Page "Cú Chulainn" Paragraph 23

Cú Roí, again in disguise, joins the Ulstermen on a raid on Inis Fer Falga ( probably the Isle of Man ), in return for his choice of the spoils.

They steal treasure, and abduct Blathnát, daughter of the island's king, who loves Cú Chulainn.

But when Cú Roí is asked to choose his share, he chooses Blathnát.

Cú Chulainn tries to stop him taking her, but Cú Roí cuts his hair and drives him into the ground up to his armpits before escaping, taking Blathnát with him.

Like other heroes such as the Biblical Samson, Duryodhana in the Mahabharata and the Welsh Llew Llaw Gyffes, Cú Roí can only be killed in certain contrived circumstances, which vary in different versions of the story.

Blathnat discovers how to kill him and betrays him to Cú Chulainn, who does the deed.

However, Ferchertne, Cú Roí's poet, enraged at the betrayal of his lord, grabs Blathnát and leaps off a cliff, killing her and himself.