It is flight, this alone that befitteth my state,
Though to some shall this parting be hard: 
O thou son of Riangabra! the insult was great: 
Not by Laeg shall my going be barred.

I depart to my spouse; ne’er to strife with a foe
Shall Manannan his consort expose;
And, that none may complain that in secret I go,
Behold him! his form I disclose!

Then that lady rose behind Manannan as he passed, and Manannan greeted her:  “O lady!” he said, “which wilt thou do? wilt thou depart with me, or abide here until Cuchulain comes to thee?” “By my troth,” answered Fand, “either of the two of ye were a fitting spouse to adhere to; and neither of you two is better than the other; yet, Manannan, it is with thee that I go, nor will I wait for Cuchulain, for he hath betrayed me; and there is another matter, moreover, that weigheth with me, O thou noble prince!” said she, “and that is that thou hast no consort who is of worth equal to thine, but such a one hath Cuchulain already.”  And Cuchulain saw the lady as she went from him to Manannan, and he cried out to Laeg:  “What meaneth this that I see?” “’Tis no hard matter to answer thee,” said Laeg.  “Fand goeth away with Manannan the Son of the Sea, since she hath not been pleasing in thy sight!”

Then Cuchulain bounded three times high into the air, and he made three great leaps towards the south, and thus he came to Tara Luachra,[FN#37] and there he abode for a long time, having no meat and no drink, dwelling upon the mountains, and sleeping upon the high-road that runneth through the midst of Luachra.  Then Emer went on to Emain, and there she sought out king Conor, and she told Conor of Cuchulain’s state, and Conor sent out his learned men and the people of skill, and the Druids of Ulster, that they might seek for Cuchulain, and might bind him fast, and bring him with them to Emain.  And Cuchulain strove to slay the people of skill, but they chanted wizard and fairy songs against him, and they bound fast his feet and his hands until he came a little to his senses.  Then he begged for a drink at their hands, and the Druids gave him a drink of forgetfulness, so that afterwards he had no more remembrance of Fand nor of anything else that he had then done; and they also gave a drink of forgetfulness to Emer that she might forget her jealousy, for her state was in no way better than the state of Cuchulain.  And Manannan shook his cloak between Cuchulain and Fand, so that they might never meet together again throughout eternity.

[FN#37] Pronounced Looch-ra:  Tara Luachra is on the borders of Limerick and Kerry.

THE EXILE OF THE SONS’ OF USNACH

INTRODUCTION