batch.motif.celtic-irish-tain-bo-cualnge-dunn-gutenberg-l13085-l13141
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-tain-bo-cualnge-dunn-gutenberg-l13085-l13141
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
passage_locator:
label: HERE FOLLOWETH ILIACH'S CLUMP-FIGHT / HERE NOW THE DEER-STALKING OF AMARGIN
IN TALTIU / THE ADVENTURES OF CUROI SON OF DARE FOLLOW NOW / THE REPEATED WARNING
OF SUALTAIM; lines 13085-13141
start: '13085'
end: '13141'
translation: The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: '"Men are slain, women stolen, cattle lifted, ye men of Ulster!"'
summary: Sualtaim leaves angrily, is killed when his shield severs his head, and
his horse returns to Emain carrying the shield and severed head. The head repeats
a warning to the men of Ulster. Conchobar answers with a vow to restore the stolen
women and cattle unless cosmic disasters overturn the world, then sends Findchad
Ferbenduma to summon the Ulstermen.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Sualtaim departs indignantly because the men of Ulster have not given him
a satisfactory answer.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Liath of Macha rears under Sualtaim and rushes to the ramparts of Emain.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Sualtaim falls under his own shield, and the scalloped edge of the shield
severs his head; a variant note says he may have fallen from a stone onto the
shield after awaking.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The horse returns to Emain carrying the shield and the severed head.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Sualtaim's head speaks the same warning about men slain, women stolen, and
cattle lifted.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Conchobar replies that the cry is very grave and names sky, earth, and sea
as remaining in place.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Conchobar vows to restore every cow and woman to her dwelling place unless
heavenly, earthly, or oceanic catastrophes occur.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: Conchobar summons Findchad Ferbenduma and orders him to assemble and muster
the men of Ulster.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: Conchobar gives this order while in the drunkenness of sleep and of his Pains.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Sualtaim
description: A man who leaves the Ulstermen angrily, is killed by his own shield,
and whose severed head speaks a warning.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Liath of Macha
description: The roan horse under Sualtaim that rears, runs to Emain, and returns
carrying the shield and head.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Conchobar
description: Leader who hears the warning, vows restoration, and sends Findchad
to muster the men of Ulster.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Findchad Ferbenduma
description: A runner of Conchobar's body-guard, called 'he of the copper Horn,'
son of Fraech Lethan, sent to summon the men of Ulster.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Men of Ulster
description: The group addressed by Sualtaim's head and ordered to be assembled
and mustered.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: failed messenger
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Sualtaim has sought an answer from the men of Ulster and leaves angry when
he does not receive one that serves him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: severed warning-speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: After Sualtaim's head is severed, the head speaks a warning to the men of
Ulster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: returning horse-bearer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The horse returns to Emain with the shield and head.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:4
label: vowing commander
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Conchobar vows to restore the stolen women and cattle and orders a muster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: summoned runner
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Findchad is described as a runner of Conchobar's body-guard and is sent to
assemble the men of Ulster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: summoned host
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The men of Ulster are addressed by the warning and are to be mustered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: severed speaking head
literal_form: Sualtaim's severed head speaking a warning from the shield
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: shield as death-instrument and bearer
literal_form: Sualtaim's own shield, whose scalloped edge severs his head and later
carries the head on the horse
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: returning horse
literal_form: Liath of Macha returning to Emain with shield and head
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: cosmic boundaries in oath
literal_form: sky above, earth underneath, and sea around; falling heavens, quaking
ground, and ocean over the earth
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sualtaim's fatal fall
summary: Sualtaim departs angrily; Liath of Macha rears and rushes to Emain; Sualtaim
falls under his shield, which severs his head.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: The head's repeated warning
summary: The horse returns to Emain carrying the shield and Sualtaim's head, and
the head warns that men are slain, women stolen, and cattle lifted.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Conchobar's cosmic vow and muster order
summary: Conchobar responds to the warning by affirming the world's cosmic order,
vowing restoration unless the cosmos is overturned, and sending Findchad to muster
Ulster.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: severed head that continues to speak
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Sualtaim is decapitated by his shield, and afterward his head speaks the
warning to the men of Ulster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy list supplied does not include a specific severed-head or
talking-head motif family.
- id: motif:2
label: animal returns bearing proof of death
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Liath of Macha returns to Emain carrying Sualtaim's shield and head.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage gives the horse's action but does not explicitly interpret
it as a proof-of-death token.
- id: motif:3
label: heroic vow framed by cosmic catastrophe
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
basis: Conchobar vows restoration unless the heavens fall, the ground bursts open,
or the ocean breaks over the earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The cosmic imagery appears in a rhetorical vow rather than as an enacted
mythic destruction.
- id: motif:4
label: summoning of a warrior host after warning
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: After the severed head's warning, Conchobar sends Findchad to assemble and
muster the men of Ulster.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a narrative action pattern rather than a specialized mythological
taxonomy item.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 13085-13087
quote_or_summary: Sualtaim goes away indignant and angry because he has not received
a useful answer from the men of Ulster.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 13087-13089
quote_or_summary: Liath of Macha rears under Sualtaim and dashes to the ramparts
of Emain.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 13089-13095
quote_or_summary: Sualtaim falls under his own shield; the shield's scalloped edge
severs his head. A variant says he fell from a stone onto the shield after awaking.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 13103-13104
quote_or_summary: The horse turns back to Emain with the shield on the horse and
the head on the shield.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 13104-13106
quote_or_summary: '"Men are slain, women stolen, cattle lifted, ye men of Ulster!"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 13108-13111
quote_or_summary: Conchobar says the cry is very great, since the sky is still above,
the earth beneath, and the sea around them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 13111-13117
quote_or_summary: Conchobar says he will restore every cow and woman unless the
heavens fall with stars, the ground bursts open in quakes, or the ocean breaks
over the earth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 13122-13125
quote_or_summary: Conchobar summons Findchad Ferbenduma, a runner of his body-guard,
and orders him to assemble and muster the men of Ulster.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 13125-13127
quote_or_summary: Conchobar enumerates the living and dead in the drunkenness of
sleep and of his Pains.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is explicit about the death, speaking head, vow, and muster.
Motif labels are descriptive because the supplied taxonomy lacks close matches
for the speaking severed head and returning horse patterns.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not support a specific cross-textual or historical comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-tain-bo-cualnge-dunn-gutenberg__l13085-l13141
passage_sha256=e92c9a5c6b4f0e1d71769627127efc9861348967ec2e9c80fb135a8d22dcc83b