Fedelm
Encyclopedia
Fedelm is a female prophet and fili
, or learned poet, in the Ulster Cycle
of Irish mythology
. She appears in the great epic Táin Bó Cuailnge
, in which she foretells the armies of Medb
and Ailill mac Máta
will face against the Ulaid
and their greatest champion, Cú Chulainn
. A prophetess of the same name appears in another tale, which associates her with Cú Chulainn.
, preserved in Recension I. Intent on an invasion of Ulster
, Queen Medb
and Ailill mac Máta
, the rulers of Connacht
, have mustered a large army from all four provinces of Ireland. Just when they set out, they are met on the road by Fedelm, a young woman of blonde hair and beautiful appearance, who is armed, carries a weaver's beam and rides in a chariot. She identifies herself as a banfhili (female poet) from Connacht and claims to have come from Alba
, where she had learnt the art of prophecy to the extent that she could now boast the skill of imbas forosnai
, or all-encompassing illuminating knowledge. It has been suggested that Fedelm may have received her training from the warrior woman Scáthach
, Cú Chulainn's martial arts teacher in Alba and herself a prophetess. Asked by Medb, who addresses her as prophetess (banfháith), to foretell the future of the army, Fedelm predicts carnage. Medb refuses to accept it, since the Ulstermen had been recently overcome by a mysterious condition which had debilitated them completely. However, Fedelm repeats her prophecy and in a poetic description of the bloody encounters to follow, named Cú Chulainn
as their most terrifying opponent.
, as it appears to mean "prophetess" and to derive from the proto-Celtic stem wēd- / wid- "to know, to see". She has been compared to Veleda
, the prophetess described by Tacitus
. The name is not uncommon; the Táin and other texts name a daughter of Conchobar mac Nessa
Fedelm Noíchrothach
. It is probably related to the common male name "Fedlimid".
Though the name is not unique, it is not impossible that the Fedelm of the Táin is the same character as the Fedelm Foltcháin ("of the Lovely Hair") who appears in a brief and difficult Irish text known as Fedelm and Cú Chulainn or Ces Ulad ("The Affliction of the Ulstermen"). The transmitted text, preserved only in the 16th-century London, BL, Harleian MS 5280, is imperfect and the translations attempted by Vernam Hull and John Carey therefore differ on a number of counts. It tells that one day (before the invasion), Cú Chulainn and his charioteer Láeg
come to the River Boyne
to learn imbas (as Carey translates) or to obtain "riches" (Hull). The search for imbas would be appropriate as in early Irish narrative, the banks of rivers could serve as liminal places subject to the risk of flooding and in a positive sense, to the attainment of poetic wisdom. The text Immacallam in Dá Thuarad, for instance, states that "the bank of a body of water was a place where knowledge was always revealed for poets".
On the opposite bank stands Fedelm and her husband Elcmaire, who notice the intruders and their chariot laden with items of fidchell
and búanbach and with Cú Chulainn's catch of birds. When Cú Chulainn manages to catch a speckled salmon with his spear, Elcmaire goes into the ford and flings a pillar stone towards the chariot, but Cú Chulainn cuts off both his thumbs and both his big toes. Fedelm then utters the prophecy (Hull has "promised") that she would appear naked to the Ulstermen and become Cú Chulainn's lover. This she does after a year and a day
. The text ends by suggesting that her appearance to the Ulstermen is what caused their aforesaid debility. This explanation of the Debility of the Ulstermen differs considerably from that given by Noinden Ulad and related texts.
Fedelm's name and a connection with the Boyne also occur in the second, Middle Irish recension of the Tochmarc Emire
. When Cú Chulainn travels southwards to woo Emer, he comes across the so-called "Marrow (Smir) of the woman Fedelm", explained as another name for the River Boyne. The origin of the name is not explained, however, and the accompanying mythological story focuses on the drowning of Boann
instead.
Fili
A fili was a member of an elite class of poets in Ireland, up into the Renaissance, when the Irish class system was dismantled.-Elite scholars:According to the Textbook of Irish Literature, by Eleanor Hull:-Oral tradition:...
, or learned poet, in the Ulster Cycle
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle , formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...
of Irish mythology
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
. She appears in the great epic Táin Bó Cuailnge
Táin Bó Cúailnge
is a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the teenage...
, in which she foretells the armies of Medb
Medb
Medb – Middle Irish: Meḋḃ, Meaḋḃ; early modern Irish: Meadhbh ; reformed modern Irish Méabh, Medbh; sometimes Anglicised Maeve, Maev or Maive – is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology...
and Ailill mac Máta
Ailill mac Máta
Ailill mac Máta is the king of the Connachta and the husband of queen Medb in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Cruachan .-Family background, marriage and offspring:...
will face against the Ulaid
Ulaid
The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a people of early Ireland who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster...
and their greatest champion, Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
. A prophetess of the same name appears in another tale, which associates her with Cú Chulainn.
Táin Bó Cuailnge
Fedelm appears in the opening scene of the Táin Bó CuailngeTáin Bó Cúailnge
is a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the teenage...
, preserved in Recension I. Intent on an invasion of Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
, Queen Medb
Medb
Medb – Middle Irish: Meḋḃ, Meaḋḃ; early modern Irish: Meadhbh ; reformed modern Irish Méabh, Medbh; sometimes Anglicised Maeve, Maev or Maive – is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology...
and Ailill mac Máta
Ailill mac Máta
Ailill mac Máta is the king of the Connachta and the husband of queen Medb in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Cruachan .-Family background, marriage and offspring:...
, the rulers of Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
, have mustered a large army from all four provinces of Ireland. Just when they set out, they are met on the road by Fedelm, a young woman of blonde hair and beautiful appearance, who is armed, carries a weaver's beam and rides in a chariot. She identifies herself as a banfhili (female poet) from Connacht and claims to have come from Alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
, where she had learnt the art of prophecy to the extent that she could now boast the skill of imbas forosnai
Imbas forosnai
Imbas forosnai, is a special gift of clairvoyance believed to be possessed by the poets, and Druids, in Early Ireland. Imbas means inspiration or knowledge and forosnai means illuminated or that which illuminates. Descriptions of the practices associated with Imbas forosnai are found in Cormac's...
, or all-encompassing illuminating knowledge. It has been suggested that Fedelm may have received her training from the warrior woman Scáthach
Scáthach
Scáthach is a figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains the legendary Ulster hero Cú Chulainn in the arts of combat...
, Cú Chulainn's martial arts teacher in Alba and herself a prophetess. Asked by Medb, who addresses her as prophetess (banfháith), to foretell the future of the army, Fedelm predicts carnage. Medb refuses to accept it, since the Ulstermen had been recently overcome by a mysterious condition which had debilitated them completely. However, Fedelm repeats her prophecy and in a poetic description of the bloody encounters to follow, named Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
as their most terrifying opponent.
Name and other appearances
The name "Fedelm" name matches the character's role in the Táin Bó CuailngeTáin Bó Cúailnge
is a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the teenage...
, as it appears to mean "prophetess" and to derive from the proto-Celtic stem wēd- / wid- "to know, to see". She has been compared to Veleda
Veleda
Veleda was a völva of the Germanic tribe of the Bructeri who achieved some prominence during the Batavian rebellion of AD 69–70, headed by the Romanized Batavian chieftain Gaius Julius Civilis, when she correctly predicted the initial successes of the rebels against Roman...
, the prophetess described by Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
. The name is not uncommon; the Táin and other texts name a daughter of Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa was the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He ruled from Emain Macha .-Birth:...
Fedelm Noíchrothach
Fedelm Noíchrothach
Fedelm Noíchrothach , also known as Fedelm Noíchride , is a daughter of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology....
. It is probably related to the common male name "Fedlimid".
Though the name is not unique, it is not impossible that the Fedelm of the Táin is the same character as the Fedelm Foltcháin ("of the Lovely Hair") who appears in a brief and difficult Irish text known as Fedelm and Cú Chulainn or Ces Ulad ("The Affliction of the Ulstermen"). The transmitted text, preserved only in the 16th-century London, BL, Harleian MS 5280, is imperfect and the translations attempted by Vernam Hull and John Carey therefore differ on a number of counts. It tells that one day (before the invasion), Cú Chulainn and his charioteer Láeg
Láeg
Láeg, or Lóeg, son of Riangabar, is the charioteer and constant companion of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. His horses are Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend....
come to the River Boyne
River Boyne
The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newbury Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath and Baltray, County Louth. Salmon...
to learn imbas (as Carey translates) or to obtain "riches" (Hull). The search for imbas would be appropriate as in early Irish narrative, the banks of rivers could serve as liminal places subject to the risk of flooding and in a positive sense, to the attainment of poetic wisdom. The text Immacallam in Dá Thuarad, for instance, states that "the bank of a body of water was a place where knowledge was always revealed for poets".
On the opposite bank stands Fedelm and her husband Elcmaire, who notice the intruders and their chariot laden with items of fidchell
Fidchell
Fidchell or gwyddbwyll was an ancient Celtic board game. The name in both Irish and Welsh is a compound translating to "wood sense"; the fact that the compound is identical in both languages demonstrates that the name is of extreme antiquity...
and búanbach and with Cú Chulainn's catch of birds. When Cú Chulainn manages to catch a speckled salmon with his spear, Elcmaire goes into the ford and flings a pillar stone towards the chariot, but Cú Chulainn cuts off both his thumbs and both his big toes. Fedelm then utters the prophecy (Hull has "promised") that she would appear naked to the Ulstermen and become Cú Chulainn's lover. This she does after a year and a day
Year and a day
Year and a day can refer to:* the Year and a day rule, a period tied into various legal principles in a number of jurisdictions* A Year and a Day , by Virginia Henley* A Year and a Day , by Leslie Pietrzyk...
. The text ends by suggesting that her appearance to the Ulstermen is what caused their aforesaid debility. This explanation of the Debility of the Ulstermen differs considerably from that given by Noinden Ulad and related texts.
Fedelm's name and a connection with the Boyne also occur in the second, Middle Irish recension of the Tochmarc Emire
Tochmarc Emire
Tochmarc Emire is one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and one of the longest when it received its form in the second recension . It concerns the efforts of the hero Cú Chulainn to marry Emer, who appears as his wife in other stories of the cycle, and his training in arms...
. When Cú Chulainn travels southwards to woo Emer, he comes across the so-called "Marrow (Smir) of the woman Fedelm", explained as another name for the River Boyne. The origin of the name is not explained, however, and the accompanying mythological story focuses on the drowning of Boann
Boann
Boann or Boand is the Irish mythology goddess of the River Boyne, a river in Leinster, Ireland. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn she was the daughter of Delbáeth, son of Elada, of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Her husband is variously Nechtan, Elcmar or Nuada. Her lover is the Dagda, by whom she had...
instead.
Primary sources
- Táin Bó CuailngeTáin Bó Cúailngeis a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the teenage...
(Recension I), ed. Cecile O'Rahilly, Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension I. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Dublin, 1976. - Cú Chulainn and Fedelm (also Ces Ulad), ed. Kuno Meyer, "Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften (Fortsetzung)." ZCP 8 (1912): p. 120; tr. Vernam Hull, "Ces Ulad." ZCP 29 (1962-64); tr. John Carey, The Celtic Heroic Age, ed. J.T. Koch and J. Carey. 3d ed. Andover et al., 2000. pp. 67-8.
Further reading
- Sayers, William. "Old Irish Fert, `Tie-pole', Fertas `Swingletree', and the Seeress Fedelm." Études Celtiques 21 (1984): 171-83.
- Enright, Michael J. Lady with a Mead Cup. Ritual, Prophecy and Lordship in the European Warband from La Tène to the Viking Age. Dublin, 1996.