hands; and each of them at the end of that fight sought the other, and
each threw his arms about the other's neck, and gave him three kisses.
Their horses were in the same paddock that night, the men who had
driven their chariots sat by the same fire, moreover the charioteers of
both those warriors spread couches of fresh rushes for the two, and
supplied them with such pillows as are needed by wounded men. And such
folk as can heal and cure came to heal and to cure them, and they
applied soothing and salving herbs and plants to their bruises, and
their cuts, and their gashes, and to all their many wounds. And of
every soothing and salving herb and plant that was brought for the
bruises, the cuts, and the gashes, and all the wounds of Cuchulain, he
used to send an equal portion westward across the ford to Ferdia, so
that in case Ferdia fell at his hand the men of Ireland should not be
able to say that it was owing to superiority in leech-craft that he had
done it. And of each kind of food, and of pleasant, palatable,
intoxicating drink that the men of Ireland brought to Ferdia, he would
send a fair half northward across the ford to Cuchulain; for the men
who provided food for Ferdia were more in number than they who provided
food for Cuchulain. All the army of the men of Ireland helped to
provide Ferdia with food, because he was their champion to defend them
against Cuchulain; yet to Cuchulain also food was brought by the people
who dwell in the Breg. And it was the custom with these that they came
to converse with him at the dusk of each night.
Thus they remained that night, but early in the morning they arose, and
repaired to the Ford of Combat. "What weapons shall we turn to to-day,
O Ferdia?" said Cuchulain. "Thou hast the choice of weapons until the
night," answered Ferdia, "because it is I who had my choice of them in
the day that is past." "Let us then," said Cuchulain, "resort to our
great, broad-bladed, heavy spears this day, for nearer shall we be to
our battle by the thrusting of our spears this day than we were by the
throwing weapons of yesterday: let our horses be harnessed for us, and
our chariots yoked, that upon this day from our chariots and our horses
we may fight." "Let us turn to these indeed," said Ferdia. They then
took to them two exceedingly stout, broad shields, and they resorted to
their great, broad-bladed, heavy spears that day. And each of them
continued to thrust at, and to pierce through, and to redden, and to
tear the body of the other from the dawn of the morning until the ninth
hour of the evening; and if it were the custom for birds in their
flight to pass through the bodies of men, they could have passed
through the bodies of those warriors that day, carrying with them
pieces of their flesh from their wounds into the clouds and to the sky
around them. So when the ninth hour of the evening was come, the
horses were weary, and the charioteers were weak; and they themselves,
champions and heroes of valour as they were, had themselves become
weary; and "Let us cease now from this, O Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "for
our horses are weary, and our charioteers are weak; and now that these
are weary, why should not we be weary too?" and then it was that he
sang this stave:
Not like Fomorians, men of the sea,
Stubborn, unending our struggle should be;
Now that the clamour of combat must cease,
Quarrels forget, and between us be peace.
Let us cease now indeed," said Ferdia, "if the time for it hath come."
They ceased, and they threw away their weapons into their charioteers'
hands, and each of them at the end of that fight sought the other, and
each threw his arms about the other's neck, and gave him three kisses.
Their horses were in the same paddock that night, the men who had
driven their chariots sat by the same fire, moreover the charioteers of
both those warriors spread couches of fresh rushes for the two, and
supplied them with such pillows as are needed by wounded men. And such
folk as can heal and cure came to examine into their wounds and to tend
them that night, for they could do nothing more for them, so severe and
so deadly were the stabs and the thrusts, and the gashes of the many
wounds that they had, than to apply to them spells and incantations and
charms, in order to staunch their blood, and their bleeding mortal
wounds. And for every spell and incantation and charm that was applied
to the stabs and the wounds of Cuchulain, he sent a full half westward
across the ford to Ferdia; and of each kind of food, and of pleasant,
palatable, intoxicating drink that the men of Ireland brought to
Ferdia, he sent a half across the ford to Cuchulain, in the north. For
the men who brought food to Ferdia were more in number than they who
brought food to Cuchulain, for all the army of the men of Ireland
helped to provide Ferdia with food, because he was their champion to
defend them against Cuchulain; yet to Cuchulain also food was brought
by the people who dwell in the Breg. And it was the custom with these
that they came to converse with him at the dusk of each night.
Thus they rested that night: but early in the morning they arose, and
repaired to the Ford of Combat; and Cuchulain saw that an evil look and
a lowering cloud was on the face of Ferdia that day. "Ill dost thou
appear to me to-day, O Ferdia!" said Cuchulain. "Thy hair hath been
darkened to-day, and thine eye hath been dimmed, and the form and the
features and the visage that thou art wont to have are gone from thee."
"'Tis from no fear or from terror of thee that I am what I am to-day,"
said Ferdia, "for there is not in Ireland to-day a champion that I am
not able to subdue." And Cuchulain complained and lamented, and he
spoke the words that follow, and thus did Ferdia reply:
Cuchulain
Is't indeed Ferdia's face?[FN#57]
Sure his meed is dire disgrace;
He, to war by woman led,
Comes his comrade's blood to shed.
[FN#57] The metre is that of the Irish.
Ferdia
Thou who warrior art indeed,
Champion tried! who wounds dost breed,
I am forced the sod to see
Where my final grave shall be.
Cuchulain
Maev her daughter, Findabar,
Who all maids excelleth far,
Gave thee, not at love's behest,
She thy kingly might would test.
Ferdia
Gently ruling Hound, I know
That was tested long ago;
None so great is known to fame,
None, till now, to match it came.
Cuchulain
All that's chanced from thee hath sprung,
Darry's grandchild, Daman's son;
Woman's hest hath brought thee here
Swords to test with comrade dear.
Ferdia
Comrade! had I fled, nor found
Fight with thee, fair graceful Hound,
Maev my word could broken call;
Croghan hold my fame but small.
Cuchulain
None put meat his lips between,
None to king or stainless queen
Yet was born, whose praise I'd gain,
None whose scorn would win thy pain.
Ferdia
Thou who deep in wars dost wade,
'Twas not thou, 'twas Maev betrayed:
Back with conquest shalt thou ride,
Fault hast none thy fame to hide.
Cuchulain
Clots of blood my faithful heart
Choke; my soul is like to part:
'Tis with little force my arm
Strikes, to do Ferdia harm!
"Greatly although thou makest complaint against me to-day," said
Ferdia, "tell me to what arms shall we resort?" Thine is the choice of
weapons until the night," said Cuchulain, "because it was I who had the
choice in the day that is past." "Then," said Ferdia, "let us this day
take to our heavy hard-smiting swords; for sooner shall we attain to
the end of our strife by the edge of the sword this day than we did by
the thrusts of our spears in the day that is gone." "Let us do so
indeed," said Cuchulain. That day they took upon them two long and
exceedingly great shields, and they resorted to their heavy and
hard-striking swords. And each of them began to hew, and to cut, and
to slaughter, and to destroy till larger than the head of a month-old
child were the masses and the gobbets of flesh which each of them cut
from the shoulders and the thighs and the shoulder-blades of his foe.
After this fashion did each of them hew at each other from the dawn of
the day until the ninth hour of the even, and then Ferdia said, "Let us
desist from this now, O Cuchulain!" "Let us cease indeed," said
Cuchulain, "if the time has come."
They ceased from their strife, and they threw from them their arms into
the hands of their charioteers. Pleasant and cheerful and joyous was
the meeting of the two: mournfully, and sorrowfully, and unhappily did
they part from each other that night. Their horses were not in the
same paddock, their charioteers were not at the same fire, and there
they stayed for that night.
It was early in the morning when Ferdia arose, and he advanced alone
towards the Ford of Combat. Well did he know that the battle and the
conflict would be decided that day; that upon that day and in that
place one of the two would fall or that both would fall. And then,
before Cuchulain could come, Ferdia put on the armour that he was to
use for that battle in the conflict and fight. And this was the battle
armour that he used for that conflict and fight; he put a kilt of
striped silk, bordered with spangles of gold, next to his white skin,
and over that he put his well-sewn apron of brown leather to protect
the lower part of his body. Upon his belly he put a great stone as
large as a millstone, and over that great stone as large as a millstone
he put his firm deep apron of purified iron, on account of the fear and
the dread that he had of the Gae-Bulg that day. And his crested helmet
that he used for battle and conflict and fight he put upon his head:
there were upon it four jewels of carbuncle, each one of them fit to
adorn it: also it was studded with enamels, with crystals, with
carbuncles, and with blazing rubies that had come from the East. Into
his right hand he took his death-dealing sharp-pointed strong spear;
upon his left side he hung his curved sword of battle with its golden
hilt and its pommels of red gold: upon the slope of his back he took
his great and magnificent shield with great bosses upon it: fifty was
the number of the bosses, and upon each of them could be supported a
full-grown hog: moreover in the centre of the shield was a great boss
of red gold. Upon that day Ferdia displayed many noble, rapidly
changing, wonderful feats of arms on high; feats which he had never
learned from any other, either from his nurse or his tutor, or from
Scathach, or from Uathach, or from Aife, but which he himself invented
that day for his battle with Cuchulain. And Cuchulain approached the
ford, and he saw the many, rapidly changing, wonderful feats that
Ferdia displayed on high; and "O my friend Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "I
mark those noble, rapidly changing, wonderful feats which Ferdia
displays, and I know that all of those feats will in turn be tried upon
me; and for this reason if it be I who begin to go backwards this day,
let it be thy part to rouse me by reproaches, and by evil speech, so
that my rage and my wrath may be kindled, and increase. And if it be I
that shall prevail, then do thou give to me praise and approval; and
speak good words tome, that my courage may be the greater." "This
indeed will I do, O Cuchulain!" said Laeg.
Then did Cuchulain put on his battle armour that he used for the combat
and fight. And that day he displayed noble, many-changing, wonderful,
and many feats that he had learned from none: neither from Scathach,
from Uathach, or from Aife. And Ferdia marked those feats, and he know
that each in turn would be tried upon him.
"O Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "tell me to what arms we shall resort?
"Thine is the choice of weapons until the night," said Ferdia. "Then,"
said Cuchulain, "let us try the Feat of the Ford."[FN#58] "Let us do
so indeed," said Ferdia; but although he thus spoke, it was with sorrow
that he consented, for he knew that Cuchulain had ever destroyed every
hero and champion who had contended with him at the Feat of the Ford.
[FN#58] i.e. in which all weapons were allowed.
Mighty were the deeds that were done upon that day at the ford by those
two heroes, the champions of the west of Europe; by those two hands
which in the north-west of the world were those that best bestowed
bounty, and pay, and reward; those twin loved pillars of valour of the
Gael; those two keys of the bravery of the Gaels, brought to fight from
afar, owing to the urging and the intermeddling of Ailill and Maev.
From the dawn till the middle of the day, each began to shoot at the
other with his massive weapons; and when midday had come, the wrath of
the two men became more furious, and each drew nearer to the other.
And then upon a time Cuchulain sprang from the shore of the ford, and
he lit upon the boss of the shield of Ferdia the son of Daman, the son
of Dare, to strike at his head from above, over the rim of his shield.
And then it was that Ferdia gave the shield a blow of his left elbow,
and he cast Cuchulain from him like a bird, till he came down again,
upon the shore of the ford. And again Cuchulain sprang from the shore
of the ford, till he lit upon the boss of the shield of Ferdia the son
of Daman, the son of Dare, to strike his head from above, over the rim
of the shield. And Ferdia, gave the shield a stroke of his left knee,
and he cast Cuchulain from him like a little child, till he came down
on the shore of the ford.
Laeg saw what had been done. "Ah!" said Laeg, "the warrior who is
against thee, casts thee away as a loose woman casts her child; he
flings thee as high as the river flings its foam; he grinds thee even
as a mill would grind fresh malt; pierces thee as the axe would pierce
the oak that it fells; binds thee as the woodbine binds the tree; darts
upon thee even as the hawk darts upon little birds, so that never until
time and life shall end, shalt thou have a call, or right, or claim for
prowess or for valour: thou little fairy phantom!" said Laeg. Up
sprang Cuchulain, swift as the wind; quick as the swallow; fiery as the
dragon; powerful as the lion; and he bounded into the air for the third
time into the troubled clouds of it, until he lit upon the boss of the
shield of Ferdia, the son of Daman, striving to strike his head from
above, over the rim of the shield. And the warrior shook his shield,
and he threw Cuchulain from him, into the middle of the ford, just as
if he had never been cast off at all.
And then for the first time the countenance of Cuchulain was changed,
and he rose in his full might, as if the air had entered into him, till
he towered as a terrible and wonderful giant, with the hero-light
playing about his head; rising as a wild man of the sea; that great and
valiant champion, till he overtopped Ferdia. And now so closely were
they locked in the fight, that their heads met above them, and their
feet below them; and in their middles met their arms over the rims and
the bosses of their shields. So closely were they locked in the fight,
that they turned and bent, and shivered their spears from the points to
the hafts; and cleft and loosened their shields from the centres to the
rims. So closely were they locked, that the Bocanachs, and the
Bananachs, and the wild people of the glens, and the demons of the air
screamed from the rims of their shields, and from the hilts of their
swords, and from the hafts of their spears. And so closely did they
fight, that they cast the river from its bed and its course, so that
there might have been a couch fit for a king and a queen to he in,
there in the midst of the ford, for there was no drop of water left in
it, except such as fell therein from off those two heroes and
champions, as they trampled and hewed at each other in the midst of the
ford. And so fierce was their fight, that the horses of the Gaels, in
fear and in terror, rushed away wildly and madly, bursting their
chains, and their yokes, and their tethers, and their traces; and the
women, and the common folk, and the followers of the camp, fled
south-westwards out of the camp.
All this time they fought with the edges of their swords. And then it
was that Ferdia found Cuchulain for a moment off his guard, and he
struck him with the straight edge of his sword, so that it sank into
his body, till the blood streamed to his girdle, and the soil of the
ford was crimson with the blood that fell from the body of that warrior
so valiant in fight. And Cuchulain's endurance was at an end, for
Ferdia continually struck at him, not attempting to guard, and his
downright blows, and quick thrusts, and crushing strokes fell
constantly upon him, till Cuchulain demanded of Laeg the son of
Riangabra to deliver to him the Gae-Bulg. Now the manner of using the
Gae-Bulg was this: it was set with its end pointing down a stream, and
was cast from beneath the toes of the foot: it made the wound of one
spear on entering a person's body; but it had thirty barbs to open
behind, and it could not be drawn out from a man's body until he was
cut open. And when Ferdia heard mention of the Gae-Bulg, he made a
stroke of his shield downwards to guard the lower part of his body.
And Cuchulain thrust his unerring thorny spear off the centre of his
palm over the rim of the shield, and through his breast covered by
horny defensive plates of armour, so that its further half was visible
behind him after piercing the heart in his chest. Ferdia gave an
upward stroke of his shield to guard the upper part of his body, though
too late came that help, when the danger was past. And the servant set
the Gae-Bulg down the stream, and Cuchulain caught it between the toes
of his foot, and he threw it with an unerring cast against Ferdia, and
it broke through the firm deep apron of wrought iron, and it burst the
great stone that was as large as a millstone into three parts, and it
passed through the protection of his body into him, so that every
crevice and cavity in him was filled with its barbs. "'Tis enough
now," said Ferdia. "I have my death of that; and I have but breath
enough to say that thou hast done an ill deed against me. It was not
right that thy hand should be that by which I should fall." And thus
did he cry, as he gasped out these words:
Hound, of feats so fair![FN#59]
Death from thee is ill:
Thou the blame must bear,
Thou my blood dost spill.
Help no wretch hath found
Down this chasm of woe:
Sick mine accents sound,
As a ghost, I go.
Torn my ribs, and burst,
Gore my heart hath filled:
This of fights is worst,
Hound! thou hast me killed.
[FN#59] The metre is that of the Irish.
And after those words, Cuchulain ran towards him, and with his arms and
armour about him, carried him northwards across the ford, in order that
the slain man might be on the north side of the ford, and not upon the
western side together with the men of Erin. Then Cuchulain laid Ferdia
down, and there it was that a trance and a faint and a weakness came
upon Cuchulain when he saw the body of Ferdia, Laeg saw his weakness,
and the men of Ireland all arose to come upon him. "Rise up now, O
Cuchulain!" said Laeg, "for the men of Erin are coming towards us, and
no single combat will they give to us, since Ferdia the son of Daman,
the son of Dare, has fallen by thy hand."
"How shall I be the better for arising, O my servant!" said he, "now
that he who lieth here hath fallen by me?" And it was in this manner
that his servant spoke to him, and he recited these words, and thus did
Cuchulain reply:
Laeg
Now arise, Battle-Hound of Emania!
It is joy and not grief should be sought;
For the leader of armies, Ferdia,
Thou hast slain, and hard battle hast fought.
Cuchulain
What availeth me triumph or boasting?
For, frantic with grief for my deed,
I am driven to mourn for that body
That my sword made so sorely to bleed.
Laeg
'Tis not thou shouldst lament for his dying,
Rejoicing should spring to thy tongue;
For in malice, sharp javelins, flying
For thy wounding and bleeding he flung.
Cuchulain
I would mourn, if my leg he had severed,
Had he hewn through this arm that remains,
That he mounts not his steeds; and for ever
In life, immortality gains.
Laeg
To the dames of Red Branch thou art giving
More pleasure that thus he should fall:
They will mourn for him dead, for thee living,
Nor shall count of thy victims be small.
Great Queen Maev thou hast chased, and hast fought her
Since the day when first Cualgne was left;
She shall mourn for her folk, and their slaughter,
By thy hand of her champions bereft.
Neither sleep nor repose hast thou taken,
But thy herd, her great plunder, hast chased,
Though by all but a remnant forsaken,
Oft at dawn to the fight thou didst haste.
Now it was in that place that Cuchulain commenced his lament and his
moan for Ferdia, and thus it was that he spoke:
"O my friend Ferdia! unhappy was it for thee that thou didst make no
inquiry from any of the heroes who knew of the valorous deeds I had
done before thou camest to meet me in that battle that was too hard for
thee! Unhappy was it for thee that thou didst not inquire from Laeg,
the son of Riangabra[FN#60] about what was due from thee to a comrade.
Unhappy was it for thee that thou didst not ask for the honest and
sincere counsel of Fergus. Unhappy it was for thee that thou hast not
sought counsel from the comely, the fresh-coloured, the cheery, the
victorious Conall about what was due from thee to a comrade. Well do
these men know, that never, till life and time come to an end, shall be
born in the land of Connaught one who shall do deeds equal to those
which have been done by thee. And if thou hadst made inquiry from these
men concerning the habitations, the gatherings, the promises, and the
broken faith of the fair-haired ladies of Connaught; hadst thou asked
them concerning spear-play and sword-play; concerning skill in
backgammon and chess; concerning feats with horses, and chariots of
war; they would have said that never had been found the arm of a
champion who could wound a hero's flesh like the arm of Ferdia; he
whose colour matched the tints of the clouds: none who like thee could
excite the croak of the bloody-mouthed vulture, as she calls her
friends to the feast of the many-coloured flocks; none who shall fight
for Croghan or be the equal of thee to the end of life and time, O thou
ruddy-cheeked son of Daman!" said Cuchulain. And then Cuchulain stood
over Ferdia. "Ah! Ferdia," said Cuchulain, "great was the treachery
and desertion that the men of Ireland had wrought upon thee, when they
brought thee to combat and fight with me. For it was no light matter
to combat and fight with me on the occasion of the Tain bo Cuailnge."
And thus it was that he spoke, and he then recited these words:
[FN#60] Pronounced Reen-gabra.
'Twas guile to woe that brought thee;
'Tis I that moan thy fate;
For aye thy doom hath caught thee,
And here, alone, I wait.
To Scathach, glorious mother,
Our words, when boys, we passed;
No harm for each from other
Should come while time should last.
Alas! I loved thee dearly,
Thy speech; thy ruddy face;
Thy gray-blue eyes, so clearly
That shone; thy faultless grace.
In wrath for strife advances
No chief; none shield can rear
To piercing storm of lances
Of Daman's son the peer.
Since he whom Aife[FN#61] bore me
By me was slain in fight,
No champion stood before me
Who matched Ferdia's might.
He came to fight, thus trusting
Might Findabar be won;
Such hopes have madmen, thrusting
With spears at sand or sun.
[FN#61] Pronounced Eefa. See note on this line.
Still Cuchulain continued to gaze upon Ferdia. And now, O my friend
Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "strip for me the body of Ferdia, and take from
him his armour and his garments, that I may see the brooch for the sake
of which he undertook this combat and fight." Then Laeg arose, and he
stripped Ferdia; he took his armour and his garments from him, and
Cuchulain saw the brooch, and he began to lament and to mourn for him,
and he spake these words:
Ah! that brooch of gold![FN#62]
Bards Ferdia knew:
Valiantly on foes
With hard blows he flew.
Curling golden hair,
Fair as gems it shone;
Leaflike sash, on side
Tied, till life had gone.
[FN#62] The metre and the rhyme-system is that of the Irish. See
notes, p. 196.
Comrade, dear esteemed!
Bright thy glances beamed:
Chess play thine, worth gold:
Gold from shield rim gleamed.
None of friend had deemed
Could such tale be told!
Cruel end it seemed:
Ah! that brooch of gold!
"And now, O my friend Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "open the body of Ferdia,
and take the Gae-Bulg out of him, for I cannot afford to be without my
weapon." Laeg came, and he opened Ferdia's body, and he drew the
Gae-Bulg out of him, and Cuchulain saw his weapon all bloody and red by
the side of Ferdia, and then he spake these words:
Ferdia, I mourn for thy dying,
Thou art pale, although purple with gore:
Unwashed is my weapon still lying,
And the blood-streams from out of thee pour.
Our friends in the East who have seen us,
When with Uathach and Scathach[FN#63] we dwelled,
Can bear witness, no quarrel between us
Or with words or with weapons was held.
Scathach came; and to conflict inciting
Were her accents that smote on mine ear;
"Go ye all, where a swift battle fighting,
German wields his green terrible spear!
To Ferdia, I flew with the story,
To the son of fair Baitan I sped,
And to Lugaid, whose gifts win him glory,
"Come ye all to fight German," I said.
[FN#63] Pronounced Ooha and Scaha.
Where the land by Loch Formay lies hollowed
Had we come, fit for fight was the place;
And beside us four hundred men followed;
From the Athisech Isles was their race.