Broken bonds: hierarchies of loyalty and the gendering of betrayal in Táin Bó Cúailnge

Abstract

Is the concept of betrayal existent in medieval Irish heroic literature, and, if so, does this concept differ in any way from the modern Western conception of betrayal? This thesis explores these questions through Recensions I and II of Táin Bó Cúailnge. As it is the longest Irish medieval heroic text in the Ulster Cycle, it provides the largest selection of betrayal incidents. An initial list of betrayal acts was identified using a set of criteria gleaned from modern sociological materials. Examination of the language in these initial betrayal acts finds that the most common word for betrayal is brath, and that there are beginning, middle, and end sections to a betrayal act. Throughout these sections of the betrayal act, both betrayer and betrayed attempt to sway public narrative in their own favour, as only betrayal acts held to be betrayals by the omnipresent audience of Medb’s army and the army followers are officially considered betrayals and thus able to be acted upon.

Three groups in particular proved interesting in the exploration of betrayal acts – the biological family, the groups that comprise Medb’s army, and women. The primary loyalty in the Táin is that to biological family: this is examined through the case study of Cú Chulainn, and the contrast between the loyalty of his biological kin, who are never accused of betraying him, and his foster-kin, many of whom betray Cú Chulainn.

As seen through the case study of Fergus and the Ulster exiles, one of the greatest sources of instability in the Táin, and thus the place where betrayal occurs the most, is the makeup of Medb and Ailill’s army. The fact the army is made up of many different groups, all with their own loyalties, weakens their position against the Ulstermen, who are largely united against an external force.

I examine also the division in reactions to betrayal between genders. While men are accused directly of betrayal acts, women are often accused of betrayal when men are attempting to de-escalate tensions between themselves, using women as scapegoats to diffuse potentially violent situations. I determine that if a man does not wish to escalate a conflict, blaming a woman allows him to retreat from the situation without dishonouring himself, as women are not held to have honour of their own and thus are not societally expected to avenge slights and accusations against themselves.

This leads to the conclusion that all accusations of betrayal are de-escalations – the primary consideration around betrayal acts is to de-escalate these situations to avoid the conflict spreading beyond the initial combatants. There are many social rituals in place within the Táin to keep such conflicts contained. These rituals allow a betrayed to take the anger from a publicly recognized betrayal act and use it to punish a betrayer in a publicly approved manner, while upholding the honour of the betrayed. However, if a person has a relationship so close, on a personal rather than public level, that betrayal leads to sadness rather than anger, there is no societal method through which the betrayed can deal with these emotions, leaving betrayed individuals to struggle through their sadness alone. Although betrayal is present in the Táin in a form recognizable to Western audiences, this is one major way in which betrayal differs in the heroic world depicted in Recensions I and II.