Motivation for incest: Clothru and the battle of Druim Criaich.
Keywords:
Old Irish literature, Medieval incest, Dindshenchas, Aided Meidbe, Clothru, kingshipAbstract
The topic of this article is an episode found in early Irish literature in which Clothru, Medb’s sister and Eochaid Feidlech’s daughter, mates with her three brothers Bres, Nár, and Lothar[1] before the battle of Druim Criaich, resulting in the conception of Lugaid of the red stripes.[2] Previous work has focused mainly on mythological and political connotations of the episode, particularly Clothru’s presumed connection to sovereignty. Whereas I do agree that the episodes concerning Clothru’s incest can be read as replete with liminality, and that issues of kingship are central to all extant examples of in these episodes, here I would like to explore a reading of the texts in which I see Clothru as less bound to sovereignty and more acting within a literary motif of mediating violence and preventing strife. I will focus on the immediate textual context and subtle differences in the motivation and narrative function of the incest and the conception of a child as found in these sources. Whereas the surface motivation shifts from text to text, the underlying motivation-to keep her brothers from killing their father, remains throughout. This motivation is also comparable to other episodes in which violence is negotiated and mediated by women or men in early Irish literature. Although several scholars have noted this shift in motivation, it has not been discussed in full and merits a fuller treatment.
