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Oisin

© Linda Casselman

In this article, let me introduce you to a great figure from Celtic mythology, Oisin. Oisin, pronounced Wah-sheen, was considered the greatest poet in Ireland according to myth. His father was Finn MacCool, the great Fianna leader, and his mother was the goddess Sadb. It is not surprising then that Oisin was a great poet when you consider that his father had tasted the Salmon of Knowledge and that his uncle, Ogma, was the god of eloquence. Surely, the capacities of knowledge and of eloquence blended in Oisin to make him such a great poet.

Let us explore the figure of Oisin by looking at the myth surrounding his birth. The tale goes as follows:

One day, Finn MacCool was returning home to Tara, the Irish capital and base of the Fenians, with his companions and his dogs when a beautiful deer crossed their path. The chase was on and after a time the exhausted deer stopped to rest. Surprisingly, the dogs did not attack the poor deer; instead they began to play with her and even to lick her. So Finn MacCool ordered that no harm should come to the deer and the deer followed them home to Tara.

That night, Finn MacCool awoke to find a beautiful woman standing next to his bed. It was the goddess Sadb. She revealed to him that she had been turned into a deer by the spell of an evil druid and that this spell could only be broken if Finn MacCool came to love her. And that is how she had resumed her human form.

Sadb lived happily at Tara with Finn MacCool as his mistress for many years. Then, word came of invaders off the coast of Dublin so the Fenians who were the bodyguards of the king, were called to arms. Although Finn MacCool was gone for only one week, he returned to find Sadb missing. He learned that she had been lured away by the evil druid who was disguised as Finn MacCool himself. So Finn MacCool set out to look for Sadb. He searched the whole of Ireland but he could not find her and so he gave up and returned to his pastime, hunting.

While he was out hunting one day, his dogs tracked down a naked little boy with long hair. Two of Finn MacCool's best dogs were guarding the boy, protecting him. The boy told Finn MacCool that he did not know who his father was but that his mother was a gentle hind and that the two of them lived in a serene valley surrounded by steep cliffs. He also said that a tall dark stranger came to see his mother every now and again but that she was afraid of him and when he tapped her with a magic stick she was made to follow him.

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