Myths & Legends of the Celtic RaceRolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race
Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
Celts -- Religion; Mythology, Celtic
“I confess,” then said Ket, “that thou art a better man than I, and I
yield thee the boar. But if Anluan my brother were here, he would match
thee deed for deed, and sorrow and shame it is that he is not.”
“Anluan is here,” shouted Conall, and with that he drew from his girdle
the head of Anluan and dashed it in the face of Ket.
Then all sprang to their feet and a wild shouting and tumult arose, and
the swords flew out of themselves, and battle raged in the hall of mac
Datho. Soon the hosts burst out through the doors of the dūn and smote and
slew each other in the open field, until the Connacht host were put to
flight. The hound of mac Datho pursued the chariot of King Ailell of
Connacht till the charioteer smote off its head, and so the cause of
contention was won by neither party, and mac Datho lost his hound, but
saved his lands and life.
*The Death of Ket*
The death of Ket is told in Keating’s “History of Ireland.” Returning from
a foray in Ulster, he was overtaken by Conall at the place called the Ford
of Ket, and they fought long and desperately. At last Ket was slain, but
Conall of the Victories was in little better case, and lay bleeding to
death when another Connacht champion named Beälcu(168) found him. “Kill
me,” said Conall to him, “that it be not said I fell at the hand of _one_
Connacht man.” But Beälcu said: “I will not slay a man at the point of
death, but I will bring thee home and heal thee, and when thy strength is
come again thou shalt fight with me in single combat.” Then Beälcu put
Conall on a litter and brought him home, and had him tended till his
wounds were healed.
The three sons of Beälcu, however, when they saw what the Ulster champion
was like in all his might, resolved to assassinate him before the combat
should take place. By a stratagem Conall contrived that they slew their
own father instead; and then, taking the heads of the three sons, he went
back, victoriously as he was wont, to Ulster.
*The Death of Maev*
The tale of the death of Queen Maev is also preserved by Keating. Fergus
mac Roy having been slain by Ailell with a cast of a spear as he bathed in
a lake with Maev, and Ailell having been slain by Conall, Maev retired to
an island(169) on Loch Ryve, where she was wont to bathe early every
morning in a pool near to the landing-place. Forbay son of Conor mac
Nessa, having discovered this habit of the queen’s, found means one day to
go unperceived to the pool and to measure the distance from it to the
shore of the mainland. Then he went back to Emania, where he measured out
the distance thus obtained, and placing an apple on a pole at one end he
shot at it continually with a sling until he grew so good a marksman at
that distance that he never missed his aim. Then one day, watching his
opportunity by the shores of Loch Ryve, he saw Maev enter the water, and
putting a bullet in his sling he shot at her with so good an aim that he
smote her in the centre of the forehead and she fell dead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account