Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER VII: THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUN 277below with large nuts, which they gathered and took with them.As they went they heard the folk crying to each other: “Whereare they now?” “They are gone away.” “They are not.” “It islikely,” says the tale, “that there was some one concerning whomthe islanders had a prophecy that he would ruin their country andexpel them from their land.”The Island of the Spouting WaterHere a great stream spouted out of one side of the island andarched over it like a rainbow, falling on the strand at the furtherside. And when they thrust their spears into the stream abovethem they brought out salmon from it as much as they would,and the island was filled with the stench of those they could notcarry away.The Island of the Silvern ColumnThe next wonder to which they came forms one of the moststriking and imaginative episodes of the voyage. It was a greatsilvern column, four-square, rising from the sea. Each of its foursides was as wide as two oar-strokes of the boat. Not a sod ofearth was at its foot, but it rose from the boundless ocean and [323]its summit was lost in the sky. From that summit a huge silvernet was flung far away into the sea, and through a mesh of thatnet they sailed. As they did so Diuran hacked away a piece ofthe net. “Destroy it not,” said Maeldūn, “for what we see isthe work of mighty men.” Diuran said: “For the praise of God'sname I do this, that our tale may be believed, and if I reachIreland again this piece of silver shall be offered by me on thehigh altar of Armagh.” Two ounces and a half it weighed whenit was measured afterwards in Armagh.“And then they heard a voice from the summit of yonderpillar, mighty, clear, and distinct. But they knew not the tongueit spake, or the words it uttered.”The Island of the PedestalThe next island stood on a foot, or pedestal, which rose fromthe sea, and they could find no way of access to it. In the base of