The Legend of Finn Mac Cool

Some reading this piece will know of – and will have perhaps even visited – the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. 

The story is told that there was once an Irish giant called Fionn mac Cumhaill, anglicised to Finn Mac Cool (as well as Fingal, and variants of these names).  He had made enemies of some Scottish giants, and one day built a causeway from Ireland to Scotland to make a path to them and take battle into their heartland.  He used six-sided stones to build his passageway.

What Finn had not reckoned upon was that one of his foes, known as the Red Man, was much larger than he was, and when his Scots enemy approached on the Causeway, Finn fled back home to his wife!

The Red Man found Finn Mac Cool’s cottage; the Irish giant was hiding in the bath, covered with bed sheets.  Finn’s wife Oonagh kept her own ‘cool’ and invited the Red Man in, saying that her husband was out hunting.

Oonagh engaged the Red Man in conversation, showing her guest her husband’s things.  Then she offered to cook him Finn’s favourite meal, served with beer honey.  Oonagh said that she needed to feed the baby.

The baby was, in fact, Finn Mac Cool, swaddled in sheets.  Once the Red Man was outside, a little woozy from his drinking, Finn, his courage renewed, chased the Scot from Ireland, throwing clods of earth into the sea to form the Isle of Man. 

From either side of the Irish Sea, both giants tore up the Causeway, leaving the passageway across the waters impassable.  At least honour had been served.

Finn also appears in folk mythology in Scotland and the Isle of Man.  Fingal’s Cave, in Scotland, is so named because it shares the basalt rock features of the Causeway (and is, of course, the title of a celebrated piece by Felix Mendelsohn).

Sources: http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/playstory5639-finn-maccool-and-the-giants-causeway.html and  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fionn_mac_Cumhaill

My old friend Russell Barash asked me recently about evidence for giants that aren’t just to be found in myths and legends.  I will explore the topics of giants in human beings at a future date, but given the Irish theme of this blog, follow this link to read about an eighteen century Irishman who was approximately 7 foot 10 inches.  He would have been a star on the basketball court!

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/20/legends-of-irish-giants-are-more-than-tall-tales/

Thanks to my mum, Anne Cohen, for suggesting the Giant’s Causeway as a topic.

"It feels like being a giant"

There's a 5 minute interview with Royal Shakespeare Company actor Patrick Stewart on the BBC website.  He's probably better known as Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he has had a distinguished career playing Shakespeare.

To the question, "What's it feel like being on stage in front of an audience?", Stewart replies, "It feels like being a giant."  "Is that a good thing?" asks the interviewer.  "It's a fantastic thing, cause I don't feel like that in real life."

Fascinating that he analogises the experience of being on stage with the power of being a giant.  But not surprising, perhaps.  After all, the actor is in the spotlight, he or she projects the voice to reach the entire gathering, and the actor has power: he/she directs the forward motion of the moment with the lines to be delivered.

Here's the link to the interview: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13160867

All About Giants

Welcome to my blog!

If you heard that the petrified remains of an ancient giant had been unearthed, wouldn’t you rush to see the find for yourself?

That question serves as a catalyst at the start of my newly completed novel, ‘Once There Were Giants’, for which I am now seeking representation by a literary agent.

The book’s title gives an indication of my fascination with these figures.  Indeed, another of my pieces of writing, a novel called ‘Tales of Freedom’, has embedded within its narrative the Golem of Prague story.  The Golem was a seven-foot tall man of clay created by a great sixteenth century rabbi to protect his community.  I shall return to that legend at a future date.

Although our world is complex, it is remarkable that so many stories found in folklore in countries as different as Ghana and China, Afghanistan and Spain present to us a parade of familiar types.  We can find kings and queens, princes and princesses, witches and wizards, wise men and buffoons, and an assortment of more esoteric figures.  One character to be found in such tales is the giant, and it is giants that this blog will highlight – and celebrate.

My aim for this blog is to share folklore about giants from around the world, and I propose to start with a tale drawn from the diverse Jewish tradition, not least because Jewish storytelling is something I cherish.

This story comes from Iraqi Kurdistan.  It’s possibly that many reading this will know nothing of Kurdish culture, especially its Jewish component.  Like the Jews (until very recently), the Kurds have long been a disempowered people.  They now enjoy some autonomy in northern Iraq, but not full independence.

I have drawn the tale from ‘Elijah’s Violin and Other Jewish Folktales’ by Howard Schwartz (Harper & Row, New York, 1983).  It is called ‘The Princess on the Glass Mountain’, and recounts how Sumeitra, a beautiful princess (is there any other kind in most folk tales?), is turned into a bird by a wicked witch, causing her parents to grieve for her as a lost child.  One day, a young man called Surash, who inherited his father’s magical hat that enables him to understand the language of birds, discovers that the creature who lives and sings near the palace is the missing princess.

Surash embarks on a quest to save Sumeitra, and manages to kill the witch in her cottage.  Yet the princess is not entirely free of the witch’s magic, and although she is turned back into a human, she is imprisoned in a palace atop a glass mountain.

Surash begins a journey to liberate her.  To aid him, he obtains a magic basket – one that always fills up with food.  It is at this point that we encounter the giant of this tale.  Surash knocks on the door of the giant’s house in the hope of shelter, only to find that his host has not eaten for three days, and so has Surash in his sights for his supper.

Happily, Surash is able to offer the magic basket, and this satisfies the giant.  Surash is canny enough to extract the giant’s help in return.  As the journey is long, across the desert, the giant’s enormous strides help Surash reach the glass mountain in no time at all.

Surash rescues the trapped princess, and, naturally, the two unite in marriage.  The giant has only enjoyed a walk-on part in this tale, but he does at least appear at the end.  First of all, he is a guest at the royal wedding, and no doubt eats far more than any other invitees.  More significantly, perhaps, is the fact that he sets up home near the palace, and uses his mighty strength to protect the kingdom.

In this story, the giant is transformed.  He appears, initially, as a fearsome presence who could eat the hero.  Placated by the magic basket, he joins forces with the soon to be prince, and plays a role not only in the princess’s rescue, but also in securing the peace as part of the happy ending.

Giants are remarkable creatures.