#cu chulainn/fer diad

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

sometimes i think i'm okay about láeg/lóeg literally meaning "calf" but figuratively being a term of endearment meaning "beloved" or "favourite" and i'm like. that's fine. totally okay for him to be called that. i'm normal about it.

and then i consider that in cú chulainn's lament for fer diad when he directly address fer diad as "beloved", that is the word he uses. a lóeg.

and on the same page: a lóeg, a phopa láeg, help me cut the gae bolga out of him, take this message for me, be there with me, be the only person i trust in this moment when i am falling apart,

and his name is fucking beloved

and fer diad is beloved and fer diad is fucking dead and láeg is fucking culpable because he helped and i don't even know where i'm going with this it's just something about being loved as an act of violence i think. beloved as a weapon. a bloody favourite and a mirror and a double and

[finnlongman]

Dá scaraind gan troit is tú, gidar comaltai, a cháemChú, bud olc mo briathar is mo blad ic Ailill is ac Meidb Chrúachan Should I part from you without a fight, O gentle Hound, though we are fosterbrothers, my word and my name would be held in ill esteem by Ailill and Medb of Crúachu.

(TBC LL, ll. 3207-3210)

A cháemChú.

Hard to gauge for sure whether it was intended as a compound in the manuscript, since the Book of Leinster isn't big on word-breaks, but if it were a regular adjective, it would come after the noun, so I guess whacking it on the front like that -- while probably for metrical/rhyme reasons -- does have that effect.

Cool, well, I'm fine about that.

[incorrect-ulster-cycle]

Cú Chulainn: I had seven dads and two moms and I turned out fine

Fer Diad: seven what now?

[riseupriseupandcomealong]

i love to be normal about the táin bó cúailnge

[sissiarte]

Cú Chulainn and the three people who want to be buried with him :) I'm very happy that I'm finally settling their designs !!!!!!

[revisionlightning]

Art of Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad. I couldn't decide on a bg so have both.

[riastrad]

Medb: Could you do me a favor and kill your boyfriend?

Fer Diad: No.

Medb: please

Fer Diad: No.

Medb: I’ll let you marry my daughter.

Fer Diad: what exactly about the whole boyfriend thing makes you think I’m into women

Medb:

Medb: Cú Chulainn called you a pussy ass bitch and said he didn’t think you had the balls to fight him.

Fer Diad: I am going to end him

[isathetiefling]

"They were brothers of one blanket" and "Loeg needs to help him prepare his special weapon" are two quotes that only make sense in Celtic lit class

[an-ruraiocht]

oh yeah i wasn't really suggesting anyone should like. write fanfic of coimheasgar na gcuradh. although that would be funny. i just like to take details from different texts and smush them together to make the worst of all worlds :) :)

shipping cú chulainn/fer diad but specifically from the eighteenth century text that has fer diad being twenty years older than cú chulainn, because i want to watch the world burn (think it's funny when discourse mongers get mad about things that are absolutely not the main issue here)

[aliaoftheknives]

ff loves to name a bunch of its weapons after weapons of mythological legend which every game since the beginning of time has done this but it's often very funny because it'll be like ah the storied spear Gae Bolg, whose name means Spear of Mortal Pain, with which the great Cu Chulainn struck down his brother Fer Diad. It's from the base game released in 2013 and is a level 50 weapon now only acquired for fashion purposes

[wesley-de-cornualles]

He could have cut off my arm, my leg, and still I would mourn Fer Diad of the steeds, who was part of me, and breathes no more.

Cú Chulainn to Láeg, The Táin, trans. Ciaran Carson

[finnlongman]

At some point I really do need to write that article that both highlights the flaws in O'Donnell's anti-homoerotic argument and argues with Sheehan about what makes CFD homoerotic.

Every time I reread O'Donnell's book, I'm struck by how he presents his argument only by shutting down the possibility of an alternative reading. I realise why he does that, contextually, but I think it does nobody any good to pretend that multiple readings (normative and queer alike) can't coexist. "This is not homoerotic." This is not necessarily homoerotic. That doesn't mean the possibility for homoeroticism is non-existent, and that's a tension I wish people in this field were readier to acknowledge.

It's also reductive to assume that everybody exploring queer possibilities is operating "within a critical lens in which all love is sexual", or to use the term "sexual reading" as though it's synonymous with "queer reading" or "homoerotic reading". After all, not all queer love is inherently sexual, although that is often an important facet of it; when I suggest a queer reading I'm by no means automatically assuming that everybody involved is banging.

As I've said before on my blog, a queer reading is about opening up new possibilities and new ways of exploring texts, free from the limitation of assuming everybody in the story is cishet or conforms to modern expectations of gender and sexuality. It's about looking at how gender and sexuality and affection are constructed within that cultural and literary context, and how certain elements of a narrative transgress, undermine, or question those norms -- not about ignoring context or making claims about authorial intention or believing you've stumbled upon the secret, sole truth about a story.

As such, I don't think there's anything incompatible about Sheehan's reading of the scene as homoerotic, and O'Donnell's reading of it as normative affection between foster brothers. Those two readings can -- and should -- exist alongside each other as different layers and lenses.

At the same time, I have serious problems with building a homoerotic reading only on the foundation laid by the gae bolga and the manner of Fer Diad's death -- equating homoerotic tensions with an act of grotesque violence. While I don't deny that that can be a starting point, I don't think it's the end of the story, and I'd like to focus more on other elements, as I think that's been overly dominant in discussions to date.

I'd also like to incorporate Fer Diad's poem from Stowe, the 'leth mo chroidhe' verse and the part where he expresses a desire to be buried with Cú Chulainn, because I think those contribute usefully to the discussion here, but are usually left out, because most discussions don't include Stowe.

But I am quite busy and tired and I don't know if now is the right time in my career to write an article that's basically arguing with everyone, so I guess this will remain on my to-write list forever, and never get written.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

sorry i spent like an hour straight reading this poem over and over again this evening and. what do you mean fer diad says he's going to kill himself if cú chulainn dies because of him. what do you mean he says that and then also says he'll kill medb and her whole army for making him do it. what do you mean he asks to be buried in cú chulainn's grave. and then what do you mean he says all that and ends the poem like "anyway tell cú chulainn scáthach always said he would kill me" jesus CHRIST

i'm trying to memorise the feidm as mo poem from the stowe tain and i'm also trying to record my voice so i can see how it changes on T so guess what incredibly on-brand series of videos i'm now making

[incorrect-ulster-cycle]

Cú Chulainn: You want what I have.

Fer Diad: A stupid name and a death wish?

[riseupriseupandcomealong]

definitely one of the more cursed táin memes i’ve made

[sissiarte]

THEY ARE HERE!!! I'm very excited to finally share the full designs hope you guys like them <3

These are only like a base, they'll wear more layers on top and have more weapons and armor some times (and like, wear other clothes) but I wanted to have at least one reference for myself that I can use and later on work on top of and give them more outfits (playing dolls with them basically)

I had a lot of thought behind the designs so if you're interested, there's an infodump below the cut. It's very long and messy so read at your own risk

I tried to have some sort of historical accuracy (even if it's a fictional story and the exact time period when it happens is ??) mainly bc I'm tired of how celts are portrayed in media (they wore tacky colors please stop with the grey brown leathers fur), and a bit bc I'm a nerd and I can't do anything if I don't do some research before.

On the other hand I wanted to make good character designs that told things about the characters and stuff, so I had to juggle a bit both things. Plus there's not much variation in clothing styles, so I had to do what I could.

I wanted to use colors, jewelery and styles to group or distinguish the characters. So Láeg and Emer wear a very similar color palette, Cú Chulainn has some blue in his mainly red outfit (and also the under tunic thing resembles Emer's) and Ferdia has some red in his mainly blue one.

Láeg and Cú Chulainn wear the same kind of thing, but I gave Cú Chulainn more layers in reference to the 34683 shirts thing. I went no pants wider belt for Ferdia bc honestly I didn't know how else to make a clear distinction as "this one character is from a different place", there's only so much you can do with the few styles there are.

Jewelery choices! This was a lot bc I really like torcs and I wanted to use them again to give Ulster characters and Connacht characters different kinds of torcs. My first instinct was to give Connacht those very heavy ones that have rings at the ends, but then I did some research and those were only found in england so. Then I went to look what kind of torcs were found in each place and I found that they were the same!!! Obviously!!! Bc they are next to eachother!!!

So I took creative choices and as I found some bracelets in Ulster that looked like torcs I went okay those done (plus they are way easier to draw) And I gave Ferdia the spirally one and Cú Chulainn the "bracelet" one. Plus gave a matching bracelet to Láeg. Emer wears a lunula bc her father is described as wearing one in The Hound of Ulster and I liked it.

(some pics for reference: from left to right the torc Ferdia wears, the bracelet Láeg wears and from were I based Cú Chulainn's torc, and the lunula Emer wears)

Also important, the headpiece Láeg wears. I used to draw Cú Chulainn with a similar one just because I liked it, but then after reading I liked that Láeg is the only one wearing it. At first I was going to give Emer a similar one but in the end decided against it to make it exclusive to Láeg and to not give her more jewelery than to Ferdia. I wanted Ferdia to wear a lot and be like, more stylish I guess bc I feel he cares about that stuff (I mean part of the bribe to fight Cú Chulainn was a brooch so)

And I think that's it! Sorry it was a lot hfasjkd but I wanted to share it. If there's something I have missed and you're curious to know about feel free to ask! I might have a long ass answer like this or it might be just because XD And if you have comments or opinions they are also welcome! I'm no expert or anything (just a big nerd) so I apreciate any insight.

And if you've gotten this far thank you for reading my yapping <3