Irish Folk Tales

by Henry Glassie

  Finn went to the king, and said: “I have saved your dun, and I claim the reward.”

  “Oh,” said the king, “my steward claimed the reward, and it has been given to him.”

  “He had nothing to do with saving the dun. I saved it,” said Finn.

  “Well,” answered the king, “he is the first man who told me of its safety and claimed the reward.”

  “Bring him here. Let me look at him,” said Finn.

  He was sent for, and came. “Did you save the king’s dun?” asked Finn. “I did,” said the steward.

  “You did not, and take that for your lies,” said Finn; and striking him with the edge of his open hand he swept the head off his body, dashing it against the other side of the room, flattening it like paste on the wall.

  “You are the man,” said the king to Finn, “who saved the dun; yours is the reward. All the champions, and there is many a man of them, who have failed to save it are in the dungeons of my fortress; their heads must be cut off before the wedding takes place.”

  “Will you let me see them?” asked Finn.

  “I will,” said the king.

  Finn went down to the men, and found the first champions of Erin in the dungeons. “Will you obey me in all things if I save you from death?” said Finn. “We will,” said they. Then he went back to the king and asked:

  “Will you give me the lives of these champions of Erin, in place of your daughter’s hand?”

  “I will,” said the king.

  All the champions were liberated, and left the king’s castle that day. Ever after they followed the orders of Finn, and these were the beginning of his forces and the first of the Fenians of Erin.

  THE HIGH KING OF LOCHLANN AND THE FENIANS OF ERIN

  KERRY

  JEREMIAH CURTIN 1892

  A High King and renowned warrior named Colgán Mac Teine ruled over the four kingdoms of Lochlann. One day he summoned a meeting on the green plain before his castle. The best men and great nobles gathered around him, and the King spoke to them in a clear loud voice.

  “Nobles of Lochlann,” said he, “as you are now here, tell me, do you find fault with my rule?”

  “We find no fault,” answered they.

  “It is not the same with me,” said the King. “I find fault with my own rule.”

  “What fault is that?” asked the nobles.

  “It is this: I am called King of Nations, and the nations are not all paying me tribute.”

  “What nation is it that pays you no tribute?”

  “Green Erin, possessed by my forefathers, and it is there that Balor, the grandson of Neid, fell. Balor, High King of Lochlann, and his wife, Ceithlin, and Breac, the son of Balor, and many more whose names I do not mention at present. What I wish now is to bring Erin to obedience and to tribute to myself and my posterity.”

  “That is a good thought,” said all the nobles, “and we are ready to help you enforce it.”

  With that the King gave command to meet in one place and prepare ships and provisions. Then the warriors drew out all their ships, well fastened and not easily broken. The King embarked. They raised broad and strong sails to the tops of the masts and went toward Erin with the wind till they reached the deepest sea; there waves came rolling on them, waves like hills and mountains. The wind answered the waves in the way that it put dread into the champions. When the storm was over and the sea calm they landed in Uladh. It was Cormac Mac Airt who was ruling in Erin at that time.

  When Cormac heard that strong ships had come to Uladh he sent a message to Finn MacCumhail to Almhuin. Finn summoned Fenians from all parts and hurried forward to meet the High King of Lochlann. A bloody battle followed without victory for any side till Oscar, enraged at the slaughter of the Fenians, sought the High King of Lochlann on the field and found him. The King stood forth to meet Oscar, and, though strong were the spears that, the two champions carried, they were soon shattered. They drew their swords then and fought fiercely. At last Oscar got a blow on the King of Lochlann and took the head off him.

  The oldest son of the King rushed against Oscar and fought wonderfully and with endurance, till Oscar, ashamed that any man should stand so long against him, got a blow on the neck of his enemy and swept the head from him. The body fell on one side and the head on other.

  Now Finn and the reserve of the Fenians rushed against the men of Lochlann, and no foreigner escaped but the youngest son of the King. That boy was spared, and his name was Míogach Mac Colgáin. Finn promised to give him the two best pieces of land in Erin, and the two pieces that Míogach chose were one an island in the Shannon, and the other a piece on the mainland straight opposite.

  Míogach lived with Finn fourteen years, till one day Conán spoke up and said:

  “You are doing a foolish thing to keep the son of the King of Lochlann in your company. You must know well the hatred that he bears us. His father and brothers and many friends were slain by the Fenians. ’Tis better to give what you promised, and let him do for himself from this out.”

  “That is good counsel,” said Finn and the others.

  The King’s son was called in.

  “Go,” said Finn to him, “and do for yourself from this out. Build a house, and I will give you the tribute of the two districts.

  Míogach did this. In the two places which he had chosen were two fine harbors, and he had every chance to bring forces there. He had planned to bring men from other nations to destroy the Fenians and take Erin, for he was filled with hatred against Finn and his champions, and though he had spent fourteen years with them never did he offer food or drink to any man.

  On a day, some years after he had sent away Míogach, Finn and the Fenians went hunting in the south, and Finn sat down at Cnoc Fírinne. He was not long sitting when he saw a man coming toward him with a sword at his side and a shield on his shoulder. He seemed a great champion, so large of limb was he and heavy. He saluted Finn kindly. Finn answered in like manner, and asked: “Have you any tale of news for me?”

  “I have no tale to tell you,” said the man.

  “Who are you?” asked Finn.

  “Do you not know him?” asked Conán.

  “I do not,” replied Finn.

  “You ought to know him,” said Conán, “because it is for you to know friends and enemies, and that man is Míogach Mac Colgáin, son of the King of Lochlann, and your greatest enemy. It is now fourteen years since he left you, and he has never offered meat or drink to you or any champion of Erin in that time.”

  “I am not to blame,” said Míogach. “I was not any month of fourteen years without having a good dinner in my house ready to be eaten, and I have a good dinner now for you, O Finn, and unless you come to it I will put on you an injunction that a champion cannot bear. I have two houses, one on the mainland and one on the island, but do you come to the house on the mainland.”

  Finn was satisfied, and taking a few men, went with Míogach. He had left Oisín and the main Fenian army at Sliabh na mBan. Finn and his company found Míogach’s house lined with rich silk, and every part was in the noblest colors, in the way that Conán praised it greatly. They put aside their arms, and when all were seated Míogach left them and closed the door behind him. The Fenians sat and waited long.

  “Tis a wonder to me,” said Finn, “that they keep us here all this time without food or drink.”

  “It is on the island they are preparing the dinner,” said Goll. “When ’tis ready they will bring it.”

  “There is a greater wonder,” said a champion from Leinster. “The fire that gave such a sweet odor when we came has the smell now of bodies in decay, and gives more smoke than we have seen in any place hitherto.”

  “There is a greater wonder still,” said Glas Mac Aonchearda. “The house planks were of noblest colors when we entered. Now they have but one color, and are fastened with hazel twigs.”

  “Here is a wonder beyond all,” said Faolán. “The house that had seven doors when we came has no door no
w but the one, and that on the north side letting in snow and wind. There is a greater wonder than that. Stuffs which we sat on are gone. There is nothing now under us but the earth, and it colder than snow at daybreak.”

  “We are under sentence,” said Finn, “to be in the house of one door, called the Quicken Fort, and do you rise and leave the house in haste.”

  “We will,” said Conán, and he started, but could not move from his place.

  “We are tied to the earth,” cried Conán.

  “Finn,” said Goll, “put your thumb between your teeth and grind it to know where we are.”

  Finn chewed his thumb and soon he was lamenting.

  “Is it from pain in your thumb that you are lamenting?” asked Goll.

  “It is not,” said Finn. “I am lamenting because whatever time was given to me to be in this world is up now. The son of the King of Lochlann has been fourteen years preparing this house for our death. He has brought great champions in ships from all parts. The High King of the World is here with his forces. Sinnsior na gCath from Greece and twenty-six kings with him, and every king of them has twenty-six battalions and could give twenty-six battles, and there are thirty great champions in each battalion. There are also three kings from Inis Tuile, the Island of the Flood, and they are equal to three evil dragons; and three other great champions who cannot be taken in battle or in any other place. They are called Neim, Aig, Aitceas. It was the last three who put under us the enchantment that tied us to the earth where we are, and there is nothing to release us but to rub us with the blood of the three kings from the Island of the Flood, and this is most difficult to do, for we are far from our friends.”

  After these words all the Fenians were weeping, sighing, and lamenting for a long time.

  “It is as well for us,” said Finn, at last, “to have courage in time of death. We have no more to get in this world beyond what has come to us already. And do you sound the dord-fhiann as mournfully as you can before death.”

  Then they brought their mouths as near together as possible and sounded the dord-fhiann.

  “Who will go now and bring news from the Fenians?” asked Oisín on the top of Sliabh na mBan.

  “I will go,” said Fia, son of Finn.

  “I will go with you,” said Insin Mac Suibhne.

  Those two went with all their speed, and when near the house they heard the plaintive sounds inside.

  “They must be treated well to be sounding the dord-fhiann!” said Insin.

  “It is what you mean that it is very badly they are treated,” said Fia. “I know the dord-fhiann, and it is only in time of great peril that they sound it.”

  When both came near Finn heard them and asked:

  “Is this the voice of Fia that I hear?”

  “It is, indeed.”

  “Do not come near us,” said Finn, “for we are tied to the earth with enchantment.”

  Here he told Fia what had been done to them.

  “Who is that with you?” asked Finn.

  “Your foster son, Insin.”

  “My dear son,” said Finn, “take my foster child away at once, do not leave him here longer exposed to the foreigners.”

  “It would be unseemly to treat my foster father thus and leave him bound and I free,” said Insin.

  “If you are unwilling to leave me,” said Finn, “go with Fia and defend the ford if you are able till the Fenians come.”

  Then the two went to the ford.

  “Guard this place well,” said Fia to Insin, “and I will go to the house on the island to know what is passing there.”

  Fia set out, and at that very moment the Grecian champion was speaking on the island and what he said was this:

  “I will go now for the head of Finn Mac Cumhail and bring it to the High King of the World.”

  The champion took one hundred of his own men, and they stopped not nor halted till they came to the brink of the ford, and there they saw Insin, a man of the men of Finn Mac Cumhail.

  “Guide me,” said the champion to Insin. “Show me where Finn is, that I may take the head off him and the heads off those who are with him and bring them to the King of the World.”

  “A very bad watchman indeed should I be for Finn Mac Cumhail to do that, and if you come hither it will be to find death,” said Insin.

  They went against Insin then and he gave them a great battle. Insin was destroying and slaying till the hundred had fallen. The Greek now fought furiously, and Insin was full of wounds and wearied, so he fell by the Greek.

  “I will go for more men,” said the champion to himself, “and then I will take the head of Finn Mac Cumhail to the High King.”

  On the way to the island he met Fia, the son of Finn.

  “From what place are you coming?” asked Fia.

  “I went from the island for the head of Finn Mac Cumhail, and I met a great champion in arms at the brink of the ford and he killed one hundred strong men of mine before I was able to slay him.”

  “I wonder greatly that yourself did not fall like the others,” said Fia.

  “Only strength and valor saved me, and he fell by me,” said the Greek.

  “If he fell by you, you have something of his to prove the deed.”

  “I brought his head, and think that the best token.”

  “Show me the head.”

  The Greek showed it.

  “That head was beautiful this morning,” said Fia, kissing it. “Do you know to whom you have given the head?”

  “I do not,” said the Greek, “and I care not. You are one of the High King’s men, I suppose.”

  “I am not,” answered Fia, “and you will not be his man long.”

  They turned at each other full of wrath and anger, and fought like two venomous wild beasts till Fia swept the head off his enemy. He went to the house, and spoke at the door.

  “This is the voice of Fia,” said Finn. “And who made the great noise and shouting at the ford?”

  “Your foster son made most of it,” replied Fia.

  “How is my foster son after the combat?”

  “He is dead,” said Fia.

  “Did you see them killing him?”

  “If I had seen them I should have saved him if I could.”

  “And were you able to harm those who killed him?”

  “I took the head off the man who slew him and brought it with me.”

  “I give you my blessing,” said Finn. “It is a great deed that you have done. We have no one between us and death now but you, and keep the ford till the Fenians come.”

  Now another knight spoke up on the island, and his name was Cairbre Cathmhíle.

  “My brothers went,” said he, “for Finn’s head, and I will go after them myself, for I am in dread that the poison of the Fenians will harm them.”

  He went on then and four hundred men with him. They came to the ford and saw Fia standing there.

  “Who are you?” asked Cairbre.

  “One of Finn Mac Cumhail’s men,” said Fia.

  “Tell me who made the great noise at the ford a while since?” inquired Cairbre.

  “ ’Tis a bad question you ask, and I will not answer it.”

  “Cross the ford and bring me the head of that champion,” said Cairbre to his men.

  Fia met them boldly and furiously; he fought proudly and with great strength. The battle lasted a long time, but the end of it was that Cairbre fell, and the four hundred fell with him. Fia sat down on the brink of the ford, full of wounds and blood from that cruel battle.

  “Those men did badly to go without me,” said Míogach, son of the King of Lochlann. “I will go myself now with five hundred prime warriors and take food for three hundred, because among the Fenians is a man called Conán, and there is not another in the world who cares so much for his belly as that man. When people will be eating before him he will go mad at sight of food, and he not able to taste it.”

  Míogach took five hundred men, the best warriors. On coming t
o the ford they saw Fia at the brink.

  “Is that Fia?” asked Míogach.

  “It is, indeed,” said Fia.

  “It is a good man that is there,” said Míogach. “I was fourteen years with Finn. You never beat a hound or a dog of mine.”

  “Still there is not among the Fenians a man whom you love less than me,” said Fia. “You should wish well to the Fenians after what has been done for you.”

  “It is not sweet to me that men slew my father and two brothers. I will not let that go with the Fenians. I must have vengeance.”

  “Take care,” said Fia, “that it is not on yourself the vengeance will turn.”

  “Leave the ford,” said Míogach, quickly.

  “It is with trouble for you that I am here,” replied Fia, “if you come against me; but I am without malice to every man who will keep away from this ford. Sorry am I that I did not meet you before my body was wounded and weary.”

  Now Míogach moved forward like a hound full of hunger, rushing with open mouth after sheep, and his men were just like him. A fierce battle followed without gain to either side. When Fia had cut down three hundred men Míogach closed with him.

  Said Oisíin to those who stood with him at Sliabh na mBan: “I think it is too long that we are without an account of Finn and the men who are with him.”

  “I suppose it is a good dinner that is before them and they unwilling to leave it,” said one of the men.

  “It is not eating but defending themselves they are, as it seems to me,” said Diarmuid. “I will go for tidings.”

  “I will go with you,” said Fatha Conán.

  The two went with great speed till they came near the ford and heard shouting of men.

  “I hear shouting very near the house and the voice of Fia, I think. Let us hurry to help him,” said Diarmuid.

  The two went on swiftly to where they heard the cries, and they came up to Fia. All his weapons were gone except what he held in his two hands, and Míogach going to strike the head off him.

  “Diarmuid,” said Fatha Conán, “save his life for the son of Finn Mac Cumhail. Were I to wait till I cross the ford I should not find him alive, and if I cast a spear I know not which of the two I may hit. You never missed with a spear, and see what you can do now.”