Mugain, daughter of
Eochaid Feidlech, (
Irish: Mugain Etanchaitrech ingen Echach Feidlig) (sugg. pron. /Moógen Ait-en-hai-rech/ (Leahy)[1]; mod. pron. /MOO-in/[citation needed]), is a legendary queen in the
Ulster Cycle of
Irish mythology; characterized as the "Strumpet wife of
Conchobar mac Nessa",[2] the king of
Ulster. Also styled Mumain, she had a son with him named Glaisne.[3] She was also a sister of
Medb by paternity.
When
Cúchulainn returned to
Emain Macha after his first foray, his fury was so great the Ulstermen feared he would destroy them. Mugain led her maidens out, and they bared their
breasts in front of him. Cúchulainn averted his eyes, and the Ulstermen were able to wrestle him into a barrel of cold water, which exploded from the heat of his body.[7] They put him in a second barrel, and the water boiled; and finally a third barrel, which merely warmed up to a pleasant temperature.
Her affair with Áed, Conchobar's poet, led to the death of
Lóegaire Búadach.[8] The Ulstermen took her life, out of the love of her, though they seldom engaged in femicide.[9]
References
Footnotes
^Leahy, Courtship of Ferb, pronunciation guide, p.xxvi
^Mackillop, Dict. of Celtic Mythology, under "Mugin(2)"
^"The host of Emania, the host of Ulster, Have never committed woman-slaughter, Excepting in the case of Mughain, through love of her, And the hateful, but illustrious Medhbh." (The Banquet of Dun na n-Gedh, inserted verse, O'Donovan ed., p.213)
Leahy, A. H. tr., The courtship of Ferbe, (ills. by Caroline Watts), David Nutt, London 1902 pp. XXXII + 102, (p.xxvi pron. guide; appears in p. 12). From Windisch's tr.
books.google,
IArchive
Macgnimrada Conculainn "The boyhood deeds of Cú Chulainn" (this remscél is incorporated into
TBC proper)
Kinsella, tr., chapter headed "Cúchulainn's Boyhood Deeds", The Táin (1969), pp. 76–92; (Mugain appears on p. 92)
Aided Loegairi
Meyer, Kuno, ed., tr. "The Death of Lóegaire Búadach" in: The Death-Tales of the Ulster Heroes,Todd Lecture Series 14 (1906)
Secondary Sources
Thurneysen, R., Irische Helden- und Konigsage (Halle, 1921), p. 93