Motif
warrior band destroyed while its leader survives wounded
warrior_band_destroyed_while_its_leader_survives_wounded
A motif of the Sacred Combat and Ritual Warfare family, within the sub-family Host Battle and Siege. 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 HERE NOW COMETH THE HEAD-PLACE OF FERCHU / XXIII / HERE FOLLOWETH THE TOOTH-FIGHT OF FINTAN / THE RED-SHAME OF MENN FOLLOWETH HERE; lines 12453-12516 confidence: high
They make three attacks, kill three times their own number, and Menn’s twelve men fall so only Menn remains alive.
The passage centers on Menn’s small company making a successful but costly attack in which all twelve followers die and Menn alone survives badly wounded.
read in the book →