Cú Chulainn in the context of "Gáe Bulg"

In polytheistic religions and mythologies, a demigod or demigoddess is a being half-divine and half-human born of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortal demigod often has tutelary status and a religious cult following, while a mortal demigod is one who has fallen or died, but is popular as a legendary hero. Figuratively, the term is used to describe a person whose talents or abilities are so elevated that they appear to approach divinity.

Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern Irish pronunciation: [ˈt̪ˠaːnʲ bˠoː ˈkuəlʲɲə]; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as The Táin or less commonly as The Cattle Raid of Cooley, is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "the Irish Iliad", although like most other early Irish literature, the Táin is written in prosimetrum, i.e. prose with periodic additions of verse composed by the characters. The Táin tells of a war against Ulster by Queen Medb of Connacht and her husband King Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge. Due to a curse upon the king and warriors of Ulster, the invaders are opposed only by the young demigod, Cú Chulainn.

The Táin is traditionally set in the 1st century in a pagan heroic age, and is the central text of a group of tales known as the Ulster Cycle. It survives in three written versions or "recensions" in manuscripts of the 12th century and later, the first a compilation largely written in Old Irish, the second a more consistent work in Middle Irish, and the third an Early Modern Irish version.

Lugh or Lug (Old Irish: [l̪uɣ]; modern Irish: Lú [l̪ˠuː]) is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a saviour. He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts. Lugh also has associations with oaths, truth, and the law, and therefore with rightful kingship. He is also associated with intelligence. Lugh is linked with the harvest festival of Lughnasadh, which bears his name. His most common epithets are Lámfada (Modern Irish: Lámhfhada [ˈl̪ˠaːw ad̪ˠə]; "long hand" or "long arm", possibly for his skill with a spear or his ability as a ruler) and Samildánach (Modern Irish: Samhaildánach [ˈsˠawəlʲ d̪ˠaːnˠəx]; "equally skilled in many arts"). This has sometimes been anglicised as "Lew of the Long Hand".

In mythology, Lugh is the son of Cian and Ethniu (or Ethliu). He is the maternal grandson of the Fomorian tyrant Balor, whom Lugh kills in the Battle of Mag Tuired. Lugh's son is the hero Cú Chulainn, who is believed to be an incarnation of Lugh.

Tochmarc Emire ("The Wooing of Emer") is one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and one of the longest when it received its form in the second recension (below). It concerns the efforts of the hero Cú Chulainn to marry Emer, who appears as his wife in other stories of the cycle, and his training in arms under the warrior-woman Scáthach. The tochmarc ("wooing" or "courtship") (along with cattle raids, voyages, feasts, births and deaths) is one of the 'genres' of early Irish literature recognised in the manuscript corpus.

The Ulster Cycle (Irish: an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and Louth. It focuses on the mythical Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa and his court at Emain Macha, the hero Cú Chulainn, and their conflict with the Connachta and queen Medb. The longest and most important tale is the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The Ulster Cycle is one of the four 'cycles' of Irish mythology and legend, along with the Mythological Cycle, the Fianna Cycle and the Kings' Cycle.

In Irish mythology, Deichtine or Deichtire was the sister of Conchobar mac Nessa and the mother of Cú Chulainn. Her husband was Sualtam, but Cú Chulainn's real father may have been Lugh of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

In one version of the story she was Conchobar's charioteer. When a flock of birds descended on Emain Macha and ate all the grass, the Ulstermen decided to hunt them, and they set off after them in their chariots. They chased them until night fell, and it began to snow, so they decided to seek shelter. They found a house and were welcomed in by the young man who lived there. His wife was in labour at the time, but he showed them hospitality and served them food and drink. His wife gave birth to a baby boy, and at the same time a horse outside the house gave birth to two colts. The Ulstermen went to sleep, but when they woke up they found themselves at the Brug na Bóinne (Newgrange). The house, the man and his wife had vanished, but the baby and the two colts remained. Deichtine took the boy as her foster-son and they returned to Emain.

Scáthach (Irish: [ˈsˠkaːhəx]) or Sgàthach (Scottish Gaelic: Sgàthach an Eilean Sgitheanach) is a figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains the legendary Ulster hero Cú Chulainn in the arts of combat. Texts describe her homeland as Scotland (Alpeach); she is especially associated with the Isle of Skye, where her residence Dún Scáith ("Fortress of Shadows") stands. She is called "the Shadow" and "Warrior Maid" and is the rival and sister of Aífe, both of whom are daughters of Árd-Greimne of Lethra.

Láeg, or Lóeg, son of Riangabar, is the charioteer and constant companion of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. His horses are Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend.

Cú Chulainn sends Láeg to the Otherworld with Lí Ban, sister to Fand, and he brings back bountiful descriptions of the Otherworld in the tale Serglige Con Culainn (The Sickbed of Cúchulainn). In the tale of Cú Chulainn's death, he is killed by Lugaid mac Con Roí with a spear intended for Cú Chulainn.