The Death of Diarmuid

The time had come, and Finn decided to take a wife. Many beautiful maidens would have gladly agreed to become the wife of Finn Mac Cool, but he wanted to choose one who was renowned not only for her beauty but also for her wit and wisdom. To test the intelligence of his future wife, Finn devised six questions, and when he visited her, he posed them. The one who could answer all six questions would become his wife, he declared.

Now, the noble warrior Uillin had a daughter named Gráinne, whose beauty was famed throughout the land. Slender, dark-haired, with lively, beautiful eyes, it was she who found the answers to all six questions when Finn came to visit her father.

"What is more numerous than the blades of grass on the earth?" asked Finn.

"Dewdrops," replied Gráinne, "for on each blade of grass, there is not one but many dewdrops."

"And what is whiter than snow?" asked Finn.

"Truth," answered Gráinne.

"And what is blacker than a raven's wing?" he asked.

"Death," she replied.

"And what is redder than blood?"

"The face of a worthy man when he has nothing to offer an unexpected guest."

"And what is sharper than a sword?"

"The reproach of an enemy for cowardice."

"And what is faster than the wind?"

"A woman's thoughts, flying from one man to another."

Thus answered Gráinne, without a moment's hesitation. And Finn took both her hands in his and said:

"Truly, Gráinne, your beauty dazzles, and your wit pierces the heart. No one compares to you. Will you agree to become my wife?"

"It is an honor to become the wife of Finn Mac Cool," she replied.

And in the great hall of Uillin's house, preparations began for a lavish wedding. All nine thousand heroes of the glorious Fianna came to celebrate the wedding of their renowned leader. The rafters of the house shook with the thunderous laughter, and the walls trembled with the clinking of their goblets. The feast lasted seven days.

Among the nine thousand warriors was Diarmuid, Finn's nephew. After Finn himself and his son Oisín, Diarmuid was the third mightiest in the Fianna. But the fair-haired hero surpassed all in beauty. On his left cheek, near his eye, was a birthmark, which he always covered with a lock of hair. This was no ordinary birthmark but a mark of love. Should a woman catch a glimpse of it, love for Diarmuid would ignite in her heart.

And so, in the midst of the feast, Gráinne's two white hounds, lying by her chair, began to fight over a bone that had fallen under the table. Diarmuid was the first to jump up to separate them. A trivial matter, yet it was from this trifle that all his misfortunes that day began. For as he knelt to part the dogs, the lock of hair covering the mark of love fell away, and Gráinne saw it. Upon seeing it, she was instantly consumed with love for Diarmuid.

"Finn, the brave leader of the Fianna, has done me great honor by asking me to be his wife. But Diarmuid is the most beautiful youth I have ever seen, and his eyes burn with the fire of youth. No, I love Diarmuid," she said to herself.

Later, when Finn, heavy with wine, dozed off with his head resting on his chest, Gráinne leaned toward Diarmuid and confessed her love.

"Let us run away together!" she pleaded with Diarmuid. "Take me away now, and we will hide so well that Finn will never find us."

Gráinne's beauty proved no less potent than the mark of love on Diarmuid's cheek, and it captured his heart. Her words stirred a strong temptation within him, and he was ready to take her away. But how could he betray his friend and leader of the Fianna, to whom he had sworn eternal loyalty?

"Do you truly wish for me to be called the most dishonorable among the Fianna?" he asked Gráinne.

"I place a geis upon you, and from now on, you cannot part from me," she replied.

Hearing this, Diarmuid sighed heavily, for in those ancient times, there was a law: if a woman placed a geis, or a vow of obedience, upon a man, he was bound to fulfill all her desires. Diarmuid pondered how he might, without offending Gráinne, still not break his oath of loyalty to Finn, and said:

"O my love, Gráinne, the burden you wish to place upon me is heavy. But I will fulfill your desire and take you away from here. Only under the conditions I set. I will not take you from the house or the yard. You shall come to me not on horseback nor on foot. If you can fulfill these conditions, we will depart."

With these words, Diarmuid rose from the table and left the feasting hall of Uillin's house for a neighboring house, where he stayed the night.

In the morning, Gráinne appeared before him with her two white hounds and said:

"Let us go, Diarmuid. See, I have fulfilled all your conditions."

Diarmuid came out to her and saw how cleverly she had met them: she had come to him not on horseback nor on foot, but riding a goat. And she stood not in the street nor in the house, but on the threshold.

"Truly, Finn was right to find you the most clever and beautiful of women!" exclaimed Diarmuid. "Well, it is time for us to depart. Yet unease still grips me. I fear that no matter where we go, Finn will find us. Do you know why? Because all he needs to do is place the index finger of his left hand against his wisdom tooth, and he will instantly know where we are. And then his fury will consume him, and he will not rest until he has his revenge."

Gráinne dismounted from the goat, and accompanied by the white hounds, they hurried away, not resting their feet until they had crossed many green hills and valleys between Uillin's house and the welcoming forests of Kintail on the Kintyre peninsula. Yet though they flew like birds, the pursuit was swifter. As soon as Finn learned that Diarmuid had fled with his bride, he touched his finger to the sacred tooth and immediately knew that the fugitives had taken refuge in the forest of Kintail. Then he, along with the entire Fianna, left Uillin's house and set out for the forest, driven by anger and fury.
— I never thought that Diarmuid, the joy of my heart, would betray me so basely and treacherously, — said Finn, his thick veins swelling on his neck with anger.

The Fianna quickly reached the summit of the highest hill, from which the vast forests of Kintail could be seen as if in the palm of one's hand. There, Finn unfastened his hunting horn and blew it loudly. The sound of the horn echoed across the peninsula from south to north and from west to east.

Now, you should know that among the Fianna, there was a rule: when the *foghorn*—that is, Finn's hunting call—sounded, everyone was obliged to respond. Hearing the *foghorn*, Diarmuid realized he had to obey the unbreakable law of the Fianna.

— There’s nothing to be done, my love, — he said to Gráinne. — Duty commands me to answer the *foghorn*. I must appear before Finn.

Seeing that Diarmuid was preparing to leave, Gráinne said:

— I will go with you, my beloved. And if Finn is preparing death for you, I will meet it together with you.

And so they climbed to the top of the hill and met Finn there, along with his sons, Oscar and Oisín, and other heroes of the Fianna. When Finn saw Diarmuid and Gráinne approaching hand in hand, the anger in his heart softened slightly.

"Diarmuid is still so young; it is too soon for him to die," he thought. But then he remembered that his nephew had betrayed him, and fury seized him anew. "No, he must die," Finn decided.

Yet he shuddered at the thought of Diarmuid falling by his own hand and devised another plan to avenge himself on Diarmuid.

In the forest of Kintail lived an old woman named Meila Lli, which means "Gray Brow." She kept a herd of pigs, led by a fierce boar—a wild, savage beast. Many heroes had hunted it, but none had returned alive. This boar knew how to attack and defend itself. It occurred to Finn to send Diarmuid to hunt the boar. Thus, his nephew would be doomed to death, and he would be avenged, Finn thought.

He met Diarmuid and ordered him to go into the forest and kill the boar. Understanding that his death was inevitable, Diarmuid bid farewell to Oscar and Oisín, his cousins and childhood friends, and with a heavy heart, he left the Fianna.

The last one he exchanged words with before parting was his beautiful beloved, Gráinne. Taking up his spear, Diarmuid descended the hill and disappeared into the thick of the forest.

Some time passed, and those waiting atop the hill realized that Diarmuid had already encountered the boar—the sounds of battle reached them. They heard the cracking and breaking of branches in the forest, the loud snorting and wheezing of the enraged beast. Then, suddenly, silence fell, followed by the triumphant cry of a man. Diarmuid had slain the boar.

Finn and his sons immediately rushed into the forest. There, they saw Diarmuid, unharmed. He was resting after the battle, sitting beside the lifeless boar, whose black blood flowed from a hundred wounds inflicted by his spear.

— No wonder they call you Diarmuid the Reliable Shield, — Finn said to his nephew. Yet behind this praise lay a deep irritation that his plan had failed.

The boar's back was covered in poisonous bristles. A single prick from one of these hairs was enough to kill a man. Finn knew this and so said:

— Now measure your prey, nephew. Walk along its spine and tell us how many feet it is from the nape to the tail.

Unaware of the danger, Diarmuid walked barefoot along the boar's back to measure it, as Finn had ordered. And, by luck, not a single poisonous hair pierced his foot.

— Exactly sixteen feet, — Diarmuid declared.

— Measure again, — commanded Finn, — perhaps you made a mistake.

And Diarmuid walked a second time along the broad back of the boar. But halfway, a poisonous bristle pierced a mole on his right heel. Instantly, the deadly poison entered his body, and Diarmuid fell lifeless to the ground.

Suddenly, remorse awoke in Finn, and he cried out:

— Oh, Diarmuid! Tell me, what can heal you?

— A sip of water from Finn's palms.

Finn rushed to the stream flowing among the trees and cupped his hands to gather water. But then he remembered that Diarmuid had taken his bride, and in anger, he opened his hands, letting the water slip through his fingers to the ground.

Yet he gathered water a second time. But again, the struggle in his heart between his former love for his nephew and the anger he felt upon learning of his betrayal caused his hands to part, and the water spilled away once more.

When Finn finally overcame himself and brought water to his nephew, Diarmuid was already dead.

— I have killed my own nephew, the son of my own sister, for the sake of a woman who no longer loves me, — Finn lamented bitterly. — A valiant hero, the third in the glorious Fianna, I have destroyed by my own will.

Oscar and Oisín, Goll the Mighty, and the hound-keeper Conan—all who had grown up with Diarmuid and spent their youth with him—mourned him.

When Gráinne learned that Diarmuid was no longer alive, her heart stopped from grief, and she too died.

Diarmuid and Gráinne were buried with full honors on the shore of the quiet, bright Loch Dúg. They were laid in a long boat. Beside them were placed Diarmuid's battle spear, sharp sword, and famous shield, as well as other belongings he was accustomed to. At Gráinne's feet lay her white hounds, for they too had died of grief for their mistress.

Then, a high mound was raised over their grave. To this day, it is called Diarmuid's Mound.

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The Death of Diarmuid

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