Motif
severed-head trophy as warning
severed_head_trophy_as_warning
A motif of the Sacred Combat and Ritual Warfare family, within the sub-family Aftermath and Spoils. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
celtic irish
-
The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge WORKS ON THE TAIN BO CUALNGE / THE PILLOW-TALK / THIS IS THE ROUTE OF THE TAIN / THE MARCH OF THE HOST; lines 2386-2514 confidence: high
Cuchulain turns on the two warriors and their drivers, strikes off their four heads, and fixes one head on each prong of the pole.
Cuchulain places four severed heads on the four prongs of the fork; the host later sees the heads and interprets the scene as a sign of conflict and danger.
read in the book →