The Woman Problem

Women have an unfortunate place in Tain and the related Irish mythology. With a few notable exceptions, women are almost universally characterized as either manipulative temptresses or embodied evil and the source of much trouble. Nes is the first example of this. She weds Cathbad for the selfish reason of raising a great Irish hero, and then she deceives Fergus into giving up his throne, where she acts in secret behind the throne to bestow favors onto the Ulster men so they won't entertain the notion of allowing Fergus back. Next is Derdriu, predicted at birth as trouble and evil, who causes a civil war when she falls in love with Noisiu. In that scene, Noisiu clearly wants nothing to do with Derdriu and her evil prophecy, but she forcibly binds him. The episode of course ends in Noisiu's death, and a schism in Ulster which...