A Tale of Morrígan
One story of Morrígan concerns the hero Cuchulain. She appeared to him as a beautiful young woman and tried to woo him (Dunlop). When he spurned her advances she became angry and sought revenge. First she took the form of an eel as he crossed a river, second as a wolf, and third as a heifer. In each form Cuchulain wounded her once until she was weakened.
In her weakened state she appeared to Cuchulain as an old woman milking a cow. When he asked for some of the milk she gave it to him, and he blessed her, healing her wounds. When he realized it was her he proclaimed that had he known it was her he never would have saved her.
Dunlop, Sandy. “Morrigán.” Bard Mythologies. Accessed November 25, 2023. https://bardmythologies.com/emer/
Deirdre of the Sorrows
The story of Deirdre is a classic Irish tragedy. When Deirdre was born a prophecy was told that she would eventually cause the downfall of Ireland (Ardagh 1998, 9). It was said that as she grew she would grow more and more beautiful and cause war and sorrow. When King Conchobar heard of the child he ordered that she be placed in the care of a poetess in his kingdom until she came of age that he could have her as his own. One day as she was nearing the age of maidenhood she saw a man walking outside the walls. The man was Naoise and she knew at that moment that this man was her true love and asked the poetess to help her meet him. When they met they fell deeply in love, but Naoise feared King Conchobar. The young lovers escaped to Scotland to live.
King Conchobar was furious and began scheming how to get them back to Ireland and get his revenge. He tricked them by sending a message that he had forgiven them and inviting them back. When they returned he had Naoise killed and kept Deirdre for himself. However, crushed by the death of her lover, Deirdre refused to speak and he eventually grew sick of her. After a year he had her sent away, but as the chariot left the castle she threw herself from it, dying immediately. After her death, her body was buried near that of Naoise. Eventually two trees grew above their graves, and as they grew they became forever intertwined in an embrace.
Ardagh, Philip. 1998. Celtic Myths & Legends. New York, New York: Dillon Press.
Deichtre, mother of Cuchulain
Deichtre was the sister of King Conchobar and lived in his kingdom (Dunlop). The tale goes that one day she took fifty of the kingdom's finest maidens and left with no warning. The kings men set out in pursuit as she had taken away their finest maidens and they wanted them back. As Deichtre and her maidens moved across the lands they would turn into a great flock of birds, and wherever they landed they would strip the land of all vegetation. Eventually they came to the land of the faeries and made their home.
One night Deichtre swallowed a fly in her drink, and that night she dreamed of a man. The man came to her and told her she would bear a son who would be called Setanta. This man was the god Lugh and he was the father of the child.
Soon after the birth of Setanta, king Conchobar's men arrived and insisted that Deichtre and the women return with them. Deichtre agreed, taking her newborn son with her. She raised him in the kingdom of Conchobar until he grew up and was given the name Cuchulain.
Dunlop, Sandy. “Deichtre.” Bard Mythologies. Accessed November 25, 2023. https://bardmythologies.com/emer/
Emer was the daughter of the chieftain Forgal the Wily (Dunlop). When it came time for Cuchulain to choose a wife he decided she was the only woman worthy of his attention. She possessed six gifts which he believed would make her the perfect wife. These were the gifts of beauty, a good voice, sweet speech, needlework, wisdom, and chastity. When he arrived to woo her he was thrilled to find that she was highly intelligent and able to maintain an intelligent conversation with him. He asked to marry her, but she told him she would only marry the man who could complete a set of difficult tasks first.
Cuchulain completed each task and then returned, but now her father Forgal was opposed to the match. He said that he would only consent after Cuchulain completed training with the warrior woman Scáthach, secretly hoping that Cuchulain would die in the process. However, Cuchulain successfully completed the training and returned. They were married and lived happily from that point on, always content that each was a match for the other and wit and intelligent conversation.
The Wooing of Emer
Dunlop, Sandy. “Cuchulainn: The Wooing of Emer.” Bard Mythologies. Accessed November 25, 2023. https://bardmythologies.com/emer/
Warrior Woman
Scáthach, which means "shadowy one," was a famed warrior woman who lived on the remote Isle of Skye in an impregnable fortress (Riley 2019). She was renowned for having trained Cuchulain, the greatest warrior of Ireland. He traveled to the Isle of Skye and braved the treacherous waters to reach her fortress and then breach the walls. He insisted that she teach him everything she knew. She granted him three things for having managed to make it this far. These were the admission that she would train him, the offer of her daughter as his bride, and the foretelling of his future. She foretold that he would become a great and powerful warrior, but that he would not likely live past the age of thirty. Although she offered her daughter as his bride, it is also believed that she slept with him herself. After she trained him in all she knew, she bestowed one final gift upon him. This gift was the spear Gae Bolga, and it lead him to many victories in battle throughout his life.
Scáthach lived out her life on the Isle of Skye and trained many renowned warriors, and she often had these young men fight her battles for her.
Winters, Riley. 2019. “The Woman behind the Man: Celtic Warrior Scathach, Teacher of Warriors.” Ancient Origins Reconstructing the story of humanity’s past. https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/woman-behind-man-celtic-warrior-scathach-teacher-warriors-006309.