Amergin mac Eccit is a poet and warrior in the court 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 ...

in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), 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 counties Armagh, Do ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. He was the son of Eccet Salach, a

smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

, and grew to the age of fourteen without speaking or washing himself. One day Athirne, the

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

's chief poet, sent his servant to Eccet to order an axe. The servant was shocked when Amergin uttered a precocious, cryptic poem, and ran home to tell his master what he had heard. Athirne resolved to kill the boy, for fear that he might take his job, but Eccet had replaced him with a lifelike clay replica. Athirne showed up to take delivery of his new axe, brought it down on the replica's head, and fled, thinking he had killed Amergin. The Ulaid besieged Athirne in his house and forced him to pay compensation to Eccet. He took Amergin as his foster-son and taught him his poetic skills, and in time Amergin did indeed take over from Athirne as chief poet of Ulster. Amergin married Findchoem, sister of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of the Ulaid. Their son was

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 ...

, and their foster-son was

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 ...

. He had two other sons, Condra and Amergin. He killed the Ellén Trechend, the three-headed monster that made raids on Ireland from the cave of Cruachan. During the ''

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "the Irish ''Iliad''", although like most other earl ...

'' ("cattle raid of Cooley"), Amergin held up the advance of the

Connachta The Connachta are a group of medieval Irish dynasty, dynasties who claimed descent from the legendary High King of Ireland, High King Conn of the Hundred Battles, Conn Cétchathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles). The modern western Provinces of ...

army by pelting them with enormous stones for three days and nights. The

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

hero Cú Roí, who was with the army, threw stones back at him, and the stones smashed together in mid-air, showering the area with bits of stone, until

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 ...

begged them both to stop. They came to an agreement that both would stop, and Cú Roí would return to Munster, but once he had gone, Amergin resumed throwing stones, arguing his agreement was only with Cú Roí. Eventually he agreed to withdraw until the final battle (a variant version of this episode appears in the first recension of ''Táin Bó Cúailnge'', where the combatants are Cú Roí and Munremar mac Gerrcind).Cecile O'Rahilly, ''Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976, pp. 169-170

References

{{Irish mythology (Ulster) Ulster Cycle Characters in Táin Bó Cúailnge