parley took place, followed by a protracted duel, resulting in Conall slaying Lugaid, who surrendered to him both his realm and his head. In this singular combat Conall had the aid of his horse, a beast said to have been provided with a dog's head in order to aid his master in his battles; so when Conall had been bound by Lugaid to fight with only one hand, as the latter had lost one of his hands that day, Conall's canine horse took part in the conflict by biting a piece out of Lugaid's side, which rendered the rest of the fight easy for his antagonist.[1] This, it will be seen, forms a remarkable parallel to Owein ab Urien's lion assisting him in his duels on more than one occasion (p. 402). But to return to Cúchulainn: his slayer was Lugaid, as has just been said, and he is so important a character that his history must here be detailed at some length. He is usually called Lugaid Riab nDerg, or L. of the Red Stripes, represented as Cúchulainn's special friend, or else as his foster-son and even as his own son. He is variously known as Lugaid mac Conroi, 'L. son of Cúroi,' and L. mac na Tri Con,[2] 'L. son of the Three Cús,' or Hounds, and he is possibly to be also identified with Lugaid mac Con, or L. Hound's
- ↑ Bk. of Leinster, 122b.
- ↑ These are supposed (O'Curry, p. 479) to have been Cúchulainn, Conall Cernach and Cúroi, the genitives of the names being Conculainn, Conaill and Con-roi respectively. Cú-roi or Cú-rui (with or without the mark of length on the diphthong) seems well attested (Bk. of the Dun, 61a, 69a, 71b; Bk. of Leinster, 31b, 169b), but it must have also had the form Cú-rí, as the genitive occurs in the form Conn-ri in ancient ogam on a stone in his district: this pronunciation is again approximated in the Anglo-Irish Caher Conree, which late Irish authors sometimes write Cathair Chonrai or even Cathair Chonrigh.
