Page:The mythology of ancient Britain and Ireland (IA mythologyofancie00squiiala).pdf/77

 Cairbré himself falls, while the Fenians are practically annihilated.

But attached to this possibly historical nucleus is a mass of tales which may well have once been independent of it. Their actors are the principal figures of the Fenian chivalry—Fionn (Finn) himself, his son Oisin (Ossian), and his grandson Osgur (Oscar); his cousin Caoilte (Kylta), swiftestfooted of men, and his nephew Diarmait (Dermat), the lover of women; with the proud Goll and his braggart brother Conan, leaders of the clan of Morna. They consist of wonderful adventures, sometimes with invaders from abroad, but oftener upon 'perilous seas' and 'in faery lands forlorn' with wild beasts, giants, witches and wizards, and the Tuatha Dé Danann themselves. The Fenians have the freedom of the sídhe, the palaces under the fairy hills, and help this god or that against his fellows. Even Bodb Derg (Red Bove) a son of the Dagda, gives his daughter to Finn and sends his son to enlist with the Fenians. The culmination of these exploits is related in the tale called Cath Finntraighe (the Battle of Ventry), in which Dairé Donn, the High King of the World, leads all his vassals against Ireland, E