Cúchulainn

Cúchulainn, Cú Chulainn, Cúchulain, Cú Chulaind, Cuchulinn, Cuculain Cúcán, etc. [Ir., hound of Culann; hound of the smith]. The greatest hero in early Irish literature and the principal hero of the Ulster Cycle; along with Lug Lámfhota and Fionn mac Cumhaill, Cúchulainn is one of the three great heroes of early Ireland, all of whom may derive from a common source and may in fact be identical. The child of divine and human parents, Cúchulainn was first known as Sétanta and did not win the name by which we know him until he had performed heroic feats at the age of 7. Learned 19th-century commentators routinely compared him to Hercules and Siegfried for feats of valour and supremacy over all contenders. Surviving stories about him are extensive, and he is the principal figure in Táin Bó Cuailnge [Cattle Raid of Cooley], the Irish epic. His characteristic quickness and small, dark stature have suggested to some commentators that Cúchulainn may be derived from Gaulish Mercury, as described in Caesar's commentaries (1st cent. BC). At one time he was thought to derive from the Gaulish god Esus, although that assertion is now disputed. His birth-name, Sétanta, suggests a link with the early British people the Setantii, who were described by Ptolemy (2nd cent. AD). At times his portrayal suggests parallels with the earlier Celtic figure Ogmios.

There are differing accounts of how Cúchulainn's mother Deichtine happens to become pregnant with him. While she is grieving over the loss of a foster-son, she drinks some water with which a tiny creature passes into her mouth. Some versions assert that the creature is Lug Lámfhota. Sleeping that night she dreamed she is visited by Lug. People hearing that she is pregnant did not know of a father, and think that she may have been violated by a drunken Conchobar mac Nessa, her brother (or, in some versions, father). Conchobar gives Deichtine in marriage to Sualtam mac Róich, but she is ashamed to enter his bed already pregnant. She becomes so sick that she spontaneously delivers the foetus within her, has her virginity restored, and so goes to her husband. The aborted foetus lives and is called Sétanta. For other versions of Cúchulainn's conception and birth, see DEICHTINE.

The leading men of Ulster wish to become foster-fathers to Sétanta. Rather than have them squabble over who should have precedence, Deichtine decides that seven of then should foster the child concurrently: (1) Sencha, to give eloquence and poetry; (2) Blaí Briuga, to provide for material comfort; (3) Fergus mac Róich, to take him on his knee; (4) Amairgin, to be his teacher; (5) Conall Cernach, to be his foster-brother and virtual twin; (6) Findchóem, to be his wet nurse; and (7) Conchobar, to be his principal foster-father.

The story of Cúchulainn's boyhood deeds, as remembered by Fergus mac Róich, his tutor, forms a lengthy chapter early in the Táin Bó Cuailnge. At the beginning of these adventures, Cúchulainn still bears his name from birth, Sétanta. A key episode tells how he acquired his adult, heroic name while being fostered by Conchobar at Emain Macha. The royal household has gone to visit a wealthy smith in Cuailnge named Culann, while Sétanta stays behind playing hurley. The guests at Culann's lonely mansion are making merry, knowing they are protected from intruders by a huge, ferocious dog. But in the midst of the laughter they hear a terrible sound. A late-arriving Sétanta, aged only 7, has killed the dog by smashing it against a doorpost. The guests cheer, but Culann is dismayed at the loss of his prized hound. Sétanta responds that he will raise another whelp to replace the guard dog, and will serve as the hound in the interim. The crowd applaud his generosity and call him the Hound: Cú, of Culann: Chulainn, the name he retained thenceforward.

Accounts of Cúchulainn's physical appearance differ, but he is most often seen as short, dark, beardless, and filled with high spirits. His hair is of three colours, brown at the roots, blood-red in the middle, and blond at the crown. In the Táin he is described as having four dimples in each cheek, each dimple being of a different colour: yellow, green, crimson, and blue. He has seven pupils in each eye, seven toes, and seven fingers, each with the grip of a hawk or gryphon. Despite these fearsome aspects of his appearance, he is conventionally described as handsome and attractive to women. Perhaps this is because readers of or listeners to early Irish literature did not necessarily visualize Cúchulainn as he was described. In any case, there is little in early literature to justify the somewhat Victorian representation of the hero in the much-photographed statue by Oliver Sheppard now housed at the General Post Office on O'Connell Street in Dublin.

In the Táin also, Fergus tells Medb of Cúchulainn's superlative qualities. No raven is more ravenous, and no lion more ferocious. He can overcome all obstacles and barriers. In an aggressive burst of energy, he pounces on enemies in his distinctive salmon leap, compared by modern commentators with the jump of a soccer player. Cúchulainn is also admired for his nimbleness and brilliance. Many Ulster warriors wish that Cúchulainn would get married so that their daughters would forget him. He chooses Emer. Even before approaching her, Cúchulainn kills the three sons of Nechtan, which results in the onset of his ríastrad [battle fury] (see below).

Emer's father Forgall demands that Cúchulainn first be schooled by Scáthach in distant Scotland before he is worthy of the daughter's hand. In truth, Forgall hopes that Cúchulainn will perish on the journey or be killed by Scáthach herself. Instead, Cúchulainn endears himself to the amazonian Scáthach and has a love affair with her colleague (or double) Aífe. In Scotland he is also tutored by Domnall Míldemail [the warlike] and his ugly daughter Dornoll. When Cúchulainn returns from Scotland, he takes Emer as well as her sister by force along with much gold and silver. Despite such an unpromising beginning, Emer is usually seen as the hero's wife.

A number of other women are named as Cúchulainn's wives or lovers in different texts. After Emer the most commonly cited is Eithne Ingubai, , who may be but another name for Emer. He dallies with Fand, the wife of Manannán mac Lir; he consummates an affair with Bláithíne (Blanid), the wife of Cú Roí. He rewards Étan (1) with a ring, so great is his pleasure in their night of lovemaking. Sometimes Cúchulainn is the object of love, as from the female warrior Cathach. He is also loved by Derbforgaill, the tragic swan maiden, and Uathach, Scáthach's daughter. But when Mugain (2), queen of Ulster, bares her breasts before him and leads the beautiful women of Ulster to Cúchulainn, the hero averts his eyes. So great is his feeling from the episode that it takes three vats of iced water to cool him; the first he explodes, the second he boils, and the third he warms. His son is Connla (1), unknowingly begotten upon Aífe. In later literature he is ascribed a daughter, Fínscoth.

Cúchulainn's chief weapon is his spear, the Gáe Bulga. His usual sword is Caladbolg, although in later oral tradition he is described as wielding the Claidheamh Soluis [Ir., sword of light], which may also be known as Cruaidin Catutchenn. His favourite horse is the Liath Macha [Grey of Macha], but he also likes Saingliu or Dubh Sainglenn. His charioteer is Láeg. He has many associations with ravens and was once warned by two magical ravens, but he does not appear to have been a raven-god. Cúchulainn's homeland is Mag Muirtheimne, a plain stretching north from the River Boyne to Cuailnge [Cooley] in what is today Co. Louth.

Before going into combat Cúchulainn goes through a transformation known as his ríastrad [battle fury, battle frenzy, contortion, warp spasm, etc.; gen. ríastarthae]. When this overtakes him, he becomes a fearsome figure such as has never been seen before. Every particle of him quivers like a bulrush in a running stream. His calves, hams, and heels shift to the front, and his feet and knees to the back, while the muscles of his neck stand out like the head of a baby. One eye is engulfed deep in his head, the other protrudes, his mouth meets his ears, foam pours from his jaws like the fleece of a three-year-old wether. The beats of his heart sound like the roars of a lion as he rushes to his prey. A column of dark blood spurts forth from his scalp and scatters in four directions, forming a mist of gloom. Then a projection emerges from Cúchulainn's head, like a horn but the size of man's fist; it is the lón láith/laíd [light of the hero (?)], which signals that he is ready to fight.

Cúchulainn's best-known exploits are probably those recounted in Irish narratives summarized elsewhere in this volume. First among them is the Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailnge [Cattle Raid of Cooley], in which the hero single-handedly defends Ulster against the depredations of Connacht, as led by Medb and Ailill. A key episode in the Táin has Cúchulainn do battle at a ford with his friend Ferdiad. In Fled Bricrenn [Briccriu's Feast] Cúchulainn is seen as the dominant Ulster hero, and he engages in a beheading contest with a challenging giant. In Aided Óenfhir Aífe [The Tragic Death of Aífe's Only Son], Cúchulainn unwittingly kills his son, Connla (1), whom he had begotten upon Aífe during his sojourn in Scotland. In Serglige Con Culainn [The Wasting Sickness of Cúchulainn], the hero visits the Otherworld and is involved with Fand, the wife of Manannán mac Lir. Cúchulainn's killing of the one-eyed giant Goll mac Carbada is widely commemorated in oral tradition.

Accounts of Cúchulainn's death vary. In the better-known, he is the victim of Medb's vengeance. When his allies and faithful horse are killed, Cúchulainn has himself chained to a pillar-post so that he may die standing up. He endures many wounds, but is not known to be dead until a raven alights on his head to take his eyes; oral tradition identifies this pillar-stone with one still standing in Knock-bridge, Co. Louth. Sometimes the vengeance is of Badb, whose father, Cailitin, and all his male heirs Cúchulainn had killed. While he is being nursed from an illness by Niam (1), wife of Conall Cernach, who has become his mistress, Badb appears in the form of one of Niam's handmaidens and lures her away; she then assumes Niam's form and bids Cúchulainn begin the journey that will lead to his death. Another version of his death is told in Brislech mór Maige Muirtheimne [The Great Rout of Muirtheimne or The Death of Cúchulainn]. In this story Cúchulainn helps to bring about his end when he eats the meat of a cooked dog, as offered by three crones, in violation of a geis [Ir., taboo]. Again, the hero's allies and horse are a part of the action; this death was thought to have taken place near Faughart, Co. Louth. In the fray Lugaid mac Con Roí, the son of Cú Roí, sends a javelin through Cúchulainn's bowels but does not kill him. Cúchulainn retreats to a pillar, tying part of his armour to it so that, again, he may die standing up. Lugaid beheads Cúchulainn at the pillar, but is himself slain by Conall Cernach who avenges his friend's death.

Editions of Irish stories about Cúchulainn may be found in Eleanor Hull, The Cuchullin Saga (London, 1898); Maria Tymoczko, The Death Tales from the Ulster Cycle (Dublin, 1981); T. P. Cross and C. H. Slover (eds.), Ancient Irish Tales (New York, 1936, 1969), 134–354. Among the many studies of the hero are Henri Gaidoz, ‘Cúchulainn, Béowulf et Hercule’, Cinquantenaire de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris, 1921), 131–56; Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, ‘Légendes épiques irlandaises et monnaies gauloises; recherches sur la constitution de la légende de Cuchullin’, Études Celtiques, 1 (1936), 1–77; Martin Huld, ‘Cú Chulainn and his IE [Indo-European] Kin’, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, 38 (1981), 238–41; Elizabeth Brewer, From Cuchulain to Gawain (Totowa, NJ, 1973). See further criticism under ULSTER CYCLE.

Accounts of Cúchulainn in English literature have reshaped the hero in many instances and, as they are more accessible than those in Irish, sometimes displace the original for some readers. Among the earliest was the character of Cuchullin (sometimes Cuthullin) in Macpherson's Ossian (1760). During the 19th century the works of Standish James O'Grady did much to romanticize the character for an increasingly nationalist readership; these include: History of Ireland: Cuculain and His Contemporaries (Dublin and London, 1880); Cuculain: An Epic (London, 1882); The Coming of Cuculain (London, 1894); and The Triumph and Passing of Cuculain (Dublin, 1920). The most widely read treatment in English is probably Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne (London, 1902; repr. Gerrards Cross, 1970). The most esteemed treatments in English are those of W. B. Yeats, especially the dramas On Baile's Strand (1904), The Green Helmet (1910), At the Hawk's Well (1917), The Only Jealousy of Emer (1919), and The Death of Cuchulain (1939), and the poems ‘Cuchulain's Fight with the Sea’ (1892) and ‘Cuchulain Comforted’ (1939). Some other English treatments are Suseen Varian, Cúchulainn: A Cycle of Irish Plays (Dublin, c.1910); Terence Gray, Cuchulain: An Epic Drama of the Gael (Cambridge, 1925); Morgan Llywelyn, Red Branch (popular novel) (New York, 1989); Kevin McCaffrey, The Adventures of CuChulainn, Champion of Ulster (juvenile fiction) (Dublin, 1989).