Tirza Schaefer: Romance Author & Goddess Facilitator

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Cuchulainn is a hero in a story in a medieval collection, called the Ulster cycle. In this tale, he meets the Morrigan while she steals a heifer away from his land. Cuchulainn doesn’t recognise her, however. Enraged, he insults her, and she flies away as a black bird to a nearby tree. That’s when our hero realises who she is and tries to make amends. When she tells him, that his actions would have brought him bad luck, his pride is roused, and he insists that she cannot harm him.

Obviously, a Goddess is the greater power and the Morrigan tells him about a battle in which he will die. They argue, she tells him what she will do to him, and he retaliates with threats of how he will defend himself and overcome her if she doesn’t let him be. The entire exchange is quite gory, full of lethal violence.

The Morrigan is mysterious and seductive. She commands ruin, prosperity, death and fate. A mighty protectress, she nurtures the land, its stock, military security and guides its people. She is also a shapeshifter, and when needed by her people, she appears in one of her many forms of disguise to come to their aid and intervene in human affairs.

In a later story, during a battle about some cattle, Cuchulainn meets the Morrigan again while defending his land from Queen Maeve who had a long-standing competition with her husband about who had the most wealth. One thing the queen didn’t have which her husband did was a prized bull. Thus, she was eager to acquire one by forceful means after offering to buy it from Cuchulainn. He refused three times, so the queen decided to use her military might to steal it from him.

Usually, the military of Ulster would rally to defend their homeland against an invading army. But because their leader, Cuchulainn had disrespected the queen, she had cursed him. This resulted in the soldiers being afflicted with an eleven-day illness that rendered them unable to raise to arms. The only one unaffected was Cuchulainn because he was the son of a god. With his best friend and charioteer, he met the invading army at a bridge they wanted to cross into Ulster and challenged them to single combat to stall their advance. This also sidelined his friend who was, therefore, unable to aid him in his endeavours. The queen was impressed by his bold move and offered the hand of her only daughter to the soldier who would best Cuchulainn in combat, as she had to accept the challenge, as honour demanded.

Cuchulainn defeated one man after another for weeks and months, thus giving Ulster time to prepare for invasion. His efforts got notice by none other than the Morrigan, for nothing was as beautiful to the Morrigan as courage and skill in combat, making it simply irresistible to her when those skills were used in the defence of her own realm. She fell deeply in love with the undefeated warrior. She took on the form of a beautiful princess and offered herself to the hero, but as he was busy fighting the enemy, he turned her down.

However, this rejection enraged the Morrigan. She wanted revenge for the slight. So she turned into an eel and tried to trip him as he crossed a river. But Cuchulainn struck the eel and broke its ribs instead. Next, she turned into a wolf, driving a herd of cows towards the hero to have him stampeded to death. But Cuchulainn used his sling to take out one eye of the wolf to stop him. Then the Morrigan turned into a mighty cow at the head of the stampede. But Cuchulainn evaded her and broke her leg with a shot of his sling.

The Morrigan was forced to retreat and reconsider her tactics because she wasn’t dealing with an ordinary human. Then she appeared to him in a vision in his sleep, taking the form of an old woman washing his bloody armour in a river. Upon waking, Cuchulainn made his way back to the battlefield. On his way, he met three old women, again, the Morrigan in disguise, who offered him breakfast. But the meat was cursed. One of the old women foretold him that the first three spears he threw would kill three kings on this day. But, due to the curse, as he ate, his strength was ebbing away.

Remembering the prophecy, he threw his spear at his first enemy which killed him instantly. But another soldier ripped the spear from his fallen comrade’s body and threw it at Cuchulainn. However, the Morrigan felt he hadn’t suffered enough and redirected the spear’s path of flight over his shoulder and right into his best friend Leag’s heart. Thus, a king of the charioteers died, and the first part of the prophecy was fulfilled.

Enraged, Cuchulainn threw his second spear and again, he struck an enemy soldier. Again, another threw the spear back at him. Again, the Morrigan redirected its flight and ensured that it struck the hero’s horse. Thus, a king amongst horses had died, fulfilling the second part of the prophecy. Being too distraught over the death of his beloved horse to think clearly and learn his lesson, Cuchulainn threw his third spear, missing completely. Again, an enemy soldier threw it back at him which finally hit its target. A king amongst men, Cuchulainn died, the prophecy was fulfilled and the Morrigan had her revenge.

Not being able to bear dying on the ground, Cuchulainn tied himself upright to a rock and as he was close to death, the Morrigan, in form of a crow, landed on his shoulder. Finally, he realised that the beautiful princess, the animals and the three old women had all been the goddess, he died with a bitter laugh on his lips while the black crow cawed, celebrating her victory and warning all of ill fate who dared cross her.

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There are many more stories inspired by the Morrigan that have been recorded or passed on orally over the ages. The moral of all the stories, however, is the same. When you see a black raven or crow, you had better show some respect. And when you come across other people, you might want to consider your behaviour towards them. You never know when fate turns around to bite you in the behind.

As you can see from this tale, the Morrigan not only has an aspect of death, war and destruction, but additionally of sexual attractiveness, which also associates her with fertility. Her talents are many. Prophecy, spellcasting, shapeshifting to name but a few. She may also be the origin of the banshee or bean sidhe, a fairy that appears later in Irish and Scottish mythology. She appears as an old woman with long white hair, although she is hardly ever seen, and foretells death to a family by a long wailing cry that is heard clearly, but usually, she is never seen.

The washer woman, sometimes a young, sometimes an old woman, is another of her manifestations. The person whose blood-stained clothes she washes, or clothes in a river of the colour of blood, is thought to be in immediate danger.