Finn, which is contrary to the ordinary rule that regeneration is more common in Irish stories[1] than in Welsh ones. The discrepancy is, however, not such as to preclude our comparing Gwion and Finn with one another. In the first place, Finn was the chief of a band of warriors called the Fiann.[2] Now in this term Fiann we have a word admitting of being equated letter for letter with the proper name Gwion, the meaning of which is unknown in Welsh. This alone does not amount to a proof of the identity of the names, but it becomes an important item of evidence when backed by an unmistakable parallel between the stories about Gwion and Finn. How Gwion got his knowledge and power of predicting the future by tasting of the brew meant for another person, the hideous Avagᵭu, has already been told; and it only remains to relate how on the other side Finn got his wisdom.
The principal foes of Finn and the family to which he belonged were called Urgrenn son of Lugaid Corr, and Goll the 'One-eyed' son of Morna; and Finn as a boy was with difficulty hidden away from them and their men. In order to cope with them, he went to a poet to learn his art, and Finn, whose name was Demne Finn, that is Demne[3]
- ↑ Though Finn is not said to he re-horn as Ossín, there was an Irish story which gave him a second life, namely, in the person of an Ultonian king called Mongán: see the Bk. of the Dun, 133a—134b; also M. d'A. de Jubainville, Cycle, pp. 336—343, and O'Curry, iij. 175.
- ↑ A poet is represented addressing them as Fián Find: see Bk. of Leinster, 296b: the poem is quoted by O'Curry, ij. 385. The term Fiann occurs as a collective used in the feminine singular, while the individual members were called in the plural Fianna.
- ↑ The word looks as if it ought to be an abstract noun meaning 'assurance, certainty,' from demin, 'sure, certain.'
