Shit Heroes Said
Attribution:
Scáthach and Cú Chulainn, "Skye: The Island and Its Legends", Otta Swire
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Irish lore is full of battles, and much of the focus for people in a warrior tradition is on who slew whom, what feats a hero possessed, or the insults and social undermining between heroes that led to a fight. While history is certainly full of these elements, it is also worth examining stories about alliances. One such is the Scottish folklore about the warrior woman Scáthach and her legendary school for warriors on the Isle of Skye. The renowned Scottish folklorist Otta Swire, born on Skye in 1898, recorded stories from the generation before hers, hoping to preserve this folklore for the next generation. She describes herself as, “Born on the site of Tyburn Cross and named after a pirate ancestress who was hanged from her own yard-arm after helping to raid Micklegarth (Constantinople)”. She published three collections of folklore from the area of her birth. In discussing folklore about Skye’s dramatic and storied mountain range An Cuiltheann/the Black Cuillins, Swire includes the story of how the range got its name.
“For a long time no living thing inhabited the Cuchullins, and then came Skiach – goddess or mortal no one knows which, but undoubtedly a great warrior. She started a school for heroes in the mountains, to teach them the art of war. Some say that she took her name from a Gaelic name for Skye, others that Skye took its name from her. However that may be, the fame of the name and her school spread abroad and reached the ears of Cuchullin, the Hero of Ulster, whose friends acclaimed him the greatest warrior in the world.”
Cú Chulainn is impressed.
“On hearing that in Skye there lived a woman, unconquered in battle, who offered to teach the heroes of the world how to fight, Cuchullin took two strides from the northern tip of Ireland and landed on Talisker Head…”
Scáthach is not yet impressed.
“Here he had expected to be received with awe and honor, and was much peeved to find himself treated as only a ‘new boy’ and being firmly snubbed all round as a boastful new boy at that… He challenged all the other students to single combat and defeated them. At this Skiach deigned to take notice and gave him permission to fight with her daughter, an honor usually reserved for second-year men.”
Scáthach thinks about being impressed.
“So Cuchullin and Skiach’s daughter fought ‘for a day and a night and another day’ and then, at last, he vanquished her.”
It is worth noting at this point that Scáthach’s daughter, unnamed here, is Úathach. Her name is generally translated as “horror” or “fear”, which the Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language gives as “Fear, horror, terror; a horrible or terrible thing, horrible creature, spectre, phantom”. She is a warrior in her own right and a teacher of warriors, and often shown as the personification of fear. So, having overcome fear after a long and legendary battle, Cú Chulainn is ready to fight Scáthach. For her own part, Scáthach is seriously pissed off at this situation, and is about to turn her anger into action.
“Great was the wrath of Skiach. She for the first time descended from the high tops to fight. She and Cuchulinn fought. They fought for a day and a night and another day, they fought on the mountains and on the moors and in the sea, but neither could come by any advantage. Then Skiach bade all the princes and heroes watch, for never again would they see such a fight. And they fought for a day and a night and another day, but neither gained any advantage.
Then Skiach's daughter was troubled and sent some of her maidens to bring her deer's milk, and she made a cheese from it such as her mother loved, and bade them come and eat. But they would not. So she sent heroes to bring her a deer and she roasted it and called them to come and eat, but they would not. Then she sent the heroes once again to gather her 'wise' hazelnuts from the trees which grow in the little burns on the side of Broc-Bheinn, and she roasted another deer and stuffed it with roasted hazelnuts and bade them come and eat. And Skiach thought, 'The hazels of knowledge will teach me how to overcome Cuchulinn.' And Cuchulinn thought: 'The hazels of knowledge will teach me how to overcome Skiach.' So they both came and sat down and ate.
When they tasted the wise hazels they knew that neither could ever overcome the other, so they made peace together and swore that if either called for aid the other would come, 'though the sky fall and crush us'."
So… having worked through fear, anger, and many long battles, both parties realize that there is an alliance with another formidable figure to be had at the end of it. I love this version of the story so much. While the Irish tellings of it have different elements of ritual instruction and the granting of feats, weapons, and powers, I really appreciate the mutual respect inherent in the Scottish story, and the way that both parties’ respect for the wisdom of the hazel tree led them to a better outcome than if they’d just kept on trying to smite each other. (I also appreciate the threefold attempt to get them to stop. Your favorite cheese! No? The wild deer, prized by hunters? No? Okay, how about the wild deer WITH SOME HAZELNUTS OF WISDOM! Sometimes it takes a couple tries to get through to people who are hip-deep in a dangerous fight and very busy with that.) So if you’re facing down fears of your own about learning a new skill or leveling up your game, or if you’re angry with someone who has come to learn from you, I hope you’ve enjoyed this story about an unexpected alliance and the benefits of wisdom. Grá 7 beannachtaí!
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References:
"Skye: The Island and Its Legends", Otta Swire
https://www.spookyisles.com/otta-f-swire-scotlands-forgotten-folklorist/