Celtic epics frame war’s worst harm as killing those you love

Evidence

At last, mortally pressed, Cuchulainn called for his most terrible weapon, the Gae Bolg, and with it dealt Ferdiad his death-wound. And then the hero, victorious, broke down entirely. He gathered his dying friend in his arms and wept over him, lamenting that he had been forced to kill the one he loved best, cursing the war and the queen that had made foster-brother slay foster-brother. The Irish told the death of Ferdiad as the heart of the whole epic’s sorrow — not a glorious victory, but the unbearable grief of a hero made to destroy his own beloved friend, and the bitterest truth of war: that it sets brother against brother, and makes us kill what we love. — , A Year of World Stories, 14356

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Iliad’s lament for war’s cost and the general cross-cultural theme of war setting kin against kin. — connects to: Celtic epic depicted friends as enemies by day and healers by night — , A Year of World Stories, 14355

Related

• Celtic epic depicted friends as enemies by day and healers by night (similarity 0.87)