Cuchulainn
He is the most famous character in Irish epic, and some versions of his legend even suggest that he is the son of Lug.
His true name was Setanta (in which we recognize the Breton name), but he acquires his nickname ‘Cu-chulainn’ (meaning ‘dog of Culann’) after killing the hound of the Ulster smith Culann and promising to replace it as his protector.
An incredible warrior
Even at a very young age, impressive feats are attributed to him. He bears a notable resemblance to the hero Batraz and corresponds to an archaic Indo-European model. Like Batraz, his warrior fury is such that a great number of vats of cold water are needed to quell his fury. He is capable of extraordinary contortions with which he completely deforms his body, which accentuates his superhuman aspect and makes of him a cyclopic being.
Demigod
From his head emanates the “Hero’s Light”, a mark of demigods and figures inspired by divinity. It is in Scotland, alongside warrior women and sorceresses, that he learns the art of war, while at the same time developing his extraordinary sexual powers.
During the “Cattle Raid of Cooley”, a vast heroic epic, he is the only inhabitant of Ulster to be spared the magical illness brought on by the curse of the goddess Macha. He faces alone the armies of the other kingdoms of Ireland that have united under Queen Medbh.
Cuchulainn is involved in a great many adventures, alone or in the company of Loegaire and Conall Cernach, his brothers-in-arms.
Cuchulainn knows the secret of the gail bolga (the lightning discharge) taught to him by a sorceress: it is a fearsome blow with which he kills his former fellow-pupil Ferdeadh, who had become his enemy. With the complicity of Blathanait, who had been taken from him by Curoi mac Caire, he kills the latter. He travels to the Land of the Fairies, where he lives a great love with the goddess Fand. Finally, he is overcome by a coalition of his enemies fomented by Queen Medbh.
Cuchulainn is caught in a magical trap in which he must eat dog meat, which is his greatest taboo. This transgression brings about the breaking of his other taboos, and after a breathtaking epic in which magic rivals heroism he is killed by Lugaid, son of Curoi, who had been one of his victims. His death is avenged by Conall Cernach.
Hero of Light
Cuchulainn is a “hero of light”, a civilizing figure. He personifies the society to which he belongs, yet he is endowed with a divine character.
He also represents a solar cult of a masculine nature (there is no solar god among the Celts), analogous to the cult of the Hyperborean Apollo. He is likewise, like the Greek Theseus (see Greek mythology), a great dispenser of justice, who rids the world of monsters and the forces of darkness.
Cuchulainn has remained very much alive in the popular tradition of Ireland and Scotland.