Ní·airciu a n-áthu la linni.

Ní·airciu a n-áthu la linni.

(I cannot see * their * fords * with * pools)

I can’t tell the ford from the deep water.

In the Táin, Cú Chulainn meets Lóch in single combat in a river ford, as was the usual practice. This time, however, the Morrígan also joins in attacking him, in the successive forms of an eel, a wolf, and a hornless heifer leading a herd of cattle that churn up the riverbed. Cú exclaims (in the YBL and LU versions) that he can no longer be sure of his footing, using what appears to be a proverbial expression for confusion.


Topics: The Characters Speak Proverbial Sayings