Finnbennach
Also spelled: Finnbennach, Findbennach, White-Horned Bull of Aí
The white-horned bull of Connacht, who left Medb's herd for Ailill's and is torn apart by the Brown Bull of Cuailnge.
Overview
Finnbennach, the White-Horned, is the second of the two bulls the pig-keepers become, the one born in Connacht. He was a calf of one of Medb's cows, but he would not be led by a woman and went over to Ailill's herd, which leaves Medb without his equal and starts the war. At Tarbga he fights the Brown Bull of Cuailnge. The Brown Bull jerks his hoof back, breaking his own leg and sending Finnbennach's horn flying to a mountain, and they fight through the night until Finnbennach is torn apart. His shoulderblade, loins and liver fall at Finnlethe, Ath Luain and Tromma, which are named for them.
Connections
Related characters
- Ailill (king whose herd he joined)
- Donn Cuailnge (the bull he fights at Tarbga and loses to)
- Medb (queen whose herd he refused to stay in)
Connected to
- Bricriu (the other bull)
Places
- Ai Plain (his home plain)
- Ath Luain
- Connacht
- Cruachan
- Iraird Cuillenn
- Midluachair road
- Tarbga (where he meets the Brown Bull)
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- Finnbennach, the white-horned bull of Ai Plain, and Donn Cuailnge sprang from the pig-keepers' last shape as maggots. At Ai Plain. In The Quarrel of the Two Pig-keepers, and how the Bulls were Begotten.
- On Ai Plain, at Tarbga, the Brown Bull met the bull Finnbennach, the White-Horned. At Ai Plain. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.
- The Brown Bull of Cuailnge drinks at Ath Luain on his way home and leaves the loins of Finnbennach there, which is how the place got its name. At Ath Luain. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.
- Ailill and Medb lay out their wealth in Cruachan fort, and Medb finds nothing in her herds to match Ailill's bull Finnbennach. At Connacht. In Chapter I: The Pillow Talk.
- The Brown Bull goes westward past Cruachan with the remains of Finnbennach on his horns, enters the lake near Cruachan, and comes out with Finnbennach's loins, shoulderblade and liver. At Cruachan. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.
- Finnbennach bellows at Iraird Cuillenn, and the sound is heard through the whole province. At Iraird Cuillenn. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.
- Finnbennach goes by the Midluachair road to Cuib and tears up the ground there. At Midluachair road. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.
- The Brown Bull of Cuailnge meets Finnbennach, the White-Horned, on Ai Plain at Tarbga the day after the battle. At Tarbga. In Chapter XIV: The Last Battle.