Editing Connla (section)

==Story==

Connla was the son of Cú Chulainn and Aífe Ardgeimm, identified in this text as the sister of his teacher [[Scáthach]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meyer|first=Kuno|date=1904|title=The Death of Conla|url=http://archive.org/stream/riujournalschoo02acadgoog#page/n134/mode/2up|journal=Ériu|volume=1|pages=113–121|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Leaving to return to Ireland, Cú Chulainn gives Aífe a token, a gold thumb-ring, telling her that when his son is old enough to wear it, he should be sent to Ireland. However, he imposes three ''[[geis|geasa]]'' or prohibitions on him. Connla cannot turn back once he starts his journey, he must not refuse a challenge, and must never tell anyone his name.

Connla comes ashore at Tracht Eisi, where he practises his martial feats. The Ulaid, observing these, recognise his skill as a warrior, and [[Conchobar mac Nessa|Conchobar]] observes that any land which produces young boys of such skill must be home to warriors who would 'pound [the Ulaid] to dust'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gantz|first=Jeffrey|title=Early Irish Myths and Sagas|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1981|isbn=9780140443974|pages=149}}</ref> They send Condere son of Echu to encounter him, and Condere asks Connla for his name and lineage, which he refuses to give. Condere then welcomes Connla, complimenting his skill as a warrior and inviting him to meet the Ulaid. But Connla only asks whether the Ulaid would like to fight him in single combat, or as a group, telling Condere that he is not worth fighting.

Condere returns to the Ulaid, and [[Conall Cernach]] goes out to meet Connla, saying, "The Ulaid will not be shamed while I am alive."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gantz|first=Jeffrey|title=Early Irish Myths and Sagas|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1981|isbn=9780140443974|pages=150}}</ref> Connla strikes Conall with a stone from his slingshot that knocks him off his feet, and then disarms him. Conall returns shamed to the rest of the Ulaid.

Cú Chulainn then approaches Connla, but Emer, his wife, warns him not to fight him, identifying the boy as "Conla, the only son of Aífe".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meyer|first=Kuno|date=1904|title=The Death of Conla|url=http://archive.org/stream/riujournalschoo02acadgoog#page/n134/mode/2up|journal=Ériu|volume=1|pages=119|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Cú Chulainn rebukes her, saying that heroic deeds "are not performed with a woman's assistance", and that for the sake of the Ulaid, he would fight any intruder no matter who they were.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gantz|first=Jeffrey|title=Early Irish Myths and Sagas|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1981|isbn=9780140443974|pages=150–151}}</ref> He asks Connla to identify himself, warning him that he will die if he does not, but Connla refuses. They wrestle in the water, with Connla gaining the upper hand, until Cú Chulainn resorts to the [[Gáe Bulg|gae bolga]], a weapon whose use Scáthach taught only to him, and Connla is fatally wounded.

Cú Chulainn carries Connla to the shore and identifies him to the Ulaid as his son. Connla greets each of the heroes of the Ulaid in turn before bidding his father farewell and dying. He is grieved, and a marker is raised for his grave, "and for three days not a calf of the cattle of the Ulaid was left alive after him".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gantz|first=Jeffrey|title=Early Irish Myths and Sagas|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1981|isbn=9780140443974|pages=152}}</ref>