to contend and do battle with me, because of the instigation and
intermeddling of Ailill and Medb, [2]and because of the false promises that
they made thee. Because of their deceitful terms and of the maiden have
many good men been slain.[2] And all that came [3]because of those promises
of deceit,[3] neither profit nor success did it bring them, and they have
fallen by me. And none the more, [4]O Ferdiad,[4] shall it win victory or
increase of fame for thee; and, [5]as they all fell,[5] shalt thou too fall
by my hand!" Thus he spake, [W.3486.] and he further uttered these words
and Ferdiad hearkened to him:--
"Come not nigh me, noble chief,
Ferdiad, comrade, Daman's son.
Worse for thee than 'tis for me;
Thou'lt bring sorrow to a host!
"Come not nigh me 'gainst all right;
Thy last bed is made by me.
Why shouldst thou alone escape
From the prowess of my arms?
"Shall not great feats thee undo,
Though thou'rt purple, horny-skinned?
And the maid thou boastest of,
Shall not, Daman's son, be thine!
"Finnabair, Medb's daughter fair,
Great her charms though they may be,
Fair as is the damsel's form,
She's for thee not to enjoy!
"Finnabair, the king's own child,
Is the lure, if truth be told;
Many they whom she's deceived
And undone as she has thee!
"Break not, weetless, oath with me;
Break not friendship, break not bond;
Break not promise, break not word;
Come not nigh me, noble chief!
"Fifty chiefs obtained in plight
This same maid, a proffer vain.
Through me went they to their graves;
Spear-right all they had from me!
"Though for brave was held Ferbaeth,
With whom was a warriors' train,
In short space I quelled his rage;
Him I slew with one sole blow!
"Srubdarè--sore sank his might--
Darling of the noblest dames,
Time there was when great his fame--
Gold nor raiment saved him not!
"Were she mine affianced wife,
Smiled on me this fair land's head,[a]
I would not thy body hurt.
Right nor left, in front, behind!"
[2-2] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.
[3-3] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.
[4-4] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.
[5-5] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.
[a] That is, Queen Medb.
[W.3527.] "Good, O Ferdiad!" cried Cuchulain. [1]A pity it is for thee to
abandon my alliance and my friendship for the sake of a woman that has been
trafficked to fifty other warriors before thee, and it would be long before
I would forsake thee for that woman.[1] Therefore, it is not right for thee
to come to fight and combat with me; for when we were with Scathach and
with Uathach and with Aifè, [2]we were together in practice of valour and
arms of the world, and[2] it was together we were used to seek out every
battle and every battle-field, every combat and every contest, every wood
and every desert, every covert and every recess." And thus he spake and he
uttered these words:--
Cuchulain: "We were heart-companions once;
We were comrades in the woods;
We were men that shared a bed,
When we slept the heavy sleep,
After hard and weary fights.
Into many lands, so strange,
Side by side we sallied forth,
And we ranged the woodlands through,
When with Scathach we learned arms!"
Ferdiad: "O Cuchulain, rich in feats,
Hard the trade we both have learned;
Treason hath o'ercome our love;
Thy first wounding hath been bought;
Think not of our friendship more,
Cua, it avails thee not!"
[1-1] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 106 and Eg. 209.
[2-2] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 106 and Eg. 209.
"Too long are we now in this way," quoth Ferdiad; "and what arms shall we
resort to to-day, O Cuchulain?" "With thee is thy choice of weapons this
day till night time," answered Cuchulain, "for thou art he that first didst
reach the ford." "Rememberest thou at all," asked Ferdiad, "the choice
deeds of arms we were wont to practise with Scathach and with Uathach and
with Aifè?" "Indeed, and I do remember," answered Cuchulain. "If thou
rememberest, let us begin [3]with them."[3]
[3-3] Stowe.
[W.3555.] They betook them to their choicest deeds of arms. They took upon
them two equally-matched shields for feats, and their eight-edged targes
for feats, and their eight small darts, and their eight straightswords with
ornaments of walrus-tooth and their eight lesser, ivoried spears which flew
from them and to them like bees [LL.fo.84b.] on a day of fine weather.
They cast no weapon that struck not. Each of them was busy casting at
the other with those missiles from morning's early twilight till noon at
mid-day, the while they overcame their various feats with the bosses and
hollows of their feat-shields. However great the excellence of the throwing
on either side, equally great was the excellence of the defence, so that
during all that time neither of them bled or reddened the other. "Let us
cease now from this bout of arms, O Cuchulain," said Ferdiad; "for it is
not by such our decision will come." "Yea, surely, let us cease, if the
time hath come," answered Cuchulain. [1]Then[1] they ceased. They threw
their feat-tackle from them into the hands of their charioteers.
"To what weapons shall we resort next, O Cuchulain?" asked Ferdiad. "Thine
is the choice of weapons till nightfall," replied Cuchulain; "for thou art
he that didst first reach the ford." "Let us begin, then," said Ferdiad,
"with our straight-cut, smooth-hardened throwing-spears, with cords of
full-hard flax on them." "Aye, let us begin then," assented Cuchulain. Then
they took on them two hard shields, equally strong. They fell to their
straight-cut, smooth-hardened spears with cords of full-hard flax on them.
Each of them was engaged in casting at the other with the spears from the
middle of noon [2]till yellowness came over the sun[2] at the hour of
evening's sundown. However great the excellence of the defence, equally
great was the excellence of the throwing on either side, so that [W.3578.]
each of them bled and reddened and wounded the other during that time.
[1]"Wouldst thou fain make a truce, O Cucugan?"[a] asked Ferdiad. "It would
please me," replied Cuchulain; "for whoso begins with arms has the right to
desist."[1] "Let us leave off from this now, O Cuchulain," said Ferdiad.
"Aye, let us leave off, an the time hath come," answered Cuchulain. So they
ceased. They threw their arms from them into the hands of their
charioteers.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] H. 2. 12.
[1-1] H. 2. 12.
[a] See note, page 185.
Thereupon each of them went toward the other [2]in the middle of the
ford,[2] and each of them put his hand on the other's neck and gave him
three kisses [3]in remembrance of his fellowship and friendship.[3] Their
horses were in one and the same paddock that night, and their charioteers
at one and the same fire; and their charioteers made ready a litter-bed of
fresh rushes for them with pillows for wounded men on them. Then came
healing and curing folk to heal and to cure them, and they laid healing
herbs and grasses and a curing charm on their cuts and stabs, their gashes
and many wounds. Of every healing herb and grass and curing charm that
[4]was brought from the fairy dwellings of Erin to Cuchulain and[4] was
applied to the cuts and stabs, to the gashes and many wounds of Cuchulain,
a like portion thereof he sent across the ford westward to Ferdiad, [5]to
put to his wounds and his pools of gore,[5] so that the men of Erin should
not have it to say, should Ferdiad fall at his hands, it was more than his
share of care had been given to him.
[2-2] H. 2. 12.
[3-3] H. 2. 12.
[4-4] H. 2. 12.
[5-5] H. 2. 12.
Of every food and of every savoury, soothing and strong drink that was
brought by the men of Erin to Ferdiad, a like portion thereof he sent over
the ford northwards to Cuchulain; for the purveyors of Ferdiad were more
numerous than the purveyors of Cuchulain. All the men of Erin were
purveyors to Ferdiad, to the end that he might keep [W.3598.] Cuchulain off
from them. But only the inhabitants of Mag Breg ('the Plain of Breg') were
purveyors to Cuchulain. They were wont to come daily, that is, every
night, to converse with him.
They bided there that night. Early on the morrow they arose and went their
ways to the ford of combat. "To what weapons shall we resort on this day, O
Ferdiad?" asked Cuchulain. [LL.fo.85a.] "Thine is the choosing of weapons
till night time," Ferdiad made answer, "because it was I had my choice of
weapons on the day aforegone." "Let us take, then," said Cuchulain, "to our
great, well-tempered lances to-day, for we think that the thrusting will
bring nearer the decisive battle to-day than did the casting of yesterday.
Let our horses be brought to us and our chariots yoked, to the end that we
engage in combat over our horses and chariots on this day." "Aye, let us
go so," Ferdiad assented. Thereupon they girded two full-firm broad-shields
on them for that day. They took to their great, well-tempered lances on
that day. Either of them began to pierce and to drive, to throw and to
press down the other, from early morning's twilight till the hour of
evening's close. If it were the wont for birds in flight to fly through the
bodies of men, they could have passed through their bodies on that day and
carried away pieces of blood and flesh through their wounds and their sores
into the clouds and the air all around. And when the hour of evening's
close was come, their horses were spent and their drivers were wearied, and
they themselves, the heroes and warriors of valour, were exhausted. "Let us
give over now, O Ferdiad," said Cuchulain, "for our horses are spent and
our drivers tired, and when they are exhausted, why should we too not be
exhausted?" And in this wise he spake, and he uttered these words at that
place:--
"We need not our chariots break--
This, a struggle fit for giants.
[W.3626.] Place the hobbles on the steeds,
Now that din of arms is o'er!"
"Yea, we will cease, if the time hath come," replied Ferdiad. They ceased
[1]then.[1] They threw their arms away from them into the hands of their
charioteers. Each of them came towards his fellow. Each laid his hand on
the other's neck and gave him three kisses. Their horses were in the one
pen that night, and their charioteers at the one fire. Their charioteers
prepared [2]two[2] litter-beds of fresh rushes for them with pillows for
wounded men on them. The curing and healing men came to attend and watch
and mark them that night; for naught else could they do, because of the
direfulness of their cuts and their stabs, their gashes and their numerous
wounds, but apply to them philtres and spells and charms, to staunch their
blood and their bleeding and their deadly pains. Of every magic potion and
every spell and every charm that was applied to the cuts and stabs of
Cuchulain, their like share he sent over the ford westwards to Ferdiad. Of
every food and every savoury, soothing and strong drink that was brought
by the men of Erin to Ferdiad, an equal portion he sent over the ford
northwards to Cuchulain, for the victuallers of Ferdiad were more numerous
than the victuallers of Cuchulain. For all the men of Erin were Ferdiad's
nourishers, to the end that he might ward off Cuchulain from them. But the
indwellers of the Plain of Breg alone were Cuchulain's nourishers. They
were wont to come daily, that is, every night, to converse with him.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] Stowe.
They abode there that night. Early on the morrow they arose and repaired to
the ford of combat. Cuchulain marked an evil mien and a dark mood that day
[3]beyond every other day[3] on Ferdiad. "It is evil thou appearest to-day,
O Ferdiad," spake Cuchulain; "thy hair has [W.3653.] become dark[a] to-day,
and thine eye has grown drowsy, and thine upright form [LL.fo.85b.] and thy
features and thy gait have gone from thee!" "Truly not for fear nor for
dread of thee is that happened to me to-day," answered Ferdiad; "for there
is not in Erin this day a warrior I could not repel!" [1]"Alas, O Ferdiad,"
said Cuchulain, "a pity it is for thee to oppose thy foster-brother and thy
comrade and friend, on the counsel of any woman in the world!" "A pity it
is, O Cuchulain," Ferdiad responded. "But, should I part without a struggle
with thee, I should be in ill repute forever with Medb and with the nobles
of the four grand provinces of Erin." "A pity it is, O Ferdiad," said
Cuchulain; "not on the counsel of all the men and women in the world would
I desert thee or would I do thee harm. And almost would it make a clot of
gore of my heart to be combating with thee!"[1]
[3-3] Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.
[a] An unusual colour of the hair betokened misfortune.
[1-1] Eg. 106.
And Cuchulain lamented and moaned, and he spake these words and Ferdiad
responded:--
Cuchulain: "Ferdiad, ah, if it be thou,
Well I know thou'rt doomed to die!
To have gone at woman's hest,
Forced to fight thy comrade sworn!"
Ferdiad: "O Cuchulain--wise decree--
Loyal champion, hero true,
Each man is constrained to go
'Neath the sod that hides his grave!"
Cuchulain: "Finnabair, Medb's daughter fair,
Stately maiden though she be,
Not for love they'll give to thee,
But to prove thy kingly might!"
Ferdiad: "Provèd was my might long since,
Cu of gentle spirit thou.
Of one braver I've not heard;
Till to-day I have not found!"
Cuchulain: "Thou art he provoked this fight,
Son of Daman, Darè's son,
To have gone at woman's word,
Swords to cross with thine old friend!"
Ferdiad: [W.3679.] "Should we then unfought depart,
Brothers though we are, bold Hound,
Ill would be my word and fame
With Ailill and Cruachan's Medb!"
Cuchulain: "Food has not yet passed his lips,
Nay nor has he yet been born,
Son of king or blameless queen,
For whom I would work thee harm!"
Ferdiad: "Culann's Hound, with floods of deeds,
Medb, not thou, hath us betrayed;
Fame and victory thou shalt have;
Not on thee we lay our fault!"
Cuchulain: "Clotted gore is my brave heart,
Near I'm parted from my soul;
Wrongful 'tis--with hosts of deeds--
Ferdiad, dear, to fight with thee!"
[1]After this colloquy, Ferdiad spake:[1] "How much soever thou findest
fault with me to-day," said Ferdiad, [2]"for my ill-boding mien and evil
doing, it will be as an offset to my prowess." And he said,[2] "To what
weapons shall we resort to-day?" "With thyself is the choice of weapons
to-day till night time," replied Cuchulain, "for it is I that chose on
the day gone by." "Let us resort, then," said Ferdiad, "to our heavy,
hard-smiting swords this day, for we trow that the smiting each other will
bring us nearer to the decision of battle to-day than was our piercing each
other on yesterday." "Let us go then, by all means," responded Cuchulain.
[1-1] Stowe, Eg. 106.
[2-2] Eg. 106.
Then they took two full-great long-shields upon them for that day. They
turned to their heavy, hard-smiting swords. Each of them fell to strike and
to hew, to lay low and cut down, to slay and undo [3]his fellow,[3] till as
large as the head of a month-old child was each lump and each cut, [4]each
clutter and each clot of gore[4] that each of them took from the shoulders
and thighs and shoulder-blades of the other.
[3-3] Stowe, Eg. 106.
[4-4] Eg. 106.
[W.3708.] Each of them was engaged in smiting the other in this way from
the twilight of early morning till the hour of evening's close. "Let us
leave off from this now, O Cuchulain!" cried Ferdiad. "Aye, let us leave
off, if the hour has come," said Cuchulain. They parted [1]then, and[1]
threw their arms away from them into the hands of their charioteers. Though
it had been the meeting of two happy, blithe, cheerful, joyful men, their
parting that night was of two that were sad, sorrowful and full of
suffering. [2]They parted without a kiss a blessing or aught other sign of
friendship, and their servants disarmed the steeds, the squires and the
heroes; no healing or curing herbs were sent from Cuchulain to Ferdiad that
night, and no food nor drink was brought from Ferdiad to him.[2] Their
horses were not in the same paddock that night. Their charioteers were not
at the same fire.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] H. 2. 12.
They passed there that night. It was then that Ferdiad arose early on the
morrow and went alone to the ford of combat, [3]and dauntless, vengeful and
mighty was the man that went thither that day, even Ferdiad son of
Daman.[3] For he knew that that would be the decisive day of the battle and
combat; and he knew that one or other of them would fall there that day, or
that they both would fall. It was then he donned his battle-weed of battle
and fight and combat, [LL.fo.86a.] or ever Cuchulain came to meet him. And
thus was the manner of this harness of battle and fight and combat: He put
his silken, glossy trews with its border of speckled gold, next to his
white skin. Over this, outside, he put his brown-leathern, well-sewed
kilt. Outside of this he put a huge, goodly flag, the size of a millstone,
[4]the shallow (?) stone of adamant which he had brought from Africa and
which neither points nor edges could pierce.[4] He put his solid, very
deep, iron kilt of twice molten iron over the huge, goodly flag as large as
a millstone, through [W.3730.] fear and dread of the Gae Bulga on that
day. About his head he put his crested war-cap of battle and fight and
combat, whereon were forty carbuncle-gems beautifully adorning it and
studded with red-enamel and crystal and rubies and with [1]shining
stones[1] of the Eastern world. His angry, fierce-striking spear he seized
in his right hand. On his left side he hung his curved battle-falchion,
[2]which would cut a hair against the stream with its keenness and
sharpness,[2] with its golden pommel and its rounded hilt of red gold. On
the arch-slope of his back he slung his massive, fine-buffalo shield [3]of
a warrior,[3] whereon were fifty bosses, wherein a boar could be shown in
each of its bosses, apart from the great central boss of red gold. Ferdiad
performed divers, brilliant, manifold, marvellous feats on high that day,
unlearned from any one before, neither from foster-mother nor from
foster-father, neither from Scathach nor from Uathach nor from Aifè, but he
found them of himself that day in the face of Cuchulain.
[3-3] Eg. 106.
[4-4] Eg. 209.
[1-1] Reading with Egerton 106, which gives better sense than LL.'s
'brilliant plants.'
[2-2] Eg. 209.
[3-3] Stowe and Eg. 209.
Cuchulain likewise came to the ford, and he beheld the various, brilliant,
manifold, wonderful feats that Ferdiad performed on high. "Thou seest
yonder, O Laeg my master, the divers, bright, numerous, marvellous feats
that Ferdiad performs on high, and I shall receive yon feats one after the
other, and, therefore, [4]O Laeg," cried Cuchulain,[4] "if defeat be my lot
this day, do thou prick me on and taunt me and speak evil to me, so that
the more my spirit and anger shall rise in me. If, however, before me his
defeat takes place, say thou so to me and praise me and speak me fair, to
the end that the greater may be my courage!" "It shall surely be done so,
if need be, O Cucuc," Laeg answered.
[4-4] Stowe.
Then Cuchulain, too, girded his war-harness of battle and [W.3757.] fight
and combat about him, and performed all kinds of splendid, manifold,
marvellous feats on high that day which he had not learned from any one
before, neither with Scathach nor with Uathach nor with Aifè.
Ferdiad observed those feats, and he knew they would be plied against him
in turn. "To what weapons shall we resort [1]to-day[1], O Ferdiad?" asked
Cuchulain. "With thee is thy choice of weapons till night time," Ferdiad
responded. "Let us go to the 'Feat of the Ford,' then," said Cuchulain.
"Aye, let us do so," answered Ferdiad. Albeit Ferdiad spoke that, he deemed
it the most grievous thing whereto he could go, for he knew that in that
sort Cuchulain used to destroy every hero and every battle-soldier who
fought with him in the 'Feat of the Ford.'
[1-1] Stowe.
Great indeed was the deed that was done on the ford that day. The two
heroes, the two champions, the two chariot-fighters of the west of Europe,
the two bright torches of valour of the Gael, the two hands of dispensing
favour and of giving rewards [2]and jewels and treasures[2] in the west of
the northern world, [LL.fo.86b.] [3]the two veterans[3] of skill and the
two keys of bravery of the Gael, [4]the man for quelling the variance and
discord of Connacht, the man for guarding the cattle and herds of
Ulster[4], to be brought together in encounter as from afar, [5]set to slay
each other or to kill one of them[5], through the sowing of dissension and
the incitement of Ailill and Medb.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] Reading with Stowe.
[4-4] Eg. 106.
[5-5] Stowe and Eg. 106.
Each of them was busy hurling at the other in those deeds of arms from
early morning's gloaming till the middle of noon. When mid-day came, the
rage of the men became wild, and each drew nearer to the other.
Thereupon Cuchulain gave one spring once from the bank of the ford till he
stood upon the boss of Ferdiad macDaman's shield, seeking to reach his
head and to strike [W.3779.] it from above over the rim of the shield.
Straightway Ferdiad gave the shield a blow with his left elbow, so that
Cuchulain went from him like a bird onto the brink of the ford. Again
Cuchulain sprang from the brink of the ford, so that he alighted upon the
boss of Ferdiad macDaman's shield, that he might reach his head and strike
it over the rim of the shield from above. Ferdiad gave the shield a thrust
with his left knee, so that Cuchulain went from him like an infant onto the
bank of the ford.
Laeg espied that. "Woe then, [1]O Cuchulain!"[1] cried Laeg; [2]"meseems[2]
the battle-warrior that is against thee hath shaken thee as a fond woman
shakes her child. He hath washed thee as a cup is washed in a tub. He hath
ground thee as a mill grinds soft malt. He hath pierced thee as a tool
bores through an oak. He hath bound thee as the bindweed binds the trees.
He hath pounced on thee as a hawk pounces on little birds, so that no more
hast thou right or title or claim to valour or skill in arms till the very
day of doom and of life, thou little imp of an elf-man!" cried Laeg.
[1-1] Stowe.
[2-2] Stowe.
Thereat for the third time, Cuchulain arose with the speed of the wind, and
the swiftness of a swallow, and the dash of a dragon, and the strength (of
a lion) [3]into the clouds[3] of the air, till he alighted on the boss of
the shield of Ferdiad son of Daman, so as to reach his head that he might
strike it from above over the rim of his shield. Then it was that the
battle-warrior gave the shield a [4]violent and powerful[4] shake, so that
Cuchulain flew from it into the middle of the ford, the same as if he had
not sprung at all.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] Stowe.
It was then the first twisting-fit of Cuchulain took place, so that a
swelling and inflation filled him like breath in a bladder, until he made a
dreadful, terrible, many-coloured, wonderful bow of himself, so that as big
as a giant or a man [W.3805.] of the sea was the hugely-brave warrior
towering directly over Ferdiad.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that their heads
encountered above and their feet below and their hands in the middle over
the rims and bosses of the shields.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that their shields burst
and split from their rims to their centres.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that their spears bent and
turned and shivered from their tips to their rivets.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that the boccanach and the
bananach ('the puck-faced Fays' and 'the white-faced Fays') and the sprites
of the glens and the eldritch beings of the air screamed from the rims of
their shields and from the guards of their swords and from the tips of
their spears.
Such was the closeness of the combat they made, that they forced the river
out of its bed and out of its course, so that there might have been a
reclining place [LL.fo.87a.] for a king or a queen in the middle of the
ford, and not a drop of water was in it but what fell there with the
trampling and slipping which the two heroes and the two battle-warriors
made in the middle of the ford.