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MYTHS
So You Want to Join the Fianna?
The Hill of Allen, also called Almhuin or Almu (al-moo),
was the home of Finn MacCumhaill and the headquarters
of the Fianna, the military elite of ancient Ireland.
While Finn was their leader he allowed only the bravest,
swiftest, strongest, and most honourable of men to join
the Fianna, and under his command they supported the
high king and protected the people. In peacetime they
hunted and trained on the slopes of Allen.
Tests of the Fianna
Be no tale-bearer, nor utter of falsehoods; be not
talkative or rashly censorious. Stir not up strife
against thee, however good a man thou be.
Be no frequenter of
the drinking-house, nor given to carping at the
old; meddle not with a man of estate.
Dispense thy meat freely;
have no grudging for thy familiar. Force not thyself
upon a chief, nor give him cause to speak ill
of thee.
Stick to thy gear; hold
fast to thine arms until the stern fight with
its weapon glitter be ended.
Be more apt to give
than to deny, and follow after gentleness, O sons
of Lugh.
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To become a member of the Fianna, a man had to agree
to several conditions, to swear several oaths, and to
prove himself in tests of skill and bravery. First,
his family had to agree that they would not ask for
compensation if he was wounded or killed. They also
had to promise that they would not avenge his death-if
honour required it, his comrades would do it. In turn,
the family would not be responsible for any injury or
death the Fianna inflicted. Another condition was that
he could prove himself an accomplished poet versed in
bardic literature.
When these conditions were fulfulled, the man took
solemn vows: that he would choose a wife not for her
dowry, but for love; that he would never harm or dishonour
any woman; that he would help the poor as best he could;
and that he would remain loyal to the leader of the
Fianna.
When he had pledged to do all these things, his skills
as a hunter and warrior were tested. First he was put
into a meadow, waist-deep in rushes and armed with only
a shield and a hazel rod, and had to defend himself
while nine warriors with spears attacked him from a
distance of ten furrows. If he was so much as scratched,
he failed the test and was rejected. Next his hair was
woven into many small braids and he was taken to a dense
forest, given a head start the length of a tree trunk,
and chased through the forest by nine warriors. If he
was overtaken or wounded, he failed the test. If his
weapons quivered in his hands, or if his clothes were
torn on brambles or his hair came undone from any of
the braids, or if he cracked a dry stick under his foot
as he ran, he failed. He also had to jump over a branch
as high as his forehead, to duck under a branch as low
as his shin, and to extract a thorn from his foot, all
while running at full speed and without breaking stride.
If he failed in any of these, he was rejected.
When a young man was capable of all these things, then
and only then was he accepted into the Fianna.
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