Mythology Book

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 170–71

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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 ran

down 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 surely

be 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 great

leader. 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).

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