Conall Cernach

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Conall Cernach [ 'konaL' kʴernax ] ("Conall the Victorious", "the horned" [?], "The angular [?]") Is a legendary hero from the historical Irish kingdom of Ulster and the milk brother of the greatest Ulster in Celtic mythology - Heroes Cú Chulainn (see also Compert Con Chulainn ). He is related to the ancient gods through the ancestral mother of the "Red Branch of Heroes", Maga from the Túatha Dé Danann family. His father is Amairgin mac Ecit Salaig , his mother Finncháem , the daughter of the druid Cathbad .

mythology

Conall's pregnant mother swallowed a worm while drinking from a magical spring. This pierced the hand of the unborn child and Conall held it in his hand during the birth. This connects him with Conchobor and Cernunnos , of whom the same is told. In a later fight, his head was hit "square", hence his nickname. His hair was so thick that hazelnuts got stuck on it.

In the saga Táin Bó Froích ("Driving Froech's Cattle"), the hero Conall's special relationship with snakes is shown again, because he can penetrate a castle guarded by a snake without it attacking him; his belt. Why this should have happened in the Alps in the Longobard Empire has not yet been researched.

Conall Cernach was indirectly involved in the death of King Conchobor, as the saga Aided Chonchobuir ("Conchobar's death") tells. At the Battle of Étar ( Cath Étair ) he had cut off the head of one of his enemies named Mes Gegra and given it to his charioteer to carry. When the latter complained about the heavy weight of the skull, Conall ordered him:

“So take out the brain. Cut it up with your sword, then mix in lime and form a ball out of it. "

At the court of Conchobor two fools played with this rock-hard ball until an enemy of the king named Cet mac Mágach took it from them and hurled it at Conchobor. The brain ball entered his skull two-thirds and he eventually died from it.

In the sagas Scéla mucce Meic Dathó ("The story of Mac Dathós pig") and Aided Cheit maic Mágach ("The death of Cet mac Mágach"), the above-mentioned Connacht warrior Cet mac Mágach fought with Conall for the hero's bite after he had already Conall's foster son, Cúscraid Menn Macha , had humiliated. The weaker cet eventually gave in, but claimed that Conall would surely be afraid of the hero Anlúan if he were present.

"But he's here!" Shouted Conall, took Anlúan's head out of its sack and threw it so hard against Cet's chest that a mouthful of blood splattered his lips.

Then Conall Cernach sat down by the roast pork and took the best bite, leaving only his front feet for the Connachtern. This resulted in a fight with many dead and a stream of blood flowing through the door.

Fled Bricrenn ("Bricrius Fest") and King Cú Roís Burg Cathair , where he argues with Cú Chulainn and Loegaire Buadach for this honor, but has to admit defeat, are also about the hero bite .

Only Cú Chulainn's son Connla has to admit defeat in the saga Aided Oenfir Aífe ("The death of Aoife's only son"). In the second part of the story Aided Chon Culainn ("The Death of Cú Chulainn") it is reported how he avenged the death of his foster brother Cú Chulainn on the murderers Lugaid Lága and Erc mac Cairbri Niad-Fer after his favorite horse Liath Macha led him to the corpse would have. He is said to have later married Fedelm Noíchride , his mother Erc mac Cairbri Niad-Fers.

Like all Celtic heroes, Conall also had a geis , he always had to wait after crossing a ford until the water was clear again.

After his death, his huge skull is kept as a relic, but is carried off to Munster . One prophecy, however, says that he will be brought back to Ulster and that the Ulter will then lose the “weakness before battle” given to them as a punishment if they water from the milk-filled skull.

The Visio Tundali

In the Visio Tundali or Visio Tnugdali ("The Vision Tundals"), an afterlife report by the Irish monk Marcus, an inclusion of the Schottenkloster of Regensburg , from the year 1149 is a model for the Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri . The two legendary heroes Conall Cernach and Fergus mac Róich have to serve the soul-eating monster Acharon for all eternity as a jaw lock in his huge mouth in the "Hell of the Greedy" .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , pp. 700 f.
  2. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag 1991, ppb edition Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 , p. 118 f.
  3. ↑ Rudolf Thurneysen : The Irish hero and king saga. Verlag Georg Olms, Hildesheim 1980, p. 77. f
  4. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag 1991, ppb edition Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 , p. 52 f.
  5. ↑ Rudolf Thurneysen: Legends from ancient Ireland. Berlin 1901, reprint Insel Taschenbuch 1301, Frankfurt / M. 1991, p. 16 f.
  6. ↑ Barry Cunliffe : The Celts and Their History. 7th edition, Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2000, p. 43.
  7. ↑ Rudolf Thurneysen: The Irish hero and king saga up to the seventeenth century. Halle 1921, p. 581.
  8. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 , p. 71 f.