169
The Giant’s Causeway is located in
Antrim, Northern Ireland. Geologists
trace its formation back to the rapid
cooling of lava displaced by volcanic
activity 50–60 million years ago.See also: A complex god 164 ■ The voyage of Bran 165 ■ The cattle raid of Cooley 166–67 ■ Blodeuwedd 170–71NORTHERN EUROPE
was only serving him what Finn
always ate. His pride insulted,
Benandonner tried another loaf and
shattered two more of his teeth,
roaring with pain. Oonagh chided
him for being weak, saying that her
baby regularly ate the same loaves.
She handed Finn one she had
baked without a griddle inside. To
Benandonner’s surprise, Finn was
able to eat it easily.Running scared
Oonagh then challenged
Benandonner to show his strength
by squeezing water out of a white
stone. Try as he might, it was
impossible. The disguised Finn
then took the stone, but secretly
swapped it for the cheese curds
Oonagh had made. When he
squeezed them, clear whey randown his hands. Stunned by this
display of strength, Benandonner
reached into the baby’s mouth to
test the sharpness of his teeth, and
Finn savagely bit down on his little
finger. Benandonner was now
alarmed; if the baby was so large
and strong, his father would surelybe even more fearsome. Terrified,
Benandonner fled the house before
Finn could return and find him.
Such was Benandonner’s fear of
Finn that he deliberately smashed
the crossing between Ireland and
Scotland, creating what is now
known as the Giant’s Causeway. ■The Fenian Cycle
In Irish and Welsh mythology,
Finn MacCool is best known not
as a giant, but as a hero who was
said to have lived in the 4th
century ce. Finn and his band of
warriors, the Fianna, formed the
subject of a series of stories called
the Fenian Cycle, which was first
documented in the 12th century ce.
As a boy, Finn’s first great
exploit was to catch the Salmon of
Knowledge, which was full of the
world’s wisdom after eating
hazelnuts from a holy tree by the
River Boyne. When Finn then ate
the fish, he acquired its powers
and knowledge, becoming a greatleader. As an adult, Finn won
acclaim by killing Aillen, a
fire-breathing being from the
Underworld. He then assumed
leadership of the Fianna and
guided them through many
exploits and adventures. Finn’s
son, the poet Oisín, is the chief
narrator of the Fenian Cycle.
In some myths, Finn never
died, but retreated to a hillside
cave to sleep, ready to awaken
at the hour of Ireland’s greatest
need. The Fenian Brotherhood,
formed in the mid-19th century
with the goal of independence
for Ireland, took their name from
the Fianna, as did the political
party Fianna Fáil in 1926.Young Finn meets his father’s old
warriors, hiding in a forest, in an
illustration from T. W. Rolleston’s
The High Deeds of Finn (1910).US_168-169_Finn_MacCool.indd 169 05/12/17 4:15 pm