The Hound Of Ulster

Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster is a work by Eleanor Hull. It depicts the legends and myths concerning Cuchulain, an Irish mythical demigod who emerges in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore.

The boy who takes up the spear and shield of Manhood on this day will become the most renowned of all the warriors of Ireland, men will follow at his call to the world's end, and his enemies will shudder at the thunder of his chariot wheels. So the ancient prophecy went, and as the boy Cuchulain heard it, he went forward to claim the weapons of his manhood. This is the story of how he became the greatest of heroes - the Hound of Ulster.

A retelling of a traditional Irish folk tale. The king is on the way to visiting Culain's house, when he sees a young boy, Setanta, playing hurling very bravely, and asks him to join them later. However, as he forgets to inform his host that he will have an extra visitor. Setanta is attacked by Culain's guard dog - which he bravely fights and kills. As Culain is so sad at the loss of his prized hound, Setanta offers to guard the house and its grounds until a replacement is found. The king, impressed by the boy's bravery and skill, gives him the name Culchulainn, the Hound of Ulster.

Herein, Eleanor Hull chronicles the life of Cuchulain in 30 chapters in what is now considered to be a classic volume. This volume is further enhanced with 9 full page plates illustrated by Stephen Reid. Cuchulain is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the god Lugh, who is also his father. His mother is the mortal Deichtine, sister of Conchobar mac Nessa. Born Sétanta, he gained his better-known name as a child, after killing Culann's fierce guard-dog in self-defence and offered to take its place until a replacement could be reared. At the age of seventeen he defended Ulster single-handedly against the armies of queen Medb of Connacht in the famous Táin Bó Cúailnge ("Cattle Raid of Cooley"). It was prophesied that his great deeds would give him everlasting fame, but his life would be a short one. He is known for his terrifying battle frenzy, or ríastrad (translated by Thomas Kinsella as "warp spasm" and by Ciaran Carson as "torque"), in which he becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe. He fights from his chariot, driven by his loyal charioteer Láeg and drawn by his horses, Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend. In more modern times, Cú Chulainn is more often referred to as the "Hound of Ulster" TAGS: folklore, fairy tales, celtic myths, legends, children’s stories, fables, celt, Ireland, Irish, Scotland, Isle of Man, Conor, king of Ulster, queen meave, woman-seer, Setanta, boy-corps, king conor, Cuchulain, arms, first feats, championship, adventures, shadow land, woo, wife, brown bull, cooley, refuse, plucking out, four pronged pole, deer, ill-luck, etarcomal, fate, spits, holly wood, combat, ferdia, fall, awake, end, rising out, humbling, swan maidens, fairy land, fairyland, Deirdre, contentions, contend, bring up, sleep wanderer, wiles of king conor, sorrowful, death, usna’s sons, son, conla, hound at bay, fame, outlive, life, red rout, queen Medb, Connacht, Lugh, father, Conchobar mac Nessa, Táin Bó Cúailnge, Cattle Raid of Cooley, charioteer, Laeg, Liath Macha, Dub Sainglend

The events that circle round King Conor mac Nessa and Cuchulain as their principal figures are supposed to have occurred, as we gather from the legends themselves, about the first century of our era. According to one of the stories, King Conor is said to have died in a paroxysm of wrath and horror, brought on by hearing the news of the crucifixion of our Lord by the Jews. Though this story is evidently one of the few interpolations having their origin in Christian times (the main body of the legends being purely pagan), the probability that they took shape about this period is increased almost to certainty by the remarkable agreement we find in them with the accounts derived from classical writers who lived and wrote about this same period, and who comment on the habits of the Gauls of France, the Danube valley and Asia Minor, and the Belgic tribes who inhabited South-eastern Britain, with whom the Roman armies came into contact in the course of their wars of aggression and expansion. The descriptions given by Poseidonius, a century before Christ, or Diodorus, Cæsar and Livy half a century later, agree remarkably with the notices found in these Irish stories of social conditions, weapons, dress, and appearance. The large wicker shields, the huge double-bladed swords lifted above the head to strike, the courage amounting to rashness of the Celt in attack, the furious onset of the scythed war-chariots, the disregard of death, the habit of rushing into battle without waiting to don their clothes, the single combats, the great feasts, the “Champion’s Bit” reserved as a mark of distinction for the bravest warrior; these, and many other characteristics found in our tales, are commented upon in the pages of the Roman historians. The culture represented in them is that known to archæologists as “late Celtic,” called on the Continent the La Tène period, i.e. the period extending from about 400 B.C. to the first century of the Christian era; and the actual remains of weapons, ornaments, and dress found in Ireland confirm the supposition that we are dealing with this stage of culture. We may, then, take it that these tales were formed about the beginning of our era, although the earliest written documents that we have of them are not earlier than the eleventh and twelfth century. Between the time of their invention for the entertainment of the chiefs and kings of Ireland to the time of their incorporation in the great books which contain the bulk of the tales, they were handed down by word of mouth, every bard and professional story-teller (of whom there was at least one in every great man’s house) being obliged to know by heart a great number of these romances, and prepared at any moment to recite those which he might be called upon to give. In the course of centuries of recitation certain changes crept in, but in the main they come to us much as they were originally recited. In some tales, of which we have a number of copies of different ages, we can trace these changes and notice the additions and modifications that have been made.

Legends of the Irish folk hero Cuchulain, nicknamed the Hound for his reckless bravery.