Fianna

“ If a man enters the Fianna Eireann, and after entering fails in either of these things, then the Fians cast him out, and disgrace rests on him whereever he goes."
"We pledge you our word," said they, "that in neither of these things shall we ever fail. Nor are we without knowledge, for certain gifts are ours that may be of use to you some time or other."
"What are they?" asked Fionn.
"I will watch over and guard the Fianna of Ireland, both night and day," said one.
"That is a good thing for one man to be able to do," remarked Fionn ”

“ I do not know in literature better friends and lovers. When one of the Fianna finds Osgar dying the proud death of a young man, and asks is it well with him, he is answered, "I am as you would have me be." The very heroism of the Fianna is indeed but their pride and joy in one another, their good fellowship. Goll, old and savage, and letting himself die of hunger in a cave because he is angry and sorry, can speak lovely words to the wife whose help he refuses. ”

“ I hope," he said, turning to Fionn, "you are not going to disgrace the Fianna by taking that ill-favoured wretch there into it, and putting his bag of bones—calls it a horse, indeed!—among our horses."
"As a horseman I come to you, Fionn mac Cumall, and a horseman's wages I expect," said the Gilla Decair. "If you can pledge your word that nothing shall happen to my horse, I will turn him out among yours, and not heed what that abusive man there says." ”

“ When good was coming to the Fianna they would know and tell it, and when evil was coming they would not conceal it. But at the death of Fionn, Blaithnait and Cnu Deireoil returned to their own people; and even now, all these centuries afterwards, if you are sitting on the side of Slieve-na-man in the twilight, you will hear a sweet and sorrowful strain coming from the hillside, where Cnu Deireoil still laments on his harp for the death of the most noble and generous chief of the Fianna. ”

“ From every part of Ireland the musicians of the Fianna came to him to be instructed, and he taught them gentle faery melodies, and in the whole of Ireland there were no minstrels, except those of the Fianna, who could play such music.
"Little Nut of Melody," said Fionn to him one day, "you are far from your own people, and must often be very lonely. All my men have wives but you, and my wish is to find a fair and gentle woman for you."
"I do not want any wife at all," said the little man hastily. He was greatly alarmed lest Fionn should bestow on him one of the big tall women of the Fianna. ”

“ Then he spoke to the men: "Who are you, young men, and where do you come from?"
"We are princes, sons of the King of Norway, and have travelled across the sea from the east to meet you, lord of the Fians," they answered.
"What do you seek, or what is your need?" asked Fionn.
"We have heard of your fame as a warrior, and we wish to take service with you," they replied.
"Are you good fighters?" questioned Fionn. "No one can enter the Fianna who has not strength in his arm and unfailing courage in his heart. ”

“ The dark hours of the night passed on, and Fionn shivered as the chill autumnal dews dropped on his weak and helpless limbs. He thought how the poor and the old must suffer, without warmth or comfort, and welcomed the dawn and sunrise more eagerly than he ever had before; then on his ears fell the sound of men's voices shouting and calling, and the barking of many dogs. Nearer and nearer the sound came; a minute or two later his son Oisin, and Oscur the son of Oisin, with Caeilté and Conan mac Morna and a great band of the Fianna Eireann, came over the hill-top to him. ”

“ When Fionn heard that he placed his thumb of knowledge in his mouth, and divined instantly the dreadful death that had happened to Donn and Dubhan. Terrible then was the wrath that filled him against the King of Norway's sons—for Fionn alone had power to judge any misdeed or broken word of the Fianna—and taking his spear in his hand he went out to the camp of the men of Norway; but they and their hound had disappeared, nor were they ever seen or heard of in Ireland again. ”

“ CHAPTER II. FINN'S HOUSEHOLD
And the number of the Fianna of Ireland at that time was seven score and ten chief men, every one of them having three times nine righting men under him. And every man of them was bound to three things, to take no cattle by oppression, not to refuse any man, as to cattle or riches; no one of them to fall back before nine fighting men. And there was no man taken into the Fianna until his tribe and his kindred would give securities for him, that even if they themselves were all killed he would not look for satisfaction for their death. ”

“ Fionn’s mother, Muirne, went to wide Allen of Leinster to visit her son, and she brought her young sister Tuiren with her. The mother and aunt of the great captain were well treated among the Fianna, first, because they were parents to Fionn, and second, because they were beautiful and noble women.
No words can describe how delightful Muirne was—she took the branch; and as to Tuiren, a man could not look at her without becoming angry or dejected. Her face was fresh as a spring morning; her voice more cheerful than the cuckoo calling from the branch that is highest in the hedge ”

“ The king and his son also agreed, and the decision was imparted to the Fianna.
"One must abide by a judgement," said Fionn.
"Do you abide by it?" Goll demanded.
"I do," said Fionn.
Goll and Fionn then kissed each other, and thus peace was made. For, notwithstanding the endless bicker of these two heroes, they loved each other well.
Yet, now that the years have gone by, I think the fault lay with Goll and not with Fionn, and that the judgement given did not consider everything. For at that table Goll should not have given greater gifts than his master and host did. ”

“ The big man laughed scornfully. "Indeed if Caeilté is the only man among the Fianna on whom you rely, you are already conquered; for although Caeilté has the swiftness of a frightened deer, Cael is twice as quick."
"May I die before I see Ireland paying tribute to the foreigner!" exclaimed Fionn vehemently. "I will invoke the aid of the hidden gods and the folk of the hills; they have never yet failed me in my need, and they will not now refuse their help," and he began to hurry along the forest road. ”

“ Fionn mac Cumall, with some of the Fians, are out there, and he sent me to look for a house that would shelter him from this night's storm."
"There is no man in Ireland we would sooner welcome this night than the chief of the Fianna," said one of the men. "So hurry, Caeilté, and bring Fionn and his warriors in. In his own place Fionn has never been known to refuse hospitality to man or beast, and not one of us would refuse it to him." ”

“ And besides that," he said, "there has many a good champion fallen through the things you yourself have done, and there is not an end of them yet; and there will soon come great misfortunes on the Fianna, and it is few of their seed will be left after them. And it is not for yourself I am fretting, Finn," he said, "but for Oisin and Osgar, and the rest of my dear comrades, and as for you, Oisin, you will be left lamenting after the Fianna. ”

“ But if these young men are not healed," he said, "it is my own hand will strike off your head."
And within nine days the physician had done a cure on them, and they were as well and as sound as before.
And it was after that time the High King sent a messenger to bring the Fianna to the Feast of Teamhair. And they all gathered to it, men and women, boys and heroes and musicians. And Goll, son of Morna, was sitting at the feast beside the king. "It is a great loss you have had, Fianna of Ireland," said the king, "losing your lord and your leader, Finn, son of Cumhal." ”

“ Another is, that we do not wish you to give us food and drink; we are under a vow to provide everything for ourselves. Our third request is, that you give us that part of the country to hunt which contains the least game."
"Those are very curious demands," said Fionn. "I should like to know what reason you have for wishing to remain isolated after nightfall? It is a custom of the Fianna to be merry at night after the day's work, and if you hold to this condition you will be lonely while your comrades are feasting." ”

“ And Finn kept the headship of the Fianna until the end; and the place he lived in was Almhuin of Leinster, where the white dun was made by Nuada of the Tuatha de Danaan, that was as white as if all the lime in Ireland was put on it, and that got its name from the great herd of cattle that died fighting one time around the well, and that left their horns there, speckled horns and white.
And as to Finn himself, he was a king and a seer and a poet; a Druid and a knowledgeable man ”

“ But that did not prevent Goll from killing Fionn's brother Cairell later on, nor did it prevent Fionn from killing Goll later on again, and the last did not prevent Goll from rescuing Fionn out of hell when the Fianna-Finn were sent there under the new God. Nor is there any reason to complain or to be astonished at these things, for it is a mutual world we live in, a give-and-take world, and there is no great harm in it. ”

“ They returned to the dún, and Conn gave orders that a banquet should be prepared, to celebrate Fionn's great feat. When the feast was ready he commanded his trumpeters to sound their trumpets, and as soon as every one was assembled in the great banqueting hall of the dun the king placed Fionn in the seat belonging to the chief of Ireland's Fianna, and all the Fians, even the deposed chief, Goll mac Morna, placed their hands in Fionn's, and vowed to be faithful and true to him as long as they lived. ”

“ One thing, however, we may tell you: every third night one of us seems to die, and the other two watch him till the dawn comes, for he must not be disturbed. Therefore we would have our camp at a distance from yours."
"I give you my word," said Fionn, "that I and my Fians will never seek to visit you at night-time. Besides, I am forbidden to see a dead man unless he has been killed by weapons."
So the three men entered the Fianna of Ireland ”

“ As I touched the earth I remembered Niav's words, but too late. Quickly as a flying shadow the white horse disappeared, and still more quickly a withered, shrivelled old age came upon me, and left me feeble and helpless as you, O Patrick, now behold me. It is my unending grief that never again shall I see Niav and my dear children; my noble father and comrades have all gone from me, and I, the last of the Fianna, am left alone, with a heart more full of sorrow than was any man's ever before. ”

“ Of Fionn’s people eleven hundred of men and women were dead, while of Goll’s people eleven men and fifty women were dead. But it was through fright the women died, for not one of them had a wound or a bruise or a mark.
CHAPTER III AT the end of a fortnight Fionn and Goll and the chief men of the Fianna attended at Tara. The king, his son and daughter, with Flahri, Feehal, and Fintan mac Bocna sat in the place of judgement, and Cormac called on the witnesses for evidence. ”

“ He was in the world of men, where movement is not easy and the very air a burden. In his own sphere, in his own element, he might have outrun Fionn, but this was Fionn’s world, Fionn’s element, and the flying god was not gross enough to outstrip him. Yet what a race he gave, for it was but at the entrance to his own Shi’ that the pursuer got close enough. Fionn put a finger into the thong of the great spear, and at that cast night fell on Aillen mac Midna. ”

“ But for dread of the clann-Morna he did not go as Fionn. He called himself Deimne on that journey.
We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. Fionn asked every question he could think of, and his master, who was a poet, and so an honourable man, answered them all, not to the limit of his patience, for it was limitless, but to the limit of his ability. ”

“ And Fiona told him how the feather had turned in her hand of itself.
The old man bowed almost to the ground.
"That was the direct grace of the King," he said. "You must be a person of the greatest consequence."
And when Fiona said, "I am just an ordinary girl," he again bowed low and said: "Young lady, I take leave to doubt it."
Then he gave Fiona her directions for finding the King, and warned her that she must not loiter in the fairy grove, for the fairies were already gathering for All Hallows E'en. ”

“ He already venerated Finegas for his great learning, his poetic skill, for an hundred reasons; but, looking on him as the ordained eater of the Salmon of Knowledge, he venerated him to the edge of measure. Indeed, he loved as well as venerated this master because of his unfailing kindness, his patience, his readiness to teach, and his skill in teaching.
“I have learned much from you, dear master,” said Fionn gratefully.
“All that I have is yours if you can take it,” the poet answered, “for you are entitled to all that you can take, but to no more than that. Take, so, with both hands.” ”

“ At last she came to the edge of the sea, where the Fians stood watching her, and her voice sounded like sweet music as she spoke to Fionn:
"It is a long road from my country to yours, O Fionn, but I have taken it in search of you."
"Beautiful queen," said Fionn, "I am old and my men are nearly all killed, but few and sorrowful as we are, we will not refuse any service you may ask of us. Tell us now, O fairest of women, your name and your country, and what your desire is."
"My father calls me Niav of the Red-gold Hair, and he is lord of the Island of Youth," she answered. ”