The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn is a medieval
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
narrative belonging to the
Fenian CycleThe Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht , also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian Tales, Fian Tales, Féinne Cycle, Feinné Cycle and Ossianic Cycle, is a body of prose and verse centering on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna Éireann...
of
Irish mythologyThe mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology...
. As its title implies, it recounts the boyhood exploits of
Fionn mac CumhaillFionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( (Northern), (Western), (Southern), anglicised (in early texts Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, anglicised to Finn McCool in the Romantic Period of the 1800s) was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the...
, the cycle's central figure. The most important manuscript is Laud 610: folio 118Rb-121Va, which is missing the ending;
Kuno MeyerKuno Meyer was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature.Born in Hamburg, Meyer studied at the University of Leipzig, taught by Ernst Windisch from 1879. He received his doctorate for his thesis Eine irische Version der Alexandersage in 1884...
assigned the text to the 12th century.
The Laud 610 manuscript was first edited by
Kuno MeyerKuno Meyer was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature.Born in Hamburg, Meyer studied at the University of Leipzig, taught by Ernst Windisch from 1879. He received his doctorate for his thesis Eine irische Version der Alexandersage in 1884...
in 1881 for the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
journal
Revue Celtique.
The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn is a medieval
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
narrative belonging to the
Fenian CycleThe Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht , also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian Tales, Fian Tales, Féinne Cycle, Feinné Cycle and Ossianic Cycle, is a body of prose and verse centering on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna Éireann...
of
Irish mythologyThe mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology...
. As its title implies, it recounts the boyhood exploits of
Fionn mac CumhaillFionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( (Northern), (Western), (Southern), anglicised (in early texts Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, anglicised to Finn McCool in the Romantic Period of the 1800s) was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the...
, the cycle's central figure. The most important manuscript is Laud 610: folio 118Rb-121Va, which is missing the ending;
Kuno MeyerKuno Meyer was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature.Born in Hamburg, Meyer studied at the University of Leipzig, taught by Ernst Windisch from 1879. He received his doctorate for his thesis Eine irische Version der Alexandersage in 1884...
assigned the text to the 12th century.
Origin and development
The Laud 610 manuscript was first edited by
Kuno MeyerKuno Meyer was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature.Born in Hamburg, Meyer studied at the University of Leipzig, taught by Ernst Windisch from 1879. He received his doctorate for his thesis Eine irische Version der Alexandersage in 1884...
in 1881 for the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
journal
Revue Celtique. The text breaks off while Fionn investigates a
sídheIn Irish mythology, the aos sí are a powerful, supernatural race comparable to the fairies or elves. They are variously believed to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans...
or fairy mound, before his trip to Tara. Scholars have pointed out similarities between earlier versions of
The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn and tales of the youth of the
Ulster CycleThe Ulster Cycle, formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...
hero
CúchulainnCú Chulainn , also spelt Cúchulainn, Cúchulain, Cúchullain or Cú Chulaind, is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
. For instance,
The Boyhood Deeds of Cúchulainn and
The Wooing of EmerTochmarc Emire is one of the stories in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology and one of the longest when it received its form in the second recension . It concerns the efforts of the hero Cúchulainn to marry Emer, who appears as his wife in other stories of the cycle, and his training in arms under...
, both found within the epic
Táin Bó Cúailngeis a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse...
, recount Cúchulainn's earning of a nickname through his feats, his training by a warrior woman (
ScáthachScáthach is a figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains the legendary Ulster hero Cú Chulainn in the arts of combat...
) and his earning of a deadly spear (the
Gáe BulgThe Gáe Bulg The Gáe Bulg The Gáe Bulg (also Gáe Bulga, Gáe Bolg, Gáe Bolga, , meaning "notched spear", "belly spear", "swelling spear", "bellows-dart", or possibly "lightning spear", was the spear of Cúchulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology...
).
Plot
The story begins with the death of Fionn's father
CumhalCumhall son of Trénmór is a figure in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, a leader of the fianna and the father of Fionn mac Cumhaill....
, leader of the
FiannaIn early Ireland, fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands who lived apart from society in the forests as mercenaries, bandits and hunters, but could be called upon by kings in times of war. They appear in Irish mythology, most notably in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are...
, at the hands of
Goll mac MornaGoll mac Morna was a member of the fianna and an uneasy ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He had killed Fionn's father, Cumhal, and taken over the leadership of the fianna, but when Fionn grew up and proved his worth Goll willingly stepped aside in his favour.His...
. Cumhal's wife
MuirneMuirne or Muireann Muncháem was the mother of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology.She had many suitors, but her father, the druid Tadg mac Nuadat, had foreseen that her marriage would lead to the loss of his home on the hill of Almu, so he refused them all. But one of them,...
was pregnant at the time and eventually gave birth to their son, called Demne in his youth. Fearing for his safety, she sends the boy to be raised by Cumhal's sister, the druidess
BodhmallBodhmall or Bodmall is one of Fionn mac Cumhaill's childhood caretakers in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. She is a druidess and the sister of Fionn's father Cumhal, and both she and her associate Liath Luachra are known as great warriors....
, and her companion
Liath LuachraLiath Luachra, the "Gray of Luachair", is the name of two characters in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. Both appear in The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, which details the young life and adventures of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill....
. The two warrior women raise him and accompany him on several adventures, including one in which he receives his nickname,
Fionn (the fair; the pale). As he grows, his exploits attract increasing attention, and finally his foster mothers send him away for fear that Goll's men will find him. Subsequent episodes depict his service to the king of
BantryBantry is a town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland, located on the N71 route at the head of Bantry Bay. The Beara peninsula is to the northwest, with Sheep's Head also nearby, on the peninsula south of Bantry Bay....
, his recovery of Cumhal's treasures by slaying
Liath LuachraLiath Luachra, the "Gray of Luachair", is the name of two characters in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. Both appear in The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, which details the young life and adventures of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill....
(a different character than his caretaker), and his meeting with the aged and dispossessed Fianna who had fought with his father.
Another famous episode recounts how Fionn inadvertently eats the
Salmon of WisdomThe Salmon of Wisdom or Salmon of Knowledge is a creature figuring in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology.The Salmon figures prominently in The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, which recounts the early adventures of Fionn mac Cumhaill...
, which would grant universal knowledge to whoever consumed it. He had been studying under the poet
Finn EcesFinn Eces is a legendary Irish poet and sage, according to the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the teacher of Fionn mac Cumhaill, according to the tale The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn. For years he tries to catch the Salmon of Wisdom, a fish that will grant all the world's knowledge to whoever...
, who had sought the fish for seven years. Finally he catches it, and has Fionn cook it for him. Fionn burns his thumb on the fish and puts it in his mouth, thereby receiving its gift of wisdom.
Fionn travels to the capital of
TaraThe Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
, which is set aflame each
SamhainSamhain is a festival held at the end of the harvest season in Gaelic and Brythonic cultures. The festival has aspects of a festival of the dead...
by
AillénAillen or Áillen is a being in Irish mythology. Called "the burner", he is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann who resides in Mag Mell, the underworld. According to The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, he would burn Tara to the ground every year at Samhain with his fiery breath after lulling all the...
the Burner, one of the
Tuatha Dé DanannThe Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
. Goll and the Fianna are powerless to stop it, since Aillén puts everyone to sleep with a magical tune. Fionn inhales poison from his own spear to prevent sleep, and dispatches Aillén. He reveals his identity to the court, and the king grants Fionn his rightful position as leader of the Fianna. Goll steps down, and engages in a truce with his enemy.