To win the woman he loved, Cú Chulainn had to become the warrior she required
When Cú Chulainn was still a young man, he decided he wanted a wife. The men of Ulster suggested girls from among the nobility, but Cú Chulainn had already made up his mind. He had heard of Emer, daughter of Forgall Manach — a woman said to possess the six gifts that made her worth having: beauty, voice, sweet speech, needlework, wisdom, and chastity. He went to meet her. The meeting was extraordinary: the two of them spoke entirely in riddles and metaphors, a conversation no one else present could follow, and by the end of it they had agreed on the essentials. She would consider him. But she had conditions.
Emer’s Challenge
Emer told Cú Chulainn directly: she would not marry any man who had not gone to train with Scáthach. Scáthach was a warrior-woman — a supernatural teacher of combat who lived on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, separated from the mainland by a bridge so dangerous that only the greatest heroes could cross it. To train under Scáthach was to become something beyond an ordinary warrior. It was also nearly impossible to get to her.
Her father Forgall was equally opposed, and tried to get rid of Cú Chulainn by sending him to Scáthach — hoping the journey would kill him. It didn’t.
The Journey to Scáthach
Cú Chulainn crossed the plain of ill luck, where the ground grabbed at travellers’ feet, and the forest of peril beyond it. He crossed the Bridge of Leaps — which threw every warrior who tried it into the abyss — by using his salmon-leap to clear it in one bound. He trained under Scáthach for a year and a day, learning every feat of arms she had to teach. While there, he also fought Scáthach’s rival Aífe — a warrior at least as dangerous as Scáthach herself — and defeated her. He and Aífe had a son together: Connla, whose fate would haunt him later.
Getting the Girl
He came back to Ireland a fully-formed warrior of terrifying skill. Forgall still refused to give up his daughter. Cú Chulainn attacked his fortress, leaping the three outer walls in a single bound, killing everyone who tried to stop him, and took Emer away. Forgall fell from his own walls trying to escape. Cú Chulainn and Emer were together. It had not been easy — which was exactly what Emer had intended.
Key facts about Emer
- Irish title: Tochmarc Emire (“The Wooing of Emer”)
- Emer’s six gifts: Beauty, voice, sweet speech, needlework, wisdom, and chastity
- Her requirement: Cú Chulainn must train under Scáthach before she would consider him
- Scáthach: Supernatural warrior-woman; teacher of elite combat skills; based on the Isle of Skye
- The Bridge of Leaps: A near-impassable bridge to Scáthach’s fortress; Cú Chulainn crossed it with his salmon-leap
- Aífe: Scáthach’s rival warrior — fought and defeated by Cú Chulainn; mother of his son Connla
- Forgall Manach: Emer’s father; opposed the match; died falling from his own walls during the rescue
- Cycle: Ulster Cycle
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