Aife
Also spelled: Aífe, Aoife
The woman at war with Scáthach, whom Cúchulainn beats, bargains with and leaves with child.
Overview
Aife is the chief of the territory at war with Scáthach, and Scáthach dreads her as the hardest woman warrior in the world. On the rope of feats she smashes Cúchulainn's weapon down to a piece of sword no bigger than a fist, until he cries out that her charioteer, her horses and her chariot have fallen into the valley; she looks round, and he seizes her by the two breasts and carries her to his own side on his back like a sack. For her life she grants him hostages for Scáthach, her company that night, and a son. Cúchulainn later calls Connla "Aife's only son" in his lament for Ferdia, and tells Ferdia they were together with Scáthach and Uathach and Aife.
This day seven years I will send him to Ireland.
Connections
Related characters
- Connla (her one son)
- Cúchulainn (beats her and fathers her son)
- Scáthach (the enemy she is at war with)
- Uathach (named with her in Scáthach's prophecy)
Connected to
- Ferdia (teacher at the same school)
Places
- Scáthach's island (the training place in Alba where the war is fought)
- Tracht Esi
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- Seven years to the day after Cúchulainn left Aife, the men of Ulster are gathered at Tracht Esi when a boy comes toward them over the ocean in a little boat of bronze with gilt oars. At Tracht Esi. In The Death of Aife's One Son.