Transcript

Ríocht na bhFear gCalma.

Tráth des na tráthanna, lá des na laethanta agus uair des na huaireantachaibh dá raibh Fionn mac Cumhaill agus a mhórshluaite ar an dtaobh thall do ghóilín i mBaile Uí Chairbre in Uíbh Ráthaigh ag (gabháilt báire) nuair a chonacadar chútha aniar na trí ghaiscidhigh. Bhí an trá rompu agus an líonadh ina ndiaidh. Tháinig ardionadh orthu nuair a chonacadar iad. Chuaigh Fionn féna ndéin ansan agus d'fhiarfaigh dhíobh cá... cad a thug chun an tslí sin iad. Dúradar leis gurb é Fionn mac Cumhaill ó Éirinn a bhí uathu chun é bhreith go dtí Ríocht na bhFear gCalma go maródh sé an phiast ' bhí chun iníon an rí do shlogadh ar maidin lae Bealthaine.

Chomhairligh Fionn iad gan bac leis an bhFéinn mar ná raibh gnó dhóibh ann. "Agus," ar seisean leo, "ní bhéarfadh a bhfuil i Ríocht na bhFear gCalma Fionn leo ina ainneoin. "Tugaig dom triail," arsa Fionn, "agus beidh a fhios agamsa an mbainfeadh sibh aon cheart d'Fhionn."

Thairig sé chuige a chlaíomh agus an chéad duine a bhuail sé, sé dúirt sé sin nár chuir sé air (ach úiste). An tarna duine, sé dúirt sé, "Ambast, a gharsúin," ar seisean, "gur ghortaís mé." Agus an tríú duine, "(Mara bheadh do luí i do linbh)," ar seisean, "do bhainfinn an ceann díot."

Thug sé cuireadh chun bídh dóibh ansan agus ba ghearr do[1] bhfuair sé amach uathu geach ní dár bhaineas lena dtír agus geach ard agus log ann. Fuair sé amach leis uathu go raibh an draíocht (sa bhaile ina ndiaidh) i gan fhios don tsaol go léir ach d'aon mhnaoi amháin, agus nách baol do scéithfeadh sí siúd orthu mar gur fhágadar í fé gheasaibh agus do gcaillfeadh sí ceann roimh lae Bealthaine mara stiúródh éinní Fionn mac Cumhaill féna ndéin.

Thug sé... D'fhágadar slán aigena chéile ansan. Nuair a tháinig Fionn thar n-ais go dtí an líon thosnaigh Conán Maol ag cnáimhseáil agus ag cur de i dtreo gur phrioc san Fionn. Ghléas sé suas é féin 'na chulaith airm agus éadaigh. Bheir sé leis Bran agus siúd fé dhéin an chuain é an áit go raibh a árthach ceangailthe. 'An Bhreac-Chuach' ba ainm di siúd. Thóg sé na seoltha bogóideacha go barrthaíbh na gcrann agus as go brách leis go dtí Ríocht na bhFear gCalma. Fuair sé amach calaithe ansúd agus cheangail sé a árthach ann agus siúd ar fuad an ríocht é.

Lá dá raibh sé ag siúl tríd an ríocht bhuail taoiseach mór leis agus thóg sé siúd ar láimh Fionn mar altha linbh. Ba ghearr go raibh a fhios aige gur garsún glic é Fionn i dtreo gur chuir sé chun scoile é ag foghlaim léinn. Ach geach lá dá dtéadh Fionn ar scoil do ghortaíodh agus do mhaslaíodh sé garsún éiginnteach eile ann nó ar fuaid na mbóithre i dtreo gur gearánadh lena athair é agus chaithfeadh súd é a choimeád sa bhaile ar fad.

Lá des na laethantaibh dá raibh sé ag siúl tríd an ríocht do chonaic sé bean ag gol. Dh'fhiafraigh di fáth a goil.

"Á," ar sise "is beag an maitheas dom é a insint duitse."

"N'fheadaraís cé acu san," arsa Fionn.

"Tá, ar sise "trí braonacha fola sa léine seo agam á ní. Agus níl aon ní chun iad súd a bhaint amach ach an t-uisce do leogaint tríd an bhfáinne (...) Fionn mac Cumhaill in oileán na hÉireann," ar sise.

Translation

The Kingdom of the valiant men.

Once, on a particular day, at a particular hour, when Fionn mac Cumhaill and his host were on the other side of an inlet in Ballycarbery in Iveragh playing a match (?) they saw coming towards them from the west three heroes. The ebb was before them and the flow behind them. They were filled with wonder when they saw them. Fionn went to them then and asked them where... what brought them there. They told him that it was Fionn mac Cumhaill from Ireland that they wanted in order to bring him to The Kingdom of the valiant Men so that he would kill the serpent who was going to eat the king's daughter on the morning of May Day.

Fionn advised them not to bother with the Fianna because they had no business there. "And," he said to them, "all in the Kingdom of the Valiant Men couldn't carry Fionn off against his will. "Give me a trial" said Fionn, "and I will know if you will be able to hold your own against Fionn."

He drew his sword and the first person he hit, what he said was that he only (...). The second person, what he said was, "Indeed, boy," he said "you hurt me." And the third person, "If you didn't look like a child (?)," he said, "I'd cut your head off."

He invited them to eat then and it wasn't long until he found out everything about their country and every high and low place there. He also found out from them that magic was at work at home for them (?) unknown to anyone except one woman, and that there was no danger of her betraying them because they had left her under a spell and that she would lose her head before May Day if nobody sent Fionn Mac Cumhaill to her.

He gave... They bade each other farewell then. When Fionn returned to the host Conán Maol started complaining and giving out and Fionn became agitated. He dressed himself in his suit of armour and clothing. He brought with him Bran and off he went towards the bay where his ship was tied. She was called 'The Speckled Cuckoo'. He hoisted the bellying sails to the tops of the masts and away he went to The Kingdom of the Valiant Men. He reached a harbour there and he tied his ship there and off he went around the kingdom.

One day he was walking through the kingdom he met a great chief and he took Fionn as a foster-child(?). It wasn't long before he knew that Fionn was a smart boy and he sent him to school to learn. But every day Fionn went to school he would hurt and insult some other boy there or along the road and he was complained about to his father who had to keep him at home altogether.

One of the days that he was walking through the kingdom he saw a woman crying. He asked her why she was crying.

"Ah," she said "it is little use telling you."

"You don't know that," said Fionn.

"I am," she said, "cleaning three drops of blood from this shirt. And nothing will clean them out except the water that comes through the ring (...) Fionn mac Cumhaill in the island of Ireland," she said.

Footnotes

Commentary

This is obviously part of a longer narrative, and consists only of the beginning. It concerns Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna, and therefore is part of what is known in Gaelic tradition as Fenian lore. These tales usually consist of long prose narratives detailing the exploits of the mythological figure of Fionn, his relatives or his soldiers. This story itself is incomplete, but there are clues that indicate it may be a borrowing from ATU 300, The dragon slayer. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). There are hundreds of Irish versions, from all over the country, many of which are found in the context of Fenian tales. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968). The motif of Fionn fighting youths while at school may have its origins in earlier tradition. A twelfth-century text known as Macgnímartha Finn, or 'Boyhood Deeds of Fionn', outlines the hero's exploits when he encounters a group of young men, and fights them. See Kuno Meyer 'Macgnimartha Find', Revue Celtique 5 (1881), 195–204. This motif may itself have been borrowed from lore concerning the mythical figure of Sétanta, who fought the youths of Ulster at Emain Macha. Many elements from Macgnímartha Finn were influenced in a similar fashion by Ulster tradition surrounding Sétanta/Cú Chulainn. See James MacKillop, Dictionary of Celtic mythology (Oxford, 1998), 318.