Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/631

Rh necessary to compare them step by step, somewhat as follows:

1. The Anses resolve to bind the Fenri Wolf, of whom terrible things were prognosticated; they succeed, but at the expense of Týr's right hand.

The Tuatha Dé Danann fight with the Fir Bolg and conquer them, but at the cost of one of Nuada's hands, cut off by Sreng the champion of the Fir Bolg.

2. The sibyl's account of the array of the evil powers, with which the Wolf comes, is to the following effect:

"Swart shall come from the South with a plagueful staff of fire, A brightness as of the sun shines from the Demon's sword; Muspell's sons follow him . . . . A ship shall sail from the West . . . . the Hell's brood shall come over the waves, and Loki shall steer her. All the monster-brood shall march with the Beast, Byleist'a brother's daughter [Hell] is with their company. They that dwell with Hell shall lay waste the world whereon men dwell. From the East, Rym shall drive out of Giant-land, The Rime-ogres [Titans] follow him. . . ."

The Fomori with their allies, including the scattered remnants of the Fir Bolg, as well as the forces of Lochlann or the World beneath the Waters, muster agaiust the Tuatha Dé Danann, and form altogether an army, as the story goes, of the most hideous troops ever Been in Erinn, following as their leaders Balor of the Evil Eye, and Indech son of the Goddess of the Deep.

3. The Anses lose several of their leading men in the contest. Woden the Culture Hero is slain by the Wolf, while Týr and the hound Garm fall in mutual slaughter.

The Tuatha Dé Danann lose most of their chiefs in the battle, including their champion, Ogma the Culture