Sualdam
Also spelled: Súaltaim, Sualtam, Súaltam mac Róich
Husband of Deichtine and the father Cúchulainn names, who warns Ulster and is beheaded by his own shield.
Overview
Sualdam mac Roich is the man Conchobor gives his sister Deichtine to, and the father Cúchulainn gives his name as. While the rest of Ulster lies in its pangs he and Cúchulainn watch for the armies at Iraird Cuillenn, and Cúchulainn sends him to warn Ulster. When he hears his son crying out in the fighting he goes to Emain and gives three cries of men murdered, women stolen and cattle plundered, and gets no answer until a druid speaks. He runs out because the Ulstermen are not doing enough, falls over his shield, and the scalloped rim cuts his head off. His head is carried back to Emain on a shield and repeats the warning.
Connections
Related characters
- Conchobor (brother-in-law and king, who says what Sualdam says is true)
- Cúchulainn (son, with whom he watches for the armies and for whom he warns Ulster)
- Deichtine (wife)
Connected to
- Lug mac Ethnenn (the husband Deichtine is given to)
Places
- Dún Sobairche
- Emain Macha (where he cries out to Ulster and loses his head)
- Iraird Cuillenn (where he and Cúchulainn watch for the armies)
- Murtheimne Plain
- Ulster
- Ráith Sualdaim (his house, where he hears his son crying out)
Appears in chapters
Appears in
- Sualdam tells the men of Ulster that Ailill and Fergus have harried their people as far as Dún Sobairche. At Dún Sobairche. In Chapter XII: Ulster Rises from its Pangs.
- Sualdam runs to Emain and cries three times over the Ulstermen, from the slope of the enclosure, beside the fort and on the Mound of the Hostages, then falls on his shield and his head is cut off. At Emain Macha. In Chapter XII: Ulster Rises from its Pangs.
- Cúchulainn and his father Sualdam go out as far as Iraird Cuillenn and set up watch for the armies there. At Iraird Cuillenn. In Chapter III: The Army Encounters Cúchulainn.
- Sualdam hears from Ráith Sualdaim, his house on the plain, that his son is being harassed, and rides to Emain to raise the Ulstermen. At Murtheimne Plain. In Chapter XII: Ulster Rises from its Pangs.
- Sualdam cries out at Emain that men are murdered, women stolen and cattle plundered, and Conchobor says he will bring back every cow to its byre and every woman and child home. At Ulster. In Chapter XII: Ulster Rises from its Pangs.