Irish and Old-Norse Battle Spirits: Protective Goddesses
or Omens of Death?
Battle spirits play an important role in the lives of
warriors. It is considered a bad omen when they appear to warriors previous to
battle. They seem to reign over life and death, but are they connected to fate?
Are they just evil beings who delight in slaughter and blood or is it possible that
they also have a more affectionate, protecting side? Morrígan evidently shows
this protectiveness when Cú Chulainn is concerned, but how about the Old-Norse
valkyrjur?
An investigation of different situations in which battle
spirits appear in both the medieval Irish and the Old-Norse literature. The
central tale in the Irish part will be Táin Bó Cúailnge (‘The cattle raid of
Cooley’, TBC), and in the Old-Norse literature the focus will lie on Völsunga
Saga.
The names of the Irish battle spirits are: Badb, Neman,
Macha and Morrígan.
Neman, Macha and Morrigu are mentioned as the so called
sisters of the Badb but: “The name Badb seemed to refer to the mythological
beings supposed to rule over battle and carnage.” Badb is said to be “bean sidhe, a female
fairy, phantom, or spectre, supposed to be attached to certain families and to
appear sometimes in the form of squall crows, or royston crows”. The remark
that she was supposedly attached to a certain family resembles the Old-Norse
fylgja who was a spirit connected to a person or family, usually this being
would only appear to warn for an upcoming death. According to the Dictionary of
the Irish Language (DIL) Badb is the name of a war goddess, and gives the
meaning “scald crow, in which form the goddess appeared”. Furthermore it states
that it is used in the sense of deadly”, “fatal”, “dangerous” and “ill-fated”.
Némain, or Neamhan, is equated to “a badb catha, or a Royston
crow”, but this is not an etymological explanation. According to DIL she is the
wife of Neit, a war god, and she is sometimes identified with Badb. Her name is
said to mean “battle-fury”, “warlike frenzy”, “strife”, “murder” and “malice”.
Macha is said to mean magpie in DIL. DIL also says that
Macha is one of the three war goddesses of the Túatha Dé Danann, a daughter of Ernmas
and the sister of Badb and Morrígu. It notes that she is sometimes identified
with Badb and that her name is indeed also interpreted to mean “royston crow”.
Battle spirits have many different functions; in some
stories they appear for example as prophetesses, in other as protective and
guiding (in an educational way) goddesses or beings strongly connected to fate.
They can either play an important role in stories or just be mentioned as
frightening, screaming beings present on the battlefield.
In the Old-Norse literature the most important beings
associated with battle and death are the fylgjur (sg. fylgja) and the valkyrjur
(sg. valkyrja). They show some similarities with the Irish battle spirits
mentioned above.
Fylgjur
In the Old-Norse literature we find two types of fylgjur.
The term fylgja seems to be derived from the Old-Norse fylgð, “to follow”. The
first type appears in the shape of an animal, the second type appears in the
guise of a woman. The only thing they have in common is the name.
The animal-fylgja was the alter ego of the person it
belonged to. It belonged to a specific person; it came into this world together
with him, and died together with him (or a little before him, to be precise).
These fylgjur only became visible in times of crisis and this was then often followed
by bad luck and death. They also showed themselves when someone was about to
die as an omen of death. The animal-fylgja did not have its own identity and
when seen acted the way its owner would act later. Its behavior could not be
influenced and the animal was not able to do anything to help its alter ego and
prevent him from dying. The animal-fylgja was an outer soul that someone had
besides the soul of the body. It was always near its owner, though mainly
invisible.
The only thing the animal-fylgjur and the Irish battle
spirits have in common is that they both appear as a warning sign and often an
omen of death. In my opinion both the Irish battle spirits (and then I mean the
ones who are only depicted screaming, Morrígan does have more influence) and
the animal-fylgjur are guided by some sort of external fate. They are not able
to influence fate.
Fylgjur could also appear in the guise of a woman. They
could appear both in groups (each person had more than one fylgja in that case)
or alone. It was not so common for these fylgjur to appear as an omen of death,
but when they did, they would often ride death-horses which made it very
difficult to distinguish them from valkyrjur (Odin’s ‘choosers of the slain’ and
warrior maidens). The fylgjur usually emerged to protect and help people. They
could for example give people advice (which would ultimately lead to the death
of the person the advice was given to, whether he followed it or not), they
could give information about the future and help giving birth (in those cases they
are closely related to the Nornir: (the fates in Old-Norse mythology). When a
fylgja left the person she protected, it would inevitably lead to misfortune
and death. The female fylgjur are very
different from the animal-fylgjur since the female fylgjur have their own
identity and will and are not always near a specific person. The individual
fylgja does often protect a specific person, but she can choose to leave him at
any time. If she does leave someone, that person will die. She is therefore
connected to fate, like the Nornir. Unlike the animal-fylgja the female fylgja
does not die together with the person she protects. She will move on to someone
else. She is in this aspect more connected to a tribe than to a specific person.
These fylgjur share similarities with the Irish battle spirits who also do not
die when the people they protect die. Irish battle spirits also have a will and
identity of their own.
Valkyrjur
The valkyrjur are described in the Poetic Edda and Snorra
Edda as the maidens of Odin who join in battle and choose the warriors who are
to fall. The word has the etymology kjósaval which refers to the fact that the
valkyrja chooses which warriors are going to fall. The traditional valkyrja has
two functions: she is present on the battlefield where she chooses the bravest
warriors whom she then brings to
Valhöll, Odin’s hall, where she presents them with drinks. In Valhöll the
warriors are trained to fight alongside the gods during Ragnarök, the last big
battle before the world ends.
The names of the valkyrjur are mentioned in Völuspá (‘The
seeress’s prophecy’); a poem found in the Poetic Edda: “She saw valkyries, coming from afar, ready
for their journey to the people of the gods, Skuld raised her shield, Skogul
another, Gunn, Hild, Gondul and Geirskogul; now they are named, the maidens of
the Warrior, the valkyries, ready for their journey to the earth.”
where valkyrjur are present, a battle is not far away. In Völuspá they warn for the end of the world. The fact that Skuld is named as both one of the nornir and as a valkyrja, shows, in my opinion, that the valkyrjur have something to do with fate; they do after all choose who is going to die. I do not think valkyrjur were always regarded as scary beings, the way Badb is seen in the Irish literature, for death did not frighten the warriors. On the contrary, they saw death almost as a reward: only the best warriors were chosen to follow Odin to Vallhöl. It is true, however, that in the mythological Eddic poems the valkyrjur mainly appear in battle riding on horses accompanied by thunder and lightning, while in the more heroic tales the valkyrjur usually play a more protecting role.
Valkyrjur were also connected to ravens, just like the
Irish battle spirits are connected to birds of prey. Haraldskvæði presents a
valkyrja interrogating a raven. The later version of Völsunga Saga mentions a
valkyrja taking the shape of a crow. The ravens also strengthen their connection
to Odin, the god of battle. He is called the Raven’s God by Snorre since he has
two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory) who keep him up to date on
what happens in the world.
Battle spirits making prophecies
Badb and Morrígan appear as prophetesses in some stories,
usually predicting death and sorrow.
The most important instances concerning Badb occur in
Togail Bruidne Da Derga (‘The destruction of Da Derga’s hostel’, TBDD) and
Bruidne Da Choca (‘Da Choca’s hostel’, BDC). Morrígan makes significant
prophecies about the fate of the world in Cath Maige Tuired (‘The second battle
of Mag Tuired’, CMT), which can be compared to the Old-Norse prophecy Völuspá’
(‘The seeress’s prophecy’). Throughout Táin Bó Cúailnge (‘The cattle raid of
Cooley’, TBC) we also find various instances of battle spirits predicting
death.
In Togail Bruidne Da Derga Badb appears as a big, old
bearded woman with her mouth on one side of her head. She comes to king
Conaire, the main character of the tale while he is staying in Da Derga’s
hostel. There she casts a baleful eye upon him and foretells his death. King
Conaire then asks the woman her name and she chants him a list of names while
standing on one foot, holding one hand up and breathing one breath. This list
includes Badb and Némain, the names of war goddesses. Here Badb is described as
a big woman having an evil eye and this eye makes king Conaire think that she
might be a seer. Badb is portrayed in TBDD as a very big woman when she warned
for slaughter. Right before the start of a battle a big female being called a
trollkona (witchwoman) would sometimes appear in the Old-Norse literature. An
example of such a woman can be seen in Harald Hardrådes saga (‘The saga of
Harald Hardråde’) in Snorre Sturlusons Heimskringla (generally translated into
English as: The chronicle of the kings of Norway, but literally meaning ‘The round
world’). In chapter 80 Gyrd, one of the men on Harald’s ship, has a dream in
which he stood on the ship and saw a trollkona (witch woman) standing on the
island. She had a sword in one hand and a trough in the other. He also saw
ravens and ernes on every stern of the ship. She then recites a poem which
warns them for battle and death and says that the ravens will find enough on
the ships to feed on if the king sails to the west. In the next chapter a man
on a ship close to king Harald’s ship also has a dream. He dreams about king
Harald’s ship arriving in England, where a big army awaits them. Before the army
he sees a big woman riding a wolf. The wolf has a dead man’s body in his mouth
and blood is dripping from his jaw. When the wolf finishes eating one body, the
woman throws another one into his mouth until he has eaten all of the bodies.
She also recites a poem in which she describes how magic will let the red
shields shine when a battle approaches and she sees that the king will be
travelling towards ill-luck.
It becomes clear that these Old-Norse frightening battle
spirits, who are not necessarily fylgjur or valkyrjur, are also connected to
ravens and blood, just like the Irish Badb and Morrígan. These Irish women are
also often represented as very big, as in TBDD. Wolves also often seem present
on battle fields; here in Harald Hardrådes saga the big woman rides the wolf
and feeds it with the corpses. The woman is from the Jotun race, the race of
giants. These people were connected to the Otherworld, and they often appear
together with wolves. Wolves are therefore also associated with otherworldly
beings. The wolf and the raven were in addition animals associated with Odin,
the god of war. According to Grímnismál (‘The song of the masked one’) Odin has
two wolves: Freki and Geri (Eager and Voracious). In Táin Bó Cúailnge Morrígan takes the shape of a wolf when
she attacks Cú Chulainn. Here we also see wolves connected to battle and the
Otherworld.
John Carey wondered why wolves, and werewolves in
particular, were associated with the Otherworld. The Irish term conricht ‘wolf-shape’
is used in connection to the afterlife. Carey mentions a Norse author who wrote
about Irish werewolves depicting them as an entire clan who turned into wolves
as a result of a curse. These were probably shape-shifters and Carey notes that
in the Old-Norse tales the people turning into wolves were merely wearing
wolfskins and acting with wolfish ferocity, but they were usually not
shape-shifting. Some Irish tales also use the werewolf as a metaphor for fierce
behaviour.
In ‘Bruidne Da Choca’ Badb makes two prophecies but here
her height is not mentioned. In the first one she appears as a red woman
washing Cormac’s bloody harness at the ford. Cormac asks one of his followers
to ask the woman what she is doing, and Badb answers with a prophecy while
standing on one foot with one eye closed. She tells them that she is washing the
harness of the king who will perish and the harnesses of his men of trust. Badb
visits them again to foretell the death of the army appearing as a “bigmouthed,
swarthy, swift, sooty woman, lame and squinting with her left eye.” She
predicts death while leaning her shoulder against the doorpost, which possibly
means that she is standing on one foot. A blind left eye or closing the left eye is
obviously linked to the supernatural and associated with having access to or
possessing otherwise hidden knowledge. In the Irish literature the blinding of
an eye was associated with gaining wisdom. The word túatcoech, a variant of
túatcháech, meaning one-eyed or blind in the left eye, is mentioned in Bruidne
Da Choca in connection to Badb, and is found in this tale in a context of the
supernatural and mortal danger for the hero of the tale.
A possible parallel is found in the Old-Norse literature
where Odin, the god of wisdom, has sacrificed one of his eyes to gain wisdom
from a well. Odin possessed remarkable sight; he could see over all the worlds
and even see hidden things, so his sight was one of his most valuable
possessions. In the Old-Norse mythology the blinding of one eye also gives more
wisdom. The literature never mentions, however, which eye should be blinded. In
the Irish texts the left eye is specifically mentioned. Possibly because the
term túath- covers ‘northern; (on the) left; perverse, wicked, evil’ and
therefore associated the left with negative and the supernatural.
Odin was also said to be able to perform a paralyzing
spell which put shackles on enemies thus causing a state of momentary
immobility. There is a possible parallel between Odin and the Irish hero Balor,
as Balor’s eye was said to be paralyzing.
Morrígan’s final prophecy in Cath Maige Tuired and the
Old-Norse Völuspá.
Cath Maige Tuired narrates the epic battle between the
Túatha Dé Danann and the Fomoire. It is a battle between the pagan gods of
Ireland and their enemies who once were supernatural beings as well. It starts
describing the root of the conflict and recounts the first battle of Mag
Tuired, Cath Maige Tuired Cunga (‘The battle of Mag Tuired of Cong’ CMTC). There
are two versions available of this text, one of them based on Old-Irish
material and one Early Modern-Irish version. The dates assigned to the earlier
version range from the early ninth to twelfth centuries. It seems most likely
that it is the product of an eleventh- or twelfth-century redactor working on
ninth-century material. Morrígan’s prophecies in CMT are bigger and of a
greater importance than the prophecies Badb makes. After the battle was fought,
in §166 of CMT, Morrígan proceeds “to announce the battle and the great victory
which had occurred there to the royal heights of Ireland and to its síd-hosts,
to its chief waters and to its river mouths. And that is the reason Badb still relates
great deeds.” Morrígan is then asked for news and at this point she recites a
prophecy about good fortune. It promises peace and wealth: “Peace up to heaven.
/ Heaven down to earth. / Earth beneath heaven, / Strength in each, / A cup
very full, / Full of honey; / Mead in abundance. / Summer in winter… / Peace up
to heaven…”. Morrígan’s role in battle is obviously an important one, since it
is her task to announce the end of the battle. This prophecy also strengthens
the belief that Morrígan is associated with the fertility of the land and prosperity;
if she was not, why then would she make this prophecy?
“I shall not see /
a world of the living (?): / summer will be without flowers, / cows will be
without milk, / women without modesty, / men without courage, (…)Welcome
to evil, / a lament for custom, /all faces / withering in guilt (?), / many
crimes, / conflict of battle, / trust in horse-goads (?), many trysts, /
betrayal of princes’ sons, / a shroud of sorrows, / crooked judgement of
elders, / lying maxims of judges,/ every man a betrayer, / every youth a
brigand. / The son will go into his father’s bed; / the father will go into his
son's bed; / everyone will be his brother’s brother-in-law: / no one will seek
a wife away from home. / Good fortune will be born (?): / evil is the time / in
which a son will betray his father, / in which a daughter will betray…”
Carey says about CMT and this final prophecy: The story
is a parable of Ireland’s state in the second half of the ninth century,
concerned primarily with the erosion of traditional values. In the story, the
threat is recognized, opposed and thwarted; but we are not allowed to take much
comfort in this paradigmatic victory. At the very moment of triumph, the
war-goddess looks into the future and sees the same dangers resurgent in the
Ireland of the author, the “present” in which CMT was written. What she beheld may
indeed have seemed, to many of those then living, to be the end of the world. The
prophecies of the Morrígan have often been compared to the Old-Norse Eddic poem
Völuspá, ‘The seeress’s prophecy’. This is a prophecy describing the
development of the world, from the creation of the world itself and its
inhabitants, until its inevitable ending and following immediate resurrection.
The degeneration of society’s rules which signifies the beginning of Ragnarök,
the end of the world, is described in stanza 45: “Brothers will be each other’s curse;
relatives will break blood ties, the world is hard, prostitution reigns, a time
of axes, a time of swords, shields will split, a time of wind, a time of
wolves, before the world rotates, no man will spare another.”
This prophecy shows a close resemblance with the way
Morrígan describes the end of the world. Both cultures associate the end of the
world with a diminishing of the values of society. Morrígan starts by
prophesizing the victory of the Túatha Dé Danann in the battle of Mag Tuired.
Yet this victory will be pursued by a destruction of the values, beliefs and
customs of the era she lived in; this destruction will take place in the time
that CMT is written. Völuspá, however, first describes the terrible things that
will happen when the world comes to an end, but promises that a better,
prosperous world will emerge afterwards. The very last stanza of Völuspá, in
which the prophetess sees a dark dragon holding corpses between its wings
approaching, might be interpreted as a warning that even this wonderful new
world will also eventually come to an end. This might signify that the world somehow
is not complete without a chaotic power and that even when the chaotic powers
are destroyed, they will always find a way to return.
So where Morrígan’s prophecies predict a victory that
will eventually end in destruction in the future, Völuspá prophesizes a
destruction that will lead to the emerging of a much better world. We do not know,
however, if Morrígan’s prophecy is complete. So no final conclusions can be
made.
Old-Norse mythology is all about maintaining order.
Ragnarök is in that view an outburst of chaos which will lead to a perfect
orderly world. Morrígan represents a chaotic power in the Irish literature. The
chaotic quality is not a matter of how she behaves towards the Dagda but the
forces which she symbolizes. E.A. Gray says about this: Throughout Irish
literature, the Morrígan represents the destructive and chaotic violence of warfare.
Because the powers she symbolizes inevitably inflict losses on both sides of
the conflict, the Morrígan is an ambiguous figure; and the extent of her
support for any given cause can never be simply assumed. By making the Morrígan
a kinswoman of the Túatha Dé Danann, the forces of order, rather than of the
Fomoire, Irish myth symbolically supports the belief that, on the whole, battle tends to establish justice and to
maintain social order.
Prophecies and omens of death in Táin Bó Cúailnge
Early in Táin Bó Cúailnge Morrígan prophesizes the cattle
raid to the big black bull. In the form of a bird she perches on the pillar
stone on Temair Cúailnge and predicts a great war to the bull the Táin Bó
Cúailnge is about. Here Morrígan is equated to Allecto, one of the Greek
furies. She can see the future and predicts death and sorrow. We should be
aware that influences from other cultures are often present in medieval texts.
Throughout TBC battle spirits appear as an omen of death.
They often appear to the armies and scream and frighten them. In ‘The fight of
Fer Diad and Cú Chulainn’, for example, Fer Diad recites a poem to encourage
his charioteer: “Let us go to this encounter, to contend with this man, until
we reach that ford above which the war-goddess (Badb) will shriek. Let us go to
meet Cú Chulainn, to wound his slender body, so that a spear-point may pierce
him and he may die thereof.” The scream of the war-goddess is here seen as a
clear omen of death.
After a description of the vision that the poet Dubthach
has, the army is attacked by Némain and is totally confused after her
appearance. A closer look at Némain’s name might explain the confusion: her
name means panic. According to Hennessy “she confounds armies, so that friendly
bands fall in mutual slaughter”. Némain also occurs after another vision of the
poet Dubthach; she then attacks the host: “The war-goddess attacked the host. A
hundred of them fell dead.” In these instances Némain has an active role: she
attacks the army and brings confusion, panic and death.
In ‘The march of the companies’ Morrígan is standing
between the encampments of the Érainn and the Ulaid and says: “Ravens gnaw the
necks of men. Blood flows. Battle is fought… Hail to the men of Ulster! Woe to
the Érainn! Woe to the men of Ulster! Hail to the Érainn!’ These were the words
she whispered to the Érainn: ‘Woe to the men of Ulster for they have not won
(?) the battle.’” Here she urges both sides on to battle and foretells victory
to both. Her promise to the Érainn is a false one since Badb, Bé Néit and
Némain shriek above their encampments later that night which causes hundreds of
Érainn warriors to die of terror.
Genealogical relationships between battle spirits.
In Leabhar Gabhála ‘The book of invasions of Ireland’
(LG) and in Cath Muige Tuired Cunga ‘The battle of Mag Tuired of Cong’ (CMTC)
Morrígan, Badb and Macha are depicted as sisters. Leabhar Gabhála provides a
fictitious history of Ireland until the coming of Christianity. It contains
accounts on the Túatha Dé Danann and the Fomoire. The version I use is the
first Recension which is found in the Book of Leinster, R. Mark Scowcroft dates
this text to the 12th century. In §103 of LG the genealogical relation is
mentioned: Badb, Macha and Moir-Rigan, the three daughters of Dealbaeth, son of
Ned, son of Ionda. Ernbas, daughter of Eatarlamh, son of Ordan, son of
Iondae, son of Alldae was the mother of all those women. Mor-Riogan had another
name, Ana; from her are named the Paps of Anann in East Luachair. In the version Koch used are Badb, Macha and Anand the
three daughters of Ernmas in the corresponding episode. In the next paragraph, §72, a significant
change is made: the name of Anand is changed to Morrígan. In §91 of this
version it becomes clear that Anann from §71 is in fact Morrígan: “Ernmas had
three more daughters: Badb and Macha and Morrígu (whose name was Anann).” Here
we see that Badb, Macha and Morrígu were the daughters of a female witch.
Cath Muige Tuired Cunga deals with the travellings of the
Fir Bolg and the Túatha Dé Danann and their arrival in Ireland. It then
continues with their meeting in Ireland and narrates of the negotiations for a
peaceful settlement of the claims of the Tuatha Dé Danann and it concludes with
the actual first Battle of Mag Tuired. We are told that after the battle was
fought, the defeated Fir Bolg settled in Connaught. This text is of a later
date than Cath Maige Tuired and it might have used CMT as a model. In §39 at
the beginning of the battle, Badb, Macha and Morrígan are said to have accompanied
the chiefs who went in front of the Túatha Dé Danann. I think this suggests
that these women actively participated in battle, not just as sorceresses
watching from the side. The fact that they are continuously mentioned
throughout the story also shows that they were of importance.
On the last day of battle the Badba “furies and monsters and hags of doom”, cried
out so loud that their screams were heard everywhere. These fierce cries of the
battle spirits do not predict anything good: “It was like the fearful agonising cry on the last
dreadful day when the human race will part from all in this world.” The Túatha
Dé Danann then advanced together with a tri bantuathacha “the three sorceresses, Badb, Macha and
Mor(r)ígan”. Eventually, after a fierce battle, the Fir Bolg were defeated.
Morrígan, Badb and Macha sometimes appear as a trio, the
valkyrjur often appear in groups of nine. I have not found any evidence for
genealogical relationships between valkyrjur but the valkyrja Svava is called
the reincarnation of the valkyrja Sigrun in Helgakviða Hundingsbana önnor
(generally translated as: The second ballad of Helgi, the killer of Dog’s son).
Battle spirits controlling the weather
In §29 of CMTC, in the middle of the battle from the
Túatha Dé Danann against the Fir Bolg, Badb, Macha and Morrígan went to the
Knoll of the Taking of the Hostages, and to the Hill of Summoning at Tara “and set forth magic showers of sorcery and
compact clouds of mist and a furious rain of fire, with a downpour of red blood
from the air on the warriors’ heads.” Here the women work as a trio of sorceresses to protect and help their own
people.
This incident can be compared to the way the valkyrjur
control the weather in Helgakviða Hundingsbana önnor. When Helgi is on his way
to declare war to the man who has betrothed himself to Sigrun, a valkyrja who
is the love of Helgi’s life, Sigrun protects him twice by making a fierce
thunderstorm calm down so that his ship can safely reach land. The arrival of
the valkyrjur in battle is also often ccompanied by thunder and lightning. It
is striking that in both cultures these kind of supernatural beings are able to
control the weather.
Birds in the Irish and Old-Norse material
Valkyrjur were able to take an animal form and usually
chose the guise of a swan. An example of this is found in Helreið Brynhildar
(‘Brynhild’s hell-ride’) where Odin lets eight sisters, including the young
Brynhild, wear swan coats. By giving them these coats they are made valkyrjur.
In this saga a man named Agnar steals the swan coats of the girls when they are
bathing, he forces them into his service by doing so. Another example is
present in Völundarkviða (‘The lay of Völund’). There three brothers meet three
valkyrjur on the edge of a lake. They knew the women were valkyrjur because
their swan coats were lying next to them. The brothers wooed the girls and won
them. They lived together for seven winters, after that the girls flew away. They
went back to their battles, and never returned. The swan coats allowed the
valkyrjur to fly through the air. Swan maidens had another specific function:
they granted wishes, they are therefore referred to as óskmeyjar, ‘wish maidens’.
This name also strengthens their connection to Odin. Odin has many names; all mentioned
in Snorra Edda. One of them is Óski, derived from the Old-Norse word ósk
‘wish’.
In Serglige Con Culainn a group of women that has fallen
in love with Cú Chulainn sees a flock of beautiful birds. They all want to have
a pair and Cú Chulainn shoots a pair for each of the women, except for his own
wife. He wants to give her two more beautiful birds connected to each other
with a red-gold chain. Cú Chulainn’s wife forbids him to hunt these birds; she
has a feeling that these birds possess some kind of power. Cú Chulainn ignores
her warning. He only succeeds to pierce the wing of one of the birds with his
javelin. He is angry but falls asleep. He then has a vision in which two angry
women beat him up severely with a horsewhip. He is barely alive when they
finally leave him. Cú Chulainn then realises that the birds were supernatural
women.
In Oidhe Chloinne Lir ‘The tragedy of the children of
Lir’ the jealous Aoife turns Lir’s children into swans, she had planned to kill
them, but her womanly nature prevented that. Another instance which shows that
the concept of a girl transforming into a swan was also known in Ireland, is
found in the Irish tale Aislinge Óengusso (‘The dream of Óengus’). Óengus falls
in love with a girl, Cáer Ibormeith, the daughter of the king of Síd Úamuin,
who takes the shape of a swan one year and the shape of a girl every day of the
following year. The fact that she is the daughter of the king of a síd might
associate her with the Otherworld, which suggests that the ability to take the
shape of a swan is connected to the Otherworld.
The washing of armour with blood in Irish and Old-Norse
material.
Gísla saga Súrssonar (‘The saga about Gísli Sursson’) is
part of the Icelandic sagas that were written down around 1200 AD. The events
described in the sagas are said to have happened more than 200 years earlier. In
the saga two women appear in Gísli’s dreams: a good dream woman and an evil
one. The good dream woman gives Gísli advice and protects him, while the evil
woman appears to remind him of the terrible way he will die. The bad dream
woman often appears in Gísli’s dream and the nature of these dreams make him
realise that he will not have a long life. One time she emerges dripping with
blood; she wants to smear it on him and wash him with it. He recognizes that
she is an omen of bad luck in battle and his death. In a later dream she tells
him that she will reverse everything the good dream woman promised him. She
then washes his hair with blood from his wounds and puts a bloody cap on his
head; her hands are again dripping with his blood.
The washing of armour with blood is not only present in
Old-Norse stories, in Irish stories war-goddesses also sometimes appear washing
the armour of a warrior with blood. This is a clear omen of death. An example
is found in Bruidne Da Choca where Cormac and his retinue see a red woman on
the edge of a ford washing a chariot. When she lowered her hands into the
water, the water became red with blood. Cormac is repulsed by this sight and
tells one of his men to go ask the woman what she is doing. The woman answers
with a prophecy while standing on one foot and with one eye closed, telling them
that she is washing the harness of a king that will perish. The messenger tells
Cormac about this prophecy made by Badb, and Cormac then approaches her and
asks whose harness she is washing. Badb answers that it is his own harness and
the harnesses of his company.
In one version of Aided Con Culainn, ‘The death of Cú
Chulainn’, called Brislech Mór Maige Murthemni (‘The great defeat on the plain
of Muirthemne’) Cú Chulainn meets two beautiful young women washing a piece of
clothing covered with blood while lamenting. In that same version Cú Chulainn’s
mother tries to give him milk three times, and every time the milk turns into
blood which also is a warning that his death is near.
In Reicne Fothaid Canainne (‘The poem of Fothad
Canainne’) we get a vivid description of how Morrígan is perceived. It also
mentions the washing of spoils: “There
are around us here and there many spoils whose luck is famous; horrible are the
huge entrails which the Morrígan washes. She has come to us from the edge of a
pillar (?), ‘t is she who has egged us on; many are the spoils she washes,
horrible the hateful laugh she laughs. She has flung her mane over her
back, a stout heart… (?) that hates her; though it is near us here where she
is, let not fear attack thy shapes.” Mórrígan is presented here as a daunting
woman encouraging slaughter and delighting in it. She is seen in a negative
light, a frightening omen of death.
Irish and Old-Norse battle spirits and fate.
Valkyrjur could influence fate to a certain extent. Proof
of this might be found in Völundarkviða. This lay starts with a prose section
which describes the encounter with the valkyrjur. In the following poem this
encounter is summarized and the poem continues describing what happens after
the girls flew away. In the first verse of the poem the girls are said to be:
alvítur ungar / ørlög drýgja, ‘young beings who determine people’s fate’. It
should be noted that the Old-Norse word ørlög means “destiny”, “fate”, “death”
and “battle”. Drýgja means “to be engaged in”, “to occupy oneself with”.
Destiny is given as the first translation for ørlög in the dictionary, so it is
probably the primary meaning. The other meanings are also remarkable in the
valkyrjur-context. The word ørlög combines the primary function of the valkyrjur;
battle, with the primary function of the nornir, who mainly occupied themselves
with determining people’s fate. This word, then, also connects these beings to
each other, and shows that their functions were interwoven. This connection
becomes even clearer when Snorre Sturluson mentions Skuld, the youngest of the nornir, as one of the valkyrjur in his
Edda.
In the Irish stories we encounter battle spirits who try
to warn against slaughter. The battle they warn against occurs despite the
warning. In TBC we find that a battle spirit plays a massive role: Morrígan in
fact causes the cattle raid. By her acts she ensures that the cattle raid will
occur. Morrígan is also able to guarantee victory. In CMT she ensures the
victory of the Dagda and his people by sleeping with him. When Cú Chulainn
refuses her in TBC she makes clear that bad luck will come his way.
Battle spirits associated with fertility and the earth
In Cath Maige Tuired we read about the union of Morrígan
and the Dagda in §84. He meets her while she is washing and they sleep
together. Dagda meets Morrígan at the water which again suggests that she was
more than just a battle goddess. This associates her with fertility and the
land and also with water. In TBC we see that Morrígan threatens to attack Cú Chulainn
when he is fighting in the waters of the ford. Cú Chulainn however ends up
severely wounding her. Carey says: There are, then, many stories in which
sexually active or demanding women, associated or identified with the waters of
rivers or the sea pose a threat to men in general and to the heroic warrior in
particular. But it would be an oversimplification simply to equate water with
‘the feminine’, and to oppose it to the world of men. In the case of CMT,
however, the Dagda benefits from the encounter with Morrígan. By sleeping with
Dagda, Morrígan ensures his victory in battle. This becomes clear in the next paragraph
where Morrígan tells the Dagda where the Fomoire were going to land: at Mag Céidne.
She advises him to summon the áes dána of Ireland to meet her at the ford of
the Unshin and she promises him that she will destroy the king of the Fomoire: And
she would go into Scétne to destroy Indech mac Dé Domnann, the king of the
Fomoire, and would take from him the blood of his heart and the kidneys of his
valor. Later she gave two handfuls of that blood to the hosts that were waitingat
the Ford of the Unshin. This makes clear that Indech mac Dé Domnann is doomed.
Morrígan has chosen his death and has sealed his fate by presenting two
handfuls of his blood to the hosts. Blood is often used as an omen for death
and battle in both the Celtic and Old-Norse literature.
Carey notes a Norse parallel to this episode, in this
tale the woman is set in a purely negative light. The giantess Gjálp is
standing upstream with one foot on each of the river Vimur’s banks causing a
flood. This flood almost overwhelms Thor when he's trying to cross. He brings
the water under control again by throwing a stone at Gjálp and remarks that a
river must be stopped at its source.
The prophecies Morrígan makes at the end of CMT also show
her connection to the prosperity and fertility of the land. The most notable
mention of Morrígan in the dindshenchas (‘History of Placenames’) also shows a
strong connection to fertility. She appears in the poem about Odras, a tale
about the wife of Buchet, the hospitaller. Morrígan is called ba samla día sóach,
“the shape-shifting goddess was a phantom (?)” as it is translated in DIL.
Edward Gwynn translates the sentence as follows “In this wise came the
shape-shifting goddess”. She is further described as Tuc léi tarb in tnúthach,
/ in rígan garb gnáthach “The envious queen fierce of mood, the cunning raven
caller”, and as in Mórrígan mórda, / ba slog-dírmach sámda “the mighty
Morrígan, whose pleasure was in murdered hosts”. Morrígan steals a bull, which then
covers a cow. She brings the bull to Cruachan, where this bull will later be
the cause of TBC. Odras follows her, but is overcome by sleep.
Morrígan then comes to her and chants powerful spells over her sleeping body
turning her into a river. Here Morrígan is depicted as a mighty, frightening
sorceress and battle goddess who has the ability to shape-shift and who
delights in slaughter. She is strongly associated with cattle, prosperity of
the land and with water: she turns Odras into a river. This link to both cattle
and the land might again suggest a link with fertility. In Táin Bó Cúailnge
Morrígan is also often associated with cattle. She actually causes the cattle
raid and during the cattle raid she often appears next to cattle and once she
even transforms herself into a cow. Máire Herbert states that Morrígan’s
activities have a tutelary character: “She oversees the land, its stock and its
society. Her shape-shifting is an expression of her affinity with the whole
living universe of creatures, bird, animal and human.”
In the Old-Norse literature the fertility goddess Freyja
is also a goddess of death. She and Odin divide the warriors chosen by the
valkyrjur and take them to their halls, as is told in Grímnismál. Freyja could therefore be seen as a
chiefvalkyrja. She also has the ability to see in the future and is able to
perform (evil) magic, just like Morrígan. To exemplify this twofold nature of
Freyja, Máire Bhreathnach mentions that one of the early kings of Sweden is
said to have been crushed by a seidkona (a witchwoman) who took the form of a
mare. Perhaps this story is about king Vanlande, one of the first kings of Uppsala.
This king was, according to Snorre Sturluson’s Ynglinga saga as told in
Heimskringla, killed by a mara. He had promised to return to a Finnish girl,
but after he failed to do so for ten years, the girl calls in the help of a
seidkona who then conjures the mara to kill him.
The valkyrjur might also have a connection to the land
since they were often seen at the side of a lake. They could also shape-shift
and mainly took the form of a swan.
Irish and Old-Norse battle spirits as protective
goddesses
Morrígan often seems to guide and protect Cú Chulainn
during his life. In other stories she mainly appears as a war goddess, in Táin
Bó Cúailnge, Táin Bó Regamna, and Aided Conculainn, however, she fulfils a more
important role in addition to appearing as ‘just’ a battle spirit. Her role in
TBC becomes more important as she is associated with the hero of TBC, Cú Chulainn,
and crosses his path on several occasions. In ‘The Fight between Éogan mac
Durthacht and Conchobar’, Cú Chulainn is searching for Conchobar. On a battle
field he notices a man carrying half of another man on his back. The man asks
if Cú Chulainn wants to help him carry his brother. Cú Chulainn refuses
whereupon the man throws his burden to Cú Chulainn. They start to fight and Cú
Chulainn is thrown down. Then the voice of the war goddess (in mboidb) is heard
from among the corpses: “It’s a poor sort of warrior that lies down at the feet
of a ghost!”After hearing this, Cú Chulainn immediately rises and decapitates
his opponent. In this episode the consequence of the presence of the badb/bodb,
again translated as war goddess, is different from the situations discussed earlier;
here Cú Chulainn regains strength from her words and he can now defeat his
opponent.
The threats from Morrígan and Cú Chulainn’s reaction are
also present in Táin Bó RegamnaTBR is one of the fore-tales, or remscéla, of
TBC. It might even be the most important remscéla from the Táin.This story
tells us what caused the Táin. In TBR Cú
Chulainn and his charioteer Laeg meet a strange company. They see a one legged red
horse in front of a red chariot. The pole of the chariot went straight through
the horse. On the chariot they saw a red woman with red eyebrows wearing a red
cloak. When asked for her name she gives an absurd long list, which
infuriates Cú Chulainn. She is a satiric poet and received the cow in exchange
for a poem. Cú Chulainn asks her to recite the poem. When the poem is finished,
a furious Cú Chulainn wants to take another leap into the chariot, but the chariot,
together with the woman, man and cow have suddenly disappeared. He then notices
a black bird on a branch near him. That is when he recognizes her as Morrígan.
He tells her that she is an evil woman, and that if he had known that he was
dealing with her, he would have acted differently. Morrígan says that it does
not matter, since it would lead to bad luck in any case. Cú Chulainn then
argues that Morrígan does not have the ability to cause him bad luck. She
disagrees and tells him: "Yes, I certainly can," said the woman.
"To seal your death, I am with you and I will be with you," she said.
As it turns out she cannot actually cause his death since Cú Chulainn’s bravery
defies fate. In this story Morrígan shows in many different ways that she is a
supernatural being. She can shape-shift: she changes into a black bird. Besides
being able to see the future and possibly influence fate, Morrígan also has a prophetic
gift: she tells him that because of what she did here, the cattle raid of
Cúailnge will take place. Cú Chulainn points out that the cattle raid will make
him even more famous. Morrígan then answers with the same threats as in ‘The
conversation of the Mórrígan with Cú Chulainn’: she will attack him in the
shape of an eel, a she-wolf and a hornless red heifer. These threats are
formulated a bit different in TBR: as a grey she-wolf she will take a bite out
of him, in TBC she threatens to rush the cattle upon him. In this version she
is more explicit about what she will do to him as a red hornless heifer. In TBC
she says: “’I shall come to you in the guise of a hornless red heifer in front of the cattle and they
will rush upon you at many fords and pools yet you will not see me in front of
you.’” In TBR she says that she will be a white cow with red ears and she will
go into the water of the ford followed by a hundred of other white red-eared
cows. The whole herd will storm in the ford and she says that Cú Chulainn will
be decapitated there. The threats Cú Chulainn utters in response are the same
in both accounts. Only at the end of the tale the woman’s identity is revealed.
Her identity is not revealed in the text of TBC, only the title shows that we
are indeed dealing with Morrígan. In TBR we get a detailed description of the
appearance of Morrígan. The colour red is dominant here. The creatures and the
colour red (might) refer to the Otherworldliness of Morrígan: “The wolf was
greyish-red, the colour of the Cwn Annwn, the hounds of the Welsh Otherworld;
the heifer was white and red-eared, and again this combination belongs to the
supernatural realms, both in Wales and Ireland.” .Wolves are also closely
connected to the supernatural.
In ‘The death of Lóch Mac Mo Femis’ in TBC Morrígan and
Cú Chulainn perform the threats they expressed in ‘The conversation of the
Morrígan with Cú Chulainn’. In this episode we also find a reference to TBR:
“Then it was that Cú Chulainn did against the Mórrígan the three things that he
had threatened her with in the Táin Bó Regamna.” Another version of this
episode is found in the Book of Leinster. Here Morrígan does the same things to
Cú Chulainn but it is remarkable that in this variant Morrígan, in the shape of
a white red-eared heifer, is accompanied by fifty other heifers, each pair
linked together with a chain of white bronze. These chains are also often
mentioned in connection to birds. Morrígan shows characteristics of the mara in this fragment.
Her evil thoughts towards Cú Chulainn take the physical form of an eel, a
she-wolf and a hornless red heifer, just like the mara is the result of evil
desires directed to a specific person. When Morrígan comes to Cú Chulainn to
heal her wounds, it becomes clear that the wounds Cú Chulainn inflicted upon
her affect all her guises. She does not show all the features of a mara however;
the mara often caused anxiety and a loss of breath since she was said to
strangle her victim. The mara was a metaphor for a person’s own fears and the malevolent
desires of others. Therefore the shape in which the mara appeared is varied and
personal and often depends on the situation. When a mara appears in human form,
she often appears as either a beautiful, inviting young woman or an old ugly hag; these are also guises
Morrígan often appears in. She appears as a young woman in ‘The conversation of
Morrígan and Cú Chulainn’, and she takes the guise of an old half blind woman
milking a cow in ‘The healing of the Mórrígan’. Cú Chulainn fails to recognize
her and heals her in exchange for some milk. After she is healed Morrígan
reveals her true identity to him.
In Aided Con Culainn Morrígan tries to prevent Cú
Chulainn from going to what will be his final battle. The second day he finds
his chariot broken: “Now, the Morrígan had smashed the chariot the previous
night, She did not want Cú Chulainn to go to the battle because she knew he
would not return to Emain Macha.” Here we see that even though Morrígan vowed
to take revenge after Cú Chulainn refused her, she still tries to protect him.
Cú Chulainn, however, never pays any attention to her warnings. His horse Liath
Macha also tries to stop him by turning his left side to him three times, Cú
Chulainn tries to calm him by saying: “Badb struck us in Emain Macha never.” Then
Liath Macha allows him to jump in the chariot. Leborcham, the daughter of two
of Conchobor’s slaves, also tries to stop him but her attempts are in vain. After
the above mentioned attempts to protect him have failed miserably, various
events take place that show that Cú Culainn is indeed riding
towards his death. On the way to the battlefield Cú Chulainn stumbles upon “three
hags of sorcery”, they are cooking a dog. Cú Chulainn is faced with a dilemma:
it is geis for him to refuse food, but it is also geis to eat the meat of his
namesake. The old women insult him by saying that their cooking place must be
below his standards and say: “One who cannot accept or endure little things is not
capable of great things.” This makes Cú Chulainn decide to take some of the dog
meat anyway, making his death inevitable: violating a geis always leads to
misfortune, and often death. He then visits his mother who three times offers
him milk that turns into blood, when he leaves his mother’s house and follows
his way, he sees two lamenting girls washing a piece of cloth covered with his blood. These are all
signs indicating that his death is near.
Cú Chulainn arrives at the plain of Muirthemne and the
battle begins. He dies after a long fight. After his death a raven lands on his
shoulder just before he is decapitated. This raven (might be) is Morrígan. If
the raven is indeed Morrígan, it can be linked to the remark Morrígan made to
Cú Chulainn in Táin Bó Regamna; she told him that she was the sealer or
guardian of his death, depending on the translation. Her assumed appearance
here again emphasizes the special relationship between Morrígan and Cú
Chulainn. In this tale Morrígan tries in vain to reverse her own prediction.
She warns him by breaking his chariot, but cannot prevent that Cú Chulainn is
riding towards his death. Here we also see that Morrígan is inconsistent. After
Cú Chulainn refused her in ‘The conversation of the Morrígan with Cú Chulainn’,
she does anything within her power to take revenge but now, when his end is
near, she tries to prevent him from dying.
Despite showing similarities with the mara in these
tales, Morrígan also shows, in my opinion, many characteristics of the female
fylgja. She watches over Cú Chulainn just the way the fylgja does, and the
advice she gives also leads to Cú Chulainn’s downfall. There is a striking difference,
however. When Morrígan turns against Cú Chulainn after he refused her love,
this does not lead to Cú Chulainn’s death, the way it would if Morrígan was a
fylgja. On the contrary; Cú Chulainn outsmarts her and ends up severely
wounding her. Morrígan also tries to prevent his death; this is not something a
fylgja could do.
Morrígan’s role also shows similarities with the valkyrja
Brynhild’s role. Just like Morrígan guides Cú Chulainn throughout his life,
albeit sometimes in an ambiguous way, valkyrjur also often choose a specific
hero to protect. As an example see the role Brynhild plays in Sígrdrífumál and
Völsunga Saga.
Sígrdrífumál
In the Eddic poem Sígrdrífumál, a valkyrja plays a similar
role to the role Morrígan has in relation to Cú Chulainn. Sigurd meets the
valkyrja Sígrdrífa who is lying asleep in full armour. He wakes her up and she
wants to tell him her story. To strengthen his memory she gives him a drinking
horn filled with mead. After invoking the gods and goddesses to regain her
magical powers she tells him that she fought in a battle between two kings:
Gunnar with the helmet and Agnar. Odin had granted Gunnar victory in this
battle and Sígrdrífa was supposed to protect him, but she took matters into her
own hands and killed Gunnar. Odin punished her by stinging her with a sleeping thorn
and before dooming her to marriage he told her that she would never grant anyone
victory anymore. Sígrdrífa then swore to never marry a man who knows fear.
After telling her story she shares the wisdom of the runes with Sigurd and
gives him advice. Sigurd then promises to marry her and they make an oath to be
forever faithful to each other. The
story of Sígrdrífa and Sigurd continues in Völsunga saga, where Sígrdrífa is called
Brynhild. Sígrdrífa closely resembles Morrígan: both women are associated with
magic, battle and the supernatural and both women declare their love to a
specific hero and try to protect and advise him. It is remarkable that in both
cultures important female beings closely connected to battle and death declare
their love to a specific hero and offer him protection from dying.
Völsunga saga
There are two versions of Völsunga saga, one of which is
found in the poetic Edda. The oldest manuscript (Codex Regius) of this version
dates from ca. 1270, the date of the original compilation is uncertain,
probably between the second half of the twelfth century and not after ca. 1250.
The second version is much more elaborate and the oldest manuscript dates from 1400.
This version was compiled not later than in 1260-1270. In the fragments of
Völsunga saga that are found in the poetic Edda, Sigurd and Brynhild (the same person as Sígrdrífa) meet again. As a
valkyrja in Sígrdrífumál Brynhild gives advice and tries to protect Sigurd, the
hero she chose to become her husband. When it becomes clear in Völsunga Saga
that she will have to marry Gunnar, and that Sigurd has been tricked into
marrying Gudrun, her protective love for Sigurd soon turns into a destructive
kind of love: if she cannot have him, she will rather see him dead. Brynhild
can see the future and has precognitive dreams. She is connected to the supernatural just like Morrígan is. She shows that she is
not afraid to participate in battle. All the predictions she makes come true
which shows that she cannot alter fate after she has seen it. On the
battlefield, as a valkyrja, she does have the power to choose who will live and
who is going to Valhöll with her, but now she seems to accept destiny as
something that is already decided (probably because of earlier decisions and
events) and beyond her influence. Instead of desperately trying to change her fate
and the fate of others, she chooses to sink into a depression. Not much is left
of the strong, proud woman of the beginning of the saga. She eventually commits
suicide. Her role goes beyond the role of the valkyrjur that only appear in battle,
she is also given a human side. This happens more in the heroic tales: the
valkyrjur in these tales are women with feelings, those present in the poems
have less depth.
Brynhild’s role resembles the role Morrígan plays in TBC.
In Sígrdrífumál she offers her protection to Sigurd if he is going to marry
her, just like Morrígan does with Cú Chulainn. Her love turns just as quickly
into hate when it becomes clear that Sigurd cannot marry her. She does not
actively try to hurt him, but her will to protect him has completely vanished.
She is, however, still responsible for his death. Brynhild’s actions, just like
Morrígan’s, also have devastating consequences: the deceit that keeps Brynhild
and Sigurd separated, ultimately leads to the downfall of the Niflungar, the
race of heroes. In both the Irish and Old-Norse culture the rejection of a
woman by a hero or king has fatal consequences. The mysterious woman often
associated with a hero’s death, is the woman who married the hero and helps to seal
his fate. “There the king’sdeath is often associated with an ill-advised marriage,
sometimes to a witch.”
Conclusion
As seen in the chapters above, the Irish and Old-Norse
cultures show many similarities. The Old-Norse literature seems to have a more
diverse range of beings with different functions connected to battle, while the
individuals present in the Irish literature unite many of these functions into
a single being. Morrígan for example has the aspect of protection and appearing
as an omen of death that the fylgja has in the Old-Norse literature, she also
shows the rage and has the frightening quality of the mara, and the way she
delights in slaughter and battle and chooses one specific hero to love and
protect, shows similarities with the valkyrja.
I also found that specific motifs are presented in a
similar way in both the Irish and the Old-Norse culture. In both cultures the
blinding of an eye (in the Irish culture the left eye in particular) is seen as
a way of gaining otherwise hidden knowledge, mostly connected to the supernatural.
Prophecies of the end of the world, found in both
cultures, also show striking similarities; both mention a deterioration of the
values of society as the start of the end of the world. The washing of armour
or body parts with blood is in both cultures present as a clear omen of death
and beings connected to war were in addition associated with birds of prey.
In both cultures we find an occurrence of (supernatural)
girls transforming into swans. In my opinion we cannot show with any certainty which
culture influenced the other, the stories in which these motifs occur are from
different periods, and even in stories written down before the Old-Norse
invasions girls transforming into swans already occur.
Battle spirits are in both cultures not only connected to
slaughter and battle, they also had a strong affinity with the earth and
fertility. Morrígan for example is strongly associated with cattle and she
sleeps with the Dagda to ensure his victory in battle, which will benefit society.
It is also striking that in both cultures these battle spirits are strongly
associated with fate. Their actions have devastating consequences and both the
Old-Norse and the Irish battle spirits have the power to choose who is going to
die. They cannot always alter fate; in some situations their powers are
limited. Morrígan, for example, is unable to change Cú Chulainn’s fate, and
Brynhild’s influence on Sigurd and his actions is also limited.
The valkyrjur in the Old-Norse poems are presented as
frightening beings, riding on horses and taking part in battle. In the later
heroic texts these beings obtain a bigger role. There they often choose one
particular warrior to become their husband and they then see it as their task
to protect him. When the marriage does not turn out the way they planned or
when they do not agree with their husband’s decisions, they become responsible
for the hero’s downfall. In this aspect the valkyrja can be compared to the
relationship Morrígan has towards Cú Chulainn. She is protective of him and
gives him advice, but when he rejects her, she does everything within her power
to hurt him. Her treacherous nature is also revealed when she tricks Cú Chulainn
into healing her. When Cú Chulainn is riding towards his final battle, her
protective side takes over again, and Morrígan tries in vain to prevent him
from riding towards his death. The valkyrjur, however, are usually not as
ambiguous as Morrígan is. Morrígan still tries to influence fate when Cú
Chulainn is doomed to die and presumably even lands on his death body in the shape of a crow. The valkyrjur tend to accept that
their former lover is doomed and do not try to change fate, usually they become
passive and sometimes even depressed.
The similarities between both cultures, as summarized above,
are striking. The question
remains how to explain these similarities? No final
conclusion can be given. It would be easiest
to connect them to the Viking invasions in Ireland around
the eighth century AC, but older texts already show motifs present in both the
Old-Norse and the Celtic culture. Perhaps then the answer can be found in a
common Indo-European heritage?
Abbreviations
ACC Aided Con Culainn, in: Hull, E. (London, 1898): The
Cuchullin saga in Irish literature.
BDC Bruide Da Choca, Stokes, W. (1900): “Da Choca’s
hostel” in: Revue Celtique 21, 149-165, 312-327, 388-402.
CMT Cath Maige Tuired, the second battle of Mag Tuired,
Gray, E. (Kildare, 1982).
CMTC Cath Maige Tuired Cunga, “The first battle of
Moytura”, Fraser, J. (1916) in: Ériu 8, 1-63,.
DIL Dictionary of the Irish Language, Quin, E. (Dublin,
1983) compact edition.
LG Leabhar Gabhála, The book of Conquests of Ireland,
MacAlister, R. (Dublin, 1916).
s.v. sub voce (= under the head-word).
TBC 1 Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1, O’Rahilly, C.
(Dublin, 1976).
TBC LL Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster,
O’Rahilly, C. (Dublin, 1970).
TBDD Togail Bruidne Da Derga in Koch, J. T. (Aberystwyth,
1994): The Celtic heroic age. 4th edition 2003, 166-184.
TBR Táin Bó Regamna, Corthals, J. (Wien, 1987): Táin Bó
Regamna. Eine Vorerzählung zur Táin Bó Cúailnge.
The full article with footnotes and bibliography by C. Franken was published at:
