Tag Archives: Ferchuitred Medba

Medb’s Family and Problems in the Timeline of the Ulster Cycle

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I think that Medb’s death might be the last major event in the narrative timeline of the Ulster Cycle.  Her death is the subject of its own story Aided Meidbe “The Violent Death of Medb.”  One of the interesting features of this story is that it seems to cover most of the timespan during which the main events of the Ulster Cycle occur.  It begins with the introduction of Find and his three sons: Conall Anglonnach, Eochaid Airem, and Eochaid Feidlech, who is Medb’s father.  Eochaid Airem is a central figure in the text Tochmarc Étaíne “The Wooing of Étaín,” where he is the mortal husband of Étaín before she is reclaimed by her previous husband, Midir of the Túatha Dé Danann.  Within the chronology of the Ulster Cycle, the earliest period of narrative deals with the enmity between Eochaid Feidlech and Fachtna Fathach, sometimes known as the father of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster.  The conflict between these two is described most fully in the text Cath Leitrech Ruidhe “The Battle of Leitrech Ruidhe,” during which Fachtna Fathach is killed and Eochaid Feidlech takes his place as high king of Ireland.  In a later battle, the Ulstermen attack Eochaid Feidlech and defeat his forces. He is required to pay éric or compensation to Conchobar for the death of his father.

Part of this compensation involves four of Eochaid Feidlech’s daughters being given to Conchobar: Medb, then Clothra, then Eithne, and finally Mugain, who is Conchobar’s main wife in the Ulster Cycle.  These four marriages are also mentioned in Ferchuitred Medba “Medb’s Selection of Husbands,” which tells us that Mugain was the mother of Conchobar’s son Glasne, Eithne was the mother of his son Furbaide, and Clothra was the mother of his son Cormac Conn Longes, although it is also suggested that Cormac’s mother might actually have been Conchobar’s own mother Ness.  Ferchuitred Medba also describes the sequence of events by which Medb became queen of Connacht and took Ailill as her husband.

Most of the Ulster Cycle tales concern the period during which Conchobar is king of Ulster and Medb and Ailill rule Connacht, and several stories deal with the period after Conchobar’s death.  Medb’s death is one of the last, if not the last, event within the internal chronological sequence of the Ulster Cycle.  Aided Meidbe also describes some of the complex history between Conchobar and Medb’s family as well as some of the details of the lives of Medb’s siblings. It describes how Clothra bore her son Lugaid Ríab nDerg to her three brothers, the Find Emna, who conceived him with her the night before they went to war against their own father and were killed.  According to this text, Clothra had a second son, Furbaide Fer Benn, who was born by caesarean after Medb killed her.  In most other sources, however, Furbaide is named as the son of Eithne rather than Clothra. 

My suggestion that Medb’s death is the last event of the Ulster Cycle is mainly based on the relative chronology.   The story of Medb’s death includes the story of the birth of two of her nephews: Lugaid Ríab nDerg and Furbaide Fer Benn.  Lugaid’s death is not mentioned in this text, but by following the stories of a series of deaths, beginning with his, and the resulting acts of vengeance that follow these deaths, we can determine a rough chronology for several stories.

Lugaid’s death is described in Aided Derbforgaill “The Violent Death of Derbforgaill,” in which he dies of grief upon seeing the mutilated body of his wife Derbforgaill, who had been tortured by the women of Ulster out of jealousy.  The deaths of Derbforgaill and Lugaid are avenged by Cú Chulainn, who traps 150 queens of Ulster in a house and burns it down around them.  Cú Chulainn’s own death takes place in the text Brislech Mór Maige Muirthemne and he is avenged by Conall Cernach, with whom, we are told, he had sworn a pact of mutual vengeance.  Although Conchobar is not present for the action in this text, Ulster is referred to as “Conchobar’s province,” and so I take it that he is still alive and his death takes place after Cú Chulainn’s.

Conall Cernach, we know, outlives most of the other Ulstermen, as does Fergus mac Róich. Both are involved in the conflicts over succession that follow Conchobar’s death and which are described in Bruiden Da Choca “Da Coca’s Hostel” and Cath Airtig “The Battle of Airtech.”  Both were in exile in Connacht following Conchobar’s betrayal of the sons of Uisliu in Longes mac nUislenn “The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu,” and both return to their exiles in Connacht before their deaths. Fergus’ return takes place in Cath Airtig, and his death is described in Aided Fergusa meic Róich “The Violent Death of Fergus mac Róich.”  Ailill’s jealousy over Medb’s ongoing affair with Fergus causes his brother Lugaid Dalléces, who also declares himself to be Fergus’ foster-brother, to kill Fergus while swimming with Medb.  Ailill’s own death and that of Conall Cernach are described in Goire Conaill Chernaig i Crúachain ocus Aided Ailella ocus Conaill Chernaig “The Maintenance of Conall Cernach in Crúachan and the Violent Deaths of Ailill and Conall Cernach.”1 Following the deaths of Conchobar and Cú Chulainn, Conall Cernach finds himself old and infirm and alone, and so decides to go to Ailill and Medb because he thinks they alone have the resources to support him.  They welcome him, and Medb takes him into her household. Ailill, meanwhile, is carrying on an affair behind Medb’s back and she instructs Conall Cernach to kill him, which he is happy to do as vengeance for Fergus. Ailill survives long enough to identify Conall Cernach as his killer, and Conall himself is then also killed. Medb is present for all of these events.

Based on these stories of death and vengeance, we can identify the following order of deaths:

Lugaid Ríab nDerg < Cú Chulainn < Conchobar < Fergus < Ailill < Conall Cernach < Medb

Medb’s death comes about when Furbaide Fer Benn sees her bathing and asks who she is. When he learns her identity, he uses a piece of cheese as a sling-stone to kill her in vengeance for his mother, who, according to Aided Meidbe, was Clothra and had been killed by Medb. 

Since he outlives Medb, we can add Furbaide to the above chronology of deaths:

Lugaid Ríab nDerg < Cú Chulainn < Conchobar < Fergus < Ailill < Conall Cernach < Medb < Furbaide Fer Benn

The problem comes when we take the story of Furbaide’s own death into account. Furbaide’s birth and death are both related in the Dinnshenchas of Carn Furbaide. Here, his mother is Eithne, described as daughter of Eochaid Feidlech and wife of Conchobar mac Nessa. Clothra’s druid tells her that she will be killed by the son of her sister.   At this time, Eithne is traveling to Crúachan from the east (presumably from Emain Macha) in order to give birth. Clothra sends her son Lugaid Ríab nDerg to kill her. He drowns her and cuts Furbaide from her body.  When he is older, Furbaide kills Clothra in order to avenge his mother Eithne, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Clothra’s druid. This stands in contrast to Aided Meidbe, in which he killed Medb in order to avenge his mother Clothra.  Lugaid then kills Furbaide in order to avenge Clothra.  This puts Furbaide’s death before Lugaid’s and makes Furbaide both the first and final death in the chronology above, which is clearly impossible. 

Discrepancies such as which of Eochaid Feidlech’s daughters is Furbaide’s mother and which of his aunts he kills to avenge her death are not uncommon in the Ulster Cycle. Conchobar is said to be the son of the druid Cathbad in some texts and the son of Fachtna Fathach in others.  Some texts give the name of Cú Chulainn’s mother as Deichtine and others Deichtire, and she is sometimes Conchobar’s own daughter, but elsewhere the daughter of Cathbad and sister of Conchobar.  Conall Anglonnach is sometimes named as a son of Eochaid Feidlech and elsewhere as his brother. In Serglige Con Culainn “The Wasting Sickness of Cú Chulainn,” Cú Chulainn’s wife is named sometimes Emer, as is common, but sometimes Eithne Ingubai.  The extent to which any of these discrepancies actually affect the overall storyline of the Ulster Cycle varies.  The question of Conchobar’s paternity has more far-reaching implications than, for example, his exact relationship to Deichtine/Deichtire. If Cathbad is his father, then among his half-sisters is Findchóem, mother of Conall Cernach, and in Findchóem Conchobar shares a half-sister with his own eventual killer Cet mac Mágach.  If, on the other hand, Conchobar is the son of Fachtna Fathach, then we have an explanation for his marriages to four of the daughters of Eochaid Feidlech.  There is no one explanation for these variations and discrepancies.  Some have come about due to the complex histories of the texts as we have them. Some may be simply mistakes or come about as a result of scribes trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. Some are likely due to experimentation in the reworkings of familiar materials. The result is an Ulster Cycle corpus that is rich, complex, and quite far from presenting a unified account of its storyline.

It’s probably fair to say that most modern audiences are familiar with the idea of alternate timelines thanks to major movie franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Trek.  This is hardly a new feature of storytelling though, and medieval and ancient narrative systems offer many examples of alternate timelines. In a 2023 article called “Deirdre and the Story-World of the Ulster Cycle,” I explored some of the alternate versions of the story of Deirdre in the Ulster Cycle and compared this with some of the alternate versions of the story of Helen of Troy.  Everyone who is at all familiar with Helen’s story knows the version that involves her being taken to Troy by Paris, which launches the Trojan War.  There is another version of the story though, found in sources like Euripedes’ Helen, in which Helen never actually went to Troy. Instead, an εἴδωλον (eidōlon) or image of Helen was created by Hera and sent in her place.  Even in the versions of the story in which Helen truly does go to Troy, the portrayals of her actions and motivations vary considerably, with her sometimes working with the Trojans against the Greeks and sometimes helping the Greeks against the Trojans.

There is certainly dialogue between these different versions.  According to Plato,2 the poet Stesichorus was blinded for having said that Helen went to Troy, and his sight was restored when he recanted.  Plato states that Stesichorus, unlike Homer, was able to reclaim his sight because he knew the cause of his blinding, whereas Homer did not. Here we find the two versions of Helen’s story contrasted, with Homer’s version, in which she went to Troy, condemned.  Similarly, some of the accounts of Conchobar’s birth in which Fachtna Fathach is his father make reference to claims that Cathbad was his father and declare them false.  Far from posing a problem for storytellers and audiences, these variations seem instead to offer them opportunities. As I wrote in my article: “these variations can strengthen the audience’s attachment to the characters as well as increase their engagement with the story-world.”  Plurality or multiformity or variation are common properties of complex narrative story-worlds, and thinking about these kinds of issues maintains the audience’s interest in the stories and allows them to engage with the different aspects of the stories and versions of the characters in ways that are personal and unique to them.

These kinds of variations are just one of the things that a modern reader of the Ulster Cycle corpus might find challenging and disorienting.  It’s not just about conflicting information in different versions of stories, but also the absence of information.  There is no clear starting point for reading the Ulster Cycle because each text makes reference to and depends on information given in other stories, even if it’s just about who the characters are and how they are related to one another.  Writing about Greek myth, Sarah Iles Johnston has said that “There is no such thing as a Greek mythic character who stands completely on his or her own; he or she is always related to characters from other myths, and the narrators take some pains to tell us that (and, one assumes, to invent such relationships when they need to).”3

There is no text that can “introduce” the Ulster Cycle and its characters, because no text operates independently or is intended as a “beginning.”  It is also true that no story or text is intended to be experienced only once. It is by reading the stories repeatedly in a cyclic fashion rather than once in a linear one that a reader gains the knowledge needed to appreciate and understand the nuances of each individual story.  You still have to start somewhere, of course, and for at least some modern readers I do think that starting with a reasonably linear approach guided by the internal chronology of the main storyline of the Ulster Cycle might work.  If Medb’s death is the end of the narrative timeline of the Ulster Cycle, then Conchobar’s birth is probably the beginning.  These two events, Conchobar’s birth and Medb’s death, seem to bookend the storyline of the Ulster Cycle.  While we have one version of Medb’s death, there are several different stories about Conchobar’s birth. When my next series of blog posts starts in the new year, I will start by discussing some ideas about a reading order for the Ulster Cycle and I will  publish a translation of the story of Conchobar’s birth as preserved in the Yellow Book of Lecan and the Book of Ballymote, since I think this makes an excellent starting point for reading the Ulster Cycle and it is not currently available in English.

This will be my last post for this year. My next series of posts will start some time in February or March, and I’ll begin with a return to the question of the chronology of the Ulster Cycle, especially from the perspective of how to approach developing a reading order.

For anyone who can’t get enough of the Ulster Cycle stories and other wonderful medieval Irish stories, I really recommend the podcast Guth: Reading Irish Myths and Legends with Dr. Emmet Taylor, which is available on Spotify.  This podcast is a chance to hear translations direct from the medieval Irish texts themselves rather than modern retellings of the stories, along with some discussion of current scholarship about the stories.  It is an absolute must for anyone interested in medieval Ireland and Irish myth and literature.

  1. Goire in this title is sometimes translated as “Cherishing,” but the meanings provided by eDIL “attending, caring for, maintaining,” or in a legal sense “care, attendance, maintenance of parents, foster-parents, etc. by a son, etc.” seems more appropriate. [↩]
  2. Phaedrus 243a. I cite the translation of C. Emlyn-Jones and W. Preddy in the Loeb Classical Library edition of Plato’s Lysis, Symposium, Phaedrus (2022). [↩]
  3. 2015. “The Greek Mythic Story World.” Arethusa 48 no. 3 (Fall), 293. [↩]

Derbriu and the Pigs of Derblinne

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(In this post, I continue to link directly to the CODECS page for the texts that I discuss. Full bibliographical information for different editions and translations as well as other sources mentioned can be found there, along with direct links to online editions and translations, where available. Discussions of any particular Old/Middle Irish words will link directly to eDIL, the online edition of the Dictionary of the Irish Language.)

Medb, Queen of Connacht, is one of the most famous and important characters in the Ulster Cycle.  Her extended family is also very important, although not quite so famous. Her father is Eochaid Feidlech, brother of the Eochaid Airem who marries Étaíne in Tochmarc Étaíne “The Wooing of Étaine.” She also has numerous siblings, although some are mentioned more often than others. The three Find Emna, Eithne, and Clothra are fairly well-known because they and their children play important roles in other stories, but additional siblings are sometimes mentioned, including in the text known both as Ferchuitred Medba “The Husband Portion of Medb”1 and Cath Boinde “The Battle of the Boyne.”  Cath Boinde was edited and translated in 1906 by Joseph O’Neill. Ferchuitred Medba was edited in 1913 by Kuno Meyer, but not translated.

The story starts with Eochaid Feidlech taking the kingship of Ireland. There is some discussion of his ancestry, and then his children are listed. First, we are told that he has four sons.  The three Find Emna (who seem to be triplets) are named first, and we are given a brief summary of how they conceived Lugaid Ríab nDerg (Lugaid of the Red Stripes) with their sister the night before they attacked their father in the battle of Druim Criaid, during which they were killed by him.  Which sister is not specified, but Clothra is named in other accounts of Lugaid’s conception. The fourth brother is Conall Anglonnach, and we are told that he is the ancestor of the Uí Conaill in the land of Fer Brega.  The text then says that Eochaid Feidlech had many children and goes on to list six daughters. First is Ele, after whom Bríg Ele in Leinster is named.  We are told of her marriages and her son Máta mac Sraibgend and grandson Ailill mac Máta.  Mugain is listed next as wife of Conchobar and mother of Glasne mac Conchobar.  Next Eithne is described as wife of Conchobar and mother of Furbaide mac Conchobar. The story of Furbaide’s birth is told, including how Eithne drowned and Glas Berramain was renamed for her.  Clothra is next, and we are told that she is mother of Cormac Conn Longes, unless Ness, mother of Conchobar is.  Conchobar is not mentioned here, but we know that Cormac is his son.  The fifth sister is Derbriu “after whom are named the pigs of Derblinne.” Finally, Medb is named and identified as another wife of Conchobar, and we are told how she left him because of pride and went to Tara to join the king, her father.

Each of the siblings is associated with their husbands, children, and/or descendants, except for Derbriu.  The main point of this passage is to point out that four of Eochaid Feidlech’s six daughters were given to Conchobar in marriage, and the story goes on to explain why: Eochaid Feidlech killed Conchobar’s father Fachtna Fathach in battle and gave his daughters to Conchobar as restitution.  Ele and Derbriu alone are not given to Conchobar, but Ele was married twice, and her story is still important for this text because she is the grandmother of Ailill, who is Medb’s final husband.  Derbriu alone is introduced in a way that is disconnected from concerns about family and genealogy and from the main narrative of the text. 

Also, what is the story behind the pigs of Derblinne being named after Derbriu? 

I didn’t know anything about it when I first came across this reference, and finding the answer was quite interesting, so I thought I would share what I learned.  Of course I went straight to Google to find out about these pigs, and once I had convinced Google that I was indeed searching for “pigs of Derblinne” and NOT “pigs of Dublin,” as it seemed convinced I intended, I didn’t find much at all.  I was reading Kuno Meyer’s edition of Ferchuitred Medba at the time, but had I instead been reading Joseph O’Neill’s edition and translation of the Cath Boinde version of the text, I might have done a bit better. For one thing, that text refers to the “pigs of Deirbriu” rather than the “pigs of Derblinne,” which gets more hits on Google, but more importantly O’Neill provides the following explanatory note about these pigs and Deirbriu herself:

“For these pigs, see LL. 165 a 35, 167 a 30, Rennes Dind., p. 47 (Stokes’ Ed.). They were the sons of Oengus mac Ind Óc, and the foster-children of Deirbriu. They seem to be connected with the fairy pigs (of the Firbolg?) which came out of Croghan, and which no one could count. The Manners and Customs of Hy Fiachra, p. 26, contain verses ascribed to Torna Eigeas, and addressed to the great red pillar-stone at Roilig-na-riog, stating that under it lie the three sons of Eochaid, and their sister ‘Derbriu Dreac-maith’.” (177nf)

By “The Manners and Customs of Hy Fiachra,” O’Neill seems to mean the text from the
Book of Lecan edited and translated by John O’Donovan in The Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach, Commonly Called O’Dowda’s Country (1844).2 There, on p. 27 and 29 (Irish text p. 26 and 28) can be found the following verses, as translated by O’Donovan:

The three sons of Eochaidh Feidhleach, the fair,
Are in thy mound, as I boast,
As also is Eochaidh Aireamh feeble,
Having been slain by the great Maol.

The prince Eochaidh Feidhleach is
Beneath thee, and Derbhre of goodly aspect,
And Clothra, no small honour to thee,
And Meadhbh, and Muireasg.

O’Donovan identifies this Muireasg as “daughter of Hugony Mor, monarch of Ireland. A.M. 3619,”3 but given the placement of this name at the end two quatrains about the family of Eochaid Feidlech, I do wonder if this might instead be connected to Ailill or his mother Máta Muiresc.  While Ferchuitred Medba says that Ailill has a patronym and his father is Máta mac Sraibgend, other texts disagree. Goire Conaill Chernaig i Crúachain ocus Aided Ailella ocus Conaill Chernaig states that Ailill has a matronym and his mother was Máta Muiresc. Interesting as these verses are though, they say nothing of Derbriu’s pigs.

To answer the question of “what (or who) are the pigs of Derblinne?” we must turn to the dindshenchas.  The Dindshenchas Érenn “Dindshenchas of Ireland” is a very large and complex corpus consisting of different collections of both prose and verse (or metrical) items. Each item or “article” is a story explaining how a different place received its name and is called the Dindshenchas of that place, i.e. the Dindshenchas of Emain Macha explains how Emain Macha got its name. Some articles also contain information about what the place was named before, and some offer different stories about the current place name. The relationship between the different collections is complex, to say the least.  Charles Bowen’s article “A historical inventory of the Dindshenchas” has been a significant and very helpful piece of scholarship since its publication in 1975/6, but we now have the wonderful new book Dindshenchas Érenn (2023) by Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, which I cannot recommend enough.  A full study of all the references to the pigs of Derblinne in all the different versions of the dindshenchas would be fascinating, because there are certainly some differences between the prose and metrical passages that refer to them. For the moment though, I will mostly refer to the prose Rennes dindshenchas, which was edited and translated by Whitley Stokes in 1895 and 1896.  This collection is called the Rennes dindshenchas because the manuscript in which it is found is in a library in Rennes.

The main story is found in the Dindshenchas of Duma Selga (#71 p. 471 in Stokes’ edition).  It tells us that Derbrenn (a different form of the name Derbriu) was the first love of Óengus, of Aislinge Óenguso “The Dream of Óengus” fame.  Óengus is a prominent member of the Túatha Dé Danann, the son of the Dagda and Boand, and in Aislinge Óenguso he requires Medb’s help in winning another woman, Cáer Iboromeith. There is no mention of Derbriu in that text. The Dindshenchas of Duma Selga says that the pigs were Derbrenn’s foster children. Their mother was Dalb Garb “Dalb the Rough” and she put a spell on her three sons and their wives to transform them into pigs. Her motivation for doing this is not stated.  The sons were called Conn, Find, and Fland when they were human, and their wives were called Mel, Tregh, and Tréis. When they were transformed into pigs, the men were called Froechán, Banbán, and Brogarbán and the women were called Cráinchrín, Coelchéis, and Treilech.  Óengus arranged for the pigs to be put into the care of Buchet, the hospitaller of Leinster, who is the subject of the story Esnada Tige Buchet “The Songs of Buchet’s House.”  The pigs remained with Buchet for a year, but then Buchet’s wife decided that she wanted to eat Brogarbán.  She gathered dogs and warriors and went to hunt him, but the pigs escaped and fled to Óengus at the Brugh (na Bóinne), known to be his home in other stories, including Tochmarc Étaine and Aislinge Óenguso.

Óengus tells the pigs that he cannot help them until they have “shaken the Tree of Tarbga and eaten the salmon of Inver Umaill,” and so they go on to Derbrenn in Glascarn and hide with her for a year. They shake the Tree of Tarbga, but when they go to Inver Umail they are hunted again. This time it is not Buchet’s wife who comes after them though, it is Medb.  During the hunt all the pigs are killed except for Brogarbán. It’s not clear what happens to him. It’s possible that Medb hunting these pigs is why O’Neill suggested the connection with the pigs of the Cave of Crúachan (Croghan), which she also hunts.  In the account of that hunt in Cath Maige Mucrama “The Battle of Mag Mucrama” though, there is no suggestion that these are the same pigs and they are very specifically uncountable, whereas there are definitely six of the pigs of Derblinne.  The Dindshenchas of Mag Mucrama (#71, p. 470), which tells the same story also does not connect the pigs at Mag Mucrama to the pigs of Derblinne.

There are a few other references to these pigs in the dindshenchas.  The Dindshenchas of Loch Néill (#73, p. 473) is about Niall son of Enna Aignech who was the leader of brigands in the time of Conall Cromderg. He went hunting the pigs of Drebrenn (yet another spelling!), which are said to have come out of the síd of Collomair. He eventually found them in the forest of Tarbga (trying to shake a tree, no doubt). The pigs were then hunted until they came to a lake where Niall and his dogs drowned, thus the lake received the name Loch Néill.   The version given in the metrical dindshenchas is a bit more exciting and makes more direct reference to Drebrenn’s involvement here. In Gwynn’s translation:

Drebrenn out of her evil heart sent
a baneful drove in the shapes of red swine:
from Collomair — a noisy strife —
the hoary-bristled drove held its way.

The pigs later go on to eat the mast of the oakwood of Tarbga before moving on to drink from the lake. Here it seems that Drebrenn deliberately sent the pigs out to destroy Niall (Nel, in this version).

The Dindshenchas of Mag Corainn (# 77, p. 477) says that Corann was the harper of Dían Cecht, son of the Dagda, and that Corann or Mag Corainn was named for him, but it also says that the place was named Céis Coroinn after Coelchéis, the fifth of Drebrenn’s swine, who reached that place when they were being hunted and died there. The Edinburgh dindshenchas, which combines prose with poetry, links the two stories though, saying again that Corann was Dían Cecht’s harper, but also that “out of his harp he summoned Caelcheis, one of the swine of Drebrenn. Northwards it ran with (all) their strength of running, their hounds following them as far as Céis Coraind.” 

Finally, there is the interesting case of the Dindshenchas of Belach Conglais (# 35, p. 421), in which Glas, master of the hounds to Eterscél and his son, Conaire Mór, hunts a wild pig.  Glas, his hounds, and the pig are all killed at a certain pass (belach) which is then named after them.  There is no mention here of the pigs of Derblinne, but as Stokes points out in his note on this article, the metrical version of the Dindshenchas of Belach Conglais is different. In the metrical version, according to Stokes “it appears that there were more pigs than one, that they were fashioned by magic (mucca delbda druidechta), and that, in fact they were the Red Swine of Drebrenn (mucca derga Drebrinne).”  Just as the independent narrative texts don’t have all the answers, neither does any particular version of the dindshenchas. Only by consulting all versions of all of these different stories can we begin to approach a sense of Derbriu’s story, and the same can be said of the Ulster Cycle as a whole.

One of the things I find fascinating about all of this is that from a single reference to the pigs of Derblinne in Ferchuitred Medba/Cath Boinde, we find a whole complex of related texts by simply following the narrative thread from the Dindshenchas of Duma Selga to Aislinge Óenguso and Esnada Tige Buchet, and other dindshenchas including those of Belach Conglais, Loch Néill, and Mag Coroinn, and maybe even Cath Maige Mucrama, if we accept O’Neill’s suggestion that these are the pigs that came out of the Cave of Crúachan (although I don’t think I would at this stage).   Of course, if one’s starting point is the dindshenchas instead of Ferchuitred Medba, then that very elliptical reference to this narrative complex no doubt seems perfectly clear. In Dindshenchas Érenn, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf provides an appendix linking independent narrative texts to Dindshenchas tales. She says that “It is not to be viewed with any claim to completeness, but rather as a call to arms to investigate these literary connections further” (122).  In the story of the pigs of Derblinne (or Deirbriu or Derbrenn or Drebrenn) we get just a hint of the richness and complexity of these connections, and of just how much more there is for us to discover.

Next week I will be starting a series of posts about the earliest version of Aided Chon Roí “The Violent Death of Cú Roí.”  There are a few English translations of the later and longer version of the story, but as far as I can tell no English translation of the earlier version has ever been made available. My first post will provide a translation of the text, and then I’ll have a few posts discussing certain aspects of it that I find particularly interesting.

  1. This title is usually translated into English as “Medb’s Husband Allowance,” but I do not believe that the word allowance is correct here. An allowance is something that is permitted or given, but for the most part Medb chooses her own husbands.  eDIL s.v. ferchuitred suggests that “proportion” and “complement” might be possible interpretations of this word.  The word is a compound of fer “man, husband” and cuitred, which eDIL says is close in meaning to cuit “share, part, portion.” I think that Medb having a portion or share of husbands makes more sense than her having an allowance of husbands. [↩]
  2. The translation can be found online here courtesy of CELT (the Corpus of Electronic Texts) at University College Cork. [↩]
  3. A.M.  = Anno Mundi, a system of time keeping that counts from the Creation rather than the birth of Christ. [↩]