other · epic

Táin Bó Cúailnge — The Cattle Raid of Cooley

Oral tradition c. 1st–2nd century CE; written c. 700–1100 CE · Early Medieval Ireland (7th–12th century CE manuscripts) · Ireland (surviving in the Book of the Dun Cow and Book of Leinster)

The Pillow-Talk of Ailill and Medb

1It happened one time that Ailill and Medb had spread their royal bed in Cruachan,
2the stronghold of Connaught, and they conversed with each other on the pillow.
3"In truth," said Ailill, "she is a well-off woman
4who is the wife of a nobleman."
5"Well-off indeed," said Medb.
6"Why dost thou think so?"
7"For this reason: thou art better off today than the day I married thee."
8"I was very well off before ever I met thee," said Medb.
9They fell to arguing.
10Ailill said, "Thou hadst nothing which I did not equal, and more."
11Medb answered: "I have that which thou hast not.
12Bring here from the fields our herds, and let us count and compare."

The Wealth of Ailill and Medb

13They brought forth their household possessions, their goblets and cups,
14their gold and silver, their raiment and jewels, their sheep and their cattle.
15And it was found that all was equal, save that Ailill had one great bull,
16Finnbennach, "the White-horned," and Medb had no equal to it.
17"There is only one bull in Ireland to match Finnbennach," said Medb's messenger,
18"and that is the Donn Cuailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley,
19in the possession of Dáire mac Fiachna in Ulster."
20"Send messengers," said Medb, "to obtain that bull for a year, on hire.
21I will give in exchange fifty heifers and my own friendship,
22and if there be any objection, my own bed for one night."

The Refusal

23The messengers came to Dáire, and were feasted well.
24Dáire agreed to the loan.
25But that night, in their cups, one of Medb's men boasted:
26"Well is it that Dáire has agreed to give up his bull,
27for otherwise our army would have taken it by force."
28The steward of Dáire heard this, and reported it to his master.
29Dáire, in wrath, sent the messengers away.
30"By the truth of my conscience," he said, "unless they had taken this bull by force,
31they would not have taken it by fair means."

The Muster

32Medb assembled the four provinces of Ireland: Connaught, Leinster, Munster, and Meath.
33She led them into Ulster to take the Brown Bull.
34But the men of Ulster lay under the Curse of Macha —
35a debility that fell upon them at times of greatest need,
36laid on them for their cruelty to a pregnant woman long ago.
37All Ulster's warriors were as weak as women in childbirth.
38All, save one — for the curse fell only upon those born of Ulster's soil,
39and Cúchulainn was of the Sídhe, the fairy-folk,
40the son of the god Lugh.

Cúchulainn at the Ford

41Cúchulainn stood alone against the armies of Ireland.
42From ford to ford he moved, defending the passes.
43He challenged the champions of Medb's host to single combat,
44and slew them one by one, from dawn to dusk, day after day.
45"The terms are these," he said, "one warrior at a time to come against me.
46While the combat lasts, the army may march;
47when the combat ends, the army must halt until the next warrior is chosen."
48Medb agreed, and for many days he held the host.

The Warp-Spasm of Cúchulainn

49When the battle-frenzy came upon him, a monstrous transformation.
50His shanks and his joints reversed themselves;
51his heels and calves came round to the front,
52his ankles and knees pointed to the rear.
53One eye sunk deep into his skull,
54the other bulged out upon his cheek.
55His mouth stretched wide, meeting his ears,
56and his teeth were as long as a boar's.
57A hero-halo rose above his brow.
58His hair stood on end, each strand tipped with a drop of blood.
59Then he took his weapons in his hands, and turned upon the enemy,
60and the slaughter was terrible.

Ferdiad at the Ford

61The greatest of Cúchulainn's fights was with Ferdiad,
62his foster-brother, his comrade in training,
63whom Medb had bribed to fight him.
64Three days they fought, and each night they tended each other's wounds,
65and shared their food across the ford.
66On the fourth day, Cúchulainn called for the Gae Bolg,
67the terrible spear from the Sídhe.
68"I did not think," said Ferdiad, "that thou wouldst use that weapon against me."
69"Foster-brother," said Cúchulainn, "hast thou come to slay me otherwise?"
70The Gae Bolg was cast, and Ferdiad fell.
71Cúchulainn lifted him and carried him across the ford,
72laid him on the northern bank so he should not fall among enemies,
73and wept over him a great lament.

The Ending

74The men of Ulster awoke at last from their curse and came to the battle.
75The forces of Medb were driven back to Connaught.
76The Brown Bull was taken back to Ulster.
77But when he came, he found the White-horned bull loose in a field.
78They fought, all across Ireland, from Cooley to Cruachan.
79They tore up the earth, and left their prints in the hills.
80At last the Brown Bull killed the White-horned,
81scattered his flesh across all Ireland,
82and returned to his own place at Cooley — where he burst his heart and died.
83So ended the Táin, the Great Cattle Raid,
84for a quarrel that began between Ailill and Medb upon their pillow.

notes

Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley") is the central epic of the Ulster Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology and one of the greatest achievements of medieval European literature. The oldest complete written recension survives in the Book of the Dun Cow (Lebor na hUidre, compiled c. 1100), though the underlying oral tradition is much older, likely reaching back to the Iron Age. The plot is set in motion by a domestic quarrel: Queen Medb of Connaught, wanting to be as wealthy as her husband Ailill, seeks to acquire the great Brown Bull of Cooley (Donn Cuailnge) in Ulster. When the loan is refused, she assembles the armies of Ireland and marches on Ulster. But the warriors of Ulster lie under a magical debility (the ces noínden — a nine-day sickness laid on them for an ancient cruelty), and only the seventeen-year-old hero Cúchulainn can defend the province. Cúchulainn is one of the most remarkable heroes in world literature. Son of the god Lugh, trained in Scotland by the warrior-woman Scáthach, gifted with the terrifying "warp-spasm" (ríastrad) that transforms his body in battle, he is closer to a shamanic figure than a classical hero. His three-day duel with his foster-brother Ferdiad at the ford is one of the most emotionally powerful episodes in the epic. Translation: Winifred Faraday, "The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge (Táin Bó Cúailnge)," London: David Nutt, 1904. Public domain.

currently held: Book of the Dun Cow (Lebor na hUidre), Royal Irish Academy MS 23 E 25

IrishWarCeltic

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