Myths and Legends

Queen Medb

Queen Medb, she was mentioned in the story of Cuchulain, sort of. She's a badass queen in more ways than one. Many interpreted her name as "mead-woman" or "she who intoxicates". This is thought to reflect her role as sovereignty goddess. In ancient and medieval Ireland, the drinking of mead was a key part of a king's inauguration ceremony. In myth, a supernatural woman representing the sovereignty of the land chooses a king by offering him an alcoholic drink, thus bestowing sovereignty upon him. However, it is also suggested that the name comes from Proto-Celtic *medwa ("the ruler"). But seeing how there more than one dialectic, I'm not 100% on this. Moving on, she had three conditions if you were going to marry her :
1)Fearlessness

2)No meanness

3) No Jealousy.

However, when she married King Conchobar, one of the conditions was broken. It doesn't go into much detail, but some accounts said that he was abusive. And that third condition was very important because she had many lovers. 

The most widely read and famous story of her exploits is the Tain Bo Cuailng, or known today as the Cattle Raid of Cooley, which was written in the Ulster cycle of Irish literature. The story is epic prose of the war against Ulster by Queen Medb  her husband, King Ailill. The action takes place in the first century AD in the pre-Christian heroic age of the Celts or Gaels as they were known in Ireland.

Now, Celtic culture had it that in marriage, whoever came into the marriage with the most wealth dominated the marriage and ruled the household whether it was the man or the woman.Which is pretty interesting, and very social advanced when compared to the rest of the world in some cases.  So, the Cattle Raid of Cooley actually started in bed!

Medb and Aillil were laying in bed and began talking of their individual wealth. They both were comparing the property they owned, the amount of money they owned, the jewels they owned and they found that they were on equal terms. But, Ailill had one thing that Medb did not have and that was a prize stud bull. Medb, being a very competitive person, set out to find one. She want to be an equal to her husband, and the only rival to Ailill's bull was a bull that belonged to Daire mac Fiochna(that may or may not be the correct spelling)and he lived in Ulster.

Now this is where the story gets muddled a bit due to translations and whatnot. Medb offered twice what the bull was worth and sexual favors,but was decline. Or she had to race a horse  and win while she was pregnant( though that could be a different story entirely). Either way she cursed the men of Ulster with labor pains in the hour of need, and this is where we get to the last part of the story of Cuchulain( he has his own chapter).

At some point she raided the lands of mac Fiochna and obtained the bull, Donn Cuailnge, by herself. The bull was brought back to Connacht to fight Ailill's bull. Donn Cuailnge bested Ailill's bull and killed it but then died of its own wounds. Thus, is the story of the Cattle Raid of Cooley and Maeve's and Ailill's household was equal at last. 

Now she isn't the best example of a good queen, but you have to admire her intuitivity...if that's even a word. As stated before chronology of early Irish historical tradition is an artificial attempt by Christian monks to synchronise native traditions with classical and biblical history, and it is possible that the cycle has been chronologically misplaced and/ or changed.