The Victorious
Conall Cernach was the second champion of Ulster — ranked directly behind Cú Chulainn in the Ulster warrior hierarchy — and the man who avenged Cú Chulainn’s death before sundown on the day it happened.
He had sworn an oath: if Cú Chulainn were killed before him, he would avenge it before the same day was out. When Cú Chulainn died at the pillar stone, Conall tracked down the killers within hours, killed Lugaid, took his head, and brought it back to place with Cú Chulainn’s body. The oath was the measure of the friendship. The fulfilment was the measure of the man.
His epithet “Cernach” means “Victorious” — he is the warrior who wins. He appears throughout the Ulster Cycle’s set-piece warrior-ranking episodes: the Champion’s Portion disputes, Bricriu’s Feast, the Beheading Game. In the Beheading Game, a giant came to Emain Macha in disguise and challenged the Ulster warriors to a reciprocal beheading contest. Conall beheaded the giant and then fled when the giant survived and returned for his turn. Cú Chulainn alone knelt for the return blow without flinching. The test was not courage in battle — all three were proven fighters — but courage in submission. Conall failed it. He was always second.
He had a withered arm — a physical impairment he fought and won with throughout his career. He was the foster-brother of Cú Chulainn, the solid avenger beside the flashing hero, the man who outlived the friend he had sworn to avenge.
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