Liath Macha
Liath Macha [ Lʴiaθ 'maxa ] ("The gray one of Macha") and Dub Sainglenn [ duv' sanʴɣʴlʴeN ] ("The black one of Saingliu"), also Dub Sainglend , are the names of the two wind-fast horses in the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology Cú Chulainns .
mythology
According to an older version of Compert Con Chulainn ("Cú Chulainn's conception"), the two foals were born on the same night as their master. They appear to the hero in the Linn Liaith , possibly (but controversial) Aasleagh ( Irish Eas Liath ), and are said to be a gift from the goddess Macha (see Noínden Ulad , "The weakness of the Ulter") or her sister Morrígan . Cú Chulainn tames them on a one-day ride around the island of Ireland . Later they pull the hero's sickle chariot, under the direction of the charioteer Loeg mac Riangabra , although CúChulainn sometimes drives alone with them. In battle they are protected by iron armor on their backs.
In the story Aided Chon Culainn ("The Death of Cú Chulainn"), Liath Macha is reluctant to be harnessed by Loeg, who recognizes this as a bad omen. But Cú Chulainn himself leads the horse to the drawbar and harnesses it, whereupon the gray one weeps bloody tears. In the Battle of Muirtheimne , Liath Macha is hit by a spear and jumps into the water of the river. Dub Sainglenn pulls the car on alone until Cú Chulainn is mortally wounded. The black one runs away, but the gray one returns and protects his master until his death, only then does he disappear again in the Linn Liaith . According to one version of the legend, Liath Macha is said to have led Cú Chulainn's foster brother, Conall Cernach , to the corpse so that he could avenge the murder of the perpetrators.
With Birkhan , however, the actual use of the chariot, especially of the sickle chariot type, is doubted in Ireland, as there are currently no archaeological finds on the island.
See also
literature
- 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 .
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
- Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag 1991, ppb edition Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 .