Page:Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry - Meyer.djvu/94

 THE SONG OF CARROLL'S SWORD
 * ( 909)

Hail, sword of Carroll! Oft hast thou been in the
 * great woof of war,

Oft giving battle, beheading high princes.

Oft hast thou gone a-raiding in the hands of kings
 * of great judgments,

Oft hast thou divided the spoil with a good king
 * worthy of thee.

Oft where men of Leinster were hast thou been in
 * a white hand,

Oft hast thou been among kings, oft among great
 * bands.

Many were the kings that wielded thee in fight, Many a shield hast thou cleft in battle, many a
 * head and chest, many a fair skin.

Forty years without sorrow Enna of the noble
 * hosts had thee,

Never wast thou in a strait, but in the hands of a
 * very fierce king.

Enna gave thee—'twas no niggardly gift—to his
 * own son, to Dunling,

For thirty years in his possession, at last thou
 * broughtest ruin to him.

Many a king upon a noble steed possessed thee
 * unto Dermot the kingly, the fierce:

Sixteen years was the time Dermot had thee.

At the feast of Allen Dermot the hardy-born
 * bestowed thee,

Dermot, the noble king, gave thee to the man of
 * Mairg, to Murigan.