An Táin Bot prompted some off-the-cuff TBC analysis just now, so I figured I'd paste the thread below so that it's backed up if Twitter disappears, and so youse can read it regardless of whether or not you're on the bird app. This is mostly exactly as it is on Twitter, except that I added the bit about O'Rahilly's translation, since I had space to do so:
'Daltán' is a diminutive of 'daltae': pupil, disciple, foster-child, ward, etc. So eDIL translates it as 'A little foster-child, a pupil; a term of endearment'. Why would Cú Chulainn use this term for Láeg, who is probably older than him?
Remember, this is the same recension of the Táin where Cú Chulainn repeatedly calls Láeg 'a phopa', a term of respect and endearment derived from 'father', usually used for an elder or a social superior.
(I talked about this a bit in my Oidheadh Con Culainn article.)
In this scene, Láeg has just described an Otherworldly being approaching them (Lug, in Recension 1, but he's not named in the Book of Leinster), and gone, "It's kinda weird, it's like nobody can see him even though he's walking straight past them."
Cú Chulainn responds with the line above -- essentially, "Yep, that would be because he's from the Otherworld." In O'Rahilly's translation, this is a little clearer as the meaning, I think: ‘That is true, my fosterling,’ said he. ‘That is one of my friends from the fairy mounds coming to commiserate with me.’ ('That is true' rather than 'In sooth' sounds both more like something an actual human would say, and also makes it clearer that he's agreeing with Láeg's understanding of events.)
So maybe the use of daltán is sarcastic, because he's pointing out something that seems obvious to him. Or it's genuine -- he's explaining something (Otherworld beings are only visible to the people they choose to show themselves to and/or you're a freak with the ability to see through their illusions, Láeg), so he's positioning himself as a teacher. Watch and learn, kid!
Dunno. Láeg's age is never confirmed, but he's almost certainly Cú Chulainn's elder, whether by a few months or by several years. That might be why Cú Chulainn calls him 'a phopa', possibly evoking an 'older brother' type fosterage relationship -- big bro Láeg.
(Again: I briefly discussed the evidence for considering Láeg to be Cú Chulainn's foster brother in my Oidheadh Con Culainn article, although I hope to write about that at more length some day. That's the article published in Quaestio Insularis, ftr.)
The use of 'a phopa' is still unusual, since it's usually used for a social superior, which Láeg certainly isn't. 'A daltán', in that regard, cleaves more to the expected hierarchies, but in the context of their wider relationship in this text, I feel it has to be sarcastic.
In fact, in Recension 1, Láeg takes on more of an advisory/teacher role himself, including giving legal advice to Cú Chulainn. I have an article about THAT coming eventually too, though it's still in peer review right now.
Regardless of the exact meaning or the vibes here, I think that it's definitely a term of endearment, as eDIL says. These two are always calling each other by nicknames and diminutives, and it's one of the reasons I find their relationship so interesting to explore.
This has been: off-the-cuff medieval Irish discussions with your host, Finn Longman. Tune in next time An Táin Bot shows up on my feed with a line that I have feelings about, for more unsolicited opinions.
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