Fled Bricrenn
Encyclopedia
Fled Bricrenn is a story from the Ulster Cycle
of Irish mythology
. Bricriu, an inveterate troublemaker, invites the nobles of the Ulaid
to a feast at his new house at Dún Rudraige (Dundrum, County Down
), where he incites three heroes, Cúchulainn
, Conall Cernach
, and Lóegaire Búadach
, to compete for the "champion's portion" of the feast. The three heroes perform several feats, and travel to Connacht
to be judged by Ailill
and Medb
, and to Munster
to be judged by Cú Roí
, and on each occasion Cúchulainn is proclaimed champion, but the other two refuse to accept it. Eventually, back at Emain Macha
, the three heroes are each challenged by a giant churl to cut off his head, on the condition that they allow him to cut off their heads in return. First Lóegaire, then Conall, takes up the challenge and cuts off the churl's head, only for him to pick it up and leave, but when the churl returns the following night they are nowhere to be seen. Only Cúchulainn lives up to his side of the bargain. The churl spares his life, reveals himself to be Cú Roí in disguise, and announces that Cúchulainn's bravery and honour make him undisputed champion.
The story dates from the 8th century and is found in several manuscripts, including the Lebor na hUidre
(c. 1106). The motif of warriors competing for the champion's portion is found in another Ulster Cycle tale, Scéla Mucce Maic Dathó
("The Tale of Mac Dathó's Pig"), and is reminiscent of descriptions of customs of the Celts of continental Europe as recorded by classical authors. The beheading challenge also has classical parallels, and also appears in later medieval literary works like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
.
Fled Bricrenn is not to be confused with Fled Bricrenn ocus Loinges mac nDuíl Dermait ("Bricriu's Feast, and the Exile of the sons of Dóel Dermait"), another Ulster Cycle tale which features Bricriu and a prestigious portion of food (airigid).
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle , formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...
of Irish mythology
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
. Bricriu, an inveterate troublemaker, invites the nobles of the Ulaid
Ulaid
The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a people of early Ireland who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster...
to a feast at his new house at Dún Rudraige (Dundrum, County Down
Dundrum, County Down
Dundrum is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside Newcastle on the A2 road. The town is best known for its ruined Norman castle. It had a population of 1,065 people in the 2001 Census....
), where he incites three heroes, Cúchulainn
Cúchulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
, Conall Cernach
Conall Cernach
Conall Cernach is a hero of the Ulaidh in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is said to have always slept with the head of a Connachtman under his knee. His epithet is normally translated as "victorious" or "triumphant", although it is an obscure word, and some texts struggle to explain it...
, and Lóegaire Búadach
Lóegaire Búadach
In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Lóegaire Búadach is a hapless Ulster warrior who mainly functions as comic relief. When he, Cúchulainn and Conall Cernach contend for the champion's portion at Briccriu's feast, Lóegaire is always a distant third. He lived at Inber Seimne .His death-tale...
, to compete for the "champion's portion" of the feast. The three heroes perform several feats, and travel to Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
to be judged by Ailill
Ailill mac Máta
Ailill mac Máta is the king of the Connachta and the husband of queen Medb in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Cruachan .-Family background, marriage and offspring:...
and Medb
Medb
Medb – Middle Irish: Meḋḃ, Meaḋḃ; early modern Irish: Meadhbh ; reformed modern Irish Méabh, Medbh; sometimes Anglicised Maeve, Maev or Maive – is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology...
, and to Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
to be judged by Cú Roí
Cú Roí
Cú Roí mac Dáire is a king of Munster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is usually portrayed as a warrior with superhuman abilities and a master of disguise possessed of magical powers. His name probably means "hound of the plain/field", or more specifically, "hound of the battlefield"...
, and on each occasion Cúchulainn is proclaimed champion, but the other two refuse to accept it. Eventually, back at Emain Macha
Emain Macha
]Navan Fort – known in Old Irish as Eṁaın Ṁacha and in Modern Irish as Eamhain Mhacha – is an ancient monument in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to Irish legend, it was one of the major power centers of pre-Christian Ireland...
, the three heroes are each challenged by a giant churl to cut off his head, on the condition that they allow him to cut off their heads in return. First Lóegaire, then Conall, takes up the challenge and cuts off the churl's head, only for him to pick it up and leave, but when the churl returns the following night they are nowhere to be seen. Only Cúchulainn lives up to his side of the bargain. The churl spares his life, reveals himself to be Cú Roí in disguise, and announces that Cúchulainn's bravery and honour make him undisputed champion.
The story dates from the 8th century and is found in several manuscripts, including the Lebor na hUidre
Lebor na hUidre
Lebor na hUidre or the Book of the Dun Cow is an Irish vellum manuscript dating to the 12th century. It is the oldest extant manuscript in Irish. It is held in the Royal Irish Academy and is badly damaged: only 67 leaves remain and many of the texts are incomplete...
(c. 1106). The motif of warriors competing for the champion's portion is found in another Ulster Cycle tale, Scéla Mucce Maic Dathó
The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig
The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig is a legendary tale from early Irish literature, written primarily in prose and heroic saga form and placed within the Ulster Cycle. The story's composition in its present form can probably be attributed to an unknown author of Leinster c...
("The Tale of Mac Dathó's Pig"), and is reminiscent of descriptions of customs of the Celts of continental Europe as recorded by classical authors. The beheading challenge also has classical parallels, and also appears in later medieval literary works like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. In the poem, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green, from his clothes and hair to his...
.
Fled Bricrenn is not to be confused with Fled Bricrenn ocus Loinges mac nDuíl Dermait ("Bricriu's Feast, and the Exile of the sons of Dóel Dermait"), another Ulster Cycle tale which features Bricriu and a prestigious portion of food (airigid).
Manuscript sources
- Ed. XL: p. 69–76 (Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland). 'Cennach ind Ruanada' only.
- Egerton 93: f. 20R-25V (London, British Library). Fragment.
- MS 1336 (H 3.17): p. 683–710 (Dublin, Trinity College Library). Fragment.
- MS 1337 (H 3.18): p. 607 (Dublin, Trinity College Library). Glossed extracts.
- Codex Vossianus: f 3R-9V (Leiden). Fragments. CELT
- MS 23 E 25 or Lebor na hUidre (LU): p. 99b–112b +H (Dublin, RIA). End missing. Contains interpolations by H.
Editions and translations
- Windisch, Ernst (ed.). "Fled Bricrend, 'Das Fest des Bricriu'". Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch. Leipzig, 1880. 235–311 and 330–6. Based on LU and variants from Egerton 93 and H 3.17. Errata published in Revue Celtique 5: 238.
- Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.). “The Edinburgh version of the Cennach ind Rúanado (The bargain of the strong man).” Revue Celtique 14 (1893): 450–91. Based on Ed. XL.
- Henderson, GeorgeGeorge Henderson (scholar)George Henderson was a scholar of Scottish Gaelic.-Life:Henderson was born on 18 February 1866 in Heughden, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire in Scotland. He went to Raining's School in Inverness, where he was taught by Alexander Bain, a lexicographer of Scottish...
(ed. and tr.). Fled Bricrend. Irish Texts Society 2. London and Dublin, 1899. Based on LU 99b1-112b48, Ed. XL and variants. Available online here and here. Audiobook at Internet Archive. - Stern, Ludwig Christian (ed.). "Fled Bricrend nach dem Codex Vossianus". Zeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische Philologie ' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was founded in 1896 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern and first appeared in 1897. It is the first journal devoted exclusively to Celtic languages and literature and the oldest...
4 (1903): 143–77. Leiden, Codex Vossianus. Available from CELT. - Best, R.I. and Osborn Bergin (eds.), Lebor na hUidre. Book of the Dun Cow. Dublin, 1929. 50–3. Diplomatic edition of the Lebor na hUidre. Available from CELT
- Henderson, George (tr.), "Bricriu's Feast". In Ancient Irish tales, ed. T.P. Cross and C.H. Slover. New York, 1936. 254–80.
- Gantz, Jeffrey (tr.). Early Irish Myths and Sagas. New York, 1981. 219–55. Based on the Leiden and Edinburgh versions.
- Koch, John T. and Henderson, George (trs.). In The Celtic Heroic Age, ed. John T. Koch and John Carey. 3d ed. Andover, 2000. 76–105. Updated version of Henderson's translation.
- Thurneysen, Rudolf (tr.). "Der Streit um das Heldenstück". In Sagen aus dem alten Irland, ed. R. Thurneysen. Berlin, 1901. 25–57. (German)
- d'Arbois de Jubainville, Henry (tr.). "Festin de Bricriu". In: L'Épopée celtique en Irlande, ed. H. D'Arbois de Jubainville et al. Paris, 1892. 81–148. (French)
- Agrati, G. and M.L. Magini (trs.), La saga irlandese di Cu Chulainn, 'Il festino de Bricriu. Milan, 1982. (Italian)
- Draak, Maartje and Frida de Jong (trs.). Het feestgelag van Bricriu. Amsterdam, 1986. (Dutch)
Secondary literature
- Krappe, Alexander Haggerty. "Le morceau du héros". Revue Celtique 38 (1931): 145–8.
- Mac Cana, Proinsias. "Varia V. An instance of modified narrative repetition in Fled Bricrenn". ÉriuÉriu (journal)Ériu is an academic journal of Irish language studies. It was launched in 1904 as the journal of the School of Irish Learning in Dublin. When the School was incorporated into the Royal Irish Academy in 1926, the Academy continued publication of the journal, in the same format and with the same title...
28 (1977): 168–72. - Mac Eoin, G. "The Dating of Middle Irish Texts". Proceedings of the British Academy 68 (1982): 109–37.
- Martin, B.K. "The Medieval Irish Stories about Bricriu's Feast and Mac Dátho's Pig". Parergon: Bulletin of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Renaissance Studies 10.1 (1992): 71–93.
- O'Brien, M.A. "Fled Bricrenn". In Irish Sagas, ed. Myles Dillon. Dublin, 1958. 67–78.
- O'Leary, Philip. "Honour-Bound: The Social Context of Early Irish Heroic geis". Celtica 20 (1988): 85–107.
- O'Leary, Philip. "Verbal Deceit in the Ulster Cycle". ÉigseÉigseÉigse: A Journal of Irish Studies is an academic journal devoted to the study of the Irish language and literature. It started life in 1923 as part of an initiative by the Senate of the National University of Ireland to use the Adam Boyd Simpson Fund for the publication of an Irish studies journal...
21 (1986). 16–26. - O'Leary, Philip. "Contention at Feasts in Early Irish Literature". ÉigseÉigseÉigse: A Journal of Irish Studies is an academic journal devoted to the study of the Irish language and literature. It started life in 1923 as part of an initiative by the Senate of the National University of Ireland to use the Adam Boyd Simpson Fund for the publication of an Irish studies journal...
20 (1984): 115–127. - Ó Riain, Padraig (ed). Fled Bricrenn: Reassessments. London, 2000. Contains the following essays: Maier, Bernhard, "Comparing Fled Bricrenn with Classical Descriptions of Continental Celts: Parallels, Problems and Pitfalls" (1–14); Koch, John T., "Fled Bricrenns Significance within the Broader Celtic Context" (15–39); Jacobs, Nicolas, "Fled Bricrenn and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (40–55); Hellmuth, Petra S., "The Role of Cu Roi in Fled Bricrenn" (56–69); Mac Cana, Proinsias, "Notes on Structure and Syntax in Fled Bricrenn" (70–92).
- Sayers, William. "Úath mac Imomain (Fled Bricrend), Óðinn, and Why the Green Knight is Green.” Mankind QuarterlyMankind QuarterlyThe Mankind Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to physical and cultural anthropology and is currently published by the Council for Social and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. It contains articles on human evolution, intelligence, ethnography, linguistics, mythology,...
30 (1990): 307–16. - Slotkin, Edgar M. "The structure of Fled Bricrenn before and after the 'Lebor na hUidre' interpolations". ÉriuÉriu (journal)Ériu is an academic journal of Irish language studies. It was launched in 1904 as the journal of the School of Irish Learning in Dublin. When the School was incorporated into the Royal Irish Academy in 1926, the Academy continued publication of the journal, in the same format and with the same title...
29 (1978): 64–77. - Slotkin, Edgar M. "More on Modified Narrative Repetition in Fled Bricrenn". In Ildanach ildirech. A Festschrift for Proinsias Mac Cana, ed. John Carey, John T. Koch, and Pierre-Yves Lambert. Andover and Aberystwyth, Celtic Studies Publications, 1999. 231–44.
- Thurneysen, Rudolf. "Allerlei Irisches. VI. Die Interpolation von Fled Bricrend in LU". Zeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische Philologie ' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was founded in 1896 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern and first appeared in 1897. It is the first journal devoted exclusively to Celtic languages and literature and the oldest...
10 (1915): 440–4. - Thurneysen, Rudolf. "Zu irischen Texten. 1. Die Überlieferung der Fled Bricrenn. 2. Zum Gedicht von St. Paul II.” Zeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische Philologie ' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was founded in 1896 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern and first appeared in 1897. It is the first journal devoted exclusively to Celtic languages and literature and the oldest...
4 (1903): 193–207. - Zimmer, Heinrich. "Keltische Studien, V. Über den compilatorischen Charakter der irischen Sagentexte im sogennanten Lebor na hUidri, 6. Fled Bricrend". Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung 28 (1887): 623–61.