Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

246 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[287]who accepts entertainment from him for the night; for in the“Colloquy” the relations of the Church and of the Fairy Worldare very cordial.The Three Young WarriorsNowhere in Celtic literature does the love of wonder andmystery find such remarkable expression as in the “Colloquy.”The writer of this piece was a master of the touch that makes,as it were, the solid framework of things translucent; and showsus, through it, gleams of another world, mingled with ours yetdistinct, and having other laws and characteristics. We neverget a clue as to what these laws are. The Celt did not, inIreland at least, systematise the unknown, but let it shine for amoment through the opaqueness of this earth and then withdrewthe gleam before we understood what we had seen. Take, forinstance, this incident in Keelta's account of the Fianna. Threeyoung warriors come to take service with Finn, accompanied bya gigantic hound. They make their agreement with him, sayingwhat services they can render and what reward they expect, andthey make it a condition that they shall camp apart from the restof the host, and that when night has fallen no man shall comenear them or see them.Finn asks the reason for this prohibition, and it is this: of thethree warriors one has to die each night, and the other two mustwatch him; therefore they would not be disturbed. There is noexplanation of this; the writer simply leaves us with the thrill ofthe mystery upon us.The Fair GiantessAgain, let us turn to the tale of the Fair Giantess. One day Finnand his warriors, while resting from the chase for their middaymeal, saw coming towards them a towering shape. It provedto be a young giant maiden, who gave her name as Vivionn(Bebhionn) daughter of Treon, from the Land of Maidens. Thegold rings on her fingers were as thick as an ox's yoke, and herbeauty was dazzling. When she took off her gilded helmet, all