Cú Chulainn

Here’s my take on Cú Chulainn (meaning “Hound of Culann”, pronounced “kukchulain”), the most famous hero of Irish Celtic mythology! Champion of the kingdom of Ulster (a province at the north of Ireland), he was endowed with superhuman strength, mastered several martial arts, had notions of magic, could turn into a berserk monster, and wielded the formidable spear Gae Bulg (which could be translated as "lightning javelin").

He was not always attributed the same origins, but the best known version makes him a demigod, son of Lugh, the polytechnician god, and Deichtine, who is sometimes the daughter, sometimes the sister of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster. Indeed, while Conchobar and his court had chased a flock of magical birds, they were surprised by a snowstorm, and had to seek shelter in the first house they could find. However, the host who welcomed them was none other than the god Lugh, incognito, and it was on this occasion that he and Deichtine were able to conceive the one who would become Cú Chulainn. In another version, the young hero is the fruit of two incestuous unions, on two planes of existence : that of Lugh with the Fomorian Eithne (considered the mother of all the gods of her pantheon), in the divine plane, and that of Deichtine with King Conchobar, in the Sidh (the Other World of the Celts). In any case, the child in question, at birth, was named Setanta, a name that could be translated as “the one who progresses”. Although one version of his legend gave the child six guardians among the nobles of Ulster (including Conchobar), the most popular entrusted this role to the druid Cathbad, famous for his prophecies, who was also the maternal grandfather of Setanta. The future hero was therefore raised at the castle of Breth, in the plain of Muirthemne.
When he was five years old, Setanta was invited by King Conchobar (who was in awe, seeing his performance at the game of iomáint/hurling) to a banquet which was held at the home of a man named Culann, the master blacksmith of the kingdom. The child not having finished his game, he asked the king to go ahead. However, Conchobar forgot to warn Culann of the boy's imminent arrival, and the latter, thinking that all the guests had arrived, had released his formidable hound to stand guard. When Setanta approached the blacksmith's house, the enormous beast attacked him. But the demigod was already known to enter a state of fighting frenzy that made him unrecognizable when attacked, and he brought down the great dog (either by smashing it against a standing stone or by throwing a shot in his throat with the caman which he had used at iomáint). Although Culann apologized for the mistake, he lamented the death of his guard dog. But Setanta offered to take the hound's place, until another animal raised by Culann could fill that role again. This is why Cathbad renamed the young boy, giving him the name Cú Chulainn, the “Hound of Culann”.
At the age of seven, one day, he overheard his tutor Cathbad prophesying to his students that whoever took up arms on that specific day would gain eternal glory. The young boy then ran to see the king, so that he could give him weapons. Of all those tested by Cú Chulainn, only Conchobar's own weapons withstood the strength of the demigod, who decided to go and kill three brothers who had boasted of having killed more Ulaidh than there were alive. But upon his return, his berserk rage had not stopped, and it was feared that he would attack his allies. After several women revealed their breasts to disturb him, several men plunged him into a barrel of cold water, which exploded because of the demigod's extreme body heat ! Alas, before doing all this, Cúchulainn had not heard Cathbad add that if the one who took up arms on this day would remain famous, he would also have a short life...

As a young man, Cú Chulainn was so handsome that the Ulaidh feared that he would take their wives and daughters if he did not quickly find a wife of his own. Only Emer, princess of the county of Meath, suited him ; but the father of the latter was opposed to their union, and invited the demigod to go to the Isle of Skye, to follow the teaching of Scathach, a magician-warrioress (counting on the fact that the young man could never come back). Cú Chulainn accepted, and then left for the far north of Scotland, where this island was located, and Dún Scaith, the enchantress' fortress. There, Scathach taught him the art of combat, introduced him to magic, and taught him to wield Gae Bulg, a magical javelin with a barbed tip, made from the bones of a sea monster called Curruid. The young hero became very close to another disciple of the sorceress, who was called Ferdiad (known for his impenetrable skin), and became the lover of Uathach, the daughter of his mentor, who approved this union. But during this period, a conflict broke out between Scathach and her sister Aife. (Now I lack room to tell the rest of the story...)