There was a king in a land not far from Greece who had two daughters,
and the younger was fairer than the elder daughter.
This old king made a match between the king of Greece and his own elder
daughter; but he kept the younger one hidden away till after the
marriage. Then the younger daughter came forth to view; and when the
king of Greece saw her, he wouldn't look at his own wife. Nothing would
do him but to get the younger sister and leave the elder at home with
her father.
The king wouldn't listen to this, wouldn't agree to the change, so the
king of Greece left his wife where she was, went home alone in a
terrible rage and collected all his forces to march against the kingdom
of his father-in-law.
He soon conquered the king and his army and, so far as he was able, he
vexed and tormented him. To do this the more completely, he took from
him a rod of Druidic spells, enchantment, and ring of youth which he
had, and, striking the elder sister with the rod, he said: "You will be
a serpent of the sea and live outside there in the bay by the castle."
Then turning to the younger sister, whose name was Gil an Og, he struck
her, and said: "You'll be a cat while inside this castle, and have your
own form only when you are outside the walls."
After he had done this, the king of Greece went home to his own country,
taking with him the rod of enchantment and the ring of youth. The king
died in misery and grief, leaving his two daughters spellbound.
Now there was a Druid in that kingdom, and the younger sister went to
consult him, and asked: "Shall I ever be released from the enchantment
that's on me now?"
"You will not, unless you find the man to release you; and there is no
man in the world to do that but a champion who is now with Fin
MacCumhail in Erin."
"Well, how can I find that man?" asked she.
"I will tell you," said the Druid. "Do you make a shirt out of your own
hair, take it with you, and never stop till you land in Erin and find
Fin and his men; the man that the shirt will fit is the man who will
release you."
She began to make the shirt and worked without stopping till it was
finished. Then she went on her journey and never rested till she came to
Erin in a ship. She went on shore and inquired where Fin and his men
were to be found at that time of the year.
"You will find them at Knock an Ar," was the answer she got.
She went to Knock an Ar carrying the shirt with her. The first man she
met was Conan Maol, and she said to him: "I have come to find the man
this shirt will fit. From the time one man tries it all must try till I
see the man it fits."
The shirt went from hand to hand till Cuculin put it on. "Well," said
she, "it fits as your own skin."
Now Gil an Og told Cuculin all that had happened,--how her father had
forced her sister to marry the king of Greece, how this king had made
war on her father, enchanted her sister and herself, and carried off
the rod of enchantment with the ring of youth, and how the old Druid
said the man this shirt would fit was the only man in the world who
could release them.
Now Gil an Og and Cuculin went to the ship and sailed across the seas to
her country and went to her castle.
"You'll have no one but a cat for company to-night," said Gil an Og. "I
have the form of a cat inside this castle, but outside I have my own
appearance. Your dinner is ready, go in."
After the dinner Cuculin went to another room apart, and lay down to
rest after the journey. The cat came to his pillow, sat there and purred
till he fell asleep and slept soundly till morning.
When he rose up, a basin of water, and everything he needed was before
him, and his breakfast ready. He walked out after breakfast; Gil an Og
was on the green outside before him and said:
"If you are not willing to free my sister and myself, I shall not urge
you; but if you do free us, I shall be glad and thankful. Many king's
sons and champions before you have gone to recover the ring and the rod;
but they have never come back."
"Well, whether I thrive or not, I'll venture," said Cuculin.
"I will give you," said Gil an Og, "a present such as I have never given
before to any man who ventured out on my behalf; I will give you the
speckled boat."
Cuculin took leave of Gil an Og and sailed away in the speckled boat to
Greece, where he went to the king's court, and challenged him to combat.
The king of Greece gathered his forces and sent them out to chastise
Cuculin. He killed them all to the last man. Then Cuculin challenged
the king a second time.
"I have no one now to fight but myself," said the king; "and I don't
think it becomes me to go out and meet the like of you."
"If you don't come out to me," said Cuculin, "I'll go in to you and cut
the head off you in your own castle."
"That's enough of impudence from you, you scoundrel," said the king of
Greece. "I won't have you come into my castle, but I'll meet you on the
open plain."
The king went out, and they fought till Cuculin got the better of him,
bound him head and heels, and said: "I'll cut the head off you now
unless you give me the ring of youth and the rod of enchantment that you
took from the father of Gil an Og."
"Well, I did carry them away," said the king, "but it wouldn't be easy
for me now to give them to you or to her; for there was a man who came
and carried them away, who could take them from you and from me, and
from as many more of us, if they were here."
"Who was that man?" asked Cuculin.
"His name," said the king, "is Lug[12] Longhand. And if I had known what
you wanted, there would have been no difference between us. I'll tell
you how I lost the ring and rod and I'll go with you and show you where
Lug Longhand lives. But do you come to my castle. We'll have a good time
together."
[12] Pronounced "Loog."
They set out next day, and never stopped till they came opposite Lug
Longhand castle, and Cuculin challenged his forces to combat.
"I have no forces," said Lug, "but I'll fight you myself." So the
combat began, and they spent the whole day at one another, and neither
gained the victory.
The king of Greece himself put up a tent on the green in front of the
castle, and prepared everything necessary to eat and drink (there was no
one else to do it). After breakfast next day, Cuculin and Lug began
fighting again. The king of Greece looked on as the day before.
They fought the whole day till near evening, when Cuculin got the upper
hand of Lug Longhand and bound him head and heels, saying: "I'll cut the
head off you now unless you give me the rod and the ring that you
carried away from the king of Greece."
"Oh, then," said Lug, "it would be hard for me to give them to you or to
him; for forces came and took them from me; and they would have taken
them from you and from him, if you had been here."
"Who in the world took them from you?" asked the king of Greece.
"Release me from this bond, and come to my castle, and I'll tell you the
whole story," said Lug Longhand.
Cuculin released him, and they went to the castle. They got good
reception and entertainment from Lug that night, and the following
morning as well. He said: "The ring and the rod were taken from me by
the knight of the island of the Flood. This island is surrounded by a
chain, and there is a ring of fire seven miles wide between the chain
and the castle. No man can come near the island without breaking the
chain, and the moment the chain is broken the fire stops burning at that
place; and the instant the fire goes down the knight rushes out and
attacks and slays every man that's before him." The king of Greece,
Cuculin, and Lug Longhand now sailed on in the speckled boat towards the
island of the Flood. On the following morning when the speckled boat
struck the chain, she was thrown back three days' sail, and was near
being sunk, and would have gone to the bottom of the sea but for her own
goodness and strength.
As soon as Cuculin saw what had happened, he took the oars, rowed on
again, and drove the vessel forward with such venom that she cut through
the chain and went one third of her length on to dry land. That moment
the fire was quenched where the vessel struck, and when the knight of
the Island saw the fire go out, he rushed to the shore and met Cuculin,
the king of Greece, and Lug Longhand.
When Cuculin saw him, he threw aside his weapons, caught him, raised him
above his head, hurled him down on the flat of his back, bound him head
and heels, and said: "I'll cut the head off you unless you give me the
ring and the rod that you carried away from Lug Longhand."
"I took them from him, it's true," said the knight; "but it would be
hard for me to give them to you now; for a man came and took them from
me, who would have taken them from you and all that are with you, and as
many more if they had been here before him."
"Who in the world could that man be?" asked Cuculin.
"The Dark Gruagach of the Northern Island. Release me, and come to my
castle. I'll tell you all and entertain you well."
He took them to his castle, gave them good cheer, and told them all
about the Gruagach and his island. Next morning all sailed away in
Cuculin's vessel, which they had left at the shore of the island, and
never stopped till they came to the Gruagach's castle, and pitched their
tents in front of it.
Then Cuculin challenged the Gruagach. The others followed after to know
would he thrive. The Gruagach came out and faced Cuculin, and they began
and spent the whole day at one another and neither of them gained the
upper hand. When evening came, they stopped and prepared for supper and
the night.
Next day after breakfast Cuculin challenged the Gruagach again, and they
fought till evening; when Cuculin got the better in the struggle,
disarmed the Gruagach, bound him, and said: "Unless you give up the rod
of enchantment and the ring of youth that you took from the knight of
the island of the Flood, I'll cut the head off you now."
"I took them from him, 'tis true; but there was a man named
Thin-in-Iron, who took them from me, and he would have taken them from
you and from me, and all that are here, if there were twice as many. He
is such a man that sword cannot cut him, fire cannot burn him, water
cannot drown him, and 'tis no easy thing to get the better of him. But
if you'll free me now and come to my castle, I'll treat you well and
tell you all about him." Cuculin agreed to this.
Next morning they would not stop nor be satisfied till they went their
way. They found the castle of Thin-in-Iron, and Cuculin challenged him
to combat. They fought; and he was cutting the flesh from Cuculin, but
Cuculin's sword cut no flesh from him. They fought till Cuculin said:
"It is time now to stop till to-morrow."
Cuculin was scarcely able to reach the tent. They had to support him
and put him to bed. Now, who should come to Cuculin that night but Gil
an Og, and she said: "You have gone further than any man before you, and
I'll cure you now, and you need go no further for the rod of enchantment
and the ring of youth."
"Well," said Cuculin, "I'll never give over till I knock another day's
trial out of Thin-in-Iron."
When it was time for rest, Gil an Og went away, and Cuculin fell asleep
for himself. On the following morning all his comrades were up and
facing his tent. They thought to see him dead, but he was in as good
health as ever.
They prepared breakfast, and after breakfast Cuculin went before the
door of the castle to challenge his enemy.
Thin-in-Iron thrust his head out and said: "That man I fought yesterday
has come again to-day. It would have been a good deed if I had cut the
head off him last night. Then he wouldn't be here to trouble me this
morning. I won't come home this day till I bring his head with me. Then
I'll have peace."
They met in combat and fought till the night was coming. Then
Thin-in-Iron cried out for a cessation, and if he did, Cuculin was glad
to give it; for his sword had no effect upon Thin-in-Iron except to tire
and nearly kill him (he was enchanted and no arms could cut him). When
Thin-in-Iron went to his castle, he threw up three sups of blood, and
said to his housekeeper: "Though his sword could not penetrate me, he
has nearly broken my heart."
Cuculin had to be carried to his tent. His comrades laid him on his bed
and said: "Whoever came and healed him yesterday, may be the same will
be here to-night." They went away and were not long gone when Gil an Og
came and said: "Cuculin, if you had done my bidding, you wouldn't be as
you are to-night. But if you neglect my words now, you'll never see my
face again. I'll cure you this time and make you as well as ever;" and
whatever virtue she had she healed him so he was as strong as before.
"Oh, then," said Cuculin, "whatever comes on me I'll never turn back
till I knock another day's trial out of Thin-in-Iron."
"Well," said she, "you are a stronger man than he, but there is no good
in working at him with a sword. Throw your sword aside to-morrow, and
you'll get the better of him and bind him. You'll not see me again."
She went away and he fell asleep. His comrades came in the morning and
found him sleeping. They got breakfast, and, after eating, Cuculin went
out and called a challenge.
"Oh, 'tis the same man as yesterday," said Thin-in-Iron, "and if I had
cut the head off him then, it wouldn't be he that would trouble me
to-day. If I live for it, I'll bring his head in my hand to-night, and
he'll never disturb me again."
When Cuculin saw Thin-in-Iron coming, he threw his sword aside, and
facing him, caught him by the body, raised him up, then dashed him to
the ground, and said, "If you don't give me what I want, I'll cut the
head off you."
"What do you want of me?" asked Thin-in-Iron.
"I want the rod of enchantment and the ring of youth you carried from
the Gruagach."
"I did indeed carry them from him, but it would be no easy thing for me
to give them to you or any other man; for a force came which took them
from me."
"What could take them from you?" asked Cuculin.
"The queen of the Wilderness, an old hag that has them now. But release
me from this bondage and I'll take you to my castle and entertain you
well, and I'll go with you and the rest of the company to see how will
you thrive."
So he took Cuculin and his friends to the castle and entertained them
joyously, and he said: "The old hag, the queen of the Wilderness, lives
in a round tower, which is always turning on wheels. There is but one
entrance to the tower, and that high above the ground, and in the one
chamber in which she lives, keeping the ring and the rod, is a chair,
and she has but to sit on the chair and wish herself in any part of the
world, and that moment she is there. She has six lines of guards
protecting her tower, and if you pass all of these, you'll do what no
man before you has done to this day. The first guards are two lions that
rush out to know which of them will get the first bite out of the throat
of any one that tries to pass. The second are seven men with iron
hurlies and an iron ball, and with their hurlies they wallop the life
out of any man that goes their way. The third is Hung-up-Naked, who
hangs on a tree with his toes to the earth, his head cut from his
shoulders and lying on the ground, and who kills every man who comes
near him. The fourth is the bull of the Mist that darkens the woods for
seven miles around, and destroys everything that enters the Mist. The
fifth are seven cats with poison tails; and one drop of their poison
would kill the strongest man."
Next morning all went with Cuculin as far as the lions who guarded the
queen of the Wilderness, an old hag made young by the ring of youth.
The two lions ran at Cuculin to see which would have the first bite out
of him.
Cuculin wore a red silk scarf around his neck and had a fine head of
hair. He cut the hair off his head and wound it around one hand, took
his scarf and wrapped it around the other. Then rushing at the lions, he
thrust a hand down the throat of each lion (for lions can bite neither
silk nor hair). He pulled the livers and lights out of the two and they
fell dead before him. His comrades looking on, said: "You'll thrive now
since you have done this deed;" and they left him and went home, each to
his own country.
Cuculin went further. The next people he met were the seven men with the
iron hurlies (ball clubs), and they said; "'Tis long since any man
walked this way to us; we'll have sport now."
The first one said: "Give him a touch of the hurly and let the others do
the same; and we'll wallop him till he is dead."
Now Cuculin drew his sword and cut the head off the first man before he
could make an offer of the hurly at him; and then he did the same to the
other six.
He went on his way till he came to Hung-up-Naked, who was hanging from a
tree, his head on the ground near him. The queen of the Wilderness had
fastened him to the tree because he wouldn't marry her; and she said:
"If any man comes who will put your head on you, you'll be free." And
she laid the injunction on him to kill every man who tried to pass his
way without putting the head on him.
Cuculin went up, looked at him, and saw heaps of bones around the tree.
The body said: "You can't go by here. I fight with every man who tries
to pass."
"Well, I'm not going to fight with a man unless he has a head on him.
Take your head." And Cuculin, picking up the head, clapped it on the
body, and said, "Now I'll fight with you!"
The man said: "I'm all right now. I know where you are going. I'll stay
here till you come; if you conquer you'll not forget me. Take the head
off me now; put it where you found it; and if you succeed, remember that
I shall be here before you on your way home."
Cuculin went on, but soon met the bull of the Mist that covered seven
miles of the wood with thick mist. When the bull saw him, he made at him
and stuck a horn in his ribs and threw him three miles into the wood,
against a great oak tree and broke three ribs in his side.
"Well," said Cuculin, when he recovered, "if I get another throw like
that, I'll not be good for much exercise." He was barely on his feet
when the bull was at him again; but when he came up he caught the bull
by both horns and away they went wrestling and struggling. For three
days and nights Cuculin kept the bull in play, till the morning of the
fourth day, when he put him on the flat of his back. Then he turned him
on the side, and putting a foot on one horn and taking the other in his
two hands, he said: "'Tis well I earned you; there is not a stitch on me
that isn't torn to rags from wrestling with you." He pulled the bull
asunder from his horns to his tail, into two equal parts, and said: "Now
that I have you in two, it's in quarters I'll put you." He took his
sword, and when he struck the backbone of the bull, the sword remained
in the bone and he couldn't pull it out.
He walked away and stood awhile and looked. "'Tis hard to say," said he,
"that any good champion would leave his sword behind him." So he went
back and made another pull and took the hilt off his sword, leaving the
blade in the back of the bull. Then he went away tattered and torn, the
hilt in his hand, and he turned up towards the forge of the Strong
Smith. One of the Smith's boys was out for coal at the time: he saw
Cuculin coming with the hilt in his hand, and ran in, saying: "There is
a man coming up and he looks like a fool; we'll have fun!"
"Hold your tongue!" said the master. "Have you heard any account of the
bull of the Mist these three days?"
"We have not," said the boys.
"Perhaps," said the Strong Smith, "that's a good champion that's coming,
and do you mind yourselves."
At that moment Cuculin walked in to the forge where twelve boys and the
master were working. He saluted them and asked, "Can you put a blade in
this hilt?"
"We can," said the master. They put in the blade. Cuculin raised the
sword and took a shake out of it and broke it to bits.
"This is a rotten blade," said he. "Go at it again."
They made a second blade. The boys were in dread of him now. He broke
the second blade in the same way as the first. They made six blades, one
stronger than the other. He did the same to them all. "There is no use
in talking," said the Strong Smith; "we have no stuff that would make a
right blade for you. Go down now," said he to two of the boys, "and
bring up an old sword that's down in the stable full of rust."
They went and brought up the sword on two hand-spikes between them; it
was so heavy that one couldn't carry it. They gave it to Cuculin, and
with one blow on his heel he knocked the dust from it and went out at
the door and took a shake out of it; and if he did, he darkened the
whole place with the rust from the blade.
"This is my sword, whoever made it," said he.
"It is," said the master; "it's yours and welcome. I know who you are
now, and where you are going. Remember that I'm in bondage here." The
Strong Smith took Cuculin then to his house, gave him refreshment and
clothes for the journey. When he was ready, the Smith said: "I hope
you'll thrive. You have done a deal more than any man that ever walked
this way before. There is nothing now to stand in your way till you come
to the seven cats outside the turning tower. If they shake their tails
and a drop of poison comes on you, it will penetrate to your heart. You
must sweep off their tails with your sword. 'Tis equal to you what their
bodies will do after that."
Cuculin soon came to them and there wasn't one of the seven cats he
didn't strip of her tail before she knew he was in it. He cared nothing
for the bodies so he had the tails. The cats ran away.
Now he faced the tower turning on wheels. The queen of the Wilderness
was in it. He had been told by Thin-in-Iron that he must cut the axle.
He found the axle, cut it, and the tower stopped that instant. Cuculin
made a spring and went in through the single passage.
The old hag was preparing to sit on the chair as she saw him coming. He
sprang forward, pushed the chair away with one hand, and, catching her
by the back of the neck with the other, said: "You are to lose your head
now, old woman!"
"Spare me, and what you want you'll get," said she. "I have the ring of
youth and the rod of enchantment," and she gave them to him. He put the
ring on his finger, and saying, "You'll never do mischief again to man!"
he turned her face to the entrance, and gave her a kick. Out she flew
through the opening and down to the ground, where she broke her neck and
died on the spot.
Cuculin made the Strong Smith king over all the dominions of the queen
of the Wilderness, and proclaimed that any person in the country who
refused to obey the new king would be put to death.
Cuculin turned back at once, and travelled till he came to
Hung-up-Naked. He took him down, and putting the head on his body,
struck him a blow of the rod and made the finest looking man of him that
could be found. The man went back to his own home happy and well.
Cuculin never stopped till he came to the castle of Gil an Og. She was
outside with a fine welcome before him; and why not, to be sure, for he
had the rod of enchantment and the ring of youth!
When she entered the castle and took the form of a cat, he struck her a
blow of the rod and she gained the same form and face she had before the
king of Greece struck her. Then he asked, "Where is your sister?" "In
the lake there outside," answered Gil an Og, "in the form of a
sea-serpent." She went out with him, and the moment they came to the
edge of the lake the sister rose up near them. Then Cuculin struck her
with the rod and she came to land in her own shape and countenance.
Next day they saw a deal of vessels facing the harbor, and what should
they be but a fleet of ships, and on the ships were the king of Greece,
Lug Longhand, the knight of the island of the Flood, the Dark Gruagach
of the Northern Island and Thin-in-Iron: and they came each in his own
vessel to know was there any account of Cuculin. There was good welcome
for them all, and when they had feasted and rejoiced together Cuculin
married Gil an Og. The king of Greece took Gil an Og's sister, who was
his own wife at first, and went home.
Cuculin went away himself with his wife Gil an Og, never stopping till
he came to Erin; and when he came, Fin MacCumhail and his men were at
KilConaly, near the river Shannon.
When Cuculin went from Erin he left a son whose mother was called the
Virago of Alba: she was still alive and the son was eighteen years old.
When she heard that Cuculin had brought Gil an Og to Erin, she was
enraged with jealousy and madness. She had reared the son, whose name
was ConlAin, like any king's son, and now giving him his arms of a
champion she told him to go to his father.
"I would," said he, "if I knew who my father is."
"His name is Cuculin, and he is with Fin MacCumhail. I bind you not to
yield to any man," said she to her son, "nor tell your name to any man
till you fight him out."
ConlAin started from Ulster where his mother was, and never stopped till
he was facing Fin and his men, who were hunting that day along the
cliffs of KilConaly.