The Cattle-Raid of CualngeCeltic MythologyLegend / Oral TraditionOld IrishShareThe Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 5L. Winifred Faraday 1904 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableL. Winifred Faraday 1904LanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 1The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 2The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 3The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 4The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 5The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 6The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 7The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 8The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 9›This Is The Long Warning Of SualtaimThe Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 5ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1While the things that we have related were done, Suallaith heard from Rath Sualtaim in Mag Murthemne the vexing of his son Cuchulainn against twelve sons of Gaile Dana [Note: LL, 'Twenty-seven sons of Calatin.' In the story as related earlier in YBL it is 'Gaile Dana with his twenty-seven sons.'] and his sister's son. It is then that Sualtaim said: 2'Is it heaven that bursts, or the sea over its boundaries, or earth that is destroyed, or the shout of my son against odds?' 3Then he comes to his son. Cuchulainn was displeased that he should come to him. 4'Though he were slain, I should not have strength to avenge him. Go to the Ulstermen,' says Cuchulainn, 'and let them give battle to the warriors at once; if they do not give it, they will not be avenged for ever.' 5When his father saw him, there was not in his chariot as much as the point of a rush would cover that was not pierced. His left hand which the shield protected, twenty wounds were in it. 6Sualtaim came over to Emain and shouted to the Ulstermen: 7'Men are being slain, women carried off, cows driven away!' 8His first shout was from the side of the court; his second from the side of the fortress; the third shout was on the mound of the hostages in Emain. No one answered; it was the practice of the Ulstermen that none of them should speak except to Conchobar; and Conchobar did not speak before the three druids. 9'Who takes them, who steals them, who carries them off?' said the druid. 10Ailill Mac Mata carries them off and steals them and takes them, through the guidance of Fergus Mac Roich,' said Sualtaim. 'Your people have been enslaved as far as Dun Sobairce; their cows and their women and their cattle have been taken. Cuchulainn did not let them into Mag Murthemne and into Crich Rois; three months of winter then, bent branches of hazel held together his dress upon him. Dry wisps are on his wounds. He has been wounded so that he has been parted joint from joint.' 11'Fitting,' said the druid, 'were the death of the man who has spurred on the king.' 12'It is fitting for him,' said Conchobar. 13'It is fitting for him,' said the Ulstermen. 14'True is what Sualtaim says,' said Conchobar; 'from the Monday night of Samain to the Monday night of Candlemas he has been in this foray.' 15Sualtaim gave a leap out thereupon. He did not think sufficient the answer that he had. He falls on his shield, so that the engraved edge of the shield cut his head off. His head is brought back into Emain into the house on the shield, and the head says the same word (though some say that he was asleep on the stone, and that he fell thence on to his shield in awaking). 16'Too great was this shout,' said Conchobar. 'The sea before them, the heaven over their tops, the earth under their feet. I will bring every cow into its milking-yard, and every woman and every boy from their house, after the victory in battle.' 17Then Conchobar struck his hand on his son, Findchad Fer m-Bend. Hence he is so called because there were horns of silver on him. ‹Previous chapterThe Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 4Next chapterThe Cattle-Raid of Cualnge 6›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg