Fráech

Half-divine son of the Tuatha Dé Danann figure Bé Find (sister of Boann) by the mortal Connacht prince Idath. The eponymous hero of Táin Bó Fraích — one of the remscéla (preliminary tales) of the Táin Bó Cúailnge cycle. "Most beautiful of the warriors of Ireland" per the saga-formula; the otherworldly endowments his Tuatha Dé Danann mother provides (garments, healing-care after the serpent-fight) mark the maternal-divine-line throughout the saga. Killed by Cú Chulainn at a ford during the Táin Bó Cúailnge — the cross-saga death-link that places Fráech in the Ulster-cycle world. Father Idath left unseeded — appears only as a name in the saga-opening.

Parentage

• Bé Find

Domains

• martial beauty
• otherworld endowed hero

Powers

• Wrestles and beheads the lake water-beast

Relations

• lover: Findabair
• killed by: Cú Chulainn

Sources

• Táin Bó Fraích (Old Irish, 8th-9th c. — the eponymous saga, the major source); Táin Bó Cúailnge (LU recension late 11th c., LL recension 12th c. — the death-at-ford episode); Acallam na Senórach (12th c.); Lebor Gabála Érenn (genealogical tract)
• Táin Bó Fraích §1