And he had
Manannan's sword, the Freagarthach, the Answerer, at his side, and no
one that was wounded by it would ever get away alive; and when that
sword was bared in a battle, no man that saw it coming against him had
any more strength than a woman in child-birth.
And the troop came to where the King of Ireland was with the Tuatha de
Danaan, and they welcomed one another.
And they were not long there till they saw a surly, slovenly troop
coming towards them, nine times nine of the messengers of the Fomor,
that were coming to ask rent and taxes from the men of Ireland; and the
names of the four that were the hardest and the most cruel were Eine and
Eathfaigh and Coron and Compar; and there was such great dread of these
four on the Tuatha de Danaan, that not one of them would so much as
punish his own son or his foster-son without leave from them.
They came up then to where the King of Ireland was with the Riders of
the Sidhe, and the king and all the Tuatha de Danaan stood up before
them. And Lugh of the Long Hand said: "Why do you rise up before that
surly, slovenly troop, when you did not rise up before us?"
"It is needful for us to do it," said the king; "for if there was but a
child of us sitting before them, they would not think that too small a
cause for killing him." "By my word," said Lugh, "there is a great
desire coming on me to kill themselves." "That is a thing would bring
harm on us," said the king, "for we would meet our own death and
destruction through it.
Pages:
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55