''Aided Chon Culainn'' ('the violent death of Cú Chulainn'), also known as ''Brislech Mór Maige Murthemne'' ('the great rout at Mag Murthemne'), found in the twelfth-century Book of Leinster (folios 77 a 1 to 78 b 2), is a story of how the Irish hero Cú Chulainn dies in battle.James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 104, .Robert Welch, ''The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), .

Summary

Medb Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méibh () and Méabh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had seve ...

conspires with

Lugaid Lugaid (Lughaid, Lughaidh, Lughaí, with all equivalents originally attested as Ogham Lugodeccus) is a popular medieval Irish name, thought to be derived from the god Lug. It is borne by a number of figures from Irish history and mythology, incl ...

, son of

Cú Roí Cú Roí mac Dáire (Cú Ruí, Cú Raoi) is a king of Munster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is usually portrayed as a warrior with superhuman abilities and a master of disguise possessed of magical powers. His name probably means "ho ...

, Erc, son of

Cairbre Nia Fer Cairbre Nia Fer (also ''Corpri'', ''Coirpre'', ''Cairpre''; ''Nioth Fer'', ''Niafer'', ''Niaper''), son of Rus Ruad, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a King of Tara from the Laigin. The earliest reference to Cairbr ...

, and the sons of others Cú Chulainn had killed, to draw him out to his death. Cú Chulainn's fate is sealed by his breaking of the '' geasa'' (taboos) upon him. Cú Chulainn's ''geasa'' included a ban against eating dog meat, but in early Ireland there was a powerful general taboo against refusing hospitality, so when an old crone offers him a meal of dog meat, he has no choice but to break his ''geis''. In this way he is spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him. Lugaid has three magical spears made, and it is prophesied that a king will fall by each of them. Fighting on the plain of Mag Muirthemne (now in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

), he kills Cú Chulainn's charioteer Láeg, king of chariot drivers, with the first spear. With the second he kills Cú Chulainn's horse,

Liath Macha Liath Macha ("grey orseof Macha") and Dub Sainglend ("black orseof Saingliu") are the two chariot-horses of Cúchulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It wa ...

, king of horses. With the third he hits Cú Chulainn, mortally wounding him. Cú Chulainn ties himself to a standing stone to die on his feet, facing his enemies. Due to his ferocity even when so near death, it is only when a

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

lands on Cú Chulainn's shoulder that his enemies believe he is dead. Lugaid approaches and cuts off his head, but as he does so the "hero-light" burns around Cú Chulainn and his sword falls from his hand and cuts Lugaid's hand off. The light disappears only after his right hand, his sword arm, is cut from his body. Conall Cernach had sworn that if Cú Chulainn died before him he would avenge him before sunset, and when he hears Cú Chulainn is dead he pursues Lugaid. As Lugaid has lost a hand, Conall fights him with one hand tucked into his belt, but he only beats him after his horse takes a bite out of Lugaid's side. He also kills Erc, and takes his head back to Tara, where Erc's sister

Achall Achall, daughter of Cairbre Nia Fer, king of Tara, and his wife Fedelm Noíchrothach, is a minor character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. After her brother Erc was killed by Conall Cernach, she died of grief on a hill near Tara, which ...

dies of grief for her brother.

Editions and translations

* Whitley Stokes (ed. and trans.), 'Cuchulainn's Death, Abridged from the Book of Leinster'
''Revue Celtique'', 3
(1877), 175–185 * T. P. Cross and C. H. Slover (trans.),
Ancient Irish Tales
' (New York, 1936, 1969), pp. 333–40 * Eleanor Hull, ''The Cuchullin Saga'' (London, 1898) * Tymoczko, Maria (trans.),

', Dolmen Texts, 2 (Dublin: Dolmen Press, 1981), *
Aided Con Culainn
, in ''Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories'', ed. by A. G. Van Hamel, Medieval and Modern Irish Series, 3 (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1933), pp. 69–133

References

{{reflist Early Irish literature Ulster Cycle 12th-century literature Ireland in fiction