Aífe- Celtic HeroHero

Rival of Scáthach

Aífe was a warrior queen who dwelt in the lands beyond Alba, rival to the warrior-woman Scáthach. The two were locked in enmity. When the young Cú Chulainn arrived at Scáthach's school during a time of war between the two queens, Scáthach tried to keep him from the fighting with a sleeping potion, but Cú Chulainn awoke after only an hour and demanded to face Aífe. Scáthach warned him that Aífe excelled in every combat technique, but revealed her one vulnerability: she loved her chariot, her horses, and her charioteer above all things. When Aífe shattered Cú Chulainn's sword and moved to kill him, he shouted that her chariot and horses had fallen from a cliff. She glanced away, and he seized her. He spared her life in exchange for a lasting peace with Scáthach and a night with her.

The Birth of Connla

Aífe lay with Cú Chulainn and conceived a son. Before departing for Ireland, Cú Chulainn left her a golden ring and instructions: when the boy's finger fit the ring, she should send him to find his father. But the child must bear two geasa: he must never refuse single combat, and never reveal his name to any man. Aífe raised the boy, named Connla, in the arts of war until no fighter in her land could stand against him.

The Tragedy of Connla

When Connla's finger fit the ring, Aífe sent him across the sea. He arrived on the shores of Ulster as a boy of seven, already more skilled than grown warriors. He defeated every Ulsterman who challenged him but would not give his name. Cú Chulainn himself came to the shore and demanded the boy identify himself. Bound by his geasa, Connla could only fight. Father and son battled in the waves until Cú Chulainn cast the Gáe Bolga, the weapon only he knew how to use. As Connla lay dying he whispered his identity, and Cú Chulainn's grief was so terrible that the Ulstermen had a druid enchant him to fight the waves of the sea for three days until his madness passed.