Books: The King of Ireland\'s Son
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Padraic Colum >> The King of Ireland\'s Son
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He sat outside the tent and waited for Mogue to return. When he came Flann
said to him, "I will go with you as a servant, and I will serve you well
although I am a King's Son, if you will give me something now."
"What do you want from me?" said Mogue.
"Give me the Rose of Sweet Smells," said Flann.
"Sure that's the finest thing I have. I couldn't give you that."
"I will serve you for two years if you will give it to me," said Flann.
"No," said Mogue.
"I will serve you for three years if you will give it to me," said Flann.
"I will give it to you if you will serve me for three years." Thereupon Mogue
opened his pack and took the box out. He opened it and put the Rose of Sweet
Smells into Flann's hand.
At once Flann started off for the King's orchard. The Steward who had seen him
the day before signed to the servants to let him pass through the gate. He
went into the King's orchard.
Maidens were singing the "Song for the Time of the Blossoming of the Apple-
trees" and all that day and night Flann held their song in his mind
The touch of hands that drew it down
Kindled to blossom all the bough
O breathe the wonder of the branch,
And let it through the darkness go!
Youths were gathering apples, and the Princess Flame-of-Wine walked by herself
on the orchard paths.
At last she came to where Flann stood and lifting her eyes she looked at him.
"I had companions," said Flann, "but they have gone away."
"They are unmannerly," said Flame-of-Wine with anger, and she turned away.
Flann took the rose from under his cloak. Its fragrance came to Flame-of-Wine
and she turned to him again.
"This is the Rose of Sweet Smells," said Flann. "Will you take it from me,
Princess?"
She came back to him and took the rose in her hand, and there was wonder in
her face.
"It will never wither, and its fragrance will never fail," said Flann. "It is
the Rose of Sweet Smells. A King's daughter should have it."
Flame-of-Wine held the rose in her hand, and smiled on Flann. "What is your
name, King's Son?" said she, with bright and friendly eyes.
"Flann," he said.
"Walk with me, Flann," said she. They walked along the orchard paths, and the
youths and maidens turned towards the fragrance that the Rose of Sweet Smells
gave. Flame-of-Wine laughed, and said, "They all wonder at the treasure you
have brought me, Flann. If you could hear what I shall tell them about you! I
shall tell them that you are the son of a King of Arabia--no less. They will
believe me because you have brought me such a treasure! I suppose there is
nothing more wonderful than this rose!"
Then Flann told her about the other wonderful thing he had seen--the Comb of
Magnificence. "A King's daughter should have such a treasure," said Flame-of-
Wine. "Oh, how jealous I should be if someone brought the Comb of Magnificence
to either of my two sisters--to Bloom-of-Youth or Breast-of-Light. I should
think then that this rose was not such a treasure after all."
When he was leaving the orchard she plucked a flower and gave it to him. "Come
and walk in the orchard with me to-morrow," she said.
"Surely I will come," said Flann.
"Bring the Comb of Magnificence to me too," said she. "I could not be proud of
this rose, and I could not love you so well for bringing it to me if I thought
that any other maiden had the Comb of Magnificence. Bring it to me, Flann."
"I will bring it to you," said Flann.
VI
He was at the gate of the town when the King of Ireland's Son rode back on the
Slight Red Steed. The King's Son dismounted, put his arm about Flann and told
him that he now had the whole of the Unique Tale. They sat before Mogue's
tent, and the King's Son told Flann the whole of the story he had searched
for--how a King traveling through the mist had come to where Druids and the
Maid of the Green Mantle lived, how the King was enchanted, and how the maiden
Sheen released him from the enchantment. He told him, too, how the Enchanter
was changed into a wolf, and how the wolf carried away Sheen's child. "And the
Unique Tale is in part your own history, Flann," said the King of Ireland's
Son, "for the child that was left with the Hags of the Long Teeth was no one
else than yourself, for you, Flann, have on your breast the stars that denote
the Son of a King."
"It is so, it is so," said Flann, "and I will find out what King and Queen
were my father and my mother."
"Go to the Hags of the Long Teeth and force them to tell you," said the King's
Son.
"I will do that," said Flann, but in his own mind he said, "I will first bring
the Comb of Magnificence to Flame-of-Wine, and I will tell her that I will
have to be away for so many years with Mogue and I shall ask her to remember
me until I come back to her. Then I shall go to the Hags of the Long Teeth and
force them to tell me what King and Queen were my father and mother."
The King of Ireland's Son left Flann to his thoughts and went to find the
Gobaun Saor who would clear for him the tarnished blade of the Sword of Light
and would show him the way to where the King of the Land of Mist had his
dominion.
Mogue spent his time with the ballad-singers and the story-tellers around the
market-stake, and when he came back to his tent he wanted to drink ale and go
to sleep, but Flann turned him from the ale-pot by saying to him, "I want the
Comb of Magnificence from you, Mogue."
"By my skin," said Mogue, "it's my blood you'll want next, my lad."
"If you give me the Comb of Magnificence, Mogue, I shall serve you for six
years--three years more than I said yesterday. I shall serve you well, even
though I am the son of a King and can find out who my father and mother are."
"I won't give you the Comb of Magnificence."
"I'll serve you seven years if you do, Mogue."
Mogue drank and drank out of the ale-pot, frowning to himself. He put the ale-
pot away and said, "I suppose your life won't be any good to you unless I give
you the Comb of Magnificence?"
"That is so, Mogue."
Mogue sighed heavily, but he went to his pack and took out the box that the
treasures were in. He let Flann take out the Comb of Magnificence.
"Seven years you will have to serve me," said Mogue, "and you will have to
begin your service now."
"I will begin it now," said Flann, but he stole out of the tent, put on his
red cloak and went to the King's orchard.
VII
Oh, Flann, my treasure-bringer," said Flame-of-Wine, when she came to him. "I
have brought you the Comb of Magnificence," said he. Her hands went out and
her eyes became large and shining. He put the Comb of Magnificence into her
hands.
She put the comb into the back of her hair, and she became at once like the
tower that is builded--what broke its height and turned the full sunlight from
it has been taken away, and the tower stands, the pride of a King and the
delight of a people. When she put the Comb of Magnificence into her hair she
became of all Kings' daughters the most stately.
She walked with Flann along the paths of the orchard, but always she was
watching her shadow to see if it showed her added magnificence. Her shadow
showed nothing. She took Flann to the well in the orchard, and looked down
into it, but her image in the well did not show her added magnificence either.
Soon she became tired of walking on the orchard paths, and when she came to
the gate she walked no further but stood with Flann at the gate. "A kiss for
you, Flann, my treasure-bringer," said she, and she kissed him and then went
hurrying away. And as Flann watched her he thought that although she had
kissed him he was not now in her mind.
He went out of the orchard disconsolate, thinking that when he was on his
seven years' service with Mogue Princess Flame-of-Wine might forget him. As he
walked on he passed the little house where the Spae-Woman had her besoms and
heather-stalks. She ran to him when she saw him.
"Have you heard that the King's Son has found what went before, and what comes
after the Unique Tale?" said she.
"That I have. And I have to go to the Hags of the Long Teeth to find out who
my father and mother were, for surely I am the child who was taken from
Sheen."
"And do you remember that Sheen's seven brothers were changed into seven wild
geese?" said she.
"I remember that, mother."
"And seven wild geese they will be until a maiden who loves you will give
seven drops of her heart's blood to bring them back to their human shapes."
"I remember that, mother." "Whatever maid you love, her you must ask if she
would give seven drops of her heart's blood. It may be that she would. It may
be that she would not and that you would still love her without thought of her
giving one drop of blood of her little finger."
"I cannot ask the maiden I love to give seven drops of her heart's blood."
"Who is the maiden you love?"
"The King's daughter, Flame-of-Wine."
He told the Spae-Woman about the presents he had given her--he told the Spae-
Woman too that he had bound himself to seven years' service to Mogue on
account of these presents. The Spae-Woman said, "What other treasures are in
Mogue's pack?"
"One treasure more the Girdle of Truth. Whoever puts it on can speak nothing
but the truth."
Said the Spae-Woman, "You are to take the Girdle of Truth and give it to
Flame-of-Wine. Tell Mogue that I said he is to give it to you without adding
one day to your years' service. When Flame-of-Wine has put the girdle around
her waist ask her for the seven drops of heart's blood that will bring your
mother's seven brothers back to their human shapes. She may love you and yet
refuse to give you the seven drops from her heart. But tell her of this, and
hear what she will say."
Flann left the Spae-Woman's and went back to Mogue's tent. The loss of his
treasures had overcome Mogue and he was drinking steadily and went from one
bad temper to another.
"Begin your service now by watching the tent while I sleep," said he.
"There is one thing more I want from you, Mogue," said Flann.
"By the Eye of Balor! you're a cuckoo in my nest. What do you want now?"
"The Girdle of Truth."
"Is it my last treasure you'd be taking on me?"
"The Spae-Woman bid me tell you that you're to give me the Girdle of Truth."
"It's a pity of me, it's a pity of me," said Mogue. But he took the box out of
his pack, and let Flann take the girdle.
VIII
Flame-of-Wine saw him. She walked slowly down the orchard path so that all
might notice the stateliness of her appearance.
"I am glad to see you again, Flann," said she. "Have your comrades yet come
back to my father's town?"
Flann told her that one of them had returned.
"Bid him come see me," said Flame-of-Wine. Then she saw the girdle in his
hands.
"What is it you have?" said she.
"Something that went with the other treasures--a girdle."
"Will you not let me have it, Flann?" She took the girdle in her hands. "Tell
me, youth," she said, "how you got all these treasures?"
"I will have to give seven years' service for them," Flann said.
"Seven years," said she, "but you will remember--will you not--that I loved
you for bringing them to me?"
"Will you remember me until I come back from my seven years' service?"
"Oh, yes," said Flame-of-Wine, and she put the girdle around her waist as she
spoke.
"Someone said to me," said Flann, "that I should ask the maiden who loved me
for seven drops of her heart's blood." The girdle was now round Flame-of-
Wine's waist. She laughed with mockery. "Seven drops of heart's blood," said
she. "I would not give this fellow seven eggs out of my robin's nest. I tell
him I love him for bringing me the three treasures for a King's daughter. I
tell him that, but I should be ashamed of myself if I thought I could have any
love for such a fellow."
"Do you tell me the truth now," said Flann.
"The truth, the truth," said she, "of course I tell you the truth. Oh, and
there are other truths. I shall be ashamed forever if I tell them. Oh, oh.
They are rising to my tongue, and every time I press them back this girdle
tightens and tightens until I think it will kill me."
"Farewell, then, Flame-of-Wine."
"Take off the girdle, take off the girdle! What truths are in my mind! I shall
speak them and I shall be ashamed. But I shall die in pain if I hold them
back. Loosen the girdle, loosen the girdle! Take the rose you gave me and
loosen the girdle." She let the rose fall on the ground.
"I will loosen the girdle for you," said Flann.
"But loosen it now. How I have to strive to keep truths back, and oh, what
pain I am in! Take the Comb of Magnificence, and loosen the girdle." She threw
the comb down on the ground.
He took up the Rose of Sweet Smells and the Comb of Magnificence and he took
the girdle off her waist. "Oh, what a terrible thing I put round my waist,"
said Flame-of-Wine. "Take it away, Flann, take it away. But give me back the
Rose of Sweet Smells and the Comb of Magnificence,--give them back to me and I
shall love you always."
"You cannot love me. And why should I give seven years in service for your
sake? I will leave these treasures back in Mogue's pack."
"Oh, you are a peddler, a peddler. Go from me," said Flame-of-Wine. "And do
not be in the Town of the Red Castle to-morrow, or I shall have my father's
hunting dogs set upon you." She turned away angrily and went into the Castle.
Flann went back to Mogue's tent and left the Rose of Sweet Smells, the Comb of
Magnificence and the Girdle of Truth upon Mogue's pack. He sat in the comer
and cried bitterly. Then the King of Ireland's Son came and told him that his
sword was bright once more--that the stains that had blemished its blade had
been cleared away by the Gobaun Saor who had also shown him the way to the
Land of the Mist. He put his arm about Flann and told him that he was starting
now to rescue his love Fedelma from the Castle of the King of the Land of
Mist.
The King of the Land of Mist
I
The King of Ireland's Son came to the place where the river that he followed
takes the name of the River of the Broken Towers. It is called by that name
because the men of the old days tried to build towers across its course. The
towers were built a little way across the river that at this place was
tremendously wide.
"The Glashan will carry you across the River of the Broken Towers to the shore
of the Land of Mist," the Gobaun Saor had said to the King of Ireland's Son.
And now he was at the River of the Broken Towers but the Glashan-creature was
not to be seen.
Then he saw the Glashan. He was leaning his back against one of the Towers and
smoking a short pipe. The water of the river was up to his knees. He was
covered with hair and had a big head with horse's ears. And the Glashan
twitched his horse's ears as he smoked in great contentment.
"Glashan, come here," said the King of Ireland's Son.
But the Glashan gave him no heed at all.
"I want you to carry me across the River of the Broken Towers," shouted the
King of Ireland's Son. The Glashan went on smoking and twisting his ears.
And the King of Ireland's Son might have known that the whole clan of the
Gruagachs and Glashans are fond of their own ease and will do nothing if they
can help it. He twitched his ears more sharply when the King's Son threw a
pebble at him. Then after about three hours he came slowly across the river.
From his big knees down he had horse's feet.
"Take me on your big shoulders, Glashan," said the King of Ireland's Son, "and
carry me across to the shore of the Land of Mist."
"Not carrying any more across," said the Glashan. The King of Ireland's Son
drew the Sword of Light and flashed it.
"Oh, if you have that, you'll have to be carried across," said the Glashan.
"But wait until I rest myself."
"What did you do that you should rest?" said the King of Ireland's Son. "Take
me on your shoulders and start off."
"Musha," said the Glashan, "aren't you very anxious to lose your life?"
"Take me on your shoulders." "Well, come then. You're not the first living
dead man I carried across." The Glashan put his pipe into his ear. The King of
Ireland's Son mounted his shoulders and laid hold of his thick mane. Then the
Glashan put his horse's legs into the water and started to cross the River of
the Broken Towers.
"The Land of Mist has a King," said the Glashan, when they were in the middle
of the river.
"That, Glashan, I know," said the King of Ireland's Son.
"All right," said the Glashan.
Then said he when they were three-quarters of the way across, "Maybe you don't
know that the King of the Land of Mist will kill you?"
"Maybe 'tis I who will kill him," said the King of Ireland's Son.
"You'd be a hardy little fellow if you did that," said the Glashan. "But you
won't do it."
They went on. The water was up to the Glashan's waist but that gave him no
trouble. So broad was the river that they were traveling across it all day.
The Glashan threw the King's Son in once when he stooped to pick up an eel.
Said the King of Ireland's Son, "What way is the Castle of the King of the
Land of Mist guarded, Glashan?"
"It has seven gates," said the Glashan.
"And how are the gates guarded?"
"I'm tired," said the Glashan, "and I can't talk."
"Tell me, or I'll twist the horse's ears off your head."
"Well, the first gate is guarded by a plover only. It sits on the third
pinnacle over the gate, and when anyone comes near it rises up and flies round
the Castle crying until its sharp cries put the other guards on the watch."
"And what other guards are there?"
"Oh, I'm tired, and I can talk no more."
The King of Ireland's Son twisted his horse's ears, and then the Glashan said
"The second gate is guarded by five spear-men."
"And how is the third gate guarded?"
"The third gate is guarded by seven swordsmen."
"And how is the fourth gate guarded?"
"The fourth gate is guarded by the King of the Land of Mist himself."
"And the fifth gate?"
"The fifth gate is guarded by the King of the Land of Mist himself."
"And the sixth gate?"
"The sixth gate is guarded by the King of the Land of Mist."
"And how is the seventh gate guarded?"
"The seventh gate is guarded by a Hag."
"By a Hag only?" "By a Hag with poisoned nails. But I'm tired now, and I'll
talk no more to you. If I could strike a light now I'd smoke a pipe."
Still they went on, and just at the screech of the day they came to the other
shore of the River of the Broken Towers. The King of Ireland's Son sprang from
the shoulders of the Glashan and went into the mist.
II
He came to where turrets and pinnacles appeared above the mist. He climbed the
rock upon which the Castle was built. He came to the first gate, and as he did
the plover that was on the third pinnacle above rose up and flew round the
Castle with sharp cries.
He raised a fragment of the ground-rock and flung it against the gate. He
burst it open. He dashed in then and through the first courtyard of the
Castle.
As he went towards the second gate it was flung open, and the five spear-men
ran upon him. But they had not counted on what was to face them--the Sword of
Light in the bands of the King of Ireland's Son.
Its stroke cut the spear heads from the spear-holds, and its quick glancing
dazzled the eyes of the spear-men. On each and every one of them it inflicted
the wound of death. He dashed through the second gate and into the third
courtyard.
But as he did the third gate was flung open and seven swordsmen came forth.
They made themselves like a half circle and came towards the King of Ireland's
Son. He dazzled their eyes with a wide sweep of his sword. He darted it
swiftly at each of them and on the seven swordsmen too he inflicted wounds of
death.
He went through the third courtyard and towards the fourth gate. As he did it
opened slowly and a single champion came forth. He closed the gate behind him
and stood with a long gray sword in his hand. This was the King of the Land of
Mist. His shoulders were where a tall man's head would be. His face was like a
stone, and his eyes had never looked except with scorn upon a foe.
When his enemy began his attack the King of Ireland's Son had power to do
nothing else but guard himself from that weighty sword. He had the Sword of
Light for a guard and well did that bright, swift blade guard him. The two
fought across the courtyard making hard places soft and soft places hard with
their trampling. They fought from when it was early to when it was noon, and
they fought from when it was noon until it was long afternoon. And not a
single wound did the King of Ireland's Son inflict upon the King of the Land
of Mist, and not a single wound did the King of the Land of Mist inflict upon
him.
But the King of Ireland's Son was growing faint and weary. His eyes were worn
with watching the strokes and thrusts of the sword that was battling against
him. His arms could hardly bear up his own sword. His heart became a stream of
blood that would have gushed from his breast.
And then, as he was about to fall down with his head under the sword of the
King of the Land of Mist a name rose above all his thoughts--"Fedelma." If he
sank down and the sword of the King of the Land of Mist fell on him, never
would she be saved. The will became strong again in the King of Ireland's Son.
His heart became a steady beating thing. The weight that was upon his arms
passed away. Strongly he held the sword in his hand and he began to attack the
King of the Land of Mist.
And now he saw that the sword in the hand of his enemy was broken and worn
with the guard that the Sword of Light had put against it. And now he made a
strong attack. As the light was leaving the sky and as the darkness was coming
down he saw that the strength was waning in the King of the Land of Mist. The
sword in his hand was more worn and more broken. At last the blade was only a
span from the hilt. As he drew back to the gate of the fourth courtyard the
King of Ireland's Son sprang at him and thrust the Sword of Light through his
breast. He stood with his face becoming exceedingly terrible. He flung what
remained of his sword, and the broken blade struck the foot of the King of
Ireland's Son and pierced it. Then the King of the Land of Mist fell down on
the ground before the fourth gate.
So weary from his battles, so pained with the wound of his foot was the King
of Ireland's Son that he did not try to cross the body and go towards the
fifth gate. He turned back. He climbed down the rock and went towards the
River of the Broken Towers.
The Glashan was broiling on a hot stone the eel he had taken out of the river.
"Wash my wound and give me refreshment, Glashan," said the King of Ireland's
Son.
The Glashan washed the wound in his foot and gave him a portion of the broiled
eel with cresses and water.
"To-morrow's dawn I shall go back," said the King of Ireland's Son, "and go
through the fifth and sixth and seventh gate and take away Fedelma."
"If the King of the Land of Mist lets you," said the Glashan.
"He is dead," said the King of Ireland's Son, "I thrust my sword through his
breast."
"And where is his head?" said the Glashan.
"It is on his corpse," said the King of Ireland's Son.
"Then you will have another fight to-morrow. His life is in his head, and his
life will come back to him if you did not cut it off. It is he, I tell you,
who will guard the fourth and fifth and sixth gate."
"That I do not believe, Glashan," said the King of Ireland's Son. "There is no
one to guard the gates now but the Hag you spoke of. To-morrow I shall take
Fedelma out of her captivity, and we will both leave the Land of Mist. But I
must sleep now."
He laid the Sword of Light beside him, stretched himself on the ground and
went to sleep. The Glashan drew his horse's legs under him, took the pipe out
of his ear, and smoked all through the night.
III
The King of Ireland's Son rose in the morning but he was in pain and weariness
on account of his wounded foot. He ate the cresses and drank the water that
the Glashan gave him, and he started off for the Castle of the King of the
Mist. "'Tis only an old woman I shall have to deal with to-day," he said, "and
then I shall awaken Fedelma, my love."
He passed through the first gate and the first court-yard, through the second
gate and the second court-yard, through the third gate and the third
courtyard. The fourth gate was closed, and as he went towards it, it opened
slowly, and the King of the Land of Mist stood there--as high, as stone-faced,
and as scornful as before, and in his hand he had a weighty gray sword.
They fought as they fought the day before. But the guard the King of Ireland's
Son made against the sword of the King of the Land of Mist was weaker than
before, because of the pain and weariness that came from his wound. But still
he kept the Sword of Light before him and the Sword of the King of the Land of
Mist could not pass it. They fought until it was afternoon. The heart in his
body seemed turned to a jet of blood that would gush forth. His eyes were
straining themselves out of their sockets. His arms could hardly bear up his
sword. He fell down upon one knee, but he was able to hold the sword so that
it guarded his head.
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