THE FEAST OF BRICRIU (Fled Bricrenn) – The Book of the Dun Cow version of this tale is dated to around the 700s A.D. and is considered the forerunner of the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in British legends.
The frequent troublemaker of Irish myths – Bricriu – holds a feast in his new banquet hall at Dun Rudraige. He invites all the nobles of Ulster and, always a jerk, starts a conflict at the party by having three heroes argue over which of them deserves the Curadmir – the champion’s portion of the feast.
The three are the demigod Cuchulainn, Conall Cernach, and Loegaire Buadach. The competitors perform various feats and Cuchulainn is judged the winner. Conall and Loegaire refuse to accept that judgment, and the trio go to Connacht under immunity. They perform feats before Queen Maeve and King Ailill, and again Cuchulainn is decreed the victor.
Once again, Conall and Loegaire heatedly refuse to accept the outcome and so the trio travel to Munster to be judged by King Cu Roi mac Daire. He, too, names Cuchulainn the winner. The other two still refuse to acknowledge Cuchulainn as the victor and they wind up back at the Ulster stronghold of Emain Macha.
Their continued dispute is interrupted by the entrance of a giant(ish) man who taunts the trio by asking if they are such great champions, are they brave enough and honorable enough to accept his challenge. He offers to let them behead him, then meet him back at Emain Macha the following day to let him return the blow.
Obviously assuming that the large man will be dead after getting beheaded and therefore won’t be able to respond in kind, Loegaire steps forward to acccept the challenge. The giant places his head on the chopping block, and Loegaire beheads him.
To everyone’s surprise, the giant simply picks up his head, places it back on his shoulders, and asks if anyone else there is brave enough to accept the challenge. Conall goes next and beheads the giant, who again simply replaces his head on his shoulders. Cuchulainn takes his turn and again the giant returns his head to its rightful place.
The large man reminds the trio of their vow to meet back at the same place the next day so that he can take his turn at cutting off their heads. The following day, the giant returns, but only Cuchulainn is brave enough and honorable enough to keep the appointment. The large man states indisputably that Cuchulainn is the greatest champion of Ulster.
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