Forgall Monach
Also spelled: Forgall the Wily, Forgall Manach, Forgall Monach
Emer's father, who tricks Cúchulainn into going abroad to keep him from his daughter and dies when Cúchulainn storms his fort.
Overview
Forgall Monach, hearing that "the warped one from Emain Macha" has been talking with Emer, goes to Emain in Gaulish clothes, passes himself off as a royal messenger from Gaul, and praises Cúchulainn so highly that he suggests he visit Domnall Míldemail and Scáthach. He wants him gone for good, since he fears that if Cúchulainn marries Emer his own death will come through the warrior's wildness. While Cúchulainn is in Alba he promises Emer to Lugaid mac Nois, who gives her up when she swears she is under Cúchulainn's protection. On Cúchulainn's return the fort is so well guarded that it takes a year to get near it; he leaps in, kills eight men of each group of nine, and Forgall, running off over the rampart, falls and kills himself.
I’ll put an end to it. They’ll never have what they want.
Connections
Related characters
- Cúchulainn (the suitor he tries to be rid of)
- Domnall Míldemail (one of the two teachers he names to get Cúchulainn away)
- Emer (his daughter)
- Lugaid mac Nois (the king he promises Emer to)
Places
- Breg Plain
- Emain Macha (where he goes disguised as a messenger from Gaul)
- Glondáth
- Luglochta Logo (his fort, where Emer lives)
- Temair
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- Forgall Monach comes to Emain disguised in Gaulish clothes and flatters Cúchulainn into leaving for Alba, hoping he will never come back. At Emain Macha. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- On the way back from Forgall's fort with Emer, Cúchulainn killed one hundred men at Glondáth and named it the Ford of the Deed. At Glondáth. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- Emer's father Forgall Monach, hearing of it, goes to Emain and gets Cúchulainn sent off to study with Scáthach in the hope he will never come back. At Luglochta Logo. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- Forgall promises Emer to Lugaid mac Nois and comes to Temair, and the king comes to Forgall's fort for the wedding, where Emer swears on his life that she loves Cúchulainn and Lugaid turns for home. At Luglochta Logo. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- Cúchulainn returns from his training and spends a whole year at Forgall's ramparts without reaching Emer, so strong is the guard around her. At Luglochta Logo. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- Forgall flees across the rampart, falls, and kills himself, and Cúchulainn takes Emer and her foster-sister with their weight in gold and silver and leaps the triple ramparts again. At Luglochta Logo. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- Forgall Monach promised the Breg landowners' twelve daughters to Lugaid's twelve princes. At Breg Plain. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.
- Forgall Monach came to Temair and told Lugaid mac Nois that he had an unmarried girl at home, the finest in Ireland. At Temair. In Cúchulainn's Courtship of Emer, and his Training in Arms.