extraction.celtic_irish.tain_bo_cualnge.setanta_cuchulain_naming
---
record_id: extraction.celtic_irish.tain_bo_cualnge.setanta_cuchulain_naming
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
passage_locator:
label: Culann's feast, the slaughter-hound, Setanta's vow, and the naming of Cuchulain
start: 3076
end: 3266
translation: Joseph Dunn, The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge
notes: Line numbers refer to the repository markdown source.
canonical_text:
summary: Culann invites Conchobar to a feast, but after Conchobar forgets the boy
Setanta and Culann releases his guard hound, Setanta kills the beast on arrival,
promises to replace it and guard Culann's holdings himself, and receives the name
Cuchulain.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Culann asks Conchobar to bring only a few true guests because his feast depends
on the work of his own hands.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Conchobar sees Setanta outplay and overpower thrice fifty boys on the green
at Emain.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Setanta refuses to leave before the games are done but promises to follow
the trail of the company to the feast.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Culann asks whether anyone is coming behind the king, and Conchobar forgets
Setanta before the bloodhound is released.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Setanta approaches playing with ball, club, and staff and kills the attacking
hound with the ball and by dashing it against a stone.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Culann laments the dog as the keeper of his honour, life, herds, and cattle.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Setanta offers judgment by rearing a pup of the same breed and acting as Culann's
hound until it is ready.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Cathba proposes that the deed should give Setanta the name Cuchulain, and
the new name remains with him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Setanta later Cuchulain
description: Boy hero whose prowess, reparation vow, and new public name all emerge
from the hound episode.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Culann the Smith
description: Smith and feast-host whose guard hound is killed and whose losses Setanta
promises to repair.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Conchobar
description: King invited to the feast who notices Setanta's prowess, invites him
along, and then forgets him when Culann asks if anyone follows.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Culann's watch-hound
description: The powerful guard dog from Spain that protects Culann's holding until
Setanta kills it.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Cathba
description: Figure who publicly proposes the name Cuchulain after Setanta's judgment.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: prodigious_child
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Setanta defeats thrice fifty boys in games and then kills the guard hound
when still only a little lad.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: surrogate_hound
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Setanta promises to act as Culann's hound until a pup of the same breed can
be reared.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:3
label: craftsman_host
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Culann stresses that the feast comes from his own craft and later mourns
the dog that guarded his goods and cattle.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: royal_inviter
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Conchobar invites Setanta to the feast and is responsible for the forgotten
guest when the hound is unleashed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: guardian_hound
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The hound guards the district and is described as overwhelmingly strong and
dangerous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: name_giver
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Cathba proposes that Setanta should take the name Cuchulain because of the
hound episode.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: feast invitation
literal_form: Culann's invitation to Conchobar to come with only a few true guests
to a craftsman's feast.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: Setanta's playthings
literal_form: the ball, club, and staff that Setanta carries and uses while travelling
to the feast.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: Culann's watch-hound
literal_form: the Spanish hound held by chains and released to guard the fort and
district.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: name Cuchulain
literal_form: the new name meaning Wolfhound of Culann, bestowed after Setanta's
deed and vow.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Invitation and delayed guest
summary: Culann invites Conchobar on strict guest terms, and Conchobar finds Setanta's
astonishing play before inviting him too.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: The hound is released
summary: Culann asks whether anyone follows the king; Conchobar forgets Setanta,
and the guard hound is loosed.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Setanta kills the hound
summary: Setanta reaches the fort, still at play, and kills the attacking hound
with his ball and his bare strength.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Judgment and renaming
summary: Culann laments his loss, Setanta vows to replace the guard function himself,
and Cathba names him Cuchulain.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: heroic_childhood_signs
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Setanta's prowess over thrice fifty boys and his killing of the guard hound
present him as extraordinarily marked in childhood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage stresses heroic precocity rather than miraculous birth or
divine parentage.
- id: motif:2
label: threshold_ordeal_with_new_name
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
basis: Setanta crosses the boundary to Culann's fort, survives the hound attack,
and emerges with a new public identity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The episode functions like an initiation but is not framed as a formal
rite in this text.
- id: motif:3
label: reparation_vow_of_service
taxonomy_refs:
- covenant
basis: Setanta answers the host's loss by binding himself to replace the hound's
service until a new one can be raised.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The vow repairs a social injury; the passage does not make the promise
explicitly sacred or ritually ratified.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: This passage is a strong Irish witness for a hero-naming pattern in which
an ordeal at a household boundary creates a new public identity.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural hero naming through ordeal records
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison concerns narrative function and public identity, not
shared historical origin.
- id: claim:2
claim: Setanta's promise to replace the slain hound can be compared cautiously with
stories of compensatory vows in which damage to a host is answered by self-binding
service.
claim_level: same_function
target: covenant and compensatory-vow comparisons
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
limitations: The promised service is concrete and local to Culann's household, so
broader analogy should remain narrow.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 3076-3082
quote_or_summary: the fruit of his two hands
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3088-3114
quote_or_summary: Conchobar sees Setanta defeating thrice fifty boys at goal, hurling,
hole-play, stripping games, and wrestling.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3115-3125
quote_or_summary: Conchobar invites Setanta as a guest to the feast, but the boy
says he will come later by following the horses' and chariots' trail.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 3147-3161
quote_or_summary: The power of hundreds is in him for strength.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3169-3190
quote_or_summary: Setanta comes to the fort with ball, club, and staff and kills
the attacking hound with the ball and against a pillar-stone.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 3192-3212
quote_or_summary: Culann says the slain dog had kept honour and life for him and
protected his herds, flocks, and cattle.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: lines 3213-3221
quote_or_summary: myself will be the hound
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 3257-3266
quote_or_summary: take the name Cuchulain
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The sequence from invitation to hound-killing, vow, and renaming is explicit;
motif links remain restrained.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Needs review for how strongly the naming episode should be read as initiation
and for terminology around compensatory vows.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Worker Tain extraction focused on threshold ordeal, compensatory vow, and deed-based
renaming.