The greatest legendary Irish hero ever?

There are many great tales to come out of Ireland but one of them truly stands out. It is the life and times of the great hero Cu Chulainn (pronounced ku-KOOL-in). His adventures pretty much start at birth and carry on all through his active time on Earth. He is a Demi-God, born of a Mortal Mother called Deichtine with the God Lugh as his father, he was always going to be destined for anything other than a quiet life. No doubt he would have liked to have settled down with a nice pipe, slippers and some comfy Mens Aran Sweaters that he got from the Shamrock Gift company.

 

How Setanta became Cu Chulainn

To start with his name was not originally Cu Chulainn. It was actually Setanta but as a youth he killed a guard dog that belonged to the Blacksmith Culann. In remorse, although it was self defence, the young Setanta offered to replace the Dog thus giving him the name Culann’s hound. The signs that he was a hard nut were already in place. As a small child he tried to join a troop of Older boy warriors. They saw this as a slight and decided to give him a duffing up. However Young Cu Chulainn was having none of that and he beat them all up instead.

 

The power of the warp spasm

The reason he was able to win was that he could have something called a “warp spasm” this was where he could channel the power of the earth through his body turning himself into a wild beast with immense skill and fortitude. One of the many benefits of being a demi-god.

Summary

This article tells the story of Cu Chulainn, a legendary hero of Irish mythology born to a mortal mother and the god Lugh. It explains how he was originally named Setanta and gained his new name after killing a blacksmith’s guard dog in self-defence, and describes the ‘warp spasm’ that let him channel immense strength and fury in battle.

Questions this article raises

• How did Setanta come to be known as Cu Chulainn?
• What was the ‘warp spasm’ said to give Cu Chulainn in battle?
• Why was Cu Chulainn considered destined for greatness from birth?