Notes
vided he did full justice to the valour of the Ulster king who employed the pirate warriors. The Ulstermen, apart from Conor and his two servants, do not appear in fight until the conflict with Fiannamail, after all the Fomorians had been slain.
Page 46.—Bright hostage, Finnabar the fair.—Finnabar, the beautiful daughter of Maev, was offered in marriage to several warriors in succession during the Tain bo Cualgne, on condition that they would meet Cuchulainn in fight; and she may have been regarded as a hostage for the fidelity of these warriors. The literal translation is "Finnabar of the fair hostages"; and Windisch, in a note to this passage, says that he is unable to give any reason for this epithet. If Finnabar can be reckoned as a hostage herself, the above explanation is obvious; but I am not at all certain that the Irish na n-glangiall will bear this meaning, na n- being the genitive plural of the article.
Page 50.—On her silken braided hair.—The original is "Silken stripes upon her head"; the stripes may simply mean her hair, or may mean that, like the Roman deities, her hair was in fillets (vittæ) to show her divine origin. The verse translation gives both meanings.
Page 56.—Thirty fell by Fergus' side.— Of the eleven warriors mentioned here, Windisch, from grammatical
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