Exploring Celtic Mythology: The Tragedy of the Sons of Tuireann

the tragedy of the sons of Tiran bloodshed sorrow and revenge are three concepts that fill both history books and fictional tales and the same is true for stories told around campfires in ancient times the tale of the sons of Tiran certainly demonstrates this while also showing the spitefulness of the gods this is not one of the most famous stories of Celtic mythology but it is an epic account of senseless violence retribution and tragedy our story goes back to the early days of Ireland when the powerful tuadee Donnan were at war with the dreadful for mauryans at the time Nuada of the silver hand was king of the two-a-day Donnan but another of the pantheon liu was placed in charge of their armies Lu's father Keane was also a member of the two-day Donnan and agreed to ride alone to the north to gather reinforcements as he was riding across a plain he saw three armed men approaching him pausing for a moment he realized the three men were in fact the sons of Tiran named Bryan Iker and a curved ax for some reason lost in time keen and tieran were old enemies an enmity between the two families almost always led to fighting keen realizing he was outnumbered looked around to hide but only saw a herd of pigs feeding nearby using magic he transformed himself into the form of a pig and joined the herd the three sons of Tiran realized something was amiss as they saw a man riding across the plain only moments ago and so they approached the herd of pigs suspecting the man had transformed himself Brean knew that the pigs belonged to new anna and they would be punished for killing them so he transformed his brothers into hounds and they chased after keen Kien broke away from the herd but Brean was ready throwing his spear and impaling keen keene pleaded for mercy but the brothers would not give it keen knew his death was imminent and so he asked that he dies a man rather than a pig and Brean agreed after changing back he informed the brothers that if he had died as a pig they would have only been punished for killing a pig but now they would be punished for killing the father of Liu the brothers proceeded to stone keen to death and bury him but six times the earth would not take his body pushing it back up finally in their seventh attempt Keane was buried and the brothers rode to join the other two a day Donnan in the war the three brothers fought alongside Liu in a great battle against the four mauryans but afterwards Liu began to wonder where his father was and asked others if they had seen him in the battle they of course had not and so Liu became convinced that he had died prior to the fight he set out following the route he had said his father on and eventually came to the field where he was buried there the earth called out to him telling him what the sons of Tiran had done he dug up his father's grave to confirm reburied him with a proper funeral and then swore vengeance and the sons of Tiran and their children Liu went and gathered his court the sons of Tiran among them and asked them what punishment they would enact to someone who killed their father the men there agreed that it would certainly be a bloody punishment and the tearin brothers agreed along with them hoping to blend in Liu said that he would not choose a violent punishment but merely make the murderers pay a fine the brothers grew optimistic and hearing this and they stepped forward saying that Liu's father was not killed by any weapon of the sons of Tiran but they would pay his fine regardless to show their honor Lu told them that the fine he would ask is for three apples the skin of a pig a spear two horses a chariot seven pigs a hound pup a cooking spit and three shouts on a hill the brothers were shocked that he would ask so little suspecting trickery on his part but Lu swore that this was all he asked and he would not increase it afterwards the brothers hastily agreed to pay this fine swearing an oath in front of the entire court Lu then reveals the exact nature of the fine telling them that the three apples must come from the garden in the east of the world where they are the size of a child's head and can cure any illness or wound the pigskin is owned by the king of Greece also capable of healing illnesses or wounds the spear is a legendary weapon owned by the king of Persia and the horses and chariot belonged to another king the pigs belonged to the king of the golden pillars and were capable of resurrecting every morning after they had been slaughtered the hound puppet was owned by yet another king and it was said that all wild beasts cowered before it the cooking spit came from an island protected by warrior women and finally the hill they needed to shout on was defended by four men whose sole task was to prevent anyone shouting on the hill additionally these men had trained Liu's father and he mentions that even if he did forgive them for their actions these men would not silence filled the hall and the brothers left going to their father for advice Tiran was upset at the situation but told them that in order to complete their quest they would need a magical ship owned by the god of the ocean which currently was being loaned to Lu since Lu was under a magical bond that wouldn't allow him to refuse the second request Terran told them to first ask for a magical horse that he possessed which he would refuse and then to ask him for the ship they did so and Lu was forced to give them use of the ship they set out from Ireland the magical ship traveling much faster than normal and they headed east to gather the apples after arriving the brothers observed how heavily guarded the garden was realizing there would be no way to sneak in so Iker and Iker ve' said that they should just charge in either retrieving the apples or dying heroically Brean craftiest of his brothers decided to turn the three of them into the form of hawks they then dived through the garden deftly avoiding spears and darts thrown at them and they each snatched a Golden Apple when the King heard this he went to his three daughters who were not without magic themselves and they transformed into great birds capable of breathing lightning they went after the Hawks scorching them with lightning until Brean turned the three brothers into swans when they were briefly out of sight the Kings daughters continue to look for hawks and the sons of Tiran made their escape next they made their way for Greece arriving near the king's palace Breen's brothers wanted to transform into animals again to sneak in but Brienne declared that they would instead pretend to be poets from Ireland who were respected in Greece this turned out to be quite true and the three were accepted into the Kings Court and invited to a great feast after the feast the king's poets recited a few poems and then the sons of Tiran were asked to recite one of theirs once again Breen's brothers were left floundering but Brian stepped up and gave a poem during which he mentioned that a pig skin would be his reward for speaking the poem the king was left confused by the poem and so Brienne explicitly told him that he wished to have the magical pig skin as his reward the King scoffed at this saying that he would not give the skin to any poet warrior or King in the land instead he offered to give them enough gold to fill the pig skin three times over Brean accepted this but he asked that the pigs can be brought out so he could see the Gold's measured in it when the skin was brought out breanne snatched it cutting the man who held it in two with his sword and wrapped himself in the magical skin due to the magical properties of the pig skin Breen and his brothers were able to fight their way out of the palace killing the King in the process back on the boat the group sailed for Persia to retrieve the spear since the last plan had worked so well for the brothers they decided to attempt the exact same thing in Persia they presented themselves as poets from Ireland they were invited into the court and Brienne recited another poem asking for the spear for his reward the King was of course angered by this telling him that there has never been a greater show of respect for poetry than right now for they would not execute them on the spot Brehon realizing he wouldn't talk his way out of this grabbed one of the golden apples from his pouch and threw it at the king's head smashing his brains against the throne the brothers then proceeded to slaughter every man in the court and retrieved the magic spear next they sailed to retrieve the horses and chariot and they appeared before another king as three mercenaries from Ireland hoping to work for the king the King took them under his service and the brothers spent over a month working there and searching for the horses unable to find them they decided to go to the king and tell him that they were planning to leave unless they saw the great horses and chariot that he was hiding the king tells them he would have shown them these things immediately if they had just asked and so he brings out the horses and the chariot once again when they appeared Brienne commandeered the chariot and the three killed the king in most of the court before sailing off next they headed for the land of the golden pillars where they could find the seven magical pigs unfortunately by this time their reputation preceded them as it was widely known that the sons of Tiran were on this quest and were slain Kings everywhere they went the king of the golden pillars greeted them at the harbor when they arrived asking them if the stories were true they admitted freely that they were and told him the full tale of their quest they also told them that they were here for his seven pigs and if the king gave them up freely they would take them and leave but if not they were prepared to slaughter as many as necessary the King discussed this with his advisors and decided to give them the pigs without conflict additionally he asked that they take him with them to their next destination as one of his daughters was the wife of the king who owned the fearsome hound pup and he hoped to convince him to also give it up without bloodshed the group of four sailed for the next location and the king of the golden pillars went on to shore first telling the king the situation the king would have none of it however and said that the gods have not given enough luck to any champions that they could take his hound pup by force nor by peace upon hearing of this the sons of Tiran grabbed their weapons and a great battle ensued Brienne fought his way to the king and the two commenced an epic duel which ended with Brienne overcoming the king and dragging him back to the ship due to the new friendship he had with the king of the golden pillars he left his son-in-law alive and so the hound pup was given to the brothers there were only two tasks left for the sons of Tiran and so far they had been quite successful now possessing a number of powerful artifacts Lu who had been keeping track of their exploits began to grow worried as he had been so certain the three of them would die during their travels he decided to tip the odds in his favor and cast a spell that would cause them to forget the rest of their fine and also to urge them to return to Ireland they did so but Lou feared there might especially with so many artifacts and so he went into hiding when they arrived the brother searched for him but he would only send a messenger proclaiming that the sons of Tiran should pay their fine to the current king they did so and afterwards Lou appeared the artifacts were handed off to him by the king but of course there were two things missing and Lou reminded the brothers they were missing the cooking spit and he hadn't heard the three shouts the memories of the task came back to the brothers and they went back to their father in grief there was no choice for the sons but to sail out once again and finish their task but for three months they searched for the island protected by warrior women with no success finally Brienne realized that the island might not be on top of the water but instead below it he crafted himself an outfit that allowed him to remain underwater and traveled the seafloor for two weeks he eventually found it coming across a group of 150 women sewing and he saw the cooking spit among them without saying anything he grabbed the spit and began walking out with it the women began laughing saying that even with his brothers with him the least of the women among them could prevent him from taking it but because of his audacity and daring they would allow him to take it only one task remained shouting three times on a sacred Hill protected by four great champions they arrived at the base of the hill and Brienne alone dueled with the greatest of them finally emerging victorious then the three sons of that great champion came out to avenge both their father as well as Lou's father and a legendary fight ensued between the two groups it was said that during the fight the sky reddened and the clashes were heard around the world although the sons of Tiran won the battle they had been gravely injured in the process Breen's brothers admitted to not having the strength to climb the hill and shout but Brienne helped his brothers and together they gave their three shouts to the sky they made it back to the ship and drifted across the sea for a long time barely alive finally Breen saw Ireland in the distance and told his brothers that he could see their father's home the other two asked him to raise their heads so that they might gaze one last time on their home before death they arrived on shore and Brehon spoke with his father telling him to take the spit to Lou and also to tell him the shouts had been given he also asked his father to bring back the pigskin so they could be healed Ciaran went to Lou begging for the skin but Lou would not give it Taron went to his sons and informed them but brilliant insisted he helped him go to Lou so he could ask himself Brian went before Lou and asked for the skin but Lou responded that even if Brian offered him the entire world and all of its wealth Lou would not help the brothers Brean returned to his brothers and laid down between them and the tragedy of the sons of Tiran was complete well it's certainly easy to villainize the sons of Tiran in this story as they had committed callous murder in the first place the story might have been quite different had the situation been reversed well I never attempt to proclaim the lesson or moral of a story it's interesting to take note of the different depictions of gods and heroes throughout different tales there can certainly be a lively discussion about the various characters within this story but either way the tragedy of the sons of Tiran is an epic tale of adventure and attempted redemption you

Channel: The Exploring Series

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Keywords: ancient ireland, irish mythology, irish history, irish folklore, celtic mythology, irish culture, tuatha de danann, irish legends, irish interest, celtic gods and goddesses, celtic legends, gaelic culture, celtic folklore, irish myths, tuatha dé danann, celtic myths, ancient mystery, celtic tales, irish tales, tuireann, children of tuireann, epic story, irish tale, irish epic, odyssey, adventure, lugh, lugh lamhfada

Id: FlSPXQtpHCA

Length: 17min 39sec (1059 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 30 2018