Briccriu, Bricriu, Briccirne, Bricne [cf. Ir. brecc, speckled, freckled]. Usually accompanied by the epithets Neimthenga, Nemhthenga, ‘bitter-tongued’ or Biltenga, ‘evil-tongued’. A warrior, troublemaker, and sometime poet in the Ulster Cycle. In the well-known Fled Bricrenn [Briccriu's Feast], he incites the first three champions of Ulster, Cúchulainn, Lóegaire Búadach, and Conall Cernach, to quarrel over the champion's portion. He also instituted a rivalry of the champions of Ireland for the carving of Mac Da Thó's pig in Scéla Mucce meic Da Thó, which results in much bloodshed. But in the lesser-known ‘Táin Bó Flidais’ [The Cattle Raid of Flidais], he is a poet and satirist- of bitter but not venomous tongue. His residence was Dún Rudraige, coextensive with the modern village of Dundrum, Co. Down; the lake and village of Loughbrickland, Co. Down, is thought to commemorate his name. Briccriu's patronymic, mac Carbada [son of Carbad], little cited in texts, links him with his brother, Goll mac Carbada, the one-eyed monster of the Ulster Cycle. Often compared with the foul-mouthed Thersites of the Iliad, the trickster Loki of Norse mythology, the malevolent Efnisien of the second branch of the Mabinogi, and the pugnacious Sir Kay of Arthurian legend.

Briccriu

An Ulster chieftain surnamed "of the Poisoned Tongue," mentioned in the myth of Cuchulain, a medieval Irish romance. It is said that on one occasion he asked certain warriors to a feast and raised the question which of them was the greatest. Conall, Laery, and Cuchulain were selected, and a demon called "The Terrible" was requested to decide the point. He suggested that whoever could cut off his (The Terrible's) head today, and allow his own head to be cut off on the following day would be the most courageous, and therefore must deserve the title of champion. Cuchulain succeeded in beheading the devil, who immediately picked up his head and vanished. The next day he reappeared in his usual form in order to cut off Cuchulain's head. On his placing his head on the block, the demon told him to rise, and acknowledged that he was champion of Ireland.