VERBA SCATHAIGE

HE SINGLEHANDED defence of Ulster by Cu Chulainn while the

T

Ulstermen lie sick calls for a tactic of delaying action the chief

form of which is the ght or duel at the ford This also provides the

b est vantage p oint for the narrator of saga interested in depicting heroic

encounter The problem is to nd adversaries worthy of Cu Chulainns

steel how to level others up to him The ingenious solution was to p ose

a scho ol of military training at which the ower of the Irish warrior

youth learned their trade as companionsinarms From the conict

of friendship and loyalty with cupidity and treachery dramatic tension

would ow for the pupils of Scathach were fosterbrothers In Recension

I of Tain Bo Cuailnge Fer Baeth is b eguiled by and Ailill with

praise and promises and on hearing of this Cu Chulainn thinks that

he himself will fall at the hands of one who is his equal in age sp eed

and weight But Fer Baeth is killed when he comes to renounce his

friendship and b efore the duel can take place The late Fer Diad episo de

utilizes the same motif and the MacgnmarthaMaccerda one tries to

accommo date it Here Cu Chulainn is said to have learned warfare from

Scathach in his sixth year and the Yellow Bo ok of Lecan adds that he

courted in this year also which app ears a trie preco cious even

for Cu Chulainn The reconciling of biographical detail from dierent

sources is obviously giving trouble here

The uncanny phantom background of Scathach is used to go o d pur

p ose when she is made foretell what is in store for the hero during the

Tain The resulting Verba Scathaige oer a cryptic view of the Tain

down to the battle b etween the two bulls It represents the rst telling

of the saga available to us and the near certainty that the text was

included in the early eighthcentury Cn Dromma Snechta would indi

cate that by this time the saga was known in a complete form

The text is extant in two versions Version A an original version

found in four manuscripts Oxford Bo dleian Library Rawlinson B

of the thth centuries f b R British Library Egerton

2 1

written c f b E Egerton written f a

1 2

E Royal Irish Academy N compiled p N The

four copies are indep endent of one another Version B an expanded

version included in the saga Tochmarc Emire the following ve copies

are extant Leb or na hUidre b a b efore Royal Ir Acad

D iv th century f v British Library Harleian th

century f a Bo ok of Fermoy th century p N

pp

Copy in Trinity College Dublin MS H p th century

N was published without translation by R Thurneysen Verba Scathaige nach

N Zeitschrift fur celtische Philologie A transcript of R col

lated with E and E was published without translation by K Meyer in Anecdota

from Irish manuscripts V Halle and Dublin

c

Celtica Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

p l henry

In seeking to trace the contents of the lost Cn Dromma Snechta a

manuscript which was probably written down in the early eighth cen

tury Thurneysen p ointed to certain similarities b etween the manuscripts

Egerton and N in resp ect of texts dealing chiey with heroic

material Eg was copied by Donall ODavoren in from a selec

tion as he says of the b est of the texts in the Cn Dromma Snechta

made by Gilla Commain O Congalain ob Thurneysen notes that

for three items in Egerton of which two are found in N direct

evidence of provenance in Cn Dromma Snechta is available Eight other

items common to these two manuscripts b elong to the linguistically old

est stratum of Irish literature they are asso ciated with other texts of

great antiquity in several manuscripts and it would app ear entirely likely

that these ten texts of which Verba Scathaige is one derive from the

Cn Dromma Snechta

Generally sp eaking the ancient text has b een transmitted with con

siderable delity in the four manuscripts of Version A the dierence

b etween them b eing chiey a matter of sp ellings or of sp oradic addi

tions and omissions The b est manuscripts app ear to b e Egerton

2

and Rawlinson B in that order for instance where E has baigthi

Medb R reads ba g rithi medba v ms N omits dia foirciund of

the other three manuscripts at the end of the prose and adds ol lgabadh

in v with Egerton it adds cen colinn in v in agreement with

1

the B group E fort coin cul cen colinn N for coin cul cen colainn LU

3

ar Coin Cul aind cencolind app ear to show a gradual mo dernisa

tion of text Cen colainn literally without a b o dy apparently means

dead cf i colainn alive A reference to the mutilation of the dead Cu

Chulainn would b e in keeping with the account in Brislech Mor Maige

Murthemni where the dead heros head and arm are brought to Tara

4 1

and buried there LL Common to E and N is the reading

sils for sis in v LU has sis which is glossed by selfa and another

of the B manuscripts D iv reads selfa Silid drips causes to ow

is originally a strong verb with reduplicated future But the most sub

1

stantial evidence of mo dernisation o ccurs at vv where E and LU

1

read as follows E Ba hoi n f ri sluagh sire chtach sir dochr sir dei min

sir duba LU Ba hon ar slog vl arlog D iv srrechtachsrdochair

sirdemin srguba sirduba D iv LU may b e translated You will b e

alone b efore the host aicted by constant misfortune and in constant

unfailing lamentation

In LU the outstanding exp onent of Version B the p o em is expanded

to eightyone verses with six added at the b eginning twentynine at

the end and the rest intersp ersed But the original thirtytwo verses are

included in the prop er order with the usual slight alterations of form

the only further substantial dierences b eing in vv and where

R I Best and O Bergin Lebor na hUidre Dublin

R I Best and M A OBrien The Book of Leinster I I Dublin

verba scathaige

for v cuan dia lilis loscannaib LU has gaetar lunni loscudi for v

dal de dalaib dedarbe LU has ana dolath tetharbae and for v dedirn

brodirc bristher LU has dideirn brodeirg brutir discussed in the notes

infra

The other copies of Version B have what is essentially the same text

as LU in part well preserved in part a mixture of idiosyncratic sp elling

Harl and mo dernised or corrupt forms

The facts concerning the state of the manuscripts adduced ab ove sug

1

gest that in spite of the asso ciations established for mss E and N they

sometimes oer less reliable and more mo dernised readings as indeed

might b e exp ected of sixteenthcentury manuscripts On the other hand

although the LU version is the later one we sometimes get the more reli

able readings in this early twelfthcentury manuscript

The transmission of Version B is b ound up with that of Tochmarc

5

Emire According to Thurneysens analysis this saga was probably

comp osed and written down in the eighth century The rst part of it

was refashioned in the early eleventh century and is now found in this

form Version I in LU The middle part of Version I is now lost

6

but the end of it from x is contained in Rawl B f a The

second part of the saga was refashioned and expanded in the early part

of the twelfth century Version I I but is no longer extant it is implied in

the frequent references in Version I I I to alternative sources of the story

Version I I I was compiled shortly after Version I I in an eort to reconcile

it with the divergent presentation of Version I Complete copies of it are

7

found in D iv N and Harl

As a motive for the comp osition of Version I I Thurneysen suggests

the urge of a storyteller to provide worthy fo emen for Cu Chulainn in

the Tain Originally and in Version I the hero was alone with Scathach

which left him unparalleled in arms So in Tochmarc Emire x which

is based up on Version I I Cu Chulainn arrives at Scathachs scho ol for

young warriors to nd not only Fer Baeth and Fer Diad there but also

Lugaid and Luan sons of the redoubtable Lo ch a Larine not mentioned

in the Tain and an otherwise unknown Drust according to the list in

x

The expansion of Verba Scathaige can b e traced to some extent in

the manuscripts In Version I Scathach is said to communicate her

Verba to the wounded Cu Chulainn ö asmbert si friss indni aridmbui

iar tichtain hErend co nepert si indni Scathach Aritossa ol lgabad ö rl

ata isind libar and she told him what was in store for him after coming

8

to Ireland saying Aritossa ol lgabad etc which is in the b o ok Here

Die irische Helden und Konigsage Halle

This is according to K Meyers numb ering in his edition of Tochmarc Emire in

ZCP p

For details see Thurneysen Heldensage

From Rawl B a a edited by K Meyer The oldest version

of To chmarc Emire Revue Celtique p lines

p l henry

she quotes v of the original version which happ ens to b e more to the

p oint than v The p o em then follows immediately up on Tochmarc

Emire in Rawl B f b to provide one of the four copies of

Version A

9

Our p o em is included in the corresp onding place in Version I I I but

in the expanded form b eginning foceun a sciath bvaidnige which is not

found in Version I The compiler uses the same late op ening in x

where he p oints out that in certain other recensions slechta the p o em

is brought in at this particular p oint after Cu Chulainn had slept with

Scathach up on the strand The inference here is that the compiler of

Version I I I merely uses a version I I of the p o em ready to his hand and

is not himself resp onsible for any of the mo dications evident to us in a

comparison with Version I

According to Thurneysen the expanded Verba Scathaige b elongs to

a Version I I redacted in the early twelfth century Heldensage

That the p o em can have b een an ad hoc redaction of such late date is

extremely unlikely The expanded p o em may more plausibly b e related

to a live oral tradition which particularly in the earlier centuries stimu

lated the extended treatment of a theme which continued to excite p o et

and patron In Tochmarc Emire there is frequent reference to other

versions other traditions as for instance in xx and One of these

must have b een a oating oral version of the p o em indep endent of the

recorded one The problem is highlighted by one particular anomaly of

transmission in all four copies of Version A the p o em terminates with

Atchu frfeth Finnbennach Ai fri ardbur ach cf edi

tion infra We p oint out b elow that the last verse has at least one stress

to o many It also lacks the regular alliterative link with the preceding

verse and the similar link b etween nal and preceding word Since

however the four primary witnesses record it so it b elonged more than

likely to their ultimate source Cn Dromma Snechta If we accept this

as an ultimate answer we may seek to improve the line by reading A

fri Donn Cuailinge and take ardbur ach as an addition at an early state

to obtain dunad of a kind with v But the addition do es nothing to

supply the structural alliteration b etween nal and preceding word

When we turn to Version B we note that all ve copies omit A from

the last line thereby restoring at least the threestress norm as well as

linking alliteration Hence it seems much more likely that the placename

A is an intruder on the pattern of the placename Cuailnge than that

it b elonged to the original p o em to disturb its structure unnecessarily

The original p o em was of course oral not written If this reasoning

proves p ersuasive it can show that even in a manuscript as old as the

Cn Dromma Snechta written text may not b e p erfect and that the oral

tradition can retain its imp ortance for establishing it

Edited from Harl by K Meyer To chmarc Emire la Coinculaind ZCP

pp x

verba scathaige

structure language and edition

The p o em is comp osed in verses with trisyllabic dactylic cadence

the exceptions b eing vv and The metre tends to adjust

this in v faeburamnus and v otharlige by weakening the second

10

syllable further To v we shall return As a rule there are three

stresses to the verse but one of them can b e weakened or suppressed

as in vv The last verse has at least four stresses The

verse cadence then app ears to b e a more comp elling criterion than

the accentuation or stressing One other criterion also app ears vital

namely alliteration b etween cadence word and the preceding word It is

absent in vv and only and these app ear exceptional sceu and

is the preceding word in v and v is in any case irregular In

v the nal ildamaib app ears to alliterate with the stressed vowel of

difedat Hence the alliteration is on the whole rigidly observed and for

go o d reason It is fruaimm the true stitching which builds a verse

by adding an alliterating cadence to a twostress nucleus As nearly

all the verses are clearly heptasyllabic vv

the remainder need to b e examined not least for the clues which

their structure may provide for their interpretation Five of these verses

are one syllable short which can b e supplied when hiatus forms are

applied as follows v bee mss be v bied v cruach three

mss cruoch one ms cruo v trian ms trean tren v biet In

v the precedence of trian over tren on metrical grounds is justied

also on the semantic tren strong etc could contribute little to the

sense of the verse as against trian third of an army army The only

1

other defective line which calls for comment is v mss E N and the

LU group add cen colinn This we do not b elieve to b e original since

it can hardly b e reconciled with what follows in v Cu Chulainn

cen colinn app ears to b e a wordplay in which the prep osition cen may

well attract a certain contrastive stress It is unlikely that the phrase

cen colinn could pass muster as a trisyllabic cadence A p entasyllabic

verse commonly ending in a stressed monosyllable may alternate with or

conclude a series of heptasyllabic verses or it may conclude an unrhymed

11

fourline stanza with such verses If we were to emend v to fort

su Choin Chaulainn we should at least have a p entasyllabic line with

regular lenition of Choin On the other hand verses irregular in cadence

and in syllable count are common in the rhetorics cf the oftquoted

lines from Fled Bricrend Brao mara bara bledmail l blog dergthened

tond mairnech mathruamdae : : : LU or from Serlige Con

Culainn x Feg a Log dar theis oc coistecht frit let mna

Cf W Stokes Saltair na Rann Oxford line tabernacuil in

deibide rhyme which counts as syllables

Cf C Watkins IndoEurop ean metrics and archaic Irish verse Celtica

p and M O Daly Cath Maige Mucrama Ir Texts So c L London

x and p n

p l henry

12

cori cial lmathi: : : : The Fled Bricrend passage LU shows

that short verses are not conned to the p osition at the b eginning of

rhetorics This applies also to the syllabic metres nuachrutha where

varieties with short verses are known as gairit eg rannaigecht gairit

Ferg feine do muintir Echach Eile etc or setnad ngairit as Ingen

lach as luchru i Laignib nach len locht etc

Linking alliteration is the rule in the p o em but there are exceptions

and licences The link is unstressed in vv and in the parallel vv

with f f Here however it could b e disp ensed with and may not

b e signicant The link is maintained regularly in vv it fails in

vv and resumes in vv Dal in v may link with preceding

unstressed di Verses are linked by the parallelism of friclauses

Can breaks in alliterative linking indicate structural segmentation

By marking the breaks we get Segment I vv Segment I I vv

Segment I I I vv and Segment IV vv

Verse could indeed b e the b eginning of a new narrative phase If

v is another such b eginning then we can more easily follow the change

from second to third p erson in v Is v the middle of a p erio d or

the b eginning of one On balance the alliterative break app ears to oer

the b est clue to context here

As the metre of the p o em is an early favourite in the Laws and

elsewhere so the language is clearly very old witness the verbal forms

with inxed pronoun in tmesis cotutceil lfetar fortatbibsatar vv

with suxed pronoun in baigthi v also the reduplicated futures

bibsatar v bied v biet v tithis v cichis v sis

v cichit v Further pretonic to for later do in toaircechain

2

Eg prose the form tu v R E of the p ossessive pronoun

thy au for later u as in chaurith v Chaulainn v

Other old features are indep endent datives such as fethul v

fernaib v ildamaib v the use of the name Setanta v

the strange word belend vv and the phrase dal de dalaib dedarbe

reminiscent of Conail la Medb Mchuru v Compare also difedat

v roscaich do in the prose and last but not least the form sceu

v which may b e an old dative

All the facts we have adduced up to this make it clear that the p o em

is archaic We may exp ect it to have b een comp osed orally in the seventh

or p erhaps even in the sixth century An edition of the p o em should no

doubt reect this archaism by utilising the early forms oered by one or

more of the manuscripts Even in the prose Eg sp ells Toaircechain

where the other manuscripts have pretonic do Accordingly we favour

sp ellings such as Setanti bragit which do not show a glide to i after

2

neutral consonance since mss R and E do oer supp ort for this v

The p o em shows a sensitiveness to initial mutations in v chaurith

after cotut and v mbelatu after neuter noun Accordingly we

M Dillon Serglige Con Culainn Dublin repr

verba scathaige

take account of the less p erspicuous manuscript lenition after fort in

2

v mss R E

Our p olicy is to draw the text as far as p ossible from the four primary

witnesses the manuscripts of Version I Where these app ear to fail or

falter recourse is had particularly to LU collated where necessary with

the other manuscripts of Version I I Manuscript forms are retained we

do not emend and we limit our mo dications to the removal of some

late scribal forms The shap e of the resulting text was often found to

corresp ond rather closely to LU compare for example LU with

vv In regard to the endings of verbs simple and comp ound in nal

p osition manuscript usage is rather inconsistent We have thought it

b est to reect this usage rather than systematise it

As the p o em is an imbas forossndi a vision which illumines present

and future may tend to merge as it is a vision addressed to a companion

second p erson and third p erson may tend to merge

Verba Scathaige five manuscripts

I Rawl B f b R Incipiunt verbai scathaige fri coinchul

o c scar ad doib isnarandaib thair oroscaich do choin cul lan foglaimb

in milti lascathaich Do airchechain scathach do iarum an ni aridmbiad

con eper t fr is tr ia imbas forossndi dia foirciund Imb e err hngaile aru

tossa ollgabad huathad fri heit nimlibir i tain b o c Cotut chaurith

ceillfetar for tat bragait bibsatar bied do chalcc culb eimm en cruo fr i

sruth setan t nomen propri um do choincul tithis thog fburamnuss

fethul feulai ferchlessaib ferb tu breig braithgth bragitt du tuath tith

sitir trean citho ch coicdigis cichis do buar mb ealtau ba hoin fr i slog

sir do chre sis do fuil and tenman fernaib ilib idlo chtaib cuan dia lilis

loscann aib lin difedat ildamaib ilar fule rtir for t choinchaulain d ceisfe

alag nen chride al de dalaib dedarb e de dirn bro dirc bristh bruthaich

fr i toind trechtide fr isinb elend mbandernach b elend dichet chlessamnach

cichit biet banchuriu ba gr ithi medba sceu aile lla aruthossa otharligi

hucht fr i hechta hirgairgge atchiu r feith nn ben nach hoei fria dond

cuailnge ard baurach Finit

2

I I Eg f b E Incipiunt uerbai scathaige fri coin

chuluinn o c scar ad doib iss narannuib thair oroscaith do choinchu

luinn lanfogluimm in milti lascathaig Doaircechain scath do iarum

ann aritmbad con nep er t friss tr iaimbas forossndi diafoirciunn : : :

IMb e err haengaili arutossao ollgabad huathad fr i heit nim libir i tain

bo c cotut chaurith ceillfetar fortatbraguit bibsatar bied do chalg cul

beimmen cruo ch frisruth setant nomen pro pr ium do choinchul tithis

thog faebur amnus fethul feulai ferchlessaib ferb tu breig braithgth

bragit duthuaith tithsitir treancitho ch coigdigis cichis dobuar mb eltu

bahoin fr i slog sirdo chrui sis dofuil ann tenman fernaib ilib idlo chtaib

cuan dialilis loscannaib ln dofedad ildamaib ilar fuili rtir for t choin

chaulainn ceisfe alag nencr ide al de dalaib dedarb e dedirn bro dirc

br isth bruthaich fri toind trechtide fr isinmb elend mbandernnach

p l henry

b elend dichet clessamnach cichit biet banchuire baigthi medb sceu

aile lla aruthosa othurligi hucht fr i hechta hirgaircce atchiu r feith

nnben nach ha fr i donn cualngne ardburac h

1

I I I Eg f a E INdsip uer ba scathaig e fr i con iar

og scar fr ie is na rann aib thair o ro scaith do lan foghlaim in mil la

scath Toaircechain do iar scath ani aridmbiadh con eper t fr is tr ia

iumbus forosn diafor ciun t IMb e herr aongaile ara tosa oll gab uath

fr iheid nimlibir i tbc Cotut caraith ceillfethar fo rdadbraghaid bib

sathar bieth do calg cul b emenn cruo ch fr isruth sedantai no do coin c

tithis tho ch faobur amhnas fethal feula fer no fed cles fer b do breig



braitth braighit do tuath tithsith tren cithach coicdighis cichis do

buar mb eulatai ba hoin fr i sluagh sirecht ach sir do chr sir deim in sir

duba sils do fuil ann tenmen fernaibh ilib ildlo chtaib cuan dia lilis



loscann uib lin do fedhad il damaib ilur fuil r thir for t coin cul cen

colinn ceis fealaigh nen chridhe dal de dalaib de dairb e de dirn bro dircc

bristh bruthaich fr i toinn tr echdaichi fr isin mb elen d mbandern ach

b elend diched clesamn ciched bied bancuire baigthi medb sceo ailt

arathosa otharlighe hucht fr i hechta irgaircce adciu rfeith nn b en dach

hai fr i don t cuail aurtburach

IV N p N INcipiun t uer ba scath fr i con cl o c scar doib

isna rann uib tair ro scaith do choin cul lanfogluim in milti la scaithaigh

do aurchechain scath do iar indni aradmbiad con eipirt fr is tr ia imbass

for ossna IMb e eir hengaile aratossa ollgabud huatha fr iheit nimlebair

i tain b o cuailg Cotat curaith ciallfaithir for tat braigait bibsatur

bied do chailcc culb eimnech cruo ch fr i srut setanta i pro pri um no

do choincl Tithis thog foibharamnus fethal feula fedchlessaib fearba

dobreig mbraitter braighit dithuaith tithsithir tren cithach coictigis

cichis do buar mb elata bahon frislog sirdo chr sils de fhuil and ted

man fernaib ilib idlo chtaib cuan dialilis loscandaib lin dofedat ildamaib

ilar fuili rth for coincul cen colainn Ceisfe alag nenchride al de dalaib

dedairb e didirn bro dircc bristhir bruthaich fri toinn trechtaide fr issin

mb elend mbandernech b elenn di chet clesamnach cichet biet banchuire

baiti medb sceo aillai aratosa ollgabadh otharlighi ucht fr i hechtga

irgairgi atchiu rfeith nn b enn ach i fr i donn cuailngi artburach öca

V LU b from Tochmarc Emere

line uath ud fri eit nimlebair

oic Cru achna rascerasu

Fo chen a scth buagnigi

Cotut curaid cellfetar

buadaig bagaig urbagaig

fortut bragit bibsatar

uarc r aidi taiscea

bied do cholg culbemend

corraib fortacht fort

cru o ch fri sruth Setinti

niba fortacht can recni

sennait rout ruadtressa

niba recni can decni

rinnib risclofet cnamreda

Imbe eirro engaile

clarad im buaib b endcru di

tithis do ch faeburamnas Arutosa ollgabud

verba scathaige

atchu rd Findben nach fethail feola fedclessaib

fri Dond Cualnge ardburach

ferba do Breg bratfatar

Cuin dorega cuin doriidfea

bragti do thuath tithsitir

ros do gaili gnathgeri

tr ean citho ch coictigis

ben fait bemend arlebra

cichis do buar mb ealtu

mei c Roich ruadrindig ardurgna

Ba hon ar slog srrechtach

naiscseta nollach no enellach

srdo chair sirdemin srguba

lo chta do tham doscur a cetha

sis do fuil andtedmand

Erig do lo ch lurec hda

fernaib ilib ildlo chtaib

cuchtach ecsi ilcom raic

armaib sceo mnaib dergdercaib

selaig tanaig trubud

cro dergfa arm armeth mellgleo

cu tr nUladog erig

aich fotha rtir

do mnaib Ulad o entomaim

arath croich crosfaitir

do scath cnedach comromach

recur serech sarlatir

do gai tuagac h tairb ertach trenturig

gaetar lunni loscudi

do cholg det dathbuthir

Lin difedat ildamaib

a ndondalaib

ilar fule rtir

rasia thainm Albanchu

ar Coin Culaind cencolind

ciach do gair gemadaig

cesfealag nencraide

A iachtfaitit

ana dolath tetharbae

alaind sethnach so ermilfa

dideirn bro deirg brutir

etro cht so ebro cht suanaigfe

Bron ar cach dot brathbreislig

teora bliadna ar trentrichait

da taib Maigi Mur themni

bat neirt ar do lo chnamtib

da mbia cluchi tregaigi

tricha bliadna bagimse

bruthaig fri toind trechtidi

gus do gaili gnathgeri

frisin mb elend mbander nach

o sin immach ni fullimsea

b elaiguathaig o chtclesaig

do saegul ni indisimsea

b elend di chet clesamna

eter buadaib banchuri

cichit biet banchuri

ge garid ge etgene

bagthi Medb sceo Ailella

ditalaib fo chen fo cen a scit b

Arutossa otharlige

ucht fri echtga irgairce line

p l henry

RECONSTRUCTED TEXT AND TRANSLATION

Incipiunt verba Scathaige fri Coin Chulainn o c scarad doib isnaib

rannaib thair o roscaich do Choin Chulainn lanfoglaimm in mlti la

Scathaich Toairchechain Scathach do iarum an aridmbiad conep ert

fris tri imbas forossndi dia foirciunn

Here b egin the words of Scathach to Cu Chulainn as they were separat

ing in the eastern parts when Cu Chulainn had completed the full course of

military training with Scathach Then Scathach foretold to him what was in

store for him and told him of his end through Vision which illumines

A mb ee eirro engaile

arutossa ollgabud

1

uathad fri heit nimlebair

Cotut chaurith ceillfetar

fortat bragit bibsatar

bied do chalcc culb eimmen

2

cruach fri sruth Setanti

Tithis dach faeburamnus

fethul feulae ferchlessaib

Ferba do breig braitter

3

bragit do thuaith tithsitir

trianchithach coicdigis

cichis do buar mbelatu

Ba hon fri slog srdo chrai

Sis de fuil anntenmen

fernaib ilib ildlo chtaib

When thou art a p eerless champion

great extremity awaits thee

alone against the vast herd

Warriors will b e set aside against thee

necks will b e broken by thee

thy sword will strike strokes to the rear

against Setantes gory stream

Hardbladed he will cutconjure the trees

by the sign of slaughters by manly feats

Cows will b e carried o from thy hill

captives will b e forfeited by thy p eople

harried by the tro op for a fortnight

thy cattle will walk the passes

Thou wilt b e alone in great hardship against the host

Scarlet gushes of blo o d will strike

up on many variouslycloven shields

The four MSS add the gloss i tain bo cuailnge abbreviated LU also

The four MSS add nomen proprium do Choin Chulainn abbreviated LU also

None of the ve MSS has the exp ected ending er

verba scathaige

Cuan dia lilis loscannaib

ln difedat ildamaib

4

Ilar fuile rtir

5

fort Choin Chaulainn

Cesfealad nainchridi

dal de dalaib dedarb e

Dedirn bro dirc bristher

bruthaich fri toind tregtaigthi

frisin mb elend mbandernach

b elend di chet clessamnach

Cichit biet banchuriu

Baigthi Medb sceu Ailella

Arutossa otharlige

ucht fri hechta airgairce

Atchu frfeth Findb ennach

A fri Donn Cuailnge ardburac h

A band of parasites that thou wilt adhere to

will bring away many p eople and oxen

Many wounds will b e inicted

up on thee Cu Chulainn

You will suer a wound of revenge in

one of the encounters at the nal breach

From your redpronged weap on there will b e defeat

men pierced against the furious wave

against the whale equipp ed for exploits

a whale p erforming feats with blows

Women will wail and b eat hands in their tro op

Medb and Ailill b oast of it

A sickb ed awaits thee

in face of slaughters of great fero city

I see the very glossy Finnb ennach

of Ae in great rage against Donn Cuailnge

None of the ve MSS has the exp ected ending er

MSS E N and LU add cen colinn

p l henry

NOTES

n

A mbee A when a conjunctive use of the neuter article bee sg sub j

of the substantive verb This form is preferred here to be fut sg of the

copula on account of the syllable count see p ab ove For examples

of the substantive verb in this usage cf Amra Coluim Cille xx

etc W Stokes Revue Celtique passim

Arutossa The Dictionary of the Irish language DIL takes up this verse

under arutaing arta and arossa Arutaing build up refreshes can

hardly apply semantically Arta is in store for is quite plausible partic

ularly since it resumes aridmbiad of the preceding prose Against it is the

fact that all manuscripts have o in the third syllable Arossa awaits

ts very well and the delity of the Rec I manuscripts to a form of arossa

enhances ones estimate of them

The gloss i tain bo c sic R E helps to establish the reference of eit

herd

The verb cotutceil lfetar is fut pl of the verb concial lathar conceil

spares protects withholds etc DIL sv conceil translates the LU ver

sion cotut curaid cel lfetar warriors will spare surround thee But there

app ears to b e no precise context for these suggestions to t into H Wag

ner renders LU and fortut bragit bibsatar as follows Kamp en werden

von dir b eschutzt werden Nacken werden von dir gerbro chen werden

Indogermanisch und Keltisch ed K H Schmidt Weisbaden

With the rendering of v we are in agreement the prop osition in v

that Cu Chulainn will defend champions is unsupp orted and enigmatic

A rendering of any single verse of Verba Scathaige should make sense in

the context of the p o em and harmonise with the facts of the Tain Our

own translation of v rests up on the assured meaning to spare set aside

for concial lathar prominent also in Mo d Ir coiglim caiglim The hand

picking and cozening of champions to go forward against Cu Chulainn is an

indisp ensabl e part of the plot Verse would app ear to develop the matter

in an understandable way More than this cannot b e exp ected b ecause a

visionary p o em need not b e logically develop ed and in any case the logic

of a sixth to seventhcentury heroic rosc must b e very remote from us

Bied fut sg of benaid Cf GOI x Culbeimmen sic E

R LU In view of bragit in v we consider the anatomical meaning

back back of head neck etc improbable for cul here The meaning we

assign allows for development of theme it agrees with the description of

Cu Chulainns battle frenzy in the context of enemy p enetration of Ulster

N aithgnead coemu na cairdiu Cumma no slaided ram ö arma Is de sin

doratsat Fir Ol nEcmacht in rastartha do anmaim do Choin Chulaind He

would recognize neither comrades nor friends He would attack alike b efore

him and b ehind him Hence the men of named Cu Chulainn the

Distorted One C ORahilly ed Tain Bo Cuailnge recension I Dublin

lines trans p

Cruach Cf E E N cruoch LU cruoch N Harl cruach : : :

R cruo may stand for cro gen of cru gore which would also give a

go o d reading Setanti E has ai The intro duction of the heros other

name signals the change from second to third p erson in tithis of v Cf

verba scathaige

At comsa mac Findchome frim R Thurneysen Scela Mucce Meic Datho

Dublin with fusion of p erson

Tithis fut sg of tongaid also of tennid cuts Fidach mss thog

thoch LU doch Cu Chulainns rst eort to hold Medbs army at bay

was with an inscrib ed circular withe which diverted the invaders and made

them clear a path through the wo o d C ORahilly Tain Rec I lines

his second was with a forked branch ibid gabail lines

crand up on the p oints of which he impaled four enemy heads

Then at Mag Mucceda Cu Chulainn cut down and inscrib ed an oaktree

ibid lines up on which the enemy shattered thirty chariots The

wo o den obstacles were invested with magical prohibition s and in this sense

the verb tongaid swears adjures is appropriate here in v Note also in

the Tain rhetorics LU Fortoing glaiss boccit cuil lte ar silestar

i rrchtu He conjures the stream wo o ds move slaughter will b e done at

his coming which corresp onds with the drift of vv here In this vein

also Cu Chulainn calls up on the river Cronn to rise against the enemy

LU

Fethal is a sacred ob ject up on which an oath might b e sworn Feulae is

gen pl of feoil esh the connotation of slaughter is present in many

of its comp ounds such as feoilchombach feoilfhogail These asso ciations

are implied in the etymologies fuil huoli feoil hueuoli Ferchlessaib E

reads f er no fed cles which implies knowledge of another version N and

LU also have fedchlessaib if this is for d and refers to acrobatic tricks

with a sp earshaft it could also b e acceptable In his Gundestrup Cauldron

Garrett S Olmsted renders vv tithis thog foibaramnus fethal feula

fedchlessaib Keenly p ointed esh adorned timb er will attest to wo o d

feats Collection Latomus Brussels Here foibaramnus

is taken as an epithet of timb er rather than of the champion but the

notion of sharpness resides in foibar here and amnas do es not seem to b e

used like ger of material sharpness Other diculties are that adornment

of esh seems hardly plausible for fethal feula and that a p ersonal sub ject

is certainly preferable for tongaid

The placename Brega assumed by the editors of LU can hardly b e right

here The p ossessive adj do could hardly apply as Cu Chulainn has no

particular resp onsibil ity for this area whether it b e dened with Cath

Mhuighe Leana ed Eugene OCurry Dublin as lying south of

the Boyne to the river Rge on the b order with Kildare or with Annals

of Ulster I ed W M Hennessy Dublin as north of it to

Belach Duin Castlekieran northwest of Kells and Cassan Annagassan

se of Castleb elling ham in Louth Cf E Hogan Onomasticon Goedelicum

Dublin sv On the other hand when Medb p enetrated northwards

into Cuib and the pursuing Cu Chulainn came up on Buide and Ailills men

with the bull and heifers Can tucsaid a folad Whence have you brought

the cattle asks Cu Chulainn On tsleib ucut from yonder mountain is

the answer Tain Rec I lines Hill and ford feature prominently

in the narrative Cach ath ö cach dingnai ocar fu is Ath ö Dindgna

Medba a ainm Every ford and every hill by which Medb sp ent the night

is named Ath Medba and Dindgna Medba Tain Rec I lines

Similarly the next reference to the bull and other cattle includes mention

of the hill of Forgemen Tain Rec I line An obvious measure in

p l henry

wartime b esides would b e to drive cattle into the hills to avoid capture by

the enemy All this provides the background for our interpretation Cows

will b e carried o from thy hill Br hill is also explained as plain

a development which OMulconrys gloss i mag inna biat slebe ardae

Wh Stokes ed Archiv fur celtische Lexikographie I Halle

p x at least renders plausibl e A reference to Mag Muirtheimne in

our p o em would b e attractive But the meaning plain app ears doubtful

and in view of the relevance of hill disp ensable While LU reads breg the

Rec I manuscripts have breig preceded by tu R E do E N N alone

has the pl fearba the other three manuscripts have ferb with sg verb to

match The LU reading Ferba do breg bratfatar the cows of thy hills will b e

carried o is quite acceptable Do breig however is capable of b eing quite

sp ecic for the goal of the Foray was the mountain range of Cuailnge in the

Carlingford p eninsula Medbs army divided up at Chuailnge to

seek the bull Tain Rec I line and the bull with fteen heifers was

seized at Slieve Gullion Tain Rec I line This area to the north

and east of Delga was under Cu Chulainns protection braitter note the

palatalised stem brait braith in the Rec I forms as against LU bratfatar

The stem braith in R and E if distinct is relatively late and its meaning

b etray disclose p oint out less apt

We assume tmesis with dotoing in the sense forfeits and thuaith of E

and N The N reading with di suggests the earlier ditong

trianchithach Trian we take to refer to the third of Medbs army which she

led north as describ ed b elow cf Luid Medb co trun in tsloig le hi Cuib

Medb went with a third of her army to Cuib Tain Rec I line

Trian can also mean more generally a band company so that there is no

diculty in applying the word here For the meaning of cithach cf cith

trial hardship battle and its collo cation with cath as in cith cath ö orn

orgain K Meyer Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts IV

Halle x Verse app ears to refer to the same episo de as in

v Tain Rec I line Fagbail in Tairb The Finding of the Bull

cf Heldensage x Medb with one third of her army marches

along the Slige Midluachra to Cuib for the bull and then north to ravage

Dun Sobairche Cu Chulainn follows to Cuib and seven martial exploits of

his are enumerated Tain Rec I lines Further action follows in

his home country Mag Muirtheimne to the defence of which he returns

When Medb had sp ent a fortnight ravaging the north she returned with

fty women captives from Dun Sobairche to join up with Ailill and the

men in charge of the bull Tain Rec I lines This background

app ears to emerge in the following verses

Cichis fut sg of cingid

sirdochrai Hardly sr continuous do neg prex the gen sg of

cro tro op line of battle dochro a dicult unb eatable tro op The

alternative here is to emend with dograe dejection etc or with doccrae

hardship etc construing alone in great hardship etc against the host

An entirely satisfying solution is hard to obtain LU has an easier reading

with srrechtach srdochair in sorrow and constant misery

Here we construe imp ersonall y anntenmen as ob ject acc pl of the

imp ersonal verb sis seinnid literally it will strike in a partitive

construction with do di of blo o d The alternative reading Sis do

verba scathaige

fuil : : : your blo o d will strike etc do es not make sucient sense N

reads de

We take loscannaib as dat of app osition to cuan cf : : : huli laechaib

ocus cleirchib all laymen and clerics GOI x lilis fut sg

conj of lenaid

difedat the present tense with fut meaning is found in all stages of Irish

ildamaib is a prep ositionl ess dat of accompaniment

The stem r is Mid Ir for fer

This form of the verse is found in R and E and it app ears to b e the

older It reects a tension b etween second and third p ersons as in v It

is a mixture of two constructions Vo cative A Chu Chulainn is fused with

a construction in third p erson for Coin Culainn An analogical case is

the fusion of vo c and nom in hyp o coristic forms like Mo Lua chraibdech

with lenited adj GOI x N has the simpler reading for Coin

Culainn : : :

Alad nainchridi nen mss The word is no doubt ainchride wrong

enmity revenge This app ears to b e a passing allusion to Cu Chulainns

death a deed inspired by the motive of revenge as describ ed in Brislech

Mor Muirtheimne LL b Verses app ear to resume the Tain story

of his defence of Mag Muirtheimne and its environs against Ailill and Medb

cf vv

This verse recalls the conclusion of Conail la Medb Mchuru Hulaith iar

sirgubu iarnaraibag de dalib detharbe The having long mourned

after conict of nobles arising from disputes at the nal breach ZCP

Only E reads dal the other manuscripts op en the verse with

al Dal may b e argued to alliterate with preceding unstressed de If for

al we read ail misfortune this would also give go o d sense The actual

manuscript reading is preferred to an emendation Dedarbe we analyse

ded nal from dead end airbe aurba breach

The manuscripts have bristh R E E bristhir N LU has dideirn i

dot grain brodeirg brutir The following alternative reading of vv

has b een considered and rejected The valiant one dedirn with the red

pronged sp ear will b e defeated pierced tregtaigthe against the furious

wave To the whale equipp ed for exploits a whale p erforming feats with

blows a tro op of women will cry out and they will ght An apparent

advantage of this reading is that the theme of Cu Chulainns defeat men

tioned in v is develop ed in v though not in vv A drawback is

the obscurity of bruthaich fri toind against the furious wave since in Fled

Bricrenn x the hero himself is referred to in a rhetoric by the gure

tond mairneach mathruamdae destructive wave splendid as a b ear G

Henderson Fled Bricrend Ir Texts So c I I London Hence

tond is an epithet of Cu Chulainn The remainder of this reading visualizes

a featp erforming champion to whom the women app eal for help which

do es not blend with his defeat in v A variation of this reading is to

make bruthaich of v refer to Cu Chulainns enemies the furious ones

pierced against by the wave against the whale etc This is obscure and

unsatisfactory bruthach is b est referred to Cu Chulainn The LU version

of v with brutir lo oks like a refurbishing of the verse to bring out a

meaning such as we prop ose The op ening word dideirn the Interp olator

explains by dot grain as if it sto o d for dit iurn with your iron weap on

p l henry

This yields go o d sense for the LU verse dideirn brodeirg brutir they will

b e crushed by your redpronged weap on it is followed by Bron ar cach

dot brathbreislig d a taib Maigi Murthemni everyone will grieve for

your terrible defeat against the Plain of Muirthemne There is a lack of

continuity in the treatment here

In YBL Tain Cu Roi considers it unb ecoming a champion to attack the

wounded and weakened Cu Chulainn : : : ind r tregdaigthi crechtaigthi

John Strachan and J G OKeee Tain Bo Cuailnge from the Yel low Book

of Lecan Dublin line In v of our p o em manuscript

forms such as trecht a ide R N E trechdaichi E may represent a fusion

of these closely asso ciated terms Tregtaigthe is a participial formation from

tregtaid pierces which in turn is a later simplex of trisgata The regular

participle of tregtaid is tregtae this would have b een presyncop e tregatae

cf trecatim I pierce Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus I I Dublin

Hence tregatae may have b een the original form here toind If this

is b eing used in a concrete sense the reference would b e to Lo ch Lamraith

of the Plain of Muirthemne rather than to the sea LL Brislech

Mor Maige Murthemni

belend I take this to b e from Lat balena whale cf Fled Bricrenn

x from the rhetoric on Cu Chulainn LU bara bledmail l fury

of the sea monster bandernach is analysed band exploit ernach iron

implement For the formation cf GOI x

Cf LL in cur cetach clessamnach cathbuadach claidebderg Cu

Chulaind the smiting featp erforming triumphant redsworded Cu Chu

lainn Cetach from cet blow has the same force as di chet in v G S

Olmsted reads vv frissin mbelend mbandernnachbelend dichet cle

samnach Against the barehanded warriorcan go a warrior p erforming

feats Gundestrup Etudes Celtiques Ban

dernnach from ban bare dernnach hdernanach lo oks somewhat forced

and also out of context Dichet can go seems out of place in a vision

on the formal side whereas di chet provides the required alliteration with

clesamnach dichet do es not The alliteration of unstressed elements to

link successive verses is a dierent matter

cichit fut pl of cid weeps cries etc biet fut pl of benaid

strikes cf GOI x E has bied LU cichit biet banchuri tro ops

of women will weep and b eat their hands oers an acceptable version of

this verse Three of the Rec I manuscripts have banchuire the remaining

one R reads banchuriu which we adopt Banchuire can refer either to

Brislech Mor Maige Muirtheimne LL b cf It bronaig banchuiri with

reference to groups of women lamenting Cu Chulainns imp ending death

a recurrent motif here It may refer to women captured such as the fty

taken by Medb at Dunseverick LU b We are unable to nd in these

verses any necessary reference to the Aided Frach episo de of Tain Rec I

LU b cf Olmsted Gundestrup Etudes Celtiques

baigthi baigid i b oasts of it sceu R E may b e an old dat form it

is followed by the genitive

echtga of N and LU do es not seem to make go o d sense here

frfeth mss Rec I r feith R E rfeith E N Rec I I rd LU

D iv N Fermoy rfe Harl The Rec I I reading rd would seem

verba scathaige

to provide the basis for the interpretation of K Meyer Revue Celtique

and G S Olmsted Gundestrup I see that Finnb ennach

of Ai will ght against the loudb ellowi ng Donn C The main ob jection to

it is that the function of Atchu is to intro duce a sp ectacle not a declaration

of intent DIL F and feth app ear to b e the same word The

meanings given are smo othness nish p olish and sleekness a

healthy or ourishing app earance and in wider sense lo oks app earance

of health or the reverse Under an example of feth as an adj

in the meaning smo oth nished is oered under the gloss feth i

slemain from Wh Stokes ed ODavorens Glossary Archiv fur celtische

Lexikographie I I Halle x Transitional examples of feth

ie as noun or as adj are ba feth in gres dedenach : : : ba feth in tsnas

dedenach DIL There app ears then to b e an adequate basis for

the reading frfeth very smo oth sleek p olished etc which we adopt in

the text

This nal verse lacks linking and structural alliteratio n it has at least one

stress to o many and is run on from the previous verse in an exceptional

manner We suggest on p that the op ening word Ai did not originall y

b elong to it

P L Henry

University Col lege Galway