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Edition

•  D. A. Binchy (ed & tr), 'The Saga of Fergus mac Léti', Ériu 16 (1952) 33-48.
  

Manuscripts

• H.3.18 pp. 363b-365a
  
• Harl. 432, f. 5
  

Date

• eighth century (Binchy)
  

Characters

• Fergus mac Léti, king of Ulster from Clanna Rudraige (dominant dynasty of the legendary Ulaid and the prehistoric ancestors of Dál nAraide.  See O'Rahilly, EIHM 349ff).  O'Rahilly has argued that Fergus mac Léti is a doublet of the Ulster hero Fergus mac Roich.
  
• The following people make a brief appearance at the beginning of the saga, though they play no real part in the narrative:
• Conn Cétchathach, a king of the midland Féni and eponymous ancestor of Dál Cuinn (prehistoric ancestors of the Connachta and the Uí Néill)
• Conn Cétcorach, a king of the Féni, regarded by Binchy as a doublet of Conn Cétchathach
  
• Eochu Bélbuide, son of Tuathal Techtmar and paternal uncle of Conn Cétchathach
  

Notes

• There are two versions of this story--Echtra Fergusa maic Léti (the earlier) and Aidedh Fergusa maic Lédi (the later). 
• This story is often regarded as part of the Ulster Cycle rather than the Cycles of the Kings.
  
• In this story, Fergus owns the caladbolg, a famous sword in Irish tradition.  It is possibly related to the sword that comes to be called Excalibur in later medieval literature.
  
• This story marks the first appearance of the leprechaun in Irish literature.  They are called lúchoirp / lúchorpáin in this text and are taken to be a kind of diminutive anthropomorphic water-sprite.
• The myth of the high-kingship of Ireland, which plays such an important part in other early Irish kings' tales, does not form part of the mythical background of this story.
  

Three men are contending for the kingship of the Féni--Conn Cétchathach, Conn Cétchorach, and Eochu Bélbuide.  After causing his nephew much trouble, Eochu flees to Ulster and asks Fergus for troops.  When he returns home, he is murdered (while under Fergus' protection) by Asal mac Cuinn Chétchathaig; the four sons of Buide mac Ainmirech; and Tipraite Traiglethan, the son of Dorn (daughter of Buide) and a foreigner.  Fergus invades the Midlands to avenge his honor.  He is offered his own terms--twenty-seven cumala, some land, and Dorn as his slave.  Peace is established between the Ulaid and the Féni, and Fergus returns home.

Back in Ulster, he falls asleep by the seashore. Lúchorpáin steal up on him out of the water, take his sword (the caladbolg), and cart him to the sea.  But as his foot touches the water, he wakes up and seizes his diminutive captors.  Upon their surrender, Fergus demands his three wishes, the first of which--and the only one mentioned in the story--is essentially the ability to breathe underwater.  The creatures give him herbs to put in his ears (or according to another version, a special cloak), but warn him never to swim beneath the surface of Loch Rudraige.  After exploring many waters with the lúchorpáin, Fergus disregards this warning and plunges into the forbidden loch where he encounters the muirdris (a fiercesome aquatic beast).  The sight of the monster is so terrifying that Fergus' face becomes permanently distorted.

As Fergus sleeps on the beach after his ordeal, his charioteer rushes to Emain Macha, and he and the wise men of Ulster concoct a scheme to keep Fergus on the throne.  (His disfigurement is regarded as a blemish (ainim) that disqualifies him from the kingship.)  His household is cleared of anyone who might betray his blemish and he is to lay supine to have his hair washed, so that he cannot see his own reflection in the water.  The plan works for seven years until Dorn, whom Fergus smacks with a horsewhip, taunts him with his disfigurement.  Fergus rushes to Loch Rudraige and plunges in.  Eventually, he emerges with the head of the slain muirdris and then drops over dead on the shore.