Shall give the pledge thou cravest;
For thee, of all men bravest,
Brave bridled steeds shall stand.
From tax my word hath freed thee,
To hostings none shall lead thee,
As bosom friend I need thee,
As first in all the land.
Ferdia
Mere words are naught availing
If oaths to bind be failing;
That wondrous Ford-Fight hailing,
All time its tale shall greet:
Though sun, moon, sea for ever
And earth from me I sever;
Though death I win--yet never,
Unpledged, that war I'll meet.
Maev
These kings and chiefs behind me
Their oaths shall pledge to bind me:
With boundless wealth thou'lt find me,
With wealth too great to pay.
'Tis thou who oaths delayest;
'Tis done whate'er thou sayest;
For well I know thou slayest
The foe who comes to slay.
Ferdia
Ere thou to slaughter lure me,
Six champions' oaths procure me;
Till these rewards assure me
I meet, for thee, no foe:
If six thou grant as gages,
I'll face the war he wages,
And where Cuchulain rages,
A lesser chief, I go.
Maev
In chariots Donnal raceth,
Fierce strife wild Neeman faceth,
Their halls the bards' song graceth,
Yet these in troth I bind.
Firm pledge Morand is making,
None Carpri Min knew breaking
His troth: thine oath he's taking;
Two sons to pledge I find.
Ferdia
Much poison, Maev, inflameth
Thy heart; no smile thee tameth
But well the land thee nameth
Proud queen of Croghan's hold;
Thy power no man can measure;
'Tis I will do thy pleasure;
Now send thy silken treasure,
Thy silver gifts, and gold.
Maev
This brooch, as champion's token,
I give of troth unbroken;
All words my lips have spoken
Performed shall Sunday see.
Thou glorious chief, who darest
This fight, I give thee rarest
Of gifts on earth, and fairest,
Yea greater meed shall be.
For Findabar my daughter;
All Elgga's chiefs have sought her;
When thou that Hound shalt slaughter,
I give in love to thee.
And then did Maev bind Ferdia in an easy task; that on the next day he
was to come to combat and fight with six of her champions, or to make
duel against Cuchulain; whichever of the two he should think the
easier. And Ferdia on his side bound her by a condition that seemed to
him easy for her to fulfil: even that she should lay it upon those same
six champions to see to it that all those things she had promised to
him should be fulfilled, in case Cuchulain should meet death at
Ferdia's hand.
Thereupon Fergus caused men to harness for him his horses, and his
chariot was yoked, and he went to that place where Cuchulain was that
he might tell him what had passed, and Cuchulain bade him welcome. I
am rejoiced at your coming, O my good friend Fergus," said Cuchulain.
And I gladly accept thy welcome, O my pupil," said Fergus. But I have
now come hither in order to tell thee who that man is who comes to
combat and fight with thee early on the morning of the day which is at
hand." "We shall give all heed to thy words," said Cuchulain. "'Tis
thine own friend," said Fergus, "thy companion, and thy fellow pupil;
thine equal in feats and in deeds and in valour: even Ferdia, the son
of Daman, the son of Dare, the great and valiant champion of the men of
Irross Donnan." "Truly," said Cuchulain, "I make mine oath to thee
that I am sorry that my friend should come to such a duel."
"Therefore," said Fergus, "it behoves thee to be wary and prepared, for
unlike to all those men who have come to combat and fight with thee
upon the Tain be Cuailgne is Ferdia, the son of Daman, the son of
Dare." "I have stood here," said Cuchulain, "detaining and delaying
the men of the four great provinces of Ireland since the first Monday
in Samhain (November) till the beginning of the spring, and not one
foot have I gone back before any one man during all that time, nor
shall I, as I trust, yield before him." And in this manner did Fergus
continue to put him on his guard, and these were the words that he
spoke, and thus did Cuchulain reply:
Fergus
Rise, Cuchulain! foes are near,[FN#52]
All their covenant is clear;
Daman's ruddy son in rage
Comes the war with thee to wage.
[FN#52] The metre is that of the Irish; a literal rendering of the
whole dialogue is given in the notes, p. 191.
Cuchulain
Here I stand, whose valiant toil
Erin's bands held back from spoil;
Never a foot of ground they won,
Never a foe they found me shun.
Fergus
Fierce is he in rage; his trust
In his blade's deep searching thrust:
Plates of horn protect his side,
Pierced by none his strength who tried.
Cuchulain
Fergus, much thine arms excel;
Cease, this tale no longer tell
Land is none, nor battle-field
Where to his my strength must yield.
Fergus
He is fierce, with scores can fight,
Spear nor sword can on him bite;
From that strength, a hundred's match,
Hard 'twill be the prize to snatch.
Cuchulain
Yea! Ferdia's power I know;
How from foughten field we go;
How was fought our piercing war,
Bards shall tell to ages far.
Fergus
Loss of much I'd little mourn
Could I hear how, eastward borne,
Great Cuchulain's bloody blade
Proud Ferdia's spoils displayed.
Cuchulain
Though in boasts I count me weak,
Hear me now as braggart speak:
Daman's son, of Darry's race,
Soon shall I, his victor, face.
Fergus
Brought by me, hosts eastward came,
Ulster sought to hurt my fame;
Here have come, to ease my grief,
Many a champion, many a chief.
Cuchulain
Sickness Conor's might withheld,
Else his sight thy host had quelled;
Less the shouts of joy had been,
Raised by Maev, Maw Scayl's high queen.
Fergus
Greater deeds than done by me
O Cuchulain! thine shall be:
Daman's son thy battle nears;
Hear thy friend! keep hard thy spears.
Then Fergus returned to where the army was encamped: Ferdia, also went
from Maev and came to his own tent; and there he found his followers,
and he told them how he had been bound to Maev as in an easy task, that
he was on the morrow to combat and fight with six of her champions, or
to make duel with Cuchulain, whichever of the two he might think the
easier. Also he told them how she had been bound by a condition that
was easy for her to grant: that she should lay it on these same six
champions to see that her promises to him of rewards should be
fulfilled in case Cuchulain met his death at Ferdia's hand.
There was no cheerfulness, or happiness, or even melancholy pleasure
among the inmates of Ferdia's camp that night: they were all cheerless,
and sorrowful, and low in spirit; for they knew that whenever those two
champions, those two slayers of hundreds met, one of the two must fall
in that place, or that both of them should fall: and if one only was to
fall they were sure that that one would be their own master; for it was
not easy for any man to combat and fight with Cuchulain on the Tain bo
Cuailnge.
Now the first part of that night Ferdia slept very heavily, and when
the middle of the night had come his sleep had left him, and the
dizziness of his brain has passed away, and care for the combat and the
fight pressed heavily upon him. Then he called for his charioteer to
harness his horses, and to yoke his chariot; and the charioteer began
to rebuke him, if haply he might turn him from his purpose. "It would
be better for thee to stay!" said the charioteer. "Be thou silent, O
my servant!" said Ferdia, and he then spoke the words that follow, and
thus did his servant reply to him:--
Ferdia
'Tis a challenge provoking
To war, and I go
Where the ravens' hoarse croaking
Shall rise for my foe:
With Cuchulain still seeking
The strife at yon ford;
Till his strong body, reeking,
Be pierced by my sword!
Servant
Nay, thy threats show no meekness;
Yet here thou should'st stay;
For on thee shall come weakness,
Woe waits on thy way:
For by Ulster's Rock broken
This battle may be,
And it long shall be spoken
How ill 'twas to thee.
Ferdia
An ill word art thou saying;
It fits not our race
That a champion, delaying
From fight, should thee grace.
Then thy speech, my friend, fetter,
No foe will we fear;
But, since valour is better,
His challenge we near.
Then Ferdia's horses were harnessed for him, and his chariot was yoked,
and he came forward to the ford of battle; but when he had come there
he found that the full light of the day had not yet dawned, and "O my
servant!" said Ferdia, "spread out for me the cushions and skins that
are upon my chariot, that I may rest upon them till I take the deep
repose of refreshing sleep, for during the latter part of this night
have I taken no rest, on account of the care that I had for this combat
and fight." And the servant unharnessed his horses, and he placed
together the cushions and the skins that were upon the chariot, so that
Ferdia might rest upon them, and he sank into the deep repose of
refreshing sleep.
Now in this place I will tell of the acts of Cuchulain. He rose not at
all from his couch until the full light of the day; and this he did in
order that the men of Ireland should not be able to say that it was
from fear or from dread that he rose, if it had been early that he had
arisen. And when the full daylight had come, he commanded his
charioteer to harness for him his horses, and to yoke his chariot: "O
my servant!" said Cuchulain, "harness for us our horses, and put the
yoke to our chariot, for early rises the champion who cometh to meet us
this day: even Ferdia, the son of Daman, the son of Dare." "The horses
are harnessed," said the charioteer, "and the chariot is yoked; step
thou into it, for it will bring no shame on thy valour." Then did
Cuchulain, the fighter of battles, the skilful in feats, the winner of
victory, that red-sworded hero, the son of Sualtam, leap into his
chariot. All around him screamed the Bocanachs, and the Bananachs, and
the wild people of the glens, and the demons of the air; for it was the
custom of the people of the wizard race of Danu to raise their cries
about him in every battle, on every stricken field, in every duel, and
in every fight to which he went, that thereby in such fight the hatred,
and the fear, and the avoidance, and the terror that men felt for him
should be increased. In no short time the charioteer of Ferdia heard
the roar of Cuchulain's approach; the clamour, and the hissing, and the
tramp; and the thunder, and the clatter, and the buzz: for he heard the
shields that were used as missiles clank together as they touched; and
he heard the spears hiss, and the swords clash, and the helmet tinkle,
and the armour ring; and the arms sawed one against the other, and the
javelins swung, and the ropes strained, and the wheels of the chariot
clattered, and the chariot creaked, and the hoofs of the horses
trampled on the ground as that warrior and champion came forward in
triumph to the ford, and approached him.
Then that servant of Ferdia arose, and he placed his hand upon his
lord: "Arise now, O Ferdia!" said the servant, "for here they come
towards thee, even to the Ford;" and this was the speech of the driver
of the chariot of Ferdia as he stood before him:
Lo! a chariot yoked with silver, creaking loud, draws nigh;[FN#53]
O'er the chariot-wheels a man his perfect form rears high:
The warlike car
Rolls on from far
Braeg Ross, from Braina's bounds;
Past that burg they ride whose wooded side the roadway rounds;
For its triumphs high in triumph cry its song resounds.
[FN#53] For a literal translation of the above poem and another
rendering, see the notes.
Urged by hero-Hound, and yoked by charioteer's hand true,
Flies the war-car southward ever; nobler hawk ne'er flew
Than he who speeds
His rushing steeds,
That chief of stubborn might;
Soon the blood to flow from slaughtered foe shall meet his sight;
Sure for us 'tis ill, for soon with skill he gives us fight.
Woe to him who here on hillock stands, that Hound to wait;
Emain Macha's perfect Hound is he, foretold by fate:
Last year I cried
That him I spied
Who guards his land from foe:
That battle-Hound, on whom are found all hues to glow:
'Twas then from far I heard that car: its sound I know.
"O my servant!" said Ferdia, "wherefore is it: that thou hast continued
in thy praise of this man ever since the time that I left my tent?
surely it must be a reward that thou seekest at his hand, so greatly
dost thou extol him; yet Ailill and Maev have foretold that it is by me
he shall fall. Certain it is that for sake of the fee I shall gain he
shall be slain quickly; and 'tis full time that the relief that we wait
for should come." Thus then it was that in that place he spoke these
words, and thus did his servant reply:
Ferdia
'Tis time that I grant my assistance!
Be still: let thy praise of him sink:
Peer not, like a seer, at the distance;
Wilt fail me on battle-field's brink?
Though Cualgne's proud champion, displaying
His gambols and pride thou dost see;
Full soon shalt thou witness his slaying
For price to be paid down to me.
Servant
If he who this glory is showing
Be champion of Cualgne indeed;
'Tis not in retreat he is going;
To meet us he cometh with speed:
He comes, nor 'tis slowly he blunders,
Like wind his swift journey he makes;
As stream, from the cliff-top that thunders;
As bolt, from the storm-cloud that breaks.
Ferdia
'Tis pay at his hand thou hast taken,
So loudly resoundeth thy praise;
Else why, since our tent was forsaken,
Hast sung with such frequence thy lays?
Men, like thou, who, when foes are appearing,
Would to chant the foe's praises begin,
Will attack not, when battle is nearing,
But the name of base cowards shall win.
Now the charioteer of Ferdia was not long in that place before he saw a
marvellous sight; for before his eyes came the beautiful five-pointed,
four-peaked chariot, skilfully driven with swiftness and power. A
canopy of green overspread it; thin and well-seasoned was the body of
it; lofty and long were the spears that adorned it; well was it
fashioned for war. Under the yokes of that chariot sped forward with
great bounds two great-eared, savage, and prancing steeds; bellies had
they like whales, broad were their chests, and quick-panting their
hearts; their flanks were high, and their hoofs wide; their pasterns
fine, their loins broad, and their spirits untamable. The horse under
one of the yokes was grey, with a long mane and with broad hind
quarters; swiftly he galloped, and his leaps were great; the horse
beneath the other yoke was black, his mane was in tufts, his back was
broad, and eager was his pace. As a hawk, on a day when the wind
bloweth hard, darts up from the furrow; as the gusts of the wind in
spring sweep forward over a smooth plain upon a day in March; swift as
a going stag at the beginning of the chase, after he hath been roused
by the cry of the hounds; such was the pace of the two steeds that bore
forward Cuchulain and his chariot, touching upon the soil as rapidly as
if the stones that they trod on were hot with the fire, so that the
whole earth trembled and shook at the violence of their going. And
Cuchulain reached the ford, and Ferdia awaited him on the south side of
it, and Cuchulain halted his horses upon the north.
Then did Ferdia bid welcome to Cuchulain: "O Cuchulain!" said Ferdia, I
rejoice to see thine approach." "Thy welcome would have been received
by me upon an earlier day," said Cuchulain, "but this day I cannot
receive it as one from a friend. And Ferdia," said he, "it were more
suitable that it was I who bade welcome to thee rather than that thou
shouldest welcome me; for out in flight before thee are my women, and
my children; my youths, and my steeds, and my mares; my flocks, and my
herds, and my cattle." "Ah, Cuchulain!" said Ferdia, "how hast thou
been persuaded to come to this fight and this battle at all? For when
we were with Scathach, with Uathach, and with Aife, thou wert mine
attendant; thine was the office to whet my spears, and to make ready my
couch." "'Tis true indeed," said Cuchulain, "but it was then as thy
younger in years and in standing that it was my custom to perform this
office for thee; and that is not my quality to-day; for now there is
not in all the world any champion with whom I would refuse to fight."
And then each of them reproached the other bitterly with breach of
friendship, and there Ferdia spoke the words which here follow, and
thus did Cuchulain reply:
Ferdia
Hound! why hither faring,[FN#54]
Strife with strong ones daring?
As if home were flaring,
Woe shall come on thee!
Blood from out thee draining
Shall thy steeds be staining;
Thou, thy home if gaining,
Wounded sore shalt be.
[FN#54] The metre is that of the Irish.
Cuchulain
Hot with indignation,
Take I battle-station,
Face yon warrior nation,
Round their warlike king:
They shall see me meet thee,
Count the strifes that greet thee,
Watch, as down I beat thee,
Drowning, suffering.
Ferdia
Here is one to shame thee;
How 'twas I o'ercame thee,
They who champion name thee
Long the tale shall tell.
Ulster, near thee lying,
Soon shall see thee dying;
All shall say, with sighing,
Theirs the chief who fell.
Cuchulain
Thine shall be the choosing;
Say, what warfare using
Hosts shall see thee losing
At the Ford this fight?
Swords dost choose, hard-clashing
Cars, in conflict crashing?
Spears, thy life-blood splashing?
'Tis thy death in sight.
Ferdia
Ere the twilight gleameth,
Red thy life-blood streameth:
Small thy stature seemeth,
Like a cliff thy foe.
Ulster's hosts who prated,
And thy pride inflated;
Through them feel thy hated
Spectre sadly go.
Cuchulain
Down a chasm appalling
Thou to death art falling;
One thy foe: yet galling
Weapons press thee sore.
Proud thou wert but lately,
Strife shall change thee greatly,
Thee as champion stately
Earth shall know no more.
Ferdia
Cease this endless vaunting,
Speech for ever flaunting,
Thou a chief! a taunting,
Giggling child thou art.
None would pay, or fee thee,
I as coward see thee;
Strength hast none to free thee,
Caged bird! quaking heart!
Cuchulain
Ah! in bygone story
We, as peers in glory,
Sports and combats gory
Shared when Scaha taught:
Thou, of all who nearest
To my soul appearest!
Clansman! kinsman dearest!
Woe thy fate hath brought!
Ferdia
Naught this strife avails thee,
Glory fades, and fails thee;
Cock-crow loudly hails thee,
High on stake thy head!
Cualgne's[FN#55] Hound, Cuchulain!
Faults thy soul bear rule in:
Thee to bitter schooling
Frantic grief hath led.
[FN#55] Pronounced Kell-ny.
"O my friend Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "it was not right for thee to
have come to the combat and the fight with me, at the instigation and
the meddling of Ailill and Maev: none of those who came before thee
have gained for themselves victory or success, and they all fell at my
hand; neither shalt thou win victory or success from this battle, by me
shalt thou fall." And it was in this manner that he was speaking, and
he recited these words, and Ferdia hearkened to him:
Come not near, thou powerful man![FN#56]
O Ferdia mac Daman:
Worst of woe on thee is hurled,
Though thy fate shall grieve the world.
[FN#56] The metre is that of the Irish.
Come not near, nor right forget
In my hand thy fate is set:
Those recall, whom late I fought,
Hath their fall no wisdom taught?
Thou for gifts wert passed in sale,
Purple sash, firm coat of mail;
Never maid, O Daman's son!
In this war of thine is won.
Findabar, Maev's lovely child,
With her form thy sense beguiled:
Brightly though her beauty glows,
She no love on thee bestows.
Wouldst thou win the prize they bring,
Findabar, the child of king?
Many ere now that maid could cheat
Here, like thee, their wounds to meet.
Thou hast sworn, and plighted. troth,
Ne'er to fight me: keep thine oath:
Friendship's tie thee firm should hold,
Come not nigh me, champion bold.
Fifty chiefs, who sought that maid,
Fought me, fell, in earth are laid;
Well I know that tempting bait,
All have found, and earned their fate.
Ferbay fell, though bold his boast,
Him obeyed a valiant host;
Quickly here his rage I stilled;
Cast my spear but once, and killed.
Cruel fate Srub Darry slew,
Tales of hundred dames he knew;
Great his fame in days of yore;
Silver none, 'twas gold he wore.
Though that maid, whom Erin's best
Hope to gain, my heart would charm;
South and north, and east and west
I would keep thee safe from harm.
"And, O my friend Ferdia!" said Cuchulain "this is the cause why it was
not thy part to come here to the combat and the fight with me. It is
because that when with Scathach, with Uathach, and with Aife we abode,
it was the custom with us that together we should go to every battle,
and to every field of battle; to every fight and to every skirmish; to
every forest and to all wildernesses; to all things dark and
difficult." These were the words of his speech, and it was in that
place that he recited these staves:
Tuned our hearts were beating,
We, where chiefs were meeting,
Brotherly went: when slumbering
One was our couch: we sought
Fierce fights, and fought.
Oft in woods that are far away
Joined we stood in our skilful play;
Scathach our feats had taught.
And Ferdia replied to him thus:
O Cuchulain! for beautiful feats renowned,
Though together we learned our skill;
Though thou tellest of friendship that once we found,
From me shall come first thine ill;
Ah, recall not the time of our friendship's day:
It shall profit thee nothing, O Hound, I say.
"For too long now have we thus waited," said Ferdia; "tell me now O
Cuchulain! to what weapons shall we resort?" "Thou hast the choice of
the weapons till the night," said Cuchulain, "because thou wert the
first to reach the Ford." "Hast thou any remembrance," said Ferdia,
"of the weapons for casting, that we were accustomed to practise the
use of when we were with Scathach, with Uathach, and with Aife?" "I do
indeed remember them," said Cuchulain." "If thou rememberest them, let
us resort to them now," said Ferdia. Then they resorted to their
weapons used for the casting. They took up two shields for defence,
with devices emblazoned upon them, and their eight shields with sharp
edges such that they could hurl, and their eight javelins, and their
eight ivory-hilted dirks, and their eight little darts for the fight.
To and fro from one to the other, like bees upon a sunny day, flew the
weapons, and there was no cast that they threw that did not hit. Each
of them then continued to shoot at the other with their weapons for
casting, from the dawn of the morning to the full middle of the day,
until all of their weapons had been blunted against the faces and the
bosses of their shields; and although their casting was most excellent,
yet so good was the defence that neither of them wounded the other nor
drew the other's blood during all that time. "Cease now from these
feats, O Cuchulain!" said Ferdia, "for it is not by means of these that
the struggle between us shall come." "Let us cease indeed," said
Cuchulain, "if the time for ceasing hath arrived." And they ceased
from their casting, and they threw the weapons they had used for it
into the hands of their charioteers.
"To what weapons shall we next resort, O Cuchulain?" said Ferdia.
"Thou hast the choice of weapons until the night," said Cuchulain,
"because thou wert the first to reach the Ford." "Then," said Ferdia,
"let us turn to our straight, well-trimmed, hard, and polished
casting-spears with tough cords of flax upon them." "Let us do so
indeed," said Cuchulain. Then they took two stout shields of defence,
and they turned to their straight, well-trimmed, hard, and polished
casting-spears with the tough cords of flax upon them, and each of them
continued to hurl his spears at the other from the middle of midday
until the ninth hour of the evening: and though the defence was most
excellent that each of them made, yet so good was the casting of the
spears that each of them wounded the other at that time, and drew red
blood from him. "Let us desist from this now, O Cuchulain!" said
Ferdia. "Let us desist indeed," said Cuchulain, "if the time has come."