Fergus mac Róich

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Fergus mac Róich ([ 'fʴerɣus mak Roiç ], Irish : "Manhood, son of the great horse") is a warrior from Ulster in the Celtic mythology of Ireland . In the Irish legend Táin Bó Cuailnge (Irish: "Cattle robbery of Cooley ") he is the foster father of Cú Chulainn and the lover of Queen Medb .

Etymology of the name

Fergus is, according to Thurneysen, a Breton name in the Aremorica for a cultic representative of potency . It is translated as “chosen masculinity” ( old Irish: * uiro-gustus , old Cymrian : gurgust ). An interesting Germanic etymon is the name of the goddess Vagda-vercustis ("fame - chosen - strength [virtus]").

With Fergus mac Róich, the reference to his potency is reinforced by his father's name "Great Horse", since the horse is also seen as a fertility animal. Its phallus is seven inches long, and its scrotum is like a sack of flour. The royal stone Lia Fáil near Tara was popularly called bod Fheraghais ("member of Fergus") until the 19th century .

Another bearer of this name, Fergus mac Léite , is traditionally sung that his penis is seven man's fists long.

mythology

Fergus mac Róich is a warrior of massive build, he has the strength of 700 men and also eats for seven heroes. Because of his virility, his wife or lover Flidais has to be with him all the time, otherwise seven women are not enough for him. His geis (taboo) is that he should never turn down an invitation to drink beer.

In Táin Bó Flidhais ("The Driving Away of Flidais' Cattle") it is reported how he can conquer Flidais together with her mythical cow Maol during a campaign against her husband, King Oilill Fionn of Mayo . However, this already happens at a time when he is staying at the royal court of Connacht .

Since Fergus was trumped in popular favor by Conchobar and his mother Nessa in the bid for the throne of Ulster , there is a lifelong tension between the two. When he was betrayed by Conchobar together with Cormac Conn Longas and Dubthach as a guarantor for the life of Naoise (in Longas mac nUislenn , “The Exile of the Sons of Uislius”), he moved to Connacht (see also Echtrae Nerai , “Neras Adventure “) And wages a guerrilla war against Ulster with his followers. Fergus has mastered the technique of pondoscopy , the detailed description of the characteristics and equipment of another hero. Before the fight, with the help of the scout Mac Roth , he instructs the warriors of Connacht in detail with everything there is to know about his foster son Cu Chulainn (see Macgnímrada Con Culainn - "Cú Chulainn's boyish deeds"). But because he warns the Ulter about the intentions of the Connachters, he is always spared by him in the following duels out of piety and fairness. Medb succeeds in persuading Fergus to fight his former compatriots with the promise of “their thighs” . When he and Cu Chulainn meet at the ford the latter is defending, they agree never to harm each other. Therefore Fergus and his 3000 men do not support the Connachters in the decisive battle and they are defeated by the Ultern.

Some Celtologists see Fergus as a dodgy hero because he could not fulfill his duty as a guarantor due to his geis and because of a love night with Medb he went into the field against his tribesmen. However, his behavior towards the word-breaking Conchobar and his unconditional loyalty to Cu Chulainn are to be assessed positively.

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, a model for the Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri can be seen. The two legendary heroes Fergus mac Róich and Conall Cernach 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. ^ Rudolf Thurneysen: All sorts of Celtic things. In: Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 18/1930, p. 108.
  2. ↑ 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 , p. 573 f.
  3. ↑ 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 , p. 830 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. 116 f.
  5. ↑ 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 , p. 966.
  6. ^ 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. 147.
  7. ^ 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. 157.
  8. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 , p. 71 f.