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

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

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 ...

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 Roscommon) ...

will face against 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 ...

and their greatest champion,

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 ...

. 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 (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, Queen

and

, the rulers of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

, 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 Kingd ...

, 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 () 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 arts of combat. Texts describe her hom ...

, 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. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

. 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 ...

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,

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, Harley 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 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 ...

come to the

River Boyne The River Boyne ( 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 north-east through County Meath to reach the ...

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'' 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 Em ...

''. 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 is the Irish mythology, Irish goddess of the River Boyne (''Bóinn''), an important river in Ireland's historical province of Kingdom of Meath, Meath. According to the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' and ''Táin Bó Fraích'' she was th ...

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