Most lovingly and joyfully did they greet each other and the swans inquired concerning their father Lir, and Bov the Red, and the rest of their kinsfolk.

“They are well,” said the Danaans; “and at this time they are all assembled together in the palace of your father at the Hill of the White Field, where they are holding the Festival of the Age of Youth.[11] They are happy and gay and have no weariness or trouble, save that you are not among them, and that they have not known where you were since you left them at Lough Derryvaragh.”

   [11] A magic banquet which had the effect of preserving for
   ever the youth of the People of Dana.

“That is not the tale of our lives,” said Fionnuala.

After that the company of the Danaans departed and brought word of the swans to Bov the Red and to Lir, who were rejoiced to hear that they were living, “for,” said they, “the children shall obtain relief in the end of time.”  And the swans went back to the tides of Moyle and abode there till their time to be in that place had expired.

When that day had come, Fionnuala declared it to them, and they rose up wheeling in the air, and flew westward across Ireland till they came to the Bay of Erris, and there they abode as was ordained.  Here it happened that among those of mortal MEN whose dwellings bordered on the bay was a young man of gentle blood, by name Evric, who having heard the singing of the swans came down to speak with them, and became their friend.  After that he would often come to hear their music, for it was very sweet to him; and he loved them greatly, and they him.  All their story they told him, and he it was who set it down in order, even as it is here narrated.

Much hardship did they suffer from cold and tempest in the waters of the Western Sea, yet not so much as they had to bear by the coasts of the ever-stormy Moyle, and they knew that the day of redemption was now drawing near.  In the end of the time Fionnuala said, “Brothers, let us fly to the Hill of the White Field, and see how Lir our father and his household are faring.”  So they arose and set forward on their airy journey until they reached the Hill of the White Field, and thus it was that they found the place:  namely, desolate and thorny before them, with nought but green mounds where once were the palaces and homes of their kin, and forests of nettles growing over them, and never a house nor a hearth.  And the four drew closely together and lamented aloud at that sight, for they knew that old times and things had passed away in Erinn, and they were lonely in a land of strangers, where no man lived who could recognise them when they came to their human shapes again.  They knew not that Lir and their kin of the People of Dana yet dwelt invisible in the bright world within the Fairy Mounds, for their eyes were holden that they should not see, since other things were destined for them than to join the Danaan folk and be of the company of the immortal Shee.