Fedelm (sometimes spelled Feidelm; modern Fidelma) is a female prophet and '' fili'', or learned poet, in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...

. She appears in the great epic '' Táin Bó Cuailnge'', in which she foretells the armies of

Medb Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méibh () and Méabh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had sev ...

and

Ailill mac Máta Ailill mac Máta is the king of the Connachta and the husband of queen MedbMatson, Gienna: ''Celtic Mythology A to Z'', page 2. Chelsea House, 2004. in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Cruachan (Rathcroghan in County Roscomm ...

will face against the

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and in ...

and their greatest champion,

Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), called the Hound of Ulster ( Irish: ''Cú Uladh''), is a warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh ...

. A prophetess of the same name appears in another tale, which associates her with Cú Chulainn.

''Táin Bó Cuailnge''

Fedelm appears in the opening scene of the '' Táin Bó Cuailnge'', preserved in Recension I.Koch, "Fedelm." Intent on an invasion of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, Queen

and

, the rulers of

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and ...

, have mustered a large army from all four provinces of Ireland. Just when they set out, they are met on the road by Fedelm, a young woman of blonde hair and beautiful appearance, who is armed, carries a weaver's beam and rides in a chariot. She identifies herself as a ''banfhili'' (female poet) from Connacht and claims to have come from

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kin ...

, where she had learnt the art of prophecy to the extent that she could now boast the skill of '' imbas forosnai'', or all-encompassing illuminating knowledge. It has been suggested that Fedelm may have received her training from the warrior woman

Scáthach Scáthach () or Sgàthach ( gd, Sgàthach an Eilean Sgitheanach) is a figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains the legendary Ulster hero Cú Chulainn in the art ...

, Cú Chulainn's martial arts teacher in Alba and herself a prophetess. Asked by Medb, who addresses her as prophetess (''banfháith''), to foretell the future of the army, Fedelm predicts carnage. Medb refuses to accept it, since the Ulstermen had been recently overcome by a mysterious condition which had debilitated them completely. However, Fedelm repeats her prophecy and in a poetic description of the bloody encounters to follow, named

as their most terrifying opponent.

Name and other appearances

The name "Fedelm" matches the character's role in the '' Táin Bó Cuailnge'', as it appears to mean "prophetess" and to derive from the proto-Celtic stem ''wēd- / wid-'' "to know, to see". She has been compared to Veleda, the prophetess described by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

. The name is not uncommon; the ''Táin'' and other texts name a daughter of

Conchobar mac Nessa Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh). He is usually said to be the son of the High King Fachtna Fáthach, although in some stories hi ...

Fedelm Noíchrothach. It is probably related to the common male name "Fedlimid". Though the name is not unique, it is not impossible that the Fedelm of the ''Táin'' is the same character as the Fedelm Foltcháin ("of the Lovely Hair") who appears in a brief and difficult Irish text known as ''Fedelm and Cú Chulainn'' or ''Ces Ulad'' ("The Affliction of the Ulstermen"). The transmitted text, preserved only in the 16th-century London, BL, Harleian MS 5280, is imperfect and the translations attempted by Vernam Hull and John Carey therefore differ on a number of counts. It tells that one day (before the invasion), Cú Chulainn and his charioteer Láeg come to the

River Boyne The River Boyne ( ga, An Bhóinn or ''Abhainn na Bóinne'') is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newberry Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through C ...

to learn ''imbas'' (as Carey translates) or to obtain "riches" (Hull). The search for ''imbas'' would be appropriate as in early Irish narrative, the banks of rivers could serve as liminal places subject to the risk of flooding and in a positive sense, to the attainment of poetic wisdom.Bernardt-House,"Warriors, words, and wood", pp. 10–11. The text ''Immacallam in Dá Thuarad'', for instance, states that "the bank of a body of water was a place where knowledge was always revealed for poets". On the opposite bank stands Fedelm and her husband Elcmaire, who notice the intruders and their chariot laden with items of ''

fidchell (in Irish; also spelled , , or , and pronounced in Old Irish) or (in Welsh, pronounced ) was a board game popular among the ancient Celts. The name in both Irish and Welsh is a compound translating to "wood sense"; the fact that the comp ...

'' and ''búanbach'' and with Cú Chulainn's catch of birds. When Cú Chulainn manages to catch a speckled salmon with his spear, Elcmaire goes into the ford and flings a pillar stone towards the chariot, but Cú Chulainn cuts off both his thumbs and both his big toes. Fedelm then utters the prophecy (Hull has "promised") that she would appear naked to the Ulstermen and become Cú Chulainn's lover. This she does after a year and a day. The text ends by suggesting that her appearance to the Ulstermen is what caused their aforesaid debility. This explanation of the Debility of the Ulstermen differs considerably from that given by '' Noinden Ulad'' and related texts. Fedelm's name and a connection with the Boyne also occur in the second, Middle Irish recension of the ''

Tochmarc Emire ''Tochmarc Emire'' ("The Wooing of Emer") is one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and one of the longest when it received its form in the second recension (below). It concerns the efforts of the hero Cú Chulainn to marry E ...

''. When Cú Chulainn travels southwards to woo Emer, he comes across the so-called "Marrow (''Smir'') of the woman Fedelm", explained as another name for the River Boyne. The origin of the name is not explained, however, and the accompanying mythological story focuses on the drowning of

Boann Boann or Boand (modern Irish spelling: Bónn) is the Irish goddess of the River Boyne (the river-name now always in the nominalised dative/prepositional case, Bóinn), a river in Ireland's historical fifth province, Meath (from Middle Irish ' ...

instead.''Tochmarc Emire'' (Recension II).

References

Sources

Primary sources

*'' Táin Bó Cuailnge'' (Recension I), ed. Cecile O'Rahilly,
Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension I
'' Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Dublin, 1976. *''Cú Chulainn and Fedelm'' (also ''Ces Ulad''), ed. Kuno Meyer, "Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften (Fortsetzung)." ZCP 8 (1912): p. 120; tr. Vernam Hull,
Ces Ulad
" ZCP 29 (1962–64); tr. John Carey, ''The Celtic Heroic Age'', ed. J.T. Koch and J. Carey. 3d ed. Andover et al., 2000. pp. 67–8. *

Secondary sources

* * *