Lóch mac Mofemis
Also spelled: Lóch mac Mofemis, Loch mac Mofemis
Horn-skinned Connacht champion who avenges his brother Long, has the Morrígan as an eel to help him, and is killed with the gae bolga.
Overview
Lóch mac Mofemis thinks it beneath him to fight a boy, so his brother Long takes the offer of land, war-harness and a chariot first and is killed by Cúchulainn. Cúchulainn fakes a beard with berry juice and a fistful of grass, Medb goads Lóch into going, and in the ford an eel brings Cúchulainn down and Lóch cuts him until the water is blood-red. The eel, a she-wolf and a hornless red heifer are the Morrígan. Bricriu's taunts get Cúchulainn up, and Laeg sends the gae bolga along the stream, which Cúchulainn drives up through the fundament, the one part of Lóch not covered in a skin of horn. Lóch asks him to yield and leave him space, and when Cúchulainn does, Lóch falls on his face and has his head cut off at Ath Traigid, the Ford of Yielding.
‘Yield to me: leave me space,’ Lóch said.
Connections
Related characters
- Bricriu (Taunted Cúchulainn back onto his feet)
- Cúchulainn (Fought him at the ford and was killed there)
- Fergus mac Roich (Called for someone to encourage Cúchulainn)
- Laeg mac Riangabra (Sent the gae bolga along the stream)
- Medb (Goaded him into the fight)
- Morrígan (Came as an eel, a she-wolf and a heifer against Cúchulainn at the same fight)
Connected to
- Finnabair (offered her with land, harness and a chariot)
Places
- Ai Plain
- Ath Grencha (Where Cúchulainn killed the week's night-raiders)
- Ath Tarteisc (The upstream ford where they fought)
- Ath Traigid (The Ford of Yielding, where he fell)
- Tír Mór
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- Lóch mac Mofemis was promised a part of Ai Plain to fight, but he thought it beneath him to fight a boy. At Ai Plain. In Chapter VIII: The Bull is Found. Further Single Combats. Cúchulainn and the Morrígan.
- Lóch fights Cúchulainn in the ford, and an eel coils about Cúchulainn's feet so that he falls back in the water. At Ath Tarteisc. In Chapter VIII: The Bull is Found. Further Single Combats. Cúchulainn and the Morrígan.
- Lóch asks Cúchulainn for space, Cúchulainn yields, and Lóch falls forward on his face, and Cúchulainn cuts off his head. At Ath Traigid. In Chapter VIII: The Bull is Found. Further Single Combats. Cúchulainn and the Morrígan.
- Ath Traigid is named in Tír Mór, after Lóch fell at that ford. At Tír Mór. In Chapter VIII: The Bull is Found. Further Single Combats. Cúchulainn and the Morrígan.