BOOK VII

Now (said Faerdeeah, as he told his tale) Their daughters told those brewies and those lords Of land, who dwelt around the doon of Forgall, About that youthful warrior, who had come In his resplendent chariot, and had talked Upon the green with Emer. What the two Had said, these said they knew not; but they knew That he had turned to northward o’er Moy Bray On taking leave of them. The brewies told That thing to Forgall. “It is true,” said Forgall. “It was the Ree-astartha who came there From Avvin Maha; and the maid has yielded Her heart-affection to him. Therefore talked they. Yet it shall not avail them. I by craft Will balk them; so that that which they desire Shall not be gained by them.” Then Forgall Mona Called to himself two of his own sure folk, And told them all his plan; whereon, they three Featly arrayed themselves in foreign raiment, And crossed Moy Bray and grass-green Moy Mweerhevna, And wild Slieve Foo-id; and they fared to Avvin As though they were a Gaulish embassy, Bringing sweet wine of Gaul and costly gifts To Conor from the Gaulish King. Great joy And welcome greeted them. On the third day, At banqueting, it chanced that Conall Carna, Cucullin, and the champions all of Ulster, Were praised in Forgall’s presence. Then he said: “That praise is just. The method of their feats Is wonderful; yet if your bright and gifted And much-beloved Cucullin were to go To Domnall, the great warrior on the Alps, There to be trained by him, his feats would be E’en the more wonderful; and if thereafter He were to reach to Scawtha, who is daughter To Airdgama, a king in Scythia, there By that fierce warrior-woman, that renowned Preceptress of the heroes of the east, To be well taught, he—gifted as he is— Would soon excel the warriors of all Europe.” Cucullin said that he would go. He vowed He never would return to Avvin Maha Till he had learnt from Domnall and from Scawtha All which they had to teach. And Conall Carna And Laery the Victorious said they too Would go to get that training, and began To make them ready for that long, hard travel. Forgall took courteous leave of Conor, and went To his own house. Now for this cause and reason Forgall had spoken so: he thought Cucullin, Being in training with that warrior-woman, Namely, with Scawtha, through her well-known hardness And her severity and battle-wildness, Would get his death; and so would ne’er return Again to Avvin Maha. Ere he went, Cucullin rode across Moy Bray to visit The maiden once again. Beyond the Boyne, Beyond the bounds of Ulster, on the plain Of rich Loolohta Loha, nigh the sea, He spoke with her at night-fall; and she told him That it was Forgall who in smooth-bright Avvin Had urged his travel thus; and that he had urged it So that she—Emer, namely—and himself Never might come together. Then she told him To have much heed; for Forgall would send snares To be destroying him and breaking him On every road and land where he might go. Each vowed unto the other then the keeping Of chastity until that day should come When they should come together. And Cucullin Vowed that if once he should return with safety He straight would tell the maiden of his safety. The Enga, Conall Carna’s long-famed ship, Was waiting nigh that strand. Cucullin, then, And Emer daughter of Forgall, spake their partings; And o’er the bitter-green, salt, great-waved sea, O’er the green-sided and white-ridgéd billows, O’er the wild, treacherous currents and swift streams Of Ocean, the three friends fared on their way For distant warrior-training. Of their deeds Until they came to Domnall on the Alps, And of the feats which there they learned from Domnall (Faerdeeah said) I treat not. Dorndoll daughter Of Domnall afterward desired Cucullin. That damsel’s shape was vile. Her knees were big, Her heels in front, her feet behind, her eyes Inside her head black-grey and big. As black As is the side of a burnt, lonely ruin, After its burning by night-reaving foemen, Her face appeared; and round about her bulking Strong brow her earth-red hair wound in thick wisps. When he denied her, she vowed utter vengeance On him for that. She said unto Cucullin, He would not win his finished warrior-training, Till he should reach to Scawtha far in Scythia To eastward of those Alps. Thereon they three, Laery and Conall Carna and Cucullin, Fared eastward o’er the Alps; and it was then, E’en as they passed those places lofty, dreadful, Unfruitful, barren, hungry, perilous, That there appeared to them before their eyes Their smooth-bright Avvin Maha, plentiful In bright, melodious feastings and ale-banquets ’Mid lands of health and joy. Nor Conall Carna Nor Laery the Victorious then could pass That vision and appearance. Dorndoll daughter Of Domnall—it was she who had given that vision, So that Cucullin at it might turn back And win reproach and shame through his thus breaking That vow which he had made, to reach to Scawtha Or find his death; or—should he not turn back— So that he, being parted from his friends, Might the more surely find his death. Cucullin Of his own mind and will fared on alone Over the unknown ways; though, as he fared, He was sad, sorrowful, and very heavy For loss of his companions. And he knew not Whither to wend to reach the doon of Scawtha, And yet had sworn to reach the doon of Scawtha Or find his death. He lingered then some while; For he perceived his straying and his darkness. While he thus lingered for a while in darkness Of counsel, he espied, coming straight towards him, An awe-inspiring beast, dreadful and huge And lion-like. It came to him and watched him, And hurt him no-wise. On whichever way He tried to go, it came to him and met him, And turned its side to him. With confidence He sprang aloft then on to the beast’s neck, Letting it travel on each way it would; And so for four full days they in that mode Travelled, until at last they reached a land Where dwellers were, and saw there some young lads Rowing athwart a lake; and the lads laughed, Owing to the great wonder which was on them At that so harmful beast’s being in service So to a man. Cucullin leapt from it; And the beast parted from him; and he blessed it. He went then on the road he saw before him, And chanced on a great house in a great glen. A damsel very fair and shapely came Out from that house then; and she greeted him, And spoke his welcome. “Welcome is thy coming, Cucullin,” she exclaimed to him. He asked her How she thus knew him; and she said to him: “We two were friendly fellow-fosterlings With Ulbecawn the Saxon, at that time When we were learning from him melody And eloquence and poetry.” She gave him For maintenance of strength, then, drink and viands; And he went from her, wending towards his way. He chanced ere long upon an admirable Young warrior, who then also spake a welcome. They made exchange of tidings and of knowledge. Cucullin asked for knowledge of the way To the great doon of Scawtha. Then the youth Gave him the knowledge of the way. “It lies,” He said, “across the Plain of Evil there, Which widely spreads, upon whose hither half The feet of men will freeze, and will be frozen To the ground’s face; but on whose further half The grass will rise, and will impale men’s feet, Even as on a battle-field of spears.” That youth then gave a wheel unto Cucullin, And bade him follow it o’er the hither half Of the Plain of Evil. Then he gave an apple, And bade him follow it o’er the further half. And then he told him that beyond that plain He would discover a great valley-gorge, And through it one thin path; and all the gorge He would find full of horrors and of shapes, Of spectres and of loathly apparitions, Which had been sent, some by shrewd Forgall Mona, And some by incenséd Dorndoll, to destroy His courage and to be his end and ruin. Mounting the gorge, the path would lead him on Through high and strong and terrible regions: it, And it alone, would lead him unto Scawtha. Then the youth taught Cucullin how to win Respect and honour in great Scawtha’s house. They blessed each other. And Cucullin passed In safety o’er the perilous Plain of Evil, And through the spectred gorge, and through the high And strong and terrible regions. And he came To a wide green nigh to the doon of Scawtha, And saw bright bands of fresh and glittering youths, Pupils of Scawtha, playing at hurling there In mingled groups. He, after his long travel, Was tired and drooping, weak and hunger-worn.

Now (said Faerdeeah, as he told his tale) Amidst great Scawtha’s pupils at that time Were certain youths from Erin. Six we were,— Faerbay the son of Baetan; and Faerbay Son of Faerbend; and Bress the son of Ferb; And Lewy son of Solmoy; and Faerdaet, A son of Daman; and myself, Faerdeeah, A son of Daman. And we six from Erin, Perceiving thus a youth from Erin come, Ran to him; and we each one, fervently, Gave him three kisses. And we asked of him Tidings of Erin for ourselves; and he, All weary as he was, asked for himself What arts of valour and what feats of skill We six had learnt. “We six have learnt,” I said, “To cross the Bridge of the Cliff, whereby men go To the seven-doored house of Scawtha.” Then he asked: “How long have ye been learning it?” We said: “We have been learning it three nights and days And one month and one season and one year.” “Youths, quick,” Cucullin said, “show me this bridge.” “It will not profit thee to see the bridge,” We said, “till Scawtha shall begin to teach thee Safely to pass it, as she taught us all.” “I would but see it,” he replied. Thereat We led him to the bridge. And thus it was: At one time when a youth should leap on it, It would put on the thinness of a hair, And the sleek smoothness of a long lake-eel: Another time it would rise up and grow E’en to the height of a ship’s mast. Cucullin Leapt on the bridge and fell; and leapt again And fell; and a third time he leapt; that time He reached the mid-part of the bridge, and there He wavered, and he hovered in mid-air Over the black lake-waters which it bridged. That now was seen by Ooaha, the daughter Of Scawtha from their seven-doored house, their high And rooféd stronghold; and she paled and whitened, And cried to her dread mother, Scawtha, crying: “My grief! a beautiful unrivalled youth Stands poised amidmost of yon bridge. He shakes And wavers toward a fall. I fear, indeed, That he will never more behold the land Of his dear father and his mother.” Scawtha, Her mother, warlike fighter and renowned Preceptress of the heroes of the east, Replied: “It was foretold to me long since That a fresh, child-like youth should come to us From Erin in the west. It was foretold That in one hour alone he would achieve The victory of the Bridge, which every other Only achieves after three days and nights And one month and one season and one year. And ’twas foretold that his great deeds of valour Would be related by the mouths of men Until the ending of the world. I think Thou seest that youth whose coming was foretold.” Cucullin wavered still upon the crest Of the Bridge of the Cliff. Then, nigh in act to fall, He leapt aloft his hero’s salmon-leap: He lighted on the island of the doon Of Scawtha, at the door of the huge doon Of Scawtha; and we six of Erin, pupils Of Scawtha, raised aloud our shouts of joy And wonder, at that passing of the bridge. Howbeit, notwithstanding this achievement, Great Scawtha placed Cucullin for a time Beneath her daughter Ooaha, to learn Amidst the youthful pupils. Ooaha Then spake unto Cucullin, and she said: “If thou wilt learn true valour, thou must go To Scawtha in the vast and antique yew Wherein she holds communion with her gods, Wherein she doth instruct her own two sons, Coo-ar and Ket. And thou must set thy sword Betwixt her breasts, until she promise thee Three wishes. Then demand of her to train thee Without neglect: to send thee with Faerdeeah The son of Daman to be taught by Weefa, The hardest woman-warrior of this world, Who in Great Greece abides: last, to foretell What shall befall when thou again shalt go To far-off, noble Erin.” Then Cucullin Obeyed her; and he leapt his salmon-leap Into the yew-tree; and he set his sword Betwixt the breasts of Scawtha; and he cried: “Death is above thee!” Then she said to him: “I give thee thy three wishes. Utter them In the one breath.” Thereat he uttered them. “Train me,” he said, “in arms and feats of skill Without neglect: then send me with Faerdeeah The son of Daman to be taught by Weefa, The hardest woman-warrior of this world, Who in Great Greece abides: lastly, foretell What shall befall when I again shall go To far-off, noble Erin.” After that Scawtha herself trained him to skill in arms; And—for that I was more in years than he— (Faerdeeah said, telling his warrior-tale) She placed him under me, to dress my spears, And to prepare my bed, and to perform A gillie’s service. We together practised All feats which Scawtha taught:—the apple-feat, The blade-feat, the small-javelin feat, the faen-feat, The body-feat, the rope-cord feat, the cat-feat, The chariot-hero’s rapid salmon-feat, The wielding of the chariot-driver’s staff, The leap across a fence, the “baw-ee brashee,” The red whirl of a finished valiant champion, The wheel-feat, the mouth-fury feat, the breath-feat, The warrior’s whoop, the furious counter-blow, The sod-blow, the swift running up a lance And poising of the body above its point, The feat of the scythed chariot. And we went Together amidst crags and through dark forests, And many wild and lone and desert places, Learning from Scawtha. And she taught us well. And ’twixt Cucullin and myself there grew Heart-friendship. Of one kindred and one tribe We seemed to be, so strong was our affection. Ere long great wars occurred. The foes of Scawtha Pressed on her densely. We went out with her Into hard battles; and we fought her foes. Howbeit, of these fights I tell not now. We fought the king of the great Snowy Land Which lay to northward. Then upon the south Fresh trouble came; and one day Scawtha spake Her words of rousing import. “Get ye ready,” She said, “to go unto the able battle, That will be fought against us on the south By cruel, battle-skilled, grey-haired Germanus.” Thereat Cucullin, who was ever daring, Spake unto me and to the son of Baetan, “Let us arise,” he said, “and gather men, And seize the fort of battle-skilled Germanus Ere he can give us battle.” So we went. We took with us four hundred fighting men Out of the Islands of the Athishec. We reached the doon which towers above the loch Of sparkle-bright Lind Format. On the beach I slew great Blawth son of red-sworded Calba. The son of Baetan slew a grim, fierce man, Mugarny of the Tyrrhene Sea. We reached The gate-way of the doon; and there Cucullin Slew Rind who guarded it; and I slew Rooad. We forced our way within: Cucullin slew Four fifties of strong fighters; and I slew Two terrible companies. We pillaged all The wealthy doon; and battle-wise Germanus— For all his plans and skilful strategy— We brought with us alive out of his doon That towers above the waters. To great Scawtha, With swift exhilaration and with triumph, We carried him a captive. And so Scawtha (Faerdeeah said, telling his valour-tale) Had trained us up in arms and feats of skill Without neglect. Cucullin and myself, She now, fulfilling so her second promise, Sent from her, therefore, to be taught by Weefa, The hardest warrior-woman of the world, Who in Great Greece abides. After long travel, We reached the doon of Weefa; and loyally And kindly Weefa welcomed us. She put us Soon to a sword-fight with her; and Cucullin Fought first; and straightway, with her weapon-play, She broke his sword, till what remained of it Was hardly longer than his hand. Thereafter She taught us all that wondrous weapon-play. She took us into battles and to combats. She led us on a dangerous expedition, Even to the Mountain of Armenia. Great The war-experience and the battle-knowledge We gained while thus we served her. Now, awhile, I leave to speak of these our deeds of arms (Faerdeeah said), and, instead, speak awhile Of things that chanced—I tell a truthful tale— In Erin here. While we two were with Weefa, An admirable man who was in Munster, And who is with you now upon your hosting, A king renowned, Lewy the son of Nōs The son of Alamac—a foster-brother Unto Cucullin—fared from the south-west, From Munster, taking with him twelve good chiefs Of Munster, to this end, that these might woo Twelve maids in Tara, twelve fair daughters, namely, Of Neea Faer the son of Ross the Red. Those maids, howbeit, had been all affianced Ere Lewy reached to Tara. Forgall Mona, Hearing of that, journeyed to Tara straightway. He said to Lewy that there was with him In rich Loolohta Loha nigh the sea, The maid who was the best of maids of Erin— The best for beauty and sweet voice and language, The best for chastity and for handiwork, The best for wisdom. Lewy said to him That that to him seemed well; and Forgall Mona Plighted his daughter, therefore, to that king; And the twelve daughters of the lords of land, Who dwelt around his doon—folk of Moy Bray— He plighted to the twelve good chiefs of Munster, Who had arrived with Lewy. So then Lewy The son of Nōs the son of Alamac, Went in one band and troop with Forgall Mona To Forgall’s doon in rich Loolohta Loha To have his marriage and bride-festival. The time, howbeit, when Emer was brought forth To Lewy, to the place in which he was, To sit at his one hand, she with her hands Took his two cheeks. “Upon thy truth of honour And truth of soul to me,” she said; and then She made confession that it was Cucullin Who loved her and who had her love. She said It, therefore, would be hot, face-reddening insult, And honour-violation toward Cucullin, To take her—whosoe’er should take her from him. At that, that king dared not then sleep with Emer: He feared Cucullin. Straightway he returned To his own doon and fort in the south-west. I now again (Faerdeeah said) set forth Cucullin’s own adventures. When—our time With Weefa in Great Greece being fulfilled— We journeyed to the Island of the doon Of Scawtha, again, and reached the seven-doored house Of Scawtha, we found there those five of Erin, Our comrades, and our friends, and our co-pupils: Faerbay the son of Baetan; and Faerbay Son of Faerbend; and Bress the son of Ferb; And Lewy son of Solmoy; and Faerdaet, My brother, son of Daman. And those five, Having fulfilled their training with great Scawtha, Were now in point to leave her: they were saying Their blessings and their partings. Then Cucullin Said he desired to fare back to Erin In company with those companions. Scawtha Spoke to him words of solemn warrior-import. “Thou shalt not go with them,” she said, “till I Have tied a hard, encircling fold and friendship About you all; so that the men of the world May never put you one against the other Unto a combat. For there is no danger That any other man in all this world Will cause you danger, unless danger rise From one of you against his fellow. Therefore, These are the gassa which I leave to you: If it shall be the better man of you, Who shall seek combat with the less good man, Then it shall be the better man of you Who shall be conquered; and, in the same way, If it shall be the less good man of you Who shall seek combat with the better man, Then it shall be the less good man of you Who shall be conquered. Let not one of you Transgress these gassa and this testament.” Thereat we gave our hands unto each other, So covenanting fulfilment of that league, Each toward the other, till the Breast of Doom. And then it was that upon me great Scawtha Bestowed a conganess, a horn-skin armour; And then it was that to renowned Cucullin She gave her dread Gae Bulg. No other man Of Erin has its like; and to him only She taught the wielding of it. After that Scawtha fulfilled her third great vow to him, Namely, to tell him what things should befall, When he, with all of us, should go again To far-off, noble Erin. And she sang, Through power of the Imbas Forosnai, These words to him, foreshowing deeds to come: “My strong affection to thee, welcoming, O Shield of Fury, Shield of Victory! I see, O Shield, thy hound-strong combating. Alone against rough, reaving multitudes, By Maev brought east with great hostility, I view thee, unsubdued, yet combating. On fords from Sowin unto Balt-thana, I see high heroes, huge, illustrious, Fall in death-pools, with thee, Shield, combating. I see thy three-day sleep—sleep wonderful: I see three fifties slain—deed sorrowful: I see thy Bressla More, red, terrible. I see thee lying, wounded, languishing: Erin contends in battle pitiless: The bive screams o’er that field, wild, ravenous. Thy fill of years is brief, ephemeral; But thy war-deeds men hold in memory, While Erin yet by waves is combated. My strong affection to thee, welcoming, O Shield of Fury, Shield of Victory! I see, O Shield, thy fame uncombated.”

Well, after that (Faerdeeah said) we said Our partings and farewells. On that same night We started on our long and arduous travel, To our own land, to Erin. I relate One event only of that arduous travel. Toward summer’s end we reached the doon of Rooad, King of the Isles; and there were Conall Carna, And Laery the Victorious, gathering tribute And rent; for on those islands of the Gall There is strong tribute to the men of Ulster. Cucullin heard a sorrowing in the doon Ere yet he reached it. “Wherefore is that cry?” Cucullin asked. “The daughter of our king,” They said, “is being handed o’er as tribute To the Fomorians, to the Sea-plunderers, And therefore this hard sorrowing in our doon.” “Where is the maid?” he said. “Down on yon shore,” They answered him. Cucullin went from them, And came into the presence of the maid On the shore-sands. He asked of her her tidings; And the maid told that grief fully, completely. “Whence will the men arrive?” Cucullin asked. “From yonder somewhat distant isle,” she said; “And bide not here to face their violence.” Cucullin, notwithstanding, bode with her To face them; and he slew the three Fomorians With one-man valour. The last man of them Had wounded him, however, in his hand; And the maid wound a piece from her own raiment About his wounded hand. Cucullin then Went up to the king’s doon like every other: He had not told his name unto the maiden. The maiden came then to the doon and told Her father all that tale. Cucullin came Like every other guest; and Conall Carna And Laery the Victorious had great joy At seeing him; and much they welcomed him. Many a man within that doon then boasted Himself the slayer of those ocean-thieves; But the maid credited no whit his boasting. And then it was that the king caused a bath To be prepared; and every man in turn Was brought to it; and when Cucullin came, As each one came, the maiden knew him straightway. “I give my daughter to thee,” Rooad said; “And her bride-outfit I myself will pay.” “Not so,” Cucullin said. “After a year, Let her come after me, if so she will, To Erin; and I, ’midst my comrades there Will find for her a very noble consort.” After that hour (Faerdeeah said) we stayed Three nights beneath kind tendance in that doon, With banqueting. At ending of that time We put our hands unto our ships to sail Again to Erin. We put prow on shore On a North Ulster strand. We blessed each other, We comrades; and each one of us fared then To his own people, his own tribe and land. I (said Faerdeeah) fared to my own folk In Irrus Domnann in the west. Cucullin Fared to smooth, beautiful, bright Avvin Maha, Where was great Conor son of Fahtna Fahee, High-king of Ulster. There he told his tidings, And put his weariness away. And then—This (said Faerdeeah) I have heard from one Who tells true tidings—to his own bright doon, Doon Dalgan, next he journeyed, where he had, O King and Queen, some warning of these hosts And this your hosting. He with Sooaltim, His father—husband unto Dectora, His noble mother—rode then to the marches, And reached Ardcullin. While their steeds grazed there He made that spancel-withe, made from an oakling New-felled and twisted; and he cut the inscription In ogam; and he flung the spancel-withe Around the pillar-stone, so to delay Your hosts for one full night while he should go South o’er the Boyne to rich Loolohta Loha, There to tell Emer daughter of Forgall Mona How he again had come to noble Erin In safety from his travel. Sooaltim He sent with words of warning north to Avvin. And now (Faerdeeah said) I have related The tale I said I would relate. A thing There is, howbeit:—One of our battle-comrades, Faerbay the son of Baetan, said to me That Scawtha, one hour prophesying, said It was in Destiny, or that Cucullin Should fall by me, or else that I, Faerdeeah, Should fall by him. Therein the son of Baetan Reported erringly. It were a thing Not possible; for this I say to you: A dearer, truer friend I never found Than was Cucullin son of Dectora. Oh! he was half my heart, and I to him Was half his heart; and this I say to you: By my hard shield, by my ringed battle-shield, Were sword of mine to slay that valiant Hound, I would then thrust my dripping slender sword Through my own side, through my own breast and heart. Yea, by my sword, by my red battle-sword, Were I to slay that Hound of Moy Mweerhevna, I would be buried in his raised earth-mound, And the one stone should lie o’er him and me. By my war-spear, by my far-flaming spear, If any folk should come betwixt us two, And should incite me, so that I should slay him, I would then turn against that folk in fury, And they with all their armies should be slain. By my strong hand, by my trained hero’s hand, Rather than that in unjust battle-fight I should destroy that glorious, valiant Hound, I would myself be slain and thrown as meat To every wolf and every screaming bive.

Faerdeeah ended so his warrior-tale Of all Cucullin’s training-up to arms By Ooaha, by Scawtha, and by Weefa Far in the East. Beside Ath Gowla still The Four Great Fifths of Erin stayed that night.