Cuchulain & Skatha

When he was still young the Irish warrior Cuchulain met the maiden Emer whom he wished to marry but Emer's father Forgall a mighty warrior in his own right forbade her to wed before her older sister Fial and when she was to marry she must marry one who has proven himself in battle so Cuchulain sought to become a student of Skatha who lived in the land of the shadows which we now know as the Isle of Skye.

Cuchulain had to face many perils in his quest to the land of Skatha thick forests and empty plains then he came upon the Plain of Misfortune a thick swamp where he met a young man gave him a wheel and told him to roll it an follow it as it went.Cuchulain did so and the wheel lit up with fire and beams of light shot from it's spokes and it blazed a trail for him to follow out of the swamp.Cuchulain then had to battle the beasts of the Perilous Glen and after defeating them he came upon the Bridge of the Leaps beyond which was Skatha.Here at this bridge he came across many Irishmen who also sought to learn from Skatha Cuchulain recognized two of them Ferdia and Daman.He asked Ferdia how the bridge might be crossed but Ferdia replied that only Skatha knew for this was no ordinary bridge it was very high and at it's bottom there was a boiling sea filled with horrid sea creatures and if you attempted to cross the bridge it would rise up to throw you off, the bridge was also very thin so Cuchulain rested a bit to gather his strength.
After feeling himself ready Cuchulain set out to cross the bridge and after three tries leapt to the center then before the bridge could rise again he leapt to the end and made it across to the door of Skatha's fortress.Skatha was impressed and took Cuchulain as her pupil and taught him the art of war and the use of the Gae Bolg a weapon thrown from the foot that would kill by inserting barbs all across a man's body.Cuchulain stayed with Skatha as did Ferdia Cuchulain's best and truest friend.
Now there came a time when Skatha had to engage in war with the people of the Princess Aifa who was Skatha's rival in combat.Skatha wanted to keep Cuchulain away from the battle so she mixed a herb that would cause him to sleep for one full day yet it only worked for one hour Cuchulain grabbed his weapons and rode out to do battle against the forces of Aifa until the time came when Aifa announced she wished to face Skatha in mortal combat.Cuchulain instead asked to face her and Skatha reluctantly agreed so it was that Cuchulain asked Skatha what Aifa valued most and Skatha told him that Aifa valued her Chariot,horses and charioteer above all else. Cuchulain and Aifa fought to a stand still until Aifa shattered Cuchulain's sword to the hilt and as she was about to deliver the final blow to him Cuchulain called out "Aye,look Aifa's chariot and horses have fallen into the glen.".Aifa turned around to look and Cuchulain disarmed her and threw her over his shoulder carrying her to Skatha.Cuchulain set Aifa before Skatha and demanded she make eternal peace with Skatha or he would cut her throat.Aifa agreed and soon she became friends with Cuchulain and even later the two became lovers for he was the only man to have beaten her in combat.