Friday, September 16, 2005
UI's Celtic Mythology - Medb
Medb, also known as Maeve, was the warrior-queen of Connacht. According to Irish mythology, no king could reign in Connacht unless he was married to Medb, who was believed to hold the kingdom's sovereignty in her person. It was also said that she "never was without one man in the shadow of another". Medb's most famous action was the invasion of Ulster, when her forces captured the great brown bull of Cuailgne and killed the Ulster hero Cuchulainn. She was herself slain by Forbai, the son of King Conchobar Mac Nessa, while she was bathing in a pool. Forbai had discovered that Queen Medb was in the habit of regularly taking her bath in a Galway pool. He very carefully measured the exact distance between the spot where she bathed and the shore, then he returned to Emain Macha and practised with a sling-shot every until he was able to knock an apple from the top of a pole over the same distance. Satisfied at last that his aim was perfect, he stealthily made his way back to the pool and hit Queen Medb in the centre of her forehead using his sling-shot. Thus was Ulster revenged.Let that be a lesson for you. Next time you go bathing in a pool, keep a lookout for angry guys with sling-shots.
# posted by United Irelander @ 1:08 AM 
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