Magic and Supernatural Motifs

The plot of eating magical food intended for another echoed in “The White Serpent’s Flesh”, a well-known international folktale in Europe and beyond. In this, a man is put in charge of cooked meat by a wizard. He discovers it is the flesh of a white serpent and gets chance to eat it. Immediately he can understand the speech of birds, who tell him hidden facts and so he becomes a seer. A similar plot is found in the Icelandic Völsungasaga from about the year 1100CE, about Sigurd the Dragon Slayer; the two stories may have influenced each other during a time of cultural contact between the Norse and Irish worlds around the 9th and 10th centuries.

Another thread in the narratives reflects an antiquarian idea that ancient people were giants. In one tale, Fionn saves a child from a giant who tries to snatch it, achieving victory with the assistance of some extraordinary helpers, including a marvellous runner, an amazing thief, and a brilliant hearer. The tale (The King of Ireland's Son) itself is, like most Fianna Cycle stories, influenced by cultural contacts, appearing to be a composite story based on an international folktale known as “The Skillful Companions” and a Welsh-Irish motif about a hand coming down the chimney and stealing a child.

Deer feature prominently in Fianna cycle stories

The silhouette of a deer is shown against the backdrop of a sunset.

Deer feature prominently in Fianna cycle stories

Deer feature prominently in Fianna cycle stories

The silhouette of a deer is shown against the backdrop of a sunset.

Enlarge image

Literary narratives of the 15th to 17th centuries describe the capture of the Fianna by hostile magicians in a palace, a story also found in older literature.

Further elements of magic are found in stories where the Fianna encounter deer. In early Irish myth, deities often take the form of deer, and the hunter can take on the form of his prey. A more recent narrative tells the story of how Fionn’s wife was transformed into a deer by a jealous rival. In one 11th century story, Fionn’s lover Sadhbh, the mother of his son Oisín, takes the form of a deer. Another tale has the Fianna hunt a young deer all the way to Sliabh na mBan (Slievenamon), a mountain in modern-day Tipperary which is shrouded in myth and fairy legend. The deer disappears, and the Fianna encounter the Tuatha Dé Danann, an ancient race of people that later became associated with the fairies.

Another well-known story in the Fenian Cycle is the story of how Fionn’s son, Oisín, goes with the beautiful Niamh to Tír na nÓg, The Land of the Young, returns, and meets St. Patrick.