Scáthach

by Áine Mac Dermot

Scáthach nUanaind (also known as Scáthach Buanand) - Her name translates as Scáthach - meaning "Shadowy", and Buanand - meaning "Victory".

Scáthach was the most famous of female warriors. She lived on Scáthach's Island, which today is called the Isle of Skye, where the Cúchulainn Peaks still bear witness to the history of the place. She ran what could be called a military academy. Scáthach trained many of the great heroes of Ireland in the martial arts. She was the principal instructor to her most famous pupil, Cúchulainn.

According to Kinsale's translation of the Táin Bó Cuailnge (p.30), Scáthach was also a prophetess; when Cúchulainn sought her out for training, he had to cross the uncrossable bridge and scale the unscalable yew tree where Scáthach was resting, then he pointed his sword at her heart and made her promise him three things: thoroughness in his training, a dowry for his marriage, and tidings of his future.

P.B. Ellis (in Irish Mythology, p.206) says that Scáthach taught Cúchulainn the famous battle leap, among several other skills, and also gave him the Gae Bolg (T.W. Rolleston, in Celtic Mythology, p. 187 translates this as "the belly spear"), which Cúchulainn would later use to kill his friend Ferdia, son of the Firbolg, Daman. Cúchulainn trained with Scáthach for a year and a day, later joining her in battle against her sister, Aoife (another famous female warrior), who was defeated only because of Cúchulainn's trickery. Afterwards, Aoife became Cúchulainn's lover and bore him a son, Connlaí.

Contributed by: Áine Mac Dermot

Sources:

The Tain Translated by Thomas Kinsella, ©1969 Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-281090-1.

The Dictionary of Irish Mythology by Peter Beresford Ellis, ©1987 Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-282871-1.

Celtic Mythology: History, Legends, & Deities by T.W. Holleston/Rolleston, ©1997 Newcastle Publishing. ISBN 0-87877-241-3.

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