The myth of Ireland's two greatest warriors - Iseult Gillespie

Cú Chulainn, hero of Ulster, stood at the
ford at Cooley,

ready to face an entire army
singlehandedly—

all for the sake of a single bull.

The army in question belonged to Queen
Meadhbh of Connaught.

Enraged at her husband’s possession
of a white bull of awesome strength,

she had set out to capture the fabled
brown bull of Ulster at any cost.

Unfortunately, the King of Ulster had
chosen this moment

to force the goddess Macha to race her
chariot while pregnant.

In retaliation, she struck down him and
his entire army with stomach cramps

that eerily resembled childbirth—
all except Cú Chulainn.

Though he was the best warrior in Ulster,

Cú Chulainn knew he could not take on
Queen Meadhbh’s whole army at once.

He invoked the sacred rite of single
combat

in order to fight the
intruders one by one.

But as Queen Meadhbh’s army
approached,

one thing worried him more than
the grueling ordeal ahead.

Years before, Cú Chulainn had travelled to
Scotland

to train with the renowned
warrior Scáthach.

There, he met a young warrior from
Connaught named Ferdiad.

They lived and trained side-by-side,
and soon became close friends.

When they returned to their
respective homes,

Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad found themselves
on opposite sides of a war.

Cú Chulainn knew Ferdiad was marching
in Meadhbh’s army,

and that if he succeeded in fending off
her troops, they would eventually meet.

Day after day, Cú Chulainn
defended Ulster alone.

He sent the heads of some of his
adversaries back to Meadhbh’s camp,

while the rushing waters of the ford
carried others away.

At times, he slipped into a trance and
slayed hundreds of soldiers in a row.

Whenever he saw the queen in the distance,
he hurled stones at her –

never quite hitting her,

but once coming close enough
to knock a squirrel off her shoulder.

Back at the Connaught camp, Ferdiad was
laying low,

doing everything he could to avoid the
moment

when he’d have to face his best
friend in combat.

But the Queen was impatient to get her
hands on the prize bull,

and she knew Ferdiad was her best
chance to defeat Cú Chulainn.

So she goaded him and questioned
his honor

until he had no choice but to fight.

The two faced off at the ford, matching
each other exactly in strength and skill

no matter what weapons they used.

Then, on the third day of their fight,
Ferdiad began to gain the upper hand

over the exhausted Cu Chulainn.

But Cú Chulainn had one last trick up
his sleeve:

their teacher had shared
a secret with him alone.

She told him how to
summon the Gáe Bulg,

a magical spear fashioned from the
bones of sea monsters

that lay at the bottom of the ocean.

Cu Chulainn called the spear, stabbed
Ferdiad to death, and collapsed.

Meadhbh seized her chance and swooped
in with the rest of her army

to capture the brown bull.

At last, the men of Ulster were recovering
from their magical illness,

and they surged out in pursuit.

But they were too late: Queen Meadhbh
crossed the border unscathed,

dragging the brown bull with her.

Once home, Meadhbh
demanded another battle,

this time between the brown bull
and her husband’s white bull.

The bulls were well matched, and struggled
into the night,

dragging each other all over Ireland.

At long last, the brown bull killed the
white bull,

and Queen Meadhbh was finally satisfied.

But the brown bull’s victory
meant nothing to him.

He was tired, injured, and devastated.

Soon after, he died of a broken heart,
leaving behind a land

that would remain ravaged by
Meadhbh’s war for years to come.