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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/2dyOwSj:
So I’m reading Gods and Fighting Men again. I wrote a huge paper on Lady Gregory when I was a junior in high school, and I got this book then. (It’s inscribed “1996″ on the flyleaf, and one of the loose bits of paper used inside it as a bookmark contains my list of questions for a college interviewer. Oh God.)
I mostly wrote about the second book in the omnibus, which was Cuchulainn of Muirthemne– her translation of the Ulster myth-cycle– and I haven’t spent nearly as much attention on the first volume, which is the Fenian myth-cycle.
What I had forgotten is that, unlike Cuchulainn, Finn is a long-lived hero renowned almost as much for his wisdom as his prowess in battle. His journey to heroism involved as much mystical learning as it did practicing physical skills.
Then Finn gave him an advice, and it is what he said: “If you have a mind to be a good champion, be quiet in a great man’s house; be surly in a narrow pass. Do not beat your hound without a cause; do not bring a charge against your wife without having knowledge of her guilt; do not hurt a fool in fighting, for he is without his wits. Do not find fault with high-up persons; do not stand up to take part in a quarrel; have no dealings with a bad man or a foolish man. Let two-thirds of your gentleness be showed to women and to little children that are creeping on the floor, and to men of learning that make the poems, and do not be rough with the common people. Do not give your reverence to all; do not be ready to have one bed with your companions. Do not threaten or speak big words, for it is a shameful thing to speak stiffly unless you can carry it out afterwards. Do not forsake your lord so long as you live; do not give up any man that puts himself under your protection for all the treasures of the world. Do not speak against others to their lord, that is not work for a good man. Do not be a bearer of lying stories, or a tale-bearer that is always chattering. Do not be talking too much; do not find fault hastily; however brave you may be, do not raise factions against you. Do not be going to drinking-houses, or finding fault with old men; do not meddle with low people; this is right conduct I am telling you. Do not refuse to share your meat; do not have a niggard for your friend; do not force yourself on a great man or give him occasion to speak against you. Hold fast to your arms till the hard fight is well ended. Do not give up your opportunity, but with that follow after gentleness.”
So I’m reading Gods and Fighting Men again. I wrote a huge paper on Lady Gregory when I was a junior in high school, and I got this book then. (It’s inscribed “1996″ on the flyleaf, and one of the loose bits of paper used inside it as a bookmark contains my list of questions for a college interviewer. Oh God.)
I mostly wrote about the second book in the omnibus, which was Cuchulainn of Muirthemne– her translation of the Ulster myth-cycle– and I haven’t spent nearly as much attention on the first volume, which is the Fenian myth-cycle.
What I had forgotten is that, unlike Cuchulainn, Finn is a long-lived hero renowned almost as much for his wisdom as his prowess in battle. His journey to heroism involved as much mystical learning as it did practicing physical skills.
Then Finn gave him an advice, and it is what he said: “If you have a mind to be a good champion, be quiet in a great man’s house; be surly in a narrow pass. Do not beat your hound without a cause; do not bring a charge against your wife without having knowledge of her guilt; do not hurt a fool in fighting, for he is without his wits. Do not find fault with high-up persons; do not stand up to take part in a quarrel; have no dealings with a bad man or a foolish man. Let two-thirds of your gentleness be showed to women and to little children that are creeping on the floor, and to men of learning that make the poems, and do not be rough with the common people. Do not give your reverence to all; do not be ready to have one bed with your companions. Do not threaten or speak big words, for it is a shameful thing to speak stiffly unless you can carry it out afterwards. Do not forsake your lord so long as you live; do not give up any man that puts himself under your protection for all the treasures of the world. Do not speak against others to their lord, that is not work for a good man. Do not be a bearer of lying stories, or a tale-bearer that is always chattering. Do not be talking too much; do not find fault hastily; however brave you may be, do not raise factions against you. Do not be going to drinking-houses, or finding fault with old men; do not meddle with low people; this is right conduct I am telling you. Do not refuse to share your meat; do not have a niggard for your friend; do not force yourself on a great man or give him occasion to speak against you. Hold fast to your arms till the hard fight is well ended. Do not give up your opportunity, but with that follow after gentleness.”
