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De Sétanta À Cú Chulainn : La Place Du Voyage Dans La Construction Identitaire Du Héros Irlandais

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De Sétanta À Cú Chulainn : La Place Du Voyage Dans La Construction Identitaire Du Héros Irlandais 1 Pour citer cet article : Thomas F. FOURNIER, « De Sétanta à Cú Chulainn : la place du voyage dans la construction identitaire du héros irlandais», Réflexion(s) , novembre 2012 (http://reflexions.univ-perp.fr/). De Sétanta à Cú Chulainn : la place du voyage dans la construction identitaire du héros irlandais. e e Après leur christianisation entre les IV et VI siècles, les Irlandais nous ont légué un immense corpus de récits aux origines foncièrement païennes. Parmi les plus intéressants sont ceux que l'on rassemble généralement sous le nom de « Cycle d'Ulster » ( Rúraíocht en irlandais- moderne) car ils contiennent un certain nombre de récits mettant en scène un même groupe de personnages. Leur intérêt réside surtout dans la forte ressemblance de la société qu'ils décrivent avec la société celtique présentée par les auteurs grecs et latins de l'Antiquité. L'action de ces récits est censée se dérouler aux alentours de la naissance de Jésus Christ, si l'on en croit les poètes et les clercs qui les mirent par écrits et continuèrent ainsi leur transmission. Ils mettent en scène le règne de Conchobar, roi des Ulaid (à l'origine du nom de la province moderne d'Ulster dans le nord-est de l'île) et de son ennemie la reine Medb de la province de Connacht. Le héros de ces récits est sans conteste Cú Chulainn, neveu du roi Conchobar mais surtout fils d'un dieu. Il est doué d'une force surhumaine et son seul devoir est de protéger l'Ulster, notamment lors de la Táin Bó Cúailnge , récit principal du cycle. Comme tout héros, sa naissance est l'objet d'un récit intitulé Compert Con Culainn , la « conception de Cú Chulainn. » Une version de ce récit raconte qu'après bien des péripéties, la sœur de Conchobar, Deichtine, tombe enceinte. Elle est visitée en songe par le dieu Lugh qui lui révèle être le père de l'enfant qu'elle porte et que « Sétanta sera son nom 1. » Ce nom d'enfance du héros a longtemps été associé à la nation des Setantii, qui vivait en Grande- Bretagne sur le littoral sud du comté de Lancastre actuel avant la conquête romaine. Pour plusieurs auteurs, ce nom était une preuve de la transmission de cette épopée « pan-celtique » en Irlande via la Grande-Bretagne 2, mais l'étymologie la plus intéressante est celle selon laquelle Sétanta est une formation participiale faite sur sét « chemin, » et dont le sens est « le cheminant 3. » Depuis, l'étymologie de ce nom fut souvent évoquée mais son sens rarement expliqué. Or, nous verrons dans les pages qui suivent à travers quelques-uns des textes majeurs du cycle ( Táin Bó Cúailnge , Tochmarc Emire , Aided Óenfir Aífe ) que les deux noms de ce héros sont lourds de sens dans la construction du personnage. Nous verrons surtout comment le voyage qu'il entreprend (également son seul voyage hors de l'Irlande) à la veille 1 R. I Best et Osborn Bergin (eds.), Lebor na hUidre , Royal Irish Academy, 1929, ll. 10602-3 : 7 bid Setanta a ainm. 2 Voir, entre autres, Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville, « Esus, Tarvos Trigaranus. La légende de Cuchulainn en Gaule et en Grande-Bretagne » in Revue Celtique XIX, 1898, pp. 245-251 ; mais aussi les théories exposées par T. F. O'Rahilly dans Early Irish History and Mythology , Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946. Sur les éventuelles racines gauloises de la Táin , voir Garret Olmsted, The Gundestrup Cauldron , Bruxelles, Latomus, 1979. 3 Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h, « Notes d'étymologie et de lexicographie gauloises et celtiques XII. 46. L'anthroponyme irlandais Setanta et les Setantii, » in Ogam 14, 1962, pp. 592-598. 2 de ce changement est au centre de cette construction et à l'origine des épreuves qui viendront, plus tard, tester son identité. Nous avons évoqué brièvement la naissance de Cú Chulainn et allons maintenant nous intéresser à ses exploits de jeunesse, relatés en partie dans l'épisode intitulé Macgnímrada Con Culainn (les « exploits de jeunesse de Cú Chulainn ») de la Táin Bó Cúailnge ou « razzia des vaches de Cooley 4. » Ce récit majeur du cycle d'Ulster raconte une expédition militaire contre l'Ulster menée par les souverains du Connacht Medb et Ailill, alliés au reste de l'Irlande et notamment à Fergus mac Róich, roi exilé des Ulaid. Le but de cette expédition est de profiter d'une faiblesse passagère des Ulaid pour s'emparer d'un taureau immense paissant sur leurs terres. Cú Chulainn s'y illustre en affrontant avec succès, seul et pendant plusieurs mois, l'immense armée. L'épisode qui nous intéresse forme un récit enchâssé, débutant alors que l'armée d'Irlande a monté son camp après avoir eu un avant-goût des prouesses du jeune héros. Fergus mac Róich et les exilés d'Ulster racontent aux hommes d'Irlande les exploits de jeunesse (macgnímrada ) de Cú Chulainn : '[…] What age is that famous youth?' 'I can tell you that,' said Fergus. 'In his fifth year he went to the boys in Emain Macha to play. In his sixth year he went to learn feats of arms to Scathach and went to woo Emer. In his seventh year he took up arms. At the present time he is seventeen years old 5.' "[...] De quel âge est ce fameux jeune homme ? - Ce n'est pas difficile en vérité, dit Fergus. Sa cinquième année, il alla rejoindre les garçons d'Emain Macha. Sa sixième année, il alla apprendre l'usage des armes auprès de Scáthach et courtiser Emer. Sa septième année, il prit les armes. Il est âgé de dix-sept ans au moment présent." Ces évènements sont ensuite relatés en détail. Sétanta quitta donc ses parents adoptifs à l'âge de 5 ans pour se joindre aux jeunes garçons d'Emain Macha 6 qu'il vainquit et plaça sous sa protection. Après cela, il participa à sa première bataille, allant chercher de nuit parmi les cadavres son oncle Conchobar, blessé. Il repousse ensuite une attaque sur Emain alors que les Ulaid souffrent de leur mal. Assez rapidement, Sétanta devient l'un des atouts les plus formidables de son oncle et il est en voie pour devenir le meilleur guerrier que l'Irlande aie connu. C'est à ce moment-là que plusieurs évènements vous le pousser à partir « apprendre les armes chez Scáthach. » Ce voyage n’est pas relaté dans les macgnímrada car il ne s'agît pas d'un récit anecdotique, d'une histoire courte comme les précédentes. Il est relaté dans un récit indépendant intitulé Tochmarc Emire , la « courtise d'Emer. » 4 Une péninsule du comté de Louth, en irlandais modern Cuaille , anglais Cooley . 5 Táin Bó Cúailnge, Recension I , édité et traduit par Cecile O'Rahilly, Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976, p. 135. Nous utiliserons principalement cette version du récit ( TBC I) qui est également la plus e ancienne (la langue est généralement datée du VIII siècle). 6 Emain Macha était la capitale des Ulaid, aujourd'hui Navan's Fort près d'Armagh. 3 Ce récit 7 débute à Emain Macha où les Ulaid, craignant pour la vertu de leurs femmes et de leurs filles, décident qu'il est temps que Sétanta se marie et assure sa descendance. Malgré tous leurs efforts, ils ne trouvent personne qui convienne et c'est Sétanta lui-même qui décide de courtiser Emer, la fille de l'hôtelier Forgall le Rusé qui vit aux Jardins de Lugh (Luglochta Loga ) en Brega 8. Mais ce dernier voit cette union d'un mauvais œil et, déguisé en émissaire du roi des Gaulois, il se rend à Emain Macha où il assiste aux jeux des guerriers. À l'étonnement de tous, il déclare que Sétanta serait bien meilleur s'il suivait l'enseignement de Domnall Mildemail en Alpi – espérant bien entendu ne pas voir revenir ce prétendant vivant. Sétanta et quelques uns de ses compagnons se mettent donc en route, faisant un petit détour pour que le jeune héros puisse dire adieu à sa bien-aimée. Bien que le mot Alpi utilisé dans la plus ancienne version du texte désigne normalement les Alpes, la tradition a généralement prit ce terme pour Alba , terme aux origines similaires qui désignait l'île de Bretagne toute entière (même origine que le français Albion) puis est venu à désigner dans les langues gaéliques le nord de l'île, l'Écosse. Cette tradition est intéressante car elle nous plonge dans des traditions attestées historiquement bien avant que le récit soit écrit. Tout d'abord, le fait que cette véritable initiation guerrière ait lieu sur l'île de Bretagne est hautement significatif. En effet, dans tous les récits du cycle d'Ulster où il en est question, les personnages relevant de la fonction sacerdotale9 vont invariablement suivre leur formation dans cette île. Citons par exemple un passage de la Táin Bó Cúailnge où, revenant de chez son druide, la reine Medb croise le chemin de la prophétesse Fedelm. Lorsque la reine lui demande d'où elle vient, Fedelm répond : « D'Albion où j'apprenais l'art de la divination 10 . » Ou encore le premier paragraphe du Dialogue des deux sages où il est question de l'éducation du fils d'un ollam (plus haut grade des filid 11 ) : Adna, fils d'Uthidir, des gens du Connaught, [était] docteur d'Irlande en science et en poésie. Il avait un fils, à savoir Néde. Ce fils alla donc apprendre la science en Écosse, chez Eochu Echbel, et il fut chez Eochu jusqu'à ce qu'il fût habile en science 12 . Tous ces éléments prouvent l'antiquité de ces récits puisque selon César (qui reprend certainement Posidonios d'Apamée), les druides antiques du continent allaient déjà compléter leur formation dans ces îles : 7 Kuno Meyer, « The oldest version of Tochmarc Emire, » in Revue Celtique XI, 1890, pp.
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