The Origin of Cú Chulainn’s Name (Происхождение имени Кухулина)
Vyacheslav Ivanov
Moscow State University
Abstract
The internal form of the name of a mythological or epic hero can often be explained by the situation (or set of situations) with which this hero is primarily associated. In such cases, this name can be considered as a minimal text, which is a translation of the corresponding situation.
This situation can be completely (or almost completely) reconstructed by analyzing the larger mythological and epic texts in which the corresponding name is used (the latter can be considered as a minimal text included in the larger texts related to the same situation).
If in a related linguistic and mythological tradition a name is preserved that coincides in internal form with the name under study, then for this second tradition it is possible to reconstruct the corresponding situation, although in this second tradition it is reflected only in the name, a minimal text, but not in more extensive texts.
Therefore, the comparison of names — minimal texts — and more extensive tests involving these names turns out to be a means for comparing and reconstructing the situations associated with them.
Such conclusions, in particular, can be drawn by comparing the name Cú Chulainn and the Irish legends associated with it, on the one hand, and the corresponding elements of other Indo-European linguistic and mythological systems, on the other.