This is a story that has been told to generations of
children down through the years and today I will tell it to you, hope you enjoy
it.
Tir
na nóg. The Land of Eternal Youth.
Once upon a time long,
long ago in the west of Ireland there lived a young man called Oisin. One autumn morning he was out exploring the
wild hills with the Fianna, they were the ancient warrior hunters of Ireland.
It was a bright but cold misty morning. Suddenly from out of the mists they saw
a white horse appear and upon its back sat the most beautiful woman that Oisin
had ever seen. The sun glistened off her hair and she seemed to be surrounded
by a magical glow. The horse and rider came to a stop and the young woman spoke
to Oisin and the Fianna. Stepping forward Oisin introduced himself and as their
eyes met they fell instantly in love.
“I am Niamh of the
golden hair, daughter of the King of Tir Na Nog” she said in a voice that
sounded like the most enchanting music that Oisin had ever heard.
“Come with me to my
father’s land and there you will never grow old nor feel sorrow. My father has
heard wonderful things about the great warrior named Oisin and I have come to
take you back with me to the Land of Eternal Youth”
Oisin hesitated for a
moment, he thought of his friends and family and how he would be sad to leave
them but his hesitation lasted only a moment for he had fallen under a fairy
spell and he cared no more for any earthly thing only for the love of Niamh of
the golden hair. He quickly climbed up
onto the white horse. Oisin promised to return shortly, and they waved goodbye
and rode off into the mist. Oisin was never to see his family or his friends
ever again.
When they reached the
sea the white horse ran lightly over the waves and soon they left the green
fields and woodlands of Ireland behind.
The sun shone and the riders passed into a golden light that caused
Oisin to lose all knowledge of where he was he didn’t know whether they were
still crossing water or if they were on dry land. Strange sights appeared and
disappeared and Oisin saw many strange creatures, some wondrous, some
terrifying. He tried to ask Niamh what these visions meant and were they real
or imagined but Niamh told him to say nothing until they arrived at Tir Na Nog.
Eventually they arrived
at the Land of Eternal Youth and it was just as Niamh had promised. It was a
land where nobody knew sadness, nobody ever aged, and everyone lived
forever. Together they spent many happy
times but there was always a piece of Oisin’s heart that seemed empty, he began
to feel lonely and missed his home in Ireland. He wanted to see his friends and
family once again. He begged Niamh to let him return to Ireland but she seemed
to be very reluctant to let him go. She finally agreed and gave him the white
horse that had brought him to Tir Na Nog but she warned him that when he
reached the land of Erin he must not step down from the horse nor touch the
soil of the earthly world for if he did then he could never return to the Land
of Eternal Youth.
Oisin set off and once
more crossed the mystic ocean. Although Oisin thought that only a few years had
passed it had in fact been three hundred years. You see time slows down in Tir
Na Nog and when he arrived back to his homeland he saw that things had changed.
The Fianna no longer hunted the green hills and the grand castle where his
family and friends lived was no longer there all that stood were crumbling
ruins covered in ivy. With a feeling of horror Oisin thought that he had fallen
under some fairy spell that was mocking him with false visions, he threw his
arms in the air and shouted the names of his family and his friends but there
was no reply, he tried once more but all he heard in reply was the sighing of
the wind and the faint rustle of the leaves in the trees. With tears in his
eyes he turned and rode away hoping that he would find those he looked for and
that the fairy spell would be broken.
Oisin rode for days but
found no sign of his people. He rode east and there he saw a group of men in a
field, he rode towards them hoping to find some answers, maybe they knew where
the Fianna had gone. As he approached he saw that the men were trying to move a
large rock from the field, as he came near they all stopped work and gazed at
him because to them he looked liked a messenger of the Fairy folk or an angel
from heaven. He was far taller than normal men, he carried a beautiful sword
and wore bright and shining armour and the horse he rode seemed to float above
the ground casting a golden light around both itself and its rider. Oisin looked at them and thought how puny
these men looked, the size of the rock would have meant nothing to the Fianna
and he began to feel great pity for them. He bent down from his horse, put one
hand on the rock and with a mighty heave he lifted it from the ground and flung
it away from the field. The men started shouting in wonder and applause, but
their shouting changed into cries of terror and dismay when they realised what
they had witnessed. They began to run away knocking each other over in the
process.
Unfortunately for Oisin
the girth of his saddle had snapped as he heaved the stone away and he fell to
the ground. In that second his horse vanished into a mist that suddenly
appeared and Oisin rose from the ground dressed in rags. Feeble and staggering,
he was no longer the youthful warrior he was but a man stricken with old age,
white bearded and withered, crippled with arthritis he let out a cry of horror.
Oisin now knew why he could find no trace of his people, he had been in Tir Na
Nog for a few weeks but here in the earthly realm three hundred years had
passed and now he had each of those years repaid.
The men who had run
away looked back across the field and seeing what had befallen Oisin they
returned. They found him lying on the ground with his face hidden in his arms;
they lifted him up and asked who he was and what had happened to him.
With tears in his eyes
Oisin said,
“I was Oisin son of
Finn, can you tell me where he lives for I cannot find him”
The men looked at each
other and then at Oisin, one of them said,
“”Of what Finn do you
speak off, for there is many of that name”
“Finn MacCool, captain
of the Fianna of Erin” replied Oisin.
The man said “You’re a
daft old man and you made us daft thinking you were a young man before. But we
now have our wits about us and we can tell you that Finn MacCool and all his
generation have been dead for three hundred years. They live now only in songs
and stories told. We now follow another, his name is Patrick and he teaches a different
way to live”
Oisin was left to
wander Ireland a lonely old man. He met Patrick and told him of his family and
the Fianna who had disappeared from Ireland hundreds of years ago, the magical
land of Tir na Nog and his love for Niamh and as he ended his story a great
weariness swept over him and he closed his eyes and went to his eternal rest.
Today we still tell the
story of Oisin, Niamh and Tir Na Nog and on a misty autumn morning if you see a
shimmering white horse dancing in the waves maybe its Niamh riding her steed as
she searches for her long lost love. Or maybe it’s just the crest of a wave,
I’ll let you decide.
This is a great re telling of one of my favourite stories. (My favourite is the Children of Lir) The version I was told is slightly different, but great all the same. These tales are dying out, which is sad. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah and thank you. I try to make things a little bit of a different if I can (as long as it adds to the story). I agree with you regarding the tales dying out but I'm attempting to breath a little life back into things. I have written about the Children of Lír anf The Immortal Crane of the Inishkeas previously (check archives) and I will be doing a series of old tales over the next few weeks. I will also be covering some Xmas stories that some people may not have heard before. Keep smiling and thank you for your feedback.
DeleteSilentOwl.
Interesting, as always. It seems that many cultures have tales of people who travel to the Otherworld for what seems like a few hours or days and then return to the mundane world to find that they have been absent for decades or centuries. I've read such a story from China, for example. The theme seems to speak to a deep instinct humanity, and the stories convey great truths.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your retelling of this one. Looking forward to your forthcoming offerings.
Regards,
Mak
Once again, thank you for your very kind comments. I agree that folklore seems to be repeated across many cultures, I suppose day dreaming and imagination is what brought about our evolution for it is only when we sit and look into the fire that we can let our imagination explore those parts of our brains that allow us to expand and invent and stories are a part of that long tradition. So really its not surprising that we have similar creatures, gods, goddesses, fairies etc. Isn't life brilliant. Keep smiling.
DeleteSilentOwl.