batch.motif.celtic-irish-tain-bo-cualnge-dunn-gutenberg-l15342-l15479
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-tain-bo-cualnge-dunn-gutenberg-l15342-l15479
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
passage_locator:
label: HERE NOW THE DEER-STALKING OF AMARGIN IN TALTIU / THE ADVENTURES OF CUROI
SON OF DARE FOLLOW NOW / THE REPEATED WARNING OF SUALTAIM / XXVII; lines 15342-15479
start: '15342'
end: '15479'
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: ''
summary: Cuchulain, still wounded, learns from Laeg that the hosts have advanced.
Prevented from battle, he enters a twisting fit, bursts his bindings, and bleeds
heavily. The narrative explains that fairy-folk carried his cast-off wound dressings
to distant named places. Cuchulain kills two women sent by Medb to provoke his
wounds with false lamentation, then carries his chariot and attacks the men of
Erin. He confronts Fergus, invokes Fergus's earlier promise to flee before him
when he is wounded, and Fergus withdraws; Fergus's retreat causes wider flight
among the forces, and by sunset Medb and the last Connacht company flee westward.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Cuchulain asks Laeg how far the hosts have advanced, and Laeg answers that
they have come to Garech.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Cuchulain orders his attendant to unloose the bands and predicts bloodshed
and sword-feats.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Because Cuchulain had been prevented from entering battle, his twisting fit
comes upon him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Twenty-seven skin tunics are associated with Cuchulain's battle-binding, and
he springs so powerfully that bindings, bracings, supports, pins, and wound-stuffing
fly away to named places or into the air.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Cuchulain's wounds bleed so heavily that ditches and furrows are filled with
streams of blood and torrents of gore.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The passage says some narrators attribute the scattered objects to Cuchulain's
strength, but rejects this and attributes them to his fairy-folk friends, who
moved them to make his history famous and to explain place-names.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Cuchulain kills the two women lampoonists Fethan and Collach, who had been
sent by Medb to perform false lamentation over him so that his wounds would burst
open and to tell him false or provocative battle news.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Cuchulain's arms are not near him except for his chariot; he carries the chariot
on his back and uses it to strike the men of Erin until he reaches Fergus.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Cuchulain calls Fergus his master and reminds him of a promise to flee before
Cuchulain when Cuchulain is wounded in the battle of the Tain.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Fergus acknowledges the promise and retreats from Cuchulain.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: Fergus's retreat is followed by the retreat of his company, the Leinstermen,
the men of Munster, and then all the men of Erin.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: At sunset, Medb and the last company of the men of Connacht flee westward
over the hill.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Cuchulain son of Sualtaim
description: A wounded Ulster hero who enters a twisting fit, breaks his bindings,
kills the two false lamenters, carries his chariot, attacks the men of Erin, and
compels Fergus to withdraw by invoking a prior promise.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Laeg
description: Cuchulain's interlocutor who reports that the hosts have come to Garech.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Fairy-folk
description: Cuchulain's powerful friends, said to have carried his cast-off wound
dressings and supports to named places to make his history famous.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Fethan and Collach
description: Two women lampoonists sent by Medb to make a pretended lamentation
over Cuchulain and provoke his wounds; Cuchulain kills them.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Medb
description: The opposing queen who sends the two women lampoonists and later flees
with the last company of the men of Connacht.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Fergus macRoig
description: Cuchulain's master and pledged opponent; he acknowledges his promise
and retreats from Cuchulain.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Men of Erin
description: The assembled hostile forces whom Cuchulain attacks and who turn in
flight after Fergus withdraws.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Men of Connacht
description: Forces around whom the battle continues after the wider rout; their
last company flees with Medb at sunset.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Ailill
description: Named with his division among the Connacht forces around whom the battle
rages.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Mane
description: Named with their divisions among the Connacht forces around whom the
battle rages.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: mac Magach
description: Named with their divisions among the Connacht forces around whom the
battle rages.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: wounded returning warrior
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Cuchulain rises from weakness, is pierced with wounds, re-enters action,
and turns the battle.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: fosterling invoking obligation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Cuchulain identifies himself as Fergus's fosterling and invokes Fergus's
promise to flee before him when wounded.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: scout or charioteer-informant
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Laeg answers Cuchulain's question about the hosts' advance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: supernatural helpers and place-name agents
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The fairy-folk are credited with carrying Cuchulain's cast-off objects to
named places to make his history famous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: deceptive lamenters
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Fethan and Collach perform a pretended lamentation intended to worsen Cuchulain's
wounds and mislead or distress him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: opposing commander
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Medb sends the lampoonists and later flees with the last company of Connacht.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: pledged foster-master opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Fergus is called Cuchulain's master and acknowledges his promise to withdraw
before the wounded Cuchulain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: routed opposing forces
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: The passage describes the men of Erin turning in flight, and the remaining
Connacht forces fleeing by sunset.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: wound bindings and cast-off supports
literal_form: skin tunics, bindings, bracings, supports, pins, and dry wisps from
Cuchulain's wounds
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: blood and gore from wounds
literal_form: streams of blood and torrents of gore filling ditches and furrows
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: chariot used as carried weapon
literal_form: Cuchulain's chariot, with frame and two axle-trees, carried on his
back and used to strike enemies
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: named places from scattered objects
literal_form: Mag Tuag, Bacca, Rath Cinn Bara, and Rath Clo, explained through the
flight or placement of Cuchulain's battle dressings and supports
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: false lamentation
literal_form: pretended weeping and wailing over Cuchulain's head
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Cuchulain learns the host's position
summary: Cuchulain asks Laeg where the hosts are; Laeg says they have reached Garech,
and Cuchulain orders his bands loosened while predicting slaughter.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: The twisting fit and bursting of bindings
summary: Cuchulain's battle-frenzy comes upon him; his garments and wound supports
fly away to named places or into the air, and his wounds bleed heavily.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Fairy-folk explain the place-names
summary: The narrative rejects the explanation that Cuchulain's physical strength
alone scattered the objects, saying instead that his fairy-folk friends moved
them to make his story famous and to provide names for the places.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Killing of the false lamenters
summary: Cuchulain kills Fethan and Collach, who had been sent by Medb to feign
lamentation over him and aggravate his wounds.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Cuchulain attacks with his chariot
summary: With no arms near him except his chariot, Cuchulain carries it on his back
and strikes the men of Erin until he reaches Fergus.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Challenge to Fergus and fulfillment of promise
summary: Cuchulain addresses Fergus with threats, identifies himself as Fergus's
fosterling, reminds him of a prior promise to flee before him when he is wounded,
and Fergus acknowledges the obligation.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:7
label: Rout of the opposing forces
summary: Fergus withdraws with his followers, the Leinstermen and men of Munster
follow, and all the men of Erin turn; later the Connacht forces, including Medb's
last company, flee westward by sunset.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wounded hero rises and turns the battle
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: After weakness and severe wounds, Cuchulain re-enters action, attacks the
opposing forces, compels Fergus to withdraw, and contributes to the rout.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy label 'return' is used cautiously; the passage presents a
return to battle from weakness, not a full journey-return pattern.
- id: motif:2
label: battle frenzy or twisting fit of the hero
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Cuchulain's prevented entry into battle triggers a twisting fit accompanied
by extraordinary physical force and uncontrolled bleeding.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage names the fit but does not explicitly frame it as transformation
into another being.
- id: motif:3
label: supernatural etiological place-naming
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage explains several place-names through the fairy-folk's movement
of Cuchulain's wound bindings and supports to those locations.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly matches etiological place-name
legend.
- id: motif:4
label: deceptive lamentation used as hostile tactic
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: Medb sends two women to feign mourning over Cuchulain so that his wounds
may burst and to deliver distressing battle news.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy reference is only approximate; the passage shows
deception and ritualized speech but does not identify the women as tricksters.
- id: motif:5
label: reciprocal martial promise between foster-relations
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Cuchulain reminds Fergus that he previously fled before Fergus and that Fergus
promised to flee before him when Cuchulain was wounded; Fergus accepts and withdraws.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage supports the promise and foster relation, but not a broader
taxonomy category.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 15342-15351
quote_or_summary: Cuchulain asks Laeg how far the hosts have advanced; Laeg says
they have come to Garech; Cuchulain orders his bands loosened and predicts bloodshed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 15352-15369
quote_or_summary: Cuchulain's twisting fit comes upon him; twenty-seven skin tunics
and wound supports are described; his spring scatters bindings and dressings to
named places and into the air; his wounds fill ditches and furrows with blood
and gore.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 15370-15375
quote_or_summary: The passage reports that some narrators attributed the scattered
objects to Cuchulain's strength, but says instead that fairy-folk friends brought
them to those places to make his history famous and explain the place-names.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 15376-15385
quote_or_summary: Cuchulain kills the two women lampoonists Fethan and Collach;
they had come from Medb to feign lamentation over him so that his wounds might
burst and to report Ulster defeat and Fergus's fall.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 15386-15391
quote_or_summary: Cuchulain's arms are absent except for his chariot; he carries
the chariot on his back and strikes the men of Erin with it until he reaches Fergus.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 15392-15422
quote_or_summary: Cuchulain calls on Fergus to turn, threatens him, identifies himself
as Fergus's fosterling, and reminds him of a promise to flee before Cuchulain
when Cuchulain is wounded in the battle of the Tain.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 15423-15433
quote_or_summary: Fergus acknowledges the promise, turns in flight from Cuchulain,
and his company and allied groups follow, after which all the men of Erin turn.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 15434-15479
quote_or_summary: The men of Erin break westward over the hill; the battle continues
around Connacht leaders and divisions; at sunset Medb and the last Connacht company
flee westward.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/tain-bo-cualnge-dunn.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal extraction is well supported by the supplied passage. Motif labels
are candidates and should be reviewed, especially where available taxonomy references
are only approximate. No external comparison claims were made.
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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. Taxonomy references were limited to the available lists and omitted where no clear match was supported.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-tain-bo-cualnge-dunn-gutenberg__l15342-l15479
passage_sha256=3866b7dd9344ddb9810cf1508154cd4095ba091b552a704ad548d51eddedf7a3