Furbaide Ferbend
Furbaide Ferbend is the name of a legendary hero from the Ulster cycle of the Celtic mythology of Ireland .
Mythology and Etymology
Furbaide Ferbend is the son of the Ulster King Conchobar mac Nessa , his mother is one of the daughters of the High King of Ireland , Eochaid Fedlech . In the Dindsenchas , the place name traditions of Ireland, Eithne is named as mother , in other sagas Clothru, the sister of Queen Medb of Connacht , is mentioned. The name Furbaide is derived from a legend ( Cath Boinde , the "Battle of the Boyne ") from the old Irish urbad ("cut"). According to the Dindsenchas, Furbaide is said to have had two horns on his forehead, hence his nickname Ferbend , the "horned one". In the Cóir Anmann (“The right thing about names”) three horns are mentioned on his helmet, two made of silver, one made of gold.
At the age of 17 he fought with Conchobar's troops in the last battle of the Táin Bó Cuailnge (“The Cattle Robbery of Cooley ”) near Gáirech and Ilgáirech . In Mesca Ulad ("The Drunkenness of Ulter") he is mentioned as the foster son of Cú Chulainn , who is so beautiful that no one wants to injure him even in battle. When, after Conchobar's death, another of his sons, Cúscraid Mend Macha, became king of Ulster, he left the sub-kingdom of South Tethbae to his brother Furbaide (now part of County Westmeath and most of County Longford in the extreme northwest of the province of Leinster ).
The saga Aided Meidbe ("The Death of Medb") reports that Furbaide's mother Clothru is murdered by her sister Medb, so he decides to avenge her death. He learns that Medb always bathes in Loch Rí (now Lough Ree ) and goes there to measure the distance from the bathing place to the shore with a rope. Then he secretly practices hitting an apple on a pole with his slingshot at this distance. When Medb takes another bath, he wants to kill her, but in the rush he cannot find a suitable stone for the sling. So he takes a piece of cheese and throws it so hard that it kills her. The Dindsenchas tell that he was later persecuted by the High King Lugaid Riab nDerg as the murderer of the mother of the High King and was finally killed.
See also
Web links
- Medb's Men, or, The Battle of the Boyne in: Celtic Literature Collective
- Cóir Anmann, The Fitness of Names , in: Celtic Literature Collective
- Carn Furbaide , 10th History of the Metrical Dindsenchas
- The Violent Death of Medb , in: Celtic Literature Collective
Individual evidence
- ↑ Medb's Men, or, The Battle of the Boyne ( Memento of the original from December 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Cóir Anmann, The Fitness of Names ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Violent Death of Medb ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Carn Furbaide
