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(Also Cú Chulainn, Cú Cuchaind, or Cúchulainn.) Hero of the Ulster Cycle, one of the first collections of Irish heroic legends, he also appears in Manx and Scottish folklore.

Cuchullin was born a mortal, his name was Sétanta, but he was the son of the god Lugh of the Long Arm and even as a child he displayed great strength. When he was seven years old he killed Culain the Smith’s fierce hound, who guarded the King of Ulster’s court. To make amends he offered to guard Ulster until his death. He was given the name Cuchullin, “Culain’s Hound.”

From the outset, Cuchullin’s striking appearance set him apart as different. He had seven toes on each foot, seven fingers on each hand and seven pupils in each eye. His red shock of hair was dark brown at the roots, light blond at the tips. He wore 100 strings of gems on his head, his chest glittered with a hundred brooches, and he had many admirers. However, he was prone to fits of battle frenzy. During such fits, he transformed into a monster, turning himself around inside his skin, so that his feet and knees faced backward and his calves and heels faced forward. Each strand of his hair stood up on his scalp with rage, a flame leapt from his mouth, and a jet of black blood spouted from the top of his head. His eyes displaced themselves, one to his cheek, the other the back of his skull. He fought from his chariot, driven by Laég, his faithful charioteer, drawn by his gray and black horses Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend. In this fevered, crazed state, he had to be dipped into three vats of ice-cold water to return him to normal temperature.

When he was 17 years old, he single-handedly defended Ulster against Queen Medhb in the epic battle of the Cattle Raid of Cuailane. Eventually it was Queen Medhb who brought about his demise. Cuchullin bound himself to a pillar or standing stone so that he might stand up and fight his enemies to the very end and thus he died a hero.

See also Lug, Raven.