Mugain, daughter of

Eochaid Feidlech Eochu or Eochaid Feidlech ("the enduring"), was a High King of Ireland, according to medieval Irish legends and historical traditions. He is best known as the father of the legendary queen Medb of Connacht. Family Eochu was son of Finn, son ...

, ( ga, Mugain Etanchaitrech ingen Echach Feidlig) (sugg. pron. /Moógen Ait-en-hai-rech/ (Leahy)Leahy, Courtship of Ferb, pronunciation guide, p.xxvi; mod. pron. /MOO-in/{{Citation needed, date=January 2012), is a legendary queen 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 ...

; characterized as the "Strumpet wife 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 ...

", the king 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 ...

. Also styled Mumain, she had a son with him named Glaisne. She was also a sister 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 ...

by paternity. Her epithet, ''Aitinchairchech'', literally means "having

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are ...

-like

body hair Body hair, or androgenic hair, is the terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is differentiated from the head hair and less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in color. The growth of androge ...

", or perhaps more specifically

pubic hair Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis bon ...

. When Cúchulainn returned to

Emain Macha Navan Fort ( sga, Emain Macha ; ga, Eamhain Mhacha, label= Modern Irish ) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the cap ...

after his first foray, his fury was so great the Ulstermen feared he would destroy them. Mugain led her maidens out, and they bared their

breasts The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and se ...

in front of him. Cúchulainn averted his eyes, and the Ulstermen were able to wrestle him into a barrel of cold water, which exploded from the heat of his body. They put him in a second barrel, and the water boiled; and finally a third barrel, which merely warmed up to a pleasant temperature. Her affair with Áed, Conchobar's poet, led to the death of

Lóegaire Búadach In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Lóegaire Búadach (Lóegaire the Victorious) is a hapless Ulster warrior who mainly functions as comic relief. When he, Cúchulainn and Conall Cernach contend for the champion's portion at Briccriu's fea ...

. The Ulstermen took her life, out of the love of her, though they seldom engaged in femicide."The host of Emania, the host of Ulster, Have never committed woman-slaughter, Excepting in the case of Mughain, through love of her, And the hateful, but illustrious Medhbh." (''The Banquet of Dun na n-Gedh'', inserted verse, O'Donovan ed., p.213)

References

Footnotes

Primary Sources

* Joseph O'Neill, "Cath Boinde"
Ériu 2 (1905), pp. 173-185
* Tochmarc Ferbe (remscél to the TBC) ** Windisch ed., tr.(German), "Tochmarc Ferbe", Irische Texte III/2, 1897, pp. 445–556
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** Leahy, A. H. tr., The courtship of Ferbe, (ills. by Caroline Watts), David Nutt, London 1902 pp. XXXII + 102, (p.xxvi pron. guide; appears in p. 12). From Windisch's tr
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* Macgnimrada Conculainn "The boyhood deeds of Cú Chulainn" (this remscél is incorporated into TBC proper) ** Kinsella, tr., chapter headed "Cúchulainn's Boyhood Deeds", ''The Táin'' (1969), pp. 76–92; (Mugain appears on p. 92) * Aided Loegairi ** Meyer, Kuno, ed., tr. "The Death of Lóegaire Búadach" in: ''The Death-Tales of the Ulster Heroes'',''Todd Lecture Series'' 14 (1906)

Secondary Sources

* Thurneysen, R., Irische Helden- und Konigsage (Halle, 1921), p. 93 * Quiggin, A Dialect of Donegal (1906)

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Ulster Cycle