Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am writing a play about Emer, CuChulainn's wife. I was wondering if anyone knew of stories that inovlve her, other than "The Wooing of Emer", I want to make it as facutal as possible but as of yet I have so little info on her that most of it will have to come from the depths of my own mind. Please email me at:
dyala@hotmail.com

Thank you,
Stephanie

nice to meet you Stephanie ..... I am sure Shae can help ...*calls to shae*

Just a little, Lacie.

Another story involving Emer is where CuChulainn falls in love with Fand, a woman of the sídhe. Emer and a group of women set out to kill Fand but, when they find her and CuChulainn, Fand decides to leave CuChulainn and return to the sídhe.

On another occasion, CuChulainn was away hunting, leaving Emer in Dundalk, when Tuir Glesta, son of the king of Norway, invaded the area. Emer fell in love with him (lusty lot, us Irish!) and went to Anglesea with him. When CuChulainn heard about it, he followed them to Anglesea and challenged Tuir Glesta. T.G. accepted the challenge and was eventually killed by Cu, who then took Emer home to Ireland with him.

My favourite piece related to Emer is her 'Long Lament' on the death of CuChulainn. I don't think it's on the web and it's far too long to transcribe here. I'll post a source tomorrow.

A bundle of thanks to you Shae, I haven't been able to find much information on Emer and CuChulainn's death but it was one of the stories I wanted to use.

Thanks Again,
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie

The story where Cuchulainn falls in love with Fand, etc, is called "The Sickbed of Cuchulainn" (and sometimes "The Wasting Sickness of Cuchulainn and the Only Jealousy of Emer") and you will find some version or other in many sources... Penguin's "Early Irish Myths and Sagas", Jeffrey Ganz ed is the one I have open in front of me now (!)... the other Cuchulainn stories in that book also contain references to Emer, so have a look. If you don't have it, look for the stories Bricriu's Feast, and he Death of Aoife's One Son, in which Cuchulainn kills his only child, by a previous lover Aoife. Since Emer was unable to have children with him (for whatever reason) I'd imagine this episode is pivotal!

Lady Gregory's Cuchulainn of Muirthemne, although a tad sanitised, is a lovely version and has the Death of Cuchulainn (so many books leave this out - I don't think anyone WANTS him to die!) with a very lengthy and thus, I think, probably reasonably accurate, version of Emer's lament over Cuchulainn.

She dies in sympathy, by the way. Quite the most romantic thing in the world, I thought when I was 14!!!

Good luck with the play!

Nice one, Suzycat. The version I had in mind is 'Two Death Tales from the Ulster Cycle', translated by Maria Tymoczko, Humanities Press Inc., ISBN 0 391 02136 2. Here's an extract from Emer's lament. Liath Macha, the Grey of Macha, is CúChulainn's horse.

'Grief for him has crushed me
Loss of him has cut me down
His death has made me weak
I am barren without him
I have nothing now.

Each heart that loved him
Should break
Each ear that heard of him
Should never forget
Each tear that were ever wept
Should be to mourn him everlastingly
Each eye that saw him
Should weep showers of blood
For the world will end in grief
Now he is dead.

I will be seen with no other spouse
There will be no man-faces
boistrous and gift-giving
At my betrothal
For I will find no spouse equal to CúChulainn.

.........

Say that I knew an enchanted time
As his spouse sixteen years.

We are due an end to pain
We follow the shadowy tribes and peoples
Each of us from augury to certainty
We weep for each other
We lament for each other
We have pity on each other
Life now is wretched
We will not meet another day, Liath Macha.

*just loves it* ......

p.s. .... thanks Shae .. miss ya *kotc*

sigh.... *swoons at intensely romantic translation*

Thanks very much everyone, I now have some better ideas and places to search, I also feel better about having some more facts.
Again, thank you,
Stephanie

here is one more story for you. Morrighan the war and battle goddes(this is one of her names, she has many) tryed to marry CuChulainn when Emer came into his life.

Are you sure? The Morrigan did attempt to sleep with Cuchulainn while he was defending the ford against the troops of Ireland, but he turned her down (being, presumably, a bit tired). In return she withdrew her help for a while.

yes i'm sure. but keep in mind there are tons of stories out there. one can say one thing and another can say something else.

Yup, fair enough.

If Cu Culainn was Conchobor's nephew,therefore rich and noble,why did Forgall impede his love story with Emer?

Poor snobbed Laeg! What was the position taken by charioteers on their bigae? And how large was a cart? In the tales they seem very wide, in fact Mebd lays cushions on hers

The use of chariots in Celtic warfare is still being debated. It seems, at the moment anyway, that the warrior was driven to the battle by his charioteer. The warrior threw a few spears at the foe and then dismounted to fight on foot. The charioteer withdrew to a safe distance and either waited until his warrior was victorious or went to rescue him if he was wounded.

No substantial remains of a chariot have been found in Ireland to date, so we don't know what they looked like. They are mentioned in the sagas and hagiographies and are shown on some High Crosses. There's a good depiction of one on the base of the North Cross at Ahenny, Co. Tipperary. It shows a two-wheeled chariot drawn by two horses. Each wheel has eight spokes. The charioteer is in front, guiding the horses, and the warrior is behind him.

Was "Eithne Inguba" another name of Emer, or was she a totally different woman?

Can anyone tell me what was the name of Chuculainn's dog???

Cuchulain means dog of Culann. His real name was Setanta. He earned the name of Cuchulain after slaying the watchdog that belonged to Culann the blacksmith. As penance for its death, he had to take the place of the dog for twenty years and protect Culann from harm. Cuchulain was also known as the Hound of Ulster. I may be wrong, but I don't know of Cuchulain having a dog of a particular name. He was the dog.