Is bethu i mmudu ocus is trebad i mmaig!

(is * a life * in * vain * and * is * husbandry * in * field)

It’s a life gone to waste and a livelihood lost…!

So exclaims Culann, the smith, after his valuable hound has been killed by the young Sétanta in self defense. The boy volunteers to take over the guard duties of the hound until a pup can be reared to replace him, and thus he acquires the name by which he will become famous: Cú Chulainn, “the Hound of Culann”.

Topics: Woe