The Death of Medb

This is the story of the Death of Medb, of the red branch of the mythology Irish.

Contents

King Eocha Feidlech had three sons and three daughters. His sons tried to wrest the royalty from him, but they were greeted by their sister, Clothru, who tried to dissuade them. "Are you coming to harm your father?" It is a great mistake, if it must be done. "It cannot be prevented," said the young men. "Do you leave children after you?" The woman asked. "They are no longer alive," said the young men. “It is probable that you will perish by your crime. "

“Venite ad me,” ilia inquired, “namque tempus mihi est concipiendi. Videamus num progeniem mecum relicturi sitis. Factum est. Alius super alium cum ea coierunt. Benefit evenit. Peperit “Lugaid of the Red Stripes,” filium trium Findemna. "Nolite contra patrem procedere!" »Inquired ilia,« satis sceleris admissistis qui cum sorore vestra dormiveritis, ita ut contra patrem pugnare non debeatis. »Hoc quominus pugnarent prohibited.

Clothru applied the laws of Connaught on the Isle of Clothru ( Inis Clothrand ) on Loch Ree. They say that Medb murdered his sister Clothru, and that his child, In Furbaide mac Conchobuir, was taken out of his side by the sword. So Medb seized the kingship of Connaught, and took Ailill to rule by his side. And it was in Inis Clothrand that she administered the laws of Connaught.

She was under the magical obligation to bathe every morning in a spring at the end of the island. One day Furbaide went to Inis Clothrand and fixed a pole on the stone slab on which Medb used to do his ablution. He tied a rope to the top of the post, and the stake was as tall as Medb, and he stretched the rope across Loch Ree, from east to west. Then he brought the rope home with him, and when the Ulster kids were playing, this was Furbaide's game: he stretched his rope between two stakes, and practiced throwing with his slingshot between. them, and he did not cease until he reached the apple that was at the top of the post.

One day there was a large gathering of the men from Connaught and Ulster around Loch Ree to the west and east. And Medb went to bathe early in the morning in the spring above the Loch.

“What a beautiful person there! Everyone said. " Who is here? Furbaide asked. "Your mother's sister," they all said.

He was then eating a piece of cheese. He didn't wait to pick up a stone. He put the cheese in his sling, and, when Medb's forehead was turned towards them, he threw the piece and lodged it in his head.

And so he killed her with one throw, and avenged her mother.