- Furbaide Ferbend
Furbaide Ferbend (or Ferbenn) is a character from the
Ulster Cycle ofIrish mythology . He is the son of the Ulster kingConchobar mac Nessa and one of his wives, Eithne, daughter of the High KingEochu Feidlech . While she was pregnant, Eithne was murdered by her sisterMedb , Conchobar's ex-wife and later queen ofConnacht , by drowning in a stream. Her son was delivered byCaesarian section , and was named Furbaide, explained as deriving fromOld Irish "urbad", "a cutting". His epithet "Ferbend", "horned man", comes from his helmet, which has a bull's horns.In later life he avenged his mother's death. Medb had taken to bathing in a pool on an island. Furbaide measured the distance from the pool to the shore with a rope, and practiced with his sling until he could hit an apple on to off a stake from that distance. The next time he saw Medb bathing, he shot the nearest missile to hand - a piece of cheese - at her, and killed her.
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