''Aided Chon Culainn'' ('the violent death of Cú Chulainn'), also known as ''Brislech Mór Maige Murthemne'' ('the great rout at Mag Murthemne'), found in the twelfth-century
Book of Leinster
The Book of Leinster ( , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled and now kept in Trinity College Dublin. It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' ("Book of Nuachongbáil"), a monastic site known today as Oughaval.
In 2023 ...
(folios 77 a 1 to 78 b 2), is a story of how the Irish hero
Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn ( ), is an Irish 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, who is also his father. His mother is the ...
dies in battle.
[James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 104, .][Robert Welch, ''The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), .]
Summary
Medb
Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méabh(a) () and Méibh (), 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 ...
conspires with
Lugaid, son of
Cú Roí
Cú Roí mac Dáire (Cú Ruí, Cú Raoi) is a king of Munster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is usually portrayed as a warrior with superhuman abilities and a master of disguise possessed of magical powers. His name probably means "ho ...
,
Erc, son of
Cairbre Nia Fer
Cairbre Nia Fer (also ''Corpri'', ''Coirpre'', ''Cairpre''; ''Nioth Fer'', ''Niafer'', ''Niaper''), son of Rus Ruad, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a King of Tara from the Laigin.
The earliest reference to Cairb ...
, and the sons of others Cú Chulainn had killed, to draw him out to his death. Cú Chulainn's fate is sealed by his breaking of the ''
geasa'' (taboos) upon him. Cú Chulainn's ''geasa'' included a ban against eating dog meat, but in early Ireland there was a powerful general taboo against refusing
hospitality
Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...
, so when an old crone offers him a meal of dog meat, he has no choice but to break his ''geis''. In this way he is spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him. Lugaid has three magical spears made, and it is prophesied that a king will fall by each of them. Fighting on the plain of
Mag Muirthemne (now in
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...
), he kills Cú Chulainn's charioteer
Láeg
Láeg, or Lóeg, son of Riangabar, is the charioteer and constant companion of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Ora ...
, king of chariot drivers, with the first spear. With the second he kills Cú Chulainn's horse,
Liath Macha, king of horses. With the third he hits Cú Chulainn, mortally wounding him. Cú Chulainn ties himself to a
standing stone
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...
to die on his feet, facing his enemies. Due to his ferocity even when so near death, it is only when a
raven
A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
lands on Cú Chulainn's shoulder that his enemies believe he is dead. Lugaid approaches and cuts off his head, but as he does so the "hero-light" burns around Cú Chulainn and his sword falls from his hand and cuts Lugaid's hand off. The light disappears only after his right hand, his sword arm, is cut from his body.
Conall Cernach
Conall Cernach (modern spelling: Conall Cearnach) is a hero of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He had a crooked neck and is said to have always slept with the head of a Connachtman under his knee. His epithet is normally transl ...
had sworn that if Cú Chulainn died before him he would avenge him before sunset, and when he hears Cú Chulainn is dead he pursues Lugaid. As Lugaid has lost a hand, Conall fights him with one hand tucked into his belt, but he only beats him after his horse takes a bite out of Lugaid's side. He also kills Erc, and takes his head back to
Tara, where Erc's sister
Achall
Achall, daughter of Cairbre Nia Fer, king of Tara, and his wife Fedelm Noíchrothach, is a minor character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. After her brother Erc was killed by Conall Cernach, she died of grief on a hill near Tara, w ...
dies of grief for her brother.
Editions and translations
*
Whitley Stokes (ed. and trans.), 'Cuchulainn's Death, Abridged from the Book of Leinster'
''Revue Celtique'', 3(1877), 175–185
* T. P. Cross and C. H. Slover (trans.),
Ancient Irish Tales' (New York, 1936, 1969), pp. 333–40
* Eleanor Hull, ''The Cuchullin Saga'' (London, 1898)
* Tymoczko, Maria (trans.),
', Dolmen Texts, 2 (Dublin: Dolmen Press, 1981),
*
Aided Con Culainn, in ''Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories'', ed. by A. G. Van Hamel, Medieval and Modern Irish Series, 3 (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1933), pp. 69–133
References
{{reflist
Early Irish literature
Ulster Cycle
12th-century literature