Chapter IX: 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.

BOOK VIII