Dresden Cold Days Nov 27th

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The Dark
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Re: Dresden Cold Days Nov 27th

Post by The Dark »

LadyTevar wrote:
The Dark wrote:
LadyTevar wrote:Fans have been puzzling over Mac & his pub since the first book. McAnally's isn't Mac-Anal-ley, btw; it'd be Ma-Kan-ah-lee. The question is, which Being out of Celtic mythology is that a tribute to?

The best guesses so far are Manannán mac Lir or Arawn.
There's one other one I haven't seen, and it ties back to the pre-Anglicization of the name McAnally. The more common original form from Armagh and Monaghan is Mac an Fhailghigh, which means "son of the poor man." The less common and possibly more interesting one is from Ulster - Mac Con Uladh, "son of the Hound of Ulster." Why is that more interesting? Because the Hound of Ulster was an epithet for Cú Chulainn.
Cu Chullain did have a son, whom he sent to France to be raised. The son, Connla, was geased to bring his father a golden ring when he turned 7, but to never give his name to any man. This was an insult in Celtic culture, and it left Connla fighting damn near every man he met in his travels. When he finally reached his Father, Cu Chulainn asked his name, and then fought him to the death before realizing who Connla was.

Thus, Connla Mac Con Uladh is probably not Mac.
I wasn't thinking he was Connla. Either he could be descended from Setanta from one of his many lovers (such as the one he's trysting with when Maeve sneaks by to start the Tain Bo Cuailnge), or he could be a descendant of Setanta's foster son Lugaid Riab nDerg. Either would fit with Mac not being a god or a scion of a god, but still dangerous - he'd either be descended from Setanta (who sometimes is and sometimes isn't the scion of a god) or from Maeve's nephew, and if he had the Gae Bulg...

Sure, it's a long shot, but speculation on Butcher's stuff is just fun, because he comes up with the craziest ideas.
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