Early Irish Myths and Sagas - Jeffrey Gantz [107]
The following night, the churl returned, but Muinremur avoided him. The churl complained, saying ‘Indeed, it is not fair of Muinremur to break his part of the bargain.’ Lóegure Búadach, however, was present that night, and, when the churl continued ‘Who of the warriors who contest the champion’s portion of Ulaid will fulfil this bargain with me tonight? Where is Lóegure Búadach?’, Lóegure said ‘Here I am!’ The churl pledged Lóegure as he had pledged Muinremur, but Lóegure, like Muinremur, failed to appear the following night. The churl then pledged Conall Cernach, and he too failed to appear and keep his pledge.
When he arrived on the fourth night, the churl was seething with rage. All the women of Ulaid had gathered there that night to see the marvel that had come to the Cráebrúad, and Cú Chulaind had come as well. The churl began to reproach them, then, saying ‘Men of Ulaid, your skill and courage are no more. Your warriors covet the champion’s portion, yet they are unable to contest it. Where is that pitiful stripling you call Cú Chulaind? Would his word be better than that of his companions?’ ‘I want no bargain with you,’ said Cú Chulaind. ‘No doubt you fear death, wretched fly,’ said the churl. At that, Cú Chulaind sprang towards the churl and dealt him such a blow with the axe that his head was sent to the rafters of the Cráebrúad, and the entire house shook. Cú Chulaind then struck the head with the axe once more, so that he shattered it into fragments. The churl rose nonetheless.
The following day, the Ulaid watched Cú Chulaind to see if he would avoid the churl the way his companions had done; they saw that he was waiting for the churl, and they grew very dejected. It seemed to them proper to begin his death dirge, for they feared greatly that he would Uve only until the churl appeared. Cú Chulaind, ashamed, said to Conchubur ‘By my shield and by my sword, I will not go until I have fulfilled my pledge to the churl – since I am to die, I will die with honour.’
Towards the end of the day, they saw the churl approaching them. ‘Where is Cú Chulaind?’ he asked. ‘Indeed, I am here,’ said Cú Chulaind. ‘You speak low, tonight, wretch, for you fear death greatly,’ said the churl. ‘Yet for all that, you have not avoided me.’ Cú Chulaind rose and stretched his neck out on the block, but its size was such that his neck reached only halfway across. ‘Stretch out your neck, you wretch,’ said the churl. ‘You torment me,’ said Cú Chulaind. ‘Kill me quickly. I did not torment you last night. Indeed, I swear, if you torment me now, I will make myself as long as a heron above you.’ ‘I cannot dispatch you, not with the length of the block and the shortness of your neck,’ said the churl.
Cú Chulaind stretched himself, then, until a warrior’s foot would fit between each rib, and he stretched his neck until it reached the other side of the block. The churl raised his axe so that it reached the rafters of the house. What with the creaking of the old hide that he wore and the swish of his axe as he raised it with the strength of his two arms, the sound he made was like that of a rustling forest on a windy night. The churl brought the axe down, then, upon Cú Chulaind’s neck – with the blade turned up. All the chieftains of Ulaid saw this.
‘Rise, Cú Chulaind!’ the churl then said. ‘Of all the warriors in Ulaid and Ériu, whatever their merit, none is your equal for courage and skill and honour. You are the supreme warrior of Ériu, and the champion’s portion is yours, without contest; moreover, your wife will henceforth enter the drinking house before all the other women of Ulaid. Whoever might dispute this judgement, I swear by what my people swear by, his life will not be long.’ After that, the churl vanished. It was Cú Rui son of Dáre, who in that guise had come to fulfil the promise he had made to Cú Chulaind.
The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu
Introduction
This, the most stunning tale ever written