Queen Medb

Medb is a Queen of Connacht from Irish mythology, specifically the Ulster cycle of mythology.

She was known as a strong and independent woman, with cunning and ambition and she is depicted as a warrior Queen. She is even featured on pre-euro Irish £1 bank notes. She is Medb is described as fair-haired with a form so beautiful that it robbed men of two-thirds of their valour upon seeing her.  Her name comes from the Proto-Celtic Medwa and means "the ruler," which is fairly accurate to the woman who bore it.

 

Queen Medb had several husbands in the stories, all Kings of Connacht, though her main husband in the core of the stories surrounding her was Ailill mac Máta. One of her husbands was the King of Ulster and became her enemy after their marriage ended.

 

Medb’s father, Eochaid Feidlech, was the High King of Ireland; he married her off to the King of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa, after he had supposedly killed her new husband’s father during a battle. After bearing the King of Ulster a son, named Glaisne, Medb left her husband, not happy with her marriage. One of Medb’s sisters took her place as Ulster’s Queen and became pregnant with a son of her own.

Medb then murdered her own sister and the child was born by a posthumous c-section; the child would be named Furbaide Ferbend.

 

Medb’s father later deposed the King of Connacht and gave the Kingdom to Medb. The deposed King, Tinni, however, was able to regain some semblance of his former power when he and the new Queen Medb became lovers.

 

After an assembly at Tara, an ancient ceremonial ground, Medb’s former husband, the King of Ulster, raped her, resulting in the eruption of a war between her father and her former husband. Medb’s lover, Tinni, challenged Ulster to combat, but lost.

 

Medb’s next husband, and King, was Eochaid Dála, the man who had protected the army of Connacht after Tinni’s death.

Medb demanded three things of her new husband: that he show no fear, cruelty, or jealousy. As she was a woman with many lovers, the last of these demands was vital for her.

One of her lovers was Ailill mac Máta, who was also her bodyguard. After her new husband discovered this affair, he challenged Ailill to combat, but he lost, leaving Medb free to marry Ailill, making him the new King of Connacht.

 

Medb had seven sons with Ailill, Fedlimid, Cairbre, Eochaid, Fergus, Cet, Sin and Dáire. She also had a daughter, Findabair, whose beauty and charm would one day cause the deaths of hundreds of men.

One of my favourite stories involving Queen Medb revolves around these seven sons. One day, she went to a Druid to ask which of her seven sons would kill her enemy, King Conchobar of Ulster. The Druid replied “Maine,” but as you can see from the above list, none of her sons had that name. Thus, Medb did the only thing any reasonable Queen would do in that situation. She renamed all seven of her sons Maine. Naturally. Each son received a new name, with of Maine with their second names telling them apart.

The prophecy was fulfilled when Maine Anode, previously known as Eochaid, slew another man named Conchobar. While not the Conchobar Medb had meant, the prophecy was nonetheless fulfilled.

 

Ever the feminist, Queen Medb demanded equality in wealth to her husband and grew angry when it was discovered that Ailill was richer than her by a single stud bull. Thus, the Cattle Raid of Cooley began. Medb searched for another stud bull that she could add to her own collection, but the only one that would serve as a suitable equal to her husband's was owned by a vassal of her enemy, King Conchobar. At first, Medb did the polite thing and sent messengers to Dáire mac Fiachna, the owner of the bull, asking for an exchange; she would get her bull and he could have lands, wealth and even sexual favours. Dáire agreed to her terms, but soon rescinded his consent upon a drunken messenger informing him that had he not have accepted, Medb would have simply taken the bull by force.

The war for the stud bull began.

Medb raised her army from men across Ireland, even including a force of Ulster exiles led by her enemy's estranged son, Cormac Cond Longas. Cormac's foster father, one of the exiles with Cormac, was one of Medb's many lovers.

There just so happened to be a divine curse on the Ulstermen and so the invasion was only opposed by a single teenager, the demi-god Cúchulainn. Cúchulainn demanded single combat against the men in Medb's army and his request was granted. Queen Medb promised the hand in marriage of her daughter to any man who would fight the teenaged hero. Alas, no one could defeat Cúchulainn.

Regardless, Queen Medb got the bull she so desired, but after a final battle against Conchobar's full army, she was forced to retreat.

Medb brought back her new bull, but it got into a fight with her husband's bull and both of the animals died in the fight.

 

This was not the last that Queen Medb had to deal with the demi-god Cúchulainn. There are several accounts of him killing her pets and handmaidens, by throwing stones at them, with the places they died being named after them.

 

Medb is said to have been responsible for the creation of the Pass of the Cualinge Cattle, because she would rather cross the mountain and leave a track that would forever show her contempt for Ulster.

 

In later years, King Ailill grew tired of his wife's affair with Fergus mac Róich, Cormac Cond Longas' foster-father and he had the man killed.

Eventually, Medb's bitter enemy, King Conchobar of Ulster, died and after his death, the Ulster hero. Conall Cernach, went to stay with Medb and Ailill for a time. Medb asked Conall to watch her husband, who she knew was having affairs of his own.

After finding him with another woman, Medb ordered Conall to kill Ailill, which the Ulsterman was happy to do in revenge for his countryman, Fergus. He succeeded in killing the King, but not before Ailill had sent his guards after him and Conall, too was killed.

 

As she grew older, it is said that Queen Medb went often to bathe in a pool on an island on Lough Ree, Inchcleraun. It was during one of these bathing sessions that Queen Medb came to the end of her life.

Furbaide, her nephew by the sister she had once murdered, sought revenge for his mother's death. He measured the distance between the pool in which Medb liked to bathe and the shore and then practised using his sling until he was skilled enough to hit an apple on top of a stake that as Medb's height from the distance he had measured out.

The next time Queen Medb went to bathe, once Furbaide was ready, he used his sling and killed her with a single piece of cheese.

According to legend, Medb was buried upright in Miosgán Médhbh, facing her enemies in Ulster.

 

Medb was succeeded to the throne by her eldest son, Maine Athramail, previously known as Fedlimid.

 

It  has been suggested that Queen Medb was a sovereignty goddess and a King would ritually marry her, at ceremonial sites such as Tara, as a part of his inauguration as King. Another Queen Medb, Medb Lethderg, was a sovereignty goddess associated with Tara, who was the wife/lover of nine successive Kings in Ireland. It is possible that she is the inspiration behind the Queen Medb discussed here.

 

Nevertheless, the tale of Queen Medb is a most intriguing one and one that depicts a most fierce and independent woman in mythology.