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Quick disclaimer. There's a little bit of sad dog stuff this week. It's a little bit hyperviolent, and I learned a long time ago that people have a real issue with dog stuff. So if you'd like more info on that, please see the post on mythpodcast.com linked in the show Notes for more info this week on Myths and Legends. It's the story of Oisin from Irish folklore, and we'll see that evil wizards are evil and that there are no wingmen like your dog cousins who will literally hunt down the love of your life. The creature this time is that little naked man who will eat your brain. This is Myths and Legends, episode 424 out of time. This is a podcast where we tell stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly popular tales you might think you know, but with surprising origins. And they others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth a listen. Today we're back in Irish folklore and we're telling the story of Oisune. It's part of the legends of Fion MacCool. We told the origin story of Fionn a long time ago in episodes 95A and B, but Fion M' Cool is a legendary Irish warrior whose stories take place in the third century. Fion, now an adult, leads the Fianna, a band of heroes, as they travel the land fighting and feasting and repelling invaders. We'll jump in. Not in the time of heroes and monsters, though, but 300 years later with two old men sitting in a monastery. Thrilling entry point. I know. Two old men sat by the fire in the monastery in what was otherwise a cold and drafty room. One was the leader of the monastery and several others, a man of some fame, the future saint named Patrick. The other had a story to tell. He said he knew of the old days and the old ways. Some of the people said troubling things about this old man that sat across from Patrick. He needed to see if there was any truth to his words. I knew Fion McCool, the old man said, feeding the fire in the damp stone room. Patrick felt the growing blaze warm his skin. Patrick said that there weren't too many people that knew the legends of Fionn McCool. But also that's impossible. Fion McCool, if he lived at all, died nearly 300 years ago. If he lived at all. Now who's speaking lies? The old man laughed. No, he shouldn't call the man a liar. He was only speaking to what he thought he knew. It was merely ignorance. Patrick pursed his lips and rose, but before dusting himself off, the old man waved. Sorry, sorry. He should hear what the old man had to say. His tale, that's all we leave behind, isn't it? Our stories told by the people who knew us. Soon I'll be gone too long with my time. You're the future, he said to the man with no small amount of distaste. There was something about this old man, a pull, something Patrick could feel still existed in the world, but that faded. Patrick sat down and the old man began the story of Fionn Makul and his son. Fionmakool looked at the hunting dogs licking the doe. A deer. A female deer. Um, fion said and then cleared his throat. Uh, hey. His two dogs looked to him. Well, it's a bit misleading to call Bronn and Xiiling his dogs. They were dogs that hung out with him and liked to hunt with him but not hunt for him because they were actually his cousins. Their mother, Fion's aunt, long ago had been traveling and a queen, annoyed by the young woman's beauty, turned her into a dog. The issue she was pregnant with twins, so as she retained her intellect still so did her puppies and sons, Bronn and Xiuling. The mother was adopted by Fion's family before she gave birth, and while the curse on the boys couldn't be lifted, they didn't seem to mind for any other dogs to lay down on the soft grass with the quarry the deer and lick her neck and face would be weird with these two. It was saying something about this deer. It was also a little weird though. Alright, I don't know what's going on here and I really don't want to, fion said. But it was gross. The deer was really sticky with dog spit and deer have lice to let just go. Hi, strange deer. We're not going to hunt you. You can go home now, whatever that looks like for a deer. But as the dogs listened to their cousin and joined him for the walk back to their fort, the the deer stood there and then trotted after them. She still following us? Fion asked. Bronn looked back. Don't look. Right after I ask you something, she'll know we were talking about her. Fion barked, the dog snorted and scurried up ahead. They were almost to their fort and Fion said it hi dear. Yes, it really wasn't safe. Sorry. He had been out hunting with his group of famous warriors and and either they were inside the fort or very close and they would not stop until she was dead. But the deer kept following, annoyed that he had to knock a warning arrow. Fion spun around to see her. Not the deer. Well, absolutely the deer, but in her true form, the one she had been born with before she was cursed. Hi, fion said. Hi. The woman smiled and she and Fion started making out. So it turns out she didn't want to marry a wizard and so she was turned into a deer, fion said to his dog cousin. Three months later Also, sorry I've been occupied for the last few months. I actually really can't hang out long. I just came out to hydrate. Hey, have you seen the guy who has been bringing us our meals? The dog exhaled hard and tossed his head back over his shoulder to one of his warriors, a member of the Fianna. I kept your servants, the man declared. You've been too long. You've been going to neither the fight nor the chase, and you're lost to all your former amusements. So deep in love are you with this princess Saav? Her name is Saav, and I forgot real quickly. What's my name? Fionna asked. The warrior said, fion Makul and this elite fighting force, what's it called? The Fiona? All the answer I needed, the man admitted. All the answer I needed, fion said before turning back to the room where his wife slumbered. The Scandinavians, The Northmen. They've landed at Howth, which is a village on a peninsula east of Dublin. I know, Fion groaned. Could they just, like, I dunno, maybe let the Northmen have this one? What could be the danger of just, like, letting them settle a little bit here and there? You want to go ask the British how that movie ends? Be my guest. The warrior pointed over his shoulder. Fion groaned. Alright, he would go repel invaders from the north from Dublin. But he wasn't going to like it. Honestly, as far as campaigns go, not that bad. Fion said things went well against the Scandinavians, in that it went very badly for the Scandinavians. But now. Now it was husbanding time. Fion looked to the field. There had to be a better way to say that, while still remaining family friendly. But his musings were broken by the wailing. Aw, hey, whoa. What's up? Fion said to the farmer couple that broke into tears upon his approach. It's okay, we won. Those guys won't trouble us for, I don't know, three weeks? It's the Viking age and they always seem to be popping up somewhere. Those sneaky yelly, muscly guys. Fion wasn't one for consoling, obviously, but that might have just been because the Vikings weren't the problem. We tried. We tried everything we could. We all joined in a force. But he looked just like you, the farmer said, and they were gone in an instant. The smile dropped from Fion's face and he galloped for his fort. There he learned what he feared most. He had returned weeks ago, singing a song that he was famous for, flanked by two dogs that looked like his cousins. He fooled everyone, even Saav, who came out, her face alight with joy, until she got close. She had been running for his arms, but she stopped mere feet away. It wasn't Vyon. It was him, the wizard, the one who had demanded more of her than she wanted to give, and when she had refused, turned her into a doe. The wizard was close enough to tap her with his hazel wand, and where she stood, a doe took her place. The deer tried to return to the fortress, but a large otherworldly hand appeared behind her, wrenching her by the neck and throwing her away. As the guards armed themselves and got to their horses and the people picked up whatever cudgel they could use as a weapon, the wizard dragged the doe. Well, seven wizards dragged seven does, the guards splitting up to chase each one, each one turning to smoke miles away, the real ones having slipped away in a different form entirely. She's gone, Fion, his friend explained. Fion buried his face in his hands. 14 years. If the warriors thought him taking a few months for a honeymoon was bad, he took 14 years to mourn her. 14 years without a word. He would still ride out before them in battle, but upon his victorious return he would either go back to his quarters or strike out on another hunt with the hounds that could be trusted not to harm her. At the end of the 14 year period, Fion could see the truth. She wasn't coming back. Despairing for her and hoping she wasn't in the thrall of an evil wizard, Fion allowed some normalcy to return to his life. He began taking a meal here or there, down with the men, and let a few of his more trusted warriors join him on his hunts, which he did with a more appropriate frequency than ever, every waking moment. It was on one of those hunts that he heard a familiar whine, his dog cousins galloping off and outpacing both men and the dogs. He arrived at a clearing and saw them licking not a deer. It was a young man, a naked young man whose wild hair covered him from head to foot. More dogs arrived and surrounded the young man, but he didn't flinch. He met eyes with Fion and Fion saw her, or some version of her with a whistle. He silenced the dogs and getting down from his horse, addressed the young man. How old are you? The kid didn't know, but he didn't look like he could be much older than 14. Fion took him back to camp and clothed them. And after devouring lunch, the kid told the man life as he knew it. Up until a few weeks ago, he had lived in well, like a basin, a flat area, a grove surrounded completely by cliffs so he couldn't escape. His earliest memory was of that place. He didn't know who left him there, but he was grateful for the deer. He had Fion's attention, and the man listened with an intensity he reserved only for life and death conflicts. As the kid continued, a doe raised him and provided for him from his earliest years. She gathered food and they appeared to be the only two beings in the basin. Well, most of the time. Sometimes a man came. He had a sinister face, and the deer hid from him and he would spend a day hunting her. The boy too ran, and he never heard what was said. But the man always went away in great anger. That is, until a few days ago. That time he arrived with purpose. One moment they were alone, the next he was there. She couldn't run. He touched her with his wand and she obeyed, but not without fighting. The boy screamed after the deer that had taken care of him his whole life and picked up one of the stools he had made to attack the man, raising it above his head and bringing it down on the stranger. The wizard merely held his wand aloft and met the wooden stool in midair. It and the boy froze in an instant and stopped cold. The boy dropped to the ground, and out of the corner of his eye, because his eye was all that could move, he saw the deer being dragged away. When the man and the deer were far enough beyond his sight and his hearing of the deer's shrieks, the basin, the place he had spent his whole life, simply disappeared. He was lying out in an open field. He remained that way until the dogs woke him this morning. And miraculously, he found that he could move again. Fionn Makul rested his hand on the boy's shoulder, saying that the boy didn't need to worry. He may have lost a home today, and a friend, but he had gained one as well. For as long as the boy cared to remain, he could join the fianna. You shall be called Oisin, fion declared. It meant young deer. He didn't say it, but Fion knew knew that he had just met his own son. No, I'm not gonna ask him that, finn whispered surreptitiously to the dog at his side while Oisin rose to grab a drink. The dog barked. I don't know why. He was born to a deer and came out human and you were born to a dog and came on a dog. And I guarantee you he doesn't know either. I thought you liked being a dog, fion whispered. The dog barked and whined. Well, that sounds like something you need to work out. Fion shook his head. Sorry, were you saying something Oisin said upon his return. Nope. Definitely not talking to your great cousin who's a dog. Fion grinned. What? Oishin asked. What indeed. Let's go get you a sword or something. Fion rose and took his son to go get a sword or something. We'll see how the deer boy gets along in his new home. But that will be right after this this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. December is a lot of things, and like, none of them are calm. Maybe you're getting together with family, which can carry its stresses. Maybe you're not getting together with family, which can carry its own feelings. Maybe you do the same things, or maybe this year is completely different for good or bad reasons. You can do so much for others that it's important to remember to take care of yourself. 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Like, how changed was he at the end of that story? Yeah, he's nice and he's helping out Tiny Tim and he's less of a miser. But you know what he wouldn't do? He still wouldn't pay too much for wireless. You know, if they had cell phones and electricity. I think maybe the only thing good and bad Scrooge could agree on is that Mint Mobile is awesome. But really, right now, all of Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are 50% off. You can get three, six or 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for 15 bucks a month. That's a whole year for 15 bucks a month. When we signed up, it was so easy. We got a digital sim and we were ready to go. Mint Mobile makes it effortless to give your expensive wireless bill the Scrooge treatment. And Mint Mobile has everything. High speed data, unlimited talk and text on the nation's largest 5G network. You can bring your current phone and number over. But what's even better is what they don't have, they don't have. Because it's no contracts and no nonsense. Don't be haunted by your wireless bill. Turn your expensive wireless present into a huge wireless savings future by switching to Mint Shop. Mint unlimited plans@mintmobile.com legends that's mintmobile.com legends Limited time offer upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan required. $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra initial plan term greater than 35 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required availability, speed and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com. Fion did tell him the truth about his mother in bits and pieces. To do it all right then, on the day that it happened, that would have been too much. And Oshun was a quick study learning to ride and track. And he left with his dad and great cousins on long hunts for his mom. But no matter how hard they looked, they never saw Sav again. Oishin became the best of the Fianna, his father's warrior band. And while there was never any real danger of his legend eclipsing his father's, his tale and words of his deeds grew nearly as tall in stature, even as Oisin grew taller than the man, Thiun was proud. When they had a moment, they hunted. They knew nearly 20 years after Fion had seen her and six years after Oishin had. There was no real hope. On some level, it turned into an opportunity. For father and son to spend time together apart from the duties that pulled Fion in countless directions. The more Oisin thought about it, the more he hunted deer and heard their cries toward the end, the more he believed his mother had died that day, the day he had been freed. It was a testament to how tragic the situation was that this was the best hope either of the men had. One day on an unsuccessful hunt for both Saav and anything else, father and son sat on a hill overlooking Loch Lyne. Then they saw something, someone, emerge on the water over by the sea. A woman with curled hair, wearing a white gown stepped down from the horse she had ridden. Oisin looked to his father in anticipation, but after squinting at the stranger by the lake, Fion shook his head sadly. Fionn McCool. Stay here, Fion said. She was clearly not from around here. Oisin's mother had been from the otherworld. So had her kidnapper, a servant of the fairy queen. They were a strange and dangerous people. Oisin watched his father descend the hill surreptitiously, tucking a dagger in his belt at his back. Oshin watched for about 20 seconds, then followed. I'm not here for you, he heard the woman say. What do you mean? Everyone's here for me. Fion laughed. You are a little old for me. The woman smiled politely. Oischin crouched behind a bush as he heard his father explain that. Well, based on the social customs of the time and his standing in society, this type of match was more than I'm not in love with you. The strange woman cut him off. He thought about it. That's okay. He wasn't expecting that. But maybe in time she could. Let me be clear, she said. I'm in love with your son. Which son? Fion asked. He did have more than one son, but I bet you can guess who the strange woman was in love with. And so did Oisin, who emerged from the bushes the moment she said his name. And in that moment he loved her, too. She was radiant and glorious, and he was instantly entranced the way her face lit up with a smile when she laid eyes on him. She said she was from Tirnan Og, the land of youth. Her father wanted her to marry, and the only man she wanted was him. How? Fion asked, and she explained, though not as an answer to him, word of o' Sheehan's deeds had traveled all the way to her land, and she pressed every traveler for every bit of news on him. He was brave, he was kind, he was handsome, she told her father. She would marry no other man on Earth. Ocean. Fion called out as Oshean stepped forward toward the stranger. For all they knew, each word was a spell cast on him. The woman turned back to Fiona. She said she knew about Feodoric, the wizard who took Saav. She also knew about Sav, and she could only imagine how happy they had been together, even if only for a short time, assuring the great warrior that she loved his son nearly as much. Would he deny them that same happiness? Fion relaxed. He had no reason to believe this woman, this fairy, this thing meant well. But he did see the look on his son's face. His son who was now a man. And what was being a parent if not preparing our children for a world without us? And each word was a spell, but it was one that was both entirely mundane and the most magical thing Oishin had ever felt. It was love. She stepped away and mounted her horse again and turned, extending a hand to Oisin. O Oshian stepped forward, but then he looked back. Before him was this beautiful fairy woman, offering to take them to the Land of Youth. Behind him was his father and his people before hope, behind pain. Still he lingered. What are you standing there for? Fion smiled at his son as his cousins waddled forward for some last minute goodbye, pets. I met a woman like her, and even with everything that happened, even with all the pain and tragedy, I never regretted it for a moment. Go. Oshian flew to his father and hugged the man, who tousled his hair and gave him a shove. Let me know when the wedding is okay, Fueng yelled out through a grin, looking off to hide his tears. Hoshin mounted the horse behind this beautiful fairy woman, Neva the Golden Hair, one of the daughters of Mananah Maglier, and after a brief glance to his father sitting next to his dog cousins, tears snaking down the man's face, he looked forward to her and the life that awaited them both. They rode west on the waves until out of sight of Ireland and everything else, the sea parted before them and pillars rose to their sides as they rode down into the strange land. Somewhere between Ars and the otherworld, o' Sheehan saw grand palaces and cities and castles. Sunlight somehow shined above them and there under the water, yet in another world entirely, the rolling hills stretched on for miles and to kind of undercut our grand journey, not quite to Tir Nanog, but not, not there. There is a bit of an awkwardness because humans, even in abundance, can still find ways to be terrible to each other A local king was pestering a queen, laying siege to her lands until she consented to marry him. But the king should probably look up the word consented. He didn't get the chance, though, because Oisin, maybe wanting to impress his new betrothed, maybe wanting to see how tough the guys in the Land of Youth were, cut the guy's head off in a duel. To the king's credit, the battle was three days long, and Oshien nearly died. No small feat in the Land of Youth. At the end of it, he was lauded as an even greater hero than he was celebrated to be. When he healed, they traveled deeper, all the way down into what was truly the Land of Youth, where every tree was in bloom or laden with fruit, and on either side beautiful knights and maidens waved and called out his name in celebration. Oishean gripped the waist of knave as the horse galloped, taking him to his new home, Tir nan Og. The Land of Youth. We know the story. Or they do. Patrick, back in the monastery, gestured down, referring to the monks. The old man in the room took a drink from his water skin and smiled. Did they now? Yes, for as the old stories go, ocean went off and traveled beyond the sea, or into the sea. He still lives down there. And what do you believe? The old man asked. I honestly. Patrick sighed. It's nonsense. It's all a fairy story. What if I told you there was more to the story? The old man asked. But before the future saint could reply, he continued his tale. Ocean had a hundred swords, though no reason to use them. Now he was in the Land of Youth, where honey and milk was abundant as the fruit that fell from the trees, and he was welcomed like a king. The King of the Sea greeted him with a firm clasp of his arm and an embrace, and he was shown his dowry. A hundred cows, a hundred sheep with golden fleece, a hundred a hundred steeds, cloaks, hounds and coats of mail. And a hundred maidens, young and fair, to wait on him for the rest of his days. The greatest gift of all, though, was time. Life. The Land of Youth wasn't just a metaphor or a name. While you were there, time stopped and youth returned, even to the oldest of bones. O' Shean wasn't old, but in this land he didn't grow weary. He wasn't even hungry, though he could still enjoy food and drink. And he did. His wedding ceremony to nave lasted 10 days, and the whole land celebrated with the couple. So how does this work? Oisin asked. Three years later, he noticed that his children, both of them, while they were both growing older. Yeah, it's the land of youth, not the land of babies, neeve said as the nurse holding their girl named Flower of Women, walked with her son Oscar, gripping her finger. Somehow. It had been three years in this glorious land, which felt impossibly long to have been away from home. His old home, Ireland, and yet no time at all. Oscar had been born nearly a year after he arrived, and Flower of Women, apparently pronounced Plore nument, arrived soon after. Day and night seemed different here. There was no want, no exhaustion or fear. It was perfect. Yet you're thinking about him again. Neeve noticed that faraway look on her husband's face. He had long since given up denying it. In the past few weeks, he had been thinking of his father, how the man would love, after everything they had been through, to hold his grandchildren. Absolutely not, neeve had said. And he agreed. The crossing was too dangerous for the children, but at least he could know of them, hope to see them again. Niamh said that Fion did put himself in needless danger to gain renown. Oisin laughed. That? Well, it was the Middle Ages, babe. Needless danger was kind of the default. But he understood her worry. She lived here in this beautiful land where everyone lived by elf rules from the Lord of the Rings. They couldn't die by old age. He had survived and thrived in medieval Ireland. He fought so many Vikings. He would be fine. Besides, he could take the horse they rode on the trip here. It was fast and strong. She Neeve looked to the ground. She had a hard time communicating this, but Ireland might not be as he remembered it. He said it was fine. He could handle anything. He took her into his arms. This was the side of him that she loved, right? The confident, powerful side, the one that drew her from the land of youth to find him in Ireland. She smiled. Okay, he could go. Then she paused, like there was something she was going to say, but held off. Instead, she said, okay. I mean this, and I'm serious. You are from there. But you've been here for a while now. You need to be careful when you go back. When have I ever not been careful? Oisin smiled. You literally just talked about how you had fights to the death with Vikings, neeve pointed out. Well, okay, yeah, those. Those were pretty dangerous, oisin admitted, and went to go get the horse read. We'll see what Oisan finds back in Ireland. But that will once again be right after this. So this time of year for me, sleep is absolutely the first thing to go with our schedule. We have to get ready for a break. Sorry everyone else to have a break and time off school. We still have episodes coming out. 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