Matheson Collection > Feis Tighe Chonain

wording is different ; some of the conventional
descriptions of persons {e.g. of Conán's daughter) are
omitted or curtailed ; a number of poems, some of
them of interest, are given, all omitted in the other
MSS. ; the episode of Finn's pursuit of the Fomór
(or Fomhóir), which is of value for the folk-lorist, is
fully recounted (ch. xi-xviii), while it is omitted or
summarized in one or two brief sentences by the
others. The last two considerations, together with
the fact that H. 4. 14 is (apart from M and the
fragment in H. 3. 18) the oldest text we possess, have
led me to choose it for the present edition.
Of the Feis Tighe Chonáin Dr. Robin Flower says
(Catalogue p. 335) : " The tale is constructed as a.
' frame-tale,' Find being questioned by Conán and
embodying various tales in his replies .... The
text is probably a later imitation of the Acallam,
Conán of the T.D.D. being substituted for S. Patrick
and Find for Caoilte. None of the tales occur in the
Acallam." The substitution of Conán for S. Patrick
has made a difference in the tone of our story, which
represents on the whole a more primitive and bar-
barous stage of society than that depicted in the
Acallamh na Sen orach and lacks the touches of
chivalry frequent in the latter. The treatment of
women may be instanced {e.g. Finn's conduct towards
Neóid's wife, ch. xxi ; the fate of Dubhthireach in
ch. xxviii and of Eithne in xxx ; in the similar story
in Acall. 3962 follg. the barbarity is mitigated by the
stipulation made before the race that the loser shall
forfeit his or her head). On the other hand, women
in our tale enjoy a surprising amount of freedom in
many respects and are wont to lay geasa on their
admirers beside which the pledges of devotion
exacted by the ladies of medieval European chivalry