This is the story of the Exile of the sons of Usnech, of the red branch of the mythology Irish.
Exile of the Sons of Usnech
Why did the sons of Usnech go into exile? It's not difficult.
The Ulates were drinking at Fédelmid, son of Dall, storyteller of Conor. Fédelmid's wife, moreover, was there to serve the company, and she was pregnant. Horns and shares were passed around and the gaiety of drunkenness was evident. When it was time to go to bed, the woman went to her bed. As she passed through the house, the child in her womb cried out so that it was heard throughout the courtyard. At this cry, all the people threw themselves on each other and crowded head to head into the house. Then Sencha son of Ailill called out to them: “Don’t move,” he said; Let the woman be brought to us so we can know where this noise is coming from. » Then they brought the woman to them. Her husband Fédelmid says
What a violent noise rumbles
and storm in your roaring bosom?
noise that came to the ears?
between your two strongly swollen sides,
great fear it produces;
my heart is cruelly hurt.
So he was sent to Cathba, because he was a scholar:
Let Cathba with a beautiful face hear!
O great prince's tiara, magnificent, grown up
by druid charms.
Fine words are not mine,
the brilliance of science,
because the woman does not know
what is in her bosom,
which cried out in the hollow of her breast.
So Cathba said:
In the hollow of your breast
cried a woman with blond curls,
with stunning blue gray eyes;
foxglove are its dark purple cheeks.
To the color of snow we compare <
the treasure of his flawless teeth;
her lips are as bright as scarlet;
woman for whom there will be many murders
among the Ulate warriors.
In your bosom growls and cries
a woman with beautiful long hair;
for her heroes will fight;
a number of great kings will ask for it; <
she will be dragged west with large troops
secretly outside the province of Conor.
Her lips will be scarlet,
around his pearl teeth;
great queens will be jealous
of her flawless sovereign beauty.
Then Cathba put her hand on the woman's breast and, under her hand, the child stirred. » Truly, he said, it is a girl who is there, her name will be Deirdre and there will be evil because of her. »The girl was then born and Cathba said:
Deirdré, you will destroy a lot;
although you have a beautiful face with illustrious whiteness.
The Ulates will suffer in your time,
O noble daughter of Fedelmid!
Misfortune will come later,
because of you, oh brilliant woman;
it is in your time that will take place, listen,
the exile of the three great sons of Usnech.
It is in your time that an act of violence
will be accomplished in Emain;
we will regret a long time later not having any more
the protection of Roeg's great son.
It is through you, O woman, that will happen
the exile of Fergus from Ulster;
and a fact that we will cry about,
the murder of Fiachna, son of Conor.
It is through your fault, O woman, that will happen
the murder of Gerreé, son of Illadan,
and a fact of no less importance,
the massacre of Eogan, son of Durthacht.
You will do a hateful, violent act,
out of resentment against the great king of Ulates;
wherever your grave is
there will be a famous story, O Deirdré!
O Deirdré!
» Let us kill the girl! said the young warriors.
“No,” said Conor. Bring her to me tomorrow, said Conor, and she will be raised according to my orders, and she will be the woman who will live with me. “
The Ulates did not dare to contradict him. So it was done. She was raised by Conor and became the prettiest girl there was in Ireland. She was brought up in a separate castle, so that no Ulsterman would see her until she slept with Conor, and no one was allowed into the house except her nurse and Leborcham. who could not be attacked because she was a witch.
Once, the girl's guardian was skinning a calf on the snow, outside, in winter, to serve it to her, when he saw a crow drinking the blood from the snow. Then she said to Leborcham: “The only man I would love would be the one who had these three colors on him: hair like a crow, a cheek like blood and a body like snow.
– Dignity and happiness to you! said Leborcham; he is not far from you, he is in the house near you: he is Nôisé, son of Usnech.
“I won't be well,” she said, “until I see him. “
That time, Nôisé was alone on the wall of the Emain rampart singing. The voice of the sons of Usnech was harmonious. Every cow and every animal that heard it gave two thirds more milk. Every man who heard it experienced a feeling of peace and joy. Their skill at arms was great. Even if the whole province of Ulster had gathered around them in one place, if all three of them had leaned against each other, it would not have won victory over them, because of the superiority of and their defense. They were as fast as chasing game and killed deer on the run.
As Nôisé was outside alone, Deirdré escaped and passed by him, but he did not recognize her.
She is beautiful, he said, the heifer passing by.
“We need big heifers where there are no bulls,” she said.
“You have with you the bull of the province,” he said, “the king of Ulster.
– I would like to choose between you two, she said, and I would like to have a young little bull like you.
“No,” he said.
Immediately she lunges at him and grabs him by both ears. » Here are two ears of shame and mockery, she said, if you do not take me with you.
“Go away from me, O woman,” he said.
– I will be yours,” she said.
Immediately he made his voice heard. When the Ulates heard the voice, each threw themselves upon the other.
The sons of Usnech went out to hold their brother. " What's wrong ? they said; The Ulates must not kill each other because of you! » Then he told them what had happened to him.
» This will turn out badly, said the young people. No matter what, you will not be exposed to shame, as long as we are alive. We will go with her to another country. There is no king in Ireland who does not welcome us. » They took counsel. They left that night; they had three fifty warriors, three fifty women, three fifty dogs, three fifty servants and Deirdre with them.
They spent a long time in service in the surrounding area, but attempts were often made to put them to death among the kings of Ireland, through the malice and cunning of Conor, from Esruaid in the southwest to Benn Etair in the northeast. , and in reverse. However, the Ulates chased them away Scotland and they settled in a desert. When the mountain game failed them, they attacked the cattle of the men of Scotland. Then they came one day to exterminate them, but the sons of Usnech went to the king of Scotland, who took them into his service and into whose pay they placed themselves. They built their houses on the prairie; it was for the girl that they had made the houses, so that no one would see her, for fear that they would be killed because of her.
Once, therefore, the king's steward came, early one morning, to go round their house, and he saw the couple sleeping. He then went to wake the king.
» We have not found, he said, so far, a woman worthy of you. There is with Noise son of Usnech a woman worthy of the king of the West. Let Nôisé be killed immediately and the woman sleep with you! said the steward.
– No, said the king, but go and pay court to him, every day, secretly. » So it was done. But everything the steward told her, she immediately told her husband at night. As he could not obtain anything, he ordered the sons of Usnech to go on dangerous battles and difficult expeditions, so that they would be killed there. But they emerged safe and sound from all the battles, and these attempts could do nothing against them.
The men of Scotland, on the advice of the steward, gathered to kill them. She told it to Nôisé. » Leave here, she said, because if you don't leave here tonight, you will be killed tomorrow. » They left that night and went to an island in the sea.
This was told to the Ulates. » It is unfortunate, O Conor, said the Ulates, that the sons of Usnech should fall into enemy country through the fault of a bad woman. It would be better that we accompany them and kill them and come to their country, than to succumb among enemies.
– Let them come then, said Conor, and let sureties go to meet them! » We bring them this news.
"Willingly," they said, "we will go and have Fergus, Dubthach and Cormac son of Conor come and bail us out! They came and they took each other's hands as soon as they disembarked.
It was discussed whether, on Conor's advice, Fergus should be invited to drink ale, for the sons of Usnech had said that they would not take any food in Ireland until they had eaten at Conor's. Then Fiacha son of Fergus went with them, while Fergus and Dubthach remained, and the sons of Usnech came to the meadow of Emain. It was there also that Eogan, son of Durthacht, king of Fernmag, came to make his peace with Conor, for he had been at odds with him for a long time. It was he who was charged with killing the sons of Usnech, and Conor's soldiers accompanied him to prevent them from reaching the king.
The sons of Usnech were standing in the middle of the meadow, and the women were sitting on the wall of Emain. Eogan arrived examining the meadow, but the son of Fergus placed himself next to Noisé. Eogan welcomed him with a penetrating blow from his great javelin, which passed through his back. Immediately the son of Fergus rushed forward, put both hands on Noise and put him under him, so that he was on top of him. And this is how Noise was struck, through the son of Fergus. Then they killed across the meadow, so that no one escaped the point of the javelins or the edge of the swords, and Deirdré was brought before Conor, her hands tied behind her back.
This was then told to Fergus, Dubthach, and Cormac.
They arrived and immediately performed great exploits: Dubthach killed Mané son of Conor, and Fiachna son of Fedelm daughter of Conor; Fergus killed Strongfoot, son of Bigfoot, and his brother. Conor took offense and a fight broke out between them for a whole day; three hundred Ulates succumbed. Dubthach slew the daughters of Ulster, and before morning Fergus burned Emain. Then they went to Ailill and Mève, because they knew that this couple would welcome them. Thirty hundreds, such was the number of these exiles; until the end of sixteen years, they did not cease to cause complaint and terror to the Ulates, but every night they cried out and trembled.
She was with Conor for a year, and in all that time, we did not see her mouth smile; she neither ate nor slept her content and she did not raise her head from her knees. When the jugglers were brought to her, this is what she said:
However beautiful the heroes may be in your eyes
walking towards Emain;
more nobly walked towards their house
the three heroic sons of Usnech.
Nôisé, with a mead of beautiful hazelnuts;
I washed it near the fire;
Ardan, with an exquisite stag or pig;
Audlé with a bundle on his big back.
However sweet the exquisite mead may be to you,
that the son of Ness the fighter drinks,
I had previously on the shore
abundant and sweeter food.
When the noble Noise had arranged
meat to be cooked on wood, noble table
all food was a thousand times sweeter
which the son of Usnech provided.
However harmonious for you each month
flautists and horn players,
here is what I confess today
I heard much more harmonious music.
Harmonious are for King Conor
flautists and horn players;
more harmonious is for me
the voice of the sons of Usnech.
Sound of wave, the voice of Nôisé
was a harmony to be listened to always;
Ardam's medium voice was good,
and the high voice of Andlé, outside his hut.
Of Noise they made the tomb;
sad was the protection;
those by whom he was raised
distributed the poison brew from which he died.
Dear Berthân, pretty countryside
rich in men though mountainous,
it's sad that I won't get up today
to wait for Usnech's son.
Dear firm, fair mind, <
dear warrior, tall, modest;
after crossing the wood of Fâl,
dear early morning maintenance.
Dear blue eye loved by women,
hard on enemies;
after the tour of the forest, our meeting,
dear voice loud through the darkness of the wood.
I do not sleep anymore;
my nails are no longer purple;
joy no longer comes to my vigil,
since the sons of Usnech no longer come.
I do not sleep
half the night, in my bed;
my spirit is launched among the multitudes,
besides that I neither eat nor laugh.
I don't have a moment of joy today;
in the assembly of Emain where the nobles go;
no peace, no pleasure, no rest,
neither big house, nor beautiful adornment.
Some beautiful…
When Conor was trying to calm her down she would say
0 Conor, what do you want?
You have caused me sorrow and tears;
as for me, as long as I stay alive,
your love for me will not be very great.
The one who was for me the most beautiful under the sky,
and the one who was so dear,
you took it away from me; it's a great shame,
that I only see it with my death.
Gone (sadness for me)
the form in which the sons of Usnech appear,
jet black mound on a white body,
who will be well known in the crowd of women.
Two purple cheeks more beautiful than a meadow,
red lips, black eyelashes like a beetle,
pearl colored teeth,
like the noble shade of snow.
He was well known to me, his bright clothing,
among the warriors of Scotland;
his cloak of beautiful purple for the assembly,
with its red gold border.
Her satin tunic, a great treasure
where had been a hundred hands, a sweet number;
to embroider it, (it is obvious),
[there were] fifty ounces of brass.
A golden-hilted sword in his hand;
two gray javelins at the terrible point;
a shield bordered with yellow gold,
– and on him a silver bump.
Handsome Fergus has done us great harm
by making us cross the sea;
he sold his honor for beer,
his deeds have collapsed.
If on the plain were
the Ulates in the presence of Conor,
I would give them all, without a doubt,
for the face of Nôisé son of Usnech.
Don't break my heart today;
soon I will await my premature grave,
Sorrow is stronger than the sea,
do you know, O Conor?
Oh Conor…
Who do you hate the most of those you see? said Conor.
“You, certainly,” she said, “and Eogan son of Durthacht.
“You’ll be at Eogan’s for a year,” said Conor.
He handed it over to Eogan. The next day they went to the assembly of Tara. She was in the tank behind Eogan. She had promised herself that she would not see two spouses on earth at the same time.
"Well, O Deirdre," said Conor, "you have the eye of a sheep between two rams, between me and Eogan. “
There was a large boulder in front of her. She threw herself with her head against the block, so that she broke her head and died.
This is the Exile of the sons of Usnech, the Exile of Fergus, and the murder of the sons of Usnech and Deirdre.
