(Celtic: “Drunken Woman”), legendary queen of Connaught (Connacht) in Ireland. In the Irish epic tale Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley, The), she led her forces against those of Ulster and fought in the battle herself with weapons, unlike the other war goddesses, who influenced its outcome by means of their magical powers. Medb was not a historical queen but a fierce goddess with an insatiable sexual appetite. The list of her mates is impressive; at the time of the battle against Ulster, the king Ailill was her mate, but she also had an affair with the mighty hero Fergus, distinguished for his prodigious virility. Medb had a sacred tree, bile Medb, and was often represented with a squirrel and a bird sitting on her shoulders.