A \ B \ C \ D \ E \ F \ G \ H \ I \ J \ K \ L \ M \ N \ O \ P \ R \ S \ T \ U \ V \ W \Z

Gods and Fighting Men by Lady I. A. Gregory

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




And herbs grew up from his grave, to the number of his joints and
sinews, three hundred and sixty-five. And Airmed, his sister, came and
spread out her cloak and laid out the herbs in it, according to their
virtue. But Diancecht saw her doing that, and he came and mixed up the
herbs, so that no one knows all their right powers to this day.

Then when the Tuatha de Danaan saw Nuada as well as he was before, they
gathered together to Teamhair, where Bres was, and they bade him give up
the kingship, for he had held it long enough. So he had to give it up,
though he was not very willing, and Nuada was put back in the kingship
again.

There was great vexation on Bres then, and he searched his mind to know
how could he be avenged on those that had put him out, and how he could
gather an army against them; and he went to his mother, Eri, daughter of
Delbaith, and bade her tell him what his race was.

"I know that well," she said; and she told him then that his father was
a king of the Fomor, Elathan, son of Dalbaech, and that he came to her
one time over a level sea in some great vessel that seemed to be of
silver, but she could not see its shape, and he himself having the
appearance of a young man with yellow hair, and his clothes sewed with
gold, and five rings of gold about his neck. And she that had refused
the love of all the young men of her own people, gave him her love, and
she cried when he left her. And he gave her a ring from his hand, and
bade her give it only to the man whose finger it would fit, and he went
away then the same way as he had come.

And she brought out the ring then to Bres, and he put it round his
middle finger, and it fitted him well. And they went then together to
the hill where she was the time she saw the silver vessel coming, and
down to the strand, and she and Bres and his people set out for the
country of the Fomor.

And when they came to that country they found a great plain with many
gatherings of people on it, and they went to the gathering that looked
the best, and the people asked where did they come from, and they said
they were come from Ireland. "Have you hounds with you?" they asked them
then, for it was the custom at that time, when strangers came to a
gathering, to give them some friendly challenge. "We have hounds," said
Bres. So the hounds were matched against one another, and the hounds of
the Tuatha de Danaan were better than the hounds of the Fomor. "Have you
horses for a race?" they asked then. "We have," said Bres. And the
horses of the Tuatha de Danaan beat the horses of the Fomor.

Then they asked was any one among them a good hand with the sword, and
they said Bres was the best. But when he put his hand to his sword,
Elathan, his father, that was among them, knew the ring, and he asked
who was this young man. Then his mother answered him and told the whole
story, and that Bres was his own son.

There was sorrow on his father then, and he said: "What was it drove you
out of the country you were king over?" And Bres said: "Nothing drove me
out but my own injustice and my own hardness; I took away their
treasures from the people, and their jewels, and their food itself. And
there were never taxes put on them before I was their king."

"That is bad," said his father; "it is of their prosperity you had a
right to think more than of your own kingship. And their good-will
would be better than their curses," he said; "and what is it you are
come to look for here?" "I am come to look for fighting men," said Bres,
"that I may take Ireland by force." "You have no right to get it by
injustice when you could not keep it by justice," said his father. "What
advice have you for me then?" said Bres.

And Elathan bade him go to the chief king of the Fomor, Balor of the
Evil Eye, to see what advice and what help would he give him.




BOOK TWO: LUGH OF THE LONG HAND.

CHAPTER I. THE COMING OF LUGH


Now as to Nuada of the Silver Hand, he was holding a great feast at
Teamhair one time, after he was back in the kingship. And there were two
door-keepers at Teamhair, Gamal, son of Figal, and Camel, son of
Riagall. And a young man came to the door where one of them was, and
bade him bring him in to the king. "Who are you yourself?" said the
door-keeper. "I am Lugh, son of Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of
Ethlinn, daughter of Balor, King of the Fomor," he said; "and I am
foster-son of Taillte, daughter of the King of the Great Plain, and of
Echaid the Rough, son of Duach." "What are you skilled in?" said the
door-keeper; "for no one without an art comes into Teamhair." "Question
me," said Lugh; "I am a carpenter." "We do not want you; we have a
carpenter ourselves, Luchtar, son of Luachaid." "Then I am a smith." "We
have a smith ourselves, Colum Cuaillemech of the Three New Ways." "Then
I am a champion." "That is no use to us; we have a champion before,
Ogma, brother to the king." "Question me again," he said; "I am a
harper." "That is no use to us; we have a harper ourselves, Abhean, son
of Bicelmos, that the Men of the Three Gods brought from the hills." "I
am-a poet," he said then, "and a teller of tales." "That is no use to
us; we have a teller of tales ourselves, Ere, son of Ethaman." "And I am
a magician." "That is no use to us; we have plenty of magicians and
people of power." "I am a physician," he said. "That is no use; we have
Diancecht-for our physician." "Let me be a cup-bearer," he said. "We do
not want you; we have nine cup-bearers ourselves." "I am a good worker
in brass." "We have a worker in brass ourselves, that is Credne Cerd."

Then Lugh said: "Go and ask the king if he has any one man that can do
all these things, and if he has, I will not ask to come into Teamhair."
The door-keeper went into the king's house then and told him all that.
"There is a young man at the door," he said, "and his name should be the
Ildanach, the Master of all Arts, for all the things the people of your
house can do, he himself is able to do every one of them." "Try him with
the chess-boards," said Nuada. So the chess-boards were brought out, and
every game that was played, Lugh won it. And when Nuada was told that,
he said: "Let him in, for the like of him never came into Teamhair
before."

Then the door-keeper let him pass, and he came into the king's house and
sat down in the seat of knowledge. And there was a great flag-stone
there that could hardly be moved by four times twenty yoke of oxen, and
Ogma took it up and hurled it out through the house, so that it lay on
the outside of Teamhair, as a challenge to Lugh. But Lugh hurled it back
again that it lay in the middle of the king's house. He played the harp
for them then, and he had them laughing and crying, till he put them
asleep at the end with a sleepy tune. And when Nuada saw all the things
Lugh could do, he began to think that by his help the country might get
free of the taxes and the tyranny put on it by the Fomor. And it is what
he did, he came down from his throne, and he put Lugh on it in his
place, for the length of thirteen days, the way they might all listen to
the advice he would give.

This now is the story of the birth of Lugh. The time the Fomor used to
be coming to Ireland, Balor of the Strong Blows, or, as some called
him, of the Evil Eye, was living on the Island of the Tower of Glass.
There was danger for ships that went near that island, for the Fomor
would come out and take them. And some say the sons of Nemed in the old
time, before the Firbolgs were in Ireland, passed near it in their
ships, and what they saw was a tower of glass in the middle of the sea,
and on the tower something that had the appearance of men, and they went
against it with Druid spells to attack it. And the Fomor worked against
them with Druid spells of their own; and the sons of Nemed attacked the
tower, and it vanished, and they thought it was destroyed. But a great
wave rose over them then, and all their ships went down and all that
were in them.

And the tower was there as it was before, and Balor living in it. And it
is the reason he was called "of the Evil Eye," there was a power of
death in one of his eyes, so that no person could look at it and live.
It is the way it got that power, he was passing one time by a house
where his father's Druids were making spells of death, and the window
being open he looked in, and the smoke of the poisonous spells was
rising up, and it went into his eye. And from that time he had to keep
it closed unless he wanted to be the death of some enemy, and then the
men that were with him would lift the eyelid with a ring of ivory.

Now a Druid foretold one time that it was by his own grandson he would
get his death. And he had at that time but one child, a daughter whose
name was Ethlinn; and when he heard what the Druid said, he shut her up
in the tower on the island. And he put twelve women with her to take
charge of her and to guard her, and he bade them never to let her see a
man or hear the name of a man.

So Ethlinn was brought up in the tower, and she grew to be very
beautiful; and sometimes she would see men passing in the currachs, and
sometimes she would see a man in her dreams. But when she would speak of
that to the women, they would give her no answer.

So there was no fear on Balor, and he went on with war and robbery as he
was used, seizing every ship that passed by, and sometimes going over to
Ireland to do destruction there.

Now it chanced at that time there were three brothers of the Tuatha de
Danaan living together in a place that was called Druim na Teine, the
Ridge of the Fire, Goibniu and Samthainn and Cian. Cian was a lord of
land, and Goibniu was the smith that had such a great name. Now Cian had
a wonderful cow, the Glas Gaibhnenn, and her milk never failed. And
every one that heard of her coveted her, and many had tried to steal her
away, so that she had to be watched night and day.

And one time Cian was wanting some swords made, and he went to Goibniu's
forge, and he brought the Glas Gaibhnenn with him, holding her by a
halter. When he came to the forge his two brothers were there together,
for Samthainn had brought some steel to have weapons made for himself;
and Cian bade Samthainn to hold the halter while he went into the forge
to speak with Goibniu.

Now Balor had set his mind for a long time on the Glas Gaibhnenn, but he
had never been able to get near her up to this time. And he was watching
not far off, and when he saw Samthainn holding the cow, he put on the
appearance of a little boy, having red hair, and came up to him and told
him he heard his two brothers that were in the forge saying to one
another that they would use all his steel for their own swords, and make
his of iron. "By my word," said Samthainn, "they will not deceive me so
easily. Let you hold the cow, little lad," he said, "and I will go in to
them." With that he rushed into the forge, and great anger on him. And
no sooner did Balor get the halter in his hand than he set out, dragging
the Glas along with him, to the strand, and across the sea to his own
island.

When Cian saw his brother coming in he rushed out, and there he saw
Balor and the Glas out in the sea. And he had nothing to do then but to
reproach his brother, and to wander about as if his wits had left him,
not knowing what way to get his cow back from Balor. At last he went to
a Druid to ask an advice from him; and it is what the Druid told him,
that so long as Balor lived, the cow would never be brought back, for no
one would go within reach of his Evil Eye.

Cian went then to a woman-Druid, Birog of the Mountain, for her help.
And she dressed him in a woman's clothes, and brought him across the sea
in a blast of wind, to the tower where Ethlinn was. Then she called to
the women in the tower, and asked them for shelter for a high queen she
was after saving from some hardship, and the women in the tower did not
like to refuse a woman of the Tuatha de Danaan, and they let her and her
comrade in. Then Birog by her enchantments put them all into a deep
sleep, and Cian went to speak with Ethlinn. And when she saw him she
said that was the face she had seen in her dreams. So she gave him her
love; but after a while he was brought away again on a blast of wind.

And when her time came, Ethlinn gave birth to a son. And when Balor knew
that, he bade his people put the child in a cloth and fasten it with a
pin, and throw him into a current of the sea. And as they were carrying
the child across an arm of the sea, the pin dropped out, and the child
slipped from the cloth into the water, and they thought he was drowned.
But he was brought away by Birog of the Mountain, and she brought him to
his father Cian; and he gave him to be fostered by Taillte, daughter of
the King of the Great Plain. It is thus Lugh was born and reared.

And some say Balor came and struck the head off Cian on a white stone,
that has the blood marks on it to this day; but it is likely it was some
other man he struck the head off, for it was by the sons of Tuireann
that Cian came to his death.

And after Lugh had come to Teamhair, and made his mind up to join with
his father's people against the Fomor, he put his mind to the work; and
he went to a quiet place in Grellach Dollaid, with Nuada and the Dagda,
and with Ogma; and Goibniu and Diancecht were called to them there. A
full year they stopped there, making their plans together in secret, the
way the Fomor would not know they were going to rise against them till
such time as all would be ready, and till they would know what their
strength was. And it is from that council the place got the name
afterwards of "The Whisper of the Men of Dea."

And they broke up the council, and agreed to meet again that day three
years, and every one of them went his own way, and Lugh went back to his
own friends, the sons of Manannan.

And it was a good while after that, Nuada was holding a great assembly
of the people on the Hill of Uisnech, on the west side of Teamhair. And
they were not long there before they saw an armed troop coming towards
them from the east, over the plain; and there was a young man in front
of the troop, in command over the rest, and the brightness of his face
was like the setting sun, so that they were not able to look at him
because of its brightness.

And when he came nearer they knew it was Lugh Lamh-Fada, of the Long
Hand, that had come back to them, and along with him were the Riders of
the Sidhe from the Land of Promise, and his own foster-brothers, the
sons of Manannan, Sgoith Gleigeil, the White Flower, and Goitne
Gorm-Shuileach, the Blue-eyed Spear, and Sine Sindearg, of the Red Ring,
and Donall Donn-Ruadh, of the Red-brown Hair. And it is the way Lugh
was, he had Manannan's horse, the Aonbharr, of the One Mane, under him,
that was as swift as the naked cold wind of spring, and the sea was the
same as dry land to her, and the rider was never killed off her back.
And he had Manannan's breast-plate on him, that kept whoever was wearing
it from wounds, and a helmet on his head with two beautiful precious
stones set in the front of it and one at the back, and when he took it
off, his forehead was like the sun on a dry summer day. And he had
Manannan's sword, the Freagarthach, the Answerer, at his side, and no
one that was wounded by it would ever get away alive; and when that
sword was bared in a battle, no man that saw it coming against him had
any more strength than a woman in child-birth.

And the troop came to where the King of Ireland was with the Tuatha de
Danaan, and they welcomed one another.

And they were not long there till they saw a surly, slovenly troop
coming towards them, nine times nine of the messengers of the Fomor,
that were coming to ask rent and taxes from the men of Ireland; and the
names of the four that were the hardest and the most cruel were Eine and
Eathfaigh and Coron and Compar; and there was such great dread of these
four on the Tuatha de Danaan, that not one of them would so much as
punish his own son or his foster-son without leave from them.

They came up then to where the King of Ireland was with the Riders of
the Sidhe, and the king and all the Tuatha de Danaan stood up before
them. And Lugh of the Long Hand said: "Why do you rise up before that
surly, slovenly troop, when you did not rise up before us?"

"It is needful for us to do it," said the king; "for if there was but a
child of us sitting before them, they would not think that too small a
cause for killing him." "By my word," said Lugh, "there is a great
desire coming on me to kill themselves." "That is a thing would bring
harm on us," said the king, "for we would meet our own death and
destruction through it." "It is too long a time you have been under this
oppression," said Lugh. And with that he started up and made an attack
on the Fomor, killing and wounding them, till he had made an end of
eight nines of them, but he let the last nine go under the protection of
Nuada the king. "And I would kill you along with the others," he said,
"but I would sooner see you go with messages to your own country than my
own people, for fear they might get any ill-treatment."

So the nine went back then till they came to Lochlann, where the men of
the Fomor were, and they told them the story from beginning to end, and
how a young well-featured lad had come into Ireland and had killed all
the tax-gatherers but themselves, "and it is the reason he let us off,"
they said, "that we might tell you the story ourselves."

"Do you know who is the young man?" said Balor of the Evil Eye then.

"I know well," said Ceithlenn, his wife; "he is the son of your
daughter and mine. And it was foretold," she said, "that from the time
he would come into Ireland, we would never have power there again for
ever."

Then the chief men of the Fomor went into a council, Eab, son of Neid,
and Seanchab, grandson of Neid, and Sital Salmhor, and Liath, son of
Lobais, and the nine poets of the Fomor that had learning and the gift
of foreknowledge, and Lobais the Druid, and Balor himself and his twelve
white-mouthed sons, and Ceithlenn of the Crooked Teeth, his queen.

And it was just at that time Bres and his father Elathan were come to
ask help of the Fomor, and Bres said: "I myself will go to Ireland, and
seven great battalions of the Riders of the Fomor along with me, and I
will give battle to this Ildanach, this master of all arts, and I will
strike his head off and bring it here to you, to the green of Berbhe."
"It would be a fitting thing for you to do," said they all. "Let my
ships be made ready for me," said Bres, "and let food and provisions be
put in them."

So they made no delay, but went and got the ships ready, and they put
plenty of food and drink in them, and the two swift Luaths were sent out
to gather the army to Bres. And when they were all gathered, they made
ready their armour and their weapons, and they set out for Ireland.

And Balor the king followed them to the harbour, and he said: "Give
battle to that Ildanach, and strike off his head; and tie that island
that is called Ireland to the back of your ships, and let the destroying
water take its place, and put it on the north side of Lochlann, and not
one of the Men of Dea will follow it there to the end of life and time."

Then they pushed out their ships and put up their painted sails, and
went out from the harbour on the untilled country, on the ridges of the
wide-lying sea, and they never turned from their course till they came
to the harbour of Eas Dara. And from that they sent out an army through
West Connacht and destroyed it altogether, through and through. And the
King of Connacht at that time was Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda.




CHAPTER II. THE SONS OF TUIREANN


And Lugh of the Long Hand was at that time at Teamhair with the King of
Ireland, and it was showed to him that the Fomor were after landing at
Eas Dara. And when he knew that, he made ready Manannan's horse, the
Aonbharr, at the time of the battle of the day and night; and he went
where Nuada the king was, and told him how the Fomor had landed at Eas
Dara and had spoiled Bodb Dearg's country; "and it is what I want," he
said, "to get help from you to give battle to them." But Nuada was not
minded to avenge the destruction that was done on Bodb Dearg and not on
himself, and Lugh was not well pleased with his answer, and he went
riding out of Teamhair westward. And presently he saw three armed men
coming towards him, his own father Cian, with his brothers Cu and
Ceithen, that were the three sons of Cainte, and they saluted him. "What
is the cause of your early rising?" they said. "It is good cause I have
for it," said Lugh, "for the Fomor are come into Ireland and have robbed
Bodb Dearg; and what help will you give me against them?" he said.

"Each one of us will keep off a hundred from you in the battle," said
they. "That is a good help," said Lugh; "but there is a help I would
sooner have from you than that: to gather the Riders of the Sidhe to me
from every place where they are."

So Cu and Ceithen went towards the south, and Cian set out northward,
and he did not stop till he reached the Plain of Muirthemne. And as he
was going across the plain he saw three armed men before him, that were
the three sons of Tuireann, son of Ogma. And it is the way it was
between the three sons of Tuireann and the three sons of Cainte, they
were in hatred and enmity towards one another, so that whenever they met
there was sure to be fighting among them.

Then Cian said: "If my two brothers had been here it is a brave fight we
would make; but since they are not, it is best for me to fall back."
Then he saw a great herd of pigs near him, and he struck himself with a
Druid rod that put on him the shape of a pig of the herd, and he began
rooting up the ground like the rest.

Then Brian, one of the sons of Tuireann, said to his brothers: "Did you
see that armed man that was walking the plain a while ago?" "We did see
him," said they. "Do you know what was it took him away?" said Brian.
"We do not know that," said they. "It is a pity you not to be keeping a
better watch over the plains of the open country in time of war," said
Brian; "and I know well what happened him, for he struck himself with
his Druid rod into the shape of a pig of these pigs, and he is rooting
up the ground now like any one of them; and whoever he is, he is no
friend to us." "That is bad for us," said the other two, "for the pigs
belong to some one of the Tuatha de Danaan, and even if we kill them
all, the Druid pig might chance to escape us in the end."

"It is badly you got your learning in the city of learning," said Brian,
"when you cannot tell an enchanted beast from a natural beast." And
while he was saying that, he struck his two brothers with his Druid
rod, and he turned them into two thin, fast hounds, and they began to
yelp sharply on the track of the enchanted pig.

And it was not long before the pig fell out from among the others, and
not one of the others made away but only itself, and it made for a wood,
and at the edge of the wood Brian gave a cast of his spear that went
through its body. And the pig cried out, and it said: "It is a bad thing
you have done to have made a cast at me when you knew me." "It seems to
me you have the talk of a man," said Brian. "I was a man indeed," said
he; "I am Cian, son of Cainte, and give me your protection now." "I
swear by the gods of the air," said Brian, "that if the life came back
seven times to you, I would take it from you every time." "If that is
so," said Cian, "give me one request: let me go into my own shape
again." "We will do that," said Brian, "for it is easier to me to kill a
man than a pig."

So Cian took his own shape then, and he said: "Give me mercy now." "We
will not give it," said Brian. "Well, I have got the better of you for
all that," said Cian; "for if it was in the shape of a pig you had killed
me there would only be the blood money for a pig on me; but as it is in
my own shape you will kill me, there never was and never will be any
person killed for whose sake a heavier fine will be paid than for
myself. And the arms I am killed with," he said, "it is they will tell
the deed to my son."

"It is not with weapons you will be killed, but with the stones lying on
the ground," said Brian. And with that they pelted him with stones,
fiercely and roughly, till all that was left of him was a poor,
miserable, broken heap; and they buried him the depth of a man's body in
the earth, and the earth would not receive that murder from them, but
cast it up again. Brian said it should go into the earth again, and they
put it in the second time, and the second time the earth would not take
it. And six times the sons of Tuireann buried the body, and six times it
was cast up again; but the seventh time it was put underground the earth
kept it. And then they went on to join Lugh of the Long Hand for the
battle.

Now as to Lugh; upon parting with his father he went forward from
Teamhair westward, to the hills that were called afterwards Gairech and
Ilgairech, and to the ford of the Shannon that is now called Athluain,
and to Bearna nah-Eadargana, the Gap of Separation, and over Magh Luirg,
the Plain of Following, and to Corr Slieve na Seaghsa, the Round
Mountain of the Poet's Spring, and to the head of Sean-Slieve, and
through the place of the bright-faced Corann, and from that to Magh Mor
an Aonaigh, the Great Plain of the Fair, where the Fomor were, and the
spoils of Connacht with them.

Copyright (c) 2007. bestextbooks.com. All rights reserved.

Henry Van Dyke - "The Broken Soldier and the Maid of France"

William Black - "Macleod of Dare"

Anthony Trollope - "The Claverings"

Hall Caine - "The Woman Thou Gavest Me"