Detailed descriptions of the spear's special use and terrible effect are to be found in the Middle Irish texts Togail Bruidne Dá Derga ("The Destruction of the Hostel of Da Derga") (Recension II) and Mesca Ulad ("The Intoxication of the Ulstermen"), both of which employ the so-called "watchman device" to describe the fearful appearance of the warrior Dubthach Dóeltenga. In Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, it appears when the spies of Ingcél Cáech report on Conaire's large retinue of warriors in the hostel of Da Derga in Leinster. Lomnae Drúth observes:
The man in the centre had a great lance, with fifty rivets through it, and its shaft would be a load for a team of oxen. He brandished the lance until sparks as big as eggs all but flew from it, and then he struck the butt against his palm three times. Before them was a great food cauldron, large enough for a bullock, with an appalling dark liquid in it, and the man dipped the lance into the liquid. If not the lance was not quenched quickly, it blazed up over its shaft – you would have thought there was a roaring fire in the upper part of the house.
The interpreter Fer Rogain identifies the figure as Dubthach Dóeltenga and explains:
And the lance that was in the hand of Dubthach, that was the Lúin of Celtchair son of Uthechar that was found at the Battle of Mag Tuired. Whenever the blood of enemies is about to flow from the lance, a cauldron full of venom is required to quench it; otherwise, the lance will blaze up in the fist of the man carrying it, and it will pierce him or the lord of the royal house. Each thrust of this lance will kill a man, even if it does not reach him; if the lance is cast, it will kill nine men, and there will be a king or royal heir or plundering chieftain in their number. I swear by what my people swear by, the Lúin of Celtchar will serve drinks of death to a multitude tonight.[1]
In Mesca Ulad, Medb's watchmen paint a very similar picture when they describe one of the approaching warriors:
A great warrior, his spear reaches to the height of his shoulder. When its spear-heat seizes it, he strikes the butt of the great spear across the palm, so that the fill of a sack-measure of fiery tinder-sparks bursts out over its blade and over its tip, when its spear-heat takes hold of it. Before him there is a cauldron of black blood, of dreadful liquid, prepared by night by his sorcery from the blood of dogs and cats and druids, in order that the head of that spear might be dipped in that poisonous liquid when its spear-heat comes to it.
Cú Roí then explains to Medb and her company that the watchmen have just seen Dubthach, who has borrowed the Lúin of Celtchar, and that a cauldron of red blood stands before him "so that it would not burn its shaft or the man who carried it were it not bathed in the cauldron of poisonous blood; and it is foretelling battle that it is."[2] This latter quality has been taken to mean that such "sensitive spears ... by their vibration, portended the imminence of battle and slaughter."[3]
A late version of the saga Cath Ruis na Ríg ("The Battle of Ross na Ríg") gives a more succinct account of the Luin, but also adds a number of details, such as the use of four mercenaries to keep the cauldron in place.[4] Obviously, the weapon needed to be handled with extreme care. According to his death-tale, Celtchar was accidentally killed by his own spear in a way which emphasises its excessive heat. When he had used the Lúin to slay a hound which had been ravaging the country, he placed it upright with the spear-point upwards and so a drop of the hound's blood which trickled down along the spear went through him and killed him.[5]
Circulation
In the Ulster cycle, Celtchar's Lúin is used by various warriors of Ulster and Connacht. Dubthach had use of it (Togain Bruidne Da Derga and Mesca Ulad, see above quotes), and Dubhthach himself was slain by Fedlimid who wielded Lúin Celtchar according to a notice following the Togail Bruidne Dá Choca(e)[6]
There is also a tract in TCD MS 1336 (olimMS H 3.17), col. 723[8] which claims that the spear survived into the reign of Cormac mac Airt, and came to be known as the Crimall of Birnbuadach[9] causing Cormac's blinding and rendering him unfit for kingship. Moreover, it alleges this was the "Famous yew of the wood", the name by which the spear of Lug mac Eithliu of the Tuatha Dé Danann was called. This tract occurs as a postscript to a later version (B group) of The Expulsion of the Déisi found in the same MS,[10] but is known only by the brief English recap provided by Hennessy.
H.R. Millar's illustration of "Lugh's Magic Spear", 1905.
Spear of Lug?
Arthur C. L. Brown and R. S. Loomis, proponents of the Irish origin of the Grail romances, argued that Celtchar's Lúin was to be identified with the spear of Lug,[11] a weapon which is named in Middle Irish narratives as one of the four items which the Túatha Dé Danann introduced to Ireland. A connection may have been drawn implicitly by Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, which claims that the Lúin was found in the Battle of Mag Tuired, elsewhere known as the battle in which the Túatha Dé Danann led by Lug defeated the Fomoiri. Moreover, a tale of later date, the Early Modern IrishOidheadh Chloinne Tuireann describes the spear of Lug in ways which are reminiscent of Celtchair's Lúin. However, the Middle Irish references to Lug's spear do not correspond closely to the Lúin.[12]
^Aided Cheltchair mac Uthechair, ed. and tr. Meyer. pp. 30–1
^Stokes, Whitley, ed. tr. "Da Choca's Hostel [Bruiden Da Chocae]", Revue Celtique 21, Notes, p.401. Stokes's notes for§59 says that at this point the B text begins to diverge with the base A text (from TCD H. 3. 18, now MS 1337), and states that at the end of the MS A text (p.724?) there is "a notice .. of the slaying of Dubhtach by Fedlimid with the famous spear called Luin Celtchair".
^Cináed Ua hArtacáin, "Fianna bátar i nEmain", ed. Stokes. p. 308 § 16. Note that O'Curry erroneously reads that it was Cet mac Mágach who slew him. O'Curry, On the manners and customs of the ancient Irish, vol. III: p. 325.
^This is probably to be equated with gai buafnech the "poison spear" nickname of Oengus the blinder of Cormac, as suggested by Hennessy, loc. cit., although T. F. O'Rahilly EIHM, 65 thinks it should be "equated with Loegaire Bern Buadach"
^TCD MS 1336 (olim H 3.17), cols. 720b-723a, denoted variant h text in Kuno Meyer ed., Tucait indarba na nDéssi ("The Expulsion of the Déisi"),Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, vol. i. (1907), pp.15–24. The h text bears the variant title Cóecad Cormaic i Temraig (Blinding of Cormac at Tara), accord. to Arbois de Jubainville, Essai d'un catalogue, p.90
^Loomis, Arthurian tradition. pp. 379–82; Brown, "The Bleeding Lance."
Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, ed. Eleanor Knott, Togail Bruidne Da Derga. Dublin, 1936; tr. Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986.
Mesca Ulad, ed. J. Carmichael Watson, Mesca Ulad. Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 13. Dublin, 1941; tr. John T. Koch, in The Celtic Heroic Age, ed. John T. Koch and John Carey. 3d ed. Andover, 2000. 106-27; ed. and tr. W.R. Hennessy. Mesca Ulad: or, the Intoxication of the Ultonians. Todd Lecture Series 1. Dublin, 1889.
Aided Cheltchair mac Uthechair, ed. and tr. Kuno Meyer, The Death Tales of the Ulster Heroes. Todd Lecture Series. Dublin, 1906. 24–31. Translation online.
"The Expulsion of the Déisi" (TCD MS 1336). The relevant portion has remained unedited and was not reproduced in the edition by Vernam Hull (ed. and tr.), "The later version of the Expulsion of the Déssi." ZCP 27 (1957–59): pp. 14–63.
Cath Ruis na Ríg (Stowe MS E IV 3), ed. and tr. Edmund Hogan, Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn. Todd Lecture Series 4. Dublin, 1892.
References
Carey, John. Ireland and the Grail. Aberystwyth, 2007.
Brown, Arthur Charles Lewis. "The Bleeding Lance." PMLA 25 (1910): 1–59.
Loomis, Roger Sherman. Arthurian tradition and Chrétien de Troyes. New York, 1949.
O'Curry, Eugene. On the manners and customs of the ancient Irish. Vol. 3, Lectures vol. 2. London: Williams and Norgate, 1873. pp. 324–7.
Fire Emblem Three Houses
February 18, 2023
lúin, celtchar, ulster, cycle, early, irish, literature, irish, lúin, celtchair, name, long, fiery, lance, spear, belonging, celtchar, uthechar, wielded, other, heroes, such, dubthach, cécht, fedlimid, contents, properties, circulation, spear, also, notes, sou. In the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature the Luin of Celtchar Irish Luin Celtchair is the name of a long fiery lance or spear belonging to Celtchar mac Uthechar and wielded by other heroes such as Dubthach Mac Cecht and Fedlimid Contents 1 Properties 2 Circulation 2 1 Spear of Lug 3 See also 4 Notes 5 Sources 5 1 Texts 5 2 ReferencesProperties EditDetailed descriptions of the spear s special use and terrible effect are to be found in the Middle Irish texts Togail Bruidne Da Derga The Destruction of the Hostel of Da Derga Recension II and Mesca Ulad The Intoxication of the Ulstermen both of which employ the so called watchman device to describe the fearful appearance of the warrior Dubthach Doeltenga In Togail Bruidne Da Derga it appears when the spies of Ingcel Caech report on Conaire s large retinue of warriors in the hostel of Da Derga in Leinster Lomnae Druth observes The man in the centre had a great lance with fifty rivets through it and its shaft would be a load for a team of oxen He brandished the lance until sparks as big as eggs all but flew from it and then he struck the butt against his palm three times Before them was a great food cauldron large enough for a bullock with an appalling dark liquid in it and the man dipped the lance into the liquid If not the lance was not quenched quickly it blazed up over its shaft you would have thought there was a roaring fire in the upper part of the house The interpreter Fer Rogain identifies the figure as Dubthach Doeltenga and explains And the lance that was in the hand of Dubthach that was the Luin of Celtchair son of Uthechar that was found at the Battle of Mag Tuired Whenever the blood of enemies is about to flow from the lance a cauldron full of venom is required to quench it otherwise the lance will blaze up in the fist of the man carrying it and it will pierce him or the lord of the royal house Each thrust of this lance will kill a man even if it does not reach him if the lance is cast it will kill nine men and there will be a king or royal heir or plundering chieftain in their number I swear by what my people swear by the Luin of Celtchar will serve drinks of death to a multitude tonight 1 In Mesca Ulad Medb s watchmen paint a very similar picture when they describe one of the approaching warriors A great warrior his spear reaches to the height of his shoulder When its spear heat seizes it he strikes the butt of the great spear across the palm so that the fill of a sack measure of fiery tinder sparks bursts out over its blade and over its tip when its spear heat takes hold of it Before him there is a cauldron of black blood of dreadful liquid prepared by night by his sorcery from the blood of dogs and cats and druids in order that the head of that spear might be dipped in that poisonous liquid when its spear heat comes to it Cu Roi then explains to Medb and her company that the watchmen have just seen Dubthach who has borrowed the Luin of Celtchar and that a cauldron of red blood stands before him so that it would not burn its shaft or the man who carried it were it not bathed in the cauldron of poisonous blood and it is foretelling battle that it is 2 This latter quality has been taken to mean that such sensitive spears by their vibration portended the imminence of battle and slaughter 3 A late version of the saga Cath Ruis na Rig The Battle of Ross na Rig gives a more succinct account of the Luin but also adds a number of details such as the use of four mercenaries to keep the cauldron in place 4 Obviously the weapon needed to be handled with extreme care According to his death tale Celtchar was accidentally killed by his own spear in a way which emphasises its excessive heat When he had used the Luin to slay a hound which had been ravaging the country he placed it upright with the spear point upwards and so a drop of the hound s blood which trickled down along the spear went through him and killed him 5 Circulation EditIn the Ulster cycle Celtchar s Luin is used by various warriors of Ulster and Connacht Dubthach had use of it Togain Bruidne Da Derga and Mesca Ulad see above quotes and Dubhthach himself was slain by Fedlimid who wielded Luin Celtchar according to a notice following the Togail Bruidne Da Choca e 6 According to a poem by Cinaed ua hArtacain d 975 the Connacht champion Mac Cecht used it to slay Cuscraid Menn son of Conchobor mac Nessa 7 There is also a tract in TCD MS 1336 olim MS H 3 17 col 723 8 which claims that the spear survived into the reign of Cormac mac Airt and came to be known as the Crimall of Birnbuadach 9 causing Cormac s blinding and rendering him unfit for kingship Moreover it alleges this was the Famous yew of the wood the name by which the spear of Lug mac Eithliu of the Tuatha De Danann was called This tract occurs as a postscript to a later version B group of The Expulsion of the Deisi found in the same MS 10 but is known only by the brief English recap provided by Hennessy H R Millar s illustration of Lugh s Magic Spear 1905 Spear of Lug Edit Arthur C L Brown and R S Loomis proponents of the Irish origin of the Grail romances argued that Celtchar s Luin was to be identified with the spear of Lug 11 a weapon which is named in Middle Irish narratives as one of the four items which the Tuatha De Danann introduced to Ireland A connection may have been drawn implicitly by Togail Bruidne Da Derga which claims that the Luin was found in the Battle of Mag Tuired elsewhere known as the battle in which the Tuatha De Danann led by Lug defeated the Fomoiri Moreover a tale of later date the Early Modern Irish Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann describes the spear of Lug in ways which are reminiscent of Celtchair s Luin However the Middle Irish references to Lug s spear do not correspond closely to the Luin 12 See also EditGae Bulg Lance of LonginusNotes Edit Togail Bruidne Da Derga ed Knott pp 37 8 tr Gantz p 97 Mesca Ulad 44 tr Koch CHA p 120 Hennessy Mesca Ulad Or the Intoxication of the Ultonians xv Cath Ruis na Rig ed and tr Hogan p 78 9 Aided Cheltchair mac Uthechair ed and tr Meyer pp 30 1 Stokes Whitley ed tr Da Choca s Hostel Bruiden Da Chocae Revue Celtique 21 Notes p 401 Stokes s notes for 59 says that at this point the B text begins to diverge with the base A text from TCD H 3 18 now MS 1337 and states that at the end of the MS A text p 724 there is a notice of the slaying of Dubhtach by Fedlimid with the famous spear called Luin Celtchair Cinaed Ua hArtacain Fianna batar i nEmain ed Stokes p 308 16 Note that O Curry erroneously reads that it was Cet mac Magach who slew him O Curry On the manners and customs of the ancient Irish vol III p 325 Mesca Ulad ed Hennessy preface p xiv This is probably to be equated with gai buafnech the poison spear nickname of Oengus the blinder of Cormac as suggested by Hennessy loc cit although T F O Rahilly EIHM 65 thinks it should be equated with Loegaire Bern Buadach TCD MS 1336 olim H 3 17 cols 720b 723a denoted variant h text in Kuno Meyer ed Tucait indarba na nDessi The Expulsion of the Deisi Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts vol i 1907 pp 15 24 The h text bears the variant title Coecad Cormaic i Temraig Blinding of Cormac at Tara accord to Arbois de Jubainville Essai d un catalogue p 90 Loomis Arthurian tradition pp 379 82 Brown The Bleeding Lance Carey Ireland and the Grail p 169 note 6 Sources EditTexts Edit Cinaed Ua Hartacain Fianna batar i nEmain ed Whitley Stokes On the deaths of some Irish heroes Revue Celtique 23 1902 303 48 Togail Bruidne Da Derga ed Eleanor Knott Togail Bruidne Da Derga Dublin 1936 tr Jeffrey Gantz Early Irish Myths and Sagas Harmondsworth Penguin 1986 Mesca Ulad ed J Carmichael Watson Mesca Ulad Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 13 Dublin 1941 tr John T Koch in The Celtic Heroic Age ed John T Koch and John Carey 3d ed Andover 2000 106 27 ed and tr W R Hennessy Mesca Ulad or the Intoxication of the Ultonians Todd Lecture Series 1 Dublin 1889 Aided Cheltchair mac Uthechair ed and tr Kuno Meyer The Death Tales of the Ulster Heroes Todd Lecture Series Dublin 1906 24 31 Translation online The Expulsion of the Deisi TCD MS 1336 The relevant portion has remained unedited and was not reproduced in the edition by Vernam Hull ed and tr The later version of the Expulsion of the Dessi ZCP 27 1957 59 pp 14 63 Cath Ruis na Rig Stowe MS E IV 3 ed and tr Edmund Hogan Cath Ruis na Rig for Boinn Todd Lecture Series 4 Dublin 1892 References Edit Carey John Ireland and the Grail Aberystwyth 2007 Brown Arthur Charles Lewis The Bleeding Lance PMLA 25 1910 1 59 Loomis Roger Sherman Arthurian tradition and Chretien de Troyes New York 1949 O Curry Eugene On the manners and customs of the ancient Irish Vol 3 Lectures vol 2 London Williams and Norgate 1873 pp 324 7 Fire Emblem Three Houses Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Luin of Celtchar amp oldid 1093423921, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
