W. 233.
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
"Eogan, Durthacht's son, is in Rath Airthir ('the Eastern Rath') in his 'Pains.' Thither went my messengers. Naught need we dread from Ulster's men. But speak truth, O Fedelm:—
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
"Celtchar, Uthechar's son, is in his fort 1at Lethglas1 in his 'Pains,' 2and a third of the Ulstermen with him.2 Thither fared my messengers. Naught have we to fear from Ulster's men. 3And Fergus son of Roig son of Eochaid is with us here in exile, and thirty hundred with him.3 But speak truth, O Fedelm:—
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
"Meseemeth this not as it seemeth to thee," quoth Medb, "for when Erin's men shall assemble in one place, there quarrels will arise and broils, contentions and disputes amongst them about the ordering of themselves in the van or rear, at ford or river, over who shall be first at killing a boar or a stag or a deer or a hare. But, 4look now again for us and4 speak truth, O Fedelm:—
"Tell, O Fedelm, prophet-maid,
How beholdest thou our host?"
"Crimson-red from blood they are;
I behold them bathed in red!"
Therewith she began to prophesy and to foretell the coming of Cuchulain to the men of Erin, and she chanted a lay:—
W. 255.
"aFair, of deeds, the man I see;
Wounded sore is his fair skin;
On his brow shines hero's light;
Victory's seat is in his face!
"Seven gems of champions brave
Deck the centre of his orbs;
Naked are the spears he bears,
And he hooks a red cloak round!
"Noblest face is his, I see;
He respects all womankind.
Young the lad and fresh his hue,
With a dragon's form in fight!
"I know not who is the Hound,
Culann's hight,b 1of fairest fame1;
But I know full well this host
Will be smitten red by him!
"Four small swords—a brilliant feat—
He supports in either hand;
These he'll ply upon the host,
Each to do its special deed!
"His Gae Bulga,c too, he wields,
With his sword and javelin.
Lo, the man in red cloak girt
Sets his foot on every hill!
"Two spears 2from the chariot's left2
He casts forth in orgy wild.
And his form I saw till now
Well I know will change its guise!
"On to battle now he comes;
If ye watch not, ye are doomed.
This is he seeks ye in fight
Brave Cuchulain, Sualtaim's son!
"All your host he'll smite in twain,
Till he works your utter ruin.
All your heads ye'll leave with him.
Fedelm, prophet-maid, hides not!
W. 291. LL. fo. 56b.
"Gore shall flow from warriors' wounds;
Long 'twill live in memory.
Bodies hacked and wives in tears,
Through the Smith's Hounda whom I see!"
Thus far the Augury and the Prophecy and the Preface of the Tale, and the Occasion of its invention and conception, and the Pillow-talk which Ailill and Medb had in Cruachan. 1Next follows the Body of the Tale itself.1
V. THIS IS THE ROUTE OF THE TÁIN
W. 301. and the Beginning of the Expedition and the Names of the Roads which the hosts of the four of the five grand provinces of Erin took into the land of Ulster. 1On Monday after Summer's end1 2they set forth and proceeded:2
3South-east from Cruachan Ai,3 by Mag Cruimm, over Tuaim Mona ('the Hill of Turf'), by Turloch Teora Crich ('the Creek of three Lands'), by Cul ('the Nook') of Silinne, by Dubloch ('Black Lough'), 4by Fid Dubh ('Black Woods'),4 by Badbgna, by Coltain, by the Shannon, by Glune Gabur, by Mag Trega, by Tethba in the north, by Tethba in the south, by Cul ('the Nook'), by Ochain, northwards by Uatu, eastwards by Tiarthechta, by Ord ('the Hammer'), by Slaiss ('the Strokes'), 5southwards,5 by Indeoin ('the Anvil'), by Carn, by Meath, by Ortrach, by Findglassa Assail, ('White Stream of Assail'), by Drong, by Delt, by Duelt, by Delinn, by Selaig, by Slabra, by Slechta, where swords hewed out roads before Medb and Ailill, by Cul ('the Nook') of Siblinne, by Dub ('the Blackwater'), by Ochonn 6southwards,6 by Catha, by Cromma 7southwards,7 by Tromma, 8eastwards8 by Fodromma, by Slane, by Gort Slane, 9to