The book tells the life story of an Iron Age hero, providing a history of Iron Age Ulster and its customs. Cu Chulainn was the greatest hero of a heroic age centered on Ulster and North Leinster. He is in the European tradition of heroes, from Ajax to Achilles to King Arthur. He was a demi-god, having both a solar deity, Lug, and Conchobar mac Nessa, King of Ulster, for his father. All that is known of him comes from a collection of ancient writings that fuse history, myth and biography. Working from his own translations from the Old Irish and from edited manuscript sources, Daragh Smyth has crafted a fascinating and scholarly account of the life of Cu Chulainn and of aspects of social life in Ulster during the Iron Age. The book is divided into eight chapters; each chapter is taken from a printed version of a medieval manuscript and translated into English. It follows Cu Chulainn from his birth to his initiation in arms, his various romances in Ireland and Scotland, and his marr