Pictish Mystic · Lore · Ulster Cycle
The Phantom Chariot of Cú Chulainn
Nine times fifty years after he was laid in the grave, Cú Chulainn rode again.
Patrick had come to Loegaire son of Niall, King of Erin, but the king would not believe. “Call up Cú Chulainn in all his dignity, as he is recorded in the old stories,” said Loegaire, “and then I will believe.” So Patrick and the king waited on the rampart until the morrow.
A cold, piercing wind came, like a double-barbed spear, and a heavy fog dropped upon them. A great raven-flock rose to the clouds, but they were sods thrown up by the hoofs of horses. Out of the mist came a chariot, with the Black of Sainglenn and the Gray of Macha yoked to it. Within stood a warrior with thick black hair and a swift grey eye, and Loeg his charioteer before him.
Then in mid-air Cú Chulainn performed twenty-seven feats of skill above them. “I was a child with children; I was a man with men,” he told the king. “I was gentle to the gentle, but against dishonour I wrought vengeance.”
“It is not a demon that has come to thee,” he said. “It is Cú Chulainn, son of Sualtam.” Heaven was decreed for Cú Chulainn, and Loegaire believed in Patrick.
Sources
- The Phantom Chariot of Cu Chulainn (Siaburcharpat Con Culaind), on Mary Jones's Celtic Literature Collective: https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/cuchulain4.html (quoted lines lightly condensed from the translation)
Story told by John.
These are legends from medieval manuscripts, not recorded history.
First shared on X @dalriada36963 and TikTok @johnshaw333.
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