Early Irish Myths and Sagas - Jeffrey Gantz [100]
Being satisfied, the Ulaid said farewell and took their leave of Ailill and Medb; they cursed Bricriu, for he had brought about the contention, and they returned to their own land, leaving behind Lóegure and Conall and Cú Chulaind to be judged by Ailill. That night, as the three heroes were being given their food, three cats, three druidic beasts, were loosed from the cave of Crúachu. Lóegure and Conall left their food to the beasts and fled to the rafters of the house, and they remained there all night. Cú Chulaind did not budge when the beasts approached him; when one beast stretched its neck out to eat, Cú Chulaind dealt it a blow on the head, but his sword glided off as if the creature were made of stone. The cat settled itself, then, and Cú Chulaind neither ate nor slept until morning. At dawn, the cats left, and the heroes were found where they had spent the night. ‘Does this contest not suffice for judgement?’ Ailill said. ‘Not at all,’ replied Lóegure and Conall, ‘for it is not beasts that we fight but men.’
Ailill went to his chamber, then, and put his back against the wall, and he was troubled in his mind. The problem that had been brought to him was so perplexing that for three days and three nights he neither ate nor slept; finally, Medb said to him ‘You are a weakling. If you are a judge, then judge.’ ‘It is difficult to judge them,’ replied Ailill, ‘and wretched he who must.’ ‘It is not difficult at all,’ said Medb, ‘for Lóegure and Conall are as different as bronze and white gold, and Conall and Cú Chulaind are as different as white gold and red gold.’
Medb thought over her advice after that, whereupon she summoned Lóegure Búadach to her and said ‘Welcome, Lóegure! You deserve the champion’s portion, and so we make you king over the warriors of Ériu from this time forth, and we give you the champion’s portion and this bronze cup, with a bird of white gold at the bottom, to bear before all as a token of our judgement. Let no one see it until you appear in Conchubur’s Cráebrúad at the end of the day, and then, when the champion’s portion is set out, display your cup to the chiefs of Ulaid. The champion’s portion will be yours, and no other Ulaid warrior will challenge you for it, for your cup will be a token of recognition to the Ulaid.’ Then the cup, filled with undiluted wine, was given to Lóegure, and there, in the centre of the royal house, he drained it at a swallow. ‘Now yours is the feast of a champion,’ said Medb, ‘and may you enjoy it one-hundred-fold foe one hundred years before the youths of all Ulaid.’
Lóegure bade farewell, then, and Conall was called to the centre of the royal house in the same way. ‘Welcome, Conall,’ Medb said. ‘You deserve the champion’s portion’, and she went on as she had with Lóegure, except that she gave him a cup of white gold with a golden bird at the bottom. It was filled with undiluted wine and given to Conall, and he drained it at a swallow, and Medb wished him the champion’s portion of all Ulaid for one hundred years.
Conall bade farewell, then, and Cú Chulaind was summoned; a messenger went to him and said ‘Come and speak with the king and queen.’ At the time, Cú Chulaind was playing fidchell with Lóeg. ‘You mock me,’ he said to the messenger. ‘Try your lies on another fool’, and he threw a fidchell piece at the man so that it entered his brain; the messenger returned to Ailill and Medb and fell dead between them. ‘Alas! Cú Chulaind will slaughter us if he is aroused,’ said Medb. She rose, then, and went to Cú Chulaind and put her arms round his neck. ‘Try another lie,’ he said. ‘Glorious lad of Ulaid, flame of the warriors of Ériu, we tell you no lies,’ Medb replied. ‘Were the choice of the warriors of Ériu to come, it is to you we would grant precedence, for the men of Ériu acknowledge your superiority, and that by reason of your youth and beauty, your courage and valour, your fame and renown.’
Cú Chulaind rose, then, and accompanied Medb to the