hero of the hundred fights
Preserved but no longer current.
Conn, a legendary Irish king, was so called by O'Gnive, the bard of O'Niel: "Conn, of the hundred fights, sleeps in his grass-grown tomb." The epithet has also been appUed to Nelson, Wellington, and other famous commanders.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “hero of the hundred fights” mean?
Conn, a legendary Irish king, was so called by O'Gnive, the bard of O'Niel: "Conn, of the hundred fights, sleeps in his grass-grown tomb." The epithet has also been appUed to Nelson, Wellington, and other famous commanders.
Is “hero of the hundred fights” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.