Ellén Trechend

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Ellén Trechend was a three headed monster of Irish Mythology that lived in the Cave of Cruachan before it left it and laid the whole of Ireland to waste until it was killed by the warrior poet Amergin mac Eccit.

Appearance
What the creature of Ellén Trechend looks like is highly debated however the latter half of the name translates to "three-headed" but Ellén is a word of unknown origin, with some thinking it to be a swarm of three headed creatures and some believing it to take the form of a bird, the latter belief often being the most widely accepted.

the author P.W Joyce believes that Ellén Trechend was a large, three-headed vulture upon which rode a goblin, who commandeered an army of goblins and "copper-red birds".

T.F O'Rahilly, however, identifies the creature with Aillén, the fire monster that was slain by Fionn mac Cumhaill.

History
In most tellings of the story the authors keep to one simple basis narrative, Ellén Trechend erupted from the Cave of Cruachan in Ireland and razed everything in it's path sometime between Amergin mac Eccit's marriage to Findchoem and the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

After it had done a considerable amount of damage Amergin found and slew the beast before it could wreak any more havok.

P.W Joyce adds a flock of Copper-red birds and an army of goblins to the story, presumably to add more tension to Amergin's fight, he also describes Ellén Trechend as a three-headed vulture, taking inspiration from Whitley Stokes' presumption that Ellén Trechend was a bird.