A WOMAN'S WORDS: EMER AND FEMALE SPEECH IN THE ULSTER CYCLEE This page intentionally left blank JOANNE FINDON A Woman's Words: Emer and Female Speech in the Ulster Cycle UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1997 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-0865-8 Printed on acid-free paper Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Findon, Joanne, 1957- A woman's words Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8020-0865-8 1. Emer (Legendary character). 2. Epic literature, Irish - History and criticism. 3. Tales, Medieval - History and criticism. 4. Women in literature. I. Title. PB1397.C8F551997 891.6'231 C97-930008-8 University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 13•-JICfl This page intentionally left blank Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX PREFACE xi ABBREVIATIONS xtii Introduction 3 1 The Wooing ofEmer: The Sweet Speech of Courtship 23 2 Bricriu's Feast: Women's Words as Weapons 57 3 The Death ofAife's Only Son: 'Do not slay your only son' 84 4 The Wasting Sickness ofCu Chulainn: The Language of Desire 107 Conclusion 135 Appendix: Sources and Manuscripts 141 NOTES 147 REFERENCES 191 INDEX 205 This page intentionally left blank