Warriors must have the tools to make war. Human use of fire with stone ores to make copper, then bronze, brought the long knife. Copper daggers and long bronze knives enabled the close-range attack and killing of other humans, made it more efficient. With metal use, ancient cultures saw the rise of warrior societies and fortified dwellings, which contrasted with earlier burial practices and settlement patterns and housing. From
The long bronze
knife elaborated into bronze dirks, rapiers, and swords. After over a
millennium, iron with its superior properties replaced bronze.
At its earliest
stages, the privilege of being the people’s warrior-lord carried heavy
responsibilities. A layered tale with multiple recensions, The Destruction of Derg’s Hostel relates how Connery the Great (
Ir. Conaire Mor) met his doom. Young
Connery walked naked and alone to the Hill of Tara to accept the role of
warrior-champion. The story describes many obligations and bans on him, what he
must and must not do. See Togail Bruidne da Derga.
Bizarre rituals in
the Bronze Age can be heard under the gloss laid on by medieval monks. Connery
probably had to touch the Lia Fail,
the stone of destiny, said to cry out only at the rightful ruler’s touch.
It is no
accident that
Connery managed
to violate all of the rules. Yet the myth states that his reign at Tara brought gladness and prosperity the likes of which
were never again seen in the northern isles. His murder was a great misdeed of
which people still speak.
J.S. Dunn is the award-wining author of Bending the Boyne, which took first place in the Next generation Indie Book Awards 2011
