How would you throw this javelin-type weapon, Gae Bolg, with your foot?

Question

I was reading a Wikipedia article about a weapon from Irish mythology called Gae Bolg, which is a type of spear or javelin, apparently. The thing is, the article mentions this:

"The Gáe Bulg had to be made ready for use on a stream and cast from the fork of the toes. It entered a man's body with a single wound, like a javelin, then opened into thirty barbs. Only by cutting away the flesh could it be taken from that man's body."

I wasn't sure if by "cast from the fork of the toes" they meant thrown by the foot or not, so I did some more research and apparently it is thrown with the foot.

I find this to be a pretty curious way to use a weapon, and I have only a vague idea of how this would be performed. Has anyone ever heard of something so outlandish? And if so, could you show me a picture or a diagram of a weapon or tool being thrown with the foot?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1e_Bulg

Wikipedia isn't the only source saying that it is thrown with the foot... I did more research and various other websites say it is thrown with the foot.

It is quite a hilarious mental picture, though, which is mostly why I posted this in the first place... For the laugh :)

Answer 1

I beg to differ with the first answer, here (which appears to have been deleted?). Whoever wrote the wiki entry was basing it on the existing Irish literature from several centuries ago. However, "Faery Wicca" is a recent invention. While not familiar with it, specifically, books of its kind are often built on imagination and romance, with questionable scholarship.

I can't tell you how the spear was thrown, and I don't think any weapon of its kind is still in use in Ireland. Though I have found references online to a type of barbed Celtic javelin called a "madaris," "mataris," "matara" or "gaesum" - maybe that will give you something to go on. Julius Caesar mentions that the Gauls (now we call Celts) were fond of throwing javelins.

Keep in mind that these are myths. The Táin Bó Cúailnge also mentions "juggling nine apples with never more than one in his palm; the thunder-feat; the feats of the sword edge and the sloped shield; the feats of the javelin and the rope; the body feat; the feat of the Cat and the heroic salmon leap; the pole-throw and the leap over a poisoned stroke; the noble chariot-fighter's crouch; the gae bolga; the spurt of speed; the feat of the chariot wheel thrown on high and the feat of the shield-rim; the breath feat, with gold apples blown up into the air; the snapping mouth and the hero's scream; the stroke of precision; the stunning-shot and the cry stroke; stepping on a lance in flight and straightening erect on its point, the sickle chariot; and the trussing of a warrior on the points of spears."

Also, I thought I should mention that Celtic myths are problematic because the stories and myths were not written down until Christianity came along, and scholars continue to argue over how accurately the Christians actually wrote them down.

Answer 2

Gae Bulg

Answer 3

Yeah, the only reference I have heard of it from is the cattle raid of cooley (aka the book of the brown cow/ The ulster cycle, if I'm not mistaken)
The answer could be as simple as it's far more impressive for Cuchullain to be able to kill a man with a spear cast from his foot than with his hands. Celtic myths tend to be very improbable, which is part of what makes them so dang fun.

Answer 4

Have a read of the Tain Bo Culigne (I know I spelled that wrong) Cattle Raid of Cooley.

When you get to the bits of Cu Chulain fighting his foster brother at the ford, they will talk of the Gae Bolg.

Remember, it is a myth and not meant to be a set of facts to be proven true or disproven as false ;)

Answer 5

Whoever wrote that in wiki had no frellin clue what they were talking about. Pick up Faery Wicca book 1 (I believe) by Kisma Stepanich. You will get a MUCH better understanding of the Spear of Lugh.

Answer 6

dude, i barely understand english, but i know about that spear - a cool piece or weaponry, used today by cartoons drawers (manga especially).

you do not throw it with your foot - thanks a lot for the laugh!

http://otakuism.animeblogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/vlcsnap-548113.jpg