The Conception of Cú Chulainn
Also known as: Compert Con Culainn, The Birth of Cú Chulainn, The Conception of Cuchulainn, Compert Con Culaind
An Ulster Cycle origin tale recounting how Deichtine, sister of King Conchobar, conceives the hero through a mysterious encounter with the god Lugh and, in some versions, through her husband Sualdam, framing Cú Chulainn’s dual lineage and destined greatness.
Description
This short prose saga relates the enigmatic circumstances of Cú Chulainn’s conception. Deichtine disappears from Emain Macha with the Ulstermen in pursuit of wondrous birds, discovering a supernatural house of hospitality where she midwifes a child and later herself becomes pregnant. Lugh Lámfada appears in a dream declaring paternity and promising a son of exceptional prowess. In variant redactions, Deichtine marries Sualdam mac Róich and either aborts or transfers the divine child before conceiving again, producing a narrative that oscillates between divine begetting and human legitimacy. The tale functions as a prelude to the hero’s later exploits, establishing kinship, fosterage, and prophecy motifs foundational to the Ulster Cycle.
Historiography
The tale, known as Compert Con Culainn, survives in multiple medieval Irish manuscript traditions with competing recensions that emphasize either divine paternity (by Lugh) or human paternity (by Sualdam). The Lebor na hUidre and Book of Leinster preserve overlapping but divergent versions, reflecting scribal redaction and oral variance. Nineteenth–twentieth-century editors produced critical collations, and modern translators typically present the tale as a proem to Cú Chulainn’s boyhood deeds and the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
Date Notes
Survives in early medieval Ulster Cycle prose; principal witnesses associated with Lebor na hUidre (c. 1100) and the Book of Leinster (c. 1160), preserving earlier oral material.
Symbols
Major Characters
- Deichtine
- Lugh
- Sualdam
- Conchobar mac Nessa
- Cú Chulainn
Myths
- Deichtine’s Mysterious Pregnancy by Lugh
- Birth and Naming of Sétanta
- Prophecies over the Infant Cú Chulainn
Facts
- The tale belongs to the Ulster Cycle and serves as a prologue to Cú Chulainn’s later exploits.
- Competing recensions present divine paternity by Lugh versus human paternity by Sualdam.
- Manuscript witnesses are associated with Lebor na hUidre and the Book of Leinster.
- Deichtine is Conchobar mac Nessa’s sister, linking the hero to Ulaid royalty.
- Motifs include prophetic dream, miraculous conception, and contested lineage.
- The birds-and-host motif frames the encounter with a supernatural household.
- Fosterage at Emain Macha situates the hero within Ulster’s social order.
- The tale anticipates the later naming episode tied to Culann’s hound.
- Variants differ on whether Deichtine aborts or transfers a divine fetus before marriage.
- The narrative integrates mythic divinity with legal-social legitimacy concerns.