Cu Chulainn (Setanta)
Epic
The Tain Bo Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), the central text of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Preserved in multiple medieval Irish manuscripts: Lebor na hUidre (Book of the Dun Cow, c. 1100 CE) and the Book of Leinster (c. 1160 CE). The oral traditions are considerably older, possibly dating to the Iron Age.
Divine Ancestry
Son of Lugh (the god of light, skill, and craftsmanship, one of the chief gods of the Tuatha De Danann) and Dechtire (sister of King Conchobar mac Nessa of Ulster). His divine paternity gives him superhuman abilities and his terrifying battle-fury (riastrad), during which his body contorts and transforms into a monstrous, virtually invincible form.
The Quest
Cu Chulainn's central adventure is the defense of Ulster during the Tain Bo Cuailnge. Queen Medb of Connacht invades Ulster to seize the great bull Donn Cuailnge. The warriors of Ulster are incapacitated by a curse (ces noinden), leaving the seventeen-year-old Cu Chulainn to defend the province alone. He holds the fords against Medb's entire army through single combat, fighting champion after champion for months. His most tragic fight is against his foster-brother Ferdiad; they fight for three days, and Cu Chulainn kills him with the Gae Bolga, weeping over his body. Earlier adventures include his training with the warrior-woman Scathach in Scotland, his acquisition of the Gae Bolga, and his slaying of the hound of Culann (which gives him his name: Cu Chulainn, 'Hound of Culann').
Key Weapon
The Gae Bolga -- a barbed spear (or harpoon-like weapon) that, once it enters the body, opens into thirty barbs and cannot be extracted without killing the victim. It is thrown with the foot from beneath the water. Also his sword, Cruaidin Catutchenn, and his chariot, driven by Laeg.
Companion
Laeg, his charioteer and closest friend, who drives his chariot, counsels him in battle, and tends his wounds. Also Ferdiad (foster-brother, before becoming his tragic opponent) and Emer (his wife, renowned for her own wisdom and beauty).
Antagonist
Queen Medb of Connacht, who leads the invasion of Ulster; Ferdiad (his beloved foster-brother, forced by Medb to fight him); and ultimately fate itself, which decrees his early death. In his final battle, he is brought down by the machinations of his enemies and the violation of his gessa (taboos/magical prohibitions).
The Lesson
The glory and tragedy of the warrior ethic: Cu Chulainn embodies the Celtic ideal of the hero who chooses a short, glorious life over a long, unremarkable one. He knows from youth that he is fated to die young. The Tain explores the costs of heroism -- the destruction of friendship (Ferdiad), the suffering of women (Emer, Derdriu), and the futility of war (the cattle raid accomplishes nothing). Cu Chulainn's riastrad (warp-spasm) represents the terrifying, inhuman dimension of the berserker warrior.
Fate
Cu Chulainn is killed through a conspiracy of his enemies, who trick him into violating his gessa one by one, progressively weakening his supernatural powers. Mortally wounded, he ties himself to a standing stone so he can die on his feet facing his enemies. A raven (the Morrigan, the goddess of war and death) lands on his shoulder, signaling his death. His enemies dare not approach until the raven confirms he is dead. He dies at the age of twenty-seven.