Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn ("the Hound of Culann") is the central hero of the Ulster Cycle, said to be the son of the god Lugh and the mortal Deichtine, sister of King Conchobar mac Nessa. Born Sétanta, he earns his adult name as a boy after killing the ferocious guard-hound of the smith Culann in self-defense, then offering to serve as Culann's guard himself in the hound's place until a replacement could be raised — a bargain that gives him his permanent name. His most defining trait is the ríastrad, or "warp-spasm" — a terrifying battle frenzy in which his body contorts almost beyond recognition, one eye bulging out and the other sinking in, his hair standing on end, and a column of blood rising above his head, during which he becomes capable of near-unstoppable slaughter. He trains in arms under the warrior-woman Scáthach in Alba (Scotland), where he also masters the Gáe Bulg, a barbed spear that, once it enters a body, cannot be removed without killing the victim — the weapon with which he later kills his own foster-brother and dearest friend, Ferdiad, in single combat, in one of the most sorrowful episodes of the *Táin Bó Cúailnge*. In the *Táin*, Cú Chulainn single-handedly holds the border of Ulster against Queen Medb of Connacht's entire invading army, exploiting a geis (a ritual obligation) that leaves the rest of Ulster's warriors incapacitated, and defeating a long succession of champions sent against him one at a time under the rules of single combat. His death comes later, brought about through a combination of sorcery, broken geasa (taboos he is tricked into violating), and old enmities — including the Morrígan, whom he wounded years earlier — culminating in his famous final stand, tying himself upright to a standing stone so that he continues to appear alive and deter his enemies even as he dies, until a raven — the Morrígan in her battlefield form — finally lands on his shoulder to confirm he is gone.