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diff --git a/34081-8.txt b/34081-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c8b178 --- /dev/null +++ b/34081-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16387 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race by +Thomas William Rolleston + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race + +Author: Thomas William Rolleston + +Release Date: October 16, 2010 [Ebook #34081] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE*** + + + + + +*MYTHS & LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE* + + + + + + [Queen Maev] + + Queen Maev + + + + + + *T. W. ROLLESTON* + + *MYTHS & LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE* + + [[Logo]] + + CONSTABLE - LONDON + + + + + +British edition published by Constable and Company Limited, London + +First published 1911 by George G. Harrap & Co., London + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The Past may be forgotten, but it never dies. The elements which in the +most remote times have entered into a nation's composition endure through +all its history, and help to mould that history, and to stamp the +character and genius of the people. + +The examination, therefore, of these elements, and the recognition, as far +as possible, of the part they have actually contributed to the warp and +weft of a nation's life, must be a matter of no small interest and +importance to those who realise that the present is the child of the past, +and the future of the present; who will not regard themselves, their +kinsfolk, and their fellow-citizens as mere transitory phantoms, hurrying +from darkness into darkness, but who know that, in them, a vast historic +stream of national life is passing from its distant and mysterious origin +towards a future which is largely conditioned by all the past wanderings +of that human stream, but which is also, in no small degree, what they, by +their courage, their patriotism, their knowledge, and their understanding, +choose to make it. + +The part played by the Celtic race as a formative influence in the +history, the literature, and the art of the people inhabiting the British +Islands--a people which from that centre has spread its dominions over so +vast an area of the earth's surface--has been unduly obscured in popular +thought. For this the current use of the term "Anglo-Saxon" applied to the +British people as a designation of race is largely responsible. +Historically the term is quite misleading. There is nothing to justify +this singling out of two Low-German tribes when we wish to indicate the +race-character of the British people. The use of it leads to such +absurdities as that which the writer noticed not long ago, when the +proposed elevation by the Pope of an Irish bishop to a cardinalate was +described in an English newspaper as being prompted by the desire of the +head of the Catholic Church to pay a compliment to "the Anglo-Saxon race." + +The true term for the population of these islands, and for the typical and +dominant part of the population of North America, is not Anglo-Saxon, but +Anglo-Celtic. It is precisely in this blend of Germanic and Celtic +elements that the British people are unique--it is precisely this blend +which gives to this people the fire, the _élan_, and in literature and art +the sense of style, colour, drama, which are not common growths of German +soil, while at the same time it gives the deliberateness and depth, the +reverence for ancient law and custom, and the passion for personal +freedom, which are more or less strange to the Romance nations of the +South of Europe. May they never become strange to the British Islands! Nor +is the Celtic element in these islands to be regarded as contributed +wholly, or even very predominantly, by the populations of the so-called +"Celtic Fringe." It is now well known to ethnologists that the Saxons did +not by any means exterminate the Celtic or Celticised populations whom +they found in possession of Great Britain. Mr. E.W.B. Nicholson, librarian +of the Bodleian, writes in his important work "Keltic Researches" (1904): + +"Names which have not been purposely invented to describe race must never +be taken as proof of race, but only as proof of community of language, or +community of political organisation. We call a man who speaks English, +lives in England, and bears an obviously English name (such as Freeman or +Newton), an Englishman. Yet from the statistics of 'relative nigrescence' +there is good reason to believe that Lancashire, West Yorkshire, +Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, +Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, and part of Sussex are as Keltic as +Perthshire and North Munster; that Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, +Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Dorset, Northamptonshire, +Huntingdonshire, and Bedfordshire are more so--and equal to North Wales and +Leinster; while Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire exceed even this degree, +and are on a level with South Wales and Ulster."(1) + +It is, then, for an Anglo-Celtic, not an "Anglo-Saxon," people that this +account of the early history, the religion, and the mythical and romantic +literature of the Celtic race is written. It is hoped that that people +will find in it things worthy to be remembered as contributions to the +general stock of European culture, but worthy above all to be borne in +mind by those who have inherited more than have any other living people of +the blood, the instincts and the genius of the Celt. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE +CHAPTER I: THE CELTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY +CHAPTER II: THE RELIGION OF THE CELTS +CHAPTER III: THE IRISH INVASION MYTHS +CHAPTER IV: THE EARLY MILESIAN KINGS +CHAPTER V: TALES OF THE ULTONIAN CYCLE +CHAPTER VI: TALES OF THE OSSIANIC CYCLE +CHAPTER VII: THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUN +CHAPTER VIII: MYTHS AND TALES OF THE CYMRY + + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Queen Maev +Prehistoric Tumulus at New Grange +Stone Alignments at Kermaris, Carnac +Stone-worship at Locronan, Brittany + + + + + +CHAPTER I: THE CELTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY + + +*Earliest References* + +In the chronicles of the classical nations for about five hundred years +previous to the Christian era there are frequent references to a people +associated with these nations, sometimes in peace, sometimes in war, and +evidently occupying a position of great strength and influence in the +Terra Incognita of Mid-Europe. This people is called by the Greeks the +Hyperboreans or Celts, the latter term being first found in the geographer +Hecatæsus, about 500 B.C.(2) + +Herodotus, about half a century later, speaks of the Celts as dwelling +"beyond the pillars of Hercules"--_i.e._, in Spain--and also of the Danube +as rising in their country. + +Aristotle knew that they dwelt "beyond Spain," that they had captured +Rome, and that they set great store by warlike power. References other +than geographical are occasionally met with even in early writers. +Hellanicus of Lesbos, an historian of the fifth century B.C., describes +the Celts as practising justice and righteousness. Ephorus, about 350 +B.C., has three lines of verse about the Celts in which they are described +as using "the same customs as the Greeks"--whatever that may mean--and being +on the friendliest terms with that people, who established guest +friendships among them. Plato, however, in the "Laws," classes the Celts +among the races who are drunken and combative, and much barbarity is +attributed to them on the occasion of their irruption into Greece and the +sacking of Delphi in the year 273 B.C. Their attack on Rome and the +sacking of that city by them about a century earlier is one of the +landmarks of ancient history. + +The history of this people during the time when they were the dominant +power in Mid-Europe has to be divined or reconstructed from scattered +references, and from accounts of episodes in their dealings with Greece +and Rome, very much as the figure of a primæval monster is reconstructed +by the zoologist from a few fossilised bones. No chronicles of their own +have come down to us, no architectural remains have survived; a few coins, +and a few ornaments and weapons in bronze decorated with enamel or with +subtle and beautiful designs in chased or repoussé work--these, and the +names which often cling in strangely altered forms to the places where +they dwelt, from the Euxine to the British Islands, are well-nigh all the +visible traces which this once mighty power has left us of its +civilisation and dominion. Yet from these, and from the accounts of +classical writers, much can be deduced with certainty, and much more can +be conjectured with a very fair measure of probability. The great Celtic +scholar whose loss we have recently had to deplore, M. d'Arbois de +Jubainville, has, on the available data, drawn a convincing outline of +Celtic history for the period prior to their emergence into full +historical light with the conquests of Cæsar,(3) and it is this outline of +which the main features are reproduced here. + +*The True Celtic Race* + +To begin with, we must dismiss the idea that Celtica was ever inhabited by +a single pure and homogeneous race. The true Celts, if we accept on this +point the carefully studied and elaborately argued conclusion of Dr. T. +Rice Holmes,(4) supported by the unanimous voice of antiquity, were a +tall, fair race, warlike and masterful,(5) whose place of origin (as far +as we can trace them) was somewhere about the sources of the Danube, and +who spread their dominion both by conquest and by peaceful infiltration +over Mid-Europe, Gaul, Spain, and the British Islands. They did not +exterminate the original prehistoric inhabitants of these +regions--palæolithic and neolithic races, dolmen-builders and workers in +bronze--but they imposed on them their language, their arts, and their +traditions, taking, no doubt, a good deal from them in return, especially, +as we shall see, in the important matter of religion. Among these races +the true Celts formed an aristocratic and ruling caste. In that capacity +they stood, alike in Gaul, in Spain, in Britain, and in Ireland, in the +forefront or armed opposition to foreign invasion. They bore the worst +brunt of war, of confiscations, and of banishment. They never lacked +valour, but they were not strong enough or united enough to prevail, and +they perished in far greater proportion than the earlier populations whom +they had themselves subjugated. But they disappeared also by mingling +their blood with these inhabitants, whom they impregnated with many of +their own noble and virile qualities. Hence it comes that the +characteristics of the peoples called Celtic in the present day, and who +carry on the Celtic tradition and language, are in some respects so +different from those of the Celts of classical history and the Celts who +produced the literature and art of ancient Ireland, and in others so +strikingly similar. To take a physical characteristic alone, the more +Celtic districts of the British Islands are at present marked by darkness +of complexion, hair, &c. They are not very dark, but they are darker than +the rest of the kingdom.(6) But the true Celts were certainly fair. Even +the Irish Celts of the twelfth century are described by Giraldus +Cambrensis as a fair race. + +*Golden Age of the Celts* + +But we are anticipating, and must return to the period of the origins of +Celtic history. As astronomers have discerned the existence of an unknown +planet by the perturbations which it has caused in the courses of those +already under direct observation, so we can discern in the fifth and +fourth centuries before Christ the presence of a great power and of mighty +movements going on behind a veil which will never be lifted now. This was +the Golden Age of Celtdom in Continental Europe. During this period the +Celts waged three great and successful wars, which had no little influence +on the course of South European history. About 500 B.C. they conquered +Spain from the Carthaginians. A century later we find them engaged in the +conquest of Northern Italy from the Etruscans. They settled in large +numbers in the territory afterwards known as Cisalpine Gaul, where many +names, such as _Mediolanum_ (Milan), _Addua_ (Adda), _Viro-dunum_ +(Verduno), and perhaps _Cremona_ (_creamh_, garlic),(7) testify still to +their occupation. They left a greater memorial in the chief of Latin +poets, whose name, Vergil, appears to bear evidence of his Celtic +ancestry.(8) Towards the end of the fourth century they overran Pannonia, +conquering the Illyrians. + +*Alliances with the Greeks* + +All these wars were undertaken in alliance with the Greeks, with whom the +Celts were at this period on the friendliest terms. By the war with the +Carthaginians the monopoly held by that people of the trade in tin with +Britain and in silver with the miners of Spain was broken down, and the +overland route across France to Britain, for the sake of which the +Phocæans had in 600 B.C. created the port of Marseilles, was definitely +secured to Greek trade. Greeks and Celts were at this period allied +against Phoenicians and Persians. The defeat of Hamilcar by Gelon at +Himera, in Sicily, took place in the same year as that of Xerxes at +Salamis. The Carthaginian army in that expedition was made up of +mercenaries from half a dozen different nations, but not a Celt is found +in the Carthaginian ranks, and Celtic hostility must have counted for much +in preventing the Carthaginians from lending help to the Persians for the +overthrow of their common enemy. These facts show that Celtica played no +small part in preserving the Greek type of civilisation from being +overwhelmed by the despotisms of the East, and thus in keeping alive in +Europe the priceless seed of freedom and humane culture. + +*Alexander the Great* + +When the counter-movement of Hellas against the East began under Alexander +the Great we find the Celts again appearing as a factor of importance. + +In the fourth century Macedon was attacked and almost obliterated by +Thracian and Illyrian hordes. King Amyntas II. was defeated and driven +into exile. His son Perdiccas II. was killed in battle. When Philip, a +younger brother of Perdiccas, came to the obscure and tottering throne +which he and his successors were to make the seat of a great empire he was +powerfully aided in making head against the Illyrians by the conquests of +the Celts in the valleys of the Danube and the Po. The alliance was +continued, and rendered, perhaps, more formal in the days of Alexander. +When about to undertake his conquest of Asia (334 B.C.) Alexander first +made a compact with the Celts "who dwelt by the Ionian Gulf" in order to +secure his Greek dominions from attack during his absence. The episode is +related by Ptolemy Soter in his history of the wars of Alexander.(9) It +has a vividness which stamps it as a bit of authentic history, and another +singular testimony to the truth of the narrative has been brought to light +by de Jubainville. As the Celtic envoys, who are described as men of +haughty bearing and great stature, their mission concluded, were drinking +with the king, he asked them, it is said, what was the thing they, the +Celts, most feared. The envoys replied: "We fear no man: there is but one +thing that we fear, namely, that the sky should fall on us; but we regard +nothing so much as the friendship of a man such as thou." Alexander bade +them farewell, and, turning to his nobles, whispered: "What a vainglorious +people are these Celts!" Yet the answer, for all its Celtic bravura and +flourish, was not without both dignity and courtesy. The reference to the +falling of the sky seems to give a glimpse of some primitive belief or +myth of which it is no longer possible to discover the meaning.(10) The +national oath by which the Celts bound themselves to the observance of +their covenant with Alexander is remarkable. "If we observe not this +engagement," they said, "may the sky fall on us and crush us, may the +earth gape and swallow us up, may the sea burst out and overwhelm us." De +Jubainville draws attention most appositely to a passage from the "Táin Bo +Cuailgne," in the Book of Leinster(11), where the Ulster heroes declare to +their king, who wished to leave them in battle in order to meet an attack +in another part of the field: "Heaven is above us, and earth beneath us, +and the sea is round about us. Unless the sky shall fall with its showers +of stars on the ground where we are camped, or unless the earth shall be +rent by an earthquake, or unless the waves of the blue sea come over the +forests of the living world, we shall not give ground."(12) This survival +of a peculiar oath-formula for more than a thousand years, and its +reappearance, after being first heard of among the Celts of Mid-Europe, in +a mythical romance of Ireland, is certainly most curious, and, with other +facts which we shall note hereafter, speaks strongly for the community and +persistence of Celtic culture.(13) + +*The Sack of Rome* + +We have mentioned two of the great wars of the Continental Celts; we come +now to the third, that with the Etruscans, which ultimately brought them +into conflict with the greatest power of pagan Europe, and led to their +proudest feat of arms, the sack of Rome. About the year 400 B.C. the +Celtic Empire seems to have reached the height of its power. Under a king +named by Livy Ambicatus, who was probably the head of a dominant tribe in +a military confederacy, like the German Emperor in the present day, the +Celts seem to have been welded into a considerable degree of political +unity, and to have followed a consistent policy. Attracted by the rich +land of Northern Italy, they poured down through the passes of the Alps, +and after hard fighting with the Etruscan inhabitants they maintained +their ground there. At this time the Romans were pressing on the Etruscans +from below, and Roman and Celt were acting in definite concert and +alliance. But the Romans, despising perhaps the Northern barbarian +warriors, had the rashness to play them false at the siege of Clusium, 391 +B.C., a place which the Romans regarded as one of the bulwarks of Latium +against the North. The Celts recognised Romans who had come to them in the +sacred character of ambassadors fighting in the ranks of the enemy. The +events which followed are, as they have come down to us, much mingled with +legend, but there are certain touches of dramatic vividness in which the +true character of the Celts appears distinctly recognisable. They applied, +we are told, to Rome for satisfaction for the treachery of the envoys, who +were three sons of Fabius Ambustus, the chief pontiff. The Romans refused +to listen to the claim, and elected the Fabii military tribunes for the +ensuing year. Then the Celts abandoned the siege of Clusium and marched +straight on Rome. The army showed perfect discipline. There was no +indiscriminate plundering and devastation, no city or fortress was +assailed. "We are bound for Rome" was their cry to the guards upon the +walls of the provincial towns, who watched the host in wonder and fear as +it rolled steadily to the south. At last they reached the river Allia, a +few miles from Rome, where the whole available force of the city was +ranged to meet them. The battle took place on July 18, 390, that +ill-omened _dies Alliensis_ which long perpetuated in the Roman calendar +the memory of the deepest shame the republic had ever known. The Celts +turned the flank of the Roman army, and annihilated it in one tremendous +charge. Three days later they were in Rome, and for nearly a year they +remained masters of the city, or of its ruins, till a great fine had been +exacted and full vengeance taken for the perfidy at Clusium. For nearly a +century after the treaty thus concluded there was peace between the Celts +and the Romans, and the breaking of that peace when certain Celtic tribes +allied themselves with their old enemy, the Etruscans, in the third +Samnite war was coincident with the breaking up of the Celtic Empire.(14) + +Two questions must now be considered before we can leave the historical +part of this Introduction. First of all, what are the evidences for the +widespread diffusion of Celtic power in Mid-Europe during this period? +Secondly, where were the Germanic peoples, and what was their position in +regard to the Celts? + +*Celtic Place-names in Europe* + +To answer these questions fully would take us (for the purposes of this +volume) too deeply into philological discussions, which only the Celtic +scholar can fully appreciate. The evidence will be found fully set forth +in de Jubainville's work, already frequently referred to. The study of +European place-names forms the basis of the argument. Take the Celtic name +_Noviomagus_ composed of two Celtic words, the adjective meaning new, and +_magos_ (Irish _magh_) a field or plain.(15) There were nine places of +this name known in antiquity. Six were in France, among them the places +now called Noyon, in Oise, Nijon, in Vosges, Nyons, in Drôme. Three +outside of France were Nimègue, in Belgium, Neumagen, in the Rhineland, +and one at Speyer, in the Palatinate. + +The word _dunum_, so often traceable in Gaelic place-names in the present +day (Dundalk, Dunrobin, &c.), and meaning fortress or castle, is another +typically Celtic element in European place-names. It occurred very +frequently in France--_e.g., Lug-dunum_ (Lyons), _Viro-dunum_ (Verdun). It +is also found in Switzerland--_e.g., Minno-dunum_ (Moudon), _Eburo-dunum_ +(Yverdon)--and in the Netherlands, where the famous city of Leyden goes +back to a Celtic _Lug-dunum._ In Great Britain the Celtic term was often +changed by simple translation into _castra_; thus _Camulo-dunum_ became +Colchester, _Brano-dunum_ Brancaster. In Spain and Portugal eight names +terminating in _dunum_ are mentioned by classical writers. In Germany the +modern names Kempton, Karnberg, Liegnitz, go back respectively to the +Celtic forms _Cambo-dunum, Carro-aunum,_ _Lugi-dunum_, and we find a +_Singi-dunum,_ now Belgrade, in Servia, a _Novi-dunum_, now Isaktscha, in +Roumania, a _Carro-dunum_ in South Russia, near the Dniester, and another +in Croatia, now Pitsmeza. _Sego-dunum_, now Rodez, in France, turns up +also in Bavaria (Wurzburg), and in England (_Sege-dunum,_ now Wallsend, in +Northumberland), and the first term, _sego_, is traceable in Segorbe +(_Sego-briga_) in Spain. _Briga_ is a Celtic word, the origin of the +German _burg_, and equivalent in meaning to _dunum_. + +One more example: the word _magos_, a plain, which is very frequent as an +element of Irish place-names, is found abundantly in France, and outside +of France, in countries no longer Celtic, it appears in Switzerland +(_Uro-magus_ now Promasens), in the Rhineland (_Broco-magus_, Brumath), in +the Netherlands, as already noted (Nimègue), in Lombardy several times, +and in Austria. + +The examples given are by no means exhaustive, but they serve to indicate +the wide diffusion of the Celts in Europe and their identity of language +over their vast territory.(16) + +*Early Celtic Art* + +The relics of ancient Celtic art-work tell the same story. In the year +1846 a great pre-Roman necropolis was discovered at Hallstatt, near +Salzburg, in Austria. It contains relics believed by Dr. Arthur Evans to +date from about 750 to 400 B.C. These relics betoken in some cases a high +standard of civilisation and considerable commerce. Amber from the Baltic +is there, Phoenician glass, and gold-leaf of Oriental workmanship. Iron +swords are found whose hilts and sheaths are richly decorated with gold, +ivory, and amber. + +The Celtic culture illustrated by the remains at Hallstatt developed later +into what is called the La Tène culture. La Tène was a settlement at the +north-eastern end of the Lake of Neuchâtel, and many objects of great +interest have been found there since the site was first explored in 1858. +These antiquities represent, according to Dr. Evans, the culminating +period of Gaulish civilisation, and date from round about the third +century B.C. The type of art here found must be judged in the light of an +observation recently made by Mr. Romilly Allen in his "Celtic Art" (p. +13): + +"The great difficulty in understanding the evolution of Celtic art lies in +the fact that although the Celts never seem to have invented any new +ideas, they possessed an extraordinary aptitude for picking up ideas from +the different peoples with whom war or commerce brought them into contact. +And once the Celt had borrowed an idea from his neighbours he was able to +give it such a strong Celtic tinge that it soon became something so +different from what it was originally as to be almost unrecognisable." + +Now what the Celt borrowed in the art-culture which on the Continent +culminated in the La Tène relics were certain originally naturalistic +motives for Greek ornaments, notably the palmette and the meander motives. +But it was characteristic of the Celt that he avoided in his art all +imitation of, or even approximation to, the natural forms of the plant and +animal world. He reduced everything to pure decoration. What he enjoyed in +decoration was the alternation of long sweeping curves and undulations +with the concentrated energy of close-set spirals or bosses, and with +these simple elements and with the suggestion of a few motives derived +from Greek art he elaborated a most beautiful, subtle, and varied system +of decoration, applied to weapons, ornaments, and to toilet and household +appliances of all kinds, in gold, bronze, wood, and stone, and possibly, +if we had the means of judging, to textile fabrics also. One beautiful +feature in the decoration of metal-work seems to have entirely originated +in Celtica. Enamelling was unknown to the classical nations till they +learned from the Celts. So late as the third century A.D. it was still +strange to the classical world, as we learn from the reference of +Philostratus: + + + "They say that the barbarians who live in the ocean [Britons] pour + these colours upon heated brass, and that they adhere, become hard + as stone, and preserve the designs that are made upon them." + + +Dr. J. Anderson writes in the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries +of Scotland": + + + "The Gauls as well as the Britons--of the same Celtic + stock--practised enamel-working before the Roman conquest. The + enamel workshops of Bibracte, with their furnaces, crucibles, + moulds, polishing-stones, and with the crude enamels in their + various stages of preparation, have been recently excavated from + the ruins of the city destroyed by Caesar and his legions. But the + Bibracte enamels are the work of mere dabblers in the art, + compared with the British examples. The home of the art was + Britain, and the style of the pattern, as well as the association + in which the objects decorated with it were found, demonstrated + with certainty that it had reached its highest stage of indigenous + development before it came in contact with the Roman culture."(17) + + +The National Museum in Dublin contains many superb examples of Irish +decorative art in gold, bronze, and enamels, and the "strong Celtic tinge" +of which Mr. Romilly Allen speaks is as clearly observable there as in the +relics of Hallstatt or La Tène. + +Everything, then, speaks of a community of culture, an identity of +race-character, existing over the vast territory known to the ancient +world as "Celtica." + +*Celts and Germans* + +But, as we have said before, this territory was by no means inhabited by +the Celt alone. In particular we have to ask, who and where were the +Germans, the Teuto-Gothic tribes, who eventually took the place of the +Celts as the great Northern menace to classical civilisation? + +They are mentioned by Pytheas, the eminent Greek traveller and geographer, +about 300 B.C., but they play no part in history till, under the name of +Cimbri and Teutones, they descended on Italy to be vanquished by Marius at +the close of the second century. The ancient Greek geographers prior to +Pytheas know nothing of them, and assign all the territories now known as +Germanic to various Celtic tribes. + +The explanation given by de Jubainville, and based by him on various +philological considerations, is that the Germans were a subject people, +comparable to those "un-free tribes" who existed in Gaul and in ancient +Ireland. They lived under the Celtic dominion, and had no independent +political existence. De Jubainville finds that all the words connected +with law and government and war which are common both to the Celtic and +Teutonic languages were borrowed by the latter from the former. Chief +among them are the words represented by the modern German _Reich_, empire, +_Amt_, office, and the Gothic _reiks_, a king, all of which are of +unquestioned Celtic origin. De Jubainville also numbers among loan words +from Celtic the words _Bann_, an order; _Frei_, free; _Geisel_, a hostage; +_Erbe_, an inheritance; _Werth_, value; _Weih_, sacred; _Magus_, a slave +(Gothic); _Wini_, a wife (Old High German); _Skalks, Schalk_, a slave +(Gothic); _Hathu_, battle (Old German); _Helith, Held_, a hero, from the +same root as the word Celt; _Heer_, an army (Celtic _choris_); _Sieg_, +victory; _Beute_, booty; _Burg_, a castle; and many others. + +The etymological history of some of these words is interesting. _Amt_, for +instance, that word of so much significance in modern German +administration, goes back to an ancient Celtic _ambhactos_, which is +compounded of the words _ambi_, about, and _actos_, a past participle +derived from the Celtic root _AG_, meaning to act. Now _ambi_ descends +from the primitive Indo-European _mbhi_, where the initial _m_ is a kind +of vowel, afterwards represented in Sanscrit by _a_. This _m_ vowel became +_n_ in those Germanic words which derive directly from the primitive +Indo-European tongue. But the word which is now represented by _amt_ +appears in its earliest Germanic form as _ambaht_, thus making plain its +descent from the Celtic _ambhactos_. + +Again, the word _frei_ is found in its earliest Germanic form as +_frijo-s,_ which comes from the primitive Indo-European _prijo-s_. The +word here does not, however, mean free; it means beloved (Sanscrit +_priya-s_). In the Celtic language, however, we find _prijos_ dropping its +initial _p_--a difficulty in pronouncing this letter was a marked feature +in ancient Celtic; it changed _j_, according to a regular rule, into _dd_, +and appears in modern Welsh as _rhydd_=free. The Indo-European meaning +persists in the Germanic languages in the name of the love-goddess, +_Freia_, and in the word _Freund_, friend, _Friede_, peace. The sense +borne by the word in the sphere of civil right is traceable to a Celtic +origin, and in that sense appears to have been a loan from Celtic. + +The German _Beute_, booty, plunder, has had an instructive history. There +was a Gaulish word _bodi_ found in compounds such as the place-name +Segobodium (Seveux), and various personal and tribal names, including +Boudicca, better known to us as the "British warrior queen," Boadicea. +This word meant anciently "victory." But the fruits of victory are spoil, +and in this material sense the word was adopted in German, in French +(_butin_) in Norse (_byte_), and the Welsh (_budd_). On the other hand, +the word preserved its elevated significance in Irish. In the Irish +translation of Chronicles xxix. 11, where the Vulgate original has "Tua +est, Domine, magnificentia et potentia et gloria et victoria," the word +_victoria_ is rendered by the Irish _búaidh_, and, as de Jubainville +remarks, "ce n'est pas de butin qu'il s'agit." He goes on to say: +"_Búaidh_ has preserved in Irish, thanks to a vigorous and persistent +literary culture, the high meaning which it bore in the tongue of the +Gaulish aristocracy. The material sense of the word was alone perceived by +the lower classes of the population, and it is the tradition of this lower +class which has been preserved in the German, the French, and the Cymric +languages."(18) + +Two things, however, the Celts either could not or would not impose on the +subjugated German tribes--their language and their religion. In these two +great factors of race-unity and pride lay the seeds of the ultimate German +uprising and overthrow of the Celtic supremacy. The names of the German +are different from those of the Celtic deities, their funeral customs, +with which are associated the deepest religious conceptions of primitive +races, are different. The Celts, or at least the dominant section of them, +buried their dead, regarding the use of fire as a humiliation, to be +inflicted on criminals, or upon slaves or prisoners in those terrible +human sacrifices which are the greatest stain on their native culture. The +Germans, on the other hand, burned their illustrious dead on pyres, like +the early Greeks--if a pyre could not be afforded for the whole body, the +noblest parts, such as the head and arms, were burned and the rest buried. + +*Downfall of the Celtic Empire* + +What exactly took place at the time of the German revolt we shall never +know; certain it is, however, that from about the year 300 B.C. onward the +Celts appear to have lost whatever political cohesion and common purpose +they had possessed. Rent asunder, as it were, by the upthrust of some +mighty subterranean force, their tribes rolled down like lava-streams to +the south, east, and west of their original home. Some found their way +into Northern Greece, where they committed the outrage which so +scandalised their former friends and allies in the sack of the shrine of +Delphi (273 B.C.). Others renewed, with worse fortune, the old struggle +with Rome, and perished in vast numbers at Sentinum (295 B.C.) and Lake +Vadimo (283 B.C.). One detachment penetrated into Asia Minor, and founded +the Celtic State of Galatia, where, as St. Jerome attests, a Celtic +dialect was still spoken in the fourth century A.D. Others enlisted as +mercenary troops with Carthage. A tumultuous war of Celts against +scattered German tribes, or against other Celts who represented earlier +waves of emigration and conquest, went on all over Mid-Europe, Gaul, and +Britain. When this settled down Gaul and the British Islands remained +practically the sole relics of the Celtic empire, the only countries still +under Celtic law and leadership. By the commencement of the Christian era +Gaul and Britain had fallen under the yoke of Rome, and their complete +Romanisation was only a question of time. + +*Unique Historical Position of Ireland* + +Ireland alone was never even visited, much less subjugated, by the Roman +legionaries, and maintained its independence against all comers nominally +until the close of the twelfth century, but for all practical purposes a +good three hundred years longer. + +Ireland has therefore this unique feature of interest, that it carried an +indigenous Celtic civilisation, Celtic institutions, art, and literature, +and the oldest surviving form of the Celtic language,(19) right across the +chasm which separates the antique from the modern world, the pagan from +the Christian world, and on into the full light of modern history and +observation. + +*The Celtic Character* + +The moral no less than the physical characteristics attributed by +classical writers to the Celtic peoples show a remarkable distinctness and +consistency. Much of what is said about them might, as we should expect, +be said of any primitive and unlettered people, but there remains so much +to differentiate them among the races of mankind that if these ancient +references to the Celts could be read aloud, without mentioning the name +of the race to whom they referred, to any person acquainted with it +through modern history alone, he would, I think, without hesitation, name +the Celtic peoples as the subject of the description which he had heard. + +Some of these references have already been quoted, and we need not repeat +the evidence derived from Plato, Ephorus, or Arrian. But an observation of +M. Porcius Cato on the Gauls may be adduced. "There are two things," he +says, "to which the Gauls are devoted--the art of war and subtlety of +speech" ("rem militarem et argute loqui"). + +*Cæsar's Account* + +Cæsar has given us a careful and critical account of them as he knew them +in Gaul. They were, he says, eager for battle, but easily dashed by +reverses. They were extremely superstitious, submitting to their Druids in +all public and private affairs, and regarding it as the worst of +punishments to be excommunicated and forbidden to approach thu ceremonies +of religion: + + + "They who are thus interdicted [for refusing to obey a Druidical + sentence] are reckoned in the number of the vile and wicked; all + persons avoid and fly their company and discourse, lest they + should receive any infection by contagion; they are not permitted + to commence a suit; neither is any post entrusted to them.... The + Druids are generally freed from military service, nor do they pay + taxes with the rest.... Encouraged by such rewards, many of their + own accord come to their schools, and are sent by their friends + and relations. They are said there to get by heart a great number + of verses; some continue twenty years in their education; neither + is it held lawful to commit these things [the Druidic doctrines] + to writing, though in almost all public transactions and private + accounts they use the Greek characters." + + +The Gauls were eager for news, besieging merchants and travellers for +gossip,(20) easily influenced, sanguine, credulous, fond of change, and +wavering in their counsels. They were at the same time remarkably acute +and intelligent, very quick to seize upon and to imitate any contrivance +they found useful. Their ingenuity in baffling the novel siege apparatus +of the Roman armies is specially noticed by Cæsar. Of their courage he +speaks with great respect, attributing their scorn of death, in some +degree at least, to their firm faith in the immortality of the soul.(21) A +people who in earlier days had again and again annihilated Roman armies, +had sacked Rome, and who had more than once placed Cæsar himself in +positions of the utmost anxiety and peril, were evidently no weaklings, +whatever their religious beliefs or practices. Cæsar is not given to +sentimental admiration of his foes, but one episode at the siege of +Avaricum moves him to immortalise the valour of the defence. A wooden +structure or _agger_ had been raised by the Romans to overtop the walls, +which had proved impregnable to the assaults of the battering-ram. The +Gauls contrived to set this on fire. It was of the utmost moment to +prevent the besiegers from extinguishing the flames, and a Gaul mounted a +portion of the wall above the _agger_, throwing down upon it balls of +tallow and pitch, which were handed up to him from within. He was soon +struck down by a missile from a Roman catapult. Immediately another +stepped over him as he lay, and continued his comrade's task. He too fell, +but a third instantly took his place, and a fourth; nor was this post ever +deserted until the legionaries at last extinguished the flames and forced +the defenders back into the town, which was finally captured on the +following day. + +*Strabo on the Celts* + +The geographer and traveller Strabo, who died 24 A.D., and was therefore a +little later than Cæsar, has much to tell us about the Celts. He notices +that their country (in this case Gaul) is thickly inhabited and well +tilled--there is no waste of natural resources. The women are prolific, and +notably good mothers. He describes the men as warlike, passionate, +disputatious, easily provoked, but generous and unsuspicious, and easily +vanquished by stratagem. They showed themselves eager for culture, and +Greek letters and science had spread rapidly among them from Massilia; +public education was established in their towns. They fought better on +horseback than on foot, and in Strabo's time formed the flower of the +Roman cavalry. They dwelt in great houses made of arched timbers with +walls of wickerwork--no doubt plastered with clay and lime, as in +Ireland--and thickly thatched. Towns of much importance were found in Gaul, +and Cæsar notes the strength of their walls, built of stone and timber. +Both Cæsar and Strabo agree that there was a very sharp division between +the nobles and priestly or educated class on the one hand and the common +people on the other, the latter being kept in strict subjection. The +social division corresponds roughly, no doubt, to the race distinction +between the true Celts and the aboriginal populations subdued by them. +While Cæsar tells us that the Druids taught the immortality of the soul, +Strabo adds that they believed in the indestructibility, which implies in +some sense the divinity, of the material universe. + +The Celtic warrior loved display. Everything that gave brilliance and the +sense of drama to life appealed to him. His weapons were richly +ornamented, his horse-trappings were wrought in bronze and enamel, of +design as exquisite as any relic of Mycenean or Cretan art, his raiment +was embroidered with gold. The scene of the surrender of Vercingetorix, +when his heroic struggle with Rome had come to an end on the fall of +Alesia, is worth recording as a typically Celtic blend of chivalry and of +what appeared to the sober-minded Romans childish ostentation.(22) When he +saw that the cause was lost he summoned a tribal council, and told the +assembled chiefs, whom he had led through a glorious though unsuccessful +war, that he was ready to sacrifice himself for his still faithful +followers--they might send his head to Cæsar if they liked, or he would +voluntarily surrender himself for the sake of getting easier terms for his +countrymen. The latter alternative was chosen. Vercingetorix then armed +himself with his most splendid weapons, decked his horse with its richest +trappings, and, after riding thrice round the Roman camp, went before +Cæsar and laid at his feet the sword which was the sole remaining defence +of Gallic independence. Cæsar sent him to Rome, where he lay in prison for +six years, and was finally put to death when Cæsar celebrated his triumph. + +But the Celtic love of splendour and of art were mixed with much +barbarism. Strabo tells us how the warriors rode home from victory with +the heads of fallen foemen dangling from their horses' necks, just as in +the Irish saga the Ulster hero, Cuchulain, is represented as driving back +to Emania from a foray into Connacht with the heads of his enemies hanging +from his chariot-rim. Their domestic arrangements were rude; they lay on +the ground to sleep, sat on couches of straw, and their women worked in +the fields. + +*Polybius* + +A characteristic scene from the battle of Clastidium (222 B.C.) is +recorded by Polybius. The Gæsati,(23) he tells us, who were in the +forefront of the Celtic army, stripped naked for the fight, and the sight +of these warriors, with their great stature and their fair skins, on which +glittered the collars and bracelets of gold so loved as an adornment by +all the Celts, filled the Roman legionaries with awe. Yet when the day was +over those golden ornaments went in cartloads to deck the Capitol of Rome; +and the final comment of Polybius on the character of the Celts is that +they, "I say not usually, but always, in everything they attempt, are +driven headlong by their passions, and never submit to the laws of +reason." As might be expected, the chastity for which the Germans were +noted was never, until recent times, a Celtic characteristic. + +*Diodorus* + +Diodorus Siculus, a contemporary of Julius Cæsar and Augustus, who had +travelled in Gaul, confirms in the main the accounts of Cæsar and Strabo, +but adds some interesting details. He notes in particular the Gallic love +of gold. Even cuirasses were made of it. This is also a very notable trait +in Celtic Ireland, where an astonishing number of prehistoric gold relics +have been found, while many more, now lost, are known to have existed. The +temples and sacred places, say Posidonius and Diodorus, were full of +unguarded offerings of gold, which no one ever touched. He mentions the +great reverence paid to the bards, and, like Cato, notices something +peculiar about the kind of speech which the educated Gauls cultivated: +"they are not a talkative people, and are fond of expressing themselves in +enigmas, so that the hearer has to divine the most part of what they would +say." This exactly answers to the literary language of ancient Ireland, +which is curt and allusive to a degree. The Druid was regarded as the +prescribed intermediary between God and man--no one could perform a +religious act without his assistance. + +*Ammianus Marcellinus* + +Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote much later, in the latter half of the +fourth century A.D., had also visited Gaul, which was then, of course, +much Romanised. He tells us, however, like former writers, of the great +stature, fairness, and arrogant bearing of the Gallic warrior. He adds +that the people, especially in Aquitaine, were singularly clean and proper +in their persons--no one was to be seen in rags. The Gallic woman he +describes as very tall, blue-eyed, and singularly beautiful; but a certain +amount of awe is mingled with his evident admiration, for he tells us that +while it was dangerous enough to get into a fight with a Gallic man, your +case was indeed desperate if his wife with her "huge snowy arms," which +could strike like catapults, came to his assistance. One is irresistibly +reminded of the gallery of vigorous, independent, fiery-hearted women, +like Maeve, Grania, Findabair, Deirdre, and the historic Boadicea, who +figure in the myths and in the history of the British Islands. + +*Rice Holmes on the Gauls* + +The following passage from Dr. Rice Holmes' "Cæsar's Conquest of Gaul" may +be taken as an admirable summary of the social physiognomy of that part of +Celtica a little before the time of the Christian era, and it corresponds +closely to all that is known of the native Irish civilisation: + + + "The Gallic peoples had risen far above the condition of savages; + and the Celticans of the interior, many of whom had already fallen + under Roman influence, had attained a certain degree of + civilisation, and even of luxury. Their trousers, from which the + province took its name of Gallia Bracata, and their many-coloured + tartan skirts and cloaks excited the astonishment of their + conquerors. The chiefs wore rings and bracelets and necklaces of + gold; and when these tall, fair-haired warriors rode forth to + battle, with their helmets wrought in the shape of some fierce + beast's head, and surmounted by nodding plumes, their chain + armour, their long bucklers and their huge clanking swords, they + made a splendid show. Walled towns or large villages, the + strongholds of the various tribes, were conspicuous on numerous + hills. The plains were dotted by scores of oper hamlets. The + houses, built of timber and wickerwork, were large and well + thatched. The fields in summer were yellow with corn. Roads ran + from town to town. Rude bridges spanned the rivers; and barges + laden with merchandise floated along them. Ships clumsy indeed but + larger than any that were seen on the Mediterranean, braved the + storms of the Bay of Biscay and carried cargoes between the ports + of Brittany and the coast of Britain. Tolls were exacted on the + goods which were transported on the great waterways; and it was + from the farming of these dues that the nobles derived a large + part of their wealth. Every tribe had its coinage; and the + knowledge of writing in Greek and Roman characters was not + confined to the priests. The Æduans were familiar with the plating + of copper and of tin. The miners of Aquitaine, of Auvergne, and of + the Berri were celebrated for their skill. Indeed, in all that + belonged to outward prosperity the peoples of Gaul had made great + strides since their kinsmen first came into contact with + Rome."(24) + + +*Weakness of the Celtic Policy* + +Yet this native Celtic civilisation, in many respects so attractive and so +promising, had evidently some defect or disability which prevented the +Celtic peoples from holding their own either against the ancient +civilisation of the Græco-Roman world, or against the rude young vigour of +the Teutonic races. Let us consider what this was. + +*The Classical State* + +At the root of the success of classical nations lay the conception of the +civic community, the _{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}_, the _res publica_, as a kind of divine +entity, the foundation of blessing to men, venerable for its age, yet +renewed in youth with every generation; a power which a man might joyfully +serve, knowing that even if not remembered in its records his faithful +service would outlive his own petty life and go to exalt the life of his +motherland or city for all future time. In this spirit Socrates, when +urged to evade his death sentence by taking the means of escape from +prison which his friends offered him, rebuked them for inciting him to an +impious violation of his country's laws. For a man's country, he says, is +more holy and venerable than father or mother, and he must quietly obey +the laws, to which he has assented by living under them all his life, or +incur the just wrath of their great Brethren, the Laws of the Underworld, +before whom, in the end, he must answer for his conduct on earth. In a +greater or less degree this exalted conception of the State formed the +practical religion of every man among the classical nations of antiquity, +and gave to the State its cohesive power, its capability of endurance and +of progress. + +*Teutonic Loyalty* + +With the Teuton the cohesive force was supplied by another motive, one +which was destined to mingle with the civic motive and to form, in union +with it--and often in predominance over it--the main political factor in the +development of the European nations. This was the sentiment of what the +Germans called _Treue_, the personal fidelity to a chief, which in very +early times extended itself to a royal dynasty, a sentiment rooted +profoundly in the Teutonic nature, and one which has never been surpassed +by any other human impulse as the source of heroic self-sacrifice. + +*Celtic Religion* + +No human influences are ever found pure and unmixed. The sentiment of +personal fidelity was not unknown to the classical nations. The sentiment +of civic patriotism, though of slow growth among the Teutonic races, did +eventually establish itself there. Neither sentiment was unknown to the +Celt, but there was another force which, in his case, overshadowed and +dwarfed them, and supplied what it could of the political inspiration and +unifying power which the classical nations got from patriotism and the +Teutons from loyalty. This was Religion; or perhaps it would be more +accurate to say Sacerdotalism--religion codified in dogma and administered +by a priestly caste. The Druids, as we have seen from Cæsar, whose +observations are entirely confirmed by Strabo and by references in Irish +legends,(25) were the really sovran power in Celtica. All affairs, public +and private, were subject to their authority, and the penalties which they +could inflict for any assertion of lay independence, though resting for +their efficacy, like the mediæval interdicts of the Catholic Church, on +popular superstition alone, were enough to quell the proudest spirit. Here +lay the real weakness of the Celtic polity. There is perhaps no law +written more conspicuously in the teachings of history than that nations +who are ruled by priests drawing their authority from supernatural +sanctions are, just in the measure that they are so ruled, incapable of +true national progress. The free, healthy current of secular life and +thought is, in the very nature of things, incompatible with priestly rule. +Be the creed what it may, Druidism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or +fetichism, a priestly caste claiming authority in temporal affairs by +virtue of extra-temporal sanctions is inevitably the enemy of that spirit +of criticism, of that influx of new ideas, of that growth of secular +thought, of human and rational authority, which are the elementary +conditions of national development. + +*The Cursing of Tara* + +A singular and very cogent illustration of this truth can be drawn from +the history of the early Celtic world. In the sixth century A.D., a little +over a hundred years after the preaching of Christianity by St. Patrick, a +king named Dermot MacKerval(26) ruled in Ireland. He was the Ard Righ, or +High King, of that country, whose seat of government was at Tara, in +Meath, and whose office, with its nominal and legal superiority to the +five provincial kings, represented the impulse which was moving the Irish +people towards a true national unity. The first condition of such a unity +was evidently the establishment of an effective central authority. Such an +authority, as we have said, the High King, in theory, represented. Now it +happened that one of his officers was murdered in the discharge of his +duty by a chief named Hugh Guairy. Guairy was the brother of a bishop who +was related by fosterage to St. Ruadan of Lorrha, and when King Dermot +sent to arrest the murderer these clergy found him a hiding-place. Dermot, +however, caused a search to be made, haled him forth from under the roof +of St. Ruadan, and brought him to Tara for trial. Immediately the +ecclesiastics of Ireland made common cause against the lay ruler who had +dared to execute justice on a criminal under clerical protection. They +assembled at Tara, fasted against the king,(27) and laid their solemn +malediction upon him and the seat of his government. Then the chronicler +tells us that Dermot's wife had a prophetic dream: + + + "Upon Tara's green was a vast and wide-foliaged tree, and eleven + slaves hewing at it; but every chip that they knocked from it + would return into its place again and there adhere instantly, till + at last there came one man that dealt the tree but a stroke, and + with that single cut laid it low."(28) + + +The fair tree was the Irish monarchy, the twelve hewers were the twelve +Saints or Apostles of Ireland, and the one who laid it low was St. Ruadan. +The plea of the king for his country, whose fate he saw to be hanging in +the balance, is recorded with moving force and insight by the Irish +chronicler:(29) + + + " 'Alas,' he said, 'for the iniquitous contest that ye have waged + against me; seeing that it is Ireland's good that I pursue, and to + preserve her discipline and royal right; but 'tis Ireland's + unpeace and murderousness that ye endeavour after.' " + + +But Ruadan said, "Desolate be Tara for ever and ever"; and the popular awe +of the ecclesiastical malediction prevailed. The criminal was surrendered, +Tara was abandoned, and, except for a brief space when a strong usurper, +Brian Boru, fought his way to power, Ireland knew no effective secular +government till it was imposed upon her by a conqueror. The last words of +the historical tract from which we quote are Dermot's cry of despair: + + + "Woe to him that with the clergy of the churches battle joins." + + +This remarkable incident has been described at some length because it is +typical of a factor whose profound influence in moulding the history of +the Celtic peoples we can trace through a succession of critical events +from the time of Julius Caesar to the present day. How and whence it arose +we shall consider later; here it is enough to call attention to it. It is +a factor which forbade the national development of the Celts, in the sense +in which we can speak of that of the classical or the Teutonic peoples. + +*What Europe Owes to the Celt* + +Yet to suppose that on this account the Celt was not a force of any real +consequence in Europe would be altogether a mistake. His contribution to +the culture of the Western world was a very notable one. For some four +centuries--about A.D. 500 to 900--Ireland was the refuge of learning and the +source of literary and philosophic culture for half Europe. The +verse-forms of Celtic poetry have probably played the main part in +determining the structure of all modern verse. The myths and legends of +the Gaelic and Cymric peoples kindled the imagination of a host of +Continental poets. True, the Celt did not himself create any great +architectural work of literature, just as he did not create a stable or +imposing national polity. His thinking and feeling were essentially +lyrical and concrete. Each object or aspect of life impressed him vividly +and stirred him profoundly; he was sensitive, impressionable to the last +degree, but did not see things in their larger and more far-reaching +relations. He had little gift for the establishment or institutions, for +the service of principles; but he was, and is, an indispensable and +never-failing assertor of humanity as against the tyranny of principles, +the coldness and barrenness of institutions. The institutions of royalty +and of civic patriotism are both very capable of being fossilised into +barren formulae, and thus of fettering instead of inspiring the soul. But +the Celt has always been a rebel against anything that has not in it the +breath of life, against any unspiritual and purely external form of +domination. It is too true that he has been over-eager to enjoy the fine +fruits of life without the long and patient preparation for the harvest, +but he has done and will still do infinite service to the modern world in +insisting that the true fruit of life is a spiritual reality, never +without pain and loss to be obscured or forgotten amid the vast mechanism +of a material civilisation. + + + + + +CHAPTER II: THE RELIGION OF THE CELTS + + +*Ireland and the Celtic Religion* + +We have said that the Irish among the Celtic peoples possess the unique +interest of having carried into the light of modern historical research +many of the features of a native Celtic civilisation. There is, however, +one thing which they did not carry across the gulf which divides us from +the ancient world--and this was their religion. + +It was not merely that they changed it; they left it behind them so +entirely that all record of it is lost. St. Patrick, himself a Celt, who +apostolised Ireland during the fifth century, has left us an +autobiographical narrative of his mission, a document of intense interest, +and the earliest extant record of British Christianity; but in it he tells +us nothing of the doctrines he came to supplant. We learn far more of +Celtic religious beliefs from Julius Cæsar, who approached them from quite +another side. The copious legendary literature which took its present form +in Ireland between the seventh and the twelfth centuries, though often +manifestly going back to pre-Christian sources, shows us, beyond a belief +in magic and a devotion to certain ceremonial or chivalric observances, +practically nothing resembling a religious or even an ethical system. We +know that certain chiefs and bards offered a long resistance to the new +faith, and that this resistance came to the arbitrament of battle at +Moyrath in the sixth century, but no echo of any intellectual controversy, +no matching of one doctrine against another, such as we find, for +instance, in the records of the controversy of Celsus with Origen, has +reached us from this period of change and strife. The literature of +ancient Ireland, as we shall see, embodied many ancient myths; and traces +appear in it of beings who must, at one time, have been gods or elemental +powers; but all has been emptied of religious significance and turned to +romance and beauty. Yet not only was there, as Cæsar tells us, a very +well-developed religious system among the Gauls, but we learn on the same +authority that the British Islands were the authoritative centre of this +system; they were, so to speak, the Rome of the Celtic religion. + +What this religion was like we have now to consider, as an introduction to +the myths and tales which more or less remotely sprang from it. + +*The Popular Religion of the Celts* + +But first we must point out that the Celtic religion was by no means a +simple affair, and cannot be summed up as what we call "Druidism." Beside +the official religion there was a body of popular superstitions and +observances which came from a deeper and older source than Druidism, and +was destined long to outlive it--indeed, it is far from dead even yet. + +*The Megalithic People* + +The religions of primitive peoples mostly centre on, or take their rise +from, rites and practices connected with the burial of the dead. The +earliest people inhabiting Celtic territory in the West of Europe of whom +we have any distinct knowledge are a race without name or known history, +but by their sepulchral monuments, of which so many still exist, we can +learn a great deal about them. They were the so-called Megalithic +People,(30) the builders of dolmens, cromlechs, and chambered tumuli, of +which more than three thousand have been counted in France alone. Dolmens +are found from Scandinavia southwards, all down the western lands of +Europe to the Straits of Gibraltar, and round by the Mediterranean coast +of Spain. They occur in some of the western islands of the Mediterranean, +and are found in Greece, where, in Mycenæ, an ancient dolmen yet stands +beside the magnificent burial-chamber of the Atreidae. Roughly, if we draw +a line from the mouth of the Rhone northward to Varanger Fiord, one may +say that, except for a few Mediterranean examples, all the dolmens in +Europe lie to the west of that line. To the east none are found till we +come into Asia. But they cross the Straits of Gibraltar, and are found all +along the North African littoral, and thence eastwards through Arabia, +India, and as far as Japan. + +*Dolmens, Cromlechs, and Tumuli* + + [Dolmen at Proleek, Ireland] + + Dolmen at Proleek, Ireland + + _(After Borlase)_ + + +A dolmen, it may be here explained, is a kind of chamber composed of +upright unhewn stones, and roofed generally with a single huge stone. They +are usually wedge-shaped in plan, and traces of a porch or vestibule can +often be noticed. The primary intention of the dolmen was to represent a +house or dwelling-place for the dead. A cromlech (often confused in +popular language with the dolmen) is properly a circular arrangement of +standing stones, often with a dolmen in their midst. It is believed that +most if not all of the now exposed dolmens were originally covered with a +great mound of earth or of smaller stones. Sometimes, as in the +illustration we give from Carnac, in Brittany, great avenues or alignments +are formed of single upright stones, and these, no doubt, had some purpose +connected with the ritual of worship carried on in the locality. The later +megalithic monuments, as at Stonehenge, may be of dressed stone, but in +all cases their rudeness of construction, the absence of any sculpturing +(except for patterns or symbols incised on the surface), the evident aim +at creating a powerful impression by the brute strength of huge monolithic +masses, as well as certain subsidiary features in their design which shall +be described later on, give these megalithic monuments a curious family +likeness and mark them out from the chambered tombs of the early Greeks, +of the Egyptians, and of other more advanced races. The dolmens proper +gave place in the end to great chambered mounds or tumuli, as at New +Grange, which we also reckon as belonging to the Megalithic People. They +are a natural development of the dolmen. The early dolmen-builders were in +the neolithic stage of culture, their weapons were of polished stone. But +in the tumuli not only stone, but also bronze, and even iron, instruments +are found--at first evidently importations, but afterwards of local +manufacture. + +*Origin of the Megalithic People* + + [Prehistoric Tumulus at New Grange] + + Prehistoric Tumulus at New Grange + + Photograph by R. Welch, Belfast + + +The language originally spoken by this people can only be conjectured by +the traces of it left in that of their conquerors, the Celts.(31) But a +map of the distribution or their monuments irresistibly suggests the idea +that their builders were of North African origin; that they were not at +first accustomed to traverse the sea for any great distance; that they +migrated westwards along North Africa, crossed into Europe where the +Mediterranean at Gibraltar narrows to a strait of a few miles in width, +and thence spread over the western regions of Europe, including the +British Islands, while on the eastward they penetrated by Arabia into +Asia. It must, however, be borne in mind that while originally, no doubt, +a distinct race, the Megalithic People came in the end to represent, not a +race, but a culture. The human remains found in these sepulchres, with +their wide divergence in the shape of the skull, &c., clearly prove +this.(32) These and other relics testify to the dolmen-builders in general +as representing a superior and well-developed type, acquainted with +agriculture, pasturage, and to some extent with seafaring. The monuments +themselves, which are often of imposing size and imply much thought and +organised effort in their construction, show unquestionably the existence, +at this period, of a priesthood charged with the care of funeral rites and +capable of controlling large bodies of men. Their dead were, as a rule, +not burned, but buried whole--the greater monuments marking, no doubt, the +sepulchres of important personages, while the common people were buried in +tombs of which no traces now exist. + +*The Celts of the Plains* + +De Jubainville, in his account of the early history of the Celts, takes +account of two main groups only--the Celts and the Megalithic People. But +A. Bertrand, in his very valuable work "La Religion des Gaulois," +distinguishes two elements among the Celts themselves. There are, besides +the Megalithic People, the two groups of lowland Celts and mountain Celts. +The lowland Celts, according to his view, started from the Danube and +entered Gaul probably about 1200 B.C. They were the founders of the +lake-dwellings in Switzerland, in the Danube valley, and in Ireland. They +knew the use of metals, and worked in gold, in tin, in bronze, and towards +the end of their period in iron. Unlike the Megalithic People, they spoke +a Celtic tongue,(33) though Bertrand seems to doubt their genuine racial +affinity with the true Celts. They were perhaps Celticised rather than +actually Celtic. They were not warlike; a quiet folk of herdsmen, tillers, +and artificers. They did not bury, but burned their dead. At a great +settlement of theirs, Golasecca, in Cisalpine Gaul, 6000 interments were +found. In each case the body had been burned; there was not a single +burial without previous burning. + +This people entered Gaul not (according to Bertrand), for the most part, +as conquerors, but by gradual infiltration, occupying vacant spaces +wherever they found them along the valleys and plains. They came by the +passes of the Alps, and their starting-point was the country of the Upper +Danube, which Herodotus says "rises among the Celts." They blended +peacefully with the Megalithic People among whom they settled, and did not +evolve any of those advanced political institutions which are only nursed +in war, but probably they contributed powerfully to the development of the +Druidical system of religion and to the bardic poetry. + +*The Celts of the Mountains* + +Finally, we have a third group, the true Celtic group, which followed +closely on the track of the second. It was at the beginning of the sixth +century that it first made its appearance on the left bank of the Rhine. +While Bertrand calls the second group Celtic, these he styles Galatic, and +identifies them with the Galatæ of the Greeks and the Galli and Belgæ of +the Romans. + +The second group, as we have said, were Celts of the plains. The third +were Celts of the mountains. The earliest home in which we know them was +the ranges of the Balkans and Carpathians. Their organisation was that of +a military aristocracy--they lorded it over the subject populations on whom +they lived by tribute or pillage. They are the warlike Celts of ancient +history--the sackers of Rome and Delphi, the mercenary warriors who fought +for pay and for the love of warfare in the ranks of Carthage and +afterwards of Rome. Agriculture and industry were despised by them, their +women tilled the ground, and under their rule the common population became +reduced almost to servitude; "plebs poene servorum habetur loco," as Caesar +tells us. Ireland alone escaped in some degree from the oppression of this +military aristocracy, and from the sharp dividing line which it drew +between the classes, yet even there a reflexion of the state of things in +Gaul is found, even there we find free and unfree tribes and oppressive +and dishonouring exactions on the part of the ruling order. + +Yet, if this ruling race had some of the vices of untamed strength, they +had also many noble and humane qualities. They were dauntlessly brave, +fantastically chivalrous, keenly sensitive to the appeal of poetry, of +music, and of speculative thought. Posidonius found the bardic institution +flourishing among them about 100 B.C.,and about two hundred years earlier +Hecatæus of Abdera describes the elaborate musical services held by the +Celts in a Western island--probably Great Britain--in honour of their god +Apollo (Lugh).(34) Aryan of the Aryans, they had in them the making of a +great and progressive nation; but the Druidic system--not on the side of +its philosophy and science, but on that of its ecclesiastico-political +organisation--was their bane, and their submission to it was their fatal +weakness. + +The culture of these mountain Celts differed markedly from that of the +lowlanders. Their age was the age of iron, not of bronze; their dead were +not burned (which they considered a disgrace), but buried. + +The territories occupied by them in force were Switzerland, Burgundy, the +Palatinate, and Northern France, parts of Britain to the west, and Illyria +and Galatia to the east, but smaller groups of them must have penetrated +far and wide through all Celtic territory, and taken up a ruling position +wherever they went. + + [Stone Alignments at Kermaris, Carnac] + + Stone Alignments at Kermaris, Carnac + + Arthur G. Bell + + +There were three peoples, said Cæsar, inhabiting Gaul when his conquest +began; "they differ from each other in language, in customs, and in laws." +These people he named respectively the Belgæ, the Celtæ, and the Aquitani. +He locates them roughly, the Belgæ in the north and east, the Celtæ in the +middle, and the Aquitani in the west and south. The Belgæ are the Galatæ +of Bertrand, the Celtæ are the Celts, and the Aquitani are the Megalithic +People. They had, of course, all been more or less brought under Celtic +influences, and the differences of language which Cæsar noticed need not +have been great; still it is noteworthy, and quite in accordance with +Bertrand's views, that Strabo speaks of the Aquitani as differing markedly +from the rest of the inhabitants, and as resembling the Iberians. The +language of the other Gaulish peoples, he expressly adds, were merely +dialects of the same tongue. + +*The Religion of Magic* + +This triple division is reflected more or less in all the Celtic +countries, and must always be borne in mind when we speak of Celtic ideas +and Celtic religion, and try to estimate the contribution of the Celtic +peoples to European culture. The mythical literature and the art of the +Celt have probably sprung mainly from the section represented by the +Lowland Celts of Bertrand. But this literature of song and saga was +produced by a bardic class for the pleasure and instruction of a proud, +chivalrous, and warlike aristocracy, and would thus inevitably be moulded +by the ideas of this aristocracy. But it would also have been coloured by +the profound influence of the religious beliefs and observances +entertained by the Megalithic People--beliefs which are only now fading +slowly away in the spreading daylight of science. These beliefs may be +summed up in the one term Magic. The nature of this religion of magic must +now be briefly discussed, for it was a potent element in the formation of +the body of myths and legends with which we have afterwards to deal. And, +as Professor Bury remarked in his Inaugural Lecture at Cambridge, in 1903: + + + "For the purpose of prosecuting that most difficult of all + inquiries, the ethnical problem, the part played by race in the + development of peoples and the effects of race-blendings, it must + be remembered that the Celtic world commands one of the chief + portals of ingress into that mysterious pre-Aryan foreworld, from + which it may well be that we modern Europeans have inherited far + more than we dream." + + +The ultimate root of the word Magic is unknown, but proximately it is +derived from the Magi, or priests of Chaldea and Media in pre-Aryan and +pre-Semitic times, who were the great exponents of this system of thought, +so strangely mingled of superstition, philosophy, and scientific +observation. The fundamental conception of magic is that of the spiritual +vitality of all nature. This spiritual vitality was not, as in polytheism, +conceived as separated from nature in distinct divine personalities. It +was implicit and immanent in nature; obscure, undefined, invested with all +the awfulness of a power whose limits and nature are enveloped in +impenetrable mystery. In its remote origin it was doubtless, as many facts +appear to show, associated with the cult of the dead, for death was looked +upon as the resumption into nature, and as the investment with vague and +uncontrollable powers, of a spiritual force formerly embodied in the +concrete, limited, manageable, and therefore less awful form of a living +human personality. Yet these powers were not altogether uncontrollable. +The desire for control, as well as the suggestion of the means for +achieving it, probably arose from the first rude practices of the art of +healing. Medicine of some sort was one of the earliest necessities of man. +And the power of certain natural substances, mineral or vegetable, to +produce bodily and mental effects often of a most startling character +would naturally be taken as signal evidence of what we may call the +"magical" conception of the universe.(35) The first magicians were those +who attained a special knowledge of healing or poisonous herbs; but +"virtue" of some sort being attributed to every natural object and +phenomenon, a kind of magical science, partly the child of true research, +partly of poetic imagination, partly of priestcraft, would in time spring +up, would be codified into rites and formulas, attached to special places +and objects, and represented by symbols. The whole subject has been +treated by Pliny in a remarkable passage which deserves quotation at +length: + +*Pliny on the Religion of Magic* + + + "Magic is one of the few things which it is important to discuss + at some length, were it only because, being the most delusive of + all the arts, it has everywhere and at all times been most + powerfully credited. Nor need it surprise us that it has obtained + so vast an influence, for it has united in itself the three arts + which have wielded the most powerful sway over the spirit of man. + Springing in the first instance from Medicine--a fact which no one + can doubt--and under cover of a solicitude for our health, it has + glided into the mind, and taken the form of another medicine, more + holy and more profound. In the second place, bearing the most + seductive and flattering promises, it has enlisted the motive of + Religion, the subject on which, even at this day, mankind is most + in the dark. To crown all it has had recourse to the art of + Astrology; and every man is eager to know the future and convinced + that this knowledge is most certainly to be obtained from the + heavens. Thus, holding the minds of men enchained in this triple + bond, it has extended its sway over many nations, and the Kings of + Kings obey it in the East. + + +"In the East, doubtless, it was invented--in Persia and by Zoroaster.(36) +All the authorities agree in this. But has there not been more than one +Zoroaster?... I have noticed that in ancient times, and indeed almost +always, one finds men seeking in this science the climax of literary +glory--at least Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato crossed the +seas, exiles, in truth, rather than travellers, to instruct themselves in +this. Returning to their native land, they vaunted the claims of magic and +maintained its secret doctrine.... In the Latin nations there are early +traces of it, as, for instance, in our Laws of the Twelve Tables(37) and +other monuments, as I have said in a former book. In fact, it was not +until the year 657 after the foundation of Rome, under the consulate of +Cornelius Lentulus Crassus, that it was forbidden by a _senatus consultum_ +to sacrifice human beings; a fact which proves that up to this date these +horrible sacrifices were made. The Gauls have been captivated by it, and +that even down to our own times, for it was the Emperor Tiberius who +suppressed the Druids and all the herd of prophets and medicine-men. But +what is the use of launching prohibitions against an art which has thus +traversed the ocean and penetrated even to the confines of Nature?" +(_Hist. Nat._ xxx.) + +Pliny adds that the first person whom he can ascertain to have written on +this subject was Osthanes, who accompanied Xerxes in his war against the +Greeks, and who propagated the "germs of his monstrous art" wherever he +went in Europe. + +Magic was not--so Pliny believed--indigenous either in Greece or in Italy, +but was so much at home in Britain and conducted with such elaborate +ritual that Pliny says it would almost seem as if it was they who had +taught it to the Persians, not the Persians to them. + +*Traces of Magic in Megalithic Monuments* + +The imposing relics of their cult which the Megalithic People have left us +are full of indications of their religion. Take, for instance, the +remarkable tumulus of Mané-er-H'oeck, in Brittany. This monument was +explored in 1864 by M. René Galles, who describes it as absolutely +intact--the surface of the earth unbroken, and everything as the builders +left it.(38) At the entrance to the rectangular chamber was a sculptured +slab, on which was graven a mysterious sign, perhaps the totem of a chief. +Immediately on entering the chamber was found a beautiful pendant in green +jasper about the size of an egg. On the floor in the centre of the chamber +was a most singular arrangement, consisting of a large ring of jadite, +slightly oval in shape, with a magnificent axe-head, also of jadite, its +point resting on the ring. The axe was a well-known symbol of power or +godhead, and is frequently found in rock-carvings of the Bronze Age, as +well as in Egyptian hieroglyphs, Minoan carvings, &c. At a little distance +from these there lay two large pendants of jasper, then an axe-head in +white jade,(39) then another jasper pendant. All these objects were ranged +with evident intention _en suite_, forming a straight line which coincided +exactly with one of the diagonals of the chamber, running from north-west +to south-east. In one of the corners of the chamber were found 101 +axe-heads in jade, jadite, and fibrolite. There were no traces of bones or +cinders, no funerary urn; the structure was a cenotaph. "Are we not here," +asks Bertrand, "in presence of some ceremony relating to the practices of +magic?" + +*Chiromancy at Gavr'inis* + +In connexion with the great sepulchral monument of Gavr'inis a very +curious observation was made by M. Albert Maitre, an inspector of the +Musée des Antiquités Nationales. There were found here--as commonly in +other megalithic monuments in Ireland and Scotland--a number of stones +sculptured with a singular and characteristic design in waving and +concentric lines. Now if the curious lines traced upon the human hand at +the roots and tips of the fingers be examined under a lens, it will be +found that they bear an exact resemblance to these designs of megalithic +sculpture. One seems almost like a cast of the other. These lines on the +human hand are so distinct and peculiar that, as is well known, they have +been adopted as a method of identification of criminals. Can this +resemblance be the result of chance? Nothing like these peculiar +assemblages of sculptured lines has ever been found except in connexion +with these monuments. Have we not here a reference to chiromancy--a magical +art much practised in ancient and even in modern times? The hand as a +symbol of power was a well-known magical emblem, and has entered largely +even into Christian symbolism--note, for instance, the great hand +sculptured on the under side of one of the arms of the Cross of Muiredach +at Monasterboice. + +[Stones from Brittany sculptured with Footprints, Axes, "Finger-markings," + &c.] + +Stones from Brittany sculptured with Footprints, Axes, "Finger-markings," + &c. + + _(Sergi)_ + + +*Holed Stones* + + [Dolmen at Trie, France] + + Dolmen at Trie, France + + _(After Gailhabaud)_ + + +Another singular and as yet unexplained feature which appears in many of +these monuments, from Western Europe to India, is the presence of a small +hole bored through one of the stones composing the chamber. Was it an +aperture intended for the spirit of the dead? or for offerings to them? or +the channel through which revelations from the spirit-world were supposed +to come to a priest or magician? or did it partake of all these +characters? Holed stones, not forming part of a dolmen, are, of course, +among the commonest relics of the ancient cult, and are still venerated +and used in practices connected with child-bearing, &c. Here we are +doubtless to interpret the emblem as a symbol of sex. + + [Dolmens in the Deccan, India] + + Dolmens in the Deccan, India + + _(After Meadows-Taylor)_ + + +*Stone-Worship* + +Besides the heavenly bodies, we find that rivers, trees, mountains, and +stones were all objects of veneration among this primitive people. +Stone-worship was particularly common, and is not so easily explained as +the worship directed toward objects possessing movement and vitality. +Possibly an explanation of the veneration attaching to great and isolated +masses of unhewn stone may be found in their resemblance to the artificial +dolmens and cromlechs.(40) No superstition has proved more enduring. In +A.D. 452 we find the Synod of Arles denouncing those who "venerate trees +and wells and stones," and the denunciation was repeated by Charlemagne, +and by numerous Synods and Councils down to recent times. Yet a drawing, +here reproduced, which was lately made on the spot by Mr. Arthur Bell(41) +shows this very act of worship still in full force in Brittany, and shows +the symbols and the sacerdotal organisation of Christianity actually +pressed into the service of this immemorial paganism. According to Mr. +Bell, the clergy take part in these performances with much reluctance, but +are compelled to do so by the force of local opinion. Holy wells, the +water of which is supposed to cure diseases, are still very common in +Ireland, and the cult of the waters of Lourdes may, in spite of its +adoption by the Church, be mentioned as a notable case in point on the +Continent. + + [Stone-worship at Locronan, Brittany] + + Stone-worship at Locronan, Brittany + + +*Cup-and-Ring Markings* + + [Cup-and-ring Markings from Scotland] + + Cup-and-ring Markings from Scotland + + (_After Sir J. Simpson_) + + +Another singular emblem, upon the meaning of which no light has yet been +thrown, occurs frequently in connexion with megalithic monuments. The +accompanying illustrations show examples of it. Cup-shaped hollows are +made in the surface of the stone, these are often surrounded with +concentric rings, and from the cup one or more radial lines are drawn to a +point outside the circumference of the rings. Occasionally a system of +cups are joined by these lines, but more frequently they end a little way +outside the widest of the rings. These strange markings are found in Great +Britain and Ireland, in Brittany, and at various places in India, where +they are called _mahadéos_.(42) I have also found a curious example--for +such it appears to be--in Dupaix' "Monuments of New Spain." It is +reproduced in Lord Kingsborough's "Antiquities of Mexico," vol. iv. On the +circular top of a cylindrical stone, known as the "Triumphal Stone," is +carved a central cup, with nine concentric circles round it, and a duct or +channel cut straight from the cup through all the circles to the rim. +Except that the design here is richly decorated and accurately drawn, it +closely resembles a typical European cup-and-ring marking. That these +markings mean something, and that, wherever they are found, they mean the +same thing, can hardly be doubted, but what that meaning is remains yet a +puzzle to antiquarians. The guess may perhaps be hazarded that they are +diagrams or plans of a megalithic sepulchre. The central hollow represents +the actual burial-place. The circles are the standing stones, fosses, and +ramparts which often surrounded it; and the line or duct drawn from the +centre outwards represents the subterranean approach to the sepulchre. The +apparent "avenue" intention of the duct is clearly brought out in the +varieties given below, which I take from Simpson. As the sepulchre was +also a holy place or shrine, the occurrence of a representation of it +among other carvings of a sacred character is natural enough; it would +seem symbolically to indicate that the place was holy ground. How far this +suggestion might apply to the Mexican example I am unable to say. + + [Varieties of Cup-and-ring Markings] + + Varieties of Cup-and-ring Markings + + +*The Tumulus at New Grange* + +One of the most important and richly sculptured of European megalithic +monuments is the great chambered tumulus of New Grange, on the northern +bank of the Boyne, in Ireland. This tumulus, and the others which occur in +its neighbourhood, appear in ancient Irish mythical literature in two +different characters, the union of which is significant. They are regarded +on the one hand as the dwelling-places of the _Sidhe_ (pronounced Shee), +or Fairy Folk, who represent, probably, the deities of the ancient Irish, +and they are also, traditionally, the burial-places of the Celtic High +Kings of pagan Ireland. The story of the burial of King Cormac, who was +supposed to have heard of the Christian faith long before it was actually +preached in Ireland by St. Patrick and who ordered that he should not be +buried at the royal cemetery by the Boyne, on account of its pagan +associations, points to the view that this place was the centre of a pagan +cult involving more than merely the interment of royal personages in its +precincts. Unfortunately these monuments are not intact; they were opened +and plundered by the Danes in the ninth century,(43) but enough evidence +remains to show that they were sepulchral in their origin, and were also +associated with the cult of a primitive religion. The most important of +them, the tumulus of New Grange, has been thoroughly explored and +described by Mr. George Coffey, keeper of the collection of Celtic +antiquities in the National Museum, Dublin.(44) It appears from the +outside like a large mound, or knoll, now overgrown with bushes. It +measures about 280 feet across, at its greatest diameter, and is about 44 +feet in height. Outside it there runs a wide circle of standing stones +originally, it would seem, thirty-five in number. Inside this circle is a +ditch and rampart, and on top of this rampart was laid a circular curb of +great stones 8 to 10 feet long, laid on edge, and confining what has +proved to be a huge mound of loose stones, now overgrown, as we have said, +with grass and bushes. It is in the interior of this mound that the +interest of the monument lies. Towards the end of the seventeenth century +some workmen who were getting road-material from the mound came across the +entrance to a passage which led into the interior, and was marked by the +fact that the boundary stone below it is richly carved with spirals and +lozenges. This entrance faces exactly south-east. The passage is formed of +upright slabs of unhewn stone roofed with similar slabs, and varies from +nearly 5 feet to 7 feet 10 inches in height; it is about 3 feet wide, and +runs for 62 feet straight into the heart of the mound. Here it ends in a +cruciform chamber, 20 feet high, the roof, a kind of dome, being formed of +large flat stones, overlapping inwards till they almost meet at the top, +where a large flat stone covers all. In each of the three recesses of the +cruciform chamber there stands a large stone basin, or rude sarcophagus, +but not traces of any burial now remains. + +*Symbolic Carvings at New Grange* + +The stones are all raw and undressed, and were selected for their purpose +from the river-bed and elsewhere close by. On their flat surfaces, +obtained by splitting slabs from the original quarries, are found the +carvings which form the unique interest of this strange monument. Except +for the large stone with spiral carvings and one other at the entrance to +the mound, the intention of these sculptures does not appear to have been +decorative, except in a very rude and primitive sense. There is no attempt +to cover a given surface with a system of ornament appropriate to its size +and shape. The designs are, as it were, scribbled upon the walls anyhow +and anywhere.(45) Among them everywhere the spiral is prominent. The +resemblance of some of these carvings to the supposed finger-markings of +the stones at Gavr'inis is very remarkable. Triple and double spiral are +also found, as well as lozenges and zigzags. A singular carving +representing what looks like a palm-branch or fern-leaf is found in the +west recess. The drawing of this object is naturalistic, and it is hard to +interpret it, as Mr. Coffey is inclined to do, as merely a piece of +so-called "herring-bone" pattern.(46) A similar palm-leaf design, but with +the ribs arranged at right angles to the central axis, is found in the +neighbouring tumulus of Dowth, at Loughcrew, and in combination with a +solar emblem, the swastika, on a small altar in the Pyrenees, figured by +Bertrand. + + [Entrance to Tumulus at New Grange] + + Entrance to Tumulus at New Grange + + Photograph by R. Welch, Belfast + + +*The Ship Symbol at New Grange* + +Another remarkable and, as far as Ireland goes, unusual figure is found +sculptured in the west recess at New Grange. It has been interpreted by +various critics as a mason's mark, a piece of Phoenician writing, a group +of numerals, and finally (and no doubt correctly) by Mr. George Coffey as +a rude representation of a ship with men on board and uplifted sail. It is +noticeable that just above it is a small circle, forming, apparently, part +of the design. Another example occurs at Dowth. + + [Solar Ship (with Sail?) from New Grange, Ireland] + + Solar Ship (with Sail?) from New Grange, Ireland + + +The significance of this marking, as we shall see, is possibly very great. +It has been discovered that on certain stones in the tumulus of +Locmariaker, in Brittany,(47) there occur a number of very similar +figures, one of them showing the circle in much the same relative position +as at New Grange. The axe, an Egyptian hieroglyph for godhead and a +well-known magical emblem, is also represented on this stone. Again, in a +brochure by Dr. Oscar Montelius on the rock-sculptures of Sweden(48) we +find a reproduction (also given in Du Chaillu's "Viking Age") of a rude +rock-carving showing a number of ships with men on board, and the circle +quartered by a cross--unmistakably a solar emblem--just above one of them. +That these ships (which, like the Irish example, are often so summarily +represented as to be mere symbols which no one could identifiy as a ship +were the clue not given by other and more elaborate representations) were +drawn so frequently in conjunction with the solar disk merely for +amusement or for a purely decorative object seems to me most improbable. +In the days of the megalithic folk a sepulchral monument, the very focus +of religious ideas, would hardly have been covered with idle and +meaningless scrawls. "Man," as Sir J. Simpson has well said, "has ever +conjoined together things sacred and things sepulchral." Nor do these +scrawls, in the majority of instances, show any glimmering of a decorative +intention. But if they had a symbolic intention, what is it that they +symbolise? + + [Solar Ship from Loc mariaker, Brittany] + + Solar Ship from Loc mariaker, Brittany + + (_After Ferguson_) + + + [Solar Ship from Hallande, Sweden] + + Solar Ship from Hallande, Sweden + + (_After Montelius_) + + +*The Ship Symbol in Egypt* + +Now this symbol of the ship, with or without the actual portrayal of the +solar emblem, is of very ancient and very common occurrence in the +sepulchral art of Egypt. It is connected with the worship of Ra, which +came in fully 4000 years B.C. Its meaning as an Egyptian symbol is well +known. The ship was called the Boat of the Sun. It was the vessel in which +the Sun-god performed his journeys; in particular, the journey which he +made nightly to the shores of the Other-world, bearing with him in his +bark the souls of the beatified dead. The Sun-god, Ra, is sometimes +represented by a disk, sometimes by other emblems, hovering above the +vessel or contained within it. Any one who will look over the painted or +sculptured sarcophagi in the British Museum will find a host of examples. +Sometimes he will find representations of the life-giving rays of Ra +pouring down upon the boat and its occupants. Now, in one of the Swedish +rock-carvings of ships at Backa, Bohuslän, given by Montelius, a ship +crowded with figures is shown beneath a disk with three descending rays, +and again another ship with a two-rayed sun above it. It may be added that +in the tumulus of Dowth, which is close to that of New Grange and is +entirely of the same character and period, rayed figures and quartered +circles, obviously solar emblems, occur abundantly, as also at Loughcrew +and other places in Ireland, and one other ship figure has been identified +at Dowth + + [Egyptian Solar Bark, XXII Dynasty] + + Egyptian Solar Bark, XXII Dynasty + + (_British Museum_) + + + [Egyptian Solar Bark, with god Khnemu and attendant deities] + + Egyptian Solar Bark, with god Khnemu and attendant deities + + (_British Museum_) + + +In Egypt the solar boat is sometimes represented as containing the solar +emblem alone, sometimes it contains the figure of a god with attendant +deities, sometimes it contains a crowd of passengers representing human +souls, and sometimes the figure of a single corpse on a bier. The +megalithic carvings also sometimes show the solar emblem and sometimes +not; the boats are sometimes filled with figures and are sometimes empty. +When a symbol has once been accepted and understood, any conventional or +summary representation of it is sufficient. I take it that the complete +form of the megalithic symbol is that of a boat with figures in it and +with the solar emblem overhead. These figures, assuming the foregoing +interpretation of the design to be correct, must clearly be taken for +representations of the dead on their way to the Other-world. They cannot +be deities, for representations of the divine powers under human aspect +were quite unknown to the Megalithic People, even after the coming of the +Celts--they first occur in Gaul under Roman influence. But if these figures +represent the dead, then we have clearly before us the origin of the +so-called "Celtic" doctrine of immortality. The carvings in question are +pre-Celtic. They are found where no Celts ever penetrated. Yet they point +to the existence of just that Other-world doctrine which, from the time of +Cæsar downwards, has been associated with Celtic Druidism, and this +doctrine was distinctively Egyptian. + +[Egyptian Bark, with figure of Ra holding an Ankh, enclosed in Solar Disk. + XIX Dynasty] + + Egyptian Bark, with figure of Ra holding an _Ankh_, enclosed in Solar + Disk. XIX Dynasty + + (_British Museum_) + + +*The **"**Navetas**"* + +In connexion with this subject I may draw attention to the theory of Mr. +W.C. Borlase that the typical design of an Irish dolmen was intended to +represent a ship. In Minorca there are analogous structures, there +popularly called _navetas_ (ships), so distinct is the resemblance. But, +he adds, "long before the caves and _navetas_ of Minorca were known to me +I had formed the opinion that what I have so frequently spoken of as the +'wedge-shape' observable so universally in the ground-plans of dolmens was +due to an original conception of a ship. From sepulchral tumuli in +Scandinavia we know actual vessels have on several occasions been +disinterred. In cemeteries of the Iron Age, in the same country, as well +as on the more southern Baltic coasts, the ship was a recognised form of +sepulchral enclosure."(49) If Mr. Borlase's view is correct, we have here +a very strong corroboration of the symbolic intention which I attribute to +the solar ship-carvings of the Megalithic People. + +*The Ship Symbol in Babylonia* + +The ship symbol, it may be remarked, can be traced to about 4000 B.C. in +Babylonia, where every deity had his own special ship (that of the god Sin +was called the Ship of Light), his image being carried in procession on a +litter formed like a ship. This is thought by Jastrow(50) to have +originated at a time when the sacred cities of Babylonia were situated on +the Persian Gulf, and when religious processions were often carried out by +water. + +*The Symbol of the Feet* + +Yet there is reason to think that some of these symbols were earlier than +any known mythology, and were, so to say, mythologised differently by +different peoples, who got hold of them from this now unknown source. A +remarkable instance is that of the symbol of the Two Feet. In Egypt the +Feet of Osiris formed one of the portions into which his body was cut up, +in the well-known myth. They were a symbol of possession or of visitation. +"I have come upon earth," says the "Book of the Dead" (ch. xvii.), "and +with my two feet have taken possession, I am Tmu." Now this symbol of the +feet or footprint is very widespread. It is found in India, as the print +of the foot of Buddha,(51) it is found sculptured on dolmens in +Brittany,(52) and it occurs in rock-carvings in Scandinavia.(53) In +Ireland it passes for the footprints of St. Patrick or St. Columba. +Strangest of all, it is found unmistakably in Mexico.(54) Tyler, in his +"Primitive Culture" (ii. p. 197) refers to "the Aztec ceremony at the +Second Festival of the Sun God, Tezcatlipoca, when they sprinkled maize +flour before his sanctuary, and his high priest watched till he beheld the +divine footprints, and then shouted to announce, 'Our Great God is +come.' " + + [The Two Feet Symbol] + + The Two Feet Symbol + + +*The *_Ankh_* on Megalithic Carvings* + +There is very strong evidence of the connexion of the Megalithic People +with North Africa. Thus, as Sergi points out, many signs (probably +numerical) found on ivory tablets in the cemetery at Naqada discovered by +Flinders Petrie are to be met with on European dolmens. Several later +Egyptian hieroglyphic signs, including the famous _Ankh_, or _crux +ansata_, the symbol of vitality or resurrection, are also found in +megalithic carvings.(55) From these correspondences Letourneau drew the +conclusion "that the builders of our megalithic monuments came from the +South, and were related to the races of North Africa."(56) + + [The Ankh] + + The _Ankh_ + + +*Evidence from Language* + +Approaching the subject from the linguistic side, Rhys and Brynmor Jones +find that the African origin--at least proximately--of the primitive +population of Great Britain and Ireland is strongly suggested. It is here +shown that the Celtic languages preserve in their syntax the Hamitic, and +especially the Egyptian type.(57) + +*Egyptian and **"**Celtic**"** Ideas of Immortality* + +The facts at present known do not, I think, justify us in framing any +theory as to the actual historical relation of the dolmen-builders of +Western Europe with the people who created the wonderful religion and +civilisation of ancient Egypt. But when we consider all the lines of +evidence that converge in this direction it seems clear that there was +such a relation. Egypt was the classic land of religious symbolism. It +gave to Europe the most beautiful and most popular of all its religious +symbols, that of the divine mother and child(58). I believe that it also +gave to the primitive inhabitants of Western Europe the profound symbol of +the voyaging spirits guided to the world of the dead by the God of Light. + +The religion of Egypt, above that of any people whose ideas we know to +have been developed in times so ancient, centred on the doctrine of a +future life. The palatial and stupendous tombs, the elaborate ritual, the +imposing mythology, the immense exaltation of the priestly caste, all +these features of Egyptian culture were intimately connected with their +doctrine of the immortality of the soul. + +To the Egyptian the disembodied soul was no shadowy simulacrum, as the +classical nations believed--the future life was a mere prolongation of the +present; the just man, when he had won his place in it, found himself +among his relatives, his friends, his workpeople, with tasks and +enjoyments very much like those of earth. The doom of the wicked was +annihilation; he fell a victim to the invisible monster called the Eater +of the Dead. + +Now when the classical nations first began to take an interest in the +ideas of the Celts the thing that principally struck them was the Celtic +belief in immortality, which the Gauls said was "handed down by the +Druids." The classical nations believed in immortality; but what a picture +does Homer, the Bible of the Greeks, give of the lost, degraded, +dehumanised creatures which represented the departed souls of men! Take, +as one example, the description of the spirits of the suitors slain by +Odysseus as Hermes conducts them to the Underworld: + +"Now were summoned the souls of the dead by Cyllenian Hermes.... +Touched by the wand they awoke, and obeyed him and followed him, + squealing, +Even as bats in the dark, mysterious depths of a cavern +Squeal as they flutter around, should one from the cluster be fallen +Where from the rock suspended they hung, all clinging together; +So did the souls flock squealing behind him, as Hermes the Helper +Guided them down to the gloom through dank and mouldering pathways."(59) + +The classical writers felt rightly that the Celtic idea of immortality was +something altogether different from this. It was both loftier and more +realistic; it implied a true persistence of the living man, as he was at +present, in all his human relations. They noted with surprise that the +Celt would lend money on a promissory note for repayment in the next +world.(60) That is an absolutely Egyptian conception. And this very +analogy occurred to Diodorus in writing of the Celtic idea of +immortality--it was like nothing that he knew of out of Egypt.(61) + +*The Doctrine of Transmigration* + +Many ancient writers assert that the Celtic idea of immortality embodied +the Oriental conception of the transmigration of souls, and to account for +this the hypothesis was invented that they had learned the doctrine from +Pythagoras, who represented it in classical antiquity. Thus Cæsar: "The +principal point of their [the Druids'] teaching is that the soul does not +perish, and that after death it passes from one body into another." And +Diodorus: "Among them the doctrine of Pythagoras prevails, according to +which the souls of men are immortal, and after a fixed term recommence to +live, taking upon themselves a new body." Now traces of this doctrine +certainly do appear in Irish legend. Thus the Irish chieftain, Mongan, who +is an historical personage, and whose death is recorded about A.D. 625, is +said to have made a wager as to the place of death of a king named Fothad, +slain in a battle with the mythical hero Finn mac Cumhal in the third +century. He proves his case by summoning to his aid a _revenant_ from the +Other-world, Keelta, who was the actual slayer of Fothad, and who +describes correctly where the tomb is to be found and what were its +contents. He begins his tale by saying to Mongan, "We were with thee," and +then, turning to the assembly, he continues: "We were with Finn, coming +from Alba...." "Hush," says Mongan, "it is wrong of thee to reveal a +secret." The secret is, of course, that Mongan was a reincarnation of +Finn.(62) But the evidence on the whole shows that the Celts did not hold +this doctrine at all in the same way as Pythagoras and the Orientals did. +Transmigration was not, with them, part of the order of things. It _might_ +happen, but in general it did not; the new body assumed by the dead +clothed them in another, not in this world, and so far as we can learn +from any ancient authority, there does not appear to have been any idea of +moral retribution connected with this form of the future life. It was not +so much an article of faith as an idea which haunted the imagination, and +which, as Mongan's caution indicates, ought not to be brought into clear +light. + +However it may have been conceived, it is certain that the belief in +immortality was the basis of Celtic Druidism.(63) Caesar affirms this +distinctly, and declares the doctrine to have been fostered by the Druids +rather for the promotion of courage than for purely religious reasons. An +intense Other-world faith, such as that held by the Celts, is certainly +one of the mightiest of agencies in the hands of a priesthood who hold the +keys of that world. Now Druidism existed in the British Islands, in Gaul, +and, in fact, so far as we know, wherever there was a Celtic race amid a +population of dolmen-builders. There were Celts in Cisalpine Gaul, but +there were no dolmens there, and there were no Druids.(64) What is quite +clear is that when the Celts got to Western Europe they found there a +people with a powerful priesthood, a ritual, and imposing religious +monuments; a people steeped in magic and mysticism and the cult of the +Underworld. The inferences, as I read the facts, seem to be that Druidism +in its essential features was imposed upon the imaginative and sensitive +nature of the Celt--the Celt with his "extraordinary aptitude" for picking +up ideas--by the earlier population of Western Europe, the Megalithic +People, while, as held by these, it stands in some historical relation, +which I am not able to pursue in further detail, with the religious +culture of ancient Egypt. Much obscurity still broods over the question, +and perhaps will always do so, but if these suggestions have anything in +them, then the Megalithic People have been brought a step or two out of +the atmosphere of uncanny mystery which has surrounded them, and they are +shown to have played a very important part in the religious development of +Western Europe, and in preparing that part of the world for the rapid +extension of the special type of Christianity which took place in it. +Bertrand, in his most interesting chapter on "L'Irlande Celtique,"(65) +points out that very soon after the conversion of Ireland to Christianity, +we find the country covered with monasteries, whose complete organisation +seems to indicate that they were really Druidic colleges transformed _en +masse_. Cæsar has told us what these colleges were like in Gaul. They were +very numerous. In spite of the severe study and discipline involved, +crowds flocked into them for the sake of the power wielded by the Druidic +order, and the civil immunities which its members of all grades enjoyed. +Arts and sciences were studied there, and thousands of verses enshrining +the teachings of Druidism were committed to memory. All this is very like +what we know of Irish Druidism. Such an organisation would pass into +Christianity of the type established in Ireland with very little +difficulty. The belief in magical rites would survive--early Irish +Christianity, as its copious hagiography plainly shows, was as steeped in +magical ideas as ever was Druidic paganism. The belief in immortality +would remain, as before, the cardinal doctrine of religion. Above all the +supremacy of the sacerdotal order over the temporal power would remain +unimpaired; it would still be true, as Dion Chrysostom said of the Druids, +that "it is they who command, and kings on thrones of gold, dwelling in +splendid palaces, are but their ministers, and the servants of their +thought."(66) + +*Cæsar on the Druidic Culture* + +The religious, philosophic, and scientific culture superintended by the +Druids is spoken of by Cæsar with much respect. "They discuss and impart +to the youth," he writes, "many things respecting the stars and their +motions, respecting the extent of the universe and of our earth, +respecting the nature of things, respecting the power and the majesty of +the immortal gods" (bk. vi. 14). We would give much to know some +particulars of the teaching here described. But the Druids, though well +acquainted with letters, strictly forbade the committal of their doctrines +to writing; an extremely sagacious provision, for not only did they thus +surround their teaching with that atmosphere of mystery which exercises so +potent a spell over the human mind, but they ensured that it could never +be effectively controverted. + +*Human Sacrifices in Gaul* + +In strange discord, however, with the lofty words of Cæsar stands the +abominable practice of human sacrifice whose prevalence he noted among the +Celts. Prisoners and criminals, or if these failed even innocent victims, +probably children, were encased, numbers at a time, in huge frames of +wickerwork, and there burned alive to win the favour of the gods. The +practice of human sacrifice is, of course, not specially Druidic--it is +found in all parts both of the Old and of the New World at a certain stage +of culture, and was doubtless a survival from the time of the Megalithic +People. The fact that it should have continued in Celtic lands after an +otherwise fairly high state of civilisation and religious culture had been +attained can be paralleled from Mexico and Carthage, and in both cases is +due, no doubt, to the uncontrolled dominance of a priestly caste. + +*Human Sacrifices in Ireland* + +Bertrand endeavours to dissociate the Druids from these practices, of +which he says strangely there is "no trace" in Ireland, although there, as +elsewhere in Celtica, Druidism was all-powerful. There is little doubt, +however, that in Ireland also human sacrifices at one time prevailed. In a +very ancient tract, the "Dinnsenchus," preserved in the "Book of +Leinster," it is stated that on Moyslaught, "the Plain of Adoration," +there stood a great gold idol, Crom Cruach (the Bloody Crescent). To it +the Gaels used to sacrifice children when praying for fair weather and +fertility--"it was milk and corn they asked from it in exchange for their +children--how great was their horror and their moaning!"(67) + +*And in Egypt* + +In Egypt, where the national character was markedly easy-going, +pleasure-loving, and little capable of fanatical exaltation, we find no +record of any such cruel rites in the monumental inscriptions and +paintings, copious as is the information which they give us on all +features of the national life and religion.(68) Manetho, indeed, the +Egyptian historian who wrote in the third century B.C., tells us that +human sacrifices were abolished by Amasis I. so late as the beginning of +the XVIII Dynasty--about 1600 B.C. But the complete silence of the other +records shows us that even if we are to believe Manetho, the practice must +in historic times have been very rare, and must have been looked on with +repugnance. + +*The Names of Celtic Deities* + +What were the names and the attributes of the Celtic deities? Here we are +very much in the dark. The Megalithic People did not imagine their deities +under concrete personal form. Stones, rivers, wells, trees, and other +natural objects were to them the adequate symbols, or were half symbols, +half actual embodiments, of the supernatural forces which they venerated. +But the imaginative mind of the Aryan Celt was not content with this. The +existence of personal gods with distinct titles and attributes is reported +to us by Caesar, who equates them with various figures in the Roman +pantheon--Mercury, Apollo, Mars, and so forth. Lucan mentions a triad of +deities, Æsus, Teutates, and Taranus(69); and it is noteworthy that in +these names we seem to be in presence of a true Celtic, _i.e._, Aryan, +tradition. Thus Æsus is derived by Belloguet from the Aryan root _as_, +meaning "to be", which furnished the name of Asura-masda (_l'Esprit Sage_) +to the Persians, Æsun to the Umbrians, Asa (Divine Being) to the +Scandinavians. Teutates comes from a Celtic root meaning "valiant", +"warlike", and indicates a deity equivalent to Mars. Taranus (? Thor), +according to de Jubainville, is a god of the Lightning (_taran_ in Welsh, +Cornish, and Breton is the word for "thunderbolt"). Votive inscriptions to +these gods have been found in Gaul and Britain. Other inscriptions and +sculptures bear testimony to the existence in Gaul of a host of minor and +local deities who are mostly mere names, or not even names, to us now. In +the form in which we have them these conceptions bear clear traces of +Roman influence. The sculptures are rude copies of the Roman style of +religious art. But we meet among them figures of much wilder and stranger +aspect--gods with triple faces, gods with branching antlers on their brows, +ram-headed serpents, and other now unintelligible symbols of the older +faith. Very notable is the frequent occurrence of the cross-legged +"Buddha" attitude so prevalent in the religious art of the East and of +Mexico, and also the tendency, so well known in Egypt, to group the gods +in triads. + +*Caesar on the Celtic Deities* + +Caesar, who tries to fit the Gallic religion into the framework of Roman +mythology--which was exactly what the Gauls themselves did after the +conquest--says they held Mercury to be the chief of the gods, and looked +upon him as the inventor of all the arts, as the presiding deity of +commerce, and as the guardian of roads and guide of travellers. One may +conjecture that he was particularly, to the Gauls as to the Romans, the +guide of the dead, of travellers to the Other-world, Many bronze statues +to Mercury, of Gaulish origin, still remain, the name being adopted by the +Gauls, as many place-names still testify(70). Apollo was regarded as the +deity of medicine and healing, Minerva was the initiator of arts and +crafts, Jupiter governed the sky, and Mars presided over war. Cæsar is +here, no doubt, classifying under five types and by Roman names a large +number of Gallic divinities. + +*The God of the Underworld* + +According to Cæsar, a most notable deity of the Gauls was (in Roman +nomenclature) Dis, or Pluto, the god of the Underworld inhabited by the +dead. From him all the Gauls claimed to be descended, and on this account, +says Cæsar, they began their reckoning of the twenty-four hours of the day +with the oncoming of night.(71) The name of this deity is not given. +D'Arbois de Jubainville considers that, together with Æsus, Teutates, +Taranus, and, in Irish mythology, Balor and the Fomorians, he represents +the powers of darkness, death, and evil, and Celtic mythology is thus +interpreted as a variant of the universal solar myth, embodying the +conception of the eternal conflict between Day and Night. + +*The God of Light* + +The God of Light appears in Gaul and in Ireland as Lugh, or Lugus, who has +left his traces in many place-names such as _Lug-dunum_ (Leyden), Lyons, +&c. Lugh appears in Irish legend with distinctly solar attributes. When he +meets his army before the great conflict with the Fomorians, they feel, +says the saga, as if they beheld the rising of the sun. Yet he is also, as +we shall see, a god of the Underworld, belonging on the side of his mother +Ethlinn, daughter of Balor, to the Powers of Darkness. + +*The Celtic Conception of Death* + +The fact is that the Celtic conception of the realm of death differed +altogether from that of the Greeks and Romans, and, as I have already +pointed out, resembled that of Egyptian religion. The Other-world was not +a place of gloom and suffering, but of light and liberation. The Sun was +as much the god of that world as he was or this. Evil, pain, and gloom +there were, no doubt, and no doubt these principles were embodied by the +Irish Celts in their myths of Balor and the Fomorians, of which we shall +hear anon; but that they were particularly associated with the idea of +death is, I think, a false supposition founded on misleading analogies +drawn from the ideas of the classical nations. Here the Celts followed +North African or Asiatic conceptions rather than those of the Aryans of +Europe. It is only by realising that the Celts as we know them in history, +from the break-up of the Mid-European Celtic empire onwards, formed a +singular blend of Aryan with non-Aryan characteristics, that we shall +arrive at a true understanding of their contribution to European history +and their influence in European culture. + +*The Five Factors in Ancient Celtic Culture* + +To sum up the conclusions indicated: we can, I think, distinguish five +distinct factors in the religious and intellectual culture of Celtic lands +as we find them prior to the influx of classical or of Christian +influences. First, we have before us a mass of popular superstitions and +of magical observances, including human sacrifice. These varied more or +less from place to place, centring as they did largely on local features +which were regarded as embodiments or vehicles of divine or of diabolic +power. Secondly, there was certainly in existence a thoughtful and +philosophic creed, having as its central object of worship the Sun, as an +emblem of divine power and constancy, and as its central doctrine the +immortality of the soul. Thirdly, there was a worship of personified +deities, Æsus, Teutates, Lugh, and others, conceived as representing +natural forces, or as guardians of social laws. Fourthly, the Romans were +deeply impressed with the existence among the Druids of a body of teaching +of a quasi-scientific nature about natural phenomena and the constitution +of the universe, of the details of which we unfortunately know practically +nothing. Lastly, we have to note the prevalence of a sacerdotal +organisation, which administered the whole system of religious and of +secular learning and literature,(72) which carefully confined this +learning to a privileged caste, and which, by virtue of its intellectual +supremacy and of the atmosphere of religious awe with which it was +surrounded, became the sovran power, social, political, and religious, in +every Celtic country. I have spoken of these elements as distinct, and we +can, indeed, distinguish them in thought, but in practice they were +inextricably intertwined, and the Druidic organisation pervaded and +ordered all. Can we now, it may be asked, distinguish among them what is +of Celtic and what of pre-Celtic and probably non-Aryan origin? This is a +more difficult task; yet, looking at all the analogies and probabilities, +I think we shall not be far wrong in assigning to the Megalithic People +the special doctrines, the ritual, and the sacerdotal organisation of +Druidism, and to the Celtic element the personified deities, with the zest +for learning and for speculation; while the popular superstitions were +merely the local form assumed by conceptions as widespread as the human +race. + +*The Celts of To-day* + +In view of the undeniably mixed character of the populations called +"Celtic" at the present day, it is often urged that this designation has +no real relation to any ethnological fact. The Celts who fought with +Caesar in Gaul and with the English in Ireland are, it is said, no +more--they have perished on a thousand battlefields from Alesia to the +Boyne, and an older racial stratum has come to the surface in their place. +The true Celts, according to this view, are only to be found in the tall, +ruddy Highlanders of Perthshire and North-west Scotland, and in a few +families of the old ruling race still surviving in Ireland and in Wales. +In all this I think it must be admitted that there is a large measure of +truth. Yet it must not be forgotten that the descendants of the Megalithic +People at the present day are, on the physical side, deeply impregnated +with Celtic blood, and on the spiritual with Celtic traditions and ideals. +Nor, again, in discussing these questions of race-character and its +origin, must it ever be assumed that the character of a people can be +analysed as one analyses a chemical compound, fixing once for all its +constituent parts and determining its future behaviour and destiny. +Race-character, potent and enduring though it be, is not a dead thing, +cast in an iron mould, and thereafter incapable of change and growth. It +is part of the living forces of the world; it is plastic and vital; it has +hidden potencies which a variety of causes, such as a felicitous cross +with a different, but not too different, stock, or--in another sphere--the +adoption of a new religious or social ideal, may at any time unlock and +bring into action. + +Of one thing I personally feel convinced--that the problem of the ethical, +social, and intellectual development of the people constituting what is +called the "Celtic Fringe" in Europe ought to be worked for on Celtic +lines; by the maintenance of the Celtic tradition, Celtic literature, +Celtic speech--the encouragement, in short, of all those Celtic affinities +of which this mixed race is now the sole conscious inheritor and guardian. +To these it will respond, by these it can be deeply moved; nor has the +harvest ever failed those who with courage and faith have driven their +plough into this rich field. On the other hand, if this work is to be done +with success it must be done in no pedantic, narrow, intolerant spirit; +there must be no clinging to the outward forms of the past simply because +the Celtic spirit once found utterance in them. Let it be remembered that +in the early Middle Ages Celts from Ireland were the most notable +explorers, the most notable pioneers of religion, science, and speculative +thought in Europe.(73) Modern investigators have traced their footprints +of light over half the heathen continent, and the schools of Ireland were +thronged with foreign pupils who could get learning nowhere else. The +Celtic spirit was then playing its true part in the world-drama, and a +greater it has never played. The legacy of these men should be cherished +indeed, but not as a museum curiosity; nothing could be more opposed to +their free, bold, adventurous spirit than to let that legacy petrify in +the hands of those who claim the heirship or their name and fame. + +*The Mythical Literature* + +After the sketch contained in this and the foregoing chapter of the early +history of the Celts, and of the forces which have moulded it, we shall +now turn to give an account of the mythical and legendary literature in +which their spirit most truly lives and shines. We shall not here concern +ourselves with any literature which is not Celtic. With all that other +peoples have made--as in the Arthurian legends--of myths and tales +originally Celtic, we have here nothing to do. No one can now tell how +much is Celtic in them and how much is not. And in matters of this kind it +is generally the final recasting that is of real importance and value. +Whatever we give, then, we give without addition or reshaping. Stories, of +course, have often to be summarised, but there shall be nothing in them +that did not come direct from the Celtic mind, and that does not exist +to-day in some variety, Gaelic or Cymric, of the Celtic tongue. + + + + + +CHAPTER III: THE IRISH INVASION MYTHS + + +*The Celtic Cosmogony* + +Among those secret doctrines about the "nature of things" which, as Cæsar +tells us, the Druids never would commit to writing, was there anything in +the nature of a cosmogony, any account of the origin of the world and of +man? There surely was. It would be strange indeed if, alone among the +races of the world, the Celts had no world-myth. The spectacle of the +universe with all its vast and mysterious phenomena in heaven and on earth +has aroused, first the imagination, afterwards the speculative reason, in +every people which is capable of either. The Celts had both in abundance, +yet, except for that one phrase about the "indestructibility" of the world +handed down to us by Strabo, we know nothing of their early imaginings or +their reasonings on this subject. Ireland possesses a copious legendary +literature. All of this, no doubt, assumed its present form in Christian +times; yet so much essential paganism has been allowed to remain in it +that it would be strange if Christian influences had led to the excision +of everything in these ancient texts that pointed to a non-Christian +conception of the origin of things--if Christian editors and transmitters +had never given us even the least glimmer of the existence of such a +conception. Yet the fact is that they do not give it; there is nothing in +the most ancient legendary literature of the Irish Gaels, which is the +oldest Celtic literature in existence, corresponding to the Babylonian +conquest of Chaos, or the wild Norse myth of the making of Midgard out of +the corpse of Ymir, or the Egyptian creation of the universe out of the +primeval Water by Thoth, the Word of God, or even to the primitive +folklore conceptions found in almost every savage tribe. That the Druids +had some doctrine on this subject it is impossible to doubt. But, by +resolutely confining it to the initiated and forbidding all lay +speculation on the subject, they seem to have completely stifled the +mythmaking instinct in regard to questions of cosmogony among the people +at large, and ensured that when their own order perished, their teaching, +whatever it was, should die with them. + +In the early Irish accounts, therefore, of the beginnings of things, we +find that it is not with the World that the narrators make their start--it +is simply with their own country, with Ireland. It was the practice, +indeed, to prefix to these narratives of early invasions and colonisations +the Scriptural account of the making of the world and man, and this shows +that something of the kind was felt to be required; but what took the +place of the Biblical narrative in pre-Christian days we do not know, and, +unfortunately, are now never likely to know. + +*The Cycles of Irish Legend* + +Irish mythical and legendary literature, as we have it in the most ancient +form, may be said to fall into four main divisions, and to these we shall +adhere in our presentation of it in this volume. They are, in +chronological order, the Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Invasions, +the Ultonian or Conorian Cycle, the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle, and a +multitude of miscellaneous tales and legends which it is hard to fit into +any historical framework. + +*The Mythological Cycle* + +The Mythological Cycle comprises the following sections: + +1. The coming of Partholan into Ireland. +2. The coming of Nemed into Ireland. +3. The coming of the Firbolgs into Ireland. +4. The invasion of the _Tuatha De Danann_, or People of the god Dana. +5. The invasion of the Milesians (Sons of Miled) from Spain, and their + conquest of the People of Dana. + +With the Milesians we begin to come into something resembling history--they +represent, in Irish legend, the Celtic race; and from them the ruling +families of Ireland are supposed to be descended. The People of Dana are +evidently gods. The pre-Danaan settlers or invaders are huge phantom-like +figures, which loom vaguely through the mists of tradition, and have +little definite characterisation. The accounts which are given of them are +many and conflicting, and out of these we can only give here the more +ancient narratives. + +*The Coming of Partholan* + +The Celts, as we have learned from Caesar, believed themselves to be +descended from the God of the Underworld, the God of the Dead. Partholan +is said to have come into Ireland from the West, where beyond the vast, +unsailed Atlantic Ocean the Irish Fairyland, the Land of the +Living--_i.e._, the land of the Happy Dead-- was placed. His father's name +was Sera (? the West). He came with his queen Dalny(74) and a number of +companions of both sexes. Ireland--and this is an imaginative touch +intended to suggest extreme antiquity--was then a different country, +physically, from what it is now. There were then but three lakes in +Ireland, nine rivers, and only one plain. Others were added gradually +during the reign of the Partholanians. One, Lake Rury, was said to have +burst out as a grave was being dug for Rury, son of Partholan. + +*The Fomorians* + +The Partholanians, it is said, had to do battle with a strange race, +called the Fomorians, of whom we shall hear much in later sections of this +book. They were a huge, misshapen, violent and cruel people, representing, +we may believe, the powers of evil. One of these was surnamed _Cenchos_, +which means The Footless, and thus appears to be related to Vitra, the God +of Evil in Vedantic mythology, who had neither feet nor hands. With a host +of these demons Partholan fought for the lordship of Ireland, and drove +them out to the northern seas, whence they occasionally harried the +country under its later rulers. + +The end of the race of Partholan was that they were afflicted by +pestilence, and having gathered together on the Old Plain (Senmag) for +convenience of burying their dead, they all perished there; and Ireland +once more lay empty for reoccupation. + +*The Legend of Tuan mac Carell* + +Who, then, told the tale? This brings us to the mention of a very curious +and interesting legend--one of the numerous legendary narratives in which +these tales of the Mythical Period have come down to us. It is found in +the so-called "Book of the Dun Cow," a manuscript of about the year A.D. +1100, and is entitled "The Legend of Tuan mac Carell." + +St. Finnen, an Irish abbot of the sixth century, is said to have gone to +seek hospitality from a chief named Tuan mac Carell, who dwelt not far +from Finnen's monastery at Moville, Co. Donegal. Tuan refused him +admittance. The saint sat down on the doorstep of the chief and fasted for +a whole Sunday,(75) upon which the surly pagan warrior opened the door to +him. Good relations were established between them, and the saint returned +to his monks. + +"Tuan is an excellent man," said he to them; "he will come to you and +comfort you, and tell you the old stories of Ireland."(76) + +This humane interest in the old myths and legends of the country is, it +may here be observed, a feature as constant as it is pleasant in the +literature of early Irish Christianity. + +Tuan came shortly afterwards to return the visit of the saint, and invited +him and his disciples to his fortress. They asked him of his name and +lineage, and he gave an astounding reply. "I am a man of Ulster," he said. +"My name is Tuan son of Carell. But once I was called Tuan son of Starn, +son of Sera, and my father, Starn, was the brother of Partholan." + +"Tell us the history of Ireland," then said Finnen, and Tuan began. +Partholan, he said, was the first of men to settle in Ireland. After the +great pestilence already narrated he alone survived, "for there is never a +slaughter that one man does not come out of it to tell the tale." Tuan was +alone in the land, and he wandered about from one vacant fortress to +another, from rock to rock, seeking shelter from the wolves. For +twenty-two years he lived thus alone, dwelling in waste places, till at +last he fell into extreme decrepitude and old age. + + + "Then Nemed son of Agnoman took possession of Ireland. He + [Agnoman] was my father's brother. I saw him from the cliffs, and + kept avoiding him. I was long-haired, clawed, decrepit, grey, + naked, wretched, miserable. Then one evening I fell asleep, and + when I woke again on the morrow I was changed into a stag. I was + young again and glad of heart. Then I sang of the coming of Nemed + and of his race, and of my own transformation.... 'I have put on a + new form, a skin rough and grey. Victory and joy are easy to me; a + little while ago I was weak and defenceless.' " + + +Tuan is then king of all the deer of Ireland, and so remained all the days +of Nemed and his race. + +He tells how the Nemedians sailed for Ireland in a fleet of thirty-two +barks, in each bark thirty persons. They went astray on the seas for a +year and a half, and most of them perished of hunger and thirst or of +shipwreck. Nine only escaped--Nemed himself, with four men and four women. +These landed in Ireland, and increased their numbers in the course of time +till they were 8060 men and women. Then all of them mysteriously died. + +Again old age and decrepitude fell upon Tuan, but another transformation +awaited him. "Once I was standing at the mouth of my cave--I still remember +it --and I knew that my body changed into another form. I was a wild boar. +And I sang this song about it: + + + " 'To-day I am a boar.... Time was when I sat in the assembly that + gave the judgments of Partholan. It was sung, and all praised the + melody. How pleasant was the strain of my brilliant judgment! How + pleasant to the comely young women! My chariot went along in + majesty and beauty. My voice was grave and sweet. My step was + swift and firm in battle. My face was full of charm. To-day, lo! I + am changed into a black boar.' + + +"That is what I said. Yea, of a surety I was a wild boar. Then I became +young again, and I was glad. I was king of the boar-herds in Ireland; and, +faithful to any custom, I went the rounds of my abode when I returned into +the lands of Ulster, at the times old age and wretchedness came upon me. +For it was always there that my transformations took place, and that is +why I went back thither to await the renewal of my body." + +Tuan then goes on to tell how Semion son of Stariat settled in Ireland, +from whom descended the Firbolgs and two other tribes who persisted into +historic times. Again old age comes on, his strength fails him, and he +undergoes another transformation; he becomes "a great eagle of the sea," +and once more rejoices in renewed youth and vigour. He then tells how the +People of Dana came in, "gods and false gods from whom every one knows the +Irish men of learning are sprung." After these came the Sons of Miled, who +conquered the People of Dana. All this time Tuan kept the shape of the +sea-eagle, till one day, finding himself about to undergo another +transformation, he fasted nine days; "then sleep fell upon me, and I was +changed into a salmon." He rejoices in his new life, escaping for many +years the snares of the fishermen, till at last he is captured by one of +them and brought to the wife of Carell, chief of the country. "The woman +desired me and ate me by herself, whole, so that I passed into her womb." +He is born again, and passes for Tuan son of Carell; but the memory of his +pre-existence and all his transformations and all the history of Ireland +that he witnessed since the days of Partholan still abides with him, and +he teaches all these things to the Christian monks, who carefully preserve +them. + +This wild tale, with its atmosphere of grey antiquity and of childlike +wonder, reminds us of the transformations of the Welsh Taliessin, who also +became an eagle, and points to that doctrine of the transmigration of the +soul which, as we have seen, haunted the imagination of the Celt. + +We have now to add some details to the sketch of the successive +colonisations of Ireland outlined by Tuan mac Carell. + +*The Nemedians* + +The Nemedians, as we have seen, were akin to the Partholanians. Both of +them came from the mysterious regions of the dead, though later Irish +accounts, which endeavoured to reconcile this mythical matter with +Christianity, invented for them a descent from Scriptural patriarchs and +an origin in earthly lands such as Spain or Scythia. Both of them had to +do constant battle with the Fomorians, whom the later legends make out to +be pirates from oversea, but who are doubtless divinities representing the +powers of darkness and evil. There is no legend of the Fomorians coming +into Ireland, nor were they regarded as at any time a regular portion of +the population. They were coeval with the world itself. Nemed fought +victoriously against them in four great battles, but shortly afterwards +died of a plague which carried off 2000 of his people with him. The +Fomorians were then enabled to establish their tyranny over Ireland. They +had at this period two kings, Morc and Conann. The stronghold of the +Formorian power was on Tory Island, which uplifts its wild cliffs and +precipices in the Atlantic off the coast of Donegal--a fit home for this +race of mystery and horror. They extracted a crushing tribute from the +people of Ireland, two-thirds of all the milk and two-thirds of the +children of the land. At last the Nemedians rise in revolt. Led by three +chiefs, they land on Tory Island, capture Conann's Tower, and Conann +himself falls by the hand of the Nemedian chief, Fergus. But Morc at this +moment comes into the battle with a fresh host, and utterly routs the +Nemedians, who are all slain but thirty: + +"The men of Erin were all at the battle, +After the Fomorians came; +All of them the sea engulphed, +Save only three times ten." + _Poem by Eochy O'Flann, circ_. A.D. 960. + +The thirty survivors leave Ireland in despair. According to the most +ancient belief they perished utterly, leaving no descendants, but later +accounts, which endeavour to make sober history out of all these myths, +represent one family, that of the chief Britan, as settling in Great +Britain and giving their name to that country, while two others returned +to Ireland, after many wanderings, as the Firbolgs and People of Dana. + +*The Coming of the Firbolgs* + +Who were the Firbolgs, and what did they represent in Irish legend? The +name appears to mean "Men of the Bags," and a legend was in later times +invented to account for it. It was said that after settling in Greece they +were oppressed by the people of that country, who set them to carry earth +from the fertile valleys up to the rocky hills, so as to make arable +ground of the latter. They did their task by means of leathern bags; but +at last, growing weary of the oppression, they made boats or coracles out +of their bags, and set sail in them for Ireland. Nennius, however, says +they came from Spain, for according to him all the various races that +inhabited Ireland came originally from Spain; and "Spain" with him is a +rationalistic rendering of the Celtic words designating the Land of the +Dead.(77) They came in three groups, the Fir-Bolg, the Fir-Domnan, and the +Galioin, who are all generally designated as Firbolgs. They play no great +part in Irish mythical history, and a certain character of servility and +inferiority appears to attach to them throughout. + +One of their kings, Eochy(78) mac Erc, took in marriage Taltiu, or Telta, +daughter of the King of the "Great Plain" (the Land of the Dead). Telta +had a palace at the place now called after her, Telltown (properly +Teltin). There she died, and there, even in mediæval Ireland, a great +annual assembly or fair was held in her honour. + +*The Coming of the People of Dana* + +We now come to by far the most interesting and important of the mythical +invaders and colonisers of Ireland, the People of Dana. The name, _Tuatha +De Danann_, means literally "the folk of the god whose mother is Dana." +Dana also sometimes bears another name, that of Brigit, a goddess held in +much honour by pagan Ireland, whose attributes are in a great measure +transferred in legend to the Christian St. Brigit of the sixth century. +Her name is also found in Gaulish inscriptions as "Brigindo," and occurs +in several British inscriptions as "Brigantia." She was the daughter of +the supreme head of the People of Dana, the god Dagda, "The Good." She had +three sons, who are said to have had in common one only son, named +Ecne--that is to say, "Knowledge," or "Poetry."(79) Ecne, then, may be said +to be the god whose mother was Dana, and the race to whom she gave her +name are the clearest representatives we have in Irish myths of the powers +of Light and Knowledge. It will be remembered that alone among all these +mythical races Tuan mac Carell gave to the People of Dana the name of +"gods." Yet it is not as gods that they appear in the form in which Irish +legends about them have now come down to us. Christian influences reduced +them to the rank of fairies or identified them with the fallen angels. +They were conquered by the Milesians, who are conceived as an entirely +human race, and who had all sorts of relations of love and war with them +until quite recent times. Yet even in the later legends a certain +splendour and exaltation appears to invest the People of Dana, recalling +the high estate from which they had been dethroned. + +*The Popular and the Bardic Conceptions* + +Nor must it be overlooked that the popular conception of the Danaan +deities was probably at all times something different from the bardic and +Druidic, or in other words the scholarly, conception. The latter, as we +shall see, represents them as the presiding deities of science and poetry. +This is not a popular idea; it is the product of the Celtic, the Aryan +imagination, inspired by a strictly intellectual conception. The common +people, who represented mainly the Megalithic element in the population, +appear to have conceived their deities as earth-powers--_dei terreni_, as +they are explicitly called in the eighth-century "Book of +Armagh"(80)--presiding, not over science and poetry, but rather +agriculture, controlling the fecundity of the earth and water, and +dwelling in hills, rivers, and lakes. In the bardic literature the Aryan +idea is prominent; the other is to be found in innumerable folk-tales and +popular observances; but of course in each case a considerable amount of +interpenetration of the two conceptions is to be met with--no sharp +dividing line was drawn between them in ancient times, and none can be +drawn now. + +*The Treasures of the Danaans* + +Tuan mac Carell says they came to Ireland "out of heaven." This is +embroidered in later tradition into a narrative telling how they sprang +from four great cities, whose very names breathe of fairydom and +romance--Falias, Gorias, Finias, and Murias. Here they learned science and +craftsmanship from great sages one of whom was enthroned in each city, and +from each they brought with them a magical treasure. From Falias came the +stone called the _Lia Fail_, or Stone of Destiny, on which the High-Kings +of Ireland stood when they were crowned, and which was supposed to confirm +the election of a rightful monarch by roaring under him as he took his +place on it. The actual stone which was so used at the inauguration of a +reign did from immemorial times exist at Tara, and was sent thence to +Scotland early in the sixth century for the crowning of Fergus the Great, +son of Erc, who begged his brother Murtagh mac Erc, King of Ireland, for +the loan of it. An ancient prophecy told that wherever this stone was, a +king of the Scotic (_i.e._, Irish-Milesian) race should reign. This is the +famous Stone of Scone, which never came back to Ireland, but was removed +to England by Edward I. in 1297, and is now the Coronation Stone in +Westminster Abbey. Nor has the old prophecy been falsified, since through +the Stuarts and Fergus mac Erc the descent of the British royal family can +be traced from the historic kings of Milesian Ireland. + +The second treasure of the Danaans was the invincible sword of Lugh of the +Long Arm, of whom we shall hear later, and this sword came from the city +of Gorias. From Finias came a magic spear, and from Murias the Cauldron of +the Dagda, a vessel which had the property that it could feed a host of +men without ever being emptied. + +With these possessions, according to the version given in the "Book of +Invasions," the People of Dana came into Ireland. + +*The Danaans and the Firbolgs* + +They were wafted into the land in a magic cloud, making their first +appearance in Western Connacht. When the cloud cleared away, the Firbolgs +discovered them in a camp which they had already fortified at Moyrein. + +The Firbolgs now sent out one of their warriors, named Sreng, to interview +the mysterious new-comers; and the People of Dana, on their side, sent a +warrior named Bres to represent them. The two ambassadors examined each +other's weapons with great interest. The spears of the Danaans, we are +told, were light and sharp-pointed; those of the Firbolgs were heavy and +blunt. To contrast the power of science with that of brute force is here +the evident intention of the legend, and we are reminded of the Greek myth +of the struggle of the Olympian deities with the Titans. + +Bres proposed to the Firbolg that the two races should divide Ireland +equally between them, and join to defend it against all comers for the +future. They then exchanged weapons and returned each to his own camp. + +*The First Battle of Moytura* + +The Firbolgs, however, were not impressed with the superiority of the +Danaans, and decided to refuse their offer. The battle was joined on the +Plain of Moytura,(81) in the south of Co. Mayo, near the spot now called +Cong. The Firbolgs were led by their king, mac Erc, and the Danaans by +Nuada of the Silver Hand, who got his name from an incident in this +battle. His hand, it is said, was cut off in the fight, and one of the +skilful artificers who abounded in the ranks of the Danaans made him a new +one of silver. By their magical and healing arts the Danaans gained the +victory, and the Firbolg king was slain. But a reasonable agreement +followed: the Firbolgs were allotted the province of Connacht for their +territory, while the Danaans took the rest of Ireland. So late as the +seventeenth century the annalist Mac Firbis discovered that many of the +inhabitants of Connacht traced their descent to these same Firbolgs. +Probably they were a veritable historic race, and the conflict between +them and the People of Dana may be a piece of actual history invested with +some of the features of a myth. + +*The Expulsion of King Bres* + +Nuada of the Silver Hand should now have been ruler of the Danaans, but +his mutilation forbade it, for no blemished man might be a king in +Ireland. The Danaans therefore chose Bres, who was the son of a Danaan +woman named Eri, but whose father was unknown, to reign over them instead. +This was another Bres, not the envoy who had treated with the Firbolgs and +who was slain in the battle of Moytura. Now Bres, although strong and +beautiful to look on, had no gift of kingship, for he not only allowed the +enemy of Ireland, the Fomorians, to renew their oppression and taxation in +the land, but he himself taxed his subjects heavily too; and was so +niggardly that he gave no hospitality to chiefs and nobles and harpers. +Lack of generosity and hospitality was always reckoned the worst of vices +in an Irish prince. One day it is said that there came to his court the +poet Corpry, who found himself housed in a small, dark chamber without +fire or furniture, where, after long delay, he was served with three dry +cakes and no ale. In revenge he composed a satirical quatrain on his +churlish host: + +"Without food quickly served, +Without a cow's milk, whereon a calf can grow, +Without a dwelling fit for a man under the gloomy night, +Without means to entertain a bardic company,-- +Let such be the condition of Bres." + +Poetic satire in Ireland was supposed to have a kind of magical power. +Kings dreaded it; even rats could be exterminated by it.(82) This quatrain +of Corpry's was repeated with delight among the people, and Bres had to +lay down his sovranty. This was said to be the first satire ever made in +Ireland. Meantime, because Nuada had got his silver hand through the art +of his physician Diancecht, or because, as some versions of the legend +say, a still greater healer, the son of Diancecht, had made the veritable +hand grow again to the stump, he was chosen to be king in place of Bres. + +The latter now betook himself in wrath and resentment to his mother Eri, +and begged her to give him counsel and to tell him of his lineage. Eri +then declared to him that his father was Elatha, a king of the Fomorians, +who had come to her secretly from over sea, and when he departed had given +her a ring, bidding her never bestow it on any man save him whose finger +it would fit. She now brought forth the ring, and it fitted the finger of +Bres, who went down with her to the strand where the Fomorian lover had +landed, and they sailed together for his father's home. + +*The Tyranny of the Fomorians* + +Elatha recognised the ring, and gave his son an army wherewith to +reconquer Ireland, and also sent him to seek further aid from the greatest +of the Fomorian kings, Balor. Now Balor was surnamed "of the Evil Eye," +because the gaze of his one eye could slay like a thunderbolt those on +whom he looked in anger. He was now, however, so old and feeble that the +vast eyelid drooped over the death-dealing eye, and had to be lifted up by +his men with ropes and pulleys when the time came to turn it on his foes. +Nuada could make no more head against him than Bres had done when king; +and the country still groaned under the oppression of the Fomorians and +longed for a champion and redeemer. + +*The Coming of Lugh* + +A new figure now comes into the myth, no other than Lugh son of Kian, the +Sun-god _par excellence_ of all Celtica, whose name we can still identify +in many historic sites on the Continent.(83) To explain his appearance we +must desert for a moment the ancient manuscript authorities, which are +here incomplete, and have to be supplemented by a folk-tale which was +fortunately discovered and taken down orally so late as the nineteenth +century by the great Irish antiquary, O'Donovan.(84) In this folk-tale the +names of Balor and his daughter Ethlinn (the latter in the form "Ethnea") +are preserved, as well as those of some other mythical personages, but +that of the father of Lugh is faintly echoed in MacKineely; Lugh's own +name is forgotten, and the death of Balor is given in a manner +inconsistent with the ancient myth. In the story as I give it here the +antique names and mythical outline are preserved, but are supplemented +where required from the folk-tale, omitting from the latter those modern +features which are not reconcilable with the myth. + +The story, then, goes that Balor, the Fomorian king, heard in a Druidic +prophecy that he would be slain by his grandson. His only child was an +infant daughter named Ethlinn. To avert the doom he, like Acrisios, father +of Danae, in the Greek myth, had her imprisoned in a high tower which he +caused to be built on a precipitous headland, the Tor Mor, in Tory Island. +He placed the girl in charge of twelve matrons, who were strictly charged +to prevent her from ever seeing the face of man, or even learning that +there were any beings of a different sex from her own. In this seclusion +Ethlinn grew up--as all sequestered princesses do--into a maiden of +surpassing beauty. + +Now it happened that there were on the mainland three brothers, namely, +Kian, Sawan, and Goban the Smith, the great armourer and artificer of +Irish myth, who corresponds to Wayland Smith in Germanic legend. Kian had +a magical cow, whose milk was so abundant that every one longed to possess +her, and he had to keep her strictly under protection. + +Balor determined to possess himself of this cow. One day Kian and Sawan +had come to the forge to have some weapons made for them, bringing fine +steel for that purpose. Kian went into the forge, leaving Sawan in charge +of the cow. Balor now appeared on the scene, taking on himself the form of +a little redheaded boy, and told Sawan that he had overheard the brothers +inside the forge concocting a plan for using all the fine steel for their +own swords, leaving but common metal for that of Sawan. The latter, in a +great rage, gave the cow's halter to the boy and rushed into the forge to +put a stop to this nefarious scheme. Balor immediately carried off the +cow, and dragged her across the sea to Tory Island. + +Kian now determined to avenge himself on Balor, and to this end sought the +advice of a Druidess named Birog. Dressing himself in woman's garb, he was +wafted by magical spells across the sea, where Birog, who accompanied him, +represented to Ethlinn's guardians that they were two noble ladies cast +upon the shore in escaping from an abductor, and begged for shelter. They +were admitted; Kian found means to have access to the Princess Ethlinn +while the matrons were laid by Birog under the spell of an enchanted +slumber, and when they awoke Kian and the Druidess had vanished as they +came. But Ethlinn had given Kian her love, and soon her guardians found +that she was with child. Fearing Balor's wrath, the matrons persuaded her +that the whole transaction was but a dream, and said nothing about it; but +in due time Ethlinn was delivered of three sons at a birth. + +News of this event came to Balor, and in anger and fear he commanded the +three infants to be drowned in a whirlpool off the Irish coast. The +messenger who was charged with this command rolled up the children in a +sheet, but in carrying them to the appointed place the pin of the sheet +came loose, and one of the children dropped out and fell into a little +bay, called to this day _Port na Delig_, or the Haven of the Pin. The +other two were duly drowned, and the servant reported his mission +accomplished. + +But the child who had fallen into the bay was guarded by the Druidess, who +wafted it to the home of its father, Kian, and Kian gave it in fosterage +to his brother the smith, who taught the child his own trade and made it +skilled in every manner of craft and handiwork. This child was Lugh. When +he was grown to a youth the Danaans placed him in charge of Duach, "The +Dark," king of the Great Plain (Fairyland, or the "Land of the Living," +which is also the Land of the Dead), and here he dwelt till he reached +manhood. + +Lugh was, of course, the appointed redeemer of the Danaan people from +their servitude. His coming is narrated in a story which brings out the +solar attributes of universal power, and shows him, like Apollo, as the +presiding deity of all human knowledge and of all artistic and medicinal +skill. He came, it is told, to take service with Nuada of the Silver Hand, +and when the doorkeeper at the royal palace of Tara asked him what he +could do, he answered that he was a carpenter. + +"We are in no need of a carpenter," said the doorkeeper; "we have an +excellent one in Luchta son of Luchad." "I am a smith too," said Lugh. "We +have a master-smith," said the doorkeeper, "already." "Then I am a +warrior," said Lugh. "We do not need one," said the doorkeeper, "while we +have Ogma." Lugh goes on to name all the occupations and arts he can think +of--he is a poet, a harper, a man of science, a physician, a spencer, and +so forth, always receiving the answer that a man of supreme accomplishment +in that art is already installed at the court of Nuada. "Then ask the +King," said Lugh, "if he has in his service any one man who is +accomplished in every one of these arts, and if he have, I shall stay here +no longer, nor seek to enter his palace." Upon this Lugh is received, and +the surname Ildánach is conferred upon him, meaning "The All-Craftsman," +Prince of all the Sciences; while another name that he commonly bore was +Lugh Lamfada, or Lugh of the Long Arm. We are reminded here, as de +Jubainville points out, of the Gaulish god whom Caesar identifies with +Mercury, "inventor of all the arts," and to whom the Gauls put up many +statues. The Irish myth supplements this information and tells us the +Celtic name of this deity. + +When Lugh came from the Land of the Living he brought with him many +magical gifts. There was the Boat of Mananan, son of Lir the Sea God, +which knew a man's thoughts and would travel whithersoever he would, and +the Horse of Mananan, that could go alike over land and sea, and a +terrible sword named _Fragarach_ ("The Answerer"), that could cut through +any mail. So equipped, he appeared one day before an assembly of the +Danaan chiefs who were met to pay their tribute to the envoys of the +Fomorian oppressors; and when the Danaans saw him, they felt, it is said, +as if they beheld the rising of the sun on a dry summer's day. Instead of +paying the tribute, they, under Lugh's leadership, attacked the Fomorians, +all of whom were slain but nine men, and these were sent back to tell +Balor that the Danaans defied him and would pay no tribute henceforward. +Balor then made him ready for battle, and bade his captains, when they had +subdued the Danaans, make fast the island by cables to their ships and tow +it far northward to the Fomorian regions of ice and gloom, where it would +trouble them no longer. + +*The Quest of the Sons of Turenn* + +Lugh, on his side, also prepared for the final combat; but to ensure +victory certain magical instruments were still needed for him, and these +had now to be obtained. The story of the quest of these objects, which +incidentally tells us also of the end of Lugh's father, Kian, is one of +the most valuable and curious in Irish legend, and formed one of a triad +of mythical tales which were reckoned as the flower of Irish romance.(85) + +Kian, the story goes, was sent northward by Lugh to summon the fighting +men of the Danaans in Ulster to the hosting against the Fomorians. On his +way, as he crosses the Plain of Murthemney, near Dundalk, he meets with +three brothers, Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba, sons of Turenn, between whose +house and that of Kian there was a blood-feud. He seeks to avoid them by +changing into the form of a pig and joining a herd which is rooting in the +plain, but the brothers detect him and Brian wounds him with a cast from a +spear. Kian, knowing that his end is come, begs to be allowed to change +back into human form before he is slain. "I had liefer kill a man than a +pig," says Brian, who takes throughout the leading part in all the +brothers' adventures. Kian then stands before them as a man, with the +blood from Brian's spear trickling from his breast. "I have outwitted ye," +he cries, "for if ye had slain a pig ye would have paid but the eric +[blood-fine] of a pig, but now ye shall pay the eric of a man; never was +greater eric than that which ye shall pay; and the weapons ye slay me with +shall tell the tale to the avenger of blood." + +"Then you shall be slain with no weapons at all," says Brian, and he and +the brothers stone him to death and bury him in the ground as deep as the +height of a man. + +But when Lugh shortly afterwards passes that way the stones on the plain +cry out and tell him of his father's murder at the hands of the sons of +Turenn. He uncovers the body, and, vowing vengeance, returns to Tara. Here +he accuses the sons of Turenn before the High King, and is permitted to +have them executed, or to name the eric he will accept in remission of +that sentence. Lugh chooses to have the eric, and he names it as follows, +concealing things of vast price, and involving unheard-of toils, under the +names of common objects: Three apples, the skin of a pig, a spear, a +chariot with two horses, seven swine, a hound, a cooking-spit, and, +finally, to give three shouts on a hill. The brothers bind themselves to +pay the fine, and Lugh then declares the meaning of it. The three apples +are those which grow in the Garden of the Sun; the pig-skin is a magical +skin which heals every wound and sickness if it can be laid on the +sufferer, and it is a possession of the King of Greece; the spear is a +magical weapon owned by the King of Persia (these names, of course, are +mere fanciful appellations for places in the mysterious world of Faëry); +the seven swine belong to King Asal of the Golden Pillars, and may be +killed and eaten every night and yet be found whole next day; the spit +belongs to the sea-nymphs of the sunken Island of Finchory; and the three +shouts are to be given on the hill of a fierce warrior, Mochaen, who, with +his sons, are under vows to prevent any man from raising his voice on that +hill. To fulfil any one of these enterprises would be an all but +impossible task, and the brothers must accomplish them all before they can +clear themselves of the guilt and penalty of Kian's death. + +The story then goes on to tell how with infinite daring and resource the +sons of Turenn accomplish one by one all their tasks, but when all are +done save the capture of the cooking-spit and the three shouts on the Hill +of Mochaen, Lugh, by magical arts, causes forgetfulness to fall upon them, +and they return to Ireland with their treasures. These, especially the +spear and the pig-skin, are just what Lugh needs to help him against the +Fomorians; but his vengeance is not complete, and after receiving the +treasures he reminds the brothers of what is yet to be won. They, in deep +dejection, now begin to understand how they are played with, and go forth +sadly to win, if they can, the rest of the eric. After long wandering they +discover that the Island of Finchory is not above, but under the sea. +Brian in a magical "water-dress" goes down to it, sees the thrice fifty +nymphs in their palace, and seizes the golden spit from their hearth. The +ordeal of the Hill of Mochaen is the last to be attempted. After a +desperate combat which ends in the slaying of Mochaen and his sons, the +brothers, mortally wounded, uplift their voices in three faint cries, and +so the eric is fulfilled. The life is still in them, however, when they +return to Ireland, and their aged father, Turenn, implores Lugh for the +loan of the magic pig-skin to heal them; but the implacable Lugh refuses, +and the brothers and their father die together. So ends the tale. + +*The Second Battle of Moytura* + +The Second Battle of Moytura took place on a plain in the north of Co. +Sligo, which is remarkable for the number of sepulchral monuments still +scattered over it. The first battle, of course, was that which the Danaans +had waged with the Firbolgs, and the Moytura there referred to was much +further south, in Co. Mayo. The battle with the Fomorians is related with +an astounding wealth of marvellous incident. The craftsmen of the Danaans, +Goban the smith, Credné the artificer (or goldsmith), and Luchta the +carpenter, keep repairing the broken weapons of the Danaans with magical +speed--three blows of Goban's hammer make a spear or sword, Luchta flings a +handle at it and it sticks on at once, and Credné jerks the rivets at it +with his tongs as fast as he makes them and they fly into their places. +The wounded are healed by the magical pig-skin. The plain resounds with +the clamour of battle: + + + "Fearful indeed was the thunder which rolled over the battlefield; + the shouts of the warriors, the breaking of the shields, the + flashing and clashing of the swords, of the straight, ivory-hilted + swords, the music and harmony of the 'belly-darts' and the sighing + and winging of the spears and lances."(86) + + +*The Death of Balor* + +The Fomorians bring on their champion, Balor, before the glance of whose +terrible eye Nuada of the Silver Hand and others of the Danaans go down. +But Lugh, seizing an opportunity when the eyelid drooped through +weariness, approached close to Balor, and as it began to lift once more he +hurled into the eye a great stone which sank into the brain, and Balor lay +dead, as the prophecy had foretold, at the hand of his grandson. The +Fomorians were then totally routed, and it is not recorded that they ever +again gained any authority or committed any extensive depredations in +Ireland. Lugh, the Ildánach, was then enthroned in place of Nuada, and the +myth of the victory of the solar hero over the powers of darkness and +brute force is complete. + +*The Harp of the Dagda* + +A curious little incident bearing on the power which the Danaans could +exercise by the spell of music may here be inserted. The flying Fomorians, +it is told, had made prisoner the harper of the Dagda and carried him off +with them. Lugh, the Dagda, and the warrior Ogma followed them, and came +unknown into the banqueting-hall of the Fomorian camp. There they saw the +harp hanging on the wall. The Dagda called to it, and immediately it flew +into his hands, killing nine men of the Fomorians on its way. The Dagda's +invocation of the harp is very singular, and not a little puzzling: + + + "Come, apple-sweet murmurer," he cries, "come, four-angled frame + of harmony, come, Summer, come, Winter, from the mouths of harps + and bags and pipes."(87) + + +The allusion to summer and winter suggests the practice in Indian music of +allotting certain musical modes to the different seasons of the year (and +even to different times of day), and also an Egyptian legend referred to +in Burney's "History of Music," where the three strings of the lyre were +supposed to answer respectively to the three seasons, spring, summer, and +winter.(88) + +When the Dagda got possession of the harp, the tale goes on, he played on +it the "three noble strains" which every great master of the harp should +command, namely, the Strain of Lament, which caused the hearers to weep, +the Strain of Laughter, which made them merry, and the Strain of Slumber, +or Lullaby, which plunged them all in a profound sleep. And under cover of +that sleep the Danaan champion stole out and escaped. It may be observed +that throughout the whole of the legendary literature of Ireland skill in +music, the art whose influence most resembles that of a mysterious spell +or gift of Faëry, is the prerogative of the People of Dana and their +descendants. Thus in the "Colloquy of the Ancients," a collection of tales +made about the thirteenth or fourteenth century, St. Patrick is introduced +to a minstrel, Cascorach, "a handsome, curly-headed, dark-browed youth," +who plays so sweet a strain that the saint and his retinue all fall +asleep. Cascorach, we are told, was son of a minstrel of the Danaan folk. +St. Patrick's scribe, Brogan, remarks, "A good cast of thine art is that +thou gavest us." "Good indeed it were," said Patrick, "but for a twang of +the fairy spell that infests it; barring which nothing could more nearly +resemble heaven's harmony."(89) Some of the most beautiful of the antique +Irish folk-melodies,--_e.g._, the _Coulin_--are traditionally supposed to +have been overheard by mortal harpers at the revels of the Fairy Folk. + +*Names and Characteristics of the Danaan Deities* + +I may conclude this narrative of the Danaan conquest with some account of +the principal Danaan gods and their attributes, which will be useful to +readers of the subsequent pages. The best with which I am acquainted is to +be found in Mr. Standish O'Grady's "Critical History of Ireland."(90) This +work is no less remarkable for its critical insight--it was published in +1881, when scientific study of the Celtic mythology was little heard +of--than for the true bardic imagination, kindred to that of the ancient +myth-makers themselves, which recreates the dead forms of the past and +dilates them with the breath of life. The broad outlines in which Mr. +O'Grady has laid down the typical characteristics of the chief personages +in the Danaan cycle hardly need any correction at this day, and have been +of much use to me in the following summary of the subject. + +*The Dagda* + +The Dagda Mor was the father and chief of the People of Dana. A certain +conception of vastness attaches to him and to his doings. In the Second +Battle of Moytura his blows sweep down whole ranks of the enemy, and his +spear, when he trails it on the march, draws a furrow in the ground like +the fosse which marks the mearing of a province. An element of grotesque +humour is present in some of the records about this deity. When the +Fomorians give him food on his visit to their camp, the porridge and milk +are poured into a great pit in the ground, and he eats it with a spoon big +enough, it was said, for a man and a woman to lie together in it. With +this spoon he scrapes the pit, when the porridge is done, and shovels +earth and gravel unconcernedly down his throat. We have already seen that, +like all the Danaans, he is a master of music, as well as of other magical +endowments, and owns a harp which comes flying through the air at his +call. "The tendency to attribute life to inanimate things is apparent in +the Homeric literature, but exercises a very great influence in the +mythology of this country. The living, fiery spear of Lugh; the magic ship +of Mananan; the sword of Conary Mor, which sang; Cuchulain's sword, which +spoke; the Lia Fail, Stone of Destiny, which roared for joy beneath the +feet of rightful kings; the waves of the ocean, roaring with rage and +sorrow when such kings are in jeopardy; the waters of the Avon Dia, +holding back for fear at the mighty duel between Cuchulain and Ferdia, are +but a few out of many examples."(91) A legend of later times tells how +once, at the death of a great scholar, all the books in Ireland fell from +their shelves upon the floor. + +*Angus Og* + +Angus Og (Angus the Young), son of the Dagda, by Boanna (the river Boyne), +was the Irish god of love. His palace was supposed to be at New Grange, on +the Boyne. Four bright birds that ever hovered about his head were +supposed to be his kisses taking shape in this lovely form, and at their +singing love came springing up in the hearts of youths and maidens. Once +he fell sick of love for a maiden whom he had seen in a dream. He told the +cause of his sickness to his mother Boanna, who searched all Ireland for +the girl, but could not find her. Then the Dagda was called in, but he too +was at a loss, till he called to his aid Bov the Red, king of the Danaans +of Munster--the same whom we have met with in the tale of the Children of +Lir, and who was skilled in all mysteries and enchantments. Bov undertook +the search, and after a year had gone by declared that he had found the +visionary maiden at a lake called the Lake of the Dragon's Mouth. + +Angus goes to Bov, and, after being entertained by him three days, is +brought to the lake shore, where he sees thrice fifty maidens walking in +couples, each couple linked by a chain of gold, but one of them is taller +than the rest by a head and shoulders. "That is she!" cries Angus. "Tell +us by what name she is known." Bov answers that her name is Caer, daughter +of Ethal Anubal, a prince of the Danaans of Connacht. Angus laments that +he is not strong enough to carry her off from her companions, but, on +Bov's advice, betakes himself to Ailell and Maev, the mortal King and +Queen of Connacht, for assistance. The Dagda and Angus then both repair to +the palace of Ailell, who feasts them for a week, and then asks the cause +of their coming. When it is declared he answers, "We have no authority +over Ethal Anubal." They send a message to him, however, asking for the +hand of Caer for Angus, but Ethal refuses to give her up. In the end he is +besieged by the combined forces of Ailell and the Dagda, and taken +prisoner. When Caer is again demanded of him he declares that he cannot +comply, "for she is more powerful than I." He explains that she lives +alternately in the form of a maiden and of a swan year and year about, +"and on the first of November next," he says, "you will see her with a +hundred and fifty other swans at the Lake of the Dragon's Mouth." + +Angus goes there at the appointed time, and cries to her, "Oh, come and +speak to me!" "Who calls me?" asks Caer. Angus explains who he is, and +then finds himself transformed into a swan. This is an indication of +consent, and he plunges in to join his love in the lake. After that they +fly together to the palace on the Boyne, uttering as they go a music so +divine that all hearers are lulled to sleep for three days and nights. + +Angus is the special deity and friend of beautiful youths and maidens. +Dermot of the Love-spot, a follower of Finn mac Cumhal, and lover of +Grania, of whom we shall hear later, was bred up with Angus in the palace +on the Boyne. He was the typical lover of Irish legend. When he was slain +by the wild boar of Ben Bulben, Angus revives him and carries him off to +share his immortality in his fairy palace. + +*Len of Killarney* + +Of Bov the Red, brother of the Dagda, we have already heard. He had, it is +said, a goldsmith named Len, who "gave their ancient name to the Lakes of +Killarney, once known as Locha Lein, the Lakes of Len of the Many Hammers. +Here by the lake he wrought, surrounded by rainbows and showers of fiery +dew."(92) + +*Lugh* + +Lugh has already been described.(93) He has more distinctly solar +attributes than any other Celtic deity; and, as we know, his worship was +spread widely over Continental Celtica. In the tale of the Quest of the +Sons of Turenn we are told that Lugh approached the Fomorians from the +west. Then Bres, son of Balor, arose and said: "I wonder that the sun is +rising in the west to-day, and in the east every other day." "Would it +were so," said his Druids. "Why, what else but the sun is it?" said Bres. +"It is the radiance of the face of Lugh of the Long Arm," they replied. + +Lugh was the father, by the Milesian maiden Dectera, of Cuchulain, the +most heroic figure in Irish legend, in whose story there is evidently a +strong element of the solar myth.(94) + +*Midir the Proud* + +Midir the Proud is a son of the Dagda. His fairy palace is at _Bri Leith_, +or Slieve Callary, in Co. Longford. He frequently appears in legends +dealing partly with human, partly with Danaan personages, and is always +represented as a type of splendour in his apparel and in personal beauty. +When he appears to King Eochy on the Hill of Tara he is thus +described:(95) + + + "It chanced that Eochaid Airemm, the King of Tara, arose upon a + certain fair day in the time of summer; and he ascended the high + ground of Tara(96) to behold the plain of Breg; beautiful was the + colour of that plain, and there was upon it excellent blossom + glowing with all hues that are known. And as the aforesaid Eochy + looked about and around him, he saw a young strange warrior upon + the high ground at his side. The tunic that the warrior wore was + purple in colour, his hair was of a 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 fine pointed spear, in the other a shield with a white central + boss, and with gems of gold upon it. And Eochaid held his peace, + for he knew that none such had been in Tara on the night before, + and the gate that led into the _Liss_ had not at that time been + thrown open."(97) + + +*Lir and Mananan* + +Lir, as Mr. O'Grady remarks, "appears in two distinct forms. In the first +he is a vast, impersonal presence commensurate with the sea; in fact, the +Greek Oceanus. In the second, he is a separate person dwelling invisibly +on Slieve Fuad," in Co. Armagh. We hear little of him in Irish legend, +where the attributes of the sea-god are mostly conferred on his son, +Mananan. + +This deity is one of the most popular in Irish mythology. He was lord of +the sea, beyond or under which the Land of Youth or Islands of the Dead +were supposed to lie; he therefore was the guide of man to this country. +He was master of tricks and illusions, and owned all kinds of magical +possessions--the boat named Ocean-sweeper, which obeyed the thought of +those who sailed in it and went without oar or sail, the steed Aonbarr, +which could travel alike on sea or land, and the sword named The Answerer, +which no armour could resist. White-crested waves were called the Horses +of Mananan, and it was forbidden (_tabu_) for the solar hero, Cuchulain, +to perceive them--this indicated the daily death of the sun at his setting +in the western waves. Mananan wore a great cloak which was capable of +taking on every kind of colour, like the widespread field of the sea as +looked on from a height; and as the protector of the island of Erin it was +said that when any hostile force invaded it they heard his thunderous +tramp and the flapping of his mighty cloak as he marched angrily round and +round their camp at night. The Isle of Man, seen dimly from the Irish +coast, was supposed to be the throne of Mananan, and to take its name from +this deity. + +*The Goddess Dana* + +The greatest of the Danaan goddesses was Dana, "mother of the Irish gods," +as she is called in an early text. She was daughter of the Dagda, and, +like him, associated with ideas of fertility and blessing. According to +d'Arbois de Jubainville, she was identical with the goddess Brigit, who +was so widely worshipped in Celtica. Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba are said +to have been her sons--these really represent but one person, in the usual +Irish fashion of conceiving the divine power in triads. The name of Brian, +who takes the lead in all the exploits of the brethren,(98) is a +derivation from a more ancient form, Brenos, and under this form was the +god to whom the Celts attributed their victories at the Allia and at +Delphi, mistaken by Roman and Greek chroniclers for an earthly leader. + +*The Morrigan* + +There was also an extraordinary goddess named the Morrigan,(99) who +appears to embody all that is perverse and horrible among supernatural +powers. She delighted in setting men at war, and fought among them +herself, changing into many frightful shapes and often hovering above +fighting armies in the aspect of a crow. She met Cuchulain once and +proffered him her love in the guise of a human maid. He refused it, and +she persecuted him thenceforward for the most of his life. Warring with +him once in the middle of the stream, she turned herself into a +water-serpent, and then into a mass of water-weeds, seeking to entangle +and drown him. But he conquered and wounded her, and she afterwards became +his friend. Before his last battle she passed through Emain Macha at +night, and broke the pole of his chariot as a warning. + +*Cleena's Wave* + +One of the most notable landmarks of Ireland was the _Tonn Cliodhna_, or +"Wave of Cleena," on the seashore at Glandore Bay, in Co. Cork. The story +about Cleena exists in several versions, which do not agree with each +other except in so far as she seems to have been a Danaan maiden once +living in Mananan's country, the Land of Youth beyond the sea. Escaping +thence with a mortal lover, as one of the versions tells, she landed on +the southern coast of Ireland, and her lover, Keevan of the Curling Locks, +went off to hunt in the woods. Cleena, who remained on the beach, was +lulled to sleep by fairy music played by a minstrel of Mananan, when a +great wave of the sea swept up and carried her back to Fairyland, leaving +her lover desolate. Hence the place was called the Strand of Cleena's +Wave. + +*The Goddess Ainé* + +Another topical goddess was Ainé, the patroness of Munster, who is still +venerated by the people of that county. She was the daughter of the Danaan +Owel, a foster-son of Mananan and a Druid. She is in some sort a +love-goddess, continually inspiring mortals with passion. She was +ravished, it was said, by Ailill Olum, King of Munster, who was slain in +consequence by her magic arts, and the story is repeated in far later +times about another mortal lover, who was not, however, slain, a +Fitzgerald, to whom she bore the famous wizard Earl.(100) Many of the +aristocratic families of Munster claimed descent from this union. Her name +still clings to the "Hill of Ainé" (Knockainey), near Loch Gur, in +Munster. All the Danaan deities in the popular imagination were +earth-gods, _dei terreni_, associated with ideas of fertility and +increase. Ainé is not heard much of in the bardic literature, but she is +very prominent in the folk-lore of the neighbourhood. At the bidding of +her son, Earl Gerald, she planted all Knockainey with pease in a single +night. She was, and perhaps still is, worshipped on Midsummer Eve by the +peasantry, who carried torches of hay and straw, tied on poles and +lighted, round her hill at night. Afterwards they dispersed themselves +among their cultivated fields and pastures, waving the torches over the +crops and the cattle to bring luck and increase for the following year. On +one night, as told by Mr. D. Fitzgerald,(101) who has collected the local +traditions about her, the ceremony was omitted owing to the death of one +of the neighbours. Yet the peasantry at night saw the torches in greater +number than ever circling the hill, and Ainé herself in front, directing +and ordering the procession. + +"On another St. John's Night a number of girls had stayed late on the Hill +watching the _cliars_ (torches) and joining in the games. Suddenly Ainé +appeared among them, thanked them for the honour they had done her, but +said she now wished them to go home, as _they wanted the hill to +themselves_. She let them understand whom she meant by _they_, for calling +some of the girls she made them look through a ring, when behold, the hill +appeared crowded with people before invisible." + +"Here," observed Mr. Alfred Nutt, "we have the antique ritual carried out +on a spot hallowed to one of the antique powers, watched over and shared +in by those powers themselves. Nowhere save in Gaeldom could be found such +a pregnant illustration of the identity of the fairy class with the +venerable powers to ensure whose goodwill rites and sacrifices, originally +fierce and bloody, now a mere simulacrum of their pristine form, have been +performed for countless ages."(102) + +*Sinend and the Well of Knowledge* + +There is a singular myth which, while intended to account for the name of +the river Shannon, expresses the Celtic veneration for poetry and science, +combined with the warning that they may not be approached without danger. +The goddess Sinend, it was said, daughter of Lodan son of Lir, went to a +certain well named Connla's Well, which is under the sea--_i.e._, in the +Land of Youth in Fairyland. "That is a well," says the bardic narrative, +"at which are the hazels of wisdom and inspirations, that is, the hazels +of the science of poetry, and in the same hour their fruit and their +blossom and their foliage break forth, and then fall upon the well in the +same shower, which raises upon the water a royal surge of purple." When +Sinend came to the well we are not told what rites or preparation she had +omitted, but the angry waters broke forth and overwhelmed her, and washed +her up on the Shannon shore, where she died, giving to the river its +name.(103) This myth of the hazels of inspiration and knowledge and their +association with springing water runs through all Irish legend, and has +been finely treated by a living Irish poet, Mr. G.W. Russell, in the +following verses: + +">A cabin on the mountain-side hid in a grassy nook, +With door and window open wide, where friendly stars may look; +The rabbit shy may patter in, the winds may enter free +Who roam around the mountain throne in living ecstasy. + +"And when the sun sets dimmed in eve, and purple fills the air, +I think the sacred hazel-tree is dropping berries there, +From starry fruitage, waved aloft where Connla's Well o'erflows; +For sure, the immortal waters run through every wind that blows. + +"I think when Night towers up aloft and shakes the trembling dew, +How every high and lonely thought that thrills my spirit through +Is but a shining berry dropped down through the purple air, +And from the magic tree of life the fruit falls everywhere." + +*The Coming of the Milesians* + +After the Second Battle of Moytura the Danaans held rule in Ireland until +the coming of the Milesians, the sons of Miled. These are conceived in +Irish legend as an entirely human race, yet in their origin they, like the +other invaders of Ireland, go back to a divine and mythical ancestry. +Miled, whose name occurs as a god in a Celtic inscription from Hungary, is +represented as a son of Bilé. Bilé, like Balor, is one of the names of the +god of Death, _i.e._, of the Underworld. They come from "Spain"--the usual +term employed by the later rationalising historians for the Land of the +Dead. + +The manner of their coming into Ireland was as follows: Ith, the +grandfather of Miled, dwelt in a great tower which his father, Bregon, had +built in "Spain." One clear winter's day, when looking out westwards from +this lofty tower, he saw the coast of Ireland in the distance, and +resolved to sail to the unknown land. + +He embarked with ninety warriors, and took land at Corcadyna, in the +south-west. In connexion with this episode I may quote a passage of great +beauty and interest from de Jubainville's "Irish Mythological Cycle":(104) + +"According to an unknown writer cited by Plutarch, who died about the year +120 of the present era, and also by Procopius, who wrote in the sixth +century A.D., 'the Land of the Dead' is the western extremity of Great +Britain, separated from the eastern by an impassable wall. On the northern +coast of Gaul, says the legend, is a populace of mariners whose business +is to carry the dead across from the continent to their last abode in the +island of Britain. The mariners, awakened in the night by the whisperings +of some mysterious voice, arise and go down to the shore, where they find +ships awaiting them which are not their own,(105) and, in these, invisible +beings, under whose weight the vessels sink almost to the gunwales. They +go on board, and with a single stroke of the oar, says one text, in one +hour, says another, they arrive at their destination, though with their +own vessels, aided by sails, it would have taken them at least a day and a +night to reach the coast of Britain. When they come to the other shore the +invisible passengers land, and at the same time the unloaded ships are +seen to rise above the waves, and a voice is heard announcing the names of +the new arrivals, who have just been added to the inhabitants of the Land +of the Dead. + +"One stroke of the oar, one hour's voyage at most, suffices for the +midnight journey which transfers the Dead from the Gaulish continent to +their final abode. Some mysterious law, indeed, brings together in the +night the great spaces which divide the domain of the living from that of +the dead in daytime. It was the same law which enabled Ith one fine winter +evening to perceive from the Tower of Bregon, in the Land of the Dead, the +shores of Ireland, or the land of the living. The phenomenon took place in +winter; for winter is a sort of night; winter, like night, lowers the +barriers between the regions of Death and those of Life; like night, +winter gives to life the semblance of death, and suppresses, as it were, +the dread abyss that lies between the two." + +At this time, it is said, Ireland was ruled by three Danaan kings, +grandsons of the Dagda. Their names were MacCuill, MacCecht, and MacGrené, +and their wives were named respectively Banba, Fohla, and Eriu. The Celtic +habit of conceiving divine persons in triads is here illustrated. These +triads represent one person each, and the mythical character of that +personage is evident from the name of one of them, MacGrené, Son of the +Sun. The names of the three goddesses have each at different times been +applied to Ireland, but that of the third, Eriu, has alone persisted, and +in the dative form, Erinn, is a poetic name for the country to this day. +That Eriu is the wife of MacGrené means, as de Jubainville observes, that +the Sun-god, the god of Day, Life, and Science, has wedded the land and is +reigning over it. + +Ith, on landing, finds that the Danaan king, Neit, has just been slain in +a battle with the Fomorians, and the three sons, MacCuill and the others, +are at the fortress of Aileach, in Co. Donegal, arranging for a division +of the land among themselves. At first they welcome Ith, and ask him to +settle their inheritance. Ith gives his judgment, but, in concluding, his +admiration for the newly discovered country breaks out: "Act," he says, +"according to the laws of justice, for the country you dwell in is a good +one, it is rich in fruit and honey, in wheat and in fish; and in heat and +cold it is temperate." From this panegyric the Danaans conclude that 1th +has designs upon their land, and they seize him and put him to death. His +companions, however, recover his body and bear it back with them in their +ships to "Spain"; when the children of Miled resolve to take vengeance for +the outrage and prepare to invade Ireland. + +They were commanded by thirty-six chiefs, each having his own ship with +his family and his followers. Two of the company are said to have perished +on the way. One of the sons of Miled, having climbed to the masthead of +his vessel to look out for the coast of Ireland, fell into the sea and was +drowned. The other was Skena, wife of the poet Amergin, son of Miled, who +died on the way. The Milesians buried her when they landed, and called the +place "Inverskena" after her; this was the ancient name of the Kenmare +River in Co. Kerry. + +"It was on a Thursday, the first of May, and the seventeenth day of the +moon, that the sons of Miled arrived in Ireland. Partholan also landed in +Ireland on the first of May, but on a different day of the week and of the +moon; and it was on the first day of May, too, that the pestilence came +which in the space of one week destroyed utterly his race. The first of +May was sacred to Beltené, one of the names of the god of Death, the god +who gives life to men and takes it away from them again. Thus it was on +the feast day of this god that the sons of Miled began their conquest of +Ireland."(106) + +*The Poet Amergin* + +When the poet Amergin set foot upon the soil of Ireland it is said that he +chanted a strange and mystical lay: + +"I am the Wind that blows over the sea, +I am the Wave of the Ocean; +I am the Murmur of the billows; +I am the Ox of the Seven Combats; +I am the Vulture upon the rock; +I am a Ray of the Sun; +I am the fairest of Plants; +I am a Wild Boar in valour; +I am a Salmon in the Water; +I am a Lake in the plain; +I am the Craft of the artificer; +I am a Word of Science; +I am the Spear-point that gives battle; +I am the god that creates in the head of man the fire of thought. +Who is it that enlightens the assembly upon the mountain,if not I? +Who telleth the ages of the moon, if not I? +"Who showeth the place where the sun goes to rest, if not I? + +De Jubainville, whose translation I have in the main followed, observes +upon this strange utterance: + +"There is a lack of order in this composition, the ideas, fundamental and +subordinate, are jumbled together without method; but there is no doubt as +to the meaning: the _filé_ [poet] is the Word of Science, he is the god +who gives to man the fire of thought; and as science is not distinct from +its object, as God and Nature are but one, the being of the _filé_ is +mingled with the winds and the waves, with the wild animals and the +warrior's arms."(107) + +Two other poems are attributed to Amergin, in which he invokes the land +and physical features of Ireland to aid him: + +"I invoke the land of Ireland, +Shining, shining sea; +Fertile, fertile Mountain; +Gladed, gladed wood! +Abundant river, abundant in water! +Fish-abounding lake!"(108) + +*The Judgment of Amergin* + +The Milesian host, after landing, advance to Tara, where they find the +three kings of the Danaans awaiting them, and summon them to deliver up +the island. The Danaans ask for three days' time to consider whether they +shall quit Ireland, or submit, or give battle; and they propose to leave +the decision, upon their request, to Amergin. Amergin pronounces +judgment--"the first judgment which was delivered in Ireland." He agrees +that the Milesians must not take their foes by surprise--they are to +withdraw the length of nine waves from the shore, and then return; if they +then conquer the Danaans the land is to be fairly theirs by right of +battle. + +The Milesians submit to this decision and embark on their ships. But no +sooner have they drawn _off_ for this mystical distance of the nine waves +than a mist and storm are raised by the sorceries of the Danaans--the coast +of Ireland is hidden from their sight, and they wander dispersed upon the +ocean. To ascertain if it is a natural or a Druidic tempest which afflicts +them, a man named Aranan is sent up to the masthead to see if the wind is +blowing there also or not. He is flung from the swaying mast, but as he +falls to his death he cries his message to his shipmates: "There is no +storm aloft." Amergin, who as poet--that is to say, Druid--takes the lead in +all critical situations, thereupon chants his incantation to the land of +Erin. The wind falls, and they turn their prows, rejoicing, towards the +shore. But one of the Milesian lords, Eber Donn, exults in brutal rage at +the prospect of putting all the dwellers in Ireland to the sword; the +tempest immediately springs up again, and many of the Milesian ships +founder, Eber Donn's being among them. At last a remnant of the Milesians +find their way to shore, and land in the estuary of the Boyne. + +*The Defeat of the Danaans* + +A great battle with the Danaans at Telltown(109) then follows. The three +kings and three queens of the Danaans, with many of their people, are +slain, and the children of Miled--the last of the mythical invaders of +Ireland--enter upon the sovranty of Ireland. But the People of Dana do not +withdraw. By their magic art they cast over themselves a veil of +invisibility, which they can put on or off as they choose. There are two +Irelands henceforward, the spiritual and the earthly. The Danaans dwell in +the spiritual Ireland, which is portioned out among them by their great +overlord, the Dagda. Where the human eye can see but green mounds and +ramparts, the relics of ruined fortresses or sepulchres, there rise the +fairy palaces of the defeated divinities; there they hold their revels in +eternal sunshine, nourished by the magic meat and ale that give them +undying youth and beauty; and thence they come forth at times to mingle +with mortal men in love or in war. The ancient mythical literature +conceives them as heroic and splendid in strength and beauty. In later +times, and as Christian influences grew stronger, they dwindle into +fairies, the People of the Sidhe;(110) but they have never wholly +perished; to this day the Land of Youth and its inhabitants live in the +imagination of the Irish peasant. + +*The Meaning of the Danaan Myth* + +All myths constructed by a primitive people are symbols, and if we can +discover what it is that they symbolise we have a valuable clue to the +spiritual character, and sometimes even to the history, of the people from +whom they sprang. Now the meaning of the Danaan myth as it appears in the +bardic literature, though it has undergone much distortion before it +reached us, is perfectly clear. The Danaans represent the Celtic reverence +for science, poetry, and artistic skill, blended, of course, with the +earlier conception of the divinity of the powers of Light. In their combat +with the Firbolgs the victory of the intellect over dulness and ignorance +is plainly portrayed--the comparison of the heavy, blunt weapon of the +Firbolgs with the light and penetrating spears of the People of Dana is an +indication which it is impossible to mistake. Again, in their struggle +with a far more powerful and dangerous enemy, the Fomorians, we are +evidently to see the combat of the powers of Light with evil of a more +positive kind than that represented by the Firbolgs. The Fomorians stand +not for mere dulness or stupidity, but for the forces of tyranny, cruelty, +and greed--for moral rather than for intellectual darkness. + +*The Meaning of the Milesian Myth* + +But the myth of the struggle of the Danaans with the sons of Miled is more +difficult to interpret. How does it come that the lords of light and +beauty, wielding all the powers of thought (represented by magic and +sorcery), succumbed to a human race, and were dispossessed by them of +their hard-won inheritance? What is the meaning of this shrinking of their +powers which at once took place when the Milesians came on the scene? The +Milesians were not on the side of the powers of darkness. They were guided +by Amergin, a clear embodiment of the idea of poetry and thought. They +were regarded with the utmost veneration, and the dominant families of +Ireland all traced their descent to them. Was the Kingdom of Light, then, +divided against itself? Or, if not, to what conception in the Irish mind +are we to trace the myth of the Milesian invasion and victory? + +The only answer I can see to this puzzling question is to suppose that the +Milesian myth originated at a much later time than the others, and was, in +its main features, the product of Christian influences. The People of Dana +were in possession of the country, but they were pagan divinities--they +could not stand for the progenitors of a Christian Ireland. They had +somehow or other to be got rid of, and a race of less embarrassing +antecedents substituted for them. So the Milesians were fetched from +"Spain" and endowed with the main characteristics, only more humanised, of +the People of Dana. But the latter, in contradistinction to the usual +attitude of early Christianity, are treated very tenderly in the story of +their overthrow. One of them has the honour of giving her name to the +island, the brutality of one of the conquerors towards them is punished +with death, and while dispossessed of the lordship of the soil they still +enjoy life in the fair world which by their magic art they have made +invisible to mortals. They are no longer gods, but they are more than +human, and frequent instances occur in which they are shown as coming +forth from their fairy world, being embraced in the Christian fold, and +entering into heavenly bliss. With two cases of this redemption of the +Danaans we shall close this chapter on the Invasion Myths of Ireland. + +The first is the strange and beautiful tale of the Transformation of the +Children of Lir. + +*The Children of Lir* + +Lir was a Danaan divinity, the father of the sea-god Mananan who +continually occurs in magical tales of the Milesian cycle. He had married +in succession two sisters, the second of whom was named Aoife.(111) She +was childless, but the former wife of Lir had left him four children, a +girl named Fionuala(112) and three boys. The intense love of Lir for the +children made the stepmother jealous, and she ultimately resolved on their +destruction. It will be observed, by the way, that the People of Dana, +though conceived as unaffected by time, and naturally immortal, are +nevertheless subject to violent death either at the hands of each other or +even of mortals. + +With her guilty object in view, Aoife goes on a journey to a neighbouring +Danaan king, Bov the Red, taking the four children with her. Arriving at a +lonely place by Lake Derryvaragh, in Westmeath, she orders her attendants +to slay the children. They refuse, and rebuke her. Then she resolves to do +it herself; but, says the legend, "her womanhood overcame her," and +instead of killing the Children she transforms them by spells of sorcery +into four white swans, and lays on them the following doom: three hundred +years they are to spend on the waters of Lake Derryvaragh, three hundred +on the Straits of Moyle (between Ireland and Scotland), and three hundred +on the Atlantic by Erris and Inishglory. After that, "when the woman of +the South is mated with the man of the North," the enchantment is to have +an end. + +When the children fail to arrive with Aoife at the palace of Bov her guilt +is discovered, and Bov changes her into "a demon of the air." She flies +forth shrieking, and is heard of no more in the tale. But Lir and Bov seek +out the swan-children, and find that they have not only human speech, but +have preserved the characteristic Danaan gift of making wonderful music. +From all parts of the island companies of the Danaan folk resort to Lake +Derryvaragh to hear this wondrous music and to converse with the swans, +and during that time a great peace and gentleness seemed to pervade the +land. + +But at last the day came for them to leave the fellowship of their kind +and take up their life by the wild cliffs and ever angry sea of the +northern coast. Here they knew the worst of loneliness, cold, and storm. +Forbidden to land, their feathers froze to the rocks in the winter nights, +and they were often buffeted and driven apart by storms. As Fionuala +sings: + +"Cruel to us was Aoife +Who played her magic upon us, +And drove us out on the water-- +Four wonderful snow-white swans. + +"Our bath is the frothing brine, +In bays by red rocks guarded; +For mead at our father's table +We drink of the salt, blue sea. + +"Three sons and a single daughter, +In clefts of the cold rocks dwelling, +The hard rocks, cruel to mortals-- +We are full of keening to-night." + +Fionuala, the eldest of the four, takes the lead in all their doings, and +mothers the younger children most tenderly, wrapping her plumage round +them on nights of frost. At last the time comes to enter on the third and +last period of their doom, and they take flight for the western shores of +Mayo. Here too they suffer much hardship; but the Milesians have now come +into the land, and a young farmer named Evric, dwelling on the shores of +Erris Bay, finds out who and what the swans are, and befriends them. To +him they tell their story, and through him it is supposed to have been +preserved and handed down. When the final period of their suffering is +close at hand they resolve to fly towards the palace of their father Lir, +who dwells, we are told, at the Hill of the White Field, in Armagh, to see +how things have fared with him. They do so; but not knowing what has +happened on the coming of the Milesians, they are shocked and bewildered +to find nothing but green mounds and whin-bushes and nettles where once +stood--and still stands, only that they cannot see it--the palace of their +father. Their eyes are holden, we are to understand, because a higher +destiny was in store for them than to return to the Land of Youth. + +On Erris Bay they hear for the first time the sound of a Christian bell. +It comes from the chapel of a hermit who has established himself there. +The swans are at first startled and terrified by the "thin, dreadful +sound," but afterwards approach and make themselves known to the hermit, +who instructs them in the faith, and they join him in singing the offices +of the Church. + +Now it happens that a princess of Munster, Deoca, (the "woman of the +South") became betrothed to a Connacht chief named Lairgnen, and begged +him as a wedding gift to procure for her the four wonderful singing swans +whose fame had come to her. He asks them of the hermit, who refuses to +give them up, whereupon the "man of the North" seizes them violently by +the silver chains with which the hermit had coupled them, and drags them +off to Deoca. This is their last trial. Arrived in her presence, an awful +transformation befalls them. The swan plumage falls off, and reveals, not, +indeed, the radiant forms of the Danaan divinities, but four withered, +snowy-haired, and miserable human beings, shrunken in the decrepitude of +their vast old age. Lairgnen flies from the place in horror, but the +hermit prepares to administer baptism at once, as death is rapidly +approaching them. "Lay us in one grave," says Fionuala, "and place Conn at +my right hand and Fiachra at my left, and Hugh before my face, for there +they were wont to be when I sheltered them many a winter night upon the +seas of Moyle." And so it was done, and they went to heaven; but the +hermit, it is said, sorrowed for them to the end of his earthly days.(113) + +In all Celtic legend there is no more tender and beautiful tale than this +of the Children of Lir. + +*The Tale of Ethné* + +But the imagination of the Celtic bard always played with delight on the +subjects of these transition tales, where the reconciling of the pagan +order with the Christian was the theme. The same conception is embodied in +the tale of Ethné, which we have now to tell. + +It is said that Mananan mac Lir had a daughter who was given in fosterage +to the Danaan prince Angus, whose fairy palace was at Brugh na Boyna. This +is the great sepulchral tumulus now called New Grange, on the Boyne. At +the same time the steward of Angus had a daughter born to him whose name +was Ethné, and who was allotted to the young princess as her handmaiden. + +Ethné grew up into a lovely and gentle maiden, but it was discovered one +day that she took no nourishment of any kind, although the rest of the +household fed as usual on the magic swine of Mananan, which might be eaten +to-day and were alive again for the feast to-morrow. Mananan was called in +to penetrate the mystery, and the following curious story came to light. +One of the chieftains of the Danaans who had been on a visit with Angus, +smitten by the girl's beauty, had endeavoured to possess her by force. +This woke in Ethné's pure spirit the moral nature which is proper to man, +and which the Danaan divinities know not. As the tale says, her "guardian +demon" left her, and an angel of the true God took its place. After that +event she abstained altogether from the food of Faëry, and was +miraculously nourished by the will of God. After a time, however, Mananan +and Angus, who had been on a voyage to the East, brought back thence two +cows whose milk never ran dry, and as they were supposed to have come from +a sacred land Ethné lived on their milk thenceforward. + +All this is supposed to have happened during the reign of Eremon, the +first Milesian king of all Ireland, who was contemporary with King David. +At the time of the coming of St. Patrick, therefore, Ethné would have been +about fifteen hundred years of age. The Danaan folk grow up from childhood +to maturity, but then they abide unaffected by the lapse of time. + +Now it happened one summer day that the Danaan princess whose handmaid +Ethné was went down with all her maidens to bathe in the river Boyne. When +arraying themselves afterwards Ethné discovered, to her dismay--and this +incident was, of course, an instance of divine interest in her +destiny--that she had lost the Veil of Invisibility, conceived here as a +magic charm worn on the person, which gave her the entrance to the Danaan +fairyland and hid her from mortal eyes. She could not find her way back to +the palace of Angus, and wandered up and down the banks of the river +seeking in vain for her companions and her home. At last she came to a +walled garden, and, looking through the gate, saw inside a stone house of +strange appearance and a man in a long brown robe. The man was a Christian +monk, and the house was a little church or oratory. He beckoned her in, +and when she had told her story to him he brought her to St. Patrick, who +completed her adoption into the human family by giving her the rite of +baptism. + +Now comes in a strangely pathetic episode which reveals the tenderness, +almost the regret, with which early Irish Christianity looked back on the +lost world of paganism. As Ethné was one day praying in the little church +by the Boyne she heard suddenly a rushing sound in the air, and +innumerable voices, as it seemed from a great distance, lamenting and +calling her name. It was her Danaan kindred, who were still seeking for +her in vain. She sprang up to reply, but was so overcome with emotion that +she fell in a swoon on the floor. She recovered her senses after a while, +but from that day she was struck with a mortal sickness, and in no long +time she died, with her head upon the breast of St. Patrick, who +administered to her the last rites, and ordained that the church should be +named after her, Kill Ethné--a name doubtless borne, at the time the story +was composed, by some real church on the banks of Boyne.(114) + +*Christianity and Paganism in Ireland* + +These, taken together with numerous other legendary incidents which might +be quoted, illustrate well the attitude of the early Celtic Christians, in +Ireland at least, towards the divinities of the older faith. They seem to +preclude the idea that at the time of the conversion of Ireland the pagan +religion was associated with cruel and barbarous practices, on which the +national memory would look back with horror and detestation. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV: THE EARLY MILESIAN KINGS + + +*The Danaans after the Milesian Conquest* + +The kings and heroes of the Milesian race now fill the foreground of the +stage in Irish legendary history. But, as we have indicated, the Danaan +divinities are by no means forgotten. The fairyland in which they dwell is +ordinarily inaccessible to mortals, yet it is ever near at hand; the +invisible barriers may be, and often are, crossed by mortal men, and the +Danaans themselves frequently come forth from them; mortals may win brides +of Faëry who mysteriously leave them after a while, and women bear +glorious children of supernatural fatherhood. Yet whatever the Danaans may +have been in the original pre-Christian conceptions of the Celtic Irish, +it would be a mistake to suppose that they figure in the legends, as these +have now come down to us, in the light of gods as we understand this term. +They are for the most part radiantly beautiful, they are immortal (with +limitations), and they wield mysterious powers of sorcery and enchantment. +But no sort of moral governance of the world is ever for a moment ascribed +to them, nor (in the bardic literature) is any act of worship paid to +them. They do not die naturally, but they can be slain both by each other +and by mortals, and on the whole the mortal race is the stronger. Their +strength when they come into conflict (as frequently happens) with men +lies in stratagem and illusion; when the issue can be fairly knit between +the rival powers it is the human that conquers. The early kings and heroes +of the Milesian race are, indeed, often represented as so mightily endowed +with supernatural power that it is impossible to draw a clear distinction +between them and the People of Dana in this respect. The Danaans are much +nobler and more exalted beings, as they figure in the bardic literature, +than the fairies into which they ultimately degenerated in the popular +imagination; they may be said to hold a position intermediate between +these and the Greek deities as portrayed in Homer. But the true worship of +the Celts, in Ireland as elsewhere, seems to have been paid, not to these +poetical personifications of their ideals of power and beauty, but rather +to elemental forces represented by actual natural phenomena--rocks, rivers, +the sun, the wind, the sea. The most binding of oaths was to swear by the +Wind and Sun, or to invoke some other power of nature; no name of any +Danaan divinity occurs in an Irish oath formula. When, however, in the +later stages of the bardic literature, and still more in the popular +conceptions, the Danaan deities had begun to sink into fairies, we find +rising into prominence a character probably older than that ascribed to +them in the literature, and, in a way, more august. In the literature it +is evident that they were originally representatives of science and +poetry--the intellectual powers of man. But in the popular mind they +represented, probably at all times and certainly in later Christian times, +not intellectual powers, but those associated with the fecundity of earth. +They were, as a passage in the Book of Armagh names them, _dei terreni_, +earth-gods, and were, and are still, invoked by the peasantry to yield +increase and fertility. The literary conception of them is plainly Druidic +in origin, the other popular; and the popular and doubtless older +conception has proved the more enduring. + +But these features of Irish mythology will appear better in the actual +tales than in any critical discussion of them; and to the tales let us now +return. + +*The Milesian Settlement of Ireland* + +The Milesians had three leaders when they set out for the conquest of +Ireland--Eber Donn (Brown Eber), Eber Finn (Fair Eber), and Eremon. Of +these the first-named, as we have seen, was not allowed to enter the +land--he perished as a punishment for his brutality. When the victory over +the Danaans was secure the two remaining brothers turned to the Druid +Amergin for a judgment as to their respective titles to the sovranty. +Eremon was the elder of the two, but Eber refused to submit to him. Thus +Irish history begins, alas! with dissension and jealousy. Amergin decided +that the land should belong to Eremon for his life, and pass to Eber after +his death. But Eber refused to submit to the award, and demanded an +immediate partition of the new-won territory. This was agreed to, and Eber +took the southern half of Ireland, "from the Boyne to the Wave of +Cleena,"(115) while Eremon occupied the north. But even so the brethren +could not be at peace, and after a short while war broke out between them. +Eber was slain, and Eremon became sole King of Ireland, which he ruled +from Tara, the traditional seat of that central authority which was always +a dream of the Irish mind, but never a reality of Irish history. + +*Tiernmas and Crom Cruach* + +Of the kings who succeeded Eremon, and the battles they fought and the +forests they cleared away and the rivers and lakes that broke out in their +reign, there is little of note to record till we come to the reign of +Tiernmas, fifth in succession from Eremon. He is said to have introduced +into Ireland the worship of Crom Cruach, on Moyslaught (The Plain of +Adoration(116)), and to have perished himself with three-fourths of his +people while worshipping this idol on November Eve, the period when the +reign of winter was inaugurated. Crom Cruach was no doubt a solar deity, +but no figure at all resembling him can be identified among the Danaan +divinities. Tiernmas also, it is said, found the first gold-mine in +Ireland, and introduced variegated colours into the clothing of the +people. A slave might wear but one colour, a peasant two, a soldier three, +a wealthy landowner four, a provincial chief five, and an Ollav, or royal +person, six. Ollav was a term applied to a certain Druidic rank; it meant +much the same as "doctor," in the sense of a learned man--a master of +science. It is a characteristic trait that the Ollav is endowed with a +distinction equal to that of a king. + +*Ollav Fola* + +The most distinguished Ollav of Ireland was also a king, the celebrated +Ollav Fola, who is supposed to have been eighteenth from Eremon and to +have reigned about 1000 B.C. He was the Lycurgus or Solon of Ireland, +giving to the country a code of legislature, and also subdividing it, +under the High King at Tara, among the provincial chiefs, to each of whom +his proper rights and obligations were allotted. To Ollav Fola is also +attributed the foundation of an institution which, whatever its origin, +became of great importance in Ireland--the great triennial Fair or Festival +at Tara, where the sub-kings and chiefs, bards, historians, and musicians +from all parts of Ireland assembled to make up the genealogical records of +the clan chieftainships, to enact laws, hear disputed cases, settle +succession, and so forth; all these political and legislative labours +being lightened by song and feast. It was a stringent law that at this +season all enmities must be laid aside; no man might lift his hand against +another, or even institute a legal process, while the Assembly at Tara was +in progress. Of all political and national institutions of this kind Ollav +Fola was regarded as the traditional founder, just as Goban the Smith was +the founder of artistry and handicraft, and Amergin of poetry. But whether +the Milesian king had any more objective reality than the other more +obviously mythical figures it is hard to say. He is supposed to have been +buried in the great tumulus at Loughcrew, in Westmeath. + +*Kimbay and the Founding of Emain Macha* + +With Kimbay (_Cimbaoth_), about 300 B.C., we come to a landmark in +history. "All the historical records of the Irish, prior to Kimbay, were +dubious"--so, with remarkable critical acumen for his age, wrote the +eleventh-century historian Tierna of Clonmacnois.(117) There is much that +is dubious in those that follow, but we are certainly on firmer historical +ground. With the reign of Kimbay one great fact emerges into light: we +have the foundation of the kingdom of Ulster at its centre, Emain Macha, a +name redolent to the Irish student of legendary splendour and heroism. +Emain Macha is now represented by the grassy ramparts of a great +hill-fortress close to Ard Macha (Armagh). According to one of the +derivations offered in Keating's "History of Ireland," _Emain_ is derived +from _eo_, a bodkin, and _muin_, the neck, the word being thus equivalent +to "brooch," and Emain Macha means the Brooch of Macha. An Irish brooch +was a large circular wheel of gold or bronze, crossed by a long pin, and +the great circular rampart surrounding a Celtic fortress might well be +imaginatively likened to the brooch or a giantess guarding her cloak, or +territory.(118) The legend of Macha tells that she was the daughter of Red +Hugh, an Ulster prince who had two brothers, Dithorba and Kimbay. They +agreed to enjoy, each in turn, the sovranty of Ireland. Red Hugh came +first, but on his death Macha refused to give up the realm and fought +Dithorba for it, whom she conquered and slew. She then, in equally +masterful manner, compelled Kimbay to wed her, and ruled all Ireland as +queen. I give the rest of the tale in the words of Standish O'Grady: + +"The five sons of Dithorba, having been expelled out of Ulster, fled +across the Shannon, and in the west of the kingdom plotted against Macha. +Then the Queen went down alone into Connacht and found the brothers in the +forest, where, wearied with the chase, they were cooking a wild boar which +they had slain, and were carousing before a fire which they had kindled. +She appeared in her grimmest aspect, as the war-goddess, red all over, +terrible and hideous as war itself but with bright and flashing eyes. One +by one the brothers were inflamed by her sinister beauty, and one by one +she overpowered and bound them. Then she lifted her burthen of champions +upon her back and returned with them into the north. With the spear of her +brooch she marked out on the plain the circuit of the city of Emain Macha, +whose ramparts and trenches were constructed by the captive princes, +labouring like slaves under her command." + +"The underlying idea of all this class of legend," remarks Mr. O'Grady, +"is that if men cannot master war, war will master them; and that those +who aspired to the Ard-Rieship [High-Kingship] of all Erin must have the +war-gods on their side."(119) + +Macha is an instance of the intermingling of the attributes of the Danaan +with the human race of which I have already spoken. + +*Laery and Covac* + +The next king who comes into legendary prominence is Ugainy the Great, who +is said to have ruled not only all Ireland, but a great part of Western +Europe, and to have wedded a Gaulish princess named Kesair. He had two +sons, Laery and Covac. The former inherited the kingdom, but Covac, +consumed and sick with envy, sought to slay him, and asked the advice of a +Druid as to how this could be managed, since Laery, justly suspicious, +never would visit him without an armed escort. The Druid bade him feign +death, and have word sent to his brother that he was on his bier ready for +burial. This Covac did, and when Laery arrived and bent over the supposed +corpse Covac stabbed him to the heart, and slew also one of his sons, +Ailill,(120) who attended him. Then Covac ascended the throne, and +straightway his illness left him. + +*Legends of Maon, Son of Ailill* + +He did a brutal deed, however, upon a son of Ailill's named Maon, about +whom a number of legends cluster. Maon, as a child, was brought into +Covac's presence, and was there compelled, says Keating, to swallow a +portion of his father's and grandfather's hearts, and also a mouse with +her young. From the disgust he felt, the child lost his speech, and seeing +him dumb, and therefore innocuous, Covac let him go. The boy was then +taken into Munster, to the kingdom of Feramorc, of which Scoriath was +king, and remained with him some time, but afterwards went to Gaul, his +great-grandmother Kesair's country, where his guards told the king that he +was heir to the throne of Ireland, and he was treated with great honour +and grew up into a noble youth. But he left behind him in the heart of +Moriath, daughter of the King of Feramorc, a passion that could not be +stilled, and she resolved to bring him back to Ireland. She accordingly +equipped her father's harper, Craftiny, with many rich gifts, and wrote +for him a love-lay, in which her passion for Maon was set forth, and to +which Craftiny composed an enchanting melody. Arrived in France, Craftiny +made his way to the king's court, and found occasion to pour out his lay +to Maon. So deeply stirred was he by the beauty and passion of the song +that his speech returned to him and he broke out into praises of it, and +was thenceforth dumb no more. The King of Gaul then equipped him with an +armed force and sent him to Ireland to regain his kingdom. Learning that +Covac was at a place near at hand named Dinrigh, Maon and his body of +Gauls made a sudden attack upon him and slew him there and then, with all +his nobles and guards. After the slaughter a Druid of Covac's company +asked one of the Gauls who their leader was. "The Mariner" (_Loingseach_), +replied the Gaul, meaning the captain of the fleet--_i.e._, Maon. "Can he +speak?" inquired the Druid, who had begun to suspect the truth. "He does +speak" (_Labraidh_), said the man; and henceforth the name "Labra the +Mariner" clung to Maon son of Ailill, nor was he known by any other. He +then sought out Moriath, wedded her, and reigned over Ireland ten years. + +From this invasion of the Gauls the name of the province of Leinster is +traditionally derived. They were armed with spears having broad blue-green +iron heads called _laighne_ (pronounced "lyna"), and as they were allotted +lands in Leinster and settled there, the province was called in Irish +_Laighin_ ("Ly-in") after them--the Province of the Spearmen.(121) + +Of Labra the Mariner, after his accession, a curious tale is told. He was +accustomed, it is said, to have his hair cropped but once a year, and the +man to do this was chosen by lot, and was immediately afterwards put to +death. The reason of this was that, like King Midas in the similar Greek +myth, he had long ears like those of a horse, and he would not have this +deformity known. Once it fell, however, that the person chosen to crop his +hair was the only son of a poor widow, by whose tears and entreaties the +king was prevailed upon to let him live, on condition that he swore by the +Wind and Sun to tell no man what he might see. The oath was taken, and the +young man returned to his mother. But by-and-by the secret so preyed on +his mind that he fell into a sore sickness, and was near to death, when a +wise Druid was called in to heal him. "It is the secret that is killing +him," said the Druid, "and he will never be well till he reveals it. Let +him therefore go along the high-road till he come to a place where four +roads meet. Let him there turn to the right, and the first tree he shall +meet on the road, let him tell his secret to that, and he shall be rid of +it, and recover." So the youth did; and the first tree was a willow. He +laid his lips close to the bark, whispered his secret to it, and went +home, light-hearted as of old. But it chanced that shortly after this the +harper Craftiny broke his harp and needed a new one, and as luck would +have it the first suitable tree he came to was the willow that had the +king's secret. He cut it down, made his harp from it, and performed that +night as usual in the king's hall; when, to the amazement of all, as soon +as the harper touched the strings the assembled guests heard them chime +the words, "Two horse's ears hath Labra the Mariner." The king then, +seeing that the secret was out, plucked off his hood and showed himself +plainly; nor was any man put to death again on account of this mystery. We +have seen that the compelling power of Craftiny's music had formerly cured +Labra's dumbness. The sense of something magical in music, as though +supernatural powers spoke through it, is of constant recurrence in Irish +legend. + +*Legend-Cycle of Conary Mor* + +We now come to a cycle of legends centering on, or rather closing with, +the wonderful figure of the High King Conary Mor--a cycle so charged with +splendour, mystery, and romance that to do it justice would require far +more space than can be given to it within the limits of this work.(122) + +*Etain in Fairyland* + +The preliminary events of the cycle are transacted in the "Land of Youth," +the mystic country of the People of Dana after their dispossession by the +Children of Miled. Midir the Proud son of the Dagda, a Danaan prince +dwelling on Slieve Callary, had a wife named Fuamnach. After a while he +took to himself another bride, Etain, whose beauty and grace were beyond +compare, so that "as fair as Etain" became a proverbial comparison for any +beauty that exceeded all other standards. Fuamnach therefore became +jealous of her rival, and having by magic art changed her into a +butterfly, she raised a tempest that drove her forth from the palace, and +kept her for seven years buffeted hither and thither throughout the length +and breadth of Erin. At last, however, a chance gust of wind blew her +through a window of the fairy palace of Angus on the Boyne. The immortals +cannot be hidden from each other, and Angus knew what she was. Unable to +release her altogether from the spell of Fuamnach, he made a sunny bower +for her, and planted round it all manner of choice and honey-laden +flowers, on which she lived as long as she was with him, while in the +secrecy of the night he restored her to her own form and enjoyed her love. +In time, however, her refuge was discovered by Fuamnach; again the magic +tempest descended upon her and drove her forth; and this time a singular +fate was hers. Blown into the palace of an Ulster chieftain named Etar, +she fell into the drinking-cup of Etar's wife just as the latter was about +to drink. She was swallowed in the draught, and in due time, having passed +into the womb of Etar's wife, she was born as an apparently mortal child, +and grew up to maidenhood knowing nothing of her real nature and ancestry. + +*Eochy and Etain* + +About this time it happened that the High King of Ireland, Eochy,(123) +being wifeless and urged by the nobles of his land to take a queen--"for +without thou do so," they said, "we will not bring our wives to the +Assembly at Tara"--sent forth to inquire for a fair and noble maiden to +share his throne. The messengers report that Etain, daughter of Etar, is +the fairest maiden in Ireland, and the king journeys forth to visit her. A +piece of description here follows which is one of the most highly wrought +and splendid in Celtic or perhaps in any literature. Eochy finds Etain +with her maidens by a spring of water, whither she had gone forth to wash +her hair: + +"A clear comb of silver was held in her hand, the comb was adorned with +gold; and near her, as for washing, was a bason of silver whereon four +birds had been chased, and there were little bright gems of carbuncles on +the rims of the bason. A bright purple mantle waved round her; and beneath +it was another mantle ornamented with silver fringes: the outer mantle was +clasped over her bosom with a golden brooch. A tunic she wore with a long +hood that might cover her head attached to it; it was stiff and glossy +with green silk beneath red embroidery of gold, and was clasped over her +breasts with marvellously wrought clasps of silver and gold; so that men +saw the bright gold and the green silk flashing against the sun. On her +head were two tresses of golden hair, and each tress had been plaited into +four strands; at the end of each strand was a little ball of gold. And +there was that maiden undoing her hair that she might wash it, her two +arms out through the armholes of her smock. Each of her two arms was as +white as the snow of a single night, and each of her cheeks was as rosy as +the foxglove. Even and small were the teeth in her head, and they shone +like pearls. Her eyes were as blue as a hyacinth, her lips delicate and +crimson; very high, soft and white were her shoulders. Tender, polished +and white were her wrists; her fingers long and of great whiteness; her +nails were beautiful and pink. White as snow, or the foam of a wave, was +her neck; long was it, slender, and as soft as silk. Smooth and white were +her thighs; her knees were round and firm and white; her ankles were as +straight as the rule of a carpenter. Her feet were slim and as white as +the ocean's foam; evenly set were her eyes; her eyebrows were of a bluish +black, such as you see upon the shell of a beetle. Never a maid fairer +than she, or more worthy of love, was till then seen by the eyes of men; +and it seemed to them that she must be one of those that have come from +the fairy mounds."(124) + +The king wooed her and made her his wife, and brought her back to Tara. + +*The Love-Story of Ailill* + +It happened that the king had a brother named Ailill, who, on seeing +Etain, was so smitten with her beauty that he fell sick of the intensity +of his passion and wasted almost to death. While he was in this condition +Eochy had to make a royal progress through Ireland. He left his +brother--the cause of whose malady none suspected--in Etain's care, bidding +her do what she could for him, and, if he died, to bury him with due +ceremonies and erect an Ogham stone above his grave.(125) Etain goes to +visit the brother; she inquires the cause of his illness; he speaks to her +in enigmas, but at last, moved beyond control by her tenderness, he breaks +out in an avowal of his passion. His description of the yearning of +hopeless love is a lyric of extraordinary intensity. "It is closer than +the skin," he cries, "it is like a battle with a spectre, it overwhelms +like a flood, it is a weapon under the sea, it is a passion for an echo." +By "a weapon under the sea" the poet means that love is like one of the +secret treasures of the fairy-folk in the kingdom of Mananan--as wonderful +and as unattainable. + +Etain is now in some perplexity; but she decides, with a kind of naïve +good-nature, that although she is not in the least in love with Ailill, +she cannot see a man die of longing for her, and she promises to be his. +Possibly we are to understand here that she was prompted by the fairy +nature, ignorant of good and evil, and alive only to pleasure and to +suffering. It must be said, however, that in the Irish myths in general +this, as we may call it, "fairy" view of morality is the one generally +prevalent both among Danaans and mortals--both alike strike one as morally +irresponsible. + +Etain now arranges a tryst with Ailill in a house outside of Tara--for she +will not do what she calls her "glorious crime" in the king's palace. But +Ailill on the eve of the appointed day falls into a profound slumber and +misses his appointment. A being in his shape does, however, come to Etain, +but merely to speak coldly and sorrowfully of his malady, and departs +again. When the two meet once more the situation is altogether changed. In +Ailill's enchanted sleep his unholy passion for the queen has passed +entirely away. Etain, on the other hand, becomes aware that behind the +visible events there are mysteries which she does not understand. + +*Midir the Proud* + +The explanation soon follows. The being who came to her in the shape of +Ailill was her Danaan husband, Midir the Proud. He now comes to woo her in +his true shape, beautiful and nobly apparelled, and entreats her to fly +with him to the Land of Youth, where she can be safe henceforward, since +her persecutor, Fuamnach, is dead. He it was who shed upon Ailill's eyes +the magic slumber. His description of the fairyland to which he invites +her is given in verses of great beauty: + +*The Land of Youth* + +"O fair-haired woman, will you come with me to the marvellous land, full + of music, where the hair is primrose-yellow and the body white + as snow? +There none speaks of 'mine' or 'thine'--white are the teeth and black the + brows; eyes flash with many-coloured lights, and the hue of + the foxglove is on every cheek. +Pleasant to the eye are the plains of Erin, but they are a desert to the + Great Plain. +Heady is the ale of Erin, but the ale of the Great Plain is headier. +It is one of the wonders of that land that youth does not change into age. +Smooth and sweet are the streams that flow through it; mead and wine + abound of every kind; there men are all fair, without blemish; + there women conceive without sin. +We see around us on every side, yet no man seeth us; the cloud of the sin + of Adam hides us from their observation. +"O lady, if thou wilt come to my strong people, the purest of gold shall + be on thy head--thy meat shall be swine's flesh unsalted,(126) + new milk and mead shall thou drink with me there, O + fair-haired woman. + +I have given this remarkable lyric at length because, though Christian and +ascetic ideas are obviously discernible in it, it represents on the whole +the pagan and mythical conception of the Land of Youth, the country of the +Dead. + +Etain, however, is by no means ready to go away with a stranger and to +desert the High King for a man "without name or lineage." Midir tells her +who he is, and all her own history of which, in her present incarnation, +she knows nothing; and he adds that it was one thousand and twelve years +from Etain's birth in the Land of Youth till she was born a mortal child +to the wife of Etar. Ultimately Etain agrees to return with Midir to her +ancient home, but only on condition that the king will agree to their +severance, and with this Midir has to be content for the time. + +*A Game of Chess* + +Shortly afterwards he appears to King Eochy, as already related,(127) on +the Hill of Tara. He tells the king that he has come to play a game of +chess with him, and produces a chessboard of silver with pieces of gold +studded with jewels. To be a skilful chess-player was a necessary +accomplishment of kings and nobles in Ireland, and Eochy enters into the +game with zest. Midir allows him to win game after game, and in payment +for his losses he performs by magic all kinds of tasks for Eochy, +reclaiming land, clearing forests, and building causeways across bogs--here +we have a touch of the popular conception of the Danaans as earth deities +associated with agriculture and fertility. At last, having excited Eochy's +cupidity and made him believe himself the better player, he proposes a +final game, the stakes to be at the pleasure of the victor after the game +is over. Eochy is now defeated. + +"My stake is forfeit to thee," said Eochy. + +"Had I wished it, it had been forfeit long ago," said Midir. + +"What is it that thou desirest me to grant?" said Eochy. + +"That I may hold Etain in my arms and obtain a kiss from her," said Midir. + +The king was silent for a while; then he said: "One month from to-day thou +shalt come, and the thing thou desirest shall be granted thee." + +*Midir and Etain* + +Eochy's mind foreboded evil, and when the appointed day came he caused the +palace of Tara to be surrounded by a great host of armed men to keep Midir +out. All was in vain, however; as the king sat at the feast, while Etain +handed round the wine, Midir, more glorious than ever, suddenly stood in +their midst. Holding his spears in his left hand, he threw his right +around Etain, and the couple rose lightly in the air and disappeared +through a roof-window in the palace. Angry and bewildered, the king and +his warriors rushed out of doors, but all they could see was two white +swans that circled in the air above the palace, and then departed in long, +steady flight towards the fairy mountain of Slievenamon. And thus Queen +Etain rejoined her kindred. + +*War with Fairyland* + +Eochy, however, would not accept defeat, and now ensues what I think is +the earliest recorded war with Fairyland since the first dispossession of +the Danaans. After searching Ireland for his wife in vain, he summoned to +his aid the Druid Dalan. Dalan tried for a year by every means in his +power to find out where she was. At last he made what seems to have been +an operation of wizardry of special strength--"he made three wands of yew, +and upon the wands he wrote an ogham; and by the keys of wisdom that he +had, and by the ogham, it was revealed to him that Etain was in the fairy +mound of Bri-Leith, and that Midir had borne her thither." + +Eochy then assembled his forces to storm and destroy the fairy mound in +which was the palace of Midir. It is said that he was nine years digging +up one mound after another, while Midir and his folk repaired the +devastation as fast as it was made. At last Midir, driven to the last +stronghold, attempted a stratagem--he offered to give up Etain, and sent +her with fifty handmaids to the king, but made them all so much alike that +Eochy could not distinguish the true Etain from her images. She herself, +it is said, gave him a sign by which to know her. The motive of the tale, +including the choice of the mortal rather than the god, reminds one of the +beautiful Hindu legend of Damayanti and Nala. Eochy regained his queen, +who lived with him till his death, ten years afterwards, and bore him one +daughter, who was named Etain, like herself. + +*The Tale of Conary Mor* + +From this Etain ultimately sprang the great king Conary Mor, who shines in +Irish legend as the supreme type of royal splendour, power, and +beneficence, and whose overthrow and death were compassed by the Danaans +in vengeance for the devastation of their sacred dwellings by Eochy. The +tale in which the death of Conary is related is one of the most antique +and barbaric in conception of all Irish legends, but it has a magnificence +of imagination which no other can rival. To this great story the tale of +Etain and Midir may be regarded as what the Irish called a _priomscel_, +"introductory tale," showing the more remote origin of the events related. +The genealogy of Conary Mor will help the reader to understand the +connexion of events. + + + Eochy=Etain. + | + Cormac, King=Etain Oig (Etain the younger). + of Ulster. | + | +Eterskel, King=Messbuachalla (the cowherd's fosterling). +of Erin. | + | + Conary Mor. + +*The Law of the Geis* + +The tale of Conary introduces us for the first time to the law or +institution of the _geis_, which plays henceforward a very important part +in Irish legend, the violation or observance of a _geis_ being frequently +the turning-point in a tragic narrative. We must therefore delay a moment +to explain to the reader exactly what this peculiar institution was. + +Dineen's "Irish Dictionary" explains the word _geis_ (pronounced +"gaysh"--plural, "gaysha") as meaning "a bond, a spell, a prohibition, a +taboo, a magical injunction, the violation of which led to misfortune and +death."(128) Every Irish chieftain or personage of note had certain +_geise_ peculiar to himself which he must not transgress. These _geise_ +had sometimes reference to a code of chivalry--thus Dermot of the +Love-spot, when appealed to by Grania to take her away from Finn, is under +_geise_ not to refuse protection to a woman. Or they may be merely +superstitious or fantastic--thus Conary, as one of his _geise_, is +forbidden to follow three red horsemen on a road, nor must he kill birds +(this is because, as we shall see, his totem was a bird). It is a _geis_ +to the Ulster champion, Fergus mac Roy, that he must not refuse an +invitation to a feast; on this turns the Tragedy of the Sons of Usnach. It +is not at all clear who imposed these _geise_ or how any one found out +what his personal _geise_ were--all that was doubtless an affair of the +Druids. But they were regarded as sacred obligations, and the worst +misfortunes were to be apprehended from breaking them. Originally, no +doubt, they were regarded as a means of keeping oneself in proper +relations with the other world--the world of Faëry--and were akin to the +well-known Polynesian practice of the "tabu." I prefer, however, to retain +the Irish word as the only fitting one for the Irish practice. + +*The Cowherd's Fosterling* + +We now return to follow the fortunes of Etain's great-grandson, Conary. +Her daughter, Etain Oig, as we have seen from the genealogical table, +married Cormac, King of Ulster. She bore her husband no children save one +daughter only. Embittered by her barrenness and his want of an heir, the +king put away Etain, and ordered her infant to be abandoned and thrown +into a pit. "Then his two thralls take her to a pit, and she smiles a +laughing smile at them as they were putting her into it."(129) After that +they cannot leave her to die, and they carry her to a cowherd of Eterskel, +King of Tara, by whom she is fostered and taught "till she became a good +embroidress and there was not in Ireland a king's daughter dearer than +she." Hence the name she bore, Messbuachalla ("Messboo´hala"), which means +"the cowherd's foster-child." + +For fear of her being discovered, the cowherds keep the maiden in a house +of wickerwork having only a roof-opening. But one of King Eterskel's folk +has the curiosity to climb up and look in, and sees there the fairest +maiden in Ireland. He bears word to the king, who orders an opening to be +made in the wall and the maiden fetched forth, for the king was childless, +and it had been prophesied to him by his Druid that a woman of unknown +race would bear him a son. Then said the king: "This is the woman that has +been prophesied to me." + +*Parentage and Birth of Conary* + +Before her release, however, she is visited by a denizen from the Land of +Youth. A great bird comes down through her roof-window. On the floor of +the hut his bird-plumage falls from him and reveals a glorious youth. Like +Danaë, like Leda, like Ethlinn daughter of Balor, she gives her love to +the god. Ere they part he tells her that she will be taken to the king, +but that she will bear to her Danaan lover a son whose name shall be +Conary, and that it shall be forbidden to him to go a-hunting after birds. + +So Conary was born, and grew up into a wise and noble youth, and he was +fostered with a lord named Desa, whose three great-grandsons grew up with +him from childhood. Their names were Ferlee and Fergar and Ferrogan; and +Conary, it is said, loved them well and taught them his wisdom. + +*Conary the High King* + +Then King Eterskel died, and a successor had to be appointed. In Ireland +the eldest son did not succeed to the throne or chieftaincy as a matter of +right, but the ablest and best of the family at the time was supposed to +be selected by the clan. In this tale we have a curious account of this +selection by means of divination. A "bull-feast" was held--_i.e._, a bull +was slain, and the diviner would "eat his fill and drink its broth"; then +he went to bed, where a truth-compelling spell was chanted over him. +Whoever he saw in his dream would be king. So at Ægira, in Achæa, as +Whitley Stokes points out, the priestess of Earth drank the fresh blood of +a bull before descending into the cave to prophesy. The dreamer cried in +his sleep that he saw a naked man going towards Tara with a stone in his +sling. + +The bull-feast was held at Tara, but Conary was then with his three +foster-brothers playing a game on the Plains of Liffey. They separated, +Conary going towards Dublin, where he saw before him a flock of great +birds, wonderful in colour and beauty. He drove after them in his chariot, +but the birds would go a spear-cast in front and light, and fly on again, +never letting him come up with them till they reached the sea-shore. Then +he lighted down from his chariot and took out his sling to cast at them, +whereupon they changed into armed men and turned on him with spears and +swords. One of them, however, protected him, and said: "I am Nemglan, king +of thy father's birds; and thou hast been forbidden to cast at birds, for +here there is no one but is thy kin." "Till to-day," said Conary, "I knew +not this." + +"Go to Tara to-night," said Nemglan; "the bull-feast is there, and through +it thou shalt be made king. A man stark naked, who shall go at the end of +the night along one of the roads to Tara, having a stone and a sling--'tis +he that shall be king." + +So Conary stripped off his raiment and went naked through the night to +Tara, where all the roads were being watched by chiefs having changes of +royal raiment with them to clothe the man who should come according to the +prophecy. When Conary meets them they clothe him and bring him in, and he +is proclaimed King of Erin. + +*Conary's Geise* + +A long list of his _geise_ is here given, which are said to have been +declared to him by Nemglan. "The bird-reign shall be noble," said he, "and +these shall be thy _geise_: + +"Thou shalt not go right-handwise round Tara, nor left-handwise round + Bregia,(130) + Thou shalt not hunt the evil-beasts of Cerna, + Thou shalt not go out every ninth night beyond Tara. + Thou shalt not sleep in a house from which firelight shows after sunset, + or in which light can be seen from without. + No three Reds shall go before thee to the house of Red. + No rapine shall be wrought in thy reign. + After sunset, no one woman alone or man alone shall enter the house in + which thou art. + Thou shalt not interfere in a quarrel between two of thy thralls." + +Conary then entered upon his reign, which was marked by the fair seasons +and bounteous harvests always associated in the Irish mind with the reign +of a good king. Foreign ships came to the ports. Oak-mast for the swine +was up to the knees every autumn; the rivers swarmed with fish. "No one +slew another in Erin during his reign, and to every one in Erin his +fellow's voice seemed as sweet as the strings of lutes. From mid-spring to +mid-autumn no wind disturbed a cow's tail." + +*Beginning of the Vengeance* + +Disturbance, however, came from another source. Conary had put down all +raiding and rapine, and his three foster-brothers, who were born reavers, +took it ill. They pursued their evil ways in pride and wilfulness, and +were at last captured red-handed. Conary would not condemn them to death, +as the people begged him to do, but spared them for the sake of his +kinship in fosterage. They were, however, banished from Erin and bidden to +go raiding overseas, if raid they must. On the seas they met another +exiled chief, Ingcel the One-Eyed, son of the King of Britain, and joining +forces with him they attacked the fortress in which Ingcel's father, +mother, and brothers were guests at the time, and all were destroyed in a +single night. It was then the turn of Ingcel to ask their help in raiding +the land of Erin, and gathering a host of other outlawed men, including +the seven Manés, sons of Ailell and Maev of Connacht, besides Ferlee, +Fergar, and Ferrogan, they made a descent upon Ireland, taking land on the +Dublin coast near Howth. + +Meantime Conary had been lured by the machinations of the Danaans into +breaking one after another of his _geise_. He settles a quarrel between +two of his serfs in Munster, and travelling back to Tara they see the +country around it lit with the glare of fires and wrapped in clouds of +smoke. A host from the North, they think, must be raiding the country, and +to escape it Conary's company have to turn right-handwise round Tara and +then left-handwise round the Plain of Bregia. But the smoke and flames +were an illusion made by the Fairy Folk, who are now drawing the toils +closer round the doomed king. On his way past Bregia he chases "the evil +beasts of Cerna"--whatever they were--"but he saw it not till the chase was +ended." + +*Da Derga's Hostel and the Three Reds* + +Conary had now to find a resting-place for the night, and he recollects +that he is not far from the Hostel of the Leinster lord, Da Derga, which +gives its name to this bardic tale.(131) Conary had been generous to him +when Da Derga came visiting to Tara, and he determined to seek his +hospitality for the night. Da Derga dwelt in a vast hall with seven doors +near to the present town of Dublin, probably at Donnybrook, on the +high-road to the south. As the cavalcade are journeying thither an ominous +incident occurs--Conary marks in front of them on the road three horsemen +clad all in red and riding on red horses. He remembers his _geis_ about +the "three Reds," and sends a messenger forward to bid them fall behind. +But however the messenger lashes his horse he fails to get nearer than the +length of a spear-cast to the three Red Riders. He shouts to them to turn +back and follow the king, but one of them, looking over his shoulder, bids +him ironically look out for "great news from a Hostel." Again and again +the messenger is sent to them with promises of great reward if they will +fall behind instead of preceding Conary. At last one of them chants a +mystic and terrible strain. "Lo, my son, great the news. Weary are the +steeds we ride --the steeds from the fairy mounds. Though we are living, we +are dead. Great are the signs: destruction of life; sating of ravens; +feeding of crows; strife of slaughter; wetting of sword-edge; shields with +broken bosses after sundown. Lo, my son!" Then they ride forward, and, +alighting from their red steeds, fasten them at the portal of Da Derga's +Hostel and sit down inside. "Derga," it may be explained, means "red." +Conary had therefore been preceded by three red horsemen to the House of +Red. "All my _geise_," he remarks forebodingly, "have seized me to-night." + +*Gathering of the Hosts* + +From this point the story of Conary Mor takes on a character of +supernatural vastness and mystery, the imagination of the bardic narrator +dilating, as it were, with the approach of the crisis. Night has fallen, +and the pirate host of Ingcel is encamped on the shores of Dublin Bay. +They hear the noise of the royal cavalcade, and a long-sighted messenger +is sent out to discover what it is. He brings back word of the glittering +and multitudinous host which has followed Conary to the Hostel. A crashing +noise is heard--Ingcel asks of Ferrogan what it may be--it is the giant +warrior mac Cecht striking flint on steel to kindle fire for the king's +feast. "God send that Conary be not there to-night," cry the sons of Desa; +"woe that he should be under the hurt of his foes." But Ingcel reminds +them of their compact--he had given them the plundering of his own father +and brethren; they cannot refuse to stand by him in the attack he +meditates on Conary in the Hostel. A glare of the fire lit by mac Cecht is +now perceived by the pirate host, shining through the wheels of the +chariots which are drawn up around the open doors of the Hostel. Another +of the _geise_ of Conary has been broken. + +Ingcel and his host now proceed to build a great cairn of stones, each man +contributing one stone, so that there may be a memorial of the fight, and +also a record of the number slain when each survivor removes his stone +again. + +*The Morrigan* + +The scene now shifts to the Hostel, where the king's party has arrived and +is preparing for the night. A solitary woman comes to the door and seeks +admission. "As long as a weaver's beam were each of her two shins, and +they were as dark as the back of a stag-beetle. A greyish, woolly mantle +she wore. Her hair reached to her knee. Her mouth was twisted to one side +of her head." It was the Morrigan, the Danaan goddess of Death and +Destruction. She leant against the doorpost of the house and looked evilly +on the king and his company. "Well, O woman," said Conary, "if thou art a +witch, what seest thou for us?" "Truly I see for thee," she answered, +"that neither fell nor flesh of thine shall escape from the place into +which thou hast come, save what birds will bear away in their claws." She +asks admission. Conary declares that his _geis_ forbids him to receive a +solitary man or woman after sunset. "If in sooth," she says, "it has +befallen the king not to have room in his house for the meal and bed of a +solitary woman, they will be gotten apart from him from some one +possessing generosity." "Let her in, then," says Conary, "though it is a +_geis_ of mine." + +*Conary and his Retinue* + +A lengthy and brilliant passage now follows describing how Ingcel goes to +spy out the state of affairs in the Hostel. Peeping through the +chariot-wheels, he takes note of all he sees, and describes to the sons of +Desa the appearance and equipment of each prince and mighty man in +Conary's retinue, while Ferrogan and his brother declare who he is and +what destruction he will work in the coming fight. There is Cormac, son of +Conor, King of Ulster, the fair and good; there are three huge, black and +black-robed warriors of the Picts; there is Conary's steward, with +bristling hair, who settles every dispute--a needle would be heard falling +when he raises his voice to speak, and he bears a staff of office the size +of a mill-shaft; there is the warrior mac Cecht, who lies supine with his +knees drawn up--they resemble two bare hills, his eyes are like lakes, his +nose a mountain-peak, his sword shines like a river in the sun. Conary's +three sons are there, golden-haired, silk-robed, beloved of all the +household, with "manners of ripe maidens, and hearts of brothers, and +valour of bears." When Ferrogan hears of them he weeps and cannot proceed +till hours of the night have passed. Three Fomorian hostages of horrible +aspect are there also; and Conall of the Victories with his blood-red +shield; and Duftach of Ulster with his magic spear, which, when there is a +premonition of battle, must be kept in a brew of soporific herbs, or it +will flame on its haft and fly forth raging for massacre; and three giants +from the Isle of Man with horses' manes reaching to their heels. A strange +and unearthly touch is introduced by a description of three naked and +bleeding forms hanging by ropes from the roof--they are the daughters of +the Bav, another name for the Morrigan, or war-goddess, "three of awful +boding," says the tale enigmatically, "those are the three that are +slaughtered at every time." We are probably to regard them as visionary +beings, portending war and death, visible only to Ingcel. The hall with +its separate chambers is full of warriors, cup-bearers, musicians playing, +and jugglers doing wonderful feats; and Da Derga with his attendants +dispensing food and drink. Conary himself is described as a youth; "the +ardour and energy of a king has he and the counsel of a sage; the mantle I +saw round him is even as the mist of May-day--lovelier in each hue of it +than the other." His golden-hilted sword lies beside him--a forearm's +length of it has escaped from the scabbard, shining like a beam of light. +"He is the mildest and gentlest and most perfect king that has come into +the world, even Conary son of Eterskel ... great is the tenderness of the +sleepy, simple man till he has chanced on a deed of valour. But if his +fury and his courage are awakened when the champions of Erin and Alba are +at him in the house, the Destruction will not be wrought so long as he is +therein ... sad were the quenching of that reign." + +*Champions at the House* + +Ingcel and the sons of Desa then march to the attack and surround the +Hostel: + +"Silence a while!" says Conary, "what is this?" + +"Champions at the house," says Conall of the Victories. + +"There are warriors for them here," answers Conary. + +"They will be needed to-night," Conall rejoins. + +One of Desa's sons rushes first into the Hostel. His head is struck off +and cast out of it again. Then the great struggle begins. The Hostel is +set on fire, but the fire is quenched with wine or any liquids that are in +it. Conary and his people sally forth--hundreds are slain, and the reavers, +for the moment, are routed. But Conary, who has done prodigies of +fighting, is athirst and can do no more till he gets water. The reavers by +advice of their wizards have cut off the river Dodder, which flowed +through the Hostel, and all the liquids in the house had been spilt on the +fires. + +*Death of Conary* + +The king, who is perishing of thirst, asks mac Cecht to procure him a +drink, and mac Cecht turns to Conall and asks him whether he will get the +drink for the king or stay to protect him while mac Cecht does it. "Leave +the defence of the king to us," says Conall, "and go thou to seek the +drink, for of thee it is demanded." Mac Cecht then, taking Conary's golden +cup, rushes forth, bursting through the surrounding host, and goes to seek +for water. Then Conall, and Cormac of Ulster, and the other champions, +issue forth in turn, slaying multitudes of the enemy; some return wounded +and weary to the little band in the Hostel, while others cut their way +through the ring of foes. Conall, Sencha, and Duftach stand by Conary till +the end; but mac Cecht is long in returning, Conary perishes of thirst, +and the three heroes then fight their way out and escape, "wounded, +broken, and maimed." + +Meantime mac Cecht has rushed over Ireland in frantic search for the +water. But the Fairy Folk, who are here manifestly elemental powers +controlling the forces of nature, have sealed all the sources against him. +He tries the Well of Kesair in Wicklow in vain; he goes to the great +rivers, Shannon and Slayney, Bann and Barrow--they all hide away at his +approach; the lakes deny him also; at last he finds a lake, Loch Gara in +Roscommon, which failed to hide itself in time, and thereat he fills his +cup. In the morning he returned to the Hostel with the precious and +hard-won draught, but found the defenders all dead or fled, and two of the +reavers in the act of striking off the head of Conary. Mac Cecht struck +off the head of one of them, and hurled a huge pillar stone after the +other, who was escaping with Conary's head. The reaver fell dead on the +spot, and mac Cecht, taking up his master's head, poured the water into +its mouth. Thereupon the head spoke, and praised and thanked him for the +deed. + +*Mac Cecht's Wound* + +A woman then came by and saw mac Cecht lying exhausted and wounded on the +field. + +"Come hither, O woman," says mac Cecht. + +"I dare not go there," says the woman, "for horror and fear of thee." + +But he persuades her to come, and says: "I know not whether it is a fly or +gnat or an ant that nips me in the wound." + +The woman looked and saw a hairy wolf buried as far as the two shoulders +in the wound. She seized it by the tail and dragged it forth, and it took +"the full of its jaws out of him." + +"Truly," says the woman, "this is an ant of the Ancient Land." + +And mac Cecht took it by the throat and smote it on the forehead, so that +it died. + +*"**Is thy Lord Alive?**"* + +The tale ends in a truly heroic strain. Conall of the Victories, as we +have seen, had cut his way out after the king's death, and made his way to +Teltin, where he found his father, Amorgin, in the garth before his dun. +Conall's shield-arm had been wounded by thrice fifty spears, and he +reached Teltin now with half a shield, and his sword, and the fragments of +his two spears. + +"Swift are the wolves that have hunted thee, my son," said his father. + +"'Tis this that has wounded us, old hero, an evil conflict with warriors," +Conall replied. + +"Is thy lord alive?" asked Amorgin. + +"He is _not_ alive," says Conall. + +"I swear to God what the great tribes of Ulster swear: he is a coward who +goes out of a fight alive having left his lord with his foes in death." + +"My wounds are not white, old hero," says Conall. He showed him his +shield-arm, whereon were thrice fifty spear-wounds. The sword-arm, which +the shield had not guarded, was mangled and maimed and wounded and +pierced, save that the sinews kept it to the body without separation. + +"That arm fought to-night, my son," says Amorgin. + +"True is that, old hero," says Conall of the Victories. "Many are they to +whom it gave drinks of death to-night in front of the Hostel." + + +So ends the story of Etain, and of the overthrow of Fairyland and the +fairy vengeance wrought on the great-grandson of Eochy the High King. + + + + + +CHAPTER V: TALES OF THE ULTONIAN CYCLE + + +*The Curse of Macha* + +The centre of interest in Irish legend now shifts from Tara to Ulster, and +a multitude of heroic tales gather round the Ulster king Conor mac Nessa, +round Cuchulain,(132) his great vassal, and the Red Branch Order of +chivalry, which had its seat in Emain Macha. + +The legend of the foundation of Emain Macha has already been told.(133) +But Macha, who was no mere woman, but a supernatural being, appears again +in connexion with the history of Ulster in a very curious tale which was +supposed to account for the strange debility or helplessness that at +critical moments sometimes fell, it was believed, upon the warriors of the +province. + +The legend tells that a wealthy Ulster farmer named Crundchu, son of +Agnoman, dwelling in a solitary place among the hills, found one day in +his dun a young woman of great beauty and in splendid array, whom he had +never seen before. Crundchu, we are told, was a widower, his wife having +died after bearing him four sons. The strange woman, without a word, set +herself to do the houshold tasks, prepared dinner, milked the cow, and +took on herself all the duties of the mistress of the household. At night +she lay down at Crundchu's side, and thereafter dwelt with him as his +wife; and they loved each other dearly. Her name was Macha. + +One day Crundchu prepared himself to go to a great fair or assembly of the +Ultonians, where there would be feasting and horse-racing, tournaments and +music, and merrymaking of all kinds. Macha begged her husband not to go. +He persisted. "Then," she said, "at least do not speak of me in the +assembly, for I may dwell with you only so long as I am not spoken of." + +It has been observed that we have here the earliest appearance in +post-classical European literature of the well-known motive of the fairy +bride who can stay with her mortal lover only so long as certain +conditions are observed, such as that he shall not spy upon her, ill-treat +her, or ask of her origin. + +Crundchu promised to obey the injunction, and went to the festival. Here +the two horses of the king carried off prize after prize in the racing, +and the people cried: "There is not in Ireland a swifter than the King's +pair of horses." + +"I have a wife at home," said Crundchu, in a moment of forgetfulness, "who +can run quicker than these horses." + +"Seize that man," said the angry king, "and hold him till his wife be +brought to the contest." + +So messengers went for Macha, and she was brought before the assembly; and +she was with child. The king bade her prepare for the race. She pleaded +her condition. "I am close upon my hour," she said. "Then hew her man in +pieces," said the king to his guards. Macha turned to the bystanders. +"Help me," she cried, "for a mother hath borne each of you! Give me but a +short delay till I am delivered." But the king and all the crowd in their +savage lust for sport would hear of no delay. "Then bring up the horses," +said Macha, "and because you have no pity a heavier infamy shall fall upon +you." So she raced against the horses, and outran them, but as she came to +the goal she gave a great cry, and her travail seized her, and she gave +birth to twin children. As she uttered that cry, however, all the +spectators felt themselves seized with pangs like her own and had no more +strength than a woman in her travail. And Macha prophesied: "From this +hour the shame you have wrought on me will fall upon each man of Ulster. +In the hours of your greatest need ye shall be weak and helpless as women +in childbirth, and this shall endure for five days and four nights--to the +ninth generation the curse shall be upon you." And so it came to pass; and +this is the cause of the Debility of the Ultonians that was wont to +afflict the warriors of the province. + +*Conor mac Nessa* + +The chief occasion on which this Debility was manifested was when Maev, +Queen of Connacht, made the famous Cattle-raid of Quelgny (_Tain Bo +Cuailgné_), which forms the subject of the greatest tale in Irish +literature. We have now to relate the preliminary history leading up to +this epic tale and introducing its chief characters. + +Fachtna the Giant, King of Ulster, had to wife Nessa, daughter of Echid +Yellow-heel, and she bore him a son named Conor. But when Fachtna died +Fergus son of Roy, his half-brother, succeeded him, Conor being then but a +youth. Now Fergus loved Nessa, and would have wedded her, but she made +conditions. "Let my son Conor reign one year," she said, "so that his +posterity may be the descendants of a king, and I consent." Fergus agreed, +and young Conor took the throne. But so wise and prosperous was his rule +and so sagacious his judgments that, at the year's end, the people,as +Nessa foresaw, would have him remain king; and Fergus, who loved the feast +and the chase better than the toils of kingship, was content to have it +so, and remained at Conor's court for a time, great, honoured, and happy, +but king no longer. + +*The Red Branch* + +In his time was the glory of the "Red Branch" in Ulster, who were the +offspring of Ross the Red, King of Ulster, with collateral relatives and +allies, forming ultimately a kind of warlike Order. Most of the Red Branch +heroes appear in the Ultonian Cycle of legend, so that a statement of +their names and relationships may be usefully placed here before we +proceed to speak of their doings. It is noticeable that they have a partly +supernatural ancestry. Ross the Red, it is said, wedded a Danaan woman, +Maga, daughter of Angus Og.(134) As a second wife he wedded a maiden named +Roy. His descendants are as follows: + + +Maga === Ross the Red === Roy + | | + | +-----+ + | | + Fachtna === Nessa Fergus mac Roy + the Giant | + | + | + Conor mac + Nessa + +But Maga was also wedded to the Druid Cathbad, and by him had three +daughters, whose descendants played a notable part in the Ultonian +legendary cycle. + + + Cathbad === Maga + | + +--------------------+-----+-------------+ + | | | +Dectera[*] === Lugh Elva === Usna Finchoom === Amorgin + | | | + | +-----+-----+ | + | | | | | + Cuchulain Naisi Ainlé Ardan Conall of the + Victories + + [*]Dectera also had a mortal husband, Sualtam, who passed as + Cuchulain's father. + +*Birth of Cuchulain* + +It was during the reign of Conor mac Nessa that the birth of the mightiest +hero of the Celtic race, Cuchulain, came about, and this was the manner of +it. The maiden Dectera, daughter of Cathbad, with fifty young girls, her +companions at the court of Conor, one day disappeared, and for three years +no searching availed to discover their dwelling-place or their fate. At +last one summer day a flock of birds descended on the fields about Emain +Macha and began to destroy the crops and fruit. The king, with Fergus and +others of his nobles, went out against them with slings, but the birds +flew only a little way off, luring the party on and on till at last they +found themselves near the Fairy Mound of Angus on the river Boyne. Night +fell, and the king sent Fergus with a party to discover some habitation +where they might sleep. A hut was found, where they betook themselves to +rest, but one of them, exploring further, came to a noble mansion by the +river, and on entering it was met by a young man of splendid appearance. +With the stranger was a lovely woman, his wife, and fifty maidens, who +saluted the Ulster warrior with joy. And he recognised in them Dectera and +her maidens, whom they had missed for three years, and in the glorious +youth Lugh of the Long Arm, son of Ethlinn. He went back with his tale to +the king, who immediately sent for Dectera to come to him. She, alleging +that she was ill, requested a delay; and so the night passed; but in the +morning there was found in the hut among the Ulster warriors a new-born +male infant. It was Dectera's gift to Ulster, and for this purpose she had +lured them to the fairy palace by the Boyne. The child was taken home by +the warriors and was given to Dectera's sister, Finchoom, who was then +nursing her own child, Conall, and the boy's name was called Setanta. And +the part of Ulster from Dundalk southward to Usna in Meath, which is +called the Plain of Murthemney, was allotted for his inheritance, and in +later days his fortress and dwelling-place was in Dundalk. + +It is said that the Druid Morann prophesied over the infant: "His praise +will be in the mouths of all men; charioteers and warriors, kings and +sages will recount his deeds; he will win the love of many. This child +will avenge all your wrongs; he will give combat at your fords, he will +decide all your quarrels." + +*The Hound of Cullan* + +When he was old enough the boy Setanta went to the court of Conor to be +brought up and instructed along with the other sons of princes and +chieftains. It was now that the event occurred from which he got the name +of Cuchulain, by which he was hereafter to be known. + +One afternoon King Conor and his nobles were going to a feast to which +they were bidden at the dun of a wealthy smith named Cullan, in Quelgny, +where they also meant to spend the night. Setanta was to accompany them, +but as the cavalcade set off he was in the midst of a game of hurley with +his companions and bade the king go forward, saying he would follow later +when his play was done. The royal company arrived at their destination as +night began to fall. Cullan received them hospitably, and in the great +hall they made merry over meat and wine while the lord of the house barred +the gates of his fortress and let loose outside a huge and ferocious dog +which every night guarded the lonely mansion, and under whose protection, +it was said, Cullan feared nothing less than the onset of an army. + +But they had forgotten Setanta! In the middle of the laughter and music of +the feast a terrible sound was heard which brought every man to his feet +in an instant. It was the tremendous baying of the hound of Cullan, giving +tongue as it saw a stranger approach. Soon the noise changed to the howls +of a fierce combat, but, on rushing to the gates, they saw in the glare of +the lanterns a young boy and the hound lying dead at his feet. When it +flew at him he had seized it by the throat and dashed its life out against +the side-posts of the gate. The warriors bore in the lad with rejoicing +and wonder, but soon the triumph ceased, for there stood their host, +silent and sorrowful over the body of his faithful friend, who had died +for the safety of his house and would never guard it more. + +"Give me," then said the lad Setanta, "a whelp of that hound, O Cullan, +and I will train him to be all to you that his sire was. And until then +give me shield and spear and I will myself guard your house; never hound +guarded it better than I will." + +And all the company shouted applause at the generous pledge, and on the +spot, as a commemoration of his first deed of valour, they named the lad +Cuchulain,(135) the Hound of Cullan, and by that name he was known until +he died. + +*Cuchulain Assumes Arms* + +When he was older, and near the time when he might assume the weapons of +manhood, it chanced one day that he passed close by where Cathbad the +Druid was teaching to certain of his pupils the art of divination and +augury. One of them asked of Cathbad for what kind of enterprise that same +day might be favourable; and Cathbad, having worked a spell of divination, +said: "The youth who should take up arms on this day would become of all +men in Erin most famous for great deeds, yet will his life be short and +fleeting." Cuchulain passed on as though he marked it not, and he came +before the king. "What wilt thou?" asked Conor. "To take the arms of +manhood," said Cuchulain. "So be it," said the king, and he gave the lad +two great spears. But Cuchulain shook them in his hand, and the staves +splintered and broke. And so he did with many others; and the chariots in +which they set him to drive he broke to pieces with stamping of his foot, +until at last the king's own chariot of war and his two spears and sword +were brought to the lad, and these he could not break, do what he would; +so this equipment he retained. + +*His Courtship of Emer* + +The young Cuchulain was by this grown so fair and noble a youth that every +maid or matron on whom he looked was bewitched by him, and the men of +Ulster bade him take a wife of his own. But none were pleasing to him, +till at last he saw the lovely maiden Emer, daughter of Forgall, the lord +of Lusca,(136) and he resolved to woo her for his bride. So he bade +harness his chariot, and with Laeg, his friend and charioteer, he +journeyed to Dun Forgall. + +As he drew near, the maiden was with her companions, daughters of the +vassals of Forgall, and she was teaching them embroidery, for in that art +she excelled all women. She had "the six gifts of womanhood--the gift of +beauty, the gift of voice, the gift of sweet speech, the gift of +needlework, the gift of wisdom, and the gift of chastity." + +Hearing the thunder of horse-hoofs and the clangour of the chariot from +afar, she bade one of the maidens go to the rampart of the Dun and tell +her what she saw. "A chariot is coming on," said the maiden, "drawn by two +steeds with tossing heads, fierce and powerful; one is grey, the other +black. They breathe fire from their jaws, and the clods of turf they throw +up behind them as they race are like a flock of birds that follow in their +track. In the chariot is a dark, sad man, comeliest of the men of Erin. He +is clad in a crimson cloak, with a brooch of gold, and on his back is a +crimson shield with a silver rim wrought with figures of beasts. With him +as his charioteer is a tall, slender, freckled man with curling red hair +held by a fillet of bronze, with plates of gold at either side of his +face. With a goad of red gold he urges the horses." + +When the chariot drew up Emer went to meet Cuchulain and saluted him. But +when he urged his love upon her she told him of the might and the wiliness +of her father Forgall, and of the strength of the champions that guarded +her lest she should wed against his will. And when he pressed her more she +said: "I may not marry before my sister Fial, who is older than I. She is +with me here--she is excellent in handiwork." "It is not Fial whom I love," +said Cuchulain. Then as they were conversing he saw the breast of the +maiden over the bosom of her smock, and said to her: "Fair is this plain, +the plain of the noble yoke." "None comes to this plain," said she, "who +has not slain his hundreds, and thy deeds are still to do." + +So Cuchulain then left her, and drove back to Emain Macha. + +*Cuchulain in the Land of Skatha* + +Next day Cuchulain bethought himself how he could prepare himself for war +and for the deeds of heroism which Emer had demanded of him. Now he had +heard of a mighty woman-warrior named Skatha, who dwelt in the Land of +Shadows,(137) and who could teach to young heroes who came to her +wonderful feats of arms. So Cuchulain went overseas to find her, and many +dangers he had to meet, black forests and desert plains to traverse, +before he could get tidings of Skatha and her land. At last he came to the +Plain of Ill-luck, where he could not cross without being mired in its +bottomless bogs or sticky clay, and while he was debating what he should +do he saw coming towards him a young man with a face that shone like the +sun,(138) and whose very look put cheerfulness and hope into his heart. +The young man gave him a wheel and told him to roll it before him on the +plain, and to follow it whithersoever it went. So Cuchulain set the wheel +rolling, and as it went it blazed with light that shot like rays from its +rim, and the heat of it made a firm path across the quagmire, where +Cuchulain followed safely. + +When he had passed the Plain of Ill-luck, and escaped the beasts of the +Perilous Glen, he came to the Bridge of the Leaps, beyond which was the +country of Skatha. Here he found on the hither side many sons of the +princes of Ireland who were come to learn feats of war from Skatha, and +they were playing at hurley on the green. And among them was his friend +Ferdia, son of the Firbolg, Daman; and they all asked him of the news from +Ireland. When he had told them all he asked Ferdia how he should pass to +the dun of Skatha. Now the Bridge of Leaps was very narrow and very high, +and it crossed a gorge where far below swung the tides of a boiling sea, +in which ravenous monsters could be seen swimming. + +"Not one of us has crossed that bridge," said Ferdia, "for there are two +feats that Skatha teaches last, and one is the leap across the bridge, and +the other the thrust of the Gae Bolg.(139) For if a man step upon one end +of that bridge, the middle straightway rises up and flings him back, and +if he leap upon it he may chance to miss his footing and fall into the +gulf, where the sea-monsters are waiting for him." + +But Cuchulain waited till evening, when he had recovered his strength from +his long journey, and then essayed the crossing of the bridge. Three times +he ran towards it from a distance, gathering all his powers together, and +strove to leap upon the middle, but three times it rose against him and +flung him back, while his companions jeered at him because he would not +wait for the help of Skatha. But at the fourth leap he lit fairly on the +centre of the bridge, and with one leap more he was across it, and stood +before the strong fortress of Skatha; and she wondered at his courage and +vigour, and admitted him to be her pupil. + +For a year and a day Cuchulain abode with Skatha, and all the feats she +had to teach he learned easily, and last of all she taught him the use of +the Gae Bolg, and gave him that dreadful weapon, which she had deemed no +champion before him good enough to have. And the manner of using the Gae +Bolg was that it was thrown with the foot, and if it entered an enemy's +body it filled every limb and crevice of him with its barbs. While +Cuchulain dwelt with Skatha his friend above all friends and his rival in +skill and valour was Ferdia, and ere they parted they vowed to love and +help one another as long as they should live. + +*Cuchulain and Aifa* + +Now whilst Cuchulain was in the Land of the Shadows it chanced that Skatha +made war on the people of the Princess Aifa, who was the fiercest and +strongest of the woman-warriors of the world, so that even Skatha feared +to meet her in arms. On going forth to the war, therefore, Skatha mixed +with Cuchulain's drink a sleepy herb so that he should not wake for +four-and-twenty hours, by which time the host would be far on its way, for +she feared lest evil should come to him ere he had got his full strength. +But the potion that would have served another man for a day and a night +only held Cuchulain for one hour; and when he waked up he seized his arms +and followed the host by its chariot-tracks till he came up with them. +Then it is said that Skatha uttered a sigh, for she knew that he would not +be restrained from the war. + +When the armies met, Cuchulain and the two sons of Skatha wrought great +deeds on the foe, and slew six of the mightiest of Aifa's warriors. Then +Aifa sent word to Skatha and challenged her to single combat. But +Cuchulain declared that he would meet the fair Fury in place of Skatha, +and he asked first of all what were the things she most valued. "What Aifa +loves most," said Skatha, "are her two horses, her chariot and her +charioteer." Then the pair met in single combat, and every champion's feat +which they knew they tried on each other in vain, till at last a blow of +Aifa's shattered the sword of Cuchulain to the hilt. At this Cuchulain +cried out: "Ah me! behold the chariot and horses of Aifa, fallen into the +glen!" Aifa glanced round, and Cuchulain, rushing in, seized her round the +waist and slung her over his shoulder and bore her back to the camp of +Skatha. There he flung her on the ground and put his knife to her throat. +She begged for her life, and Cuchulain granted it on condition that she +made a lasting peace with Skatha, and gave hostages for her fulfilment of +the pledge. To this she agreed, and Cuchulain and she became not only +friends but lovers. + +*The Tragedy of Cuchulain and Connla* + +Before Cuchulain left the Land of Shadows he gave Aifa a golden ring, +saying that if she should bear him a son he was to be sent to seek his +father in Erin so soon as he should have grown so that his finger would +fit the ring. And Cuchulain said, "Charge him under _geise_ that he shall +not make himself known, that he never turn out of the way for any man, nor +ever refuse a combat. And be his name called Connla." + +In later years it is narrated that one day when King Conor of Ulster and +the lords of Ulster were at a festal gathering on the Strand of the +Footprints they saw coming towards them across the sea a little boat of +bronze, and in it a young lad with gilded oars in his hands. In the boat +was a heap of stones, and ever and anon the lad would put one of these +stones into a sling and cast it at a flying sea-bird in such fashion that +it would bring down the bird alive to his feet. And many other wonderful +feats of skill he did. Then Conor said, as the boat drew nearer: "If the +grown men of that lad's country came here they would surely grind us to +powder. Woe to the land into which that boy shall come!" + +When the boy came to land, a messenger, Condery, was sent to bid him be +off. "I will not turn back for thee," said the lad, and Condery repeated +what he had said to the king. Then Conall of the Victories was sent +against him, but the lad slung a great stone at him, and the whizz and +wind of it knocked him down, and the lad sprang upon him, and bound his +arms with the strap of his shield. And so man after man was served; some +were bound, and some were slain, but the lad defied the whole power of +Ulster to turn him back, nor would he tell his name or lineage. + +"Send for Cuchulain," then said King Conor. And they sent a messenger to +Dundalk, where Cuchulain was with Emer his wife, and bade him come to do +battle against a stranger boy whom Conall of the Victories could not +overcome. Emer threw her arm round Cuchulain's neck. "Do not go," she +entreated. "Surely this is the son of Aifa. Slay not thine only son." But +Cuchulain said: "Forbear, woman! Were it Connla himself I would slay him +for the honour of Ulster," and he bade yoke his chariot and went to the +Strand. Here he found the boy tossing up his weapons and doing marvellous +feats with them. "Delightful is thy play, boy," said Cuchulain; "who art +thou and whence dost thou come?" "I may not reveal that," said the lad. +"Then thou shalt die," said Cuchulain. "So be it," said the lad, and then +they fought with swords for a while, till the lad delicately shore off a +lock of Cuchulain's hair. "Enough of trifling," said Cuchulain, and they +closed with each other, but the lad planted himself on a rock and stood so +firm that Cuchulain could not move him, and in the stubborn wrestling they +had the lad's two feet sank deep into the stone and made the footprints +whence the Strand of the Footprints has its name. At last they both fell +into the sea, and Cuchulain was near being drowned, till he bethought +himself of the Gae Bolg, and he drove that weapon against the lad and it +ripped up his belly. "That is what Skatha never taught me," cried the lad. +"Woe is me, for I am hurt." Cuchulain looked at him and saw the ring on +his finger. "It is true," he said; and he took up the boy and bore him on +shore and laid him down before Conor and the lords of Ulster. "Here is my +son for you, men of Ulster," he said. And the boy said: "It is true. And +if I had five years to grow among you, you would conquer the world on +every side of you and rule as far as Rome. But since it is as it is, point +out to me the famous warriors that are here, that I may know them and take +leave of them before I die." Then one after another they were brought to +him, and he kissed them and took leave of his father, and he died; and the +men of Ulster made his grave and set up his pillar-stone with great +mourning. This was the only son Cuchulain ever had, and this son he slew. + +This tale, as I have given it here, dates from the ninth century, and is +found in the "Yellow Book of Lecan." There are many other Gaelic versions +of it in poetry and prose. It is one of the earliest extant appearances in +literature of the since well-known theme of the slaying of a heroic son by +his father. The Persian rendering of it in the tale of Sohrab and Rustum +has been made familiar by Matthew Arnold's fine poem. In the Irish version +it will be noted that the father is not without a suspicion of the +identity of his antagonist, but he does battle with him under the stimulus +of that passionate sense of loyalty to his prince and province which was +Cuchulain's most signal characteristic. + +To complete the story of Aifa and her son we have anticipated events, and +now turn back to take up the thread again. + +*Cuchulain's First Foray* + +After a year and a day of training in warfare under Skatha, Cuchulain +returned to Erin, eager to test his prowess and to win Emer for his wife. +So he bade harness his chariot and drove out to make a foray upon the +fords and marches of Connacht, for between Connacht and Ulster there was +always an angry surf of fighting along the borders. + +And first he drove to the White Cairn, which is on the highest of the +Mountains of Mourne, and surveyed the land of Ulster spread out smiling in +the sunshine far below and bade his charioteer tell him the name of every +hill and plain and dun that he saw. Then turning southwards he looked over +the plains of Bregia, and the charioteer pointed out to him Tara and +Teltin, and Brugh na Boyna and the great dun of the sons of Nechtan. "Are +they," asked Cuchulain, "those sons of Nechtan of whom it is said that +more of the men of Ulster have fallen by their hands than are yet living +on the earth?" "The same," said the charioteer. "Then let us drive +thither," said Cuchulain. So, much unwilling, the charioteer drove to the +fortress of the sons of Nechtan, and there on the green before it they +found a pillar-stone, and round it a collar of bronze having on it writing +in Ogham. This Cuchulain read, and it declared that any man of age to bear +arms who should come to that green should hold it _geis_ for him to depart +without having challenged one of the dwellers in the dun to single combat. +Then Cuchulain flung his arms round the stone, and, swaying it backwards +and forwards, heaved it at last out of the earth and flung it, collar and +all, into the river that ran hard by. "Surely," said the charioteer, "thou +art seeking for a violent death, and now thou wilt find it without delay." + +Then Foill son of Nechtan came forth from the dun, and seeing Cuchulain, +whom he deemed but a lad, he was annoyed. But Cuchulain bade him fetch his +arms, "for I slay not drivers nor messengers nor unarmed men," and Foill +went back into the dun. "Thou canst not slay him," then said the +charioteer, "for he is invulnerable by magic power to the point or edge of +any blade." But Cuchulain put in his sling a ball of tempered iron, and +when Foill appeared he slung at him so that it struck his forehead, and +went clean through brain and skull; and Cuchulain took his head and bound +it to his chariot-rim. And other sons of Nechtan, issuing forth, he fought +with and slew by sword or spear; and then he fired the dun and left it in +a blaze and drove on exultant. And on the way he saw a flock of wild +swans, and sixteen of them he brought down alive with his sling, and tied +them to the chariot; and seeing a herd of wild deer which his horses could +not overtake he lighted down and chased them on foot till he caught two +great stags, and with thongs and ropes he made them fast to the chariot. + +But at Emain Macha a scout of King Conor came running in to give him news. +"Behold, a solitary chariot is approaching swiftly over the plain; wild +white birds flutter round it and wild stags are tethered to it; it is +decked all round with the bleeding heads of enemies." And Conor looked to +see who was approaching, and he saw that Cuchulain was in his battle-fury, +and would deal death around him whomsoever he met; so he hastily gave +order that a troop of the women of Emania should go forth to meet him, +and, having stripped off their clothing, should stand naked in the way. +This they did, and when the lad saw them, smitten with shame, he bowed his +head upon the chariot-rim. Then Conor's men instantly seized him and +plunged him into a vat of cold water which had been made ready, but the +water boiled around him and the staves and hoops of the vat were burst +asunder. This they did again and yet again, and at last his fury left him, +and his natural form and aspect were restored. Then they clad him in fresh +raiment and bade him in to the feast in the king's banqueting-hall. + +*The Winning of Emer* + +Next day he went to the dun of Forgall the Wily, father of Emer, and he +leaped "the hero's salmon leap," that he had learned of Skatha, over the +high ramparts of the dun. Then the mighty men of Forgall set on him, and +he dealt but three blows, and each blow slew eight men, and Forgall +himself fell lifeless in leaping from the rampart of the dun to escape +Cuchulain. So he carried off Emer and her foster-sister and two loads of +gold and silver. But outside the dun the sister of Forgall raised a host +against him, and his battle-fury came on him, and furious were the blows +he dealt, so that the ford of Glondath ran blood and the turf on Crofot +was trampled into bloody mire. A hundred he slew at every ford from Olbiny +to the Boyne; and so was Emer won as she desired, and he brought her to +Emain Macha and made her his wife, and they were not parted again until he +died. + +*Cuchulain Champion of Erin* + +A lord of Ulster named Briccriu of the Poisoned Tongue once made a feast +to which he bade King Conor and all the heroes of the Red Branch, and +because it was always his delight to stir up strife among men or women he +set the heroes contending among themselves as to who was the champion of +the land of Erin. At last it was agreed that the championship must lie +among three of them, namely, Cuchulain, and Conall of the Victories and +Laery the Triumphant. To decide between these three a demon named The +Terrible was summoned from a lake in the depth of which he dwelt. He +proposed to the heroes a test of courage. Any one of them, he said, might +cut off his head to-day provided that he, the claimant of the +championship, would lay down his own head for the axe to-morrow. Conall +and Laery shrank from the test, but Cuchulain accepted it, and after +reciting a charm over his sword, he cut off the head of the demon, who +immediately rose, and taking the bleeding head in one hand and his axe in +the other, plunged into the lake. + +Next day he reappeared, whole and sound, to claim the fulfilment of the +bargain. Cuchulain, quailing but resolute, laid his head on the block. +"Stretch out your neck, wretch," cried the demon; "'tis too short for me +to strike at." Cuchulain does as he is bidden. The demon swings his axe +thrice over his victim, brings down the butt with a crash on the block, +and then bids Cuchulain rise unhurt, Champion of Ireland and her boldest +man. + +*Deirdre and the Sons of Usna* + +We have now to turn to a story in which Cuchulain takes no part. It is the +chief of the preliminary tales to the Cattle-spoil of Quelgny. + +There was among the lords of Ulster, it is said, one named Felim son of +Dall, who on a certain day made a great feast for the king. And the king +came with his Druid Cathbad, and Fergus mac Roy, and many heroes of the +Red Branch, and while they were making merry over the roasted flesh and +wheaten cakes and Greek wine a messenger from the women's apartments came +to tell Felim that his wife had just borne him a daughter. So all the +lords and warriors drank health to the new-born infant, and the king bade +Cathbade perform divination in the manner of the Druids and foretell what +the future would have in store for Felim's babe. Cathbad gazed upon the +stars and drew the horoscope of the child, and he was much troubled; and +at length he said: "The infant shall be fairest among the women of Erin, +and shall wed a king, but because of her shall death and ruin come upon +the Province of Ulster." Then the warriors would have put her to death +upon the spot, but Conor forbade them. "I will avert the doom," he said, +"for she shall wed no foreign king, but she shall be my own mate when she +is of age." So he took away the child, and committed it to his nurse +Levarcam, and the name they gave it was Deirdre. And Conor charged +Levarcam that the child should be brought up in a strong dun in the +solitude of a great wood, and that no young man should see her or she him +until she was of marriageable age for the king to wed. And there she +dwelt, seeing none but her nurse and Cathbad, and sometimes the king, now +growing an aged man, who would visit the dun from time to time to see that +all was well with the folk there, and that his commands were observed. + +One day, when the time for the marriage of Deirdre and Conor was drawing +near, Deirdre and Levarcam looked over the rampart of their dun. It was +winter, a heavy snow had fallen in the night, and in the still, frosty air +the trees stood up as if wrought in silver, and the green before the dun +was a sheet of unbroken white, save that in one place a scullion had +killed a calf for their dinner, and the blood of the calf lay on the snow. +And as Deirdre looked, a raven lit down from a tree hard by and began to +sip the blood. "O nurse," cried Deirdre suddenly, "such, and not like +Conor, would be the man that I would love--his hair like the raven's wing, +and in his cheek the hue of blood, and his skin as white as snow." "Thou +hast pictured a man of Conor's household," said the nurse. "Who is he?" +asked Deirdre. "He is Naisi, son of Usna,(140) a champion of the Red +Branch," said the nurse. Thereupon Deirdre entreated Levarcam to bring her +to speak with Naisi; and because the old woman loved the girl and would +not have her wedded to the aged king, she at last agreed. Deirdre implored +Naisi to save her from Conor, but he would not, till at last her +entreaties and her beauty won him, and he vowed to be hers. Then secretly +one night he came with his two brethren, Ardan and Ainlé, and bore away +Deirdre with Levarcam, and they escaped the king's pursuit and took ship +for Scotland, where Naisi took service with the King of the Picts. Yet +here they could not rest, for the king got sight of Deirdre, and would +have taken her from Naisi, but Naisi with his brothers escaped, and in the +solitude of Glen Etive they made their dwelling by the lake, and there +lived in the wild wood by hunting and fishing, seeing no man but +themselves and their servants. + +And the years went by and Conor made no sign, but he did not forget, and +his spies told him of all that befell Naisi and Deirdre. At last, judging +that Naisi and his brothers would have tired of solitude, he sent the +bosom friend of Naisi, Fergus son of Roy, to bid them return, and to +promise them that all would be forgiven. Fergus went joyfully, and +joyfully did Naisi and his brothers hear the message, but Deirdre foresaw +evil, and would fain have sent Fergus home alone. But Naisi blamed her for +her doubt and suspicion, and bade her mark that they were under the +protection of Fergus, whose safeguard no king in Ireland would dare to +violate; and they at last made ready to go. + +On landing in Ireland they were met by Baruch, a lord of the Red Branch, +who had his dun close by, and he bade Fergus to a feast he had prepared +for him that night. "I may not stay," said Fergus, "for I must first +convey Deirdre and the sons of Usna safely to Emain Macha." +"Nevertheless," said Baruch, "thou must stay with me to-night, for it is a +_geis_ for thee to refuse a feast." Deirdre implored him not to leave +them, but Fergus was tempted by the feast, and feared to break his _geis_, +and he bade his two sons Illan the Fair and Buino the Red take charge of +the party in his place, and he himself abode with Baruch. + +And so the party came to Emain Macha, and they were lodged in the House of +the Red Branch, but Conor did not receive them. After the evening meal, as +he sat, drinking heavily and silently, he sent a messenger to bid Levarcam +come before him. "How is it with the sons of Usna?" he said to her. "It is +well," she said. "Thou hast got the three most valorous champions in +Ulster in thy court. Truly the king who has those three need fear no +enemy." "Is it well with Deirdre?" he asked. "She is well," said the +nurse, "but she has lived many years in the wildwood, and toil and care +have changed her--little of her beauty of old now remains to her, O King." +Then the king dismissed her, and sat drinking again. But after a while he +called to him a servant named Trendorn, and bade him go to the Red Branch +House and mark who was there and what they did. But when Trendorn came the +place was bolted and barred for the night, and he could not get an +entrance, and at last he mounted on a ladder and looked in at a high +window. And there he saw the brothers of Naisi and the sons of Fergus, as +they talked or cleaned their arms, or made them ready for slumber, and +there sat Naisi with a chess-board before him, and playing chess with him +was the fairest of women that he had ever seen. But as he looked in wonder +at the noble pair, suddenly one caught sight of him and rose with a cry, +pointing to the face at the window. And Naisi looked up and saw it, and +seizing a chessman from the board he hurled it at the face of the spy, and +it struck out his eye. Then Trendorn hastily descended, and went back with +his bloody face to the king. "I have seen them," he cried, "I have seen +the fairest woman of the world, and but that Naisi had struck my eye out I +had been looking on her still." + +Then Conor arose and called for his guards and bade them bring the sons of +Usna before him for maiming his messenger. And the guards went; but first +Buino, son of Fergus, with his retinue, met them, and at the sword's point +drove them back; but Naisi and Deirdre continued quietly to play chess, +"For," said Naisi, "it is not seemly that we should seek to defend +ourselves while we are under the protection of the sons of Fergus." But +Conor went to Buino, and with a great gift of lands he bought him over to +desert his charge. Then Illan took up the defence of the Red Branch +Hostel, but the two sons of Conor slew him. And then at last Naisi and his +brothers seized their weapons and rushed amid the foe, and many were they +who fell before the onset. Then Conor entreated Cathbad the Druid to cast +spells upon them lest they should get away and become the enemies of the +province, and he vowed to do them no hurt if they were taken alive. So +Cathbad conjured up, as it were, a lake of slime that seemed to be about +the feet of the sons of Usna, and they could not tear their feet from it, +and Naisi caught up Deirdre and put her on his shoulder, for they seemed +to be sinking in the slime. Then the guards and servants of Conor seized +and bound them and brought them before the king. And the king called upon +man after man to come forward and slay the sons of Usna, but none would +obey him, till at last Owen son of Duracht and Prince of Ferney came and +took the sword of Naisi, and with one sweep he shore off the heads of all +three, and so they died. + +Then Conor took Deirdre perforce, and for a year she abode with him in the +palace in Emain Macha, but during all that time she never smiled. At +length Conor said: "What is it that you hate most of all on earth, +Deirdre?" And she said: "Thou thyself and Owen son of Duracht," and Owen +was standing by. "Then thou shalt go to Owen for a year," said Conor. But +when Deirdre mounted the chariot behind Owen she kept her eyes on the +ground, for she would not look on those who thus tormented her; and Conor +said, taunting her: "Deirdre, the glance of thee between me and Owen is +the glance of a ewe between two rams." Then Deirdre started up, and, +flinging herself head foremost from the chariot, she dashed her head +against a rock and fell dead. + +And when they buried her it is said there grew from her grave and from +Naisi's two yew-trees, whose tops, when they were full-grown, met each +other over the roof of the great church of Armagh, and intertwined +together, and none could part them. + +*The Rebellion of Fergus* + +When Fergus mac Roy came home to Emain Macha after the feast to which +Baruch bade him and found the sons of Usna slain and one of his own sons +dead and the other a traitor, he broke out against Conor in a storm of +wrath and cursing, and vowed to be avenged on him with fire and sword. And +he went off straightway to Connacht to take service of arms with Ailell +and Maev, who were king and queen of that country. + +*Queen Maev* + +But though Ailell was king, Maev was the ruler in truth, and ordered all +things as she wished, and took what husbands she wished, and dismissed +them at pleasure; for she was as fierce and strong as a goddess of war, +and knew no law but her own wild will. She was tall, it is said, with a +long, pale face and masses of hair yellow as ripe corn. When Fergus came +to her in her palace at Rathcroghan in Roscommon she gave him her love, as +she had given it to many before, and they plotted together how to attack +and devastate the Province of Ulster. + +*The Brown Bull of Quelgny* + +Now it happened that Maev possessed a famous red bull with white front and +horns named Finnbenach, and one day when she and Ailell were counting up +their respective possessions and matching them against each other he +taunted her because the Finnbenach would not stay in the hands of a woman, +but had attached himself to Ailell's herd. So Maev in vexation went to her +steward, mac Roth, and asked of him if there were anywhere in Erin a bull +as fine as the Finnbenach. "Truly," said the steward, "there is--for the +Brown Bull of Quelgny, that belongs to Dara son of Fachtna, is the +mightiest beast that is in Ireland." And after that Maev felt as if she +had no flocks and herds that were worth anything at all unless she +possessed the Brown Bull of Quelgny. But this was in Ulster, and the +Ulstermen knew the treasure they possessed, and Maev knew that they would +not give up the bull without fighting for it. So she and Fergus and Ailell +agreed to make a foray against Ulster for the Brown Bull, and thus to +enter into war with the province, for Fergus longed for vengeance, and +Maev for fighting, for glory, and for the bull, and Ailell to satisfy +Maev. + +Here let us note that this contest for the bull, which is the ostensible +theme of the greatest of Celtic legendary tales, the "Tain Bo Cuailgné," +has a deeper meaning than appears on the surface. An ancient piece of +Aryan mythology is embedded in it. The Brown Bull is the Celtic +counterpart of the Hindu sky-deity, Indra, represented in Hindu myth as a +mighty bull, whose roaring is the thunder and who lets loose the rains +"like cows streaming forth to pasture." The advance of the Western +(Connacht) host for the capture of this bull is emblematic of the onset of +Night. The bull is defended by the solar hero Cuchulain, who, however, is +ultimately overthrown and the bull is captured for a season. The two +animals in the Celtic legend probably typify the sky in different aspects. +They are described with a pomp and circumstance which shows that they are +no common beasts. Once, we are told, they were swineherds of the people of +Dana. "They had been successively transformed into two ravens, two +sea-monsters, two warriors, two demons, two worms or animalculae, and +finally into two kine."(141) The Brown Bull is described as having a back +broad enough for fifty children to play on; when he is angry with his +keeper he stamps the man thirty feet into the ground; he is likened to a +sea wave, to a bear, to a dragon, a lion, the writer heaping up images of +strength and savagery. We are therefore concerned with no ordinary +cattle-raid, but with a myth, the features of which are discernible under +the dressing given it by the fervid imagination of the unknown Celtic bard +who composed the "Tain," although the exact meaning of every detail may be +difficult to ascertain. + +The first attempt of Maev to get possession of the bull was to send an +embassy to Dara to ask for the loan of him for a year, the recompense +offered being fifty heifers, besides the bull himself back, and if Dara +chose to settle in Connacht he should have as much land there as he now +possessed in Ulster, and a chariot worth thrice seven _cumals_,(142) with +the patronage and friendship of Maev. + +Dara was at first delighted with the prospect, but tales were borne to him +of the chatter of Maev's messengers, and how they said that if the bull +was not yielded willingly it would be taken by force; and he sent back a +message of refusal and defiance. "'Twas known," said Maev, "the bull will +not be yielded by fair means; he shall now be won by foul." And so she +sent messengers around on every side to summon her hosts for the Raid. + +*The Hosting of Queen Maev* + +And there came all the mighty men of Connacht--first the seven Mainés, sons +of Ailell and Maev, each with his retinue; and Ket and Anluan, sons of +Maga, with thirty hundreds of armed men; and yellow-haired Ferdia, with +his company of Firbolgs, boisterous giants who delighted in war and in +strong ale. And there came also the allies of Maev--a host of the men of +Leinster, who so excelled the rest in warlike skill that they were broken +up and distributed among the companies of Connacht, lest they should prove +a danger to the host; and Cormac son of Conor, with Fergus mac Roy and +other exiles from Ulster, who had revolted against Conor for his treachery +to the sons of Usna. + +*Ulster under the Curse* + +But before the host set forth towards Ulster Maev sent her spies into the +land to tell her of the preparations there being made. And the spies +brought back a wondrous tale, and one that rejoiced the heart of Maev, for +they said that the Debility of the Ultonians(143) had descended on the +province. Conor the king lay in pangs at Emain Macha, and his son Cuscrid +in his island-fortress, and Owen Prince of Ferney was helpless as a child; +Celtchar, the huge grey warrior, son of Uthecar Hornskin, and even Conall +of the Victories, lay moaning and writhing on their beds, and there was no +hand in Ulster that could lift a spear. + +*Prophetic Voices* + +Nevertheless Maev went to her chief Druid, and demanded of him what her +own lot in the war should be. And the Druid said only: "Whoever comes hack +in safety, or comes not, thou thyself shalt come." But on her journey back +she saw suddenly standing before her chariot-pole a young maiden with +tresses of yellow hair that fell below her knees, and clad in a mantle of +green; and with a shuttle of gold she wove a fabric upon a loom. "Who art +thou, girl?" said Maev, "and what dost thou?" "I am the prophetess, +Fedelma, from the Fairy Mound of Croghan," said the maid, "and I weave the +four provinces of Ireland together for the foray into Ulster." "How seest +thou our host?" asked Maev. "I see them all be-crimsoned, red," replied +the prophetess. "Yet the Ulster heroes are all in their pangs--there is +none that can lift a spear against us," said Maev. "I see the host all +becrimsoned," said Fedelma. "I see a man of small stature, but the hero's +light is on his brow--a stripling young and modest, but in battle a dragon; +he is like unto Cuchulain of Murthemney; he doth wondrous feats with his +weapons; by him your slain shall lie thickly."(144) + +At this the vision of the weaving maiden vanished, and Maev drove +homewards to Rathcroghan wondering at what she had seen and heard. + +*Cuchulain Puts the Host under Geise* + +On the morrow the host set forth, Fergus mac Roy leading them, and as they +neared the confines of Ulster he bade them keep sharp watch lest Cuchulain +of Murthemney, who guarded the passes of Ulster to the south, should fall +upon them unawares. Now Cuchulain and his father Sualtam(145) were on the +borders of the province, and Cuchulain, from a warning Fergus had sent +him, suspected the approach of a great host, and bade Sualtam go +northwards to Emania and warn the men of Ulster. But Cuchulain himself +would not stay there, for he said he had a tryst to keep with a handmaid +of the wife of Laery the _bodach_ (farmer), so he went into the forest, +and there, standing on one leg, and using only one hand and one eye, he +cut an oak sapling and twisted it into a circular withe. On this he cut in +Ogham characters how the withe was made, and he put the host of Maev under +_geise_ not to pass by that place till one of them had, under similar +conditions, made a similar withe; "and I except my friend Fergus mac Roy," +he added, and wrote his name at the end. Then he placed the withe round +the pillar-stone of Ardcullin, and went his way to keep his tryst with the +handmaid.(146) + +When the host of Maev came to Ardcullin, the withe upon the pillar-stone +was found and brought to Fergus to decipher it. There was none amongst the +host who could emulate the feat of Cuchulain, and so they went into the +wood and encamped for the night. A heavy snowfall took place, and they +were all in much distress, but next day the sun rose gloriously, and over +the white plain they marched away into Ulster, counting the prohibition as +extending only for one night. + +*The Ford of the Forked Pole* + +Cuchulain now followed hard on their track, and as he went he estimated by +the tracks they had left the number of the host at eighteen _triucha cét_ +(54,000 men). Circling round the host, he now met them in front, and soon +came upon two chariots containing scouts sent ahead by Maev. These he +slew, each man with his driver, and having with one sweep of his sword cut +a forked pole of four prongs from the wood, he drove the pole deep into a +river-ford at the place called Athgowla,(147) and impaled on each prong a +bloody head. When the host came up they wondered and feared at the sight, +and Fergus declared that they were under _geise_ not to pass that ford +till one of them had plucked out the pole even as it was driven in, with +the fingertips of one hand. So Fergus drove into the water to essay the +feat, and seventeen chariots were broken under him as he tugged at the +pole, but at last he tore it out; and as it was now late the host encamped +upon the spot. These devices of Cuchulain were intended to delay the +invaders until the Ulster men had recovered from their debility. + +In the epic, as given in the Book of Leinster, and other ancient sources, +a long interlude now takes place in which Fergus explains to Maev who it +is--viz., "my little pupil Setanta"--who is thus harrying the host, and his +boyish deeds, some of which have been already told in this narrative, are +recounted. + +*The Charioteer of Orlam* + +The host proceeded on its way next day, and the next encounter with +Cuchulain shows the hero in a kindlier mood. He hears a noise of timber +being cut, and going into a wood he finds there a charioteer belonging to +a son of Ailell and Maev cutting down chariot-poles of holly, "For," says +he, "we have damaged our chariots sadly in chasing that famous deer, +Cuchulain." Cuchulain--who, it must be remembered, was at ordinary times a +slight and unimposing figure, though in battle he dilated in size and +underwent a fearful distortion, symbolic of Berserker fury--helps the +driver in his work. "Shall I," he asks, "cut the poles or trim them for +thee?" "Do thou the trimming," says the driver. Cuchulain takes the poles +by the tops and draws them against the set of the branches through his +toes, and then runs his fingers down them the same way, and gives them +over as smooth and polished as if they were planed by a carpenter. The +driver stares at him. "I doubt this work I set thee to is not thy proper +work," he says. "Who art thou then at all?" "I am that Cuchulain of whom +thou spakest but now." "Surely I am but a dead man," says the driver. +"Nay," replies Cuchulain, "I slay not drivers nor messengers nor men +unarmed. But run, tell thy master Orlam that Cuchulain is about to visit +him." The driver runs off, but Cuchulain outstrips him, meets Orlam first, +and strikes off his head. For a moment the host of Maev see him as he +shakes this bloody trophy before them; then he disappears from sight--it is +the first glimpse they have caught of their persecutor. + +*The Battle-Frenzy of Cuchulain* + +A number of scattered episodes now follow. The host of Maev spreads out +and devastates the territories of Bregia and of Murthemney, but they +cannot advance further into Ulster. Cuchulain hovers about them +continually, slaying them by twos and threes, and no man knows where he +will swoop next. Maev herself is awed when, by the bullets of an unseen +slinger, a squirrel and a pet bird are killed as they sit upon her +shoulders. Afterwards, as Cuchulain's wrath grows fiercer, he descends +with supernatural might upon whole companies of the Connacht host, and +hundreds fall at his onset. The characteristic distortion or _riastradh_ +which seized him in his battle-frenzy is then described. He became a +fearsome and multiform creature such as never was known before. Every +particle of him quivered like a bulrush in a running stream. His calves +and heels and hams shifted to the front, and his feet and knees to the +back, and the muscles of his neck stood out like the head of a young +child. One eye was engulfed deep in his head, the other protruded, his +mouth met his ears, foam poured from his jaws like the fleece of a +three-year-old wether. The beats of his heart sounded like the roars of a +lion as he rushes on his prey. A light blazed above his head, and "his +hair became tangled about as it had been the branches of a red thorn-bush +stuffed into the gap of a fence.... Taller, thicker, more rigid, longer +than the mast of a great ship was the perpendicular jet of dusky blood +which out of his scalp's very central point shot upwards and was there +scattered to the four cardinal points, whereby was formed a magic mist of +gloom resembling the smoky pall that drapes a regal dwelling, what time a +king at nightfall of a winter's day draws near to it."(148) + +Such was the imagery by which Gaelic writers conveyed the idea of +superhuman frenzy. At the sight of Cuchulain in his paroxysm it is said +that once a hundred of Maev's warriors fell dead from horror. + +*The Compact of the Ford* + +Maev now tried to tempt him by great largesse to desert the cause of +Ulster, and had a colloquy with him, the two standing on opposite sides of +a glen across which they talked. She scanned him closely, and was struck +by his slight and boyish appearance. She failed to move him from his +loyalty to Ulster, and death descends more thickly than ever upon the +Connacht host; the men are afraid to move out for plunder save in twenties +and thirties, and at night the stones from Cuchulain's sling whistle +continually through the camp, braining or maiming. At last, through the +mediation of Fergus, an agreement was come to. Cuchulain undertook not to +harry the host provided they would only send against him one champion at a +time, whom Cuchulain would meet in battle at the ford of the River Dee, +which is now called the Ford of Ferdia.(149) While each fight was in +progress the host might move on, but when it was ended they must encamp +till the morrow morning. "Better to lose one man a day than a hundred," +said Maev, and the pact was made. + +*Fergus and Cuchulain* + +Several single combats are then narrated, in which Cuchulain is always a +victor. Maev even persuades Fergus to go against him, but Fergus and +Cuchulain will on no account fight each other, and Cuchulain, by agreement +with Fergus, pretends to fly before him, on Fergus's promise that he will +do the same for Cuchulain when required. How this pledge was kept we shall +see later. + +*Capture of the Brown Bull* + +During one of Cuchulain's duels with a famous champion, Natchrantal, Maev, +with a third of her army, makes a sudden foray into Ulster and penetrates +as far as Dunseverick, on the northern coast, plundering and ravaging as +they go. The Brown Bull, who was originally at Quelgny (Co. Down), has +been warned at an earlier stage by the Morrigan(150) to withdraw himself, +and he has taken refuge, with his herd of cows, in a glen of +Slievegallion, Co. Armagh. The raiders of Maev find him there, and drive +him off with the herd in triumph, passing Cuchulain as they return. +Cuchulain slays the leader of the escort--Buic son of Banblai--but cannot +rescue the Bull, and "this," it is said, "was the greatest affront put on +Cuchulain during the course of the raid." + +*The Morrigan* + +The raid ought now to have ceased, for its object has been attained, but +by this time the hostings of the four southern provinces(151) had gathered +together under Maev for the plunder of Ulster, and Cuchulain remained +still the solitary warder of the marches. Nor did Maev keep her agreement, +for bands of twenty warriors at a time were loosed against him and he had +much ado to defend himself. The curious episode of the fight with the +Morrigan now occurs. A young woman clad in a mantle of many colours +appears to Cuchulain, telling him that she is a king's daughter, attracted +by the tales of his great exploits, and she has come to offer him her +love. Cuchulain tells her rudely that he is worn and harassed with war and +has no mind to concern himself with women. "It shall go hard with thee," +then said the maid, "when thou hast to do with men, and I shall be about +thy feet as an eel in the bottom of the Ford." Then she and her chariot +vanished from his sight and he saw but a crow sitting on a branch of a +tree, and he knew that he had spoken with the Morrigan. + +*The Fight with Loch* + +The next champion sent against him by Maev was Loch son of Mofebis. To +meet this hero it is said that Cuchulain had to stain his chin with +blackberry juice so as to simulate a beard, lest Loch should disdain to do +combat with a boy. So they fought in the Ford, and the Morrigan came +against him in the guise of a white heifer with red ears, but Cuchulain +fractured her eye with a cast of his spear. Then she came swimming up the +river like a black eel and twisted herself about his legs, and ere he +could rid himself of her Loch wounded him. Then she attacked him as a grey +wolf, and again, before he could subdue her, he was wounded by Loch. At +this his battle-fury took hold of him and he drove the Gae Bolg against +Loch, splitting his heart in two. "Suffer me to rise," said Loch, "that I +may fall on my face on thy side of the ford, and not backward toward the +men of Erin." "It is a warrior's boon thou askest," said Cuchulain, "and +it is granted." So Loch died; and a great despondency, it is said, now +fell upon Cuchulain, for he was outwearied with continued fighting, and +sorely wounded, and he had never slept since the beginning of the raid, +save leaning upon his spear; and he sent his charioteer, Laeg, to see if +he could rouse the men of Ulster to come to his aid at last. + +*Lugh the Protector* + +But as he lay at evening by the grave mound of Lerga in gloom and +dejection, watching the camp-fires of the vast army encamped over against +him and the glitter of their innumerable spears, he saw coming through the +host a tall and comely warrior who strode impetuously forward, and none of +the companies through which he passed turned his head to look at him or +seemed to see him. He wore a tunic of silk embroidered with gold, and a +green mantle fastened with a silver brooch; in one hand was a black shield +bordered with silver and two spears in the other. The stranger came to +Cuchulain and spoke gently and sweetly to him of his long toil and waking, +and his sore wounds, and said in the end: "Sleep now, Cuchulain, by the +grave in Lerga; sleep and slumber deeply for three days, and for that time +I will take thy place and defend the Ford against the host of Maev." Then +Cuchulain sank into a profound slumber and trance, and the stranger laid +healing balms of magical power to his wounds so that he awoke whole and +refreshed, and for the time that Cuchulain slept the stranger held the +Ford against the host. And Cuchulain knew that this was Lugh his father, +who had come from among the People of Dana to help his son through his +hour of gloom and despair. + +*The Sacrifice of the Boy Corps* + +But still the men of Ulster lay helpless. Now there was at Emain Macha a +band of thrice fifty boys, the sons of all the chieftains of the +provinces, who were there being bred up in arms and in noble ways, and +these suffered not from the curse of Macha, for it fell only on grown men. +But when they heard of the sore straits in which Cuchulain, their playmate +not long ago, was lying they put on their light armour and took their +weapons and went forth for the honour of Ulster, under Conor's young son, +Follaman, to aid him. And Follaman vowed that he would never return to +Emania without the diadem of Ailell as a trophy. Three times they drove +against the host of Maev, and thrice their own number fell before them, +but in the end they were overwhelmed and slain, not one escaping alive. + +*The Carnage of Murthemney* + +This was done as Cuchulain lay in his trance, and when he awoke, refreshed +and well, and heard what had been done, his frenzy came upon him and he +leaped into his war-chariot and drove furiously round and round the host +of Maev. And the chariot ploughed the earth till the ruts were like the +ramparts of a fortress, and the scythes upon its wheels caught and mangled +the bodies of the crowded host till they were piled like a wall around the +camp, and as Cuchulain shouted in his wrath the demons and goblins and +wild things in Erin yelled in answer, so that with the terror and the +uproar the host of men heaved and surged hither and thither, and many +perished from each other's weapons, and many from horror and fear. And +this was the great carnage, called the Carnage of Murthemney, that +Cuchulain did to avenge the boy-corps of Emania; six score and ten princes +were then slain of the host of Maev, besides horses and women and +wolf-dogs and common folk without number. It is said that Lugh mac Ethlinn +fought there by his son. + +*The Clan Calatin* + +Next the men of Erin resolved to send against Cuchulain, in single combat, +the Clan Calatin.(152) Now Calatin was a wizard, and he and his +seven-and-twenty sons formed, as it were, but one being, the sons being +organs of their father, and what any one of them did they all did alike. +They were all poisonous, so that any weapon which one of them used would +kill in nine days the man who was but grazed by it. When this multiform +creature met Cuchulain each hand of it hurled a spear at once, but +Cuchulain caught the twenty-eight spears on his shield and not one of them +drew blood. Then he drew his sword to lop off the spears that bristled +from his shield, but as he did so the Clan Calatin rushed upon him and +flung him down, thrusting his face into the gravel. At this Cuchulain gave +a great cry of distress at the unequal combat, and one of the Ulster +exiles, Fiacha son of Firaba, who was with the host of Maev, and was +looking on at the fight, could not endure to see the plight of the +champion, and he drew his sword and with one stroke he lopped off the +eight-and-twenty hands that were grinding the face of Cuchulain into the +gravel of the Ford. Then Cuchulain arose and hacked the Clan Calatin into +fragments, so that none survived to tell Maev what Fiacha had done, else +had he and his thirty hundred followers of Clan Rury been given by Maev to +the edge of the sword. + +*Ferdia to the Fray* + +Cuchulain had now overcome all the mightiest of Maev's men, save only the +mightiest of them all after Fergus, Ferdia son of Daman. And because +Ferdia was the old friend and fellow pupil of Cuchulain he had never gone +out against him; but now Maev begged him to go, and he would not. Then she +offered him her daughter, Findabair of the Fair Eyebrows, to wife, if he +would face Cuchulain at the Ford, but he would not. At last she bade him +go, lest the poets and satirists of Erin should make verses on him and put +him to open shame, and then in wrath and sorrow he consented to go, and +bade his charioteer make ready for to-morrow's fray. Then was gloom among +all his people when they heard of that, for they knew that if Cuchulain +and their master met, one of them would return alive no more. + +Very early in the morning Ferdia drove to the Ford, and lay down there on +the cushions and skins of the chariot and slept till Cuchulain should +come. Not till it was full daylight did Ferdia's charioteer hear the +thunder of Cuchulain's war-car approaching, and then he woke his master, +and the two friends faced each other across the Ford. And when they had +greeted each other Cuchulain said: "It is not thou, O Ferdia, who shouldst +have come to do battle with me. When we were with Skatha did we not go +side by side in every battle, through every wood and wilderness? were we +not heart-companions, comrades, in the feast and the assembly? did we not +share one bed and one deep slumber?" But Ferdia replied: "O Cuchulain, +thou of the wondrous feats, though we have studied poetry and science +together, and though I have heard thee recite our deeds of friendship, yet +it is my hand that shall wound thee. I bid thee remember not our +comradeship, O Hound of Ulster; it shall not avail thee, it shall not +avail thee." + +They then debated with what weapons they should begin the fight, and +Ferdia reminded Cuchulain of the art of casting small javelins that they +had learned from Skatha, and they agreed to begin with these. Backwards +and forwards, then, across the Ford, hummed the light javelins like bees +on a summer's day, but when noonday had come not one weapon had pierced +the defence of either champion. Then they took to the heavy missile +spears, and now at last blood began to flow, for each champion wounded the +other time and again. At last the day came to its close. "Let us cease +now," said Ferdia, and Cuchulain agreed. Each then threw his arms to his +charioteer, and the friends embraced and kissed each other three times, +and went to their rest. Their horses were in the same paddock, their +drivers warmed themselves over the same fire, and the heroes sent each +other food and drink and healing herbs for their wounds. + +Next day they betook themselves again to the Ford, and this time, because +Ferdia had the choice of weapons the day before, he bade Cuchulain take it +now.(153) Cuchulain chose then the heavy, broad-bladed spears for close +fighting, and with them they fought from the chariots till the sun went +down, and drivers and horses were weary, and the body of each hero was +torn with wounds. Then at last they gave over, and threw away their +weapons. And they kissed each other as before, and as before they shared +all things at night, and slept peacefully till the morning. + +When the third day of the combat came Ferdia wore an evil and lowering +look, and Cuchulain reproached him for coming out in battle against his +comrade for the bribe of a fair maiden, even Findabair, whom Maev had +offered to every champion and to Cuchulain himself if the Ford might be +won thereby; but Ferdia said: "Noble Hound, had I not faced thee when +summoned, my troth would be broken, and there would be shame on me in +Rathcroghan." It is now the turn of Ferdia to choose the weapons, and they +betake themselves to their "heavy, hard-smiting swords," and though they +hew from each other's thighs and shoulders great cantles of flesh, neither +can prevail over the other, and at last night ends the combat. This time +they parted from each other in heaviness and gloom, and there was no +interchange of friendly acts, and their drivers and horses slept apart. +The passions of the warriors had now risen to a grim sternness. + +*Death of Ferdia* + +On the fourth day Ferdia knew the contest would be decided, and he armed +himself with especial care. Next his skin was a tunic of striped silk +bordered with golden spangles, and over that hung an apron of brown +leather. Upon his belly he laid a flat stone, large as a millstone, and +over that a strong, deep apron of iron, for he dreaded that Cuchulain +would use the Gae Bolg that day. And he put on his head his crested helmet +studded with carbuncle and inlaid with enamels, and girt on his +golden-hilted sword, and on his left arm hung his broad shield with its +fifty bosses of bronze. Thus he stood by the Ford, and as he waited he +tossed up his weapons and caught them again and did many wonderful feats, +playing with his mighty weapons as a juggler plays with apples; and +Cuchulain, watching him, said to Laeg, his driver: "If I give ground +to-day, do thou reproach and mock me and spur me on to valour, and praise +and hearten me if I do well, for I shall have need of all my courage." + +"O Ferdia," said Cuchulain when they met, "what shall be our weapons +to-day?" "It is thy choice to-day," said Ferdia. "Then let it be all or +any," said Cuchulain, and Ferdia was cast down at hearing this, but he +said, "So be it," and thereupon the fight began. Till midday they fought +with spears, and none could gain any advantage over the other. Then +Cuchulain drew his sword and sought to smite Ferdia over the rim of his +shield; but the giant Firbolg flung him off. Thrice Cuchulain leaped high +into the air, seeking to strike Ferdia over his shield, but each time as +he descended Ferdia caught him upon the shield and flung him off like a +little child into the Ford. And Laeg mocked him, crying: "He casts thee +off as a river flings its foam, he grinds thee as a millstone grinds a +corn of wheat; thou elf, never call thyself a warrior." + +Then at last Cuchulain's frenzy came upon him, and he dilated giant-like, +till he overtopped Ferdia, and the hero-light blazed about his head. In +close contact the two were interlocked, whirling and trampling, while the +demons and goblins and unearthly things of the glens screamed from the +edges of their swords, and the waters of the Ford recoiled in terror from +them, so that for a while they fought on dry land in the midst of the +riverbed. And now Ferdia found Cuchulain a moment off his guard, and smote +him with the edge of the sword, and it sank deep into his flesh, and all +the river ran red with his blood. And he pressed Cuchulain sorely after +that, hewing and thrusting so that Cuchulain could endure it no longer, +and he shouted to Laeg to fling him the Gae Bolg. When Ferdia heard that +he lowered his shield to guard himself from below, and Cuchulain drove his +spear over the rim of the shield and through his breastplate into his +chest. And Ferdia raised his shield again, but in that moment Cuchulain +seized the Gae Bolg in his toes and drove it upward against Ferdia, and it +pierced through the iron apron and burst in three the millstone that +guarded him, and deep into his body it passed, so that every crevice and +cranny of him was filled with its barbs. "'Tis enough," cried Ferdia; "I +have my death of that. It is an ill deed that I fall by thy hand, O +Cuchulain." Cuchulain seized him as he fell, and carried him northward +across the Ford, that he might die on the further side of it, and not on +the side of the men of Erin. Then he laid him down, and a faintness seized +Cuchulain, and he was falling, when Laeg cried: "Rise up, Cuchulain, for +the host of Erin will be upon us. No single combat will they give after +Ferdia has fallen." But Cuchulain said: "Why should I rise again, O my +servant, now he that lieth here has fallen by my hand?" and he fell in a +swoon like death. And the host of Maev with tumult and rejoicing, with +tossing of spears and shouting of war-songs, poured across the border into +Ulster. + +But before they left the Ford they took the body of Ferdia and laid it in +a grave, and built a mound over him and set up a pillar-stone with his +name and lineage in Ogham. And from Ulster came certain of the friends of +Cuchulain, and they bore him away into Murthemney, where they washed him +and bathed his wounds in the streams, and his kin among the Danaan folk +cast magical herbs into the rivers for his healing. But he lay there in +weakness and in stupor for many days. + +*The Rousing of Ulster* + +Now Sualtam, the father of Cuchulain, had taken his son's horse, the Grey +of Macha, and ridden off again to see if by any means he might rouse the +men of Ulster to defend the province. And he went crying abroad: "The men +of Ulster are being slain, the women carried captive, the kine driven!" +Yet they stared on him stupidly, as though they knew not of what he spake. +At last he came to Emania, and there were Cathbad the Druid and Conor the +King, and all their nobles and lords, and Sualtam cried aloud to them: +"The men of Ulster are being slain, the women carried captive, the kine +driven; and Cuchulain alone holds the gap of Ulster against the four +provinces of Erin. Arise and defend yourselves!" But Cathbad only said: +"Death were the due of him who thus disturbs the King"; and Conor said: +"Yet it is true what the man says"; and the lords of Ulster wagged their +heads and murmured: "True indeed it is." + +Then Sualtam wheeled round his horse in anger and was about to depart +when, with a start which the Grey made, his neck fell against the sharp +rim of the shield upon his back, and it shore off his head, and the head +fell on the ground. Yet still it cried its message as it lay, and at last +Conor bade put it on a pillar that it might be at rest. But it still went +on crying and exhorting, and at length into the clouded mind of the king +the truth began to penetrate, and the glazed eyes of the warriors began to +glow, and slowly the spell of Macha's curse was lifted from their minds +and bodies. Then Conor arose and swore a mighty oath, saying: "The heavens +are above us and the earth beneath us, and the sea is round about us; and +surely, unless the heavens fall on us and the earth gape to swallow us up, +and the sea overwhelm the earth, I will restore every woman to her hearth, +and every cow to its byre."(154) His Druid proclaimed that the hour was +propitious, and the king bade his messengers go forth on every side and +summon Ulster to arms, and he named to them warriors long dead as well as +the living, for the cloud of the curse still lingered in his brain. + +With the curse now departed from them the men of Ulster flocked joyfully +to the summons, and on every hand there was grinding of spears and swords, +and buckling on of armour and harnessing of war-chariots for the +rising-out of the province.(155) One host came under Conor the King and +Keltchar, son of Uthecar Hornskin, from Emania southwards, and another +from the west along the very track of the host of Maev. And Conor's host +fell upon eight score of the men of Erin in Meath, who were carrying away +a great booty of women-captives, and they slew every man of the eight +score and rescued the women. Maev and her host then fell back toward +Connacht, but when they reached Slemon Midi, the Hill of Slane, in Meath, +the Ulster bands joined each other there and prepared to give battle. Maev +sent her messenger mac Roth to view the Ulster host on the Plain of Garach +and report upon it. Mac Roth came back with an awe-striking description of +what he beheld. When he first looked he saw the plain covered with deer +and other wild beasts. These, explains Fergus, had been driven out of the +forests by the advancing host of the Ulster men. The second time mac Roth +looked he saw a mist that filled the valleys, the hill-tops standing above +it like islands. Out of the mist there came thunder and flashes of light, +and a wind that nearly threw him off his feet. "What is this?" asks Maev, +and Fergus tells her that the mist is the deep breathing of the warriors +as they march, and the light is the flashing of their eyes, and the +thunder is the clangour of their war-cars and the clash of their weapons +as they go to the fight: "They think they will never reach it," says +Fergus. "We have warriors to meet them," says Maev. "You will need that," +says Fergus, "for in all Ireland, nay, in all the Western world, to Greece +and Scythia and the Tower of Bregon(156) and the Island of Gades, there +live not who can face the men of Ulster in their wrath." + +A long passage then follows describing the appearance and equipment of +each of the Ulster chiefs. + +*The Battle of Garach* + +The battle was joined on the Plain of Garach, in Meath. Fergus, wielding a +two-handed sword, the sword which, it was said, when swung in battle made +circles like the arch of a rainbow, swept down whole ranks of the Ulster +men at each blow,(157) and the fierce Maev charged thrice into the heart +of the enemy. + +Fergus met Conor the King, and smote him on his golden-bordered shield, +but Cormac, the king's son, begged for his father's life. Fergus then +turned on Conall of the Victories. + +"Too hot art thou," said Conall, "against thy people and thy race for a +wanton."(158) Fergus then turned from slaying the Ulstermen, but in his +battle-fury he smote among the hills with his rainbow-sword, and struck +off the tops of the three _Maela_ of Meath, so that they are flat-topped +(_mael_) to this day. + +Cuchulain in his stupor heard the crash of Fergus's blows, and coming +slowly to himself he asked of Laeg what it meant. "It is the sword-play of +Fergus," said Laeg. Then he sprang up, and his body dilated so that the +wrappings and swathings that had been bound on him flew off, and he armed +himself and rushed into the battle. Here he met Fergus. "Turn hither, +Fergus," he shouted; "I will wash thee as foam in a pool, I will go over +thee as the tail goes over a cat, I will smite thee as a mother smites her +infant." "Who speaks thus to me?" cried Fergus. "Cuchulain mac Sualtam; +and now do thou avoid me as thou art pledged."(159) + +"I have promised even that," said Fergus, and then went out of the battle, +and with him the men of Leinster and the men of Munster, leaving Maev with +her seven sons and the hosting of Connacht alone. + +It was midday when Cuchulain came into the fight; when the evening sun was +shining through the leaves of the trees his war-chariot was but two wheels +and a handful of shattered ribs, and the host of Connacht was in full +flight towards the border. Cuchulain overtook Maev, who crouched under her +chariot and entreated grace. "I am not wont to slay women," said +Cuchulain, and he protected her till she had crossed the Shannon at +Athlone. + +*The Fight of the Bulls* + +But the Brown Bull of Quelgny, that Maev had sent into Connacht by a +circuitous way, met the white-horned Bull of Ailell on the Plain of Aei, +and the two beasts fought; but the Brown Bull quickly slew the other, and +tossed his fragments about the land so that pieces of him were strewn from +Rathcroghan to Tara; and then careered madly about till he fell dead, +bellowing and vomiting black gore, at the Ridge of the Bull, between +Ulster and Iveagh. Ailell and Maev made peace with Ulster for seven years, +and the Ulster men returned home to Emain Macha with great glory. + +Thus ends the "Tain Bo Cuailgnè," or Cattle Raid of Quelgny; and it was +written out in the "Book of Leinster" in the year 1150 by the hand of Finn +mac Gorman, Bishop of Kildare, and at the end is written: "A blessing on +all such as faithfully shall recite the 'Tain' as it stands here, and +shall not give it in any other form." + +*Cuchulain in Fairyland* + +One of the strangest tales in Celtic legend tells how Cuchulain, as he lay +asleep after hunting, against a pillar-stone, had a vision of two Danaan +women who came to him armed with rods and alternately beat him till he was +all but dead, and he could not lift a hand to defend himself. Next day, +and for a year thereafter, he lay in sore sickness, and none could heal +him. + +Then a man whom none knew came and told him to go to the pillar-stone +where he had seen the vision, and he would learn what was to be done for +his recovery. There he found a Danaan woman in a green mantle, one of +those who had chastised him, and she told him that Fand, the Pearl of +Beauty, wife of Mananan the Sea-god, had set her love on him; and she was +at enmity with her husband Mananan; and her realm was besieged by three +demon kings, against whom Cuchulain's help was sought, and the price of +his help would be the love of Fand. Laeg, the charioteer, was then sent by +Cuchulain to report upon Fand and her message. He entered Fairyland, which +lies beyond a lake across which he passed in a magic boat of bronze, and +came home with a report of Fand's surpassing beauty and the wonders of the +kingdom; and Cuchulain then betook himself thither. Here he had a battle +in a dense mist with the demons, who are described as resembling +sea-waves--no doubt we are to understand that they are the folk of the +angry husband, Mananan. Then he abode with Fand, enjoying all the delights +of Fairyland for a month, after which he bade her farewell, and appointed +a trysting-place on earth, the Strand of the Yew Tree, where she was to +meet him. + +*Fand, Emer, and Cuchulain* + +But Emer heard of the tryst; and though not commonly disturbed at +Cuchulain's numerous infidelities, she came on this occasion with fifty of +her maidens armed with sharp knives to slay Fand. Cuchulain and Fand +perceive their chariots from afar, and the armed angry women with golden +clasps shining on their breasts, and he prepares to protect his mistress. +He addresses Emer in a curious poem, describing the beauty and skill and +magical powers of Fand--"There is nothing the spirit can wish for that she +has not got." Emer replies: "In good sooth, the lady to whom thou dost +cling seems in no way better than I am, but the new is ever sweet and the +well-known is sour; thou hast all the wisdom of the time, Cuchulain! Once +we dwelled in honour together, and still might dwell if I could find +favour in thy sight." "By my word thou dost," said Cuchulain, "and shalt +find it so long as I live." + +"Give me up," then said Fand. But Emer said: "Nay, it is more fitting that +I be the deserted one." "Not so," said Fand; "it is I who must go." "And +an eagerness for lamentation seized upon Fand, and her soul was great +within her, for it was shame for her to be deserted and straightway to +return to her home; moreover, the mighty love that she bore to Cuchulain +was tumultuous in her."(160) + +But Mananan, the Son of the Sea, knew of her sorrow and her shame, and he +came to her aid, none seeing him but she alone, and she welcomed him in a +mystic song. "Wilt thou return to me?" said Mananan, "or abide with +Cuchulain?" "In truth," said Fand, "neither of ye is better or nobler than +the other, but I will go with thee, Mananan, for thou hast no other mate +worthy of thee, but that Cuchulain has in Emer." + +So she went to Mananan, and Cuchulain, who did not see the god, asked Laeg +what was happening. "Fand," he replied, "is going away with the Son of the +Sea, since she hath not been pleasing in thy sight." + +Then Cuchulain bounded into the air and fled from the place, and lay a +long time refusing meat and drink, until at last the Druids gave him a +draught of forgetfulness; and Mananan, it is said, shook his cloak between +Cuchulain and Fand, so that they might meet no more throughout +eternity.(161) + +*The Vengeance of Maev* + +Though Maev made peace with Ulster after the battle of Garech she vowed +the death of Cuchulain for all the shame and loss he had brought upon her +and on her province, and she sought how she might take her vengeance upon +him. + +Now the wife of the wizard Calatin, whom Cuchulain slew at the Ford, +brought forth, after her husband's death, six children at a birth, namely, +three sons and three daughters. Misshapen, hideous, poisonous, born for +evil were they; and Maev, hearing of these, sent them to learn the arts of +magic, not in Ireland only, but in Alba; and even as far as Babylon they +went to seek for hidden knowledge, and they came back mighty in their +craft, and she loosed them against Cuchulain. + +*Cuchulain and Blanid* + +Besides the Clan Calatin, Cuchulain had also other foes, namely Ere, the +King of Ireland, son to Cairpre, whom Cuchulain had slain in battle, and +Lewy son of Curoi, King of Munster.(162) For Curoi's wife, Blanid, had set +her love on Cuchulain, and she bade him come and take her from Curoi's +dun, and watch his time to attack the dun, when he would see the stream +that flowed from it turn white. So Cuchulain and his men waited in a wood +hard by till Blanid judged that the time was fit, and she then poured into +the stream the milk of three cows. Then Cuchulain attacked the dun, and +took it by surprise, and slew Curoi, and bore away the woman. But +Fercartna, the bard of Curoi, went with them and showed no sign, till, +finding himself near Blanid as she stood near the cliff-edge of Beara, he +flung his arms round her, and leaped with her over the cliff, and so they +perished, and Curoi was avenged upon his wife. + +All these now did Maev by secret messages and by taunts and exhortations +arouse against Cuchulain, and they waited till they heard that the curse +of Macha was again heavy on the men of Ulster, and then they assembled a +host and marched to the Plain of Murthemney. + +*The Madness of Cuchulain* + +And first the Children of Calatin caused a horror and a despondency to +fall upon the mind of Cuchulain, and out of the hooded thistles and +puff-balls and fluttering leaves of the forest they made the semblance of +armed battalions marching against Murthemney, and Cuchulain seemed to see +on every side the smoke of burning dwellings going up. And for two days he +did battle with the phantoms till he was sick and wearied out. Then +Cathbad and the men of Ulster persuaded him to retire to a solitary glen, +where fifty of the princesses of Ulster, and among them Niam, wife of his +faithful friend Conall of the Victories, tended him, and Niam made him vow +that he would not leave the dun where he was until she gave him leave. + +But still the Children of Calatin filled the land with apparitions of war, +and smoke and flames went up, and wild cries and wailings with chattering, +goblin laughter and the braying of trumpets and horns were borne upon the +winds. And Bave, Calatin's daughter, went into the glen, and, taking the +form of a handmaid of Niam, she beckoned her away and led her to a +distance among the woods and put a spell of straying on her so that she +was lost and could find her way home no more. Bave then went in the form +of Niam to Cuchulain and bade him up and rescue Ulster from the hosts that +were harrying it, and the Morrigan came in the form of a great crow where +Cuchulain sat with the women, and croaked of war and slaughter. Then +Cuchulain sprang up and called Laeg to harness his chariot. But when Laeg +sought for the Grey of Macha to harness him, the horse fled from him, and +resisted, and only with great difficulty could Laeg yoke him in the +chariot, while large tears of dark blood trickled down his face. + +Then Cuchulain, having armed himself, drove forth; and on every side +shapes and sounds of dread assailed him and clouded his mind, and then it +appeared to him that he saw a great smoke, lit with bursts of red flame, +over the ramparts of Emain Macha, and he thought he saw the corpse of Emer +tossed out over the ramparts. But when he came to his dun at Murthemney, +there was Emer living, and she entreated him to leave the phantoms alone, +but he would not listen to her, and he bade her farewell. Then he bade +farewell to his mother Dectera, and she gave him a goblet of wine to +drink, but ere he could drink it the wine turned to blood, and he flung it +away, saying, "My life's end is near; this time I shall not return alive +from the battle." And Dectera and Cathbad besought him to await the coming +of Conall of the Victories, who was away on a journey, but he would not. + +*The Washer at the Ford* + +When he came to the ford upon the plain of Emania he saw there kneeling by +the stream as it were a young maiden, weeping and wailing, and she washed +a heap of bloody raiment and warlike arms in the stream, and when she +raised a dripping vest or corselet from the water Cuchulain saw that they +were his own. And as they crossed the ford she vanished from their +sight.(163) + +*Clan Calatin Again* + +Then, having taken his leave of Conor and of the womenfolk in Emania, he +turned again towards Murthemney and the foe. But on his way he saw by the +roadside three old crones, each blind of one eye, hideous and wretched, +and they had made a little fire of sticks, and over it they were roasting +a dead dog on spits of rowan wood. As Cuchulain passed they called to him +to alight and stay with them and share their food. "That will I not, in +sooth," said he. "Had we a great feast," they said, "thou wouldst soon +have stayed; it doth not become the great to despise the small." Then +Cuchulain, because he would not be thought discourteous to the wretched, +lighted down, and he took a piece of the roast and ate it, and the hand +with which he took it was stricken up to the shoulder so that its former +strength was gone. For it was _geis_ to Cuchulain to approach a cooking +hearth and take food from it, and it was _geis_ to him to eat of his +namesake.(164) + +*Death of Cuchulain* + +Near to Slieve Fuad, south of Armagh, Cuchulain found the host of his +enemies, and drove furiously against them, plying the champion's +"thunder-feat" upon them until the plain was strewn with their dead. Then +a satirist, urged on by Lewy, came near him and demanded his spear.(165) +"Have it, then," said Cuchulain, and flung it at him with such force that +it went clean through him and killed nine men beyond. "A king will fall by +that spear," said the Children of Calatin to Lewy, and Lewy seized it and +flung it at Cuchulain, but it smote Laeg, the king of charioteers, so that +his bowels fell out on the cushions of the chariot, and he bade farewell +to his master and he died. + +Then another satirist demanded the spear, and Cuchulain said: "I am not +bound to grant more than one request on one day." But the satirist said: +"Then I will revile Ulster for thy default," and Cuchulain flung him the +spear as before, and Ere now got it, and this time in flying back it +struck the Grey of Macha with a mortal wound. Cuchulain drew out the spear +from the horse's side, and they bade each other farewell, and the Grey +galloped away with half the yoke hanging to its neck. + +And a third time Cuchulain flung the spear to a satirist, and Lewy took it +again and flung it back, and it struck Cuchulain, and his bowels fell out +in the chariot, and the remaining horse, Black Sainglend, broke away and +left him. + +"I would fain go as far as to that loch-side to drink," said Cuchulain, +knowing the end was come, and they suffered him to go when he had promised +to return to them again. So he gathered up his bowels into his breast and +went to the loch-side, and drank, and bathed himself, and came forth again +to die. Now there was close by a tall pillar-stone that stood westwards of +the loch, and he went up to it and slung his girdle over it and round his +breast, so that he might die in his standing and not in his lying down; +and his blood ran down in a little stream into the loch, and an otter came +out of the loch and lapped it. And the host gathered round, but feared to +approach him while the life was still in him, and the hero-light shone +above his brow. Then came the Grey of Macha to protect him, scattering his +foes with biting and kicking. + +And then came a crow and settled on his shoulder. + +Lewy, when he saw this, drew near and pulled the hair of Cuchulain to one +side over his shoulder, and with his sword he smote off his head; and the +sword fell from Cuchulain's hand, and smote off the hand of Lewy as it +fell. They took the hand of Cuchulain in revenge for this, and bore the +head and hand south to Tara, and there buried them, and over them they +raised a mound. But Conall of the Victories, hastening to Cuchulain's side +on the news of the war, met the Grey of Macha streaming with blood, and +together they went to the loch-side and saw him headless and bound to the +pillar-stone, and the horse came and laid its head on his breast. Conall +drove southwards to avenge Cuchulain, and he came on Lewy by the river +Liffey, and because Lewy had but one hand Conall tied one of his behind +his back, and for half the day they fought, but neither could prevail. +Then came Conall's horse, the Dewy-Red, and tore a piece out of Lewy's +side, and Conall slew him, and took his head, and returned to Emain Macha. +But they made no show of triumph in entering the city, for Cuchulain the +Hound of Ulster was no more. + +*The Recovery of the Tain* + +The history of the "Tain," or Cattle Raid, of Quelgny was traditionally +supposed to have been written by no other than Fergus mac Roy, but for a +long time the great lay or saga was lost. It was believed to have been +written out in Ogham characters on staves of wood, which a bard who +possessed them had taken with him into Italy, whence they never returned. + +The recovery of the "Tain" was the subject of a number of legends which +Sir S. Ferguson, in his "Lays of the Western Gael," has combined in a poem +of so much power, so much insight into the spirit of Gaelic myth, that I +venture to reproduce much of it here in telling this singular and +beautiful story. It is said that after the loss of the "Tain" Sanchan +Torpest, chief bard of Ireland, was once taunted at a feast by the High +King Guary on his inability to recite the most famous and splendid of +Gaelic poems. This touched the bard to the quick, and he resolved to +recover the lost treasure. Far and wide through Erin and through Alba he +searched for traces of the lay, but could only recover scattered +fragments. He would have conjured up by magic arts the spirit of Fergus to +teach it to him, even at the cost of his own life--for such, it seems, +would have been the price demanded for the intervention and help of the +dead--but the place of Fergus's grave, where the spells must be said, could +not be discovered. At last Sanchan sent his son Murgen with his younger +brother Eimena to journey to Italy and endeavour to discover there the +fate of the staff-book. The brothers set off on their journey. + +"Eastward, breadthwise, over Erin straightway travell'd forth the twain, + Till with many days' wayfaring Murgen fainted by Loch Ein: + + 'Dear my brother, thou art weary: I for present aid am flown: + Thou for my returning tarry here beside this Standing Stone.' + +"Shone the sunset red and solemn: Murgen,where he leant,observed + Down the corners of the column letter-strokes of Ogham carved. + ''Tis, belike, a burial pillar,' said he, 'and these shallow lines + Hold some warrior's name of valour, could I rightly spell the signs.' + +"Letter then by letter tracing, soft he breathed the sound of each; + Sound and sound then interlacing, lo, the signs took form of speech; + And with joy and wonder mainly thrilling, part a-thrill with fear, + Murgen read the legend plainly, 'FERGUS SON OF ROY IS HERE.' " + +Murgen then, though he knew the penalty, appealed to Fergus to pity a +son's distress, and vowed, for the sake of the recovery of the "Tain," to +give his life, and abandon his kin and friends and the maiden he loves, so +that his father might no more be shamed. But Fergus gave no sign, and +Murgen tried another plea: + +"Still he stirs not. Love of women thou regard'st not, Fergus, now: + Love of children, instincts human, care for these no more hast thou: + Wider comprehension, deeper insights to the dead belong:-- + Since for Love thou wak'st not, Sleeper, yet awake for sake of Song. + +" 'Thou, the first in rhythmic cadence dressing life's discordant tale, + Wars of chiefs and loves of maidens, gavest the Poem to the Gael; + Now they've lost their noblest measure, and in dark days hard at hand, + Song shall be the only treasure left them in their native land.' + +"Fergus rose. A mist ascended with him, and a flash was seen + As of brazen sandals blended with a mantle's wafture green; + But so thick the cloud closed o'er him, Eimena, return'd at last, + Found not on the field before him but a mist-heap grey and vast. + +"Thrice to pierce the hoar recesses faithful Eimena essay'd; + Thrice through foggy wildernesses back to open air he stray'd; + Till a deep voice through the vapours fill'd the twilight far and near + And the Night her starry tapers kindling, stoop'd from heaven to hear. + +"Seem'd as though the skiey Shepherd back to earth had cast the fleece + Envying gods of old caught upward from the darkening shrines of Greece; + So the white mists curl'd and glisten'd, to from heaven's expanses bare, + Stars enlarging lean'd and listen'd down the emptied depths of air. + +"All night long by mists surrounded Murgen lay in vapoury bars; + All night long the deep voice sounded 'neath the keen, enlarging stars: + But when, on the orient verges, stars grew dim and mists retired, + Rising by the stone of Fergus, Murgen stood a man inspired. + +" 'Back to Sanchan!--Father, hasten, ere the hour of power be past, + Ask not how obtain'd but listen to the lost lay found at last!' + 'Yea, these words have tramp of heroes in them; and the marching rhyme + Rolls the voices of the eras down the echoing steeps of Time.' + +"Not till all was thrice related, thrice recital full essay'd, + Sad and shamefaced, worn and faded, Murgen sought the faithful maid. + 'Ah, so haggard; ah, so altered; thou in life and love so strong!' + 'Dearly purchased,' Murgen falter'd, 'life and love I've sold for song!' + +" 'Woe is me, the losing bargain! what can song the dead avail?' + 'Fame immortal,' murmur'd Murgen, 'long as lay delights the Gael.' + 'Fame, alas! the price thou chargest not repays one virgin tear.' + 'Yet the proud revenge I've purchased for my sire, I deem not dear.' + +" 'So,again to Gort the splendid, when the drinking boards were spread, + Sanchan, as of old attended, came and sat at table-head. + 'Bear the cup to Sanchan Torpest: twin gold goblets, Bard, are thine, + If with voice and string thou harpest, _Tain-Bo-Cuailgne_, line for + line.' + +" 'Yea, with voice and string I'll chant it. Murgen to his father's knee + Set the harp: no prelude wanted, Sanchan struck the master key, + And, as bursts the brimful river all at once from caves of Cong, + Forth at once, and once for ever, leap'd the torrent of the song. + +"Floating on a brimful torrent, men go down and banks go by: +Caught adown the lyric current, Guary, captured, ear and eye, +Heard no more the courtiers jeering, saw no more the walls of Gort, +Creeve Roe's(166) meads instead appearing, and Emania's royal fort. + +"Vision chasing splendid vision, Sanchan roll'd the rhythmic scene; +They that mock'd in lewd derision now, at gaze, with wondering mien +Sate, and, as the glorying master sway'd the tightening reins of song, +Felt emotion's pulses faster--fancies faster bound along. + +"Pity dawn'd on savage faces, when for love of captive Crunn, +Macha, in the ransom-races, girt her gravid loins, to run +'Gainst the fleet Ultonian horses; and, when Deirdra on the road +Headlong dash'd her 'mid the corses, brimming eyelids overflow'd. + +"Light of manhood's generous ardour, under brows relaxing shone, +When, mid-ford, on Uladh's border, young Cuchullin stood alone, +Maev and all her hosts withstanding:-- 'Now, for love of knightly play, +Yield the youth his soul's demanding; let the hosts their marchings stay, + +"'Till the death he craves be given; and, upon his burial stone +Champion-praises duly graven, make his name and glory known; +For, in speech-containing token, age to ages never gave +Salutation better spoken, than, "Behold a hero's grave."' + +"What, another and another, and he still or combat calls? +Ah, the lot on thee, his brother sworn in arms, Ferdia, falls; +And the hall with wild applauses sobb'd like woman ere they wist, +When the champions in the pauses of the deadly combat kiss'd. + +"Now, for love of land and cattle, while Cuchullin in the fords +Stays the march of Connaught's battle, ride and rouse the Northern Lords; +Swift as angry eagles wing them toward the plunder'd eyrie's call, +Thronging from Dun Dealga bring them, bring them from the Red Branch hall! + +"Heard ye not the tramp of armies? Hark! amid the sudden gloom, +'Twas the stroke of Conall's war-mace sounded through the startled room; +And, while still the hall grew darker, king and courtier chill'd with + dread, +Heard the rattling of the war-car of Cuchullin overhead. + +"Half in wonder, half in terror, loth to stay and loth to fly, +Seem'd to each beglamour'd hearer shades of kings went thronging by: +But the troubled joy of wonder merged at last in mastering fear, +As they heard through pealing thunder, 'FERGUS SON OF ROY IS HERE!' + +"Brazen-sandall'd, vapour-shrouded, moving in an icy blast, +Through the doorway terror-crowded, up the tables Fergus pass'd:-- +'Stay thy hand, oh harper, pardon! cease the wild unearthly lay! +Murgen, bear thy sire his guerdon.' Murgen sat, a shape of clay. + +" 'Bear him on his bier beside me: never more in halls of Gort +Shall a niggard king deride me: slaves, of Sanchan make their sport! +But because the maiden's yearnings needs must also be condoled, +Hers shall be the dear-bought earnings, hers the twin-bright cups of + gold.' + +" 'Cups,' she cried, 'of bitter drinking, fling them far as arm can + throw!' +Let them in the ocean sinking, out of sight and memory go! +Let the joinings of the rhythm, let the links of sense and sound +Of the _Tain-Bo_ perish with them, lost as though they'd ne'er been + found!' + +"So it comes, the lay, recover'd once at such a deadly cost, +Ere one full recital suffer'd, once again is all but lost: +For, the maiden's malediction still with many a blemish-stain +Clings in coarser garb of fiction round the fragments that remain." + +*The Phantom Chariot of Cuchulain* + +Cuchulain, however, makes an impressive reappearance in a much later +legend of Christian origin, found in the twelfth-century "Book of the Dun +Cow." He was summoned from Hell, we are told, by St. Patrick to prove the +truths of Christianity and the horrors of damnation to the pagan monarch, +Laery mac Neill, King of Ireland. Laery, with St. Benen, a companion of +Patrick, are standing on the Plain of mac Indoc when a blast of icy wind +nearly takes them off their feet. It is the wind of Hell, Benen explains, +after its opening before Cuchulain. Then a dense mist covers the plain, +and anon a huge phantom chariot with galloping horses, a grey and a black, +loom up through the mist. Within it are the famous two, Cuchulain and his +charioteer, giant figures, armed with all the splendour of the Gaelic +warrior. + +Cuchulain then talks to Laery, and urges him to "believe in God and in +holy Patrick, for it is not a demon that has come to thee, but Cuchulain +son of Sualtam." To prove his identity he recounts his famous deeds of +arms, and ends by a piteous description of his present state: + +"What I suffered of trouble, + O Laery, by sea and land-- + Yet more severe was a single night + When the demon was wrathful! + Great as was my heroism, + Hard as was my sword, + The devil crushed me with one finger + Into the red charcoal!" + +He ends by beseeching Patrick that heaven may be granted to him, and the +legend tells that the prayer was granted and that Laery believed. + +*Death of Conor mac Nessa* + +Christian ideas have also gathered round the end of Cuchulain's lord, King +Conor of Ulster. The manner of his death was as follows: An unjust and +cruel attack had been made by him on Mesgedra, King of Leinster, in which +that monarch met his death at the hand of Conall of the Victories.(167) +Conall took out the brains of the dead king and mingled them with lime to +make a sling-stone--such "brain balls," as they were called, being +accounted the most deadly of missiles. This ball was laid up in the king's +treasure-house at Emain Macha, where the Connacht champion, Ket son of +Maga, found it one day when prowling in disguise through Ulster. Ket took +it away and kept it always by him. Not long thereafter the Connacht men +took a spoil of cattle from Ulster, and the Ulster men, under Conor, +overtook them at a river-ford still called Athnurchar (The Ford of the +Sling-cast), in Westmeath. A battle was imminent, and many of the ladies +of Connacht came to their side of the river to view the famous Ultonian +warriors, and especially Conor, the stateliest man of his time. Conor was +willing to show himself, and seeing none but women on the other bank he +drew near them; but Ket, who was lurking in ambush, now rose and slung the +brain-ball at Conor, striking him full in the forehead. Conor fell, and +was carried off by his routed followers. When they got him home, still +living, to Emain Macha, his physician, Fingen, pronounced that if the ball +were extracted from his head he must die; it was accordingly sewn up with +golden thread, and the king was bidden to keep himself from horse-riding +and from all vehement passion and exertion, and he would do well. + +Seven years afterwards Conor saw the sun darken at noonday, and he +summoned his Druid to tell him the cause of the portent. The Druid, in a +magic trance, tells him of a hill in a distant land on which stand three +crosses with a human form nailed to each of them, and one of them is like +the Immortals. "Is he a malefactor?" then asks Conor. "Nay," says the +Druid, "but the Son of the living God," and he relates to the king the +story of the death of Christ. Conor breaks out in fury, and drawing his +sword he hacks at the oak-trees in the sacred grove, crying, "Thus would I +deal with his enemies," when with the excitement and exertion the +brain-ball bursts from his head, and he falls dead. And thus was the +vengeance of Mesgedra fulfilled. With Conor and with Cuchulain the glory +of the Red Branch and the dominance of Ulster passed away. The next, or +Ossianic, cycle of Irish legend brings upon the scene different +characters, different physical surroundings, and altogether different +ideals of life. + +*Ket and the Boar of mac Datho* + +The Connacht champion Ket, whose main exploit was the wounding of King +Conor at Ardnurchar, figures also in a very dramatic tale entitled "The +Carving of mac Datho's Boar." The story runs as follows: + +Once upon a time there dwelt in the province of Leinster a wealthy +hospitable lord named Mesroda, son of Datho. Two possessions had he; +namely, a hound which could outrun every other hound and every wild beast +in Erin, and a boar which was the finest and greatest in size that man had +ever beheld. + +Now the fame of this hound was noised all about the land, and many were +the princes and lords who longed to possess it. And it came to pass that +Conor King of Ulster and Maev Queen of Connacht sent messengers to mac +Datho to ask him to sell them the hound for a price, and both the +messengers arrived at the dun of mac Datho on the same day. Said the +Connacht messenger: "We will give thee in exchange for the hound six +hundred milch cows, and a chariot with two horses, the best that are to be +found in Connacht, and at the end of a year thou shalt have as much +again." And the messenger of King Conor said: "We will give no less than +Connacht, and the friendship and alliance of Ulster, and that will be +better for thee than the friendship of Connacht." + +Then Mesroda mac Datho fell silent, and for three days he would not eat or +drink, nor could he sleep o' nights, but tossed restlessly on his bed. His +wife observed his condition, and said to him: "Thy fast hath been long, +Mesroda, though good food is by thee in plenty; and at night thou turnest +thy face to the wall, and well I know thou dost not sleep. What is the +cause of thy trouble?" + +"There is a saying," replied Mac Datho, "'Trust not a thrall with money, +nor a woman with a secret.'" + +"When should a man talk to a woman," said his wife, "but when something +were amiss? What thy mind cannot solve perchance another's may." + +Then mac Datho told his wife of the request for his hound both from Ulster +and from Connacht at one and the same time. "And whichever of them I +deny," he said, "they will harry my cattle and slay my people." + +"Then hear my counsel," said the woman. "Give it to both of them, and bid +them come and fetch it; and if there be any harrying to be done, let them +even harry each other; but in no way mayest thou keep the hound." + +Mac Datho followed this wise counsel, and bade both Ulster and Connacht to +a great feast on the same day, saying to each of them that they could have +the hound afterwards. + +So on the appointed day Conor of Ulster, and Maev, and their retinues of +princes and mighty men assembled at the dun of mac Datho. There they found +a great feast set forth, and to provide the chief dish mac Datho had +killed his famous boar, a beast of enormous size. The question now arose +as to who should have the honourable task of carving it, and Bricriu of +the Poisoned Tongue characteristically, for the sake of the strife which +he loved, suggested that the warriors of Ulster and Connacht should +compare their principal deeds of arms, and give the carving of the boar to +him who seemed to have done best in the border-fighting which was always +going on between the provinces. After much bandying of words and of taunts +Ket son of Maga arises and stands over the boar, knife in hand, +challenging each of the Ulster lords to match his deeds of valour. One +after another they arise, Cuscrid son of Conor, Keltchar, Moonremur, Laery +the Triumphant, and others--Cuchulain is not introduced in this story--and +in each case Ket has some biting tale to tell of an encounter in which he +has come off better than they, and one by one they sit down shamed and +silenced. At last a shout of welcome is heard at the door of the hall and +the Ulstermen grow jubilant: Conall of the Victories has appeared on the +scene. He strides up to the boar, and Ket and he greet each other with +chivalrous courtesy: + +"And now welcome to thee, O Conall, thou of the iron heart and fiery +blood; keen as the glitter of ice, ever-victorious chieftain; hail, mighty +son of Finnchoom!" said Ket. + +And Conall said: "Hail to thee, Ket, flower of heroes, lord of chariots, a +raging sea in battle; a strong, majestic bull; hail, son of Maga!" + +"And now," went on Conall, "rise up from the boar and give me place." + +"Why so?" replied Ket. + +"Dost thou seek a contest from me?" said Conall. "Verily thou shalt have +it. By the gods of my nation I swear that since I first took weapons in my +hand I have never passed one day that I did not slay a Connacht man, nor +one night that I did not make a foray on them, nor have I ever slept but I +had the head of a Connacht man under my knee." + +"I confess," then said Ket, "that thou art a better man than I, and I +yield thee the boar. But if Anluan my brother were here, he would match +thee deed for deed, and sorrow and shame it is that he is not." + +"Anluan is here," shouted Conall, and with that he drew from his girdle +the head of Anluan and dashed it in the face of Ket. + +Then all sprang to their feet and a wild shouting and tumult arose, and +the swords flew out of themselves, and battle raged in the hall of mac +Datho. Soon the hosts burst out through the doors of the dun and smote and +slew each other in the open field, until the Connacht host were put to +flight. The hound of mac Datho pursued the chariot of King Ailell of +Connacht till the charioteer smote off its head, and so the cause of +contention was won by neither party, and mac Datho lost his hound, but +saved his lands and life. + +*The Death of Ket* + +The death of Ket is told in Keating's "History of Ireland." Returning from +a foray in Ulster, he was overtaken by Conall at the place called the Ford +of Ket, and they fought long and desperately. At last Ket was slain, but +Conall of the Victories was in little better case, and lay bleeding to +death when another Connacht champion named Beälcu(168) found him. "Kill +me," said Conall to him, "that it be not said I fell at the hand of _one_ +Connacht man." But Beälcu said: "I will not slay a man at the point of +death, but I will bring thee home and heal thee, and when thy strength is +come again thou shalt fight with me in single combat." Then Beälcu put +Conall on a litter and brought him home, and had him tended till his +wounds were healed. + +The three sons of Beälcu, however, when they saw what the Ulster champion +was like in all his might, resolved to assassinate him before the combat +should take place. By a stratagem Conall contrived that they slew their +own father instead; and then, taking the heads of the three sons, he went +back, victoriously as he was wont, to Ulster. + +*The Death of Maev* + +The tale of the death of Queen Maev is also preserved by Keating. Fergus +mac Roy having been slain by Ailell with a cast of a spear as he bathed in +a lake with Maev, and Ailell having been slain by Conall, Maev retired to +an island(169) on Loch Ryve, where she was wont to bathe early every +morning in a pool near to the landing-place. Forbay son of Conor mac +Nessa, having discovered this habit of the queen's, found means one day to +go unperceived to the pool and to measure the distance from it to the +shore of the mainland. Then he went back to Emania, where he measured out +the distance thus obtained, and placing an apple on a pole at one end he +shot at it continually with a sling until he grew so good a marksman at +that distance that he never missed his aim. Then one day, watching his +opportunity by the shores of Loch Ryve, he saw Maev enter the water, and +putting a bullet in his sling he shot at her with so good an aim that he +smote her in the centre of the forehead and she fell dead. + +The great warrior-queen had reigned in Connacht, it was said, for +eighty-eight years. She is a signal example of the kind of women whom the +Gaelic bards delighted to portray. Gentleness and modesty were by no means +their usual characteristics, but rather a fierce overflowing life. +Women-warriors like Skatha and Aifa are frequently met with, and one is +reminded of the Gaulish women, with their mighty snow-white arms, so +dangerous to provoke, of whom classical writers tell us. The Gaelic bards, +who in so many ways anticipated the ideas of chivalric romance, did not do +so in setting women in a place apart from men. Women were judged and +treated like men, neither as drudges nor as goddesses, and we know that +well into historic times they went with men into battle, a practice only +ended in the sixth century. + +*Fergus mac Leda and the Wee Folk* + +Of the stories of the Ultonian Cycle which do not centre on the figure of +Cuchulain, one of the most interesting is that of Fergus mac Leda and the +King of the Wee Folk. In this tale Fergus appears as King of Ulster, but +as he was contemporary with Conor mac Nessa, and in the Cattle Raid of +Quelgny is represented as following him to war, we must conclude that he +was really a sub-king, like Cuchulain or Owen of Ferney. + +The tale opens in Faylinn, or the Land of the Wee Folk, a race of elves +presenting an amusing parody of human institutions on a reduced scale, but +endowed (like dwarfish people generally in the literature of primitive +races) with magical powers. Iubdan,(170) the King of Faylinn, when flushed +with wine at a feast, is bragging of the greatness of his power and the +invincibility of his armed forces--have they not the strong man Glower, who +with his axe has been known to hew down a thistle at a stroke? But the +king's bard, Eisirt, has heard something of a giant race oversea in a land +called Ulster, one man of whom would annihilate a whole battalion of the +Wee Folk, and he incautiously allows himself to hint as much to the +boastful monarch. He is immediately clapped into prison for his audacity, +and only gets free by promising to go immediately to the land of the +mighty men, and bring back evidence of the truth of his incredible story. + +So off he goes; and one fine day King Fergus and his lords find at the +gate of their Dun a tiny little fellow magnificently clad in the robes of +a royal bard, who demands entrance. He is borne in upon the hand of Æda, +the king's dwarf and bard, and after charming the court by his wise and +witty sayings, and receiving a noble largesse, which he at once +distributes among the poets and other court attendants of Ulster, he goes +off home, taking with him as a guest the dwarf Æda, before whom the Wee +Folk fly as a "Fomorian giant," although, as Eisirt explains, the average +man of Ulster can carry him like a child. Iubdan is now convinced, but +Eisirt puts him under _geise_, the bond of chivalry which no Irish +chieftain can repudiate without being shamed, to go himself, as Eisirt has +done, to the palace of Fergus and taste the king's porridge. Iubdan, after +he has seen Æda, is much dismayed, but he prepares to go, and bids Bebo, +his wife, accompany him. "You did an ill deed," she says, "when you +condemned Eisirt to prison; but surely there is no man under the sun that +can make thee hear reason." + +So off they go, and Iubdan's fairy steed bears them over the sea till they +reach Ulster, and by midnight they stand before the king's palace. "Let us +taste the porridge as we were bound," says Bebo, "and make off before +daybreak." They steal in and find the porridge-pot, to the rim of which +Iubdan can only reach by standing on his horse's back. In straining +downwards to get at the porridge he overbalances himself and falls in. +There in the thick porridge he sticks fast, and there Fergus's scullions +find him at the break of day, with the faithful Bebo lamenting. They bear +him off to Fergus, who is amazed at finding another wee man, with a woman +too, in his palace. He treats them hospitably, but refuses all appeals to +let them go. The story now recounts in a spirit of broad humour several +Rabelaisian adventures in which Bebo is concerned, and gives a charming +poem supposed to have been uttered by Iubdan in the form of advice to +Fergus's fire-gillie as to the merits for burning of different kinds of +timber. The following are extracts: + + + "Burn not the sweet apple-tree of drooping branches, of the white + blossoms, to whose gracious head each man puts forth his hand." + + + "Burn not the noble willow, the unfailing ornament of poems; bees + drink from its blossoms, all delight in the graceful tent." + + + "The delicate, airy tree of the Druids, the rowan with its + berries, this burn; but avoid the weak tree, burn not the slender + hazel." + + + "The ash-tree of the black buds burn not--timber that speeds the + wheel, that yields the rider his switch; the ashen spear is the + scale-beam of battle." + + +At last the Wee Folk come in a great multitude to beg the release of +Iubdan. On the king's refusal they visit the country with various plagues, +snipping off the ears of corn, letting the calves suck all the cows dry, +defiling the wells, and so forth; but Fergus is obdurate. In their quality +as earth-gods, _dei terreni_, they promise to make the plains before the +palace of Fergus stand thick with corn every year without ploughing or +sowing, but all is vain. At last, however, Fergus agrees to ransom Iubdan +against the best of his fairy treasures, so Iubdan recounts them--the +cauldron that can never be emptied, the harp that plays of itself; and +finally he mentions a pair of water-shoes, wearing which a man can go over +or under water as freely as on dry land. Fergus accepts the shoes, and +Iubdan is released. + +*The Blemish of Fergus* + +But it is hard for a mortal to get the better of Fairyland--a touch of +hidden malice lurks in magical gifts, and so it proved now. Fergus was +never tired of exploring the depths of the lakes and rivers of Ireland; +but one day, in Loch Rury, he met with a hideous monster, the _Muirdris_, +or river-horse, which inhabited that lake, and from which he barely saved +himself by flying to the shore. With the terror of this encounter his face +was twisted awry; but since a blemished man could not hold rule in +Ireland, his queen and nobles took pains, on some pretext, to banish all +mirrors from the palace, and kept the knowledge of his condition from him. +One day, however, he smote a bondmaid with a switch, for some negligence, +and the maid, indignant, cried out: "It were better for thee, Fergus, to +avenge thyself on the river-horse that hath twisted thy face than to do +brave deeds on women!" Fergus bade fetch him a mirror, and looked in it. +"It is true," he said; "the river-horse of Loch Rury has done this thing." + +*Death of Fergus* + +The conclusion may be given in the words of Sir Samuel Ferguson's fine +poem on this theme. Fergus donned the magic shoes, took sword in hand, and +went to Loch Rury: + + "For a day and night +Beneath the waves he rested out of sight, +But all the Ultonians on the bank who stood +Saw the loch boil and redden with his blood. +When next at sunrise skies grew also red +He rose--and in his hand the _Muirdris_' head. +Gone was the blemish! On his goodly face +Each trait symmetric had resumed its place: +And they who saw him marked in all his mien +A king's composure, ample and serene. +He smiled; he cast his trophy to the bank, +Said, 'I, survivor, Ulstermen!' and sank." + +This fine tale has been published in full from an Egerton MS., by Mr. +Standish Hayes O'Grady, in his "Silva Gadelica." The humorous treatment of +the fairy element in the story would mark it as belonging to a late period +of Irish legend, but the tragic and noble conclusion unmistakably signs it +as belonging to the Ulster bardic literature, and it falls within the same +order of ideas, if it were not composed within the same period, as the +tales of Cuchulain. + +*Significance of Irish Place-Names* + +Before leaving this great cycle of legendary literature let us notice what +has already, perhaps, attracted the attention of some readers--the extent +to which its chief characters and episodes have been commemorated in the +still surviving place-names of the country.(171) This is true of Irish +legend in general--it is especially so of the Ultonian Cycle. Faithfully +indeed, through many a century of darkness and forgetting, have these +names pointed to the hidden treasures of heroic romance which the labours +of our own day are now restoring to light. The name of the little town of +Ardee, as we have seen,(172) commemorates the tragic death of Ferdia at +the hand of his "heart companion," the noblest hero of the Gael. The ruins +of Dun Baruch, where Fergus was bidden to the treacherous feast, still +look over the waters of Moyle, across which Naisi and Deirdre sailed to +their doom. Ardnurchar, the Hill of the Sling-cast, in Westmeath,(173) +brings to mind the story of the stately monarch, the crowd of gazing +women, and the crouching enemy with the deadly missile which bore the +vengeance of Mesgedra. The name of Armagh, or Ard Macha, the Hill of +Macha, enshrines the memory of the Fairy Bride and her heroic sacrifice, +while the grassy rampart can still be traced where the war-goddess in the +earlier legend drew its outline with the pin of her brooch when she +founded the royal fortress of Ulster. Many pages might be filled with +these instances. Perhaps no modern country has place-names so charged with +legendary associations as are those of Ireland. Poetry and myth are there +still closely wedded to the very soil of the land--a fact in which there +lies ready to hand an agency for education, for inspiration, of the +noblest kind, if we only had the insight to see it and the art to make use +of it. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI: TALES OF THE OSSIANIC CYCLE + + +*The Fianna of Erin* + +As the tales of the Ultonian Cycle cluster round the heroic figure of the +Hound of Cullan, so do those of the Ossianic Cycle round that of Finn mac +Cumhal,(174) whose son Oisin(175) (or Ossian, as Macpherson called him in +the pretended translations from the Gaelic which first introduced him to +the English-speaking world) was a poet as well as a warrior, and is the +traditional author of most of them. The events of the Ultonian Cycle are +supposed to have taken place about the time of the birth of Christ. Those +of the Ossianic Cycle fell mostly in the reign of Cormac mac Art, who +lived in the third century A.D. During his reign the Fianna of Erin, who +are represented as a kind of military Order composed mainly of the members +of two clans, Clan Bascna and Clan Morna, and who were supposed to be +devoted to the service of the High King and to the repelling of foreign +invaders, reached the height of their renown under the captaincy of Finn. + +The annalists of ancient Ireland treated the story of Finn and the Fianna, +in its main outlines, as sober history. This it can hardly be. Ireland had +no foreign invaders during the period when the Fianna are supposed to have +flourished, and the tales do not throw a ray of light on the real history +of the country; they are far more concerned with a Fairyland populated by +supernatural beings, beautiful or terrible, than with any tract of real +earth inhabited by real men and women. The modern critical reader of these +tales will soon feel that it would be idle to seek for any basis of fact +in this glittering mirage. But the mirage was created by poets and +storytellers of such rare gifts for this kind of literature that it took +at once an extraordinary hold on the imagination of the Irish and Scottish +Gael. + +*The Ossianic Cycle* + +The earliest tales of this cycle now extant are found in manuscripts of +the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and were composed probably a couple of +centuries earlier. But the cycle lasted in a condition of vital growth for +a thousand years, right down to Michael Comyn's "Lay of Oisin in the Land +of Youth," which was composed about 1750, and which ended the long history +of Gaelic literature.(176) It has been estimated(177) that if all the +tales and poems of the Ossianic Cycle which still remain could be printed +they would fill some twenty-five volumes the size of this. Moreover, a +very great proportion of this literature, even if there were no +manuscripts at all, could during the last and the preceding centuries have +been recovered from the lips of what has been absurdly called an +"illiterate" peasantry in the Highlands and in the Gaelic-speaking parts +or Ireland. It cannot but interest us to study the character of the +literature which was capable of exercising such a spell. + +*Contrasted with the Ultonian Cycle* + +Let us begin by saying that the reader will find himself in an altogether +different atmosphere from that in which the heroes of the Ultonian Cycle +live and move. Everything speaks of a later epoch, when life was gentler +and softer, when men lived more in settlements and towns, when the Danaan +Folk were more distinctly fairies and less deities, when in literature the +elements of wonder and romance predominated, and the iron string of +heroism and self-sacrifice was more rarely sounded. There is in the +Ossianic literature a conscious delight in wild nature, in scenery, in the +song of birds, the music of the chase through the woods, in mysterious and +romantic adventure, which speaks unmistakably of a time when the free, +open-air life "under the greenwood tree" is looked back on and idealised, +but no longer habitually lived, by those who celebrate it. There is also a +significant change of _locale_. The Conorian tales were the product of a +literary movement having its sources among the bleak hills or on the stern +rock-bound coasts of Ulster. In the Ossianic Cycle we find ourselves in +the Midlands or South of Ireland. Much of the action takes place amid the +soft witchery of the Killarney landscape, and the difference between the +two regions is reflected in the ethical temper of the tales. + +In the Ultonian Cycle it will have been noticed that however extravagantly +the supernatural element may be employed, the final significance of almost +every tale, the end to which all the supernatural machinery is worked, is +something real and human, something that has to do with the virtues or +vices, the passions or the duties or men and women. In the Ossianic Cycle, +broadly speaking, this is not so. The nobler vein of literature seems to +have been exhausted, and we have now beauty for the sake of beauty, +romance for the sake of romance, horror or mystery for the sake of the +excitement they arouse. The Ossianic tales are, at their best, + + + "Lovely apparitions, sent To be a moment's ornament." + + +They lack that something, found in the noblest art as in the noblest +personalities, which has power "to warn, to comfort, and command." + +*The Coming of Finn* + +King Cormac mac Art was certainly a historical character, which is more, +perhaps, than we can say of Conor mac Nessa. Whether there is any real +personage behind the glorious figure of his great captain, Finn, it is +more difficult to say. But for our purpose it is not necessary to go into +this question. He was a creation of the Celtic mind in one land and in one +stage of its development, and our part here is to show what kind of +character the Irish mind liked to idealise and make stories about. + +Finn, like most of the Irish heroes, had a partly Danaan ancestry. His +mother, Murna of the White Neck, was grand-daughter of Nuada of the Silver +Hand, who had wedded that Ethlinn, daughter of Balor the Fomorian, who +bore the Sun-god Lugh to Kian. Cumhal son of Trenmor was Finn's father. He +was chief of the Clan Bascna, who were contending with the Clan Morna for +the leadership of the Fianna, and was overthrown and slain by these at the +battle of Knock.(178) + +Among the Clan Morna was a man named Lia, the lord of Luachar in Connacht, +who was Treasurer of the Fianna, and who kept the Treasure Bag, a bag made +of crane's skin and having in it magic weapons and jewels of great price +that had come down from the days of the Danaans. And he became Treasurer +to the Clan Morna and still kept the bag at Rath Luachar. + +Murna, after the defeat and death of Cumhal, took refuge in the forests of +Slieve Bloom,(179) and there she bore a man-child whom she named Demna. +For fear that the Clan Morna would find him out and slay him, she gave him +to be nurtured in the wildwood by two aged women, and she herself became +wife to the King of Kerry. But Demna, when he grew up to be a lad, was +called "Finn," or the Fair One, on account of the whiteness of his skin +and his golden hair, and by this name he was always known thereafter. His +first deed was to slay Lia, who had the Treasure Bag of the Fianna, which +he took from him. He then sought out his uncle Crimmal, who, with a few +other old men, survivors of the chiefs of Clan Bascna, had escaped the +sword at Castleknock, and were living in much penury and affliction in the +recesses of the forests of Connacht. These he furnished with a retinue and +guard from among a body of youths who followed his fortunes, and gave them +the Treasure Bag. He himself went to learn the accomplishments of poetry +and science from an ancient sage and Druid named Finegas, who dwelt on the +river Boyne. Here, in a pool of this river, under boughs of hazel from +which dropped the Nuts of Knowledge on the stream, lived Fintan the Salmon +of Knowledge, which whoso ate of him would enjoy all the wisdom of the +ages. Finegas had sought many a time to catch this salmon, but failed +until Finn had come to be his pupil. Then one day he caught it, and gave +it to Finn to cook, bidding him eat none of it himself, but to tell him +when it was ready. When the lad brought the salmon, Finegas saw that his +countenance was changed. "Hast thou eaten of the salmon?" he asked. "Nay," +said Finn, "but when I turned it on the spit my thumb was burnt, and I put +it to my mouth." "Take the Salmon of Knowledge and eat it," then said +Finegas, "for in thee the prophecy is come true. And now go hence, for I +can teach thee no more." + +After that Finn became as wise as he was strong and bold, and it is said +that whenever he wished to divine what would befall, or what was happening +at a distance, he had but to put his thumb in his mouth and bite it, and +the knowledge he wished for would be his. + +*Finn and the Goblin* + +At this time Goll son of Morna was the captain of the Fianna of Erin, but +Finn, being come to man's estate, wished to take the place of his father +Cumhal. So he went to Tara, and during the Great Assembly, when no man +might raise his hand against any other in the precincts of Tara, he sat +down among the king's warriors and the Fianna. At last the king marked him +as a stranger among them, and bade him declare his name and lineage. "I am +Finn son of Cumhal," said he, "and I am come to take service with thee, O +King, as my father did." The king accepted him gladly, and Finn swore +loyal service to him. No long time after that came the period of the year +when Tara was troubled by a goblin or demon that came at nightfall and +blew fire-balls against the royal city, setting it in flames, and none +could do battle with him, for as he came he played on a harp a music so +sweet that each man who heard it was lapped in dreams, and forgot all else +on earth for the sake of listening to that music. When this was told to +Finn he went to the king and said: "Shall I, if I slay the goblin, have my +father's place as captain of the Fianna?" "Yea, surely," said the king, +and he bound himself to this by an oath. + +Now there were among the men-at-arms an old follower of Finn's father, +Cumhal, who possessed a magic spear with a head of bronze and rivets of +Arabian gold. The head was kept laced up in a leathern case; and it had +the property that when the naked blade was laid against the forehead of a +man it would fill him with a strength and a battle-fury that would make +him invincible in every combat. This spear the man Fiacha gave to Finn, +and taught him how to use it, and with it he awaited the coming of the +goblin on the ramparts of Tara. As night fell and mists began to gather in +the wide plain around the Hill he saw a shadowy form coming swiftly +towards him, and heard the notes of the magic harp. But laying the spear +to his brow he shook off the spell, and the phantom fled before him to the +Fairy Mound of Slieve Fuad, and there Finn overtook and slew him, and bore +back his head to Tara. + +Then Cormac the King set Finn before the Fianna, and bade them all either +swear obedience to him as their captain or seek service elsewhere. And +first of all Goll mac Morna swore service, and then all the rest followed, +and Finn became Captain of the Fianna of Erin, and ruled them till he +died. + +*Finn's Chief Men: Conan mac Lia* + +With the coming of Finn the Fianna of Erin came to their glory, and with +his life their glory passed away. For he ruled them as no other captain +ever did, both strongly and wisely, and never bore a grudge against any, +but freely forgave a man all offences save disloyalty to his lord. Thus it +is told that Conan, son of the lord of Luachar, him who had the Treasure +Bag and whom Finn slew at Rath Luachar, was for seven years an outlaw and +marauder, harrying the Fians and killing here a man and there a hound, and +firing dwellings, and raiding their cattle. At last they ran him to a +corner at Carn Lewy, in Munster, and when he saw that he could escape no +more he stole upon Finn as he sat down after a chase, and flung his arms +round him from behind, holding him fast and motionless. Finn knew who held +him thus, and said: "What wilt thou, Conan?" Conan said: "To make a +covenant of service and fealty with thee, for I may no longer evade thy +wrath." So Finn laughed and said: "Be it so, Conan, and if thou prove +faithful and valiant I also will keep faith." Conan served him for thirty +years, and no man of all the Fianna was keener and hardier in fight. + +*Conan mac Morna* + +There was also another Conan, namely, mac Morna, who was big and bald, and +unwieldy in manly exercises, but whose tongue was bitter and scurrilous; +no high or brave thing was done that Conan the Bald did not mock and +belittle. It is said that when he was stripped he showed down his back and +buttocks a black sheep's fleece instead of a man's skin, and this is the +way it came about. One day when Conan and certain others of the Fianna +were hunting in the forest they came to a stately dun, white-walled, with +coloured thatching on the roof, and they entered it to seek hospitality. +But when they were within they found no man, but a great empty hall with +pillars of cedar-wood and silken hangings about it, like the hall of a +wealthy lord. In the midst there was a table set forth with a sumptuous +feast of boar's flesh and venison, and a great vat of yew-wood full of red +wine, and cups of gold and silver. So they set themselves gaily to eat and +drink, for they were hungry from the chase, and talk and laughter were +loud around the board. But one of them ere long started to his feet with a +cry of fear and wonder, and they all looked round, and saw before their +eyes the tapestried walls changing to rough wooden beams, and the ceiling +to foul sooty thatch like that of a herdsman's hut. So they knew they were +being entrapped by some enchantment of the Fairy Folk, and all sprang to +their feet and made for the doorway, that was no longer high and stately, +but was shrinking to the size of a fox earth--all but Conan the Bald, who +was gluttonously devouring the good things on the table, and heeded +nothing else. Then they shouted to him, and as the last of them went out +he strove to rise and follow, but found himself limed to the chair so that +he could not stir. So two of the Fianna, seeing his plight, rushed back +and seized his arms and tugged with all their might, and as they dragged +him away they left the most part of his raiment and his skin sticking to +the chair. Then, not knowing what else to do with him in his sore plight, +they clapped upon his back the nearest thing they could find, which was +the skin of a black sheep that they took from a peasant's flock hard by, +and it grew there, and Conan wore it till his death. + +Though Conan was a coward and rarely adventured himself in battle with the +Fianna, it is told that once a good man fell by his hand. This was on the +day of the great battle with the pirate horde on the Hill of Slaughter in +Kerry.(180) For Liagan, one of the invaders, stood out before the hosts +and challenged the bravest of the Fians to single combat, and the Fians in +mockery thrust Conan forth to the fight. When he appeared Liagan laughed, +for he had more strength than wit, and he said: "Silly is thy visit, thou +bald old man." And as Conan still approached Liagan lifted his hand +fiercely, and Conan said: "Truly thou art in more peril from the man +behind than from the man in front." Liagan looked round; and in that +instant Conan swept off his head, and then threw his sword and ran for +shelter to the ranks of the laughing Fians. But Finn was very wroth +because he had won the victory by a trick. + +*Dermot O'Dyna* + +And one of the chiefest of the friends of Finn was Dermot of the Love +Spot. He was so fair and noble to look on that no woman could refuse him +love, and it was said that he never knew weariness, but his step was as +light at the end of the longest day of battle or the chase as it was at +the beginning. Between him and Finn there was great love, until the day +when Finn, then an old man, was to wed Grania, daughter of Cormac the High +King; but Grania bound Dermot by the sacred ordinances of the Fian +chivalry to fly with her on her wedding night, which thing, sorely against +his will, he did, and thereby got his death. But Grania went back to Finn, +and when the Fianna saw her they laughed through all the camp in bitter +mockery, for they would not have given one of the dead man's fingers for +twenty such as Grania. + +*Keelta mac Ronan and Oisin* + +Another of the chief men that Finn had was Keelta mac Ronan, who was one +of his house-stewards, and a strong warrior as well as a golden-tongued +reciter of tales and poems. And there was Oisin, the son of Finn, the +greatest poet of the Gael, of whom more shall be told hereafter. + +*Oscar* + +Oisin had a son, Oscar, who was the fiercest fighter in battle among all +the Fians. He slew in his maiden battle three kings, and in his fury he +also slew by mischance his own friend and condisciple Linné. His wife was +the fair Aideen, who died of grief after Oscar's death in the battle of +Gowra, and Oisin buried her on Ben Edar (Howth), and raised over her the +great dolmen which is there to this day. Oscar appears in this literature +as a type of hard strength, with a heart "like twisted horn sheathed in +steel," a character made as purely for war as a sword or spear. + +*Geena mac Luga* + +Another good man that Finn had was Geena, the son of Luga; his mother was +the warrior-daughter of Finn, and his father was a near kinsman of hers. +He was nurtured by a woman that bore the name of Fair Mane, who had +brought up many of the Fianna to manhood. When his time to take arms was +come he stood before Finn and made his covenant of fealty, and Finn gave +him the captaincy of a band. But mac Luga proved slothful and selfish, for +ever vaunting himself and his weapon-skill, and never training his men to +the chase of deer or boar, and he used to beat his hounds and his +serving-men. At last the Fians under him came with their whole company to +Finn at Loch Lena, in Killarney, and there they laid their complaint +against mac Luga, and said: "Choose now, O Finn, whether you will have us +or the son of Luga by himself." + +Then Finn sent to mac Luga and questioned him, but mac Luga could say +nothing to the point as to why the Fianna would none of him. Then Finn +taught him the things befitting a youth of noble birth and a captain of +men, and they were these: + +*Maxims of the Fianna* + +"Son of Luga, if armed service be thy design, in a great man's household +be quiet, be surly in the narrow pass. + +"Without a fault of his beat not thy hound; until thou ascertain her +guilt, bring not a charge against thy wife. + +"In battle meddle not with a buffoon, for, O mac Luga, he is but a fool. + +"Censure not any if he be of grave repute; stand not up to take part in a +brawl; have naught to do with a madman or a wicked one. + +"Two-thirds of thy gentleness be shown to women and to those that creep on +the floor (little children) and to poets, and be not violent to the common +people. + +"Utter not swaggering speech, nor say thou wilt not yield what is right; +it is a shameful thing to speak too stiffly unless that it be feasible to +carry out thy words. + +"So long as thou shalt live, thy lord forsake not; neither for gold nor +for other reward in the world abandon one whom thou art pledged to +protect. + +"To a chief do not abuse his people, for that is no work for a man of +gentle blood. + +"Be no tale-bearer, nor utterer of falsehoods; be not talkative nor rashly +censorious. Stir not up strife against thee, however good a man thou be. + +"Be no frequenter of the drinking-house, nor given to carping at the old; +meddle not with a man of mean estate. + +"Dispense thy meat freely; have no niggard for thy familiar. + +"Force not thyself upon a chief, nor give him cause to speak ill of thee. + +"Stick to thy gear; hold fast to thy arms till the stern fight with its +weapon-glitter be ended. + +"Be more apt to give than to deny, and follow after gentleness, O son of +Luga." + +And the son of Luga, it is written, heeded these counsels, and gave up his +bad ways, and he became one of the best of Finn's men. + +*Character of Finn* + +Suchlike things also Finn taught to all his followers, and the best of +them became like himself in valour and gentleness and generosity. Each of +them loved the repute of his comrades more than his own, and each would +say that for all noble qualities there was no man in the breadth of the +world worthy to be thought of beside Finn. + +It was said of him that "he gave away gold as if it were the leaves of the +woodland, and silver as if it were the foam of the sea"; and that whatever +he had bestowed upon any man, if he fell out with him afterwards, he was +never known to bring it against him. + +The poet Oisin once sang of him to St. Patrick: + +"These are the things that were dear to Finn-- + The din of battle, the banquet's glee, + The bay of his hounds through the rough glen ringing, + And the blackbird singing in Letter Lee, + +"The shingle grinding along the shore + When they dragged his war-boats down to sea, + The dawn wind whistling his spears among, + And the magic song of his minstrels three." + +*Tests of the Fianna* + +In the time of Finn no one was ever permitted to be one of the Fianna of +Erin unless he could pass through many severe tests of his worthiness. He +must be versed in the Twelve Books of Poetry, and must himself be skilled +to make verse in the rime and metre of the masters of Gaelic poesy. Then +he was buried to his middle in the earth, and must, with a shield and a +hazel stick, there defend himself against nine warriors casting spears at +him, and if he were wounded he was not accepted. Then his hair was woven +into braids, and he was chased through the forest by the Fians. If he were +overtaken, or if a braid of his hair were disturbed, or if a dry stick +cracked under his foot, he was not accepted. He must be able to leap over +a lath level with his brow, and to run at full speed under one level with +his knee, and he must be able while running to draw out a thorn from his +foot and never slacken speed. He must take no dowry with a wife. + +*Keelta and St. Patrick* + +It was said that one of the Fians, namely, Keelta, lived on to a great +age, and saw St. Patrick, by whom he was baptized into the faith of the +Christ, and to whom he told many tales of Finn and his men, which +Patrick's scribe wrote down. And once Patrick asked him how it was that +the Fianna became so mighty and so glorious that all Ireland sang of their +deeds, as Ireland has done ever since. Keelta answered: "Truth was in our +hearts and strength in our arms, and what we said, that we fulfilled." + +This was also told of Keelta after he had seen St. Patrick and received +the Faith. He chanced to be one day by Leyney, in Connacht, where the +Fairy Folk of the Mound of Duma were wont to be sorely harassed and +spoiled every year by pirates from oversea. They called Keelta to their +aid, and by his counsel and valour the invaders were overcome and driven +home; but Keelta was sorely wounded. Then Keelta asked that Owen, the seer +of the Fairy Folk, might foretell him how long he had to live, for he was +already a very aged man. Owen said: "It will be seventeen years, O Keelta +of fair fame, till thou fall by the pool of Tara, and grievous that will +be to all the king's household." "Even so did my chief and lord, my +guardian and loving protector, Finn, foretell to me," said Keelta. "And +now what fee will ye give me for my rescue of you from the worst +affliction that ever befell you?" "A great reward," said the Fairy Folk, +"even youth; for by our art we shall change you into a young man again +with all the strength and activity of your prime." "Nay, God forbid," said +Keelta, "that I should take upon me a shape of sorcery, or any other than +that which my Maker, the true and glorious God, hath bestowed upon me." +And the Fairy Folk said: "It is the word of a true warrior and hero, and +the thing that thou sayest is good." So they healed his wounds, and every +bodily evil that he had, and he wished them blessing and victory, and went +his way. + +*The Birth of Oisin* + +One day, as Finn and his companions and dogs were returning from the chase +to their dun on the Hill of Allen, a beautiful fawn started up on their +path, and the chase swept after her, she taking the way which led to their +home. Soon all the pursuers were left far behind save only Finn himself +and his two hounds Bran and Skolawn. Now these hounds were of strange +breed; for Tyren, sister to Murna, the mother of Finn, had been changed +into a hound by the enchantment of a woman of the Fairy Folk, who loved +Tyren's husband Ullan; and the two hounds of Finn were the children of +Tyren, born to her in that shape. Of all hounds in Ireland they were the +best, and Finn loved them much, so that it was said he wept but twice in +his life, and once was for the death of Bran. + +At last, as the chase went on down a valley-side, Finn saw the fawn stop +and lie down, while the two hounds began to play round her, and to lick +her face and limbs. So he gave commandment that none should hurt her, and +she followed them to the Dun of Allen, playing with the hounds as she +went. + +The same night Finn awoke and saw standing by his bed the fairest woman +his eyes had ever beheld. + +"I am Saba, O Finn," she said, "and I was the fawn ye chased to-day. +Because I would not give my love to the Druid of the Fairy Folk, who is +named the Dark, he put that shape upon me by his sorceries, and I have +borne it these three years. But a slave of his, pitying me, once revealed +to me that if I could win to thy great Dun of Allen, O Finn, I should be +safe from all enchantments, and my natural shape would come to me again. +But I feared to be torn in pieces by thy dogs, or wounded by thy hunters, +till at last I let myself be overtaken by thee alone and by Bran and +Skolawn, who have the nature of man and would do me no hurt." "Have no +fear, maiden," said Finn; "we, the Fianna, are free, and our guest-friends +are free; there is none who shall put compulsion on you here." + +So Saba dwelt with Finn, and he made her his wife; and so deep was his +love for her that neither the battle nor the chase had any delight for +him, and for months he never left her side. She also loved him as deeply, +and their joy in each other was like that of the Immortals in the Land of +Youth. But at last word came to Finn that the warships of the Northmen +were in the Bay of Dublin, and he summoned his heroes to the fight; "For," +said he to Saba, "the men of Erin give us tribute and hospitality to +defend them from the foreigner, and it were shame to take it from them and +not to give that to which we, on our side, are pledged." And he called to +mind that great saying of Goll mac Morna when they were once sore bestead +by a mighty host. "A man," said Goll, "lives after his life, but not after +his honour." + +Seven days was Finn absent, and he drove the Northmen from the shores of +Erin. But on the eighth day he returned, and when he entered his dun he +saw trouble in the eyes of his men, and of their fair womenfolk, and Saba +was not on the rampart expecting his return. So he bade them tell him what +had chanced, and they said: + +"Whilst thou, our father and lord, wert afar off smiting the foreigner, +and Saba looking ever down the pass for thy return, we saw one day as it +were the likeness of thee approaching, and Bran and Skolawn at thy heels. +And we seemed also to hear the notes of the Fian hunting-call blown on the +wind. Then Saba hastened to the great gate, and we could not stay her, so +eager was she to rush to the phantom. But when she came near she halted +and gave a loud and bitter cry, and the shape of thee smote her with a +hazel wand, and lo, there was no woman there any more, but a deer. Then +those hounds chased it, and ever as it strove to reach again the gate of +the dun they turned back. We all now seized what arms we could and ran out +to drive away the enchanter, but when we reached the place there was +nothing to be seen, only still we heard the rushing of flying feet and the +baying of dogs, and one thought it came from here, and another from there, +till at last the uproar died away and all was still. What we could do, O +Finn, we did; Saba is gone." + +Finn then struck his hand on his breast, but spoke no word, and he went to +his own chamber. No man saw him for the rest of that day, nor for the day +after. Then he came forth, and ordered the matters of the Fianna as of +old, but for seven years thereafter he went searching for Saba through +every remote glen and dark forest and cavern of Ireland, and he would take +no hounds with him save Bran and Skolawn. But at last he renounced all +hope of finding her again, and went hunting as of old. + +One day as he was following the chase on Ben Bulban, in Sligo, he heard +the musical bay of the dogs change of a sudden to a fierce growling and +yelping, as though they were in combat with some beast, and running +hastily up he and his men beheld, under a great tree, a naked boy with +long hair, and around him the hounds struggling to seize him, but Bran and +Skolawn fighting with them and keeping them off. And the lad was tall and +shapely, and as the heroes gathered round he gazed undauntedly on them, +never heeding the rout of dogs at his feet. The Fians beat off the dogs +and brought the lad home with them, and Finn was very silent and +continually searched the lad's countenance with his eyes. In time the use +of speech came to him, and the story that he told was this: + +He had known no father, and no mother save a gentle hind, with whom he +lived in a most green and pleasant valley shut in on every side by +towering cliffs that could not be scaled or by deep chasms in the earth. +In the summer he lived on fruits and suchlike, and in the winter store of +provisions was laid for him in a cave. And there came to them sometimes a +tall, dark-visaged man, who spoke to his mother, now tenderly, and now in +loud menace, but she always shrank away in fear, and the man departed in +anger. At last there came a day when the dark man spoke very long with his +mother in all tones of entreaty and of tenderness and of rage, but she +would still keep aloof and give no sign save of fear and abhorrence. Then +at length the dark man drew near and smote her with a hazel wand; and with +that he turned and went his way, but she this time followed him, still +looking back at her son and piteously complaining. And he, when he strove +to follow, found himself unable to move a limb; and crying out with rage +and desolation he fell to the earth, and his senses left him. + +When he came to himself he was on the mountain-side on Ben Bulban, where +he remained some days, searching for that green and hidden valley, which +he never found again. And after a while the dogs found him; but of the +hind his mother and of the Dark Druid there is no man knows the end. + +Finn called his name Oisin (Little Fawn), and he became a warrior of fame, +but far more famous for the songs and tales that he made; so that of all +things to this day that are told of the Fianna of Erin men are wont to +say: "Thus sang the bard Oisin, son of Finn." + +*Oisin and Niam* + +It happened that on a misty summer morning as Finn and Oisin with many +companions were hunting on the shores of Loch Lena they saw coming towards +them a maiden, beautiful exceedingly, riding on a snow-white steed. She +wore the garb of a queen; a crown of gold was on her head, and a +dark-brown mantle of silk, set with stars of red gold, fell around her and +trailed on the ground. Silver shoes were on her horse's hoofs, and a crest +of gold nodded on his head. When she came near she said to Finn: "From +very far away I have come, and now at last I have found thee, Finn son of +Cumhal." + +Then Finn said: "What is thy land and race, maiden, and what dost thou +seek from me?" + +"My name," she said, "is Niam of the Golden Hair. I am the daughter of the +King of the Land of Youth, and that which has brought me here is the love +of thy son Oisin." Then she turned to Oisin, and she spoke to him in the +voice of one who has never asked anything but it was granted to her. + +"Wilt thou go with me, Oisin, to my father's land?" + +And Oisin said: "That will I, and to the world's end"; for the fairy spell +had so wrought upon his heart that he cared no more for any earthly thing +but to have the love of Niam of the Head of Gold. + +Then the maiden spoke of the Land Oversea to which she had summoned her +lover, and as she spoke a dreamy stillness fell on all things, nor did a +horse shake his bit, nor a hound bay, nor the least breath of wind stir in +the forest trees till she had made an end. And what she said seemed +sweeter and more wonderful as she spoke it than anything they could +afterwards remember to have heard, but so far as they could remember it it +was this: + +"Delightful is the land beyond all dreams, + Fairer than aught thine eyes have ever seen. + There all the year the fruit is on the tree, + And all the year the bloom is on the flower. + +"There with wild honey drip the forest trees; + The stores of wine and mead shall never fail. + Nor pain nor sickness knows the dweller there, + Death and decay come near him never more. + +"The feast shall cloy not, nor the chase shall tire, + Nor music cease for ever through the hall; + The gold and jewels of the Land of Youth + Outshine all splendours ever dreamed by man. + +"Thou shalt have horses of the fairy breed, + Thou shalt have hounds that can outrun the wind; + A hundred chiefs shall follow thee in war, + A hundred maidens sing thee to thy sleep. + +"A crown of sovranty thy brow shall wear, + And by thy side a magic blade shall hang, + And thou shalt be lord of all the Land of Youth, + And lord of Niam of the Head of Gold." + +As the magic song ended the Fians beheld Oisin mount the fairy steed and +hold the maiden in his arms, and ere they could stir or speak she turned +her horse's head and shook the ringing bridle, and down the forest glade +they fled, as a beam of light flies over the land when clouds drive across +the sun; and never did the Fianna behold Oisin son of Finn on earth again. + +Yet what befell him afterwards is known. As his birth was strange, so was +his end, for he saw the wonders of the Land of Youth with mortal eyes and +lived to tell them with mortal lips. + +*The Journey to Fairyland* + +When the white horse with its riders reached the sea it ran lightly over +the waves, and soon the green woods and headlands of Erin faded out of +sight. And now the sun shone fiercely down, and the riders passed into a +golden haze in which Oisin lost all knowledge of where he was or if sea or +dry land were beneath his horse's hoofs. But strange sights sometimes +appeared to them in the mist, for towers and palace gateways loomed up and +disappeared, and once a hornless doe bounded by them chased by a white +hound with one red ear; and again they saw a young maid ride by on a brown +steed, bearing a golden apple in her hand, and close behind her followed a +young horseman on a white steed, a purple cloak floating at his back and a +gold-hilted sword in his hand. And Oisin would have asked the princess who +and what these apparitions were, but Niam bade him ask nothing nor seem to +notice any phantom they might see until they were come to the Land of +Youth. + +*Oisin's Return* + +The story goes on to tell how Oisin met with various adventures in the +Land of Youth, including the rescue of an imprisoned princess from a +Fomorian giant. But at last, after what seemed to him a sojourn of three +weeks in the Land of Youth, he was satiated with delights of every kind, +and longed to visit his native land again and to see his old comrades. He +promised to return when he had done so, and Niam gave him the white fairy +steed that had borne him across the sea to Fairyland, but charged him that +when he had reached the Land of Erin again he must never alight from its +back nor touch the soil of the earthly world with his foot, or the way of +return to the Land of Youth would be barred to him for ever. Oisin then +set forth, and once more crossed the mystic ocean, finding himself at last +on the western shores of Ireland. Here he made at once for the Hill of +Allen, where the dun of Finn was wont to be, but marvelled, as he +traversed the woods, that he met no sign of the Fian hunters and at the +small size of the folk whom he saw tilling the ground. + +At length, coming from the forest path into the great clearing where the +Hill of Allen was wont to rise, broad and green, with its rampart +enclosing many white-walled dwellings, and the great hall towering high in +the midst, he saw but grassy mounds overgrown with rank weeds and whin +bushes, and among them pastured a peasant's kine. Then a strange horror +fell upon him and he thought some enchantment from the land of Faëry held +his eyes and mocked him with false visions. He threw his arms abroad and +shouted the names of Finn and Oscar, but none replied, and he thought that +perchance the hounds might hear him, so he cried upon Bran and Skolawn and +strained his ears if they might catch the faintest rustle or whisper of +the world from the sight of which his eyes were holden, but he heard only +the sighing of the wind in the whins. Then he rode in terror from that +place, setting his face towards the eastern sea, for he meant to traverse +Ireland from side to side and end to end in search of some escape from his +enchantment. + +*The Broken Spell* + +But when he came near to the eastern sea, and was now in the place which +is called the Valley of the Thrushes,(181) he saw in a field upon the +hillside a crowd of men striving to roll aside a great boulder from their +tilled land, and an overseer directing them. Towards them he rode, meaning +to ask them concerning Finn and the Fianna. As he came near they all +stopped their work to gaze upon him, for to them he appeared like a +messenger of the Fairy Folk or an angel from heaven. Taller and mightier +he was than the men-folk they knew, with sword-blue eyes and brown, ruddy +cheeks; in his mouth, as it were, a shower of pearls, and bright hair +clustered beneath the rim of his helmet. And as Oisin looked upon their +puny forms, marred by toil and care, and at the stone which they feebly +strove to heave from its bed, he was filled with pity, and thought to +himself, "Not such were even the churls of Erin when I left them for the +Land of Youth" and he stooped from his saddle to help them. He set his +hand to the boulder, and with a mighty heave he lifted it from where it +lay and set it rolling down the hill. And the men raised a shout of wonder +and applause; but their shouting changed in a moment into cries of terror +and dismay, and they fled, jostling and overthrowing each other to escape +from the place of fear, for a marvel horrible to see had taken place. For +Oisin's saddle-girth had burst as he heaved the stone and he fell headlong +to the ground. In an instant the white steed had vanished from their eyes +like a wreath of mist, and that which rose, feeble and staggering, from +the ground was no youthful warrior, but a man stricken with extreme old +age, white-bearded and withered, who stretched out groping hands and +moaned with feeble and bitter cries. And his crimson cloak and yellow +silken tunic were now but coarse homespun stuff tied with a hempen girdle, +and the gold-hilted sword was a rough oaken staff such as a beggar carries +who wanders the roads from farmer's house to house. + +When the people saw that the doom that had been wrought was not for them +they returned, and found the old man prone on the ground with his face +hidden in his arms. So they lifted him up, and asked who he was and what +had befallen him. Oisin gazed round on them with dim eyes, and at last he +said: "I was Oisin the son of Finn, and I pray ye tell me where he dwells, +for his dun on the Hill of Allen is now a desolation, and I have neither +seen him nor heard his hunting-horn from the western to the eastern sea." +Then the men gazed strangely on each other and on Oisin, and the overseer +asked: "Of what Finn dost thou speak, for there be many of that name in +Erin?" Oisin said: "Surely of Finn mac Cumhal mac Trenmor, captain of the +Fianna of Erin." Then the overseer said: "Thou art daft, old man, and thou +hast made us daft to take thee for a youth as we did a while agone. But we +at least have now our wits again, and we know that Finn son of Cumhal and +all his generation have been dead these three hundred years. At the battle +of Gowra fell Oscar, son of Oisin, and Finn at the battle of Brea, as the +historians tell us; and the lays of Oisin, whose death no man knows the +manner of, are sung by our harpers at great men's feasts. But now the +Talkenn,(182) Patrick, has come into Ireland, and has preached to us the +One God and Christ His Son, by whose might these old days and ways are +done away with; and Finn and his Fianna, with their feasting and hunting +and songs of war and of love, have no such reverence among us as the monks +and virgins of Holy Patrick, and the psalms and prayers that go up daily +to cleanse us from sin and to save us from the fire of judgment." But +Oisin replied, only half hearing and still less comprehending what was +said to him: "If thy God have slain Finn and Oscar, I would say that God +is a strong man." Then they all cried out upon him, and some picked up +stones, but the overseer bade them let him be until the Talkenn had spoken +with him, and till he should order what was to be done. + +*Oisin and Patrick* + +So they brought him to Patrick, who treated him gently and hospitably, and +to Patrick he told the story of all that had befallen him. But Patrick +bade his scribes write all carefully down, that the memory of the heroes +whom Oisin had known, and of the joyous and free life they had led in the +woods and glens and wild places of Erin, should never be forgotten among +men. + +This remarkable legend is known only in the modern Irish poem written by +Michael Comyn about 1750, a poem which may be called the swan-song of +Irish literature. Doubtless Comyn worked on earlier traditional material; +but though the ancient Ossianic poems tell us of the prolongation of +Oisin's life, so that he could meet St. Patrick and tell him stories of +the Fianna, the episodes of Niam's courtship and the sojourn in the Land +of Youth are known to us at present only in the poem of Michael Comyn. + +*The Enchanted Cave* + +This tale, which I take from S.H. O'Grady's edition in "Silva Gadelica," +relates that Finn once made a great hunting in the district of Corann, in +Northern Connacht, which was ruled over by one Conaran, a lord of the +Danaan Folk. Angered at the intrusion of the Fianna in his +hunting-grounds, he sent his three sorcerer-daughters to take vengeance on +the mortals. + +Finn, it is said, and Conan the Bald, with Finn's two favourite hounds, +were watching the hunt from the top of the Hill of Keshcorran and +listening to the cries of the beaters and the notes of the horn and the +baying of the dogs, when, in moving about on the hill, they came upon the +mouth of a great cavern, before which sat three hags of evil and revolting +aspect. On three crooked sticks of holly they had twisted left-handwise +hanks of yarn, and were spinning with these when Finn and his followers +arrived. To view them more closely the warriors drew near, when they found +themselves suddenly entangled in strands of the yarn which the hags had +spun about the place like the web of a spider, and deadly faintness and +trembling came over them, so that they were easily bound fast by the hags +and carried into the dark recesses of the cave. Others of the party then +arrived, looking for Finn. All suffered the same experience--they lost all +their pith and valour at the touch of the bewitched yarn, and were bound +and carried into the cave, until the whole party were laid in bonds, with +the dogs baying and howling outside. + +The witches now seized their sharp, wide-channelled, hard-tempered swords, +and were about to fall on the captives and slay them, but first they +looked round at the mouth of the cave to see if there was any straggler +whom they had not yet laid hold of. At this moment Goll mac Morna, "the +raging lion, the torch of onset, the great of soul," came up, and a +desperate combat ensued, which ended by Goll cleaving two of the hags in +twain, and then subduing and binding the third, whose name was Irnan. She, +as he was about to slay her, begged for mercy--"Surely it were better for +thee to have the Fianna whole"--and he gave her her life if she would +release the prisoners. + +Into the cave they went, and one by one the captives were unbound, +beginning with the poet Fergus Truelips and the "men of science," and they +all sat down on the hill to recover themselves, while Fergus sang a chant +of praise in honour of the rescuer, Goll; and Irnan disappeared. + +Ere long a monster was seen approaching them, a "gnarled hag" with +blazing, bloodshot eyes, a yawning mouth full of ragged fangs, nails like +a wild beast's, and armed like a warrior. She laid Finn under _geise_ to +provide her with single combat from among his men until she should have +her fill of it. It was no other than the third sister, Irnan, whom Goll +had spared. Finn in vain begged Oisin, Oscar, Keelta, and the other prime +warriors of the Fianna to meet her; they all pleaded inability after the +ill-treatment and contumely they had received. At last, as Finn himself +was about to do battle with her, Goll said: "O Finn, combat with a crone +beseems thee not," and he drew sword for a second battle with this +horrible enemy. At last, after a desperate combat, he ran her through her +shield and through her heart, so that the blade stuck out at the far side, +and she fell dead. The Fianna then sacked the dun of Conaran, and took +possession of all the treasure in it, while Finn bestowed on Goll mac +Morna his own daughter, Keva of the White Skin, and, leaving the dun a +heap of glowing embers, they returned to the Hill of Allen. + +*The Chase of Slievegallion* + +This fine story, which is given in poetical form, as if narrated by Oisin, +in the Ossianic Society's "Transactions," tells how Cullan the Smith (here +represented as a Danaan divinity), who dwelt on or near the mountains of +Slievegallion, in Co. Armagh, had two daughters, Ainé and Milucra, each of +whom loved Finn mac Cumhal. They were jealous of each other; and on Ainé +once happening to say that she would never have a man with grey hair, +Milucra saw a means of securing Finn's love entirely for herself. So she +assembled her friends among the Danaans round the little grey lake that +lies on the top of Slievegallion, and they charged its waters with +enchantments. + +This introduction, it may be observed, bears strong signs of being a later +addition to the original tale, made in a less understanding age or by a +less thoughtful class into whose hands the legend had descended. The real +meaning of the transformation which it narrates is probably much deeper. + +The story goes on to say that not long after this the hounds of Finn, Bran +and Skolawn, started a fawn near the Hill of Allen, and ran it northwards +till the chase ended on the top of Slievegallion, a mountain which, like +Slievenamon(183) in the south, was in ancient Ireland a veritable focus of +Danaan magic and legendary lore. Finn followed the hounds alone till the +fawn disappeared on the mountain-side. In searching for it Finn at last +came on the little lake which lies on the top of the mountain, and saw by +its brink a lady of wonderful beauty, who sat there lamenting and weeping. +Finn asked her the cause of her grief. She explained that a gold ring +which she dearly prized had fallen from her finger into the lake, and she +charged Finn by the bonds of _geise_ that he should plunge in and find it +for her. + +Finn did so, and after diving into every recess of the lake he discovered +the ring, and before leaving the water gave it to the lady. She +immediately plunged into the lake and disappeared. Finn then surmised that +some enchantment was being wrought on him, and ere long he knew what it +was, for on stepping forth on dry land he fell down from sheer weakness, +and arose again, a tottering and feeble old man, snowy-haired and +withered, so that even his faithful hounds did not know him, but ran round +the lake searching for their lost master. + +Meantime Finn was missed from his palace on the Hill of Allen, and a party +soon set out on the track on which he had been seen to chase the deer. +They came to the lake-side on Slievegallion, and found there a wretched +and palsied old man, whom they questioned, but who could do nothing but +beat his breast and moan. At last, beckoning Keelta to come near, the aged +man whispered faintly some words into his ear, and lo, it was Finn +himself! When the Fianna had ceased from their cries of wonder and +lamentation, Finn whispered to Keelta the tale of his enchantment, and +told them that the author of it must be the daughter of Cullan the Smith, +who dwelt in the Fairy Mound of Slievegallion. The Fianna, bearing Finn on +a litter, immediately went to the Mound and began to dig fiercely. For +three days and nights they dug at the Fairy Mound, and at last penetrated +to its inmost recesses, when a maiden suddenly stood before them holding a +drinking-horn of red gold. It was given to Finn. He drank from it, and at +once his beauty and form were restored to him, but his hair still remained +white as silver. This too would have been restored by another draught, but +Finn let it stay as it was, and silver-white his hair remained to the day +of his death. + +The tale has been made the subject of a very striking allegorical drama, +"The Masque of Finn," by Mr. Standish O'Grady, who, rightly no doubt, +interprets the story as symbolising the acquisition of wisdom and +understanding through suffering. A leader of men must descend into the +lake of tears and know feebleness and despair before his spirit can sway +them to great ends. + +There is an antique sepulchral monument on the mountain-top which the +peasantry of the district still regard--or did in the days before Board +schools--as the abode of the "Witch of the Lake"; and a mysterious beaten +path, which was never worn by the passage of human feet, and which leads +from the rock sepulchre to the lake-side, is ascribed to the going to and +fro of this supernatural being. + +*The **"**Colloquy of the Ancients**"* + +One of the most interesting and attractive of the relics of Ossianic +literature is the "Colloquy of the Ancients," _Agallamh na Senorach_, a +long narrative piece dating from about the thirteenth century. It has been +published with a translation in O'Grady's "Silva Gadelica." It is not so +much a story as a collection of stories skilfully set in a mythical +framework. The "Colloquy" opens by presenting us with the figures of +Keelta mac Ronan and Oisin son of Finn, each accompanied by eight +warriors, all that are left of the great fellowship of the Fianna after +the battle of Gowra and the subsequent dispersion of the Order. A vivid +picture is given us of the grey old warriors, who had outlived their +epoch, meeting for the last time at the dun of a once famous chieftainess +named Camha, and of their melancholy talk over bygone days, till at last a +long silence settled on them. + +*Keelta Meets St. Patrick* + +Finally Keelta and Oisin resolve to part, Oisin, of whom we hear little +more, going to the Fairy Mound, where his Danaan mother (here called Blai) +has her dwelling, while Keelta takes his way over the plains of Meath till +he comes to Drumderg, where he lights on St. Patrick and his monks. How +this is chronologically possible the writer does not trouble himself to +explain, and he shows no knowledge of the legend of Oisin in the Land of +Youth. "The clerics," says the story, "saw Keelta and his band draw near +them, and fear fell on them before the tall men with the huge wolf-hounds +that accompanied them, for they were not people of one epoch or of one +time with the clergy." Patrick then sprinkles the heroes with holy water, +whereat legions of demons who had been hovering over them fly away into +the hills and glens, and "the enormous men sat down." Patrick, after +inquiring the name of his guest, then says he has a boon to crave of +him--he wishes to find a well of pure water with which to baptize the folk +of Bregia and of Meath. + +*The Well of Tradaban* + +Keelta, who knows every brook and hill and rath and wood in the country, +thereon takes Patrick by the hand and leads him away "till," as the writer +says, "right in front of them they saw a loch-well, sparkling and +translucid. The size and thickness of the cress and of the _fothlacht_, or +brooklime, that grew on it was a wonderment to them." Then Keelta began to +tell of the fame and qualities of the place, and uttered an exquisite +little lyric in praise of it: + +"O Well of the Strand of the Two Women, beautiful are thy cresses, +luxuriant, branching; since thy produce is neglected on thee thy brooklime +is not suffered to grow. Forth from thy banks thy trout are to be seen, +thy wild swine in the wilderness; the deer of thy fair hunting crag-land, +thy dappled and red-chested fawns! Thy mast all hanging on the branches of +the trees; thy fish in estuaries of the rivers; lovely the colours of thy +purling streams, O thou that art azure-hued, and again green with +reflections of surrounding copse-wood."(184) + +*St. Patrick and Irish Legend* + +After the warriors have been entertained Patrick asks: "Was he, Finn mac +Cumhal, a good lord with whom ye were?" Keelta praises the generosity of +Finn, and goes on to describe in detail the glories of his household, +whereon Patrick says: + +"Were it not for us an impairing of the devout life, an occasion of +neglecting prayer, and of deserting converse with God, we, as we talked +with thee, would feel the time pass quickly, warrior!" + +Keelta goes on with another tale of the Fianna, and Patrick, now fairly +caught in the toils of the enchanter, cries: "Success and benediction +attend thee, Keelta! This is to me a lightening of spirit and mind. And +now tell us another tale." + +So ends the exordium of the "Colloquy." As usual in the openings of Irish +tales, nothing could be better contrived; the touch is so light, there is +so happy a mingling of pathos, poetry, and humour, and so much dignity in +the sketching of the human characters introduced. The rest of the piece +consists in the exhibition of a vast amount of topographical and legendary +lore by Keelta, attended by the invariable "Success and benediction attend +thee!" of Patrick. + +They move together, the warrior and the saint, on Patrick's journey to +Tara, and whenever Patrick or some one else in the company sees a hill or +a fort or a well he asks Keelta what it is, and Keelta tells its name and +a Fian legend to account for it, and so the story wanders on through a +maze of legendary lore until they are met by a company from Tara, with the +king at its head, who then takes up the _rôle_ of questioner. The +"Colloquy," as we have it now, breaks off abruptly as the story how the +_Lia Fail_ was carried off from Ireland is about to be narrated.(185) The +interest of the "Colloquy" lies in the tales of Keelta and the lyrics +introduced in the course of them. Of the tales there are about a hundred, +telling of Fian raids and battles, and love-makings and feastings, but the +greater number of them have to do with the intercourse between the Fairy +Folk and the Fianna. With these folk the Fianna have constant relations, +both of love and of war. Some of the tales are of great elaboration, +wrought out in the highest style of which the writer was capable. One of +the best is that of the fairy _Brugh_, or mansion of Slievenamon, which +Patrick and Keelta chance to pass by, and of which Keelta tells the +following history: + +*The Brugh of Slievenamon* + +One day as Finn and Keelta and five other champions of the Fianna were +hunting at Torach, in the north, they roused a beautiful fawn which fled +before them, they holding it in chase all day, till they reached the +mountain of Slievenamon towards evening, when the fawn suddenly seemed to +vanish underground. A chase like this, in the Ossianic literature, is the +common prelude to an adventure in Fairyland. Night now fell rapidly, and +with it came heavy snow and storm, and, searching for shelter, the Fianna +discovered in the wood a great illuminated _Brugh_, or mansion, where they +sought admittance. On entering they found themselves in a spacious hall, +full of light, with eight-and-twenty warriors and as many fair and +yellow-haired maidens, one of the latter seated on a chair of crystal, and +making wonderful music on a harp. After the Fian warriors have been +entertained with the finest of viands and liquors, it is explained to them +that their hosts are Donn, son of Midir the Proud, and his brother, and +that they are at war with the rest of the Danaan Folk, and have to do +battle with them thrice yearly on the green before the _Brugh_. At first +each of the twenty-eight had a thousand warriors under him. Now all are +slain except those present, and the survivors have sent out one of their +maidens in the shape of a fawn to entice the Fianna to their fairy palace +and to gain their aid in the battle that must be delivered to-morrow. We +have, in fact, a variant of the well-known theme of the Rescue of +Fairyland. Finn and his companions are always ready for a fray, and a +desperate battle ensues which lasts from evening till morning, for the +fairy host attack at night. The assailants are beaten off, losing over a +thousand of their number; but Oscar, Dermot, and mac Luga are sorely +wounded. They are healed by magical herbs; and more fighting and other +adventures follow, until, after a year has passed, Finn compels the enemy +to make peace and give hostages, when the Fianna return to earth and +rejoin their fellows. No sooner has Keelta finished his tale, standing on +the very spot where they had found the fairy palace on the night of snow, +than a young warrior is seen approaching them. He is thus described: "A +shirt of royal satin was next his skin; over and outside it a tunic of the +same fabric; and a fringed crimson mantle, confined with a bodkin of gold, +upon his breast; in his hand a gold-hilted sword, and a golden helmet on +his head." A delight in the colour and material splendour of life is a +very marked feature in all this literature. This splendid figure turns out +to be Donn mac Midir, one of the eight-and-twenty whom Finn had succoured, +and he comes to do homage for himself and his people to St. Patrick, who +accepts entertainment from him for the night; for in the "Colloquy" the +relations of the Church and of the Fairy World are very cordial. + +*The Three Young Warriors* + +Nowhere in Celtic literature does the love of wonder and mystery find such +remarkable expression as in the "Colloquy." The writer of this piece was a +master of the touch that makes, as it were, the solid framework of things +translucent; and shows us, through it, gleams of another world, mingled +with ours yet distinct, and having other laws and characteristics. We +never get a clue as to what these laws are. The Celt did not, in Ireland +at least, systematise the unknown, but let it shine for a moment through +the opaqueness of this earth and then withdrew the gleam before we +understood what we had seen. Take, for instance, this incident in Keelta's +account of the Fianna. Three young warriors come to take service with +Finn, accompanied by a gigantic hound. They make their agreement with him, +saying what services they can render and what reward they expect, and they +make it a condition that they shall camp apart from the rest of the host, +and that when night has fallen no man shall come near them or see them. + +Finn asks the reason for this prohibition, and it is this: of the three +warriors one has to die each night, and the other two must watch him; +therefore they would not be disturbed. There is no explanation of this; +the writer simply leaves us with the thrill of the mystery upon us. + +*The Fair Giantess* + +Again, let us turn to the tale of the Fair Giantess. One day Finn and his +warriors, while resting from the chase for their midday meal, saw coming +towards them a towering shape. It proved to be a young giant maiden, who +gave her name as Vivionn (Bebhionn) daughter of Treon, from the Land of +Maidens. The gold rings on her fingers were as thick as an ox's yoke, and +her beauty was dazzling. When she took off her gilded helmet, all +bejewelled, her fair, curling golden hair broke out in seven score +tresses, and Finn cried: "Great gods whom we adore, a huge marvel Cormac +and Ethné and the women of the Fianna would esteem it to see Vivionn, the +blooming daughter of Treon." The maiden explained that she had been +betrothed against her will to a suitor named Æda, son of a neighbouring +king; and that hearing from a fisherman, who had been blown to her shores, +of the power and nobleness of Finn, she had come to seek his protection. +While she was speaking, suddenly the Fianna were aware of another giant +form close at hand. It was a young man, smooth-featured and of surpassing +beauty, who bore a red shield and a huge spear. Without a word he drew +near, and before the wondering Fianna could accost him he thrust his spear +through the body of the maiden and passed away. Finn, enraged at this +violation of his protection, called on his chiefs to pursue and slay the +murderer. Keelta and others chased him to the sea-shore, and followed him +into the surf, but he strode out to sea, and was met by a great galley +which bore him away to unknown regions. Returning, discomfited, to Finn, +they found the girl dying. She distributed her gold and jewels among them, +and the Fianna buried her under a great mound, and raised a pillar stone +over her with her name in Ogham letters, in the place since called the +Ridge of the Dead Woman. + +In this tale we have, besides the element of mystery, that of beauty. It +is an association of frequent occurrence in this period of Celtic +literature; and to this, perhaps, is due the fact that although these +tales seem to come from nowhither and to lead nowhither, but move in a +dream-world where there is no chase but seems to end in Fairyland and no +combat that has any relation to earthly needs or objects, where all +realities are apt to dissolve in a magic light and to change their shapes +like morning mist, yet they linger in the memory with that haunting charm +which has for many centuries kept them alive by the fireside of the Gaelic +peasant. + +*St. Patrick, Oisin, and Keelta* + +Before we leave the "Colloquy" another interesting point must be mentioned +in connexion with it. To the general public probably the best-known things +in Ossianic literature--I refer, of course, to the true Gaelic poetry which +goes under that name, not to the pseudo-Ossian of Macpherson--are those +dialogues in which the pagan and the Christian ideals are contrasted, +often in a spirit of humorous exaggeration or of satire. The earliest of +these pieces are found in the manuscript called "The Dean of Lismore's +Book," in which James Macgregor, Dean of Lismore in Argyllshire,wrote +down, some time before the year 1518, all he could remember or discover of +traditional Gaelic poetry in his time. It may be observed that up to this +period, and, indeed, long after it, Scottish and Irish Gaelic were one +language and one literature, the great written monuments of which were in +Ireland, though they belonged just as much to the Highland Celt, and the +two branches of the Gael had an absolutely common stock of poetic +tradition. These Oisin-and-Patrick dialogues are found in abundance both +in Ireland and in the Highlands, though, as I have said, "The Dean of +Lismore's Book" is their first written record now extant. What relation, +then, do these dialogues bear to the Keelta-and-Patrick dialogues with +which we make acquaintance in the "Colloquy"? The questions which really +came first, where they respectively originated, and what current of +thought or sentiment each represented, constitute, as Mr. Alfred Nutt has +pointed out, a literary problem of the greatest interest; and one which no +critic has yet attempted to solve, or, indeed, until quite lately, even to +call attention to. For though these two attempts to represent, in +imaginative and artistic form, the contact of paganism with Christianity +are nearly identical in machinery and framework, save that one is in verse +and the other in prose, yet they differ widely in their point of view. + +In the Oisin dialogues(186) there is a great deal of rough humour and of +crude theology, resembling those of an English miracle-play rather than +any Celtic product that I am acquainted with. St. Patrick in these +ballads, as Mr. Nutt remarks, "is a sour and stupid fanatic, harping with +wearisome monotony on the damnation of Finn and all his comrades; a hard +taskmaster to the poor old blind giant to whom he grudges food, and upon +whom he plays shabby tricks in order to terrify him into acceptance of +Christianity." Now in the "Colloquy" there is not one word of all this. +Keelta embraces Christianity with a wholehearted reverence, and salvation +is not denied to the friends and companions of his youth. Patrick, indeed, +assures Keelta of the salvation of several of them, including Finn +himself. One of the Danaan Folk, who has been bard to the Fianna, +delighted Patrick with his minstrelsy. Brogan, the scribe whom St. Patrick +is employing to write down the Fian legends, says: "If music there is in +heaven, why should there not be on earth? Wherefore it is not right to +banish minstrelsy." Patrick made answer: "Neither say I any such thing"; +and, in fact, the minstrel is promised heaven for his art. + +Such are the pleasant relations that prevail in the "Colloquy" between the +representatives of the two epochs. Keelta represents all that is +courteous, dignified, generous, and valorous in paganism, and Patrick all +that is benign and gracious in Christianity; and instead of the two epochs +standing over against each other in violent antagonism, and separated by +an impassable gulf, all the finest traits in each are seen to harmonise +with and to supplement those of the other. + +*Tales of Dermot* + +A number of curious legends centre on Dermot O'Dyna, who has been referred +to as one of Finn mac Cumhal's most notable followers. He might be +described as a kind of Gaelic Adonis, a type of beauty and attraction, the +hero of innumerable love tales; and, like Adonis, his death was caused by +a wild boar. + +*The Boar of Ben Bulben* + +The boar was no common beast. The story of its origin was as follows: +Dermot's father, Donn, gave the child to be nurtured by Angus Og in his +palace on the Boyne. His mother, who was unfaithful to Donn, bore another +child to Roc, the steward of Angus. Donn, one day, when the steward's +child ran between his knees to escape from some hounds that were fighting +on the floor of the hall, gave him a squeeze with his two knees that +killed him on the spot, and he then flung the body among the hounds on the +floor. When the steward found his son dead, and discovered (with Finn's +aid) the cause of it, he brought a Druid rod and smote the body with it, +whereupon, in place of the dead child, there arose a huge boar, without +ears or tail; and to it he spake: "I charge you to bring Dermot O'Dyna to +his death"; and the boar rushed out from the hall and roamed in the +forests of Ben Bulben in Co. Sligo till the time when his destiny should +be fulfilled. + +But Dermot grew up into a splendid youth, tireless in the chase, undaunted +in war, beloved by all his comrades of the Fianna, whom he joined as soon +as he was of age to do so. + +*How Dermot Got the Love Spot* + +He was called Dermot of the Love Spot, and a curious and beautiful +folk-tale recorded by Dr. Douglas Hyde(187) tells how he got this +appellation. With three comrades, Goll, Conan, and Oscar, he was hunting +one day, and late at night they sought a resting-place. They soon found a +hut, in which were an old man, a young girl, a wether sheep, and a cat. +Here they asked for hospitality, and it was granted to them. But, as usual +in these tales, it was a house of mystery. + +When they sat down to dinner the wether got up and mounted on the table. +One after another the Fianna strove to throw it off, but it shook them +down on the floor. At last Goll succeeded in flinging it off the table, +but him too it vanquished in the end, and put them all under its feet. +Then the old man bade the cat lead the wether back and fasten it up, and +it did so easily. The four champions, overcome with shame, were for +leaving the house at once; but the old man explained that they had +suffered no discredit--the wether they had been fighting with was the +World, and the cat was the power that would destroy the world itself, +namely, Death. + +At night the four heroes went to rest in a large chamber, and the young +maid came to sleep in the same room; and it is said that her beauty made a +light on the walls of the room like a candle. One after another the Fianna +went over to her couch, but she repelled them all. "I belonged to you +once," she said to each, "and I never will again." Last of all Dermot +went. "O Dermot," she said, "you, also, I belonged to once, and I never +can again, for I am Youth; but come here and I will put a mark on you so +that no woman can ever see you without loving you." Then she touched his +forehead, and left the Love Spot there; and that drew the love of women to +him as long as he lived. + +*The Chase of the Hard Gilly* + +The Chase of the Gilla Dacar is another Fian tale in which Dermot plays a +leading part. The Fianna, the story goes, were hunting one day on the +hills and through the woods of Munster, and as Finn and his captains stood +on a hillside listening to the baying of the hounds, and the notes of the +Fian hunting-horn from the dark wood below, they saw coming towards them a +huge, ugly, misshapen churl dragging along by a halter a great raw-boned +mare. He announced himself as wishful to take service with Finn. The name +he was called by, he said, was the Gilla Dacar (the Hard Gilly), because +he was the hardest servant ever a lord had to get service or obedience +from. In spite of this unpromising beginning, Finn, whose principle it was +never to refuse any suitor, took him into service; and the Fianna now +began to make their uncouth comrade the butt of all sorts of rough jokes, +which ended in thirteen of them, including Conan the Bald, all mounting up +on the Gilla Dacar's steed. On this the newcomer complained that he was +being mocked, and he shambled away in great discontent till he was over +the ridge of the hill, when he tucked up his skirts and ran westwards, +faster than any March wind, toward the sea-shore in Co. Kerry. Thereupon +at once the steed, which had stood still with drooping ears while the +thirteen riders in vain belaboured it to make it move, suddenly threw up +its head and started off in a furious gallop after its master. The Fianna +ran alongside, as well as they could for laughter, while Conan, in terror +and rage, reviled them for not rescuing him and his comrades. At last the +thing became serious. The Gilla Dacar plunged into the sea, and the mare +followed him with her thirteen riders, and one more who managed to cling +to her tail just as she left the shore; and all of them soon disappeared +towards the fabled region of the West. + +*Dermot at the Well* + +Finn and the remaining Fianna now took counsel together as to what should +be done, and finally decided to fit out a ship and go in search of their +comrades. After many days of voyaging they reached an island guarded by +precipitous cliffs. Dermot O'Dyna, as the most agile of the party, was +sent to climb them and to discover, if he could, some means of helping up +the rest of the party. When he arrived at the top he found himself in a +delightful land, full of the song of birds and the humming of bees and the +murmur of streams, but with no sign of habitation. Going into a dark +forest, he soon came to a well, by which hung a curiously wrought +drinking-horn. As he filled it to drink, a low, threatening murmur came +from the well, but his thirst was too keen to let him heed it and he drank +his fill. In no long time there came through the wood an armed warrior, +who violently upbraided him for drinking from his well. The Knight of the +Well and Dermot then fought all the afternoon without either of them +prevailing over the other, when, as evening drew on, the knight suddenly +leaped into the well and disappeared. Next day the same thing happened; on +the third, however, Dermot, as the knight was about to take his leap, +flung his arms round him, and both went down together. + +*The Rescue of Fairyland* + +Dermot, after a moment of darkness and trance, now found himself in +Fairyland. A man of noble appearance roused him and led him away to the +castle of a great king, where he was hospitably entertained. It was +explained to him that the services of a champion like himself were needed +to do combat against a rival monarch of Faëry. It is the same motive which +we find in the adventures of Cuchulain with Fand, and which so frequently +turns up in Celtic fairy lore. Finn and his companions, finding that +Dermot did not return to them, found their way up the cliffs, and, having +traversed the forest, entered a great cavern which ultimately led them out +to the same land as that in which Dermot had arrived. There too, they are +informed, are the fourteen Fianna who had been carried off on the mare of +the Hard Gilly. He, of course, was the king who needed their services, and +who had taken this method of decoying some thirty of the flower of Irish +fighting men to his side. Finn and his men go into the battle with the +best of goodwill, and scatter the enemy like chaff; Oscar slays the son of +the rival king (who is called the King of "Greece"). Finn wins the love of +his daughter, Tasha of the White Arms, and the story closes with a +delightful mixture of gaiety and mystery. "What reward wilt thou have for +thy good services?" asks the fairy king of Finn. "Thou wert once in +service with me," replies Finn, "and I mind not that I gave thee any +recompense. Let one service stand against the other." "Never shall I agree +to that," cries Conan the Bald. "Shall I have nought for being carried off +on thy wild mare and haled oversea?" "What wilt thou have?" asks the fairy +king. "None of thy gold or goods," replies Conan, "but mine honour hath +suffered, and let mine honour be appeased. Set thirteen of thy fairest +womenfolk on the wild mare, O King, and thine own wife clinging to her +tail, and let them be transported to Erin in like manner as we were +dragged here, and I shall deem the indignity we have suffered fitly atoned +for." On this the king smiled and, turning to Finn, said: "O Finn, behold +thy men." Finn turned to look at them, but when he looked round again the +scene had changed--the fairy king and his host and all the world of Faëry +had disappeared, and he found himself with his companions and the +fair-armed Tasha standing on the beach of the little bay in Kerry whence +the Hard Gilly and the mare had taken the water and carried off his men. +And then all started with cheerful hearts for the great standing camp of +the Fianna on the Hill of Allen to celebrate the wedding feast of Finn and +Tasha. + +*Effect of Christianity on the Development of Irish Literature* + +This tale with its fascinating mixture of humour, romance, magic, and love +of wild nature, may be taken as a typical specimen of the Fian legends at +their best. As compared with the Conorian legends they show, as I have +pointed out, a characteristic lack of any heroic or serious element. That +nobler strain died out with the growing predominance of Christianity, +which appropriated for definitely religious purposes the more serious and +lofty side of the Celtic genius, leaving for secular literature only the +elements of wonder and romance. So completely was this carried out that +while the Finn legends have survived to this day among the Gaelic-speaking +population, and were a subject of literary treatment as long as Gaelic was +written at all, the earlier cycle perished almost completely out of the +popular remembrance, or survived only in distorted forms; and but for the +early manuscripts in which the tales are fortunately enshrined such a work +as the "Tain Bo Cuailgné"--the greatest thing undoubtedly which the Celtic +genius ever produced in literature--would now be irrecoverably lost. + +*The Tales of Deirdre and of Grania* + +Nothing can better illustrate the difference between the two cycles than a +comparison of the tale of Deirdre with that with which we have now to +deal--the tale of Dermot and Grania. The latter, from one point of view, +reads like an echo of the former, so close is the resemblance between them +in the outline of the plot. Take the following skeleton story: "A fair +maiden is betrothed to a renowned and mighty suitor much older than +herself. She turns from him to seek a younger lover, and fixes her +attention on one of his followers, a gallant and beautiful youth, whom she +persuades, in spite of his reluctance, to fly with her. After evading +pursuit they settle down for a while at a distance from the defrauded +lover, who bides his time, till at last, under cover of a treacherous +reconciliation, he procures the death of his younger rival and retakes +possession of the lady." Were a student of Celtic legend asked to listen +to the above synopsis, and to say to what Irish tale it referred, he would +certainly reply that it must be either the tale of the Pursuit of Dermot +and Grania, or that of the Fate of the Sons of Usna; but which of them it +was it would be quite impossible for him to tell. Yet in tone and temper +the two stories are as wide apart as the poles. + +*Grania and Dermot* + +Grania, in the Fian story, is the daughter of Cormac mac Art, High King of +Ireland. She is betrothed to Finn mac Cumhal, whom we are to regard at +this period as an old and war-worn but still mighty warrior. The famous +captains of the Fianna all assemble at Tara for the wedding feast, and as +they sit at meat Grania surveys them and asks their names of her father's +Druid, Dara. "It is a wonder," she says, "that Finn did not ask me for +Oisin, rather than for himself." "Oisin would not dare to take thee," says +Dara. Grania, after going through all the company, asks: "Who is that man +with the spot on his brow, with the sweet voice, with curling dusky hair +and ruddy cheek?" "That is Dermot O'Dyna," replies the Druid, "the +white-toothed, of the lightsome countenance, in all the world the best +lover of women and maidens." Grania now prepares a sleepy draught, which +she places in a drinking-cup and passes round by her handmaid to the king, +to Finn, and to all the company except the chiefs of the Fianna. When the +draught has done its work she goes to Oisin. "Wilt thou receive courtship +from me, Oisin?" she asks. "That will I not," says Oisin, "nor from any +woman that is betrothed to Finn." Grania, who knew very well what Oisin's +answer would be, now turns to her real mark, Dermot. He at first refuses +to have anything to do with her. "I put thee under bonds [_geise_], O +Dermot, that thou take me out of Tara to-night." "Evil are these bonds, +Grania," says Dermot; "and wherefore hast thou put them on me before all +the kings' sons that feast at this table?" Grania then explains that she +has loved Dermot ever since she saw him, years ago, from her sunny bower, +take part in and win a great hurling match on the green at Tara. Dermot, +still very reluctant, pleads the merits of Finn, and urges also that Finn +has the keys of the royal fortress, so that they cannot pass out at night. +"There is a secret wicket-gate in my bower," says Grania. "I am under +_geise_ not to pass through any wicket-gate," replies Dermot, still +struggling against his destiny. Grania will have none of these +subterfuges--any Fian warrior, she has been told, can leap over a palisade +with the aid of his spear as a jumping-pole; and she goes off to make +ready for the elopement. Dermot, in great perplexity, appeals to Oisin, +Oscar, Keelta, and the others as to what he should do. They all bid him +keep his _geise_--the bonds that Grania had laid on him to succour her--and +he takes leave of them with tears. + +Outside the wicket-gate he again begs Grania to return. "It is certain +that I will not go back," says Grania, "nor part from thee till death part +us." "Then go forward, O Grania," says Dermot. After they had gone a mile, +"I am truly weary, O grandson of Dyna," says Grania. "It is a good time to +be weary," says Dermot, making a last effort to rid himself of the +entanglement, "and return now to thy household again, for I pledge the +word of a true warrior that I will never carry thee nor any other woman to +all eternity." "There is no need," replies Grania, and she directs him +where to find horses and a chariot, and Dermot, now finally accepting the +inevitable, yokes them, and they proceed on their way to the Ford of Luan +on the Shannon.(188) + +*The Pursuit* + +Next day Finn, burning with rage, sets out with his warriors on their +track. He traces out each of their halting-places, and finds the hut of +wattles which Dermot has made for their shelter, and the bed of soft +rushes, and the remains of the meal they had eaten. And at each place he +finds a piece of unbroken bread or uncooked salmon--Dermot's subtle message +to Finn that he has respected the rights of his lord and treated Grania as +a sister. But this delicacy of Dermot's is not at all to Crania's mind, +and she conveys her wishes to him in a manner which is curiously +paralleled by an episode in the tale of Tristan and Iseult of Brittany, as +told by Heinrich von Freiberg. They are passing through a piece of wet +ground when a splash of water strikes Grania. She turns to her companion: +"Thou art a mighty warrior, O Dermot, in battle and sieges and forays, yet +meseems that this drop of water is bolder than thou." This hint that he +was keeping at too respectful a distance was taken by Dermot. The die is +now cast, and he will never again meet Finn and his old comrades except at +the point of the spear. + +The tale now loses much of the originality and charm of its opening scene, +and recounts in a somewhat mechanical manner a number of episodes in which +Dermot is attacked or besieged by the Fianna, and rescues himself and his +lady by miracles of boldness or dexterity, or by aid of the magical +devices of his foster-father, Angus Og. They are chased all over Ireland, +and the dolmens in that country are popularly associated with them, being +called in the traditions of the peasantry "Beds of Dermot and Grania." + +Grania's character is drawn throughout with great consistency. She is not +an heroic woman--hers are not the simple, ardent impulses and unwavering +devotion of a Deirdre. The latter is far more primitive. Grania is a +curiously modern and what would be called "neurotic" type--wilful, +restless, passionate, but full of feminine fascination. + +*Dermot and Finn Make Peace* + +After sixteen years of outlawry peace is at last made for Dermot by the +mediation or Angus with King Cormac and with Finn. Dermot receives his +proper patrimony, the Cantred of O'Dyna, and other lands far away in the +West, and Cormac gives another of his daughters to Finn. "Peaceably they +abode a long time with each other, and it was said that no man then living +was richer in gold and silver, in flocks and herds, than Dermot O'Dyna, +nor one that made more preys."(189) Grania bears to Dermot four sons and a +daughter. + +But Grania is not satisfied until "the two best men that are in Erin, +namely, Cormac son of Art and Finn son of Cumhal," have been entertained +in her house. "And how do we know," she adds, "but our daughter might then +get a fitting husband?" Dermot agrees with some misgiving; the king and +Finn accept the invitation, and they and their retinues are feasted for a +year at Rath Grania. + +*The Vengeance of Finn* + +Then one night, towards the end of the year of feasting, Dermot is +awakened from sleep by the baying of a hound. He starts up, "so that +Grania caught him and threw her two arms about him and asked him what he +had seen." "It is the voice of a hound," says Dermot, "and I marvel to +hear it in the night." "Save and protect thee," says Grania; "it is the +Danaan Folk that are at work on thee. Lay thee down again." But three +times the hound's voice awakens him, and on the morrow he goes forth armed +with sword and sling, and followed by his own hound, to see what is afoot. + +On the mountain of Ben Bulben in Sligo he comes across Finn with a +hunting-party of the Fianna. They are not now hunting, however; they are +being hunted; for they have roused up the enchanted boar without ears or +tail, the Boar of Ben Bulben, which has slain thirty of them that morning. +"And do thou come away," says Finn, knowing well that Dermot will never +retreat from a danger; "for thou art under _geise_ not to hunt pig." "How +is that?" says Dermot, and Finn then tells him the weird story of the +death of the steward's son and his revivification in the form of this +boar, with its mission of vengeance. "By my word," quoth Dermot, "it is to +slay me that thou hast made this hunt, O Finn; and if it be here that I am +fated to die, I have no power now to shun it." + +The beast then appears on the face of the mountain, and Dermot slips the +hound at him, but the hound flies in terror. Dermot then slings a stone +which strikes the boar fairly in the middle of his forehead but does not +even scratch his skin. The beast is close on him now, and Dermot strikes +him with his sword, but the weapon flies in two and not a bristle of the +boar is cut. In the charge of the boar Dermot falls over him, and is +carried for a space clinging to his back; but at last the boar shakes him +off to the ground, and making "an eager, exceeding mighty spring" upon +him, rips out his bowels, while at the same time, with the hilt of the +sword still in his hand, Dermot dashes out the brains of the beast, and it +falls dead beside him. + +*Death of Dermot* + +The implacable Finn then comes up, and stands over Dermot in his agony. +"It likes me well to see thee in that plight, O Dermot," he says, "and I +would that all the women in Ireland saw thee now; for thy excellent beauty +is turned to ugliness and thy choice form to deformity." Dermot reminds +Finn of how he once rescued him from deadly peril when attacked during a +feast at the house of Derc, and begs him to heal him with a draught of +water from his hands, for Finn had the magic gift of restoring any wounded +man to health with a draught of well-water drawn in his two hands. "Here +is no well," says Finn. "That is not true," says Dermot, "for nine paces +from you is the best well of pure water in the world." Finn, at last, on +the entreaty of Oscar and the Fianna, and after the recital of many deeds +done for his sake by Dermot in old days, goes to the well, but ere he +brings the water to Dermot's side he lets it fall through his fingers. A +second time he goes, and a second time he lets the water fall, "having +thought upon Grania," and Dermot gave a sigh of anguish on seeing it. +Oscar then declares that if Finn does not bring the water promptly either +he or Finn shall never leave the hill alive, and Finn goes once more to +the well, but it is now too late; Dermot is dead before the healing +draught can reach his lips. Then Finn takes the hound of Dermot, the +chiefs of the Fianna lay their cloaks over the dead man, and they return +to Rath Grania. Grania, seeing the hound led by Finn, conjectures what has +happened, and swoons upon the rampart of the Rath. Oisin, when she has +revived, gives her the hound, against Finn's will, and the Fianna troop +away, leaving her to her sorrow. When the people of Grania's household go +out to fetch in the body of Dermot they find there Angus Og and his +company of the People of Dana, who, after raising three bitter and +terrible cries, bear away the body on a gilded bier, and Angus declares +that though he cannot restore the dead to life, "I will send a soul into +him so that he may talk with me each day." + +*The End of Grania* + +To a tale like this modern taste demands a romantic and sentimental +ending; and such has actually been given to it in the retelling by Dr. P. +W. Joyce in his "Old Celtic Romances," as it has to the tale of Deirdre by +almost every modern writer who has handled it.(190) But the Celtic +story-teller felt differently. The tale of the end of Deirdre is horribly +cruel, that of Grania cynical and mocking; neither is in the least +sentimental. Grania is at first enraged with Finn, and sends her sons +abroad to learn feats of arms, so that they may take vengeance upon him +when the time is ripe. But Finn, wily and far-seeing as he is portrayed in +this tale, knows how to forestall this danger. When the tragedy on Ben +Bulben has begun to grow a little faint in the shallow soul of Grania, he +betakes himself to her, and though met at first with scorn and indignation +he woos her so sweetly and with such tenderness that at last he brings her +to his will, and he bears her back as a bride to the Hill of Allen. When +the Fianna see the pair coming towards them in this loving guise they +burst into a shout of laughter and derision, "so that Grania bowed her +head in shame." "We trow, O Finn," cries Oisin, "that thou wilt keep +Grania well from henceforth." So Grania made peace between Finn and her +sons, and dwelt with Finn as his wife until he died. + +*Two Streams of Fian Legends* + +It will be noticed that in this legend Finn does not appear as a +sympathetic character. Our interest is all on the side of Dermot. In this +aspect of it the tale is typical of a certain class of Fian stories. Just +as there were two rival clans within the Fian organisation--the Clan Bascna +and the Clan Morna--who sometimes came to blows for the supremacy, so there +are two streams of legends seeming to flow respectively from one or other +of these sources, in one of which Finn is glorified, while in the other he +is belittled in favour of Goll mac Morna or any other hero with whom he +comes into conflict. + +*End of the Fianna* + +The story of the end of the Fianna is told in a number of pieces, some +prose, some poetry, all of them, however, agreeing in presenting this +event as a piece of sober history, without any of the supernatural and +mystical atmosphere in which nearly all the Fian legends are steeped. + +After the death of Cormac mac Art his son Cairbry came to the +High-Kingship of Ireland. He had a fair daughter named _Sgeimh Solais_ +(Light of Beauty), who was asked in marriage by a son of the King of the +Decies. The marriage was arranged, and the Fianna claimed a ransom or +tribute of twenty ingots of gold, which, it is said, was customarily paid +to them on these occasions. It would seem that the Fianna had now grown to +be a distinct power within the State, and an oppressive one, exacting +heavy tributes and burdensome privileges from kings and sub-kings all over +Ireland. Cairbry resolved to break them; and he thought he had now a good +opportunity to do so. He therefore refused payment of the ransom, and +summoned all the provincial kings to help him against the Fianna, the main +body of whom immediately went into rebellion for what they deemed their +rights. The old feud between Clan Bascna and Clan Morna now broke out +afresh, the latter standing by the High King, while Clan Bascna, aided by +the King of Munster and his forces, who alone took their side, marched +against Cairbry. + +*The Battle of Gowra* + +All this sounds very matter-of-fact and probable, but how much real +history there may be in it it is very hard to say. The decisive battle of +the war which ensued took place at Gowra (Gabhra), the name of which +survives in Garristown, Co. Dublin. The rival forces, when drawn up in +battle array, knelt and kissed the sacred soil of Erin before they +charged. The story of the battle in the poetical versions, one of which is +published in the Ossianic Society's "Transactions," and another and finer +one in Campbell's "The Fians,"(191) is supposed to be related by Oisin to +St. Patrick. He lays great stress on the feats of his son Oscar: + +"My son urged his course +Through the battalions of Tara +Like a hawk through a flock of birds, +Or a rock descending a mountain-side." + +*The Death of Oscar* + +The fight was _à outrance_, and the slaughter on both sides tremendous. +None but old men and boys, it is said, were left in Erin after that fight. +The Fianna were in the end almost entirely exterminated, and Oscar slain. +He and the King of Ireland, Cairbry, met in single combat, and each of +them slew the other. While Oscar was still breathing, though there was not +a palm's breadth on his body without a wound, his father found him: + +"I found my own son lying down + On his left elbow, his shield by his side; + His right hand clutched the sword, + The blood poured through his mail + +"Oscar gazed up at me-- + Woe to me was that sight! + He stretched out his two arms to me, + Endeavouring to rise to meet me. + +"I grasped the hand of my son + And sat down by his left side; + And since I sat by him there, + I have recked nought of the world." + +When Finn (in the Scottish version) comes to bewail his grandson, he +cries: + +"Woe, that it was not I who fell + In the fight of bare sunny Gavra, + And you were east and west + Marching before the Fians, Oscar." + +But Oscar replies: + +"Were it you that fell + In the fight of bare sunny Gavra, + One sigh, east or west, + Would not be heard for you from Oscar. + +"No man ever knew + A heart of flesh was in my breast, + But a heart of the twisted horn + And a sheath of steel over it. + +"But the howling of dogs beside me, + And the wail of the old heroes, + And the weeping of the women by turns, + 'Tis that vexes my heart." + +Oscar dies, after thanking the gods for his father's safety, and Oisin and +Keelta raise him on a bier of spears and carry him off under his banner, +"The Terrible Sheaf," for burial on the field where he died, and where a +great green burial mound is still associated with his name. Finn takes no +part in the battle. He is said to have come "in a ship" to view the field +afterwards, and he wept over Oscar, a thing he had never done save once +before, for his hound, Bran, whom he himself killed by accident. Possibly +the reference to the ship is an indication that he had by this time passed +away, and came to revisit the earth from the oversea kingdom of Death. + +There is in this tale of the Battle of Gowra a melancholy grandeur which +gives it a place apart in the Ossianic literature. It is a fitting dirge +for a great legendary epoch. Campbell tells us that the Scottish crofters +and shepherds were wont to put off their bonnets when they recited it. He +adds a strange and thrilling piece of modern folk-lore bearing on it. Two +men, it is said, were out at night, probably sheep-stealing or on some +other predatory occupation, and telling Fian tales as they went, when they +observed two giant and shadowy figures talking to each other across the +glen. One of the apparitions said to the other: "Do you see that man down +below? I was the second door-post of battle on the day of Gowra, and that +man there knows all about it better than myself." + +*The End of Finn* + +As to Finn himself, it is strange that in all the extant mass of the +Ossianic literature there should be no complete narrative of his death. +There are references to it in the poetic legends, and annalists even date +it, but the references conflict with each other, and so do the dates. +There is no clear light to be obtained on the subject from either +annalists or poets. Finn seems to have melted into the magic mist which +enwraps so many of his deeds in life. Yet a popular tradition says that he +and his great companions, Oscar and Keelta and Oisin and the rest, never +died, but lie, like Kaiser Barbarossa, spell-bound in an enchanted cave +where they await the appointed time to reappear in glory and redeem their +land from tyranny and wrong. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII: THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUN + + +Besides the legends which cluster round great heroic names, and have, or +at least pretend to have, the character of history, there are many others, +great and small, which tell of adventures lying purely in regions of +romance, and out of earthly space and time. As a specimen of these I give +here a summary of the "Voyage of Maeldun," a most curious and brilliant +piece of invention, which is found in the manuscript entitled the "Book of +the Dun Cow" (about 1100) and other early sources, and edited, with a +translation (to which I owe the following extracts), by Dr. Whitley Stokes +in the "Revue Celtique" for 1888 and 1889. It is only one of a number of +such wonder-voyages found in ancient Irish literature, but it is believed +to have been the earliest of them all and model for the rest, and it has +had the distinction, in the abridged and modified form given by Joyce in +his "Old Celtic Romances," of having furnished the theme for the "Voyage +of Maeldune" to Tennyson, who made it into a wonderful creation of rhythm +and colour, embodying a kind of allegory of Irish history. It will be +noticed at the end that we are in the unusual position of knowing the name +of the author of this piece of primitive literature, though he does not +claim to have composed, but only to have "put in order," the incidents of +the "Voyage." Unfortunately we cannot tell when he lived, but the tale as +we have it probably dates from the ninth century. Its atmosphere is +entirely Christian, and it has no mythological significance except in so +far as it teaches the lesson that the oracular injunctions of wizards +should be obeyed. No adventure, or even detail, of importance is omitted +in the following summary of the story, which is given thus fully because +the reader may take it as representing a large and important section of +Irish legendary romance. Apart from the source to which I am indebted, the +"Revue Celtique," I know no other faithful reproduction in English of this +wonderful tale. + +The "Voyage of Maeldun" begins, as Irish tales often do, by telling us of +the conception of its hero. + +There was a famous man of the sept of the Owens of Aran, named Ailill +Edge-of-Battle, who went with his king on a foray into another territory. +They encamped one night near a church and convent of nuns. At midnight +Ailill, who was near the church, saw a certain nun come out to strike the +bell for nocturns, and caught her by the hand. In ancient Ireland +religious persons were not much respected in time of war, and Ailill did +not respect her. When they parted, she said to him: "Whence is thy race, +and what is thy name?" Said the hero: "Ailill of the Edge-of-Battle is my +name, and I am of the Owenacht of Aran, in Thomond." + +Not long afterwards Ailill was slain by reavers from Leix, who burned the +church of Doocloone over his head. + +In due time a son was born to the woman and she called his name Maeldun. +He was taken secretly to her friend, the queen of the territory, and by +her Maeldun was reared. "Beautiful indeed was his form, and it is doubtful +if there hath been in flesh any one so beautiful as he. So he grew up till +he was a young warrior and fit to use weapons. Great, then, was his +brightness and his gaiety and his playfulness. In his play he outwent all +his comrades in throwing balls, and in running and leaping and putting +stones and racing horses." + +One day a proud young warrior who had been defeated by him taunted him +with his lack of knowledge of his kindred and descent. Maeldun went to his +foster-mother, the queen, and said: "I will not eat nor drink till thou +tell me who are my mother and my father." "I am thy mother," said the +queen, "for none ever loved her son more than I love thee." But Maeldun +insisted on knowing all, and the queen at last took him to his own mother, +the nun, who told him: "Thy father was Ailill of the Owens of Aran." Then +Maeldun went to his own kindred, and was well received by them; and with +him he took as guests his three beloved foster-brothers, sons of the king +and queen who had brought him up. + +After a time Maeldun happened to be among a company of young warriors who +were contending at putting the stone in the graveyard of the ruined church +of Doocloone. Maeldun's foot was planted, as he heaved the stone, on a +scorched and blackened flagstone; and one who was by, a monk named +Briccne,(192) said to him: "It were better for thee to avenge the man who +was burnt there than to cast stones over his burnt bones." + +"Who was that?" asked Maeldun. + +"Ailill, thy father," they told him. + +"Who slew him?" said he. + +"Reavers from Leix," they said, "and they destroyed him on this spot." + +Then Maeldun threw down the stone he was about to cast, and put his mantle +round him and went home; and he asked the way to Leix. They told him he +could only go there by sea.(193) + +At the advice of a Druid he then built him a boat, or coracle, of skins +lapped threefold one over the other; and the wizard also told him that +seventeen men only must accompany him, and on what day he must begin the +boat and on what day he must put out to sea. + +So when his company was ready he put out and hoisted the sail, but had +gone only a little way when his three foster-brothers came down to the +beach and entreated him to take them. "Get you home," said Maeldun, "for +none but the number I have may go with me." But the three youths would not +be separated from Maeldun, and they flung themselves into the sea. He +turned back, lest they should be drowned, and brought them into his boat. +All, as we shall see, were punished for this transgression, and Maeldun +condemned to wandering until expiation had been made. + +Irish bardic tales excel in their openings. In this case, as usual, the +_mise-en-scène_ is admirably contrived. The narrative which follows tells +how, after seeing his father's slayer on an island, but being unable to +land there, Maeldun and his party are blown out to sea, where they visit a +great number of islands and have many strange adventures on them. The tale +becomes, in fact, a _cento_ of stories and incidents, some not very +interesting, while in others, as in the adventure of the Island of the +Silver Pillar, or the Island of the Flaming Rampart, or that where the +episode of the eagle takes place, the Celtic sense of beauty, romance, and +mystery find an expression unsurpassed, perhaps, in literature. + +In the following rendering I have omitted the verses given by Joyce at the +end of each adventure. They merely recapitulate the prose narrative, and +are not found in the earliest manuscript authorities. + +*The Island of the Slaves* + +Maeldun and his crew had rowed all day and half the night when they came +to two small bare islands with two forts in them, and a noise was heard +from them of armed men quarrelling. "Stand off from me," cried one of +them, "for I am a better man than thou. 'Twas I slew Ailill of the +Edge-of-Battle and burned the church of Doocloone over him, and no kinsman +has avenged his death on me. And _thou_ hast never done the like of that." + +Then Maeldun was about to land, and German(194) and Diuran the Rhymer +cried that God had guided them to the spot where they would be. But a +great wind arose suddenly and blew them off into the boundless ocean, and +Maeldun said to his foster-brothers: "Ye have caused this to be, casting +yourselves on board in spite of the words of the Druid." And they had no +answer, save only to be silent for a little space. + +*The Island of the Ants* + +They drifted three days and three nights, not knowing whither to row, when +at the dawn of the third day they heard the noise of breakers, and came to +an island as soon as the sun was up. Here, ere they could land, they met a +swarm of ferocious ants, each the size of a foal, that came down the +strand and into the sea to get at them; so they made off quickly, and saw +no land for three days more. + +*The Island of the Great Birds* + +This was a terraced island, with trees all round it, and great birds +sitting on the trees. Maeldun landed first alone, and carefully searched +the island for any evil thing, but finding none, the rest followed him, +and killed and ate many of the birds, bringing others on board their boat. + +*The Island of the Fierce Beast* + +A great sandy island was this, and on it a beast like a horse, but with +clawed feet like a hound's. He flew at them to devour them, but they put +off in time, and were pelted by the beast with pebbles from the shore as +they rowed away. + +*The Island of the Giant Horses* + +A great, flat island, which it fell by lot to German and Diuran to explore +first. They found a vast green racecourse, on which were the marks of +horses' hoofs, each as big as the sail of a ship, and the shells of nuts +of monstrous size were lying about, and much plunder. So they were afraid, +and took ship hastily again, and from the sea they saw a horse-race in +progress and heard the shouting of a great multitude cheering on the white +horse or the brown, and saw the giant horses running swifter than the +wind.(195) So they rowed away with all their might, thinking they had come +upon an assembly of demons. + +*The Island of the Stone Door* + +A full week passed, and then they found a great, high island with a house +standing on the shore. A door with a valve of stone opened into the sea, +and through it the sea-waves kept hurling salmon into the house. Maeldun +and his party entered, and found the house empty of folk, but a great bed +lay ready for the chief to whom it belonged, and a bed for each three of +his company, and meat and drink beside each bed. Maeldun and his party ate +and drank their fill, and then sailed off again. + +*The Island of the Apples* + +By the time they had come here they had been a long time voyaging, and +food had failed them, and they were hungry. This island had precipitous +sides from which a wood hung down, and as they passed along the cliffs +Maeldun broke off a twig and held it in his hand. Three days and nights +they coasted the cliff and found no entrance to the island, but by that +time a cluster of three apples had grown on the end of Maeldun's rod, and +each apple sufficed the crew for forty days. + +*The Island of the Wondrous Beast* + +This island had a fence of stone round it, and within the fence a huge +beast that raced round and round the island. And anon it went to the top +of the island, and then performed a marvellous feat, viz., it turned its +body round and round inside its skin, the skin remaining unmoved, while +again it would revolve its skin round and round the body. When it saw the +party it rushed at them, but they escaped, pelted with stones as they +rowed away. One of the stones pierced through Maeldun's shield and lodged +in the keel of the boat. + +*The Island of the Biting Horses* + +Here were many great beasts resembling horses, that tore continually +pieces of flesh from each other's sides, so that all the island ran with +blood. They rowed hastily away, and were now disheartened and full of +complaints, for they knew not where they were, nor how to find guidance or +aid in their quest. + +*The Island of the Fiery Swine* + +With great weariness, hunger, and thirst they arrived at the tenth island, +which was full of trees loaded with golden apples. Under the trees went +red beasts, like fiery swine, that kicked the trees with their legs, when +the apples fell and the beasts consumed them. The beasts came out at +morning only, when a multitude of birds left the island, and swam out to +sea till nones, when they turned and swam inward again till vespers, and +ate the apples all night. + +Maeldun and his comrades landed at night, and felt the soil hot under +their feet from the fiery swine in their caverns underground. They +collected all the apples they could, which were good both against hunger +and thirst, and loaded their boat with them and put to sea once more, +refreshed. + +*The Island of the Little Cat* + +The apples had failed them when they came hungry and thirsting to the +eleventh island. This was, as it were, a tall white tower of chalk +reaching up to the clouds, and on the rampart about it were great houses +white as snow. They entered the largest of them, and found no man in it, +but a small cat playing on four stone pillars which were in the midst of +the house, leaping from one to the other. It looked a little on the Irish +warriors, but did not cease from its play. On the walls of the houses +there were three rows of objects hanging up, one row of brooches of gold +and silver, and one of neck-torques of gold and silver, each as big as the +hoop of a cask, and one of great swords with gold and silver hilts. Quilts +and shining garments lay in the room, and there, also, were a roasted ox +and a flitch of bacon and abundance of liquor. "Hath this been left for +us?" said Maeldun to the cat. It looked at him a moment, and then +continued its play. So there they ate and drank and slept, and stored up +what remained of the food. Next day, as they made to leave the house, the +youngest of Maeldun's foster-brothers took a necklace from the wall, and +was bearing it out when the cat suddenly "leaped through him like a fiery +arrow," and he fell, a heap of ashes, on the floor. Thereupon Maeldun, who +had forbidden the theft of the jewel, soothed the cat and replaced the +necklace, and they strewed the ashes of the dead youth on the sea-shore, +and put to sea again. + +*The Island of the Black and the White Sheep* + +This had a brazen palisade dividing it in two, and a flock of black sheep +on one side and of white sheep on the other. Between them was a big man +who tended the flocks, and sometimes he put a white sheep among the black, +when it became black at once, or a black sheep among the white, when it +immediately turned white.(196) By way of an experiment Maeldun flung a +peeled white wand on the side of the black sheep. It at once turned black, +whereat they left the place in terror, and without landing. + +*The Island of the Giant Cattle* + +A great and wide island with a herd of huge swine on it. They killed a +small pig and roasted it on the spot, as it was too great to carry on +board. The island rose up into a very high mountain, and Diuran and German +went to view the country from the top of it. On their way they met a broad +river. To try the depth of the water German dipped in the haft of his +spear, which at once was consumed as with liquid fire. On the other bank +was a huge man guarding what seemed a herd of oxen. He called to them not +to disturb the calves, so they went no further and speedily sailed away. + +*The Island of the Mill* + +Here they found a great and grim-looking mill, and a giant miller grinding +corn in it. "Half the corn of your country," he said, "is ground here. +Here comes to be ground all that men begrudge to each other." Heavy and +many were the loads they saw going to it, and all that was ground in it +was carried away westwards. So they crossed themselves and sailed away. + +*The Island of the Black Mourners* + +An island full of black people continually weeping and lamenting. One of +the two remaining foster-brothers landed on it, and immediately turned +black and fell to weeping like the rest. Two others went to fetch him; the +same fate befell them. Four others then went with their heads wrapped in +cloths, that they should not look on the land or breathe the air of the +place, and they seized two of the lost ones and brought them away +perforce, but not the foster-brother. The two rescued ones could not +explain their conduct except by saying that they had to do as they saw +others doing about them. + +*The Island of the Four Fences* + +Four fences of gold, silver, brass, and crystal divided this island into +four parts, kings in one, queens in another, warriors in a third, maidens +in the fourth. + +On landing, a maiden gave them food like cheese, that tasted to each man +as he wished it to be, and an intoxicating liquor that put them asleep for +three days. When they awoke they were at sea in their boat, and of the +island and its inhabitants nothing was to be seen. + +The Island of the Glass Bridge + +Here we come to one of the most elaborately wrought and picturesque of all +the incidents of the voyage. The island they now reached had on it a +fortress with a brazen door, and a bridge of glass leading to it. When +they sought to cross the bridge it threw them backward.(197) A woman came +out of the fortress with a pail in her hand, and lifting from the bridge a +slab of glass she let down her pail into the water beneath, and returned +to the fortress. They struck on the brazen portcullis before them to gain +admittance, but the melody given forth by the smitten metal plunged them +in slumber till the morrow morn. Thrice over this happened, the woman each +time making an ironical speech about Maeldun. On the fourth day, however, +she came out to them over the bridge, wearing a white mantle with a +circlet of gold on her hair, two silver sandals on her rosy feet, and a +filmy silken smock next her skin. + +"My welcome to thee, O Maeldun," she said, and she welcomed each man of +the crew by his own name. Then she took them into the great house and +allotted a couch to the chief, and one for each three of his men. She gave +them abundance of food and drink, all out of her one pail, each man +finding in it what he most desired. When she had departed they asked +Maeldun if they should woo the maiden for him. "How would it hurt you to +speak with her?" says Maeldun. They do so, and she replies: "I know not, +nor have ever known, what sin is." Twice over this is repeated. +"To-morrow," she says at last, "you shall have your answer." When the +morning breaks, however, they find themselves once more at sea, with no +sign of the island or fortress or lady. + +*The Island of the Shouting Birds* + +They hear from afar a great cry and chanting, as it were a singing of +psalms, and rowing for a day and night they come at last to an island full +of birds, black, brown, and speckled, all shouting and speaking. They sail +away without landing. + +*The Island of the Anchorite* + +Here they found a wooded island full of birds, and on it a solitary man, +whose only clothing was his hair. They asked him of his country and kin. +He tells them that he was a man of Ireland who had put to sea(198) with a +sod of his native country under his feet. God had turned the sod into an +island, adding a foot's breadth to it and one tree for every year. The +birds are his kith and kin, and they all wait there till Doomsday, +miraculously nourished by angels. He entertained them for three nights, +and then they sailed away. + +*The Island of the Miraculous Fountain* + +This island had a golden rampart, and a soft white soil like down. In it +they found another anchorite clothed only in his hair. There was a +fountain in it which yields whey or water on Fridays and Wednesdays, milk +on Sundays and feasts of martyrs, and ale and wine on the feasts of +Apostles, of Mary, of John the Baptist, and on the high tides of the year. + +*The Island of the Smithy* + +As they approached this they heard from afar as it were the clanging of a +tremendous smithy, and heard men talking of themselves. "Little boys they +seem," said one, "in a little trough yonder." They rowed hastily away, but +did not turn their boat, so as not to seem to be flying; but after a while +a giant smith came out of the forge holding in his tongs a huge mass of +glowing iron, which he cast after them, and all the sea boiled round it, +as it fell astern of their boat. + +*The Sea of Clear Glass* + +After that they voyaged until they entered a sea that resembled green +glass. Such was its purity that the gravel and the sand of the sea were +clearly visible through it; and they saw no monsters or beasts therein +among the crags, but only the pure gravel and the green sand. For a long +space of the day they were voyaging in that sea, and great was its +splendour and its beauty.(199) + +*The Undersea Island* + +They next found themselves in a sea, thin like mist, that seemed as if it +would not support their boat. In the depths they saw roofed fortresses, +and a fair land around them. A monstrous beast lodged in a tree there, +with droves of cattle about it, and beneath it an armed warrior. In spite +of the warrior, the beast ever and anon stretched down a long neck and +seized one of the cattle and devoured it. Much dreading lest they should +sink through that mist-like sea, they sailed over it and away. + +*The Island of the Prophecy* + +When they arrived here they found the water rising in high cliffs round +the island, and, looking down, saw on it a crowd of people, who screamed +at them, "It is they, it is they," till they were out of breath. Then came +a woman and pelted them from below with large nuts, which they gathered +and took with them. As they went they heard the folk crying to each other: +"Where are they now?" "They are gone away." "They are not." "It is +likely," says the tale, "that there was some one concerning whom the +islanders had a prophecy that he would ruin their country and expel them +from their land." + +*The Island of the Spouting Water* + +Here a great stream spouted out of one side of the island and arched over +it like a rainbow, falling on the strand at the further side. And when +they thrust their spears into the stream above them they brought out +salmon from it as much as they would, and the island was filled with the +stench of those they could not carry away. + +*The Island of the Silvern Column* + +The next wonder to which they came forms one of the most striking and +imaginative episodes of the voyage. It was a great silvern column, +four-square, rising from the sea. Each of its four sides was as wide as +two oar-strokes of the boat. Not a sod of earth was at its foot, but it +rose from the boundless ocean and its summit was lost in the sky. From +that summit a huge silver net was flung far away into the sea, and through +a mesh of that net they sailed. As they did so Diuran hacked away a piece +of the net. "Destroy it not," said Maeldun, "for what we see is the work +of mighty men." Diuran said: "For the praise of God's name I do this, that +our tale may be believed, and if I reach Ireland again this piece of +silver shall be offered by me on the high altar of Armagh." Two ounces and +a half it weighed when it was measured afterwards in Armagh. + +"And then they heard a voice from the summit of yonder pillar, mighty, +clear, and distinct. But they knew not the tongue it spake, or the words +it uttered." + +*The Island of the Pedestal* + +The next island stood on a foot, or pedestal, which rose from the sea, and +they could find no way of access to it. In the base of the pedestal was a +door, closed and locked, which they could not open, so they sailed away, +having seen and spoken with no one. + +*The Island of the Women* + +Here they found the rampart of a mighty dun, enclosing a mansion. They +landed to look on it, and sat on a hillock near by. Within the dun they +saw seventeen maidens busy at preparing a great bath. In a little while a +rider, richly clad, came up swiftly on a racehorse, and lighted down and +went inside, one of the girls taking the horse. The rider then went into +the bath, when they saw that it was a woman. Shortly after that one of the +maidens came out and invited them to enter, saying: "The Queen invites +you." They went into the fort and bathed, and then sat down to meat, each +man with a maiden over against him, and Maeldun opposite to the queen. And +Maeldun was wedded to the queen, and each of the maidens to one of his +men, and at nightfall canopied chambers were allotted to each of them. On +the morrow morn they made ready to depart, but the queen would not have +them go, and said: "Stay here, and old age will never fall on you, but ye +shall remain as ye are now for ever and ever, and what ye had last night +ye shall have always. And be no longer a-wandering from island to island +on the ocean." + +She then told Maeldun that she was the mother of the seventeen girls they +had seen, and her husband had been king of the island. He was now dead, +and she reigned in his place. Each day she went into the great plain in +the interior of the island to judge the folk, and returned to the dun at +night. + +So they remained there for three months of winter; but at the end of that +time it seemed they had been there three years, and the men wearied of it, +and longed to set forth for their own country. + +"What shall we find there," said Maeldun, "that is better than this?" + +But still the people murmured and complained, and at last they said: +"Great is the love which Maeldun has for his woman. Let him stay with her +alone if he will, but we will go to our own country." But Maeldun would +not be left after them, and at last one day, when the queen was away +judging the folk, they went on board their bark and put out to sea. Before +they had gone far, however, the queen came riding up with a clew of twine +in her hand, and she flung it after them. Maeldun caught it in his hand, +and it clung to his hand so that he could not free himself, and the queen, +holding the other end, drew them back to land. And they stayed on the +island another three months. + +Twice again the same thing happened, and at last the people averred that +Maeldun held the clew on purpose, so great was his love for the woman. So +the next time another man caught the clew, but it clung to his hand as +before; so Diuran smote off his hand, and it fell with the clew into the +sea. "When she saw that she at once began to wail and shriek, so that all +the land was one cry, wailing and shrieking." And thus they escaped from +the Island of the Women. + +*The Island of the Red Berries* + +On this island were trees with great red berries which yielded an +intoxicating and slumbrous juice. They mingled it with water to moderate +its power, and filled their casks with it, and sailed away. + +*The Island of the Eagle* + +A large island, with woods of oak and yew on one side of it, and on the +other a plain, whereon were herds of sheep, and a little lake in it; and +there also they found a small church and a fort, and an ancient grey +cleric, clad only in his hair. Maeldun asked him who he was. + +"I am the fifteenth man of the monks of St. Brennan of Birr," he said. "We +went on our pilgrimage into the ocean, and they have all died save me +alone." He showed them the tablet (? calendar) of the Holy Brennan, and +they prostrated themselves before it, and Maeldun kissed it. They stayed +there for a season, feeding on the sheep of the island. + +One day they saw what seemed to be a cloud coming up from the south-west. +As it drew near, however, they saw the waving of pinions, and perceived +that it was an enormous bird. It came into the island, and, alighting very +wearily on a hill near the lake, it began eating the red berries, like +grapes, which grew on a huge tree-branch as big as a full-grown oak, that +it had brought with it, and the juice and fragments of the berries fell +into the lake, reddening all the water. Fearful that it would seize them +in its talons and bear them out to sea, they lay hid in the woods and +watched it. After a while, however, Maeldun went out to the foot of the +hill, but the bird did him no harm, and then the rest followed cautiously +behind their shields, and one of them gathered the berries off the branch +which the bird held in its talons, but it did them no evil, and regarded +them not at all. And they saw that it was very old, and its plumage dull +and decayed. + +At the hour of noon two eagles came up from the south-west and alit in +front of the great bird, and after resting awhile they set to work picking +off the insects that infested its jaws and eyes and ears. This they +continued till vespers, when all three ate of the berries again. At last, +on the following day, when the great bird had been completely cleansed, it +plunged into the lake, and again the two eagles picked and cleansed it. +Till the third day the great bird remained preening and shaking its +pinions, and its feathers became glossy and abundant, and then, soaring +upwards, it flew thrice round the island, and away to the quarter whence +it had come, and its flight was now swift and strong; whence it was +manifest to them that this had been its renewal from old age to youth, +according as the prophet said, _Thy youth is renewed like the +eagle's_.(200) + +Then Diuran said: "Let us bathe in that lake and renew ourselves where the +bird hath been renewed." "Nay," said another, "for the bird hath left his +venom in it." But Diuran plunged in and drank of the water. From that time +so long as he lived his eyes were strong and keen, and not a tooth fell +from his jaw nor a hair from his head, and he never knew illness or +infirmity. + +Thereafter they bade farewell to the anchorite, and fared forth on the +ocean once more. + +*The Island of the Laughing Folk* + +Here they found a great company of men laughing and playing incessantly. +They drew lots as to who should enter and explore it, and it fell to +Maeldun's foster-brother. But when he set foot on it he at once began to +laugh and play with the others, and could not leave off, nor would he come +back to his comrades. So they left him and sailed away.(201) + +*The Island of the Flaming Rampart* + +They now came in sight of an island which was not large, and it had about +it a rampart of flame that circled round and round it continually. In one +part of the rampart there was an opening, and when this opening came +opposite to them they saw through it the whole island, and saw those who +dwelt therein, even men and women, beautiful, many, and wearing adorned +garments, with vessels of gold in their hands. And the festal music which +they made came to the ears of the wanderers. For a long time they lingered +there, watching this marvel, "and they deemed it delightful to behold." + +*The Island of the Monk of Tory* + +Far off among the waves they saw what they took to be a white bird on the +water. Drawing near to it they found it to be an aged man clad only in the +white hair of his body, and he was throwing himself in prostrations on a +broad rock. + +"From Torach(202) I have come hither," he said, "and there I was reared. I +was cook in the monastery there, and the food of the Church I used to sell +for myself, so that I had at last much treasure of raiment and brazen +vessels and gold-bound books and all that man desires. Great was my pride +and arrogance. + +"One day as I dug a grave in which to bury a churl who had been brought on +to the island, a voice came from below where a holy man lay buried, and he +said: 'Put not the corpse of a sinner on me, a holy, pious person!' " + +After a dispute the monk buried the corpse elsewhere, and was promised an +eternal reward for doing so. Not long thereafter he put to sea in a boat +with all his accumulated treasures, meaning apparently to escape from the +island with his plunder. A great wind blew him far out to sea, and when he +was out of sight of land the boat stood still in one place. He saw near +him a man (angel) sitting on the wave. "Whither goest thou?" said the man. +"On a pleasant way, whither I am now looking," said the monk. "It would +not be pleasant to thee if thou knewest what is around thee," said the +man. "So far as eye can see there is one crowd of demons all gathered +around thee, because of thy covetousness and pride, and theft, and other +evil deeds. Thy boat hath stopped, nor will it move until thou do my will, +and the fires of hell shall get hold of thee." + +He came near to the boat, and laid his hand on the arm of the fugitive, +who promised to do his will. + +"Fling into the sea," he said, "all the wealth that is in thy boat." + +"It is a pity," said the monk, "that it should go to loss." + +"It shall in nowise go to loss. There will be one man whom thou wilt +profit." + +The monk thereupon flung everything into the sea save one little wooden +cup, and he cast away oars and rudder. The man gave him a provision of +whey and seven cakes, and bade him abide wherever his boat should stop. +The wind and waves carried him hither and thither till at last the boat +came to rest upon the rock where the wanderers found him. There was +nothing there but the bare rock, but remembering what he was bidden he +stepped out upon a little ledge over which the waves washed, and the boat +immediately left him, and the rock was enlarged for him. There he remained +seven years, nourished by otters which brought him salmon out of the sea, +and even flaming firewood on which to cook them, and his cup was filled +with good liquor every day. "And neither wet nor heat nor cold affects me +in this place." + +At the noon hour miraculous nourishment was brought for the whole crew, +and thereafter the ancient man said to them: + +"Ye will all reach your country, and the man that slew thy father, O +Maeldun, ye will find him in a fortress before you. And slay him not, but +forgive him; because God hath saved you from manifold great perils, and ye +too are men deserving of death." + +Then they bade him farewell and went on their accustomed way. + +*The Island of the Falcon* + +This is uninhabited save for herds of sheep and oxen. They land on it and +eat their fill, and one of them sees there a large falcon. "This falcon," +he says, "is like the falcons of Ireland." "Watch it," says Maeldun, "and +see how it will go from us." It flew off to the south-east, and they rowed +after it all day till vespers. + +*The Home-coming* + +At nightfall they sighted a land like Ireland; and soon came to a small +island, where they ran their prow ashore. It was the island where dwelt +the man who had slain Ailill. + +They went up to the dun that was on the island, and heard men talking +within it as they sat at meat. One man said: + +"It would be ill for us if we saw Maeldun now." + +"That Maeldun has been drowned," said another. + +"Maybe it is he who shall waken you from sleep to-night," said a third. + +"If he should come now," said a fourth, "what should we do?" + +"Not hard to answer that," said the chief of them. "Great welcome should +he have if he were to come, for he hath been a long space in great +tribulation." + +Then Maeldun smote with the wooden clapper against the door. "Who is +there?" asked the doorkeeper. + +"Maeldun is here," said he. + +They entered the house in peace, and great welcome was made for them, and +they were arrayed in new garments. And then they told the story of all the +marvels that God had shown them, according to the words of the "sacred +poet," who said, _Haec olim meminisse juvabit._(203) + +Then Maeldun went to his own home and kindred, and Diuran the Rhymer took +with him the piece of silver that he had hewn from the net of the pillar, +and laid it on the high altar of Armagh in triumph and exultation at the +miracles that God had wrought for them. And they told again the story of +all that had befallen them, and all the marvels they had seen by sea and +land, and the perils they had endured. + +The story ends with the following words: + +"Now Aed the Fair [Aed Finn(204)], chief sage of Ireland, arranged this +story as it standeth here; and he did so for a delight to the mind, and +for the folks of Ireland after him." + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII: MYTHS AND TALES OF THE CYMRY + + +*Bardic Philosophy* + +The absence in early Celtic literature of any world-myth, or any +philosophic account of the origin and constitution of things, was noticed +at the opening of our third chapter. In Gaelic literature there is, as far +as I know, nothing which even pretends to represent early Celtic thought +on this subject. It is otherwise in Wales. Here there has existed for a +considerable time a body of teaching purporting to contain a portion, at +any rate, of that ancient Druidic thought which, as Caesar tells us, was +communicated only to the initiated, and never written down. This teaching +is principally to be found in two volumes entitled "Barddas," a +compilation made from materials in his possession by a Welsh bard and +scholar named Llewellyn Sion, of Glamorgan, towards the end of the +sixteenth century, and edited, with a translation, by J.A. Williams ap +Ithel for the Welsh MS. Society. Modern Celtic scholars pour contempt on +the pretensions of works like this to enshrine any really antique thought. +Thus Mr. Ivor B. John: "All idea of a bardic esoteric doctrine involving +pre-Christian mythic philosophy must be utterly discarded." And again: +"The nonsense talked upon the subject is largely due to the uncritical +invention of pseudo-antiquaries of the sixteenth to seventeenth and +eighteenth centuries."(205) Still the bardic Order was certainly at one +time in possession of such a doctrine. That Order had a fairly continuous +existence in Wales. And though no critical thinker would build with any +confidence a theory of pre-Christian doctrine on a document of the +sixteenth century, it does not seem wise to scout altogether the +possibility that some fragments of antique lore may have lingered even so +late as that in bardic tradition. + +At any rate, "Barddas" is a work of considerable philosophic interest, and +even if it represents nothing but a certain current of Cymric thought in +the sixteenth century it is not unworthy of attention by the student of +things Celtic. Purely Druidic it does not even profess to be, for +Christian personages and episodes from Christian history figure largely in +it. But we come occasionally upon a strain of thought which, whatever else +it may be, is certainly not Christian, and speaks of an independent +philosophic system. + +In this system two primary existences are contemplated, God and Cythrawl, +who stand respectively for the principle of energy tending towards life, +and the principle of destruction tending towards nothingness. Cythrawl is +realised in Annwn,(206) which may be rendered, the Abyss, or Chaos. In the +beginning there was nothing but God and Annwn. Organised life began by the +Word--God pronounced His ineffable Name and the "Manred" was formed. The +Manred was the primal substance of the universe. It was conceived as a +multitude of minute indivisible particles--atoms, in fact--each being a +microcosm, for God is complete in each of them, while at the same time +each is a part of God, the Whole. The totality of being as it now exists +is represented by three concentric circles. The innermost of them, where +life sprang from Annwn, is called "Abred," and is the stage of struggle +and evolution--the contest of life with Cythrawl. The next is the circle of +"Gwynfyd," or Purity, in which life is manifested as a pure, rejoicing +force, having attained its triumph over evil. The last and outermost +circle is called "Ceugant," or Infinity. Here all predicates fail us, and +this circle, represented graphically not by a bounding line, but by +divergent rays, is inhabited by God alone. The following extract from +"Barddas," in which the alleged bardic teaching is conveyed in catechism +form, will serve to show the order of ideas in which the writer's mind +moved: + + [The Circles of Being] + + The Circles of Being + + +"Q. Whence didst thou proceed? + +"A. I came from the Great World, having my beginning in Annwn. + +"Q. Where art thou now? and how camest thou to what thou art? + +"A. I am in the Little World, whither I came having traversed the circle +of Abred, and now I am a Man, at its termination and extreme limits. + +"Q. What wert thou before thou didst become a man, in the circle of Abred? + +"A. I was in Annwn the least possible that was capable of life and the +nearest possible to absolute death; and I came in every form and through +every form capable of a body and life to the state of man along the circle +of Abred, where my condition was severe and grievous during the age of +ages, ever since I was parted in Annwn from the dead, by the gift of God, +and His great generosity, and His unlimited and endless love. + +"Q. Through how many different forms didst thou come, and what happened +unto thee?" + +"A. Through every form capable of life, in water, in earth, in air. And +there happened unto me every severity, every hardship, every evil, and +every suffering, and but little was the goodness or Gwynfyd before I +became a man.... Gwynfyd cannot be obtained without seeing and knowing +everything, but it is not possible to see or to know everything without +suffering everything.... And there can be no full and perfect love that +does not produce those things which are necessary to lead to the knowledge +that causes Gwynfyd." + +Every being, we are told, shall attain to the circle of Gwynfyd at +last.(207) + +There is much here that reminds us of Gnostic or Oriental thought. It is +certainly very unlike Christian orthodoxy of the sixteenth century. As a +product of the Cymric mind of that period the reader may take it for what +it is worth, without troubling himself either with antiquarian theories or +with their refutations. + +Let us now turn to the really ancient work, which is not philosophic, but +creative and imaginative, produced by British bards and fabulists of the +Middle Ages. But before we go on to set forth what we shall find in this +literature we must delay a moment to discuss one thing which we shall not. + +*The Arthurian Saga* + +For the majority of modern readers who have not made any special study of +the subject, the mention of early British legend will inevitably call up +the glories of the Arthurian Saga--they will think of the fabled palace at +Caerleon-on-Usk, the Knights of the Round Table riding forth on chivalrous +adventure, the Quest of the Grail, the guilty love of Lancelot, flower of +knighthood, for the queen, the last great battle by the northern sea, the +voyage of Arthur, sorely wounded, but immortal, to the mystic valley of +Avalon. But as a matter of fact they will find in the native literature of +mediæval Wales little or nothing of all this--no Round Table, no Lancelot, +no Grail-Quest, no Isle of Avalon, until the Welsh learned about them from +abroad; and though there was indeed an Arthur in this literature, he is a +wholly different being from the Arthur of what we now call the Arthurian +Saga. + +*Nennius* + +The earliest extant mention of Arthur is to be found in the work of the +British historian Nennius, who wrote his "Historia Britonum" about the +year 800. He derives his authority from various sources--ancient monuments +and writings of Britain and of Ireland (in connexion with the latter +country he records the legend of Partholan), Roman annals, and chronicles +of saints, especially St. Germanus. He presents a fantastically Romanised +and Christianised view of British history, deriving the Britons from a +Trojan and Roman ancestry. His account of Arthur, however, is both sober +and brief. Arthur, who, according to Nennius, lived in the sixth century, +was not a king; his ancestry was less noble than that of many other +British chiefs, who, nevertheless, for his great talents as a military +_Imperator_, or _dux bellorum_, chose him for their leader against the +Saxons, whom he defeated in twelve battles, the last being at Mount Badon. +Arthur's office was doubtless a relic of Roman military organisation, and +there is no reason to doubt his historical existence, however impenetrable +may be the veil which now obscures his valiant and often triumphant +battlings for order and civilisation in that disastrous age. + +*Geoffrey of Monmouth* + +Next we have Geoffrey of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph, who wrote his +"Historia Regum Britaniæ" in South Wales in the early part of the twelfth +century. This work is an audacious attempt to make sober history out of a +mass of mythical or legendary matter mainly derived, if we are to believe +the author, from an ancient book brought by his uncle Walter, Archdeacon +of Oxford, from Brittany. The mention of Brittany in this connexion is, as +we shall see, very significant. Geoffrey wrote expressly to commemorate +the exploits of Arthur, who now appears as a king, son of Uther Pendragon +and of Igerna, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, to whom Uther gained +access in the shape of her husband through the magic arts of Merlin. He +places the beginning of Arthur's reign in the year 505, recounts his wars +against the Saxons, and says he ultimately conquered not only all Britain, +but Ireland, Norway, Gaul, and Dacia, and successfully resisted a demand +for tribute and homage from the Romans. He held his court at +Caerleon-on-Usk. While he was away on the Continent carrying on his +struggle with Rome his nephew Modred usurped his crown and wedded his wife +Guanhumara. Arthur, on this, returned, and after defeating the traitor at +Winchester slew him in a last battle in Cornwall, where Arthur himself was +sorely wounded (A.D. 542). The queen retired to a convent at Caerleon. +Before his death Arthur conferred his kingdom on his kinsman Constantine, +and was then carried off mysteriously to "the isle of Avalon" to be cured, +and "the rest is silence." Arthur's magic sword "Caliburn" (Welsh +_Caladvwlch_; see p. 224, note) is mentioned by Geoffrey and described as +having been made in Avalon, a word which seems to imply some kind of +fairyland, a Land of the Dead, and may be related to the Norse _Valhall_. +It was not until later times that Avalon came to be identified with an +actual site in Britain (Glastonbury). In Geoffrey's narrative there is +nothing about the Holy Grail, or Lancelot, or the Round Table, and except +for the allusion to Avalon the mystical element of the Arthurian saga is +absent. Like Nennius, Geoffrey finds a fantastic classical origin for the +Britons. His so-called history is perfectly worthless as a record of fact, +but it has proved a veritable mine for poets and chroniclers, and has the +distinction of having furnished the subject for the earliest English +tragic drama, "Gorboduc," as well as for Shakespeare's "King Lear"; and +its author may be described as the father--at least on its quasi-historical +side--of the Arthurian saga, which he made up partly out of records of the +historical _dux bellorum_ of Nennius and partly out of poetical +amplifications of these records made in Brittany by the descendants of +exiles from Wales, many of whom fled there at the very time when Arthur +was waging his wars against the heathen Saxons. Geoffrey's book had a +wonderful success. It was speedily translated into French by Wace, who +wrote "Li Romans de Brut" about 1155, with added details from Breton +sources, and translated from Wace's French into Anglo-Saxon by Layamon, +who thus anticipated Malory's adaptations of late French prose romances. +Except a few scholars who protested unavailingly, no one doubted its +strict historical truth, and it had the important effect of giving to +early British history a new dignity in the estimation of Continental and +of English princes. To sit upon the throne of Arthur was regarded as in +itself a glory by Plantagenet monarchs who had not a trace of Arthur's or +of any British blood. + +*The Saga in Brittany: Marie de France* + +The Breton sources must next be considered. Unfortunately, not a line of +ancient Breton literature has come down to us, and for our knowledge of it +we must rely on the appearances it makes in the work of French writers. +One of the earliest of these is the Anglo-Norman poetess who called +herself Marie de France, and who wrote about 1150 and afterwards. She +wrote, among other things, a number of "Lais," or tales, which she +explicitly and repeatedly tells us were translated or adapted from Breton +sources. Sometimes she claims to have rendered a writer's original +exactly: + +"Les contes que jo sai verais +Dunt li Bretun unt fait les lais +Vos conterai assez briefment; +Et cief [sauf] di cest coumencement +Selunc la lettre è l'escriture." + +Little is actually said about Arthur in these tales, but the events of +them are placed in his time--_en cel tems tint Artus la terre_--and the +allusions, which include a mention of the Round Table, evidently imply a +general knowledge of the subject among those to whom these Breton "Lais" +were addressed. Lancelot is not mentioned, but there is a "Lai" about one +Lanval, who is beloved by Arthur's queen, but rejects her because he has a +fairy mistress in the "isle d'Avalon." Gawain is mentioned, and an episode +is told in the "Lai de Chevrefoil" about Tristan and Iseult, whose maid, +"Brangien," is referred to in a way which assumes that the audience knew +the part she had played on Iseult's bridal night. In short, we have +evidence here of the existence in Brittany of a well-diffused and +well-developed body of chivalric legend gathered about the personality of +Arthur. The legends are so well known that mere allusions to characters +and episodes in them are as well understood as references to Tennyson's +"Idylls" would be among us to-day. The "Lais" of Marie de France therefore +point strongly to Brittany as the true cradle of the Arthurian saga, on +its chivalrous and romantic side. They do not, however, mention the Grail. + +*Chrestien de Troyes* + +Lastly, and chiefly, we have the work of the French poet Chrestien de +Troyes, who began in 1165 to translate Breton "Lais," like Marie de +France, and who practically brought the Arthurian saga into the poetic +literature of Europe, and gave it its main outline and character. He wrote +a "Tristan" (now lost). He (if not Walter Map) introduced Lancelot of the +Lake into the story; he wrote a _Conte del Graal_, in which the Grail +legend and Perceval make their first appearance, though he left the story +unfinished, and does not tell us what the "Grail" really was.(208) He also +wrote a long _conte d'aventure_ entitled "Erec," containing the story of +Geraint and Enid. These are the earliest poems we possess in which the +Arthur of chivalric legend comes prominently forward. What were the +sources of Chrestien? No doubt they were largely Breton. Troyes is in +Champagne, which had been united to Blois in 1019 by Eudes, Count of +Blois, and reunited again after a period of dispossession by Count +Theobald de Blois in 1128. Marie, Countess of Champagne, was Chrestien's +patroness. And there were close connexions between the ruling princes of +Blois and of Brittany. Alain II., a Duke of Brittany, had in the tenth +century married a sister of the Count de Blois, and in the first quarter +of the thirteenth century Jean I. of Brittany married Blanche de +Champagne, while their daughter Alix married Jean de Chastillon, Count of +Blois, in 1254. It is highly probable, therefore, that through minstrels +who attended their Breton lords at the court of Blois, from the middle of +the tenth century onward, a great many Breton "Lais" and legends found +their way into French literature during the eleventh, twelfth, and +thirteenth centuries. But it is also certain that the Breton legends +themselves had been strongly affected by French influences, and that to +the _Matière de France_, as it was called by mediæval writers(209)--_i.e._, +the legends of Charlemagne and his Paladins--we owe the Table Round and the +chivalric institutions ascribed to Arthur's court at Caerleon-on-Usk. + +*Bleheris* + +It must not be forgotten that (as Miss Jessie L. Weston has emphasised in +her invaluable studies on the Arthurian saga) Gautier de Denain, the +earliest of the continuators or re-workers of Chrestien de Troyes, +mentions as his authority for stories of Gawain one Bleheris, a poet "born +and bred in Wales." This forgotten bard is believed to be identical with +_famosus ille fabulator, Bledhericus,_ mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis, +and with the Bréris quoted by Thomas of Brittany as an authority for the +Tristan story. + +*Conclusion as to the Origin of the Arthurian Saga* + +In the absence, however, of any information as to when, or exactly what, +Bleheris wrote, the opinion must, I think, hold the field that the +Arthurian saga, as we have it now, is not of Welsh, nor even of pure +Breton origin. The Welsh exiles who colonised part of Brittany about the +sixth century must have brought with them many stories of the historical +Arthur. They must also have brought legends of the Celtic deity Artaius, a +god to whom altars have been found in France. These personages ultimately +blended into one, even as in Ireland the Christian St. Brigit blended with +the pagan goddess Brigindo.(210) We thus get a mythical figure combining +something of the exaltation of a god with a definite habitation on earth +and a place in history. An Arthur saga thus arose, which in its Breton +(though not its Welsh) form was greatly enriched by material drawn in from +the legends of Charlemagne and his peers, while both in Brittany and in +Wales it became a centre round which clustered a mass of floating +legendary matter relating to various Celtic personages, human and divine. +Chrestien de Troyes, working on Breton material, ultimately gave it the +form in which it conquered the world, and in which it became in the +twelfth and the thirteenth centuries what the Faust legend was in later +times, the accepted vehicle for the ideals and aspirations of an epoch. + +*The Saga in Wales* + +From the Continent, and especially from Brittany, the story of Arthur came +back into Wales transformed and glorified. The late Dr. Heinrich Zimmer, +in one of his luminous studies of the subject, remarks that "In Welsh +literature we have definite evidence that the South-Welsh prince, Rhys ap +Tewdwr, who had been in Brittany, brought from thence in the year 1070 the +knowledge of Arthur's Round Table to Wales, where of course it had been +hitherto unknown."(211) And many Breton lords are known to have followed +the banner of William the Conqueror into England.(212) The introducers of +the saga into Wales found, however, a considerable body of Arthurian +matter of a very different character already in existence there. Besides +the traditions of the historical Arthur, the _dux bellorum_ of Nennius, +there was the Celtic deity, Artaius. It is probably a reminiscence of this +deity whom we meet with under the name of Arthur in the only genuine Welsh +Arthurian story we possess, the story of Kilhwch and Olwen in the +"Mabinogion." Much of the Arthurian saga derived from Chrestien and other +Continental writers was translated and adapted in Wales as in other +European countries, but as a matter of fact it made a later and a lesser +impression in Wales than almost anywhere else. It conflicted with existing +Welsh traditions, both historical and mythological; it was full of matter +entirely foreign to the Welsh spirit, and it remained always in Wales +something alien and unassimilated. Into Ireland it never entered at all. + +These few introductory remarks do not, of course, profess to contain a +discussion of the Arthurian saga--a vast subject with myriad ramifications, +historical, mythological, mystical, and what not--but are merely intended +to indicate the relation of that saga to genuine Celtic literature and to +explain why we shall hear so little of it in the following accounts of +Cymric myths and legends. It was a great spiritual myth which, arising +from the composite source above described, overran all the Continent, as +its hero was supposed to have done in armed conquest, but it cannot be +regarded as a special possession of the Celtic race, nor is it at present +extant, except in the form of translation or adaptation, in any Celtic +tongue. + +*Gaelic and Cymric Legend Compared* + +The myths and legends of the Celtic race which have come down to us in the +Welsh language are in some respects of a different character from those +which we possess in Gaelic. The Welsh material is nothing like as full as +the Gaelic, nor so early. The tales of the "Mabinogion" are mainly drawn +from the fourteenth-century manuscript entitled "The Red Book of Hergest." +One of them, the romance of Taliesin, came from another source, a +manuscript of the seventeenth century. The four oldest tales in the +"Mabinogion" are supposed by scholars to have taken their present shape in +the tenth or eleventh century, while several Irish tales, like the story +of Etain and Midir or the Death of Conary, go back to the seventh or +eighth. It will be remembered that the story of the invasion of Partholan +was known to Nennius, who wrote about the year 800. As one might therefore +expect, the mythological elements in the Welsh romances are usually much +more confused and harder to decipher than in the earlier of the Irish +tales. The mythic interest has grown less, the story interest greater; the +object of the bard is less to hand down a sacred text than to entertain a +prince's court. We must remember also that the influence of the +Continental romances of chivalry is clearly perceptible in the Welsh +tales; and, in fact, comes eventually to govern them completely. + +*Gaelic and Continental Romance* + +In many respects the Irish Celt anticipated the ideas of these romances. +The lofty courtesy shown to each other by enemies,(213) the fantastic +pride which forbade a warrior to take advantage of a wounded +adversary,(214) the extreme punctilio with which the duties or observances +proper to each man's caste or station were observed(215)--all this tone of +thought and feeling which would seem so strange to us if we met an +instance of it in classical literature would seem quite familiar and +natural in Continental romances of the twelfth and later centuries. +Centuries earlier than that it was a marked feature in Gaelic literature. +Yet in the Irish romances, whether Ultonian or Ossianic, the element which +has since been considered the most essential motive in a romantic tale is +almost entirely lacking. This is the element of love, or rather of +woman-worship. The Continental fabulist felt that he could do nothing +without this motive of action. But the "lady-love" of the English, French, +or German knight, whose favour he wore, for whose grace he endured +infinite hardship and peril, does not meet us in Gaelic literature. It +would have seemed absurd to the Irish Celt to make the plot of a serious +story hinge on the kind of passion with which the mediaeval Dulcinea +inspired her faithful knight. In the two most famous and popular of Gaelic +love-tales, the tale of Deirdre and "The Pursuit of Dermot and Grania," +the women are the wooers, and the men are most reluctant to commit what +they know to be the folly of yielding to them. Now this romantic, +chivalric kind of love, which idealised woman into a goddess, and made the +service of his lady a sacred duty to the knight, though it never reached +in Wales the height which it did in Continental and English romances, is +yet clearly discernible there. We can trace it in "Kilhwch and Olwen," +which is comparatively an ancient tale. It is well developed in later +stories like "Peredur" and "The Lady of the Fountain." It is a symptom of +the extent to which, in comparison with the Irish, Welsh literature had +lost its pure Celtic strain and become affected--I do not, of course, say +to its loss--by foreign influences. + +*Gaelic and Cymric Mythology: Nudd* + +The oldest of the Welsh tales, those called "The Four Branches of the +Mabinogi,"(216) are the richest in mythological elements, but these occur +in more or less recognisable form throughout nearly all the mediaeval +tales, and even, after many transmutations, in Malory. We can clearly +discern certain mythological figures common to all Celtica. We meet, for +instance, a personage called Nudd or Lludd, evidently a solar deity. A +temple dating from Roman times, and dedicated to him under the name of +Nodens, has been discovered at Lydney, by the Severn. On a bronze plaque +found near the spot is a representation of the god. He is encircled by a +halo and accompanied by flying spirits and by Tritons. We are reminded of +the Danaan deities and their close connexion with the sea; and when we +find that in Welsh legend an epithet is attached to Nudd, meaning "of the +Silver Hand" (though no extant Welsh legend tells the meaning of the +epithet), we have no difficulty in identifying this Nudd with Nuada of the +Silver Hand, who led the Danaans in the battle of Moytura.(217) Under his +name Lludd he is said to have had a temple on the site of St. Paul's in +London, the entrance to which, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, was +called in the British tongue _Parth Lludd_, which the Saxons translated +_Ludes Geat_, our present Ludgate. + + GODS OF THE HOUSE OF DON + + + + Manogan Mathonwy + | | + | | + | +---------+------+ + | | | + Beli-------+------Don Math + (Death, | (Mother-goddess, (wealth, + Irish Bilé) | Irish Dana) increase) + | + | + | + +----------------+------+--+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+ + | | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | | + Gwydion-----+----Arianrod | Amaethon | Nudd | Nynniaw +(Science and | ("Silver- | (agriculture) | or Ludd | and Peibaw +light; slayer | circle," Dawn- | | (Sky-god) | +of Pryderi) | goddess) | | | | + | | | | | + | Gilvaethwy Govannan | Penardun + | (smith-craft, | (_m_. Llyr) + | Irish Goban) | + +--------+---+---------+ | + | | | Gwyn + Nwyvre Llew Dylan (Warder of +(atmosphere, Llaw (Sea-god) Hades, called + space) Gyffes "Avalon" in + (Sun-god, Somerset) + the Irish + Lugh) + + GODS OF THE HOUSE OF LLYR + + + Iweriad --+-- Llyr --+-- Penardun --+-- Euroswydd + (=Ireland--_i.e.,_ | (Irish | (dau. of | + western land | Lir) | Don) | + of Hades) | | | + | | | + +---------+---------+ | +--------+----------+ + | | | | | + | | | | | + | | | | | + | Branwen--+--Matholwch | Nissyen Evnissyen + | (Love- | (King of | + | goddess) | Ireland) | + | | | + Bran | Manawyddan---Rhiannon +(giant god | (Irish Mana- + of Hades | nan, god of Pwyll--+--Rhiannon +a minstrel; | the Sea, (Head of | +afterwards | enchanter) Hades) | + Urien) | | + Gwern Pryderi---Kicva + (Lord of + Hades) + + ARTHUR AND HIS KIN + + + Anlawdd + | + +--------------------+----+----------------------------------+ + | | | +Yspaddaden Custennin Kilwydd -+- Goleuddydd + | | | + Olwen +---------+-----------+ Kilhwch --- Olwen + | | | + Goreu Erbin Igerna -+- Uther Ben + | | (= Bran) + Geraint | + +-------+-----------------------+ + | | + Arthur Lot -----+---- Gwyar + (=Gwydion) (=Llud) | (Gore, a + | war-goddess) + | + +--------------------------+-------------+-------+ + | | | + Gwalchmai Medrawt Gwalchaved + (Falcon of May, (=Dylan, (Falcon of Summer, + = LLew Llaw later Sir later Sir Galahad; + Gyffes, later Mordred) orig. identical + Sir Gawain) with Gwalchmai) + + +*Llyr and Manawyddan* + +Again, when we find a mythological personage named Llyr, with a son named +Manawyddan, playing a prominent part in Welsh legend, we may safely +connect them with the Irish Lir and his son Mananan, gods of the sea. +Llyr-cester, now Leicester, was a centre of the worship of Llyr. + +*Llew Llaw Gyffes* + +Finally, we may point to a character in the "Mabinogi," or tale, entitled +"Math Son of Mathonwy." The name of this character is given as Llew Llaw +Gyffes, which the Welsh fabulist interprets as "The Lion of the Sure +Hand," and a tale, which we shall recount later on, is told to account for +the name. But when we find that this hero exhibits characteristics which +point to his being a solar deity, such as an amazingly rapid growth from +childhood into manhood, and when we are told, moreover, by Professor Rhys +that Gyffes originally meant, not "steady" or "sure," but "long,"(218) it +becomes evident that we have here a dim and broken reminiscence of the +deity whom the Gaels called Lugh of the Long Arm,(219) _Lugh Lamh Fada_. +The misunderstood name survived, and round the misunderstanding legendary +matter floating in the popular mind crystallised itself in a new story. + +These correspondences might be pursued in much further detail. It is +enough here to point to their existence as evidence of the original +community of Gaelic and Cymric mythology.(220) We are, in each literature, +in the same circle of mythological ideas. In Wales, however, these ideas +are harder to discern; the figures and their relationships in the Welsh +Olympus are less accurately defined and more fluctuating. It would seem as +if a number of different tribes embodied what were fundamentally the same +conceptions under different names and wove different legends about them. +The bardic literature, as we have it now, bears evidence sometimes of the +prominence of one of these tribal cults, sometimes of another. To reduce +these varying accounts to unity is altogether impossible. Still, we can do +something to afford the reader a clue to the maze. + +*The Houses of Don and of Llyr* + +Two great divine houses or families are discernible--that of Don, a +mother-goddess (representing the Gaelic Dana), whose husband is Beli, the +Irish Bilé, god of Death, and whose descendants are the Children of Light; +and the House of Llyr, the Gaelic Lir, who here represents, not a Danaan +deity, but something more like the Irish Fomorians. As in the case of the +Irish myth, the two families are allied by intermarriage--Penardun, a +daughter of Don, is wedded to Llyr. Don herself has a brother, Math, whose +name signifies wealth or treasure (_cf._ Greek Pluton, _ploutos_), and +they descend from a figure indistinctly characterised, called Mathonwy. + +*The House of Arthur* + +Into the pantheon of deities represented in the four ancient Mabinogi +there came, at a later time, from some other tribal source, another group +headed by Arthur, the god Artaius. He takes the place of Gwydion son of +Don, and the other deities of his circle fall more or less accurately into +the places of others of the earlier circle. The accompanying genealogical +plans are intended to help the reader to a general view of the +relationships and attributes of these personages. It must be borne in +mind, however, that these tabular arrangements necessarily involve an +appearance of precision and consistency which is not reflected in the +fluctuating character of the actual myths taken as a whole. Still, as a +sketch-map of a very intricate and obscure region, they may help the +reader who enters it for the first time to find his bearings in it, and +that is the only purpose they propose to serve. + +*Gwyn ap Nudd* + +The deity named Gwyn ap Nudd is said, like Finn in Gaelic legend,(221) to +have impressed himself more deeply and lastingly on the Welsh popular +imagination than any of the other divinities. A mighty warrior and +huntsman, he glories in the crash of breaking spears, and, like Odin, +assembles the souls of dead heroes in his shadowy kingdom, for although he +belongs to the kindred of the Light-gods, Hades is his special domain. The +combat between him and Gwythur ap Greidawl (Victor, son of Scorcher) for +Creudylad, daughter of Lludd, which is to be renewed every May-day till +time shall end, represents evidently the contest between winter and summer +for the flowery and fertile earth. "Later," writes Mr. Charles Squire, "he +came to be considered as King of the _Tylwyth Teg_, the Welsh fairies, and +his name as such has hardly yet died out of his last haunt, the romantic +vale of Neath.... He is the Wild Huntsman of Wales and the West of +England, and it is his pack which is sometimes heard at chase in waste +places by night."(222) He figures as a god of war and death in a wonderful +poem from the "Black Book of Caermarthen," where he is represented as +discoursing with a prince named Gwyddneu Garanhir, who had come to ask his +protection. I quote a few stanzas: the poem will be found in full in Mr. +Squire's excellent volume: + +"I come from battle and conflict + With a shield in my hand; + Broken is my helmet by the thrusting of spears. + +"Round-hoofed is my horse, the torment of battle, + Fairy am I called,(223) Gwyn the son of Nudd, + The lover of Crewrdilad, the daughter of Lludd + +"I have been in the place where Gwendolen was slain, + The son of Ceidaw, the pillar of song, + Where the ravens screamed over blood. + +"I have been in the place where Bran was killed, + The son of Iweridd, of far-extending fame, + Where the ravens of the battlefield screamed. + +"I have been where Llacheu was slain, + The son of Arthur, extolled in songs, + When the ravens screamed over blood. + +"I have been where Mewrig was killed, + The son of Carreian, of honourable fame, + When the ravens screamed over flesh. + +"I have been where Gwallawg was killed, + The son of Goholeth, the accomplished, + The resister of Lloegyr,(224) the son of Lleynawg. + +"I have been where the soldiers of Britain were slain, + From the east to the north: + I am the escort of the grave. + +"I have been where the soldiers of Britain were slain, + From the east to the south: + I am alive, they in death." + +*Myrddin, or Merlin* + +A deity named Myrddin holds in Arthur's mythological cycle the place of +the Sky- and Sun-god, Nudd. One of the Welsh Triads tells us that Britain, +before it was inhabited, was called _Clas Myrddin_, Myrddin's Enclosure. +One is reminded of the Irish fashion of calling any favoured spot a +"cattle-fold of the sun"--the name is applied by Deirdre to her beloved +Scottish home in Glen Etive. Professor Rhys suggests that Myrddin was the +deity specially worshipped at Stonehenge, which, according to British +tradition as reported by Geoffrey of Monmouth, was erected by "Merlin," +the enchanter who represents the form into which Myrddin had dwindled +under Christian influences. We are told that the abode of Merlin was a +house of glass, or a bush of whitethorn laden with bloom, or a sort of +smoke or mist in the air, or "a close neither of iron nor steel nor timber +nor of stone, but of the air without any other thing, by enchantment so +strong that it may never be undone while the world endureth."(225) Finally +he descended upon Bardsey Island, "off the extreme westernmost point of +Carnarvonshire ... into it he went with nine attendant bards, taking with +him the 'Thirteen Treasures of Britain,' thenceforth lost to men." +Professor Rhys points out that a Greek traveller named Demetrius, who is +described as having visited Britain in the first century A.D., mentions an +island in the west where "Kronos" was supposed to be imprisoned with his +attendant deities, and Briareus keeping watch over him as he slept, "for +sleep was the bond forged for him." Doubtless we have here a version, +Hellenised as was the wont of classical writers on barbaric myths, of a +British story of the descent of the Sun-god into the western sea, and his +imprisonment there by the powers of darkness, with the possessions and +magical potencies belonging to Light and Life.(226) + +*Nynniaw and Peibaw* + +The two personages called Nynniaw and Peibaw who figure in the +genealogical table play a very slight part in Cymric mythology, but one +story in which they appear is interesting in itself and has an excellent +moral. They are represented(227) as two brothers, Kings of Britain, who +were walking together one starlight night. "See what a fine far-spreading +field I have," said Nynniaw. "Where is it?" asked Peibaw. "There aloft and +as far as you can see," said Nynniaw, pointing to the sky. "But look at +all my cattle grazing in your field," said Peibaw. "Where are they?" said +Nynniaw. "All the golden stars," said Peibaw, "with the moon for their +shepherd." "They shall not graze on my field," cried Nynniaw. "I say they +shall," returned Peibaw. "They shall not." "They shall." And so they went +on: first they quarrelled with each other, and then went to war, and +armies were destroyed and lands laid waste, till at last the two brothers +were turned into oxen as a punishment for their stupidity and +quarrelsomeness. + +*The **"**Mabinogion**"* + +We now come to the work in which the chief treasures of Cymric myth and +legend were collected by Lady Charlotte Guest sixty years ago, and given +to the world in a translation which is one of the masterpieces of English +literature. The title of this work, the "Mabinogion," is the plural form +of the word _Mabinogi_, which means a story belonging to the equipment of +an apprentice-bard, such a story as every bard had necessarily to learn as +part of his training, whatever more he might afterwards add to his +_répertoire_. Strictly speaking, the _Mabinogi_ in the volume are only the +four tales given first in Mr. Alfred Nutt's edition, which were entitled +the "Four Branches of the Mabinogi," and which form a connected whole. +They are among the oldest relics of Welsh mythological saga. + +*Pwyll, Head of Hades* + +The first of them is the story of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, and relates how +that prince got his title of _Pen Annwn_, or "Head of Hades"--Annwn being +the term under which we identify in Welsh literature the Celtic Land of +the Dead, or Fairyland. It is a story with a mythological basis, but +breathing the purest spirit of chivalric honour and nobility. + +Pwyll, it is said, was hunting one day in the woods of Glyn Cuch when he +saw a pack of hounds, not his own, running down a stag. These hounds were +snow-white in colour, with red ears. If Pwyll had had any experience in +these matters he would have known at once what kind of hunt was up, for +these are the colours of Faëry--the red-haired man, the red-eared hound are +always associated with magic.(228) Pwyll, however, drove off the strange +hounds, and was setting his own on the quarry when a horseman of noble +appearance came up and reproached him for his discourtesy. Pwyll offered +to make amends, and the story now develops into the familiar theme of the +Rescue of Fairyland. The stranger's name is Arawn, a king in Annwn. He is +being harried and dispossessed by a rival, Havgan, and he seeks the aid of +Pwyll, whom he begs to meet Havgan in single combat a year hence. +Meanwhile he will put his own shape on Pwyll, who is to rule in his +kingdom till the eventful day, while Arawn will go in Pwyll's shape to +govern Dyfed. He instructs Pwyll how to deal with the foe. Havgan must be +laid low with a single stroke--if another is given to him he immediately +revives again as strong as ever. + +Pwyll agreed to follow up the adventure, and accordingly went in Arawn's +shape to the kingdom of Annwn. Here he was placed in an unforeseen +difficulty. The beautiful wife of Arawn greeted him as her husband. But +when the time came for them to retire to rest he set his face to the wall +and said no word to her, nor touched her at all until the morning broke. +Then they rose up, and Pwyll went to the hunt, and ruled his kingdom, and +did all things as if he were monarch of the land. And whatever affection +he showed to the queen in public during the day, he passed every night +even as this first. + +At last the day of battle came, and, like the chieftains in Gaelic story, +Pwyll and Havgan met each other in the midst of a river-ford. They fought, +and at the first clash Havgan was hurled a spear's length over the crupper +of his horse and fell mortally wounded.(229) "For the love of heaven," +said he, "slay me and complete thy work." "I may yet repent that," said +Pwyll. "Slay thee who may, I will not." Then Havgan knew that his end was +come, and bade his nobles bear him off; and Pwyll with all his army +overran the two kingdoms of Annwn, and made himself master of all the +land, and took homage from its princes and lords. + +Then he rode off alone to keep his tryst in Glyn Cuch with Arawn as they +had appointed. Arawn thanked him for all he had done, and added: "When +thou comest thyself to thine own dominions thou wilt see what I have done +for thee." They exchanged shapes once more, and each rode in his own +likeness to take possession of his own land. + +At the court of Annwn the day was spent in joy and feasting, though none +but Arawn himself knew that anything unusual had taken place. When night +came Arawn kissed and caressed his wife as of old, and she pondered much +as to what might be the cause of his change towards her, and of his +previous change a year and a day before. And as she was thinking over +these things Arawn spoke to her twice or thrice, but got no answer. He +then asked her why she was silent. "I tell thee," she said, "that for a +year I have not spoken so much in this place." "Did not we speak +continually?" he said. "Nay," said she, "but for a year back there has +been neither converse nor tenderness between us." "Good heaven!" thought +Arawn, "a man as faithful and firm in his friendship as any have I found +for a friend." Then he told his queen what had passed. "Thou hast indeed +laid hold of a faithful friend," she said. + +And Pwyll when he came back to his own land called his lords together and +asked them how they thought he had sped in his kingship during the past +year. "Lord," said they, "thy wisdom was never so great, and thou wast +never so kind and free in bestowing thy gifts, and thy justice was never +more worthily seen than in this year." Pwyll then told them the story of +his adventure. "Verily, lord," said they, "render thanks unto heaven that +thou hast such a fellowship, and withhold not from us the rule which we +have enjoyed for this year past." "I take heaven to witness that I will +not withhold it," said Pwyll. + +So the two kings made strong the friendship that was between them, and +sent each other rich gifts of horses and hounds and jewels; and in memory +of the adventure Pwyll bore thenceforward the title of "Lord of Annwn." + +*The Wedding of Pwyll and Rhiannon* + +Near to the castle of Narberth, where Pwyll had his court, there was a +mound called the Mound of Arberth, of which it was believed that whoever +sat upon it would have a strange adventure: either he would receive blows +and wounds or he would see a wonder. One day when all his lords were +assembled at Narberth for a feast Pwyll declared that he would sit on the +mound and see what would befall. + +He did so, and after a little while saw approaching him along the road +that led to the mound a lady clad in garments that shone like gold, and +sitting on a pure white horse. "Is there any among you," said Pwyll to his +men, "who knows that lady?" "There is not," said they. "Then go to meet +her and learn who she is." But as they rode towards the lady she moved +away from them, and however fast they rode she still kept an even distance +between her and them, yet never seemed to exceed the quiet pace with which +she had first approached. + +Several times did Pwyll seek to have the lady overtaken and questioned, +but all was in vain--none could draw near to her. + +Next day Pwyll ascended the mound again, and once more the fair lady on +her white steed drew near. This time Pwyll himself pursued her, but she +flitted away before him as she had done before his servants, till at last +he cried : "O maiden, for the sake of him thou best lovest, stay for me." +"I will stay gladly," said she, "and it were better for thy horse had thou +asked it long since." + +Pwyll then questioned her as to the cause of her coming, and she said: "I +am Rhiannon, the daughter of Hevydd Hen,(230) and they sought to give me +to a husband against my will. But no husband would I have, and that +because of my love for thee; neither will I yet have one if thou reject +me." "By heaven!" said Pwyll, "if I might choose among all the ladies and +damsels of the world, thee would I choose." + +They then agree that in a twelvemonth from that day Pwyll is to come and +claim her at the palace of Hevydd Hen. + +Pwyll kept his tryst, with a following of a hundred knights, and found a +splendid feast prepared for him, and he sat by his lady, with her father +on the other side. As they feasted and talked there entered a tall, +auburn-haired youth of royal bearing, clad in satin, who saluted Pwyll and +his knights. Pwyll invited him to sit down. "Nay, I am a suitor to thee," +said the youth; "to crave a boon am I come." "Whatever thou wilt thou +shalt have," said Pwyll unsuspiciously, "if it be in my power." "Ah," +cried Rhiannon, "wherefore didst thou give that answer?" "Hath he not +given it before all these nobles?" said the youth; "and now the boon I +crave is to have thy bride Rhiannon, and the feast and the banquet that +are in this place." Pwyll was silent. "Be silent as long as thou wilt," +said Rhiannon. "Never did man make worse use of his wits than thou hast +done." She tells him that the auburn-haired young man is Gwawl, son of +Clud, and is the suitor to escape from whom she had fled to Pwyll. + +Pwyll is bound in honour by his word, and Rhiannon explains that the +banquet cannot be given to Gwawl, for it is not in Pwyll's power, but that +she herself will be his bride in a twelvemonth; Gwawl is to come and claim +her then, and a new bridal feast will be prepared for him. Meantime she +concerts a plan with Pwyll, and gives him a certain magical bag, which he +is to make use of when the time shall come. + +A year passed away, Gwawl appeared according to the compact, and a great +feast was again set forth, in which he, and not Pwyll, had the place of +honour. As the company were making merry, however, a beggar clad in rags +and shod with clumsy old shoes came into the hall, carrying a bag, as +beggars are wont to do. He humbly craved a boon of Gwawl. It was merely +that the full of his bag of food might be given him from the banquet. +Gwawl cheerfully consented, and an attendant went to fill the bag. But +however much they put into it it never got fuller--by degrees all the good +things on the tables had gone in; and at last Gwawl cried: "My soul, will +thy bag never be full?" "It will not, I declare to heaven," answered +Pwyll--for he, of course, was the disguised beggar man--"unless some man +wealthy in lands and treasure shall get into the bag and stamp it down +with his feet, and declare, 'Enough has been put herein.' " Rhiannon urged +Gwawl to check the voracity of the bag. He put his two feet into it; Pwyll +immediately drew up the sides of the bag over Gwawl's head and tied it up. +Then he blew his horn, and the knights he had with him, who were concealed +outside, rushed in, and captured and bound the followers of Gwawl. "What +is in the bag?" they cried, and others answered, "A badger," and so they +played the game of "Badger in the Bag," striking it and kicking it about +the hall. + +At last a voice was heard from it. "Lord," cried Gwawl, "if thou wouldst +but hear me, I merit not to be slain in a bag." "He speaks truth," said +Hevydd Hen. + +So an agreement was come to that Gwawl should provide means for Pwyll to +satisfy all the suitors and minstrels who should come to the wedding, and +abandon Rhiannon, and never seek to have revenge for what had been done to +him. This was confirmed by sureties, and Gwawl and his men were released +and went to their own territory. And Pwyll wedded Rhiannon, and dispensed +gifts royally to all and sundry; and at last the pair, when the feasting +was done, journeyed down to the palace of Narberth in Dyfed, where +Rhiannon gave rich gifts, a bracelet and a ring or a precious stone to all +the lords and ladies of her new country, and they ruled the land in peace +both that year and the next. But the reader will find that we have not yet +done with Gwawl. + +*The Penance of Rhiannon* + +Now Pwyll was still without an heir to the throne, and his nobles urged +him to take another wife. "Grant us a year longer," said he, "and if there +be no heir after that it shall be as you wish." Before the year's end a +son was born to them in Narberth. But although six women sat up to watch +the mother and the infant, it happened towards the morning that they all +fell asleep, and Rhiannon also slept, and when the women awoke, behold, +the boy was gone! "We shall be burnt for this," said the women, and in +their terror they concocted a horrible plot: they killed a cub of a +staghound that had just been littered, and laid the bones by Rhiannon, and +smeared her face and hands with blood as she slept, and when she woke and +asked for her child they said she had devoured it in the night, and had +overcome them with furious strength when they would have prevented her--and +for all she could say or do the six women persisted in this story. + +When the story was told to Pwyll he would not put away Rhiannon, as his +nobles now again begged him to do, but a penance was imposed on +her--namely, that she was to sit every day by the horse-block at the gate +of the castle and tell the tale to every stranger who came, and offer to +carry them on her back into the castle. And this she did for part of a +year. + +*The Finding of Pryderi*(231) + +Now at this time there lived a man named Teirnyon of Gwent Is Coed, who +had the most beautiful mare in the world, but there was this misfortune +attending her, that although she foaled on the night of every first of +May, none ever knew what became of the colts. At last Teirnyon resolved to +get at the truth of the matter, and the next night on which the mare +should foal he armed himself and watched in the stable. So the mare +foaled, and the colt stood up, and Teirnyon was admiring its size and +beauty when a great noise was heard outside, and a long, clawed arm came +through the window of the stable and laid hold of the colt. Teirnyon +immediately smote at the arm with his sword, and severed it at the elbow, +so that it fell inside with the colt, and a great wailing and tumult was +heard outside. He rushed out, leaving the door open behind him, but could +see nothing because of the darkness of the night, and he followed the +noise a little way. Then he came back, and behold, at the door he found an +infant in swaddling-clothes and wrapped in a mantle of satin. He took up +the child and brought it to where his wife lay sleeping. She had no +children, and she loved the child when she saw it, and next day pretended +to her women that she had borne it as her own. And they called its name +Gwri of the Golden Hair, for its hair was yellow as gold; and it grew so +mightily that in two years it was as big and strong as a child of six; and +ere long the colt that had been foaled on the same night was broken in and +given him to ride. + +While these things were going on Teirnyon heard the tale of Rhiannon and +her punishment. And as the lad grew up he scanned his face closely and saw +that he had the features of Pwyll Prince of Dyfed. This he told to his +wife, and they agreed that the child should be taken to Narberth, and +Rhiannon released from her penance. + +As they drew near to the castle, Teirnyon and two knights and the child +riding on his colt, there was Rhiannon sitting by the horse-block. +"Chieftains," said she, "go not further thus; I will bear every one of you +into the palace, and this is my penance for slaying my own son and +devouring him." But they would not be carried, and went in. Pwyll rejoiced +to see Teirnyon, and made a feast for him. Afterwards Teirnyon declared to +Pwyll and Rhiannon the adventure of the man and the colt, and how they had +found the boy. "And behold, here is thy son, lady," said Teirnyon, "and +whoever told that lie concerning thee has done wrong." All who sat at +table recognised the lad at once as the child of Pwyll, and Rhiannon +cried: "I declare to heaven that if this be true there is an end to my +trouble." And a chief named Pendaran said: "Well hast thou named thy son +Pryderi [trouble], and well becomes him the name of Pryderi son of Pwyll, +Lord of Annwn." It was agreed that his name should be Pryderi, and so he +was called thenceforth. + +Teirnyon rode home, overwhelmed with thanks and love and gladness; and +Pwyll offered him rich gifts of horses and jewels and dogs, but he would +take none of them. And Pryderi was trained up, as befitted a king's son, +in all noble ways and accomplishments, and when his father Pwyll died he +reigned in his stead over the Seven Cantrevs of Dyfed. And he added to +them many other fair dominions, and at last he took to wife Kicva, +daughter of Gwynn Gohoyw, who came of the lineage of Prince Casnar of +Britain. + +*The Tale of Bran and Branwen* + +Bendigeid Vran, or "Bran the Blessed," by which latter name we shall +designate him here, when he had been made King of the Isle of the Mighty +(Britain), was one time in his court at Harlech. And he had with him his +brother Manawyddan son of Llyr, and his sister Branwen, and the two sons, +Nissyen and Evnissyen, that Penardun his mother bore to Eurosswyd. Now +Nissyen was a youth of gentle nature, and would make peace among his +kindred and cause them to be friends when their wrath was at its highest; +but Evnissyen loved nothing so much as to turn peace into contention and +strife. + +One afternoon, as Bran son of Llyr sat on the rock of Harlech looking out +to sea, he beheld thirteen ships coming rapidly from Ireland before a fair +wind. They were gaily furnished, bright flags flying from the masts, and +on the foremost ship, when they came near, a man could be seen holding up +a shield with the point upwards in sign of peace.(232) + +When the strangers landed they saluted Bran and explained their business. +Matholwch,(233) King of Ireland, was with them; his were the ships, and he +had come to ask for the hand in marriage of Bran's sister, Branwen, so +that Ireland and Britain might be leagued together and both become more +powerful. "Now Branwen was one of the three chief ladies of the island, +and she was the fairest damsel in the world." + +The Irish were hospitably entertained, and after taking counsel with his +lords Bran agreed to give his sister to Matholwch. The place of the +wedding was fixed at Aberffraw, and the company assembled for the feast in +tents because no house could hold the giant form of Bran. They caroused +and made merry in peace and amity, and Branwen became the bride or the +Irish king. + +Next day Evnissyen came by chance to where the horses of Matholwch were +ranged, and he asked whose they were. "They are the horses of Matholwch, +who is married to thy sister." "And is it thus," said he, "they have done +with a maiden such as she, and, moreover, my sister, bestowing her without +my consent? They could offer me no greater insult." Thereupon he rushed +among the horses and cut off their lips at the teeth, and their ears to +their heads, and their tails close to the body, and where he could seize +the eyelids he cut them off to the bone. + +When Matholwch heard what had been done he was both angered and +bewildered, and bade his people put to sea. Bran sent messengers to learn +what had happened, and when he had been informed he sent Manawyddan and +two others to make atonement. Matholwch should have sound horses for every +one that was injured, and in addition a staff of silver as large and as +tall as himself, and a plate of gold the size of his face. "And let him +come and meet me," he added, "and we will make peace in any way he may +desire." But as for Evnissyen, he was the son of Bran's mother, and +therefore Bran could not put him to death as he deserved. + +*The Magic Cauldron* + +Matholwch accepted these terms, but not very cheerfully, and Bran now +offered another treasure, namely, a magic cauldron which had the property +that if a slain man were cast into it he would come forth well and sound, +only he would not be able to speak. Matholwch and Bran then talked about +the cauldron, which originally, it seems, came from Ireland. There was a +lake in that country near to a mound (doubtless a fairy mound) which was +called the Lake of the Cauldron. Here Matholwch had once met a tall and +ill-looking fellow with a wife bigger than himself, and the cauldron +strapped on his back. They took service with Matholwch. At the end of a +period of six weeks the wife gave birth to a son, who was a warrior fully +armed. We are apparently to understand that this happened every six weeks, +for by the end of the year the strange pair, who seem to be a war-god and +goddess, had several children, whose continual bickering and the outrages +they committed throughout the land made them hated. At last, to get rid of +them, Matholwch had a house of iron made, and enticed them into it. He +then barred the door and heaped coals about the chamber, and blew them +into a white heat, hoping to roast the whole family to death. As soon, +however, as the iron walls had grown white-hot and soft the man and his +wife burst through them and got away, but the children remained behind and +were destroyed. Bran then took up the story. The man, who was called +Llassar Llaesgyvnewid, and his wife Kymideu Kymeinvoll, come across to +Britain, where Bran took them in, and in return for his kindness they gave +him the cauldron. And since then they had filled the land with their +descendants, who prospered everywhere and dwelt in strong fortified burgs +and had the best weapons that ever were seen. + +So Matholwch received the cauldron along with his bride, and sailed back +to Ireland, where Branwen entertained the lords and ladies of the land, +and gave to each, as he or she took leave, "either a clasp or a ring or a +royal jewel to keep, such as it was honourable to be seen departing with." +And when the year was out Branwen bore a son to Matholwch, whose name was +called Gwern. + +*The Punishment of Branwen* + +There occurs now an unintelligible place in the story. In the second year, +it appears, and not till then, the men of Ireland grew indignant over the +insult to their king committed by Evnissyen, and took revenge for it by +having Branwen degraded to the position of a cook, and they caused the +butcher every day to give her a blow on the ears. They also forbade all +ships and ferry-boats to cross to Cambria, and any who came thence into +Ireland were imprisoned so that news of Branwen's ill-treatment might not +come to the ears of Bran. But Branwen reared up a young starling in a +corner of her kneading-trough, and one day she tied a letter under its +wing and taught it what to do. It flew away towards Britain, and finding +Bran at Caer Seiont in Arvon, it lit on his shoulder, ruffling its +feathers, and the letter was found and read. Bran immediately prepared a +great hosting for Ireland, and sailed thither with a fleet of ships, +leaving his land of Britain under his son Caradawc and six other chiefs. + +*The Invasion of Bran* + +Soon there came messengers to Matholwch telling him of a wondrous sight +they had seen; a wood was growing on the sea, and beside the wood a +mountain with a high ridge in the middle of it, and two lakes, one at each +side. And wood and mountain moved towards the shore of Ireland. Branwen is +called up to explain, if she could, what this meant. She tells them the +wood is the masts and yards of the fleet of Britain, and the mountain is +Bran, her brother, coming into shoal water, "for no ship can contain him"; +the ridge is his nose, the lakes his two eyes.(234) + +The King of Ireland and his lords at once took counsel together how they +might meet this danger; and the plan they agreed upon was as follows: A +huge hall should be built, big enough to hold Bran--this, it was hoped, +would placate him--there should be a great feast made there for himself and +his men, and Matholwch should give over the kingdom of Ireland to him and +do homage. All this was done by Branwen's advice. But the Irish added a +crafty device of their own. From two brackets on each of the hundred +pillars in the hall should be hung two leather bags, with an armed warrior +in each of them ready to fall upon the guests when the moment should +arrive. + +*The Meal-bags* + +Evnissyen, however, wandered into the hall before the rest of the host, +and scanning the arrangements "with fierce and savage looks," he saw the +bags which hung from the pillars. "What is in this bag?" said he to one of +the Irish. "Meal, good soul," said the Irishman. Evnissyen laid his hand +on the bag, and felt about with his fingers till he came to the head of +the man within it. Then "he squeezed the head till he felt his fingers +meet together in the brain through the bone." He went to the next bag, and +asked the same question. "Meal," said the Irish attendant, but Evnissyen +crushed this warrior's head also, and thus he did with all the two hundred +bags, even in the case of one warrior whose head was covered with an iron +helm. + +Then the feasting began, and peace and concord reigned, and Matholwch laid +down the sovranty of Ireland, which was conferred on the boy Gwern. And +they all fondled and caressed the fair child till he came to Evnissyen, +who suddenly seized him and flung him into the blazing fire on the hearth. +Branwen would have leaped after him, but Bran held her back. Then there +was arming apace, and tumult and shouting, and the Irish and British hosts +closed in battle and fought until the fall of night. + +*Death of Evnissyen* + +But at night the Irish heated the magic cauldron and threw into it the +bodies of their dead, who came out next day as good as ever, but dumb. +When Evnissyen saw this he was smitten with remorse for having brought the +men of Britain into such a strait: "Evil betide me if I find not a +deliverance therefrom." So he hid himself among the Irish dead, and was +flung into the cauldron with the rest at the end of the second day, when +he stretched himself out so that he rent the cauldron into four pieces, +and his own heart burst with the effort, and he died. + +*The Wonderful Head* + +In the end, all the Irishmen were slain, and all but seven of the British +besides Bran, who was wounded in the foot with a poisoned arrow. Among the +seven were Pryderi and Manawyddan. Bran then commanded them to cut off his +head. "And take it with you," he said, "to London, and there bury it in +the White Mount(235) looking towards France, and no foreigner shall invade +the land while it is there. On the way the Head will talk to you, and be +as pleasant company as ever in life. In Harlech ye will be feasting seven +years and the birds of Rhiannon will sing to you. And at Gwales in Penvro +ye will be feasting fourscore years, and the Head will talk to you and be +uncorrupted till ye open the door looking towards Cornwall. After that ye +may no longer tarry, but set forth to London and bury the Head." + +Then the seven cut off the head of Bran and went forth, and Branwen with +them, to do his bidding. But when Branwen came to land at Aber Alaw she +cried, "Woe is me that I was ever born; two islands have been destroyed +because of me." And she uttered a loud groan, and her heart broke. They +made her a four-sided grave on the banks of the Alaw, and the place was +called _Ynys Branwen_ to this day.(236) + +The seven found that in the absence of Bran, Caswallan son of Beli had +conquered Britain and slain the six captains of Caradawc. By magic art he +had thrown on Caradawc the Veil of Illusion, and Caradawc saw only the +sword which slew and slew, but not him who wielded it, and his heart broke +for grief at the sight. + +They then went to Harlech and remained there seven years listening to the +singing of the birds of Rhiannon--"all the songs they had ever heard were +unpleasant compared thereto." Then they went to Gwales in Penvro and found +a fair and spacious hall overlooking the ocean. When they entered it they +forgot all the sorrow of the past and all that had befallen them, and +remained there fourscore years in joy and mirth, the wondrous Head talking +to them as if it were alive. And bards call this "the Entertaining of the +Noble Head." Three doors were in the hall, and one of them which looked to +Cornwall and to Aber Henvelyn was closed, but the other two were open. At +the end of the time, Heilyn son of Gwyn said, "Evil betide me if I do not +open the door to see if what was said is true." And he opened it, and at +once remembrance and sorrow fell upon them, and they set forth at once for +London and buried the Head in the White Mount, where it remained until +Arthur dug it up, for he would not have the land defended but by the +strong arm. And this was "the Third Fatal Disclosure" in Britain. + +So ends this wild tale, which is evidently full of mythological elements, +the key to which has long been lost. The touches of Northern ferocity +which occur in it have made some critics suspect the influence of Norse or +Icelandic literature in giving it its present form. The character of +Evnissyen would certainly lend countenance to this conjecture. The typical +mischief-maker of course occurs in purely Celtic sagas, but not commonly +in combination with the heroic strain shown in Evnissyen's end, nor does +the Irish "poison-tongue" ascend to anything like the same height of +daimonic malignity. + +*The Tale of Pryderi and Manawyddan* + +After the events of the previous tales Pryderi and Manawyddan retired to +the dominions of the former, and Manawyddan took to wife Rhiannon, the +mother of his friend. There they lived happily and prosperously till one +day, while they were at the Gorsedd, or Mound, near Narberth, a peal of +thunder was heard and a thick mist fell so that nothing could be seen all +round. When the mist cleared away, behold, the land was bare before +them--neither houses nor people nor cattle nor crops were to be seen, but +all was desert and uninhabited. The palace of Narberth was still standing, +but it was empty and desolate--none remained except Pryderi and Manawyddan +and their wives, Kicva and Rhiannon. + +Two years they lived on the provisions they had, and on the prey they +killed, and on wild honey; and then they began to be weary. "Let us go +into Lloegyr,"(237) then said Manawyddan, "and seek out some craft to +support ourselves." So they went to Hereford and settled there, and +Manawyddan and Pryderi began to make saddles and housings, and Manawyddan +decorated them with blue enamel as he had learned from a great craftsman, +Llasar Llaesgywydd. After a time, however, the other saddlers of Hereford, +finding that no man would purchase any but the work of Manawyddan, +conspired to kill them. And Pryderi would have fought with them, but +Manawyddan held it better to withdraw elsewhere, and so they did. + +They settled then in another city, where they made shields such as never +were seen, and here, too, in the end, the rival craftsmen drove them out. +And this happened also in another town where they made shoes; and at last +they resolved to go back to Dyfed. Then they gathered their dogs about +them and lived by hunting as before. + +One day they started a wild white boar, and chased him in vain until he +led them up to a vast and lofty castle, all newly built in a place where +they had never seen a building before. The boar ran into the castle, the +dogs followed him, and Pryderi, against the counsel of Manawyddan, who +knew there was magic afoot, went in to seek for the dogs. + +He found in the centre of the court a marble fountain beside which stood a +golden bowl on a marble slab, and being struck by the rich workmanship of +the bowl, he laid hold of it to examine it, when he could neither withdraw +his hand nor utter a single sound, but he remained there, transfixed and +dumb, beside the fountain. + +Manawyddan went back to Narberth and told the story to Rhiannon. "An evil +companion hast thou been," said she, "and a good companion hast thou +lost." + +Next day she went herself to explore the castle. She found Pryderi still +clinging to the bowl and unable to speak. She also, then, laid hold of the +bowl, when the same fate befell her, and immediately afterwards came a +peal of thunder, and a heavy mist fell, and when it cleared off the castle +had vanished with all that it contained, including the two spell-bound +wanderers. + +Manawyddan then went back to Narberth, where only Kicva, Pryderi's wife, +now remained. And when she saw none but herself and Manawyddan in the +place, "she sorrowed so that she cared not whether she lived or died." +When Manawyddan saw this he said to her, "Thou art in the wrong if through +fear of me thou grievest thus. I declare to thee were I in the dawn of +youth I would keep my faith unto Pryderi, and unto thee also will I keep +it." "Heaven reward thee," she said, "and that is what I deemed of thee." +And thereupon she took courage and was glad. + +Kicva and Manawyddan then again tried to support themselves by shoemaking +in Lloegyr, but the same hostility drove them back to Dyfed. This time, +however, Manawyddan took back with him a load of wheat, and he sowed it, +and he prepared three crofts for a wheat crop. Thus the time passed till +the fields were ripe. And he looked at one of the crofts and said, "I will +reap this to-morrow." But on the morrow when he went out in the grey dawn +he found nothing there but bare straw--every ear had been cut off from the +stalk and carried away. + +Next day it was the same with the second croft. But on the following night +he armed himself and sat up to watch the third croft to see who was +plundering him. At midnight, as he watched, he heard a loud noise, and +behold, a mighty host of mice came pouring into the croft, and they +climbed up each on a stalk and nibbled off the ears and made away with +them. He chased them in anger, but they fled far faster than he could run, +all save one which was slower in its movements, and this he barely managed +to overtake, and he bound it into his glove and took it home to Narberth, +and told Kicva what had happened. "To-morrow," he said, "I will hang the +robber I have caught," but Kicva thought it beneath his dignity to take +vengeance on a mouse. + +Next day he went up to the Mound of Narberth and set up two forks for a +gallows on the highest part of the hill. As he was doing this a poor +scholar came towards him, and he was the first person Manawyddan had seen +in Dyfed, except his own companions, since the enchantment began. + +The scholar asked him what he was about and begged him to let go the +mouse--"Ill doth it become a man of thy rank to touch such a reptile as +this." "I will not let it go, by Heaven," said Manawyddan, and by that he +abode, although the scholar offered him a pound of money to let it go +free. "I care not," said the scholar, "except that I would not see a man +of rank touching such a reptile," and with that he went his way. + +As Manawyddan was placing the cross-beam on the two forks of his gallows, +a priest came towards him riding on a horse with trappings, and the same +conversation ensued. The priest offered three pounds for the mouse's life, +but Manawyddan refused to take any price for it. "Willingly, lord, do thy +good pleasure," said the priest, and he, too, went his way. + +Then Manawyddan put a noose about the mouse's neck and was about to draw +it up when he saw coming towards him a bishop with a great retinue of +sumpter-horses and attendants. And he stayed his work and asked the +bishop's blessing. "Heaven's blessing be unto thee," said the bishop; +"what work art thou upon?" "Hanging a thief," replied Manawyddan. The +bishop offered seven pounds "rather than see a man of thy rank destroying +so vile a reptile." Manawyddan refused. Four-and-twenty pounds was then +offered, and then as much again, then all the bishop's horses and +baggage--all in vain. "Since for this thou wilt not," said the bishop, "do +it at whatever price thou wilt." "I will do so," said Manawyddan; "I will +that Rhiannon and Pryderi be free." "That thou shalt have," said the +(pretended) bishop. Then Manawyddan demands that the enchantment and +illusion be taken off for ever from the seven Cantrevs of Dyfed, and +finally insists that the bishop shall tell him who the mouse is and why +the enchantment was laid on the country. "I am Llwyd son of Kilcoed," +replies the enchanter, "and the mouse is my wife; but that she is pregnant +thou hadst never overtaken her." He goes on with an explanation which +takes us back to the first _Mabinogi_ of the Wedding of Rhiannon. The +charm was cast on the land to avenge the ill that was done Llwyd's friend, +Gwawl son of Clud, with whom Pryderi's father and his knights had played +"Badger in the Bag" at the court of Hevydd Hen. The mice were the lords +and ladies of Llwyd's court. + +The enchanter is then made to promise that no further vengeance shall be +taken on Pryderi, Rhiannon, or Manawyddan, and the two spell-bound +captives having been restored, the mouse is released. "Then Llwyd struck +her with a magic wand, and she was changed into a young woman, the fairest +ever seen." And on looking round Manawyddan saw all the land tilled and +peopled as in its best state, and full of herds and dwellings. "What +bondage," he asks, "has there been upon Pryderi and Rhiannon?" "Pryderi +has had the knockers of the gate of my palace about his neck, and Rhiannon +has had the collars of the asses after they have been carrying hay about +her neck." And such had been their bondage. + +*The Tale of Math Son of Mathonwy* + +The previous tale was one of magic and illusion in which the mythological +element is but faint. In that which we have now to consider we are, +however, in a distinctly mythological region. The central motive of the +tale shows us the Powers of Light contending with those of the Under-world +for the prized possessions of the latter, in this case a herd of magic +swine. We are introduced in the beginning of the story to the deity, Math, +of whom the bard tells us that he was unable to exist unless his feet lay +in the lap of a maiden, except when the land was disturbed by war.(238) +Math is represented as lord of Gwynedd, while Pryderi rules over the +one-and-twenty cantrevs of the south. With Math were his nephews Gwydion +and Gilvaethwy sons of Don, who went the circuit of the land in his stead, +while Math lay with his feet in the lap of the fairest maiden of the land +and time, Goewin daughter of Pebin of Dol Pebin in Arvon. + +*Gwydion and the Swine of Pryderi* + +Gilvaethwy fell sick of love for Goewin, and confided the secret to his +brother Gwydion, who undertook to help him to his desire. So he went to +Math one day, and asked his leave to go to Pryderi and beg from him the +gift, for Math, of a herd of swine which had been bestowed on him by Arawn +King of Annwn. "They are beasts," he said, "such as never were known in +this island before ... their flesh is better than the flesh of oxen." Math +bade him go, and he and Gilvaethwy started with ten companions for Dyfed. +They came to Pryderi's palace in the guise of bards, and Gwydion, after +being entertained at a feast, was asked to tell a tale to the court. After +delighting every one with his discourse he begged for a gift of the swine. +But Pryderi was under a compact with his people neither to sell nor give +them until they had produced double their number in the land. "Thou mayest +exchange them, though," said Gwydion, and thereupon he made by magic arts +an illusion of twelve horses magnificently caparisoned, and twelve hounds, +and gave them to Pryderi and made off with the swine as fast as possible, +"for," said he to his companions, "the illusion will not last but from one +hour to the same to-morrow." + +The intended result came to pass--Pryderi invaded the land to recover his +swine, Math went to meet him in arms, and Gilvaethwy seized his +opportunity and made Goewin his wife, although she was unwilling. + +*Death of Pryderi* + +The war was decided by a single combat between Gwydion and Pryderi. "And +by force of strength and fierceness, and by the magic and charms of +Gwydion, Pryderi was slain. And at Maen Tyriawc, above Melenryd, was he +buried, and there is his grave." + +*The Penance of Gwydion and Gilvaethwy* + +When Math came back he found what Gilvaethwy had done, and he took Goewin +to be his queen, but Gwydion and Gilvaethwy went into outlawry, and dwelt +on the borders of the land. At last they came and submitted themselves for +punishment to Math. "Ye cannot compensate me my shame, setting aside the +death of Pryderi," he said, "but since ye come hither to be at my will, I +shall begin your punishment forthwith." So he turned them both into deer, +and bade them come hither again in a twelvemonth. + +They came at the appointed time, bringing with them a young fawn. And the +fawn was brought into human shape and baptized, and Gwydion and Gilvaethwy +were changed into two wild swine. At the next year's end they came back +with a young one who was treated as the fawn before him, and the brothers +were made into wolves. Another year passed; they came back again with a +young wolf as before, and this time their penance was deemed complete, and +their human nature was restored to them, and Math gave orders to have them +washed and anointed, and nobly clad as was befitting. + +*The Children of Arianrod: Dylan* + +The question then arose of appointing another virgin foot-holder, and +Gwydion suggests his sister, Arianrod. She attends for the purpose, and +Math asks her if she is a virgin. "I know not, lord, other than that I +am," she says. But she failed in a magical test imposed by Math, and gave +birth to two sons. One of these was named Dylan, "Son of the Wave," +evidently a Cymric sea-deity. So soon as he was baptized "he plunged into +the sea and swam as well as the best fish that was therein.... Beneath him +no wave ever broke." A wild sea-poetry hangs about his name in Welsh +legend. On his death, which took place, it is said, at the hand of his +uncle Govannon, all the waves of Britain and Ireland wept for him. The +roar of the incoming tide at the mouth of the river Conway is still called +the "death-groan of Dylan." + +*Llew Llaw Gyffes* + +The other infant was seized by Gwydion and brought up under his +protection. Like other solar heroes, he grew very rapidly; when he was +four he was as big as if he were eight, and the comeliest youth that ever +was seen. One day Gwydion took him to visit his mother Arianrod. She hated +the children who had exposed her false pretensions, and upbraided Gwydion +for bringing the boy into her sight. "What is his name?" she asked. +"Verily," said Gwydion, "he has not yet a name." "Then I lay this destiny +upon him," said Arianrod, "that he shall never have a name till one is +given him by me." On this Gwydion went forth in wrath, and remained in his +castle of Caer Dathyl that night. + +Though the fact does not appear in this tale, it must be remembered that +Gwydion is, in the older mythology, the father of Arianrod's children. + +*How Llew Got his Name* + +He was resolved to have a name for his son. Next day he went to the strand +below Caer Arianrod, bringing the boy with him. Here he sat down by the +beach, and in his character of a master of magic he made himself look like +a shoemaker, and the boy like an apprentice, and he began to make shoes +out of sedges and seaweed, to which he gave the semblance of Cordovan +leather. Word was brought to Arianrod of the wonderful shoes that were +being made by a strange cobbler, and she sent her measure for a pair. +Gwydion made them too large. She sent it again, and he made them too +small. Then she came herself to be fitted. While this was going on, a wren +came and lit on the boat's mast, and the boy, taking up a bow, shot an +arrow that transfixed the leg between the sinew and the bone. Arianrod +admired the brilliant shot. "Verily," she said, "with a steady hand (_llaw +gyffes_) did the lion (_llew_) hit it." "No thanks to thee," cried +Gwydion, "now he has got a name. Llew Llaw Gyffes shall he be called +henceforward." + +We have seen that the name really means the same thing as the Gaelic Lugh +Lamfada, Lugh (Light) of the Long Arm; so that we have here an instance of +a legend growing up round a misunderstood name inherited from a +half-forgotten mythology. + +*How Llew Took Arms* + +The shoes went back immediately to sedges and seaweed again, and Arianrod, +angry at being tricked, laid a new curse on the boy. "He shall never bear +arms till I invest him with them." But Gwydion, going to Caer Arianrod +with the boy in the semblance of two bards, makes by magic art the +illusion of a foray of armed men round the castle. Arianrod gives them +weapons to help in the defence, and thus again finds herself tricked by +the superior craft of Gwydion. + +*The Flower-Wife of Llew* + +Next she said, "He shall never have a wife of the race that now inhabits +this earth." This raised a difficulty beyond the powers of even Gwydion, +and he went to Math, the supreme master of magic. "Well," said Math, "we +will seek, I and thou, to form a wife for him out of flowers." "So they +took the blossoms of the oak, and the blossoms of the broom, and the +blossoms of the meadow-sweet, and produced from them a maiden, the fairest +and most graceful that man ever saw. And they baptized her, and gave her +the name of Blodeuwedd, or Flower-face." They wedded her to Llew, and gave +them the cantrev of Dinodig to reign over, and there Llew and his bride +dwelt for a season, happy, and beloved by all. + +*Betrayal of Llew* + +But Blodeuwedd was not worthy of her beautiful name and origin. One day +when Llew was away on a visit with Math, a lord named Gronw Pebyr came +a-hunting by the palace of Llew, and Blodeuwedd loved him from the moment +she looked upon him. That night they slept together, and the next, and the +next, and then they planned how to be rid of Llew for ever. But Llew, like +the Gothic solar hero Siegfried, is invulnerable except under special +circumstances, and Blodeuwedd has to learn from him how he may be slain. +This she does under pretence of care for his welfare. The problem is a +hard one. Llew can only be killed by a spear which has been a year in +making, and has only been worked on during the Sacrifice of the Host on +Sundays. Furthermore, he cannot be slain within a house or without, on +horseback or on foot. The only way, in fact, is that he should stand with +one foot on a dead buck and the other in a cauldron, which is to be used +for a bath and thatched with a roof--if he is wounded while in this +position with a spear made as directed the wound may be fatal, not +otherwise. After a year, during which Gronw wrought at the spear, +Blodeuwedd begged Llew to show her more fully what she must guard against, +and he took up the required position to please her. Gronw, lurking in a +wood hard by, hurled the deadly spear, and the head, which was poisoned, +sank into Llew's body, but the shaft broke off. Then Llew changed into an +eagle, and with a loud scream he soared up into the air and was no more +seen, and Gronw took his castle and lands and added them to his own. + +These tidings at last reached Gwydion and Math, and Gwydion set out to +find Llew. He came to the house of a vassal of his, from whom he learned +that a sow that he had disappeared every day and could not be traced, but +it came home duly each night. Gwydion followed the sow, and it went far +away to the brook since called Nant y Llew, where it stopped under a tree +and began feeding. Gwydion looked to see what it ate, and found that it +fed on putrid flesh that dropped from an eagle sitting aloft on the tree, +and it seemed to him that the eagle was Llew. Gwydion sang to it, and +brought it gradually down the tree till it came to his knee, when he +struck it with his magic wand and restored it to the shape of Llew, but +worn to skin and bone--"no one ever saw a more piteous sight." + +*The Healing of Llew* + +When Llew was healed, he and Gwydion took vengeance on their foes. +Blodeuwedd was changed into an owl and bidden to shun the light of day, +and Gronw was slain by a cast of the spear of Llew that passed through a +slab of stone to reach him, and the slab with the hole through it made by +the spear of Llew remains by the bank of the river Cynvael in Ardudwy to +this day. And Llew took possession, for the second time, of his lands, and +ruled them prosperously all his days. + +The four preceding tales are called the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, and +of the collection called the "Mabinogion" they form the most ancient and +important part. + +*The Dream of Maxen Wledig* + +Following the order of the tales in the "Mabinogion," as presented in Mr. +Nutt's edition, we come next to one which is a pure work of invention, +with no mythical or legendary element at all. It recounts how Maxen +Wledig, Emperor of Rome, had a vivid dream, in which he was led into a +strange country, where he saw a king in an ivory chair carving chessmen +with a steel file from a rod of gold. By him, on a golden throne, was the +fairest of maidens he had ever beheld. Waking, he found himself in love +with the dream-maiden, and sent messengers far and wide to discover, if +they could, the country and people that had appeared to him. They were +found in Britain. Thither went Maxen, and wooed and wedded the maiden. In +his absence a usurper laid hold of his empire in Rome, but with the aid of +his British friends he reconquered his dominions, and many of them settled +there with him, while others went home to Britain. The latter took with +them foreign wives, but, it is said, cut out their tongues, lest they +should corrupt the speech of the Britons. Thus early and thus powerful was +the devotion to their tongue of the Cymry, of whom the mythical bard +Taliesin prophesied: + +"Their God they will praise, +Their speech they will keep, +Their land they will lose, + Except wild Walia." + +*The Story of Lludd and Llevelys* + +This tale is associated with the former one in the section entitled +Romantic British History. It tells how Lludd son of Beli, and his brother +Llevelys, ruled respectively over Britain and France, and how Lludd sought +his brother's aid to stay the three plagues that were harassing the land. +These three plagues were, first, the presence of a demoniac race called +the Coranians; secondly, a fearful scream that was heard in every home in +Britain on every May-eve, and scared the people out of their senses; +thirdly, the unaccountable disappearance of all provisions in the king's +court every night, so that nothing that was not consumed by the household +could be found the next morning. Lludd and Llevelys talked over these +matters through a brazen tube, for the Coranians could hear everything +that was said if once the winds got hold of it--a property also attributed +to Math, son of Mathonwy. Llevelys destroyed the Coranians by giving to +Lludd a quantity of poisonous insects which were to be bruised up and +scattered over the people at an assembly. These insects would slay the +Coranians, but the people of Britain would be immune to them. The scream +Llevelys explained as proceeding from two dragons, which fought each other +once a year. They were to be slain by being intoxicated with mead, which +was to be placed in a pit dug in the very centre of Britain, which was +found on measurement to be at Oxford. The provisions, said Llevelys, were +taken away by a giant wizard, for whom Lludd watched as directed, and +overcame him in combat, and made him his faithful vassal thenceforward. +Thus Lludd and Llevelys freed the island from its three plagues. + +*Tales of Arthur* + +We next come to five Arthurian tales, one of which, the tale of Kilhwch +and Olwen, is the only native Arthurian legend which has come down to us +in Welsh literature. The rest, as we have seen, are more or less +reflections from the Arthurian literature as developed by foreign hands on +the Continent. + +*Kilhwch and Olwen* + +Kilhwch was son to Kilydd and his wife Goleuddydd, and is said to have +been cousin to Arthur. His mother having died, Kilydd took another wife, +and she, jealous of her stepson, laid on him a quest which promised to be +long and dangerous. "I declare," she said, "that it is thy destiny"--the +Gael would have said _geis_--"not to be suited with a wife till thou obtain +Olwen daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr."(239) And Kilhwch reddened at the +name, and "love of the maiden diffused itself through all his frame." By +his father's advice he set out to Arthur's Court to learn how and where he +might find and woo her. + +A brilliant passage then describes the youth in the flower of his beauty, +on a noble steed caparisoned with gold, and accompanied by two brindled +white-breasted greyhounds with collars of rubies, setting forth on his +journey to King Arthur. "And the blade of grass bent not beneath him, so +light was his courser's tread." + +*Kilhwch at Arthur's Court* + +After some difficulties with the Porter and with Arthur's seneschal, Kai, +who did not wish to admit the lad while the company were sitting at meat, +Kilhwch was brought into the presence of the King, and declared his name +and his desire. "I seek this boon," he said, "from thee and likewise at +the hands of thy warriors," and he then enumerates an immense list full of +mythological personages and details--Bedwyr, Gwyn ap Nudd, Kai, +Manawyddan,(240) Geraint, and many others, including "Morvran son of +Tegid, whom no one struck at in the battle of Camlan by reason of his +ugliness; all thought he was a devil," and "Sandde Bryd Angel, whom no one +touched with a spear in the battle of Camlan because of his beauty; all +thought he was a ministering angel." The list extends to many scores of +names and includes many women, as, for instance, "Creiddylad the daughter +of Lludd of the Silver Hand--she was the most splendid maiden in the three +Islands of the Mighty, and for her Gwythyr the son of Greidawl and Gwyn +the son of Nudd fight every first of May till doom," and the two Iseults +and Arthur's Queen, Gwenhwyvar. "All these did Kilydd's son Kilhwch adjure +to obtain his boon." + +Arthur, however, had never heard of Olwen nor of her kindred. He promised +to seek for her, but at the end of a year no tidings of her could be +found, and Kilhwch declared that he would depart and leave Arthur shamed. +Kai and Bedwyr, with the guide Kynddelig, are at last bidden to go forth +on the quest. + +*Servitors of Arthur* + +These personages are very different from those who are called by the same +names in Malory or Tennyson. Kai, it is said, could go nine days under +water. He could render himself at will as tall as a forest tree. So hot +was his physical constitution that nothing he bore in his hand could get +wetted in the heaviest rain. "Very subtle was Kai." As for Bedwyr--the +later Sir Bedivere--we are told that none equalled him in swiftness, and +that, though one-armed, he was a match for any three warriors on the field +of battle; his lance made a wound equal to those of nine. Besides these +three there went also on the quest Gwrhyr, who knew all tongues, and +Gwalchmai son of Arthur's sister Gwyar, and Menw, who could make the party +invisible by magic spells. + +*Custennin* + +The party journeyed till at last they came to a great castle before which +was a flock of sheep kept by a shepherd who had by him a mastiff big as a +horse. The breath of this shepherd, we are told, could burn up a tree. "He +let no occasion pass without doing some hurt or harm." However, he +received the party well, told them that he was Custennin, brother of +Yspaddaden whose castle stood before them, and brought them home to his +wife. The wife turned out to be a sister of Kilhwch's mother Goleuddydd, +and she was rejoiced at seeing her nephew, but sorrowful at the thought +that he had come in search of Olwen, "for none ever returned from that +quest alive." Custennin and his family, it appears, have suffered much at +the hands of Yspaddaden--all their sons but one being slain, because +Yspaddaden envied his brother his share of their patrimony. So they +associated themselves with the heroes in their quest. + +*Olwen of the White Track* + +Next day Olwen came down to the herdsman's house as usual, for she was +wont to wash her hair there every Saturday, and each time she did so she +left all her rings in the vessel and never sent for them again. She is +described in one of those pictorial passages in which the Celtic passion +for beauty has found such exquisite utterance. + +"The maiden was clothed in a robe of flame-coloured silk, and about her +neck was a collar of ruddy gold on which were precious emeralds and +rubies. More yellow was her head than the flower of the broom, and her +skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands and +her fingers than the blossoms of the wood-anemone amidst the spray of the +meadow fountain. The eye of the trained hawk, the glance of the +three-mewed falcon, was not brighter than hers. Her bosom was more snowy +than the breast of the white swan, her cheek was redder than the reddest +roses. Whoso beheld her was filled with her love. Four white trefoils +sprang up wherever she trod. And therefore was she called Olwen."(241) + +Kilhwch and she conversed together and loved each other, and she bade him +go and ask her of her father and deny him nothing that he might demand. +She had pledged her faith not to wed without his will, for his life would +only last till the time of her espousals. + +*Yspaddaden* + +Next day the party went to the castle and saw Yspaddaden. He put them off +with various excuses, and as they left flung after them a poisoned dart. +Bedwyr caught it and flung it back, wounding him in the knee, and +Yspaddaden cursed him in language of extraordinary vigour; the words seem +to crackle and spit like flame. Thrice over this happened, and at last +Yspaddaden declared what must be done to win Olwen. + +*The Tasks of Kilhwch* + +A long series of tasks follows. A vast hill is to be ploughed, sown, and +reaped in one day; only Amathaon son of Don can do it, and he will not. +Govannon, the smith, is to rid the ploughshare at each headland, and he +will not do it. The two dun oxen of Gwlwlyd are to draw the plough, and he +will not lend them. Honey nine times sweeter than that of the bee must be +got to make bragget for the wedding feast. A magic cauldron, a magic +basket out of which comes any meat that a man desires, a magic horn, the +sword of Gwrnach the Giant--all these must be won; and many other secret +and difficult things, some forty in all, before Kilhwch can call Olwen his +own. The most difficult quest is that of obtaining the comb and scissors +that are between the two ears of Twrch Trwyth, a king transformed into a +monstrous boar. To hunt the boar a number of other quests must be +accomplished--the whelp of Greid son of Eri is to be won, and a certain +leash to hold him, and a certain collar for the leash, and a chain for the +collar, and Mabon son of Modron for the huntsman and the horse of Gweddw +to carry Mabon, and Gwyn son of Nudd to help, "whom God placed over the +brood of devils in Annwn ... he will never be spared them," and so forth +to an extent which makes the famous _eric_ of the sons of Turenn seem +trifling by comparison. "Difficulties shalt thou meet with, and nights +without sleep, in seeking this [bride price], and if thou obtain it not, +neither shalt thou have my daughter." Kilhwch has one answer for every +demand: "It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although thou mayest +think that it will not be easy. And I shall gain thy daughter and thou +shalt lose thy life." + +So they depart on their way to fulfil the tasks, and on their way home +they fall in with Gwrnach the Giant, whose sword Kai, pretending to be a +sword-polisher, obtains by a stratagem. On reaching Arthur's Court again, +and telling the King what they have to do, he promises his aid. First of +the marvels they accomplished was the discovery and liberation of Mabon +son of Modron, "who was taken from his mother when three nights old, and +it is not known where he is now, nor whether he is living or dead." Gwrhyr +inquires of him from the Ousel of Cilgwri, who is so old that a smith's +anvil on which he was wont to peck has been worn to the size of a nut, yet +he has never heard of Mabon. But he takes them to a beast older still, the +Stag of Redynvre, and so on to the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd, and the Eagle of +Gwern Abwy, and the Salmon of Llyn Llyw, the oldest of living things, and +at last they find Mabon imprisoned in the stone dungeon of Gloucester, and +with Arthur's help they release him, and so the second task is fulfilled. +In one way or another, by stratagem, or valour, or magic art, every +achievement is accomplished, including the last and most perilous one, +that of obtaining "the blood of the black witch Orddu, daughter of the +white witch Orwen, of Penn Nart Govid on the confines of Hell." The combat +here is very like that of Finn in the cave of Keshcorran, but Arthur at +last cleaves the hag in twain, and Kaw of North Britain takes her blood. + +So then they set forth for the castle of Yspaddaden again, and he +acknowledges defeat. Goreu son of Custennin cuts off his head, and that +night Olwen became the happy bride of Kilhwch, and the hosts of Arthur +dispersed, every man to his own land. + +*The Dream of Rhonabwy* + +Rhonabwy was a man-at-arms under Madawc son of Maredudd, whose brother +Iorwerth rose in rebellion against him; and Rhonabwy went with the troops +of Madawc to put him down. Going with a few companions into a mean hut to +rest for the night, he lies down to sleep on a yellow calf-skin by the +fire, while his friends lie on filthy couches of straw and twigs. On the +calf-skin he has a wonderful dream. He sees before him the court and camp +of Arthur--here the _quasi_-historical king, neither the legendary deity of +the former tale nor the Arthur of the French chivalrous romances--as he +moves towards Mount Badon for his great battle with the heathen. A +character named Iddawc is his guide to the King, who smiles at Rhonabwy +and his friends, and asks: "Where, Iddawc, didst thou find these little +men?" "I found them, lord, up yonder on the road." "It pitieth me," said +Arthur, "that men of such stature as these should have the island in their +keeping, after the men that guarded it of yore." Rhonabwy has his +attention directed to a stone in the King's ring. "It is one of the +properties of that stone to enable thee to remember that which thou seest +here to-night, and hadst thou not seen the stone, thou wouldst never have +been able to remember aught thereof." + +The different heroes and companions that compose Arthur's army are +minutely described, with all the brilliant colour and delicate detail so +beloved by the Celtic fabulist. The chief incident narrated is a game of +chess that takes place between Arthur and the knight Owain son of Urien. +While the game goes on, first the knights of Arthur harry and disturb the +Ravens of Owain, but Arthur, when Owain complains, only says: "Play thy +game." Afterwards the Ravens have the better of it, and it is Owain's turn +to bid Arthur attend to his game. Then Arthur took the golden chessmen and +crushed them to dust in his hand, and besought Owain to quiet his Ravens, +which was done, and peace reigned again. Rhonabwy, it is said, slept three +days and nights on the calf-skin before awaking from his wondrous dream. +An epilogue declares that no bard is expected to know this tale by heart +and without a book, "because of the various colours that were upon the +horses, and the many wondrous colours of the arms and of the panoply, and +of the precious scarfs, and of the virtue-bearing stones." The "Dream of +Rhonabwy" is rather a gorgeous vision of the past than a story in the +ordinary sense of the word. + +*The Lady of the Fountain* + +We have here a Welsh reproduction of the _Conte_ entitled "Le Chevalier au +lion" of Chrestien de Troyes. The principal personage in the tale is Owain +son of Urien, who appears in a character as foreign to the spirit of +Celtic legend as it was familiar on the Continent, that of knight-errant. + +*The Adventure of Kymon* + +We are told in the introduction that Kymon, a knight of Arthur's Court, +had a strange and unfortunate adventure. Riding forth in search of some +deed of chivalry to do, he came to a splendid castle, where he was +hospitably received by four-and-twenty damsels, of whom "the least lovely +was more lovely than Gwenhwyvar, the wife of Arthur, when she has appeared +loveliest at the Offering on the Day of the Nativity, or at the feast of +Easter." With them was a noble lord, who, after Kymon had eaten, asked of +his business. Kymon explained that he was seeking for his match in combat. +The lord of the castle smiled, and bade him proceed as follows: He should +take the road up the valley and through a forest till he came to a glade +with a mound in the midst of it. On the mound he would see a black man of +huge stature with one foot and one eye, bearing a mighty iron club. He was +wood-ward of that forest, and would have thousands of wild animals, stags, +serpents, and what not, feeding around him. He would show Kymon what he +was in quest of. + +Kymon followed the instructions, and the black man directed him to where +he should find a fountain under a great tree; by the side of it would be a +silver bowl on a slab of marble. Kymon was to take the bowl and throw a +bowlful of water on the slab, when a terrific storm of hail and thunder +would follow--then there would break forth an enchanting music of singing +birds--then would appear a knight in black armour riding on a coal-black +horse, with a black pennon upon his lance. "And if thou dost not find +trouble in that adventure, thou needst not seek it during the rest of thy +life." + +*The Character of Welsh Romance* + +Here let us pause for a moment to point out how clearly we are in the +region of mediæval romance, and how far from that of Celtic mythology. +Perhaps the Celtic "Land of Youth" may have remotely suggested those +regions of beauty and mystery into which the Arthurian knight rides in +quest of adventure. But the scenery, the motives, the incidents, are +altogether different. And how beautiful they are--how steeped in the magic +light of romance! The colours live and glow, the forest murmurs in our +ears, the breath of that springtime of our modern world is about us, as we +follow the lonely rider down the grassy track into an unknown world of +peril and delight. While in some respects the Continental tales are +greater than the Welsh, more thoughtful, more profound, they do not +approach them in the exquisite artistry with which the exterior aspect of +things is rendered, the atmosphere of enchantment maintained, and the +reader led, with ever-quickening interest, from point to point in the +development of the tale. Nor are these Welsh tales a whit behind in the +noble and chivalrous spirit which breathes through them. A finer school of +character and of manners could hardly be found in literature. How strange +that for many centuries this treasure beyond all price should have lain +unnoticed in our midst! And how deep must be our gratitude to the nameless +bards whose thought created it, and to the nobly inspired hand which first +made it a possession for all the English-speaking world! + +*Defeat of Kymon* + +But to resume our story. Kymon did as he was bidden, the Black Knight +appeared, silently they set lance in rest and charged. Kymon was flung to +earth, while his enemy, not bestowing one glance upon him, passed the +shaft of his lance through the rein of Kymon's horse and rode off with it +in the direction whence he had come. Kymon went back afoot to the castle, +where none asked him how he had sped, but they gave him a new horse, "a +dark bay palfrey with nostrils as red as scarlet," on which he rode home +to Caerleon. + +*Owain and the Black Knight* + +Owain was, of course, fired by the tale of Kymon, and next morning at the +dawn of day he rode forth to seek for the same adventure. All passed as it +had done in Kymon's case, but Owain wounded the Black Knight so sorely +that he turned his horse and fled, Owain pursuing him hotly. They came to +a "vast and resplendent castle." Across the drawbridge they rode, the +outer portcullis of which fell as the Black Knight passed it. But so close +at his heels was Owain that the portcullis fell behind him, cutting his +horse in two behind the saddle, and he himself remained imprisoned between +the outer gate of the drawbridge and the inner. While he was in this +predicament a maiden came to him and gave him a ring. When he wore it with +the stone reversed and clenched in his hand he would become invisible, and +when the servants of the lord of the castle came for him he was to elude +them and follow her. + +This she did knowing apparently who he was, "for as a friend thou art the +most sincere, and as a lover the most devoted." + +Owain did as he was bidden, and the maiden concealed him. In that night a +great lamentation was heard in the castle--its lord had died of the wound +which Owain had given him. Soon afterwards Owain got sight of the mistress +of the castle, and love of her took entire possession of him. Luned, the +maiden who had rescued him, wooed her for him, and he became her husband, +and lord of the Castle of the Fountain and all the dominions of the Black +Knight. And he then defended the fountain with lance and sword as his +forerunner had done, and made his defeated antagonists ransom themselves +for great sums, which he bestowed among his barons and knights. Thus he +abode for three years. + +*The Search for Owain* + +After this time Arthur, with his nephew Gwalchmai and with Kymon for +guide, rode forth at the head of a host to search for tidings of Owain. +They came to the fountain, and here they met Owain, neither knowing the +other as their helms were down. And first Kai was overthrown, and then +Gwalchmai and Owain fought, and after a while Gwalchmai was unhelmed. +Owain said, "My lord Gwalchmai, I did not know thee; take my sword and my +arms." Said Gwalchmai, "Thou, Owain, art the victor; take thou my sword." +Arthur ended the contention in courtesy by taking the swords of both, and +then they all rode to the Castle of the Fountain, where Owain entertained +them with great joy. And he went back with Arthur to Caerleon, promising +to his countess that he would remain there but three months and then +return. + +*Owain Forgets his Lady* + +But at the Court of Arthur he forgot his love and his duty, and remained +there three years. At the end of that time a noble lady came riding upon a +horse caparisoned with gold, and she sought out Owain and took the ring +from his hand. "Thus," she said, "shall be treated the deceiver, the +traitor, the faithless, the disgraced, and the beardless." Then she turned +her horse's head and departed. And Owain, overwhelmed with shame and +remorse, fled from the sight of men and lived in a desolate country with +wild beasts till his body wasted and his hair grew long and his clothing +rotted away. + +*Owain and the Lion* + +In this guise, when near to death from exposure and want, he was taken in +by a certain widowed countess and her maidens, and restored to strength by +magic balsams; and although they besought him to remain with them, he rode +forth again, seeking for lonely and desert lands. Here he found a lion in +battle with a great serpent. Owain slew the serpent, and the lion followed +him and played about him as if it had been a greyhound that he had reared. +And it fed him by catching deer, part of which Owain cooked for himself, +giving the rest to his lion to devour; and the beast kept watch over him +by night. + +*Release of Luned* + +Owain next finds an imprisoned damsel, whose sighs he hears, though he +cannot see her nor she him. Being questioned, she told him that her name +was Luned--she was the handmaid of a countess whose husband had left her, +"and he was the friend I loved best in the world." Two of the pages of the +countess had traduced him, and because she defended him she was condemned +to be burned if before a year was out he (namely, Owain son of Urien) had +not appeared to deliver her. And the year would end to-morrow. On the next +day Owain met the two youths leading Luned to execution and did battle +with them. With the help of the lion he overcame them, rescued Luned, and +returned to the Castle of the Fountain, where he was reconciled with his +love. And he took her with him to Arthur's Court, and she was his wife +there as long as she lived. Lastly comes an adventure in which, still +aided by the lion, he vanquishes a black giant and releases +four-and-twenty noble ladies, and the giant vows to give up his evil ways +and keep a hospice for wayfarers as long as he should live. + +"And thenceforth Owain dwelt at Arthur's Court, greatly beloved, as the +head of his household, until he went away with his followers; and these +were the army of three hundred ravens which Kenverchyn(242) had left him. +And wherever Owain went with these he was victorious. And this is the tale +of the Lady of the Fountain." + +*The Tale of Enid and Geraint* + +In this tale, which appears to be based on the "Erec" of Chrestien de +Troyes, the main interest is neither mythological nor adventurous, but +sentimental. How Geraint found and wooed his love as the daughter of a +great lord fallen on evil days; how he jousted for her with Edeyrn, son of +Nudd--a Cymric deity transformed into the "Knight of the Sparrowhawk"; how, +lapped in love of her, he grew careless of his fame and his duty; how he +misunderstood the words she murmured over him as she deemed him sleeping, +and doubted her faith; how despitefully he treated her; and in how many a +bitter test she proved her love and loyalty--all these things have been +made so familiar to English readers in Tennyson's "Enid" that they need +not detain us here. Tennyson, in this instance, has followed his original +very closely. + +Legends of the Grail: The Tale of Peredur + +The Tale of Peredur is one of great interest and significance in connexion +with the origin of the Grail legend. Peredur corresponds to the Perceval +of Chrestien de Troyes, to whom we owe the earliest extant poem on the +Grail; but that writer left his Grail story unfinished, and we never learn +from him what exactly the Grail was or what gave it its importance. When +we turn for light to "Peredur," which undoubtedly represents a more +ancient form of the legend, we find ourselves baffled. For "Peredur" may +be described as the Grail story without the Grail.(243) The strange +personages, objects, and incidents which form the usual setting for the +entry upon the scene of this mystic treasure are all here; we breathe the +very atmosphere of the Grail Castle; but of the Grail itself there is no +word. The story is concerned simply with the vengeance taken by the hero +for the slaying of a kinsman, and for this end only are the mysteries of +the Castle of Wonders displayed to him. + +We learn at the opening of the tale that Peredur was in the significant +position of being a seventh son. To be a seventh son was, in this world of +mystical romance, equivalent to being marked out by destiny for fortunes +high and strange. His father, Evrawc, an earl of the North, and his six +brothers had fallen in fight. Peredur's mother, therefore, fearing a +similar fate for her youngest child, brought him up in a forest, keeping +from him all knowledge of chivalry or warfare and of such things as +war-horses or weapons. Here he grew up a simple rustic in manner and in +knowledge, but of an amazing bodily strength and activity. + +*He Goes Forth in Quest of Adventure* + +One day he saw three knights on the borders of the forest. They were all +of Arthur's Court--Gwalchmai, Geneir, and Owain. Entranced by the sight, he +asked his mother what these beings were. "They are angels, my son," said +she. "By my faith," said Peredur, "I will go and become an angel with +them." He goes to meet them, and soon learns what they are. Owain +courteously explains to him the use of a saddle, a shield, a sword, all +the accoutrements of warfare; and Peredur that evening picked out a bony +piebald draught-horse, and dressed him up in a saddle and trappings made +of twigs, and imitated from those he had seen. Seeing that he was bent on +going forth to deeds of chivalry, his mother gave him her blessing and +sundry instructions, and bade him seek the Court of Arthur; "there there +are the best, and the boldest, and the most beautiful of men." + +*His First Feat of Arms* + +Peredur mounted his Rosinante, took for weapons a handful of sharp-pointed +stakes, and rode forth to Arthur's Court. Here the steward, Kai, rudely +repulsed him for his rustic appearance, but a dwarf and dwarfess, who had +been a year at the Court without speaking one word to any one there, +cried: "Goodly Peredur, son of Evrawc; the welcome of Heaven be unto thee, +flower of knights and light of chivalry." Kai chastised the dwarfs for +breaking silence by lauding such a fellow as Peredur, and when the latter +demanded to be brought to Arthur, bade him first go and overcome a +stranger knight who had just challenged the whole Court by throwing a +goblet of wine into the face of Gwenhwyvar, and whom all shrank from +meeting. Peredur went out promptly to where the ruffian knight was +swaggering up and down, awaiting an opponent, and in the combat that +ensued pierced his skull with one of his sharp stakes and slew him. Owain +then came out and found Peredur dragging his fallen enemy about. "What art +thou doing there?" said Owain. "This iron coat," said Peredur, "will never +come off from him; not by my efforts at any rate." So Owain showed him how +to unfasten the armour, and Peredur took it, and the knight's weapons and +horse, and rode forth to seek what further adventures might befall. + +Here we have the character of _der reine Thor_, the valiant and +pure-hearted simpleton, clearly and vividly drawn. + +Peredur on leaving Arthur's Court had many encounters in which he +triumphed with ease, sending the beaten knights to Caerleon-on-Usk with +the message that he had overthrown them for the honour of Arthur and in +his service, but that he, Peredur, would never come to the Court again +till he had avenged the insult to the dwarfs upon Kai, who was accordingly +reproved by Arthur and was greatly grieved thereat. + +*The Castle of Wonders* + +We now come into what the reader will immediately recognise as the +atmosphere of the Grail legend. Peredur came to a castle beside a lake, +where he found a venerable man with attendants about him who were fishing +in the lake. As Peredur approached, the aged man rose and went into the +castle, and Peredur saw that he was lame. Peredur entered, and was +hospitably received in a great hall. The aged man asked him, when they had +done their meal, if he knew how to fight with the sword, and promised to +teach him all knightly accomplishments, and "the manners and customs of +different countries, and courtesy and gentleness and noble bearing." And +he added: "I am thy uncle, thy mother's brother." Finally, he bade him +ride forth, and remember, whatever he saw that might cause him wonder, not +to ask the meaning of it if no one had the courtesy to inform him. This is +the test of obedience and self-restraint on which the rest of the +adventure turns. + +On next riding forth, Peredur came to a vast desert wood, beyond which he +found a great castle, the Castle of Wonders. He entered it by the open +door, and found a stately, hoary-headed man sitting in a great hall with +many pages about him, who received Peredur honourably. At meat Peredur sat +beside the lord of the castle, who asked him, when they had done, if he +could fight with a sword. "Were I to receive instruction," said Peredur, +"I think I could." The lord then gave Peredur a sword, and bade him strike +at a great iron staple that was in the floor. Peredur did so, and cut the +staple in two, but the sword also flew into two parts. "Place the two +parts together," said the lord. Peredur did so, and they became one again, +both sword and staple. A second time this was done with the same result. +The third time neither sword nor staple would reunite. + +"Thou hast arrived," said the lord, "at two-thirds of thy strength." He +then declared that he also was + +Peredur's uncle, and brother to the fisher-lord with whom Peredur had +lodged on the previous night. As they discoursed, two youths entered the +hall bearing a spear of mighty size, from the point of which three streams +of blood dropped upon the ground, and all the company when they saw this +began wailing and lamenting with a great outcry, but the lord took no +notice and did not break off his discourse with Peredur. Next there came +in two maidens carrying between them a large salver, on which, amid a +profusion of blood, lay a man's head. Thereupon the wailing and lamenting +began even more loudly than before. But at last they fell silent, and +Peredur was led off to his chamber. Mindful of the injunction of the +fisher-lord, he had shown no surprise at what he saw, nor had he asked the +meaning of it. He then rode forth again in quest of other adventures, +which he had in bewildering abundance, and which have no particular +relation to the main theme. The mystery of the castle is not revealed till +the last pages of the story. The head in the silver dish was that of a +cousin of Peredur's. The lance was the weapon with which he was slain, and +with which also the uncle of Peredur, the fisher-lord, had been lamed. +Peredur had been shown these things to incite him to avenge the wrong, and +to prove his fitness for the task. The "nine sorceresses of Gloucester" +are said to have been those who worked these evils on the relatives of +Peredur. On learning these matters Peredur, with the help of Arthur, +attacked the sorceresses, who were slain every one, and the vengeance was +accomplished. + +*The Conte del Graal* + +The tale of Chrestien de Troyes called the "Conte del Graal" or "Perceval +le Gallois" launched the story in European literature. It was written +about the year 1180. It agrees in the introductory portion with "Peredur," +the hero being here called Perceval. He is trained in knightly +accomplishments by an aged knight named Gonemans, who warns him against +talking overmuch and asking questions. When he comes to the Castle of +Wonders the objects brought into the hall are a blood-dripping lance, a +"graal" accompanied by two double-branched candlesticks, the light of +which is put out by the shining of the graal, a silver plate and sword, +the last of which is given to Perceval. The bleeding head of the Welsh +story does not appear, nor are we told what the graal was. Next day when +Perceval rode forth he met a maiden who upbraided him fiercely for not +having asked the meaning of what he saw--had he done so the lame king (who +is here identical with the lord of the Castle of Wonders) would have been +made whole again. Perceval's sin in quitting his mother against her wish +was the reason why he was withholden from asking the question which would +have broken the spell. This is a very crude piece of invention, for it was +manifestly Peredur's destiny to take arms and achieve the adventure of the +Grail, and he committed no sin in doing so. Later on in the story Perceval +is met by a damsel of hideous appearance, who curses him for his omission +to ask concerning the lance and the other wonders--had he done so the king +would have been restored and would have ruled his land in peace, but now +maidens will be put to shame, knights will be slain, widows and orphans +will be made. + +This conception of the question episode seems to me radically different +from that which was adopted in the Welsh version. It is characteristic of +Peredur that he always does as he is told by proper authority. The +question was a test of obedience and self-restraint, and he succeeded in +the ordeal. In fairy literature one is often punished for curiosity, but +never for discretion and reserve. The Welsh tale here preserves, I think, +the original form of the story. But the French writers mistook the +omission to ask questions for a failure on the part of the hero, and +invented a shallow and incongruous theory of the episode and its +consequences. Strange to say, however, the French view found its way into +later versions of the Welsh tale, and such a version is that which we have +in the "Mabinogion." Peredur, towards the end of the story, meets with a +hideous damsel, the terrors of whose aspect are vividly described, and who +rebukes him violently for not having asked the meaning of the marvels at +the castle: "Hadst thou done so the king would have been restored to +health, and his dominions to peace. Whereas from henceforth he will have +to endure battles and conflicts, and his knights will perish, and wives +will be widowed, and maidens will be left portionless, and all this is +because of thee." I regard this loathly damsel as an obvious interpolation +in the Welsh tale. She came into it straight out of the pages of +Chrestien. That she did not originally belong to the story of Peredur +seems evident from the fact that in this tale the lame lord who bids +Peredur refrain from asking questions is, according to the damsel, the +very person who would have benefited by his doing so. As a matter of fact, +Peredur never does ask the question, and it plays no part in the +conclusion of the story. + +Chrestien's unfinished tale tells us some further adventures of Perceval +and of his friend and fellow-knight, Gauvain, but never explains the +significance of the mysterious objects seen at the castle. His +continuators, of whom Gautier was the first, tell us that the Graal was +the Cup of the Last Supper and the lance that which had pierced the side +of Christ at the Crucifixion; and that Peredur ultimately makes his way +back to the castle, asks the necessary question, and succeeds his uncle as +lord of the castle and guardian of its treasures. + +*Wolfram von Eschenbach* + +In the story as given by Wolfram von Eschenbach, who wrote about the year +1200--some twenty years later than Chrestien de Troyes, with whose work he +was acquainted--we meet with a new and unique conception of the Grail. He +says of the knights of the Grail Castle: + +"Si lebent von einem steine +Des geslähte ist vîl reine . . . +Es heizet _lapsit [lapis] exillîs_, +Der stein ist ouch genannt der Grâl."(244) + +It was originally brought down from heaven by a flight of angels and +deposited in Anjou, as the worthiest region for its reception. Its power +is sustained by a dove which every Good Friday comes from heaven and lays +on the Grail a consecrated Host. It is preserved in the Castle of +Munsalväsche [Montsalvat] and guarded by four hundred knights, who are +all, except their king, vowed to virginity. The king may marry, and is +indeed, in order to maintain the succession, commanded to do so by the +Grail, which conveys its messages to mankind by writing which appears upon +it and which fades away when deciphered. In the time of Parzival the king +is Anfortas. He cannot die in presence of the Grail, but he suffers from a +wound which, because he received it in the cause of worldly pride and in +seeking after illicit love, the influence of the Grail cannot heal until +the destined deliverer shall break the spell. This Parzival should have +done by asking the question, "What aileth thee, uncle?" The French version +makes Perceval fail in curiosity--Wolfram conceives the failure as one in +sympathy. He fails, at any rate, and next morning finds the castle empty +and his horse standing ready for him at the gate; as he departs he is +mocked by servitors who appear at the windows of the towers. After many +adventures, which are quite unlike those either in Chrestien's "Conte del +Graal" or in "Peredur," Parzival, who has wedded the maiden Condwiramur, +finds his way back to the Grail Castle--which no one can reach except those +destined and chosen to do so by the Grail itself--breaks the spell, and +rules over the Grail dominions, his son Loherangrain becoming the Knight +of the Swan, who goes abroad righting wrongs, and who, like all the Grail +knights, is forbidden to reveal his name and origin to the outside world. +Wolfram tells us that he had the substance of the tale from the Provençal +poet Kyot or Guiot--"Kyot, der meister wol bekannt"--who in his turn--but +this probably is a mere piece of romantic invention--professed to have +found it in an Arabic book in Toledo, written by a heathen named +Flegetanis. + +*The Continuators of Chrestien* + +What exactly may have been the material before Chrestien de Troyes we +cannot tell, but his various co-workers and continuators, notably +Manessier, all dwell on the Christian character of the objects shown to +Perceval in the castle, and the question arises, How did they come to +acquire this character? The Welsh story, certainly the most archaic form +of the legend, shows that they did not have it from the beginning. An +indication in one of the French continuations to Chrestien's "Conte" may +serve to put us on the track. Gautier, the author of this continuation, +tells us of an attempt on the part of Gauvain [Sir Gawain] to achieve the +adventure of the Grail. He partially succeeds, and this half-success has +the effect of restoring the lands about the castle, which were desert and +untilled, to blooming fertility. The Grail therefore, besides its other +characters, had a talismanic power in promoting increase, wealth, and +rejuvenation. + +*The Grail a Talisman of Abundance* + +The character of a cornucopia, a symbol and agent of abundance and +vitality, clings closely to the Grail in all versions of the legend. Even +in the loftiest and most spiritual of these, the "Parzival" of Wolfram von +Eschenbach, this quality is very strongly marked. A sick or wounded man +who looked on it could not die within the week, nor could its servitors +grow old: "though one looked on it for two hundred years, his hair would +never turn grey." The Grail knights lived from it, apparently by its +turning into all manner of food and drink the bread which was presented to +it by pages. Each man had of it food according to his pleasure, _à son +gré_--from this word _gré, gréable_, the name Gral, which originated in the +French versions, was supposed to be derived.(245) It was the satisfaction +of all desires. In Wolfram's poem the Grail, though connected with the +Eucharist, was, as we have seen, a stone, not a cup. It thus appears as a +relic of ancient stone-worship. It is remarkable that a similar Stone of +Abundance occurs also in the Welsh "Peredur," though not as one of the +mysteries of the castle. It was guarded by a black serpent, which Peredur +slew, and he gave the stone to his friend Etlyn. + +*The Celtic Cauldron of Abundance* + +Now the reader has by this time become well acquainted with an object +having the character of a talisman of abundance and rejuvenation in Celtic +myth. As the Cauldron of the Dagda it came into Ireland with the Danaans +from their mysterious fairy-land. In Welsh legend Bran the Blessed got it +from Ireland, whither it returned again as part of Branwen's dowry. In a +strange and mystic poem by Taliesin it is represented as part of the +spoils of Hades, or Annwn, brought thence by Arthur, in a tragic adventure +not otherwise recorded. It is described by Taliesin as lodged in Caer +Pedryvan, the Four-square Castle of Pwyll; the fire that heated it was +fanned by the breath of nine maidens, its edge was rimmed with pearls, and +it would not cook the food of a coward or man forsworn:(246) + +"Am I not a candidate for fame, to be heard in song + In Caer Pedryvan, four times revolving? + The first word from the cauldron, when was it spoken? + By the breath of nine maidens it was gently warmed. + Is it not the cauldron of the chief of Annwn? What is its fashion? + A rim of pearls is round its edge. + It will not cook the food of a coward or one forsworn. + A sword flashing bright will be raised to him, + And left in the hand of Lleminawg. + + And before the door of the gate of Uffern(247) the lamp was burning. + When we went with Arthur--a splendid labour-- + Except seven, none returned from Caer Vedwyd.(248) + +More remotely still the cauldron represents the Sun, which appears in the +earliest Aryo-Indian myths as a golden vessel which pours forth light and +heat and fertility. The lance is the lightning-weapon of the Thunder God, +Indra, appearing in Norse mythology as the hammer of Thor. The quest for +these objects represents the ideas of the restoration by some divine +champion of the wholesome order of the seasons, disturbed by some +temporary derangement such as those which to this day bring famine and +desolation to India. + +Now in the Welsh "Peredur" we have clearly an outline of the original +Celtic tale, but the Grail does not appear in it. We may conjecture, +however, from Gautier's continuation of Chrestien's poem that a talisman +of abundance figured in early Continental, probably Breton, versions of +the legend. In one version at least--that on which Wolfram based his +"Parzival"--this talisman was a stone. But usually it would have been, not +a stone, but a cauldron or vessel of some kind endowed with the usual +attributes of the magic cauldron of Celtic myth. This vessel was +associated with a blood-dripping lance. Here were the suggestive elements +from which some unknown singer, in a flash of inspiration, transformed the +ancient tale of vengeance and redemption into the mystical romance which +at once took possession of the heart and soul of Christendom. The magic +cauldron became the cup of the Eucharist, the lance was invested with a +more tremendous guilt than that of the death of Peredur's kinsman.(249) +Celtic poetry, German mysticism, Christian chivalry, and ideas of magic +which still cling to the rude stone monuments of Western Europe--all these +combined to make the story of the Grail, and to endow it with the strange +attraction which has led to its re-creation by artist after artist for +seven hundred years. And who, even now, can say that its course is run at +last, and the towers of Montsalvat dissolved into the mist from which they +sprang? + +*The Tale of Taliesin* + +Alone of the tales in the collection called by Lady Charlotte Guest the +"Mabinogion," the story of the birth and adventures of the mythical bard +Taliesin, the Amergin of Cymric legend, is not found in the +fourteenth-century manuscript entitled "The Red Book of Hergest." It is +taken from a manuscript of the late sixteenth or seventeenth century, and +never appears to have enjoyed much popularity in Wales. Much of the very +obscure poetry attributed to Taliesin is to be found in it, and this is +much older than the prose. The object of the tale, indeed, as Mr. Nutt has +pointed out in his edition of the "Mabinogion," is rather to provide a +sort of framework for stringing together scattered pieces of verse +supposed to be the work of Taliesin than to tell a connected story about +him and his doings. + +The story of the birth of the hero is the most interesting thing in the +tale. There lived, it was said, "in the time of Arthur of the Round +Table,"(250) a man named Tegid Voel of Penllyn, whose wife was named +Ceridwen. They have a son named Avagddu, who was the most ill-favoured man +in the world. To compensate for his lack of beauty, his mother resolved to +make him a sage. So, according to the art of the books of Feryllt,(251) +she had recourse to the great Celtic source of magical influence--a +cauldron. She began to boil a "cauldron of inspiration and science for her +son, that his reception might be honourable because of his knowledge of +the mysteries of the future state of the world." The cauldron might not +cease to boil for a year and a day, and only in three drops of it were to +be found the magical grace of the brew. + +She put Gwion Bach the son of Gwreang of Llanfair to stir the cauldron, +and a blind man named Morda to keep the fire going, and she made +incantations over it and put in magical herbs from time to time as +Feryllt's book directed. But one day towards the end of the year three +drops of the magic liquor flew out of the cauldron and lighted on the +finger of Gwion. Like Finn mac Cumhal on a similar occasion, he put his +finger in his mouth, and immediately became gifted with supernatural +insight. He saw that he had got what was intended for Avagddu, and he saw +also that Ceridwen would destroy him for it if she could. So he fled to +his own land, and the cauldron, deprived of the sacred drops, now +contained nothing but poison, the power of which burst the vessel, and the +liquor ran into a stream hard by and poisoned the horses of Gwyddno +Garanhir which drank of the water. Whence the stream is called the Poison +of the Horses of Gwyddno from that time forth. + +Ceridwen now came on the scene and saw that her year's labour was lost. In +her rage she smote Morda with a billet of firewood and struck out his eye, +and she then pursued after Gwion Bach. He saw her and changed himself into +a hare. She became a greyhound. He leaped into a river and became a fish, +and she chased him as an otter. He became a bird and she a hawk. Then he +turned himself into a grain of wheat and dropped among the other grains on +a threshing-floor, and she became a black hen and swallowed him. Nine +months afterwards she bore him as an infant; and she would have killed +him, but could not on account of his beauty, "so she wrapped him in a +leathern bag, and cast him into the sea to the mercy of God." + +*The Luck of Elphin* + +Now Gwyddno, of the poisoned horses, had a salmon weir on the strand +between Dyvi and Aberystwyth. And his son Elphin, a needy and luckless +lad, one day fished out the leathern bag as it stuck on the weir. They +opened it, and found the infant within. "Behold a radiant brow!"(252) said +Gwyddno. "Taliesin be he called," said Elphin. And they brought the child +home very carefully and reared it as their own. And this was Taliesin, +prime bard of the Cymry; and the first of the poems he made was a lay of +praise to Elphin and promise of good fortune for the future. And this was +fulfilled, for Elphin grew in riches and honour day after day, and in love +and favour with King Arthur. + +But one day as men praised King Arthur and all his belongings above +measure, Elphin boasted that he had a wife as virtuous as any at Arthur's +Court and a bard more skilful than any of the King's; and they flung him +into prison until they should see if he could make good his boast. And as +he lay there with a silver chain about his feet, a graceless fellow named +Rhun was sent to court the wife of Elphin and to bring back proofs of her +folly; and it was said that neither maid nor matron with whom Rhun +conversed but was evil-spoken of. + +Taliesin then bade his mistress conceal herself, and she gave her raiment +and jewels to one of the kitchenmaids, who received Rhun as if she were +mistress of the household. And after supper Rhun plied the maid with +drink, and she became intoxicated and fell in a deep sleep; whereupon Rhun +cut off one of her fingers, on which was the signet-ring of Elphin that he +had sent his wife a little while before. Rhun brought the finger and the +ring on it to Arthur's Court. + +Next day Elphin was fetched out of prison and shown the finger and the +ring. Whereupon he said: "With thy leave, mighty king, I cannot deny the +ring, but the finger it is on was never my wife's. For this is the little +finger, and the ring fits tightly on it, but my wife could barely keep it +on her thumb. And my wife, moreover, is wont to pare her nails every +Saturday night, but this nail hath not been pared for a month. And +thirdly, the hand to which this finger belonged was kneading rye-dough +within three days past, but my wife has never kneaded rye-dough since my +wife she has been." + +Then the King was angry because his test had failed, and he ordered Elphin +back to prison till he could prove what he had affirmed about his bard. + +*Taliesin, Prime Bard of Britain* + +Then Taliesin went to court, and one high day when the King's bards and +minstrels should sing and play before him, Taliesin, as they passed him +sitting quietly in a corner, pouted his lips and played "Blerwm, blerwm" +with his finger on his mouth. And when the bards came to perform before +the King, lo ! a spell was on them, and they could do nothing but bow +before him and play "Blerwm, blerwm" with their fingers on their lips. And +the chief of them, Heinin, said: "O king, we be not drunken with wine, but +are dumb through the influence of the spirit that sits in yon corner under +the form of a child." Then Taliesin was brought forth, and they asked him +who he was and whence he came. And he sang as follows: + +"Primary chief bard am I to Elphin, + And my original country is the region of the summer stars; + Idno and Heinin called me Merddin, + At length every being will call me Taliesin. + +"I was with my Lord in the highest sphere, + On the fall of Lucifer into the depth of hell; + I have borne a banner before Alexander; + I know the names of the stars from north to south + +"I was in Canaan when Absalom was slain, + I was in the court of Don before the birth of Gwydion. + I was at the place of the crucifixion of the merciful Son of God; + I have been three periods in the prison of Arianrod. + +"I have been in Asia with Noah in the ark, + I have seen the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. + I have been in India when Roma was built. + I am now come here to the remnant of Troia.(253) + +"I have been with my Lord in the ass's manger, + I strengthened Moses through the waters of Jordan; + I have been in the firmament with Mary Magdalene; + I have obtained the Muse from the cauldron of Ceridwen. + +"I shall be until the day of doom on the face of the earth; + And it is not known whether my body is flesh or fish. + +"Then was I for nine months + In the womb of the witch Ceridwen; + I was originally little Gwion, + And at length I am Taliesin."(254) + +While Taliesin sang a great storm of wind arose, and the castle shook with +the force of it. Then the King bade Elphin be brought in before him, and +when he came, at the music of Taliesin's voice and harp the chains fell +open of themselves and he was free. And many other poems concerning secret +things of the past and future did Taliesin sing before the King and his +lords, and he foretold the coming of the Saxon into the land, and his +oppression of the Cymry, and foretold also his passing away when the day +of his destiny should come. + +*Conclusion* + +Here we end this long survey of the legendary literature of the Celt. The +material is very abundant, and it is, of course, not practicable in a +volume of this size to do more than trace the main current of the +development of the legendary literature down to the time when the mythical +and legendary element entirely faded out and free literary invention took +its place. The reader of these pages will, however, it is hoped, have +gained a general conception of the subject which will enable him to +understand the significance of such tales as we have not been able to +touch on here, and to fit them into their proper places in one or other of +the great cycles of Celtic legend. It will be noticed that we have not +entered upon the vast region of Celtic folk-lore. Folk-lore has not been +regarded as falling within the scope of the present work. Folk-lore may +sometimes represent degraded mythology, and sometimes mythology in the +making. In either case, it is its special characteristic that it belongs +to and issues from a class whose daily life lies close to the earth, +toilers in the field and in the forest, who render with simple directness, +in tales or charms, their impressions of natural or supernatural forces +with which their own lives are environed. Mythology, in the proper sense +of the word, appears only where the intellect and the imagination have +reached a point of development above that which is ordinarily possible to +the peasant mind--when men have begun to co-ordinate their scattered +impressions and have felt the impulse to shape them into poetic creations +embodying universal ideas. It is not, of course, pretended that a +hard-and-fast line can always be drawn between mythology and folk-lore; +still, the distinction seems to me a valid one, and I have tried to +observe it in these pages. + +After the two historical chapters with which our study has begun, the +object of the book has been literary rather than scientific. I have, +however, endeavoured to give, as the opportunity arose, such results of +recent critical work on the relics of Celtic myth and legend as may at +least serve to indicate to the reader the nature of the critical problems +connected therewith. I hope that this may have added somewhat to the value +of the work for students, while not impairing its interest for the general +reader. Furthermore, I may claim that the book is in this sense +scientific, that as far as possible it avoids any adaptation of its +material for the popular taste. Such adaptation, when done for an avowed +artistic purpose, is of course entirely legitimate; if it were not, we +should have to condemn half the great poetry of the world. But here the +object has been to present the myths and legends of the Celt as they +actually are. Crudities have not been refined away, things painful or +monstrous have not been suppressed, except in some few instances, where it +has been necessary to bear in mind that this volume appeals to a wider +audience than that of scientific students alone. The reader may, I think, +rely upon it that he has here a substantially fair and not over-idealised +account of the Celtic outlook upon life and the world at a time when the +Celt still had a free, independent, natural life, working out his +conceptions in the Celtic tongue, and taking no more from foreign sources +than he could assimilate and make his own. The legendary literature thus +presented is the oldest non-classical literature of Europe. This alone is +sufficient, I think, to give it a strong claim on our attention. As to +what other claims it may have, many pages might be filled with quotations +from the discerning praises given to it by critics not of Celtic +nationality, from Matthew Arnold downwards. But here let it speak for +itself. It will tell us, I believe, that, as Maeldun said of one of the +marvels he met with in his voyage into Fairyland: "What we see here was a +work of mighty men." + + + + + +GLOSSARY AND INDEX + + + THE PRONUNCIATION OF CELTIC NAMES + +To render these names accurately without the living voice is impossible. +But with the phonetic renderings given, where required, in the following +index, and with attention to the following general rules, the reader will +get as near to the correct pronunciation as it is at all necessary for him +to do. + + I. GAELIC + +Vowels are pronounced as in French or German; thus _i_ (long) is like _ee, +e_ (long) like _a_ in "date," _u_ (long) like _oo_. A stroke over a letter +signifies length; thus dun is pronounced "doon" (not "dewn"). + +_ch_ is a guttural, as in the word "loch." It is never pronounced with a +_t_ sound, as in English "chip." + +_c_ is always like _k_. + +_gh_ is silent, as in English. + + II. CYMRIC + +_w_, when a consonant, is pronounced as in English; when a vowel, like +_oc_. + +_y_, when long, is like _ee_; when short, like _u_ in "but." + +_ch_ and _c_ as in Gaelic. + +_dd_ is like _th_ in "breathe". + +_f_ is like _v; ff_like English _f_. + +The sound of _ll_ is perhaps better not attempted by the English reader. +It is a thickened _l_, something between _cl_ and _th_. + +Vowels as in Gaelic, but note that there are strictly no diphthongs in +Welsh, in combinations of vowels each is given its own sound. + +A + +ABRED. The innermost of three concentric circles representing the totality + of being in the Cymric cosmogony--the stage of struggle and + evolution, 333 + +ABUNDANCE. See Stone of Abundance + +ÆDA (ay´da). 1. Dwarf of King Fergus mac Leda, 247. + 2. Royal suitor for Vivionn's hand; + Vivionn slain by, 287 + +ÆD´UANS. Familiar with plating of copper and tin, 44 + +ÆGIRA. Custom of the priestess of Earth at, in Achæa, ere prophesying, 167 + +ÆSUN. Umbrian deity, 86 + +ÆSUS. Deity mentioned by Lucan, 86 + +AED THE FAIR (AED FINN) (aid). Chief sage of Ireland; + author of "Voyage of Maeldun," 331 + +AEI (ay´ee), PLAIN OF, where Brown Bull of Quelgny meets and slays Bull of + Ailell, 225 + +AFRICAN ORIGIN. Primitive population of Great Britain and Ireland, + evidence of language suggests, 78 + +AGE, IRON. The ship a well-recognised form of sepulchral enclosure in + cemeteries of the, 76 + +AG´NOMAN. Nemed's father, 98 + +AIDEEN. Wife of Oscar, 261; + dies of grief after Oscar's death, 261; + buried on Ben Edar (Howth), 261, 262 + +AIFA (eefa). Princess of Land of Shadows; + war made upon, by Skatha, 189; + Cuchulain overcomes by a trick, 190; + life spared conditionally by Cuchulain, 190; + bears a son named Connla, 190 + +AILBACH (el-yach) + Fortress in Co. Donegal, where Ith hears MacCuill and his brothers are + arranging the division of the land, 132 + +AILILL (el'yill), or AILELL. + 1. Son of Laery, treacherously slain by his uncle Covac, 152. + 2. Brother of Eochy; his desperate love for Etain, 158-160. + 3. King of Connacht, 122; + Angus Og seeks aid of, 122; + Fergus seeks aid of, 202; + assists in foray against province of Ulster, 203-251; + White horned Bull of, slain by Brown Bull of Quelgny, 225; + makes seven years' peace with Ulster, 225; + hound of mac Datho pursues chariot of, 244; + slain by Conall, 245 + +AILILL EDGE-OF-BATTLE. + Of the sept of the Owens of Aran; + father of Maeldun, slain by reavers from Leix, 310 + +AILILL OLUM (el-yill olum) + King of Munster; + ravishes Ainé and is slain by her, 127 + +AINÉ. + A love-goddess, daughter of the Danaan Owel; + Ailill Olum and Fitzgerald her lovers, 127; + mother of Earl Gerald, 128; + still worshipped on Midsummer Eve, 128; + appears on a St. John's Night, among girls on the Hill, 128 + +AINLÉ. + Brother of Naisi, 198 + +ALEXANDER THE GREAT. + Counter-move of Hellas against the East under, 22; + compact with Celts referred to by Ptolemy Soter, 23 + +ALLEN, MR. ROMILLY. + On Celtic art, 29, 30 + +ALLEN, HILL OF. + In Kildare; + Finn's chief fortress, 266, 273 + +AMA´SIS I + Human sacrifices abolished by, 86 + +AMATHA´ON. + Son of Don; + and the ploughing task, 390 + +AMER´GIN. + Milesian poet, son of Miled, husband of Skena, 133; + his strange lay, sung when his foot first touched Irish soil, 134; + his judgment, delivered as between the Danaans and Milesians, 135; + chants incantations to land of Erin, 136; + the Druid, gives judgment as to claims to sovranty of Eremon and Eber, + 148; + Ollav Fola compared with, 150 + +AMMIA´NUS MARCELLIN´US. + Gauls described by, 42 + +AMOR´GIN. + Father of Conall of the Victories, 177 + +AMYN´TAS II. + King of Macedon, defeated and exiled, 23 + +ANGLO-SAXON. + Wace's French translation of "Historia Regum Britaniæ" translated by + Layamon into, 338 + +ANGUS. + A Danaan deity, 143. + See Angus Og + +ANGUS OG (ANGUS THE YOUNG). + Son of the Dagda, Irish god of love, 121, 123; + wooes and wins Caer, 121-123; + Dermot of the Love spot bred up with, 123; + Dermot of the Love spot revived by, 123; + father of Maga, 181; + Dermot and Grama rescued by magical devices of, 299; + Dermot's body borne away by, 303 + +ANKH, THE. + Found on Megalithic carvings, 77, 78; + the symbol of vitality or resurrection, 78 + +AN´LUAN. + Son of Maga; + rallies to Maev's foray against Ulster, 204; + Conall produces the head of, to Ket, 244 + +ANNWN (annoon). + Corresponds with Abyss, or Chaos; + the principle of destruction in Cymric cosmogony, 333 + +ANSWERER, THE. + Mananan's magical sword, 125 + +AOIFE (eefa). + Lir's second wife; + her jealousy of her step children, 139, 140; + her punishment by Bov the Red, 140 + +AONBARR (ain-barr). + Mananan's magical steed, 125 + +APOLLO. Celtic equivalent, Lugh. + Magical services in honour of, described by Hecataeus, 58; + regarded by Gauls as deity of medicine, 87, 88 + +AQUITAN´I. One of three peoples inhabiting Gaul when Caesar's conquest + began, 58 + +ARABIA. Dolmens found in, 53 + +ARAWN. A king in Annwn; + appeals to Pwyll for help against Havgan, 357; + exchanges kingdoms for a year with Pwyll, 357-359 + +ARD MACHA (Armagh). Emain Macha now represented by grassy ramparts of a + hill-fortress close to, 150; + significance, 251 + +ARD RIGH (ard ree) (_i.e._, High King). Dermot MacKerval, of Ireland, 47 + +ARDAN. Brother of Naisi, 198 + +ARDCULLIN. Cuchulain places white round pillar-stone of, 207 + +ARDEE. Significance, 251 + +ARI´ANROD. Sister of Gwydion; + proposed as virgin foot-holder to Math; + Dylan and Llew sons of. 380, 381 + +ARISTOTLE. Celts and, 17 + +ARMAGH. Invisible dwelling of Lir on Slieve Fuad in County, 125 + +ARNOLD, MATTHEW. Reference to, in connexion with Celtic legendary + literature, 419 + +ARR´IAN. Celtic characteristics, evidence of, regarding, 36 + +ARTAIUS. A god in Celtic mythology who occupies the place of Gwydion, 349 + +ARTHUR. Chosen leader against Saxons, whom he finally defeated in battle + of Mount Badon, 337; + Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britaniae" commemorates exploits + of, 337; + son of Uther Pendragon and Igerna, 337; + Modred, his nephew, usurps crown of, 337; + Guanhumara, wife of, retires to convent, 337, 338; + genealogy set forth, 352; + tales of, in Welsh literature, 386; + Kilhwch at court of, 387, 388; + the "Dream of Rhonabwy" and, 392, 393; + Owain, son of Urien, plays chess with, 393; + adventure of Kymon, knight of court of, 394-396; + Gwenhwyvar, wife of, 394; + Owain at court of, 396, 397, 399; + Peredur at court of, 401, 402 + +ARTHURIAN SAGA. Mention of early British legend suggests, 336; + the saga in Brittany and Marie de France, 339, 340; + Miss Jessie L. Weston's article on, in the "Encyc. Britann.," 341; + Chrestien de Troyes influential in bringing into the poetic literature + of Europe the, 340, 341; + various sources of, discussed, 342; + the saga in Wales, 343, 344; + never entered Ireland, 343; + why so little is heard of, in accounts of Cymric myths, 344 + +ASA. Scandinavian deity, 86 + +ASAL. Of the Golden Pillars King, 115 + +ASURA-MASDA. Persian deity, 86 + +ATHNURCHAR (ath-nur´char), or ARDNURCHAR (The Ford of the Sling-cast). The + River-ford where Ket slings Conall's "brain ball" at Conor mac + Nessa, 240; + significance, 251 + +ATLANTIC, THE. Aoife's cruelty to her step-children on waters of, 140, 141 + +AUSTRIA. Discovery of pre-Roman necropolis in, 28; + relics found in, developed into the La Tène culture, 29 + +AVAGDDU (avagdhoo). Son of Tegid Voel, 413; + deprived of gift of supernatural insight, 413 + +A´VALON. Land of the Dead; + bears relation with Norse _Valhall_, 338; + its later identification with Glastonbury, 338 + +AVON DIA. Duel between Cuchulain and Ferdia causes waters of, to hold + back, 121 + +B + +BABYLONIA. The ship symbol in, 76 + +BALKANS. Earliest home of mountain Celts was ranges of, 57 + +BALOR. Ancestor of Lugh, 88; + Bres sent to seek aid of, 109; + informed that Danaans refuse tribute, 113; + Fomorian champion, engages Nuada of the Silver Hand, and slain by Lugh, + 117; + one of the names of the god of Death, 130; + included in Finn's ancestry, 255 + +BANBA Wife of Danaan king, MacCuill, 132 + +BANN, THE RIVER. Visited by mac Cecht, 175 + +BARBAROSSA, KAISER. Tradition that Finn lies in some enchanted cove + spellbound, like, 308 + +"BARDDAS." Compilation enshrining Druidic thought, 332; + Christian persons and episodes figure in, 333; + extract from, in catechism form, 334, 335 + +BARDIC differs from popular conception of Danaan deities, 104 + +BARROW, THE RIVER. Visited by mac Cecht, 175 + +BAR´UCH. A lord of the Red Branch; meets Naisi and Deirdre on landing in + Ireland, 199; + persuades Fergus to feast at his house, 199; + dun, on the Straits of Moyle, 251 + +BAVB (bayv). Calatin's daughter; puts a spell of straying on Niam, 230 + +BEÄLCU (bay'al-koo). A Connacht champion; rescue of Conall by, 244; + slain by sons owing to a stratagem of Conall's, 245; + Conall slays sons of, 245 + +BEBO. Wife of Iubdan. King of Wee Folk, 247 + +BED´WYR (bed-weer). Equivalent, Sir Bedivere. One of Arthur's servitors + who accompanies Kilhwch on his quest for Olwen, 388-392 + +BELGÆ. One of three peoples inhabiting Gaul when Cæsar's conquest began, + 58 + +BELI. Cymric god of Death, husband of Don; + corresponds with the Irish Bilé, 348, 349; + Lludd and Llevelys, sons of, 385 + +BELL, MR. ARTHUR Reference to a drawing by, showing act of stone-worship, + 66 + +BEL´TENÉ. One of the names of the god of Death; + first of May sacred to, 133 + +BEN BULBEN. Dermot of the Love-spot slain by the wild boar of, 123, 301, + 302; + Dermot and the Boar of, 290, 291 + +BEN´DIGEID VRAN, or "BRAN THE BLESSED." King of the Isle of the Mighty + (Britain); + Manawyddan, his brother, 365; + Branwen, his sister, 366; + gives Branwen as wife to Matholwch, 366; + makes atonement for Evnissyen's outrage by giving Matholwch the magic + cauldron, &c., 367, 368; + invades Ireland to succour Branwen, 369, 372; + the wonderful head of, 371, 372 + +BERTRAND, A. See pp. 55, 64, 83 + +BILÉ (bil-ay). One of the names of the god of Death (_i.e._, of the + underworld), 130; + father of Miled, 130; + equivalent, Cymric god Beli, husband of Don, 348, 349 + +BIROG. A Druidess who assists Kian to be avenged on Balor, 111 + +BLACK KNIGHT, THE. Kymon and, 396; + Owain and, 396-397 + +BLACK SAINGLEND (sen'glend). Cuchulain's last horse; breaks from him, 232 + +BLAI. Oisin's Danaan mother, 282 + +BLANID. Wife of Curoi; sets her love on Cuchulain, 228-229; + her death, 229 + +BLE´HERIS. + A Welsh poet identical with _Bledhericus_, mentioned by Giraldus + Cambrensis, and with Bréris, quoted by Thomas of Brittany, + 342 + +"BLERWM, BLERWM" (bleroom). + Sound made by Taliesin by which a spell was put on bards at Arthur's + court, 416 + +BLODEUWEDD, or "FLOWER-FACE." + The flower-wife of Llew, 382, 383 + +BOANNA (the river Boyne). + Mother of Angus Og, 121 + +BOOK OF ARMAGH. + References to, 104, 147 + +BOOK OF CAERMARTHEN, BLACK. + Gwyn ap Nudd figures in poem included in, 353 + +BOOK OF THE DUN COW. + Reference to, 97; + Cuchulain makes his reappearance legend of Christian origin in, 238; + "Voyage of Maeldun" is found in, 309 + +BOOK OF HERGEST, THE RED. + Forms main source of tales in the "Mabinogion," 344; + the story of Taliesin not found in, 412 + +BOOK OF INVASIONS. + Reference to, 106 + +BOOK OF LEINSTER. + References to, 24, 85, 208 + +BOV THE RED. + King of the Danaans of Munster, brother of the Dagda; + searches for maiden of Angus Og's dream, 121-123; + goldsmith of, named Len, 123; + Aoife's journey to, with her step-children, 139, 140 + +BOYNE, THE RIVER. + Angus Og's palace at, 121; + Angus and Caer at, 122; + Milesians land in estuary of, 136; + Ethné loses her veil of invisibility while bathing in river, 144; + church, Kill Ethné, on banks of, 145 + +BRAN. + See Bendigeid + +BRANWEN. + Sister of Bran, 366; + given in marriage to Matholwch, 366; + mother of Gwern, 368; + degraded because of Evnissyen's outrage, 369; + brought to Britain, 372; + her death and burial on the banks of the Alaw, 372 + +BREA (bray). + Battle of, reference to Finn's death at, 275 + +BREGIA. + Locality of, 168; + the plains of, viewed by Cuchulain, 193; + St. Patrick and folk of, 282 + +BREG´ON. + Son of Miled, father of Ith, 130; + tower of, perceived by Ith, 132 + +BRENOS (BRIAN). + Under this form, was the god to whom the Celts attributed their + victories at the Allia and at Delphi, 126 + +BRES. + 1. Ambassador sent to Firbolgs, by People of Dana, 106; + slain in battle of Moytura, 107. + 2. Son of Danaan woman named Eri, chosen as King of Danaan territory in + Ireland, 107; + his ill-government and deposition, 107-108. + 3. Son of Balor; + learns that the appearance of the sun is the face of Lugh of the Long + Arm, 123 + +BRI LEITH (bree lay). + Fairy palace of Midir the Proud at, in Co. Longford, 124; + Etain carried to, 163 + +BRIAN. + One of three sons of Turenn, 114 + +BRIAN. + Equivalent, Brenos. + Son of Brigit (Dana), 126 + +BRICCRIU OF THE POISONED TONGUE (bric'roo). + Ulster lord; + causes strife between Cuchulain and Red Branch heroes as to Championship + of Ireland, 195; + summons aid of demon named The Terrible, 196; + his suggestion for carving mac Datho's boar, 243 + +BRIDGE OF THE LEAPS. + Cuchulain at, 187; + Cuchulain leaps, 188 + +BRIGINDO. + Equivalents, Brigit and "Brigantia," 103 + +BRIGIT (g as in "get"). + Irish goddess identical with Dana and "Brigindo," &c., 103, 126; + daughter of the god Dagda, "The Good," 103, 126; + Ecne, grandson of, 103 + +BRITAIN. + See Great Britain. + Carthaginian trade with, broken down by the Greeks, 22; + place-names of, Celtic element in, 27; + under yoke of Rome, 35; + magic indigenous in, 62; + votive inscriptions to Æsus, Teutates, and Taranus found in, 86; + dead carried from Gaul to, 131; + Ingcel, son of King of, 169; + visit of Demetrius to, 355; + Bran, King of, 365; + Caradawc rules over in his father's name, 369; + Caswallan conquers, 372; + the "Third Fatal Disclosure" in, 373 + +BRITAN. + Nedimean chief who settled in Great Britain and gave name to that + country, 102 + +BRITISH ISLES. + Sole relics of Celtic empire, on its downfall, 34; + Maev, Grania, Findabair, Deirdre, and Boadicea, women who figure in + myths of, 43 + +BRITONS. + Geoffrey of Monmouth, like Nennius, affords a fantastic origin for the, + 338 + +BRITTANY. + Mané-er-H´oeck, remarkable tumulus in, 63; + tumulus of Locmariaker in, markings on similar to those on tumulus at + New Grange, Ireland, 72; + symbol of the feet found in, 77; + book brought from, by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, formed basis of + Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britaniæ," 337; + Arthurian saga in, 339, 340 + +BROGAN. + St. Patrick's scribe, 119, 290 + +BROWN BULL. + See Quelgny + +BRUGH NA BOYNA (broo-na-boyna). + Pointed out to Cuchulain, 193 + +BUDDHA. + Footprint of, found in India as symbol, 77; + the cross-legged, frequent occurrence in religious art of the East and + Mexico, 87 + +BUIC (boo´ik). + Son of Banblai; + slain by Cuchulain, 211 + +BURNEY'S "HISTORY OF MUSIC." + Reference to Egyptian legend in, 118 + +BURY, PROFESSOR. + Remarks of, regarding the Celtic world, 59 + +*C* + +CAER. + Daughter of Ethal Anubal; + wooed by Angus Og, 122, 123; + her dual life, 122; + accepts the love of Angus Og, 122 + +CAERLEON-ON-USK. + Arthur's court held at, 337 + +CÆSAR, JULIUS. + Critical account of Gauls, 37; + religious beliefs of Celts recorded by, 51, 52; + the Belgæ, the Celtæ, and the Aquitani located by, 58; + affirmation that doctrine of immortality fostered by Druids to promote + courage, 81, 82; + culture superintended by Druids, recorded by, 84; + gods of Aryan Celts equated with Mercury, Apollo, &c., by, 86 + +CAIR´BRY. + Son of Cormac mac Art, father of Light of Beauty, 304; + refuses tribute to the Fianna, 305; + Clan Bascna makes war upon, 305-308 + +CALIBURN (Welsh _Caladvwlch_). + Magic sword of King Arthur, 338. + See Excalibur, 224, _note_ + +CAMBREN´SIS, GIRAL´DUS. + Celts and, 21 + +CAMPBELL. + Version of battle of Gowra, in his "The Fians," 305-307 + +CAR´ADAWC. + Son of Bran; + rules Britain in his father's absence, 369 + +CARELL. + Reputed father of Tuan, 100 + +CARPATHIANS. + Earliest home of mountain Celts was ranges of the, 57 + +CARTHAGINIANS. + Celts conquered Spain from, 21; + Greeks break monopoly of trade of, with Britain and Spain, 22 + +CAS´CORACH. Son of a minstrel of the Danaan Folk; + and St. Patrick, 119 + +CASTLE OF WONDERS. Peredur at, 405, 406 + +CAS´WALLAN. Son of Beli; + conquers Britain during Bran's absence, 372 + +CATHBAD. Druid; + wedded to Maga, wife of Ross the Red, 181; + his spell of divination overheard by Cuchulain, 185; + draws Deirdre's horoscope, 197; + casts evil spells over Naisi and Deirdre, 200 + +CATHOLIC CHURCH. Mediæal interdicts of, 46 + +CATO, M. PORCIUS. Observances of, regarding Gauls, 37 + +CAULDRON OF ABUNDANCE. See equivalent, Stone of Abundance; + also see Grail + +CELTÆ One of three peoples inhabiting Gaul when Cæar's conquest began, 58 + +CELTCHAR (kelt-yar). Son of Hornskin; + under debility curse, 205 + +CELTDOM. The Golden Age of, in Continental Europe, 21 + +CELTIC. Power, diffusion of, in Mid-Europe, 26; + placenames in Europe, 27; + artwork relics, story told by, 28; + Germanic words, Celtic element in, 32; + empire, downfall of, 34; + weak policy of peoples, 44; + religion, the, 46, 47; + High Kings, traditional burial-places of, 69; + doctrine of immortality, origin of so-called "Celtic," 75, 76; + ideas of immortality, 78-87; + deities, names and attributes of, 86-88; + conception of death, the, 89; + culture, five factors in ancient, 89, 90; + the present-day populations, 91, 92; + cosmogony, the, 94, 95; + things, "Barddas" a work not unworthy the student of, 333 + +CELTICA. Never inhabited by a single pure and homogeneous race, 18; + Greek type of civilisation preserved by, 22; + art of enamelling originated in, 30; + the Druids formed the sovran power in, 46; + Brigit (Dana) most widely worshipped goddess in, 126 + +CELTS. Term first found in Hecatæus; + equivalent, Hyperboreans, 17; + Herodotus and dwelling-place of, 17; + Aristotle and, 17; + Hellanicus of Lesbos and, 17; + Ephorus and, 17; + Plato and, 17; + their attack on Rome, a landmark of ancient history, 18; + described by Dr. T. Rice Holmes, 18, 19; + dominion of, over Mid-Europe, Gaul, Spain, and the British Isles, 20; + their place among these races, 20; + Giraldus Cambrensis and, 21; + Spain conquered from the Carthaginians by, 21; + Northern Italy conquered from the Etruscans by, 21; + Vergil and, 21; + conquer the Illyrians, 21; + alliance with the Greeks, 22; + conquests of, in valleys of Danube and Po, 23; + Alexander makes compact with, 23; + national oath of, 24; + welded into unity by Ambicatus, 25; + defeat Romans, 26; + Germanic peoples and, 26, 33; + decorative motives derived from Greek art, 29; + art of enamelling learnt by classical nations from, 30; + burial rites practised by, 33; + character, elements comprising, 36; + Strabo's description of, 39; + love of splendour and methods of warfare, 40; + Polybius' description of warriors in battle of Clastidium, 41; + their influence on European literature and philosophy, 49, 50; + the Religion of the, 51-93; + ranges of the Balkans and Carpathians earliest home of mountain, 57; + musical services of, described by Hecatæus, 58; + Switzerland, Burgundy, the Palatinate, Northern France, parts of + Britain, &c., occupied by mountain, 58; + origin of doctrine of immortality, 75; + idea of immortality and doctrine of transmigration, 80, 81; + the present-day, 91, 92; + no non-Christian conception of origin of things, 94; + victories at the Alba and at Delphi attributed to Brenos (Brian), 126; + true worship of, paid to elemental forces represented by actual natural + phenomena, 147 + +CENCHOS. + Otherwise The Footless; + related to Vitra, the God of Evil in Vedantic mythology, 97 + +CER´IDWEN. + Wife of Tegid, 413; + sets Gwion Bach and Morda to attend to the magic cauldron, 413 + +CEUGANT (Infinity). + The outermost of three concentric circles representing the totality of + being in the Cymric cosmogony, inhabited by God alone, 334 + +CHAILLU, DU. + His "Viking Age," 72 + +CHAMPION OF IRELAND. + Test at feast of Briccriu, to decide who is the, 195, 196; + Cuchulain proclaimed such by demon The Terrible, 196 + +CHARLEMAGNE. + Tree- and stone-worship denounced by, 66 + +CHILDREN OF LIR. + Reference to, 121 + +CHRESTIEN DE TROYES. + French poet, influential in bringing the Arthurian saga into the poetic + literature of Europe, 340, 341; + Gautier de Denain the earliest continuator of, 341; + variation of his "Le Chevalier au lion" seen in "The Lady of the + Fountain," 394-399; + the "Tale of Enid and Geraint" based on "Erec" of, 399; + Peredur corresponds to the Perceval of, 400; + his "Conte del Graal," or "Perceval le Gallois," 303; + Manessier a continuator of, 408 + +CHRISTIAN. + Symbolism, the hand as emblem of power in, 65; + faith, heard of by King Cormac ere preached in Ireland by St. Patrick, + 69; + influences in Ireland, and the Milesian myth, 138; + ideas, gathered around Cuchulain and his lord King Conor of Ulster, 239, + 240; + pagan ideals contrasted with, in Oisin dialogues, 288; + Myrddin dwindles under influences, 354 + +CHRISTIANITY. + Reference to conversion of Ireland to, 83; + People of Dana in their overthrow, and attitude of, 138; + Cuchulain summoned from Hell by St. Patrick to prove truths of, to High + King Laery, 239; + effect of on Irish literature, 295, 296 + +CHRY´SOSTOM, DION. + Testimony of, to power of the Druids, 83 + +CLAN BASCNA. + One of the divisions of the Fianna of Erin, 252; + Cumhal, father of Finn, chief of, 255; + Cairbry causes feud between Clan Morna and, 305-308 + +CLAN CALATIN. + Sent by men of Erin against Cuchulain, 215; + Fiacha, son of Firaba, cuts off the eight-and-twenty hands of, 216; + Cuchulain slays, 216; + the widow of, gives birth to six children whom Maev has instructed in + magic and then looses against Cuchulain, 228-233; + cause Cuchulain to break his _geise_, 231 + +CLAN MORNA. + One of the divisions of the Fianna of Erin, 252; + Lia becomes treasurer to, 255; + Cairbry causes feud between Clan Bascna and, 305-308 + +CLASTID´IUM. + Battle of, Polybius' description of behaviour of the Gæsati in, 41 + +CLEENA. + A Danaan maiden once living in Mananan's country, the story of, 127 + +CLUS´IUM. + Siege of, Romans play Celts false at, 25; + vengeance exacted by Celts, 26 + +COFFEY, GEORGE. + His work on the New Grange tumulus, 69 + +COLLOQUY OF THE ANCIENTS. + A collection of tales mentioning St Patrick and Cascorach, 119, 281; + interest of, 284-308 + +COLUMBA, ST. + Symbol of the feet and, 77 + +COMYN, MICHAEL + Reference to "Lay of Oisin in the Land of Youth," by, 253, 276 + +CONALL OF THE VICTORIES. + Member of Conary's retinue at Red Hostel, 173; + Amorgin, his father, found by him at Teltin, 176, 177; + shrinks from test _re_ the Championship of Ireland, 195, 196; + under the Debility curse, 205; + avenges Cuchulain's death by slaying Lewy, 233; + his "brain ball" causes death of Conor mac Nessa, 240, 241; + mac Datho's boar and, 243, 244; + slays Ket, 244 + +CONAN MAC LIA. + Son of Lia, lord of Luachar; + Finn makes a covenant with, 258, 259 + +CONAN MAC MORNA; otherwise THE BALD. + His adventure with the Fairy Folk, 259, 260; + he slays Liagan, 260; + adventure with the Gilla Dacar's steed, 293-295 + +CONANN. + Fomorian king, 101 + +CON´ARY MOR. + The singing sword of, 121; + the legend-cycle of the High King, 155-177; + descended from Etain Oig, daughter of Etain, 164; + Messbuachalla, his mother, 166, 167; + Desa, his foster-father, 167; + Ferlee, Fergar, and Ferrogan, his foster-brothers, 167; + Nemglan commands him go to Tara, 168; + proclaimed King of Erin, 168; + Nemglan declares his _geise_, 168; + banishment of his foster-brothers, 169; + lured into breaking his _geise_, 170; + the three Reds and, at Da Derga's Hostel, 170; + visited by the Morrigan at Da Derga's Hostel, 172; + members of his retinue: Cormac son of Conor, warrior mac Cecht, Conary's + three sons, Conall of the Victories, Duftach of Ulster, 173; + perishes of thirst, 175 + +CONDWIRAMUR. + A maiden wedded by Parzival, 408 + +CONN. + One of the Children of Lir, 142 + +CONNACHT. + Ethal Anubal, prince of the Danaans of, 122; + Ailell and Maev, mortal King and Queen of, Angus Og seeks their help in + efforts to win Caer, 122; + origin of name, 154; + Cuchulain makes a foray upon, 193, 194; + Cuchulain descends upon host of, under Maev, 209; + Ket a champion, 241; + Queen Maev reigned in, for eighty-eight years, 245 + +CONNLA. + Son of Cuchulain and Aifa, 190; + his _geise_, 190; + Aifa sends him to Erin, 190; + his encounters with the men of Ulster, 191; + slain by Cuchulain, 191, 192 + +CONNLA'S WELL. + Equivalent, Well of Knowledge. + Sinend's fatal visit to, 129 + +CONOR MAC NESSA. + Son of Fachtna and Nessa, proclaimed King of Ulster in preference to + Fergus, 180; + Cuchulain brought up at court of, 183; + grants arms of manhood to Cuchulain, 185; + while at a feast on Strand of the Footprints he descries Connla, 190; + his ruse to put Cuchulain under restraint, 194; + Deirdre and, 195-200; + his guards seize Naisi and Deirdre, 201; + suffers pangs of the Debility curse, 205-221; + the curse lifted from, 222; + summons Ulster to arms, 222; + Christian ideas have gathered about end of, 239, 240; + his death caused by Conall's "brain ball," 240, 241; + he figures in tale entitled "The Carving of mac Datho's Boar," 241; + sends to mac Datho for his hound, 241 + +CONSTANTINE. Arthur confers his kingdom on, 338 + +"CONTE DEL GRAAL." See Grail + +CORAN´IANS. A demoniac race called, harass land of Britain, 385 + +CORCADY´NA. Landing of Ith and his ninety warriors at, in Ireland, 131-136 + +CORMAC. 1. Son of Art, King of Ireland; + story of burial of, 69; + historical character, 225; + Finn and, feasted at Rath Grania, 300. + 2. King of Ulster; + marries Etain Oig, 166; + puts her away owing to her barrenness, 166. + 3. Son of Conor mac Nessa; + rallies to Maev's foray against Ulster, 205 + +CORONATION STONE. Now at Westminster Abbey, is the famous Stone of Scone, + 105; + the _Lia Fail_ and, 105 + +CORPRE. Poet at court of King Bres, 108 + +COSMONOGY, 1. The Celtic, 94, 95. + 2. The Cymric, 332-335; + God and Cythrawl, standing for life and destruction, in, 333 + +COTTERILL, H. B. Quotation from his hexameter version of the "Odyssey," 80 + +CRAF´TINY. King Scoriath's harper; + sings Moriath's love-lay before Maon, 153; + discovers Maon's secret deformity, 155 + +CRED´NÉ. The artificer of the Danaans, 117 + +CREU´DYLAD (CREIDDYLAD). + Daughter of Lludd; combat for possession of, every May-day, between + Gwythur ap Greidawl and Gwyn ap Nudd, 353, 388 + +CRIMMAL. Rescued by his nephew, Finn, 256 + +CROM CRUACH (crom croo´ach). + Gold idol (equivalent, the Bloody Crescent) referred to in "Book of + Leinster," 85; + worship introduced by King Tiernmas, 149 + +CROMLECHS. See Dolmens, 53 + +CRUNDCHU (crun´hoo). Son of Agnoman; + Macha comes to dwell with, 178 + +CUALGNÉ. See Quelgny + +CUCHULAIN (CUCHULLIN) (coo-hoo´lin). Ulster hero in Irish saga, 41; + duel with Ferdia referred to, 121; + Lugh, the father of, by Dectera, 123, 182; + loved and befriended by goddess Morrigan, 126; + his strange birth, 182; + earliest name Setanta, 183; + his inheritance, 183; + his name derived from the hound of Cullan, 183, 184; + claims arms of manhood from Conor, 185; + wooes Emer, 185, 186; + Laeg, charioteer of, 185; + Skatha instructs, in Land of Shadows, 187-189; + overcomes Aifa, 190; + father of Connla by Aifa, 190; + slays Connla, 191, 192; + returns to Erin, 193-194; + slays Foill and his brothers, 194; + met by women of Emania, 194; + leaps "the hero's salmon leap," 195; + the winning of Emer, 195; + proclaimed by The Terrible the Champion of Ireland, 195, 196; + places Maev's host under _geise_, 207, 208; + slays Orlam, 209; + the battle-frenzy and _rias-tradh_ of, 209, 210; + compact with Fergus, 211; + the Morrigan offers love to, 212; + threatens to be about his feet in bottom of Ford, 212; + attacked by the Morrigan while engaged with Loch, 213; + slays Loch, 213; + Ferdia consents to go out against, 216; + Ferdia reproached by, 216, 217; + their struggle, 217-221; + slays Ferdia, 220; + severely wounded by Ferdia, 220, 221; + roused from stupor by sword-play of Fergus, 224; + rushes into the battle of Garach, 224; + in Fairyland, 225-228; + loved by Fand, 226; + the vengeance of Maev upon, 228-233; + other enemies of Erc, and Lewy son of Curoi, 228; + Blanid, Curoi's wife, sets her love on, 228; + his madness, 229-231; + Bave personates Niam before, 230; + the Morrigan croaks of war before, 230; + Dectera and Cathbad urge him wait for Conall of the Victories ere + setting forth to battle, 230; + the Washer at the Ford seen by, 231; + Clan Calatin cause him to break his _geise_, 231; + finds his foes at Slieve Fuad, 232; + the Grey of Macha being mortally wounded, he takes farewell of, 232; + mortally wounded by Lewy, 232; + his remaining horse, Black Sainglend, breaks away from, 232; + Lewy slays outright, 233; + his death avenged by Conall of the Victories, 233; + reappears in later legend of Christian origin found in "Book of the Dun + Cow," 238, 239; + St. Patrick's summons from Hell, 238 + +CULLAN. His feast to King Conor in Quelgny, 183; + Cuchulain slays his hound, 183; + Cuchulain named the Hound of, 184; + his daughter declared responsible for Finn's enchantment, 280 + +CUMHAL (coo´al). Chief of the Clan Morna, son of Trenmor, husband of Murna + of the White Neck, the father of Finn, 255, 257; + slain at battle of Knock, 255 + +CUP-AND-RING MARKINGS. Meaning of, in connexion with Megalithic monuments, + no light on, 67; + example in Dupaix' "Monuments of New Spain," 68; + reproduction in Lord Kingsborough's "Antiquities of Mexico," 68 + +CUP OF THE LAST SUPPER Identical with the Grail, 406; + equivalent, the Magic Cauldron, 411 + +CUROI (coo´roi). Father of Lewy, husband of Blanid, 228; + slain by Cuchulain, 229 + +CUSCRID. Son of Conor mac Nessa; + under Debility curse, 205; + mac Datho's boar and, 243 + +CUSTENN´IN. Brother of Yspaddaden; + assists Kilhwch in his quest for Olwen, 389 + +CYCLE-S. The, of Irish legend, 95; + the Mythological, 95-145; + the Ultonian, 178-251; + Ossianic, 241-245; + certain stories of Ultonian, not centred on Cuchulain, 246; + the Ultonian, time of events of the, 252; + the Ossianic and Ultonian contrasted, 253-255 + +CYMRIC. 1. Peoples; + effect of legends of, on Continental poets, 50; + 2. Myths; + Druidic thought enshrined in Llewellyn Sion's "Barddas," edited by by J. + A. Williams ap Ithel for the Welsh MS. Society, 332; + cosmogony, the, 333-335; + God and Cythrawl in, 333; + why so little of Arthurian saga heard in, 344; + comparison between Gaelic and, 344-368 + +CYTHRAWL. God and, two primary existences standing for principles of + destruction and life, in Cymric cosmogony, 333; + realised in "Annwn" (the Abyss, or Chaos), 333 + +D + +DA DERGA. A Leinster lord at whose hostel Conary seeks hospitality, 170; + Conary's retinue at, 173; + Ingcel and his own sons attack the hostel, 174 + +DAGDA. "The Good," or possibly = _Doctus_, "The Wise" God, and supreme + head of the People of Dana, father of Brigit (Dana), 103; + the Cauldron of the, one of the treasures of the Danaans, 106; + the magical harp of, 118-119; + father and chief of the People of Dana, 120, 121; + Kings MacCuill, MacCecht, and MacGrené grandsons of, 132; + portions out spiritual Ireland between the Danaans, 136 + +DALAN. A Druid who discovers to Eochy that Etain has been carried to mound + of Bri-Leith, 163 + +DALNY. Queen of Partholan, 96 + +DAMAN. The Firbolg, father of Ferdia, 187 + +DAMAYAN´TI AND NALA. Hindu legend, compared with story of Etain, 163 + +DANA. The People of, Nemedian survivors who return to Ireland, 102; + literal meaning of _Tuatha De Danann_, 103; + equivalent Brigit, 103, 126; + name of "gods" given to the People of, by Tuan mac Carell, 104; + Milesians conquer the People of, 104; + origin of People of, according to Tuan mac Carell, 105; + cities of Falias, Gorias, Finias, and Murias, 105; + treasures of the People of, 105, 106; + the Firbolgs and the People of, 106-119; + gift of Faëry (_i.e._, skill in music) the prerogative of, 119; + daughter of the Dagda and the greatest of Danaan goddesses, 126; + Brian (ancient form Brenos), Iuchar, and Iucharba, her sons, 126; + Firbolgs and the People of, 137; + equivalent Don, Cymric mother-goddess, 348, 349 + +DAN´AAN-S. Send to Balor refusing tribute, 113; + their encounter with the Fomorians, 117; + power of, exercised by spell of music, 118; + account of principal gods and attributes of, 119-145; + reference to their displacement in Ireland by Milesians, 130; + kings, Ireland ruled by three, MacCuill, MacCecht, and MacGrené, 132; + the three kings welcome Ith to Ireland, 133; + dwell in spiritual Ireland, 136; + myth, the meaning of, 137; + the, after the Milesian conquest, 146, 147; + Donn son of Midir at war with, 285; + relations of the Church with, very cordial, 286 + +DANES. Irish monuments plundered by Danes, 69 + +DANUBE. Sources of, place of origin of Celts, 19, 56 + +DARA. Son of Fachtna, owner of Brown Bull of Quelgny, 202; + Maev's request for loan of Brown Bull, 204 + +DARK, THE. Druid; + changes Saba into a fawn, 267; + his further ill-treatment of, 268, 269 + +DEAD, LAND OF. The Irish Fairyland, 96; + equivalent, "Spain," 102 + +DEATH. The Celtic conception of, 89; + names of Balor and Bilé occur as god of, 130 + +DEBILITY OF THE ULTONIANS, THE. Caused by Macha's curse, 179, 180; + manifested on occasion of Maev's famous cattle-raid of Quelgny (_Tain Bo + Cuailgné_), 180 + +DECIES. Son of King of the, wooes Light of Beauty (_Sgeimh Solais_), 304 + +DEC´TERA. Mother of Cuchulain by Lugh, 123; + daughter of Druid Cathbad, 182; + her appearance to Conor mac Nessa after three years' absence, 182; + her gift of a son to Ulster, Cuchulain, by Lugh, 182 + +DEE, THE RIVER. Now the Ford of Ferdia, 211 + +DEIRDRE (deer´dree). Daughter of Felim, 196; + Druid Cathbad draws her horoscope, 197; + Conor decides to wed when of age, 197; + nursed by Levarcam, 197; + her love for Naisi, 198; + carried off by Naisi, 198; + returns with Naisi to Ireland, 198-200; + forced to wed Conor, she dashes herself against a rock and is killed, + 201; + the tales of Grania and, compared, 296-304 + +DEITIES. The Celtic, Cæsar on, 87, 88; + popular and bardic conception of Danaan, 104 + +DEMETRIUS. Visit to Britain of, 355; + mentions island where "Kronos" was imprisoned in sleep while Briareus + kept watch over him, 355 + +DEMNA. Otherwise Finn. + Birth of, 255 + +DEO´CA. A princess of Munster; + Children of Lir and, 142 + +DERMOT MACKERVAL. Rule of, in Ireland, and the cursing of Tara, 47, 48; + arrests and tries Hugh Guairy, 48; + dream of wife of, 48 + +DERMOT OF THE LOVE SPOT (DERMOT O'DYNA). Follower of Finn mac Cumhal, + lover of Grania, bred up with Angus at palace on Boyne, 123; + the typical lover of Irish legend, 123; + slain by wild Boar of Ben Bulben, 123, 301, 302; + friend of Finn's, 261; + described as a Gaelic Adonis, 290; + Donn, father of, 290; + Roc and, 290, 291; + how Dermot got the Love Spot, 292; + adventure with Gilla Dacar's steed, 293-295; + fight with the Knight of the Well, 294; + love-story of Grania and, 296-304 + +DERRYVAR´AGH, LAKE. Aoife's cruelty to her step-children at, 139-142 + +DESA. Foster-father of Conary Mor, 167 + +DEWY-RED. Horse of Conall of the Victories, 233 + +DIALOGUES. Reference to Oisin-and-Patrick and Keelta-and-Patrick, 289 + +DIANCECHT (dee´an-kecht). Physician to the Danaans, 108 + +DINEEN'S IRISH DICTIONARY. Reference to, 164, 165 + +DINNSENCHUS (din-shen´cus). Ancient tract, preserved in the "Book of + Leinster," 85 + +DIN´ODIG. Cantrev of, over which Llew and Blodeuwedd reigned, 382, 383 + +DINRIGH (din´ree). Maon slays Covac at, 153 + +DIODOR´US SIC´ULUS. A contemporary of Julius Cæsar; + describes Gauls, 41, 42; + Pythagoras and, 80 + +DIS. Pluto, equivalent, 88 + +DITHOR´BA. Brother of Red Hugh and Kimbay, slain by Macha, 151; + five sons of, taken captive by Macha, 151, 152 + +DIUR´AN THE RHYMER. German and, companions of Maeldun on his wonderful + voyage, 313; + returns with piece of silver net, 331 + +DODDER, THE RIVER, 175 + +DOLMENS Cromlechs, tumuli and, explanation of, 53 + +DON (_o_ as in "bone"). + A Cymric mother-goddess, representing the Gaelic Dana, 348, 349; + Penardun, a daughter of 349; + Gwydion, son of, 349; + genealogy set forth, 350 + +DONN. 1. Mac Midir, son of Midir the Proud, 285. + 2. Father of Dermot; + gives his son to be nurtured by Angus Og, 290 + +DONNYBROOK. Da Derga's hostel at, 170 + +DOOCLOONE. Ailill slain in church of, 310; + Maeldun at, 311 + +DOWTH. Tumulus of, 74 + +DRUIDISM. Its existence in British Isles, Gaul, &c., 82; + magical rites of, belief in survived in early Irish Christianity, 83 + +DRUIDS. Doctrines of, 37, 39; + regarded as intermediaries between God and man, 42; + the sovran power in Celtica, 46; + suppressed by Emperor Tiberius, 62; + Aryan root for the word discovered, 82; + testimony of Dion Chrysostom to the power of the, 83; + religious, philosophic and scientific culture superintended by, record + of Cæsar regarding, 84; + cosmogonic teaching died with their order, 95 + +DUBLIN. Conary goes toward, 167; + Conary's foster-brothers land at, for raiding purposes, 169 + +DUPAIX. Reference to cup-and-ring markings in book "Monuments of New + Spain," 68 + +DYFED. Pryderi and Manawyddan at, 374; + Gwydion and Gilvaethwy at, 379 + +DYLAN ("Son of the Wave"). Son of Arianrod; + his death-groan the roar of the tide at mouth of the river Conway, 380 + +E + +EAGLE OF GWERN ABWY, THE, 392 + +EBER DONN (Brown Eber). Milesian lord; + his brutal exultation and its sequel, 136; + reference to, as one of Milesian leaders, 148 + +EBER FINN (Fair Eber). One of the Milesian leaders, 148; + slain by Eremon, 148 + +ECNE (ec´nay). The god whose grandmother was Dana, 103 + +EGYPT-IAN. The ship symbol in the sepulchral art of, 75; + Feet of Osiris, symbol of visitation, in, 77; + ideas of immortality, 78-87; + human sacrifices in, abolished by Amasis I., 86 + +EIS´IRT. Bard to King of Wee Folk, 247; + his visit to King Fergus in Ulster, 247 + +ELPHIN. Son of Gwyddno; + finds Taliesin, 414; + his boast of wife and bard at Arthur's court, 415; + the sequel, 415-417 + +EM´AIN MACH´A. The Morrigan passes through, to warn Cuchulain, 127; + founding of, with reign of Kimbay, 150; + equivalent, the Brooch of Macha, 150; + Macha compels five sons of Dithorba to construct ramparts and trenches + of, 151, 152; + appearance of Dectera in fields of, 182; + Cuchulain drives back to, 186; + news of Cuchulain's battle-fury brought to, 194; + Fergus returns to, 201; + boy corps at, go forth to help Cuchulain, 214; + Ulster men return to, with great glory, 225; + Conall's "brain ball" laid up at, 240 + +EMA´NIA. Women of, meet Cuchulain, 194; + sacrifice of boy corps of, avenged by Cuchulain, 214; + Cuchulain takes farewell of womenfolk of, 231. + See Emain Macha + +EMER. Daughter of Forgall; + wooed by Cuchulain, 185-186; + Cuchulain seeks and carries off, 195; + becomes Cuchulain's wife, 195; + learns of the tryst between Cuchulain and Fand, 226, 228; + Cuchulain sees her corpse in his madness, 230 + +ENAMELLING. Celts and art of, 30 + +ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA. Article on Arthurian saga in, 341 + +ENID. The tale of Geraint and, 399, 400 + +EOCHY (yeo´hee). 1. Son of Erc, Firbolg king, husband of Taltiu, or Telta, + 103. + 2. King of Ireland; + reference to appearance of Midir the Proud to, on the Hill of Tara, 124; + High King of Ireland, wooes and marries Etain, 157, 158; + Midir appears to, and challenges to play chess, 161, 162 + +EPH´ORUS. Celts and, 17, 36 + +ERC. King of Ireland, Cuchulain's foe, 228-233; + mortally wounds the Grey of Macha, 232 + +ER´EMON. First Milesian king of all Ireland, 143, 144, 148 + +ERI. Mother of King Bres, 107-108; + reveals father of Bres as Elatha, 108 + +ERINN (ERIN). See Eriu, 132; + reference to High-Kingship of, 152 + +ERIU. Wife of Danaan king MacGrené, 132; + dative form, Erinn, poetic name applied to Ireland, 132 + +ERRIS BAY. The Children of Lir at, 141, 142 + +ET´AIN. + Second bride of Midir the Proud, 156; + transformed by Fuamnach into a butterfly, 156; + driven by a magic tempest into the fairy palace of Angus, 156; + again the magic tempest drives her forth, 156; + swallowed by Etar, and reappears as a mortal child, 156, 157; + visited by Eochy, the High King, who wooes and makes her his wife, 157, + 158; + the desperate love of Ailill for, 158-160; + Midir the Proud comes to claim, as his Danaan wife, 160-163; + recovered by Eochy, 163 + +ETAIN OIG. + Daughter of Etain, 163; + King Conary Mor descended from, 164; + married Cormac, King of Ulster, 165; + put away owing to barrenness, 166; + cowherd of Eterskel cares for her one daughter, 166 + +ET´AR. + Mother of Etain, 157 + +ETERSKEL. + King of Ireland, whose cowherd cares for Messbuachalla, 166; + on his death he is succeeded by Conary Mor, 167-169 + +ETH´AL A´NUBAL. + Prince of Danaans of Connacht, father of Caer, 122 + +ETHLINN, or ETHNEA. + Daughter of Balor, 110; + gives her love to Kian, 111; + gives birth to three sons, 111; + one son, Lugh, 112, 182; + belongs to Finn's ancestry, 255 + +ETHNÉ. + The tale of, 142-145 + +ETRUSCANS. + Celts conquer Northern Italy from, 21 + +EUROPE. + Seeds of freedom and culture in, kept alive by Celtica, 22; + diffusion of Celtic power in Mid-, 26; + Celtic place-names in, 27; + what it owes to Celts, 49; + western lands of, dolmens found in, 53 + +EVNISS´YEN. + Son of Eurosswyd and Penardun, 366; + mutilates horses of Matholwch, 367; + atonement made by Bran for his outrage, 367, 368; + slays the warriors hidden in the meal-bags, 370; + dies in the magic cauldron, 371 + +EVRAWC. + Father of Peredur, 401 + +EVRIC. + Farmer who befriends Fionuala and her brothers, 141 + +EXCALIBUR. + See Caliburn, 338, and _note_, p. 224 + +*F* + +FABII. + Romans elect as military tribunes, 25 + +FAB´IUS AMBUST´US. + Treachery of three sons of, against Celts, 25 + +FACHT´NA. + The giant, King of Ulster, 180; + Nessa, wife of, 180; + father of Conor, 180; + succeeded at death by his half-brother, Fergus, 180 + +FAIR MANE. + Woman who nurtured many of the Fianna, 262 + +FAIRY FOLK. + Equivalent, _Sidhe_ (shee). The tumulus at New Grange (Ireland) regarded + as dwelling-place of, 69; + the _Coulin_ overheard from, 119; + Conary Mor lured by, into breaking his _geise_, 170; + seal all sources of water against mac Cecht, 175, 176; + Fergus mac Leda and, 246-249; + Conan mac Morna and, 259, 260; + Keelta and the, 266; + Gwyn ap Nudd, King of Welsh (_Tylwyth Teg_), 353 + +FAIRYLAND. + Land of the Dead, 96; + Cleena swept back to, by a wave, 127; + Connla's Well in, 129; + war carried on against, by Eochy, who at last recovers his wife, Etain, + 163; + Cuchulain in, 225-228; + Laeg's visit to, 226; + Fergus mac Leda and, 246-249; + tales of the Fianna concerned with, 252; + Oisin's journey to, 272; + the rescue of, by Finn and the Fianna, 294, 295; + rescue of, by Pwyll, 357 + +FAL´IAS, THE CITY OF (see Dana), 105, 106 + +FAND. + The Pearl of Beauty, wife of Mananan; + sets her love on Cuchulain, 226; + returns to her home with Mananan, 227 + +FAYLINN. + The Land of the Wee Folk, 246; + Iubdan, King of, 246 + +FEDEL´MA. + Prophetess from Fairy Mound of Croghan, questioned by Maev, 205, 206; + her vision of Cuchulain, 206 + +FEET SYMBOL, THE TWO. 77 + +FELIM. + Son of Dall, father of Deirdre, 196, 197; + his feast to Conor and Red Branch heroes, 196, 197 + +FER´AMORC. + The kingdom of, over which Scoriath is king; + Maon taken to, 153 + +FERCART´NA. + The bard of Curoi, 229; + leaps with Blanid to death, 229 + +FERDIA. + Duel between Cuchulain and, referred to, 121; + son of the Firbolg, Daman, friend of Cuchulain, 187, 188; + rallies to Maev's foray against Ulster, 204; + consents to Maev's entreaty that he should meet and fight his friend + Cuchulain, 216; + the struggle, 217-221; + Cuchulain slays, 220; + buried by Maev, 221 + +FERGUS. + Nemedian chief who slays Conann, 102 + +FERGUS THE GREAT. + Son of Erc; + stone of Scone used for crowning, 105; + ancestor of British Royal Family, 105 + +FERGUS MAC LEDA. + The Wee Folk and, 246-249; + visited by Eisirt, King of Wee Folk's bard, 247; + visited by Iubdan, King of Wee Folk, 247-249; + the blemish of Fergus, 249 + +FERGUS MAC ROY. + Son of Roy, Fachtna's half-brother; + succeeds to kingship of Ulster, 180; + loves Nessa, 180; + sent to invite return of Naisi and Deirdre to Ireland, 198-200; + the rebellion of, 201-251; + Maev and, 202; + compact with Cuchulain, 211; + reputed author of the "Tain," 234; + slain by Ailell, 245 + +FERGUS TRUELIPS. + Rescued from enchanted cave by Goll, 278 + +FERGUSON, SIR SAMUEL. + Quoted, 46, 234-238; + his description of King Fergus mac Leda's death, 249-251 + +FERYLLT. + Welsh name of Vergil, 413 + +FIACHA (fee´ach-a). + Son of Firaba; + cuts off eight-and-twenty hands of the Clan Calatin, 216; + gives spear to Finn, 258 + +FIACHRA (fee´ach-ra). + One of the Children of Lir, 142 + +FIAL (fee´al). + Sister of Emer, 186 + +FIANNA (fee´anna) OF ERIN, THE. + Explanation of this Order, 252; + Clan Bascna and Clan Morna, clans comprising the, 252; + Goll, captain of the, 257; + Finn made captain of the, 258; + tests of, 264, 265; + tales of the, told by Keelta, 283; + attempt in vain to throw the wether, 291, 292; + the chase of the Hard Gilly and, 292-295; + rescue of Fairyland by, 294, 295; + tribute refused by Cairbry, 305; + almost all the, slain in battle of Gowra, 306 + +FIANS. + See Fianna + +FIN´CHOOM. + Dectera's sister, foster-mother to Cuchulain, 182, 183; + mother of Conall, 243 + +FINCHOR´Y, ISLAND OF. 115, 116 + +FIND´ABAIR OF THE FAIR EYE-BROWS. + Daughter of Maev; + offered to Ferdia if he will meet and fight Cuchulain, 216 + +FIN´EGAS. + Druid, of whom Finn learns poetry and science, 256 + +FINGEN. + Conor mac Nessa's physician; + his pronouncement _re_ Conall's "brain ball" by which Ket has wounded + the king, 240 + +FIN´IAS. THE CITY OF (see Dana), 105, 106 + +FINN MAC CUMHAL (fin mac coo´al). Fothad slain in a battle with, 81; + Dermot of the Love Spot a follower of, 123; + Ossianic Cycle clusters round, 252; + Oisin, son of, 252; + the coming of, 255; + his Danaan ancestry, 255; + Murna of the White Neck his mother, Cumhal his father, 255; + Demna his original name, 255; + put out to nurse, 256; + origin of name Finn (Fair One), 256; + slays Lia, 256; + taught poetry and science by Druid Finegas, 256; + eats of the Salmon of Knowledge, 256; + slays goblin at Slieve Fuad, 258; + made captain of the Fianna of Erin, 258; + makes a covenant with Conan, 258, 259; + Dermot of the Love Spot, friend of, 261; + weds Grania, 261; + Oisin, son of, 261; + Geena mac Luga, one of the men of, 262; + teaches the maxims of the Fianna to mac Luga, 262, 263; + Murna, the mother of, 266; + Bran and Skolawn, hounds of, 266-269; + weds Saba, 267; + Saba taken from, by enchantment, 268; + Niam of the Golden Hair comes to, 270; + experience in the enchanted cave, 277, 278; + Goll rescues, 277, 278; + gives his daughter Keva to Goll, 278; + "The Chase of Slievegallion" and, 278-280; + "The Masque of," by Mr. Standish O'Grady, 280, 281; + the Hard Gilly (Gilla Dacar) and, 292-295; + Grania and, 296-304; + bewails Oscar's death, 306; + in all Ossianic literature no complete narrative of death of, 308; + tradition says he lies in trance in enchanted cave, like Kaiser + Barbarossa, 308 + +FINTAN. The Salmon of Knowledge, of which Finn eats, 256 + +FIONUALA (fee-un-oo´la). Daughter of Lir and step-daughter of Aoife, 139; + Aoife's transformation into swans of Fionuala and, her brothers, 140-142 + +FIR-BOLG. See Firbolgs, 103 + +FIRBOLGS. Nemedian survivors who return to Ireland, 102; + name signifies "Men of the Bags," 102, 103; + legend regarding, 102, 103; + the Fir-Bolg, Fir-Domnan, and Galioin races generally designated as the, + 103; + the Danaans and the, 106-119, 137 + +FIR-DOM´NAN. See Firbolgs, 103 + +FLEGETAN´IS. A heathen writer, whose Arabic book formed a source for poet + Kyot, 408 + +FOHLA (fo´la). Wife of Danaan King mac Cecht, 132 + +FOILL. A son of Nechtan, slain by Cuchulain, 194 + +FOLL´AMAN. Conor's youngest son; + leads boy corps against Maev, 214 + +FOMOR´IANS. A misshapen, violent people representing the powers of evil; + their battle with the Partholanians, 97; + Nemedians in constant warfare with, 101; + their tyranny over country of Ireland, 109; + encounter between the Danaans and, 117, 118, 137 + +FORBAY. Son of Conor mac Nessa; + slays Maev, 245 + +FORD OF FERDIA. Place on the River Dee; + one champion at a time to meet Cuchulain at, 211; + the struggle at, between Cuchulain and Ferdia, 216-220 + +FORGALL THE WILY. The lord of Lusca, father of Emer, 185; + meets his death in escaping from Cuchulain, 195 + +FOTH´AD. King, slain in battle with Finn mac Cumhal; + wager as to place of death made by Mongan, 81 + +FRAG´ARACH ("The Answerer"). + Terrible sword brought by Lugh from the Land of the Living, 113 + +FRANCE. Place-names of, Celtic element in, 27 + +FUAMNACH (foo´am-nach). Wife of Midir the Proud, 156; + her jealousy of a second bride, Etain, 156; + transforms Etain into a butterfly by magic art, 156-158; + Midir tells of her death, 160 + +G + +GAE BOLG. The thrust of, taught by Skatha to Cuchulain, 188, 189; + Cuchulam slays his son Connla by, 192; + Cuchulain slays Loch by, 213; + Cuchulain slays Ferdia by, 220 + +GAELIC. Cymric language and, 35; + effect of legends of, on Continental poets, 50; + bards' ideas of chivalric romance anticipated by, 246; + Cymric legend and, compared, 344-419; + Continental romance and, 345 + +GAELS. Sacrifices of children by, to idol Crom Cruach, 85 + +GÆSAT´I. Celtic warriors, in battle of Clastidium, 41 + +GALATIA. Celtic state of, St. Jerome's attestation _re_, 34 + +GAL´IOIN. See Firbolgs, 103 + +GALLES, M. RENÉ. Tumulus of Mané-er-H´oeck described by, 63 + +GARACH. Mac Roth views Ulster men on Plain of, 223; + the battle of, 223-225 + +GAUL-S. Under Roman yoke, 35; + Cæsar's account of, 37; + described by Diodorus Siculus, 41, 42; + described by Ammianus Marcellinus, 42; + Dr. Rice Holmes describes, 43; + commerce on Mediterranean, Bay of Biscay, &c., of, 44; + religious beliefs and rites described by Julius Cæsar, 51, 52; + human sacrifices in, 84; + votive inscriptions to Æsus, Teutates, and Taranus, found in, 86, 87; + Dis, or Pluto, a most notable god of, 88; + dead carried from, to Britain, 131; + Maon taken to, 153 + +"GAULOIS, LA RELIGION DES." Reference to, 55, 83 + +GAUVAIN (SIR GAWAIN). Fellow-knight with Perceval, 406 + +GAVR´INIS. Chiromancy at, 64 + +GEENA MAC LUGA. Son of Luga, one of Finn's men, 262; + Finn teaches the maxims of the Fianna to, 262, 263 + +GEIS-E (singular, gaysh; plural, gaysha). The law of the, 164; + meaning of this Irish word explained, 164; + instances: Dermot of the Love Spot, Conary Mor, and Fergus mac Roy, 165; + Grania puts Dermot under, 298 + +GELON. Defeat of Hamilcar by, at Himera, 22 + +GENEALOGY. Of Conary Mor, from Eochy, 164; + of Conor mac Nessa, from Ross the Red, 181; + of Cuchulain and Conall of the Victories, from Druid Cathbad, 181; + of Don, 350; + of Llyr, 351; + of Arthur, 352 + +GENEIR. Knight of Arthur's court, 401 + +GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH. Bishop of St. Asaph; + his "Historia Regum Britaniæ" written to commemorate Arthur's exploits, + 337 + +GERAINT. The tale of Enid and, 399, 400 + +GERALD, EARL. Son of goddess Ainé, 128 + +GERMAN (ghermawn--_g_ hard). Diuran and, companions of Maeldun on his + wonderful voyage, 313 + +GERMANIC WORDS. Many important, traceable to Celtic origin, 32 + +GERMANS. Menace to classical civilisation of, under names of Cimbri and + Teutones, 31; + de Jubainville's explanation regarding, as a subject people, 31; + overthrow of Celtic supremacy by, 33; + burial rites practised by, 33; + chastity of, 41 + +GERMANY. Place-names of, Celtic element in, 27 + +GILLA DACAR (The Hard Gilly). Story of, 292-295 + +GILVAETH´WY. Son of Don, nephew of Math, 378; + his love for Goewin, and its sequel, 378-380 + +GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS. Testimony to the fairness of the Irish Celt, 21. + See Bleheris + +GLEN ETIVE. Dwelling place of Naisi and Deirdre, 198 + +GLOUCESTER. Mabon released from prison in, 392; + the "nine sorceresses" of, 404 + +GLOWER. The strong man of the Wee Folk, 246 + +GLYN CUCH. Pwyll's hunt in woods of, 357 + +GOBAN THE SMITH. Brother of Kian and Sawan; + corresponds to Wayland Smith in Germanic legend, 110, 117; + Ollav Fola compared with, 150 + +GOD. Cythrawl and, two primary existences in the Cymric cosmogony, + standing for principles of life and destruction, 333-335; + the ineffable Name of, pronounced, and the "Manred" formed, 333 + +GODS. Megalithic People's conception of their, 86, 87; + of Aryan Celts, equated by Cæsar with Mercury, Apollo, Mars, &c , 86; + triad of, Æsus, Teutates, and Taranus, mentioned by Lucan, 86; + Lugh, or Lugus, the god of Light, 88 + +GOEWIN (go-ay´win). Daughter of Pebin; + Gilvaethwy's love for, and its sequel, 378-380 + +GOLASECCA. A great settlement of the Lowland Celts, in Cisalpine Gaul, 56 + +GOLEUDDYDD. Wife of Kilydd; + mother of Kilhwch, 386, 387 + +GOLL MAC MORNA. Son of Morna, captain of the Fianna of Erin, 257; + swears service to Finn, 258; + Finn recalls the great saying of, 267; + rescues Finn from the enchanted cave, 277, 278; + Keva of the White Skin given as wife to, 278; + adventure with the wether, 291, 292 + +GONEMANS. Knight who trains Perceval (Peredur), 405 + +GORBODUC. "Historia Regum Bntaniæ" furnished subject for, 337 338 + +GOR´IAS, THE CITY OF (see Dana), 105, 106 + +GOWRA (GABHRA). References to Oscar's death at, 261-275; + battle of, between Clan Bascna and Clan Morna, 305-309; + Oscar's death at, 305-308; + King of Ireland's death at, 306 + +GRAIL. Legends of the, 400; + the tale of Peredur and the 400; + Chrestien de Troyes' story of, 404; + identical with the Cup ot the Last Supper, 406; + Wolfram von Eschenbach's conception of the story of the 407; + preserved in Castle of Munsalväsche, 407; + the, a talisman of abundance, 409; + false derivation of the word, from _gréable_, 409; + true derivation, 409, _note_; + combination of Celtic poetry, German mysticism, Christian Chivalry, and + ancient sun-myths contained in, 411, 412 + +GRANIA. Loved by Dermot of the Love Spot, 123; + elopes with Dermot, 261; + tales of Deirdre and, compared, 296-304; + borne to Hill of Allen as Finn's bride, 304 + +GREAT BRITAIN. Western extremity of, is Land of the Dead, 131 + +GREECE. Dolmens found in, 53; + oppression in, of the Firbolgs, 102, 103 + +GREEK-S. Celts and, 17; + wars in alliance with Celts, 22; + break monopoly of Carthaginian trade with Britain and Spain, 22; + secure overland route across France to Britain 22; + type of civilisation, Celtica preserved, 22 + +GREY OF MACHA. Cuchulain's horse, ridden by Sualtam to rouse men of + Ulster, 221, 222; + resists being harnessed by Laeg, 230; + mortally wounded by Erc, 232; + defends Cuchulain, 233 + +GRONW PEBYR (gron´oo payber). + Loved by Blodeuwedd, 383; + slain by Llew, 384 + +GUAIRY, HUGH (gwai´ry). + Arrested for murder, and tried at Tara by Dermot, 48 + +GUARY (gwar´y). + High King; + taunts Sanchan Torpest about the "Tain," 234 + +GUEST, LADY CHARLOTTE. + Her collections of tales, 412 + See "Mabinogion" + +GWALCHMAI. + Nephew of King Arthur, 397, 401 + +GWAWL. + Rival of Pwyll's for Rhiannon's hand, 361, 362 + +GWENHWYVAR (gwen´hoo-ivar). + Wife of King Arthur, 394 + +GWERN. + Son of Matholwch and Branwen, 368; + assumes sovranty of Ireland, 370 + +GWION BACH. Son of Gwreang; + put to stir magic cauldron by Ceridwen, 413; + similar action to Finn, 413 + +GWLWLYD (goo-loo´lid). + The dun oxen of, 390 + +GWREANG (goo´re-ang). + Father of Gwion Bach, 413 + +GWRNACH (goor-nach). + Giant; + the sword of the, 390 + +GWYDDNO GAR´ANHIR. + Horses of, drink of poisoned stream, hence the stream "Poison of the + Horses of," 413; + his son Elphin finds Taliesin, 414 + +GWYDION. + Son of Don; + place in Cymric mythology taken later by the god Artaius, 349; + nephew of Math, 378; + the swine of Pryderi and, 378-380 + +GWYN AP NUDD. + A Cymric deity likened to Finn (Gaelic) and to Odin (Norse), 349; + combat every May-day between Gwythur ap Greidawl and, 353, 388 + +GWYNEDD. + Math, lord of, 378 + +GWYNFYD. + Purity; + the second of three concentric circles representing the totality of + being in the Cymric cosmogony, in which life is manifested + as a pure, rejoicing force triumphant over evil, 334 + +GWYTHUR AP GREIDAWL (VICTOR, SON OF SCORCHER). + Combat every May-day between Gwyn ap Nudd and, 353, 388 + +*H* + +HADES (or ANNWN). + The Magic Cauldron part of the spoils of, 410 + +HAM´ILCAR. + Defeat of, at Himera, by Gelon, 22 + +HAMITIC, THE. + Preserved in syntax of Celtic languages, 78 + +HAVGAN. + Rival of Arawn; + mortally wounded by Pwyll, 357,358 + +HECATÆ´US OF ABDERA. + Musical services of Celts (probably of Great Britain) described by, 58 + +HECATÆUS OF MILETUS. + First extant mention of "Celts" by, 17 + +HEILYN. + Son of Gwynn, 372 + +HEININ. + Bard at Arthur's court, 416 + +HELLAN´ICUS OF LESBOS. + Celts and, 17 + +HERO´DOTUS. + Celts and, 17, 56 + +HEVYDD HEN. + Father of Rhiannon, 360 + +HIGH KINGS OF IRELAND. + Stone of Destiny used for crowning of, 105 + +HILL OF AINÉ. + Name of goddess Ainé clings to, 128; + Ainé appears, on a St. John's Night, among girls on, 128 + +HILL OF ALLEN. + Finn's hounds, while returning to, recognise Saba, 266; + Oisin returns to, 273; + Finn returns to, 278; + return of the Fianna to, to celebrate the wedding feast of Finn and + Tasha, 295; + Finn bears Grania as his bride to, 304 + +HILL OF KESHCORRAN. Finn bewitched by hags on, 277 + +HILL OF MACHA. Significance, 251 + +"HISTORIA BRITONUM." See Nennius + +HISTORIA REGUM BRITANIÆ. See Geoffrey of Monmouth. + Furnished subject for "Gorborduc" and "King Lear," 338; + wonderful success of, translated by Wace into French, by Layamon into + Anglo-Saxon, 338, 339 + +HOMER. His gloomy picture of the departed souls of men conducted to the + underworld, 79, 80; + reference to, 147 + +HORSES OF MANANAN. White-crested waves called, 125 + +HOUND OF ULSTER. See Cuchulain, 217, 233; + element in Gaelic names, 184 + +HUGH. One of the Children of Lir, 142 + +HULL, Miss, referred to, 133, _note_; 203, _note_ + +HUNGARY. Miled's name as a god in a Celtic inscription from, 130 + +HYDE, DR. DOUGLAS. Reference to his folk tale about Dermot of the Love + Spot. 291 + +HYPERBOR´EANS. Equivalent to Celts, 17 + +I + +IBERIANS Aquitani and, resemblance between, 58, 59 + +ILDA´NACH ("The All-Craftsman"). Surname conferred upon Lugh, the Sun-god, + 113 + +ILLYRIANS Celts conquer, 22 + +IMMORTALITY. Origin of so-called "Celtic" doctrine of, 75, 76; + Egyptian and "Celtic" ideas of, 78-89 + +INDIA. Dolmens found in, 53; + symbol of the feet found in, 77; + practice in, of allotting musical modes to seasons of the year, 118 + +INDRA. Hindu sky-deity corresponding to Brown Bull of Quelgny, 203 + +INGCEL. One-eyed chief, son of King of Great Britain, an exile, 169 + +INVASION MYTHS, THE, OF IRELAND. See Myths + +INVERSKEN´A Ancient name of Kenmore River, so called after Skena, 133 + +IRELAND Unique historical position of, 35; + Dermot mac Kerval, High King of, 47; + apostolised by St Patrick, 51; + Lowland Celts founders of lake-dwellings in, 56; + holy wells in, 66; + tumulus and symbolic carvings at New Grange in, 69-72; + reference to conversion of, to Christianity, 83; + Lugh, or Lugus, god of Light, in, 88; + history of, as related by Tuan, 98-100; + Nemed takes possession of, 98; + Fomorians establish tyranny over, 101; + Standish O'Grady's "Critical History of," reference to, 119, 120; + displacement of Danaans in, by Milesians, 130; + Ith's coming to, 130-136; + name of Eriu (dative form Erinn), poetic name applied to, 132; + Amergin's lay, sung on touching soil of, 134; + Milesian host invade, 135; + the Children of Miled enter upon sovranty of, but henceforth there are + two Irelands, the spiritual, occupied by the Danaans, and + the earthly by the Milesians, 136-145; + Eremon, first Milesian king of all, 143, 144; + reference to Christianity and paganism in, 145; + Milesian settlement of, 148; + Ollav Fola, most distinguished Ollav of, 149--150; + Maon reigns over, 154; + raid of Conary's foster-brothers in, 169; + The Terrible decides the Championship of, 196; + proclaims Cuchulain Champion of, 196; + Naisi and Deirdre land in, 199; + Cairbry, son of Cormac mac Art, High King of, 304; + Maeldun and his companions return to, 330; + the Arthurian saga never entered, 343; + invaded by Bran, 369-372; + Matholwch hands over to Gwern the sovranty of, 370 + +IRISH. Element of place-names, found in France, Switzerland, Austria, &c., + 28; + Spenser's reference to eagerness of, to receive news, 37; + the Ulster hero, Cuchulain, in saga, 41; + the tumulus at New Grange in, 69; + Christianity, early, magical rites of Druidism survive in, 83; + legend, four main divisions in cycle of, 95; + folk-melodies, the _Coulin_, one of the most beautiful of, 119; + god of Love, Angus Og the, 121; + "Mythological Cycle," de Jubainville's, reference to, 131; + place-names, significance of, 250; + legend, St. Patrick and, 283; + literature, effect of Christianity on, 295 296 +IRNAN. Lays Finn under _geise_ to engage in single combat, 278; + slain by Goll, 278 + +IRON AGE. The ship a well-recognised form of sepulchral enclosure in + cemeteries of the, 76 + +ISLAND-S. Strange adventures of Maeldun and his companions on wonderful, + 312-331; + of the Slayer, 313; + of the Ants, 313; + of the Great Birds, 313; + of the Fierce Beast, 314; + of the Giant Horses, 314; + of the Stone Door, 314; + of the Apples, 315; + of the Wondrous Beast, 315; + of the Biting Horses, 315; + of the Fiery Swine, 316; + of the Little Cat, 316; + of the Black and White Sheep, 317; + of the Giant Cattle, 317; + of the Mill, 318; + of the Black Mourners, 318; + of the Four Fences, 318; + of the Glass Bridge, 319; + of the Shouting Birds, 320; + of the Anchorite, 320; + of the Miraculous Fountain, 320; + of the Smithy, 321; + of the Sea of Clear Glass, 321; + of the Undersea, 321; + of the Prophecy, 322; + of the Spouting Water, 322; + of the Silvern Column, 322; + of the Pedestal, 323; + of the Women, 323, 324; + of the Red Berries, 325; + of the Eagle, 325-327; + of the Laughing Folk, 327; + of the Flaming Rampart, 327; + of the Monk of Tory, 327-329; + of the Falcon, 329, 330 + +ISLANDS OF THE DEAD. See Mananan, 125 + +ISLE OF MAN. Supposed throne of Mananan, 125 + +ITALY. Northern, Celts conquer from Etruscans, 21, 25; + Murgen and Eimena sent to, by Sanchan Torpest, to discover the "Tain," + 234, 235 + +ITH. Son of Bregon, grandfather of Miled, 130; + his coming to Ireland, 130-136; + shores of Ireland perceived by, from Tower of Bregon, 132; + learns of Neit's slaying, 132; + welcomed by mac Cuill and his brothers, 133; + put to death by the three Danaan Kings, 133 + +IUBDAN (youb-dan). King of the Wee Folk, 246; + Bebo, wife of, 247; + Bebo and, visit King Fergus in Ulster, 247-249 + +IUCHAR (you´char). One of three sons of Turenn, 114; + Brigit, mother of, 126 + +IUCHARBA (you-char´ba). One of three sons of Turenn, 114; + Brigit, mother of, 126 + +J + +JAPAN. Dolmens found in, 53 + +JEROME, ST. Attestation of, on Celtic State of Galatia, 34 + +JOHN, MR. IVOR B. His opinion of Celtic mystical writings, 332 + +JONES, BRYNMOR. Findings of, on origin of populations of Great Britain and + Ireland, 78 + +JOYCE, DR. P.W. Reference to his "Old Celtic Romances," 303, 309, 312 + +JUBAINVILLE, M. D'ARBOIS DE. Great Celtic scholar, 18, 23, 24; + explanation of, regarding Germans as a subject people, 31; + record regarding Megalithic People, 55; + reference of, to Taranus (? Thor), the god of Lightning, 87; + opinion regarding Dis, or Pluto, as representing darkness, death, and + evil, 88; + reference to Gaulish god whom Cæsar identifies with Mercury, 113; + Brigit identical with Dana, according to, 126; + Ith's landing in Ireland described in his "Irish Mythological Cycle," + 131; + his translation of Amergin's strange lay, 134 + +K + +KAI. King Arthur's seneschal, 387, 388; + accompanies Kilhwch on his quest for Olwen, 388-392; + refuses Peredur, 401, 402 + +KEATING. Reference to his "History of Ireland," 150; + his reference to Maon, 153; + "History" of, tells of Ket's death, 244; + "History" of, tells of Maev's death, 245 + +KEELTA MAC RONAN. Summoned from the dead by Mongan, 81; + warrior and reciter, one of Finn's chief men, 261; + St. Patrick and, 265, 266, 289; + Finn whispers the tale of his enchantment to, 280; + Oisin and, resolve to part, 282; + meets St. Patrick, 282; + assists Oisin bury Oscar, 307 + +KEEVAN OF THE CURLING LOCKS. Lover of Cleena, 127 + +KELTCHAR (kelt´yar). A lord of Ulster; + mac Datho's boar and, 243 + +KENMARE RIVER. In Co. Kerry; + ancient name "Inverskena," so called after Skena, 133 + +KENVERCH´YN. The three hundred ravens of, 399 + +KERRY. Murna marries King of, 256 + +KESAIR (kes´er). Gaulish princess, wife of King Ugainy the Great, 152; + grandmother of Maon, 153 + +KET. Son of Maga; + rallies to Maev's foray against Ulster, 204; + slings Conall's "brain ball" at Conor mac Nessa which seven years after + leads to his death, 240, 241; + the Boar of mac Datho and, 241-244; + death of, told in Keating's "History of Ireland," 244 + +KEVA OF THE WHITE SKIN. Daughter of Finn, given in marriage to Goll mac + Morna, 278 + +KIAN. Father of Lugh, 109; + brother of Sawan and Goban, 110; + the end of, 114 + +KICVA. Daughter of Gwynn Gohoyw, wife of Pryderi, 365, 373 + +KILHWCH (kil´hugh). Son to Kilydd and Goleuddydd; + story of Olwen and, 386-392; + accompanied on his quest (to find Olwen) by Kai, Bedwyr, Kynddelig, + Bedwyr (Bedivere), Gwrhyr, Gwalchmai, and Menw, 388-392 + +KILLARNEY, LAKES OF. Ancient name, Locha Lein, given to, by Len, 123 + +KILYDD. Husband of Goleuddydd, father of Kilhwch, 386, 387 + +KIMBAY (CIMBAOTH). Irish king; + reign of, and the founding of Emain Macha, 150; + brother of Red Hugh and Dithorba, 151; + compelled to wed Macha, 151 + +KING LEAR. "Historia Regum Britaniæ" furnished the subject of, 337, 338 + +KINGSBOROUGH, LORD. "Antiquities of Mexico," example of cup-and-ring + markings reproduced in his book, 68 + +KNOWLEDGE. Nuts of, 256; + the Salmon of, 256 + +KYM´IDEU KYME´IN-VOLL. Wife of Llassar Llaesgyvnewid, 368 + +KYMON. A knight of Arthur's court; + the adventure of, 394-399 + +KYN´DDELIG. One of Arthur's servitors; + accompanies Kilhwch on his quest for Olwen, 388-392 + +KYOT (GUIOT). Provençal poet; + and Wolfram von Eschenbach, 408 + +L + +LA TÈNE CULTURE. Relics found in Austria developed into, 29 + +LABRA THE MARINER. See Maon, 154 + +LAEG (layg). Cuchulain's friend and charioteer, 183; + sent by Cuchulain to rouse men of Ulster, 213; + visits Fairyland to report on Fand, 226; + the Grey of Macha resists being harnessed by, 230; + slain by Lewy, 232 + +LAERY (lay´ry). 1. Son of King Ugainy the Great; + treacherously slain by his brother Covac, 152. + 2. The Triumphant; + shrinks from test for the Championship of Ireland, 196; + mac Datho's boar and, 243. + 3. Son of Neill; + sees vision of Cuchulain, 239 + +LAIRGNEN (lerg-nen). Connacht chief, betrothed to Deoca; + seizes the Children of Lir, 142 + +LAKE OF THE CAULDRON. Place where Matholwch met Llassar Llaesgyvnewid and + his wife Kymideu Kymeinvoll, 367, 368 + +LAKE OF THE DRAGON'S MOUTH. Resort of Caer, 121; + Angus Og joins his love, Caer, at, 122 + +LAND OF THE DEAD. "Spain" a synonymous term, 130; + the western extremity of Great Britain is, according to ancient writer + cited by Plutarch, and also according to Procopius, 131 + +LAND OF THE LIVING. = Land of the Happy Dead, 96; + gifts which Lugh brought from, 113 + +LAND OF SHADOWS. Dwelling-place of Skatha; + Cuchulain at, 187-189 + +LAND OF THE WEE FOLK. See Wee Folk (otherwise, Faylinn), 246, &c. + +LAND OF YOUTH. Identical with "Land of the Dead," "Land of the Living," + _q.v._; + See Mananan, 113, 125; + Cleena once lived in, 127; + Connla's Well in, visited by Sinend, 129; + still lives in imagination of Irish peasant, 137; + mystic country of People of Dana after their dispossession by Children + of Miled, 156; + pagan conception of, referred to, 161; + lover from, visits Messbuachalla, to whom she bears Conary, 166, 167; + Oisin sees wonders of, 272; + Oisin returns from, 273; + "The Lady of the Fountain" and the, 395, 396 + +LAYAMON. Translator. See "Historia Regum Britaniæ" + +LEGEND. The cycles of Irish, 95 + +LEICESTER. See Llyr + +LEINSTER. Book of, and de Jubainville, 24; + ancient tract, the "Dinnsenchus," preserved in, 85; + traditional derivation of name, 154; + men of, rally to Maev's foray against Ulster, 205; + Mesroda, son of Datho, dwelt in province of, 241 + +LEIX. Reavers from, slay Ailill Edge-of-Battle, 310; + Maeldun's voyage to, 311-331 + +LEN. Goldsmith of Bov the Red; + gave ancient name, Locha Lein, to the Lakes of Killarney, 123 + +LEVAR´CAM. Deirdre's nurse, 197-200; + Conor questions, _re_ sons of Usna, 199 + +LEWY. Son of Curoi, Cuchulain's foe, 228-233; + slain by Conall of the Victories, 233 + +LIA (lee´a). Lord of Luachar, treasurer to the Clan Morna, 255; + slain by Finn, 256; + father of Conan, 258 + +LIA FAIL (lee´a fawl), THE. The Stone of Destiny, 121 + +LIAGAN (lee´a-gan). A pirate, slain by Conan mac Morna, 260 + +LIGHT-OF-BEAUTY. See Sgeimh Solais + +LIR (leer). + 1. Sea-god, father of Mananan, 113, 139; + Mananan and, referred to, 125; + identical with the Greek Oceanus, 125; + father of Lodan and grandparent of Sinend, 129; + Cymric deity Llyr corresponds with, 347. + 2. The Children of, the transformation of, 139-142; + their death, 142 + +LISMORE. "The Dean of Lismore's Book," by James Macgregor. + Dean of, described, 288 + +LLASSAR LLAESGYV´NEWID. Husband of Kymideu Kymeinvoll, giver of magic + cauldron to Bran, 368 + +LLEVELYS. Son of Beli; + story of Ludd (Nudd) and, 385, 386 + +LLEW LLAW GYFFES. Otherwise "The Lion of the Sure Hand." + A hero the subject of the tale "Math Son of Mathonwy," 347, 348; + identical with the Gaelic deity Lugh of the Long Arm, 347, 348; + how he got his name, 381, 382; + the flower-wife of, named Blodeuwedd, 382, 383; + slays Gronw Pebyr, who had betrayed him, 383, 384 + +LLUDD. See Nudd + +LLWYD. Son of Kilcoed, an enchanter; + removes magic spell from seven Cantrevs of Dyfed, and from Pryderi and + Rhiannon, 377 + +LLYR. In Welsh legend, father of Manawyddan; + Irish equivalents, Lir and Mananan, 347; + Llyr-cester (now Leicester) once a centre of the worship of, 347; + house of, corresponds with Gaelic Lir, 348, 349; + Penardun, daughter of Don, wife of, 349; + genealogy set forth, 351 + +LOCH. Son of Mofebis, champion sent by Mae against Cuchulain, 212; + wounds Cuchulain, but is slain by him, 212 + +LOCH GARA. Lake in Roscommon; + mac Cecht's visit to, 176 + +LOCH RORY. Fergus mac Leda's adventure in, 249 + +LOCH RYVE. Maev retires to island on, and is slain there by Forbay, 245 + +LODAN. Son of Lir, father of goddess Sinend, 129 + +LOHERANGRAIN. Knight of the Swan, son of Parzival, 408 + +LOUGHCREW. Great tumulus at, supposed burying-place of Ollav Fola, 150 + +LOURDES. Cult of waters of, 66, 67 + +LUCAN. Triad of deities mentioned by, 86 + +LUCHAD (loo-chad). Father of Luchta, 112 + +LUCHTA (looch-ta). Son of Luchad, 112; + the carpenter of the Danaans, 117 + +LUDGATE. For derivation see Nudd + +LUGH (loo), or LUGUS. + 1. See Apollo, 58; + the god of Light, in Gaul and Ireland, as, 88; + 2. Son of Kian, the Sun-god _par excellence_ of all Celtica, the coming + of, 109-113; + other names, Ildánach ("The All-Craftsman") and Lugh Lamfada (Lugh of + the Long Arm), 113, 123; + his eric from sons of Turenn for murder of his father, Kian, 115-116; + slays Balor and is enthroned in his stead, 117; + fiery spear of, 121; + his worship widely spread over Continental Celtica, 123; + father, by Dectera, of Cuchulain, 123, 182; + Cymric deity Llew Llaw Gyffes corresponds with, 347, 348 + +LUGH OF THE LONG ARM. See Lugh. + Invincible sword of, 105, 106; + Bres, son of Balor, and, 123; + husband of Dectera and father of Cuchulain, 182; + appears to Cuchulain and protects the Ford while his son rests, 214; + fights by his son's side, 215; + Cymric hero Llew Llaw Gyfles corresponds with, 347, 348 + +LUNED. Maiden who rescued Owain, 397; + Owain rescues her, 398, 399 + +M + +"MABINOG´ION, THE" (singular, _Mabinogi_). + Reference to story of Kilhwch and Olwen in, 343; + "The Red Book of Hergest," the main source of the tales of, 344; + "Math Son of Mathonwy," tale in, 347; + Mr. Alfred Nutt's edition, 356; + Four Branches of the Mabinogi form most important part of, 384; + Peredur's story in, and French version, 406; + the tale of Taliesin and, 412 + +MABON. Son of Modron, released by Arthur, 391, 392 + +MACCECHT. Danaan king, husband of Fohla, 132; + member of Conary's retinue at Da Derga's Hostel, 175; + his search for water, 175, 176 + +MACCUILL (quill). Danaan king, husband of Banba, 132; + at fortress of Aileach, 132 + +MACGRENÉ. Danaan king, husband of Eriu, 132; + mythical name Son of the Sun, 132 + +MAC INDOC´, THE PLAIN OF. Laery and St. Benen on, 239 + +MACKERVAL, DERMOT. Rule of, in Ireland, and the cursing of Tara, 47, 48. + See Dermot + +MACPHERSON. Pseudo-Ossian poetry of, 238 +MAC ROTH. Maev's steward, named, and the Brown Bull of Quelgny, 202; + sent to view host of Ulster men, 223 + +MACEDON. Attacked by Thracian and Illyrian hordes, 23 + +MACHA. Daughter of Red Hugh, 151; + slays Dithorba and compels Kimbay to wed her, 151; + captures five sons of Dithorba, 151, 152; + forms an instance of the intermingling of the attributes of the Danaan + with the human race, 152; + a super-natural being, 178; + goes to dwell with Crundchu, 178; + her race against Ultonian horses, 179; + gives birth to twins and curses the Ultonians, 180; + her curse on men of Ulster, 203-221; + the curse removed from men of Ulster, 222 + +MAELDUN. Son of Ailill Edge-of-Battle, 310; + departs to his own kindred, 311; + sets out on his wonderful voyage, 311-331 + +MAELDUN, VOYAGE OF (mayl'-doon). Found in MS. entitled "Book of the Dun + Cow," 309; + reference to Dr. Whitley Stokes' translation in the "Revue Celtique," + 309; + theme of Tennyson's "Voyage of Maeldune" furnished by Joyce's version in + "Old Celtic Romances," 309; + narrative of, 311-331 + +MAEN TYRIAWC (ma'en tyr'i-awc). Burial-place of Pryderi, 379 + +MAEV (mayv). Queen of Connacht, 122; + Angus Og seeks aid of, 122; + debility of Ultonians manifested on occasion of Cattle-raid of Quelgny, + 180; + Fergus seeks aid of, 202; + her famous bull Finnbenach, 202; + her efforts to secure the Brown Bull of Quelgny, 204-246; + host of, spreads devastation through the territories of Bregia and + Murthemney, 209; + offers her daughter Findabair of Fair Eyebrows to Ferdia if he will meet + Cuchulain, 216; + Conor summons men of Ulster against, 222; + overtaken but spared by Cuchulain, 225; + makes seven years' peace with Ulster, 225; + vengeance of, against Cuchulain, 228-233; + mac Datho's hound and, 241-244; + retires to island on Loch Ryve, 245; + slain by Forbay, 245 + +MAGA. Daughter of Angus Og, wife of Ross the Red, 181; + wedded also to Druid Cathbad, 181 + +MAGI. Word magic derived from, 60; + treated by Pliny, 61 + +MAGIC. The religion of Megalithic People that of, 59; + origin of word, 60; + Pliny on, 61; + religion of, invented in Persia and by Zoroaster, 61; + traces of, in Megalithic monuments, 63; + Clan Calatin learn, in Ireland, Alba, and Babylon, to practise against + Cuchulain, 228-233 + +MAITRE, M. ALBERT. Inspector of Musée des Antiquités Nationales, 64 + +MALORY. Anticipated by Wace, 338, 339; + Cymric myths and, 388 + +MAN´ANAN. Son of the Sea-god, Lir, 113, 139; + magical Boat of, brought by Lugh, with Horse of, and sword _Fragarach_, + from the Land of the Living, 113, 121; + attributes of Sea-god mostly conferred on, 125; + the most popular deity in Irish mythology, 125; + lord of sea beyond which Land of Youth or Islands of the Dead were + supposed to lie, 125; + master of tricks and illusions, owned magical possessions--boat, + Ocean-Sweeper; steed, Aonbarr; sword, The Answerer, &c. &c., + 125; + reference to daughter of, given to Angus, a Danaan prince, 143; + his wife, Fand, sets her love on Cuchulain, 226; + Fand recovered by, 227; + shakes his cloak between Fand and Cuchulain, 228; + Cymric deity Manawyddan corresponds with, 347, 348 + +MANAWYDDAN (mana-wudh'en). In Welsh mythology, son of Llyr; + Irish equivalents, Mananan and Lir, 347; + Bendigeid Vran ("Bran the Blessed"), his brother, 365; + the tale of Pryderi and, 373-378; + weds Rhiannon, 373 + +MANÉ-ER-H´OECK. Remarkable tumulus in Brittany, 63, 64 + +MANÉS. Seven outlawed sons of Ailell and Maev, 169; + their rally to Maev's foray against Ulster, 204 + +MANESSIER. A continuator of Chrestien de Troyes, 408 + +MAN´ETHO. Egyptian historian, reference to human sacrifices, 85, 86 + +MANRED. The ineffable Name of God pronounced, and so was formed, 333; + the primal substance of the universe, 333 + +MAON (may'un). Son of Ailill; + brutal treatment of, by Covac, 152-154; + has revenge on Ailill by slaying him and all his nobles, 153; + weds Moriath, and reigns over Ireland, 154; + equivalent, "Labra the Mariner," 154 + +MARCELLIN´US, AMMIAN´US. Gauls described by, 42 + +MARIE DE FRANCE. Anglo-Norman poetess; + sources relating to the Arthurian saga in writings of, 339, 340 + +MATH SON OF MATHONWY. Title of tale in the "Mabinogion," 347; + Llew Llaw Gyffes, a character in tale of, 347, 348; + brother of Penardun, 349; + the tale of, 378-384; + Gwydion and Gilvaethwy, nephews of, 378; + his strange gift of hearing, 386 + +MATHOLWCH (math'o-law). King of Ireland; + comes seeking Branwen's hand in marriage, 366; + wedding of, and Branwen's, celebrated at Aberffraw, 366; + Evnissyen mutilates his horses, 367; + Bran, among other gifts, gives a magic cauldron to, 367, 368; + father of Gwern, 368; + informed of Bran's invasion, 369; + hands sovranty of Ireland to Gwern, 370 + +MATHONWY. Ancestor of House of Don, 349 + +MATIÈRE DE FRANCE. Source of Round Table and chivalric institutions + ascribed to Arthur's court, 341 + +MAXEN WLEDIG (oo'le-dig). Emperor of Rome; + the dream of, 384, 385 + +MAY-DAY. Sacred to Beltené, day on which Sons of Miled began conquest of + Ireland, 133, 134; + combat every, between Gwythur ap Greidawl and Gwyn ap Nudd, 353; + strange scream heard in Britain on eve of, 385 + +MEATH. Fergus in his battle-fury strikes off the tops of the three _Maela_ + of, 224; + St. Patrick and the folk of, 282 + +MEDICINE. See Magic, 60, 61; + Pliny and, 61 + +MEGALITHIC PEOPLE. Builders of dolmens, cromlechs, &c., 52-93; + origin of the, 54-58; + Professor Ridgeway's contention about, 56; + their religion that of magic, 59; + representations of the divine powers under human aspect unknown to, 75; + Druidism imposed on the Celts by the, 82; + human sacrifices, practice a survival from the, 84; + conception of, regarding their deities, 86 + +MERCURY. Regarded as chief of the gods by Gauls, 87; + Lugh Lamfada identified with, 113 + +MERLIN. See Myrddin. + Reference to his magical arts, 337; + equivalent Myrddin, 354; + believed by Geoffrey of Monmouth to have erected Stonehenge, 354; + the abode of, described, 354-356 + +MESGED´RA. The vengeance of, fulfilled, 241 + +MESRO´DA, MAC DATHO. Son of Datho, 241; + the carving of the boar of, 241-244; + Conor and Maev both send to purchase his hound, 241 + +MESSBUACHALLA (mess-boo'hala). Only daughter of Etain Oig, 166; + significance, "the cowherd's foster-child," 166; + King Eterskel's promised son and, 166; + visited by a Danaan lover, and birth of Conary, 166, 167 + +MEXICO. Cup-and-ring marking in, 68; + symbol of the feet found in, 77; + the cross-legged "Buddha," frequent occurrence in religious art of, 87 + +MIDIR THE PROUD (mid'eer). A son of the Dagda; + a type of splendour, 124; + his appearance to King Eochy, 124; + Fuamnach, wife of, 156; + Etain, second bride of, 156; + recovers his wife from Eochy, 160-163; + yields up Etain, 163 + +MILED. + 1. Sons of; + conquer the People of Dana, 100; + the coming of, to displace rule in Ireland of Danaans, 130; + Bregon, son of, 130; + Amergin, son of, 133; + begin conquest of Ireland on May-day, 133, 134. + 2. A god, represented as, in a Celtic inscription from Hungary, son of + Bilé, 130. + 3. Children of; + resolve to take vengeance for Ith's slaying, 133; + enter upon the sovranty of Ireland, 136 + +MILESIAN-S. See Sons of Miled, 130; + myth, meaning of, 138-145; + the early kings, 146-148 + +MINORCA. Analogous structures (to represent ships) to those in Ireland + found in, 76 + +MOCHAEN (mo-chayn'). Hill of, and Lugh's eric, 115 + +MODRED. King Arthur's nephew; + usurps his uncle's crown and weds his wife Guanhumara, 337; + Arthur defeats and slays, 337, 338 + +MONGAN. Irish chieftain, reincarnation of Finn; + wager as to place of death of King Fothad, 81 + +MONTEL´IUS, DR. OSCAR. And the ship symbol, 72 + +MOONRE´MUR. A lord of Ulster; + mac Datho's boar and, 243 + +MORANN. Druid; + prophecy of, concerning Cuchulain, 183 + +MORC. Fomorian king, 101 + +MORDA. A blind man, set by Ceridwen to keep fire under the magic cauldron, + 413 + +MOR´IATH. Daughter of Scoriath, the King of Feramore; + her love for Maon and her device to win him back to Ireland, 153, 154; + curious tale regarding his hair, 154 + +MORNA. Father of Goll, 257 + +MORR´IGAN, THE. Extraordinary goddess, embodying all that is perverse and + horrible among supernatural powers, 126; + her love and friendship for Cuchulain, 126; + her visit to Conary Mor at Hostel of Da Derga, 172; + appears to Cuchulain and offers her love, 212; + her threat to be about his feet in bottom of the Ford, 212; + attacks Cuchulain, and is wounded by him, 213; + croaks of war and slaughter before Cuchulain, 230; + settles on the dead Cuchulain's shoulder as a crow, 233 + +MOUNTAINS OF MOURNE. Cuchulain on, 193 + +MOYRATH. Battle of, ended resistance of Celtic chiefs to Christianity, 51 + +MOYSLAUGHT ("The Plain of Adoration"). + Idol of Crom Cruach erected on, 85, 149 + +MOYTURA, PLAIN OF. + 1. Scene of First Battle (Co. Sligo) between Danaans and the Firbolgs, + 106, 107. + 2. Scene of Second Battle (Co. Mayo) between Danaans and Fomorians, 117, + 130; + the Dagda and, 120 + +MUNSALVÄSCHE (MONTSALVAT), THE CASTLE OF, where, in W. von Eschenbach's + poem, the Grail is preserved, 407 + +MUNSTER. Ailill Olum, King of, 127; + "Hill of Ainé" and goddess Ainé 128; + origin of name, 154 + +MUR´IAS, THE CITY OF (see Dana), 105, 106 + +MURNA OF THE WHITE NECK. Wife of Cumhal, mother of Finn, 255, 266; + takes refuge in forests of Slieve Bloom, and gives birth to Demna + (Finn), 255; + marries King of Kerry, 256 + +MURTAGH MAC ERC. King of Ireland, brother of Fergus the Great; + lends famous Stone of Scone to Scotland, 105 + +MURTHEM´NEY. + Kian killed on Plain of, 114; + Cuchulain of, seen in a vision by prophetess Fedelma, 206; + the carnage of, 214; + host of Ulster assemble on, 229; + Cuchulain at his dun in, 230 + +MYCEN´Æ. Burial chamber of the Atreidæ, ancient dolmen yet stands beside, + in, 53 + +MYRDDIN. See Merlin. + A deity in Arthur's mythological cycle, corresponds with Sun-god Nudd, + 354; + suggestion of Professor Rhys that chief deity worshipped at Stonehenge + was, 355; + seizes the "Thirteen Treasures of Britain," 355 + +MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE, THE, 95, 96 + +MYTHOLOGY. Comparison between Gaelic and Cymric, 346-348; + compared with folklore, 418 + +MYTHS. Danaan, meaning of, 137; + Milesian, meaning of, 138, 139; + Invasion, of Ireland, 138-145 + +N + +NAISI (nay'see). Son of Usna, loved by Deirdre, 198; + abducts Deirdre, 198; + Ardan and Ainlé, his brothers, 198; + Conor invites return of, 198; + his return under care of Fergus, 199; + slain by Owen son of Duracht, 201 + +NAQADA (nak'a-da). Signs on ivory tablets discovered by Flinders Petrie in + cemetery at, 78 + +NARBERTH. Castle where Pwyll had his court, 359; + Pwyll's adventure on the Mound of Arberth, near, 359-365; + Pryderi and Manawyddan and their wives left desolate at palace of, 373 + +NATCHRANTAL (na-chran'tal). Famous champion of Maev; + assists to capture Brown Bull, 211 + +NECHTAN. Dun of the sons of, 193; + Cuchulain provokes a fight with sons of, 193, 194; + sons of, slain, 194 + +NEIT (nayt). + Danaan king, slain in battle with the Fomorians, 132 + +NEMED. Son of Agnoman; + takes possession of Ireland, 98; + fights victoriously against Fomorians, his death, 101 + +NEMEDIANS. Sail for Ireland, 99; + akin to the Partholanians, 101; + revolt of, against Fomorians, 101, 102; + routed by Fomorians, 102 + +NEMGLAN. Commands Conary go to Tara, 168; + he declares Conary's _geise_, 168 + +NENNIUS. British historian in whose "Historia Britonum" (A.D. 800) is + found first mention of Arthur, 336 + +NESSA. Daughter of Echid Yellow-heel, wife of Fachtna, mother of Conor, + 180; + loved by Fergus, 180 + +NETHERLANDS. Place-names of, Celtic element in, 27 + +NEW GRANGE. Tumulus at, regarded as dwelling-place of Fairy Folk, 69, 70; + symbolic carvings at, 70, 71; + the ship symbol at, 71-73; + Angus Og's palace at, 121; + Angus' fairy palace at Brugh na Boyna identical with, 143 + +NIAM (nee'am). + 1. Wife of Conall of the Victories; + tends Cuchulain, 229; + Bave puts a spell of straying on her, 230 + 2. Of the Golden Hair; + daughter of the King of the Land of Youth, 270; + Oisin departs with, 271, 272; + permits Oisin to visit the Land of Erin, 273 + +NISS´YEN. Son of Eurosswyd and Penardun, 366 + +NODENS. See Nudd + +NUADA OF THE SILVER HAND (noo'ada). King of the Danaans, 107-108; + his encounter with Balor, champion of the Fomorians, 117; + belongs to Finn's ancestry, 255; + identical with solar deity in Cymric mythology, viz., Nudd or Lludd, + 346, 347 + +NUDD, or LLUDD. Roman equivalent, Nodens. + A solar deity in Cymric mythology, 346, 347; + identical with Danaan deity, Nuada of the Silver Hand, 347; + under name Lludd, said to have had a temple on the site of St. Paul's, + 347; + entrance to Lludd's temple called _Parth Lludd_ (British), which Saxons + translated _Ludes Geat_--our present Ludgate, 347; + story of Llevelys and, 385, 386; + Edeyrn, son of, jousts with Geraint for Enid, 399, 400 + +NUTS OF KNOWLEDGE. Drop from hazel-boughs into pool where Salmon of + Knowledge lived, 256 + +NUTT, MR. ALFRED. Reference to, in connexion with the "Hill of Ainé," 128, + 129; + reference to, in connexion with Oisin-and-Patrick dialogues, 288, 289; + reference to object of the tale of Taliesin in his edition of the + "Mabinogion," 412 + +NYNNIAW. Peibaw and, brothers, two Kings of Britain, their quarrel over + the stars, 355, 356 + +O + +O'DONOVAN. A great Irish antiquary; + folk-tale discovered by, 109-119 + +O'DYNA, CANTRED OF. Dermot's patrimony, 300 + +O'GRADY. + 1. STANDISH. + References to his "Critical History of Ireland" on the founding of + Emain Macha, 119, 120, 151, 152; + his "Masque of Finn" referred to, 280, 281 + 2. STANDISH HAYES. + Reference to his "Silva Gadelica," 250, 276, 281 + +OCEAN-SWEEPER. Mananan's magical boat, 125 + +ODYSSEY, THE. Mr H.B. Cotterill's hexameter version, quotation from, 79, + 80 + +OGMA. Warrior of Nuada of the Silver Hand, 112, 118 + +OISIN (ush'een). Otherwise Little Fawn. + Son of Finn, greatest poet of the Gael, 261; + father of Oscar, 261; + buries Aideen, 261; + birth of, from Saba, 266-270; + loved by Niam of the Golden Hair, 270-272; + returns from Land of Youth, 273; + Keelta and, resolve to part, 282; + assists Keelta bury Oscar, 307 + +OLD CELTIC ROMANCES. Reference to Dr. P.W. Joyce's, 303, 309, 312 + +OLLAV. Definition of the term, 149 + +OLLAV FOLA. Eighteenth King of Ireland from Eremon, the most distinguished + Ollav of Ireland, 149-150; + compared with Goban the Smith and Amergin the Poet, 150 + +OLWEN. The story of Kilhwch and, 386-392; + daughter of Yspaddaden, 387; + how she got the name "She of the White Track," 390; + bride of Kilhwch, 392 + +ORLAM. Slain by Cuchulain, 209 + +OSCAR. Son of Oisin; + slays Linné, 261; + Aideen, wife of, 261; + her death after battle of Gowra, 261; + type of hard strength, 262; + reference to death at battle of Gowra, 275; + his death described, 306, 308 + +OSI´RIS. Feet of, symbol of visitation, in Egypt, 77 + +OSSIANIC SOCIETY. "Transactions" of, 278-280; + battle of Gowra (Gabhra) described in, 305 + +OS´THANES. Earliest writer on subject of magic, 62 + +OTHER-WORLD. Keelta summoned from, 81; + faith of, held by Celts, 82; + Mercury regarded by Gauls as guide of dead to, 87 + +OWAIN. Son of Urien; + plays chess with King Arthur, 393; + the Black Knight and, 396-399; + seen by Peredur, 401 + +OWEL. Foster-son of Mananan and a Druid, father of Ainé, 127 + +OWEN. Son of Duracht; + slays Naisi and other sons of Usna, 201 + +OWENS OF ARAN. Ailill, of the sept of, 311; + Maeldun goes to dwell with, 311 + +OWL OF CWM CAWLWYD (coom cawl´wud), THE, 392 + +P + +PATRICK, ST. Ireland apostolised by, 51; + symbol of the feet and, 77 + +PASTH´OLAN. His coming into Ireland from the West; + his origin, 96 + +PARTHOLANIANS. Battle between the Fomorians and, 97; + end of race by plague on the Old Plain, 97; + Nemedians akin to, 101 + +PEIBAW. Nynniaw and, two brothers, Kings of Britain, their quarrel over + the stars, 355, 356 + +PENAR´DUN. Daughter of Don, wife of Llyr, and also of Eurosswyd, sister of + Math, 349, 366; + mother of Bran, also of Nissyen and Evnissyen, 366 + +PEOPLE OF THE SIDHE (shee). + Danaans dwindle into fairies, otherwise the, 137 + +PER´DICCAS II. Son of Amyntas II., killed in battle, 23 + +PER´EDUR. The tale of, and the origin of the Grail Legend, 400, 407; + corresponds to Perceval of Chrestien de Troyes, 400 + +PER´GAMOS. Black Stone of, subject of embassy from Rome during Second + Punic War, 66 + +PERILOUS GLEN. Cuchulain escapes beasts of, 187 + +"PERONNIK" folk tale, 400, _note_ + +PERSIA. Religion of magic invented in, by Zoroaster, 61 + +PETRIE, FLINDERS. Discoveries by, 78; + on Egyptian origin of symbol of mother and child, 79 + +PHILIP. Younger brother of Perdiccas, 23 + +PHILO´STRATUS. Reference of, to enamelling by Britons, 30 + +PLAIN OF ILL-LUCK. Cuchulain crosses, 187 + +PLATO. Celts and, 17; + evidence of, to Celtic characteristics, 36 + +PLINY. Religion of magic discussed by, 61 + +PLUTARCH. Land of the Dead referred to by, as the western extremity of + Great Britain, 131 + +PLUTO (Gk. Pluton). Dis, equivalent; + god of the Underworld, 88; + associated with wealth, like Celtic gods of the Underworld, 349 + +POLYB´IUS. Description of the Gæsati in battle of Clastidium, 41 + +POLYNESIAN, the practice named "tabu" and the Irish _geis_, similarity + between, 165 + +PORTUGAL. Place-names of, Celtic element in, 27 + +POSIDON´IUS. On bardic institution among Celts, 57 + +PROCOP´IUS. Land of the Dead referred to by as the western extremity of + Great Britain, 131 + +PROVINCE OF THE SPEARMEN (Irish, _Laighin_--"Ly-in"). See Leinster, 154 + +PRYDERI (pri-dair'y) (Trouble). Son of Pwyll and Rhiannon; + his loss 363; + his restoration by Teirnyon, 365; + Kicva, the wife of, 365; + the tale of Manawyddan and, 373-378; + Gwydion and the swine of, 378; + his death, 379 + +PWYLL (poo-till; modern Powell). Prince of Dyfed; + how he got his title _Pen Annwn_, or "Head of Hades," 336-359; + his adventure on the Mound of Arberth, near the Castle of Narberth, + 359-365; + fixes his choice on Rhiannon for wife, 360; + Gwawl's trick on him, 361; + Rhiannon's plan to save Pwyll from Gwawl's power, 361; + weds Rhiannon, 362; + imposes a penance on his wife, 363; + his son Pryderi (Trouble) found, 365 + +PYTHAG´ORAS. Celtic idea of transmigration and, 80 + +PYTH´EAS. The German tribes about 300 B.C. mentioned by, 31 + +Q + +QUELGNY, or CUAILGNÉ. Cattle-raid of, made by Queen Maev, 180; + Brown Bull of, owned by Dara, 202; + the theme of the "Tain Bo Cuailgné" is the Brown Bull of, 203; + Brown Bull of, is Celtic counterpart of Hindu sky-deity, Indra, 203; + Brown Bull of, captured at Slievegallion, Co. Armagh, by Maev, 211; + white-horned Bull of Ailell slain by Brown Bull of, 225; + reputed author of, Fergus mac Roy, 234; + Sanchan Torpest searches for lost lay of, 234-238 + +R + +RA. Egyptian Sun god; + ship symbol in sepulchral art of Egypt connected with worship of, 74-76 + +RATH GRANIA. King Cormac and Finn feasted at, 300 + +RATH LUACHAR. Lia keeps the Treasure Bag at, 255 + +RATHCROGHAN. Maev's palace in Roscommon, 202 + +RED BRANCH. Order of chivalry which had its seat in Emain Macha, 178; + the time of glory of, during Conor's reign, 181; + heroes of, and Cuchulain strive for the Championship of Ireland, 195, + 196; + Hostel, Naisi and Deirdre at, 199, 200; + with Cuchulain and Conor passes away the glory of, 241 + +RED HUGH. Ulster prince, father of Macha, brother of Dithorba and Kimbay, + 151 + +RED RIDERS. Conary's journey with, 170, 171 + +RELIGION. The Celtic, 46; + Megalithic People's, that of Magic, 58; + of Magic, invented in Persia and by Zoroaster, 61 + +REVUE CELTIQUE. Dr. Whitley Stokes' translation of the "Voyage of Maeldun" + in, 309 + +RHIANNON (ree'an-non). Daughter of Hevydd Hen; + sets her love on Pwyll, 360; + marries Pwyll, 362; + her penance for slaying her son, 363; + her son Pryderi (Trouble) found, 365; + wedded to Manawyddan, 373 + +RHONABWY (rone'a-bwee). The dream of, 392, 393 + +RHUN. Sent from King Arthur's court to Elphin's wife, 415 + +RHYS AP TEWDWR. South Welsh prince; + brought knowledge of Round Table to Wales, 343 + +RHYS, SIR J. His views on origin of population of Great Britain and + Ireland, 78; + on Myrddin and Merlin, 354, 355 + +RIDGE OF THE DEAD WOMAN. Vivionn buried at, 287, 288 + +ROC. Angus' steward, 290; + his son crushed to death by Donn, 291; + then changed into a boar and charged to bring Dermot to death at length, + 291 + +ROMANCE. Gaelic and Continental, 345 + +ROMANS. Arthur resists demand for tribute by the, 337 + +ROME. Celts march on and sack, 25, 26; + Britain and Gaul under yoke of, 35; + the empire of Maxen Wledig in, usurped, 385 + +ROSS THE RED. King of Ulster, husband of Maga, a daughter of Angus Og, + 181; + Roy, his second wife, 181; + originator of the Red Branch, 181 + +ROUND TABLE, THE. References to, 338, 339, 341, 343 + +ROY. Second wife of Ross the Red, 181 + +RU´ADAN, ST. Tara cursed by, 47, 49 + +RUSSELL, MR. G.W. Irish poet; + fine treatment of myth of Sinend and Connla's Well, 129, 130 + +S + +SABA. Wife of Finn, mother of Oisin, 266-270 + +SACRIFICES. Practice of human, noted by Cæsar among Celts, 84; + human, in Ireland, 85; + Celtic practice of human, paralleled in Mexico and Carthage, 85; + of children, to idol Crom Cruach, by Gaels, 85; + in Egypt, practice of human, rare, 85, 86 + +ST. BENEN. A companion of St. Patrick, 239 + +ST. FINNEN. Irish abbot; + legend concernin Tuan mac Carell and, 97 + +ST. PATRICK. Record of his mission to Ireland, 51; + Cascorach and, referred to in the "Colloquy of the Ancients," 119; + Brogan, the scribe of, 119; + Ethné aged fifteen hundred years old at coming of, 144; + Ethné baptized by, 144; + summons Cuchulain from Hell, 238, 239; + name Talkenn given by Irish to, 275; + met by Keelta, 282; + Irish legend and, 283 + +SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE. See Fintan + +SALMON OF LLYN LLYW (lin li-oo'), THE, 392 + +SAMNITE WAR, THIRD. Coincident with breaking up of Celtic Empire, 26 + +SANCHAN TORPEST. Chief bard of Ireland; + and the "Tain," 234-238 + +SA´WAN. Brother of Kian and Goban, 110 + +SCANDINAVIA. Dolmens found in, 53; + symbol of the feet found in, 77 + +SEM´ION. Son of Stariat, settlement in Ireland of; + Firbolgs descended from, 100 + +SERA. Father of Partholan, 96; + father of Starn, 98 + +SETAN´TA. Earliest name of Cuchulain, 183; + "the little pupil," harries Maev's hosts, 208 + +SGEIMH SOLAIS (skayv sulish) (Light of Beauty). + Daughter of Cairbry, wooed by son of King of the Decies, 304 + +SHANNON, THE RIVER. Myth of Sinend and the Well of Knowledge accounts for + name of, 129; + Dithorba's five sons flee over, 151; + mac Cecht visits, 175; + Dermot and Grania cross Ford of Luan on the, 299 + +SHIP SYMBOL, THE. 71-76 + +SIC´ULUS, DIODORUS. A contemporary of Julius Cæsar; + describes Gauls, 41, 42 + +SIDHE (shee), or FAIRY FOLK. Tumulus at New Grange (Ireland) regarded as + dwelling-place of, 69 + +SILVA GADELICA. Reference to Mr. S.H. O'Grady's work, 250, 276, 281 + +SIN´END. Goddess, daughter of Lir's son, Lodan; + her fatal visit to Connla's Well, 129 + +SIGN, LLEWELLYN. Welsh bard, compiler of "Barddas," 332 + +SKATHA. A mighty woman-warrior of Land of Shadows, 187; + instructs Cuchulain, 187-189; + her two special feats, how to leap the Bridge of the Leaps and to use + the Gae Bolg, 188 + +SKENA. Wife of the poet Amergin; + her untimely death, 133 + +SLAYNEY, THE RIVER. Visited by mac Cecht, 175 + +SLIEVB BLOOM. Murna takes refuge in forests of, and there Demna (Finn) is + born, 255 + +SLIEVE FUAD (sleeve foo'ad) (afterwards Slievegallion). + Invisible dwelling of Lir on, 125; + Cuchulain finds his foe on, 232; + Finn slays goblin at, 258 + +SLIEVEGALL´ION. A fairy mountain; + the Chase of, 278-280. + See Slieve Fuad + +SLIEVENAMON (sleeve-na-mon'). The Brugh of, Finn and Keelta hunt on, + 284-286 + +SOHRAB AND RUSTUM. Reference to, 192 + +SPAIN. Celts conquer from the Carthaginians, 21; + Carthaginian trade with, broken down by Greeks, 22; + place-names of Celtic element in, 27; + dolmens found round the Mediterranean coast of, 53; + equivalent, Land of the Dead, 102 + +SQUIRE, MR. Author of "Mythol. of Brit. Islands," 348, 353, 411 + +SRENG. Ambassador sent to People of Dana by Firbolgs, 106 + +STAG OF REDYNVRE (red-in'vry), THE, 392 + +STARN. Son of Sera, brother of Partholan, 97 + +STOKES, DR. WHITLEY. Reference to, 166, 167; + reference to his translation of the "Voyage of Maeldun" in "Revue + Celtique," 309 + +STONE, CORONATION. At Westminster Abbey, identical with Stone of Scone, + 105 + +STONE OF ABUNDANCE. Equivalent, Cauldron of Abundance. + The Grail in Wolfram's poem as a, 409; + similar stone appears in the Welsh "Peredur," 409; + correspondences, the Celtic Cauldron of the Dagda, 410; + in the Welsh legend Bran obtained the Cauldron, 410; + in a poem by Taliesin the Cauldron forms part of the spoils of Hades, + 410 + +STONE OF DESTINY. Otherwise _Lia Fail_. + One of the treasures of the Danaans, 105 + +STONE OF SCONE. Fabulous origin of, and present depository, 105 + +STONE-WORSHIP. Supposed reason of, 65, 66; + denounced by Synod of Arles, 66; + denounced by Charlemagne 66; + black stone of Pergamos and Second Punic War, 66; + the Grail a relic of ancient, 409 + +STONEHENGE. Dressed stones used in megalithic monument at, 54; + Professor Rhys' suggestion that Myrddin was worshipped at, 354; + Geoffrey of Monmouth and, 354 + +STRABO. Characteristics of Celts, told by, 39, 46 + +STRAITS OF MOYLE (between Ireland and Scotland). + Aoife's cruelty to her step-children on the, 140 + +STRAND OF THE FOOTPRINTS. How name derived, 191 + +SUALTAM (soo'al-tam). Father of Cuchulain (see Lugh), 206; + his attempts to arouse Ulster, 221; + his death, 222 + +SWEDEN. The ship symbol on rock-sculptures of, 72, 73 + +SWITZERLAND. Place-names of, Celtic element in, 27; + lake-dwellings in, 56 + +T + +"TAIN BO CUAILGNÉ" (thawn bo quel'gny). Significance, 203; + tale of, all written out by Finn mac Gorman, Bishop of Kildare, in 1150, + 225; + the recovery of, 234; + reputed author, Fergus mac Roy, 234; + Sir S. Ferguson treats of recovery of, in "Lays of the Western Gael," + 234; + Sanchan Torpest, taunted by High King Guary, resolves to find the lost, + 234-236; + early Celtic MSS. and, 296 + +TALIESIN (tal-i-es'in). A mythical bard; + his prophecy regarding the devotion of the Cymry to their tongue, 385; + the tale of, 412-417; + found by Elphin, son of Gwyddno, 414; + made prime bard of Britain, 415-417 + +TALKENN. (Adze-head). Name given by the Irish to St. Patrick, 275 + +TALTIU, or TELTA. Daughter of the King of the "Great Plain" (the Land of + the Dead), wedded by Eochy mac Erc, 103 + +TARA. Seat of the High Kings of Ireland; + the cursing of, 47, 48-49; + Stone of Scone sent to Scotland from, 105; + Lugh accuses sons of Turenn at, of his father's murder, 115; + appearance of Midir the Proud to Eochy on Hill of, 124, 161; + Milesian host at, 135; + institution of triennial Festival at, 149-150; + bull-feast at, to decide by divination who should be king in Eterskel's + stead, 167, 168; + Conary commanded to go to, by Nemglan, 168; + proclaimed King of Erin at, 168; + pointed out to Cuchulain, 193; + Cuchulain's head and hand buried at, 233; + Finn at, 257, 258 + +TAR´ANUS (? Thor). Deity mentioned by Lucan, 86, 87 + +TEGID VOEL. A man of Penllyn, husband of Ceridwen, father of Avagddu, 413 + +TEIRNYON (ter'ny-on). A man of Gwent Is Coed; + finds Pryderi, 364; + restores Pryderi, 365 + +TELLTOWN (TELTIN). Palace at, of Telta, Eochy mac Erc's wife, 103; + great battle at, between Danaans and Milesians, 136; + Conall of the Victories makes his way to, after Conary's death, 176; + pointed out to Cuchulain, 193 + +TENNYSON, LORD. Reference to source of his "Voyage of Maeldune," 309; + Cymric myths and, 388; + reference to his "Enid," 400 + +TEUTAT´ES. Deity mentioned by Lucan, 86 + +TEUTONIC. Loyalty of races, 45, 46 + +TEZCATLIPOCA. Sun-god; + festival of, in Mexico, 77 + +THE TERRIBLE. A demon who by strange test decides the Championship of + Ireland, 196 + +THOMAS OF BRITTANY. See Bleheris + +TIBERIUS, EMPEROR. Druids, prophets, and medicine-men suppressed by, 62 + +TIERNA (Teer'na). Abbot of Clonmacnois, eleventh-century historian, 150 + +TIERNMAS (teern'mas). Fifth Irish king who succeeded Eremon, 148; + idol Crom Cruach and, 148, 149; + his death, 149 + +TONN CLIODHNA (thown cleena). Otherwise "Wave of Cleena." + One of the most notable landmarks of Ireland, 127 + +TOR MOR. Precipitous headland in Tory Island; + Ethlinn imprisoned by Balor in tower built on, 110 + +TORY ISLAND. Stronghold of Fomorian power, 101; + invaded by Nemedians, 101 + +TRADABAN´, THE WELL OF. Keelta's praises of, 282, 283 + +TRANSMIGRATION. The doctrine of, allegation that Celtic idea of + immortality embodied Oriental conception of, 80; + doctrine of, not held by Celts in same way as by Pythagoras and the + Orientals, 81; + Welsh Taliessin who became an eagle, 100. + See Tuan mac Carell + +TRENDORN. Conor's servant, 199; + spies on Deirdre, 200; + is blinded in one eye by Naisi, 200; + declares Deirdre's beauty to Conor, 200 + +TREON (tray'on). Father of Vivionn, 287 + +TRISTAN AND ISEULT. Tale of Dermot and Grania paralleled in story as told + by Heinrich von Freiberg, 299 + +TROYES. See Chrestien de Troyes + +TUAN MAC CARELL. The legend of, recorded in MS. "Book of the Dun Cow," 97; + king of all deer in Ireland, 99; + name of "gods" given to the People of Dana by, 104 + +TUATHA DE DANANN (thoo'a-haw day danawn'). Literal meaning, "the folk of + the god whose mother is Dana," 103 + +TUMULI. See Dolmens, 53 + +TURENN. The quest of the Sons of, 113-116; + reference to Lugh in the quest of the Sons of, 123 + +TWRCH TRWYTH (toorch troo'-with). A king in shape of a monstrous boar, 391 + +TYLER. Reference of, in his "Primitive Culture," to festival of Sun-god, + Tezcatlipoca, 77 + +TYLWYTH TEG. Welsh fairies; + Gwyn ap Nudd, King of the, 353 + +TYREN. Sister to Murna, 266; + Ullan, husband of, 266; + changed by a woman of the Fairy Folk into a hound, 266 + +U + +UGAINY THE GREAT (oo'gany). Ruler of Ireland, &c., husband of Kesair, + father of Laery and Covac, 152 + +ULSTER. Kingdom of, founded in reign of Kimbay, 150; + Dithorba's five sons expelled from, 151; + Dectera's gift of Cuchulain to, 182; + Conor, King of, 180, 190, 191; + Felim, son of Dall, a lord of, 196; + Maev's war against province of, to secure Brown Bull of Quelgny, + 202-251; + under the Debility curse, 205; + passes of, guarded by Cuchulain of Murthemney, 206; + aroused by Sualtam, 221, 222; + Macha's curse lifted from men of, 222; + Ailell and Maev make a seven years' peace with, 225; + curse of Macha again on the men of, 229; + Wee Folk swarm into 248, 249 + +ULTONIAN-S. Great fair of, visited by Crundchu, 178; + his boast of Macha's swiftness, 179; + the debility of, caused by Macha's curse, 179, 180; + the debility of, descends on Ulster, 205; + Cycle, events of, supposed to have happened about time of Christ, 252 + +UNDERWORLD. The cult of, found existing by Celts when they got to Western + Europe, 82; + Dis, or Pluto, god of, 88; + Math, god of, 349; + identical with Land of the Dead, 130 + +USNA. Father of Naisi, 198; + sons of, inquired for by Conor, 199 + +UTHER PENDRAGON. Father of Arthur, 337 + +V + +VALLEY OF THE THRUSHES. Oisin's spell broken in, 274 + +VEIL OF ILLUSION, THE. Thrown over Caradawc by Caswallan, 372 + +VERCINGETORIX. Celtic chief; + his defeat by Cæsar, his death, 40 + +VERGIL. Evidence of Celtic ancestry in name, 21. + See Feryllt, 413 + +VITRA. The God of Evil in Vedantic mythology, related to _Cenchos_, the + Footless, 97 + +VIVIONN (BEBHIONN). A young giantess, daughter of Treon, from the Land of + Maidens, 287; + slain by Æda, and buried in the place called the Ridge of the Dead, 288 + +VOYAGE OF MAELDUN. See Maeldun + +W + +WACE. Author of "Li Romans de Brut," 338 + +WALES. Arthurian saga in, 343, 344; + prophecy of Taliesin about, 385 + +WAVE OF CLEENA. See Tonn Cliodhna + +WEE FOLK, THE. Fergus mac Leda and, 246-249; + Iubdan, King of, 246 + +WELL OF KESAIR. Mac Cecht visits, 175 + +WELL OF KNOWLEDGE. Equivalent, Connla's Well. + Sinend's fatal visit to, 129 + +WELSH FAIRIES. See Tylwyth Teg + +WELSH LITERATURE. The Arthur in the Arthurian saga wholly different from + the Arthur in, 336; + compared with Irish, 344; + tales of Arthur in, 386 + +WELSH MS. SOCIETY. Llewellyn Sion's "Barddas" edited by J.A. Williams ap + Ithel for, 332 + +WELSH ROMANCE. The character of, 395, 396 + +WESTON, MISS JESSIE L. Reference to her studies on the Arthurian saga, 341 + +WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. Reference to, in connexion with Arthurian saga, 343 + +WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH. His story of the Grail, 407 + +Y + +YELLOW BOOK OF LECAN. Tale of Cuchulain and Connla in, 192 + +YOUTH. The maiden who gave the Love Spot to Dermot, 292 + +YSPADDADEN PENKAWR (is-pa-dhad'en). Father of Olwen, 387; + the tasks he set Kilhwch, 390-392; + slain by Goreu son of Custennin, 392 + +Z + +ZIMMER, DR. HEINRICH. On the source of the Arthurian saga, 343 + +ZOROASTER. Religion of magic invented by, 61 + + + + + + + 1 In reference to the name "Freeman," Mr. Nicholson adds: "No one was + more intensely 'English' in his sympathies than the great historian + of that name, and probably no one would have more strenuously + resisted the suggestion that he might be of Welsh descent; yet I + have met his close physical counterpart in a Welsh farmer (named + Evans) living within a few minutes of Pwllheli." + + 2 He speaks of "Nyrax, a Celtic city," and "Massalia [Marseilles], a + city of Liguria in the land of the Celts" ("Fragmenta Hist. Græc."). + + 3 In his "Premiers Habitants de l'Europe," vol. ii. + + 4 "Cæesar's Conquest of Gaul," pp. 251-327. + + 5 The ancients were not very close observers of physical + characteristics. They describe the Celts in almost exactly the same + terms as those which they apply to the Germanic races. Dr. Rice + Holmes is of opinion that the real difference, physically, lay in + the fact that the fairness of the Germans was blond, and that of the + Celts red. In an interesting passage of the work already quoted (p. + 315) he observes that, "Making every allowance for the admixture of + other blood, which must have considerably modified the type of the + original Celtic or Gallic invaders of these islands, we are struck + by the fact that among all our Celtic-speaking fellow subjects there + are to be found numerous specimens of a type which also exists in + those parts of Brittany which were colonised by British invaders, + and in those parts of Gaul in which the Gallic invaders appear to + have settled most thickly, as well as in Northern Italy, where the + Celtic invaders were once dominant; and also by the fact that this + type, _even among the more blond representatives of it, is + strikingly different, to the casual as well as to the scientific + observer, from that of the purest representatives of the ancient + Germans_. The well-known picture of Sir David Wilkie, 'Reading of + the Waterloo Gazette,' illustrates, as Daniel Wilson remarked, the + difference between the two types. Put a Perthshire Highlander side + by side with a Sussex farmer. Both will be fair; but the red hair + and beard of the Scot will be in marked contrast with the fair hair + of the Englishman, and their features will differ still more + markedly. I remember teeing two gamekeepers in a railway carriage + running from Inverness to Lairey. They were tall, athletic, fair + men, evidently belonging to the Scandinavian type, which, as Dr. + Beddoe says, is so common in the extreme north of Scotland; but both + in colouring and in general aspect they were utterly different from + the tall, fair Highlanders whom I had seen in Perthshire. There was + not a trace of red in their hair, their long beards being absolutely + yellow. The prevalence of red among the Celtic-speaking people is, + it seems to me, a most striking characteristic. Not only do we find + eleven men in every hundred whose hair is absolutely red, but + underlying the blacks and the dark browns the lame tint is to be + discovered." + + 6 See the map of comparative nigrescence given in Ripley's "Races of + Europe," p. 318. In France, however, the Bretons are not a dark race + relatively to the rest of the population. They are composed partly + of the ancient Gallic peoples and partly of settlers from Wales who + were driven out by the Saxon invasion. + + 7 See for these names Holder's "Altceltischer Sprachschatz." + + 8 Vergil might possibly mean "the very-bright" or illustrious one, a + natural form for a proper name. _Ver_ in Gallic names + (Vercingetorix, Vercassivellasimus, &c.) is often an intensive + prefix, like the modern Irish _fior_. The name of the village where + Vergil was born, Andes (now Pietola), is Celtic. His love of nature, + his mysticism, and his strong feeling for a certain decorative + quality in language and rhythm are markedly Celtic qualities. + Tennyson's phrases for him, "landscape-lover, lord of language," are + suggestive in this connexion. + + 9 Ptolemy, a friend, and probably, indeed, half-brother, of Alexander, + was doubtless present when this incident took place. His work has + not survived, but is quoted by Arrian and other historians. + + 10 One is reminded of the folk-tale about Henny Penny, who went to tell + the king that the sky was falling. + + 11 The Book of Leinster is a manuscript of the twelfth century. The + version of the "Táin" given in it probably dates from the eighth. + See de Jubainville, "Premiers Habitants," ii. 316. + + 12 Dr. Douglas Hyde in his "Literary History of Ireland" (p. 7) gives a + slightly different translation. + + 13 It is also a testimony to the close accuracy of the narrative of + Ptolemy. + + 14 Roman history tells of various conflicts with the Celts during this + period, but de Jubainville has shown that these narratives are + almost entirely mythical. See "Premiers Habitants," ii. 318-323. + +_ 15 E.g.,_ Moymell (_magh-meala_), the Plain of Honey, a Gaelic name + for Fairyland, and many place-names. + + 16 For these and many other examples see de Jubainville's "Premiers + Habitants," ii. 255 _sqq._ + + 17 Quoted by Mr. Romilly Allen in "Celtic Art," p. 136. + + 18 "Premiers Habitants," ii. 355, 356. + + 19 Irish is probably an older form of Celtic speech than Welsh. This is + shown by many philological peculiarities of the Irish language, of + which one of the most interesting may here be briefly referred to. + The Goidelic or Gaelic Celts, who, according to the usual theory, + first colonised the British Islands, and who were forced by + successive waves of invasion by their Continental kindred to the + extreme west, had a peculiar dislike to the pronunciation of the + letter _p_. Thus the Indo-European particle _pare_, represented by + Greek _{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH TONOS~}_, beside or close to, becomes in early Celtic _are_, as + in the name _Are-morici_ (the Armoricans, those who dwell _ar muir_, + by the sea); _Are-dunum_ (Ardin, in France); _Are-cluta_, the place + beside the Clota (Clyde), now Dumbarton; _Are-taunon,_ in Germany + (near the Taunus Mountains), &c. When this letter was not simply + dropped it was usually changed into _c (k, g)_. But about the sixth + century B.C. a remarkable change passed over the language of the + Continental Celts. They gained in some unexplained way the faculty + for pronouncing _p_, and even substituted it for existing _c_ + sounds; thus the original _Cretanis_ became _Pretanis_, Britain, the + numeral _qetuares_ (four) became _petuares_, and so forth. Celtic + place-names in Spain show that this change must have taken place + before the Celtic conquest of that country, 500 B.C. Now a + comparison of many Irish and Welsh words shows distinctly this + avoidance of _p_ on the Irish side and lack of any objection to it + on the Welsh. The following are a few illustrations: + + _Irish_ _Welsh_ _English_ + crann prenn tree + mac map ton + cenn pen head + clumh (cluv) pluv feather + cúig pimp five + + The conclusion that Irish must represent the older form of the + language seems obvious. It is remarkable that even to a + comparatively late date the Irish preserved their dislike to _p_. + Thus they turned the Latin _Pascha_ (Easter) to _Casg; purpur_, + purple, to _corcair, pulsatio_ (through French _pouls_) to _cuisle_. + It must be noted, however, that Nicholson in his "Keltic Researches" + endeavours to show that the so-called Indo-European _p_--that is, _p_ + standing alone and uncombined with another consonant--was pronounced + by the Goidelic Celts at an early period. The subject can hardly be + said to be cleared up yet. + + 20 The Irish, says Edmund Spenser, in his "View of the Present State of + Ireland," "use commonyle to send up and down to know newes, and yf + any meet with another, his second woorde is, What newes?" + + 21 Compare Spenser: "I have heard some greate warriors say, that in all + the services which they had seen abroad in forrayne countreys, they + never saw a more comely horseman than the Irish man, nor that cometh + on more bravely in his charge ... they are very valiante and hardye, + for the most part great endurours of cold, labour, hunger and all + hardiness, very active and stronge of hand, very swift of foote, + very vigilaunte and circumspect in theyr enterprises, very present + in perrils, very great scorners of death." + + 22 The scene of the surrender of Vercingetorix is not recounted by + Cæsar, and rests mainly on the authority of Plutarch and of the + historian Florus, but it is accepted by scholars (Mommsen, Long, + &c.) as historic. + + 23 These were a tribe who took their name from the _gæsum_, a kind of + Celtic javelin, which was their principal weapon. The torque, or + twisted collar of gold, is introduced as a typical ornament in the + well-known statue of the dying Gaul, commonly called "The Dying + Gladiator." Many examples are preserved in the National Museum of + Dublin. + + 24 "Cæsar's Conquest of Gaul," pp. 10, 11. Let it be added that the + aristocratic Celts were, like the Teutons, dolichocephalic--that is + to say, they had heads long in proportion to their breadth. This is + proved by remains found in the basin of the Marne, which was thickly + populated by them. In one case the skeleton of the tall Gallic + warrior was found with his war-car, iron helmet, and sword, now in + the Music de St.-Germain. The inhabitants of the British Islands are + uniformly long-headed, the round-headed "Alpine" type occurring very + rarely. Those of modern France are round-headed. The shape of the + head, however, is now known to be by no means a constant racial + character. It alters rapidly in a new environment, as is shown by + measurements of the descendants of immigrants in America. See an + article on this subject by Professor Haddon in "Nature," Nov. 3, + 1910. + + 25 In the "Tain Bo Cuailgne," for instance, the King of Ulster must not + speak to a messenger until the Druid, Cathbad, has questioned him. + One recalls the lines of Sir Samuel Ferguson in his Irish epic poem, + "Congal": + + "... For ever since the time When Cathbad smothered Usnach's sons in + that foul sea of slime Raised by abominable spells at Creeveroe's + bloody gate, Do ruin and dishonour still on priest-led kings await." + +_ 26 Celtice_, Diarmuid mac Cearbhaill. + + 27 It was the practice, known in India also, for a person who was + wronged by a superior, or thought himself so, to sit before the + doorstep of the denier of justice and fast until right was done him. + In Ireland a magical power was attributed to the ceremony, the + effect of which would be averted by the other person fasting as + well. + + 28 "Silva Gadelica," by S.H. O'Grady, p. 73. + + 29 The authority here quoted is a narrative contained in a + fifteenth-century vellum manuscript found in Lismore Castle in 1814, + and translated by S.H. O'Grady in his "Silva Gadelica." The + narrative is attributed to an officer of Dermot's court. + + 30 From Greek _megas_, great, and _lithos_, a stone. + + 31 See p. 78. + + 32 See Borlase's "Dolmens of Ireland," pp. 605, 606, for a discussion + of this question. + + 33 Professor Ridgeway (see Report of the Brit. Assoc. for 1908) has + contended that the Megalithic People spoke an Aryan language; + otherwise he thinks more traces of its influence must have survived + in the Celtic which supplanted it. The weight of authority, as well + as such direct evidence as we possess, seems to be against his view. + + 34 See Holder,"Altceltischer Sprachschatz." _sulb voce_ "Hyperboreoi." + + 35 Thus the Greek _pharmakon_=medicine, poison, or charm; and I am + informed that the Central African word for magic or charm is + _mankwala_, which also means medicine. + + 36 If Pliny meant that it was here first codified and organised he may + be right, but the conceptions on which magic rest are practically + universal, and of immemorial antiquity. + + 37 Adopted 451 B.C. Livy entitles them "the fountain of all public and + private right." They stood in the Forum till the third century A.D., + but have now perished, except for fragments preserved in various + commentaries. + + 38 See "Revue Archeologique," t. xii., 1865, "Fouilles de René Galles." + + 39 Jade is not found in the native state in Europe, nor nearer than + China. + + 40 Small stones, crystals, and gems were, however, also venerated. The + celebrated Black Stone of Pergamos was the subject of an embassy + from Rome to that city in the time of the Second Punic War, the + Sibylline Books having predicted victory to its possessors. It was + brought to Rome with great rejoicings in the year 205. It is stated + to have been about the size of a man's fist, and was probably a + meteorite. Compare the myth in Hesiod which relates how Kronos + devoured a stone in the belief that it was his offspring, Zeus. It + was then possible to mistake a stone for a god. + + 41 Replaced by a photograph in this edition. + + 42 See Sir J. Simpson's "Archaic Sculpturings" 1867. + + 43 The fact is recorded in the "Annals of the Four Masters" Under the + date 861, and in the "Annals of Ulster" under 862. + + 44 See "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. xxx. pt. i., + 1892, and "New Grange," by G. Coffey, 1912. + + 45 It must be observed, however, that the decoration was, certainly, in + some, and perhaps in all cases, carried out before the stones were + placed in position. This is also the case at Gavr'inis. + + 46 He has modified this view in his latest work, "New Grange," 1912. + + 47 "Proc. Royal Irish Acad.," vol. viii. 1863, p. 400, and G. Coffey, + _op. cit._ p. 30. + + 48 "Les Sculptures de Rochers de la Suède," read at the Prehistoric + Congress, Stockholm, 1874; and see G. Coffey, _op. cit._ p. 60. + + 49 "Dolmens of Ireland," pp. 701-704. + + 50 "The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria." + + 51 A good example from Amaravati (after Fergusson) is given by + Bertrand, "Rel. des G.," p. 389. + + 52 Sergi, "The Mediterranean Race," p. 313. + + 53 At Lökeberget, Bohuslän; see Monteiius, _op. cit._ + + 54 See Lord Kingsborough's "Antiquities of Mexico," _passim_, and the + Humboldt fragment of Mexican painting (reproduced in Churchward's + "Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man"). + + 55 See Sergi, _op. cit._ p. 290, for the _Ankh_ on a French dolmen. + + 56 "Bulletin de la Soc. d'Anthropologie," Paris, April 1893. + + 57 "The Welsh People," pp. 616-664, where the subject is fully + discussed in an appendix by Professor J. Morris Jones. "The + pre-Aryan idioms which still live in Welsh and Irish were derived + from a language allied to Egyptian and the Berber tongues." + + 58 Flinders Petrie, "Egypt and Israel," pp. 137, 899. + + 59 I quote from Mr. H.B. Cotterill's beautiful hexameter version. + + 60 Valerius Maximus (about A.D 30) and other classical writers mention + this practice. + + 61 Book V. + + 62 De Jubainville, "Irish Mythological Cycle," p.191 _sqq._ + + 63 The etymology of the word "Druid" is no longer an unsolved problem. + It had been suggested that the latter part of the word might be + connected with the Aryan root VID, which appears in "wisdom," in the + Latin _videre_, &c., Thurneysen has now shown that this root in + combination with the intensive particle _dru_ would yield the word + _dru-vids_, represented in Gaelic by _draoi_, a Druid, just as + another intensive, _su_, with _vids_ yields the Gaelic _saoi_, a + sage. + + 64 See Rice Holmes, "Cæsar's Conquest," p. 15, and pp. 532-536. Rhys, + it may be observed, believes that Druidism was the religion of the + aboriginal inhabitants of Western Europe "from the Baltic to + Gibraltar" ("Celtic Britain," p. 73). But we only _know_ of it where + Celts and dolmen-builders combined. Cæsar remarks of the Germans + that they had no Druids and cared little about sacrificial + ceremonies. + + 65 "Rel. des Gaulois," leçon xx. + + 66 Quoted by Bertrand, _op. cit._ p. 279. + + 67 "The Irish Mythological Cycle," by d'Arbois de Jubainville, p. 6l. + The "Dinnsenchus" in question is an early Christian document. No + trace of a being like Crom Cruach has been found as yet in the pagan + literature of Ireland, nor in the writings of St. Patrick, and I + think it is quite probable that even in the time of St. Patrick + human sacrifices had become only a memory. + + 68 A representation of human sacrifice has, however, lately been + discovered in a Temple of the Sun in the ancient Ethiopian capital, + Meroë. + + 69 "You [Celts] who by cruel blood outpoured think to appease the + pitiless Teutates, the horrid Æsus with his barbarous altars, and + Taranus whose worship is no gentler than that of the Scythian + Diana", to whom captive were offered up. (Lucan, "Pharsalia", i. + 444.) An altar dedicated to Æsus has been discovered in Paris. + + 70 Mont Mercure, Mercoeur, Mercoirey, Montmartre (_Mons Mercurii_), &c. + + 71 To this day in many parts of France the peasantry use terms like + _annuit, o'né, anneue_, &c., all meaning "to-night," for + _aujourd'hui_ (Bertrand, "Rel. des G.," p. 356). + + 72 The _fili_, or professional poets, it must be remembered, were a + branch of the Druidic order. + + 73 For instance, Pelagius in the fifth century; Columba, Columbanus, + and St. Gall in the sixth; Fridolin, named _Viator_, "the + Traveller," and Fursa in the seventh; Virgilius (Feargal) of + Salzburg, who had to answer at Rome for teaching the sphericity of + the earth, in the eighth; Dicuil, "the Geographer," and Johannes + Scotus Erigena--the master mind of his epoch--in the ninth. + + 74 Dealgnaid. I have been obliged here, as occasionally elsewhere, to + modify the Irish names so as to make them pronounceable by English + readers. + + 75 See p. 48, _note_ 1. + + 76 I follow in this narrative R.I. Best's translation of the "Irish + Mythological Cycle" of d'Arbois de Jubainville. + + 77 De Jubainville, "Irish Mythological Cycle," p. 75. + + 78 Pronounced "Yeo´hee." See Glossary for this and other words. + + 79 The science of the Druids, as we have seen, was conveyed in verse, + and the professional poets were a branch of the Druidic Order. + + 80 Meyer and Nutt, "Voyage of Bran," ii. 197. + + 81 "Moytura" means "The Plain of the Towers"--_i.e._, sepulchral + monuments. + + 82 Shakespeare alludes to this in "As You Like It." "I never was so + be-rhymed," says Rosalind, "since Pythagoras' time, that I was an + Irish rat--which I can hardly remember." + + 83 Lyons, Leyden, Laon were all in ancient times known as _Lug-dunum,_ + the Fortress of Lugh. _Luguvallum_ was the name of a town near + Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. + + 84 It is given by him in a note to the "Four Masters," vol. i. p. 18, + and is also reproduced by de Jubainville. + + 85 The other two were "The Fate of the Children of Lir" and "The Fate + of the Sons of Usna." The stories of the Quest of the Sons of Turenn + and that of the Children of Lir have been told in full by the author + in his "High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances," and that of + the "Sons of Usna" (the Deirdre Legend) by Miss Eleanor Hull in her + "Cuchulain," both published by Harrap and Co + + 86 O'Curry's translation from the bardic tale, "The Battle of Moytura." + + 87 O'Curry, "Manners and Customs," iii. 214. + + 88 The ancient Irish division of the year contained only these three + seasons, including autumn in summer (O'Curry, "Manners and Customs," + iii. 217).] + + 89 S.H. O'Grady, "Silva Gadelica," p. 191. + + 90 Pp. 104 _sqq._, and _passim_. + + 91 O'Grady, _loc. cit._ + + 92 O'Grady, _loc. cit._ + + 93 See p. 112. + + 94 Miss Hull has discussed this subject fully in the introduction to + her invaluable work, "The Cuchullin Saga." + + 95 See the tale of "Etain and Midir," in Chap. IV. + + 96 The name Tara is derived from an oblique case of the nominative + _Teamhair_, meaning "the place of the wide prospect." It is now a + broad grassy hill, in Co. Meath, covered with earthworks + representing the sites of the ancient royal buildings, which can all + be clearly located from ancient descriptions. + + 97 A.H. Leahy, "Heroic Romances," i. 27. + + 98 See p. 114. + + 99 I cannot agree with Mr. O'Grady's identification of this goddess + with Dana, though the name appears to mean "The Great Queen." + + 100 Gerald, the fourth Earl of Desmond. He disappeared, it is said, in + 1398, and the legend goes that he still lives beneath the waters of + Loch Gur, and may be seen riding round its banks on his white steed + once every seven years. He was surnamed "Gerald the Poet" from the + "witty and ingenious" verses he composed in Gaelic. Wizardry, + poetry, and science were all united in one conception in the mind of + the ancient Irish. + + 101 "Popular Tales of Ireland," by D. Fitzgerald, in "Revue Celtique," + vol. iv. + + 102 "The Voyage of Bran," vol. ii. p. 219. + + 103 In Irish, _Sionnain_. + + 104 Translation by R.I. Best. + + 105 The solar vessels found in dolmen carvings. See Chap. II. p. 71 + _sqq_. Note that the Celtic spirits, though invisible, are material + and have weight; not so those in Vergil and Dante. + + 106 De Jubainville, "Irish Mythological Cycle," p. 136. Beltené is the + modern Irish name for the month of May, and is derived from an + ancient root preserved in the Old Irish compound _epelta_, "dead." + + 107 "Irish Mythological Cycle," p. 138. + + 108 I follow again de Jubainville's translation; but in connexion with + this and the previous poems see also Ossianic Society's + "Transactions," vol. v. + + 109 Teltin; so named after the goddess Telta. See p. 103. + + 110 Pronounced "Shee." It means literally the People of the [Fairy] + Mounds. + + 111 Pronounced "Eefa." + + 112 This name means "The Maid of the Fair Shoulder." + + 113 The story here summarised is given in full in the writer's "High + Deeds of Finn" (Harrap and Co.). + + 114 It may be mentioned that the syllable "Kill," which enters into so + many Irish place-names (Kilkenny, Killiney, Kilcooley, &c.), usually + represents the Latin _cella_, a monastic cell, shrine, or church. + + 115 Cleena (_Cliodhna_) was a Danaan princess about whom a legend is + told connected with the Bay of Glandore in Co. Cork. See p. 127. + + 116 See p. 85. + + 117 "Omnia monumenta Scotorum ante Cimbaoth incerta erant." Tierna, who + died in 1088, was Abbot of Clonmacnois, a great monastic and + educational centre in mediæval Ireland. + + 118 Compare the fine poem of a modern Celtic writer (Sir Samuel + Ferguson), "The Widow's Cloak"--_i.e._, the British Empire in the + days of Queen Victoria. + + 119 "Critical History of Ireland," p. 180. + + 120 Pronounced "El´yill." + + 121 The ending _ster_ in three of the names of the Irish provinces is of + Norse origin, and is a relic of the Viking conquests in Ireland. + Connacht, where the Vikings did not penetrate, alone preserves its + Irish name unmodified. Ulster (in Irish _Ulaidh_) is supposed to + derive its name from Ollav Fola, Munster (_Mumhan_) from King Eocho + Mumho, tenth in succession from Eremon, and Connacht was "the land + of the children of Conn"--he who was called Conn of the Hundred + Battles, and who died A.D. 157. + + 122 The reader may, however, be referred to the tale of Etain and Midir + as given in full by A.H. Leahy ("Heroic Romances of Ireland"), and + by the writer in his "High Deeds of Finn," and to the tale of Conary + rendered by Sir S. Ferguson ("Poems," 1886), in what Dr. Whitley + Stokes has described as the noblest poem ever written by an + Irishman. + + 123 Pronounced "Yeo´hee." + + 124 I quote Mr. A.H. Leahy's translation from a fifteenth-century + Egerton manuscript ("Heroic Romances of Ireland," vol. i. p. 12). + The story is, however, found in much more ancient authorities. + + 125 Ogham letters, which were composed of straight lines arranged in a + certain order about the axis formed by the edge of a squared + pillar-stone, were used for sepulchral inscription and writing + generally before the introduction of the Roman alphabet in Ireland. + + 126 The reference is to the magic swine of Mananan, which were killed + and eaten afresh every day, and whose meat preserved the eternal + youth of the People of Dana. + + 127 See p. 124. + + 128 The meaning quoted will be found in the Dictionary under the + alternative form _geas_ + + 129 I quote from Whitley Stokes' translation, _Revue Celtique_, January + 1901, and succeeding numbers. + + 130 Bregia was the great plain lying eastwards of Tara between Boyne and + Liffey + + 131 "The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel." + + 132 Pronounced "Koohoo´lin." + + 133 See p. 150. + + 134 See pp. 121-123 for an account of this deity. + + 135 It is noticeable that among the characters figuring in the Ultonian + legendary cycle many names occur of which the word _Cu_ (hound) + forms a part. Thus we have Curoi, Cucorb, Beälcu, &c. The reference + is no doubt to the Irish wolf-hound, a fine type of valour and + beauty. + + 136 Now Lusk, a village on the coast a few miles north of Dublin. + + 137 Owing to the similarity of the name the supernatural country of + Skatha, "the Shadowy," was early identified with the islands of + Skye, where the Cuchulain Peaks still bear witness to the legend. + + 138 This, of course, was Cuchulain's father, Lugh. + + 139 This means probably "the belly spear." With this terrible weapon + Cuchulain was fated in the end to slay his friend Ferdia. + + 140 See genealogical table, p. 181. + + 141 Miss Hull, "The Cuchullin Saga," p. lxxii, where the solar theory of + the Brown Bull is dealt with at length. + + 142 A _cumal_ was the unit of value in Celtic Ireland. It is mentioned + as such by St. Patrick. It meant the price of a woman-slave. + + 143 The cune laid on them by Macha. Sec p. 180. + + 144 Cuchulain, as the son of the god Lugh, was not subject to the curse + of Macha which afflicted the other Ultonians. + + 145 His reputed father, the mortal husband of Dectera + + 146 In the Irish bardic literature, as in the Homeric epics, chastity + formed no part of the masculine ideal either for gods or men. + + 147 "The Ford of the Forked Pole." + + 148 I quote from Standish Hayes O'Grady's translation, in Miss Hull's + "Cuchullin Saga." + +_ 149 Ath Fherdia_, which is pronounced and now spelt "Ardee." It is in + Co. Louth, at the southern border of the Plain of Murthemney, which + was Cuchulain's territory. + + 150 See p. 126. + + 151 In ancient Ireland there were five provinces, Munster being counted + as two, or, as some ancient authorities explain it, the High King's + territory in Meath and Westmeath being reckoned a separate province. + + 152 "Clan" in Gaelic means children or offspring. Clan Calatin=the sons + of Calatin. + + 153 Together with much that is wild and barbaric in this Irish epic of + the "Tain" the reader will be struck by the ideals of courtesy and + gentleness which not infrequently come to light in it. It must be + remembered that, as Mr. A.H. Leahy points out in his "Heroic + Romances of Ireland," the legend of the Raid of Quelgny is, at the + very latest, a century earlier than all other known romances of + chivalry, Welsh or Continental. It is found in the "Book of + Leinster," a manuscript of the twelfth century, as well as in other + sources, and was doubtless considerably older than the date of its + transcription there. "The whole thing," says Mr. Leahy, "stands at + the very beginning of the literature of modern Europe." + + 154 Another instance of the survival of the oath formula recited by the + Celtic envoys to Alexander the Great. See p. 23. + + 155 "Rising-out" is the vivid expression used by Irish writers for a + clan or territory going on the war-path. "Hosting" is also used in a + similar sense. + + 156 See p. 130. + + 157 The sword of Fergus was a fairy weapon called the _Caladcholg_ (hard + dinter), a name of which Arthur's more famous "Excalibur" is a + Latinised corruption. + + 158 The reference is to Deirdre. + + 159 See p. 211. + + 160 A.H. Leahy's translation, "Heroic Romances of Ireland," vol. i. + + 161 The cloak of Mananan (see p. 125) typifies the sea--here, in its + dividing and estranging power. + + 162 This Curoi appears in various tales of the Ultonian Cycle with + attributes which show that he was no mortal king, but a local deity. + + 163 This apparition of the Washer of the Ford is of frequent occurrence + in Irish legend. + + 164 See p. 164 for the reference to _geis_. "His namesake" refers, of + course, to the story of the Hound of Cullan, pp. 183, 184. + + 165 It was a point of honour to refuse nothing to a bard; one king is + said to have given his eye when it was demanded of him. + +_ 166 Craobh Ruadh_--the Red Branch hostel. + + 167 The story is told in full in the author's "High Deeds of Finn." + + 168 Pronounced "Bay-al-koo." + + 169 Inis Clothrann, now known as Quaker's Island. The pool no longer + exists. + + 170 "Youb´dan." + + 171 Dr. P. W. Joyce's "Irish Names of Places" is a storehouse of + information on this subject. + + 172 P. 211, _note_. + + 173 The name is given both to the hill, _ard_, and to the ford, _atha_ + beneath it. + + 174 Pronounced "mac Cool." + + 175 Pronounced "Usheen." + + 176 Subject, of course, to the possibility that the present revival of + Gaelic as a spoken tongue may lead to the opening of a new chapter + in that history. + + 177 See "Ossian and Ossianic Literature," by Alfred Nutt, p. 4. + + 178 Now Castleknock, near Dublin. + + 179 In the King's County. + + 180 The hill still bears the name, Knockanar. + + 181 Glanismole, near Dublin. + + 182 Talkenn, or "Adze-head," was a name given to St. Patrick by the + Irish. Probably it referred to the shape of his tonsure. + + 183 Pronounced "Sleeve-na-mon´": accent on last syllable. It means the + Mountain of the [Fairy] Women. + + 184 Translation by S.H. O'Grady. + + 185 See p. 105. + + 186 Examples of these have been published, with translations, in the + "Transactions of the Ossianic Society." + + 187 Taken down from the recital of a peasant in Co. Galway and published + at Rennes in Dr. Hyde's "An Sgeuluidhe Gaodhalach," vol. ii. (no + translation). + + 188 Now Athlone (_Atha Luain_). + + 189 How significant is this naïve indication that the making of forays + on his neighbours was regarded in Celtic Ireland as the natural and + laudable occupation of a country gentleman! Compare Spenser's + account of the ideals fostered by the Irish bards of his time, "View + of the Present State of Ireland," p. 641 (Globe edition). + + 190 Dr. John Todhunter, in his "Three Irish Bardic Tales," has alone, I + think, kept the antique ending of the tale of Deirdre. + + 191 "Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition," Argyllshire Series. The tale + was taken down in verse, word for word, from the dictation of + Roderick mac Fadyen in Tiree, 1868. + + 192 Here we have evidently a reminiscence of Briccriu of the Poisoned + Tongue, the mischief-maker of the Ultonians. + + 193 The Arans are three islands at the entrance of Galway Bay. They are + a perfect museum of mysterious ruins. + + 194 Pronounced "Ghermawn"--the "G" hard. + + 195 Horse-racing was a particular delight to the ancient Irish, and is + mentioned in a ninth-century poem in praise of May as one of the + attractions of that month. The name of the month of May given in an + ancient Gaulish calendar means "the month of horse-racing." + + 196 The same phenomenon is recorded as being witnessed by Peredur in the + Welsh tale of that name in the "Mabinogion." + + 197 Like the bridge to Skatha't dun, p. 188. + + 198 Probably we are to understand that he was an anchorite seeking for + an islet on which to dwell in solitude and contemplation. The + western islands of Ireland abound in the ruins of huts and oratories + built by single monks or little communities. + + 199 Tennyson has been particularly happy in his description of these + undersea islands. + + 200 Ps. ciii. 5. + + 201 This disposes of the last of the foster-brothers, who should not + have joined the party. + + 202 Tory Island, off the Donegal coast. There was there a monastery and + a church dedicated to St. Columba. + + 203 "One day we shall delight in the remembrance of these things." The + quotation is from Vergil, "Æn." i. 203 "Sacred poet" is a + translation of the _vates sacer_ of Horace. + + 204 This sage and poet has not been identified from any other record. + Praise and thanks to him, whoever he may have been. + + 205 "The Mabinogion," pp. 45 and 54. + + 206 Pronounced "Annoon." It was the word used in the early literature + for Hades or Fairyland. + + 207 "Barddas," vol. i. pp. 224 _sqq_. + + 208 Strange as it may seem to us, the character of this object was by no + means fixed from the beginning. In the poem of Wolfram von + Eschenbach it is a stone endowed with magical properties. The word + is derived by the early fabulists from _gréable_, something pleasant + to possess and enjoy, and out of which one could have _à son gré_, + whatever he chose of good things. The Grail legend will be dealt + with later in connexion with the Welsh tale "Peredur." + + 209 Distinguished by these from the other great storehouse of poetic + legend, the _Matière de Bretagne--i.e._, the Arthurian saga. + + 210 See p. 103. + + 211 "Cultur der Gegenwart," i. ix. + + 212 A list of them is given in Lobineau's "Histoire de Bretagne." + + 213 See, _e.g.,_ pp. 243 and 218, _note_. + + 214 See p. 233, and a similar case in the author's "High Deeds of Finn," + p. 82. + + 215 See p. 232, and the tale of the recovery of the "Tain," p. 234. + + 216 "Pwyll King of Dyfed," "Bran and Branwen," "Math Sor of Mathonwy," + and "Manawyddan Son of Llyr." + + 217 See p. 107. + + 218 "Hibbert Lectures," pp. 237-240. + + 219 See pp. 88, 109, &c. Lugh, of course, = Lux, Light. The Celtic words + _Lamh_ and _Llaw_ were used indifferently for hand or arm. + + 220 Mr. Squire, in his "Mythology of the British Islands," 1905, has + brought together in a clear and attractive form the most recent + results of studies on this subject. + + 221 Finn and Gwyn are respectively the Gaelic and Cymric forms of the + same name, meaning fair or white. + + 222 "Mythology of the British Islands," p. 225. + + 223 The sense appears to be doubtful here, and is variously rendered. + + 224 Lloegyr = Saxon Britain. + + 225 Rhys, "Hibbert Lectures," quoting from the ancient saga of Merlin + published by the English Text Society, p. 693. + + 226 "Mythology of the British Islands," pp. 325, 326; and Rhys, "Hibbert + Lectures," p. 155 _sqq_. + + 227 In the "Iolo MSS.," collected by Edward Williams. + + 228 See, _e.g._, pp. 111, 272. + + 229 We see here that we have got far from primitive Celtic legend. The + heroes fight like mediaeval knights on horseback, tilting at each + other with spears, not in chariots or on foot, and not with the + strange weapons which figure in Gaelic battle-tales. + + 230 Hen, "the Ancient"; an epithet generally implying a hoary antiquity + associated with mythological tradition. + + 231 Pronounced "Pry-dair´y." + + 232 Evidently this was the triangular Norman shield, not the round or + oval Celtic one. It has already been noticed that in these Welsh + tales the knights when they fight tilt at each other with spears. + + 233 The reader may pronounce this "Matholaw." + + 234 Compare the description of Mac Cecht in the tale of the Hostel of De + Derga, p. 173. + + 235 Where the Tower of London now stands. + + 236 These stories, in Ireland and in Wales, always attach themselves to + actual burial-places. In 1813 a funeral urn containing ashes and + half-burnt bones was found in the spot traditionally supposed to be + Branwen's sepulchre. + + 237 Saxon Britain. + + 238 This is a distorted reminiscence of the practice which seems to have + obtained in the courts of Welsh princes, that a high officer should + hold the king's feet in his lap while he sat at meat. + + 239 "Hawthorn, King of the Giants." + + 240 The gods of the family of Don are thus conceived as servitors to + Arthur, who in this story is evidently the god Artaius. + + 241 "She of the White Track." Compare the description of Etain, pp. 157, + 158. + + 242 There is no other mention of this Kenverchyn or of how Owain got his + raven-army, also referred to in "The Dream of Rhonabwy." We have + here evidently a piece of antique mythology embedded in a more + modern fabric. + + 243 Like the Breton Tale of "Peronnik the Fool," translated in "Le Foyer + Bréton," by Emile Souvestre. The syllable _Per_ which occurs in all + forms of the hero's name means in Welsh and Cornish a bowl or vessel + (Irish _coire_--see p. 35, note). No satisfactory derivation has in + any case been found of the latter part of the name. + + 244 "They are nourished by a stone of most noble nature ... it is called + _lapsit exillîs_; the stone is also called the Grail." The term + _lapsit exillîs_ appears to be a corruption for _lapis ex celis_, + "the stone from heaven." + + 245 The true derivation is from the Low Latin _cratella_, a small vessel + or chalice. + + 246 A similar selective action is ascribed to the Grail by Wolfram. It + can only be lifted by a pure maiden when carried into the hall, and + a heathen cannot see it or be benefited by it. The same idea is also + strongly marked in the story narrating the early history of the + Grail by Robert de Borron, about 1210: the impure and sinful cannot + benefit by it. Borron, however, does not touch upon the Perceval or + "quest" portion of the story at all. + + 247 Hades. + + 248 Caer Vedwyd means the Castle of Revelry. I follow the version of + this poem given by Squire in his "Mythology of the British Islands," + where it may be read in full. + + 249 The combination of objects at the Grail Castle is very significant. + They were a sword, a spear, and a vessel, or, in some versions, a + stone. These are the magical treasures brought by the Danaans into + Ireland--a sword, a spear, a cauldron, and a stone. See pp. 105, 106. + + 250 The Round Table finds no mention in Cymric legend earlier than the + fifteenth century. + + 251 Vergil, in his mediæval character of magician. + + 252 Taliesin. + + 253 Alluding to the imaginary Trojan ancestry of the Britons. + + 254 I have somewhat abridged this curious poem. The connexion with ideas + of transmigration, as in the legend of Tuan mac Carell (see pp. + 97-101), is obvious. Tuan's last stage, it may be recalled, was a + fish, and Taliesin was taken in a salmon-weir. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE*** + + + +CREDITS + + +October 16, 2010 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Thierry Alberto, Jimmy + O'Regan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at + Distributed Proofreaders Europe. + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 34081-8.txt or 34081-8.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/4/0/8/34081/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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