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Updated: May 9, 2025
When they were gone, Dermat and Grania went to the top of the quicken-tree, into the hut of Sharvan, and the berries below were but bitter compared to the berries that were above upon the tree. Now when Finn's two enemies were come to Allen he asked them how they had fared, and whether they had brought with them the head of Dermat or a handful of berries from the quicken-tree.
'And I will follow if it be that I leave this place alive, yet should I be slain, I pray thee, Angus, send the Princess to her father and beg him that he deal gently with her. Then Dermat kissed Grania, and Angus, having told the way that they would go, placed the Princess beneath his mantle and was carried forth on the wings of the wind unseen of Finn.
And Dermat, because of the love he bore Grania, granted her wish, and for a year they were making ready for the great feast. Then were messengers sent to bid thither Cormac and Finn. And they came, and with them their nobles, their horses and their dogs, and for a full year they hunted and feasted at Rath-Grania.
When Finn found that Grania had fled with Dermat, great was his wrath, and he called to him his nobles, and ordered them with all speed to follow in the track of Dermat and Grania. And Finn went with them, nor was the track hard to follow until they came to the river Shannon, but there it was lost and no man could find it.
Dermat and Grania then walked until they came to a thick wood, and there Dermat lopped branches from the trees and made a hut, and he made for Grania a bed of the soft rushes and of the tops of the birch. And there Grania rested, and there did Dermat bring to her food of the forest and water from a clear spring. It was early dawn at Tara when Cormac and Finn awoke from their deep sleep.
Then Dermat rose and stood upon a high bough. With an airy, bird-like bound he sprang forward and alighted outside the circle formed by the men who had joined hands, and was soon far beyond the reach of Finn. And the noble who saved him followed, and they came together to Bruga, and there Angus and Grania met them, and the joy of the Princess cannot be told.
Again the King went to the well, and with failing sight did Dermat follow the dripping hands that came nearer and yet more near. But of a sudden Finn thought of Grania, and a second time was the water spilled. And when Dermat saw it, he uttered a piteous cry.
And Grania, seeing that his mind was set, did not beg him longer to stay, yet, fearing danger, she begged him to take with him his red javelin and his sword named 'The Greater Fury. But Dermat, deeming the matter light, took with him his yellow javelin and his sword 'The Lesser Fury, and leading his faithful hound by the chain, went forth.
Yet art thou unmindful of mine help, and I swear that I will be avenged. When the hero ceased from speaking, one of Finn's nobles said, 'Dermat speaketh truth, now therefore grant him thy forgiveness. But Finn answered, 'I will not to the end of my life grant him forgiveness, nor shall he know rest or peace until he yieldeth to me his head.
The one weapon was Sharvan's own club, for were he by it dealt three blows, his doom was come. Now Dermat knew of the giant that guarded the fairy quicken-tree, therefore he left Grania in shelter and went alone to the foot of the tree. And there sat Sharvan, for it was day. And Dermat told the giant how he would fain build a hut in the forest and hunt amid the woods.
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