Eigse Paged 2004 - National University of Ireland

ENCOUNTER AT THE FORD 13
a murderous rage against his own people which can only be quelled
when he is confronted with the naked women of the Ulaid. He hides
his face, whereupon he is seized and hurled into three vats of cold
water in rapid succession. Cooled down and restored to his senses,
he takes his place in the king’s household. 9
So far I have mentioned four scenes, two from Greek and two
from Irish literature. If these are considered schematically, they seem
to represent a sequence of variations.
I. A river attacks Achilles, who has invaded its territory.
II. After an invocation by Cú Chulainn, a river aids him in
attacking an army of invaders.
III. After an invocation by Bellerophon, the sea aids him in
attacking the people on whose behalf he has been fighting.
Both hero and water retreat when confronted by a display of
female nakedness.
IV. Cú Chulainn attacks the people on whose behalf he has
been fighting. When he looks aside upon being confronted by
a display of female nakedness, his frenzy is quelled by immersion
in water.
Two variables are apparent in this series: the hero’s relationship
with the community (attacker in I, defender in II, defender become
attacker in III and IV); and water’s relationship with the hero
(threatening or weakening him in I and IV, helping him in II and III).
Yet another element, although present in only two of the specimens,
figures there as a constant: in the instances in which women feature,
their sexuality neutralises the hero’s aggression.
A natural area in which to look for further evidence of such connections
is that of flood legends. In fact, Irish tales of floods repeatedly
accord an important role to women. Two of the most prominent
are the stories accounting for the origins of Lough Neagh and Lough
9
TBC I ll 802-21; cf. LL TBC ll 1177-1207, LU ll 3791-6 (Serglige Con Culainn)
(naked women do not figure in this account). In a forthcoming article (‘Tara and the
supernatural’) I suggest that a reference to the aggressive display of a woman’s
breasts may also occur in the text De Shíl Chonairi Móir, ed. Lucius Gwynn, Ériu 6
(1912) 130-53 (at p. 135). In the LU version of Mesca Ulad, the satirist Ríches forces
Cú Chulainn to cover his face by lifting her clothing and exposing herself to him (LU
ll 1535-9).