And another excerpt from AnA 4.2

This excerpt comes from Saigh Kym Lambert's article The Hounds Betwixt and Between: Cú Chulainn and Finn as Liminal Heroes. She is one of the few people that I know who follows the Warrior path and can speak with confidence on it.

"Cú Chulainn of the Ulster Cycle and Finn Mac Cumhail of the Fenian Cycle are the two early Irish warriors that are most familiar, who have the greatest number of stories told. Many other warriors in the literature boast heroic quests of their own, including the warrior-kings; however, these make up a smaller amount of known literature. There are other warriors known only for their relationships with Cú Chulainn or Finn, as fighting beside them or dying at their hands, while many warriors are only names in long lists. There are also many villains and semi-villains and a, sadly, small number of warrior-women, either protagonist or antagonist. These two heroes have large bodies of material focused on them and what makes them such important heroes compared to the others is of interest.

When they are brought up together, it is often to describe Cú Chulainn and Finn as very different, even opposites. This may have originated from Marie Louise Sjoestedt’s declaration that Cú Chulainn was a “Hero of the Tribe” while Finn was a “Hero Outside the Tribe.” The distinctions Sjoestedt noted may be useful in exploring each of these heroes individually, and they certainly are individuals; however, her designation of Cú Chulainn as a “tribal” insider and assertion that the two warriors’ stories were “irreconcilable” are questionable5. Both of these heroes were liminal and quite dangerous to the culture they defended, but were outsiders of. In the different times their tales were recorded, they represent views of those warriors who stood between society and the wilderness, being never fully part of either."

If you want to read the rest of this article please check out Air n-Aithesc Volume 4 issue 2