Hosts and Peoples
The troops, peoples and unnamed figures that the text names without giving them a page of their own.
Overview
This page gathers the troops, peoples and unnamed figures that the text names without giving them a page of their own. The Galeóin and the seven kings of Munster are on Fergus's side. Most of the others come up in one scene, such as the half-headed man on the field of slaughter, the raiders from Faichi and the harpers of Caín Bile. The boy-troop appears both in Cúchulainn's boyhood and again when they come south to help him.
Names in this list
| Name | Note |
|---|---|
| Galeóin | A troop of three thousand from north Leinster. Medb says they must be killed. Ailill says they fight on his side, and Fergus calls them friends. They are scattered through the army, and they leave the field with Fergus at the end. |
| The seven kings of Munster | Fergus says they are on the Ulster side, each with a troop of three thousand. They go to avenge Finnabair on Ailill's sons, and seven hundred men die in Glenn Domain. |
| Partraigi | A people. The text says only that they dwell at Slechta. |
| Marauders from the islands of Faichi | Twenty-seven of them break into the women's enclosure while the Ulstermen lie in their pangs. The boy Cúchulainn kills nine before the rest flee. |
| A half-headed man | Met on the field of slaughter with half a corpse on his back. Cúchulainn knocks his head off with a hurling-stick. |
| The boy-troop | Three times fifty sons of Ulster kings, who play in Emain Macha. Cúchulainn fights them as a boy and then makes peace with them. They come south to help him, and all of them are killed, Follamain included. |
| Medb's two handmaids | Sent to lament over Cúchulainn and open his wounds. He smashes their heads together. |
| The eight messengers | Medb sends them with the Brown Bull and fifty of his heifers, so that the bull is got safely away to Cruachan. |
| The magical sweet-mouth harpers of Caín Bile | They come out of the red cataract at Es Ruaid to charm the host. The Ulstermen take them for spies and chase them, and they run off in the shape of deer. |
Twenty-seven marauders came from the islands of Faichi. They broke into the rear enclosure as we lay in our pangs.