King Behaviour: Medb, Gender, and Performing Kingship
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33353/scf.157501Abstract
Medb of Connacht has been the topic of enduring scholarly interest, with particular attention paid to her sexuality, agency, and relationship to warfare, aspects which have been interpreted as evidence for Medb’s possible status as a pre-Christian sovereignty deity. However, as Sarah Sheehan notes in her 2013 paper, ‘Loving Medb’, the focus on these readings has led to a ‘troubling blind spot’ in the scholarship, with ‘other representations of gender and femininity in early Irish literature’ being overlooked. Further, these approaches have also obscured other crucial aspects of Medb’s character.
This paper offers an alternative reading of Medb and her relationship with gender through theoretical understandings of gender as a performative act. I propose that where Medb deviates from normative femininity, her behaviour reflects her position as ruler and can be understood as an expression of royal masculinity as performed by medieval Irish kings. By reading Medb as a woman in the role of ‘king’, medieval authors intentionally present Medb as transgressing gendered norms not because of her failed or deviant femininity, but because of her status as a ruler.
The following examines Medb’s function as ruler in several contexts, including her agency within the political framework of the Ulster Cycle, her personal relationships, and her martial function. Additionally, this paper reconsiders the often-discussed ‘Drink Giving’ scenes in Táin Bó Cúailnge, drawing on the work of Máire Herbert and Michael Enright to read these in the context of Medb as a king.
