18.
Badb
This article deals with the character of Badb, the Irish war goddess, who later became a fairy queen. Her character is sketched according to the descriptions in the books and manuscripts that have been handed down from ancient times. I have taken the liberty - for the sake of readability - to remove the quotes in Gaelic from the text and to include them as footnotes. This article was previously published in Revue Celtique vol 1 in Paris, France in 1870.
What follow are descriptions and tales from that source:
Badb, the Ancient Irish Goddess of War
The discovery of a Gallo-Roman inscription, forms the
subject of one of those essays from the pen of the veteran philologist for
which the students of Celtic languages and archæology cannot be sufficiently
thankful. The inscription, the initial letter of which has been destroyed by an
injury to the stone on which it is cut, reads: athuboduæ Aug[ustæ] Servilia
Terenta [votum] s[olvit]
l[ibens] m[erito].
M. Pictet’s essay is
entitled Sur une Déese Gauloise de la
Guerre; and if he is right in his suggestion (which is very probably) that
the letter destroyed was a c, and that ATHUBODVÆ should be read CATHUBODVÆ, the
title is not inappropriate; and in the CATHUBODVÆ of the inscription we may
recognise the badb-catha of Irish
mythology.
The etymology of the name athubodua, or cathubodua.
The first member of the name (cathu, = Irish cath, «pugna») presents but little
difficulty to a Celtic scholar like M. Pictet, who would however prefer finding
it written catu, without aspiration, as more nearly approaching the rigid
orthography of Gaulish names, in which it is very frequently found as the first
element; but the second member, bodua, although entering largely into the
composition of names amongst all the nations of Celtic origin from the Danube
to the islands of Aran, is confessedly capable of explanation only through the
medium of the Irish, with its corresponding forms of bodb or badb (pron. bov
or bav), originally signifying rage, fury, or violence and ultimately implying
a witch, fairy, or goddess, represented by the bird known as the scare-crow, scald-crow, or Royston-crow.
he ancient tracts, romances, and battle pieces preserved in
our Irish MSS. teem with details respecting this Badb-catha and her so-called
sisters,
Neman, Macha, and Morrigan or
Morrigu (for the name is written in a double form), who are generally
depicted as
furies, witches, or
sorceresses, able to confound whole armies, even in the assumed form of a
bird. Popular tradition also bears testimony to the former
widespread belief in the magical powers of the Badb. In most parts of Ireland
the
Royston-crow, or
fennóg liath na gragarnaith (“the
chattering grey
fennóg”), as she is
called by the Irish speaking people, is regarded at the present day with
feelings of mingled dislike and curiosity by the peasantry, who remember the
many tales of depredation and slaughter in which the cunning bird is
represented as exercising a sinister influence. Nor is this superstition
confined to Ireland alone. The popular tales of Scotland and Wales, which are
simply the echo of similar stories once current and still not quite extinct in
Ireland, contain requent allusion to this mystic bird. The readers of the
Mabinogion will call to mind, amongst
other instances, the wonderful
crows of
Owain, prince of Rheged, a contemporary of
Arthur, which always secured factory by the aid of the three
hundred crows under its command: and in Campbell’s
Popular Tales of the West Highlands we have a large stock of
legends, in most of which the principal fairy agency is exercised by
the hoodie or scare-crow.
t may be observed, by the way, that the name hoody,
formerly applied by the Scotch to the hooded crow or the scare-crow, from its
appearance, is now generally applied to its less intelligent relative the
common carrion crow. But the hoody of Highland fairy mythology is,
nevertheless, the same as the badb or Royston crow.
I have referred to Neman, Macha, and Morrigu, as the so
called sisters of the Badb. Properly speaking, however, the name Badb seems to
have been the distinctive title of the mythological beings supposed to rule
over battle and carnage. M. Pictet feels a difficulty in deciding whether there
were three such beings, or whether Neman, Macha, and Morrigu are only three
different names for the same goddess; but after a careful examination of the
subject I am inclined to believe that these names represent three different
characters, the attributes of Neman being like those of a being who confounded
her victims with madness, whilst Morrigu incited to deeds of valour, or planned
strife and battle, and Macha revelled amidst the bodies of the slain.
he popular notions regarding the identity of the battle
furies with the royston-crow are accurately given in the Irish Dictionary
compiled by the late Peter O’Connell, an excellent Irish scholar, who died some
60 years ago, and the original of whose excellent vocabulary is preserved in
the British Museum. Thus:
Badb-catha is explained “finnóg, a royston crow, a squall
crow”.
“Badb, i.e. 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”.
“Macha; i.e. a royston crow”.
“Morrighain; i.e. the great fairy”.
“Neamhan; i.e. Badb
catha nó feannóg; a badb catha or a royston crow”.
Similar explanations are also given by the other modern
glossaries.
he task of elucidating the mythological character of these
fairy queens has not been rendered
easier by the labours of the etymologists, from
Cormac to O’Davoren. Thus, in
Cormac’s glossary, Nemain is said to have been the wife of
Neit, “the god of battle with the pagan Gaeidhel”. In the
Battle of
Magh-Rath (she is called
Be nith gubhach Neid, “the
battle-terriffic Be-Neid”, or “wife of Neid”. In an Irish MS., Neit is
explained “guin duine .i. gaisced; dia catha. Nemon a ben, u test Be Neid;”. A
poem in the
Book of Leinster, couples
Badb and Neman as the wives of Neid or Neit:
Neit mac Indui sa di
mnai,
Badb ocus Nemaind cen
goi,
Ro marbtha in Ailiuch
cen ail,
La Neptuir
d’Fhomorchaibh.
“Neit son of Indu, and his two wives,
Were slain in Ailech, without blemish,
By Neptur of the Fomorians”.
n the same MS.,
Fea
and Nemain are said to have been Neit’s two wives;
and if Fea represents Badb, we have a good
notion of the idea entertained of her character, for Cormac states that Fea
meant: “
everything most hateful”. But in the poem on
Ailech
printed from the
Dinnsenchus in the “
Ordinance Memoir of Templemore, Nemain
only is mentioned as the wife of Neit, from whom Ailech was called Ailech-Neit;
and it is added that she was brought from Bregia, or Meath.
In the Irish books of genealogy, Fea and Neman are said to
have been the two daughters of Elcmar of
the Brugh (Newgrange, near the Boyne), who was the son of Delbaeth, son of Ogma, son of Elatan, and the wives of Neid son of Indae, from whom Ailech-Neid is named. Badb, Macha, and Morrigan (who is also called Ana, are described as the three daughters of Delbaeth son of Neid.
And it is stated that Ernmas, daughter of
Ettarlamh, son of Nuada Airged-lamh (King of the Tuatha-de-Danann), was the
mother of the five ladies.
n other authorities, however Morrigan is said to have been
Neit’s wife. For instance, in the very ancient tale called
Tochmarc Emhire, or Courtship of Emir, fragments of which are
preserved in the
Lebor na hUidhre and
the
book of Fermoy, Morrigan is described
as
an badb catha, ocus is fria idberiur
Bee Neid, i.e. bandea in cathae, uair is inan Neid ocus dia Catha ;i.e.
“the badb of battle; and of her is said
Bee-Neid,
i.e. goddess of battle, for Neid is the same as god of battle”. A gloss in
the Lebor Buidhe Lecain explains
Machæ thus:
badb, no asi an tres Morrigan; mesrad machæ, .i. cendæ doine iar na
nairlech; i.e. “a scald crow; or she is the third Morrigan (great queen);
Macha’s fruit crop, i.e. the heads of men that have been slaughtered:. The same
explanation, a little amplified, is also given in the
MS. H. 3. 18. where the
name Badb is written
Bodb, as it is
elsewhere, and it is added that Bodb, Macha, and Morrigan were the three
Morrigna. In the same glossary under the
word
be
neit, we have the further explanation:—
Neit
nomen viri; Nemhon a ben; ba neim-nech in lanomuin; be ben i.e. in badhb, ocus net cath, ocus olca diblinuib;
inde dicitur beneit fort”. i.e.
“Neit nomen viri; Nehmon was his woman (wife); venomous were the pair;
be a woman, i.e. the badhb, and net is battle; and both were evil;
inde dicitur beneit fort (“evil upon thee”). Another gloss in
the same collection, on the word
gudomain,
bears on the subject under consideration. It is as follows:—
Gudomain, .i. fennoga no bansigaidhe; ut est
glaidhomuin goa, .i. na demuin goach, na morrigna; no go conach demain iat na
bansigaide go connach demain iffrin iat acht demain aeoir na fendoga; no
eamnait andlaedha na sinnaigh, ocus eamnait a ngotha na fendoga; i.e.
“gudomain, i.e. scald crows or fairy women;
utest
glaidhumuin goahe false demons; “it is false that the fendoga (scald crows)
are not hellish but aery demons: the foxes double their cries, but the fennoga
double their sounds”. To understand this curious gloss it is necessary to add
that in a previous one the word glaidomuin is explained as signifying
sinnaig, or
maic tire (foxes or wolves), because in barking they double their
sound; glaidomuin being understood by the glossarist as glaid-emain, i.e.
“double call”, from
glaid, “call”,
and
enain “double,” while the crow
only doubles the sound,
gath-emain,
“double-sound”. Cormac explains
guidemainas
uatha ocus morrigna, i.e. “spectres and great queens”.
Let us take leave of these etymological quibbles, and
examine the mythological character of the badb, as portrayed in the materials
still remaining to us.
s mostly all the supernatural beings alluded to in Irish
fairy lore are referred to
the
Tuatha-de-Danann. The older copies of the
Lebor Gabhala, or “Book of Occupation” that preserved in the
Book of Leinster for instance, specifies
Badb, Macha, and Ana (from the latter of whom are named the mountains called
da cich Anann, or the Paps, in Kerry),
as the daughters of
Ernmas, one of
the chiefs of that mythical colony.
Badb
ocus Macha ocus Anand, diatat cichi Anand il- Luachair, tri ingena Ernbais, na
ban tuathige; “Badb, and Macha, and Anand from whom the “paps of Anann (It
is rather an interesting fact that near the mountain called Da-Cich-Anann,
there is a fort called Lis-Babha, or the fort of the Badb.) in
Luachair are [called], the three
daughters of Ernmais, the
ban-tuathaig”.
In an accompanying versification of the same statement the name of
Anand or Ana, however, is changed to
Morrigan:
“Badb is Macha mét indbáis,
“Badb and Macha, rich
in store,
Morrigan who dispenses confusion,
Compassers of death by the sword,
Noble daughters of Ernmas”.
t is important to observe that Morrigan is here identified
with Anann, or Ana (for Anann is the gen. form); and in
Cormac’s Glossary Ana is described as
Mater deorum Hibernensium; robu maithdin rosbiathadsi na dee de cujus
nominee da cich Nanainne iar Luachair nominantur ut fertur; i.e. “Mater
deorum Hibernensium; well she used to nourish the gods de cujus nominee the
‘two paps of Ana’ in west Luachair are named” Under the name
Buanand the
statement is more briefly repeated. The historian Keating enumerates Badb,
Macha, and Morrighan as the three goddesses of the Tuatha-de-Danann; but he is
silent as to their attributes. It would seem, however, that he understood Badb
to be the proper name of one
fairy,
and not a title for the great fairy queens.
In the Irish tales of war and battle, the Badb is always
represented as foreshadowing, by its cries, the extent of the carnage about to
take place, or the death of some eminent personage. Thus in the ancient
battle-story, called Bruiden da Choga,
the impending death of Cormac Condloinges,
the son of Conor Mac Nessa, is
foretold in these words:
“Badb bel derg giarfid
fon tech; Bo collain bet co
sirtech.”
“The red-mouthed
Badbs will cry around the house, For bodies they will be solicitious.”
“Grecfaidit badba
banae”, “Pale badbs shall shriek.”
In the very ancient
tale called Tochmarc Feirbe, or the
“Courtship of Ferb:, a large fragment of which is preserved in the Book of Leinster, the druid Ollgaeth, prophesying the death of Mani, the son of Queen Medb, through the treachery of King Conor Mac Nessa, says:
In the account of the battle
of Cnucha (or Castleknock, near Dublin), preserved in a 14th century MS.,
the druid Cunallis, foretelling the
slaughter, says:
Biagh bádba os bruinnibh
na bfear, “Badbs will be over the
breasts of men .”
In the description of the battle of Magh-Tuiredh, it is said that just as the great conflict
was about to begin, the “badbs, and bledlochtana,
and idiots shouted so that the were heard in clefts and in cascades, and in the
cavitites of the earth; badba ocus
bledlocktana, ocus amaite, go clos anallaib, ocus a nesaib, ocus a fothollaib
in talnian.
In the battle of
Magh-Rath it is the “gray-haired Morrigu “(scald-crow), that shouts victory
over the head of Domhnall son of Ainmire,
as Dubgdiadh sings:
Fuil os a chind ag
eigmigh
Caillech lom, luath ag
leimnig
Os eannaib a narm sa
sciath,
Is i in Morrigu
mongliath.
“Over his head is shrieking
A lean hag, quickly hopping
Over the points of their weapons and shields
She is the gray-haired Morrigu.”
In the account of the massacre of the Irish Kings by the Aithech-tuatha, preserved in the Book of Fermoy, it is stated that after
the massacre: ba forbhailidh badhbh derg
dasachta, ocus ba bronach banchuire don treis sin; “Gory Badb was joyful,
and women were sorrowful, for that conflict.”
n the enumeration of the birds and demons that assembled to
gloat over the slaughter about to ensue from the clash of the combatants at the
battle of Glontarf, the badb is
assigned the first place. The description is truly terrible, and affords a
painful picture of the popular superstition at the time. “There arose a wild,
impetuous, precitpitate, mad, inexorable, furious, dark, lacerating, merciless,
combative, contentious badb, which was shrieking and fluttering over their
heads. And there arose also the satyrs, and sprites, and the maniacs of the
valleys, and the witches, and goblins, and owls, and destroying demons of the
air and firmament, and the demoniac phantom host; and they were inciting and
sustaining valour and battle with them.”
(1.) —“
Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh.”
So also in the account of the battle fought between the men
of Leinster and Ossory, in the year 870, contained in the Brussells Fragments of Irish Annals, the
appearance of the badb is followed by a great massacre: “Great indeed was the
din and tumult that prevailed between them at this time, and Badb appeared
among them, and there was great destruction between them to and fro.” (2.)
ut the Badbs could do more than scream and flutter. Thus we
read in the
first battle of Magh-Tuiredh,
that when the Tuatha-de-Danann had removed to the fastness of Connacht, to
Sliabh-Belgadain, or Cenn-duibh-slebhe, that Badb, Macha, and Morrigu exercised
their magical powers to keep the Fir-bolgs in ignorance of the westward
movement. “Then the Badb, and Macha, and Morrigu went to the hill of
hostage-taking, the tulach which heavy hosts frequented, to
Temhair (Tara), and they shed
druidically formed showers, and fog-sustaining shower-clouds, and poured down
from the air, about the heads of the warriors, enormous masses of fire, and
streams of red blood; and they did not permit the
Fir-Bolgs to scatter or separate for the space of three days and
three nights.”
(3.) It is stated,
however, that the Fir-Bolg druids ultimately overcame this sorcery. And in the
battle of Magh-Tuiredh they are
represented as assisting the Tuatha-de-Danann. Thus, in the account of the
third day’s conflict we read i.e. “The chieftains who assisted the
Tuatha-de-Danannon that day were
Ogma,
and Midir, and Bodb Derg, and Diancecht, and Aebgabha of Norway. ‘We will
go with you,’ said the daughters, viz:—Badb, and Macha, and Morrigan, and
Danann (or Anann).”
(4.)
nother instance of the warlike prowess of these
fairies is related in a curious
mythological tract preserved in the
Books
of Lismore and Fermoy. I refer to the Hallow-eve dialogue between the fairy
Rothniab and
Finghen Mach-Luchta, in which the fairy enumerates the several
mystical virtues attached to that pagan festival, and amongst others the
following, referring to an incident arising from the
battle of the Northern Magh-Tuiredh, or “Magh-Tuiredh of the
Fomorians.”
‘And what other virtue, ‘asked Finghen.
‘Not difficult to tell,”
said the woman. There were four persons who fled before the Tuatha-de-Danann
from the battle of Magh-Tuiredh, so
that they were ruining corn, and milk,
and fruit-crops, and sea produce; viz: one of them in Slemna-Maighe-Itha, whose name was Redg; one of them in SliabhSmoil,
whose name was Grenu; another man of
them in Dromanna-Cruachan, whose name
was Tinel. This night [i.e. on a
similar night] they were expelled from Eriu
by the Morrigan, and by Badb of sidh-Femain,and by Midir of Brig-leith, and Mac-ind-oig, so that Fomorian
depredators should never more be over Eriu. Book
of Fermoy, (5)
n the grand old Irish epic of the
Tain Bo Cuailnge, Badb (or Bodb) plays a very important part.
Neman confounds armies, so that friendly
bands fall in mutual slaughter whilst Macha is pictured as a fury that riots
and revels among the slain. But certainly the grandest figure is that of
Morrigu, whose presence intensifies the hero, nerves his arm for the cast, and
guides the course of the unerring lance. As in this epic the first place in
valour and prowess is given to
Cuchullain,
the Hector of the Gaeidhel, it is natural to expect that he should be
represented as the special favourite of the supernatural powers. And so it is;
for we read that the Tuatha-de-Danann endowed him with great attributes. In
that passage of the
Tain where
Cuchullain is described as jumping into his chariot to proceed to fight
Firdia Mac Demain, the narrative says
“the satyrs, and sprites, and maniacs of the valleys, and demons of the air
shouted about him, for the Tuatha-de-Danann were wont to impart their valour to
him, in order that he might be more feared, more dreaded, more terrible, in
every battle and battle-field, in every combat and conflict, into which he
went.” So, when the forces of Queen
Medb
arrive at
Magh-Tregham, in the
present county of Longford, on the way to
Cuailnge,
Neman appears amongst them.
(6.) “Then the Neman, i.e. Badb, attacked
them, and that was not the most comfortable night with them, from the uproar of
the giant
Dubtach through his sleep.
The bands were immediately startled, and the army confounded, until Medb went
to check the confusion.”
Lebor na hUidhre.
(7.)
nd in another passage, in the episode called
Breslech Maighe Muirthemhne, where a
terrible description is given of Cuchullain’s fury at seeing the hostile armies
of the south and west encamped within the borders of
Uladh,
we are told (
Book of Leinster): “He saw from him the ardent sparkling of the bright golden
weapons over the heads of the four great provinces of Eriu, before the fall of
the cloud of evening. Great fury and indignation seized him on seeing them, at
the number of his opponents and at the multitude of his enemies. He seized his
two spears, and his shield and his sword, and uttered from his throat a
warrior’s shout, so that sprites, and satyrs, and maniacs of the valley, and
the demons of the air responded, terror-stricken by the shout which he had
raised on high. And the Neman, i.e. the Badb, confused the army; and the four
provinces of Eriu dashed themselves against the points of their own spears and
weapons, so that one hundred warriors died of fear and trembling in the middle
of the fort and encampment that night.”
(8.)
f the effects of this fear inspired by the Badb was
geltacht or lunacy, which, according to the popular notion, affected the body
no less than the mind, and, in fact, made its victims so light that they flew
through the air like birds. A curious illustration of this idea is afforded by
the history of
Suibhne, son of Colman Cuar, king of
Dal- Araidhe, who became
panic-stricken at the
battle of Magh-Rath, and performed extraordinary feats of
agility. Another remarkable instance will be found in the Fenian Romance called
Cath-Finntragha (Battle of Ventry Harbour), where
Bolcan, a king of France, is
stated to have been seized with geltacht at the sight of
Oscur, son of Oisin,
so that he jumped into the air, alighting in the beautiful valley called
Glenn-na-ngealt (or “the Glen of the Lunatics”), twenty miles to the east of
Ventry Harbour, whither, in the opinion of the past generation, all the
lunatics of the country would go, if unrestrained, to feed on the
cure-imparting water cresses that grow there over the well called
Tobar na
ngealt, or the “well of the lunatics”. In the same tale it is also said that
those who heard the shouts of the invading armies on landing were surprised
that they were not carried away by the wind and lunacy: “
ba hiongna le gach dá
gcúaladna garrtha sin gan dol re gaoith agus re gealtachus doib.” Persons are
also represented as frightened to madness on observing the fight between
Cuchullain and
Ferdia, which forms
the chief episode in the
Tain bo Cuailgne.
gain, in the
battle of Almha (or the Hill of Allen, near Kildare),
fought in the year 722, between
Murchadh, king of
Laighen, and
Ferghal, monarch
of Ireland, where “the red- mouthed, sharp-beaked badb croaked over the head of
Ferghal,” (
ro lao badb belderg biorach
iolach um cenn Fergaile), we are told that nine persons became thus
affected.
The Four Masters (A.D. 718)
represent them as “fleeing in panic and lunacy,” (
do lotar hi faindeal ocus I ngealtacht). Other annalists describe
them in similar terms. Thus,
Mageoghegan,
in his translation of the “
Annals of Clonmacnoise,”
says they “flyed in the air as if they were winged fowle.” O’Donovan (in notes
to the entries in his edition of the Four Masters, and Fragments of Annals)
charges Mageoghegan with misrepresenting the popular idea; but Mageoghegan
represented it correctly, for in the
Chronicum
Scotorum the panic-stricken at this battle are called “volatiles,” or
gealta. May we not therefore seek, in
this vulgar notion, the origin of the word “flighty” as applied to persons of
eccentric mind?
But although, as we have seen, the assistance given to
Cuchullain by Neman was both frequent and important, the intervention of
Morrigu in his behalf is more constant. Nay, he seems to have been the object
of her special care. She is represented as meeting him sometimes in the form of
a woman, but frequently in the shape of a bird—most probably a crow. Although,
apparently, his tutelary goddess, the Morrigu seems to have been made the
instrument, through the decree of a cruel fate, in his premature death.
he way
was thus: In the territory of
Cuailnge,
near the Fews Mountains, dwelt a famous bull, called the
Donn Cuailgne (or Brown [Bull] of Cuailgne), a beast so huge that
thrice fifty youths disported themselves on his back together. A certain fairy,
living in the caves of Cruachan, in the county of Roscommon, had a cow, which
she bestowed on her mortal husband,
Nera,
and which the Morrigu carried off to the great Donn Cualgne, and the calf that
issued from this association was fated to be the cause of the
Tain Bo Cuailgne. The event is told in
the tale called
Tain Be Aingen, one
of the prefatory stories to the great epic, which thus speaks of the Morrigan. “The
Morrigan afterwards carried off his [Nera’s] son’s cow, so that the Donn
Cuailgne consorted with her in the east in Cuailgne. She went westward again
with the cow. Cuchullain met with her in
Magh-Muirthemhne
whilst crossing over it; for it was of Cuchullain’s prohibitions that even
a woman should leave his territory unless he wished. . .
Cuchullain overtook the Morrigan, and he said:
“the cow shall not be carried off.”
(9.) But the
Morrigan whom Cuchullain probably did not recognise in the form of a woman,
succeeds in restoring the cow to her owner.
ll the while, Morrigan seems to watch over the interests of
the
Ultonians. Thus when, after the
death of
Lethan at the hands of
Cuchullain, Medbh endeavoured, by a rapid and bold movement, to surround and
take possession of the
Donn Cuailgne,
we find her acquainting the
Donn Cuailgne
with the danger of his position, and advising him to retire into the
impenetrable fastness of the Fews.
“It was on that
very day that the Donn Cuailgne came to Crich-Margin, and fifty heifers of the
heifers about him. . . It was the same
day Morrigu, daughter of Ernmas, from the Sidhe, came [in the form of a bird—Lebor na hUidhre] and perched on the
pillar stone in Temair of Cuailnge,
giving notice to the Donn Cuailnge
before the men of Erui; and she
proceeded to speak with him, and said, ‘Well thou poor thing, thou Donn
Cuailnge; take care, for the men of Eriu will come to thee, and they will take
thee to their fortress if you do not take care. ‘And she went on warning him in
this wise, and uttered these words aloud.” Here follows a short and very obscure poem to
the same effect], Book of Leinster. (10.)
mmediately after the foregoing incident the narrative, as
preserved in the
Lebor na hUidhre,
represents Cuchullain and Morrigu as playing at cross-purposes. I have
suggested that Cuchullain did not appear to recognise the Morrigu when she met
him in the form of a woman, in the scene quoted from the
Tain Be Aingen. He seems similarly ignorant of her identity on
other occasions, when she is said to have presented herself before him in
female shape. Let us take, for example, the episode entitled
Imacallaim na Morigna fri Coincullain,—“Dialogue
of the Morrigan with Cuchullain, “which preceeds his fight with
Loch, son of Ernonis.
“Cu saw the young
woman dressed in garments of every hue, and of most distinguished form,
approaching him. ‘Who art thou?’ asked Cu.
‘The daughter of Buan, the King,’ said she; ‘I have come
to thee; I have loved thee for they renown, and have brought with me my jewels
and my cattle.’
‘Not good is the time thou hast come,’ said he. It is not
easy for me to associate with a woman whilst I may be engaged in this
conflict.’
'I will be of
assistance to thee therein,’ replied she.
‘Not by woman’s favour have I come here, ‘responded Cuchullain.
’Twill be hard for thee,’ said she, ‘when I go against thee
whilst encountering men. I will go in the form of an eel under thy feet, in the
ford, so that thou shalt fall.’
‘More likely, indeed, than a king’s daughter; but I will
grasp thee between my fingers,’ said he, ‘so that thy ribs shall break, and thou
shalt endure that blemish forever.’
‘I will collect the cattle upon the ford towards thee, in
the shape of a grey-hound,’ said she.
‘I shall hurl a stone
at thee from the sling,’ said he, ‘which will break thine eye in the head; and
thou shalt be under that blemish for ever.’
‘I will go against thee in the form of a red hornless heifer
before the herd, and they shall defile the pools, and fords, and linns, and
thou shalt not find me there before thee’
‘I will fling a stone at thee,’ said he, ‘which will break
thy right leg under thee; and thou shalt be under that blemish for ever,’
With that she departed from him.” (11.)
n some MSS. The foregoing dialogue forms the principal
feature in a romantic tale called
Tain Bo
Rgeamhna, which, like the
Tain Be
Aingen, is one of the prefatory stories to the great Cattle Spoil. Like the
Tain Be Aingen, also, it introduces
the Morrigu in the character of a messenger of the fate that had decreed the
death of Cuchullain when the issue of the
Donn
Cuailnge and the Connacht cow should have attained a certain age. But the
Tain Bo Regamhna is further important,
as connecting the Morrigu with Cuchullain, in the position of protector. The
tale, which is too long to quote in extenso, represents Cuchullain as one
morning meeting the Morrigu in the form of a red-haired woman, driving a cow
through the plain of Murthemne, as related in
Tain Be Aingen. Cuchullain, in his quality of guardian of the
border district, tries to prevent her from proceeding; and after a great deal
of argument during which Cuchullain seems
not to know his opponent, the woman and cow
disappear, and Cuchullain percieves that she has become transformed into a
bird, which perches on an adjacent tree. Cuchullain, as soon as he become aware
that he had been contending with a supernatural being, confident in his own
might, boasts that if he had known the character of his opponent, they would
not have separated as they did; whereupon the following exchange of sentiments
takes place:
‘What hast thou
done?’ asked she; ‘Evil will ensue to thee therefrom.’
‘I care not,’ said
Cuchullain.
‘But I do,’ said the woman (i.e. the bird or badb); it is
protecting thee I was, am, and will be,’ said she. I brought this cow from
Sidh-Cruachna, so that the Dubh Cuailnge, i.e. Daire Mac Fiachna’s bull, met
her in Cuiailnge. The length of time you have to live is until the calf that is
in this cow’s body will be a yearling; and it is it that shall lead thee to the
Tain bo Cuailnge.’
‘I will be illustrious
on account of that Tain,’ observed Cuchullain; ‘I shall wound their warriors,
break their great battles, and I will be in pursuit of the Tain.’ (Lebor Buidhe Lecain).
Then the Morrigu threatens to act to Cuchullain in the way
detailed in the dialogue which I have just quoted; and, as the tale concludes,
“the Badb afterwards goes away.” (luid
ass in Badb iarum). (12.)
he Morrigu puts
her threats into execution during Cuchullain’s fight with Loch, son of Ernonis.
The narrative in Lebor na hUidhre describes the encounter in the following
manner:
“When the men met afterwards in the ford, and when they
commenced fighting, and assaulting, and when each man began to strike the
other, the escongon (eel) made a triple twist round Cuchullain’s legs, so that he was lying down
prostrate across in the ford. Loch struck him with his sword, and the ford was
gory-red from his blood... Thereupon he arose and struck the eel, so that
her ribs broke in her. And the cattle rushed violently past the army,
eastwards, carrying the tents on their horns, at the sound made by the two
warriors in the ford. He (Cuchullain) drove to the west the wolf-hound that
collected the cows against him; and cast a stone out of his sling at it, which
broke its eye in its head. Then she (Morrigu) went in the shape of a short
hornless red heifer before the cows, and advanced into the linns and fords;
when he said:‘I see not the fords with the pools.’
He cast a stone at the red
hornless heifer, and broke her leg.” (13.) it is
added that “it was then truly that Cuchullain did to the Morrigu the three
things which he had promised to accomplish, in the Tain Bo Regamna;” (is andsin
tra do géni Cuchullainn frisin Morrigain
a tréde do rairngert di hi tain bó Regamna;” ib).
ith respect to the instances of transformation already
referred too, it may be pertinent to quote the following, which is given in an
account of the battle alleged to have been fought at
Tailte between the
Milesian
forces and
Eire, queen of
Mac Greine, king of the
Tuath-de-Danann,
who acted in the
capacity of a war goddess. The Milesian chiefs are represented as having
advanced as far north as the hill of
Uisnech, when it is added: “They saw the
one woman, smooth-red, large, black-browed, in the shape of two... approaching them. The hosts wondered with constant observation of her behaviour
and changefulness. At one moment she was a broad-eyed, most beautiful queen,
and another time… a beaked, white-grey badb… She sits down in the presence of
Eremon; she enjoins her protection on
Emir. ‘What country hast thou come from,
and what companion dost thou associate with, and what name is to be addressed
to thee, o woman, asked
Eremon. ‘From the ardent Tuatha de Danann I have come
truly,’ said she, ‘and
Mac Greni, warrior, is my husband, and
Eriu is my name,
‘said the woman.”
Ms. H. 4. 22.
(14.) And Aimhirgin asks, immediately after the preceding
dialogue,
ca ni chuingi etir, a ingin
ilrechtach; “what do you request, o woman of many shapes,” the latter
epithet being used in allusion to the frequent transformations referred to
before. The account further represents her as fighting a battle with the chiefs
in question, in the form of a badb.
he next meeting between Cuchullain and the Morrigan is very
curious. It is thus related: “Then the Morrigu, daughter of Ernmas, came from
the Sidhe, in the form of an old woman, and was milking a three-teated cow in
his presence. The reason she came was, in order to be helped by Cuchullainn;
for no one whom Cuchullainn wounded could recover unless he himself had some
hand in the cure. Cuchullain asked her for milk, after having been troubled
with thirst. She gave him the milk of one teat. “May I be safe from poison
therefor.” The queen’s eye was cured. He asked her again for the milk of a
teat. She gave it to him. “May the giver be safe from poison.” He asked for the
third drink, and she gave him the milk of a teat. “The blessings of gods and
men be on thee, woman (the people of power were their gods, and the wise people
were their
andée “non divine:); and
the queen was cured.”
(15.)
hen the time approached in which Cuchullainn should succumb
to the decree of fate, as previously announced to him by Morrigan, the
impending loss of her favourite hero appears to have affected her with sorrow.
The night before the fatal day when his head and spoils were borne off in
triumph by
Erc Mac Cairpre, Morrigan,
we are told, disarranged his chariot, do delay his departure for the fated
meeting. Thus we read in the
Aided
Conchullainn, or “Tragedy of Cuchullainn,” contained in the Book of
Leinster that when he approached his horse, the Liath Macha, in the last
morning of his existence, this faithful companion of his many victories “thrice
turned his left side” towards his master, as an augury of his doom so soon to
await him; and he found that “the Morrigan had broken the chariot the night
previous, for she liked not that Cuchullainn should go to the battle, as she
knew that he would not again reach Emain Macha.”
(16.) Then follows a curious scene between Cuchullainn and Liath
Macha or “grey horse of Macha,” the hero reminding his steed of the time when
the Badb accompanied them in their martial feats at
Emain Macha, or
Emania (
rodonbai badb in Emain Macha), and the
Liath, becoming so affected at the impending fate of his master,
co tarlaic a bolgdera móra fola for a dib
traigthib, “that he dropped his big tears of blood on his (Cuchullain’s)
two feet.” The grief of the Liath Macha, and the arts of the Morrigu,
were of no avail, Cuchullain would go to the field of battle, impelled by the
unseen power which ruled his destiny.
ut before he approaches the foe, he
meets with three female idiots, blind of the left eye, cooking a charmed dog on
spits made of the rowan tree; creatures of hateful aspect and wicked purpose.
Cuchullain’s strength must be annihilated, or the fates will
have decreed in vain; and this can only be done through his partaking of the
horrid dish, which he resolves to do rather than tarnish his chivalrous
reputation by refusing the request of the witches, although aware of the tragic
results about to ensue, The strength of the hero is paralyzed by the contact
with the unclean food handed to him from the witch’s left hand; and Cuchullainn
rushes headlong to his doom. But still the Morrigan does not abandon him,
although apparently quite powerless to assist him; for as he comes near to the
enemy, “a bird of valour” is seen flying about over the chief in his chariot (en blaith, i.e. lon gaile, etarluamnach uasa
erra oen charpait). And after he has received his death-wound she perches
beside him awhile, before winging her flight to the fairy palace beside the Suir, from which she came. The following
is the description of Cuchullainn’s proceedings after receiving his mortal
wound, extracted from the Book of Leinster. “He (Cuchullainn )
then went westwards, a good distance from the lake (lock Lamraith in Magh
Muirthemne), and looked back at it. And he went to a pillar stone which is in
the plain, and placed his side against it, that he might not die sitting or
lying, but that he might die standing. After this the men went all about him,
but dared not approach him, for they thought he was alive. ‘It is a shame for
you,’ said Erc Mac Cairpre, ‘not to bring that man’s head in retaliation for my
father’s head, which was borne off by him, and buried against Airsce Echdach Niafer. His head was
taken from thence, so that it is in Sidh-Nenta... Afterwards, moreover, the Liath Macha went to
Cuchullain, to guard him whilst his spirit lived in him, and whilst the lon laith (bird of valour?) continued out
of his forehead. Then the Liath Macha executed the three red routs about him,
when fifty men fell by his teeth, and thirty by each shoe, all of the enemy’s
host; and hence the proverb—‘Not more furious was the victorious rout of the
Liath Macha, after the killing of Cuchullain,’—Thereupon the bird went and
perched near his shoulder. “That pillar stone was not usually the resort of
birds,” said Erc Mac Cairbre, who supposed the Morrigan to be a mere carrion
crow awaiting the feast prepared by his hand. (17.) Then
they advance and cut off Cuchullain’s head, and the Morrigan disappears from
the scene.
he exact meaning of the expressions
en blaith, and lon gaile (called also
lón or lúan-laith) which occur in the preceding sentences have not
been well defined. Some writers have understood
en blaith as a veritable “bird of valour,” whilst others deem the
words as a title for a particular kind of frenzy. I have not met with any
statement identifying the bird of valour with the scare-crow, or, indeed, with
any bird in particular, although the principal heroes in the Irish battle
pieces, from Cuchullain to
Murchadh, son of Brian, have each his “Bird of
valour” flying over him in the thick of the fight. In the account of the
battle of Magh-Rath, we are told that
Congal Claen, excited to fury and
madness by the exhortations of one of his servants, in the banqueting hall at
Dun-na-ngedh, “stood up, assumed his
bravery, his heroic fury rose, and his ‘bird of valour’ fluttered over him, and
he distinguished not friend from foe at the time”. So when
Murchadh, son of Brian after the repulse
of the
Dal-Cais by the Danes, at the
battle of Clontarf, prepares to assail
the enemy, it is said that” he was seized with a boiling terrible anger, an
excessive elevation and greatness of spirit and mind, A bird of valour and
championship rose in him, and fluttered over his head and on his breath.” But
this
lon laith,
en gaile, or bird of valour (?) which hovered about Cuchullain, not
only excited him into fury, as is represented, but also produced a strange
bodily transformation, from which he obtained the sobriquet of the
Riastartha, or transformed. Thus, in a
passage in the tale form which I have so often quoted already, where King
Ailill deems it advisable to beg Cuchullain’s
permission for the Connacht army to retire from a position of danger, the
following account of the effects of this paroxysm of fury is given:‘Take counsel together,’ said Ailil; ‘entreat Cuchullain
that he may permit you to leave this place, since you cannot pass by him
forcibly, because his
lon laith has
sprung,’—For it was usually the case with him when his
lon laith started in him, that his feet turned backwards and his
arms forward, and the calves of his legs were transferred to his shins, and one
of his eyes sank deep into his head, whilst the other was protruded, and a
man’s head would fit in his mouth. Every hair on his head was sharper than then
thorns of whitethorn, and a drop of blood stood on each hair. He would not know
friends or relations, and he slew equally backwards and forwards. Hence it was
that the men of Connacht applied the name of ‘
Riastartha’ to Cuchullainn.”
(18.)
t has been already observed that the name of the goddess, o
fury, whose identity we have been endeavouring to connect with Cathu-bodua, is
written badb and bodb, just as the adjectives derived therefrom are written
badba and bodba, and the driv. subst. badbdacht and bodbdacht. The term bodba (terrible) is applied to the
Morrigan in an old tract in the
book of Leinster, where
Conor Mac Nessa is represented as
directing
Findchad to summon
auxiliaries to assist Cuchullainn:
ardotrai
cosin nathaig mbodba, cosin Mórriagain co dún Sobairche; “go to the terrible
fury, to the Morrigan, to
Dun-Sobairche
(Dunseverick, co.Antrim).” The name Morrigan is also varied, as we have seen,
to Morrigu; but as the genitive form is Morrigna, the proper nom. would seem to
be Morrigan.
In the Irish mythological tracts a well-marked distinction
is observable between the attributes of the scald-crow and those of the raven;
the scald-crow, or cornix, being represented in the written as in the spoken
traditions of the country, not alone as a bird of ill omen, but as an agen in
the fulfilment of what is “in dono”
in dan, or decreed for a person, whilst the raven is simply regarded as a bird
of prey, that follows the warrior merely for the sake of enjoying its gory
feast. Just as the German myths describe Odin and Zio as accompanied by ravens
and wolves, which follow them to the battle field, and prey upon the slain, so
the Irish poets, in their laugations of particular heroes, boast of the number
of ravens and wolves fed by their spears. Odin, especially, had two ravens,
wise and cunning, which sat upon his shoulders and whispered into his ears,
like Mahomet’s pigeon, all that they had heard and seen. In this latter respect
the raven of German mythology stands in the same relation to Odin that the
raven of Greek mythology does to Apollo. The Scandinavians, like their German
relatives, considered the raven in a sacred light.
he Anglo-Saxon
chronicle (at the year 878) records the capture from the Norse of a banner
called
the Raven, of which a more
particular account is in
Asser’s Life of
Alfred, at the same year. After describing the defeat of the Pagan Norse
before Kynwith castle. On Devonshire, the writer adds, “and there they (the
West Saxons) gained very large booty, and amongst other things the banner called
the Raven; for they say that the three sisters of
Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of Lodbrok, wove that flag and got it
ready in one day, They say, moreover that in every battle, wherever that flag
went before them, if they were to gain the victory, a live crow would appear
flying on the middle of the flag; but if they were doomed to be defeated it
would hang down motionles; and this was often proved to be so.” Earl Sigurd
also is said to have had a raven banner at the
battle of Clontarf, which his mother had woven for him with magical
skill. This idea fo the raven banner is probably connected with the
tradition given in the
Vœlsûnga-Saga,
which represents Odin as sending the
Valkyria
Oskemey, in the form of a crow, on a mission to
Friga, to entreat that the wife of King
Reris might become fruitful; and the prayer being heard, a son (
Sigmund) was born, whose son
Sigurd married
Brunhilt, a
Valkyria, who
was kalled
Kraka, or the crow, and
who was the wife of
Radnar Lodbrok,
and mother of
Ivar Beinlaus.
The Morrigan has some dim connection to the pagan festival
of Samhain, or Allhallowtide. Macha Mongruadh, the fabled foundress of
Ard-Macha (Armagh) whose sword (chaidhem Macha Moingruadh) is described
as a very powerful weapon, is sometimes Morrigan; as is also Mongfind, a great queen of the 3rd
cent., in whose honour the festival of Samhain was anciently called “Feil-Moing,” “when the vulger and women
asked requests of her.” (Book of
Ballymote.)
he name of the
Morrigan
is found connected with
many of the
fulachts, or Kitchen
Middens, particularly with the larger ones, which are called “
Fulacht na Morrigna,” the “Morrigan’s
hearth,” whilst the smaller ones are named “
Fulacht
Fian.” One of these great Fulachts at Tara would cook three kinds of food
at the same time. Some account of it wil be found in
Petrie’s “Antiquities of Tara,” (where, however, Petrie should have
considered it rather a cauldron than a spit). In the tract call the
dthe Agallamh beg, or “Little Dialogue,”
contained in the
Book of Lismore
mention is made of another
Fulacht-na-Morrigna
which existed near the fairy mound of Sidh-Airfemhin, in the present county
of Tipperary.“It was they who made
a hut for themselves that night; and i
ndeonad
(cooking places were made by them and
Cailte
and
Findchadh went to the stream to
wash their hands. ‘Here is the site of a fulacht, ‘said Finchadh and it is a
long time since it was made.’
‘True,’ said Cailte;
‘and this is a fulacht-na-Morrighna
which is not to be made without water’” (i. e. there should be a supply of
water near at hand). (19.)
The name of the Morrigan enters not a little into the
composition of Irish topographical names. In the present county of Louth there is a district anciently known by the name of Gort-na-Morrigna, of the “Morrigan’s
feild,” which her husband, the Dagda,
had given to her (Book of Fermoy,”).
The Book of Lismore mentions a Crich-na-Morrigna, as somewhere in the
present county of Wicklow. Among the
remarkable monuments of the Brugh on the Boyne were Mur=na-Morrigna (the mound of the Morrigan); two hills called the Cirr and Cuirrel (or comb and brush) of
the Dagda’s wife, which Dr. Petrie has inadvertently transformed into two
proper names; and Da cich na Morrigna,
or the “Morrigan’s two paps.” The name of the Morrigan is also probably
contained in that of Tirreeworrigan,
in the county of Armagh.
P. S.—Mr. Hennessy’s preceding paper is a valuable
contribution to the comparative mythology of the Germans (chiefly Scandinavians)
and Celts. More than one element of the Badhbh-story is common to both races. I
mention briefly the chief coincindences.
I. To the ancient Irish goddesses of war correspond to the
Norwegian (and, in general, Germanic) Valkyrias.
II. These Irish goddesses appear either by themselves, or
(when more than one) three in number. In a similar way the Norns appear three
together, and the youngest of them, Skuld, is at the same time a Valkyria. Very
often too, three Valkyrias fly together (Vœlundarquidha, 1, 2).
III. One of these goddesses is often the special companion
of one hero, assists and warns him and, when his hour has come, leaves him with
a cry. Instances of love-stories of a supernatural character are numerous in
Germanic mythology. « Sigurd and Brynhild » furnish one. But the finest of the
stories in the Older Edda, in the songs of Helgi. I do not find however that in
Germanic tales the approaching death is announceed by the divine bride leaving
her husband with sorrow. Perhaps there may have been something of that kind in
Sigurd’s murder committed at the instiguation of Brynhild. The dying Helgi too
says to his Valkyrian bride: « Do you not sorrow, you have been destruction. »
Herein seems to lurk a conception more stern than the Irish, namely that the
Valkyrian herself is, when time arrives, the instrument of her lover’s death.
The simply divine Valkyrias that live with Odhinn and are not attached to any
particular man, are sent by him for the special purpose of calling the heroes home . Hence in fact the name Valkyria, the chooser of the slain. (Norse
val-r, strages; kiosa, eligere).
IV. The Irish goddesses appear in the form of a bird, which
is more especially considered as the bird of valour of the hero. It is not
always easy to find out what exact form they assume, but it is genearally that
of a scaldcrow. The Germanic Valkyrias generally appear as swans. Yet the
Vœlsunga Saga tells of love between one of Sigurd’s ancestors and a Valkyria,
who assumed the figure of a crow, and Aslaug, daughter of Sigurd, who
accompanies Ragnar Lodbrok after the fashion of the Valkyrias, calls herself
also crow (kraka).
V. The names of the Irish goddesses, as far as can be
ascertained, are Badb, ( or Badb-catha ) Fea, Ana, Morrigu (or Morrigan) Macha,
Neman. Perhaps we might be justified in comparing the name of Macha with gr.
μάχη. As far as the first of these names is concerned it is certainly identical
witn M. Pictet’s [C]athubodua and it has its counter-part in Germany. Tacitus
tells us (Ann. IV, 73) that, in the eventful campaign of the Romans against the
Frisians, nine hundred Romans were slain: Apud lucum quem Baduhennæ vocant, "Near the wood which is consecrated to Baduhennæ."
Now Badu is a Germanic word for strife (Anglo-Saxon beado, Old-Norse
boedhr). Indeed it does not appear as the name of a Valkyria; but when one
thinks that by the side of nemas in—hild decidedly derived from the Valkyrias
such as Mahthild, Gundhild, Svanhild, there appears an Old-High German
woman-name Baduhild which indirectly confirms the statement of Tacitus, it
becomes most probably that there was an ancient Germanic goddess of war, named
Badu.
Such similarities between German and Celtic traditions
cannot be accidental. Not even the historical connection of the Scandinavians
and the Irish can explain them. It seems that we must go much further back, to
those times when along the Rhine Celts and Germans mixed together, sometimes as
friends, sometimes as foes, when the king of the Marcomans, Maroboduus, a
German by birth, assumed a Celtic name, in the same way as in later times
Cormac, Nial, went over to the Scandinavians from Celtic lips. The old Gaulish
names Caturix, Toutiorix, Segomaros, Albiorix, have their Germanic corresponding
words (some of which are still in use) in the names Hedrich, Dietrich, Sigmar,
Alberich.
All these instances of resemblance indicate a long
intercourse, and songs and traditions, as well as names and words, may have
been interchanged from one side of the Rhine to the other and have strenghtened the old bonds
which united Celts and Germans in the time of the Indogermanic unity.
C. Lottner.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:
(1.) Ro erig em badb discir,
dian, demnetach, dasachtach, dúr, duabsech, detcengtach, cruaid, croda,
cosaitech, co bai ic screchád ar luamain, os a cennaib. Ro eirgetar am
bananaig, ocus boccanaig, ocus geliti glinni, ocus amati adgaill, ocus siabra,
ocus seneoin, ocus damna admilti aeoir ocus firmaminti, ocus siabarsluag debil
demnach, co mbatar a comgresacht ocus i commorad aig ocus irgaili leo.
(2.) As mór tra an toirm ocus
an fothrom baoi eturra an uair sin, ocus ra togaibh badbh cenn eturra, ocus
baoi marbhadh mór eturra san cán;
(3.) Is annsin do chuaidh
Badhbh ocus Macha ocus Morrighu gu cnoc gabala na ngial, ocus gu tulaig
techtairechta na trom sluag, gu Temraig, ocus do feradar cetha dolfe
draigechta, ocus cith nela cotaigecha ciath, ocus frasa tromaidble tened, ocus
dortad donnfala do shiltin asin aeor i cennaib ne curad, ocus nir legset scarad
na scailed do feraib Bold co cenn tri la ocus tri naidche.
(4.) Is iad taisig ro ergedar
re Tuathaib de Danann isin lo sin .i. Ogma ocus Midir ocus Bodb derg ocus
Diancecht, ocus Aengaba na hiruaithe. Rachmaitne lib ar na ingena .i. Badb ocus Macha, ocus Morrigan, ocus
Danann;
(5.) Ocus cidh buadh aile,
for Fingen. Ni ansam, for in ben. Ata ann cethrar atrullaiset ria Tuathaib de
Danann a cath Muigi tuired, corrabatar oc coll etha ocus blechta, ocus messa,
ocus murthorad .i. fer dib a slemnaib Maigi Itha .i. Redg a ainmsidé; fer dib a
sléib Smóil .i. Grenu a ainmsidé;fer aile a ndromannaib Breg .i. Bréa a ainm;
fer aile dib hi crichaib cruachna .i. Tinel a ainmsidé. Indocht rosruithéa a
hErinn .i. in Morrigan ocus Badb Side Femin, ocus Midir Brig Leith, ocus Mac
ind óc, conna beth foglai Fomóir for hErinn cu brath.
(6.) ra gairestar imme
boccanaig, ocus banánaig, ocus geniti glinni, ocus demna aeoir, daig dabertis
Tuatha de Danann a ngasciud immisium, combad móti a grain, ocus a ecla, ocus a
urúaman in cach cath ocus in cach cathrói, in cach comlund ocus in cach comruc
i teiged;
(7) Dosfobair tra ind Nemain
.i. in Badb lasodain, ocus nipsísin adaig bá samam doib la budris ocus focherd
dirna mor dint slógh conluid Medbh dia chosc.
(8.) Atchonnairc seom uad
gristaitnem na narm nglan orda os chind chethri noll choiced nErend refuiniud
nell na nona. Do fainig ferg ocus luinni mor icanaiscin re ilar a bidbad, re
immad a namad, Rogab a da shleig, ocus a sciath, ocus a chlaideb, Crothais a
sciath, ocus cressaigis a shlega, ocus bertnaigis a chlaidem, ocus do bert rem
curad as a bragit cororecratar bananaig ocus boccanaig, ocus geniti glinni,
ocus demna aeoir, re uathgrain nag are dosbertatar ar aird, co ro mesc ind
Neamain .i. in Badb forsint slog. Dollotar in armgrith cethri choiced hErend im
rennaib a sleg ocus a narm fadessin, conerbaltatar ced laech dib d’uathbas ocus
chridemnas ar lar in dunaid ocus in longphoirt in naidchisin.
(9.)Berid in Morrigan iarum
boin a mic sium cen bai seom ina cotlad, conderodart in Donn Cuailgne tair i
Cuailgne. Do thaet cona boin doridise anair, Nostaertend Cuchullain i Mag
Murthemne oc tuidecht tairis, ar ba do gesaib Conculaind ce teit ban as a thir
manib udairc les. . . Da thairte Cuchullain in Morrigan, cona boid, ocus isbert
ni berthar in nimirce, ol Cuchullain
(10.) Is he in la cetna tanic
in Dond Cuailgne co crich margin, ocus coica samseisce immi do samascib. . . is e in la cetna tanic in Morrigu, ingen
Ernmais a sibaib [in deilb euin] comboi for in chorthi i Temair Chualgne ic
brith rabuid don Dund Chualgne ria ferdaib hErend, ocus rogab ac a acallaim;
ocus maith, a thruaig, a duind Cuailnge ar in Morrigu, deni fatchius daig
ardotreset fir hErenn, ocus not berat dochum longphoirt mani dena faitchius;
ocus ro gab ic breith rabuid do samlaid, ocus dosbert na briathrasa ar aird.
(11.) Conacca Cu in nocben
chuci conetuch cacn datha impe, ocus
delb ro derscaigthe fuirri. Ce taisiu or Cu. Ingen Buain ind rig, or si; do
deochaidh cuchutsa; rotcharus ar thairscelaib, ocus tucuc mo seotu lim, ocus mo
indili. Ni maith, em, ind inbuid tonnanac, nach is olc ar mblath oinmgorti. Ni
haurusa damsa dana comrac fri banscail cein nombeo isind nith so. Bid im
chobairse daitsiu (.i. do gensa congnom latt) oc sudiu. Ni ar thoin mna dana
gabussa inso. Bi ansu daitsiu, or si, in tan doragsa ar do chend oc comrac fris
na firu; doragsa irricht escongan for chossaib issind ath co taithis. Dochu
lim, on, oldas ingen rig; notgebsa, or se, im ladair commebsat t’asnai, ocus
bia fond anim sin co ro secha brath bennachtan fort. Timorcsa in cethri forsind
ath do dochumsa irricht soide glaisse. Leicfesa cloich daitsiu as in tailm co
commart do suil it cind, ocus bia fond anim co ro secha brath bennachtan fort.
To rach dait irricht samaisci maile derce riasind eit, comensat forsnai lathu,
ocus fors na hathu, ocus fors na liniu, ocus nimaircechasa ar do chend.
Tolecubsa cloich deitsiu or se, commema do fergara fot, ocus bia fo ind anim
sin co ro secha brath bennachtan fort. Lasodain teit uad.
(12.) Cid andarignisiu, ol
si, rodbia olc de. Ni cuma dam ol Cuchullain. Cumcim eicin ol in ben; is ac
[do] diten do baissiu, atusa ocus biad, olsi. Do fucus in mboinsea a sith
Cruachan, condarodart in Dub Cuailnge lim i Cuailnge .i. tarb Dairi mic
Fiachna, Ised aired biasu imbeathaid corop dartaig in laegh fil imbroind na bo
so, ocus ise consaithbe Tain Bo Cuailnge. Bid am ardercusia de din tain ishin,
ol Cuchullain. Gegna a nanrada, brisfe a mor chatha, bid a tigba na tana.
(13.) O ro chomraicset iarom
ind fir for sind áth, ocus o rogabsat oc gliaid ocus oc imesorcain and, ocus o
ro gab cach dib for truastad a chéli, focheird in escongon triol (.i. tri curu)
im chossa Conculaind combói fáen fotarsnu isind áth ina ligu. Dauautat (.i. buailis) Loch cosin
chlaidiub combu chroderg int ath dia fuilriud. . . . Lasodain atraig, ocus
benaid in nescongain comebdatar a hasnai indi, ocus comboing in cethri dars na slúaga sair ar ecin, combertatar a
puple innan adarcaib lasa torandcless darigensat in dá lathgáile isind ath. Tanautat
som ind sod mactire do imairg na bú fair siar. Léicid som cloich as a tailm co
mebaid a suil ina cind. Téite
irricht samaisce máile derge, muitte rias na buaib forsna linni ocus na háthu. Is
and asbert som ni airciu ( .i. ni rochim) anáthu la linni. Leicidsom cloich
dont samaisc máil déirg comemaid a ger gara foi.” Lebor na hUidre.
(14.) go facadar in en mnai
minderg moir malach dhuibh in deil bdesi . . . . da ninsaigidh. Ingantaigsed na
sluaigh re sirdechsain ahinnell ocus a habaise. In darna huair ann ba rigan
roisclethan ro alainn; ocus in uair aill . . . . na baidb biraigh banghlais. .
. . . . Suidhis ar inchaib Eremoin; snaidmis a heinech ar Emir. Ca crich as ar
cemnigis ocus ca cele ca clechtaidh do comluigi, ocus ca hainm is raiti rit a
ingín, ar Eremon. O tuathaib digraisi de Denann do dechladhus am, bar, isi, 7
mac gréni gaiscedhach mfher cele, 7 Eriu mainmse, bar in ingen.
(15.)Andsin tanic in Mórrigu
ingen Ernmais a sidaib irricht sentainne, corrabi ic blegu bó trí sine na
fiadnaisse. Is immi tainic si sin ar bith a forithen do Choinchullaind; daid ni
gonad Cuchullain nech ara térnád combeth cuit dó fein na legus. Conattech
Cuchullain blegon fuirri iar na dechrad dittaid. Do brethasi blegon sini dó .
Rop slán a neim damsa so. Ba slána lethrosc na rigna. Conaittecht som in tres
ndig, ocus dobrethasi blegon sine dó. Bendacht dée ocus ándee fort a ingen
(batar é a ndee int aes cumachta, ocus andee int aes trebaire); ocus ba slan
ind rigan.
(16.)Teite Cuchullainn
adochum [in Leith Macha], ocus ro impa int ech a chle friss fothri, ocus
roscail in Morrigu in carpat issind aidchi remi, ar nir bo ail le a dul
Conculainn dochum in chatha, ar rofitir noco ricfad Emain Macha afrithis.
(17.) Do dechuid iarum crich
mór ond loch (Loch Lamraith in Magh
Muirthemne) slar, ocus rucad a rosc airi, ocus téit dochum coirthi cloiche file
isin maig cotarat a choimchriss immi, narablad na suidiu, nach ina ligu, conbad
ina sessam atbalad. Is iarsin do echatar na fir immacuairt, ocus ni rolamsatar
dul a dochum. Andarleo ropo beo. Is mebol duib, ol Erc Mac Cairpre, cen cend
ind fhir do thabhairt lib in digail chind m’atarsa rucad leis co ro adnacht fri
airsce Echdach Niafer. Rucad a chend assaide co fil i síd Nenta iar nusciu. . .
. . Iarsin tra do dechaid in Liath Macha
co Coinculaind dia imchoimét in céin robói a anim and, ocus ro mair in lon
laith ass a étan. Is iarum bert in Liath Macha na tri derg ruathar immi ma
cuairt, co torchair l. leis cona fiaclaib, ocus xxx cach crui do issed romarb
dont sluag. Conid de ata nitathe buadremmend ind leith Macha iar marbad
Conculainn. Conid iarsin dolliud ind ennach for a gualaind. Nir bo gnáth in
corthe ut fo enaib ar Erc mac Carpre.
(18.) Denaid comarli for
Ailill, Gudid Conculainn im for lecud asind inudsa ar ni ragaid ar ecin tairis
uair rodlebaing a long laith, ar ba ges dosom intan no linged a lon laith ind
imreditis a traigthi iarma ocus a escada remi, odus muil a orcan for a lurgnib,
ocus in dala suil inachend, ocus araili fria chend anechtair; do coised fer
chend for a beolu. Nach findae bid fair ba hathithir delca sciach, ocus banna
fola for cach finnu. Ni aithgnead coemu na cairdiu. Cumma no slaided riam ocus
iarma. Is desin dober fir nolnecmacht in riastarthu do animm do Coinculainn.
(Lebor na hUidhre)
(19.) Ba hiat fein do rinde
both doibh ind oidchi sin, ocus do rinded indeonadh leo, ocuss teit Cailte ocus
Findchadh do indlad a lámha cum int srotha. Inad fulachta so ar Findchad, ocus
is cian o do rinded. Is fir ar Cailte, ocus fulacht na Morrighna so, ocus ni
denta gan uisce.
Revue Celtique vol 1, Badb, The Ancient Irish Goddess of War, by WM
Hennessey, 1870
Nico
