Badb
Also spelled: Badb Catha
A war spirit, wife of Nét, who screeches over battle-fields and calls out among the corpses.
Overview
The Badb (Scald-crow) is the haunter of battle-fields, one of the three goddesses of war and a wife of Nét. As a boy Cúchulainn is thrown down by a half-headed man on the field of slaughter, and Fergus hears the Badb calling from among the corpses that it is a poor sort of warrior who lies down at the feet of a ghost. The Morrígan's chant to the Brown Bull has the Badb groaning among the cattle, and the text uses her name for the fold, the torches and the scabbard of Cúchulainn in his fury and for the screech Ferdia expects at the ford. On the night before the last battle she and Nemain cry out to the men of Ireland, and a hundred warriors die of fright.
“It’s a poor sort of warrior that lies down at the feet of a ghost!”
Connections
Related characters
- Cúchulainn (calls out to him on the field of slaughter; her name is also used in the images of his fury)
- Morrígan (fellow goddess of war, whose chant names the Badb)
- Nemain (fellow wife of Nét, who cries out with her before the last battle)
- Nét (husband)
Places
- Gáirech and Irgairech (where she and Nemain cry out before the last battle)
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- That night Nét's wives, Nemain and the Badb, call out to the men of Ireland near the field, and a hundred warriors die of fright. At Gáirech and Irgairech. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.