Oisin

One dewy morning after the battle of Gowra the Fianna were hunting by the shores of Lough Lein. It was not long before a deer started from out of the thickets and the hounds were filling the woods with their cries, and the chase began. Suddenly Fionn MacCumhal, looking to the west, saw a maiden come towards them on a snow-white horse which she rode with all the grace of a swan upon the wave. Fionn and his followers were greatly surprised at her appearance, for never before had they seen such beauty in a woman. Tall and graceful she was, with a jewelled diadem encircling her queenly brow. Her body was draped in a purple robe of precious silk spangled with stars of gold. Her golden tresses flowed to her waist in a cascade of curls and her blue eyes sparkled like the dew-drops on the grass. Her white horse was fittingly arrayed, being covered with a costly yellow mantle and shod with shoes of purest gold.
Fionn and his companions went forth to meet her and they each welcomed her to the land of Eirinn. Then Fionn addressed her in these works: "O beautiful lady, tell us thy name and thy country, and relate to us the cause of thy coming".
In a voice that flowed like honey she made answer: " Brave Chieftain of the Fianna, I have journeyed far this day, for I come from Tir-na-nOg - the land of Eternal Youth - and my name it is Niav of the Golden Tresses".
"And what has caused thy coming, O noble lady?" asked Fionn. "Has thy husband forsaken thee, or is it that thou hast lost thy way?" "Neither, noble Fionn", she answered, "for I have never been spoken of any man, but I love thy valiant son, Oisin, and it is this that has brought me to Eirinn. Nor is it without reason that I love him, for his wisdom and valour are spoken and sung of in my land where my father is king". When Oisin heard these words and when he gazed on the beautiful maiden he fell deeply in love with her.
Approaching, he took her hand in his and told her that she was his choice above all the fair women in the world. She then placed him under a gesa, or bond of honour, to go with her to the Land of Eternal Youth, and promised him a hundred steeds, a hundred swords, and a hundred keen-scenting hounds. There he should have warriors to wait on him, harpers to delight him, and there the lapse of time should bring him to neither decay or death.
Oisin replied that since she was his choice he would go with her without delay to the favoured land. Mounting the white steed, the lovers bade sad farewell to Fionn and the Fianna, who raised three shouts of lamentation. Then the steed neighed three times and sped like the wind for the west.
Through many beautiful lands they passed and many were the wonders they saw till at last they came to a land of green plains and blue hills, dimpled with lakes and silvered with waterfalls, and breathing the perfume of rare flowers. They had reached the Land of Eternal Youth. Then a great banquet was prepared and the festivities lasted ten days, during which time much honour was paid to Oisin and the achievements of the Fianna. On the tenth day Oisin was wedded to Niav and great, indeed, were the rejoicings.
For three hundred years that seemed but three, Oisin lived in the Land of Youth. At the end of that time a great longing came over him and he yearned to see his father, Fionn, once more and his old companions of the Fianna. He confided this to Niav and she consented to his brief return, but warned him that the old warriors of the Fianna had gone from the plains of Eirinn. "I will not refuse" she said. 'but your going brings me grief and fear. The Fianna are gone and you will find instead a holy father with his priests and saints. Think well, O valorous Oisin, on what I say and keep my words in mind. If you once alight from the white steed you will never return to me or the Land of Youth again". Oisin promised to abide her words, and giving her farewell he mounted his white steed and sped like the wind for Eirinn...
Great was the surprise that came on the warriors when he arrived in his native land. The old hunting grounds were no longer to be seen for a great change had come over them, and Oisin began to think that Niav's words were indeed coming true. At last he saw a company of little men mounted on horses as small as themselves and they received him kindly. There was wonder in their eyes when they saw his great size and the beauty and majesty of his person. He asked them if the Fianna were still living and they replied that Fionn and his mighty warriors had long since departed from Eirinn and were remembered only through the poets and story-tellers. Saddened by this, Oisin rode for Almhuin and found the famous palace of his father, Fionn, to be a crumbled ruin lost in weeds.
With a heavy heart the warrior turned for the plains of Baile Atha Cliath. At Glenasmole he came upon a gathering of men who were trying to raise a large stone. Seeing his great size they begged him to come to their assistance. Oisin rode up to them and, leaning from his saddle, took the stone and flung it far over their heads. With the great strain of the throw, the saddle-girth broke and the warrior, to save himself from falling, sprang to the ground. The moment the white steed felt himself free he neighed three times and bounded away to the west. Instantly a great change came over the warrior. The sight of his eyes became dim, the beauty of his face fled, his great strength had gone.
Oisin fell to the earth, withered and old and blind