igo ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



shedding of blood, in which the first early note of the 

 blackbird with its message to the "faithful" is intro- 

 duced in a wonderfully impressive way. This tells 

 how Fothad Canann carried off the wife of Alill with 

 her consent, and was hotly pursued by Alill, and how 

 they met and fought until both were slain. Now 

 Fothad had arranged with the woman to meet her 

 in the evening after the fight, and true to his word 

 he kept the tryst. As he comes to her she flies to meet 

 him, to clasp him with her arms and pour out all her 

 passion on his breast. But he will not have it, he 

 waves her back imperiously and will not allow her 

 to utter a word. He must do all the talking himself, 

 for he is overflowing with great matters, great news, 

 and the time for telling them is short. He tells her 

 how they fought, how well they were matched, what 

 a glorious battle it was! One can see it — the deadly 

 meeting of those two long-haired men, their blue- 

 grey eyes glinting with rage and the joy of battle; 

 the shouts of defiance and insult; the furious onset 

 and the swift movements of their lithe and powerful 

 frames, as of tigers; the ringing blows on shield and 

 steel, and the end when they are down, their shields 

 shattered and weapons broken, their bodies hacked 

 and pierced, their spilt blood spreading and mingling 

 in one pool! 



To such a fighter, slain in such a fight, what else 

 was there in the world to talk about! She, and 

 her passion and everlasting grief for her slain lover 

 — it was not worth a thought! The fight was 

 the thing, and she must listen in silence to the 



