The Fate of the Children of Turenn
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 Cethe, 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 Cethe 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
Turenn, son of Ogma. And it is the way it was between the
three Sons of Turenn 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 Turenn, 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 Turenn 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 Ath Luain, and to Bearna na
h-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 Mór an Aonaigh, the Great
Plain of the Fair, where the Fomor were, and the spoils of
Connacht with them.
It is then Bres, son of Elathan, rose up and said: "It is a
wonder to me the sun to be rising in the west to-day, and
it rising in the east every other day." "It would be better
for us it to be the sun," said the Druids. "What else is
it?" said he. "It is the shining of the face of Lugh, son
of Ethlinn," said they.
Lugh came up to them then and saluted them. "Why do you
come like a friend to us?" said they. "There is good cause
for that," he said, "for there is but one half of me of the
Tuatha de Danaan, and the other half of yourselves. And
give me back now the milch cows of the men of Ireland," he
said. "May early good luck not come to you till you get
either a dry or a milch cow here," said a man of them, and
anger on him.
But Lugh stopped near them for three days and three nights,
and at the end of that time the Riders of the Sidhe came to
him. And Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, came with
twenty-nine hundred men, and he said: "What is the cause of
your delay in giving battle?" "Waiting for you I was," said
Lugh. Then the kings and chief men of the men of Ireland
took their armour on them, and they raised the points of
their spears over their heads, and they made close fences
of their shields. And they attacked their enemies on Magh
Moran Aonaigh, and their enemies answered them, and they
threw their whining spears at one another, and when their
spears were broken they drew their swords from their
blue-bordered sheaths and began to strike at one another,
and thickets of brown flames rose above them from the
bitterness of their many-edged weapons.
And Lugh saw the battle pen where Bres, son of Elathan,
was, and he made a fierce attack on him and on the men that
were guarding him till he had made an end of two hundred of
them. When Bres saw that, he gave himself up to Lugh’s
protection. "Give me my life this time," he said, "and I
will bring the whole race of the Fomor to fight it out with
you in a great battle; and I bind myself to that, by the
sun and the moon, the sea and the land," he said. On that
Lugh gave him his life, and then the Druids that were with
him asked his protection for themselves. "By my word," said
Lugh, "if the whole race of the Fomor went under my
protection they would not be destroyed by me." So then Bres
and the Druids set out for their own country.
Now as to Lugh and the sons of Turenn. After the battle of
Magh Mór an Aonaigh, he met two of his kinsmen and asked
them did they see his father in the fight. "We did not,"
said they. "I am sure he is not living," said Lugh; "and I
give my word," he said, "there will be no food or drink go
into my mouth till I get knowledge by what death my father
died."
Then he set out, and the Riders of the Sidhe after him,
till they came to the place where he and his father parted
from one another, and from that to the place where his
father went into the shape of a pig when he saw the sons of
Turenn.
And when Lugh came to that place the earth spoke to him,
and it said: "It is in great danger your father was here,
Lugh, when he saw the sons of Turenn before him, and it is
into the shape of a pig he had to go, but it is in his own
shape they killed him."
Then Lugh told that to his people, and he found the spot
where his father was buried, and he bade them dig there,
the way he would know by what death the sons of Turenn had
made an end of him.
Then they raised the body out of the grave and looked at
it, and it was all one bed of wounds. And Lugh said: "It
was the death of an enemy the sons of Turenn gave my dear
father." And he gave him three kisses, and it is what he
said: "It is bad the way l am myself after this death, for
I can hear nothing with my ears, and I can see nothing with
my eyes, and there is not a living pulse in my heart, with
grief after my father. And you gods I worship," he said,
"it is a pity I not to have come here the time this thing
was done. And it is a great thing that has been done here,"
he said, "the people of the gods of Dana to have done
treachery on one another, and it is long they will be under
loss by it and be weakened by it. And Ireland will never be
free from trouble from this out, east and west," he said.
Then they put Cian under the earth again, and after that
there was keening made over his grave, and a stone was
raised on it, and his name was written in Ogham. And Lugh
said: "This hill will take its name from Cian, although he
himself is stripped and broken. And it was the sons of
Turenn did this thing," he said, "and there will grief and
anguish fall on them from it, and on their children after
them. And it is no lying story I am telling you," he said;
"and it is a pity the way I am, and my heart is broken in
my breast since Cian, the brave man, is not living."
Then he bade his people to go before him to Teamhair, "But
do not tell the story till I tell it myself," he said.
And when Lugh came to Teamhair he sat in the high seat of
the king, and he looked about him and he saw the three sons
of Turenn. And those were the three that were beyond all
others at Teamhair at that time for quickness and skill,
for a good hand in battle, for beauty and an honourable
name.
Then Lugh bade his people to shake the chain of silence,
and they did so, and they all listened. And Lugh said:
"What are your minds fixed on at this time, Men of Dea?"
"On yourself indeed," said they.
"I have a question to ask of you," he said. "What is the
vengeance each one of you would take on the man that would
kill your father?"
There was great wonder on them when they heard that, and
one of the chief men among them said: "Tell us was it your
own father that was killed?" "It was indeed," said Lugh;
"and I see now in this house," he said, "the men that
killed him, and they know themselves what way they killed
him better than I know it." Then the king said: "It is not
a death of one day only I would give the man that had
killed my father, if he was in my power, but to cut off one
of his limbs from day to day till I would make an end of
him." All the chief men said the same, and the sons of
Turenn like the rest.
"There are making that answer," said Lugh, "the three men
that killed my father; and let them pay the fine for him
now, since you are all together in the one place. And if
they will not," he said, "I will not break the protection
of the king’s house, but they must make no attempt to quit
this house till they have settled with me."
"If it was I myself had killed your father," said the king,
"I would be well content you to take a fine from me for
him."
"It is at us Lugh is saying all this," said the sons of
Turenn among themselves. "Let us
acknowledge the killing of his father to him," said Iuchar
and Iucharba. "I am in dread," said Brian, "that it is
wanting an acknowledgement from us he is, in the presence
of all the rest, and that he will not let us off with a
fine afterwards." "It is best to acknowledge it," said the
others; "and let you speak it out since you are the
eldest."
Then Brian, son of Turenn, said: "It is at us you are
speaking, Lugh, for you are thinking we went against the
sons of Cainte before now; and we did not kill your
father," he said, "but we will pay the fine for him the
same as if we did kill him."
"I will take a fine from you that you do not think of,"
said Lugh, "and I will say here what it is, and if it is
too much for you, I will let you off a share of it." "Let
us hear it from you," said they.
"Here it is," said Lugh; "three apples, and the skin of a
pig, and a spear,
and two horses, and a chariot, and seven pigs, and a dog’s
whelp, and a cooking-spit, and three shouts on a hill. That
is the fine I am asking," he said; "and if it is too much
for you, a part of it will be taken off you presently, and
if you do not think it too much, then pay it."
"It is not too much," said Brian, "or a hundred times of it
would not be too much. And we think it likely," he said,
"because of its smallness that you have some treachery
towards us behind it."
"I do not think it too little of a fine," said Lugh; "and I
give you the guarantee of the Tuatha de Danaan I will ask
no other thing, and I will be faithful to you, and let you
give the same pledge to me."
"It is a pity you to ask that," said Brian, "for our own
pledge is as good as any pledge in the world."
"Your own pledge is not enough," said Lugh, "for it is
often the like of you promised to pay a fine in this way,
and would try to back out of it after."
So then the sons of Turenn bound themselves by the King of
Ireland, and by Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, and by the
chief men of the Tuatha de Danaan, that they would pay that
fine to Lugh.
"It would be well for me now," said Lugh, "to give you
better knowledge of the fine." "It would be well indeed,"
said they.
"This is the way of it then," said Lugh. "The three apples
I asked of you are the three apples from the Garden in the
East of the World, and no other apples will do but these,
for they are the most beautiful and have most virtue in
them of the apples of the whole world. And it is what they
are like, they are of the colour of burned gold, and they
are the size of the head of a child a month old, and there
is the taste of honey on them, and they do not leave the
pain of wounds or the vexation of sickness on any one that
eats them, and they do not lessen by being eaten for ever.
And the skin I asked of you," he said, "is the pig skin of
Tuis, King of Greece, and it heals all the wounds and all
the sickness of the world, and whatever danger a man may be
in, if it can but overtake the life in him, it will cure
him; and it is the way it was with that pig, every stream
of water it would go through would be turned into wine to
the end of nine days after, and every wound it touched was
healed; and it is what the Druids of Greece said, that it
is not in itself this virtue was, but in the skin, and they
skinned it, and the skin is there ever since. And I think,
too, it will not be easy for you to get it, with or without
leave.
"And do you know what is the spear I am asking of you?" he
said. "We do not," said they.
"It is a very deadly spear belonging to the King of Persia,
the Luin it is called, and every choice thing is done by
it, and its head is kept steeped in a vessel of water, the
way it will not burn down the place where it is, and it
will be hard to get it. And do you know what two horses and
what chariot I am asking of you? They are the chariot and
the two wonderful horses of Dobar, King of Siogair, and the
sea is the same as land to them, and there are no faster
horses than themselves, and there is no chariot equal to
that one in shape and in strength.
"And do you know what are the seven pigs I asked of you?
They are the pigs of Easal, King of the Golden Pillars; and
though they are killed every night, they are found alive
the next day, and there will be no disease or no sickness
on any person that will eat a share of them.
"And the whelp I asked of you is Fail-Inis, the whelp
belonging to the King of Ioruaidh, the Cold Country. And
all the wild beasts of the world would fall down at the
sight of her, and she is more beautiful than the sun in his
fiery wheels, and it will be hard to get her.
"And the cooking-spit I asked of you is a spit of the spits
of the women of Inis Cenn-fhinne, the Island of Caer of the
Fair Hair. And the three shouts you are to give on a hill
must be given on the Hill of Miochaoin in the north of
Lochlann. And Miochaoin and his sons are under bonds not to
allow any shouts to be given on that hill; and it was with
them my father got his learning, and if I would forgive you
his death, they would not forgive you. And if you get
through all your other voyages before you reach to them, it
is my opinion they themselves will avenge him on you. And
that is the fine I have asked of you," said Lugh.
There was silence and darkness on the sons of Turenn when
they heard that. And they went to where their father was,
and told him the fine that had been put on them. "It is bad
news that is," said Turenn; "and it is to your death and
your destruction you will be going, looking for those
things. But for all that, if Lugh himself had a mind to
help you, you could work out the fine, and all the men of
the world could not do it but by the power of Manannan or
of Lugh. Go then and ask the loan of Manannan’s horse, the
Aonbharr, from Lugh, and if he has any wish to get the
fine, he will give it to you; but if he does not wish it he
will say the horse is not his, and that he would not give
the loan of a loan. Ask him then for the loan of Manannan’s
curragh, the Scuabtuinne, the Sweeper of the Waves. And he
will give that, for he is under bonds not to refuse a
second request, and the curragh is better for you than the
horse," he said.
So the Sons of Turenn went to where Lugh was, and they
saluted him, and they said they could not bring him the
fine without his own help, and for that reason it would be
well for them to get a loan of the Aonbharr. "I have that
horse only on loan myself," said Lugh, "and I will not give
a loan of a loan."
‘If that is so, give us the loan of Manannan’s curragh,"
said Brian. "I will give that," said Lugh. "What place is
it?" said they. "At Brugh na Boinn," said Lugh.
Then they went back again to where Turenn was, and his
daughter Ethne, their sister, with him, and they told him
they had got the curragh. "It is not much the better you
will be for it," said Turenn, "although Lugh would like
well to get every part of this fine he could make use of
before the battle with the Fomor. But he would like
yourselves to come to your death looking for it."
Then they went away, and they left Turenn sorrowful and
lamenting, and Ethne went with them to where the curragh
was. And Brian got into it, and he said: "There is place
but for one other person along with me here." And he began
to find fault with its narrowness. "You ought not to be
faulting the curragh," said Ethne; "and O my dear brother,"
she said, "it was a bad thing you did, to kill the father
of Lugh of the Long Hand; and whatever harm may come to you
from it, it is but just."
"Do not say that, Ethne," they said, "for we are in good
heart, and we will do brave deeds. And we would sooner be
killed a hundred times over," they said, "than to meet with
the death of cowards."
"My grief," said Ethne, "there is nothing more sorrowful
than this, to see you driven out from your own country."
Then the three pushed out their curragh from the beautiful
clear-bayed shore of Ireland. "What course shall we take
first?" said they. "We will go look for the apples," said
Brian, "as they were the first thing we were bade bring.
And so we ask of you, curragh of Manannan that is under us,
to sail to the Garden in the East of the World."
And the curragh did not neglect that order, but it sailed
forward over the green-sided waves and deep places till it
came to its harbour in the east of the world.
And then Brian asked his brothers: "What way have you a
mind to get into the garden? For I think," he said, "the
king’s champions and the fighting men of the country are
always guarding it, and the king himself is chief over
them." "What should we do," said his brothers, "but to make
straight at them and attack them, and bring away the apples
or fall ourselves, since we cannot escape from these
dangers that are before us without meeting our death in
some place."
"It would be better," said Brian, "the story of our bravery
and our craftiness to be told and to live after us, than
folly and cowardice to be told of us. And what is best for
us to do now," he said, "is to go in the shape of swift
hawks into the garden, and the watchers have but their
light spears to throw at us, and let you take good care to
keep out of their reach; and after they have thrown them
all, make a quick flight to the apples and let each of you
bring away an apple of them in your claws, and I will bring
away the third."
They said that was a good advice, and Brian struck himself
and the others with his Druid rod, and changed them into
beautiful hawks. And they flew towards the garden, and the
watchers took notice of them and shouted on every side of
them, and threw showers of spears and darts, but the hawks
kept out of their reach as Brian had bade them, till all
the spears were spent, and then they swept down bravely on
the apples, and brought them away with them, without so
much as a wound.
And the news went through the city and the whole district,
and the king had three wise, crafty daughters, and they put
themselves into the shape of three ospreys, and they
followed the hawks to the sea, and sent flashes of
lightning before them and after them, that scorched them
greatly.
"It is a pity the way we are now," said the sons of Turenn,
"for we will be burned through and through with this
lightning if we do not get some relief." "If I can give you
relief I will do it," said Brian. With that he struck
himself and his brothers with the Druid rod, and they were
turned into three swans, and they went down quickly into
the sea, and the ospreys went away from them then, and the
Sons of Turenn went into their boat.
After that they consulted together, and it is what they
agreed, to go to Greece and to bring away the skin of the
pig, with or without leave. So they went forward till they
came near to the court of the King of Greece.
"What appearance should we put on us going in here?" said
Brian. "What appearance should we go in with but our own?"
said the others. "That is not what I think best," said
Brian; "but to go in with the appearance of poets from
Ireland, the way the high people of Greece will hold us in
respect and in honour." "It would be hard for us to do
that," they said, "and we without a poem, and it is little
we know how to make one."
However, they put the poet’s tie on their hair, and they
knocked at the door of the court, and the door-keeper asked
who was in it. "We are poets of Ireland," said Brian, "and
we are come with a poem to the king."
The door-keeper went in and told the king that there were
poets from Ireland at the door. "Let them in," said the
king, "for it is in search of a good man they came so far
from their own country." And the king gave orders that
everything should be well set out in the court, the way
they would say they had seen no place so grand in all their
travels.
The sons of Turenn were let in then, having the appearance
of poets, and they fell to drinking and pleasure without
delay; and they thought they had never seen, and there was
not in the world, a court so good as that or so large a
household, or a place where they had met with better
treatment.
Then the king’s poets got up to give out their poems and
songs. And then Brian, son of Turenn, bade his brothers to
say a poem for the king. "We have no poem," said they; "and
do not ask any poem of us, but the one we know before, and
that is to take what we want by the strength of our hand if
we are the strongest, or to fall by those that are against
us if they are the strongest."
"That is not a good way to make a poem," said Brian. And
with that he rose up himself and asked a hearing. And they
all listened to him, and it is what he said:
"O Tuis, we do not hide your fame; we praise you as the oak
among kings;
the skin of a pig, bounty without hardness, this is the
reward I ask for it.
"The war of a neighbour against an ear; the fair ear of his
neighbour will be against him;
he who gives us what he owns, his court will not be the
scarcer for it.
"A raging army and a sudden sea are a danger to whoever
goes against them.
The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness, this is the
reward I ask, O Tuis."
"That is a good poem," said the king; "but I do not know a
word of its meaning."
"I will tell you its meaning," said Brian. " ‘O Tuis, we do
not hide your fame; we praise you as the oak above the
kings.’ That is, as the oak is beyond the kingly trees of
the wood, so are you beyond the kings of the world for
open-handedness and for grandeur.
"‘The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness.’ That is, the
skin of a pig you own is what I would wish to get from you
as a reward for my poem.
"The war of a neighbour against an ear, the fair ear of his
neighbour will be against him.’ That is, you and I will be
by the ears about the skin, unless I get it with your
consent.
"And that is the meaning of the poem," said Brian.
"I would praise your poem," said the king, "if there was
not so much about my pig-skin in it; and you have no good
sense, man of poetry," he said, "to be asking that thing of
me, and I would not give it to all the poets and the
learned men and the great men of the world, since they
could not take it away without my consent. But I will give
you three times the full of the skin of gold as the price
of your poem," he said.
"May good be with you, king," said Brian, "and I know well
it was no easy thing 1 was asking, but I knew I would get a
good ransom for it. And I am that covetous," he said, "I
will not be satisfied without seeing the gold measured
myself into the skin."
The king sent his servants with them then to the
treasure-house to measure the gold. "Measure out the full
of it to my brothers first," said Brian, "and then give
good measure to myself, since it was I made the poem."
But when the skin was brought out, Brian made a quick
sudden snatch at it with his left hand, and drew his sword
and made a stroke at the man nearest him, and made two
halves of him. And then he kept a hold of the skin and put
it about himself, and the three of them rushed out of the
court, cutting down every armed man before them, so that
not one escaped death or wounding.
And then Brian went to where the king himself was, and the
king made no delay in attacking him, and they made a hard
fight of it, and at the end the King of Greece fell by the
hand of Brian, son of Turenn.
The three brothers rested for a while after that, and then
they said they would go and look for some other part of the
fine. "We will go to Pisear, King of Persia," said Brian,
"and ask him for the spear."
So they went into their boat, and they left the blue
streams of the coast of Greece, and they said: "We are well
on when we have the apples and the skin." And they stopped
nowhere till they came to the borders of Persia.
"Let us go to the court with the appearance of poets," said
Brian, "the same as we went to the King of Greece." "We are
content to do that," said the others, "as all turned out so
well the last time we took to poetry; not that it is easy
for us to take to a calling that does not belong to us."
So they put the poet’s tie on their hair, and they were as
well treated as they were at the other court; and when the
time came for poems Brian rose up, and it is what he said:
"It is little any spear looks to Pisear;
the battle of enemies are broken,
it is not too much for Pisear to
wound every one of them.
"A yew, the most beautiful of the wood,
it is called a king, it is not bulky.
May the spear drive on the whole crowd
to their wounds of death."
"That is a good poem," said the king, "but I do not
understand why my own spear is brought into it, O Man of
Poetry from Ireland."
"It is because it is that spear of your own I would wish to
get as the reward of my poem," said Brian.
"It is little sense you have to be asking that of me," said
the king; "and the people of my court never showed greater
respect for poetry than now, when they did not put you to
death on the spot."
When Brian heard that talk from the king, he thought of the
apple that was in his hand, and he made a straight cast and
hit him in the forehead, so that his brains were put out at
the back of his head, and he bared the sword and made an
attack on the people about him.
And the other two did not fail to do the same, and they
gave him their help bravely till they had made an end of
all they met of the people of the court. And then they
found the spear, and its head in a cauldron of water, the
way it would not set fire to the place.
And after a while they said it was time for them to go and
look for the rest of the great fine that was on them, and
they asked one another what way should they go. "We will go
to the King of the Island of Siogair," said Brian, "for it
is with him are the two horses and the chariot the Ildánach
asked of us."
They went forward then and brought the spear with them, and
it is proud the three champions were after all they had
done. And they went on till they were come to the court of
the King of Siogair.
"It is what we will do this time," said Brian, "we will go
in with the appearance of paid soldiers from Ireland, and
we will make friends with the king, the way we will get to
know in what place the horses and the chariot are kept."
And when they had settled on that they went forward to the
lawn before the king’s house.
The king and the chief men that were with him rose up and
came through the fair that was going on there, and they
saluted the king, and he asked who were they. "We are
trained fighting men from Ireland," they said, "and we are
earning wages from the kings of the world."
"Is it your wish to stop with me for a while?" said the
king. "That is what we are wanting," said they. So then
they made an agreement and took service with him.
They stopped in the court a fortnight and a month, and they
never saw the horses through that time. Then Brian said:
"This is a bad way we are in, to have no more news of the
horses now than the first day we came to the place."
"What is best for us to do now?" said his brothers. "Let us
do this," said Brian, "let us take our arms and gather our
things together, and go to the king and tell him we will
leave the country and this part of the world unless he will
show us those horses."
So they went to the king that very day, and he asked them
what did they mean by getting themselves ready for a
journey. "You will hear that, high king," said Brian; "it
is because trained fighting men from Ireland, like
ourselves, have always trust put in them by the kings they
guard, and we are used to be told the secrets and the
whispers of any person we are with, and that is not the way
you have treated us since we came to you. For you have two
horses and a chariot that are the best in the world, as we
have been told, and we have not been given a sight of them
yet."
"It would be a pity you ‘to go on that account," said the
king, "when I would have showed them to you the first day,
if I had known you had a wish to see them. And if you have
a mind to see them now," he said, "you may see them; for I
think there never came soldiers from Ireland to this place
that were thought more of by myself and by my people than
yourselves."
He sent for the horses then, and they were yoked to the
chariot, and their going was as fast as the cold spring
wind, and the sea was the same as the land to them. And
Brian was watching the horses closely, and on a sudden he
took hold of the chariot and took the chariot driver out
and dashed him against the nearest rock, and made a leap
into his place himself, and made a cast of the Persian
spear at the king, that went through his heart. And then he
and his brothers scattered the people before them, and
brought away the chariot.
"We will go now to Easal, the King of the Golden Pillars,"
said Brian, "to look for the seven pigs the Ildánach bade
us bring him." They sailed on then without delay or
drawback to that high country. And it is the way the people
of that country were, watching their harbours for fear of
the sons of Turenn, for the story of them had been told in
all parts, how they had been sent out of Ireland by force,
and how they were bringing away with them all the gifted
treasures of the whole world.
Easal came to the edge of the harbour to meet them, and he
asked was it true what he heard, that the king of every
country they had gone to had fallen by them. Brian said it
was true, whatever he might wish to do to them for it.
"What was it made you do that?" said Easal. Brian told him
then it was the oppression and the hard sentence of another
had put them to it; and he told him all that had happened,
and how they had put down all that offered to stand against
them until that time.
"What did you come to this country now for?" said the king.
"For the pigs belonging to yourself," said Brian; "for to
bring them away with us is a part of the fine."
"What way do you think to get them?" said the king. "If we
get them with good-will," said Brian, "we are ready to take
them thankfully; and if we do not, we are ready to do
battle with yourself and your people on the head of them,
that you may fall by us, and we may bring away the pigs in
spite of you."
"If that is to be the end of it," said the king, "it would
be a pity to bring my people into a battle."
"It would be a pity indeed," said Brian.
Then the king whispered and took advice with his people
about the matter, and it is what they agreed, to give up
the pigs of their own free will to the sons of Turenn,
since they could not see that any one had been able to
stand against them up to that time.
Then the sons of Turenn gave their thanks to Easal, and
there was wonder on them to have got the pigs like that,
when they had to fight for every other part of the fine.
And more than that, they had left a share of their blood in
every other place till then.
Easal brought them to his own house that night, and they
were served with food, and drink, and good beds, and all
they could wish for. And they rose up on the morrow and
came into the king’s presence, and the pigs were given to
them. "It is well you have done by us, giving us these
pigs," said Brian, "for we did not get any share of the
fine without fighting but these alone." And he made a poem
for the king then, praising him, and putting a great name
on him for what be had done.
"What journey are you going to make now, Sons of Turenn?"
said Easal. "We are going," they said, "to the country of
Ioruaidh, on account of a whelp that is there."
"Give me one request," said Easal, "and that is to bring me
with you to the King of Ioruaidh, for a daughter of mine is
his wife, and I would wish to persuade him to give you the
whelp without a battle."
"That will please us well," they said.
So the king’s ship was made ready, and we have no knowledge
of what happened till they came to the delightful,
wonderful coast of Ioruaidh. The people and the armies were
watching the harbours and landing-places before them, and
they knew them at once and shouted at them.
Then Easal went on shore peaceably, and he went to where
his son-in-law, the king, was, and told him the story of
the sons of Turenn from beginning to end. "What has brought
them to this country?" said the King of Ioruaidh.
"To ask for the hound you have," said Easal. "It was a bad
thought you had coming with them to ask it," said the king,
"for the gods have not given that much luck to any three
champions in the world, that they would get my hound by
force or by good-will."
"It would be better for you to let them have the hound,"
said Easal, "since they have put down so many of the kings
of the world."
But all he could say was only idleness to the king. So he
went then to where the sons of Turenn were, and gave them
the whole account. And when they heard the king’s answer,
they made no delay, but put quick hands on their arms, and
offered to give battle to the army of Ioruaidh.
And when they went, there was a brave battle fought on both
sides. And as for the sons of Turenn, they began to kill
and to strike at the men of Ioruaidh till they parted from
one another in the fight, so that Iuchar and Iucharba
chanced to be on one side, and Brian by himself on the
other side. It was a gap of danger and a breaking of ranks
was before Brian in every path he took, till he came to the
King of Ioruaidh in the battle pen where he was. And then
the two brave champions began a fierce fight together, and
they did not spare one another in it. And at the last Brian
overcame the king, and bound him, and brought him through
the middle of the army, till he came to the place where
Easal was, and it is what he said: "There is your
son-in-law for you, and I swear by my hand of valour, I
would think it easier to kill him three times than to bring
him to you once like this."
So then the whelp was given to the sons of Turenn, and the
king was unbound, and peace was made between them. And when
they had brought all this to an end, they bade farewell to
Easal and to all the rest.
Now as to Lugh of the Long Hand, it was showed to him that
the sons of Turenn had got all the things that were wanting
to him against the battle with the Fomor; and on that he
sent a Druid spell after them to put forgetfulness on them
of the rest of the fine that they had not got. And he put a
great desire and longing on them to go back to Ireland; so
they forgot that a part of the fine was wanting to them,
and they turned back again toward home.
And it is the place where Lugh was at the time, at a
gathering of the people for a fair on the green outside
Teamhair, and the King of Ireland along with him. And it
was made known to Lugh that the sons of Turenn were landed
at Brugh na Boinne. And he went into the city of Teamhair,
and shut the gate after him, and he put on Manannan’s
smooth armour, and the cloak of the daughters of Flidais,
and he took his own arms in his hand.
And the sons of Turenn came where the king was, and they
were made welcome by him and by the Tuatha de Danaan. And
the king asked them did they get the fine. "We did get it,"
said they; "and where is Lugh till we give it to him?" "He
was here a while ago," said the king. And the whole fair
was searched for him, but he was not found.
"I know the place where he is," said Brian; "for it has
been made known to him that we are come to Ireland, and
these deadly arms with us, and he is gone into Teamhair to
avoid us."
Messengers were sent to him then, and it is the answer he
gave them that he would not come, but that the fine should
be given to the king. So the sons of Turenn did that, and
when the king had taken the fine they all went to the
palace in Teamhair; and Lugh came out on the lawn and the
fine was given to him, and it is what he said:
"There is a good payment here for any one that ever was
killed or that ever will be killed. But there is something
wanting to it yet that it is not lawful to leave out. And
where is the cooking-spit?" he said; "and where are the
three shouts on the hill that you did not give yet?"
And when the sons of Turenn heard that there came clouds of
weakness on them. And they left the place and went to their
fathers house that night, and they told him all they had
done, and the way Lugh had treated them.
There was grief and darkness on Turenn then, and they spent
the night together. And on the
morrow they went to their ship, and Ethne, their sister,
with them, and she was crying and lamenting, and it is what
she said:
"It is a pity, Brian of my life, it is not to Teamhair your
going is, after all the troubles you have had before this,
even if I could not follow you.
"O Salmon of the dumb Boinne, O Salmon of the Lifé River,
since I cannot keep you here I am loath to part from you.
"O Rider of the Wave of Tuaidh, the man that stands best in
the fight, if you come back again, I think it will not be
pleasing to your enemy.
"Is there pity with you for the sons of Turenn leaning now
on their green shields? Their going is a cause for pity, my
mind is filled up with it.
"You to be to-night at Beinn Edair till, the heavy coming
of the morning, you who have taken forfeits from brave men,
it is you have increased our grief.
"It is a pity your journey is from Teamhair, and from the
pleasant plains, and from great Uisnech of Míde; there is
nothing so pitiful as this."
After that complaint they went out on the rough waves of
the green sea; and they were a quarter of a year on the sea
without getting any news of the island.
Then Brian put on his water dress and he made a leap, and
he was a long time walking in the sea looking for the
island of the Fair-Haired Women, and he found it in the
end. And he went looking for the court, and when he came to
it, all he found was a troop of women doing needlework and
embroidering borders. And among all the other things they
had with them, there was the cooking-spit.
And when Brian saw it, he took it up in his hand and he was
going to bring it with him to the door. And all the women
began laughing when they saw him doing that, and it is what
they said:
"It is a brave deed you put your hand to; for even if your
brothers were along with you, the least of the three times
fifty women of us would not let the spit go with you or
with them. But for all that," they said, "take a spit of
the spit with you, since you had the daring to try and take
it in spite of us."
Brian bade them farewell then, and went to look for the
boat. And his brothers thought it was too long he was away
from them, and just as they were going to leave the place
they were, they saw him coming towards them, and that
raised their courage greatly.
And he went into the boat, and they went on to look for the
Hill of Miochaoin. And when they came there, Miochaoin,
that was the guardian of the hill, came towards them; and
when Brian saw him he attacked him, and the fight of those
two champions was like the fight of two lions, till
Miochaoin fell at the last.
And after Miochaoin had fallen, his three sons came out to
fight with the three sons of Turenn. And if anyone ever
came from the east of the world to look at any fight, it is
to see the fight of these champions he had a right to come,
for the greatness of their blows and the courage of their
minds.
The names of the sons of Miochaoin were Corc and Conn and
Aedh, and they drove their three spears through the bodies
of the sons of Turenn, and that did not discourage them at
all and they put their own three spears through the bodies
of the sons of Miochaoin, so that they fell into the clouds
and the faintness of death.
And then Brian said: "What way are you now, my dear
brothers?" "We are near our death," said they. "Let us rise
up," he said, "and give three shouts upon the hill, for I
see the signs of death coming on us." "We are not able to
do that," said they. Then Brian rose up and raised each of
them with one hand, and he shedding blood heavily all the
time, until they gave the three shouts.
After that Brian brought them with him to the boat, and
they were travelling the sea for a long time, but at last
Brian said: "I see Beinn Edair and our father’s dun, and
Teamhair of the Kings." "We would have our fill of health
if we could see that," said the others; "and for the love
of your good name, brother," they said, "raise up our heads
on your breast till we see Ireland again, and life or death
will be the same to us after that. And O Brian," they said,
"Flame of Valour without treachery, we would sooner death
to bring ourselves away, than to see you with wounds upon
your body, and with no physician to heal you."
Then they came to Beinn Edair, and from that they went on
to their father’s house, and Brian said to Turenn: "Go,
dear father, to Teamhair, and give this spit to Lugh, and
bring the skin that has healing in it for our relief. Ask
it from him for the sake of friendship," he said, "for we
are of the one blood, and let him not give hardness for
hardness. And O dear father," he said, "do not be long on
your journey, or you will not find us alive before you."
Then Turenn went to Teamhair, and he found Lugh of the Long
Hand before him, and he gave him the spit, and he asked the
skin of him to heal his children, and Lugh said he would
not give it. And Turenn came back to them and told them he
had not got the skin. And Brian said: "Bring me with you to
Lugh, to see would I get it from him."
So they went to Lugh, and Brian asked the skin of him. And
Lugh said he would not give it, and that if they would give
him the breadth of the earth in gold for it, he would not
take it from them, unless he was sure their death would
come on them in satisfaction for the deed they had done.
When Brian heard that, he went to the place his two
brothers were, and he lay down between them, and his life
went out from him, and out from the other two at the same
time.
And their father cried and lamented over his three
beautiful sons, that had the making of a king of Ireland in
each of them, and his strength left him and he died; and
they were buried in the one grave.
SOURCE:
Ancient
Irish Tales. ed.
and trans. by Tom P. Cross & Clark Harris Slover. NY:
Henry Holt & Co., 1936