothers were Fóill, Fannall and Tuachell. Their father was Fer Ulli, son of Lugaid, and their mother was Nechta Scéne. They were enemies of the Ulstermen because the Ulstermen had killed their father. They also claimed to have killed as many Ulstermen as were then living. Cú Chulainn asked to meet them. Ibor warned him against seeking such danger, but Cú Chulainn said they were not travelling there to avoid it. They released the horses where the bog met the river, and Cú Chulainn told Ibor to wake him if warriors appeared.

The three sons came down to the stream and demanded to know who had entered their land. Ibor said that a boy was there on his first outing and that he was taking him home. Fóill mocked the boy and ordered him to leave. Cú Chulainn woke and declared that no boy was there, only a man ready to fight. Ibor warned him that Fóill the Sly could not be struck after a first missed thrust. Cú Chulainn swore by the god of his people that Conchobar’s spear would not miss. He cast it at Fóill and broke his back, then cut off his head and took his spoils. He killed Fannall and Tuachell as well, taking the weapons of the three brothers.

Cú Chulainn then told Ibor to drive towards Emain Macha. He first made the charioteer circle the fortress so that the other boys could see him. When Ibor tried to return through the gates, Cú Chulainn ordered him onwards. They travelled to Sliab Fúait, where Conall Cernach was keeping watch for Ulster. Cú Chulainn claimed that he had come to relieve him. When Conall said he was too young, Cú Chulainn broke the shaft of his chariot with a stone. He then returned to Emain Macha in a battle frenzy.

Briccriu urged Lóegaire Buadach to claim the champion’s portion as the king and warriors of Ulster travelled to his feast. He praised Lóegaire as the greatest of Ulster’s warriors. Lóegaire agreed and said that men would die if they opposed him. Briccriu gave the same advice to Conall Cernach, then urged Cú Chulainn to claim the choicest portion. Each hero accepted the challenge.

At the feast, Lóegaire and Conall demanded the champion’s portion. Their dispute threatened violence. Sencha stopped them and warned that they would kill everyone. Conchobar ordered the portion to be divided equally among the warriors. When the feast ended, the three heroes would travel to Ailill in Connacht, who would judge which of them was greatest.

Briccriu then stirred up a second quarrel among the women of Ulster. He met Fedelm, Lóegaire’s wife, and told her that she should enter the hall first. He gave the same welcome to Lendabair, Conall’s wife, and then to Emer, Cú Chulainn’s wife. The women argued over who deserved precedence. After they had spoken, Lóegaire and Conall each declared his own wife the winner. They knocked away posts from the hall so that their wives could enter. Cú Chulainn lifted part of the house and allowed Emer to enter. The ground shook, and Briccriu and his wife fell into the mud with their dogs.

The quarrel was still unsettled. The three heroes went to Connacht, where Ailill tested them through a series of trials. After these tests, Cú Chulainn proved his supremacy over Lóegaire and Conall. He was therefore recognised as the greatest of the three and entitled to the champion’s portion.

Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad met at the ford after Ailill and Medb had driven them against each other. They had been foster-brothers and had trained together under Scathach, Uathach and Aife. Ferdiad said that their friendship was finished and told Cú Chulainn to forget that they had been foster-brothers. Cú Chulainn answered that they had talked enough and gave Ferdiad the choice of weapons until nightfall, since Ferdiad had reached the ford first.

They began with the feats they had learnt in their youth. They used feat-playing shields, sharp-rimmed shields, darts, straight swords and small ivory darts. Later, they fought with slender spears bound tightly with flax. From the grey of dawn until evening, they wounded and bloodied each other. They fought so closely that their shields split, their spears bent and the river was driven from its course. The two warriors trampled and slid in the ford until a dry space opened in its middle.

At night they stopped and gave their weapons to their charioteers. Each man put his arms around the other’s neck and gave him three kisses. Their horses stayed in the same paddock, and their charioteers stayed by the same fire. Cú Chulainn then went to his wife Emer at Cairthenn Cluana-Dá-Dam, the Meadow of the Two Oxen, at Sliab Fuait. Ferdiad told his followers about the pledge he had given Medb, to fight Cú Chulainn or else face six warriors.

Ferdiad returned to the ford the next day, despite his charioteer’s warning that the fight would bring disaster. The combat continued for three days. At last Cú Chulainn used the Gáe Bolga against Ferdiad and killed him in the ford. The foster-brothers had been sent against each other through the actions of Ailill and Medb, and Ferdiad’s life ended in the combat he had been compelled to undertake.

Setanta tossed his hurley ball into the air, struck it with his stick and caught both before they fell. He was on his way to Culann’s fort, where King Conchobar had invited him to a feast. Conchobar had told Setanta to come as his guest, but the boy had stayed behind to finish his game. Conchobar then left without remembering that Setanta would follow him.

Culann locked the gate of his fort and released his fierce guard dog outside the walls. The hound was so powerful that three men were needed to hold it with three chains. After the guests had gathered, Conchobar remembered Setanta and warned Culann. The king and the others ran to the rampart above the gate, but the dog had already seen the boy and rushed at him.

Setanta continued his game as the hound approached. He threw the ball and his stick aside, then seized the animal with both hands. He caught its throat in one hand and its back in the other, smashed it against a rock or pillar and killed it. In another account, he threw the ball into the hound’s mouth with such force that it passed through its body before he seized the animal and dashed it against a rock.

The guests were astonished by Setanta’s strength and courage. Culann was distressed because he had lost the dog that guarded his home. Setanta took his hand, apologised and offered to guard the fort himself until Culann could train another hound. Culann accepted his offer. From then on, Setanta was known as Cú Chulainn, meaning Hound of Culann.