cast off his clothes, including his under-clothing, whereupon the heat of his body would melt the snow for a man's cubit all round him.[1]
Cúchulainn was unrivalled in all feats of arms and skill, whether he handled his own weapons or performed tricks with the needles[2] of the astonished ladies of a king's court. It is difficult to understand the language in which the list of Cúchulainn's feats is couched, but such a name as the apple-feat would seem to suggest that some of them were of the nature of a juggler's tricks. Others, however, were doubtless of a more serious nature, as he often brought them into play in his duels with his foes. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about them is that when Cúchulainn went forth in his chariot, he used to practise them above the horses, above his head and that of his charioteer.[3] If a basis for this fancy is to be sought in nature, it must be the overpowering play of the sun's rays blinding one's attempts to gaze at its midday orb. Cúchulainn's agility and strength were such that hardly any kind of walls could confine him, however high they might be.[4] His most usual mode of fighting was to hurl his spear at his antagonist or a stone from his sling, which he did with fatal precision even at an incredible distance; but in
- ↑ Bk. of the Dun, 68a, 71a; but the Bk. of Leinster, 70b, makes the snow melt for thirty feet all round him, which is more like the extravagance to be expected.
- ↑ Windisch, p. 286; Bk. of the Dun, 108b.
- ↑ Bk. of the Dun, 73a, 122b; Bk. of Leinster, 120a; and the story published by Crowe in the Kilkenny Journal for 1870, p. 379; also the Bk. of the Dun, 113b, where the number of the feats rises to twenty-seven. For more references, see Windisch, s.v. cless, p. 426.
- ↑ Windisch, p. 299.
