rgus of the True Lips, till I go out and fight with the foreigner."
"It is easy to praise you, son," said Fergus, and he was praising him
for a long time.

Then the two looked at one another and used fierce, proud words. And
then Mongach of the Sea raised his iron flail and made a great blow at
the King of the Bretons' son. But he made a quick leap to one side and
gave him a blow of his sword that cut off his two hands at the joint;
and he did not stop at that, but made a blow at his middle that cut him
into two halves. But as he fell, an apple of the flail with its deadly
thorns went into Fidach's comely mouth and through his brain, and it was
foot to foot those two fell, and lip to lip.

And the next that came to fight on the strand was the King of Lochlann
himself, Caisel of the Feathers. And he came to the battle having his
shield on his arm; and it is the way the shield was, that was made for
him by the smith of the Fomor, there were red flames coming from it; and
if it was put under the sea itself, not one of its flames would stop
blazing. And when he had that shield on his arm no man could come near
him.

And there was never such destruction done on the men of Ireland as on
that day, for the flames of fire that he sent from his shield went
through the bodies of men till they blazed up like a splinter of oak
that was after hanging through the length of a year in the smoke of a
chimney; and any one that would touch the man that was burning would
catch fire himself. And every other harm that ever came into Ireland
before was small beside this.

Then Finn said: "Lift up your hands, Fianna of Ireland, and give three
shouts of blessing to whoever will hinder this foreigner." And the
Fianna gave those three shouts; and the King of Lochlann gave a great
laugh when he heard them. And Druimderg, grandson of the Head of the
Fianna of Ulster, was near him, and he had with him a deadly spear, the
Croderg, the Red-Socketed, that came down from one to another of the
sons of Rudraighe. And he looked at the King of Lochlann, and he could
see no part of him without armour but his mouth that was opened wide,
and he laughing at the Fianna. Then Druimderg made a cast with the
Croderg that hit him in the open mouth, and he fell, and his shield fell
along with its master, and its flame went out. And Druimderg struck the
head from his body, and made great boasts of the things he had done.

CHAPTER XI. LABRAN'S JOURNEY

It