Text items (beta)

AOA I only (YBL version, §§ 8-9)

§ 8. Cú Chulainn is playing his game as he is on his way to meet the boy. Emer, daughter of Forgall, has laid her arm around his neck, pleading that he should not go. Her advice comes in the form of a retoiric beg. Ná téig sís, in which she tells him that the boy is his own son; that he (‘son of Sualtaim’) should not kill his brave son; that the fight would be unequal and unwise; that he should heed Scáthach’s words; that the boy’s name is Conla óenmac Aífe (‘Conla the only son of Aífe’). § 9. Cú Chulainn utters a retoiric, beg. Coisc a bean, in which he replies to Emer that she should be quiet; that he does not seek advice from a woman; that Connla will bleed. If the boy were his own son, he would kill him for the honour of Ulster.

For discussions, see e.g. Joanne Findon, ‘A woman’s words: Emer versus Cú Chulainn in Aided Óenfir Aife’ in Ulidia... (1994) and Joanne Findon, A woman’s words: Emer and female speech in the Ulster Cycle (1997).

Subjects

retoiric or rosc(ad)metrical forms
retoiric or rosc(ad)

id. 27794

non-rhymed, usually alliterative type of verse; typically known for being cryptic or abstruse

Agents

Cú ChulainnCú Chulainn
Young Ulster hero and chief character of Táin bó Cuailnge and other tales of the Ulster Cycle; son of Súaltam or Lug and Deichtire (sister to Conchobor); husband of Emer (ingen Forgaill)
See more Emer ingen ForgaillEmer ingen Forgaill
Emer
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
wife of Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of tales
See more ScáthachScáthach
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle, Conchobar mac Nessa)
A warrior woman and instructor of warriors in the Ulster Cycle, notably responsible for training the hero Cú Chulainn.
See more Connla mac AífeConnla (var. Connláech) or Conla; or Óenfir Aífe (‘Aífe’s only son’)
son of Cú Chulainn and Aífe; tragically killed in single combat by his honour-bound father
See more

Included

Beg. Ná téig sís • Coisc a bean

Verse beg. Ná téig sís

Retoiric.

Verse beg. Coisc a bean

Retoiric.