Cú Chulainn is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore and associated with the god, Lugh. 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. Cú Chulainn shows striking similarities to the legendary Persian hero Rostam, as well as to the Germanic Lay of Hildebrand and the labours of the Greek epic hero Heracles.
He carried a supernatural spear called the Gae Bulga. It was made from the bone of a sea monster, the Coinchenn, that had died while fighting another sea monster, the Curruid. Although some sources make it out to be simply a particularly deadly spear, others (notably the lost pages from the Book of Leinster) state that it could only be used under very specialized, ritual conditions: The Gáe Bulg entered a man’s body with a single wound, like a javelin, then opened into thirty barbs. Only by cutting away the flesh could it be taken from that man’s body.
In the Táin Bó Cuailnge, Cúchulainn received the spear after training with the great warrior master Scáthach in Alba. She taught him and his foster-brother, Ferdiad, equally, except she only taught the Gáe Bulg feat to Cuchulainn.
: Myths & Legends
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