Originally Posted by
Delurker
To add to this, there is a specific story in the Ulster Cycle, called The Drunkenness of the Ulstermen in English, that deals with Cu giving up his potential claims to being king over all of Ulster to Conchobar in order to finally unify Ulster (which had been divided into three parts) and end a ploy by some of the Tuatha who wished to ruin the grip that humans had on Ireland. Of course, Cu gave criteria before yielding his claims to Conchobar (i.e. make the lands prosper and keep them safe and stable for a year, or it’s not a deal), but Conchobar met those criteria, and Cu didn’t seem that surprised that he was able to. But it’s doubtful Cu maintained that steady opinion of Conchobar after some of the things he did, like how he handled the Deirdre affair—which, in an expanded version of that story, Cu was involved with, but not as someone who supported Conchobar. (Some history books, by the way, still refer to Cu as the King of Dundalk, or rather, the king of the area that became modern-day Dundalk.)
I guess a few other things to note are some versions of the Tain where Medb told Fergus she planned to install Cu as a puppet king in Ulster once she disposed of Conchobar (probably inspiration for Chapter 5), as well as Cu raising and teaching Lugaid Riab nDerg, Medb’s nephew, how to be a good High King. That latter detail is particularly important in the wider context of Irish culture and history because, despite what the Stone of Destiny said, each generation after Lugaid saw a High King all the way down to Conn of the Hundred Battles, who was essentially the forefather to all of Ireland’s kings thereafter. Some of those descendants, like Conn himself in some accounts, were helped by Cu, either directly when he interacted with them as a spirit or through his weapons, as was the case with Cormac. Furthermore, Cu’s criteria for Lugaid when he was offered the position of High King became a part of the creeds that later Irish kings (and even some Catholic missionaries) agreed to abide by when they accepted their offices.
If Gilgamesh is aware of these things, he may be really irritated at Cu for knowing how to be a good ruler, and yet, Cu shirked that responsibility and advised others how to do it instead—or, in the case of Conchobar’s failings and letting Medb go, he didn’t step up when there were clearly problems and enabled bad rulers to make even more bad decisions.
… I think I should add that yeah, Fionn is regarded as the King of the Fianna in Irish history and culture, but not just because he had lands to his name or loyal troops under his command. The term “fianna” was used well before Fionn’s time to refer to groups of warriors, which could be either all men or all women, who banded together to avenge some injustice. But under Fionn, the term took on a larger cultural meaning. See, there are accounts of him being a rival to Conn of the Hundred Battles because, among other things, Conn ruled in ways that moved Ireland away from its traditions whereas Fionn and his band upheld old Irish customs and lifestyles. This detail has much to do with the portrayal of Fionn being a king under the mountain archetype and his Fianna being the defenders of Ireland: they protect its ancient ways from both physical and cultural threats. It’s a direct antithesis to Cu’s significance, which is that of a critical perspective on the pros and cons of Irish culture and intermingling new ideas with old ones (e.g. claims that Cu “was a Celt and yet not a Celt”, his involvement with St. Patrick’s missionary work, etc.).
Writing this really makes me wish TM would treat Fionn better—or I should say, take him seriously or just cut him out—and that they’d get into the nitty-gritty of Cu’s character, which seems to me they’ve only now begun to touch upon with Medb’s inclusion and the things he talks about as Alter. The thing with Scathach is just… why? There are plenty of tragic relationships in Cu’s story for them to use if the folks at TM want tragedy in addition to impactful storytelling. They don’t need to make (bad) ideas up.
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