''Aided Óenfhir Aífe'' () is a story from the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. It is a sequel to ''

Tochmarc Emire ''Tochmarc Emire'' ("The Wooing of Emer") is one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and one of the longest when it received its form in the second recension (below). It concerns the efforts of the hero Cú Chulainn to marry Em ...

'' (), in which the

Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which ...

hero

Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), is an Irish warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, who is also his father. His mother is the ...

, while training in arms overseas, left the warrior princess

Aífe (Old Irish), spelled () in Modern Irish and Scots Gaelic, is a character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She appears in the sagas '' Tochmarc Emire'' ("the wooing of Emer") and '' Aided Óenfhir Aífe'' ("the death of Aífe's only s ...

pregnant. In ''Aided Óefhir Aífe'' their son

Connla Connla or Conlaoch is a character in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, the son of the Ulster champion Cú Chulainn and the Scottish warrior woman Aífe. He was raised alone by his mother in Scotland. He appears in the story '' Aided Óenfh ...

, at the age of seven, comes to Ireland in search of his father, following instructions that Cú Chulainn had left him not to identify himself. When he arrives on the Irish coast in a bronze boat with golden oars, Connla's prowess alarms the Ulaid. The persuasive Condere mac Echach fails to convince him to turn away, and the hero

Conall Cernach Conall Cernach (modern spelling: Conall Cearnach) is a hero of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He had a crooked neck and is said to have always slept with the head of a Connachtman under his knee. His epithet is normally transl ...

is overcome by him. Finally Cú Chulainn, despite the suspicions of his wife

Emer Emer (), in modern Irish or (with variations including , and ) and in Scottish Gaelic , is the name of the daughter of Forgall Monach and the wife of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Legend ''Tochmarc Emire' ...

that the boy is his own son, fights him and kills him with the

Gáe Bulg The ''Gáe Bulg'' () (also ''Gáe Bulga'', ''Gáe Bolg'', ''Gáe Bolga''), meaning "spear of mortal pain/death", "gapped/notched spear", or "belly spear", was the name of the spear of Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. It was gi ...

, a barbed spear the use of which the warrior woman

Scáthach Scáthach () or Sgàthach () is a figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains the legendary Ulster hero Cú Chulainn in the arts of combat. Texts describe her hom ...

taught only to him. Finally, the grief-stricken Cú Chulainn recognises Connla as his son. The text is dated to the late ninth or early tenth century, and is found in the

Yellow Book of Lecan The Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL; Irish language, Irish: ''Leabhar Buidhe Leacáin''), or TCD MS 1318 (''olim'' H 2.16), is a History of Ireland (1169–1536), late medieval Irish manuscript. It contains much of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology ...

, a manuscript of the 15th century. It is an Irish instance of an international tale-type represented by the Persian tale of

Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...

and Sohrab.

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

used it as the basis of his poem "Cúchulain's Fight with the Sea" and his play '' On Baile's Strand''. James MacKillop, ', Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 5-6

References

External links

Text of ''Aided Óenfhir Aífe'' as edited by A. G. Van Hamel
{{Irish mythology (Ulster) Narratives of the Ulster Cycle Early Irish literature Irish-language literature Texts in Irish