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Author
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Comment
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shiara
the witch
Registered User
(8/3/04 3:46 pm)
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The end of the Sadb/Saba/Blái legend
One of my favorite legends is Sadb and the Birth of Oisín. In it Finn mac Cumhal hunts a beautiful deer, but when his hounds refuse to kill it he finds out it is a young woman named Sadb who was transformed into a deer by an evil druid when she refused to love him. They fall in love and get married (or she becomes his mistress). But soon after he has to go to war. When he gets back he discovers his wife was again been kidnapped by the evil druid. Seven years later he finds a wild boy whom he discovers to be his son. His son, Oisin, tells him that his mother was again a Deer and was taken for good by the druid never to be seen again.
Does anyone have any more information on either Sadb or a more satisfying end to this story?
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Veronica
Schanoes
Registered User
(8/3/04 3:57 pm)
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Re: The end of the Sadb/Saba/Blái legend
I wonder if this story was retold in the fabulous children's novel
The
Wizard Children of Finn and its sequel The
Lost Legend of Finn. The first one is far and away better
than the second in my opinion, but both are good. They're by Mary
Tannen. The ending is different. I might be mistaken--it's been
a long time since I've read these books, which is my loss.
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tlchang37
Registered User
(8/5/04 1:46 am)
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The end of the Sadb/Saba/Blái legend
Your description is how I've usually read that tale in various retellings of Finn Mac Cool - however sometimes Sadb is killed by the druid/wizard, and Oisin escapes. (I've never read a more 'happily ever after' version of it).
There's a very nice novelization of Finn
Mac Cool by Morgan Llywelyn. (She's specialized in novelized
retellings of Irish myths.) She spends a good amount of time on
Finn's pursuit of and romance with Sadb.
The Fenian Cycle of Irish literature which centers around Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his war band, the Fianna, is not difficult to find online and in print. There are a number of variations, so you might find more of what you looking for by beginning your googling there.
Good luck,
Tara
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Gunnlods
Cup
Registered User
(9/26/04 11:17 pm)
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The end of the Sadb/Saba/Blái legend
I didn't remember the author, but I sure remember the books! (I wrote a sequel in a one-scene play format as an english project in Grade 6)
In Tannen's
book Sadb went forward in time to the present (and I believe
immmigrated to the US) and raised her two children by Finn as a
single mother. If I recall correctly, she refuses to explain to
them where they came from and they find out when they follow their
housekeeper and gardener to ancient Ireland and meet Finn who they
travel with. They don't realize he's their father until much later
(end of book? second book?--it's been too long to remember any more)
But that's the only version I can remember that had a different ending than her disappearing forever.
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redtriskell
Registered User
(9/27/04 1:00 am)
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those pesky Irish legends
I love all things Celtic, most particularly the story cycles. I am sad to say that I've never encountered a happy ending to this tale. Most of the ones I know end when the evil guy turns her back into a doe and then hunts her to death with spirit dogs. A perversion of Finn's hounds, if you will. Yeats has a nicely detailed version of this story in his book on Irish folklore. And speaking of this story's rather sad conclusion, it seems to me that the Celts must have been a rather pessimistic lot because it seems that alot of the legends are ultimately sad. I've always been struck by the fate of Lir's children. They eventually get to be human again, but only after all they've ever known has passed away. Or maybe most myth is, at the bottom, tragic, and I just notice it the most in Celtic lore because I love it the most.
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Veronica
Schanoes
Registered User
(9/27/04 1:14 am)
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Re: those pesky Irish legends
Argh! Don't spoil the ending of the Tannen books! You don't find that out until the very ending of the second one! Why be so cruel to the unlucky people who haven't read them!
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Gunnlods
Cup
Registered User
(9/30/04 8:44 pm)
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Sadb legend
Ooops! Sorry, didn't even think of that!
Though I don't remember being at all surprised when they finally clearly indicated it. But then, I knew the originally story first and suspected something was hinky when I saw the son's name was Bran and the mother's was something like Sadb.
The end of the second book? Really? I thought it was much sooner. It's been 20 years, what can I say.
Too bad they're out of print. I never seen them since. Though, if
you liked the Tannen books, you'll probably like the O. R. Melling
books too. Which I won't give away the endings too!
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