es, while
some MSS. tell of it in the case of certain heroic personages, in others
these same heroes are said to have been born naturally. There is no
textual evidence that it was attributed to ordinary mortals, and it is
possible that, if classical observers did not misunderstand the Celtic
doctrine of the future life, their references to rebirth may be based on
mythical tales regarding gods or heroes. We shall study these tales as
they are found in Irish texts.

In the mythological cycle, as has been seen, Etain, in insect form, fell
into a cup of wine. She was swallowed by Etar, and in due time was
reborn as a child, who was eventually married by Eochaid Airem, but
recognized and carried off by her divine spouse Mider. Etain, however,
had quite forgotten her former existence as a goddess.[1193]

In one version of Cuchulainn's birth story Dechtire and her women fly
away as birds, but are discovered at last by her brother Conchobar in a
strange house, where Dechtire gives birth to a child, of whom the god
Lug is apparently the father. In another version the birds are not
Dechtire and her women, for she accompanies Conchobar as his charioteer.
They arrive at the house, the mistress of which gives birth to a child,
which Dechtire brings up. It dies, and on her return from the burial
Dechtire swallows a small animal when drinking. Lug appears to her by
night, and tells her that he was the child, and that now she was with
child by him (i.e. he was the animal swallowed by her). When he was born
he would be called Setanta, who was later named Cuchulainn. Cuchulainn,
in this version, is thus a rebirth of Lug, as well as his father.[1194]

In the _Tale of the Two Swineherds_, Friuch and Rucht are herds of the
gods Ochall and Bodb. They quarrel, and their fighting in various animal
shapes is fully described. Finally they become two worms, which are
swallowed by two cows; these then give birth to the Whitehorn and to the
Black Bull of Cuailgne, the animals which were the cause of the _Tain._
The swineherds were probably themselves gods in the older versions of
this tale.[1195]

Other stories relate the rebirth of heroes. Conchobar is variously said
to be son of Nessa by her husband Cathbad, or by her lover Fachtna. But
in the latter version an incident is found which points to a third
account. Nessa brings Cathbad a draught from a river, but in it are two
worms which he forces her to swallow. She gives birth to a son, in each