Harry and the Women

This was the occasion on which the Fianna were close to starving to death. They lived off the deer they hunted, but due to witchcraft, their hunting was unsuccessful. They were so hungry that they had to tighten their belts with seven oak pegs. But their women grew fatter and fatter, while the men were dying of hunger. Every day they went to the hill and returned with nothing from the hunt. Finn did not know what it was that the women were gathering that made them grow fat—it could not be the meager scraps the men were able to provide. One day, Finn left one of the Fianna, a man named Harry, in the house to watch the women and find out what they were gathering.

When the Fianna left, Harry saw the women wash themselves and go to the shore to gather shellfish. Each of them returned with her apron full of shells. After they cooked and ate the shellfish, they buried the shells, fearing that the Fianna would notice them. Seeing this, Harry went into the house, lay down, and fell asleep. He usually snored terribly in his sleep. The women heard the snoring in the house, looked in, and saw him sleeping on the floor. They realized they had been betrayed; they had no choice but to kill Harry, because if he told the other Fianna that the women were going to the shore for shellfish, the men would strip the shore bare in two days, and the women would have nothing left.

The women entered the house. Harry had long hair; they made nine braids from it and fastened nine pegs, one for each braid, nailing them to the floor. Then they all went out and raised a cry around the house. Harry jumped up, leaving his hair and skin nailed to the floor; he emerged bald and bloodied, without hair or skin on his head. He did not know what to do with the women and chased them until he drove them all back into the house. When they were inside, he locked the door and set the house on fire over their heads. He knew that his death was certain when the other Fianna returned home and found the women burned; and he thought it better to flee. Then it began to snow, and Harry backed away from the house until he reached the shore; there he found a small cave and hid in it. When the Fianna returned home from the hill, they found only ruins and the charred bodies of the women. They saw footprints leading to the house but none leading away. Finn swore by the edge of his sword, Mac a Luin, that he would never rest until he beheaded the man who had done this. He ordered the Fianna to follow the tracks and see where they led. They followed the tracks until they found Harry in the cave on the shore; then they brought him to Finn.

Poor Harry told Finn what had happened to him and all that he had done. "Very well," said Finn, "you only did to them what they deserved. If I had not sworn by the edge of my sword that I would not rest until I beheaded with Mac a Luin the man who did this, I would not put you to death; but now you must die."

"Then," said Harry, "you must give me the death I choose." "You may have that," said Finn.

"This is the death I choose," said Harry. "Let my head be cut off on your thigh with Mac a Luin, which my son Aod will hold." Harry had a son named Aod; there was no one among the Fianna more valiant than he.

When Finn heard that Harry wanted to be beheaded on his thigh, he feared he might lose his leg, because his sword could not make an incomplete strike: it had to cut through whatever was before it, or it would lose its magical power and become no better than any other sword. But he had to keep his word. So he took seven oak beams, seven old hides, and seven layers of hard peat; Harry's head was placed on his thigh, and over it were laid the seven beams, seven hides, and seven layers of peat. Aod, Harry's son, was brought forth, given the sword Mac a Luin, and told to "cut through this." Aod did not know what lay beneath; he swung the sword and cut through the seven beams, seven hides, and seven layers of hard peat, and beheaded his father. The sword stopped just as it touched Finn's thigh.

When Aod saw his father's head fall, he raised the sword, turned to Finn, and asked, "On whom shall I avenge my father's death?" "Go," said Finn, "and avenge it on the high tide that comes to the shore."

Aod went, took an oar, entered a boat, and held back the high tide for three tides after that. Then he grew tired, laid the oar under his arm, and fell asleep; and the tide surged in and drowned him as he slept.

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Harry and the Women

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