The earliest surviving accounts of Oisín's story were found in manuscripts from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, yet this cycle of tales endured for over a thousand years because the farmers living in the Scottish Highlands and Gaelic-speaking parts of Ireland passed them down orally. They sang these bardic poems while working in the fields or chopping firewood in the forests.
Their songs echoed through beautiful valleys and streams that refreshed the spirit, beside jutting rocks and tranquil lakes. They were filled with adventure, romance, and mysterious exploits, like the Midgard of The Lord of the Rings, yet somewhat different. They were not entirely invented. At the very least, King Cormac, son of Art, had truly existed, and scholars of ancient Ireland believed that the stories of Finn and the Fianna were largely historical fact.
But whether Finn, captain to King Art, had truly existed, and whether there had been a real person behind him, was difficult to determine. Oisín was both the name of a poet and a character in the tales. He was the son of Finn, captain to King Art, who possessed half the blood of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Ancient Ireland had no foreign invaders, but this fairy-tale world possessed beautiful or terrifying supernatural powers, and these were the Fianna's main enemies.
In the time of Finn's father, Cumhal, Clan Morna had once fought the Tuatha Dé Danann for leadership of the Fianna. Among Clan Morna was a treasurer named Lia, who held the Fianna's treasure chest. It contained magical weapons passed down from the age of the Tuatha Dé Danann, as well as jewels of immense value. He thus gained the support of some of the Fianna, leading to Cumhal's death at the Battle of Knock, near what was now Dublin. After Cumhal died, Finn's