Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

174 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[207][208]went into the forest, and there, standing on one leg, and usingonly one hand and one eye, he cut an oak sapling and twisted itinto a circular withe. On this he cut in Ogham characters how thewithe was made, and he put the host of Maev under geise not topass by that place till one of them had, under similar conditions,made a similar withe; “and I except my friend Fergus mac Roy,”he added, and wrote his name at the end. Then he placed thewithe round the pillar-stone of Ardcullin, and went his way tokeep his tryst with the handmaid. 146When the host of Maev came to Ardcullin, the withe uponthe pillar-stone was found and brought to Fergus to decipher it.There was none amongst the host who could emulate the feat ofCuchulain, and so they went into the wood and encamped for thenight. A heavy snowfall took place, and they were all in muchdistress, but next day the sun rose gloriously, and over the whiteplain they marched away into Ulster, counting the prohibition asextending only for one night.The Ford of the Forked PoleCuchulain now followed hard on their track, and as he wenthe estimated by the tracks they had left the number of the hostat eighteen triucha cét (54,000 men). Circling round the host,he now met them in front, and soon came upon two chariotscontaining scouts sent ahead by Maev. These he slew, each manwith his driver, and having with one sweep of his sword cut aforked pole of four prongs from the wood, he drove the pole deepinto a river-ford at the place called Athgowla, 147 and impaled oneach prong a bloody head. When the host came up they wonderedand feared at the sight, and Fergus declared that they were undergeise not to pass that ford till one of them had plucked out thepole even as it was driven in, with the fingertips of one hand.So Fergus drove into the water to essay the feat, and seventeen146 In the Irish bardic literature, as in the Homeric epics, chastity formed nopart of the masculine ideal either for gods or men.147 “The Ford of the Forked Pole.”