Editing Cú Roí (section)

==''Táin bó Cúailnge''==
{{Main article|Táin bó Cúailnge}}

===Combat of Munremar and Cú Roí===
Cú Roí appears in the side-tale "Comlond Munremair & Con Roi" ("The combat of Munremar and Cú Roí") included in Recension I of ''[[Táin bó Cúailnge]]''.<ref>''Táin bó Cúailnge'', ed. and tr. O'Rahilly, pp. 50-1, 169-70. See also the translation based on the [[Lebor na hUidre]] by L. W. Faraday, "[http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/Cooley/Faraday/MunremarCuroi.html The Combat of Munremar and Coroi]".</ref> Cú Roí, who has sent a contingent to the Connacht army but had not hitherto been personally involved in the recent hostilities between Ulster and Connacht,<ref>See the earlier episode ''Aided Nath Crantail'' "The Death of Nad Crantail". Medb proposes Cú Roí to be Cú Chulainn's next opponent in combat, but one of Cú Roí's followers in the army reassures her that his king will not answer her request, thinking that sufficient has been done in sending her troops.</ref> does intervene when he learns that the Ulster warrior [[Munremar|Munremar mac Gerrginn]] (lit. "Fatneck son of Shorthead")<ref>J. Borsje, "''Fled Bricrenn'' and Tales of Terror." ''Peritia'' 19 (2005), 173-192: 181.</ref> has come to assist [[Cú Chulainn]] in fighting the Connacht army. Since he believes no warrior in the army was able to withstand Munremar, he chooses to rally to the support of "his people" (''muinter''). The resulting encounter (''comlond'') between the two warriors is a spectacular stone-throwing contest, described from the perspective of the Connacht troops, who witness many stones flying in opposite directions from the east and west (Cotal and Ard Róich) and colliding right above their heads. The shower of falling rubble forces them to use their shields for protection, until on their request, Cú Roí and Munremar agree to discontinue the fight and return home. The plain strewn with stones is afterwards called Mag Clochair ("The Stony Plain").

===The Trance of Amairgin===
Cú Roí further appears in the episode known as "The Trance of Amairgin", variants of which appear in Recension I and II of the ''Táin bó Cúailnge''.

The episode appears as ''Aislinge n-Aimirgin'' ("The trance of [[Amergin mac Eccit|Amairgin]]") in Recension I of the ''Táin''.<ref>''Táin bó Cúailnge'' (Recension I), ed. and tr. O'Rahilly, pp. 103, 216.</ref> Having followed news of Cú Chulainn's sustained success in single-handedly opposing the Connacht army, Cú Roí once again appears on the scene, this time to fight Cú Chulainn directly. However, on finding Cú Chulainn weak from the injuries which [[Ferdiad]] had recently inflicted on him, he refused to carry out his original plan. Instead he faces the giant warrior poet Amairgin, who in a trance is hurling stones at the Connacht army in [[Tailtiu]], with devastating effects. Cú Roí attacks him in kind and their stones meet in the air. They pause when on Cú Roí's request, Amairgen allows the cattle to go past Tailtiu, but seeing as the passage had become difficult, Cú Roí agrees to withdraw from the contest altogether.

The episode in the [[Book of Leinster]] (Recension II), called ''Imthúsa Chon Ruí meic Dáire'' (header) or ''Oislige Amargin'' (text),<ref>''Táin bó Cúailnge'' (Recension II), ed. and tr. O'Rahilly, pp. 109-10, 244-5.</ref> offers by and large the same story, but adds more explicit detail, notably on the point of Cú Roí's sense of honour in his encounters with Cú Chulainn and Amairgin.<ref>Hellmuth, "A Giant Among Kings and Heroes." p. 6.</ref> First, Cú Roí explains his refusal to fight Cú Chulainn not only by pointing out the inequality between a physically healthy and an injured warrior, but also by saying that a victory would not be his, seeing as it was Fer Diad who had laid low his opponent. Second, the conclusion of Cú Roí's fight with Amairgin is told from a perspective which highlights the role of honour in his motives. [[Medb]] insisted "[b]y the truth of your [Cú Roí's] valour" (''{{lang|ga|[a]r fír do gascid fritt}}'') that he should abandon the competition, obstructive as it proved to be to the progress of the expedition. Cú Roí, however, was determined to persist "till the day of doom" (''co brunni brátha'') unless Amairgin agreed to stop. (When the matter was settled and Cú Roí returned to his country, Amairgin resumed his attacks on the invading army, explaining that his agreement was with Cú Roí only.)