ulainn saga is more coherent than the Fionn saga, because it
possesses one central incident. The "canon" of the saga was closed at an
early date, while that of Fionn has practically never been closed,
mainly because it has been more a saga of the folk than that of
Cuchulainn. In some respects the two may have been rivals, for if the
Cuchulainn saga was introduced by conquerors from Britain or Gaul, it
would not be looked on with favour by the folk. Or if it is the saga of
Ulster as opposed to that of Leinster, rivalry would again ensue. The
Fionn saga lives more in the hearts of the people, though it sometimes
borrows from the other. This borrowing, however, is less than some
critics, e.g. Zimmer, maintain. Many of the likenesses are the result of
the fact that wherever a hero exists a common stock of incidents becomes
his. Hence there is much similarity in all sagas wherever found.

FOOTNOTES:

[453] _IT_ i. 134; Nutt-Meyer, ii. 38 f.; Windisch, _Tain_, 342; L.
Duvau, "La Legende de la Conception de Cuchulainn," _RC_ ix. 1 f.

[454] Windisch, _Tain_, 118 f. For a similar reason Finnchad was called
Cu Cerca, "the hound of Cerc" (_IT_ iii. 377).

[455] For the boyish exploits, see Windisch, _Tain_, 106 f.

[456] _RC_ vii. 225; Windisch, _Tain_, 20. Macha is a granddaughter of
Ler, but elsewhere she is called Mider's daughter (_RC_ xvi. 46).

[457] Rh[^y]s, _CFL_ ii. 654; Westermarck, _Hist. of Human Marriage_,
ch. 2.

[458] Miss Hull, _Folk-Lore_, xii. 60, citing instances from Jevons,
_Hist. of Religion_, 65.

[459] Windisch, _IT_ ii. 239.

[460] Windisch, 184, 312, 330; cf. _IT_ iii. 355; Miss Hull, 164 f.;
Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 468.

[461] _LL_ 119_a_; _RC_ iii. 175.

[462] Windisch, 342.

[463] _RC_ iii. 175 f.

[464] Ibid. 185.

[465] Crowe, _Jour. Kilkenny Arch. Soc._ 1870-1871, 371 f.

[466] _LL_ 79_a_; O'Curry, _MS. Mat_, 640.

[467] _LL_ 125_a_. See my _Childhood of fiction_, ch. 14.

[468] Miss Hull, lxxvi.

[469] "Da Derga's Hostel," _RC_ xxii. 283; Rh[^y]s, _HL_ 438.

[470] _LL_ 68_a_; Rh[^y]s, 437; Ingcel the one-eyed has also many pupils
(_RC_ xxii. 58).

[471] Miss Hull, lxiii.

[472] _RC_ viii. 49.

[473] _LL_ 77_b_; Miss Hull, lxii.

[474] Other Celtic heroes undergo this distortion, which resembles the
Scandinavian warrior rage followed by languor, as in the case of
Cuchulainn.

[475] Miss Hull, p. lxvi.

[476] Irish saints, standing neck deep in freezing water, made it hot.