5. Ireland

 

The Salmon of Knowledge

The Fianna of Ireland were noble fighting men. Their motto was “Truth in our hearts, strength in our hands and our deeds according to our word. No man could join the Fianna until he was able to recite twelve books of poetry, defend himself from the spears of nine warriors, run through the woods without breaking a twig, leap over a stick the height of himself, pass under a stick as low as his knee and take a thorn from his foot while running.

                                                              The chief of the Fianna was Cumhall, father of Fionn. Fionn was only a small child when his father was killed in battle by the men of Clan Mórna. His mother was afraid that Clan Mórna would try and kill Fionn also. She asked two wise women to take him to a safe place and care for him. The wise women took Fionn to a lonely dwelling deep in the woods of Slieve Bloom. The young boy learned from them all that they knew. They taught him to swim by throwing him into a deep pool and leaving him to make his own way out.

To make him learn to run swiftly they made him herd hares in a field which had no fence or hedge. Fionn grew up to be very tall. At last the time came for him to leave the wise women and go a wise old man, Finnéigeas, to learn the art of poetry. Finnéigeas lived in a small cabin beside the river Boyne.

He had chosen that place because it was always beside water that poetry was revealed to poets. Near to his cabin was a deep pool overhung by the branches of the nine hazel trees of wisdom. Nuts of wisdom fell from this tree into the pool and in that pool lived the Salmon of Knowledge. It was foretold that whoever ate the first bite of this salmon would possess all the knowledge of the world. Finnéigeas had fished for seven years, but failed to catch the salmon of knowledge. A short time after Fionn came to him, he fished for the salmon and succeeded in catching it.

Finnéigeas was delighted. He instructed Fionn to cook the salmon but not to eat any of it. Fionn thought that this was unfair but he obeyed Finnéigeas. He cooked the salmon carefully but after a few minutes he saw that a little bubble had appeared on the salmon’s skin. Without thinking, Fionn burst the bubble with his thumb. “Ouch!!” he yelled as it had burnt him. So he stuck his thumb into his mouth to soothe the pain.

When it was ready he served it to his master. Finnéigeas saw that Fionn had changed. His checks were rosy red and his eyes were bright blue. “Tell me boy, have you eaten any of this salmon? he asked. “No master, I have not, but I burned my thumb on the salmon and I put it in my mouth. Finnéigeas knew then that Fionn had received the knowledge of the salmon. “Here” he said, returning the fish to him.

Fionn ate the salmon and became possessed with all the knowledge of the world. Whenever he wanted to know something he only had to bite hard on his thumb to find the answer. He would never have to ask anyone questions ever again. Finnéigeas, though he loss he was happy for the boy since he knew that he would grow up to be a most wise man and from that day forth Fionn Mac Cumhail would be the most celebrated leader of the Fianna Warriors . The End. From then on Fionn MacCumhaill was known as the most famous and knowledgeable leader of the Fianna.