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Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

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Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostWed Jun 01, 2016 9:02 pm

The Wooing of Étaín ( Part-1)
There was a famous king of Ireland of the race of the Tuatha Dé, Eochaid Ollathair his name. He was also named the Dagda (the good God), for it was he that used to work wonders for them and control the weather and the crops. Wherefore men said he was called the Dagda. Elcmar of the Brugh had a wife whose name was Eithne, and another name for her was Boand. The Dagda desired her in carnal union. The woman would have yielded to the Dagda had it not been for fear of Elcmar, so great was his power. Thereupon the Dagda sent Elcmar away on a journey to Bres son of Elatha in Mag nInis, and the Dagda worked great spells upon Elcmar as he set out, that he might not return early and he dispelled the darkness of night for him, and he kept hunger and thirst from him. He sent him on long errands, so that nine months went by as one day, for he had said that he would return home again between day and night.
Meanwhile the Dagda went in unto Elcmar's wife and she bore him a son, Aengus, and the woman was whole of her sickness when Elcmar returned, and he perceived not her offence, that she had lain with the Dagda.


Midir and Etain: 'He took his weapons in his left hand and the woman beneath his right shoulder; and he carried her off through the smoke-hole of the house.'
The Dagda meanwhile brought his son to Midhir's house in Brí Léith in Tethba, to be fostered. There Aengus was reared for the space of nine years. Midhir had a great playing field in Brí Léith. Thrice fifty lads of the young nobles of Ireland were there and thrice fifty maidens of Ireland. Aengus was the leader of them all because of Midhir's great love for him, and the beauty of his form and nobility of his race. He was also called Mac Óg (the Young Son) for his mother said: 'Young is the son who was begotten at the break of day and born between it and evening.'

Now Aengus quarreled with Triath son of Febal (or Gobor) of the Fir Bolg, who was one of the two leaders in the game and a foster son of Midhir also.

It was no small matter of pride with Aengus that Triath should speak to him, and he said 'It irks me that the son of a serf should hold speech with me,' for Aengus had believed up until then that Midhir was his father, and the kingship of Brí Léith his heritage, and he knew not of his kinship with the Dagda.

Triath made answer and said: 'I take it no less ill that a hireling whose mother and father are unknown should hold speech with me.' Thereupon Aengus went to Midhir weeping and sorrowful at having been put to shame by Triath. 'What is this?' said Midhir. 'Triath has defamed me and cast in my face that I have neither mother nor father.' said Aengus.

'That's not true,' said Midhir. 'Your father is Eochaid Ollathair and Eithne, wife of Elcmar of the Brugh is your mother. I have reared you unknown to Elcmar, lest it cause him pain that you were begotten in his despite.' 'Come thou with me that my father may acknowledge me then and that I may no longer be kept hidden and suffer the insults of the Fir Bolg.'

Then Midhir set out with his fosterling to have words with Eochaid, and they came to Uisnech of Meath in the centre of Ireland, for that is where Eochaid resided, Ireland stretching equally far from it on every side, to south and north to east and west. Before them in the assembly they found Eochaid. Midhir called the King aside to have a word with the lad. ' What does he want, this youth who has not come here until now?' 'He wants to be acknowledged by his father and for land to be given him,' said Midhir 'for it is not right that thy son should be landless while thou art king of Ireland.' 'He is welcome,' said Eochaid, 'He is my son. But the land I wish him to have is not yet vacant.' 'What land is that?' asked Midhir 'The Brugh to the north of the Boyne,' said Eochaid. 'Who is there?' asked Midhir. 'Elcmar,' said Eochaid, 'and I have no wish to annoy him further.'

'What counsel do you give this lad?' asked Midhir. 'I have this for him' replied Eochaid 'On the day of the Samhain let him go into the Brugh and let him go armed. That is a day of peace and amity among the men of Ireland, on which none is at enmity with his fellow. And Elcmar will be at Cnoc Síd in Broga unarmed save for a fork of white hazel in his hand, his cloak folded about him, and a gold brooch in his cloak, and three fifties playing before him in the playing field; and let Aengus go to him and threaten to kill him. But it is important that he does not kill him provided Elcmar promises him his will. And let this be the will of Aengus, that he be king a day and a night in the Brugh; and see that he yields not the land again to Elcmar until he submit himself to my decision. And when he comes let Aengus plea that the land has fallen to him in simple payment for the sparing of Elcmar's life, and that what he has asked for is kingship for a day and a night, and it is in days and nights that the world is spanned.

Then Midhir and Aengus return to Brí Léith and on the following Samhain Aengus armed himself and went to the Brugh where he made an attack on Elcmar, so that he promised in return for his life kingship of the Brugh for a day and a night.

Aengus straightaway abode there that day and the following night as king of the land, Elcmar's household being subject to him. On the morrow Elcmar came to claim this land from Aengus, and threatened him mightily. Mac Óg said he would not yield up the land until it be put to the decision of the Dagda in the presence of the men of Ireland.

Then they appeal to the Dagda, who adjudged each man's contract in accordance with its undertaking. 'So then this land belongs henceforward to this youth?' asked Elcmar. 'Yes,' replies the Dagda 'You were taken unawares on a day of peace and amity. You gave your land for the mercy shown you, for your life was dearer to you than your land, Yet I will give you land that will be just as profitable as the Brugh' 'What land is that?' asked Elcmar. 'Cleitech,' says the Dagda 'with the three lands that are round about it, thy youths playing before thee every day in the Brugh, and thou shall enjoy the fruits of the Boyne from this land. 'I agree to that' said Elcmar and away he moved to Cleitech, and built a stronghold there. Aengus Mac Óg remained at the Brugh and made it his home.

On the following year Midhir came to the Brugh on a visit to his foster son, and he found Aengus on the mound of Síd in Broga on the day of the Samhain with two companies of youths at play before him in the Brugh, and Elcmar on the mound of Cleitech to the south, watching them. A quarrel broke out among the youths in the Brugh. 'Do not move' said Midhir to Mac Óg 'Lest Elcmar come down to the plain, I will go myself and make peace between them.

Thereupon Midhir went and it was not easy for him to part them. A spit of holly was thrown at Midhir while he was intervening and it knocked one of his eyes out. Midhir came to Mac Óg with his eye in his hand and said 'Would that I had never come to visit you, to be put to shame, for with this blemish I cannot hold the land I have come to, and the land I have left I cannot return to it now.'

'It shall not be so,' said Mac Óg. 'I will go to Dian Cécht, that he may come and heal you, and your own land will be yours, and this land will be yours, and your eye will be whole again without shame or blemish because of it. Then Mac Óg went to Dian Cécht and asked him to save his foster father whose eye had been put out. Dian Cécht came and healed Midhir so that he was whole again. 'Good is my journeying now since I am healed' said Midhir. 'It is indeed so' said Mac Óg 'Why don't you stay for a year here, in order to see my host, and my folk, my household and my land.' 'I will not stay' says Midhir 'Unless I have a reward therefore.' 'What reward do you require?' asked Mac Óg 'A chariot worth seven cumals, and a mantle befitting me and the fairest maiden in Ireland' replies Midhir.

'I have the chariot and the mantle befitting thee, ' said Aengus. 'There is moreover the maiden that surpasses all maidens in form.' said Midhir. 'And where might she be?' questioned Mac Óg. 'She is in Ulster, Ailill's daughter Étaín Echraide, daughter of the king of the north-eastern part of Ireland. She is the dearest and gentlest and loveliest in Ireland' replied Midhir.

So Aengus Mac Óg went to seek her until he came to Ailill's house in Mag nInis. He was made welcome, and he abode three nights there. He told his mission and announced his name and race. He said that it was in quest of Étaín he had come. 'I will not give her to thee,' said Ailill 'for I can in no way profit by thee, because of the nobility of your family, and the greatness of thy power and that of thy father. If thou put shame on my daughter, no redress whatsoever can be had of thee.' 'It shall not be so' said Aengus, 'I will buy her from thee straightaway.' 'Thou shalt have that' said Ailill. 'State your demand' said Mac Óg.

'No hard matter, Clear for me twelve plains in my land that are under waste and wood, so that they may be at all times for grazing for cattle, and for habitation to men, for games and assemblies, gatherings and strongholds.' 'It shall be done' said Aengus Mac Óg.

So he returns to the Dagda and bewailed to him the strait he was in. The Dagda then caused twelve plains on Ailill's land to be cleared on a single night. These are the names of the plains Mag Macha, Mag Lemna, Mag nítha, Mag Tochair, Mag nDula, Mag Techt, Mag Lí, Mag Line, Mag Muirthemne. Now Aengus went again to Ailill to demand Étaín but he was met with the reply ' Thou shalt not obtain her until thou has drawn out of this land to the sea, twelve great rivers that are in wells, and bogs and moors, so that they might bring produce from the sea to people and kindred, and drain the earth and the land.'

Once Again Aengus went to his father the Dagda to bewail the strait he was in and once again he was helped. The Dagda caused twelve great waters to course towards the sea in a single night. They had not been seen there until then. These are the names of the waters; Find and Modorn and Slena and Nas and Amnas and Oichén and Or and Banda and Samaír and Loche. Then Aengus Mac Óg again went up to Ailill to claim Étaín. 'Thou shalt not get her until thou purchase her, for after thou hast taken her I shall have no profit of the maiden beyond what I shall obtain forthwith.' 'What do you require of me now?' asked Mac Óg. 'I require the maiden's weight in gold and silver, for that is my portion of her price; all thou has done up until now was for the benefit of her folk and her kindred.' 'It shall be done' says Mac Óg. She was placed on the floor of Ailill's house, and her weight in gold and silver was given for her. That wealth was left with Ailill, and Mac Óg brought Étaín home with him.

Midhir made the company welcome. That night Étaín sleeps with Midhir and on the morrow a mantle befitting him and a chariot were given him, and he was pleased with his foster son. After that he lived a whole year in the Brugh with Aengus and Étaín.

The time came when Midhir had to leave, and he brought Étaín with him to Brí Léith, and on that day Aengus warned him to be careful of the jealousy of his first wife Fuamnach for she was of the Tuatha Dé and had many skills in magic, being fostered by the wizard Bresal, and being daughter of Beothach son of Iardanél. When they arrived at Brí Léith Fuamnach greeted them civilly enough and showed Midhir and Étaín round the land and property. Then Fuamnach went before them into her sleeping chamber and she said to Étaín: 'The seat of a good woman hast thou come into.' When Étaín sat down on the chair in the middle of the house Fuamnach struck her with a rod of scarlet quicken tree, and she turned into a pool of water in the middle of the house. Then Fuamnach left for the house of her foster father Bresal. Midhir was left with only a pool of water in the middle of his house and no wife.

The heat of the fire and the air and the seething of the ground aided the water so that the pool that was in the middle of the house turned into a worm, and after that the worm became a purple fly. It was as big as a man's head, the comeliest in the land. Sweeter than pipes and harps and horns was the sound of her voice and the hum of her wings. Her eyes would shine like precious stones in the dark. The fragrance and the bloom of her would turn away hunger and thirst from any one around whom she would go. The spray of the drops she shed from her wings would cure all sickness and disease and plague in any one round whom she would go. She used to attend Midhir and go round about his land with him as he went.

To listen to her and gaze upon her would nourish hosts in gatherings and assemblies in camps. Midhir knew that it was Étaín that was in that shape, and so long as that fly was attending upon him, he never took himself a wife, and the sight of her would nourish him. He would fall asleep with her humming, and whenever anyone approached who did not love him, she would awaken him.

After a time, Fuamnach came on a visit to Midhir, and along with her as sureties came the three Gods namely Lugh and the Dagda and Oghma. Midhir reproached Fuamnach exceedingly and said to her that she should not go from him were it not for the power of the sureties that had brought her. Fuamnach said she did not repent of the deed she had done, for she would rather do good to herself than to another, and that in whatsoever part of Ireland she might be she would do naught but harm to Étaín so long as she lived, and in whatsoever shape she might be.

She brought powerful spells and incantations from Bresal Etarlam the wizard to banish and warn off Étaín from Midhir, for she knew that the purple fly that was delighting Midhir was none other than Étaín, for whenever he saw the coloured fly he loved no other woman. And he found no pleasure in in music nor in eating or in drinking when he did not see her and hear the music of her voice. Fuamnach stirred up a wind of assault and magic so that Étaín was carried off from Brí Léith, and for seven years she could not find a summit or a tree or a hill or a height in Ireland on which she could settle but only rocks of the sea and the ocean waves, and she was floating through the air until seven years from that day, when she lighted on the breast of Aengus Mac Óg as he was on the mound of the Brugh.

There it was that Mac Óg said, 'Welcome Étaín wanderer careworn, thou that hast encountered great dangers through the cunning of Fuamnach.' Then Mac Óg made the girl welcome, that is, the purple fly, and gathered her to his bosom in the fleece of his cloak. He brought her to his house and his sun-bower with its crystal windows for passing out and in, and purple raiment was put on her; and wheresoever he went the sun-bower was carried by Mac Óg and there he used to sleep at night by her side, comforting her, until her gladness and colour came to her again. And that sun-bower was filled with fragrant and wondrous herbs, and she throve on the fragrance and the bloom of those goodly precious herbs.

Fuamnach came to find out about the love and honour that was bestowed by Aengus on Étaín. So she said to Midhir 'Let thy fosterling be summoned that I may make peace between you both, while I myself go in quest of Étaín.' A messenger comes to Aengus from Midhir, and he went down to Brí Léith to speak to him. Meanwhile Fuamnach came by a circuitous route until she was in the Brugh, and she sent the same blast on Étaín which carried her out of her sun-bower again on the flight which she had been on before for the space of seven years but this time she was on the wind for many centuries.

When Mac Óg came to confer with Midhir he did not find Fuamnach there, and Midhir said to him: 'The woman has played us false, and if she be told that Etain is in Ireland, she will go to do her ill.' 'I agree' said Aengus 'Étaín has been at my house in the Brugh since a little while in the shape in which she was wafted from you, and perhaps it is she that the woman is heading for.'

Mac Óg returns home and finds the crystal sun-bower without Étaín in it. He turns upon Fuamnach's tracks and came upon her at Aenach Bodbgna at the house of the druid Bresal Etarlám. He attacked her and cut off her head, and he brought that head with him until he was on the brink of the Brugh.

Étaín was blown about and buffeted by storms and winds until at last she alighted on the roof beam of a house in Ulster where folk were drinking, and she fell into a golden beaker that was before the wife of Étar the champion from Inber Cíchmaine, in the province of Conchobar, so that she swallowed her with the liquid that was in the beaker, and in this wise Étaín was conceived in the womb of Étar's wife and became afterwards their daughter. She was called Étaín daughter of Étar. This was a thousand and twelve years from the first begetting of Étaín by Ailill until the begetting by Étar.

After that Étaín was brought up at Inber Cíchmaine by Étar, and fifty daughters of chieftains along with her, and he it was that fed and clothed them to be in attendance on Étaín always. On a day it happened that all the maidens were bathing in the estuary when they saw from the water a horseman entering the plain towards them. He was mounted on a broad brown steed, curvetting and prancing, with curly mane and curly tail. Around him hung a green mantle in folds, and a red embroidered tunic, and in his mantle a golden brooch which reached to his shoulder on either side. A silver shield with rim of gold slung over his back, and a silver strap to it and boss of gold thereon. In his hand a five pronged spear with bands of gold round about it from haft to socket. Bright yellow hair he had reaching to his forehead. A fillet of gold against his forehead so that his hair should not fall over his face. He halted a while on the bank gazing at the maiden, and all the maidens loved him. Thereupon he uttered this lay:

This is Étaín here today

at Síd Ban Find west of Ailbe,

among little boys is she

on the brink of Inber Cíchmaine.

She it is who healed the King's eye

from the well of Loch Dá Líg;

she it is that was swallowed in a drink

from a beaker by Étar's wife.

Because of her the King shall chase

the birds from Tethba,

and drown his two steeds

in the pool of Loch Dá Airbrech.

Full many a war shall be

on Eochaid of Meath because of thee;

there shall be destruction of elf-mounds,

and battle against many thousands.

'Tis she that was sung of in the land;

'tis she that strives to win the King;

'tis she.... Bé Find,

She is our Étaín afterwards.

The warrior departed from them after that, and they knew not whence he had come or whither he had gone...
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostWed Jun 01, 2016 9:04 pm

The Wooing of Etain ( Part-2 )



There was an admirable, noble king in the high kingship over Ireland, namely, Eochaid Airem. The first year after he ascended the throne, a proclamation was made throughout Ireland that the feast of Tara was to be celebrated, and that all the men of Ireland should attend it, that their taxes and levies might be known. And the one answer made by all the men of Ireland to Eochaid's summons was: That they would not attend the feast of Tara during such time, whether it be long or short, as the king of Ireland was without a wife that was suitable for him; for there was not a noble of the men of Ireland who was without a wife that was suitable for him, and there was not a king without a queen, and there would not come a man without his wife to the feast of Tara, nor would there come a woman without a husband.

Thereupon Eochaid sent out from him his horsemen, and his entertainers and his spies and his messengers throughout Ireland, and they all searched for a woman who would be suitable for the king in respect to form, and grace and countenance and birth. Besides all this there was one more condition; she should not have been given to anyone else before.

The king's men searched all Ireland both north and south until at last they found at Inber Cíchmaine a woman suitable for him; Etain the daughter of Étar, who was king of Echrad. Then the searchers returned to Eochaid and gave him a description of the maiden in regard to form and grace and countenance.

So Eochaid set forth to claim the maiden, and the route that he took was across the fair green of Brí Léith. There he saw a maiden on the brink of a spring. She held in her hand a comb of silver decorated with gold. Beside her as for washing, was a basin of silver where on were chased four golden birds, and there were little bright gems of carbuncle set in the rim of the basin. A cloak of pure purple was hanging in folds about her, and beneath it a mantle with silver borders, and a brooch of gold in the garment over her bosom. A tunic with a long hood around her and it was smooth and glossy. It was made of greenish silk beneath red-gold embroidery, and marvelous bow-pins of silver and gold upon her breasts in the tunic, so that the redness of the gold against the sun in the green silk was clearly visible to the men. Two tresses of golden hair upon her head and a plaiting of four strands in each tress, and a ball of gold upon the end of each plait.

The maiden was there loosening her hair to wash it, and her two arms out through the armholes of her dress. As white as the snow of one night was each of her two arms, and as red as the foxglove of the mountain her two cheeks. As blue as the hyacinth was each of her two eyes; delicately red her lips; very high, soft and white her two shoulders. Tender, smooth, and white were her two wrists; her fingers long and very white; her nails pink and beautiful. As white as snow or as the foam of the wave was her side, slender, long, and as soft as silk. Soft, smooth, and white were her thighs; round and small, firm and white were her two knees; as straight as a rule were her two ankles; slim and foam-white were her two feet. Fair and very beautiful were her two eyes; her eyebrows blackish-blue like the shell of a beetle. It was she the maiden who was the fairest and the most beautiful that the eyes of men had ever seen; and it seemed probable to the king and his companions that she was out of a fairy mound. This is the maiden concerning whom is spoken the proverb: 'Every lovely form must be tested by Etain, every beauty by the standard of Etain.'

A desire for her seized the king immediately, and he sent a man of his company to hold her before him. Then Eochaid approached the maiden and questioned her. 'Whence art thou, O maiden?' said the King and whence hast thou come?'

'Not hard to answer,' replied the maiden. 'Etain the daughter of the king of Echrad out of the fairy-mounds I am called.'

'Shall I have an hour of dalliance with thee?' said Eochaid.

'It is for that I have come hither under thy protection,' said she. ' I have been here for twenty years since I was born in the fairy-mound, and the men of the fairy-mound, both kings and nobles, have been wooing me, and naught was got by any of them from me, because I have loved thee, and given love and affection to thee since I was a little child and since I was capable of speaking. It was for the noble tales about thee and for thy splendour that I have loved thee, and although I have never seen thee before, I recognized thee at once by thy description. It is thou, I know, to whom I have attained,' said she.

'That is by no means the invitation of a bad friend,' replied Eochaid; 'thou shalt be welcomed by me, and all others shall be left for thy sake, and with thee alone will I live as long as it is pleasing to thee.'

'Give me my fitting bride-price,' said the maiden, 'and thereafter let my desire be fulfilled.'

'That shall be done' said the king.

The value of seven bond-slaves was given to her for a bride-price; and after that he took her with him to Tara, and a truly hearty welcome was given to her.

Now there were three brothers of one blood who were the sons of Finn: Eochaid Airem and Eochaid Fedlech and Ailill Anglonnach, or Ailill of the One Stain, because the only stain that was upon him was that he loved his brother's wife. At that time came the men of Ireland to hold the feast of Tara, and they were there fourteen days before Samhain and fourteen days after Samhain. It was at the feast of Tara that Ailill Anglonnach fell in love with Etain the daughter of Étar. Ailill gazed at the woman as long as he was at the feast of Tara. Then Ailill's wife, the daughter of Luchta Red-Hand from the borders of Leinster, said to her husband: 'Ailill, why do you keep gazing into the distance? For such long-looking is a sign of love.' Thereupon Ailill was ashamed and blamed himself and he did not look at Etain after that.

After the feast of Tara the men of Ireland separated from one another, and then it was that the pains of jealousy and great envy filled Ailill, and a heavy illness came upon him. As a result he was carried to Dun Fremain in Tethba, the favorite stronghold of his brother, the king. Ailill remained there to the end of a year in long sickness and in pining, but he did not confess the cause of his sickness to any one. Eochaid Airem came to enquire after his brother. He put his hand on Ailill's chest, whereupon Ailill gave a sigh.

'Now,' said Eochaid, 'the sickness in which thou art does not appear to be serious. How is everything with thee?' 'By my word, it is getting worse daily' replied Ailill. 'What is the matter?' asked Eochaid Airem. 'By my word, I do not know' replied Ailill. Eochaid then asked for a physician to be brought in to determine the cause of this mysterious illness.

Then Fachtna, the physician of Eochaid was brought in and he put his hand on Ailill's breast and Ailill sighed. 'Now, the matter is not serious it is only one of two things either jealousy or unrequited love' and Ailill was ashamed but he did not tell the physician the cause, and the physician left him.

Eochaid went out to make his royal circuit throughout Ireland, and he left Etain in the stronghold of Fremain and he said to her 'Deal gently with Ailill as long as he is alive, and should he die, have his grave of sod dug, and let his pillar stone be raised and be written on in Ogham.'

Etain went each day in to see Ailill to minister to him. One day she asked him: 'What is the matter with thee? I would help you if I knew how.' Ailill answers her and Etain finally understands that he is pining with love-sickness for herself. Etain continued to care for Ailill but seeing him get no better she said to him 'Come meet me tomorrow at daybreak in the house outside the stronghold and I will grant you what your heart desires of me' Ailill was so full of expectation that he could not get any sleep that night and he fell into a deep slumber just before daybreak and could not make the tryst.

Etain waited for him at the appointed hour and she saw someone who appeared like Ailill but she knew it was not him, and continued waiting for Ailill. Then she returned to the stronghold and when Ailill awoke he was full of shame and grief and he explained to her what had happened and she said that they would try to make the tryst again on the morrow. The next day the same thing happened, and a man in the likeness of Ailill approached and she knew it was not Ailill and ignored him. Each day it was the same, until the last day came and the stranger approached Etain. 'It is not with thee that I trusted but with a man who I neither desired nor feared yet I just wanted to heal him from his desire for me' said Etain. 'It is more fitting for thee to come tryst with me, for when thou wast Etain daughter of the king of Echrad and when thou wast the daughter of Ailill, I myself was thy first husband' said the man.

'And who might you be?' she asked incredulously. 'I am Midhir of Brí Léith' he replied. 'And what made you part from me, if we were as thou sayest?' she asked. 'It was the sorcery of my first wife Fuamnach and the spells of her foster father Bresal Etarlam that put us apart.' and then Midhir asked Etain to come with him but she declined saying 'I will not exchange the king of all Ireland for thee; a man whose kindred and lineage is unknown to me. Then Midhir lets her know that it was him that wrought spells on Ailill to have him fall in love with Etain and that it was he who made him fall into a deep slumber and miss the trysts so that her honour would not be spoiled and so that he could come in Ailill's stead and explain himself.

After all that Etain returned to the stronghold and went into Ailill and told him all that had happened and he was glad saying that he was now cured and that her honour was without blemish. They were both thankful that things had turned out in this way. When Eochaid returned they told him the whole story and he was glad his brother was well again and Etain was unharmed and no honor was sullied between them.

......................................................................................................................

Now upon another time it chanced that Eochaid Airem, the king of Tara, arose upon a certain fair day in the summer and he ascended the high ground of Tara to behold the plain of Breg; beautiful was the colour of the plain, and there were many flowers glowing with all the hues that are known. As he looked about him, he saw a strange young warrior upon the high ground at his side. The tunic that the warrior wore was purple in colour, his hair was of golden yellow, and of such length that it reached to the edge of his shoulders. The eyes of the young warrior were lustrous and grey; in the one hand he held a five-pointed spear, in the other a shield with a white central boss, and with gems of gold upon it. Eochaid kept quiet for he knew that none the like had been in Tara the night before, and the gate that led into the enclosure had not at that hour been thrown open.

The warrior came and placed himself under the protection of Eochaid. 'Welcome do I give to the hero who is yet unknown' said Eochaid. 'This is the reception I expected from you' replied the warrior. 'We know you not' replied Eochaid. 'Yet thee in truth I know well!' replied the warrior. 'What is the name by which you are called?' asks Eochaid. 'My name is not well-known, I am Midhir of Brí Léith' replied the warrior. 'And for what purpose have you come?' asked Eochaid. 'I have come that I may play a game of chess with thee,' answered Midhir. 'In truth, I am skillful at chess-play' replied Eochaid. 'Then let us test that skill!' rejoins Midhir. 'No, the queen is asleep in her chamber and it is within that the chessboard lies.'

'I have here a chessboard which is not inferior to thine' says Midhir. It was so, for his chessboard was made of silver, and the chess-pieces were of gold; and upon the board were inlaid costly stones, casting their light on every side, and the bag that held the chess-pieces was of woven chains of brass.

Midhir then set out the chessboard, and he called upon Eochaid to play. 'I will not play unless we play for a stake' said Eochaid. 'What stake shall we have upon the game then?' asked Midhir.

'It makes no difference to me,' said Eochaid. 'Then, if thou obtains the forfeit of my stake, I will bestow on thee fifty steeds of a dark grey, their heads of a blood red colour, but dappled; their ears pricked high, and their chests broad; their nostrils wide, and their hooves slender; great is their strength, and they are keen like a whetted edge; eager are they, high-standing and spirited, yet easily stopped in their course.'

Several games were played between Eochaid and Midhir and since Midhir did not put forth his whole strength, the victory on all occasions rested with Eochaid. Instead of the gifts, which Midhir had offered, Eochaid demanded that Midhir and his folk should perform services which would be of benefit to his realm. That he should clear away the rocks and stones from the plains of Meath, should remove the rushes which made the land barren around his favourite fort of Tethba, should cut down the forest of Breg, and finally should build a causeway across the moor of Lamrach that men might pass freely across it. All these things Midhir agreed to do, and Eochaid sent his steward to see how the work was done.

When it came to the time after sunset, the steward looked, and he saw that Midhir and his fairy host, together with fairy oxen, were working at the causeway over the bog; and thereupon much of earth and gravel and stones was poured into it.

Now it had always been the custom of the men of Ireland to harness their oxen with a strap over their foreheads, so that the pull might be against the foreheads of the oxen; and this custom lasted up until that very night when the steward saw that the fairy folk had placed the yoke over the shoulders of the oxen so that the pull might be there; and this was the way the yokes were placed ever after by Eochaid, and that is how he got his name for ever after he is called Eochaid Airem, or Eochaid the Ploughman, for he was the first of all the men of Ireland to put the yokes on the necks of the oxen, and thus it became the custom for all the land of Ireland.

This is the song that the host of the Sidhe sang, as they laboured at the making of the road;

Thrust it in hand! force it in hand!

Noble this night, the troop of oxen:

Hard is the task that is asked, and who

From the bridging of Lamrach shall receive gain or harm?

Not in all the world could a road be found that was better than the road they made, had it not been that the fairy-folk were observed as they worked upon it; but for that cause a breach had been made in the highway. The steward went before Eochaid, and he described to him the great band of workers that had come before his eyes, and he said that there was not over the chariot-pole of life a power that could withstand its might. As they spoke thus with each other they saw Midhir standing before them; high was he girt and ill-favoured was the face that he showed; and Eochaid arose and welcomed him. 'Thy welcome is such as I expected when I came, cruel and senseless hast thou been in thy treatment of me, and much of hardship and suffering hast thou given me. All things that seemed good in your sight I have gotten for thee, but now anger against thee hath filled my mind!' spoke Midhir harshly.

'I return not anger for anger!' Eochaid spoke hastily 'whatever thou wishes shall be done.'

'Then let us play again at chess' said Midhir. 'What stake shall be on the game this time?' asked Eochaid. 'Whatever the winner demands' replied Midhir. This time Eochaid was defeated and he said 'My stake is forfeited to thee.' Midhir told him that if he had wished it would have been forfeited long ago. 'What is it thou wants me to grant?' asks Eochaid. 'That I may hold Etain in my arms and obtain a kiss from her!' replied Midhir.

Eochaid was silent for a while, and then he said: 'One month from this day thou shalt come, and that very thing that thou hast asked for shall be given to thee.' Now for a year before that Midhir first came to Eochaid for chess-play, he had been wooing Etain, and he obtained her not; and the name which he gave Etain was Béfind, or fair haired woman, so it was that he said:

Wilt thou come with me, fair-haired woman?

as has been recited before. It was at that time that Etain had said: 'If thou obtainest me from the master of the house, I will go; but if thou art not able to obtain me I will not go.' So that is why Midhir went to Eochaid and allowed him to win victory over him at first in order that Eochaid should stand in his debt; and that was why he agreed to the high stake that Eochaid had demanded. It is thus that he spoke as is written in the book of Drum Snechta:

Pile on the soil; thrust on the soil;

Red are the oxen who labour;

Heavy the troops that obey my words.

Heavy they seem, and yet men are they;

Strongly, as piles, are the tree-trunks placed:

Red are the wattles bound over them:

Tired are your hands, and your glances slant;

One woman's winning this toil may yield!

Oxen ye are but revenge shall see;

Men who are white shall be your servants:

Rushes from Tethba are cleared:

Grief is the price that the man shall pay:

Stones have been cleared from the rough Meath ground;

Whose shall the gain or the harm be?

Now Midhir appointed a day at the end of the month when he was to meet Eochaid, and Eochaid called the armies of the heroes of Ireland together, so that they came to Tara; and all the best of the champions of Ireland, ring within ring, were about Tara, and they were in the midst of Tara itself and they guarded it, both within and without; and the king and queen were in the midst of the palace, and the outer court was shut and locked, for they knew that the great night of men would come upon them. And upon the appointed night Etain was dispensing the banquet to the kings, for it was her duty to pour out the wine, when in the midst of their talk they saw Midhir standing before them in the centre of the castle. He was always fair, yet fairer than ever he seemed to be that night. And he amazed all the hosts on which he gazed, and all were silent, and Eochaid gave a welcome to him.

'Thy reception, is such as I expected when I came, let that which was promised now be given to me' said Midhir. 'I still must consider the matter!' flustered Eochaid. 'Thou hast promised Etain's very self to me and that is what I come to claim!' replied Midhir. Etain blushed with shame when she heard that. 'Blush not, for in no way has thy wedding feast been disgraced; I have been seeking thee with jewels and treasures for a year, and I have not taken thee until the time came when Eochaid would permit it; it is not through any will of thine that I have won thee.' 'Take me then, seeing as Eochaid has resigned me to you' said Etain. 'But I will not resign thee! Nevertheless he shall take thee in his arms upon the floor of this house as thou are' said Eochaid.

'It shall be done' said Midhir. He took his weapons in his left hand and the woman beneath his right shoulder; and he carried her off through the smoke-hole of the house. And the hosts rose up around the king, for they felt they had been disgraced, and they saw two swans circling around Tara and the way they took was to the elf-mound of Femen.

And Eochaid with an army of the men of Ireland went to the elf-mound of Femen, which men call the mound of the Fair-haired Women. And he followed the counsel of the men of Ireland, and he dug up each of the elf-mounds that he might take his wife from within.

Midhir and his hosts opposed them and the war between them was long again and again the trenches made by Eochaid were destroyed; for nine years, as some say, lasted the strife of the men of Ireland to enter into the fairy palace. And when at last the armies of Eochaid came by digging to the borders of the fairy mound of Brí Léith, Midhir sent to the side of the palace sixty women all in the shape of Etain, and so like to her that none could tell which was the Queen, and Eochaid himself was deceived and he chose instead of Etain her daughter Mess Buachalla (or Esa). But when he found that he had been deceived, he returned again to sack Brí Léith, and this time Etain made herself known to Eochaid by proofs that he could not mistake, and he bore her away in triumph to Tara, and there she abode with him.

It was because of all this trouble that the fairy folk of Mag Breg and Midhir of Brí Léith broke the taboos of Conaire and ended his life and brought about the laying waste of Mag Breg, because of the destruction of Brí Léith and Eochaid Airem's taking away Etain by force....
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostThu Jun 02, 2016 5:08 pm

Stories, Myths & Legends

The Birth of Diarmuid


Diarmuid, now, was son of Donn, son of Duibhne of the Fianna, and his mother was Crochnuit, that was near in blood to Finn. And at the time he was born, Donn was banished from the Fianna because of some quarrel they had with him, and Angus Óg took the child from him to rear up at Brugh na Boinne.

And after a while Crochnuit bore another son to Roc Diocain, that was the Head Steward to Angus. Roc Diocain went then to Donn, and asked would he rear up his son for him, the way Angus was rearing Donn's son. But Donn said he would not take the son of a common man into his house, and it would be best for Angus to take him.

So Angus took the child into Brugh na Boinne, and he and Diarmuid were reared together.

And one day Finn was on the great Hill at Almhuin of Leinster, and no one with him but Donn and a few of the poets and learned men of the Fianna, and their hounds and dogs, and Bran Beag came in and asked did he remember there were bonds on him, not to stop in Almhuin for ten nights together.

Finn asked the people about him then where would he go and be entertained for that night, and Donn said: "I will bring you to the house of Angus, son of the Dagda, where my young son is being reared."

So they went together to the house of Angus at Brugh na Boinne, and the child Diarmuid was there, and it is great love Angus had for him. And the Steward's son was with him that night, and the people of the household made as much of him as Angus made of Diarmuid; and there was great vexation on Donn when he saw that.

It chanced after a while a great fight rose between two of Finn's hounds about some broken meat that was thrown to them; and the women and the common people of the place ran from them, and the others rose up to part them from one another.

And in running away, the Steward's child ran between the knees of Donn, and Donn gave the child a strong squeeze between his two knees that killed him in a moment, and he threw him under the feet of the hounds.

And when the Steward came after that and found his son dead, he gave a long pitiful cry, and he said to Finn: "There is not a man in the house tonight has suffered more than myself from this uproar, for I had but one son only, and he has been killed; and what satisfaction will I get from you for that, Finn?" he said.

"Try can you find the mark of a tooth or of a nail of one of the hounds on him," said Finn, "and if you can, I will give you satisfaction for him."

So they looked at the child, and there was no scratch or mark of a tooth on him at all. Then the Steward put Finn under the destroying bonds of the Druid cave of Cruachan, to give him knowledge of who it was killed his son.

And Finn asked for a chess-board, and for water to be brought to him, in a basin of pale gold, and he searched, and it was shown to him truly that it was Donn had killed the Steward's son between his two knees.

When Finn knew that, he would take the fine on himself; but the Steward would not consent to that, but forced him to tell who was it had done him the wrong. And when he knew it was Donn had killed the child, he said: "There is no man in the house it is easier to get satisfaction from than from him, for his own son is here, and I have put him between my two knees, and if I let him go from me safe, I will forgive the death of my son."

Angus was vexed at what the Steward said, and as to Donn, he thought to strike his head off till Finn put him back from him. Then the Steward came again, having a Druid rod with him, and he struck his own son with the rod, and he made of him a wild boar, without bristle or ear or tail, and he said: "I put you under bonds to bring Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, to his death; and your own life will be no longer than his life," he said.

With that the wild boar rose up and ran out the open door; and he was called afterwards the Boar of Slieve Guillion, and it was by him Diarmuid came to his death at the last.

And when Diarmuid came to his full strength he was given a place among the Fianna of Ireland; and all the women loved him, and he did many great deeds, fighting with the enemies of the Fianna and of Ireland; and one time he fought a wild ox through the length of seven days and seven nights on the top of the Mountain of Happiness.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostThu Jun 02, 2016 5:09 pm

Stories, Myths & Legends

The Boar of Beinn Gulbain


But at last one day Grania spoke to Diarmuid, and it is what she said, that it was a shame on them , with all the people and the household they had, and all their riches, the two best men in Ireland never to have come to the house, the High King Cormac, her father, and Finn, son of Cumhal.

"Why do you say that, Grania," said Diarmuid, "and they being enemies to me?"

"It is what I would wish," said Grania, "to give them a feast, the way you would get their affection."

"I give leave for that," said Diarmuid.

So Grania was making ready a great feast through the length of a year, and messengers were sent for the High King of Ireland, and for Finn and the seven battalions of the Fianna; and they came, and they were using the feast from day to day through the length of a year.

And on the last night of the year, Diarmuid was in his sleep at Rath Grania; and in the night he heard the voice of hounds through his sleep, and he started up, and Grania caught him and put her two arms about him, and asked what had startled him.

"The voice of a hound I heard," said he; "and it is a wonder to me to hear that in the night."

"Safe keeping on you," said Grania, "for it is the Tuatha de Danaan are doing that on you, on account of Angus of Brugh na Boinn, and lie down on the bed again."

But for all that no sleep came to him, and he heard the voice of the hound again, and he started up a second time to follow after it. But Grania caught hold of him the second time and bade him to lie down, and she said it was no fitting thing to go after the voice of a hound in the night.

So he lay down again and he fell asleep, but the voice of the hound awakened him the third time. And the day was come with its full light that time, and he said: "I will go after the voice of the hound now, since the day is here."

"If that is so," said Grania, "bring the Mor-alltach, the Great Fierce One, the sword of Manannan with you, and the Gae Dearg."

"I will not," he said; "but I will take the Beag-alltach, the Little Fierce One, and the Gae Buidhe in the one hand, and the hound Mac an Chuill, the Son of the Hazel, in the other."

Then Diarmuid went out of Rath Grania, and made no delay till he came to the top of Beinn Gulbain, and he found Finn before him there, without any one at all in his company. Diarmuid gave him no greeting, but asked him was it he was making that hunt.

Finn said it was not a hunt he was making, but that he and some of the Fianna had gone out after midnight; "and one of our hounds that was loose beside us, came on the track of a wild boar," he said, "and they were not able to bring him back yet. And there is no use following that boar he is after," he said, "for it is many a time the Fianna hunted him, and he went away from them every time till now, and he has killed thirty of them this morning.

And he is coming up the mountain towards us," he said, "and let us leave this hill to him now."

"I will not leave the hill through fear of him," said Diarmuid.

"It would be best for you, Diarmuid," said Finn, "for it is the earless Green Boar of Beinn Gulbain is in it, and it is by him you will come to your death, and Angus knew that well when he put bonds on you not to go hunting pigs."

"I never knew of those bonds," said Diarmuid; "but however it is, I will not quit this through fear of him. And let you leave Bran with me now," he said, "along with Mac an Chuill."

"I will not," said Finn, "for it is often he met this boar before and could do nothing against him."

He went away then and left Diarmuid alone on the top of the hill. " I give my word," said Diarmuid, "you made this hunt for my death, Finn; and if it is here I am to find my death," he said, "I have no use in going aside from it now."

The boar came up the face of the mountain then, and the Fianna after him. Diarmuid loosed Mac an Chuill from his leash then, but that did not serve him, for he did not wait for the boar, but ran from him.

"It is a pity not to follow the advice of a good woman," said Diarmuid, "for Grania bade me this morning to bring the Mor-alltach and the Gae Dearg with me."

Then he put his finger into the silken string of the Gae Buidhe, and took a straight aim at the boar and hit him full in the face; but if he did, the spear did not so much as give him a scratch. Diarmuid was discouraged by that, but he drew the Beag-alltach, and made a full stroke at the back of the boar, but neither did that make a wound on him, but it made two halves of the sword.

Then the boar made a brave charge at Diarmuid, that cut the sod from under his feet and brought him down; but Diarmuid caught hold of the boar on rising, and held on to him, having one of his legs on each side of him, and his face to his hinder parts.

And the boar made away headlong down the hill, but he could not rid himself of Diarmuid; and he went on after that to Ess Ruadh, and when he came to the red stream he gave three high leaps over it, backwards and forwards, but he could not put him from his back, and he went back by the same path till he went up the height of the mountain again.

And at last on the top of the mountain he freed himself, and Diarmuid fell on the ground. And then the boar made a rush at him, and ripped him open, that his bowels came out about his feet. But if he did, Diarmuid made a cast at him with the hilt of his sword that was in his hand yet, and dashed out his brains, so that he fell dead there and then. And Rath na h-Amhrann, the Rath of the Sword Hilt, is the name of that place to this day.

It was not long till Finn and the Fianna of Ireland came to the place, and the pains of death were coming on Diarmuid at that time.

"It is well pleased I am to see you that way, Diarmuid," said Finn; "and it is a pity all the women of Ireland not to be looking at you now, for your great beauty is turned to ugliness, and your comely shape to uncomeliness."

"For all that, you have the power to heal me, Finn" said Diarmuid, "if you had a mind to do it."

"What way could I heal you?" said Finn.

"Easy enough" said Diarmuid, "for the time you were given the great gift of knowledge at the Boinn, you got this gift with it, any one you would give a drink to out of your hands would be young and well again from any sickness after it."

"You are not deserving of that drink from me," said Finn.

"That is not true," said Diarmuid; "it is well I deserve it from you; for the time you went to the house of Dearc, son of Donnarthadh, and your chief men with you for a feast, your enemies came round the house, and gave out three great shouts against you, and threw fire and firebrands into it.

And you rose up and would have gone out, but I bade you to stop there at drinking and pleasure, for that I myself would go out and put them down. And I went out, and put out the flames, and made three red rushes round the house, and I killed fifty in every rush, and I came in again without a wound.

And it is glad and merry and in good courage you were that night Finn," he said, "and if it was that night I had asked a drink of you, you would have given it; and it would be right for you to give it to me now."

"That is not so," said Finn; "it is badly you have earned a drink or any good thing from me; for the night you went to Teamhair with me, you took Grania away from me in the presence of all the men of Ireland, and you being my own guard over her that night."

"Do not blame me for that, Finn," said Diarmuid, "for what did I ever do against you, east or west, but that one thing; and you know well Grania put bonds on me, and I would not fail in my bonds for the gold of the whole world. And you will know it is I have earned a drink from you, if you bring to mind the night the feast was made in the House of the Quicken Tree, and how you and all your men were bound there till I heard of it, and came fighting and joyful, and loosed you with my own blood, and with the blood of the three Kings of the Island of the Floods; and if I had asked a drink of you that night, Finn, you would not have refused it.

And I was with you in the smiting of Lon, son of Liobhan, and you are the man that should not forsake me beyond any other man. And many is the strait has overtaken yourself and the Fianna of Ireland since I came among you, and I was ready every time to put my body and my life in danger for your sake, and you ought not to do this unkindness on me now.

And besides that," he said, "there has many a good champion fallen through the things you yourself have done, and there is not an end of them yet; and there will soon come great misfortunes on the Fianna, and it is few of their seed will be left after them.

And it is not for yourself I am fretting, Finn," he said, "but for Oisín and Oscar, and the rest of my dear comrades, and as for you, Oisín, you will be left lamenting after the Fianna. And it is greatly you will feel the want of me yet, Finn," he said; "and if the women of the Fianna knew I was lying in my wounds on this ridge, it is sorrowful their faces would be at this time."

And Oscar said then: "Although I am nearer in blood to you, Finn, than to Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, I will not let you refuse him this drink; and by my word," he said, "if any prince in the world would do the same unkindness to Diarmuid that you have done, it is only the one of us that has the strongest hand would escape alive. And give him a drink now without delay," he said.

"I do not know of any well at all on this mountain," said Finn.

"That is not so," said Diarmuid, "for there is not nine footsteps from you the well that has the best fresh water that can be found in the world."

Then Finn went to the well, and he took the full of his two hands of the water. But when he was no more that half-way back, the thought of Grania came on him, and he let the water slip through his hands, and he said he was not able to bring it.

"I give my word," said Diarmuid "it was of your own will you let it from you."

Then Finn went back the second time to get the water, but coming back he let it through his hands again at the thought of Grania. And Diarmuid gave a pitiful sigh of anguish when he saw that.

"I swear by my sword and by my spear," said Oscar, "that if you do not bring the water without any more delay, Finn, there will not leave this hill but yourself or myself."

Finn went back the third time to the well after what Oscar said, and he brought the water to Diarmuid, but as he reached him the life went out of his body. Then the whole company of the Fianna that were there gave three great heavy shouts, keening for Diarmuid.

And Oscar looked very fiercely at Finn, and it is what he said, that it was a greater pity Diarmuid to be dead than if he himself had died. And the Fianna of Ireland had lost their yoke of battle by him, he said.

"Let us leave this hill," said Finn then, " before Angus and the Tuatha de Danann come upon us, for although we have no share in the death of Diarmuid, he would not believe the truth from us."

"I give my word," said Oscar, "if I had thought it was against Diarmuid you made the hunt of Beinn Gulbain, you would never have made it."

Then Finn and the Fianna went away from the hill, and Finn leading Diarmuid's hound Mac an Chuill. But Oisín and Oscar and Caoilte and Lughaidh's Son turned back again and put their four cloaks over Diarmuid, and then they went after the rest of the Fianna.

And when they came to the Rath, Grania was out on the was looking for news of Diarmuid; and she saw Finn and the Fianna of Ireland coming towards her. Then she said: "If Diarmuid was living, it is not led by Finn that Mac an Chuill would be coming home."

And she was at that time heavy with child, and her strength went from her and she fell down from the wall. And when Oisín saw the way she was he bade Finn and others to go on from her, but she lifted up her head and she asked Finn to leave Mac an Chuill with her.

And he said he would not , and that he did not think it too much for him to inherit from Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne.

When Oisín heard that, he snatched the hound out of Finn's hand and gave it to Grania, and then he followed after his people.

Then when Grania was certain of Diarmuid's death she gave out a long very pitiful cry that was heard through the whole place, and her women and her people came to her, and asked what ailed her to give a cry like that. And she told them how Diarmuid had come to his death by the Boar of Beinn Gulbain in the hunt Finn had made.

"And there is grief in my very heart," she said, "I not to be able to fight myself with Finn, and I would not have let him go safe out of this place."

When her people heard of the death of Diarmuid they gave three great heavy cries in the same way, that were heard in the clouds and the waste places of the sky. And then Grania bade five hundred that she had for household to go to Beinn Gulbain for the body of Diarmuid.

And when they were bringing it back, she went out to meet them, and they put down the body of Diarmuid, and it is what she said;

"I am your wife, beautiful Diarmuid, the man I would do no hurt to; it is sorrowful I am after you tonight.

"I am looking at the hawk and the hound my secret love used to be hunting with; she that loved the three, let he be put in the grave with Diarmuid.

"Let us be glad tonight let us make all welcome tonight let us be open-handed tonight, since we are sitting by the body of a king.

"And O Diarmuid," she said, "it is a hard bed Finn has given you, to be lying on the stones and to be wet with the rain. Ochone!"

she said, "your blue eyes to be without sight, you that were friendly and generous and pursuing, O love! O Diarmuid! it is a pity it is he sent you to your death.

"Your were a champion of the men of Ireland, their prop in the middle of the fight; you were the head of every battle; your ways were glad and pleasant.

"It is sorrowful I am, without mirth, without light, but only sadness and grief and long dying; your harp used to be sweet to me, it wakened my heart to gladness. Now my courage is fallen down, I not to hear you but to be always remembering your ways. Och! my grief is going through me.

"A thousand curses on the day when Grania gave you her love, that put Finn of the princes from his wits; it is a sorrowful story your death is today.

"Many heroes were great and strong about me in the beautiful plain; their hands were good at wrestling and at battle; Ochone! that I did not follow them.

"you were the man was best of the Fianna, beautiful Diarmuid, that women loved. It is dark your dwelling-place is under the sod, it is mournful and cold your bed is; it is pleasant your laugh was today; you were my happiness, Diarmuid."

And she went back then into the Rath, and bade her people to bring the body to her there.

Now just at that time, it was showed to Angus at Brugh na Boinne that Diarmuid was dead on Beinn Gulbain, for he had kept no watch over him the night before.

And he went on the cold wind towards Beinn Gulbain, and his people with him, and on the way they met with Grania's people that were bringing the body to the Rath.

And when they saw him they held out the wrong sides of their shields as a sign of peace, and Angus knew them; and he and his people gave three great terrible cries over the body of Diarmuid.

And Angus spoke then and it is what he said: " I was never one night since the time I brought you to Brugh na Boinne, being nine months old, without keeping watch and protection over you till last night, Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne; and now your blood has been shed and you have been cut off sharply, and the Boar of Beinn Gulbain has put you down, Diarmuid of the bright face and the bright sword.

And it is a pity Finn to have done this treachery," he said, "and you at peace with him.

"And lift up his body now," he said, "and bring it to the Brugh in the lasting rocks. And if I cannot bring him back to life," he said, "I will put life into him the way he can be talking with me every day."

Then they put his body on a golden bier, and his spears over it pointed upwards, and they went on till they came to Brugh na Boinne.

And Grania's people went to her and told her how Angus would not let them bring the body into the Rath, but brought it away himself to Brugh na Boinne. And Grania said she had no power over him.

And she sent out then for her four sons that were being reared in the district of Corca Ui Duibhne. And when they came she gave them a loving welcome, and they came into the Rath and sat down there according to their age. And Grania spoke to them with a very loud, clear voice, and it is what she said: "My dear children, your father has been killed by Finn, son of Cumhal, against his own bond and agreement of peace, and let you avenge it well upon him.

And here is your share of the inheritance of your father," she said, "his arms and his armour, and his feats of valour and power; and I will share these arms among you myself," she said, "and that that may bring you victory in every battle. Here is the sword for Donnchadh," she said, "the best son Diarmuid had; and the Gae Dearg for Eochaidh; and here is the armour for Ollann, for it will keep the body it is put on in safety; and the shield for Connla.

And make no delay now," she said, "but go and learn every sort of skill in fighting, till such time as you will come to your full strength to avenge your father."

So they took leave of her then, and of their household.

And some of their people said: "What must we do now, since our lords will be going into danger against Finn and the Fianna of Ireland?" And Donnchadh son of Diarmuid, bade them stop in their own places; "For if we make peace with Finn," he said, "there need be no fear on you, and if not, you can make your choice between ourselves and him." And with that they set out on their journey.

But after a while Finn went secretly and unknown to the Fianna to the place where Grania was, and he got to see her in spite of her high talk, and he spoke gently to her. And she would not listen to him, but bade him to get out of her sight, and whatever hard thing her tongue could say, she said it.

But all the same, he went on giving her gentle talk and loving words, till in the end he brought her to his own will.

And there is no news told of them, until such time as they came to where the seven battalions of the Fianna were waiting for Finn. And when they saw him coming, and Grania with him, like any new wife with her husband, they gave a great shout of laughter and of mockery, and Grania bowed down her head with shame.

"By my word, Finn," said Oisín, "you will keep a good watch on Grania from this out."

And some said the change had come on her because the mind of a woman changes like the water of a running stream; but some said it was Finn that had put enchantment on her.

And as to the sons of Diarmuid, they came back at the end of seven years, after learning all that was to be learned of valour in the far countries of the world. And when they came back to Rath Grania they were told their mother was gone away with Finn, son of Cumhal, without leaving any word for themselves or for the King of Ireland. And they said if that was so there was nothing for them to do.

But after that they said they would make an attack on Finn, and they went forward to Almhuin, and they would take no offers, but made a great slaughter of every troop that came out against them.

But at last Grania made an agreement of peace between themselves and Finn, and they got their father's place among the Fianna; and that was little good to them, for they lost their lives with the rest in the battle of Gabhra. And as to Finn and Grania, they stopped with one another to the end.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostThu Jun 02, 2016 5:11 pm

Stories, Myths & Legends

Bodb Dearg


But as to the Tuatha de Danaan after they were beaten, they would not go under the sway of the sons of Miled, but they went away by themselves. And because Manannan, son of Lir, understood all enchantments, they left it to him to find places for them where they would be safe from their enemies. So he chose out the most beautiful of the hills and valleys of Ireland for them to settle in; and he put hidden walls about them, that no man could see through, but they themselves could see through them and pass through them.

And he made the Feast of Age for them, and what they drank at it was the ale of Goibniu the Smith, that kept whoever tasted it from age and from sickness and from death. And for food at the feast he gave them his own swine, that though they were killed and eaten one day, would be alive and fit for eating again the next day, and that would go on in that way for ever.

And after a while they said: "It would be better for us one king to be over us, than to be scattered the way we are through the whole of Ireland."

Now the men among them that had the best chance of getting the kingship at that time were Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda; and llbrech of Ess Ruadh; and Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh, the Hill of the White Field, on Slieve Fuad; and Midhir the Proud of Bri Leith, and Angus Og, son of the Dagda; but he did not covet the kingship at all, but would sooner be left as he was. Then all the chief men but those five went into council together, and it is what they agreed, to give the kingship to Bodb Dearg, for the sake of his father, for his own sake, and because he was the eldest among the children of the Dagda.

It was in Sidhe Femen Bodb Dearg had his house, and he put great enchantments about it. Cliach, the Harper of the King of the Three Rosses in Connacht, went one time to ask one of his daughters in marriage, and he stayed outside the place through the whole length of a year, playing his harp, and able to get no nearer to Bodb or to his daughter. And he went on playing till a lake burst up under his feet, the lake that is on the top of a mountain, Loch Bel Sead.

It was Bodb’s swineherd went to Da Derga’s Inn, and his squealing pig along with him, the night Conaire, the High King of Ireland, met with his death; and it was said that whatever feast that swineherd would go to, there would blood be shed before it was over.

And Bodb had three sons, Angus, and Artrach, and Aedh. And they used often to be living among men in the time of the Fianna afterwards. Artrach had a house with seven doors, and a free welcome for all that came, and the king’s son of Ireland, and of Alban, used to be coming to Angus to learn the throwing of spears and darts; and troops of poets from Alban and from Ireland used to be with Aedh, that was the comeliest of Bodb’s sons, so that his place used to be called "The Rath of Aedh of the Poets". And indeed it was a beautiful rath at that time, with golden-yellow apples in it and crimson-pointed nuts of the wood. But after the passing away of the Fianna, the three brothers went back to the Tuatha de Danaan.

And Bodb Dearg was not always in his own place, but sometimes he was with Angus at Brugh na Boinne.

Three sons of Lugaidh Menn, King of Ireland, Eochaid, and Fiacha, and Ruide, went there one time, for their father refused them any land till they would win it for themselves. And when he said that, they rose with the ready rising of one man, and went and sat down on the green of Brugh na Boinne, and fasted there on the Tuatha de Danaan, to see if they could win some good thing from them.

And they were not long there till they saw a young man, quiet and with pleasant looks, coming towards them, and he wished them good health, and they answered him the same way. "Where are you come from?" they asked him then. "From the rath beyond, with the many lights," he said. "And I am Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda," he said, "and come in with me now to the rath."

So they went in, and supper was made ready for them, but they did not use it. Bodb Dearg asked them then why was it they were using nothing. "It is because our father has refused land to us," said they; "and there are in Ireland but the two races, the Sons of the Gael and the Men of Dea, and when the one failed us we are come to the other."

Then the Men of Dea consulted together. And the chief among them was Midhir of the Yellow Hair, and it is what he said: "Let us give a wife to every one of these three men, for it is from a wife that good or bad fortune comes."

So they agreed to that, and Midhir’s three daughters, Doirenn, and Aife, and Aillbhe, were given to them. Then Midhir asked Bodb to say what marriage portion should be given to them. "I will tell you that," said Bodb. "We are three times fifty sons of kings in this hill; let every king’s son give three times fifty ounces of red gold. And I myself," he said, "will give them along with that, three times fifty suits of clothing of all colours." "I will give them a gift," said a young man of the Tuatha de Danaan, from Rachlainn in the sea. "A horn l will give them, and a vat.

And there is nothing wanting but to fill the vat with pure water, and it will turn into mead, fit to drink, and strong enough to make drunken. And into the horn," he said, "you have but to put salt water from the sea, and it will turn into wine on the moment." "A gift to them from me," said Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh, "three times fifty swords, and three times fifty well-riveted long spears." "A gift from me," said Angus Og, son of the Dagda, "a rath and a good town with high walls, and with bright sunny houses, and with wide houses, in whatever place it will please them between Rath Chobtaige and Teamhair."

"A gift to them from me," said Aine, daughter of Modharn, "a woman-cook that I have, and there is geasa on her not to refuse food to any; and according as she serves it out, her store fills up of itself again."

"Another gift to them from me," said Bodb Dearg, "a good musician that I have, Fertuinne, son of Trogain; and although there were women in the sharpest pains of childbirth, and brave men wounded early in the day, in a place where there were saws going through wood, they would sleep at the sweetness of the music he makes. And whatever house he may be in, the people of the whole country round will hear him."

So they stopped in Brugh na Boinne three days and three nights, and when they left it, Angus bade them bring away from the oak-wood three apple-trees, one in full bloom, and one shedding its blossom, and the third covered with ripe fruit.

They went then to their own dun that was given them, and it is a good place they had there, and a troop of young men, and great troops of horses and of greyhounds; and they had three sorts of music that comely kings liked to be listening to, the music of harps and of lutes, and the chanting of Trogain’s son; and there were three great sounds, the tramping on the green, and the uproar of racing, and the lowing of cattle; and three other sounds, the grunting of good pigs with the fat thick on them, and the voices of the crowd on the green lawn, and the noise of men drinking inside the house.

And as to Eochaid, it was said of him that he never took a step backwards in flight, and his house was never without music or drinking of ale. And it was said of Fiacha that there was no man of his time braver than himself, and that he never said a word too much. And as to Ruide, he never refused any one, and never asked anything at all of any man.

And when their lifetime was over, they went back to the Tuatha de Danaan, for they belonged to them through their wives, and there they have stopped ever since.

And Bodb Dearg had a daughter, Scathniamh, the Flower of Brightness, that gave her love to Caoilte in the time of the Fianna; and they were forced to part from one another, and they never met again till the time Caoilte was old and withered, and one of the last that was left of the Fianna. And she came to him out of the cave of Cruachan, and asked him for the bride-price he had promised her, and that she was never able to come and ask for till then.

And Caoilte went to a cairn that was near and that was full up of gold, that was wages earned by Conan Maol and hidden there, and he gave the gold to Bodb Dearg’s daughter. And the people that were there wondered to see the girl so young and comely, and Caoilte so grey and bent and withered. "There is no wonder in that," said Caoilte, "for I am of the sons of Miled that wither and fade away, but she is of the Tuatha de Danaan that never change and that never die."
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostThu Jun 02, 2016 5:14 pm

Stories, Myths & Legends

The Courting of Emer


WHEN Cuchulain was growing out of his boyhood at Emain Macha, all the women of Ulster loved him for his skill in feats, for the lightness of his leap, for the weight of his wisdom, for the sweetness of his speech, for the beauty of his face, for the loveliness of his looks, for all his gifts.

He had the gift of caution in fighting, until such time as his anger would come on him, and the hero light would shine about his head; the gift of feats, the gift of chess-playing, the gift of draught-playing, the gift of counting, the gift of divining, the gift of right judgment, the gift of beauty.

And all the faults they could find in him were three, that he was too young and smooth-faced, so that young men who did not know him would be laughing at him, that he was too daring, and that he was too beautiful.

The men of Ulster took counsel together then about Cuchulain, for their women and their maidens loved him greatly, and it is what they settled among themselves, that they would seek out a young girl that would be a fitting wife for him, the way that their own wives and their daughters would not be making so much of him. And besides that they were afraid he might die young, and leave no heir after him.

So Conchubar sent out nine men into each of the provinces of Ireland to look for a wife for Cuchulain, to see if in any dun or in any chief place, they could find the daughter of a king or of an owner of land or a house-holder, who would be pleasing to him, that he might ask her in marriage.

All the messengers came back at the end of a year, but not one of them had found a young girl that would please Cuchulain. And then he himself went out to court a young girl he knew in Luglochta Loga, the Garden of Lugh, Emer, the daughter of Forgall Manach the Wily.

He set out in his chariot, that all the chariots of Ulster could not follow by reason of its swiftness, and of the chariot chief who sat in it. And he found the young girl on her playing field, with her companions about her, daughters of the landowners that lived near Forgall’s dun, and they learning needlework and fine embroidery from Emer.

And of all the young girls of Ireland, she was the one Cuchulain thought worth courting; for she had the six gifts — the gift of beauty, the gift of voice, the gift of sweet speech, the gift of needlework, the gift of wisdom, the gift of chastity.

And Cuchulain had said that no woman should marry him but one that was his equal in age, in appearance, and in race, in skill and handiness; and one who was the best worker with her needle of the young girls of Ireland, for that would be the only one would be a fitting wife for him. And that is why it was Emer he went to ask above all others.

And it was in his rich clothes he went out that day, his crimson five-folded tunic, and his brooch of inlaid gold, and his white hooded shirt, that was embroidered with red gold.

And as the young girls were sitting together on their bench on the lawn, they heard coming towards them the clatter of hoofs, the creaking of a chariot, the cracking of straps, the grating of wheels, the rushing of horses, the clanking of arms.

"Let one of you see," said Emer, "what is it that is coming towards us." And Fiall, daughter of Forgall, went out and met him, and he came with her to the place where Emer and her companions were, and he wished a blessing to them.

Then Emer lifted up her lovely face and saw Cuchulain, and she said, "May the gods make smooth the path before you." "And you," he said, "may you be safe from every harm."

"Where are you come from?" she asked him. And he answered her in riddles, that her companions might not understand him, and he said, "From Intide Emna."

"Where did you sleep?"

"We slept," he said, "in the house of the man that tends the cattle of the plain of Tethra."

"What was your food there?"

"The ruin of a chariot was cooked for us," he said.

"Which way did you come?"

"Between the two mountains of the wood."

"Which way did you take after that?"

"That is not hard to tell," he said. "From the Cover of the Sea, over the Great Secret of the Tuatha de Danaan, and the Foam of the horses of Emain, over the Morrigu’s Garden, and the Great Sow’s back; over the Valley of the Great Dam, between the God and his Druid; over the Marrow of the Woman, between the Boar and his Dam;

over the Washing-place of the horses of Dea; between the King of Ana and his servant, to Mandchuile of the Four Corners of the World; over Great Crime and the Remnants of the Great Feast; between the Vat and the Little Vat, to the Gardens of Lugh, to the daughters of Tethra, the nephew of the King of the Fomor."

"And what account have you to give of yourself?" said Emer. "I am the nephew of the man that disappears in another in the wood of Badb," said Cuchulain.

"And now, maiden," he said, "what account have you to give of yourself?"

"That is not hard to tell," said Emer, "for what should a maiden be but Teamhair upon the hills, a watcher that sees no-one, an eel hiding in the water, a rush out of reach.

The daughter of a king should be a flame of hospitality, a road that cannot be entered. And I have champions that follow me," she said, "to keep me from whoever would bring me away against their will, and against the will and the knowledge of Forgall, the dark king."

"Who are the champions that follow you, maiden?" said Cuchulain.

"It is not hard to tell you that," said Emer. "Two of the name of Lui; two Luaths; Luath and Lath Goible, sons of Tethra; Triath and Trescath; Brion and Bolor; Bas, son of Omnach, the eighth Condla, and Cond, son of Forgall.

Every man of them has the strength of a hundred and the feats of nine. And it would be hard for me," she said, "to tell of all the many powers Forgall has himself. He is stronger than any labouring man, more learned than any Druid, more quick of mind than any poet. You will have more than your games to do when you fight against Forgall, for many have mind of his power and of the strength of his doings."

"Why do you not count me as a strong man as good as those others?" said Cuchulain. "Why would I not indeed, if your doings had been spoken of like theirs?" she said. "I swear by the oath of my people," said Cuchulain, "I will make my doings be spoken of among the great doings of heroes in their strength."

"What is your strength, then?" said Emer. "That is easily told; when my strength in fighting is weakest I defend twenty; a third part of my strength is enough for thirty; in my full strength I fight alone against forty; and a hundred are safe under my protection. For dread of me, fighting men avoid fords and battles; armies and armed men go backward from the fear of my face."

"That is a good account for a young boy," said Emer, "but you have not reached yet to the strength of chariot chiefs."

"But, indeed," said Cuchulain, "it is well I have been reared by Conchubar, my dear foster-father. It is not as a countryman strives to bring up his children, between the flags and the kneading trough, between the fire and the wall, on the floor of the one room, that Conchubar has brought me up;

but it is among chariot chiefs and heroes, among jesters and Druids, among poets and learned men, among landowners and farmers of Ulster I have been reared, so that I have all their manners and their gifts."

"Who are these men, then, that have brought you up to do the things you are boasting of?" said Emer.

"That is easily told," he said. "Fair-speaking Sencha taught me wisdom and right judgment; Blai, lord of lands, my kinsman, took me to his house, so that I have entertained the men of Conchubar’s province;

Fergus brought me up to fights and to battles, so that I am able to use my strength. I stood by the knee of Amergin the poet, he was my tutor, so that I can stand up to any man, I can make praises for the doings of a king.

Finchoem helped to rear me, so that Conall Cearnach is my foster-brother. Cathbad of the Gentle Face taught me, for the sake of Dechtire, so that I understand the arts of the Druids, and I have learned all the goodness of knowledge.

All the men of Ulster have had a hand in bringing me up, chariot-drivers and chiefs of chariots, kings and chief poets, so that I am the darling of the whole army, so that I fight for the honour of all alike. And as to yourself, Emer," he said, "what way have you been reared in the Garden of Lugh?"

"It is easy to tell you that," said Emer. "I was brought up," she said, "in ancient virtues, in lawful behaviour, in the keeping of chastity, in stateliness of form, in the rank of a queen, in all noble ways among the women of Ireland."

"These are good virtues indeed," said Cuchulain. "And why, then, would it not be right for us two to become one? For up to this time," he said, "I have never found a young girl able to hold talk with me the way you have done."

"Have you no wife already?" said Emer. "I have not, indeed."

"I may not marry before my sister is married," she said then, "for she is older than myself."

"Truly, it is not with your sister, but with yourself, I have fallen in love," said Cuchulain.

While they were talking like this, Cuchulain saw the breasts of the maiden over the bosom of her dress, and he said: "Fair is this plain, the plain of the noble yoke." And Emer said, "No one comes to this plain who does not overcome as many as a hundred on each ford, from the ford at Ailbine to Banchuig Arcait."

"Fair is the plain, the plain of the noble yoke," said Cuchulain. "No one comes to this plain," said she, "who does not go out in safety from Samhain to Oimell, and from Oimell to Beltaine, and again from Beltaine to Bron Trogain."

"Everything you have commanded, so it will be done by me," said Cuchulain.

"And the offer you have made me, it is accepted, it is taken, it is granted," said Emer.

With that Cuchulain left the place, and they talked no more with one another on that day.

When he was driving across the plain of Bregia, Laeg, his chariot-driver, asked him, "What, now, was the meaning of the words you and the maiden Emer were speaking together?"

"Do you not know," said Cuchulain, "that I came to court Emer? And it is for this reason we put a cloak on our words, that the young girls with her might not understand what I had come for. For if Forgall knew it, he would not consent to it, but to you, Laeg," he said, "I will tell the meaning of our talk.

"‘Where did you come from,’ said she. ‘From Intide Emna,’ said I, and I meant by that, from Emain Macha. For it took its name from Macha, daughter of Aed the Red, one of the three kings of Ireland.

When he died Macha asked for the kingship, but the sons of Dithorba said they would not give kingship to a woman. So she fought against them and routed them, and they went as exiles to the wild places of Connaught.

And after a while she went in search of them, and she took them by treachery, and brought them all in one chain to Ulster. The men of Ulster wanted to kill them, but she said, ‘No, for that would be a disgrace on my good government But let them be my servants,’ she said, ‘and let them dig a rath for me, that shall be the chief seat of Ulster for ever.’

Then she marked out the rath for them with the gold pin on her neck, and its name came from that; a brooch in the neck of Macha.

"The man, in whose house we slept, is Ronca, the fisherman of Conchubar. ‘A man that tends cattle,’ I said. For he catches fish on his line under the sea, and the fish are the cattle of the sea, and the sea is the plain of Tethra, a king of the kings of the Fomor.

" ‘Our food was the ruin of a chariot,’ I said. For a foal was cooked for us on the hearth, and it is the horse that holds up the chariot.

" ‘Between the two mountains of the wood,’ I said. These are the two mountains between which we came, Slieve Fuad to the west, and Slieve Cuilinn to the east of us, and we were in Oircil between them, the wood that is between the two.

" ‘The road,’ I said, ‘from the Cover of the Sea.’ That is from the plain of Muirthemne. And it is from this it got its name; there was at one time a magic sea on it, with a sea turtle in it that was used to suck men down, until the Dagda came with his club of anger and sang these words, so that it ebbed away on the moment: —

‘Silence on your hollow head;
‘Silence on your dark body;
‘Silence on your dark brow.’

" ‘Over the Great Secret of the men of Dea,’ I said. That is a wonderful secret and a wonderful whisper, because it was there that the gathering to the battle of Magh Tuireadh was first whispered of by the Tuatha de Danaan.

"Over the horses of Emain,’ I said. When Ema Nemed, son of Nama, reigned over the Gael, he had his two horses reared for him in Sidhe Ercman of the Tuatha De Danaan, and when those horses were let loose from the Sidhe, a bright stream burst out after them, and the foam spread over the land for a great length of time, and was there to the end of a year, so that the water was called Uanib, that is, foam on the water, and it is Uanib to-day.

" ‘The Back of the Great Sow,’ I said. That is Drimne Breg, the Ridge of Bregin. For the shape of a sow appeared to the sons of Miled on every hill and on every height in Ireland, when they came over the sea, and wanted to land by force, after a spell had been cast on it by the Tuatha de Danaan.

" ‘The Valley of the Great Dam,’ I said, ‘between the God and his Druid.’ That is, between Angus Og of the Sidhe of the Brugh and his Druid, to the west of the Brugh, and between them was the one woman, the wife of the Smith. That is the way I went, between the hill of the Sidhe of the Brugh where Angus is, and the Sidhe of Bresal, the Druid.

" ‘Over the Marrow of the Woman,’ I said. That is the Boinne, and it gets its name from Boann, the wife of Nechtan, son of Labraid. She went down to the hidden well at the bottom of the dun with the three cup-bearers of Nechtan, Flex and Lex and Luam.

No one came back from that well without blemish unless the three cup-bearers went with him. But the queen went out of pride and overbearing to the well, and it is what she said, that nothing would spoil her shape or put a blemish on her.

She passed lefthandwise round the well, to mock at its powers. Then three waves broke over her and bruised her two knees and her right hand and one of her eyes, and she ran out of the dun to escape until she came to the sea, and wherever she ran, the water followed after her.

Segain was its name on the dun; the River Segsa from the dun to the Pool of Mochua; the hand of the wife of Nechtan and the knee of the wife of Nechtan after that; the Boinne in Meath; Arcait it is called from the Finda to the Troma; the Marrow of the Woman from the Troma to the sea.

" ‘The Boar,’ I said, ‘and his Dam.’ That is, between Cleitech and Fessi. For Cleitech is the name for a boar, but it is also the name for a king, the leader of great hosts, and Fessi is the name for the great sow of a farmer’s house.

" ‘The King of Ana,’ I said, ‘and his servant.’ That is Cerna, through which we passed, and that is its name since Enna Aignech put Cerna, king of Ana, to death on that hill, and he put his steward to death in the east of that place.

" ‘The Washing of the Horses of Dea,’ I said. That is Ange, for in it the men of Dea washed their horses when they came from the battle of Magh Tuireadh. And it was called Ange, because the Tuatha de Danaan washed their horses in it.

" ‘The Four-cornered Mandchuile,’ I said. That is Muincille. It is there Mann, the farmer, was, and there he made spells in his great four-cornered chambers underground, to keep off the plague from the cattle of Ireland in the time of Bresel Brec, king of Leinster.

" ‘Great Crime,’ I said. That is Ailbine. There was a king here in Ireland, Ruad, son of Rigdond of Munster. He had an appointment of meeting with foreigners, and he set out for the meeting round the south of Alban with three ships, and thirty men were in each ship.

But the ships were stopped, and were held from below in the middle of the sea, and throwing jewels and precious things into the sea did not get them off.

Then lots were cast among them who should go into the sea and find out what was holding them. The lot fell on the king himself, Ruad, son of Rigdond, and he leaped into the sea, and it closed over him. He lit upon a large plain, where nine beautiful women met him, and they confessed that it was they themselves had stopped the ships, the way that he might come to them.

And he stopped with them nine days, and they gave him nine vessels of gold; and through the length of that time his men were not able to go on, through the power of the women. When he was going away, a woman of them said she would bear him a son, and that he must come back to them and bring away his son, when he would be coming from the east.

"Then he joined his men, and they went on their voyage, and they stopped away seven years, and then they came back by a different way, and they did not go near the same spot.

They landed in the bay, and the sea-women came up to them there, and the men heard them playing music in their brazen ship. And then the women came to the shore, and they put the boy out of the ship on the land where the men were.

And the harbour was stony and rocky, and the boy slipped and fell on one of the rocks, so that he died there. And the women saw it, and they cried all together, ‘Olbine, Olbine,’ that is ‘Great Crime.’ And it is from that it is called Ailbine.

" ‘The Remnants of the Great Feast,’ I said. That is Tailne. It was there the great feast was given to Lugh, son of Ethlenn, to comfort him after the battle of Magh Tuireadh, for that was his wedding feast of kingship.

" ‘In the Garden of Lugh, to the daughters of Tethra’s nephew,’ I said; for Forgall Manach is sister’s son of Tethra, king of the Fomor.

"As to the account of myself I gave her, there are two rivers in the land of Ross; Conchubar is the name of one of them, and it mixes with the other; and I am the nephew of Conchubar; and as to the plague that comes on dogs, it is wild fierceness, and truly I am a strong fighter of that plague, for I am wild and fierce in battles and in fights. And the Wood of Badb, that is the land of Ross, the Wood of the Morrigu, the Battle Crow, the Goddess of Battle.

"And when she said that no man should come to the plain of her breasts until he had killed three times nine men with one blow, and yet had saved one man from each nine, it is what she meant, that three brothers of her own will be guarding her, Ibur and Seibur and Catt, and a company of nine with each of them.

And it is what I must do, I must strike a blow on each nine, from which eight will die, but no stroke will reach any of her brothers among them; and I must carry her and her foster-sister, with their share of gold and silver, out of the dun of Forgall.

" ‘Go out from Samhain to Oimell,’ she said. That is, that I shall fight without harm to myself from Samhain, the end of summer, to Oimell, the beginning of spring; and from the beginning of spring to Beltaine, and from that to Bron Trogain.

For Oi, in the language of poetry, is a name for sheep, and Oimell is the time when the sheep come out and are milked, and Suain is a gentle sound, and it is at Samhain that gentle voices sound; and Beltaine is a favouring fire; for it is at that time the Druids used to make fires with spells and to drive the cattle between them against the plagues every year.

And Bron Trogain, that is the beginning of autumn, for it is then the earth is in labour, that is, the earth under fruit, Bron Trogain, the trouble of the earth."

Then Cuchulain went on his way, and he slept that night in Emain Macha.

When Forgall came back to his dun, and his lords of land with him, their daughters were telling them of the young man that had come in a splendid chariot, and how himself and Emer had been talking together, and they could not understand their talk with one another.

The lords of land told this to Forgall, and it is what he said, "You may be sure it is the mad boy from Emain Macha has been here, and he and the girl have fallen in love with one another. But they will gain nothing by that," he said; "for it is I will hinder them."

With that Forgall went out to Emain, with the appearance of a foreigner on him, and he gave out that he was sent by the king of the Gall, to speak with Conchubar, and to bring him a present of golden treasures, and wine of the Gall, and many other things. And he brought some of his men with him, and there was a great welcome before them.

And on the third day, Cuchulain and Conall and other chariot chiefs of Ulster were praised before him, and he said it was right for them to be praised, and that they did wonderful feats, and Cuchulain above them all. But he said that if Cuchulain would go to Scathach, the woman-warrior that lived in the east of Alban, his skill would be more wonderful still, for he could not have perfect knowledge of the feats of a warrior without that.

But his reason for saying this was that he thought if Cuchulain set out, he would never come back again, through the dangers he would put around him on the journey, and through the wildness and the fierceness of the people about Scathach.

So then Forgall went home, and Cuchulain rose up in the morning, and made ready to set out for Alban, and Laegaire Buadach, the Battle Winner, and Conall Cearnach said they would go with him. But first Cuchulain went across the plain of Bregia to visit Emer, and to talk with her before going in the ship.

And she told him how it was Forgall had gone to Emain, and had advised him to go and learn warriors’ feats, the way they two might not meet again. Then each of them promised to be true to the other till they would meet again, unless death should come between them, and they said farewell to one another, and Cuchulain turned towards Alban.

When they came there, they stopped for a while at the forge of Donall, the smith, and then they set out to go to the east of Alban. But before they had gone far, a vision came before their eyes of Emain Macha, and Laegaire and Conall were not able to pass by it, and they turned back.

It was Forgall raised that vision, to draw them away from Cuchulain, that he might be in the more danger, being alone. Then Cuchulain went on by himself on a strange road, and he was sad and tired and down-hearted for the loss of his comrades, but he held to his word that he would not go back to Emain without finding Scathach, even if he should die in the attempt.

But now he was astray and ignorant, and not knowing which way to take, and he saw a terrible great beast like a lion coming towards him, and it watching him, but it did not try to harm him. Whatever way he went, the beast went before him, and then it stopped and turned its side to him.

So he made a leap and was on its back, and he did not guide it, but went whatever way it chose. They travelled like that through four days, till they came to the end of the bounds of men, and to an island where lads were rowing in a small loch; and the lads began to laugh when they saw a beast of that sort, and a man riding it. And then Cuchulain leaped off, and the beast left him, and he bade it farewell.

He passed on till he came to a large house in a deep valley, and a comely young girl in it, and she spoke to him, and bade him welcome. "A welcome before you, Cuchulain," she said. He asked her how did she know him, and she said, "I was a foster-child of Wulfkin, the Saxon, the time you came there to learn sweet speech from him."

And she gave him meat and drink, and he went away from her. Then he met with a young man, and he gave him the same welcome, and he said his name was Eochu, and they talked together, and Cuchulain asked him what was the way to Scathach’s dun.

The young man told him the way, across the Plain of Ill-Luck, that lay before him, and he said that on the near side of the plain the feet of men would stick fast, and on the far side every blade of grass would rise and hold them fast on its points.

And he gave him a wheel, and bade him to follow its track across the one half of the plain. And he gave him an apple along with that, and bade him to throw it, and to follow the way it went, till he would reach the end of the plain. And he told him many other things that would happen him, and how he would win a great name at the last.

And then each of them wished a blessing to the other, and Cuchulain did as he bade him, and so he got across the plain and went on his journey. And then, as the young man had told him, he came to a valley, and it full of monsters, sent there by Forgall to destroy him, and only one narrow path through it, but he went through it safely.

And after that his road led through a terrible, wild mountain. Then he came to the place where Scathach’s scholars were, and among them he saw Ferdiad, son of Daman, and Naoise, Ainnle, and Ardan, the three Sons of Usnach, and when they knew that he was from Ireland they welcomed him with kisses, and asked for news of their own country.

He asked them where was Scathach. "In that island beyond," they said. "What way must I take to reach her?" he asked. "By the bridge of the cliff," they said, "and no man can cross it till he has proved himself a champion, and many a king’s son has got his death there."

And this is the way the bridge was: the two ends of it were low, and the middle was high, and whenever any one would leap on it, the first time it would narrow till it was as narrow as the hair of a man’s head, and the second time it would shorten till it was as short as an inch, and the third time it would get slippery till it was as slippery as an eel of the river, and the fourth time it would rise up on high against you till it was as tall as the mast of a ship.

All the warriors and people on the lawn came down to see Cuchulain making his attempt to cross the bridge, and he tried three times to do it, and he could not, and the others were laughing at him, that he should think he could cross it, and he so young.

Then his anger came on him, and the hero light shone round his head, and it was not the appearance of a man that was on him, but the appearance of a god; and he leaped upon the end of the bridge and made the hero’s salmon leap, so that he landed on the middle of it, and he reached the other end of the bridge before it could raise itself fully up, and threw himself from it, and was on the ground of the island where Scathach’s sunny house was, and it having seven great doors, and seven great windows between every two doors, and three times fifty couches between every two windows, and three times fifty young girls, with scarlet cloaks and beautiful blue clothing on them, waiting on Scathach.

And Scathach’s daughter, Uathach, was sitting by a window, and when she saw the young man, and he a stranger, and comeliest of the men of Ireland, making his attempt to cross the bridge, she loved him, and her face and her colour began to change continually, so that now she would be as white as a little flower, and then again she would grow crimson red.

And in her needlework that she was doing, she would put the gold thread where the silver thread should be, and the silver thread in the place where the gold thread should be.

And when Scathach saw that, she said: "I think this young man has pleased you." And Uathach said: "There would be great grief on me indeed, were he not to return alive to his own people, in whatever part of the world they may be, for I know there is surely some one to whom it would be great anguish to know the way he is now."

Then, when Cuchulain had crossed the bridge, he went up to the house, and struck the door with the shaft of his spear, so that it went through it. And when Scathach was told that, she said, "Truly this must be some one who has finished his training in some other place."

Then Uathach opened the door for him, and he asked for Scathach, and Uathach told him where she was, and what he had best do when he found her.

So he went out to the place where she was teaching her two sons, Cuar and Cett, under the great yew-tree; and he took his sword and put its point between her breasts, and he threatened her with a dreadful death if she would not take him as her pupil, and if she would not teach him all her own skill in arms. So she promised him she would do that.

Now it was while Cuchulain was with Scathach that a great king in Munster, Lugaid, son of Ros, went northward with twelve chariot chiefs to look for a wife among the daughters of the men of Mac Rossa, but they had all been promised before.

And when Forgall Manach heard this, he went to Emain, and he told Lugaid that the best of the maidens of Ireland, both as to form and behaviour and handiwork, was in his house unwed. Lugaid said he was well pleased to hear that, and Forgall promised him his daughter Emer in marriage. And to the twelve chariot chiefs that were with him, he promised twelve daughters of twelve lords of land in Bregia, and Lugaid went back with him to his dun for the wedding.

But when Emer was brought to Lugaid to sit by his side, she laid one of her hands on each side of his face, and she said on the truth of her good name and of her life, that it was Cuchulain she loved, although her father was against him, and that no one that was an honourable man should force her to be his wife.

Then Lugaid did not dare take her, for he was in dread of Cuchulain, and so he returned home again.

As to Cuchulain, after he had been a good time with Scathach, a war began between herself and Aoife, queen of the tribes that were round about. The armies were going out to fight, but Cuchulain was not with them, for Scathach had given him a sleeping-drink that would keep him safe and quiet till the fight would be over, for she was afraid some harm would come to him if he met Aoife, for she was the greatest woman-warrior in the world, and she understood enchantments and witchcraft.

But after one hour, Cuchulain started up out of his sleep, for the sleeping-drink that would have held any other man for a day and a night, held him for only that length of time. And he followed after the army, and he met with the two sons of Scathach, and they three went against the three sons of Ilsuanach, three of the best warriors of Aoife, and it was by Cuchulain they were killed, one after the other.

On the morning of the morrow the fight was begun again, and the two sons of Scathach were going up the path of feats to fight against three others of the best champions of Aoife, Cue, Bim, and Blaicne, sons of Ess Enchenn. When Scathach saw them going up she gave a sigh, for she was afraid for her two sons, but just then Cuchulain came up with them, and he leaped before them on to the path of feats, and met the three champions, and all three fell by him.

When Aoife saw that her best champions were after being killed, she challenged Scathach to fight against herself, but Cuchulain went out in her place. And before he went, he asked Scathach, "What things does Aoife think most of in all the world?" "Her two horses and her chariot and her chariot-driver," said Scathach.

So then Cuchulain and Aoife attacked one another and began a fierce fight, and she broke Cuchulain’s spear in pieces, and his sword she broke off at the hilt. Then Cuchulain called out, "Look, the chariot and the horses and the driver of Aoife are fallen down into the valley and are lost!"

At that Aoife looked about her, and Cuchulain took a sudden hold of her, and lifted her on his shoulders, and brought her down to where the army was, and laid her on the ground, and held his sword to her breast, and she begged for her life, and he gave it to her.

And after that she made peace with Scathach, and bound herself by sureties not to go against her again. And she gave her love to Cuchulain; and out of that love great sorrow came afterwards.

And as Cuchulain was going home by the narrow path, he met an old hag, and she blind of the left eye. She asked him to leave room for her to pass by, but he said there was no room on that path, unless he would throw himself down the great sea-cliff that was on the one side of it.

But she asked him again to leave the road to her, and he would not refuse, and he dropped down the cliff, with only his one hand keeping a hold of the path.

Then she came up, and as she passed him, she gave a hit of her foot at his hand, the way he would leave his hold and drop into the sea. But at that, he gave a leap up again on the path, and struck off the hag’s head.

For she was Ess Enchenn, the mother of the last three warriors that had fallen by him, and it was to destroy him she had come out to meet him, for she knew that under his rules of championship, he would make way for her when she asked it.

After that, he stayed for another while with Scathach, until he had learned all the arts of war and all the feats of a champion; and then a message came to him to come back to his own country, and he bade her farewell.

And Scathach told him what would happen him in the time to come, for she had the Druid gift; and she told him there were great dangers before him, and that he would have to fight against great armies, and he alone; and that he would scatter his enemies, so that his name would come again to Alban; but that his life would not be long, for he would die in his full strength.

Then Cuchulain went on board his ship to set out for Ireland, and in the same ship with him were Lugaid and Luan,, the two sons of Loch, and Ferbaeth and Larin and Ferdiad, and Durst, son of Derb.

On the night of Samhain they came to the island of Rechrainn, and Cuchulain left his ship and came to the strand. And there he heard a sound of crying, and he saw a beautiful young girl, and she sitting there alone.

He asked her who was she, and what ailed her, and she said she was Devorgill, daughter of the king of Rechrainn, and that every year he was forced to pay a heavy tax to the Fomor, and this year, when he could not pay it, they made him leave her there near the sea, till they would come and bring her away in place of it.

"Where do these men come from?" said Cuchulain. "From that far country over there," she said, "and let you not stop here or they will see you when they come."

But Cuchulain would not leave her, and presently three fierce men of the Fomor landed in the bay, and made straight for the spot where the girl was. But before they had time to lay a hand on her, Cuchulain leaped on them and he killed the three of them, one after the other.

The last man wounded him in the arm, and the girl tore a strip from her dress, and gave it to him to bind round the wound. And then she ran to her father’s house and told him all that had happened.

After that Cuchulain came to the king’s house, like any other guest, and his companions with him, and Conall Cearnach and Laegaire Buadach were there before them, where they had been sent from Emain Macha to collect tribute. For at that time a tribute was paid to Ulster from the islands of the Gall.

And they were all talking about the escape Devorgill had, and some were boasting that it was they themselves had saved her, for she could not be sure who it was had come to her, because of the dusk of the evening.

Then there was water brought for them all to wash before they would go to the feast; and when it came to Cuchulain’s turn to bare his arms, she knew by the strip of her dress that was bound about it, that it was he had saved her. "I will give the girl to you as your wife," said the king, "and I myself will pay her wedding portion."

"Not so," said Cuchulain, "for I must make no delay in going back to Ireland."

So then he made his way back to Emain Macha, and he told his whole story and all that had happened him. And as soon as he had rested from the journey, he set out to look for Emer at her father’s house.

But Forgall and his sons had heard he was come home again, and they had made the place so strong, and they kept so good a watch round it, that for the whole length of a year he could not get so much as a sight of her.

It was one day at that time he went down to the shore of Lough Cuan with Laeg, his chariot-driver, and with Lugaid. And when they were there, they saw two birds coming over the sea.

Cuchulain put a stone in his sling, and made a cast at the birds, and hit one of them. And when they came to where the birds were, they found in their place two women, and one of them the most beautiful in the world, and they were Devorgill, daughter of the king of Rechrainn, that had come from her own country to find Cuchulain, and her serving-maid along with her; and it was Devorgill that Cuchulain had hit with the stone.

"It is a bad thing you have done, Cuchulain," she said, "for it was to find you I came, and now you have wounded me." Then Cuchulain put his mouth to the wound and sucked out the stone and the blood along with it.

And he said, "You cannot be my wife, for I have drunk your blood. But I will give you to my comrade," he said, "to Lugaid of the Red Stripes." And so it was done, and Lugaid gave her his love all through her life, and when she died he died of the grief that was on him after her.

After that, Cuchulain got his scythe chariot made ready, and he set out again for Forgall’s dun. And when be got there, he leaped with his hero leap over the three walls, so that he was inside the court, and there he made three attacks, so that eight men fell from each attack, but one escaped in every troop of nine; that is the three brothers of Emer, Seibur and Ibur and Catt. And Forgall made a leap from the wall of the court to escape Cuchulain and he fell in the leap and got his death from the fall.

And then Cuchulain went out again, and brought Emer with him and her foster-sister, and their two loads of gold and silver.

And then they heard cries all around them, and Scenmend, Forgall’s sister, came following them with her men, and came up with them at the ford; and Cuchulain killed her in the fight, and it is from that it is called the Ford of Scenmend.

And her men came up with them again at the next ford, and he killed a hundred of them there. "It is a great thing you have done," said Emer. "You have killed a hundred strong armed men; and Glondath, the Ford of Deeds, is the name that shall be on it for ever."

Then they came to Raeban, the white field, and he gave three great angry blows to his enemies there, so that streams of blood went over it on every side. "This white hill is a hill of red sods to-day, through your work, Cuchulain," said Emer. And from that time it has been called the Ford of the Sods.

Then they were overtaken again at another ford on the Boinne, and Emer quitted the chariot, and Cuchulain followed his enemies along the banks, so that the sods were flying from the feet of the horses across the ford northward; and then he turned and followed them northward, so that the sods flew over the ford southward.

And from that it is called Ath na Imfuait, the Ford of the Two Clods. And at each of these fords Cuchulain killed a hundred, and so he kept his word to Emer, and he came safely out of it all, and they came to Emain Macha, toward the fall of night.

And then Cuchulain was given the headship of the young men of Ulster, of the warriors, the poets, the trumpeters, the musicians, the three pipers, the three jesters to say sharp words; the three distributers of fame. It is of them the poet spoke, and set out their names, and it is what he said: — "The young men of Ireland, when they were in the Red Branch, it is they were the fairest of all hosts." And of Cuchulain he said, ‘He is as hard as steel and as bright, Cuchulain, the victorious son of Dechtire."

And then Cuchulain took Emer for his wife, after that long courting, and all the hardships he had gone through. And be brought her into the House of the Red Branch, and Conchubar and all the chief men of Ulster gave her a great welcome.

It was at Emain Macha, that was sometimes called Macha of the Spears, Conchubar, the High King, had the Eachrais Uladh, the Assembly House of Ulster, and it was there he had his chief palace.

A fine palace it was, having three houses in it, the Royal House, and the Speckled House, and the House of the Red Branch.

In the Royal House there were three times fifty rooms, and the walls were made of red yew, with copper rivets. And Conchubar’s own room was on the ground, and the walls of it faced with bronze, and silver up above, with gold birds on it, and their heads set with shining carbuncles; and there were nine partitions from the fire to the wall, and thirty feet the height of each partition. And there was a silver rod before Conchubar with three golden apples on it, and when he shook the rod or struck it, all in the house would be silent.

It was in the House of the Red Branch were kept the heads and the weapons of beaten enemies, and in the Speckled House were kept the swords and the shields and the spears of the heroes of Ulster. And it was called the Speckled House because of the brightness and the colours of the hilts of the swords, and the bright spears, green or grey, with rings and bands of silver and gold about them, and the gold and silver that were on the rims and the bosses of the shields, and the brightness of the drinking-cups and the horns.

It was the custom with the men of the Red Branch, if one of them heard a word of insult, to get satisfaction for it on the moment. He would get up in the feasting hall itself, and make his attack; and it was to prevent that, the arms were kept together in one place.

Conchubar’s shield, the Ochain, that is the Moaning One, was hanging there; whenever Conchubar would be in danger, it would moan, and all the shields of Ulster would moan in answer to it. And Conall Cearnach’s Lam-tapaid, the Quick Hand, was in it. And Fergus’s Leochain, and Dubthach’s Uathach, and Laegaire’s Nithach; and Sencha’s Sciath-arglan and Celthair’s Comla Catha, the Gate of Battle, and a great many others along with these.

And Cuchulain’s shield was there, and the way he got it was this. There was a law made by the men of the Red Branch that the carved device on every shield should be different from every other.

And the name of the man that used to make the shields was Mac Enge. Cuchulain went to him after coming back from Scathach, and bade him make him a shield, and put some new device on it.

"I cannot do that," said Mac Enge, ‘for all I can do I have done already on the shields of the men of Ulster." There was anger on Cuchulain then, and he threatened Mac Enge with death, was he, or was he not, under Conchubar’s protection.

Mac Enge was greatly put out at what had happened, and he was thinking what was best for him to do, when he saw a man coming towards him. "There is some trouble on you," he said. "There is, indeed," said the shield-maker, "for I am in danger of death unless I make a shield for Cuchulain." "Clear out your workshop," said the strange man, "and spread ashes a foot deep on the floor."

And when this was don; Mac Enge saw the man coming over the outer wall to him again, and a fork in his hand, and it having two prongs. And he put one of the prongs in the ashes, and with the other he made the pattern that was to be cut on Cuchulain’s shield. And so Cuchulain got it, and the name it had was Dubhan, the Black One.

And as to Cuchulain’s sword that was hanging along with the shield, its name was the Cruaidin Cailidcheann; that is, the Hard, Hard Headed. And it had a hilt of gold with ornaments of silver, and if the point of the sword would be bent back to its hilt, it would come as straight as a rod back again. It would cut a hair on the water, or it would cut a hair off the head without touching the skin, or it would cut a man in two, and the one half of him would not miss the other for some time after.

And as to Cuchulain’s spear, the Gae Bulg, whether it was or was not kept in the Speckled House, this is the way he came by it. There were two monsters fighting in the sea one time, the Curruid and the Coinchenn their names were, and at the last the Coinchenn made for the strand to escape, but the other followed him and killed him there.

Then Bolg, son of Buan, a champion of the eastern part of the world, found the bones of the Coinchenn on the strand, and he made a spear with them. And he gave it to a great fighting man, the son of Jubar, and it went from one to another till it came to the woman-champion, Aoife. And Aoife gave it to Cuchulain, and he brought it to Ireland. And it was with it he killed his own son, and his friend Ferdiad afterwards.

There were three hundred and sixty-five men belonging to Conchubar’s household; and one among them served the supper every night, and when the year came round, he would take his turn again.

And it is not a small thing that supper was : beef and pork and beer for every man. But the three days before and the three days after Samhain, the chief men of Ulster used to come together, and to eat together in Conchubar’s palace, and Conchubar himself took charge of the supper at that feast; for every man that did not come on Samhain night, his wits would go from him, and it was as well to rake his grave and to put his memorial stone over him the next day.

And there were a great many poets and learned men used to come Conchubar’s court, for they were made welcome there when they were driven out of other places. Cathbad, the Druid, was among them, and his son, bright-faced Geanann, and Sencha, and Ferceirtne, that was very learned, and Morann, that could not give a wrong judgment, for if he did, the collar round his neck would tighten; and many others.

Adhna was the chief poet there at one time, and after he died Athairne was made chief poet of Ulster in his place. But Neidhe, Adhna’s son, came back from Alban, expecting to be made chief poet.

And it was the waves of the sea, breaking on the strand where he was, that told him of his father’s death. And when he got to Emain, he went into the palace and sat down in the chief poet’s chair, that he found empty, and put the chief poet’s cloak about him, that was lying there, and that was ornamented with beautiful birds’ feathers.

And then Athairne came in and found him there, and they began an argument with one another in the language of poetry, and Conchubar and all the chief men of Ulster came in to listen to them, and some of the other poets joined in the argument.

And Neidhe proved himself to be the best, but if he did, as soon as it was given in his favour, he came down from the chair, and took off the cloak and put it about Athairne, and said that, his father being dead, he would take him for his master.

So Athairne was chief poet, but no one had any great liking for him, for he was too fond of riches, and was no way hospitable or open-handed. It was he went to Midhir, and brought away secretly his three cranes of churlishness and denial, the way none of the men of Ireland would get a good reception if they would come to ask anything at his house.

"Do not come, do not come," the first crane would say. "Get away, get away," the second would say. "Go past the house, past the house," the third would say to any one that came near it.

It was after that argument between Athairne and Neidhe, king Conchubar made a change in the laws. For it had been a law that no one that was not a poet could be a judge. But the language of the poets was hard to understand, and the king was vexed when he could understand but a small part of their argument.

So he said that from that time out, any fitting man might be made judge, was he or was he not a poet. And all the people agreed to that, and the new law turned out very well in the end.

And the twelve chief heroes of Conchubar’s Red Branch were these: Fergus, son of Rogh; Conall Cearnach, the Victorious; Laegaire Buadach, the Battle-Winner; Cuchulain, son of Sualtim; Eoghan, son of Durthacht, chief of Fernmag; Celthair, son of Uthecar; Dubthach Doel Uladh, the Beetle of Ulster; Muinremar, son of Geirgind; Cethern, son of Findtain; and Naoise, Ainnle, and Ardan, the three sons of Usnach.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostThu Jun 02, 2016 5:16 pm

Stories, Myths and Legends

The Story of the Tuatha De Danann

from the Book of Leinster 1150 A.D.



54. Thereafter the progeny of Bethach s. Iarbonel the Soothsayer s. Nemed
were in the northern islands of the world, learning druidry and
knowledge and prophecy and magic, till they were expert in the arts of
pagan cunning.


55. So that they were the Tuatha De Danann who came to Ireland. In this
wise they came, in dark clouds. They landed on the mountains of
Conmaicne Rein in Connachta; and they brought a darkness over the
sun for three days and three nights.


56. They demanded battle of kingship of the Fir Bolg. A battle was fought
between them, to wit the first battle of Mag Tuired, in which a
hundred thousand of the Fir Bolg fell. Thereafter they [the TDD] took
the kingship of Ireland. Those are the Tuatha Dea - gods were their
men of arts, non-gods their husbandmen. They knew the incantations
of druids, and charioteers, and trappers, and cupbearers.


57. It is the Tuatha De Danann who brought with them the Great Fal, [that
is, the Stone of Knowledge], which was in Temair, whence Ireland bears
the name of "The Plain of Fal." He under whom it should utter a cry
was King of Ireland; until Cu Chulainn smote it, for it uttered no cry
under him nor under his fosterling, Lugaid, son of the three Finds of
Emain. And from that out the stone uttered no cry save under Conn
of Temair. Then its heart flew out from it [from Temair] to Tailltin, so
that is the Heart of Fal which is there.

58. Now Nuadu Airgetlam was king over the Tuatha De Danann for seven
years before their coming into Ireland, until his arm was hewn from
him in the first battle of Mag Tuired. Eidleo s. Alldai, he was the first
man of the Tuatha De Danann who fell in Ireland, by the hand of
Nercon ua Semeoin, in the first battle of Mag Tuired. Ernmas, and
Echtach, and Etargal, and Fiachra, and Tuirill Piccreo fell in the same
battle. Bress s. Elada took the kingship of Ireland post, to the end of
seven years, till the arm of Nuadu was healed: a silver arm with
activity in every finger and every joint which Dian Cecht put upon
him, Credne helping him.

59. Tailltiu daughter of Mag Mor king of Spain, queen of the Fir Bolg, came
after the slaughter was inflicted upon the Fir Bolg in that first battle
of Mag Tuired to Coill Cuan: and the wood was cut down by her, so it
was a plain under clover-flower before the end of a year. This is that
Tailtiu who was wife of Eochu son of Erc king of Ireland till the
Tuatha De Danann slew him, ut praediximus: it is he who took her
from her father, from Spain; and it is she who slept with Eochu Garb
son of Dui Dall of the Tuatha De Danann; and Cian son of Dian Cecht,
whose other name was Scal Balb, gave her his son in fosterage, namely
Lug, whose mother was Eithne daughter of Balar. So Tailltiu died in
Tailltiu, and her name clave thereto and her grave is from the Seat of
Tailltiu north-eastward. Her games were performed every year and her
song of lamentation, by Lug. With gessa and feats of arms were they
performed, a fortnight before Lugnasad and a fortnight after: under
dicitur Lugnasad, that is, the celebration or the festival of Lug.
Unde Oengus post multum tempus dicebat, "the nasad of Lug, or the
nasad of Beoan [son] of Mellan."



60. to return to the Tuatha De Danann. Nuadu Airgatlam fell in the last
battle of Mag Tuired, and Macha daughter of Ernmas, at the hands of
Balar the strong-smiter. In that battle there fell Ogma s. Elada at the
hands of Indech son of the De Domnann, king of the Fomhoire. Bruidne
and Casmael fell at the hands of Ochtriallach s. Indech. After the
death of Nuadu and of those men, Lug took the kingship of Ireland,
and his grandfather Balar the Strong-smiter fell at his hands, with a
stone from his sling. Lug was forty years in the kingship of Ireland
after the last battle of Mag Tuired, and there were twenty-seven years
between the battles.


61. Then Eochu Ollathair, the great Dagda, son of Elada, was eighty years in
the kingship of Ireland. His three sons were Oengus and Aed and
Cermat Coem; the three sons of Dian Cecht, Cu and Cethen and Cian.


62. Dian Cecht had three sons, Cu, Cehten and Cian. Miach was the fourth
son though many do not reckon him. His daughter was Etan the
Poetess, and Airmed the she-leech was the other daughter: and
Coirpre, son of Etan was the poet. Crichinbel and Bruidne and Casmael
were the three satirists. Be Chuille and Dianann were the two she-
farmers.

The three sons of Cermad son of The Dagda were Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht,
Mac Greine: Sethor and Tethor and Cethor were their names. Fotla
and Banba and Eriu were their three wives.


Fea and Nemaind were the two wives of Net, a quo Ailech Neit.
Flidais, of whom is the "Cattle of Flidais"; her four daughters were
Argoen and Be Chuille and Dinand and Be Theite.


The two royal oxen were Fea and Femen, of whom are the Plain of Fea
and the Plain of Femen. Those were two faithful oxen.


Torc Triath was king of the boars, from whom is Mag Treitherne. Cirba
was king of the wethers, from whom is Mag Cirba. Math son of Umor
was the druid.


Badb and Macha and Anand, of whom are the Paps of Anu in Luachar
were the three daughters of Ernmas the she-farmer.


Goibniu the smith, Luicne the carpenter, Creidne the wright, Dian Cecht
the leech.

63. Delbaeth after The Dagda, ten years in the kingship of Ireland, till he
fell, with his son Ollom, at the hands of Caicher s. Nama, frater of
Nechtan. Fiacha s. Delbaeth took the kingship of Ireland after his
father, another ten years, till he fell, along with Ai s. Ollom, at the hands
of Eogan Inbir. Twenty-nine years had the grandsons of The Dagda in
the kingship of Ireland, to wit Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Gréine:
they divided Ireland into three parts. To them came the Gaedil to
Ireland, so that they fell by the hands of three sons of Mil, avenging
Ith, Cuailnge, and Fust, of the three sons of Breogan.


64. Nuadu Airgetlam s. Echtach s. Etarlam s. Ordam s. Aldui s. Tat s. Tavarn
s. Enda s. Baath s. Ebath s. Bethach s. Iarbonel s. Nemed s. Agnomain
s. Pamp s. Tat s. Sera s. Sru s. Esru s. Braimend s. Rathacht s.
Magoth s. Iafeth s. Noe.

****

Neit s. Indui s. Alldui s. Tat

****

Fiachna s. Delbaeth s. Ogma s. Elada s. Delbaeth s. Net

****

Ai s. Ollam s. Delbaeth s. Ogma s. Elada.


Lug s. Cian s. Dian Cecht s. Esarg s. Net s. Indui s. Alldui, he is the
first who brought chess-play and ball-play and horse-racing and
assembling into Ireland, unde quidam cecinit


Lug son of Ethliu, a cliff without a wrinkle, with him there
first came a lofty assembly: after the coming of Christ, it
is no idle proclamation Conchobar the wise and violent
died.


Caicher and Nechtan, the two sons of Nama s. Eochu Garb s. Dui Temen
s. Bres s. Delbaeth s. Net.



Siugmall s. Corpre Crom s. Eremair s. Delbaeth s. Ogma.
Oengus mac Oc and Aed Caem and Cermait Milbel, those are the three
sons of the Dagda.


Corpre the poet s. Tuar s. Tuirell s. Cait Conaichend s. Orda s. Alldui
s. Tat


Galia s. Oirbsen s. Elloth s. Elada s. Delbaeth s. Net


Orbsen was the name of Manannan at first, and from him is named Loch
Orbsen in Connachta. When Manannan was being buried, it is then the
lake burst over the land, [through the burial].


The six sons of Delbaeth s. Ogma s. Elada s. Delbaeth s. Net, were
Fiachra, Ollam, Indui, Brian, Iucharba, Iuchar. Donann the daughter of
the same Delbaeth was mother of the three last, Brian, Iucharba and
Iuchar. These were the three gods of Danu, from whom is named the
Mountain of the Three gods. And that Delbaeth had the name Tuirell
Bicreo.

Tuirill s. Cait moreover was the grandfather of Corpre the poet, and
Etan d. Dian Cecht was mother of that Tuirill.


The three sons of Cermait, moreover, ut diximus; Mac Cuill - Sethor,
the hazel his god; Mac Cecht - Tethor, the ploughshare his god; Mac
Greine - Cethor, the sun his god. Fotla was wife of Mac Cecht, Banba
of Mac Cuill, Eriu of Mac Greine. Those were the three daughters of
Fiachna son of Delbaeth.

Ernmas daughter of Etarlam s. Nuada Airgetlam was mother of those three women, and mother of Fiachna and Ollom.


Ernmas had other three daughters, Badb and Macha and Morrigu,
whose name was Anand. Her three sons were Glon and Gaim and Coscar.


Boind daughter of Delbaeth s. Elada.


Fea and Neman, the two wives of Net s. Indiu, two daughters of Elcmar
of the Brug.


Uillend s. Caicher s. Nuadu Airgetlam.


Bodb of the Mound of Femen, s. Eochu Garb s. Dui Temen s. Bres s.
Elada s. Delbaeth s. Net.


Abean s. Bec-Felmas s. Cu s. Dian Cecht, the poet of Lug.
En s. Bec-En s. Satharn s. Edleo s. Alda s. Tat s. Taburn.
At Tat s. Tabourn the choice of the Tuatha De Danann unite. Of
that the historian sang -


Ireland with pride, with weapons, hosts spread over her
ancient plain, westward to the sunset were they
plunderers, her chieftains of destruction around Temair.
Thirty years after Genann goblin hosts took the fertile
land; a blow to the vanquished People of Bags was the
visit of the Tuatha De Danann.


It is God who suffered them, though He restrained them -
they landed with horror, with lofty deed, in their cloud of
mighty combat of spectres, upon a mountain of Conmaicne
of Connacht.


Without distinction to discerning Ireland, Without ships, a
ruthless course the truth was not known beneath the sky
of stars, whether they were of heaven or of earth.
If it were diabolic demons the black-cloaked agitating
expedition, it was sound with ranks, with hosts: if of men,
it was the progeny of Bethach.


Of men belonging to law (is) the freeborn who has the
strong seed: Bethach, a swift warrior-island (?) son of
Iarbonel son of Nemed.


They cast no assembly or justice about the place of Fal to
the sunset: there was fire and fighting at last in Mag
Tuired.


The Tuatha De, it was the bed of a mighty one, around the
People of Bags fought for the kingship: in their battle with
abundance of pride, troops of hundreds of thousands died.


The sons of Elada, glory of weapons, a wolf of division
against a man of plunder: Bres from the Brug of Banba of
wise utterance, Dagda, Delbaeth, and Ogma.

Eriu, though it should reach a road-end, Banba, Fotla, and
Fea, Neman of ingenious versicles, Danann, mother of the gods.


Badb and Macha, greatness of wealth, Morrigu - springs of
craftiness, sources of bitter fighting were the three daughters of Ernmas.


Goibniu who was not impotent in smelting, Luichtne, the
free wright Creidne, Dian Cecht, for going roads of great
healing, Mac ind Oc, Lug son of Ethliu.


Cridenbel, famous Bruinde, Be Chuille, shapely Danand,
Casmael with bardism of perfection, Coirpre son of Etan, and Etan.

The grandsons of the Dagda, who had a triple division (?)
divided Banba of the bugle-horns; let us tell of the
princes of excellence of hospitality, the three sons of Cermat of Cualu.

Though Ireland was multitudes of thousands they divided
her land into thirds: great chieftains of deeds of pride,
Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, Mac Greine.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostTue Jun 07, 2016 7:33 pm

Great stuff
My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostMon Jun 13, 2016 8:45 am

The Adventures of Art Son of Conn


Art son of Conn the Hundred-Fighter, was one of the early traditional kings of Ireland, his reign extending from a.d. 220 to 254. As a usual thing the material regarding traditional kings is later in time of composition than the material of the Ulster cycle. This story, however, although it appears in a late manuscript, has all the appearance of belonging to the Old-Irish tradition. In this, as in several other stories dealing with the early kings, there is a rather strong emphasis on the legal and governmental system of ancient Ireland. Superstitions regarding the kingship, curious ideas about the influence of the moral and physical state of the monarch upon that of his people, the custom of human sacrifice for the good of the country – all these make the material of this selection especially interesting to the student of early Irish social history. Here, as in numerous other romantic tales, we encounter the motif of a visit to the fairy world, the Land of Promise, the Land of Youth. As appears from the context Conn and Art are regarded as contemporaries of Finn mac Cumaill.

Conn the Hundred-Fighter son of Fedlimid Rechtmar son of Tuathal Techtmar son of Feradach Findfechtnach son of Crimthann Nia Nair son of Lugaid Riab Derg son of the three white triplets, Bres and Nar and Lothar, the names of the sons of Eochaid Find,(1) was once at Tara of the kings, the noble conspicuous dwelling of Ireland, for a period of nine years, and there was nothing lacking to the men of Ireland during the time of this king, for, indeed, they used to reap the corn three times in the year. And his wife was Ethne Taebfada (Long-Side) daughter of Brislinn Binn the king of Norway. He loved her dearly. After their living a long time together Ethne died, and was buried with honor in Tailltiu; for Tailltiu was one of the three chief burial-places of Ireland, which were the Fair of Tailltiu, and the Brug beside the Boyne, and the cemetery of Cruachan. And he was dejected on account of his wife Ethne’s death, and it weighed so heavily on him, that he was unable any longer to rule or govern the kingdom. And there was lacking to Ireland at that time one thing only, that the king of Ireland should find a helpmate worthy of him in her stead.

One day, however, he was all alone; and he went straight out of Tara to Benn Etair maic Etgaith. There he bewailed and lamented his wife and helpmate. It was on that very day the Tuatha De Danann happened to be gathered in council in the Land of Promise, because of a woman who had committed transgression, and whose name was Becuma Cneisgel daughter of Eogan Inbir, that is, the wife of Labraid Luathlam-ar-Claideb (Swift-Hand-on-Sword); and Gaidiar, Manannan’s son, it was that had committed transgression with her. And this was the sentence passed on her: to be driven forth from the Land of Promise, or to be burned according to the counsel of Manannan, and Fergus Findliath, and Eogan Inbir, and Lodan son of Lir, and Gaidiar, and Gaei Gormsuilech, and Ilbrec son of Manannan. And their counsel was to banish her from the Land of Promise.

And Manannan said not to burn her lest her guilt should cleave to the land or to themselves. Messengers came from Labraid to the house of Angus of the Brug, his own son-in-law; for a daughter of Labraid’s was the wife of Angus of the Brug, and her name was Nuamaisi. It was for this reason messengers were despatched: in order that Becuma Cneisgel should not find a place for her head in any of the fairy-mounds of Ireland.

Accordingly she was banished beyond the expanse of the sea and the great deep; and it was into Ireland in particular she was sent, for the Tuatha De Danann hated the sons of Mil after they had been driven out of Ireland by them. The girl had a lover in Ireland, Art son of Conn the Hundred-Fighter, but Art did not know that he was her lover.

As for the girl, she found a coracle (boat) which had no need of rowing, but leaving it to the harmony of the wind over sea she came to Ben Etair maic Etgaith. Thus was the girl. She had a green cloak of one color about her, with a fringe of red thread of red gold, and a red satin smock against her white skin, and sandals of white bronze on her, and soft yellow hair, and a gray eye in her head, and lovely-colored teeth, and thin red lips, black eyebrows, arms straight and fair of hue, a snowy white body, small round knees, and slender choice feet, with excellence of shape, and form, and complexion, and accomplishments. Fair was the attire of that maiden, even Eogan Inbir’s daughter. One thing only, however, – a woman was not worthy of the high-king of Ireland who was banished for her own misdeed

When she arrived, Conn was on Ben Etair, sorrowful, restless, and lamentful, bewailing his wife. The maiden recognized him as the high-king of Ireland, and she brought her coracle to land and sat down beside Conn. Conn asked tidings of her. The maiden answered, and said that she was come from the Land of Promise in quest of Art, whom she had loved from afar, because of the tales about him.

And she said that she was Delbchaem daughter of Morgan. ”I would not come between thee and thy choice of courtship,” said Conn, ”though I have no wife.” ”Why hast thou no wife?” said the maiden. ”My helpmate died,” replied Conn. ”What then shall I do?” said the maiden; ”is it with thee or with Art that I shall sleep?” ”Make thine’ own choice,” replied Conn. ”This is my choice,” said the maiden, ”since thou dost not accept me: let me have my choice of courtship in Ireland.”

”I see no defects in thee for which it were right to refuse thee, unless they are concealed in thee.” Then the maiden asked her own judgment of Conn, and it was granted her. And they made a union, Conn and the maiden, and she bound him to do her will. And her judgment was that Art should not come to Tara until a year was past. Conn’s mind was vexed because of the banishing of his son from Ireland without cause.

After that they both set out for Tara; and the maiden left her coracle in the clefts of the rocks in shelter and concealment, for she knew not when she might need that coracle again. Art was at Tara then playing chess, and Cromdes, Conn’s druid, along with him. And the druid said, ”A move of banishment of thine, my son, and because of the woman thy father marries thou art being banished.”

The king and his wife arrived at the place, and his son was brought to him straightway. And Conn said to Art, ”Leave Tara and Ireland for a year, and make thy preparation at once, for I have pledged myself to this.” And the men of Ireland deemed it a great wrong that Art should be banished for the sake of a woman. Nevertheless, Art left Tara that night, and Conn and Becuma were a year together in Tara, and there was neither corn nor milk in Ireland during that time. And the men of Ireland were in the greatest difficulty about that matter; and the druids of all Ireland were sent with the help of their science and their true wisdom to show what had brought that dreadful evil into Ireland.

The question was put to them, and the druids related to the king of Tara and the nobles of Ireland the cause of the evil: because of the depravity of Conn’s wife and her unbelief it was sent. And it was declared, through whom their deliverance would be possible, namely, that the son of a sinless couple should be brought to Ireland and slain before Tara, and his blood mingled with the soil of Tara.

This was told to Conn, but he knew not where there was such a boy. And he assembled the men of Ireland in one place, and said to them, ”I will go in quest of that sinless boy; and do you give the kingdom of Ireland to Art yonder so long as I am away, and, moreover, let him not leave Tara while I am absent until I come again.” Then Conn proceeded straight to Ben Etair, and he found a coracle there.

And he was a fortnight and a month on the sea wandering from one isle to another without knowledge or guidance save that of trusting to the course of the stars and the luminaries.

And seals and leviathans, and adzeheads and porpoises and many strange beasts of the sea rose up around the coracle, and swiftly uprose the waves, and the firmament trembled. And the hero all alone navigated the coracle until he came to a strange isle. He landed and left his coracle in a secret lonely place.

And it is thus the island was: having fair fragrant apple-trees, and many wells of wine most beautiful, and a fair bright wood adorned with clustering hazel-trees surrounding those wells, with lovely golden-yellow nuts, and little bees ever beautiful humming over the fruits, which were dropping their blossoms and their leaves into the wells.

Then he saw nearby a shapely hostel thatched with birds’ wings, white, and yellow, and blue. And he went up to the hostel. ’Tis thus it was: with doorposts of bronze and doors of crystal and a few generous inhabitants within. He saw the queen with her large eyes, whose name was Rigru Rosclethan daughter of Lodan from the Land of Promise, that is, the wife of Daire Degamra son of Fergus Fialbrethach from the Land of Wonders.

Conn saw there in the midst of the hostel a little boy with excellence of shape and form, in a chair of crystal, and his name was Segda Saerlabraid son of Daire Degamra. Conn sat down on the bedside of the hostel, and was attended upon, and his feet washed. And he knew not who had washed his feet.

Before long he saw a flame arising from the hearth, and the hero was taken by an invisible hand which guided him to the fire, and he went towards the fire. Then food-laden boards of the house with varied meats rose up before him, and he knew not who had given them to him.

After a short space he saw a drinking-horn there, and he knew not who had fetched the horn. Then the dishes were removed from him. He saw before him a vat excellent and finely wrought of blue crystal, with three golden hoops about it. And Daire Degamra bade Conn go into the vat and bathe, so that he might put his weariness from him.

And Conn did so,... A fair cloak was thrown over the king, and he awoke refreshed. Food and nourishment was set before him He said that it was taboo for him to eat by himself. And they answered that there was no taboo at all among them, save that none of them ever ate with the other.

”Though no one has eaten,” said the little boy Segda Saerlabraid, ”I will eat along with the king of Ireland, so that he may not violate his taboo.” And they lay in the same bed that night. Conn arose on the morrow, and laid before the household his need and his trouble. ”What is thy need?” said they. ”That Ireland is without corn and milk for a year now.” ”Why hast thou come hither?”

”In quest of your son,” replied Conn, ”if you are willing; for it has been told m that it is through him our deliverance will come; namely, - that the son of a sinless couple should be invited to Tara, and afterwards bathed in the water of Ireland; and it is you that possess the same, so let this young person, even Segda Saerlabraid, be given up.”

”Alas,” said Daire son of Fergus Fialbrethach, ”we would not lend our son for the kingship of the world; for never did his father and mother come together except when yonder little boy was made; and moreover our own fathers and mothers never came together save at our making.”

”Evil is the thing you say,” said the boy, ”not to respond to the king of Ireland; I will go myself with him.” ”Do not say that, son,” said the household.

”I say that the king of Ireland should not be refused.”

”If that is so,” said the household, ”it is thus we shall let thee go from us, under protection of the kings of all Ireland, and Art son of Conn, and Finn son of Cumall, and the men of art, so that thou shalt come back safe to us again.”

”All that shall be given,” said Conn, ”if I can.” As for Conn and his coracle after having had this adventure, it was only a sail of three days and three nights for them to Ireland. The men of all Ireland were then gathered in assembly awaiting Conn at Tara. And when the druids saw the boy with Conn, this is the counsel they gave: to slay him and mingle his blood with the blighted earth and the withered trees, so that its due mast and fruit, its fish, and its produce might be in them.

And Conn placed the boy he had brought with him under the protection of Art and Finn, and the men of art, and the men of Ireland. The latter, however, did not accept that responsibility, but the kings accepted it at once, that is Conn, and Finn, and Art Oenfer, and they were all outraged as regards the boy.

As soon as they had finished this council, the boy cried out with a loud voice: ”O men of Ireland, leave me alone in peace, since you have agreed to slay me. Let me be put to death, as I shall say myself,” said the boy.

Just then they heard the lowing of a cow, and a woman wailing continually behind it. And they saw the cow and the woman making towards the assembly. The woman sat down, between Finn and Conn the Hundred-Fighter. She asked tidings of the attempt of the men of Ireland, that the innocent boy should be put to death in despite of Finn, and Art, and Conn, ”Where are those druids?”

”Here,” said they. ”Find out for me what those two bags are at the cow’s sides, that is, the bag at each side of her.” ”By our conscience,” said they, ”we know not indeed.”

”I know,” said she; ”a single cow that has come here to save that innocent youth. And it is thus it will be done to her: let the cow be slaughtered, and her blood mixed with the soil of Ireland, and save the boy. And moreover, there is something which it were more fitting for you to take heed to, that is, when the cow is cut up, let the two bags be opened, and there are two birds inside, a bird with one leg, and a bird with twelve legs.”

And the cow was slaughtered and the birds taken out of her. And as they were beating their wings in the presence of the host, the woman said, ”It is thus we shall discover which is the stronger if they encounter.”

Then the one-legged bird prevailed over the bird with twelve legs. The men of Ireland marvelled at that. Said the woman, ”You are the bird with the twelve legs, and the little boy the bird with one leg, for it is he who is in the right.

Take those druids there,” said the woman, ”for it were better for them to die, and let them be hanged.” And the young man was not put to death. Then the woman rose up and called Conn aside, and spoke as follows ”Put this sinful woman away, this Becuma Cneisgel, daughter of Eogan Inbir, and wife of Labraid Luathlam-ar-Claideb, for it is through transgression she has been driven out of the Land of Promise.”

”That is good counsel,” said Conn, ”if I could put her away; but since I cannot, give us good advice.”

”I will,” said the woman, ”for it is worse it will be; a third of its corn, and its milk, and its mast will be lacking to Ireland as long as she is with you.” And she took leave of them then and went off with her son, Segda.

Jewels and treasures were offered to them, but they refused them. Becuma chanced to be out on the green then, and she saw Conn’s son Art playing chess there. It was not pleasant for Art to see his enemy. ”Is that Conn’s son Art?” said she. ”It is indeed,” said they. ”I lay a taboo upon him,” said she, ”unless he play chess with me for stakes.” This was told to Art son of Conn. A chess-board was brought to them then, and they played, and Art won the first game.

”This is a game on thee, girl,” said Art. ”That is so,” said she. ”And I lay a taboo on thee,” said he, ”if thou eat food in Ireland until thou procure the warrior’s wand which Cu Roi mac Dairi had in his hand when taking possession of Ireland and the great world, and fetch it to me here.” Then the girl proceeded to the dewy light-flecked brug,’ wherein was Angus, with his dear wife at his side, even Nuamaisi daughter of Labraid.

However, she searched most of the fairy-mounds of Ireland, and found no tidings of the wand until she came to the fairy-mound of Eogabal, and a welcome was given her here by Aine daughter of Eogabal, for they were two foster-sisters. ”Thou wilt get thy quest here,” said she; ”and take yonder thrice fifty youths with thee until thou come to the stronghold of Cu Roi on the top of Sliab Mis.”

And they found it there, and she rejoiced. Thereupon she set out for Tara, and she brought the wand to Art, and laid it upon his knees. The chess-board was brought to them, and they played. And the men of the fairy-mound began to steal the pieces. Art saw that, and said, ”The men of the fairy-mound are stealing the pieces from us, girl; and it is not thou that art winning the game, but they.”

”This is a game on thee,” said the girl. ”It is so indeed,” said the young man; ”and give thy judgment.” ”I will this,” said she; ”thou shalt not eat food in Ireland until thou bring with thee Delbchaem the daughter of Morgan.” ”Where is she?” said Art.

”In an isle amid the sea, and that is all the information thou wilt get.” Art set out for Inber Colptha; and he found a coracle with choice equipment on the shore before him. And he put forth the coracle, and travelled the sea from one isle to another until he came to a fair, strange island; and lovely was the character of that island, full of wild apples and lovely birds, with little bees ever beautiful on the tops of the flowers.

A house, hospitable and noble, in the midst of the island, thatched with birds’ wings, white and purple, and within it a company of blooming women, ever beautiful, among them Creide Firalainn daughter of Fidech Foltlebor. A hearty welcome was then given to him, and food set before him, and tidings are asked of him. And he said that he was come from Ireland, and that he was the King of Ireland’s son, and his name was Art.

”That is true,” said Creide. After that she put out her hand, and gave him a variegated mantle with adornments of burnished gold from Arabia, and he put it on him, and it was right for him. ”’Tis true,” said she, ”that thou art Conn’s son Art and it is long since thy coming here has been decreed.” And she gave him three kisses, dearly and fervently. And she said, ”Look at the crystal bower.” And fair was the site of that bower, with its doors of crystal and its inexhaustible vats, for, though everything be emptied out of them, they were ever full again.

He remained a fortnight and a month in that island; after which he took leave of the girl, and related his errand. ”’Tis true,” said she, ”that is thine errand; and it will be no little time until the maiden will be found, for the way is bad thither, and there is sea and land between thee and her, and, even if thou dost reach it, thou wilt not go past it.

There is a great ocean and dark between; and deadly and hostile is the way there, for there is a wood that is traversed as though there were spear-points of battle under one’s feet, like leaves of the forest under the feet of men. There is a luckless gulf of the sea full of dumb-mouthed beasts on this side of that wood, even an immense oak forest, dense and thorny before a mountain, and a narrow path through it, and a dark house in the mysterious wood at the head of the same path, with seven hags and a bath of molten lead awaiting thee, for thy coming there has been fated.

And there is somewhat more grievous still, even Ailill Black-tooth son of Mongan Minscothach. And weapon cannot harm him. And there are two sisters of mine there, daugh- ters of Fidech Foltlebor, Finscoth and Aeb their names. There are two cups in their hands – a cup filled with poison, and one filled with wine.

And the cup which is on thy right hand, drink therefrom when thou hast need. And near at hand is the stronghold of the maiden. Thus it is, with a palisade of bronze round about it, and a man’s head on every stake of it, after being slain by Coinchenn Cennfada (Dog-Head Long-Head), save on one stake alone. And Coinchenn daughter of the king of the Coinchinn the mother of the girl, even Delbchaem daughter of Morgan.”

Art then set out after he had been instructed by the girl, until he came to the crest of that hapless sea full of strange beasts. And on all sides the beasts and great sea-monsters rose up around the coracle. And Art son of Conn donned his battle attire, and engaged them warily and circumspectly. And he began to slaughter them and maim them until they fell by him.

After that he came to the forest wild where the Coinchenn and the wicked, perverse hags were, and Art and the hags encountered. It was not a fair encounter for him, the hags piercing and hacking at him until morning. Nevertheless the armed youth prevailed over that hapless folk. And Art went on his way using his own judgment until he came to the venomous icy mountain; and the forked glen was there full of poisonous toads, which were lying in wait for whoever came there. And he passed thence to Saeb Mountain beyond, wherein were full many lions with long manes lying in wait for the beasts of the whole world.

After that he came to the icy river, with its slender narrow bridge, and a warrior giant with a pillar-stone, and he grinding his teeth on it, namely, Curnan Cliabsalach. Nevertheless they encountered, and Art overcame the giant, so that Curnan Cliabsalach fell by him. And he went thence to where Ailill Dubdedach son of Mongan was.

And ’tis thus that man was: a fierce champion was he; no weapon could harm him, or fire burn him, or water drown him. Then Art and he took to wrestling, and they made a manly combat, a stern, heroic, equally-sharp fight And Ailill Dubdedach began abusing Art, and they were haranguing one another. But Art overcame the giant, so that his head came off the back of his neck.

After that Art wrecked the stronghold; and he seized Ailill’s wife, and he threatened to do her injury until she told him the way to Morgan’s stronghold and the Land of Wonders. It was there Coinchenn Cennfada, Morgan’s wife, was; and she had the strength of a hundred in battle or conflict. She was the daughter of Conchruth king of the Coinchinn. And the druids had foretold her that if ever her daughter should be wooed, in that same hour she would die.

Therefore, she put to death everyone that came to woo her daughter. And it was she that had organized the hags with the bath of lead to meet him, and Curnan Cliabsalach son of Duscad, the door-keeper of Morgan’s house.

And it was she that had put Ailill Dubdedach in the way of Art son of Conn, because Art would come on that expedition to woo her daughter, as it had been foretold her. And it was she that had contrived the venomous toads, and the icy bridge, and the dark forest, and the mountain full of lions, and the hapless sea gulf.

Thus came Art to the stronghold which he was in quest of, that is, Morgan’s stronghold and pleasant it was. A fair palisade of bronze was round about it, and houses hospitable and extensive and a stately palace... in the midst of the enclosure. An ingenious, bright, shining bower set on one pillar over the enclosure, on the very top, where that maiden was. She had a green cloak of one hue about her, with a gold pin in it over her breast, and long, fair, very golden hair. She had dark-black eyebrows, and flashing grey eyes in her head, and a snowy-white body. Fair was the maiden both in shape and intelligence, in wisdom and embroidery, in chastity and nobility.

And the maiden said: ”A warrior has come to this place today and there is not in the world a warrior fairer in form, or of better repute. It is true,” said she ”he is Art; and it is long since we have been preparing for him. And I will go into a house apart,” said she, ”and do thou bring Art into the bower; for I fear lest the Coinchenn may put him to death, and have his head placed on the vacant stake before the stronghold.”

With that Art went into the bower, and when the women-folk saw him they made him welcome and his feet were bathed. - After that came the Coinchenn, and the two daughters of Fidech along with her, Aeb and Finscoth, to pour out the poison and the wine for Art. Then the Coinchenn arose and put on her fighting apparel, and challenged Art to combat. And it was not Art who refused a fight ever. So he donned his fighting gear, and before long the armed youth prevailed over the Coinchenn; and her head came off from the back of her neck, and he placed it on the vacant stake in front of the fortress.

Now concerning Art son of Conn and Delbchaem daughter of Morgan. That night they lay down merry, and in good spirits the whole stronghold in their power, from small to great, until Morgan king of the Land of Wonders arrived; for indeed he was not there at the time. Then, however, Morgan arrived, full of wrath, to avenge his fortress and his good wife on Art son of Conn.

He challenged Art to combat. And the young man arose, and put on his battle-harness, his pleasant, satin mantle, and the white light-speckled apron of burnished gold about his middle. And he put his fine dark helmet of red gold on his head. And he took his fair, purple, embossed shield on the arched expanse of his back. And he took his wide-grooved sword with the blue hilt, and his two thick-shafted, red-yellow spears, and they attacked each other, Art and Morgan like two enormous stags, or two lions, or two waves of destruction. And Art overcame Morgan, and he did not part from him until his head had come off his neck.

After which Art took hostages of Morgan’s people, and also possession of the Land of Wonders. And he collected the gold and silver of the land also and gave it all to the maiden, even Delbchaem daughter of Morgan.

The stewards and overseers followed him from the land, and he brought the maiden with him to Ireland. And they landed at Benn Etair. When they came into port, the maiden said: Hasten to Tara, and tell to Becuma daughter of Eogan that she abide not there, but to depart at once, for it is a bad hap if she be not commanded to leave Tara.”

And Art went forward to Tara, and was made welcome. And there was none to whom his coming was not pleasing, but the wanton and sorrowful Becuma. But Art ordered the sinful woman to leave Tara. And she rose up straightway lamenting in the presence of the men of Ireland, without a word of leave-taking, until she came to Benn Etair.

As for the maiden Delbchaem, the seers, and the wise men, and the chiefs were sent to welcome her, and she and Art came to Tara luckily and auspiciously. And the nobles of Ireland asked tidings of his adventures from Art; and he answered them, and made a lay.

Thus far the Adventures of Art son of Conn, and the Courtship of Delbchaem daughter of Morgan.

(1)The father of the triplets is usually Eochaid Fedlech, the brother of the king here referred to.

Source: Ancient Irish Tales, ed. Tom P. Cross and Clark H. Slover, Henry Holt & company, 1936.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostMon Jun 13, 2016 8:47 am

FIGHTING AND PEACE

DIARMUID AND GRANIA


AND after a while Finn bade his people to make his ship ready, and to put a store of food and drink in it. They did that, and he himself and a thousand of his men went into the ship; and they were nine days between sailing and rowing till they came to harbour in the north of Alban.

They bound the ship to the posts of the harbour then, and Finn with five of his people went to the dun of the King of Alban, and Finn struck a blow with the hand-wood on the door, and the doorkeeper asked who was in it, and they told him it was Finn, son of Cumhal. "Let him in," said the king.

Then Finn and his people went in, and the king made them welcome, and he bade Finn to sit down in his own place, and they were given strong pleasant drinks, and the king sent for the rest of Finn’s people and bade them welcome to the dun.

Then Finn told what it was brought him there, and that it was to ask help and advice against the grandson of Duibhne he was come.

"And you have a right to give me your help," he said, "for it was he that killed your father and your two brothers, and many of the best men along with them."

"That is true," said the king; "and I will give you my own two sons and a thousand men with each of them." Finn was glad when he heard that, and he and his men took leave of the king and of his household, and left wishes for life and health with them, and the king did the same by them.

And it was near Brugh na Boinne Finn and his people came to land, and Finn sent messengers to the house of Angus to give out a challenge of battle against Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne.

"What should I do about this, Osgar?" said Diarmuid.

"We will both go out and make a stand against them, and we will not let a serving-man of them escape, but we will make an end of them all," said Osgar.

So they rose up on the morning of the morrow and they put their suits of battle on their comely bodies; and it would be a pity for those, be they many or few, that would meet those two men, and their anger on them. And they bound the rims of their shields together the way they would not be parted from one another in the fight. And the sons of the King of Alban said that they themselves and their people would go first to meet them. So they came to shore, and made a rush to meet Diarmuid and Osgar. But the two fought so well that they beat them back and scattered them, and made a great slaughter, and put great terror on them, so that at the last there was not a man left to stand against them.

And after that, Finn went out again on the sea, and his people with him, and there is no word of them till they came to the Land of Promise where Finn’s nurse was. And when she saw Finn coming she was very joyful before him. And Finn told her the whole story from beginning to end, and the cause of his quarrel with Diarmuid; and he said it was to ask an advice from her he was come, and that it was not possible to put him down by any strength of an army, unless enchantment would put him down. "I will go with you," said the old woman, "and I will do enchantment on him." Finn was very glad when be heard that, and he stopped there that night, and they set out for Ireland on the morrow.

And when they came to Brugh na Boinne, the nurse put a Druid mist around Finn and the Fianna, the way no one could know they were there. Now the day before that, Osgar had parted from Diarmuid, and Diarmuid was out hunting by himself. That was shown to the hag, and she took a drowned leaf having a hole in it, like the quern of a mill, and she rose with that by her enchantments on a blast of Druid wind over Diarmuid, and began to aim at him through the hole with deadly spears, till she had done him great harm, for all his arms and his clothing, and he could not make away he was so hard pressed. And every danger he was ever in was little beside that danger. And it is what he thought, that unless he could strike the old woman through the hole that was in the leaf, she would give him his death there and then. And he lay down on his back, and the Gae Dearg, the Red Spear, in his hand, and he made a great cast of the spear, that it went through the hole, and the hag fell dead on the spot. And he struck off her head and he brought it back with him to Angus Og.

And the next morning early, Angus rose up, and he went where Finn was, and he asked would he make peace with Diarmuid, and Finn said he would. And then he went to the King of Ireland to ask peace for Diarmuid, and he said he would agree to it.

And then he went back to where Diarmuid and Grania were, and asked him would he make peace with the High King and with Finn. "I am willing," said Diarmuid, "if they will give the conditions I will ask." "What conditions are those?" said Angus.

"The district my father had," said Diarmuid, "that is, the district of Ui Duibhne, without right of hunting to Finn, and without rent or tribute to the King of Ireland, and with that the district of Dumhais in Leinster, for they are the best in Ireland, and the district of Ceis Corainn from the King of Ireland as a marriage portion with his daughter; and those are the conditions on which I will make peace with them." "Would you be peaceable if you got those conditions?" said Angus. "It would go easier with me to make peace if I got them," said Diarmuid.

Then Angus went with that news to where the King of Ireland was with Finn. And they gave him all those conditions, and they forgave him all he had done through the whole of the time he had been in his hiding, that was sixteen years.

And the place Diarmuid and Grania settled in was Rath Grania, in the district of Ceis Corainn, far away from Finn and from Teamhair. And Grania bore him children there, four sons and one daughter. And they lived there in peace, and the people used to be saying there was not a man living at the same time was richer as to gold and to silver, as to cattle and to sheep, than Diarmuid.

Lady Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men, 1904.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostMon Jun 13, 2016 8:49 am

THE HARD SERVANT

THE FIANNA went hunting one time in the two proud provinces of Munster. They went out from Almhuin by the nearest paths till they came to the Brosna river in Slieve Bladhma, and from there to the twelve mountains of Eiblinne, and on to Aine Cliach, the harp of Aine.

They scattered themselves then and hunted through the borders of the forest that is called Magh Breogain, through blind trackless places and through broken lands, over beautiful level plains and the high hills of Desmumum, under pleasant Slieve Crot and smooth Slieve na Muc, along the level banks of the blue Siuir and over the green plain of Feman and the rough plain of Eithne, and the dark woods of Belach Gabrain.

And Finn was at the side of a hill, and the chief men of the Fianna along with him, to watch the hunting; for they liked to be listening to the outcry of the hounds and the hurried cries of the boys, and the noise and the whistling and the shouts of the strong men.

Finn asked then which of the men that were with him would go and keep watch on the side of the hill where they were. And Finn-bane, son of Bresel, said he would go. And he went on to the top of the hill, where he could see about him on all sides. And he was not long there till he saw coming from the east a very big man, ugly and gloomy and deformed; and it is how he was, a dark-coloured shield on his back, a wide sword on his crooked left thigh, two spears on his shoulder, a turn loose cloak over his limbs, that were as black as a quenched coal. A sulky horse he had with him that had no good appearance, bony and thin as to body, and weak in the legs, and he leading it with a rough iron halter; and it was a great wonder the head was not pulled from the horse’s body, or the arms pulled out of his owner, with the sudden stands and stops and the jerks it made. And the big man was striking blows on the horse with an iron cudgel to try and knock some going out of him, and the sound of the blows was like the breaking of strong waves.

And when Finnbane saw all that, he thought to himself it would not be right to let the like of that stranger go up unknown to Finn and the Fianna, and he ran back in haste to where they were and told them all he had seen.

And when he had told his story, they saw the big man coming towards them; but as short as he was from them he was long in coming, from the badness of his walk and his going.

And when he came into Finn’s presence he saluted him, and bowed his head and bent his knee, making signs of humility.

Finn raised his hand over his head then, and asked news of him, and if he was of the noble or of the mean blood of the great world. He answered that he had no knowledge who he came from, but only that he was a man of the Fomor, travelling in search of wages to the kings of the earth, "and I heard," he said, "that Finn never refused wages to any man." "I never did indeed," said Finn, "and I will not refuse you. But why is it," he said, "you are without a boy to mind your horse?" "I have good reason for that," said the big man; "there is nothing in the world is worse for me than a boy to be with me; for it is a hundred men’s share of food," he said, "that serves me for one day, and it is little enough I think of it, and I would begrudge a boy to be sharing it with me."

"What is the name you have?" said Finn. "The name I have is the Gilla Decair, the Hard Servant," said he. "Why did you get that name?" said Finn. "There is a good reason for that," said the big man, "for there is nothing in the world is harder to me than to do anything at all for my master, or whatever person I am with. And tell me this, Conan, son of Morna," he said, "who gets the best wages, a horseman or a man afoot?" "A horseman gets twice as much," said Conan. "Then I call you to witness, Conan," he said, "that I am a horseman, and that it was as a horseman I came to the Fianna. And give me your guarantee now, Finn, son of Cumhal, and the guarantee of the Fianna, and I will turn out my horse with your horses." "Let him out then," said Finn.

The big man pulled off the iron halter then from his horse, and it made off as hard as it could go, till it came where the horses of the Fianna were; and it began to tear and to kick and to bite at them, killing and maiming. "Take your horse out of that, big man," said Conan; "and by the earth and the sky," he said, "only it was on the guarantee of Finn and the Fianna you took the halter off him, I would let out his brains through the windows of his head; and many as is the bad prize Finn has found in Ireland," he said, "he never got one as bad as yourself." "And I swear by earth and sky as well as yourself," said the big man, "I will never bring him out of that; for I have no serving-boy to do it for me, and it is not work for me to be leading my horse by the hand."

Conan, son of Morna, rose up then and took the halter and put it on the horse, and led it back to where Finn was, and held it with his hand. "You would never have done a horse-boy’s service, Conan," said Finn, "to any one of the Fianna, however far he might be beyond this Fomor. And if you will do what I advise," he said, "you will get up on the horse now, and search out with him all the hills and hollows and flowery plains of Ireland, till his heart is broken in his body in payment for the way he destroyed the horses of the Fianna."

Conan made a leap then on to the horse, and struck his heels hard into him, but with all that the horse would not stir. "I know what ails him," said Finn, "he will not stir till he has the same weight of a horsemen on him as the weight of the big man."

On that thirteen men of the Fianna went up behind Conan, and the horse lay down with them and rose up again. "I think you are mocking at my horse and at myself," said the big man; "and it is a pity for me to be spending the rest of the year with you, after all the humbugging I saw in you to-day, Finn. And I know well," he said, "that all I heard about you was nothing but lies, and there was no cause for the great name you have through the world. And I will quit you now, Finn," he said.

With that he went from them, slow and weak, dragging himself along till he had put a little hill between himself and the Fianna. And as soon as he was on the other side of it, he tucked up his cloak to his waist, and away with him, as if with the quickness of a swallow or a deer, and the rush of his going was like a blast of loud wind going over plains and mountains in spring-time.

When the horse saw his master going from him, he could not bear with it, but great as his load was he set out at full gallop following after him. And when Finn and the Fianna saw the thirteen men behind Conan, son of Morna, on the horse, and he starting off, they shouted with mocking laughter.

And when Conan found that he was not able to come down off the horse, he screeched and shouted to them not to let him be brought away with the big man they knew nothing of, and he began abusing and reproaching them. "A cloud of death over water on you, Finn," he said, "and that some son of a slave or a robber of the bad blood, one that is a worse son of a father and mother even than yourself, may take all that might protect your life, and your head along with that, unless you follow us to whatever place or island the big man will carry us to, and unless you bring us back to Ireland again."

Finn and the Fianna rose up then, and they followed the Gilla Decair over every bald hill, and through every valley and every river, on to pleasant Slieve Luachra, into the borders of Corca Duibhne; and the big man, that was up on the horse then along with Conan and the rest, faced towards the deep sea. And Liagan Luath of Luachar took hold of the horse’s tail with his two hands, thinking to drag him back by the hair of it; but the horse gave a great tug, and away with him over the sea, and Liagan along with him, holding on to his tail.

It was a heavy care to Finn, those fourteen men of his people to be brought away from him, and he himself under bonds to bring them back. "What can we do now?" Oisin asked him. "What should we do, but to follow our people to whatever place or island the big man has brought them, and, whatever way we do it, to bring them back to Ireland again." "What can we do, having neither a ship or any kind of boat?" said Oisin. "We have this," said Finn, "the Tuatha de Danaan left as a gift to the children of the Gael, that whoever might have to leave Ireland for a while, had but to go to Beinn Edair, and however many would go along with him, they would find a ship that would hold them all."

Finn looked towards the sea then, and he saw two strong armed men coming towards him. The first one had on his back a shield ribbed and of many colours, having shapes of strange, wonderful beasts engraved on it, and a heavy sword at his side, and two thick spears on his shoulders; a cloak of lasting crimson about him, with a gold brooch on the breast; a band of white bronze on his head, gold under each of his feet; and the other was dressed in the same way. They made no delay till they came to where Finn was, and they bowed their heads and bent their knees before him, and Finn raised his hand over their heads, and bade them to give an account of themselves.

"We are sons of the King of the Eastern World," they said, "and we are come to Ireland asking to be taken into the service of Finn; for we heard there was not a man in all Ireland," they said, "would be better than yourself to judge of the skill we have." "What is your name, and what skill is that?" said Finn. "My name is Feradach, the Very Brave," he said; "and I have a carpenter’s axe and a sling, and if there were so many as thirty hundred of the men of Ireland along with me in one spot, with three blows of the axe on the sling-stick I could get a ship that would hold them all. And I would ask no more help of them," he said, "than to bow down their heads while I was striking those three blows." "That is a good art," said Finn. "And tell me now," he said, "what can the other man do?" "I can do this," he said, "I can follow the track of the teal over nine ridges and nine furrows until I come on her in her bed; and it is the same to me to do it on sea as on land," he said. "That is a good art," said Finn; "and it would be a good help to us if you would come following a track with us now." "What is gone from you?" said one of the men. Finn told them then the whole story of the Hard Servant.

Then Feradach, the Very Brave, struck three blows on his sling-stick with the axe that he had, and the whole of the Fianna bowed their heads, and on the moment the whole of the bay and of the harbour was filled with ships and with fast boats. "What will we do with that many ships?" said Finn. "We will do away with all you make no use of," he said.

Caoilte rose up then and let out three great shouts, and all the Fianna of Ireland, in whatever places they were, heard them, and they thought Finn and his people to be in some kind of danger from men from beyond the sea.

They came then in small companies as they chanced to be, till they came to the stepping-stones of the Cat’s Head in the western part of Corca Duibne. And they asked news of Finn, what had happened that he called them away from their hunting, and Finn told them all that had happened. Then Finn and Oisin went into council together, and it is what they agreed; that as but fifteen of his people were brought away from Finn, he himself with fifteen others would go on their track; Oisin to be left at the head of the Fianna to guard Ireland.

And they said farewell to one another, and a grand ship was made ready for Finn and his people, and there was food put in it for using and gold for giving away. The young men and the heroes took to their seats then, and took hold of the oars, and they set out over the restless hills and the dark valleys of the great sea.

And the sea rose up and bellowed, and there was madness on the broken green waters; but to Finn and his people it was a call in the morning and a sleepy time at night to be listening to the roaring and the crooning that was ever and always about the sides of the ship.

They went on like that for three days and three nights, and saw no country or island. But at the end of that time a man of them went up into the head of the ship, and he saw out before them a great, rough grey cliff. They went on towards it then, and they saw on the edge of the cliff a high rock, round-shaped, having sides more slippery than an eel’s back. And they found the track of the Hard Servant as far as to the foot of the rock. Fergus of the True Lips said then to Diarmuid: "It is no brave thing you are doing, Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, to hold back like this, for it was with Manannan the Powerful, son of Lir, you were reared and got your learning, in the Land of Promise and in the coasts of the harbours, and with Angus Og, the Dagda’s son. And are you without any share of their skill and their daring now," he said, "that would bring Finn and his people up this rock?"

Diarmuid’s face reddened when he heard those words and he took hold of Manannan’s staves of power that were with him, and he reddened again, and he rose on the staves and gave a leap, and got a standing-place for his two feet on the overhanging rock. He looked down from that on Finn and his people, but whatever wish he had to bring them up to where he was, he was not able to do it. He left the rock behind him then, and he was not gone far when he saw a wild tangled place before him, with thick woods that were of all he had ever walked the most leafy and the fullest of the sounds of wind and streams and birds, and of the humming of bees.

He went on walking the plain, and as he was looking about him, he saw a great tree with many twigs and branches, and a rock beside it, and a smooth-pointed drinking-horn on it, and a beautiful fresh well at its foot. And there was a great drouth on Diarmuid after the sea-journey, and he had a mind to drink a hornful of the water. But when he stooped to it he heard a great noise coming towards him, and he knew then there was enchantment in the water.

"I will drink my full of it for all that," he said. And it was not long after that till he saw a Man of Enchantments coming towards him armed, having no friendly look. And it was in no friendly way he spoke to Diarmuid when he came up to him, but he gave him great abuse. "It is no right thing," he said, "to be walking through my thickets and to be drinking up my share of water." With that they faced one another angrily, and they fought till the end of the day.

The Enchanter thought it well to leave off fighting then, and he made a leap into the bottom of the well away from him, but there was vexation on Diarmuid to be left like that.

He looked around him then, and he saw a herd of deer coming through the scrub, and he went towards them, and threw a spear that went through the nearest stag and drove the bowels out of him. He kindled a fire then, and he cut thin bits of the flesh and put them on spits of white hazel, and that night he had his fill of meat and of the water of the well.

He rose up early on the morrow, and he found the Enchanter at the well before him. "It seems to me, Grandson of Duibhne," he said, "that it is not enough for you to be walking my scrub and my woods without killing my deer as well." With that they started again, giving one another blow for blow, thrust for thrust, and wound for wound till the end of the day came on them. And Diarmuid killed another great deer that night, and in the morning the fight began again. But in the evening, when the Enchanter was making his leap into the well, Diarmuid threw his arms about his neck, thinking to stop him, but it is what happened, he fell in himself. And when he was at the bottom of the well the Enchanter left him.

Diarmuid went then following after the Enchanter, and he found before him a beautiful wide flowery plain, and a comely royal city in the plain, and on the green before the dun he saw a great army; and when they saw Diarmuid following after the Enchanter, they left a way and a royal road for the Enchanter to pass through till he got inside the dun. And then they shut the gates, and the whole army turned on Diarmuid.

But that put no fear or cowardice on him, but he went through them and over them like a hawk would go through little birds, or a wild dog through a flock of sheep, killing all before him, till some of them made away to the woods and wastes, and another share of them through the gates of the dun, and they shut them, and the gates of the city after them. And Diarmuid, all full of hurts and wounds after the hard fight, lay down on the plain. A very strong daring champion came then and kicked at him from behind, and at that Diarmuid roused himself up, and put out his brave ready hand for his weapons.

"Wait a while, Grandson of Duibhne," the champion said then; "it is not to do you any hurt or harm I am come, but to say to you it is a bad sleeping-place for you to have, and it on your ill-wisher’s lawn. And come now with me," he said, "and I will give you a better resting-place."

Diarmuid followed him then, and they went a long, long way from that, till they came to a high-topped city, and three times fifty brave champions in it, three times fifty modest women, and another young woman on a bench, with blushes in her cheeks, and delicate hands, and having a silken cloak about her, and a dress sewed with gold threads, and on her head the flowing veil of a queen.

There was a good welcome before Diarmuid for his own sake and the sake of his people, and he was put in a house of healing that was in the city, and good herbs were put to his hurts till he was smooth and sound again.

And a feast was made then, and the tables and the benches were set, and no high person was put in the place of the mean, or mean in the place of the high, but every one in his own place, according to his nobility, or his descent, or his art. Plenty of good food was brought to them then, and well-tasting strong drinks, and they spent the first part of the night in drinking, and the second part with music and delight and rejoicing of the mind, and the third part in sound sleep that lasted till the sun rose over the heavy sodded earth on the morrow.

Three days and three nights Diarmuid stopped in that city, and the best feast he ever found was given to him all through. And at the end of that time he asked what was the place he was in, and who was head of it. And the champion that brought him there told him it was Land-Under-Wave, and that the man that had fought with him was its king. "And he is an enemy of the Red Hand to me," he said. "And as to myself," he said, "I was one time getting wages from Finn, son of Cumhal, in Ireland, and I never put a year over me that pleased me better. And tell me now," he said, "what is the journey or the work that is before you."

And Diarmuid told him the story of the Hard Servant then from beginning to end.

Now, as to Finn and his people, when they thought Diarmuid was too long away from them, they made ladders of the cords of the ship and put them against the rock, looking for him.

And after a while they found the leavings of the meat he had eaten, for Diarmuid never ate meat without leaving some after him. Finn looked then on every side, and he saw a rider coming towards him over the plain on a dark-coloured beautiful horse, having a bridle of red gold. Finn saluted him when he came up, and the rider stooped his head and gave Finn three kisses, and asked him to go with him. They went on a long way till they came to a wide, large dwelling-place full of arms, and a great troop of armed men on the green before the fort. Three nights and three days Finn and his people stopped in the dun, and the best feast they ever got was served out to them.

At the end of that time Finn asked what country was he in, and the man that brought him there told him it was the end of Sorcha, and that he himself was its king. "And I was with yourself one time, Finn, son of Cumhal," he said, "taking your wages through the length of a year in Ireland."

Then Finn and the King of Sorcha called a great gathering of the people and a great meeting. And when it was going on they saw a woman-messenger coming to them through the crowd, and the king asked news of her. "I have news indeed," she said; "the whole of the bay and the harbour is full of ships and of boats, and there are armies all through the country robbing all before them." "I know well," said the king, ‘it is the High King of Greece is in it, for he has a mind to put the entire world under him, and to get hold of this country like every other." The King of Sorcha looked at Finn then, and Finn understood it was help from him he was asking, and it is what he said: "I take the protection of this country on myself so long as I am in it" He and his people rose up then, and the King of Sorcha along with them, and they went looking for the strange army. And when they came up with it they made great slaughter of its champions, and those they did not kill ran before them, and made no better stand than a flock of frightened birds, till there were hardly enough of them left to tell the story.

The High King spoke then, and it is what he said: "Who is it has done this great slaughter of my people? And I never heard before," he said, "any talk of the courage or of the doings of the men of Ireland either at this time or in the old times. But from this out," he said, "I will banish the Sons of the Gael for ever to the very ends of the earth."

But Finn and the King of Sorcha raised a green tent in view of the ships of the Greeks.

The King of the Greeks called then for help against Finn and the King of Sorcha, to get satisfaction for the shame that was put on his people. And the sons of kings of the eastern and southern world came to his help, but they could make no stand against Finn and Osgar and Oisin and Goll, son of Morna. And at the last the King of Greece brought all his people back home, the way no more of them would be put an end to.

And then Finn and the King of Sorcha called another great gathering. And while it was going on, they saw coming towards them a great troop of champions, bearing flags of many-coloured silk, and grey swords at their sides and high spears reared up over their heads. And in the front of them was Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne.

When Finn saw him, he sent Fergus of the True Lips to ask news of him, and they told one another all that had happened.

And it would take too long to tell, and it would tire the hearers, how Finn made the Hard Servant bring home his fifteen men that he had brought away. And when he had brought them back to Ireland, the whole of the Fianna were watching to see him ride away again, himself and his long-legged horse. But while they were watching him, he vanished from them, and all they could see was a mist, and it stretching out towards the sea.

And that is the story of the Hard Servant, and of Diarmuid’s adventures on the island Under-Wave.

Source: Lady Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men, 1904.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostMon Jun 13, 2016 8:50 am

THE HOUSE OF THE QUICKEN TREES

And it is often the Fianna would have been badly off without the help of Diarmuid. It was he came to their help the time Miodac, the son of the King of Lochlann, brought them into the enchanted House of the Quicken Trees.

It was by treachery he brought them in, giving himself out to be a poet, and making poems for Finn to make out the meaning of. A verse he made about a great army that he saw riding over the plains to victory, and robbing all before it, and the riders of it having no horses but plants and branches. "I understand that," said Finn, "it was an army of bees you saw, that was gathering riches from the flowers as it went." And another verse Miodac made was about a woman in Ireland that was swifter than the swiftest horse. "I know that," said Finn, "that woman is the River Boinn; and if she goes slow itself, she is swifter in the end than the swiftest horse, for her going never stops." And other verses he made about Angus’ house at Brugh na Boinn, but Finn made them all out.

And after that he said he had a feast ready for them, and he bade them go into his House of the Quicken Trees till he would bring it. And they did that, and went in, and it was a beautiful house, having walls of every colour, and foreign coverings of every colour on the floor, and a fire that gave out a very pleasant smoke. And they sat down there, and after a while Finn said: "It is a wonder such a beautiful house to be here." "There is a greater wonder than that," said Goll; "that fire that was so pleasant when we came in is giving out now the worst stench in the world." "There is a greater wonder than that," said Glas; "the walls that were of all colours are now but rough boards joined together." "There is a greater wonder than that," said Fiacha; "where there were seven high doors to the house there is now but one little door, and it shut." "Indeed, there is a more wonderful thing than that," said Conan; "for we sat down on beautiful coverings, and now there is nothing between us and the bare ground, and it as cold as the snow of one night." And he tried to rise up, but he could not stir, or any of the rest of them, for there was enchantment that kept them where they were.

And it was treachery of Miodac, and the spells of the Three Kings of the Island of the Floods that had brought them into that danger. And Finn knew by his divination that their enemies were gathering to make an end of them, and he said to his people there was no use in making complaints, but to sound the music of the Dord Fiann.

And some of the Fianna that were waiting for him not far off heard that sorrowful music, and came fighting against Miodac and his armies, and they fought well, but they could not stand against them. And at the last it was Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, that made an end of Miodac that was so treacherous, and of the Three Kings of the Island of the Floods, and took the enchantment off the floor of the House of the Rowan Trees with their blood.

And when he was freeing the Fianna, Conan called out, asking him to bring him a share of the feast Miodac had made ready for his own friends, for there was hunger on him. And when Diarmuid took no heed of him, he said: "If it was a comely woman was speaking to you, Diarmuid, you would not refuse to listen."

For if many women loved Diarmuid, there were many he himself gave his love to; and if he was often called Diarmuid the brave, or the hardy, or the comely, or the Hawk of Ess Ruadh, it is often he was called as well the friend and the coaxer of women, Diarmuid-na-man.

Lady Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men, 1904.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostWed Jun 15, 2016 7:06 pm

Great reads
My ipad controls my spellings not me so apologies from it in advance :) lol
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:26 am

Aengus and Caer Ibormeith



Aengus was asleep one night, when he saw what looked like a young girl coming to the head of his bed. She seemed to him to be the most beautiful woman in Ireland. He went to take her hand and take her to bed with him, but as soon as he welcomed her, she vanished, and Aengus had no idea who had taken her from him.
He stayed in bed until morning, but was very worried. The silent apparition he had seen was making him ill. He ate no food that day. That night he saw her again, with the world's sweetest timpán in her hand. She played for him until he fell asleep. He stayed there all night, and the next day he ate nothing.
A whole year went by, and every night the girl visited Óengus. He fell in love with her, but he didn't tell anyone, so when he fell sick, no-one knew what the matter was. All the physicians in Ireland gathered but couldn't find out what was wrong with him, so they sent for Fergne, Conn's physician. He could tell what was wrong with a man just from his face, and he could tell from the smoke rising from a house how many were sick inside.

Fergne came, and took Aengus aside. 'The only thing that could be causing your illness,' he said, 'is unrequited love.'
'You have diagnosed my illness,' said Aengus.

'You have grown sick at heart, and haven't dared tell anyone,' said Fergne.

'That's true,' said Aengus. 'A young girl appeared to me. She had the most loveliest figure I've ever seen, and her face was beautiful. She brought a timpán, and played for me every night.'

'Don't worry,' said Fergne. 'Your love for her was fated. We'll send for
Bóann, your mother, so she can have a word with you.'

So they called for Bóann, and she came. 'I was called to see this man,' explained Fergne, 'for a mysterious illness has overcome him.' He told Bóann everything that had happened. 'You're his mother - you should take care of him now. Search all of Ireland until you find the apparition your son saw.'

They searched for a year, but no-one remotely like the girl could be found. Fergne was summoned again. 'We haven't been any help at all,' said Bóann.

'Then send for the Dagda,' said Fergne, 'and let him speak to his son.'

The Dagda was summoned and came. 'Why have I been summoned?' he
asked.

'Speak to your son,' said Bóann. 'It is right for you to help him, for his
death would be a pity. He has been struck down with unrequited love,
and we haven't been able to help him.'

'What good can I do?' said the Dagda. 'I have no more knowledge than you.'

'Yes you do,' said Fergne, 'for you are the king of the Sídhe of Ireland.
Send messengers to Bodb, king of the Sídhe of Munster, for his knowledge
is renowned throughout Ireland.'

So messengers were sent to Bodb, and they were made welcome.

'Welcome, people of the Dagda,' said Bodb.

'That is what we have come for,' they replied.

'Have you news?'

'Yes,' said the messengers. 'Aengus, son of the Dagda, has been in love for two years.'

'Oh yes?' said Bodb.

'He saw a young girl in his sleep, but we can't find her anywhere in Ireland. The Dagda requests that you search all Ireland for a girl of her figure and beauty.'

'The search will be made,' said Bodb. 'Give me a year, so I can be sure of finding her.'

At the end of the year, Bodb's people came to him and said, 'We have travelled all around Ireland, and we found the girl at Loch Bél Dracon in Cruitt Cliach.' Messengers were sent to the Dagda.

'What news have you?' he asked.

'Good news!' they replied. 'A girl matching the description has been found. Bodb says that Aengus should come with us to see if she really is the girl he saw.'

So Aengus was taken in a chariot to Síd ar Femuin, and was welcomed there with a feast lasting three days and three nights. After that, Bodb said, 'Now let's go and see if you recognise the girl. I can show her to you, but it's not in my power to give her to you.'

They went to a lake, and there they saw three fifties of young girls. Aengus's girl was among them, and stood head and shoulders above the rest of them. Each pair of them was linked by a silver chain, but she wore a silver necklace and a chain of burnished gold.

'Do you recognise the girl?' said Bodb.

'Indeed I do,' said Aengus.

'Then I can do no more for you.'

'No matter,' said Aengus. 'She is the girl I saw, even if I can't have her now. Who is she?'

'I know who she is, of course,' said Bodb. 'She's Cáer Ibormeith (Yew Berry), daughter of Ethal Abuail, from Síd Úamuin in the province of Connacht.'

After that, Aengus and his people went home to their own land, and Bodb went with them to speak to the Dagda and Bóann at Bruig ind Mac Óg. They revealed that they had found the girl Aengus had seen, and told them who she was and who her family were.

'It's a shame we can't get her,' said the Dagda.

'The thing to do,' said Bodb, 'would be to go to Ailill and Medb, for the girl is in their territory.'

So the Dagda went to Connaught, accompanied by sixty chariots, and he was welcomed by the king and queen with a feast that lasted a week. Then Ailill asked, 'what brings you here?'

'There is a girl in your territory,' said the Dagda, 'with whom my son has fallen in love. I've come to ask you to give her to him.'

'Who is this girl?' said Ailill.

'The daughter of Ethal Abúail,' said the Dagda.

'It's not in our power to give her to you,' said Ailill.

'Then the thing to do,' said the Dagda, 'would be to summon the king of the Sídhe here.'

Ailill's steward went to Ethal Abúail, and said, 'Ailill and Medb request that you come and speak to them.'

'I won't come,' said Ethal, 'and I wont give my daughter to the son of the Dagda!'

The steward returned to Ailill, and said, 'He won't come, for he knows what we want.'

'No matter,' said Ailill. 'He will come, and the heads of his warriors with him!'

So Ailill's household and the Dagda's people rose against the Síd and sacked it. They took sixty heads, and took the king captive at Crúachan. 'Now give your daughter to the Dagda's son,' said Ailill.

'I can't,' said Ethal. 'She's more powerful than me.'

'What great power does she have?' said Ailill.

'Not hard to tell. She takes the form of a bird every day of one year, and human form every day of the following year.'

'When does she become a bird?' said Ailill.

'I can't tell you.'

'I'll have your head if you don't!' said Ailill.

'All right, if you insist, I'll tell you,' said Ethal. 'Next Samhain she will become a bird. You will find her at Loch Bél Dracon, surrounded by three fifties of swans. I will make preparations for them.'

'No matter,' said the Dagda, 'since I know the nature you have brought upon her.'

Then Ailill, Ethal and the Dagda made peace and friendship together. The Dagda said goodbye, returned home, and told his son the news. 'Go to Loch Bél Dracon next Samhain,' he said, 'and call to her.'

So the Mac Óg went to Loch Bél Dracon, and there he saw the three fifties of white birds, with silver chains, and golden hair around their heads. He went in human form to the edge of the lake, and called to the girl: 'Come and speak with me, Cáer!'

'Who is calling me?' she said.

'It's Aengus.'

'I will come,' she said, 'if you promise I can return to the water.'

'I promise,' said Aengus. So she came to him, and he put his arms around her, and they slept in the form of two swans. They went three times around the lake, so Aengus's promise wasn't broken. Then they flew away in the form of white birds to Bruig Mac Óg (Newgrange), and they sang a song that put everyone there to sleep for three days and three nights. The girl stayed with Aengus from then on.

That is how the friendship between Ailill and Medb and the Mac Óg came about, and why Aengus took three hundred men on the Cattle Raid of Cooley.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:28 am

Diarmuid and Gráinne



Although Fionn served as chieftain of the Fianna at the request of Cormac Mac Art, ruler of Tara, there came to be unrest between them because Cormac grew wary of the power of the Fianna thinking that they might one day oust him from his kingship.

This made Fionn very sad for he was extremely loyal and hated that there would be disharmony between himself and the King. He was getting on in years and feeling a bit lonely for his old age and felt it was time that he should take a new wife for his second wife Maighneis the mother of Fiachna had been dead for many years. When it was suggested that he should ask for the hand of Cormac's daughter Gráinne he felt very eager feeling that he could heal the rift that had formed between himself and the King, while at the same time gaining for himself a beautiful wife.

He therefore sent messengers to Cormac Mac Art to ask for the hand of his daughter. Cormac was agreeable to this plan for he would then turn a potential rival into a son-in-law. Gráinne herself though was not so willing for she thought Fionn was too old and that she might find someone who she could truly love. Her father would not listen to her misgivings and commanded her to do as she was told. So he sent back messages of friendship and acceptance of his offer to Fionn.

A great feast was then prepared at Tara, and people came from all five provinces of Ireland to grace the wedding of Fionn to Gráinne. On the night of the feast Gráinne sat pale and wordless beside Fionn until she caught sight of Diarmuid O'Duibhne among the guests and a blush of colour passed over her face and she asked his name.

Then taking the guest cup in her hands Gráinne moved among the crowd speaking to one or sharing a joke with another until she came to where Diarmuid O'Duibhne sat and whispered to him 'My heart is filled with longing for you' Diarmuid looked up at his lord's new wife startled and for a moment his eyes filled with reciprocal feelings but he refused her saying he would not betray Fionn.

Gráinne was not to be dissuaded however and she put a geis on him to accompany her out of the feast hall or leave Ireland as a dishonoured man. Then Diarmuid grew pale for no warrior could refuse such a request but he knew that once they left Tara there would be no safe haven from the reaches of Fionn and his men.

Because of the geis he had to do her bidding and so under cover of darkness while Fionn and all his men slept the two lovers crept out of Tara and fled away. Many times as they were running they heard the cry of the hounds and more than once Diarmuid was nearly caught by either Bran or Sgeolan the hounds of Fionn but each time he managed to escape.

The days grew into weeks and the weeks into months and still the pair fled from Fionn and the Fianna. Diarmuid had still not slept with Gráinne because he was trying to be loyal to Fionn. One day as they were running along Gráinne ran into a puddle and the water splashed between her thighs, she turned and mocked Diarmuid "See, Diarmuid even the water in a puddle of Ireland is braver than you!" This reproach stung Diarmuid's pride in his manliness and he then made love to Gráinne. Slowly Diarmuid began to truly love Gráinne. The elopement took its toll on Gráinne and she grew thin and brown and her once carefully dressed hair became entangled but she never flinched from any path no matter how difficult and she followed the lead of Diarmuid.

Several times Aengus Óg the foster father of Diarmuid rescued them when the Fianna were very close to catching them so that never once did Fionn lay eyes on them though he followed them for a year and a half. At last Aengus Óg himself went to Fionn and asked would he not give up the chase and let Diarmuid and Gráinne live in peace. He also went to Cormac Mac Art and asked him the same thing and although neither were all that pleased they agreed as they were getting a bit tired of using their resources in the chase. Cairpre the son of Cormac was not so pleased and became an enemy of the Fianna from that time.

Diarmuid and Gráinne were allowed to settle down on land that belonged to the O'Duibhne's and Fionn even relented enough to give Diarmuid a gift of land as befitted a hero who had served him well in the past. Thus all went well with them for many years until they had four sons and Diarmuid was beginning to lose some of his youthful beauty.

Then one day Gráinne asked him did he not miss his old friends in the Fianna and the hunt and would he not patch things up with Fionn and ask that they go hunting together. Diarmuid thought this over and he realised that he had missed the comradeship of the old days and so he sent word to Fionn to see if he would forget their enmity and go hunting together again.

In the Spring of the year Fionn and a small band of the Fianna came to Diarmuid's house and there was much feasting and talk of old battles. Then Fionn proposed that they hunt on the lands around Ben Bulben which was nearby and they were all glad.

Now there was an animal that Diarmuid was forbidden to hunt as a geis had been laid on him in his youth, and that was the boar, for it was said that by this animal Diarmuid would find his death. Several times in the night he awoke to the baying of a hound and also it seemed the noise of a large pig. He went to get out of his bed to see what was going on but Gráinne restrained him and told him to wait until dawn. When daylight came he could wait no longer. He set out alone with only a single hound for company in search of the noises he had heard the night before. Then he came to a place near the top of Ben Bulben and there was Fionn sitting there awaiting him. The two men regarded each other for a long while.

'Have you come to try and kill me, Fionn Mac Cumhail?' asked Diarmuid suspiciously but Fionn just looked at him askance and said 'One of the hounds of the Fianna escaped in the night and we have been trying to catch him again, but there is a large boar loose on this mountain and it has already killed several of our hounds. You should not be here knowing of the geis which is upon you.

Diarmuid shook his head and said 'I will not run away from any pig. I'll sit here and wait to see what comes.' So Fionn went to find his men while Diarmuid sat in the sunshine on Ben Bulben. Then Diarmuid heard a loud crashing in the bushes below and out of them came the biggest fiercest looking boar he had ever seen. 'Now, I'm done for, I'll see if I can overcome it' and with that he lunged at the boar with his hound at his side. The boar killed the hound in its first onslaught and gave Diarmuid the gash that would cause his death but Diarmuid managed to slay the boar which was none other than his half-brother in the form of a boar. Therefore the old prophecy had come true that if Diarmuid ever hunted a boar he would receive his own death.

Fionn and the men returned later that day to find him almost dead, and Fionn who still harboured a little bit of enmity said 'I'm not sorry to see you like this as you did me wrong.' Diarmuid asked Fionn just to give him some water cupped in his hands, for Fionn had the power of healing. The Fianna agreed and Fionn went to the stream nearby to get some water but as he cupped his hands and took the water he thought of how Diarmuid betrayed him and he grew angry and let the water slip from his hands, then he thought of the Hostel of the Quicken Trees and all the other deeds of bravery that Diarmuid had done and he relented and filled his hands again but by the time he had gotten back to Diarmuid he had already died and it was too late.

Many mourned the death of Diarmuid especially Gráinne who taught her sons to hate Fionn. The years went on by and her anger and hatred of Fionn subsided. So that when Fionn asked her again to be his bride she consented and went to Allmu in Co. Kildare to live out her days with him and she made peace with the rest of the Fianna also.

Note: This is just one of many versions of this tale from Ancient Irish to Scottish sources. It is a story that has gripped the imagination of many writers. It falls under the bardic category of aithead (tales of elopement) one of the twelve categories of tale they would recite
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:29 am

Angus Óg - The Account of Lady Gregory 1910



And as to Angus Óg, son of the Dagda, sometimes he would come from Brugh na Boinn and let himself be seen upon the earth.

It was a long time after the coming of the Gael that he was seen by Cormac, King of Teamhair, and this is the account he gave of him.

He was by himself one day in his Hall of judgment, for he used to be often reading the laws and thinking how he could best carry them out. And on a sudden he saw a stranger, a very comely young man, at the end of the hall; and he knew on the moment it was Angus Óg, for he had often heard his people talking of him, but he himself used to be saying he did not believe there was any such person at all.

And when his people came back to the hall, he told them how he had seen Angus himself, and had talked with him, and Angus had told him his name, and had foretold what would happen him in the future. "And he was a beautiful young man," he said, "with high looks, and his appearance was more beautiful than all beauty, and there were ornaments of gold on his dress; in his hand he held a silver harp with strings of red gold, and the sound of its strings was sweeter than all music under the sky; and over the harp were two birds that seemed to be playing on it. He sat beside me pleasantly and played his sweet music to me, and in the end he foretold things that put drunkenness on my wits."

The birds, now, that used to be with Angus were four of his kisses that turned into birds and that used to be coming about the young men of Ireland, and crying after them. "Come, come," two of them would say, and 'I go, I go," the other two would say, and it was hard to get free of them. But as to Angus, even when he was in his young youth, he used to be called the Frightener, or Disturber; for the plough teams of the world, and every sort of cattle that is used by men, would make away in terror before him.

And one time he appeared in the shape of a land-holder to two men, Ribh and Eocho, that were looking for a place to settle in. The first place they chose was near Bregia on a plain that was belonging to Angus; and it was then he came to them, leading his horse in his hand, and told them they should not stop there. And they said they could not carry away their goods without horses.

Then he gave them his horse, and bade them to put all they had a mind to on that horse and he would carry it, and so he did. But the next place they chose was Magh Find, the Fine Plain, that was the playing ground of Angus and of Midhir. And that time Midhir came to them in the same way and gave them a horse to put their goods on, and he went on with them as far as Magh Dairbthenn.

And there were many women loved Angus, and there was one Enghi, daughter of Elcmar, loved him though she had not seen him. And she went one time looking for him to the gathering for games between Cleitech and Sidhe in Broga; and the bright troops of the Sidhe used to come to that gathering every Samhain evening, bringing a moderate share of food with them, that is, a nut. And the sons of Derc came from the north, out of Sidhe Findabrach, and they went round about the young men and women without their knowledge and they brought away Elcmar's daughter.

There were great lamentations made then, and the name the place got was Cnoguba, The Nut Lamentation, from the crying there was at that gathering.

And Derbrenn, Eochaid Airem's daughter, was another that was loved by Angus, and she had six fosterlings, three boys and three girls. But the mother of the boys, Dalb Garb, the Rough, put a spell on them she made from a gathering of the nuts of Caill Ochuid, that turned them into swine.

And Angus gave them into the care of Buichet, the Hospitaller of Leinster, and they stopped a year with him. But at the end of that time there came a longing on Buichet's wife to eat a bit of the flesh of one of them. So she gathered a hundred armed men and a hundred hounds to take them. But the pigs made away, and went to Brugh na Boinn, to Angus, and he bade them welcome, and they asked him to give them his help. But he said he could not do that till they had shaken the Tree of Tarbga, and eaten the salmon of Inver Umaill.

So they went to Glascarn, and stopped a year in hiding with Derbrenn. And then they shook the Tree of Tarbga, and they went on towards Inver Umaill. But Maeve gathered the men of Connacht to hunt them, and they all fell but one, and their heads were put in a mound, and it got the name of Duma Selga, the Mound of the Hunting.

And it was in the time of Maeve of Cruachan that Angus set his love on Caer Ibormeith, of the Province of Connacht, and brought her away to Brugh na Boinn.


From Gods and Fighting Men, by Lady Gregory (originally published 1910).
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:30 am

The Dagda



And it was at Brugh na Boinne the Dagda, the Red Man of all Knowledge, had his
house. And the most noticeable things in it were the Hall of the Morrigu, and the Bed
of the Dagda, and the Birthplace of Cermait Honey-Mouth, and the Prison of the
Grey of Macha that was Cuchulain's horse afterwards. And there was a little hill by
the house that was called the Comb and the Casket of the Dagda's wife; and another
that was called the Hill of Dabilla, that was the little hound belonging to Boann. And
the Valley of the Mata was there, the Sea-Turtle that could suck down a man in
armour.

And it is likely the Dagda put up his cooking oven there, that Druimne, son of
Luchair, made for him at Teamhair. And it is the way it was, the axle and the wheel
were of wood, and the body was iron, and there were twice nine wheels in its axle,
that it might turn the faster; and it was as quick as the quickness of a stream in turning,
and there were three times nine spits from it, and three times nine pots. And it used to
lie down with the cinders and to rise to the height of the roof with the flame.

The Dagda himself made a great vat one time for Ainge, his daughter, but she was not
well satisfied with it, for it would not stop from dripping while the sea was in flood,
though it would not lose a drop during the ebb-tide. And she gathered a bundle of
twigs to make a new vat for herself, but Gaible, son of Nuada of the Silver Hand,
stole it from her and hurled it away. And in the place where it fell a beautiful wood
grew up, that was called Gaible's Wood.

And the Dagda had his household at Brugh na Boinne, and his steward was Dichu,
and Len Linfiaclach was the smith of the Brugh. It was he lived in the lake, making the
bright vessels of Fand, daughter of Flidhais; and every evening when he left off work
he would make a cast of the anvil eastward to Indeoin na Dese, the Anvil of the
Dese, as far as the Grave End. Three showers it used to cast, a shower of fire, and a
shower of water, and a shower of precious stones of pure purple.

But Tuirbe, father of Goibniu the Smith, used to throw better again, for he would
make a cast of his axe from Tulach na Bela, the Hill of the Axe, in the face of the
flood tide, and he would put his order on the sea, and it would not come over the
axe.

And Corann was the best of the harpers of the household; he was harper to the
Dagda's son, Diancecht. And one time he called with his harp to Cailcheir, one of the
swine of Derbrenn.

And it ran northward with all the strength of its legs, and the
champions of Connacht were following after it with all their strength of running, and
their hounds with them, till they got as far as Ceis Corain, and they gave it up there, all
except Niall that went on the track of the swine till he found it in the oak-wood of
Tarba, and then it made away over the plain of Ai, and through a lake. And Niall and
his hound were drowned in following it through the lake. And the Dagda gave Corann
a great tract of land for doing his harping so well.

But however great a house the Dagda had, Angus got it away from him in the end,
through the help of Manannan, son of Lir. For Manannan bade him to ask his father
for it for the length of a day and a night, and that he by his art would take away his
power of refusing. So Angus asked for the Brugh, and his father gave it to him for a
day and a night. But when he asked it back again, it is what Angus said, that it had
been given to him for ever, for the whole of life and time is made up of a day and a
night, one following after the other.

So when the Dagda heard that he went away and his people and his household with
him, for Manannan had put an enchantment on them all.

But Dichu the Steward was away at the time, and his wife and his son, for they were
gone out to get provisions for a feast for Manannan and his friends. And when he
came back and knew his master was gone, he took service with Angus.

And Angus stopped in Brugh na Boinne, and some say he is there to this day, with
the hidden walls about him, drinking Goibniu's ale and eating the pigs that never fail.

As to the Dagda, he took no revenge, though he had the name of being revengeful
and quick in his temper. And some say it was at Teamhair he made his dwelling-place
after that, but wherever it was, a great misfortune came on him.

It chanced one time Corrgenn, a great man of Connacht, came to visit him, and his
wife along with him. And while they were there, Corrgenn got it in his mind that there
was something that was not right going on between his wife and Aedh, one of the
sons of the Dagda. And great jealousy and anger came on him, and he struck at the
young man and killed him before his father's face.

Every one thought the Dagda would take Corrgenn's life then and there in revenge for
his son's life. But he would not do that, for he said if his son was guilty, there was no
blame to be put on Corrgenn for doing what he did. So he spared his life for that
time, but if he did, Corrgenn did not gain much by it.

For the punishment he put on
him was to take the dead body of the young man on his back, and never to lay it
down till he would find a stone that would be its very fit in length and in breadth, and
that would make a gravestone for him; and when he had found that, he could bury
him in the nearest hill.

So Corrgenn had no choice but to go, and he set out with his
load; but he had a long way to travel before he could find a stone that would fit, and it
is where he found one at last, on the shore of Loch Feabhail. So then he left the body
up on the nearest hill, and he went down and raised the stone and brought it up and
dug a grave and buried the Dagda's son. And it is many an Ochone! he gave when he
was putting the stone over him, and when he had that done he was spent, and he
dropped dead there and then.

And the Dagda brought his two builders, Garbhan and Imheall, to the place, and he
bade them build a rath there round the grave. it was Garbhan cut the stones and
shaped them, and Imheall set them all round the house till the work was finished, and
then he closed the top of the house with a slab. And the place was called the Hill of
Aileac, that is, the Hill of Sighs and of a Stone, for it was tears of blood the Dagda
shed on account of the death of his son.

Source: Gods and Fighting Men, by Lady Gregory (originally published 1904).
republished by Colin Smythe Ltd, 1970.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:31 am

Cnogba (Knowth)


Bua, daughter of Ruadri Ruad,
wife of Lug mac Cein of the redspears,
it is there her body was hidden:
over her was a great hill built up.
A hill had Bua in the midst of Bregia,
where the noble woman was laid,
in that spot yonder:–
the name of that hill is Cnogba.
But though easiest to utter
of its names be perfect Cnogba,
yet its more proper style is Cnocc Bui
down from Bua daughter of Ruadri.
Elcmar's daughter dwelt there:
Mider was the woman's darling:
a darling of her own was the prince,
the man from great and noble Sid Midir.
Englec, noble Elcmar's daughter,
was the darling of perfect Oengus;
Oengus, son of the loved Dagda,
was not the maiden's darling.
The illustrious Mac in Oc came
southward to Ceru Cermna
on the blazing hurrying Samain
to play with his fellow-warriors.
Mider came – alas the day!
he came upon her after they had gone,
he carries off with him Englec from her home
thence to the Sid of the men of Femen.
When noble Oengus heard
of the pursuit of his darling,
he went in search of her (I say sooth)
to the famous hill whence she was borne off.
This was the food of his band – bright feast –
blood-red nuts of the wood:
he casts the food from him on the ground;
he makes lamentation around the hillock.
Though it be called the Hill of Bua of combats,
this is the equal-valid counter-tale:
we have found that hence
from that 'nut-wailing' Cnogba is named.
By us is preserved together
the memory of the lay,
and whichever [of these tales] ye shall prefer
from it is named the region of surpassing worth.
There is another tale–'tis known to me–
of that hill, which Dubthach possesses:
it was made, though great the exploit,
by Bressal Bodibad.
In his time there fell a murrain on kine
in every place in Ireland,
except for seven cows and a bull that increased strength
for every farmer in his time.
By him is built the solid hill
in the likeness of Nimrod's tower,
so that from it he might pass to heaven,
–that is the cause why it was undertaken.
The men of all Erin came to make for him
that hill–all on one day:
the wight exacted from them hostages
for the work of that day.
His own sister said to him,
she would not let the sun run his course;
there should be no night but bright day
till the work reached completion.
His sister stretches forth her hands . . .
strongly she makes her druid spell:
the sun was motionless above her head;
she checked him on one spot.
Bresal came (lust seized him)
from the hill unto his sister:
the host made of it a marvel:
he found her at Ferta Cuile.
He went in unto her, though it was a crime,
though it was a violation of his sister:
on this wise the hill here
is called Ferta Cuile.
When it was no longer day for them thereafter
(it is likely that it was night),
the hill was not brought to the top,
the men of Erin depart homeward.
From that day forth the hill remains
without addition to its height:
it shall not grow greater from this time onward
till the Doom of destruction and judgment.
It is Fland here –bright his art–
who tells this tale–no deceptive speech:
a choice story–spread it abroad, men and women!
lips, make mention of it among excellences!
Source: Edward Gwynn, Metrical Dindshenchas vols 1 - 7 published 1925
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:32 am

Death Tales of the Tuatha De Danann
from the Book of Leinster, 1150 A.D.


Edleo son of Alldai yonder, the first man of the Tuatha De
Danann who fell in virgin Ireland, by the hand of Nerchon
grandson of Semeon.

Ernmas, high her valour, fell, Fiachra, Echtach, Etargal,
Tuirill Piccreo of Baile Breg in the first battle of Mag
Tuired.

Elloth with battle fell -the father, great and rough, of
Manannan -and perfect, fair Donand, at the hands of De
Domnand of the Fomoraig.

Cethen of Cu died of horror in Aircheltra; Cian far from
his home did Brian, Iucharba and Iuchar slay.

Of a stroke of the pure sun died Cairpre the great, son of
Etan: Etan died over the pool of sorrow for white-headed
Cairpre.


In Mag Tuired, it was through battle Nuadu Airgetlam fell:
and Macha - that was after Samain -by the hand of Balar
the strong-smiter.


Ogma fell, without being weak at the hands of Indech son
of De Domnann: breasted Casmael the good fell at the
hands of Ochtriallach son of Indech.


Now of painful plague died Dian Cecht and Goibnenn the
smith: Luigne the wright fell along with them by a strong
fiery dart.


Creidne the pleasant artificer was drowned on the lake-sea,
the sinister pool, fetching treasures of noble gold to
Ireland from Spain.


Bress died in Carn Ui Neit by the treachery of Lug, with
no fullness of falsehood: for him it was a cause of quarrel
indeed drinking bog-stuff in the guise of milk.


Be Chuille and faithful Dianann, both the farmeresses died,
an evening with druidry, at the last, by gray demons of
air.


He fell on the strand eastward in the trenches of Rath
Ailig, Did Indui the great, son of pleasant Delbaeth, at the
hands of Gann, a youth bold, white-fisted.


Fea, lasting was his fame, died at the end of a month after
his slaying at the same stronghold - we think it fitting -
for sorrow for Indui the white-haired.


Boind died at the combat at the wellspring of the son of
noble Nechtan: Aine daughter of the Dagda died for the
love that she gave to Banba.


Cairpre fell - remember thou! by the hand of Nechtan son
of Nama: Nechtan fell by the poison at the hands of
Sigmall, grandson of Free Midir.


Abean son of cold Bec-Felmas, the bard of Lug with full
victory, he fell by the hand of Oengus without reproach in
front of Midir of mighty deeds.


Midir son of Indui yonder fell by the hand of Elcmar: fell
Elcmar, fit for fight, at the hands of Oengus the perfect.


Brian, Iucharba, and Iuchar there, the three gods of the
Tuatha De Danann were slain at Mana over the bright sea
by the hand of Lug son of Ethliu.


Cermait son of the divine Dagda, Lug ... (?) wounded him it
was a sorrow of grief upon the plain in the reign of Eochu
Ollathair.


Cermat Milbel the mighty fell at the hands of harsh Lug
son of Ethliu, in jealousy about his wife, great the fashion,
concerning whom the druid lied unto him.


by the hand of Mac Cecht without affection the harper fell:
moreover Lug fell over the wave, by the hand of Mac Cuill
son of Cermat.


Aed son of The Dagda fell at the hands of Corrchend the
fair, of equal valour; without deceit, it was a desire of
strictness, after he had gone to his wife iniquitously.


Corrchend from Cruach fell -the harsh very swift champion,
by the stone which he raised on the strand over the grave
of shamefaced Aed.


Cridenbel squinting and crooked fell -the chief spell-weaver
of the Tuatha De Danann -of the gold which he found in
the idle Bann, by the hand of The Dagda, grandson of
Delbaeth.


As he came from cold Alba he, the son of The Dagda of
ruddy form, at the outlet of Boinn, over here, there was
Oengus drowned.


The only son of Manannan from the bay, the first love of
the aged woman, the tender youth fell in the plain at the
hands of Idle Bennan, on the plain of Breg.


Net son of Indui and his two wives, Badb and Neman
without deceit, were slain in Ailech without blame by
Nemtuir the Red, of the Fomoraig.


Fuamnach the white (?) who was wife of Midir, Sigmall and
Bri without faults, In Bri Leith, it was full vigour, they
were burnt by Manannan.


The son of Allot fell, with valour, the rich treasure,
Manannan, in the battle in harsh Cuillend by the hand of
Uillend of the red eyebrows.


Uillend with pride fell at the hands of Mac Greine with
pure victory: the wife of the brown Dagda perished of
plague of the slope in Liathdruim.


The Dagda died of a dart of gore in the Brug - it is no
falsehood -wherewith the woman Cethlenn gave him mortal
hurt, in the great battle of Mag Tuired.


Delbaeth and his son fell at the hands of Caicher, the
noble son of Nama: Caicher fell at the idle Boinn, at the
hands of Fiachna son of Delbaeth.


Fiacha and noble Ai fell before sound Eogan of the Creek:
Eogan of the cold creek fell before Eochaid the knowing,
hard as iron.


Eochaid of knowledge fell thereafter at the hands of Aed
and of Labraid: Labraid, Oengus, Aed, fell at the hands of
Cermat of form all fair.


Eriu and Fotla with pride, Mac Greine and Banba with
victory, Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht with purity in the battle of
Temair of clear wave.


Mac Cecht at the hands of noble Eremon: Mac Cuill, of
perfect Eber: Eriu yonder, at the hands of Suirge
thereafter: Mac Greine of Amorgen.


Fotla at the hands of Etan with pride, of Caicher, Banba
with victory, Whatever the place wherein they sleep, those
are the deaths of the warriors; hear ye.

Those are the adventures of the Tuatha De Danann.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:34 am

DONN, SON OF MIDHIR


ONE time the Fianna were at their hunting at the island of Toraig to the north of Ireland, and they roused a fawn that was very wild and beautiful, and it made for the coast, and Finn and six of his men followed after it through the whole country, till they came to Slieve-nam-Ban. And there the fawn put down its head and vanished into the earth, and none of them knew where was it gone to.

A heavy snow began to fall then that bent down the tops of the trees like a willow-gad, and the courage and the strength went from the Fianna with the dint of the bad weather, and Finn said to Caoilte: "Is there any place we can find shelter to-night?" Caoilte made himself supple then, and went over the elbow of the hill southward.

And when he looked around him he saw a house full of light, with cups and horns and bowls of different sorts in it. He stood a good while before the door of the house, that he knew to be a house of the Sidhe, thinking would it be best go in and get news of it, or to go back to Finn and the few men that were with him. And he made up his mind to go into the house, and there he sat down on a shining chair in the middle of the floor; and he looked around him, and he saw, on the one side, eight-and-twenty armed men, each of them having a well-shaped woman beside him. And on the other side he saw six nice young girls, yellow-haired, having shaggy gowns from their shoulders. And in the middle there was another young girl sitting in a chair, and a harp in her hand, and she playing on it and singing. And every time she stopped, a man of them would give her a horn to drink from, and she would give it back to him again, and they were all making mirth around her.

She spoke to Caoilte then. "Caoilte, my life," she said, "give us leave to attend on you now." "Do not," said Caoilte, "for there is a better man than myself outside, Finn, son of Cumhal, and he has a mind to eat in this house to-night." "Rise up, Caoilte, and go for Finn," said a man of the house then; "for he never refused any man in his own house, and he will get no refusal from us."

Caoilte went back then to Finn, and when Finn saw him he said: "It is long you are away from us, Caoilte, for from the time I took arms in my hands I never had a night that put so much hardship on me as this one."

The six of them went then into the lighted house and their shields and their arms with them. And they sat down on the edge of a seat, and a girl having yellow hair came and brought them to a shining seat in the middle of the house, and the newest of every food, and the oldest of every drink was put before them. And when the sharpness of their hunger and their thirst was lessened, Finn said: "Which of you can I question?" "Question whoever you have a mind to," said the tallest of the men that was near him. "Who are you yourself then?" said Finn, "for I did not think there were so many champions in Ireland, and I not knowing them."

"Those eight-and-twenty armed men you see beyond," said the tall man, "had the one father and mother with myself; and we are the sons of Midhir of the Yellow Hair, and our mother is Fionnchaem, the fair, beautiful daughter of the King of the Sidhe of Monaid in the east. And at one time the Tuatha de Danaan had a gathering, and gave the kingship to Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, at his bright hospitable place, and he began to ask hostages of myself and of my brothers; but we said that till all the rest of the Men of Dea had given them, we would not give them. Bodb Dearg said then to our father: ‘Unless you will put away your sons, we will wall up your dwelling-place on you.’ So the eight-and-twenty brothers of us came out to look for a place for ourselves; and we searched all Ireland till we found this secret place, and we are here ever since. And my own name," he said, "is Donn, son of Midhir. And we had every one of us ten hundred armed men belonging to himself, but they are all worn away now, and only the eight-and-twenty of us left."

"What is it is wearing you away?" said Finn. "The Men of Dea," said Donn, "that come three times in every year to give battle to us on the green outside." "What is the long new grave we saw on the green outside?" said Finn. "It is the grave of Diangalach, a man of enchantments of the Men of Dea; and that is the greatest loss came on them yet," said Donn; "and it was I myself killed him," he said. "What loss came next to that?" said Finn. "All the Tuatha de Danaan had of jewels and riches and treasures, horns and vessels and cups of pale gold, we took from them at the one time." "What was the third greatest loss they had?" said Finn. "It was Fethnaid, daughter of Feclach, the woman-harper of the Tuatha de Danaan, their music and the delight of their minds," said Donn.

"And to-morrow," he said, "they will be coming to make an attack on us, and there is no one but myself and my brothers left; and we knew we would be in danger, and that we could make no stand against them. And we sent that bare-headed girl beyond to Toraig in the North in the shape of a foolish fawn, and you followed her here. It is that girl washing herself, and having a green cloak about her, went looking for you.

"And the empty side of the house," he said, "belonged to our people that the Men of Dea have killed."

They spent that night in drinking and in pleasure. And when they rose up in the morning of the morrow, Donn, son of Midhir, said to Finn, "Come out with me now on the lawn till you see the place where we fight the battles every year." They went out then and they looked at the graves and the flag-stones, and Donn said: "It is as far as this the Men of Dea come to meet us." "Which of them come here?" said Finn.

"Bodb Dearg with his seven sons," said Donn; "and Angus Og, son of the Dagda, with his seven sons; and Finnbharr of Cnoc Medha with his seventeen sons; Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh with his twenty-seven sons and their sons; Tadg, son of Nuada, out of the beautiful hill of Almhuin; Donn of the Island and Donn of the Vat; the two called Glas from the district of Osraige; Dobhran Dubthaire from the hill of Liamhain of the Smooth Shirt; Aedh of the Island of Rachrainn in the north; Feral and Aillinn and Lir and Fainnle, sons of Eogobal, from Cnoc Aine in Munster; Cian and Coban and Conn, three sons of the King of Sidhe Monaid in Alban; Aedh Minbhreac of Ess Ruadh with his seven sons; the children of the Morrigu, the Great Queen, her six-and-twenty women warriors, the two Luaths from Magh Lifé; Derg and Drecan out of the hill of Beinn Edair in the east; Bodb Dearg himself with his great household, ten hundred ten score and ten. Those are the chief leaders of the Tuatha de Danaan that come to destroy our hill every year."

Finn went back into the hill then, and told all that to his people. "My people," he said, "it is in great need and under great oppression the sons of Midhir are, and it is into great danger we are come ourselves. And unless we make a good fight now," he said, "it is likely we will never see the Fianna again."

"Good Finn," every one of them said then, "did you ever see any drawing-back in any of us that you give us that warning?" "I give my word," said Finn, "if I would go through the whole world having only this many of the Fianna of Ireland with me, I would not know fear nor fright. And good Donn," he said, "is it by day or by night the Men of Dea come against you?" "It is at the fall of night they come," said Donn, "the way they can do us the most harm."

So they waited till night came on, and then Finn said: "Let one of you go out now on the green to keep watch for us, the way the Men of Dea will not come on us without word or warning."

And the man they set to watch was not gone far when he saw five strong battalions of the Men of Dea coming towards him. He went back then to the hill and he said: "It is what I think, that the troops that are come against us this time and are standing now around the grave of the Man of Enchantments are a match for any other fighting men."

Finn called to his people then, and he said: "These are good fighters are come against you, having strong red spears. And let you all do well now in the battle. And it is what you have to do," be said, "to keep the little troop of brothers, the sons of Midhir, safe in the fight; for it would be a treachery to friendship any harm to come on them, and we after joining them; and myself and Caoilte are the oldest among you, and leave the rest of the battle to us."

Then from the covering time of evening to the edge of the morning they fought the battle. And the loss of the Tuatha de Danaan was no less a number than ten hundred ten score and ten men. Then Bodb Dearg and Midhir and Fionnbhar said to one another: "What are we to do with all these? And let Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh give us an advice," they said, "since he is the oldest of us." And Lir said: "It is what I advise, let every one carry away his friends and his fosterlings, his sons and his brothers, to his own place. And as for us that stop here," he said, "let a wall of fire be made about us on the one side, and a wall of water on the other side." Then the Men of Dea put up a great heap of stones, and brought away their dead; and of all the great slaughter that Finn and his men and the sons of Midhir had made, there was not left enough for a crow to perch upon.

And as to Finn and his men, they went back into the hill, hurt and wounded and worn-out.

And they stopped in the hill with the sons of Midhir through the whole length of a year, and three times in the year the Men of Dea made an attack on the hill, and a battle was fought.

And Conn, son of Midhir, was killed in one of the battles; and as to the Fianna, there were so many wounds on them that the clothing was held oft from their bodies with bent hazel sticks, and they lying in their beds, and two of them were like to die. And Finn and Caoilte and Lugaidh’s Son went out on the green, and Caoilte said: "It was a bad journey we made coming to this hill, to leave two of our comrades after us." "It is a pity for whoever will face the Fianna of Ireland," said Lugaidh’s Son, "and he after leaving his comrades after him." "Whoever will go back and leave them, it will not be myself," said Finn. Then Donn, son of Midhir, came to them. "Good Donn," said Finn, "have you knowledge of any physician that can cure our men?" "I only know one physician could do that," said Donn; "a physician the Tuatha de Danaan have with them. And unless a wounded man has the marrow of his back cut through, he will get relief from that physician, the way he will be sound at the end of nine days." "How can we bring that man here," said Finn, "for those he is with are no good friends to us?" "He goes out every morning at break of day," said Donn, "to gather healing herbs while the dew is on them." "Find some one, Donn," said Caoilte, "that will show me that physician, and, living or dead, I will bring him with me."

Then Aedh and Flann, two of the sons of Midhir, rose up. "Come with us, Caoilte," they said, and they went on before him to a green lawn with the dew on it; and when they came to it they saw a strong young man armed and having a cloak of wool of the seven sheep of the Land of Promise, and it full of herbs of healing he was after gathering for the Men of Dea that were wounded in the battle. "Who is that man?" said Caoilte. "That is the man we came looking for," said Aedh. "And mind him well now," he said, "that he will not make his escape from us back to his own people."

They ran at him together then, and Caoilte took him by the shoulders and they brought him away with them to the ford of the Slaine in the great plain of Leinster, where the most of the Fianna were at that time; and a Druid mist rose up about them that they could not be seen.

And they went up on a little hill over the ford, and they saw before them four young men having crimson fringed cloaks and swords with gold hilts, and four good hunting hounds along with them. And the young man could not see them because of the mist, but Caoilte saw they were his own two sons, Colla and Faolan, and two other young men of the Fianna, and he could hear them talking together, and saying it was a year now that Finn, son of Cumhal, was gone from them. "And what will the Fianna of Ireland do from this out," said one of them, "without their lord and their leader?" "There is nothing for them to do, said another, but to go to Teamhair and to break up there, or to find another leader for themselves." And there was heavy sorrow on them for the loss of their lord; and it was grief to Caoilte to be looking at them.

And he and the two Sons of Midhir went back then by the Lake of the Two Birds to Slieve-nam Ban, and they went into the hill.

And Finn and Donn gave a great welcome to Luibra, the physiclan, and they showed him their two comrades that were lying in their wounds. "Those men are brothers to me," said Donn, "and tell me how can they be cured?" Luibra looked then at their wounds, and he said: "They can be cured if I get a good reward." "You will get that indeed," said Caoilte; "and tell me now," he said, "how long will it take to cure them?" "It will take nine days," said Luibra. "It is a good reward you will get," said Caoilte, "and this is what it is, your own life to be left to you. But if these young men are not healed," he said, "it is my own hand will strike off your head."

And within nine days the physician had done a cure on them, and they were as well and as sound as before.

And it was after that time the High King sent a messenger to bring the Fianna to the Feast of Teamhair. And they all gathered to it, men and women, boys and heroes and musicians. And Goll, son of Morna, was sitting at the feast beside the king. "It is a great loss you have had, Fianna of Ireland," said the king, "losing your lord and your leader, Finn, son of Cumhal." "It is a great loss indeed," said Goll.

"There has no greater loss fallen on Ireland since the loss of Lugh, son of Ethne," said the king. "What orders will you give to the Fianna now, king?" said Goll. "To yourself, Goll," said the king, "I will give the right of hunting over all Ireland till we know if the loss of Finn is lasting." "I will not take Finn’s place," said Goll, "till he has been wanting to us through the length of three years, and till no person in Ireland has any hope of seeing him again."

Then Ailbe of the Freckled Face said to the king: "What should these seventeen queens belonging to Finn’s household do?" "Let a safe, secret sunny house be given to every one of them," said the king; "and let her stop there and her women with her, and let provision be given to her a month and a quarter and a year till we have knowledge if Finn is alive or dead."

Then the king stood up, and a smooth drinking-horn in his hand, and he said: "It would be a good thing, men of Ireland, if any one among you could get us news of Finn in hills or in secret places, or in rivers or invers, or in any house of the Sidhe in Ireland or in Alban."

With that Berngal, the cow-owner from the borders of Slieve Fuad, that was divider to the King of Ireland, said: "The day Finn came out from the north, following after a deer of the Sidhe, and his five comrades with him, he put a sharp spear having a shining head in my hand, and a hound’s collar along with it, and he bade me to keep them till he would meet me again in the same place." Berngal showed the spear and the collar then to the king and to Goll, and they looked at them and the king said: "It is a great loss to the men of Ireland the man is that owned this collar and this spear. And were his hounds along with him?" he said.

"They were," said Berngal; "Bran and Sceolan were with Finn, and Breac and Lainbhui with Caoilte, and Conuall and Comrith with Lugaidh’s Son."

The High King called then for Fergus of the True Lips, and he said: "Do you know how long is Finn away from us?" "I know that well," said Fergus; "it is a month and a quarter and a year since we lost him. And indeed it is a great loss he is to the Fianna of Ireland," he said, "himself and the men that were with him." "It is a great loss indeed," said the king, "and I have no hope at all of finding those six that were the best men of Ireland or of Alban."

And then he called to Cithruadh, the Druid, and he said: "It is much riches and treasures Finn gave you, and tell us now is he living or is he dead?" "He is living," said Cithruadh then. "But as to where he is, I will give no news of that," he said, "for he himself would not like me to give news of it." There was great joy among them when they heard that, for everything Cithruadh had ever foretold had come true. "Tell us when will he come back?" said the king. "Before the Feast of Teamhair is over," said the Druid, "you will see the Leader of the Fianna drinking at it."

And as to Finn and his men, they stopped in the House of the Two Birds till they had taken hostages for Donn, son of Midhir, from the Tuatha de Danaan. And on the last day of the Feast of Teamhair they came back to their people again.

And from that time out the Fianna of Ireland had not more dealings with the people living in houses than they had with the People of the Gods of Dana.

Source: Lady Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men, 1904.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:35 am

THE GREEN CHAMPIONS


THEN Diarmuid and Grania went along the right bank of the Sionnan westward till they came to Garbh-abha-na-Fiann, the rough river of the Fianna. And Diarmuid killed a salmon on the brink of the river, and put it to the fire on a spit. Then he himself and Grania went across the stream to eat it, as Angus bade them; and then they went westward to sleep.

They rose up early on the morrow, and they travelled straight westward till they came to the marsh of Finnliath.

And on the marsh they met with a young man, having a good shape and appearance, but without fitting dress or arms. Diarmuid greeted the young man, and asked news of him. "A fighting lad I am, looking for a master," he said, "and Muadhan is my name." "What would you do for me, young man?" said Diarmuid. "I would be a servant to you in the day, and watch for you in the night," he said. "I tell you to keep that young man," said Grania, "for you cannot be always without people."

Then they made an agreement with him, and bound one another, and they went on together westward till they reached the Carrthach river. And then Muadhan bade Diarmuid and Grania to go up on his back till he would carry them over the stream.

"That would be a big load for you," said Grania. But he put them upon his back and carried them over. Then they went on till they came to the Beith, and Muadhan brought them over on his back the same way.

And they went into a cave at the side of Currach Cinn Adhmuid, the Woody Headland of the Bog, over Tonn Toime, and Muadhan made ready beds of soft rushes and tops of the birch for them in the far end of the cave. And he went himself into the scrub that was near, and took a straight long rod of a quicken-tree, and he put a hair and a hook on the rod, and a holly berry on the hook, and he went up the stream, and he took a Salmon with the first cast. Then he put on a second berry and killed another fish, and he put on a third berry and killed the third fish. Then he put the hook and the hair under his belt, and struck the rod into the earth, and he brought the three salmon where Diarmuid and Grania were, and put them on spits. When they were done, Muadhan said: "I give the dividing of the fish to you, Diarmuid." "I would sooner you to divide it than myself," said Diarmuid. "I will give the dividing of the fish to you, so, Grania," said he. "I am better satisfied you to divide it," said Grania. "If it was you that divided the fish, Diarmuid," said Muadhan, "you would have given the best share to Grania; and if it was Grania divided it, she would have given you the best share; and as it is myself is dividing it, let you have the biggest fish, Diarmuid, and let Grania have the second biggest, and I myself will have the one is smallest."

They spent the night there, and Diarmuid and Grania slept in the far part of the cave, and Muadhan kept watch for them until the rising of the day and the full light of the morrow.

Diarmuid rose up early, and he bade Grania keep watch for Muadhan, and that he himself would go and take a walk around the country. He went out then, and he went up on a hill that was near, and he was looking about him, east and west, north and south. He was not long there till he saw a great fleet of ships coming from the west, straight to the bottom of the hill where he was. And when they were come to land, nine times nine of the chief men of the ships came on shore, and Diarmuid went down and greeted them, and asked news of them, and to what country they belonged.

"Three kings we are of the Green Champions of Muir-na-locht," said they; "and Finn, son of Cumhal, sent looking for us by cause of a thief of the woods, and an enemy of his own that has gone hiding from him; and it is to hinder him we are come. And we are twenty hundred good fighting men, and every one of us is a match for a hundred, and besides that," he said, "we have three deadly hounds with us; fire will not burn them, and water will not drown them, and arms will not redden on them, and we will lay them on his track, and it will be short till we get news of him. And tell us who you are yourself?" they said, "and have you any word of the grandson of Duibhne?" "I saw him yesterday," said Diarmuid; "and I myself," he said, "am but a fighting man, walking the world by the strength of my hand and by the hardness of my sword. And by my word," he said, "you will know Diarmuid’s hand when you will meet it." "Well, we found no one up to this," said they. "What are your own names?" said Diarmuid. "Dubhchosach, the Blackfooted, Fionn-chosach, the Fair-footed, and Treun-chosach, the Strong-footed," they said.

"Is there wine in your ships?" said Diarmuid. "There is," said they. "If you have a mind to bring out a tun of wine," said Diarmuid, "I will do a trick for you." They sent men to get the tun, and when it came Diarmuid took it between his two hands and drank a drink out of it, and the others drank what was left of it. Diarmuid took up the tun after that, and brought it to the top of the hill, and he went up himself on the tun, and let it go down the steep of the hill till it was at the bottom. And then he brought the tun up the hill again, and he himself on it coming and going, and he did that trick three times before the strangers. But they said he was a man had never seen a good trick when he called that a trick; and with that a man of them went up on the tun, but Diarmuid gave a stroke of his foot at it and the young man fell from it before it began to move, and it rolled over him and crushed him, that he died. And another man went on it, and another after him, till fifty of them were killed trying to do Diarmuid’s trick, and as many of them as were not killed went back to their ships that night.

Diarmuid went back then to where he left Grania: and Muadhan put the hair and the hook on the rod till he killed three salmon; and they ate their meal that night, and he kept watch for them the same way he did before.

Diarmuid went out early the next day again to the hill, and it was not long till he saw the three strangers coming towards him, and he asked them would they like to see any more tricks. They said they would sooner get news of the grandson of Duibhne. "I saw a man that saw him yesterday," said Diarmuid. And with that he put off his arms and his clothes, all but the shirt that was next his skin, and he struck the Crann Buidhe, the spear of Manannan, into the earth with the point upwards. And then he rose with a leap and lit on the point of the spear as light as a bird, and came down off it again without a wound on him.

Then a young man of the Green Champions said: "It is a man has never seen feats that would call that a feat"; and he put off his clothing and made a leap, and if he did he came down heavily on the point of the spear, and it went through his heart, and he fell to the ground. The next day Diarmuid came again, and he brought two forked poles out of the wood and put them standing upright on the hill, and he put the sword of Angus Og, the Mor-alltach, the Big-fierce one, between the two forks on its edge. Then he raised himself lightly over it, and walked on the sword three times from the hilt to the point, and he came down and asked was there a man of them could do that feat.

"That is a foolish question," said a man of them then, "for there was never any feat done in Ireland but a man of our own would do it." And with that he rose up to walk on the sword; but it is what happened, he came down heavily on it the way he was cut in two halves.

The rest of the champions bade him take away his sword then, before any more of their people would fall by it; and they asked him had he any word of the grandson of Duibhne. "I saw a man that saw him to-day," said Diarmuid, "and I will go ask news of him to-night."

He went back then to where Grania was, and Muadhan killed three salmon for their supper, and kept a watch for them through the night. And Diarmuid rose up at the early break of day, and he put his battle clothes on him, that no weapon could go through, and he took the sword of Angus, that left no leavings after it, at his left side, and his two thick-handled spears, the Gae Buidhe and the Gae Dearg, the Yellow and the Red, that gave wounds there was no healing for. And then he wakened Grania, and he bade her to keep watch for Muadhan, and he himself would go out and take a look around.

When Grania saw him looking so brave, and dressed in his clothes of anger and of battle, great fear took hold of her, and she asked what was he going to do. "It is for fear of meeting my enemies I am like this," said he. That quieted Grania, and then Diarmuid went out to meet the Green Champions.

They came to land then, and they asked had he news of the grandson of Duibhne. "I saw him not long ago," said Diarmuid. "If that is so, let us know where is he," said they, "till we bring his head to Finn, son of Cumhal." "I would be keeping bad watch for him if I did that," said Diarmuid, "for his life and his body are under the protection of my valour, and by reason of that I will do no treachery on him."

"Is that true?" said they. "It is true indeed," said Diarmuid. "Let you yourself quit this place, so," they said, "or we will bring your head to Finn since you are an enemy to him." "It is in bonds I would be," said Diarmuid, "the time I would leave my head with you." And with that he drew his sword the Moralltach out of its sheath, and he made a fierce blow at the head nearest him that put it in two halves. Then he made an attack on the whole host of the Green Champions, and began to destroy them, cutting through the beautiful shining armour of the men of Muir-na-locht till there was hardly a man but got shortening of life and the sorrow of death, or that could go back to give news of the fight, but only the three kings and a few of their people that made their escape back to their ships. Diarmuid turned back then without wound or hurt on him, and he went to where Grania and Muadhan were. They bade him welcome, and Grania asked him did he hear any news of Finn and the Fianna of Ireland, and he said he did not, and they ate their food and spent the night there.

He rose up again with the early light of the morrow and went back to the hill, and when he got there he struck a great blow on his shield that set the strand shaking with the sound. And Dubhchosach heard it, and he said be himself would go fight with Diarmuid, and he went on shore there and then.

And he and Diarmuid threw the arms out of their hands and rushed on one another like wrestlers, straining their arms and their sinews, knotting their hands on one another’s backs, fighting like bulls in madness, or like two daring hawks on the edge of a cliff. But at the last Diarmuid raised up Dubh-chosach on his shoulder and threw his body to the ground, and bound him fast and firm on the spot. And Fionn-chosach and Treun-chosach came one after the other to fight with him then, and he put the same binding on them; and he said he would strike the heads off them, only he thought it a worse punishment to leave them in those bonds. "For there is no one can free you," he said. And he left them there, worn out and sorrowful.

The next morning after that, Diarmuid told Grania the whole story of the strangers from beginning to end, and of all he had done to them, and how on the fifth day he had put their kings in bonds. "And they have three fierce hounds in a chain ready to hunt me," he said. ‘Did you take the heads off those three kings?" said Grania. "I did not," said Diarmuid, "for there is no man of the heroes of Ireland can loosen those bonds but four only, Oisin, son of Finn, and Osgar, son of Oisin, and Lugaidh’s Son of the Strong Hand, and Conan, son of Morna; and I know well," he said, "none of those four will do it. But all the same, it is short till Finn will get news of them, and it is best for us to be going from this cave, or Finn and the three hounds might come on us."

After that they left the cave, and they went on till they came to the bog of Finnliath. Grania began to fall behind them, and Muadhan put her on his back and carried her till they came to the great Slieve Luachra. Then Diarmuid sat down on the brink of the stream that was flowing through the heart of the mountain, and Grania was washing her hands, and she asked his knife from him to cut her nails with.

As to the strangers, as many of them as were alive yet, they came to the hill where their three leaders were bound, and they thought to loose them; but it is the way those bonds were, all they did by meddling with them was to draw them tighter.

And they were not long there till they saw a woman coming towards them with the quickness of a swallow or a weasel or a blast of wind over bare mountain-tops. And she asked them who was it had done that great slaughter on them. "Who are you that is asking that?" said they. "I am the Woman of the Black Mountain, the woman-messenger of Finn, son of Cumhal," she said; "and it is looking for you Finn sent me." "Indeed we do not know who it was did this slaughter," they said, "but we will tell you his appearance. A young man he was, having dark curling hair and ruddy cheeks. And it is worse again to us," they said, "our three leaders to be bound this way, and we not able to loose them." "What way did that young man go from you?" said the woman. "It was late last night he left us," they said, "and we do not know where is he gone." "I give you my word," she said, "it was Diarmuid himself that was in it; and take your hounds now and lay them on his track, and I will send Finn and the Fianna of Ireland to you."

They left a woman-Druid then attending on the three champions that were bound, and they brought their three hounds out of the ship and laid them on Diarmuid’s track, and followed them till they came to the opening of the cave, and they went into the far part of it and found the beds where Diarmuid and Grania had slept Then they went on westward till they came to the Carrthach river, and to the bog of Finnliath, and soon to the great Slieve Luachra.

But Diarmuid did not know they were after him till he got sight of them with their banners of soft silk and their three wicked hounds in the front of the troop and three strong champions holding them in chains. And when he saw them coming like that he was filled with great hatred of them.

There was one of them had a well-coloured green cloak on him, and he came out far beyond the others, and Grania gave the knife back to Diarmuid. "I think you have not much love for that young man of the green cloak, Grania," said Diarmuid. "I have not indeed," said Grania; "and it would be better if I had never given love to any man at all to this day." Diarmuid put the knife in the sheath then, and went on; and Muadhan put Grania on his back and carried her on into the mountain.

It was not long till a hound of the three hounds was loosed after Diarmuid, and Muadhan said to him to follow Grania, and he himself would check the hound, Then Muadhan turned back, and he took a whelp out of his belt, and put it on the flat of his hand. And when the whelp saw the hound rushing towards him, and its jaws open, he rose up and made a leap from Muadhan’s hand into the throat of the hound, and came out of its sides, bringing the heart with it, and he leaped back again to Muadhan’s hand, and left the hound dead after him.

Muadhan went on then after Diarmuid and Grania, and he took up Grania again and carried her a bit of the way into the mountain. Then another hound was loosened after them, and Diarmuid said to Muadhan: "I often heard there is nothing can stand against weapons of Druid wounding, and the throat of no beast can be made safe from them. And will you stand now," he said, "till I put the Gae Dearg, the Red Spear, through that hound."

Then Muadhan and Grania stopped to see the cast. And Diarmuid made a cast at the hound, and the spear went through its body and brought out its bowels; and he took up the spear again, and they went forward.

It was not long after that the third hound was loosed. And Grania said then: "This is the one is fiercest of them, and there is great fear on me, and mind yourself now, Diarmuid."

It was not long till the hound overtook them, and the place he overtook them was Lic Dhubhain, the flag-stone of Dubhan, on Slieve Luachra. He rose with a light leap over Diarmuid, as if he had a mind to seize on Grania, but Diarmuid took him by the two hind legs, and struck a blow of his carcass against the side of the rock was nearest, till he let out his brains through the openings of his head and of his ears. And then Diarmuid took up his arms and his battle clothes, and put his narrow-topped finger into the silken string of Gae Dearg, and he made a good cast at the young man of the green cloak that was at the head of the troop that killed him. Then he made another cast at the second man and killed him, and the third man in the same way. And as it is not the custom to stand after leaders are fallen, the strangers when they saw what had happened took to flight.

And Diarmuid followed after them, killing and scattering, so that unless any man of them got away over the forests, or into the green earth, or under the waters, there was not a man or messenger of them left to tell the news, but only the Woman-messenger of the Black Mountain, that kept moving around about when Diarmuid was putting down the strangers.

And it was not long till Finn saw her coming towards him where he was, her legs failing, and her tongue muttering, and her eyes drooping, and he asked news of her. "It is very bad news I have to tell you," she said; "and it is what I think, that it is a person without a lord I am." Then she told Finn the whole story from beginning to end, of the destruction Diarmuid had done, and how the three deadly hounds had fallen by him. "And it is hardly I myself got away," she said. "What place did the grandson of Duibhne go to?" said Finn. "I do not know that," she said.

And when Finn heard of the Kings of the Green Champions that were bound by Diarmuid, he called his men to him, and they went by every short way and every straight path till they reached the hill, and it was torment to the heart of Finn to see the way they were. Then he said: "Oisin," he said, "loosen those three kings for me." "I will not loosen them," said Oisin, "for Diarmuid put bonds on me not to loosen any man he would bind." "Loosen them, Osgar," said Finn then. "I give my word," said Osgar, "it is more bonds I would wish to put on them sooner than to loosen them." Neither would Conan help them, or Lugaidh’s Son. And any way, they were not long talking about it till the three kings died under the hardness of the bonds that were on them.

Then Finn made three wide-sodded graves for them, and a flagstone was put over them, and another stone raised over that again, and their names were written in branching Ogham, and it is tired and heavy-hearted Finn was after that; and he and his people went back to Almhuin of Leinster.

Source: Lady Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men, 1904.
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Re: Stories, Myths & Legends relating to Aongas Óg:

PostFri Jun 17, 2016 11:36 am

THE HELP OF THE MEN OF DEA


THEN Taistellach that was one of Finn’s messengers came to the White Strand asking news; and Conn bade him go back to where Finn was and tell him the way things were. But Taistellach would not go until he had wetted his sword in the blood of one of the enemies of Ireland, the same as the others had done. And he sent a challenge to the ships, and Coimhleathan, a champion that was very big and tall, came and fought with him on the strand, and took him in his arms to bring him back living to the ship of the High King; but Taistellach struck his head off in the sea and brought it back to land.

"Victory and blessing be with you!" said Conn Crither. "And go now to-night," he said, "to the house of Bran, son of Febal my father at Teamhair Luachra, and bid him to gather all the Tuatha de Danaan to help us; and go on to-morrow to the Fianna of Ireland." So Taistellach went on to Bran’s house, and he told him the whole story and gave him the message.

Then Bran, son of Febal, went out to gather the Tuatha de Danaan, and he went to Dun Sesnain in Ui Conall Gabra, where they were holding a feast at that time. And there he found three of the best young men of the Tuatha de Danaan, Ilbrec the Many Coloured, son of Manannan, and Nemanach the Pearly, son of Angus Og, and Sigmall, grandson of Midhir, and they made him welcome and bade him to stop with them. "There is a greater thing than this for you to do, Men of Dea," said Bran; and he told them the whole story, and the way Conn Crither his son was. "Stop with me to-night," said Sesnan, "and my son Dolb will go to Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, and gather in the Tuatha de Danaan to us."

So he stopped there, and Dolb, son of Sesnan, went to Sidhe Bean Finn above Magh Femen, and Bodb Dearg was there at that time, and DoIb gave him his message. "Young man," said Bodb Dearg, "we are no way bound to help the men of Ireland out of that strait." "Do not say that," said Dolb, "for there is not a king’s son or a prince or a leader of the Fianna of Ireland without having a wife or a mother or a foster-mother or a sweetheart of the Tuatha de Danaan; and it is good help they have given you every time you were in want of it." "I give my word," said Bodb Dearg, "it is right to give a good answer to so good a messenger." With that he sent word to the Tuatha de Danaan in every place where they were, and they gathered to him. And from that they went on to Dun Sesnain, and they stopped there through the night. And they rose up in the morning and put on their shirts of the dearest silk and their embroidered coats of rejoicing, and they took their green shields and their swords and their spears. And their leaders at that time besides Bodb Dearg were Midhir of Bri Leith, and Lir of Sidhe Finnachaidh, and Abarthach, son of Ildatbach, and Ilbrec, son of Manannan, and Fionnbhar of Magh Suil, and Argat Lamh, the Silver Hand, from the Sionnan, and the Man of Sweet Speech from the Boinn.

And the whole army of them came into Ciarraighe Luachra, and to red-haired Slieve Mis, and from that to the harbour of the White Strand. "O Men of Dea," said Abarthach then, "let a high mind and high courage rise within you now in the face of the battle. For the doings of every one among you," he said, "will be told till the end of the world; and let you fulfil now the big words you have spoken in the drinking-houses." "Rise up, Glas, son of Dremen," said Bodb Dearg then, "and tell out to the King of the World that I am come to do battle." Glas went then to the King of the World. "Are those the Fianna of Ireland I see?" said the king. "They are not," said Glas, "but another part of the men of Ireland that do not dare to be on the face of the earth, but that live in hidden houses under the earth, and it is to give warning of battle from them I am come."

"Who will answer the Tuatha de Danaan for me?" said the King of the World. "We will go against them," said two of the kings that were with him, Comur Cromchenn, King of the Men of the Dog-Heads, and Caitchenn, King of the Men of the Cat-Heads. And they had five red-armed battalions with them, and they went to the shore like great red waves. "Who is there to match with the King of the Dog-Heads for me?" said Bodb Dearg. "I will go against him," said Lir of Sidhe Finnachaidh, "though I heard there is not in the world a man with stronger hands than himself." "Who will be a match for the King of the Cat-Heads?" said Bodb Dearg. "I will be a match for him," said Abarthach, son of Ildathach.

So Lir and the King of the Dog-Heads attacked one another, and they made a hard fight; but after a while Lir was getting the worst of it. "It is a pity the way Lir is," said Bodb Dearg; "and let some of you rise up and help him," he said. Then llbrec, son of Manannan, went to his help; but if he did, he got a wound himself and could do nothing. Then Sigmal, grandson of Midhir, went to his help, and after him the five sons of Finnaistucan, and others of the Men of Dea, but they were all driven off by the King of the Dog-Heads. But at that time Abarthach had made an end of the King of the Cat-Heads, and he rose on his spear, and made a leap, and came down between Lir and his enemy.

"Leave off now and look on at the fight," he said to Lir, "and leave it to me and the foreigner." With that he took his sword in his left hand and made a thrust with his spear in through the king’s armour. And as the king was raising up his shield, he struck at him with the sword that was in his left hand, and cut off both his legs at the knees, and the king let fall his shield then, and Abarthach struck off his head. And the two kings being dead, their people broke away and ran, but the Men of Dea followed them and made an end of them all; but if they did, they lost a good many of their own men.

Source: Lady Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men, 1904.

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