Chapter 15

Then came Cuchulain and he overtook [1]the hosts[1] pitching camp, and there were slain the two Daigri, the two Anli and the four Dungai of Imlech. And there Medb began to urge on Loch: "Great is the scorn that is made of thee," said she, "that the man that killed thy brother should be destroying our host [2]here before thee[2] and thou not attack him. For sure we are that such as he yonder, that great and fierce madman, will not be able to withstand the valour and rage of a warrior such as thou art. And, further, from one and the same instructress the art was acquired by you both."[12]

[1-1] Eg. 93.

[2-2] Eg. 93.

[12-12] LU. 1647-1708 and Eg. 93 (_Revue Celtique_, t. xv. 1894, pp. 64-66).

[W.2283.] "I will go forth and attack him," cried Loch. Loch went to attack Cuchulain, [1]to take vengeance on him for his brother,[1] [2]for it was shown him that Cuchulain had a beard;[2] so they met on the ford where Long had fallen. "Let us move to the upper ford," said Loch, "for I will not fight on this ford," since he held it defiled, [3]cursed and unclean,[3] the ford whereon his brother had fallen. [4]Now when Cuchulain came to look for the ford, the men drove the cattle across.[4] [5]"The cattle[5] [6]will be across thy water here to-day," said Gabran[6] [7]the poet.[7] [8]Hence cometh Ath Tarteise ('the Ford over thy Water') and Tir Mor Tarteise ('the Great Land over thy Water').[8] Thereafter they fought on the upper ford [9]between Methè and Cethè at the head of Tir Mor,[9] [10]and they were for a long space and time at their feats wounding and striking each other.[10]

[1-1] LU. and YBL. 1709 and Eg. 93.

[2-2] Eg. 93 and LU. 1709.

[3-3] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[4-4] LU. and, partly, YBL. 1711.

[5-5] YBL. 1711.

[6-6] LU. and YBL. 1711.

[7-7] LU. 1712.

[8-8] LU. and YBL. 1712.

[9-9] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[10-10] Eg. 93.

Then it was that the Morrigan daughter of [11]Aed[11] Ernmas came from the fairy dwellings to destroy Cuchulain. For she had threatened on the Cattle-raid of Regomain [a] that she would come to undo Cuchulain what time he would be [13]in sore distress[13] when engaged in [14]battle and[14] combat with a goodly warrior, [15]with Loch,[15] in the course of the Cattle-spoil of Cualnge. Thither then the Morrigan [W.2293.] came in the shape of a white, [1]hornless,[1] red-eared heifer, with fifty heifers about her and a chain of silvered bronze between each two of the heifers. [2]She bursts upon the pools and fords at the head of the cattle. It was then that Cuchulain said, "I cannot see the fords for the waters."[2] The women [3]came with their strange sorcery, and[3] constrained Cuchulain by geasa and by inviolable bonds [4]to check the heifer for them[4] lest she should escape from him without harm. Cuchulain made an unerring cast [5]from his sling-stick[5] at her, so that he shattered one of the Morrigan's eyes.

[11-11] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[12-12] See page 165, note 12.

[a] Edited by Wh. Stokes and E. Windisch, in _Irische Texte_, Bd. II, SS. 241-254.

[13-13] Eg. 93.

[14-14] Eg. 93.

[15-15] Eg. 209.

[1-1] LU. and YBL. 1722.

[2-2] LU. and YBL. 1722.

[3-3] Eg. 93.

[4-4] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[5-5] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[6]Now when the men met on the ford and began to fight and to struggle, and when each of them was about to strike the other,[6] the Morrigan came thither in the shape of a slippery, black eel down the stream. Then she came on the linn and she coiled [7]three folds[7] [8]and twists[8] around the [9]two[9] feet [10]and the thighs and forks[10] of Cuchulain, [11]till he was lying on his back athwart the ford[11] [12]and his limbs in the air.[12]

[6-6] LU. 1713.

[7-7] LU. and YBL. 1713.

[8-8] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[9-9] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[10-10] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[11-11] LU. and YBL. 1714.

[12-12] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

While Cuchulain was busied freeing himself [13]and before he was able to rise,[13] Loch wounded him crosswise through the breast, [14]so that the spear[a] went through him[14] [15]and the ford was gore-red with his blood.[15] [16]"Ill, indeed," cried Fergus, "is this deed in the face of the foe. Let some of ye taunt him, ye men," he cried to his people, "to the end that he fall not in vain!"

[13-13] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[14-14] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[a] 'Sword,' LU. and YBL. 1734.

[15-15] LU. 1714.

Bricriu Nemthenga ('Of the Venom-tongue') son of Carbad arose and began to revile Cuchulain. "Thy strength has gone from thee," said he, "when a little salmon overthrows thee even now when the Ulstermen are about to come out of their 'Pains.'[16] [1]Hard it would be for thee to take on thee warrior's deeds in the presence of the men of Erin and to repel a stout warrior clad in his armour!"[1]

[16-16] LU., edition of Strachan and O'Keeffe, p. 63, note 17. Similarly, YBL. 1714-1716, and Eg. 93.

[1-1] LU. fo. 63, note 19, edit. Strachan and O'Keeffe, and Eg. 93.

[2]Then[2] [3]at this incitation[3] [4]Cuchulain arose,[4] [5]and with his left heel he smote the eel on the head,[5] [6]so that its ribs broke within it[6] [7]and he destroyed one half of its brains after smashing half of its head.[7] [8]And the cattle were driven by force past the hosts to the east and they even carried away the tents on their horns at the thunder-feat the two warriors made on the ford.[8]

[2-2] LU. and YBL. 1716.

[3-3] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[4-4] LU. and YBL. 1717.

[5-5] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[6-6] LU. and YBL. 1717.

[7-7] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[8-8] LU. and YBL. 1718-1720.

[W.2302.] The Morrigan next came in the form of a rough, grey-red bitch-wolf [9]with wide open jaws[9] [10]and she bit Cuchulain in the arm[10] [11]and drove the cattle against him westwards,[11] [12]and Cuchulain made a cast of his little javelin at her, strongly, vehemently, so that it shattered one eye in her head.[12] During this space of time, whether long or short, while Cuchulain was engaged in freeing himself, Loch wounded him [13]through the loins.[13] Thereupon Cuchulain chanted a lay.[a]

[9-9] Eg. 209.

[10-10] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[11-11] LU. and YBL. 1721.

[12-12] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17, and, similarly, LU. and YBL. 1721.

[13-13] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[a] The three stanzas of this lay in YBL. (four in LU.) are found, with slight changes, in the lay on page 172fl.

[14]Then did Cuchulain to the Morrigan the three things he had threatened her on the Cattle-raid of Regomain,[14] and his anger arose within him and he [LL.fo.75a.] wounded Loch with the Gae Bulga ('the Barbed-spear'), so that it passed through [W.2307.] his heart in his breast. [1]For truly it must have been that Cuchulain could not suffer the treacherous blows and the violence of Loch Mor the warrior, and he called for the Gae Bulgae from Laeg son of Riangabair. And the charioteer sent the Gae Bulga down the stream and Cuchulain made it ready. And when Loch heard that, he gave a lunge down with his shield, so that he drove it over two-thirds deep into the pebbles and sand and gravel of the ford. And then Cuchulain let go the Barbed-spear upwards, so as to strike Loch over the border of his hauberk and the rim of his shield.[1] [2]And it pierced his body's covering, for Loch wore a horn skin when fighting with a man,[2] [3]so that his farther side was pierced clear after his heart had been thrust through in his breast.[3]

[14-14] LU. and YBL. 1732.

[1-1] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[2-2] LU. and YBL. 1735-1736.

[3-3] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[4]"That is enough now," spake Loch; "I am smitten by that.[4] [5]For thine honour's sake[5] [6]and on the truth of thy valour and skill in arms,[6] grant me a boon now, O Cuchulain," said Loch. "What boon askest thou?" "'Tis no boon of quarter nor a prayer of cowardice that I make of thee," said Loch. "But fall back a step from me [7]and permit me to rise,[7] that it be on my face to the east I fall and not on my back to the west toward the warriors of Erin, to the end that no man of them shall say, [8]if I fall on my back,[8] it was in retreat or in flight I was before thee, for fallen I have by the Gae Bulga!" "That will I do," answered Cuchulain, "for 'tis a [9]true[9] warrior's prayer that thou makest."

[4-4] Eg. 93.

[5-5] Stowe.

[6-6] Eg. 93.

[7-7] Stowe.

[8-8] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[9-9] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

And Cuchulain stepped back, [10]so that Loch fell on his face, and his soul parted from his body and Laeg despoiled him.[10] [11]Cuchulain cut off his head then.[11] Hence cometh [W.2314.] the name the ford bears ever since, namely Ath Traged ('Foot-ford') in Cenn Tire Moir ('Great Headland'). [1]It was then they broke their terms of fair fight that day with Cuchulain, when five men went against him at one time, namely the two Cruaid, the two Calad and Derothor. All alone, Cuchulain killed them. Hence cometh Coicsius Focherda ('Fochard's Fortnight') and Coicer Oengoirt ('Five Warriors in one Field'). Or it may be, fifteen days Cuchulain passed in Fochard and it is hence cometh Coicsius Focherda on the Táin.[1]

[10-10] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[11-11] LU. fo. 77a, in the margin.

[1-1] LU. and YBL. 1739-1743.

And deep distress[a] possessed Cuchulain that day [2]more than any other day[2] for his being all alone on the Táin, [3]confronting four of the five grand provinces of Erin,[3] [4]and he sank into swoons and faints.[4] Thereupon Cuchulain enjoined upon Laeg his charioteer to go to the men of Ulster, that they should come to defend their drove. [5]And, on rising, this is what he said:[5] [6]"Good, O Laeg, get thee to Emain to the Ulstermen, and bid them come henceforward to look after their drove for I can defend their fords no longer. For surely it is not fair fight nor equal contest for any man for the Morrigan to oppose and overpower him and Loch to wound and pierce him."[6] And weariness of heart and weakness overcame him, and he gave utterance to a lay:--

"Rise, O Laeg, arouse the hosts, Say for me in Emain strong: I am worn each day in fight, Full of wounds, and bathed in gore!

"My right side and eke my left: Hard to say which suffers worse; Fingin's[b] hand hath touched them not, Stanching blood with strips of wood!

[W.2329.] "Bring this word to Conchobar dear, I am weak, with wounded sides. Greatly has he changed in mien, Dechtire's fond, rich-trooped son!

"I alone these cattle guard, Leave them not, yet hold them not. Ill my plight, no hope for me, Thus alone on many fords!

"Showers of blood rain on my arms, Full of hateful wounds am I. No friend comes to help me here, Save my charioteer alone!

"Few make music here for me, Joy I've none in single horn. When the mingled trumpets sound,[a] This is sweetest from the drone!

"This old saying, ages old:-- 'Single log gives forth no flame;' Let there be a two or three, Up the firebrands all will blaze!

"One sole log burns not so well As when one burns by its side. Guile can be employed on one; Single mill-stone doth not grind!

"Hast not heard at every time, 'One is duped'?--'tis true of me. That is why I cannot last These long battles of the hosts!

"However small a host may be, It receives some thought and pains; Take but this: its daily meat On one fork is never cooked!

"Thus alone I've faced the host, By the ford in broad Cantire; Many came, both Loch and Badb, As foretold in 'Regomain!'[b]

"Loch has mangled my two thighs; Me the grey-red wolf hath bit; Loch my sides[c] has wounded sore, And the eel has dragged me down!

"With my spear I kept her off; I put out the she-wolf's eye; [W.2371.] And I broke her lower leg, At the outset of the strife!

"Then when Laeg sent Aifè's spear,[a] Down the stream--like swarm of bees-- That sharp deadly spear I hurled, Loch, [1]Mobebuis'[1] son, fell there!

"Will not Ulster battle give To Ailill and Eocho's lass,[b] While I linger here in pain, Full of wounds and bathed in blood?

[LL.fo.75b.] "Tell the splendid Ulster chiefs They shall come to guard their drove. Maga's sons[c] have seized their kine And have portioned them all out!

"Fight on fight--though much I vowed, I have kept my word in all. For pure honour's sake I fight; 'Tis too much to fight alone!

"Vultures joyful at the breach In Ailill's and in Medb's camp. Mournful cries of woe are heard; On Murthemne's plain is grief!

"Conchobar comes not out with help; In the fight, no troops of his. Should one leave _him_ thus alone, Hard 'twould be his rage to tell!

[1]"Men have almost worn me out In these single-handed fights; Warrior's deeds I cannot do, Now that I must fight alone!"[1]

[a] Literally 'repentance.'

[2-2] Stowe.

[3-3] Stowe.

[4-4] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[5-5] Eg. 93.

[6-6] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[b] Physician to King Conchobar.

[a] Following Windisch's emended reading of LL.

[b] See above, page 168, note a.

[c] Literally, 'liver.'

[a] That is, the 'barbed' spear.

[1-1] Reading with MS. Stowe.

[b] That is, Medb.

[c] That is, the followers of Ailill.]

[1-1] LU. page 64, note 5, edition of Strachan and O'Keeffe.

[2]Although Cuchulain spoke thus, he had no strength for Laeg to leave him.[2]

[2-2] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

This then is the Combat of Loch Mor ('the Great') son of Mofemis against Cuchulain on the Driving of the Kine of Cualnge.

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[Page 175]

XVI

[1]THE VIOLATION OF THE AGREEMENT[1]

[2]Then were five men sent against Cuchulain on the morrow to contend with him and he killed them, so that they fell by his hand, and 'the Five of Cenn Cursighi' was their name.[2] [W.2400.] Then it was that Medb despatched six men at one and the same time to attack Cuchulain, to wit: Traig ('Foot') and Dorn ('Fist') and Dernu ('Palm'), Col ('Sin') and Accuis[a] ('Curse') and Eraisè ('Heresy'), three druid-men and three druid-women, [3]their three wives.[3] Cuchulain attacked them, [4]the six of them, and struck off their six heads,[4] so that they fell at his hands [5]on this side of Ath Tire Moire ('Big Land's Ford') at Methè and Cethè.[5]

[1-1] This heading is supplied by Windisch.

[2-2] Eg. 93.

[a] LU. 1764, H. 2. 17 and Eg. 93 have for this, _Mebul_, 'Shame.'

[3-3] LU. 1767.

[4-4] Stowe.

[5-5] LU. 1766-1767.

[6]Then it was that Fergus demanded of his sureties that fair-dealing should not be broken with Cuchulain. And it was there that Cuchulain was at that time,[6] [7]that is, at Delga Murthemni. Then Cuchulain killed Fota in his field, Bomailcè on his ford, Salach in his homestead, Muinè in his fort, Luar in Lethbera, Fertoithle in Toithle. These are the names of these lands forever, every place in which each man of them fell.[7]

[6-6] LU. and YBL. 1759-1760.

[7-7] LU. 1761-1765.

Forasmuch as covenant and terms of single combat had been broken with Cuchulain, Cuchulain took his sling in hand that day and began to shoot at the host from Delga ('the Little Dart') in the south, [8]in Murthemne.[8] Though [W.2406.] numerous were the men of Erin on that day, not one of them durst turn his face southwards [1]towards Cuchulain, towards the side where he was[1] [2]between Delga and the sea,[2] whether dog, or horse, or man. [3]So that he slew an hundred warriors till came the bright hour of sunrise on the morrow.[3]

[8-8] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[1-1] Stowe.

[2-2] LU. and YBL. 1745.

[3-3] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

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[Page 177]

XVIa

[1]THE HEALING OF THE MORRIGAN[1]

[W.2410.] [2]Great weariness came over Cuchulain after that night, and a great thirst, after his exhaustion.[2] Then it was that the Morrigan, daughter of Emmas, came from the fairy dwellings, in the guise of an old hag, [3]with wasted knees, long-legged,[3] [4]blind and lame,[4] engaged in milking a [5]tawny,[5] three-teated [6]milch[6] cow before the eyes of Cuchulain.[a] And for this reason she came in this fashion, that she might have redress from Cuchulain. For none whom Cuchulain ever wounded recovered therefrom without himself aided in the healing. Cuchulain, maddened with thirst, begged her for a milking. She gave him a milking of one of the teats [7]and straightway Cuchulain drank it.[7] "May this be a cure in time for me, [8]old crone," quoth Cuchulain, "and the blessing of gods and of non-gods upon thee!" said he;[8] and one of the queen's eyes became whole thereby. He begged the milking of [9]another[9] teat. [10]She milked the cow's second teat and[10] gave it to him and [11]he drank it and said,[11] "May she straightway be sound that gave it." [12]Then her head was healed so that it was whole.[12] He begged a third drink [W.2418.] [1]of the hag.[1] [2]She milked the cow's third teat[2] and gave him the milking of the teat [3]and he drank it.[3] "A blessing on thee of gods and of non-gods, O woman! [4]Good is the help and succour thou gavest me."[4] [5]And her leg was made whole thereby.[5] [6]Now these were their gods, the mighty folk: and these were their non-gods, the folk of husbandry.[6] And the queen was healed [7]forthwith.[7] [8]"Well, Cuchulain,[8] [9]thou saidst to me," spake the Morrigan, "I should not get healing [10]nor succour[10] from thee forever." "Had I known it was thou," Cuchulain made answer, "I would never have healed thee." Or, it may be Drong Conculainn ('Cuchulain's Throng') on Tarthesc is the name of this tale in the Reaving of the Kine of Cualnge.[9]

[1-1] LU. fo. 77a, in the margin.

[2-2] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[3-3] Eg. 93.

[4-4] LU. and YBL. 1748.

[5-5] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[6-6] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[a] Reading _fiadnaisse_.

[7-7] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[8-8] Eg. 93.

[9-9] Stowe.

[10-10] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[11-11] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[12-12] LU. and YBL. 1753.

[1-1] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[2-2] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[3-3] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[4-4] H. 2. 17 and Eg. 93.

[5-5] LU. and YBL 1755.

[6-6] A gloss incorporated in the text of LL., LU., YBL., Stowe, H. 2. 17. and Eg. 93.

[7-7] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[8-8] Eg. 93.

[9-9] LU. and YBL. 1755-1758.

[10-10] Eg. 93.

[11]Then it was she alighted in the form of a royston crow on the bramble that grows over Grelach Dolair ('the Stamping-ground of Dolar') in Mag Murthemni. "Ominous is the appearance of a bird in this place above all," quoth Cuchulain. Hence cometh Sgè nah Einchi ('Crow's Bramble') as a name of Murthemne.[11]

[11-11] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

Then Medb ordered out the hundred [12]armed[12] warriors [13]of her body-guard[13] at one and the same time to assail Cuchulain. Cuchulain attacked them all, so that they fell by his hand [14]at Ath Ceit Cuilè ('Ford of the First Crime').[14] "It is a dishonour for us that our people are slaughtered in this wise," quoth Medb. "It is not the first destruction that has befallen us from that same man," replied Ailill. Hence Cuilenn Cind Duni ('The Destruction of the Head [W.2426.] of the Dûn') is henceforth the name of the place where they were,[1] the mound whereon Medb and Ailill tarried that night.[1] Hence Ath Cro ('Gory Ford') is the name of the ford where they were, [2]and Glass Cro ('River of Gore') the name of the stream.[2] And fittingly, too, because of the abundance of gore and blood that went with the flow of the river.

[12-12] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[13-13] LU. 1768.

[14-14] LU. 1769.

[1-1] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[2-2] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17, and, similarly, LU. 1771.

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[Page 180]

XVII

THE GREAT ROUT ON THE PLAIN OF MURTHEMNE FOLLOWETH HERE BELOW

[W.2431.] [1]That night[1] the warriors of four of the five grand provinces of Erin pitched camp and made their station in the place called Breslech Mor ('the Great Rout') in the Plain of Murthemne. Their portion of cattle and spoils they sent on before them to the south to the cow-stalls of Ulster. [LL.fo.76a.] Cuchulain took station at Ferta ('the Gravemound') at Lerga ('the Slopes') hard by them. And his charioteer kindled him a fire on the evening of that night, namely Laeg son of Riangabair. Cuchulain saw far away in the distance the fiery glitter of the bright-golden arms over the heads of four of the five grand provinces of Erin, in the setting of the sun in the clouds of evening. Great anger and rage possessed him at their sight, because of the multitude of his foes, because of the number of his enemies [2]and opponents, and because of the few that were to avenge his sores and his wounds upon them.[2]

[1-1] Eg. 93.

[2-2] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[3]Then Cuchulain arose and[3] he grasped his two spears and his shield and his sword. He shook his shield and brandished his spears and wielded his sword and sent out the hero's shout from his throat, so that the fiends and goblins and sprites of the glens and demons of the air gave answer for the fearfulness of the shout [4]that he lifted on [W.2444.] high,[4] until Nemain, [1]which is Badb,[1] brought confusion on the host. The warriors of the four provinces of Erin made such a clangour of arms with the points of their spears and their weapons that an hundred [2]strong, stout-sturdy[2] warriors of them fell dead that night of fright and of heartbreak in the middle of the camp and quarters [3]of the men of Erin at the awfulness of the horror and the shout which Cuchulain lifted on high.[3]

[3-3] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[4-4] Translating from Stowe, H. 2. 17 and Eg. 93.

[1-1] Stowe, and LL., in the margin.

[2-2] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[3-3] Eg. 93.

As Laeg stood there he descried something: A single man coming from the north-eastern quarter athwart the camp of the four grand provinces of Erin making directly for him. "A single man here cometh towards us now, Cucucan," cried Laeg. "But what manner of man is he?" Cuchulain asked. "Not hard to say," [4]Laeg made answer.[4] "A great, well-favoured man, then. Broad, close-shorn hair upon him, and yellow and curly his back hair. A green mantle wrapped around him. A brooch of white silver[a] in the mantle over his breast. A kirtle of silk fit for a king, with red interweaving of ruddy gold he wears trussed up on his fair skin and reaching down to his knees. [5]A great one-edged sword in his hand.[5] A black shield with hard rim of silvered bronze thereon. A five-barbed spear in his hand. A pronged bye-spear beside it. Marvellous, in sooth, the feats and the sport and the play that he makes. But him no one heeds, nor gives he heed to any one. [6]No one shows him courtesy nor does he show courtesy to any one,[6] like as if none saw him in the camp of the four grand provinces of Erin." "In sooth, O fosterling," answered Cuchulain, "it is one of my friends of fairy kin [7]that comes[7] to take pity upon me, because they know the great distress wherein I am now all alone against the four grand provinces of Erin on the Plunder of the Kine of [W.2463.] Cualnge, [1]killing a man on the ford each day and fifty each night, for the men of Erin grant me not fair fight nor the terms of single combat from noon of each day."[1]

[4-4] Eg. 93.

[a] 'Of gold,' Eg. 93.

[5-5] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.

[6-6] Stowe.

[7-7] Stowe.

[1-1] Eg. 93 and H. 2. 17.