Findabair
Findabair [ 'fʴindavirʴ ], even Finnabair [ ' fʴiNavirʴ ] neuirisch Fionnabhair is in the Ulster Cycle of Celtic mythology of Ireland the name of a daughter of the royal couple Ailill mac Máta and Medb of Connacht .
Mythology and Etymology
In the story Táin Bó Cuailnge ("The cattle robbery of Cooley ") it is reported that the Queen Medb not only promises the "favor of her thighs" , but also her daughter Findabair as a wife to some excellent warriors when they the campaign of the Connachters against Ulster support. When, after several duels against the invincible Cú Chulainn, no more Connachter wants to dare to fight, she even promises Fer Diad , the son of her lover Fergus mac Róich , Findabair and a gold clasp.
After winning the duel with Fer Diad, Cú Chulainn falls asleep exhausted and the leader of a "hundred" ( rochad ) of Ultern is supposed to support him. Medb sends her daughter to him for a night of love, after which he renounces the fight. Thereupon seven heroes in the Connacht army discover at the same time that the beautiful Findabair had been promised to them too, and out of anger against the queen they spark a bloodbath in their own ranks with 700 dead. When Findabair now has to recognize her mother's activities, she falls to the ground, dead from shame.
In one version of the Táin Bó Cuailnge , Medb is said to have even offered it to Cu Chulainn if he renounces his attacks on the Connachter. When Findabir is presented to him by a court jester disguised as King Ailill, he recognizes the deception and kills it, but Findabair cuts off her braids and sends her back to Medb.
In the first part of the Remscéla (story about the cattle robbery by Cooley) Táin Bó Froích ("Driving away the cattle of Froech") Froech mac Idaith is mentioned as the warrior who first fights against Cú Chulainn because of Medb's promise to give him Findabair falls.
The name Findabair is made up of the old Irish find / finn - "white" and siabair - "ghost, apparition". An etymological equivalent can be found in the Cymric name Gwenhwyfar ( English Guinevere), the wife of King Arthur .
See also
literature
- Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag 1991, ppb edition Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 .
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .