Gáe Bolg

Gáe Bolg
Concept artwork of the Gáe Bolg from Awakening.
First Seen	Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Weapon Type	Lance
Most Common Rank	Varies
Uses	Varies
[view]

Gáe Bolg (ゲイボルグ Gei borugu, alternately translated Gayborg in Fire Emblem Treasure) is a holy Lance from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. This lance was once wielded by Njörun the Crusader, bestowed upon her by an unidentified Divine Dragon during the Miracle of Darna. Gáe Bolg is the property of Njörun's descendants, who are the heirs of the Manster District.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, Gáe Bolg grants its wielder bonuses of +10 Strength, +10 Skill and +10 Defense. This lance may only be wielded by users possessing major Njörun holy blood, the only characters with this requirement being Quan and his daughter Altena.

In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, it is stated that a flag of Gáe Bolg was once hung from Leonster Castle while the descendants of Njörun were still in power.

Background

Gáe Bolg is said to be have a curse that visits tragedy upon its owner. The story of this curse began with the brother and sister Crusaders Njörun and Dain, who shared a close sibling relationship. This intimacy caused them to jointly rule the Thracian Peninsula as one country, comprising both the Manster District and Thracian Peninsula.

At some point, Njörun wed a knight who was a good friend of her brother's, and the two lived happily for a good while. However, Njörun's husband and Dain later got into an argument, one that led to them dueling each other. In an attempt to break up the fight, Njörun accidentally impaled her husband with Gáe Bolg. This was quickly followed by Njörun committing suicide out of both grief and guilt, alongside Dain dying under mysterious circumstances. A series of unfortunate events occurring within the Leonster royal family then occurred, which eventually caused Thracia to split into two distinct northern and southern districts.

After these events, it became known that Gungnir and Gáe Bolg were intertwined, and that Gáe Bolg is the lance that controls both love and sorrow, promising to tear asunder any couple whose hands it falls into. For this reason, Ethlyn is initially hesitant to give Quan the lance in Chapter 3 of Genealogy of the Holy War, as she believes that it will end up in their happiness being ruined by Quan's death. Both the Yied Massacre, where Quan (who possessed Gáe Bolg) and Ethlyn are killed by Travant (who possessed Gungnir), and the conflict that separates the adopted siblings Arion and Altena in Chapter 9 are said to be due to the Curse of Gáe Bolg.

Weapon Stats

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Name				Type
Gáe Bolg				Lance
Rank	Uses	Mt	Hit	Rng	Wt	Worth
*	50	30	70%	1	15	50,000
Effect
Grants its user bonuses of +10 Strength, +10 Skill and +10 Defense.

* Holy Blood Requirement: Njörun

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 (Unused)

Name					Type
Gáe Bolg					Lance
Rank	Uses	Mt	Hit	Crt	Rng	Wt	WEx	Worth
B	90	20	100%	50	1-2	2	1	200
Effect
Grants its user a bonus of +10 Strength; also bestows upon them the Charm, Ambush, Awareness, and Wrath skills.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Name				Type
Gáe Bolg				Lance
Rank	Uses	Mt	Hit	Crt	Rng	WEx	Worth
A	25	15	75%	10	1	?	0
Effect
Grants its user a bonus of +5 Defense.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Name		Type
Gáe Bolg		Lance
Mt	Rng	SP	Rarity
16	1	400	✯✯✯✯✯
Effect
In combat against an infantry, armored or cavalry foe, grants Atk/Def +5 during combat.

Item Locations

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Method	Location
Event	Generation 1: Ch. 3 - Have Ethlyn speak to Quan after Silvail Castle is conquered.
Inventory	Generation 2: Altena

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

Method	Location
Unobtainable	-

Fire Emblem Awakening

Method	Location
Treasure	Xeno. 15 - Random from Chest.
SpotPass Bonus Item	Available for download from the following dates onwards: 19 July 2012 JP 2 May 2013 NA 25 July 2013 EU

Etymology

Gáe Bolg is the spear wielded by the Irish folk hero, Cu Chulainn. In Irish Gaelic, Gáe Bolg can translate to "spear of mortal pain/death", or "belly spear".

Trivia

• Gáe Bolg's in-game design appears to differ from its official artwork depiction. While the lance's official artwork shows it with a yellow swirl surrounding a red jewel in the middle of the lance, its in-game design lacks this detail.
• The original official art of the Gáe Bolg and Gungnir lances are remarkably similar to the Archanaea series' Gradivus. However, the art changed in Awakening to a completely different design, perhaps to avoid confusion with the Regalia.

Gallery

Official artwork of Gáe Bolg from Fire Emblem Museum.

Gáe Bolg, as it appears in the third series of the TCG.

Gáe Bolg as it appears in Fire Emblem Heroes.

Quan wielding Gáe Bolg in Genealogy of the Holy War.

Finn wielding a hacked version of Gáe Bolg in Thracia 776.

Altena wielding Gáe Bolg in Awakening.