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fitly atoned for." On this the king smiled and, turning to Finn, said : "O Finn, behold thy men." Finn turned to
look at them, but when he looked round again the scene had changed - the fairy king and his host and all the
world of Faery had disappeared, and he found himself with his companions and the fair-armed Tasha
standing on the beach of the little bay in Kerry whence the Hard Gilly and the mare had taken the water and
carried off his men. And then all started with cheerful hearts for the great standing camp of the Fianna on the
Hill of Allen to celebrate the wedding feast of Finn and Tasha.
Effect of Christianity on the Development of Irish Literature
This tale with its fascinating mixture of humour, romance, magic, and love of wild nature, may be taken a
typical specimen of the Fian legends at their best.
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As compared with the Conorian legends they show, as I have pointed out, a characteristic lack of any heroic
or serious element. That nobler strain died out with the growing predominance of Christianity, which
appropriated for definitely religious purposes the more serious and lofty side of the Celtic genius, leaving for
secular literature only the elements of wonder and romance. So completely was this carried out that while the
Finn legends have survived to this day among the Gaelic-speaking population, and were a subject of literary
treatment as long as Gaelic was written at all, the earlier cycle perished almost completely out of the popular
remembrance, or survived only in distorted forms ; and but for the early manuscripts in which the tales are
fortunately enshrined such a work as the "Tam Bo Cuailgn " - the greatest thing undoubtedly which the
Celtic genius ever produced in literature - would now be irrecoverably lost.
The Tales of Deirdre and of Grania
Nothing can better illustrate the difference between the two cycles than a comparison of the tale of Deirdre
with that with which we have now to deal - the tale of Dermot and Grania. The latter, from one point of
view, reads like an echo of the former, so close is the resemblance between them in the outline of the plot.
Take the following skeleton story: "A fair maiden is betrothed to a renowned and mighty suitor much older
than herself. She turns from him to seek a younger lover, and fixes her attention on one of his followers, a
gallant and beautiful youth, whom she persuades, in spite of his reluctance, to fly with her. After evading
pursuit they settle down for a while at a distance from the defrauded lover, who bides his time, till at last,
under cover of a treacherous reconciliation, he procures the death of his younger rival and retakes
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possession of the lady." Were a student of Celtic legend asked to listen to the above synopsis, and to say to
what Irish tale it referred, he would certainly reply that it must be either the tale of the Pursuit of Dermot and
Grania, or that of the Fate of the Sons of Usna but which of them it was it would be quite impossible for him
to tell. Yet in tone and temper the two stories are as wide apart as the poles.
Chapter VI: Tales of the Ossianic Cycle 146
Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race
Grania and Dermot
Grania, in the Fian story, is the daughter of Cormac mac Art, High King of Ireland. She is betrothed to Finn
mac Cumhal, whom we are to regard at this period as an old and war-worn but still mighty warrior. The
famous captains of the Fianna all assemble at Tara for the wedding feast, and as they sit at meat Grania
surveys them and asks their names of her father's Druid, Dara. "It is a wonder," she says, "that Finn did not
ask me for Oisin, rather than for himself." "Oisin would not dare to take thee," says Dara. Grania, after going
through all the company, asks "Who is that man with the spot on his brow, with the sweet voice, with curling
dusky hair and ruddy cheek ?" "That is Dermot O'Dyna," replies the Druid, "the white-toothed, of the
lightsome countenance, in all the world the best lover of women and maidens." Grania now prepares a sleepy
draught, which she places in a drinking-cup and passes round by her handmaid to the king, to Finn, and to all
the company except the chiefs of the Fianna. When the draught has done its work she goes to Oisin. "Wilt
thou receive courtship from me, Oisin ?" she asks. "That will I not," says Oisin, "nor from any woman that is
betrothed to Finn." Grania, who knew very well what Oisin's answer would be, now turns to her real mark,
Dermot. He at first refuses to have
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anything to do with her. "I put thee under bonds [geise], O Dermot, that thou take me out of Tara to-night."
"Evil are these bonds, Grania," says Dermot; "and wherefore hast thou put them on me before all the kings'
sons that feast at this table?" Grania then explains that she has loved Dermot ever since she saw him, years
ago, from her sunny bower, take part in and win a great hurling match on the green at Tara. Dermot, still very
reluctant, pleads the merits of Finn, and urges also that Finn has the keys of the royal fortress, so that they
cannot pass out at night. "There is a secret wicket-gate in my bower," says Grania. "I am under geise not to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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