Donn Cuailnge and Findbennach

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Donn Cuailnge [ doN 'kualʴnʴge ] ("The Bay of Cooley ") and Findbennach [ ' fʴindveNax ] ("The White Horned") are the famous bulls of Ulster and Connacht , the reasons for the war between the two Irish provinces, narrated in the Táin Bó Cuailnge ("The Bull Robbery of Cooley") and in the Remscéla (pre-narration) De chophur in da muccida ("Of the [metamorphosis?] of the two swineherd").

mythology

In a magic contest between the two swineherd brothers Friuch and Rucht, they finally turn into two water worms, which two cows slurp in while drinking. The cows each give birth to a bull calf, namely the Donn Cuailnge in Ulster and the Findbennach in Connacht. Donn is black-brown, grim, red-eyed and strong as the onslaught of the wave, like the bear, like the fury of the dragon, like the fury of the king. Findbennach has white horns on a white skull and a body red, as if he were bathed in blood, the lover of his cows, born to victory ...

Cú Chulainn and Donn Cuailnge

When Queen Medb marries King Ailill mac Máta of Connacht, she brings her bull Findbennach into the marriage. The bull, however, fed up with "female rule", changes to the herd of Ailill, which Medb must feel as a personal shame. To compensate for this, she tries to borrow the bull Donn Cuailnge from his owner Dáire mac Fiachna for a year and, through her messenger Mac Roth, promises him fifty calves, a chariot and their willing thighs . However, since Dáire, who was at first completely in agreement, learns that Medb would like to have the bull abducted by force if necessary, he indignantly refuses and chases away her messengers. That is the reason for Connacht's campaign against Ulster.

After the defeat of the Connachters by Cú Chulainn , they still take the Donn Cuailnge home with them as prey. When he arrives at Findbennach's herd, he immediately challenges his rival to a fight. They fight each other for a day at Rath na Darbh , at night you can hear their thundering gallop around the whole island. In the morning Donn comes back alone to Cruachan , the royal seat of Connacht, he carries the tattered Findbennach on his horns. He throws these pieces all over Ireland and moves back to Ulster. Once there, he also collapses dead at sunset.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. a b Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. 1991, p. 139 f.
  2. Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 1997, pp. 706, 965 f.
  3. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. 1991, p. 158.