Táin Bó Cúailnge
Module 1

Online Lecture (optional) • Watch the first of two lectures by Elizabeth Baldwin, PhD

Watch the first of Dr. Elizabeth Baldwin’s lectures about Táin Bó Cúailnge (recorded in 2018 at the University of Cape Town). The presentation was lecture #4 in her series about the Ulster Cycle of mythology. Baldwin refers principally to Thomas Kinsella’s 1969 translation of the epic, although we are using a scholarly translation by Cecile O’Rahilly.

Task (mandatory) • Read a portion of the focal text (pages 137-163)

Read from the beginning (page 137) of Cecile O’Rahilly’s translation of the Book of Leinster version/recension of Táin Bó Cúailnge through the heading “Fiachu mac Fir Aba” on page 163. If you prefer to read the text without annotations, the Celt project (from University College Cork) hosts a copy online.

Task (mandatory) • As you read the assigned portion of the focal text, answer questions about it

While reading the assigned portion of Táin Bó Cúailnge, answer 20 comprehension questions about it. Presented chronologically, the questions are available as a PDF; and they also appear immediately below. As this is a literature course, you must answer in complete, grammatically correct sentences. You may quote from the text; however, please ensure to indicate the page from which you obtain any quoted material. Such material cannot constitute the entirety of an answer.

In order to complete this task, enter your answers in Folio. On our course page, open the unit called Táin Bó Cúailnge. The questions and spaces in which to answer them can be found under “TBC • Comprehension Questions #1.”

Q-1 • In which ráth (fortification) does the narrative begin? It constitutes the royal palace and seat of power of Connacht (also spelled Connaught), Ireland’s western province. A significant demarcation line, separating much of Connacht from the rest of Ireland, is the River Shannon — the longest river in Ireland and Britain.
Q-2 • According to Queen Medb, in her “pillow-talk” encounter with Ailill, what “strange bride-gift” did she demand of any prospective husband? And — again, according to Medb — what kind of dependence does Ailill manifest in his marriage to Medb?
Q-3 • Clearly, gender is a core concern in the initial, “pillow-talk” episode. In respect to his having married Medb, what point does Ailill make about his mother?
Q-4 • The term cumal (plural: cumala) appears several times in the “pillow-talk” episode. What does it signify?
Q-5 • How did Ailill come to have ownership of Findbennach, the white-horned super-bull?
Q-6 • Who informs Medb of the existence of Donn Cúailnge, the brown super-bull that resides on — and is named after — the Cooley peninsula on Ireland’s east coast? (Supply both the man’s name and his position in Medb’s royal household.) Also: Who owns Donn Cúailnge?
Q-7 • In the conversation between three members of MacRoth’s retinue, what fact does the third messenger reveal about the procurement of Donn Cúailnge for Medb?
Q-8 • According to Dáire’s butler, who would guide Medb and Ailill’s forces in an attack on Cooley, the mission being the capture of Donn Cúailnge?
Q-9 • What name do each of Medb and Ailill’s seven sons have in common? Also: Three bands of armed men answer Medb’s summons; about which warrior does each of them ask, and who is that man’s father?
Q-10 • In her conversation with Feidelm, the female prophet, Medb insists that her forces have nothing to fear from Conchobar and his Ulster warriors. What term does Medb use for the condition that afflicts the men and, thus, prevents them from engaging in combat?
Q-11 • Feidelm predicts that Cú Chulainn will present the main threat to Medb’s forces. According to the prophet, what district does Cú Chulainn regard as his home, and who is his father?
Q-12 • From which of Ireland’s provinces do the exceptional warriors known as the Gailioin, members of Medb’s coalition army, come? As he is their “bond and surety and guarantee,” Fergus insists that the Gailioin be included in the army. What method does he propose for including them?
Q-13 • The members of Medb’s army select Fergus to guide their march from the province of Connacht in the west of Ireland to that of Ulster in the north. How long did Fergus serve as Ulster’s monarch, and how long has he lived in exile in Medb’s royal court? According to the narrative, what happened to Usnech’s sons that precipitated Fergus’s decision to quit Ulster
Q-14 • When conversing with his father at the Ard Cuillenn pillar-stone, what does Cú Chulainn reveal that he must do at Tara — and why is fulfilling the commitment necessary?
Q-15 • Why do Medb and her army decide to camp overnight just south of the Ard Cuillenn pillar-stone? How does the weather behave that night?
Q-16 • After Cú Chulainn kills four of Medb’s men — Nera’s two sons and their two charioteers — he impales their heads on a four-pronged pole that he had inscribed with words and then inserted deep into the ground. What does he not do after the killing?
Q-17 • What piece of equipment does Fergus need to successfully extract the partially buried forked pole, on which Cú Chulainn impaled the heads of Nera’s sons and their charioteers?
Q-18 • What is the family relationship between Deichtire, Cú Chulainn’s mother, and Conchobar, king of Ulster? Also: How does Cú Chulainn pass the time when journeying from his mother’s home to Conchobar’s palace-complex at Emain?
Q-19 • Fergus recalls one of Cú Chuainn’s boyhood exploits. After Cú Chulainn (originally named Setanta) placed himself under the protection of the members of boy-troop at Emain, why did he attack them? How old was he at that time?
Q-20 • Cormac recalls another of Cú Chulainn’s boyhood exploits. In what manner did Culand the Smith’s bloodhound die as a result of an action on Cú Chulainn’s part? How did Cú Chulainn propose to make things right for Culand?

Task (mandatory) • Read small portions of two other translations of Táin Bó Cúailnge

This module focuses on the initial phase of Táin Bó Cúailnge. It ends with two tales of Cú Chulainn’s boyhood deeds, namely: his first encounter with the boy-troop at Emain, capital of the province of Ulster; and his slaying of the smith’s guard-dog (the action that changes his name from Setanta to Cú Chulainn).

Complete the module by studying how Thomas Kinsella presented the two incidents in his famous 1969 translation of the epic, published by Dolmen Press, Dublin. The encounter with the boy-troop occurs on pages 76-78; and the slaying of the guard-dog on pages 82-84. Also: Examine Eleanor Hull’s version of the dog-killing episode: pages 33-39 of Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster (1911). Hull had originally included it in The Boys’ Cuchulain: Heroic Legends of Ireland (1904).

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Táin Bó Cúailnge
Module 2

Task (mandatory) • Read a portion of the focal text (pages 163-196)

In Cecile O’Rahilly’s translation of the Book of Leinster version/recension of Táin Bó Cúailnge, read from the heading “Fiachu mac Fir Aba” on page 163 through the heading “Medb violates the single-combat agreement, and Cú Chulainn helps cure the Morrígu” on page 196. If you prefer to read the text without annotations, the Celt project (from University College Cork) hosts a copy online.

Task (mandatory) • As you read the assigned portion of the focal text, answer questions about it

While reading the assigned portion of Táin Bó Cúailnge, answer 20 comprehension questions about it. Presented chronologically, the questions are available as a PDF; and they also appear immediately below. As this is a literature course, you must answer in complete, grammatically correct sentences. You may quote from the text; however, please ensure to indicate the page from which you obtain any quoted material. Such material cannot constitute the entirety of an answer.

In order to complete this task, enter your answers in Folio. On our course page, open the unit called Táin Bó Cúailnge. The questions and spaces in which to answer them can be found under “TBC • Comprehension Questions #2.”

Q-1 • What overheard comment prompts the boy Cú Chulainn to present himself to King Conchobar and make a request to “take arms”? Who made the comment? Whose two spears suit Cú Chulainn as he takes arms?
Q-2 • Immediately upon taking arms, the boy Cú Chulainn travels with an Ulster warrior, Ibar mac Riangabra, from Conchobar’s palace-complex at Emain to Áth na Foraire (“the ford of watching”). There, another Ulster warrior, Conall Cernach mac Amargin, guards a section of the province’s southern border. Cú Chulainn’s desire is to gain knowledge of the strategic geography of Ulster, a territory that he will have to defend against the “men of Ireland” (i.e. Ireland’s other provinces). How and why does Cú Chulainn cause Conall’s shoulder to become dislocated?
Q-3 • According to the boy Cú Chulainn, what boast do the three sons of Nechta (Fóill, Túachall, and Faindle) make? Also: What does Cú Chulainn do with the pillar-stone (exhibiting an iron “ring of heroic deeds”) that he encounters on the green outside their fortress?
Q-4 • What is the nature of the deil cliss, the weapon that Cú Chulainn uses in his encounter with Fóill, one of the sons of Nechta? What fatal injury does the weapon inflict on Fóill?
Q-5 • After his killing of the three sons of Neachta, the seven-year-old Cú Chulainn returns to Emain, carrying their heads in his chariot. As he approaches that palace-complex, Leborcham, a wise old woman, perceives him. What two types of wild creature does she identify as part of his entourage? Also: What plan involving young women and three vats of water do Leborcham and Conchobar devise to deal with the returning Cú Chulainn?
Q-6 • What two pets, belonging to Medb, does Cú Chulainn kill, and where is each when its killing occurs?
Q-7 • Who or what is the Morrígu, and what advice does that being give to Donn Cúailnge, the brown bull that Medb seeks?
Q-8 • Why did Medb order the creation of what became known as Bernais Tána Bó Cúailnge? Also: how did the River Sechair acquire a new name, Glaiss Gatlaing (“willow river”)?
Q-9 • According to the narrative, what was the “most scornful and insulting speech” articulated during the Táin Bó Cúailnge? Who delivered it to Cú Chulainn— and on whose orders?
Q-10 • What purpose is served by the 27 waxed shirts that Cú Chulainn wears?
Q-11 • What reason does Cú Chulainn give for rejecting the offer of “all that are base-born” among the captives secured by Maeb and Ailill? The offer is conveyed to Cú Chulainn by Medb’s principal messenger, Mac Roth, and it constitutes an effort by Maeb and Ailill to end Cú Chulainn’s attacks on their warriors — attacks that Mac Roth characterizes as “thunder feat[s].”
Q-12 • Fergus knows the terms that Cú Chulainn will accept in order to desist from his nighty killing of a hundred of the warriors in Medb’s coalition army. In addition to being “fed and clothed” by Medb for the duration of Táin Bó Cúailnge, what arrangement is critical for Cú Chulainn? Medb is prepared to agree to Cú Chulainn’s terms, even though her husband characterizes them as “grievous.”
Q-13 • The youth named Etarcumul, an aspiring warrior in Medb’s household, accompanies Fergus on his mission to discuss combat-terms with Cú Chulainn. How dies Etarcumul return to Medb and Ailill’s camp after encountering Cú Chulainn?
Q-14 • What reason does Cú Chulainn give for not having engaged in combat with Nath Crantail when that warrior, a member of Medb’s household, first came to fight him?
Q-15 • What was Cú Chulainn doing at present-day Athboy (a village in County Meath) that permitted the occurrence of “the greatest reproach and grief” that affected him during the Táin Bó Cúailnge? What was that reproach or grief?
Q-16 • Medb convinces Cúr, son of Da Lóth, to engage in single combat against Cú Chulainn. Why would Cúr’s death not grieve his fellow warriors in Medb’s army?
Q-17 • After Cú Chulainn’s slaying of Cúr, by what means does Medb persuade Fer Báeth, son of Fir Bend, to fight Cú Chulainn? (In the event, Cú Chulainn kills Fer Báeth, one of his foster-brothers, not in direct combat but almost by accident, using a “holly shoot.”)
Q-18 • During the Táin Bó Cúailnge, just one warrior survives single-combat against Cú Chulainn. Who is that man, and what is his relationship to Lugaid mac Naoise (also spelled “mac Nóis”), characterized by Cú Chulainn as the only member of Medb’s army “who keeps faith and friendship with me”? What action does Cú Chulainn perform upon the warrior in question so that he subsequently experiences chronic discomfort, including diarrhea?
Q-19 • What physical alteration do Medb’s women-folk tell Cú Chulainn to make to his body such that Lóch mac Mo Febis is prepared to engage in combat with him? What weapon does Cú Chulainn deploy to kill Lóch, whose dying wish is to “fall facing the east” — that is, towards Cú Chulainn?
Q-20 • At the end of the fight against Lóch mac Mo Febis, Cú Chulainn admits that he is not invincible. He expresses desire that Conchobar and the other Ulster warriors come to his aid. His injuries in the confrontation with Lóch came partially from that individual, but also partially from what other entity? In what three animal forms did the entity appear?

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Táin Bó Cúailnge
Module 3

Online Lecture (optional) • Watch the second of two lectures by Elizabeth Baldwin, PhD

Watch the second of Dr. Elizabeth Baldwin’s lectures about Táin Bó Cúailnge (recorded in 2018 at the University of Cape Town). The presentation was lecture #5 in her series about the Ulster Cycle of mythology. Baldwin refers principally to Thomas Kinsella’s 1969 translation of the epic, although we are using a scholarly translation by Cecile O’Rahilly.

Task (mandatory) • Read a portion of the focal text (pages 196-235)

In Cecile O’Rahilly’s translation of the Book of Leinster version/recension of Táin Bó Cúailnge, read from the heading “Medb violates the single-combat agreement, and Cú Chulainn helps cure the Morrígu” on page 196 through the heading “Alongside the wounded Cethern mac Fintain, Cú Chulainn recovers from his combat against Fer Diad” on page 235. If you prefer to read the text without annotations, the Celt project (from University College Cork) hosts a copy online.

Task (mandatory) • As you read the assigned portion of the focal text, answer questions about it

While reading the assigned portion of Táin Bó Cúailnge, answer 15 comprehension questions about it. Presented chronologically, the questions are available as a PDF; and they also appear immediately below. As this is a literature course, you must answer in complete, grammatically correct sentences. You may quote from the text; however, please ensure to indicate the page from which you obtain any quoted material. Such material cannot constitute the entirety of an answer.

In order to complete this task, enter your answers in Folio. On our course page, open the unit called Táin Bó Cúailnge. The questions and spaces in which to answer them can be found under “TBC • Comprehension Questions #3.”

Q-1 • This module begins with Cú Chulainn’s “succor[ing]” (i.e. curing) the eye of the Morrígan (also spelled Morrígu), which he had “shattered” during his martial confrontation against Lóch. Why does the Morrígan, who appears in the form of an old woman, require Cú Chulainn’s aid? How does Cú Chulainn supply the aid? (In other words: What form does the aid take?)
Q-2 • Who is the “man fair and tall” with “curly, yellow hair” and a “green mantle” who arrives to assit Cú Chulainn as he continues to fight Medb’s coalition forces? What service or services does that individual provide to the young warrior? (Note that the expression “from … Samain … until… spring” can simply mean “a long time” and not refer to the actual period indicated, which spans three months.) Why does the man not remain to help Cú Chulainn avenge the slaying of “the Youths form Ulster” — that is, the Boy Troop of the Red Branch, ordinarily based at Emain?
Q-3 • When avenging the slaying of “the Youths of Ulster,” Cú Chulainn undergoes a “distortion,” which at least one translation calls his “warp spasm.” During that bodily transformation, what happens to the young warrior’s lungs and liver? Just prior to the distortion, what act does Cú Chulainn perform upon Láeg, driver of his scythed chariot, and the horses pulling that vehicle? Once Cú Chulainn has achieved vengeance, how does he appear to the “women and girls and maidens” associated with Medb’ army, and what appeal do those females make to “the men of Ireland” (i.e. the men fighting for Medb)?
Q-4 • One year before the Táin Bó Cúailgne, how and why did Fergus lose his sword on the hillside at Medb’s palace-complex, Crúachu?
Q-5 • The text presents the data about Fergus’s lost sword immediately prior to describing his dealings with Cú Chulainn in response to Medb’s urgent request that he “fight and do battle with Cú Chulainn.” What (in your own words) transpires during that incident, which our translation labels “the Encounter of Fergus” and other translations label Fergus’s “white battle”?
Q-6 • What aid does Fiachu mac [the son of] Fir Aba — one of the Ulster warriors self-exiled in Connacht — provide Cú Chulainn (his foster-brother) when the latter faces an attack from Calatín Dána, his sons (including Glas), and his grandson, all of whom bear poisoned weapons? What word does Glas utter, twice, outside Medb and Ailill’s tent just prior to Cú Chulainn’s “[striking] him a blow and cut[ting] off his head”?
Q-7 • The Táin Bó Cúailgne’s principal fight sequence is the multi-day combat between Cú Chulainn and the warrior Fer Diad, a member of the Fer Domnand, a Connacht-based tribe. The two are foster-brothers, “friend[s] and companion[s]” (p. 214), who once received martial training together in Scotland (probably the Isle of Skye) under a trio of women: Scáthach, Úathach, and Aífe. What battle asset does Fer Diad possess as a “counterbalance” to Cú Chulainn’s ga bulga or barbed spear? What method does Medb employ to ensure that Fer Diad accompanies her messengers to her camp? Medb’s intention is to persuade Fer Diad to engage in one-on-one combat against Cú Chulainn at a ford.
Q-8 • In her efforts to persuade Fer Diad to fight against Cú Chulainn, Medb promises him “great rewards,” not least a considerable swath of “arable land” on the plains of Connacht (Mag n-Aí). How do a woman named Findabair and a piece of jewelry figure among Medb’s promises to Fer Diad?
Q-9 • Prior to his initial martial encounter with Cú Chulainn at the ford, why does Fer Diad chastise his (Fer Diad’s) charioteer?
Q-10 • When conversing with Fer Diad just before their initial episode (i.e. first day) of combat, Cú Chulainn insists that “it was not right for you [Fer Diad] to come and fight with me.” What reason does Cú Chulainn give for this claim? Which of the two men chooses the weapons used during the initial episode of combat, and why does that individual enjoy the privilege?
Q-11 • How does the “healing and curing” — and the feeding — of Fer Diad and Cú Chulainn occur once the two warriors have embraced and kissed each other “thrice” at the conclusion of their first day of combat? (Please ensure that your answer includes a reference to the “men of Bregia,” among any other details you deem useful and/or necessary.)
Q-12 • What type of weapons do Cú Chulainn and Fer Diad use during their second day of combat? What reason is given for that choice?
Q-13 • On the morning of the fourth (and final) day of his combat against Cú Chulainn, Fer Diad “invent[s]” certain moves or actions. How does the narrator describe those moves? In response to witnessing Fer Diad’s moves, why does Cú Chulainn instruct Láeg, his charioteer, to “speak evil” of him [Cú Chulainn]?
Q-14 • With which of his weapons does Cú Chulainn kill Fer Diad, and how precisely does that weapon end the Connacht warrior’s life? Why does Cú Chulainn decide to carry Fer Diad’s corpse across the ford, where their combat occurred?
Q-15 • Why does Cú Chulainn instruct Láeg, his charioteer, to remove the armor from Fer Diad’s corpse — and why does he request that the corpse be “cut open”?

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Táin Bó Cúailnge
Module 4

Article (optional) • Read Paul Gosling’s scholarly work, “The Route of Táin Bó Cúailnge Revisted”

First published in Issue 22 (2014) of Emaina: Bulletin of the Navan Research Group, this article examines the route taken by Medb’s army from her palace-complex, Crúachainn (in present-day County Roscommon) to Cúailnge (in present-day County Louth). If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the piece, please contact your instructor.

Task (mandatory) • Read a portion of the focal text (pages 235-272)

In Cecile O’Rahilly’s translation of the Book of Leinster version/recension of Táin Bó Cúailnge, read from the heading the heading “Alongside the wounded Cethern mac Fintain, Cú Chulainn recovers from his combat against Fer Diad” on page 235 through the conclusion of the text. If you prefer to read the text without annotations, the Celt project (from University College Cork) hosts a copy online.

Task (mandatory) • As you read the assigned portion of the focal text, answer questions about it

While reading the assigned portion of Táin Bó Cúailnge, answer 20 comprehension questions about it. Presented chronologically, the questions are available as a PDF; and they also appear immediately below. As this is a literature course, you must answer in complete, grammatically correct sentences. You may quote from the text; however, please ensure to indicate the page from which you obtain any quoted material. Such material cannot constitute the entirety of an answer.

In order to complete this task, enter your answers in Folio. On our course page, open the unit called Táin Bó Cúailnge. The questions and spaces in which to answer them can be found under “TBC • Comprehension Questions #4.”

Q-1 • Cú Chulainn suffers utter exhaustion and significant injuries as a result of his four-day combat against his foster-brother, Fer Diad. Who places in the streams and rivers that flow through Cú Chulainn’s home territory of Muirthemne the “herbs and healing plants” used in an attempt to restore the young warrior to health?
Q-2 • In a gesture of support for the injured Cú Chulainn, the Ulster warrior Cethern mac Fintain attacks Medb’s camp. What kind of armor does he wear? Severely injured as a result of his offensive, Cethern joins the convalescing Cú Chulainn, who asks his charioteer, Láeg, to obtain physicians from among the “men of Ireland” to cure Cathern. How does Cathern interact with the 15 physicians who — having, with great reluctance, responded to Cú Chulainn’s demand (conveyed by Láeg) — conclude that Cathern can’t be cured?
Q-3 • At Cú Chulainn’s request, Láeg obtains the services of Fíngan, a “seer-physician,” who examines several of Cathern’s wounds individually. From Cathern’s descriptions of who inflicted a given wound, Cú Chulainn is able to identify the attacker or attackers by name — for example, two of Medb and Ailill’s sons (known as the Maines): Maine Máithremail and Maine Aithremail. From which foreign country did two other warriors, inflictors of wounds, come? With which of his sons did Ailill attack Cethern, and what does that individual’s name mean?
Q-4 • Of the two options for healing that Fíngan proposes to Cethern, which one does the injured warrior choose? Why, having engaged in the chosen cure, does Cathern fix the “board of his chariot” to his person?
Q-5 • What does one of the Maines (Maine Andóe) do when — after having been healed — Cethern approaches the encampment of the men of Ireland? Why does he take that action? After Cethern’s death, his father, Fintan, attempts to avenge his honor by means of an action remembered as Fintan’s tooth fight.
Q-6 • Findabair, daughter of Medb and Ailill, divulges deep sexual desire for a certain warrior, deeming him her “beloved” and her “chosen warrior.” Who is that individual, and on which side does he fight during Táin Bó Cúailgne? Soon after satisfying her desire, Findabair dies when her heart “cracks like a nut.” What is the cause of the distress that yields this outcome?
Q-7 • Soon after narrating the death of Findabair, the text presents accounts of attacks upon Medb’s forces (the “men of Ireland”) by two Ulster warriors: first, the eccentric Íliach; and, second, Amargin. Each man uses the same type of weapon or missile as he attacks the enemy. What is that weapon-type?
Q-8 • The convalescing Cú Chulainn receives a visit from his father, Sualtaim. What kind of warrior is Sualtaim, and what does Cú Chulainn ask him to accomplish?
Q-9 • At Emain Macha (known in English as Navan Fort) — capital of Ulster and headquarters of Conchobar’s Red Branch dynasty — why does Sualtaim first speak with Cathbath, the principal druid, as opposed to King Conchobar?
Q-10 • Having failed to receive what he would deem an appropriate response from Cathbath, Sualtaim leaves Emain Macha on his multi-colored horse, known as the Líath Macha. What action does the animal then take, and how precisely does that action provoke a response from Conchobar, king of Ulster and head of the Red Branch dynasty? (Please ensure that the word “head” appears in your answer.) Conchobar proceeds to fully come out of his “debility,” and he loses no time in assembling a vast Ulster army to attack Medb’s forces.
Q-11 • When surveying the “great plain of Meath,” Medb’s herald, Mac Roth, sees and hears evidence of the amassing of Conchobar’s Ulster army, in preparation to do battle with the men of Ireland. What is Medb’s initial response to the intelligence that Mac Roth delivers (and that Fergus explicates)?
Q-12 • Although he has lived as an Ulster exile in Medb’s court in Connacht, Conchobar’s son Cormac Cond Longas (“Cormac, the exiled prince”) turns against Medb and her husband, Ailill, deploying “his force of thirty-hundred.” What assertion by Medb prompts that action? (Note that, according to several sources, Cormac’s mother is also his grandmother, Nessa. By sleeping with her son, Conchobar, Nessa became pregnant with Cormac.)
Q-13 • Medb and Ailill again dispatch Mac Roth. Specifically, he must ascertain details about the “men of Ulster” (i.e. Conchobar’s troops) as they congregate at Slemain Mide (often Anglicized as Slanemore; a site in present-day County Westmeath) to establish a pre-battle camp. When Mac Roth reports on his observations, Fergus elucidates them for Medb and Ailill, although he can’t identify at least one, young Ulster leader. He speculates concerning his identity. Who, according to Fergus, might that individual be, and how might he prove significant in the anticipated battle between the men of Ulster and the men of Ireland?
Q-14 • While, initially, Cú Chulainn is too injured to engage in the great Ulster-versus-Ireland battle, he does instruct Láeg to “rouse the Ulstermen to the battle.” On what does Conchobar insist before permitting his troops to commence fighting, and what battle-dress do the men of Ulster wear?
Q-15 • Who are the ferchuirredaig, and what two roles do they have in the battle?
Q-16 • What is the name of Fergus’s sword (originally obtained from “the elf-mounds”), and what does that name mean? What causes Fergus to deploy his sword to “strike off the tops” of three hills, which thereby gain the name “the three Máela” (“the three balds”).
Q-17 • What sound, emanating from the field of battle, causes Cú Chulainn to rise from his sick bed with the intention of joining the fight on behalf of Ulster? What happens to the blood that issues from Cú Chulainn’s unhealed wounds as he leaves his bed with a “mighty spring”? When Cú Chulainn resumes fighting, which two members of Medb’s retinue become his first victims?
Q-18 • The final battle of Táin Bó Cúailgne is called the Battle of Gáirech and Ilgáirech. Its turning point in favor of the Ulster side is a literal one. It occurs when Fergus “turn[s] and [takes] three mighty heroic strides” westwards, towards Connacht. That action causes “all the men of Ireland” to turn also. Why does Fergus make the decision to turn?
Q-19 • During her army’s retreat, what favor does Medb ask when speaking directly to Cú Chulainn? What is Medb’s condition at that time? (Please ensure that the term “three great trenches” appears in your answer.)
Q-20 • Even though Conchobar’s Ulster army successfully drives away Medb’s coalition forces, Donn Cúailnge (the brown bull of Cooley) does end up in captivity at Crúachu, capital of Connacht. There, he and Ailill’s bull, Findbennach, begin a one-on-one fight that eventually extends across much of Ireland. How does the bulls’ combat precipitate a change in name for a major crossing of the River Shannon, from Áth Mór to Áth Luain? What happens when, on the verge of his death, Donn Cúailnge returns to his native territory, the “land of Cúailnge”?

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