Text items (beta)

AOA I (YBL version, §§ 10-11)

§ 10. When Cú Chulainn has come down for the boy, he tells him that his play is pretty. The boy replies that Cú Chulainn’s play is not. Since the boy refuses to reveal his name, the two fight each other. The boy is the first to come forward and succeeds in cropping off his father’s hair with a single sword-stroke. Cú Chulainn says that the mockery (cuitbiud) has come to a head (cenn meaning both ‘head’ and ‘end’) and suggests wrestling instead.

§ 11. Unable to reach his opponent’s belt, the boy places himself on top of two stones. In this position, he manages to wound Cú Chulainn three times. His feet sink into the stones and leave permanent footprints on the beach, whence it is called Tráig Ési (‘Strand of the Track’).

After this combat, they move into the sea to drown one another. Cú Chulainn is submerged twice, but then performs the decisive feat: he takes the Gái Bulga, the use of which Scáthach had taught to Cú Chulainn only, and sends it at his son so that the boy’s bowels fall to his feet.

Keywords

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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 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
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Places

Tráig ÉiseTráig Éise

No description available

AOA II (TCD 1336 version)

When Cú Chulainn comes down for the boy, the boy still refuses to reveal anything.

They fight each other, but Cú Chulainn is unable to overpower his opponent on land.

Cú Chulainn asks him to prove his fighting skills at sea. They fight each other at sea, but again, Cú Chulainn is unable to overcome him. In the end, however, he performs the decisive feat: he sends the Gái Bulga [see remark earlier in the story] at his son.

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 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