Aided Cheltchair maic Uthechair

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Aided Cheltchair maic Uthechair‘The death of Celtchar mac Uthechair’

• Middle Irish
• prose
• Ulster Cycle, Aideda

A tale of the Ulster Cycle.

Summary

Celtchar kills Blaí Briugu, who has slept with his wife, and as éraicc is required to rid Ulster of three menaces. The first is Conganchnes mac Dedad, who comes to Ulster seeking revenge for the death of his kinsman Cú Roí mac Dáire. The second is the loch donn, a fierce feral dog. The third is his own dog, Dóelchú, who has gone rogue among the Ulstermen's livestock, and in carrying out this task Celtchar is killed.

Manuscripts

• Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1339 (H 2. 18) = Book of Leinster [s. xii²]
  f. 118b
   
  The last part of the story is wanting.
• Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv. MS 72.1.40 [s. xv-xvi]
  part 1 ff. 5r–6r

Language

• Middle Irish

Form

prose (primary)

Textual relationships

The opening section corresponds with Aided Blaí Briugad, found in tale-lists. Bloth Blaí and Celtchar's deaths are referred to in the poem Fianna bátar i nEmain, attributed to Cináed ua hArtacáin, and the resting place of Blaí's head is mentioned in the poem Inna hinada hi filet cind erred Ulad, found incomplete in Lebor na hUidre. Celtchar's killing of Conganchnes is referred to in Fled Bricrenn. The luch donn and his dire deeds are mentioned in the dindsenchas of Alend. Dóelchú appears in the dindsenchas of Sliab Callann.

Classification

Ulster Cycle

 aideda

Subject tags

CeltcharCeltchar (ass. time-frame: Ulster Cycle) – Celtcha(i)r mac U(i)thechair, warrior in the Ulster Cycle of tales
See more Blaí BriuguBlaí Briugu (ass. time-frame: Ulster Cycle) – hostel-keeper (briugu) in the Ulster Cycle of tales
See more Cú ChulainnCú Chulainn – Young Ulster hero and chief character of Táin bó Cuailnge and other tales of the Ulster Cycle; son of Súaltam or Lug and Deichtire (sister to Conchobor); husband of Emer (ingen Forgaill)
See more Conchobar mac NessaConchobar mac Nessa (ass. time-frame: Ulster Cycle) – king of the Ulaid in tales of the Ulster Cycle; son either of Cathbad or Fachtna Fáthach (father) and Ness (mother); husband of Mugain; father of Cormac Cond Longas, Cúscraid Mend Macha, Furbaide Fer Bend and Fedelm Noíchrothach; fosterfather of Cú Chulainn.
See more

• Sources

Primary sources

Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in the entry for the relevant manuscript.

[ed.] [tr.] Meyer, Kuno [ed. and tr.], The death-tales of the Ulster heroes, Todd Lecture Series 14, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1906. CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link> 23–31 Critical edition based on LL and Gaelic XL

[ed.] Best, Richard Irvine, and M. A. O'Brien, The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála, vol. 2, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1956. CELT – pp. 400-470: <link> Diplomatic edition of the text in LL direct link

Secondary sources

McCone, Kim, “Aided Cheltchair maic Uthechair: hounds, heroes and hospitallers in early Irish myth and story”, Ériu 35 (1984): 1–30.

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Ó Cathasaigh, Tomás, “King, hero and hospitaller in Aided Celtchair maic Uthechair”, in: McLeod, Wilson, Abigail Burnyeat, Domhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, Thomas Owen Clancy, and Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (eds), Bile ós chrannaibh: a Festschrift for William Gillies, Tigh a' Mhaide, Brig o' Turk, Perthshire: Clann Tuirc, 2010. 355–364.

McCone, Kim, “Aided Cheltchair maic Uthechair: hounds, heroes and hospitallers in early Irish myth and story”, Ériu 35 (1984): 1–30.

Best, Richard Irvine, and M. A. O'Brien, The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála, vol. 2, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1956. CELT – pp. 400-470: <link>

Thurneysen, Rudolf, Die irische Helden- und Königsage bis zum siebzehnten Jahrhundert, Halle: Niemeyer, 1921. Internet Archive: <link> 571–574   [2.65] “Aided Cheltchair maic Uthechair (Uthidir)”

Meyer, Kuno [ed. and tr.], The death-tales of the Ulster heroes, Todd Lecture Series 14, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1906. CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>

web page identifiers

page name: Aided Cheltchair maic Uthechair
page url: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Aided_Cheltchair_maic_Uthechair
redirect: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Special:Redirect/page/299
page ID: 299
page ID tracker: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Show:ID?id=299

Contributors

Patrick Brown, Dennis Groenewegen

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