And then the oldest of the three women wound her arms about Goll, and he beheading the two others, and he turned to face her and they wrestled together, till at last Goll gave her a great twist and threw her on the ground.  He tied her fast then with the straps of a shield, and took his sword to make an end of her.  But the hag said:  “O champion that was never worsted, strong man that never went back in battle, I put my body and my life under the protection of your bravery.  And it is better for you,” she said, “to get Finn and the Fianna safe and whole than to have my blood; and I swear by the gods my people swear by,” she said, “I will give them back to you again.”

With that Goll set her free, and they went together into the hill where the Fianna were lying.  And Goll said:  “Loose off the fastenings first from Fergus of the True Lips and from the other learned men of the Fianna; and after that from Finn, and Oisin, and the twenty-nine sons of Morna, and from all the rest.”

She took off the fastenings then, and the Fianna made no delay, but rose up and went out and sat down on the side of the hill.  And Fergus of the Sweet Lips looked at Goll, son of Morna, and made great praises of him, and of all that he had done.

CHAPTER III.  DONN SON OF MIDHIR

One time the Fianna were at their hunting at the island of Toraig to the north of Ireland, and they roused a fawn that was very wild and beautiful, and it made for the coast, and Finn and six of his men followed after it through the whole country, till they came to Slieve-nam-Ban.  And there the fawn put down its head and vanished into the earth, and none of them knew where was it gone to.

A heavy snow began to fall then that bent down the tops of the trees like a willow-gad, and the courage and the strength went from the Fianna with the dint of the bad weather, and Finn said to Caoilte:  “Is there any place we can find shelter to-night?” Caoilte made himself supple then, and went over the elbow of the hill southward.

And when he looked around him he saw a house full of light, with cups and horns and bowls of different sorts in it.  He stood a good while before the door of the house, that he knew to be a house of the Sidhe, thinking would it be best go in and get news of it, or to go back to Finn and the few men that were with him.  And he made up his mind to go into the house, and there he sat down on a shining chair in the middle of the floor; and he looked around him, and he saw, on the one side, eight-and-twenty armed men, each of them having a well-shaped woman beside him.  And on the other side he saw six nice young girls, yellow-haired, having shaggy gowns from their shoulders.  And in the middle there was another young girl sitting in a chair, and a harp in her hand, and she playing on it and singing.  And every time she stopped, a man of them would give her a horn to drink from, and she would give it back to him again, and they were all making mirth around her.