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The Last Hero of Ulster: an Alternative to the Heroic Biography Tradition of Conall Cernach

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The Last Hero of Ulster: an Alternative to the Heroic Biography Tradition of Conall Cernach The Last Hero of Ulster: An Alternative to the Heroic Biography Tradition of Conall Cernach A thesis presented by Emmet Taylor To The Department of Celtic Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts In the subject of Celtic Studies St. Francis Xavier University Antigonish, Nova Scotia March 2019 0 Author’s Declaration I, Emmet Taylor, hereby declare that I have not committed plagiarism in the writing of this thesis. Thursday, March 7th, 2019. 1 Abstract This thesis examines the characterisation of Conall Cernach, a hero from the Ulster Cycle of medieval Irish literature. While he is often relegated to the sidelines in scholarly discussions of the Ulster Cycle as a non-significant member of the cast of characters, this thesis establishes a remarkable consistency of his characterisation across eight centuries and over thirty saga texts. Six distinct narrative themes can be established: Conall serving as a guardian for others, Conall collecting severed heads, Conall being associated with riding on horseback, Conall visiting the rest of Europe, Conall feuding with the Connacht hero Cet mac Magach, and Conall becoming an elderly man as he searches for an honourable death. As evidenced by the presence of these themes across such a large span of time and number of texts, the original authors, compilers, and audiences of the sagas considered Conall an important character, important enough, at least, to deserve a consistent characterization. Clearly these medieval people had established views and conceptions as to how he should act, and what role he had within the narrative of the Ulster Cycle. Therefore, this thesis suggests that modern scholarship ought to reconsider its previous outlook on Conall Cernach and give him the same significance he was afforded by the original creators and consumers of the Ulster Cycle. 2 This thesis has only been completed due to the kindness and friendship of others. My friends at the University of Cambridge, Utrecht University, the Florida Institute of Technology, the Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich, and one rogue retired religious studies professor helped me develop this thesis from a vague idea. My friends at home in Ottawa, London, here at Saint Francis Xavier University, and in stranger places still, gave me support and kept me sane with friendly faces. My family, Taylor, Mahoney, and Kavanagh helped in their own special ways including one notable instance of saving me from almost accidentally giving away the legal rights to all research I produce for my entire life, and help with libraries. Professor Michael Linkletter has given me opportunities to learn and grow here so far from home, as well as his lecture on Scéla Muicce Meic Da Thó being the first time I seriously considered Conall Cernach as a character. And lastly, Professor Ranke de Vries has taught me that I can learn new languages despite the oddities of my brain, how to continually improve my writing, and given me a new role model as I hopefully continue my education in the field. Thank you all. 3 Table of Contents 1.0 – Introduction 7 1.1 – Previous Works 9 1.2 – Heroic Biographies 11 1.3 – Methodological Approach 15 2.0 – Corpus of Texts 17 3.0 – Guardian 51 3.1 – Historical Context 52 3.2 – The Shield of the North: Guardian of Ulster 53 3.3 – A Living Shield: Bodyguard 58 3.4 – Safeguarding the Dead: Retributitive Killings 63 3.5 – The Honour of Ulster: Protecting Honour 67 3.6 – Conclusions 71 4.0 – Headhunter 73 4.1 – Historical Context 74 4.2 – Cranium Captor: Headhunting 76 4.3 – Written In Fate: Reputation as a Headhunter 82 4.4 - Conclusions 85 5.0 – Horseman 88 5.1 – Historical Context 88 5.2 – The Red Rider: Riding 90 5.3 - Conclusions 94 6.0 – Wanderer 96 6.1 – Historical Context 97 6.2 – On Foreign Shores: Location 98 6.3 – Conclusions 103 7.0 – Conflict with Cet 104 7.1 – Historical Context 104 7.2 – All In The Family: Interfamily Violence 106 7.3 – Breach Of The Pattern: Cooperation 113 7.4 - Conclusions 115 8.0 – Last Man Standing 118 8.1 – Historical Context 119 8.2 – The Man Who Would Not Die: Supernatural Endurence 120 8.3 – Old Man Conall: Age 124 8.4 – Conclusions 128 9.0 – Conclusions 131 4 10.0 – Bibliography 135 5 Foreword - Who Is Conall Cernach? Conall Cernach is one of the heroes of the kingdom of Ulster during the events of a collection of early Irish sagas dubbed the ‘Ulster Cycle.’ These heroes are, as far as one can tell without an in-depth analysis of the subject, a specially trained class of warrior. Their talents can be expressed in mundane ways, as well as with overtly supernatural feats. Geneologically, Conall is the son of the warrior-poet Amairgein and Finnchaím, and through Finnchaím, the grandson of Cathbad the druid. Through Cathbad’s line, he is therefore the nephew of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, and is related to other heroes such as the famed Cú Chulainn and the tragic Noisiu. Physically, Conall Cernach is described as having a crooked neck from a childhood injury, or in one story it is caused by an abscess on his neck, though is otherwise beautiful. Conall is described as having curly golden hair that is so voluminous that the curls can catch falling nuts and reach past his waist. One of his eyes is black, and the other blue, with one cheek red and the other white. He carries a shield called Conall Cernach’s Lámthapad or the Bricriu of Conall Cernach, which is blood red with rivets of white bronze attaching golden plates to the face. He rides a terrifying dog-headed horse named Derg Drúchtach that foams at the mouth with such severity it appears as though it is caught in a snowstorm. At one point it viciously mauls a rival of Conall’s during a duel. Often presented in simple terms as second to Cú Chulainn’s greatness as a hero, a more apt comparison of the cousins is that where Cú Chulainn takes the role of the ‘Unstoppable Force,’ Conall Cernach is his counterpart as the ‘Immovable Object.’ He survives grotesqueries inflicted on his body, serves as a stalwart guardian, and survives to old age where all his friends die young. He is, among many things, the last hero, guardian, headhunter, and wanderer. 6 1.0 - Introduction The scholarship of the Ulster Cycle is dominated by the presence of Cú Chulainn. There are two reasons for this: firstly, he is cast as the dominant protagonist and therefore supplies a glut of material to study; secondly, this young hound is riddled with potential symbolic features, ripe to be uncovered by a keen scholarly mind. The literary corpse of Cú Chulainn is ripe for the scholars of Celtic Studies to pick apart, each scholar scouring for the perfect trophy to pluck from the gore to show the world. This allure of Cú Chulainn has pushed other figures from the Ulster Cycle to the margins to be forgotten or called upon as mere accessories to Cú Chulainn’s story. One of these figures is Conall Cernach, who, despite being one of the primary heroes of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle and appearing in more texts than the rest of his fellow warriors,1 has been hitherto largely overlooked by scholarship. While Conall Cernach is frequently presented as simply part of the literary backdrop of the Ulster Cycle, a close examination of the texts demonstrates his unique significance, and the depth of his character. Over thirty saga texts include Conall Cernach, sometimes at a fleeting glance mentioned only briefly or as second fiddle to Cú Chulainn, but at other times discussed in great detail as the protagonist. This thesis will attempt to highlight the important aspects of his character which will help to demonstrate that Conall Cernach is a significant figure in his own right, and that he is as worthy of study as Cú Chulainn, Fergus mac Róich, Medb, Ailill, or the other colossi of the Ulster Cycle. 1 According to Barbara Hillers, Conall Cernach appears in more of the major sagas than any of the heroes from the Ulster Cycle including his young cousin Cú Chulainn. While Cú Chulainn has more of a lasting presence in oral tradition, during the Ulster Cycle itself, Conall Cernach leads the pack in appearances; Barbara Hillers, 1994: ‘The Heroes of the Ulster Cycle,’ Ulidia 1, 99-106: 103. 7 While the favoured methodological approach for a biographical thesis such as this in Celtic Studies would be to employ a heroic biography template, such as The Unheroic Biography of Bricriu mac Carbada by Nina Y. Chekhonadskaya2 or The Heroic Biography of Cú Chulainn by Lisa Gibney,3 this thesis will not do so. Instead, this thesis aims to examine Conall’s character from a post-structuralist perspective as well as a culturally relativistic perspective rather than imposing modernly created structures onto the corpus for comparative analysis. This thesis will comprise a reading of his life as told across multiple sagas, drawing forth consistent themes presented across these tales in order to more clearly understand the authors’ original notion of Conall’s character. By doing this, this thesis aims to accomplish three goals to further the field of Celtic Studies. Firstly, by compiling all, or at least a vast majority, of the known information about Conall Cernach into a single location, this thesis aims to make Conall accessible to scholars both inside and outside the field working on heroes and to establish his character.
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