|
|
|
|
|
C RoIn the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, C Ro (C Ru, C Raoi) mac Dire is a king of Munster and a sorcerer who can change his form at will. His name probably means "hound of the battlefield". He is thought by some to be a euhemerised god. When Cchulainn, Conall Cernach and Legaire Badach were incited to compete for the champion's portion by Briccriu, C Ro was one of those who judged between them. Like all the other judges, he chose Cchulainn, but Conall and Legaire refused to accept his verdict. When the three heroes returned to Ulster, C Ro appeared to each in the guise of a hideous churl and challenged them to behead him, then allow him to return and behead them. Only Cchulainn was brave and honourable enough to submit himself to the churl's axe, so he was declared champion. In exchange for his choice of the spoils, C Ro joined Cchulainn on a raid of Inis Fer Falga (possibly the Isle of Man), again in disguise. They stole treasure and abducted Blathnat, daughter of the king of the island, who loved Cchulainn. But when C Ro was asked to choose his share, he chose Blathnat. Cchulainn tried to stop him taking her, but C Ro cut his hair and drove him into the ground up to his armpits, before escaping, taking Blathnat with him. Later, Blathnat betrayed C Ro to Cchulainn, who beseiged his fort and killed him. In one version of the story, C Ro's soul was hidden in an apple in the belly of a salmon which lived in a stream in the mountains of Slieve Mish, and only surfaced once every seven years; Blathnat discovered the secret and told Cchulainn, who killed the fish, enabling him to kill C Ro. However Ferchertne, C Ro's poet, enraged at the betrayal of his lord, grabbed Blathnat and leaped off a cliff, killing her and himself. C Ro's nephew, Conganchnes, tried to avenge him, but was killed by Celtchar. His son, Lugaid mac Con Ro, later succeeded in avenging him by killing Cchulainn, but was himself killed by Conall Cernach. The Iron Age ruin of Caherconree (Irish Cathair Con Raoi, C Ro's castle) in the mountains of Slieve Mish, on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, preserves C Ro's name.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|