shout of welcome, and Nuadh of the Silver Hand himself came to greet
him, with fair loving words of praise and gratitude. Right glad was the
king to see Lu come to him thus, for he had feared that the Ildanna
bore him a bitter grudge because of his having refused his aid to drive
forth Bras and his Fomorians. Therefore it was that he paid honour
to Lu Ildanna above all other men, and led him to a seat at his right
hand, placing him above the whole assemblage of princes and great lords.
But Lu neither smiled nor made any sign of pleasure. His eyes wandered
round the concourse of the Dedannan chivalry. Suddenly his gaze became
intent and fixed, for upon three golden-studded seats of honour he
beheld the three sons of Turenn.
The high king of Erin was about to speak to his chiefs on the great
matter of rejoicing and counsel which had brought them all together,
when Lu arose. All stared in amaze, for only some unforeseen emergency
could justify a noble speaking before the high king had said what he
had to say.
“O King of Erin,” said Lu slowly, and in a low voice, yet so clear and
cold and vibrant that it was heard of every man in that vast concourse:
“O King of Erin, order the chain of silence to be brought hither, and
let its soft, delicate music be shaken from it, for I have that to say
that must be heard of all men, and not in their ears only but in their
hearts and in their minds.”
Therewith the Chain of Silence was brought, and was shaken slowly and
delicately by the young druid whose charge it was. The sweet low sound
rose into the air like fragrance, and passed through all the halls in
Tara, and filled the ears of every man, and the mind of each, and the
soul of each. There was not a sound in all that place, not a whisper,
not a sigh.
In that great silence Lu moved forward till he stood beside the king
and faced the whole assemblage.
“Chiefs and warriors of the Tuatha-De-Danann, I have that to ask ye to
which I need an answer this day. Tell me this: What would ye do unto
one who wittingly, and not in battle but shamefully, slew your father,
and he innocent, even such a man, say, as Kian the Noble?”
There was no whisper of answer. All sat there amazed, marvelling at the
strange question. But at last Nuadh the King spoke.
“What meaning lives in thy words, Ildanna? For we know that thy father
Kian is not slain, for he was not in the Great Battle.”
“Nevertheless he is slain, and here in this royal place my eyes behold
them who slew him.”
When Lu of the Long Hand had spoken these words, every man looked from
neighbour to neighbour in amaze. But all waited for the king to speak.
“What sayest thou, Nuadh of the Silver Hand, Ardree of Erin?”
“I have this to say, that if a man wittingly, and without the just
cause of war, slew my father, and he innocent, I would not be content
with exacting death, but would rather lop him limb from limb daily till
he died.”
“And what say ye, chiefs and nobles of the Dedannan race?”
“We say as the Ardree says,” cried one and all, save the three who sat
on golden-knobbed seats near the high king, though these too bowed
their heads in acquiescence.
“And what say ye, ye sons of Turenn?”
At this all turned and looked upon Brian and Ur and Urba, who sat pale
and stern. Brian answered for himself and his brothers.
“We say as the high king says.”
“Nuadh of the Silver Hand, Ardree of Erin, and all ye chieftains and
chiefs and nobles of the Dedannan race, I call ye to witness that this
man who has spoken slew my father, and that he and his brothers are
jointly guilty of that foul deed.”
For more than the furthest singing of an arrow, there was silence.
Neither the king nor any man spoke, but all looked to the sons of
Turenn to say Yea or Nay. But Brian and Ur and Urba sat in a frozen
stillness, and moved neither their hands nor their lips, and stared
only with unwavering eyes upon the white accusing face of the son of
the murdered Kian.
Then Lu spoke again.
“Behold the men who slew my father. And now, O king, I say not whether
there were good cause for this slaying: all men know that there was a
feud between the clans of Kian and Turenn. Nor do I wish to bring evil
into this house and town of thine. Because one man is dead, there is no
need that others must die who have nought to do with his death. I have
come in peace: I would go in peace. But this only I say: I go not hence
till I have won from the sons of Turenn the vow of my eric.”
“That is right and wise,” answered the king, “and for myself I would
be well content if, being guilty, I could evade death by paying any
eric whatsoever.”
At this Brian rose.
“Lu, son of Kian, has spoken inadvisedly, O king. He has accused us of
a crime, he knowing nothing of when or how that deed was done, and in
what circumstances, and how made inevitable. Nor, again, have we ever
admitted that we are guilty of this deed of murder.”
“It is enough. Kian, father of Lu Ildanna, came to his death through ye
three sons of Turenn. Whatsoever eric Lu may exact, that eric ye shall
have to pay. Otherwise the lives that ye hold so dear, being your own,
will no longer have the shelter of this royal place; and as no man’s
hand can be raised to aid thee, ye shall be at the mercy of Lu of the
Long Hand, and of whomsoever he may bring against thee.”
For a brief while Brian talked low with his brothers; then he turned
and addressed Nuadh the king and Lu Lamfada.
“We are for peace, not strife. We say not we are guilty, but we will
pay the eric that Lu, son of Kian, may demand, save only that it be
not against the life of Turenn our father.”
“That is well said,” exclaimed Nuadh of the Silver Hand.
“I accept the troth,” said Lu, “and now call upon all here to witness
that the sons of Turenn have made a solemn pledge.”
There were few there who did not wonder what the eric would be, for all
knew that Lu was a stern man, and would not rest till he had done his
utmost to make the sons of Turenn expiate their deed.
Great was their amazement, therefore, when Lu gave forth the eric that
he demanded.
“The eric I demand is this,” he said: “that ye bring me three apples, a
certain skin, a spear, two horses and a chariot, seven swine, a hound,
and a roasting spit. And further, that ye shout three shouts upon a
hill. Yet, if ye will,” Lu added scornfully, “I shall remit a portion
of this eric if ye find it too heavy for ye.”
“It is neither heavy nor great,” answered Brian, “if there be no hidden
evil behind. For by the Sun and Wind I swear that I would not count
too heavy an eric, three hundreds of thousands of apples, or thrice a
hundred skins, or many score horses and chariots, spears and hounds, or
a shouting a hundred times upon a hundred hills.”
“Nevertheless, I do not account it small,” answered Lu gravely. “But
give me now security that ye shall fulfil this eric to the uttermost.”
“We give ourselves as security.”
“Not so,” exclaimed Lu scornfully. “I will not have the security of
thyselves.”
“Then I call upon Bove Derg, son of the Dagda, and upon Nuadh of the
Silver Hand, Ardree of Erin, and upon the score I shall name of the
foremost chiefs of the Dedannan race, to be our pledge and warranty.”
And after Brian had named the score, all they, and Nuadh the king, and
Bove Derg, the son of the Dagda, gave the pledge, so that thenceforth
the sons of Turenn were under solemn _geas_ to fulfil the eric, or die
in the effort to fulfil that eric, or otherwise bring dishonour upon
all these noble and great lords, each of whom moreover would be bound
to seek the lives of Brian and Ur and Urba.
“And now tell us if that is all, O Lu Ildanna, for much I misdoubt me
if thou hast no evil thought for us behind thy fair-seeming words.”
Thereat all leaned forward and listened eagerly, for each man knew that
Lu was not vainly called the Ildanna, for there was no one in all Erin
who had so much knowledge, or whose craft was so greatly to be feared.
When he had uttered the eric that he demanded, all were at first
amazed. Then some had thought that he was under _geas_ never to exact
a great eric, but always the smallest that he might make; but most
were troubled, for behind these slight exactions they knew that he had
arrowy intentions.
“Yes, ye sons of Turenn,” Lu Lamfada began slowly, “I shall tell ye now
what my eric is. I do not think ye shall find it over easy.”
Brian and Ur and Urba rose, but all the host otherwise remained seated.
The three sons of Turenn leaned upon their spears, and tall and goodly
warriors they seemed, and worthy of their great fame as three of the
seven chief champions of Erin.
“First, then, there is this. The skin I demand of ye is one that
belongs to the king of Greece in the far eastern lands. It is the
skin of healing. No man need die of wounds who has that skin; and cold
water, too, it will make into wine. I do not think ye will come easily
by that skin.
“Second, there is this. The spear I demand of ye is the spear called
Aradvar, the dreadful spear of Pisarr, Prince of Persia, whose point is
for ever kept cooling in a cauldron of water, so terrible is its fiery
thirst, and that thirst for blood. I do not think ye will find the
spear of Pisarr easy to obtain.
“Third, there is this. The chariot and two horses that I demand of ye
belong to Dobar, the king of Sicily. They heed neither the rough ways
of the land nor the rough ways of the sea, but travel equally and at
the will of him who drives. I do not think ye will find it easy to
obtain that chariot and its two horses.
“Further, there is this. Far to the south there is a great lord, Asol
of the Golden Pillars. It is he who owns the seven swine I ask of ye.
Ye may slay the seven and yet all will remain. They know not death,
though ye may slay them and feed upon them. There is no death upon
them. I do not think ye will find it easy to obtain these swine.
“Fifth, there is this. In a further land still, that is called Irrua,
there is a great and terrible hound named Falinnish. So fierce is he
that whatever beast comes within sight of him falls in helpless fear. I
do not think ye will find that hound very easy to obtain, or bring with
ye from far-off Irrua.
“Sixth, there is this. In the remote seas is an isle called Fiancarya.
It is there that the sea-women dwell. In caverns beneath the waves they
roast their food. It is their roasting spit I ask of ye. I do not think
ye will find it easy to obtain that thing.
“Seventh, there is this. The three apples I ask of ye are of gold,
and are in an ancient garden in Isberna. That ancient close is well
guarded, O Sons of Turenn, so that ye may not find it easy even to see
the wind-waved summits of the trees. I do not think ye will bring back
these apples.[10]
“And lastly, there is this. In the remotest north of remote Lochlin
there is a hill called Mekween. It is so called from a man of that
name who lives there. He is a great and powerful man, and none others
equal him save only his two sons. So terrible are they that no man dare
venture into that wild place where they live, save in amity. It was
with them that my father learned his great craft with the sword; and so
great will their wrath be that ye have slain him, that even were I to
forgive ye, they would not. Moreover, Mekween and his sons are under
_geas_ not to allow a shout to be shouted upon that hill. I do not
think ye will find it easy to pass the sons of Mekween, nor to shout
three shouts upon that hill.”
With that, Lu the Ildanna bowed before the king, and sat upon his
golden chair again.
All men looked with sorrow upon the sons of Turenn. Any of the seven
_geasan_ of this eric that Lu put upon them was more than enough
for any hero: how then would they survive till the last, or, having
survived, how would they bring back with them these things, and how
escape the wrath of Mekween and his sons?
Nevertheless, the sons of Turenn were now under bond, and they had no
choice but to do what they could to fulfil their eric.
With sad hearts they left the great beauty and wonder of Tara, and with
sadder hearts still reached their own land. Here with sorrow they bade
farewell to Turenn their father and to dark-eyed Enya their sister,
whom they loved so passing well, and to all their kindred and folk.
Thereafter they set forth on their long and ever more and more perilous
quest.
It would have been easy for the sons of Turenn to have passed over into
Alba, and sought service with the king of that country; or to have gone
among the Kymri in the inland highlands beyond the isle where Manannan
had his home: or southward to Lyonesse or into Armorica. But honour
is a better thing than ease, and it would ill have befit heroes such
as Brian and Ur and Urba to have evaded their solemn troth. A bitter
wrong they had done, because of the hereditary feud betwixt the clans
of Turenn and Kian: but now there was one thing only to do, and that
to fulfil the eric put upon them by Lu, son of Kian. Moreover, Nuadh
the Ardree and Bove Derg, son of the Dagda, and a score of the noblest
lords in Erin were their warranty that they would do this thing.
So, one day of the days, they set forth from Erin: and sad indeed were
they when across the foam they took their last look at Dun Turenn and
at the dear familiar hill of Ben Edar.
* * * * *
For that night Peterkin heard no more of the story of the Fate of the
Sons of Turenn; but all the next evening, and the next again, he sat
entranced by the strange moving tale of how Brian and Ur and Urba one
by one fulfilled the hard and perilous conditions of their eric, and
this until the sixth was done.
But here, now, this tale cannot be told in full. To tell it aright
would need a volume not less than this is.
It must suffice that after innumerable hardships, after fierce cold
and fiercer heat, after hunger and thirst and daily perils by land
or sea, and strange and frightful encounters, and hazardous fights
with monsters and wild men and kings and princes, the sons of Turenn
found themselves sailing towards the remote north of Lochlin, having
accomplished the six seeming impossible conditions.
That nigh-impossible task, indeed, had been made possible by the magic
boat of Manannan, called the Sweeper of the Waves, which they had won
from Lu by unlooked-for wile. For before they had left Tara they had
played a game of chess with Lu Ildanna, well knowing that Lu was under
_geas_ never to refuse to play at chess when asked by any Dedannan, or
to pay the hazard that was decided upon, whatsoever it might be. There
was no player in all Erin to surpass Ur, though few knew this, for he
was little given to talk, and still less of his own doings.
First Urba had offered to play with Lu, and the hazard of that play
was to be the life of Lu Ildanna. “I will play that hazard,” he said,
“if thou wilt pay the like penalty if thou dost lose.” But when
Urba refused, he could play no more, because he had declined the
counter-hazard.
Then Brian had offered to play, and the hazard of that play was to be
Daurya, the beautiful daughter of a great lord, whom Lu loved. “I will
play that hazard,” he said, “if, in return, thou wilt pledge me Enya of
the Dark Eyes, thy sister.” But when Brian refused this hazard, he too
could play no more with Lu until Lu asked him.
Then Ur played, and the hazard of that play was the “Sweeper of the
Waves,” Manannan’s magic boat. “I will play that hazard,” Lu said, “if
in return thou wilt sail in it, and affront Manannan to his face.” To
that Ur agreed, and they played, and Ur won.
This magic boat would sail swiftly and safely in any sea whether calm
or tempest-wrought, and at a word would make for any coast or haven;
more like a great bird it was, or some creature of the air and sea.
“White shall be thy foamy track,” cried Lu as they sailed away; “but
red everywhere shall be the wake behind ye.”
And so it was. For death and the bitterness of the sword were ever in
their way and in their wake. Nevertheless, they unceasingly rejoiced in
their possession of the Sweeper of the Waves, and when their eric-quest
took them into far eastern lands beyond the reach of great rivers, they
hid their precious vessel, or bade it lie till it heard their summoning
voice.
And so at the last it happened that the sons of Turenn won the three
golden apples out of the guarded close in Isberna; and by craft and
daring carried away from Sicily the famous chariot and two steeds
which had no peer in all the world; and from Asol of the Golden
Pillars, who gave them in ransom for his life, they took the seven
deathless swine; and from its cauldron in the heart of a hostile city
they snatched the terrible spear of Pisarr; and the far-famed skin of
healing they brought away from the palace of Toosh, king of Greece,
whose head they left idly rolling upon his marble floor; and in far
Irrua they put captivity upon the terrible hound Falinnish; and in the
wild seas of Fiancarya they dared the sea-women in their caverns under
the waves, and took from them the roasting spit that Lu had demanded.
All this they did, and much else in the doing of these wonders. And now
nothing remained but to shout three shouts upon the hill of Mekween;
and to this end they sailed blithely and swiftly towards the far north
of Lochlin.
But meanwhile, in far-away Erin, Lu Ildanna became aware, by his
subtle magic and knowledge, that the sons of Turenn had one by one
accomplished all but the last of the bitter tasks of the eric he
had set upon them. He had not deemed this fulfilment possible, but
while greatly he marvelled that courage and endurance could so bring
impossible things to pass, he dreaded lest the sons of Turenn should
prevail in the last task also. For if they came back to Erin with
all that great eric fulfilled, then would there be a blood-shedding
terrible indeed.
Moreover, Lu Ildanna, who saw far ahead of the things of the moment,
was even now preparing for that second great battle upon the Plain of
Moytura which he knew would come again; and a battle mightier and more
desperate than the last, or than ever was seen in Erin before. Great
warrior as he was, and lordly as was the war-host of the Dedannans, he
feared this final battle unless he had at least half of the eric he had
set upon the sons of Turenn--and, above all, the Spear of Pisarr, the
Skin of Healing, and the War-chariot of the Sicilian king. Therefore he
longed for the return of his foes, the sons of Turenn; yet feared that
they should come back having accomplished all.
So on a day of the days he made a deep and potent spell, and sent this
spell forth to work its noiseless and invisible way across land and sea
and under the flaming sun and the white glister of the stars, till it
should find the Sweeper of the Waves.
So forth that subtle spell went, and when it reached at last the
Sweeper of the Waves it crawled stealthily into the great boat, and
wound itself about the weary bodies of Brian and Ur and Urba, and moved
into their brains, filled as they were with dreams of Erin and of home.
The spell was the spell of oblivion, but they knew it not.
And so it chanced that they could no longer understand why it was they
sailed northward, nor had they any memory of the last obligation of the
eric, and thought neither of Mekween and his sons, nor of the doom put
upon them by Lu, nor of the vanity of all their long quest and brave
endurance if they returned with the eric unfulfilled in the least part.
It was with joy that they set their prow for green Erin; and with joy
that they saw again its green grassy hills above its white shores; and
with joy that they recognised Ben Edar and Dun Turenn; and with joy
that they kissed once more Turenn their father and Enya of the Dark
Eyes, their sister, and knew themselves back at last from all their
weary wandering and endless peril and strife.
Great was the marvelling at what they brought back, and the oldest
druids admitted that never in the history of Erin had so great a wonder
been done.
Alas! theirs was but a brief joy.
Lu Ildanna said nothing till he had put away all the treasures of that
eric. Then he said gravely:
“All is accomplished save one thing. Have ye shouted three shouts upon
the hill of Mekween?”
And as he spoke he broke the spell, so that suddenly Brian and Ur and
Urba remembered, and with shame and grief had to say that this last
thing they had not done.
In vain did Turenn supplicate for his sons, in vain even was the
pleading of the king. Lu had but one answer. “All else is as nought if
they have not done this thing--to shout three shouts upon the hill of
Mekween.”
So once more the sore-tried heroes set forth, but with dim
presentiments of woe; for now they had neither the Skin of Healing nor
the Sweeper of the Waves, for these had been taken away by Lu, and he
would not give them again.
Nevertheless, they reached their goal. A great and terrible fight
was theirs with Mekween and his sons Conn and Corc and Ae--the most
terrible fight, the old bards say, which was ever fought between six
men--for at the beginning the sons of Turenn slew Mekween.
At dusk on that disastrous day six gashed and mutilated men lay in the
swoon of death. Out of that swoon, three men never waked, and these
were Conn and Corc and Ae: and two had not strength to move even when
they waked, and these were Ur and Urba; and Brian alone staggered to
his feet, and stared through a mist of blood.
When at last the eldest of the sons of Turenn looked upon his brothers,
and saw their glassy eyes staring idly at the sunrise, he feared that
they too were dead. Then he saw that the pulse of life still flickered.
Weak as he was, he took first Ur upon his shoulders, and bore him up
the rocky slope to the ridge of the hill of Mekween; and then returned
and bore Urba thither also.
Then it was that three thin, faint shouts went forth upon the hill,
so thin and faint that the browsing stags on the uplands did not lift
their heads.
Thus was it that the Great Eric was fulfilled.
But, alas! the piteous tale of their return. None could tell aright
that woe-stricken, death-weary voyage of three dying men, upborne by
one hope only--that they might free their name and clan from the eric
put upon them, and lay their accusing deaths at the feet of Lu Ildanna.
Yet hardly might they do even this. For as they drew nigh the coasts of
Erin once more, Ur and Urba spoke to Brian and supplicated him to raise
their heads, so that, before they died, they might see again the green
hills of their beloved Banba, and high Ben Edar, and their home Dun
Turenn.
But to this Brian made answer:
“Dear brothers, too great is my weakness, for I am now even as ye are.
Lo! through my gaping wounds one of these birds that skim above us
might fly, and be not snared within me.”
After that, they spake no word till the galley grided against the sands
of Erin.
Soon all in Dun Turenn and in all the lands of Edar knew that Brian,
Ur, and Urba were come again; but sorrowful were they indeed to see,
instead of the three proud heroes, only three wasted men like unto
shadows. Neither Ur nor Urba could speak, but Brian’s voice could rise
to a thin whisper.
With halting breath he bade his father hasten to Tara, and tell Lu
Lamfada that now all the eric was paid at last; and then beseech him,
by his honour and fair name, and for the glory of the old Dedannan
faith, and by the invocation of the Sun and Moon and Wind, to lend to
the three perishing sons of Turenn, the Skin of Healing, so that their
lives might not flicker out as the flame of spent torches.
But, alas! Lu would not yield to that prayer, not even when the grey
hairs of Turenn were at his feet. Then once more Brian besought his
father; and now it was that he bade his father put him upon a litter,
and bear him gently, because of his open wounds, and lay him at the
feet of Lu.
And when he was there, Brian said this thing:
“Behold, O Lu Ildanna, son of Kian, we have fulfilled the heaviest eric
ever exacted of any man since the world was made. And now we ask this
one thing alone: one hour only of the Healing Skin that we ourselves
brought unto thee. Yet not for myself I ask this, if thou desirest my
life, since it was I who slew thy father, but for my brothers Ur and
Urba. And if not for them--though they are guiltless of this ill, and
are with me in this dire plight because they would not forsake me,
but made my fortune their fortune--then for the sake of the old hero
Turenn, who was comrade in arms with thy father Kian when both were
youths. And by the Sun, and by the Moon, and by the Wind, and by thine
honour, I cry to thee to be merciful, and to do this thing.”
But Lu smiled a bitter, evil smile. Half that smile was from the cruel
revengefulness in his breast, and half because he feared that if Brian
and Ur and Urba lived, there would be an end of the Dedannan race, for
the fierce internecine wars which would be in Erin.
“I would not give thee the Skin, Brian, though all thy race, nay, not
though every man and woman in the eastlands were to perish with thee.
Go hence, and in the shadow of death remember the eric unto death of
Lu the Long-Handed.”
So Brian went forth upon his litter, with the death-sweat already upon
him.