The Tavern Night
This story was found and translated at the opening of Hearth and Home; it is a story of the Ancestor who interested himself in the doings of the McAlywyns and their guests. It was passed to the library here by Kianan McAylwyn.
The two brothers did come down from the sky to mingle with their people. The one was large, round and fierce – with fiery hair and earthen-roughed skin, tanned by the toil of the sun. He was loud, boisterous and proud - a fierce warrior, drinker and boaster. A fine farmer and grower of crops.
The other was no less fierce. A fisherman with coarse, weather-worn skin, salt-crisped by the harsh winds of the water. His hair flew the green of seaweed, the blue of the waves, and a fearsome beard like the crest of the waves foamed and mounted his proud chin. He was less loud than his brother, more of a thinker and trickster than the direct brawler – a harvester of the sea, though equally fine with blade and boast and booze.
They drank their way all across the lands of the celts, from tavern to tavern, draining their proprietors dry before moving on. Under the failing course of the rising and waning moon, under one full cycle, the brothers had travelled all the taverns in all the land, in high spirits and higher song.
They sang praises to their mother, the greatest of them all, as they drained each mighty tankard down, before boasting each the other’s prowess. In the last of the taverns, under the sign of the dove, the brothers were served by a wench – but no ordinary wench. For this lass was the bravest, fieriest and most beautiful of lasses under all the sky.
The two brothers, so alike and yet so opposite, were the loyalist and most devoted of siblings. Always together they fought and faced their foes, sang the other’s praises, and watched over each the other. But of this lass there was just the one, and both the brothers wanted her… wanted her like no other woman could ever have been wanted.
The first of the brothers boasted and brawled, trying to outdo the other and win the affections of the greatest of all prizes. He bragged about his farming, and his fighting, claiming the ruler of the land was the greatest of men. Yet his brother retaliated, claiming that it was the master of the fierce and unpredictable sea that truly was the dominant one.
The arguments raged and raged, each wishing to show their worth to the wench who brought them their drinks. The one used bravado and strength of body, the other used words and charms, and they duelled and duelled throughout the night. However, it was for the persuasive and illusive charms of the trickster that she was destined to fall, and this brother tricked his sibling into a trap and claimed the lass for his own.
The following morning, the first brother was furious and angry at his failure and his brother’s trickery. His fury was terrible to behold, and the couple were forced to flee into the sea. The brother howled and cursed but could not step forth into the domain of the other, and was left to roam the lands, whilst the couple disappeared amongst the waves to wait out the first’s anger and to be forgotten.
Their son, however, returned to the land and his name was Fionn.
All Works are © Original Author
(OC Author - Paul Martin)