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Gods and Fighting Men by Lady I. A. Gregory

L >> Lady I. A. Gregory >> Gods and Fighting Men





X

I need say nothing about the translation and arrangement of this book
except that it is worthy to be put beside "Cuchulain of Muirthemne."
Such books should not be commended by written words but by spoken words,
were that possible, for the written words commending a book, wherein
something is done supremely well, remain, to sound in the ears of a
later generation, like the foolish sound of church bells from the tower
of a church when every pew is full.

W.B. YEATS.




CONTENTS


PART I. THE GODS

Book I. The Coming of the Tuatha de Danaan

Chap. I. The Fight with the Firbolgs
II. The Reign of Bres

Book II. Lugh of the Long Hand

Chap. I. The Coming of Lugh
II. The Sons of Tuireann
III. The Great Battle of Magh Tuireadh
IV. The Hidden House of Lugh

Book III. The Coming of the Gael

Chap. I. The Landing
II. The Battle of Tailltin

Book IV. The Ever-Living Living Ones

Chap. I. Bodb Dearg
II. The Dagda
III. Angus Og
IV. The Morrigu
V. Aine
VI. Aoibhell
VII. Midhir and Etain
VIII. Manannan
IX. Manannan at play
X. His Call to Bran
XI. His Three Calls to Cormac
XII. Cliodna's Wave
XIII. His Call to Connla
XIV. Tadg in Manannan's Islands
XV. Laegaire in the Happy Plain

Book V. The Fate of The Children of Lir


PART II. THE FIANNA

Book I. Finn, Son of Cumhal

Chap. I. The Coming of Finn
II. Finn's Household
III. Birth of Bran
IV. Oisin's Mother
V. The Best Men of the Fianna

Book II. Finn's Helpers

Chap. I. The Lad of the Skins
II. Black, Brown, and Grey
III. The Hound
IV. Red Ridge

Book III. The Battle of the White Strand

Chap. I. The Enemies of Ireland
II. Cael and Credhe
III. Conn Crither
IV. Glas, Son of Dremen
V. The Help of the Men of Dea
VI. The March of the Fianna
VII. The First Fighters
VIII. The King of Ulster's Son
IX. The High King's Son
X. The King of Lochlann and his Sons
XI. Labran's Journey
XII. The Great Fight
XIII. Credhe's Lament

Book IV. Huntings and Enchantments

Chap. I. The King of Britain's Son
II. The Cave of Ceiscoran
III. Donn, Son of Midhir
IV. The Hospitality of Cuanna's House
V. Cat-Heads and Dog-Heads
VI. Lomna's Head
VII. Ilbrec of Ess Ruadh
VIII. The Cave of Cruachan
IX. The Wedding at Ceann Slieve
X. The Shadowy One
XI. Finn's Madness
XII. The Red Woman
XIII. Finn and the Phantoms
XIV. The Pigs of Angus
XV. The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn

Book V. Oisin's Children


Book VI. Diarmuid

Chap. I. Birth of Diarmuid
II. How Diarmuid got his Love-Spot
III. The Daughter of King Under-Wave
IV. The Hard Servant
V. The House of the Quicken Trees

Book VII. Diarmuid and Grania

Chap. I. The Flight from Teamhair
II. The Pursuit
III. The Green Champions
IV. The Wood of Dubhros
V. The Quarrel
VI. The Wanderers
VII. Fighting and Peace
VIII. The Boar of Beinn Gulbain

Book VIII. Cnoc-an-Air

Chap. I. Tailc, Son of Treon
II. Meargach's Wife
III. Ailne's Revenge

Book IX. The Wearing Away of the Fianna

Chap. I. The Quarrel with the Sons of Morna
II. Death of Goll
III. The Battle of Gabhra

Book X. The End of the Fianna

Chap. I. Death of Bran
II. The Call of Oisin
III. The Last of the Great Men

Book XI. Oisin and Patrick

Chap. I. Oisin's Story
II. Oisin in Patrick's House
III. The Arguments
IV. Oisin's Laments




GODS AND FIGHTING MEN.

PART ONE: THE GODS.

BOOK ONE: THE COMING OF THE TUATHA DE DANAAN.

CHAPTER I. THE FIGHT WITH THE FIRBOLGS


It was in a mist the Tuatha de Danaan, the people of the gods of Dana,
or as some called them, the Men of Dea, came through the air and the
high air to Ireland.

It was from the north they came; and in the place they came from they
had four cities, where they fought their battle for learning: great
Falias, and shining Gorias, and Finias, and rich Murias that lay to the
south. And in those cities they had four wise men to teach their young
men skill and knowledge and perfect wisdom: Senias in Murias; and Arias,
the fair-haired poet, in Finias; and Urias of the noble nature in
Gorias; and Morias in Falias itself. And they brought from those four
cities their four treasures: a Stone of Virtue from Falias, that was
called the Lia Fail, the Stone of Destiny; and from Gorias they brought
a Sword; and from Finias a Spear of Victory; and from Murias the fourth
treasure, the Cauldron that no company ever went away from unsatisfied.

It was Nuada was king of the Tuatha de Danaan at that time, but
Manannan, son of Lir, was greater again. And of the others that were
chief among them were Ogma, brother to the king, that taught them
writing, and Diancecht, that understood healing, and Neit, a god of
battle, and Credenus the Craftsman, and Goibniu the Smith. And the
greatest among their women were Badb, a battle goddess; and Macha, whose
mast-feeding was the heads of men killed in battle; and the Morrigu,
the Crow of Battle; and Eire and Fodla and Banba, daughters of the
Dagda, that all three gave their names to Ireland afterwards; and Eadon,
the nurse of poets; and Brigit, that was a woman of poetry, and poets
worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was
a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it
was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the
night. And the one side of her face was ugly, but the other side was
very comely. And the meaning of her name was Breo-saighit, a fiery
arrow. And among the other women there were many shadow-forms and great
queens; but Dana, that was called the Mother of the Gods, was beyond
them all.

And the three things they put above all others were the plough and the
sun and the hazel-tree, so that it was said in the time to come that
Ireland was divided between those three, Coll the hazel, and Cecht the
plough, and Grian the sun.

And they had a well below the sea where the nine hazels of wisdom were
growing; that is, the hazels of inspiration and of the knowledge of
poetry. And their leaves and their blossoms would break out in the same
hour, and would fall on the well in a shower that raised a purple wave.
And then the five salmon that were waiting there would eat the nuts, and
their colour would come out in the red spots of their skin, and any
person that would eat one of those salmon would know all wisdom and all
poetry. And there were seven streams of wisdom that sprang from that
well and turned back to it again; and the people of many arts have all
drank from that well.

It was on the first day of Beltaine, that is called now May Day, the
Tuatha de Danaan came, and it was to the north-west of Connacht they
landed. But the Firbolgs, the Men of the Bag, that were in Ireland
before them, and that had come from the South, saw nothing but a mist,
and it lying on the hills.

Eochaid, son of Erc, was king of the Firbolgs at that time, and
messengers came to him at Teamhair, and told him there was a new race of
people come into Ireland, but whether from the earth or the skies or on
the wind was not known, and that they had settled themselves at Magh
Rein.

They thought there would be wonder on Eochaid when he heard that news;
but there was no wonder on him, for a dream had come to him in the
night, and when he asked his Druids the meaning of the dream, it is what
they said, that it would not be long till there would be a strong enemy
coming against him.

Then King Eochaid took counsel with his chief advisers, and it is what
they agreed, to send a good champion of their own to see the strangers
and to speak with them. So they chose out Sreng, that was a great
fighting man, and he rose up and took his strong red-brown shield, and
his two thick-handled spears, and his sword, and his head-covering, and
his thick iron club, and he set out from Teamhair, and went on towards
the place the strangers were, at Magh Rein.

But before he reached it, the watchers of the Tuatha de Danaan got sight
of him, and they sent out one of their own champions, Bres, with his
shield and his sword and his two spears, to meet him and to talk with
him.

So the two champions went one towards the other slowly, and keeping a
good watch on one another, and wondering at one another's arms, till
they came near enough for talking; and then they stopped, and each put
his shield before his body and struck it hard into the ground, and they
looked at one another over the rim. Bres was the first to speak, and
when Sreng heard it was Irish he was talking, his own tongue, he was
less uneasy, and they drew nearer, and asked questions as to one
another's family and race.

And after a while they put their shields away, and it was what Sreng
said, that he had raised his in dread of the thin, sharp spears Bres had
in his hand. And Bres said he himself was in dread of the thick-handled
spears he saw with Sreng, and he asked were all the arms of the Firbolgs
of the same sort. And Sreng took off the tyings of his spears to show
them better, and Bres wondered at them, being so strong and so heavy,
and so sharp at the sides though they had no points. And Sreng told him
the name of those spears was Craisech, and that they would break through
shields and crush flesh and bones, so that their thrust was death or
wounds that never healed. And then he looked at the sharp, thin,
hard-pointed spears that were with Bres. And in the end they made an
exchange of spears, the way the fighters on each side would see the
weapons the others were used to. And it is the message Bres sent to the
Firbolgs, that if they would give up one half of Ireland, his people
would be content to take it in peace; but if they would not give up that
much, there should be a battle. And he and Sreng said to one another
that whatever might happen in the future, they themselves would be
friends.

Sreng went back then to Teamhair and gave the message and showed the
spear; and it is what he advised his people, to share the country and
not to go into battle with a people that had weapons so much better than
their own. But Eochaid and his chief men consulted together, and they
said in the end: "We will not give up the half of the country to these
strangers; for if we do," they said, "they will soon take the whole."

Now as to the Men of Dea, when Bres went back to them, and showed them
the heavy spear, and told them of the strong, fierce man he had got it
from, and how sturdy he was and well armed, they thought it likely there
would soon be a battle. And they went back from where they were to a
better place, farther west in Connacht, and there they settled
themselves, and made walls and ditches on the plain of Magh Nia, where
they had the great mountain, Belgata, in their rear. And while they were
moving there and putting up their walls, three queens of them, Badb and
Macha and the Morrigu, went to Teamhair where the Firbolgs were making
their plans. And by the power of their enchantments they brought mists
and clouds of darkness over the whole place, and they sent showers of
fire and of blood over the people, the way they could not see or speak
with one another through the length of three days. But at the end of
that time, the three Druids of the Firbolgs, Cesarn and Gnathach and
Ingnathach, broke the enchantment.

The Firbolgs gathered their men together then, and they came with their
eleven battalions and took their stand at the eastern end of the plain
of Magh Nia.

And Nuada, king of the Men of Dea, sent his poets to make the same offer
he made before, to be content with the half of the country if it was
given up to him. King Eochaid bade the poets to ask an answer of his
chief men that were gathered there; and when they heard the offer they
would not consent. So the messengers asked them when would they begin
the battle. "We must have a delay," they said; "for we want time to put
our spears and our armour in order, and to brighten our helmets and to
sharpen our swords, and to have spears made like the ones you have. And
as to yourselves," they said, "you will be wanting to have spears like
our Craisechs made for you." So they agreed then to make a delay of a
quarter of a year for preparation.

It was on a Midsummer day they began the battle. Three times nine
hurlers of the Tuatha de Danaan went out against three times nine
hurlers of the Firbolgs, and they were beaten, and every one of them was
killed. And the king, Eochaid, sent a messenger to ask would they have
the battle every day or every second day. And it is what Nuada answered
that they would have it every day, but there should be just the same
number of men fighting on each side. Eochaid agreed to that, but he was
not well pleased, for there were more men of the Firbolgs than of the
Men of Dea.

So the battle went on for four days, and there were great feats done on
each side, and a great many champions came to their death. But for those
that were alive at evening, the physicians on each side used to make a
bath of healing, with every sort of healing plant or herb in it, the way
they would be strong and sound for the next day's fight.

And on the fourth day the Men of Dea got the upper hand, and the
Firbolgs were driven back. And a great thirst came on Eochaid, their
king, in the battle, and he went off the field looking for a drink, and
three fifties of his men protecting him; but three fifties of the Tuatha
de Danaan followed after them till they came to the strand that is
called Traigh Eothaile, and they had a fierce fight there, and at the
last King Eochaid fell, and they buried him there, and they raised a
great heap of stones over his grave.

And when there were but three hundred men left of the eleven battalions
of the Firbolgs, and Sreng at the head of them, Nuada offered them
peace, and their choice among the five provinces of Ireland. And Sreng
said they would take Connacht; and he and his people lived there and
their children after them. It is of them Ferdiad came afterwards that
made such a good fight against Cuchulain, and Erc, son of Cairbre, that
gave him his death. And that battle, that was the first fought in
Ireland by the Men of Dea, was called by some the first battle of Magh
Tuireadh.

And the Tuatha de Danaan took possession of Teamhair, that was sometimes
called Druim Cain, the Beautiful Ridge, and Liathdruim, the Grey Ridge,
and Druim na Descan, the Ridge of the Outlook, all those names were
given to Teamhair. And from that time it was above all other places, for
its king was the High King over all Ireland. The king's rath lay to the
north, and the Hill of the Hostages to the north-east of the High Seat,
and the Green of Teamhair to the west of the Hill of the Hostages. And
to the north-east, in the Hill of the Sidhe, was a well called Nemnach,
and out of it there flowed a stream called Nith, and on that stream the
first mill was built in Ireland.

And to the north of the Hill of the Hostages was the stone, the Lia
Fail, and it used to roar under the feet of every king that would take
possession of Ireland. And the Wall of the Three Whispers was near the
House of the Women that had seven doors to the east, and seven doors to
the west; and it is in that house the feasts of Teamhair used to be
held. And there was the Great House of a Thousand Soldiers, and near it,
to the south, the little Hill of the Woman Soldiers.




CHAPTER II. THE REIGN OF BRES


But if Nuada won the battle, he lost his own arm in it, that was struck
off by Sreng; and by that loss there came troubles and vexation on his
people.

For it was a law with the Tuatha de Danaan that no man that was not
perfect in shape should be king. And after Nuada had lost the battle he
was put out of the kingship on that account.

And the king they chose in his place was Bres, that was the most
beautiful of all their young men, so that if a person wanted to praise
any beautiful thing, whether it was a plain, or a dun, or ale, or a
flame, or a woman, or a man, or a horse, it is what he would say, "It is
as beautiful as Bres." And he was the son of a woman of the Tuatha de
Danaan, but who his father was no one knew but herself.

But in spite of Bres being so beautiful, his reign brought no great good
luck to his people; for the Fomor, whose dwelling-place was beyond the
sea, or as some say below the sea westward, began putting tribute on
them, the way they would get them under their own rule.

It was a long time before that the Fomor came first to Ireland; dreadful
they were to look at, and maimed, having but one foot or one hand, and
they under the leadership of a giant and his mother. There never came to
Ireland an army more horrible or more dreadful than that army of the
Fomor. And they were friendly with the Firbolgs and content to leave
Ireland to them, but there was jealousy between them and the Men of Dea.

And it was a hard tax they put on them, a third part of their corn they
asked, and a third part of their milk, and a third part of their
children, so that there was not smoke rising from a roof in Ireland but
was under tribute to them. And Bres made no stand against them, but let
them get their way.

And as to Bres himself, he put a tax on every house in Ireland of the
milk of hornless dun cows, or of the milk of cows of some other single
colour, enough for a hundred men. And one time, to deceive him, Nechtan
singed all the cows of Ireland in a fire of fern, and then he smeared
them with the ashes of flax seed, the way they were all dark brown. He
did that by the advice of the Druid Findgoll, son of Findemas. And
another time they made three hundred cows of wood with dark brown pails
in place of udders, and the pails were filled with black bog stuff. Then
Bres came to look at the cows, and to see them milked before him, and
Cian, father of Lugh, was there. And when they were milked it was the
bog stuff that was squeezed out; and Bres took a drink of it thinking it
to be milk, and he was not the better of it for a long time.

And there was another thing against Bres; he was no way open-handed, and
the chief men of the Tuatha de Danaan grumbled against him, for their
knives were never greased in his house, and however often they might
visit him there was no smell of ale on their breath. And there was no
sort of pleasure or merriment in his house, and no call for their poets,
or singers, or harpers, or pipers, or horn-blowers, or jugglers, or
fools. And as to the trials of strength they were used to see between
their champions, the only use their strength was put to now was to be
doing work for the king. Ogma himself, the shining poet, was under
orders to bring firing to the palace every day for the whole army from
the Islands of Mod; and he so weak for want of food that the sea would
sweep away two-thirds of his bundle every day. And as to the Dagda, he
was put to build raths, for he was a good builder, and he made a trench
round Rath Brese. And he used often to be tired at the work, and one
time he nearly gave in altogether for want of food, and this is the way
that happened. He used to meet in the house an idle blind man, Cridenbel
his name was, that had a sharp tongue, and that coveted the Dagda's
share of food, for he thought his own to be small beside it. So he said
to him: "For the sake of your good name let the three best bits of your
share be given to me." And the Dagda gave in to that every night; but he
was the worse of it, for what the blind man called a bit would be the
size of a good pig, and with his three bits he would take a full third
of the whole.

But one day, as the Dagda was in the trench, he saw his son, Angus Og,
coming to him. "That is a good meeting," said Angus; "but what is on
you, for you have no good appearance to-day?" "There is a reason for
that," said the Dagda, "for every evening, Cridenbel, the blind man,
makes a demand for the three best bits of my share of food, and takes
them from me." "I will give you an advice," said Angus. He put his hand
in his bag then, and took out three pieces of gold and gave them to him.

"Put these pieces of gold into the three bits you will give this evening
to Cridenbel," he said, "and they will be the best bits in the dish, and
the gold will turn within him the way he will die."

So in the evening the Dagda did that; and no sooner had Cridenbel
swallowed down the gold than he died. Some of the people said then to
the king: "The Dagda has killed Cridenbel, giving him some deadly herb."
The king believed that, and there was anger on him against the Dagda,
and he gave orders he should be put to death. But the Dagda said: "You
are not giving the right judgment of a prince." And he told all that had
happened, and how Cridenbel used to say, "Give me the three best bits
before you, for my own share is not good to-night." "And on this
night," he said, "the three pieces of gold were the best things before
me, and I gave them to him, and he died."

The king gave orders then to have the body cut open. And they found the
gold inside it, and they knew it was the truth the Dagda had told.

And Angus came to him again the next day, and he said: "Your work will
soon be done, and when you are given your wages, take nothing they may
offer you till the cattle of Ireland are brought before you, and choose
out a heifer then, black and black-maned, that I will tell you the signs
of."

So when the Dagda had brought his work to an end, and they asked him
what reward he wanted, he did as Angus had bidden him. And that seemed
folly to Bres; he thought the Dagda would have asked more than a heifer
of him.

There came a day at last when a poet came to look for hospitality at the
king's house, Corpre, son of Etain, poet of the Tuatha de Danaan. And it
is how he was treated, he was put in a little dark narrow house where
there was no fire, or furniture, or bed; and for a feast three small
cakes, and they dry, were brought to him on a little dish. When he rose
up on the morrow he was no way thankful, and as he was going across the
green, it is what he said: "Without food ready on a dish; without milk
enough for a calf to grow on; without shelter; without light in the
darkness of night; without enough to pay a story-teller; may that be the
prosperity of Bres."

And from that day there was no good luck with Bres, but it is going down
he was for ever after. And that was the first satire ever made in
Ireland.

Now as to Nuada: after his arm being struck off, he was in his sickness
for a while, and then Diancecht, the healer, made an arm of silver for
him, with movement in every finger of it, and put it on him. And from
that he was called Nuada Argat-lamh, of the Silver Hand, for ever after.

Now Miach, son of Diancecht, was a better hand at healing than his
father, and had done many things. He met a young man, having but one
eye, at Teamhair one time, and the young man said: "If you are a good
physician you will put an eye in the place of the eye I lost." "I could
put the eye of that cat in your lap in its place," said Miach. "I would
like that well," said the young man. So Miach put the cat's eye in his
head; but he would as soon have been without it after, for when he
wanted to sleep and take his rest, it is then the eye would start at the
squeaking of the mice, or the flight of the birds, or the movement of
the rushes; and when he was wanting to watch an army or a gathering, it
is then it was sure to be in a deep sleep.

And Miach was not satisfied with what his father had done to the king,
and he took Nuada's own hand that had been struck off, and brought it to
him and set it in its place, and he said: "Joint to joint, and sinew to
sinew." Three days and three nights he was with the king; the first day
he put the hand against his side, and the second day against his breast,
till it was covered with skin, and the third day he put bulrushes that
were blackened in the fire on it, and at the end of that time the king
was healed.

But Diancecht was vexed when he saw his son doing a better cure than
himself, and he threw his sword at his head, that it cut the flesh, but
the lad healed the wound by means of his skill. Then Diancecht threw it
a second time, that it reached the bone, but the lad was able to cure
the wound. Then he struck him the third time and the fourth, till he cut
out the brain, for he knew no physician could cure him after that blow;
and Miach died, and he buried him.

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