Overview
Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann
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Aided Chlainne Tuirenn. Irish title for the prose narrative of the Mythological Cycle known in English as The Tragic Story of the Children of Tuireann or The Fate of the Children of Tuireann. Although the core of the story may have been composed as early as the 11th century, as interpolations from the Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions] imply, the earliest surviving text is 16th-century, with more from the 17th. Within Irish literature Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann is often classed as one of the Trí Truagha na Sgéalaigheachta [the Three Sorrows of Storytelling, or the Three Sorrowful Stories of Erin] along with the Deirdre story and Oidheadh Chlainne Lir [The Tragic Story of the Children of Lir].
A child of Ogma and Étan (1), Tuireann fathers three sons, Brian (1), Iuchair, and Iucharba, upon the divine Ana (also Danu) herself; variant texts cite great Brigit as the mother. His paternity complete, Tuireann plays no part in the story. The action begins along the Boyne while the Tuatha Dé Danann are preparing for the great battle with the Fomorians that will be known as Mag Tuired (see CATH MAIGE TUIRED). After scenes in which two physicians speculate on repairing Nuadu's arm and Lug Lámfhota is introduced, the action focuses on Cian, Lug's father, who while travelling north becomes apprehensive about the approach of the three armed sons of Tuireann. Sensitive to the unexplained enmity between the families, Cian magically transforms himself into a pig and begins rooting the ground with a nearby herd. The most perceptive of the brothers, Brian, has spotted Cian before the transformation and so changes his brothers Iuchair and Iucharba into hounds to hunt the pigs, thus separating the magical pig, Cian, from the rest. Returned to human form, the brothers want to spare Cian, but Brian refuses, leading the brothers in stoning him after he is at least allowed the dignity of returning himself to human form. After finding his father's mangled body, Lug lays anéiric [blood price] of retrieving magical treasures and of performing a dangerous feat. The treasures to be brought back are:
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Subjects: Religion
