Caladbolg ("hard belly", or possibly "hard lightning"), sometimes written Caladcholg ("hard blade"), is the sword of Fergus mac Róich from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Spelled Caladcholg, it is also associated with the more obscure Ulster hero Fergus mac Leda, suggesting a conflation of two legends. It was said to be a two-handed sword that made a circle like an arc of rainbow when swung, and to have the power to slice the tops off hills and take out several men. Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In Irish mythology, Fergus (or Fearghus) mac Róich (or mac Róeg) is the former king of Ulster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. ... The Ulster Cycle, formerly the Red Branch Cycle, is a large body of prose and verse centering around the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster. ... The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. ... In Irish mythology, Fergus (or Fearghus) mac Róich (or mac Róeg) is the former king of Ulster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. ...

During the Táin Bó Cuailnge, Ailill mac Máta takes Caladbolg away from Fergus mac Róich when he discovers Fergus' affair with his wife Medb. He gives it back when the Ulstermen rally against his armies. Fergus wreaks havoc against Ulster's forces with his blade, but Conall Cernach convinces him not to kill Conchobar mac Nessa. He redirects his blow above Conchobar's head, chopping off the tops of three hills in the process. The Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, is the central tale in the Ulster Cycle, one of the four great cycles that make up the surviving corpus of Irish mythology. ... Ailill (Aillell, Oilioll) mac Máta was king of Connacht and husband of Medb in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ... (, Medb, Medhbh, Meabh, Maeve, Maev) is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Conall Cernach (Conall the Victorious) is a heroic warrior of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ... In Irish mythology, Conchobar mac Nessa (also Conchobor, Conchubar, Conchobhar, Conchubhar, Conchúr, Conchúir, Conor) was king of Ulster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. ...

Caladbolg may be related linguistically to Cúchulainn's spear, the Gáe Bulg, and is thought to be a source or analogue of King Arthur's sword Excalibur, which in early Welsh is called Caledfwlch. Young Cúchulainn (as Sétanta), 1912 illustration by Stephen Reid. ... The Gáe Bulg (also Gáe Bulga, Gáe Bolg, Gáe Bolga, meaning notched spear, belly spear, bellows-dart, or possibly lightning spear) was the spear of Cúchulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ... A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15th century) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ... How Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword Excalibur into the Water. ... Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. ...

References

• MacKillop, James James MacKillop (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-860967-1.