Although there is a great deal of verbiage4 and piling-up of rather barren names in this piece, nevertheless there are also several finely conceived and well-executed incidents. The saga1 which, according to Zimmer, was probably first committed to writing in the seventh or eighth century, is partially5 preserved in the Leabhar na h-Uidhre, a manuscript made about the year 1100, and there is a complete copy of it in the Book of Leinster made about fifty years later. I have chiefly translated from a more modern text in my own possession, which differs very slightly from the ancient ones.
The story opens with a conversation between Mève, queen of Connacht, and Oilioll her husband, which ends in a dispute as to which of them is the richest. There was no modern Married Women's Property Act in force, but Irish ladies[Pg 320] seem to have been at all times much more sympathetically treated by the Celtic tribes than by the harder and more stern races of Teutonic and Northern blood, and Irish damsels seem to have been free to enjoy their own property and dowries.[2] The story, then, begins with this dispute as to which, husband or wife, is the richer in this world's goods, and the argument at last becomes so heated that the pair decide to have all their possessions brought together to compare them one with another and judge by actual observation which is the most valuable. They collected accordingly jewels, bracelets6, metal, gold, silver, flocks, herds7, ornaments8, etc., and found that in point of wealth they were much the same, but that there was one great bull called Finn-bheannach or White-horned, who was really calved by one of Mève's cows, but being endowed with a certain amount of intelligence considered it disgraceful to be under a woman, and so had gone over to Oilioll's herds. With him Mève had nothing that could compare. She made inquiry9, however, and found out from her chief courier that there was in the district of Cuailgne in Louth (Mève lived at Rathcroghan in Roscommon) a most celebrated bull called the Dun Bull of Cuailgne belonging to a chieftain of the name of Darè. To him accordingly she sends an embassy requesting the loan of the bull for one year, and promising10 fifty heifers in return. Darè was quite willing, and promised to lend the animal. He was in fact pleased, and treated the embassy generously, giving them good lodgings11 with plenty of food and drink—too much drink in fact. The fate of nations is said to often hang upon a thread. On this occasion that of Ulster and Connacht depended upon a drop more or less, absorbed by one of the ten men who constituted Mève's embassy. This man unfortunately passed the just limit, and Darè's steward12 coming in at the moment heard him say that it was small thanks to his[Pg 321] master to give his bull "for if he hadn't given it we'd have taken it." That word decided13 the fate of provinces. The steward, indignant at such an outrage14, ran and told his master, and Darè swore that now he would lend no bull, and what was more, but that the ten men were envoys16 he swore he would hang them. With indignity17 they were dismissed, and returned empty-handed to Mève's boundless18 indignation. She in her turn swore she would have the bull in spite of Darè. She immediately sent out to collect her armies, and invited Leinster and Munster to join her. She was in fact able to muster19 most of the three provinces to march against Ulster to take the bull from Darè, and in addition she had Fergus mac Roy and about fifteen hundred Ulster warriors20 who had never returned to their homes nor forgiven Conor for the murder of the sons of Usnach. She crossed the Shannon at Athlone, and marched on to Kells, within a few miles of Ulster, and there she pitched her standing22 camp. She was accompanied by her husband and her daughter who was the fairest among women. Her mother had secretly promised her hand to every leader in her army in order to nerve them to do their utmost.
At the very beginning Mève is forewarned by a mysterious female of the slaughter23 which is to come. She had driven round in her chariot to visit her druid and to inquire of him what would come of her expedition, and is returning somewhat reassured24 in her mind by the druid's promise which was—
"'Whosoever returneth or returneth not, thou shalt return,' and," says the saga, "as Mève returned again upon her track she beheld25 a thing which caused her to wonder, a single woman (riding) beside her, upon the pole of her chariot. And this is how that maiden26 was. She was weaving a border with a sword of bright bronze[3] in her right hand with its seven rings of red gold, and, about her, a spotted27 speckled mantle28 of green, and a fastening brooch in the[Pg 322] mantle over her bosom29. A bright red gentle generous countenance30, a grey eye visible in her head, a thin red mouth, young pearly teeth she had. You would think that her teeth were a shower of white pearls flung into her head. Her mouth was like fresh coral? [partaing]. The melodious31 address of her voice and her speaking tones were sweeter than the strings32 of curved harp33 being played. Brighter than the snow of one night was the splendour of her skin showing through her garments, her feet long, fairy-like, with (well) turned nails. Fair yellow hair very golden on her. Three tresses of her hair round her head, one tress behind falling after her to the extremities34 of her ankles.
"Mève looks at her. 'What makest thou there, O maiden?' said Mève.
"'Foreseeing thy future for thee, and thy grief, thou who art gathering35 the four great provinces of Ireland with thee to the land of Ulster, to carry out the Táin Bo Chuailgne.'
"'And wherefore doest thou me this?" said Mève.
"'Great reason have I for it,' said the maiden. 'A handmaid of thy people (am I),' said she.
"'Who of my people art thou?' said Mève.
"'Féithlinn, fairy-prophetess of Rathcroghan, am I,' said she.
"'It is well, O Féithlinn, prophetess,' said Mève, 'and how seest thou our hosts?'
"'I see crimson36 over them, I see red,' said she.
"'Conor is in his sickness[4] in Emania,' said Mève, 'and messengers have reached me from him, and there is nothing that I dread39 from the Ultonians, but speak thou the truth, O Féithlinn, prophetess,' said Mève.
"'I see crimson, I see red,' said she.
"'Comhsgraidh Meann ... is in Innis Comhsgraidh in his sickness, and my messengers have reached me, and there is nothing that I fear from the Ultonians, but speak me truth, O Féithlinn, prophetess, how seest thou our host?'
"'I see crimson, I see red.'
"'Celtchar, son of Uitheachar, is in his sickness,' said Mève, 'and there is nothing I dread from the Ultonians, but speak truth, O Féithlinn, prophetess.'
"'I see crimson, I see red,' said she.
"' ...?' said Mève, 'for since the men of Erin will be in one place there will be disputes and fightings and irruptions amongst them,[Pg 323] about reaching the beginnings or endings of fords or rivers, and about the first woundings of boars and stags, of venison, or matter of venery, speak true, O Féithlinn, prophetess, how seest thou our host? said Mève.
"'I see crimson I see red,' said she."
After this follows a long poem, wherein "she foretold41 Cuchulain to the men of Erin."
The march of Mève's army is told with much apparent exactness. The names of fifty-nine places through which it passed are given; and many incidents are recorded, one of which shows the furious, jealous, and vindictive42 disposition43 of the amazon queen herself. She, who seems to have taken upon herself the entire charge of the hosting, had made in her chariot the full round of the army at their encamping for the night, to see that everything was in order. After that she returned to her own tent and sat beside her husband Olioill at their meal, and he asks her how fared the troops. Mève then said something laudatory44 about the Gaileóin,[5] or ancient Leinstermen, who were not of Gaelic race, but appear to have belonged to some early non-Gaelic tribe, cognate46 with the Firbolg.
"'What excellence47 perform they beyond all others that they be thus praised?' said Oilioll.
"'They give cause for praise,' said Mève, 'for while others were choosing their camping-ground, they had made their booths and shelters; and while others were making their booths and shelters, they had their feast of meat and ale laid out; and while others were laying out their feasts of bread and ale, these had finished their food and fare; and while others were finishing their food and fare, these were asleep. Even as their slaves and servants have excelled the slaves and servants of the men of Erin, so will their good heroes and youths excel the good heroes and youths of the men of Erin in this hosting.'
"'I am the better pleased at that,' said Oilioll, 'because it was with me they came, and they are my helpers.'[6]
[Pg 324]
"'They shall not march with thee, then,' said Mève, 'and it is not before me, nor to me, they shall be boasted of.'
"'Then let them remain in camp,' said Oilioll.
"'They shall not do that either,' said Mève.
"'What shall they do, then?' said Findabar, daughter of Oilioll and Mève, 'if they shall neither march nor yet remain in camp.'
"'My will is to inflict49 death and fate and destruction on them,' said Mève."
It is with the greatest difficulty that Fergus is enabled to calm the furious queen, and she is only satisfied when the three thousand Gaileóins have been broken up and scattered50 throughout the other battalions52, so that no five men of them remained together.
Thereafter the army came to plains so thickly wooded, in the neighbourhood of the present Kells, that they were obliged to cut down the wood with their swords to make a way for their chariots, and the next night they suffered intolerably from a fall of snow.
"The snow that fell that night reached to men's legs and to the wheels of chariots, so that the snow made one plain of the five provinces of Erin, and the men of Ireland never suffered so much before in camp, none knew throughout the whole night whether it was his friend or his enemy who was next him, until the rise early on the morrow of the clear-shining sun, glancing on the snow that covered the country."
They are now on the borders of Ulster, and Cuchulain is hovering54 on their flank, but no one has yet seen him. He lops a gnarled tree, writes an Ogam on it, sticks upon it the heads of three warriors he had slain55, and sets it up on the brink56 of a ford40. That night Oilioll and Mève inquire from the Ultonians who were in her army more particulars about this new enemy, and nearly a sixth part of the whole Táin is taken up by the stories which are then and there related about Cuchulain's earliest history and exploits, first by Fergus, and, when he is done relating, by Cormac Conlingeas,[Pg 325] and when he has finished, by Fiacha, another Ultonian. This long digression, which is one of the most interesting parts of the whole saga, being over, we return to the direct story.
Cuchulain, who knows every tree and every bush of the country, still hangs upon Mève's flank, and without showing himself during the day, he slays58 a hundred men with his sling59[7] every night.
Mève, through an envoy15, asks for a meeting with him, and is astonished to find him, as she thinks, a mere60 boy. She offers him great rewards in the hope of buying him off, but he will have none of her gold. The only conditions upon which he will cease his night-slaying61 is if Mève will promise to let him fight with some warrior21 every day at the ford, and will promise to keep her army in its camp while these single combats last, and this Mève consents to, since she says it is better to lose one warrior every day than one hundred every night.
A great number of single combats then take place, each of which is described at length. One curious incident is that of the war-goddess, whom he had previously62 offended, the Mór-rígu,[8] or "great queen," attacking him while fighting with the warrior Loich. She came against him, not in her own figure, but as a great black eel53 in the water, who wound itself around his legs, and as he stooped to disengage himself Loich wounded him severely63 in the breast. Again she came against him in the form of a great grey wolf-bitch, and as Cuchulain turned to drive her off he was again wounded. A third time she came against him as a heifer with fifty other heifers round her, but Cuchulain struck her and broke one of her eyes, just as Diomede in the Iliad wounds the goddess[Pg 326] Cypris when she appears against him.[9] Cuchulain, thus embarrassed, only rids himself of Loich by having recourse to the mysterious feat64 of the Gae-Bolg, about which we shall hear more later on. His opponent, feeling himself mortally hurt, cries out—
"'By thy love of generosity65 I crave66 a boon67.'
"'What boon is that?' said Cuchulain.
"'It is not to spare me I ask,' said Loich, 'but let me fall forwards to the east, and not backward to the west, that none of the men of Erin may say that I fell in panic or in flight before thee.'
"'I grant it,' said Cuchulain, 'for surely it is a warrior's request.'"
After this encounter Cuchulain grew terribly despondent68, and urged his charioteer Laeg again to hasten the men of Ulster to his assistance, but their pains were still upon them, and he is left alone to bear the brunt of the attack as best he may. Mève also breaks her compact by sending six men against him, but them he overcomes, and in revenge begins again to slay57 at night.
Thereafter follows the episode known in Irish saga as the Great Breach69 of Moy Muirtheimhne. Cuchulain, driven to despair and enfeebled by wounds, fatigue70, and watching, was in the act of ascending71 his chariot to advance alone against the men of the four provinces, moving to certain death, when the[Pg 327] eye of his charioteer is arrested by the figure of a tall stranger moving through the camp of the enemy, saluting72 none as he moved, and by none saluted74.
"That man," said Cuchulain, "must be one of my supernatural friends of the shee[10] folk, and they salute73 him not because he is not seen."
The stranger approaches, and, addressing Cuchulain, desires him to sleep for three days and three nights, and instantly Cuchulain fell asleep, for he had been from before the feast of Samhain till after Féil Bhrighde[11] without sleep, "unless it were that he might sleep a little while beside his spear, in the middle of the day, his head on his hand, and his hand on his spear, and his spear on his knee, but all the while slaughtering75, slaying, preying76 on, and destroying, the four great provinces."
It was after this long sleep of Cuchulain's that, awaking fresh and strong, the Berserk rage fell upon him. He hurled77 himself against the men of Erin, he drove round their flank, he "gave his chariot the heavy turn, so that the iron wheels of the chariot sank into the earth, so that the track of the iron wheels was (in itself) a sufficient fortification, for like a fortification the stones and pillars and flags and sands of the earth rose back high on every side round the wheels." All that day, refreshed by his three days' sleep, he slaughtered78 the men of Erin.
Other single combats take place after this, in one of which the druid Cailitin and his twenty sons would have slain him had he not been rescued by his countryman Fiacha, one of those Ultonians who with Fergus had turned against their king and country when the children of Usnach were slain.
It was only at the last that his own friend Ferdiad was despatched against him, through the wiles79 of Mève. Ferdiad[Pg 328] was not a Gael, but of the Firbolg or Firdomhnan race,[12] yet he proved very nearly a match for Cuchulain. Knowing what Mève wanted with him, he positively80 refused to come to her tent when sent for, and in the end he is only persuaded by her sending her druids and ollavs against him, who threatened "to criticise81, satirise, and blemish82 him, so that they would raise three blisters83[13] on his face unless he came with them." At last he went with them in despair, "because he thought it easier to fall by valour and championship and weapons than to fall by [druids'] wisdom and by reproach."
The fight with Ferdiad is perhaps the finest episode in the Táin. The following is a description of the conduct of the warriors after the first day's conflict.
THE FIGHT AT THE FORD.[14]
"They ceased fighting and threw their weapons away from them into the hands of their charioteers. Each of them approached the other forthwith and each put his hand round the other's neck and gave him three kisses. Their horses were in the same paddock that night, and their charioteers at the same fire; and their charioteers spread beds of green rushes for them with wounded men's pillows[Pg 329] to them. The professors of healing and curing came to heal and cure them, and they applied84 herbs and plants of healing and curing to their stabs, and their cuts, and their gashes86, and to all their wounds. Of every herb and of every healing and curing plant that was put to the stabs and cuts and gashes, and to all the wounds of Cuchulain, he would send an equal portion from him, westward87 over the ford to Ferdiad, so that the men of Erin might not be able to say, should Ferdiad fall by him, that it was by better means of cure that he was enabled to kill him.
"Of each kind of food and of palatable88 pleasant intoxicating89 drink that was sent by the men of Erin to Ferdiad, he would send a fair moiety90 over the ford northwards to Cuchulain, because the purveyors of Ferdiad were more numerous than the purveyors of Cuchulain. All the men of Erin were purveyors to Ferdiad for beating off Cuchulain from them, but the Bregians only were purveyors to Cuchulain, and they used to come to converse92 with him at dusk every night. They rested there that night."
The narrator goes on to describe the next day's fighting, which was carried on from their chariots "with their great broad spears," and which left them both in such evil plight93 that the professors of healing and curing "could do nothing more for them, because of the dangerous severity of their stabs and their cuts and their gashes and their numerous wounds, than to apply witchcraft94 and incantations and charms to them to staunch their blood and their bleeding and their gory95 wounds."
Their meeting on the next day follows thus:—
"They arose early the next morning and came forward to the ford of battle, and Cuchulain perceived an ill-visaged and a greatly lowering cloud on Ferdiad that day.
"'Badly dost thou appear to-day, O Ferdiad,' said Cuchulain, 'thy hair has become dark this day and thine eye has become drowsy96, and thine own form and features and appearance have departed from thee.'
"'It is not from fear or terror of thee that I am so this day,' said Ferdiad, 'for there is not in Erin this day a champion that I could not subdue97.'
"And Cuchulain was complaining and bemoaning98 and he spake these words, and Ferdiad answered:
[Pg 330]
CUCHULAIN.
"Oh, Ferdiad, is it thou?
Wretched man thou art I trow,
By a guileful99 woman won
To hurt thine old companion.
FERDIAD.
"O Cuchulain, fierce of fight,
Man of wounds and man of might,
Fate compelleth each to stir
Moving towards his sepulchre."[15]
The lay is then given, each of the heroes reciting a verse in turn, and it is very possibly upon these lays that the prose narrative100 is built up. The third day's fighting is then described in which the warriors use their "heavy hand-smiting swords," or rather swords that gave "blows of size. "[16] The story then continues—
"They cast away their weapons from them into the hands of their charioteers, and though it had been the meeting pleasant and happy, griefless and spirited of two men that morning, it was the separation, mournful, sorrowful, dispirited, of the two men that night.
"Their horses were not in the same enclosure that night. Their charioteers were not at the same fire. They rested that night there.
"Then Ferdiad arose early next morning and went forwards alone to the ford of battle, for he knew that that day would decide the battle and the fight, and he knew that one of them would fall on that day there or that they both would fall.
"Ferdiad displayed many noble, wonderful, varied101 feats102 on high that day, which he never learned with any other person, neither with Scathach, nor with Uathach, nor with Aife, but which were invented by himself that day against Cuchulain.
"Cuchulain came to the ford and he saw the noble, varied, wonderful, numerous feats which Ferdiad displays on high.
[Pg 331]
"'I perceive these, my friend, Laeg' [said Cuchulain to his charioteer], 'the noble, varied, wonderful, numerous feats which Ferdiad displays on high, and all these feats will be tried on me in succession, and, therefore, it is that if it be I who shall begin to yield this day thou art to excite, reproach, and speak evil to me, so that the ire of my rage and anger shall grow the more on me. If it be I who prevail, then thou shalt laud45 me, and praise me, and speak good words to me that my courage may be greater.'[17]
"'It shall so be done indeed, O Cuchulain,' said Laeg.
"And it was then Cuchulain put his battle-suit of conflict and of combat and of fight on him, and he displayed noble, varied, wonderful, numerous feats on high on that day, that he never learned from anybody else, neither with Scathach, nor with Uathach, nor with Aife. Ferdiad saw those feats and he knew they would be plied85 against him in succession.
"'What weapons shall we resort to, O Ferdiad?' said Cuchulain.
"'To thee belongs thy choice of weapons till night,' said Ferdiad.
"'Let us try the Ford Feat then,' said Cuchulain.
"'Let us indeed,' said Ferdiad. Although Ferdiad thus spoke103 his consent it was a cause of grief to him to speak so, because he knew that Cuchulain was used to destroy every hero and every champion who contended with him in the Feat of the Ford.
"Great was the deed, now, that was performed on that day at the ford—the two heroes, the two warriors, the two champions of Western Europe, the two gift and present and stipend104 bestowing105 hands of the north-west of the world; the two beloved pillars of the valour of the Gaels, and the two keys of the bravery of the Gaels to be brought to fight from afar through the instigation and intermeddling of Oilioll and Mève.
"Each of them began to shoot at other with their missive weapons from the dawn of early morning till the middle of midday. And when midday came the ire of the men waxed more furious, and each of them drew nearer to the other. And then it was that Cuchulain on one occasion sprang from the brink of the ford and came on the boss of the shield of Ferdiad, son of Daman, for the purpose of striking his head over the rim38 of his shield from above. And it was then that Ferdiad gave the shield a blow of his left elbow and cast[Pg 332] Cuchulain from him like a bird on the brink of the ford. Cuchulain sprang from the brink of the ford again till he came on the boss of the shield of Ferdiad, son of Daman, for the purpose of striking his head over the rim of the shield from above. Ferdiad gave the shield a stroke of his left knee and cast Cuchulain from him like a little child on the brink of the ford.
"Laeg [his charioteer] perceived that act. 'Alas107, indeed,' said Laeg, 'the warrior who is against thee casts thee away as a lewd108 woman would cast her child. He throws thee as foam109 is thrown by the river. He grinds thee as a mill would grind fresh malt. He pierces thee as the felling axe106 would pierce the oak. He binds110 thee as the woodbine binds the tree. He darts111 on thee as the hawk112 darts on small birds, so that henceforth thou hast nor call nor right nor claim to valour or bravery to the end of time and life, thou little fairy phantom,' said Laeg.
"Then up sprang Cuchulain with the rapidity of the wind and with the readiness of the swallow, and with the fierceness of the dragon and the strength of the lion into the troubled clouds of the air the third time, and he alighted on the boss of the shield of Ferdiad, son of Daman to endeavour to strike his head over the rim of his shield from above. And then it was the warrior gave the shield a shake, and cast Cuchulain from him into the middle of the ford, the same as if he had never been cast off at all.
"And it was then that Cuchulain's first distortion came on, and he was filled with swelling113 and great fulness, like breath in a bladder, until he became a terrible, fearful, many-coloured, wonderful Tuaig, and he became as big as a Fomor, or a man of the sea, the great and valiant114 champion, in perfect height over Ferdiad.[18]
"So close was the fight they made now that their heads met above and their feet below and their arms in the middle over the rims37 and bosses of their shields. So close was the fight they made that they cleft115 and loosened their shields from their rims to their centres. So close was the fight which they made that they turned and bent116 and shivered their spears from their points to their hafts. Such was the closeness of the fight which they made that the Bocanachs and Bananachs, and wild people of the glens, and demons117 of the air screamed from the rims of their shields and from the hilts of their swords and from the hafts of their spears. Such was the closeness of the fight which they made that they cast the river out of its bed and out of its course, so that it might have been a reclining and reposing118 couch for a king or for a queen in the middle of the ford, so that[Pg 333] there was not a drop of water[19] in it unless it dropped into it by the trampling119 and the hewing120 which the two champions and the two heroes made in the middle of the ford. Such was the intensity121 of the fight which they made that the stud of the Gaels darted122 away in fright and shyness, with fury and madness, breaking their chains and their yokes123, their ropes and their traces, and that the women and youths, and small people, and camp followers124, and non-combatants of the men of Erin broke out of the camp south-westwards.
"They were at the edge-feat of swords during the time. And it was then that Ferdiad found an unguarded moment upon Cuchulain, and he gave him a stroke of the straight-edged sword, and buried it in his body until his blood fell into his girdle, until the ford became reddened with the gore125 from the body of the battle-warrior. Cuchulain would not endure this, for Ferdiad continued his unguarded stout126 strokes, and his quick strokes and his tremendous great blows at him. And he asked Laeg, son of Riangabhra, for the Gae Bulg. The manner of that was this: it used to be set down the stream and cast from between the toes [lit. in the cleft of the foot], it made the wound of one spear in entering the body, but it had thirty barbs127 to open, and could not be drawn128 out of a person's body until it was cut open. And when Ferdiad heard the Gae Bulg mentioned he made a stroke of the shield down to protect his lower body. Cuchulain thrust the unerring thorny129 spear off the centre of his palm over the rim of the shield, and through the breast of the skin-protecting armour130, so that its further half was visible after piercing his heart in his body. Ferdiad gave a stroke of his shield up to protect the upper part of his body, though it was 'the relief after the danger.' The servant set the Gae Bulg down the stream and Cuchulain caught it between the toes of his foot, and he threw an unerring cast of it at Ferdiad till it passed through the firm deep iron waistpiece of wrought131 iron and broke the great stone which was as large as a millstone in three, and passed through the protections of his body into him, so that every crevice132 and every cavity of him was filled with its barbs.
"'That is enough now, indeed,' said Ferdiad, 'I fall of that. Now indeed may I say that I am sickly after thee, and not by thy hand should I have fallen,' and he said [here follow some verses]....
"Cuchulain ran towards him after that, and clasped his two arms about him and lifted him with his arms and his armour and his clothes across the ford northward91, in order that the slain should lie[Pg 334] by the ford on the north, and not by the ford on the west with the men of Erin.
"Cuchulain laid Ferdiad down there, and a trance and a faint and a weakness fell then on Cuchulain over Ferdiad.
"'Good, O Cuchulain,' said Laeg, 'rise up now for the men of Erin are coming upon us, and it is not single combat they will give thee since Ferdiad, son of Daman, son of Dare, has fallen by thee.'
"'Servant,' said he, 'what availeth me to arise after him that hath fallen by me.'"
Cuchulain is carried away swooning after this fight and is brought by the two sons of Géadh to the streams and rivers to be cured of his stabs and wounds, by plunging133 him in the waters and facing him against the currents, "for the Tuatha De Danann sent plants of grace and herbs of healing (floating) down the streams and rivers of Muirtheimhne, to comfort and help Cuchulain, so that the streams were speckled and green overhead with them." The Finglas, the Bush, the Douglas, and eighteen other rivers are mentioned as aiding to cure him.
During the period of Cuchulain's leeching135 many events were happening in Mève's camp, amongst others the tragic136 death of her beautiful daughter, Finnabra.[20] Isolated137 bands of the men of Ulster were now beginning to at last muster in front of Mève, and amongst them came a certain northern chief, who was, as her daughter secretly confessed to Mève, her own love and sweetheart beyond all the men of Erin.
The prudent138 Mève immediately desires her to go to him, if he is her lover, and do everything in her power to make him draw off his warriors. This design, however, got abroad, and came to the ears of the twelve Munster princes who led the forces of the southern province in Mève's army. These gradually make the discovery that the astute139 queen had secretly promised her daughter's hand to each one of the twelve, as an inducement to him to take part in her expedition. Infuriated at being thus trifled with and at Mève's treachery[Pg 335] in now sending her daughter to the Ultonian, they fall with all their forces upon the queen's battalion51 and the whole camp becomes a scene of blood and confusion. The warrior Fergus at last succeeds in separating the combatants, not before seven hundred men have fallen. But when Finnabra saw the slaughter that was raging, of which she herself was cause, "a blood-torrent burst from her heart in her bosom through (mingled) shame and generosity," and she was taken up dead.
In the meantime Cuchulain is joined by another great Ultonian warrior, who is also being leeched140. He had fallen upon the men of Erin single-handed, and received many wounds, one from Mève herself, who fought, like Boadicea, at the head of her troops. He describes the amazon who wounded him to Cuchulain—
"A largely-nurtured, white-faced, long-cheeked woman, with a yellow mane on the top of her two shoulders, with a shirt of royal silk over her white skin, and a speckled spear red-flaming in her hand; it was she who gave me this wound, and I gave her another small wound in exchange.
"'I know that woman,' said Cuchulain, 'that woman was Mève, and it had been glory and exultation141 to her had you fallen by her hand.'"
Afterwards Sualtach, father of Cuchulain, heard the groans142 of his son as he was being cured, and said, "Is it heaven that is bursting, or the sea that is retiring, or the land that is loosening, or is it the groan143 of my son in his extremity144 that I hear?" said he. Cuchulain despatches him to urge the Ultonians to his assistance. "Tell them how you found me," he said; "there is not the place of the point of a needle in me from head to foot without a wound, there is not a hair upon my body without a dew of crimson blood upon the top of every point, except my left hand alone that was holding my shield."
And now the Ultonians begin to rally and face the men of Erin. Troops are seen to pour in from every quarter of[Pg 336] Ulster, gathering upon the plains of Meath for the great battle that was impending145. Mève sends out her trusted messenger to bring word of what is going on amongst the hostile bands. His first report is that the noise of the Ultonians hewing down the woods before their chariots with the edge of their swords was "like nothing but as it were the solid firmament146 falling upon the surface-face of the earth, or as it were the sky-blue sea pouring over the superficies of the plain, as it were the earth being rent asunder147, or the forests falling [each tree] into the grasp and fork of the other."
Mac Roth, the chief messenger, is again sent out to observe the gathering of the hosts and to bring word of what bands are coming in to the hill where Conor, king of Ulster, has set up his standard. On his return at nightfall there follows a long, minute, and tedious account, something like the list of ships in the Iliad, only broken by the questions of Mève and Oilioll, and the answers of Fergus. It contains, however, some passages of interest. The scout148 describes the arrival of twenty-nine different armaments around their respective chiefs at the hill where King Conor is encamping. Incidentally he gives us descriptions of characters of interest in the Saga-cycle. As he ends his description of each band and its leaders, Oilioll turns to Fergus, and Fergus from Mac Roth's description recognises and tells him who the various leaders are. In this way we get a glimpse at Sencha, the wise man, the Nestor of the Red Branch, whose counsel was ever good. "That man," said Fergus, "is the speaker and peace-maker of the host of Ulster, and I pledge my word that it is no cowardly or unheroic counsel which that man will give to his lord this day, but counsel of vigour149 and valour and fight." We see the arrival of Feirceirtné, the arch-ollav of the Ultonians, of Cathbadh the Druid, he who had prophesied150 of Déirdre at her birth, who was supposed, according to the earliest accounts, to have been the real father of King Conor, he who weakened the children of Usnach by his spells; and we see also Aithirne,[Pg 337] the infamous151 and overbearing poet of the Ultonians, about whom much is related in other tales. "The lakes and rivers," said Fergus, "recede152 before him when he satirises them, and rise up before him when he praises them." "There are not many men in life more handsome or more golden-locked than he," said Mac Roth, "he bears a gleaming ivory[-hilted] sword in his right hand." With this sword he amuses himself, something like the Norman trouvère Taillefer at the battle of Hastings, by casting it aloft and letting it fall almost on the heads of his companions but without hurting them. The arch-druid is described as having scattered whitish-grey hair, and wearing a purple-blue mantle with a large gleaming shield and bosses of red brass153, and a long iron sword of foreign look. Conor's leech134, Finghin, led a band of physicians to the field; "that man could tell," said Fergus, "what a person's sickness is by looking at the smoke of the house in which he is." Another hero whom we catch a glimpse of is the mighty154 Conall Cearnach, the greatest champion of the north, whose name was till lately a household word around Dunsevrick, he who afterwards so bloodily155 avenged156 Cuchulain's death, "the sea over seas, the bursting rock, the furious troubler of hosts," as Fergus calls him.
We also see the youth Erc, son of Cairbré Niafer the High-king, who comes from Tara to assist his grandfather King Conor. It is curious, however, that in this catalogue of the Ultonians quite as much space is given to the description of men whose names are now—so far, at least, as I know—unknown to us, as to those who often and prominently figure in our yet remaining stories.
At last the great battle of the Táin comes off, when the men of Ulster meet the men of Ireland fairly and face to face. Prodigies157 of valour are performed on both sides, and Fergus—who after Cuchulain is certainly the hero of the Táin—seconded by Oilioll, by Mève, by the Seven Mainès, and by the sons of Magach, drives the Ultonians back on his side of[Pg 338] the battle three times. Conor, who is on the other flank, perceives that the men of his far wing are being broken, and loudly
"he shouts to the Household of the Red Branch, 'hold ye the place in the battle where I am, till I go find who it is who has thrice inclined the battle against us on the north.'
"'We take that upon ourselves,' said they, 'for heaven is over us, and earth is under us, and unless the firmament fall down upon the wave-face of the earth, or the ocean encircle us, or the ground give way under us, or the ridgy158 blue-bordered sea rise over the expanse[21] of life, we shall give not one inch of ground before the men of Erin till thou come to us again, or till we be slain.'"
Conor hastens northward and finds himself confronted by the man he had so bitterly wronged, whose hand had lain heavy on his province and himself, Fergus, who now comes face to face with him after so many years. Tremendous are the strokes of Fergus.
"He smote159 his three enemy blows upon Conor's shield 'Eochain' so that the shield screamed thrice upon him, and the three leading waves of Erin answered it.
"'Who,' cries Fergus, 'holds his shield against me in this battle?'[22]
"'O Fergus,' cried Conor, 'one who is greater and younger and handsomer, and more perfect than thyself is here, and whose father and whose mother were better than thine; one who slew160 the three great candles of the valour of the Gaels, the three prosperous sons of Usnach, in spite of thy guarantee and thy protection, the man who banished161 thee out of thy own land and country, the man who made of it a dwelling-place for the deer and the roe48 and the foxes, the man who never left thee as much as the breadth of thy foot of territory in Ulster, the man who drove thee to the entertainment of women,[23] and the man who will drive thee back this day in the presence of the men of Erin, [I] Conor, son of Fachtna Fathach, High-king of Ulster, and son of the High-king of Ireland."
Despite this boasting he would certainly have been slain by his great opponent had not one of his sons clasped his arms in[Pg 339] supplication162 around Fergus's knees and conjured163 him not to destroy Ulster, and Fergus, melted by these entreaties164, consented to remain passive if Conor retired165 to the other wing of the battle, which he did.
In the meantime Mève had sent away the Dun Bull with fifty heifers round him and eight men, to drive him to her palace in Connacht, "so that whoever reached Cruachan alive, or did not reach it, the Dun Bull of Cuailgne should reach it as she had promised."
Cuchulain, who had joined the Ultonians, and whose arms had been taken from him, lest in his enfeebled condition he should injure himself by taking part in the fray166, unable to bear any longer the look of the battle, the shouting and the war-cries, rushes into the fight with part of his broken chariot for a weapon, and performs mighty feats. At length he ceases to slay at Mève's solicitation167, whose life he spares, and the shattered remnants of her host begin slowly to withdraw across the ford. "Oilioll draws his shield of protection behind the host [i.e., covers the rear], Mève draws her shield of protection in her own place, Fergus draws his shield of protection, the Mainès draw their shield of protection, the sons of Magach draw their shield of protection behind the host; and in this manner they brought with them the men of Erin across the great ford westward," nor did they cease their retreat till Mève and her army found themselves at Cruachan in Connacht, whence they had set out.
The long saga ends with a decided anti-climax, the encounter between the Dun Bull, whom Mève had carried off, and her own bull, the White-Horned.[24] These bulls, according to one[Pg 340] of the most curious of the short auxiliary168 sagas to the Táin, were really rebirths of two men who hated each other during life, and now fought it out in the form of bulls. When they caught sight of each other they pawed the earth so furiously that they sent the sods flying across their shoulders, "they rolled the eyes in their heads like flames of fiery169 lightning." All day long they charged, and thrust, and struggled, and bellowed170, while the men of Ireland looked on, "but when the night came they could do nothing but be listening to the noises and the sounds." The two bulls traversed much of Ireland during that night.[25] Next morning the people of Cruachan saw the Dun Bull coming with the remains171 of his enemy upon his horns. The men of Connacht would have intercepted172 him, but Fergus, ever generous, swore with a great oath that all that had been done in the pursuit of the Táin was nothing to what he would do if the Dun Bull were not allowed to return to his own country with his kill. The Dun made straight for his home at Cuailgne in Louth. He drank of the Shannon at Athlone, and as he stooped one of his enemy's loins fell off from his horn, hence Ath-luain, the Ford of the Loin. After that he rushed, mad with passion, towards his home, killing173 every one who crossed his way. Arrived there, he set his back to a hill and uttered wild bellowings of triumph, until "his heart in his breast burst, and he poured his heart in black mountains of brown blood out across his mouth."
Thus far the Táin Bo Chuailgne.
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[1] Pronounced "Taun Bo Hooiln'ya."
[2] Yet in the Brehon law a woman is valued at only the seventh part of a man, three cows instead of twenty-one; but if she is young and handsome she has her additional "honour price."
[3] "Findruini." See Book of Leinster, f. 42, for the old text of this, but I am here using a modern copy, not trusting myself to translate accurately174 from the old text.
[4] This is the mysterious sickness which seizes upon all the Ultonians at intervals175 except Cuchulain. See ch. XXIV, note 3.
[5] For more about the Gaileóin see p. 598 of Rhys's Hibbert Lectures, and O'Curry, "M. and C.," vol. ii. p. 260.
[6] They were countrymen of Oilioll's.
[7] Crann-tábhail; it is doubtful what kind of missile weapon this really was. It was certainly of the nature of a sling, but was partly composed of wood.
[8] See above, p. 54 and 291. Rigú is the old form of roghan.
[9] "? δ? Κ?πριν ?π?χετο νηλ?ι χαλκ?
Γιγν?σκων ?τ? ?ναλκι? ?ην θε??, ο?δ? θε?ων
Τ?ων α? τ? ?νδρ?ν π?λεμον κατα κοιραν?ουσιν,
Ο?τ? ?ρ? ?θηνα?η, ο?τε πτολ?πορθο? ?νυ?.
?λλ ?τε δ? ?? ?κ?χανε πολ?ν καθ? ?μιλον ?π?ζων,
?νθ? ?πορεξ?μενο?, μεγαθ?μου Τυδ?ο? υ???
?κρην ο?τασε χε?ρα, μετ?λμενο? ?ξ?? δουρ?
?βληχρ?ν. ε?θαρ δ? δ?ρυ χρο?? ?ντετ?ρησεν
?μβροσ?ου δι? π?πλου, ?ν ο? Χ?ριτε? κ?μον α?τα?,
Πρυμν?ν ?περ θ?ναρο? ??ε δ? ?μβροτον α?μα θεο?ο
?χ?ρ, ο?ο? π?ρ τε ??ει μακ?ρεσσι θεο?σιν."
Iliad, v. 330.
A better instance except for the sex is where he afterwards wounds Ares. (See v. 855.)
[10] In Irish, sidh. The stranger is really Cuchulain's divine father.
[11] This is incredible, for the sickness of the Ultonians could not have endured so long.
[12] The prominence176 given to and the laudatory comments on the non-Gaelic or non-Milesian races, such as the Gaileóins and Firbolg in this saga is very remarkable177. It seems to me a proof of antiquity178, because in later times these races were not prominent.
[13] These are the three blisters mentioned in Cormac's Glossary179 under the word gaire. Nede satirises—wrongfully—his uncle Caier, king of Connacht; "Caier arose next morning early and went to the well. He put his hand over his countenance, he found on his face three blisters which the satire180 had caused, namely, Stain, Blemish, and Defect [on, anim, eusbaidh], to wit, red and green and white."
[14] I give here, for the most part, the translation given by Sullivan in his Addenda181 to O'Curry's "Manners and Customs," but it is an exceedingly faulty and defective182 one from a linguistic183 point of view. However, even though some words may be mistranslated or their sense mistaken, it is immaterial here. Windisch is said to have finished a complete translation of the Táin, but it has not as yet appeared anywhere. Max Netlau has studied the texts of the Ferdiad episode in vols. x. and xi. of the "Revue Celtique."
[15] This is the metre of the original. The last lines are literally184, "A man is constrained185 to come unto the sod where his final grave shall be." The metre of the last line is wrong in the Book of Leinster.
[16] Tortbullech = toirt-bhuilleach.
[17] A common trait even in the modern Gaelic tales, as in the story of Iollan, son of the king of Spain, whose sweetheart urges him to the battle by chanting his pedigree; and in Campbell's story of Conall Gulban, where the daughter of the King of Lochlann urges her bard186 to exhort187 her champion in the fight lest he may be defeated, and to give him "Brosnachadh file fir-ghlic," i.e., the urging of a truly wise poet.
[18] Compare this with the Berserker rage of the Northmen.
[19] Cf. the common Gaelic folk-lore formula, "they would make soft of the hard and hard of the soft, and bring cold springs of fresh water out of the hard rock with their wrestling."
[20] Or Findabar, the fair-eyebrowed one.
[21] "Tulmuing." See p. 7.
[22] I do not think this is rightly translated, but the passage is obscure to me.
[23] Alluding188 to Fergus serving with Queen Mève.
[24] The Finnbheannach, pronounced "Fin-van-ach." Both the bulls were endowed with intelligence. One of the virtues189 of the Dun Bull was that neither Bocanachs nor Bananachs nor demons of the glens could come into one cantred to him. There emanated190 from him, too, when returning home every evening, a mysterious music, so that the men of the cantred where he was, required no other music. The war-goddess herself, the Mór-rigú, speaks to him.
[25] Every place in Ireland, says the saga, that is called Cluain-na-dtarbh, Magh-na-dtarbh, Bearna-na-dtarbh, Druim-na-dtarbh, Loch-na-dtarbh, i.e., the Bull's meadow, plain, gap, ridge191, lake, etc., has its name from them!
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1
saga
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| n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇 | |
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sagas
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| n.萨迦（尤指古代挪威或冰岛讲述冒险经历和英雄业绩的长篇故事）( saga的名词复数 )；（讲述许多年间发生的事情的）长篇故事；一连串的事件（或经历）；一连串经历的讲述（或记述） | |
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3
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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4
verbiage
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| n.冗词；冗长 | |
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5
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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6
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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7
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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8
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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10
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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11
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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12
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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13
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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14
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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15
envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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envoys
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| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
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indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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18
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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19
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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20
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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21
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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22
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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23
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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24
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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25
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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26
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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27
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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28
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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29
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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31
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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32
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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33
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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34
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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35
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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36
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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37
rims
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| n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈 | |
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38
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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39
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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40
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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41
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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43
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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44
laudatory
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| adj.赞扬的 | |
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45
laud
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| n.颂歌；v.赞美 | |
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46
cognate
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| adj.同类的，同源的，同族的；n.同家族的人，同源词 | |
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47
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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48
roe
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| n.鱼卵；獐鹿 | |
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49
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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50
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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51
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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52
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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53
eel
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| n.鳗鲡 | |
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54
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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55
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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56
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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57
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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58
slays
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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60
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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61
slaying
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| 杀戮。 | |
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62
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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63
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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64
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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65
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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66
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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67
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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68
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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69
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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70
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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71
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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72
saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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73
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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74
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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75
slaughtering
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 ) | |
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76
preying
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| v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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77
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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78
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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80
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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81
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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82
blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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83
blisters
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| n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡 | |
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84
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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85
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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86
gashes
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| n.深长的切口（或伤口）( gash的名词复数 )v.划伤，割破( gash的第三人称单数 ) | |
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87
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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88
palatable
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| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
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89
intoxicating
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| a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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90
moiety
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| n.一半；部分 | |
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91
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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92
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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93
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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94
witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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95
gory
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| adj.流血的；残酷的 | |
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96
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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97
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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98
bemoaning
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| v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的现在分词 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹 | |
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99
guileful
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| adj.狡诈的，诡计多端的 | |
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100
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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101
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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102
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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103
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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104
stipend
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| n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金 | |
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105
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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106
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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107
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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108
lewd
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| adj.淫荡的 | |
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109
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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110
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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111
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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112
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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113
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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114
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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115
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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116
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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117
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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118
reposing
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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119
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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120
hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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121
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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122
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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123
yokes
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| 轭( yoke的名词复数 )； 奴役； 轭形扁担； 上衣抵肩 | |
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124
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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125
gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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127
barbs
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| n.（箭头、鱼钩等的）倒钩( barb的名词复数 )；带刺的话；毕露的锋芒；钩状毛 | |
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128
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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129
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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130
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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131
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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132
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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133
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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134
leech
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| n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人 | |
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135
leeching
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| 水蛭吸血法 | |
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136
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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137
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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138
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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139
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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140
leeched
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| v.用水蛭吸血（leech的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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141
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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142
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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143
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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144
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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145
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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146
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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147
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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148
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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149
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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150
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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151
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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152
recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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153
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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154
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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155
bloodily
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| adv.出血地；血淋淋地；残忍地；野蛮地 | |
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156
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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157
prodigies
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| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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158
ridgy
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| adj.有脊的；有棱纹的；隆起的；有埂的 | |
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159
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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160
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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161
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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162
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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163
conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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164
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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165
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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166
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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167
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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168
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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169
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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170
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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171
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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172
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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173
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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174
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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175
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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176
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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177
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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178
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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179
glossary
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| n.注释词表；术语汇编 | |
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180
satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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181
addenda
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| n.附录，附加物；附加物( addendum的名词复数 )；补遗；附录；（齿轮的）齿顶（高） | |
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182
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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183
linguistic
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| adj.语言的，语言学的 | |
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184
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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185
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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186
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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187
exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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188
alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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189
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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190
emanated
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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191
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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