Fianna

Fianna, Fian (sing.), Fiana, Féinn, Fiantaichean (ScG.), Fenians, Fena, Fingallians [pl. of fian, warrior band; a band of (six?) warriors on the warpath; cf. L venatio, hunting; not related to finn/fionn, fair or Féni, the early people]. When capitalized, this group of words refers to the band of warriors and hunters led by the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill; this body may also be known as the Fianna Éireann and, less often, the Leinster Fianna. Not capitalized, the words may denote any bands of roving men whose principal occupations were hunting and war, or troops of professional fighting men under a leader, the rígfhéinnid [fian-king]; the Brehon Laws indicate that bodies of non-subject, landless men, who were not foreigners, did exist. They stood apart from the rest of society and were charged to defend the sovereignty of Ireland against external enemies, both natural and supernatural. These enemies may include the Norse, whose depredations in the 8th and 9th centuries deeply affect Irish literature. The fianna's responsibility seems to pre-date the Norse, but does not extend to the 12th-century Normans.

Perceptions about the nature of an early Irish fianna have shifted widely since the beginning of Celtic studies in the mid-19th century. These range from being chivalrous benefactors, i.e. Gaelic equivalents of the Knights of the Round Table or of the samurai, to being parasitic marauders, like the warlords of pre-Maoist China. An antecedent body may be the Gaulish gaesatae from the Upper Rhone as described by the Greek historian Polybius (2nd cent. BC). Because they were not a part of the Celtic settlements they defended, Polybius glossed their name as ‘mercenaries’, but a more likely translation is ‘spearmen’; cf. OIr. gáe, ‘spear’; ScG gath; W gwayw. Irish chronicles indicate that the first fianna were approximately contemporary with the gaesatae, as when they protected the ard rí [high king] Fiachach. The influential theories of Georges Dumézil (1898–1986) perceive a high status for the fianna. Dumézil sought to explicate much of European mythology against a threefold structure of early Indo-European society. In Alwyn and Brinley Rees's cogent application of Dumézil, Celtic Heritage (London, 1961), the fianna occupy Function III.

Membership in a fianna was exclusive but not hereditary. Applicants underwent rigorous initiatory ordeals requiring exceptional prowess and dexterity. In one a novice would stand in a waist-deep hole armed only with a shield and a hazel stick while nine warriors cast their spears at him; to suffer a wound was to fail. In another his hair was braided after which he was pursued through the forest by the other warriors; if overtaken or wounded he failed. He would also be rejected if his weapons quivered in his hands, if his hair was disturbed by hanging branches, or if a dead branch cracked under his foot. He was also expected to make a running leap over a bough the height of his brow, to pass under one as low as his knee, and to be able to pull a thorn from his foot without slowing down. Additionally, he must be a prime poet versed in the twelve books of poesy.

Within the Fenian Cycle, Fionn mac Cumhaill's men were first known as the Leinster Fianna, part of the Clan Baíscne. Their rivals were the Connacht Fianna and the Clan Morna, led by Goll mac Morna. After many skirmishes, the rivals joined to form the Fianna Éireann with Fionn as chief; in much of Irish literature Fianna and Fianna Éireann are virtually synonymous, Although centred around the Hill of Allen in what is now Co. Kildare, the Fianna are described as wandering over all parts of Ireland and Gaelic Scotland. Among the leading members are Fionn's son Oisín and grandson Oscar and Fionn's love rival Diarmait ua Duibne. The great runner Caílte mac Rónáin survives with Oisín until Christian times to tell later generations of the greatness of the Fianna. Búanann was the ‘mother of the Fianna’. Fergus Fínbél was the most important poet, but it enjoyed several musicians, including Aicher, Cnú Deireóil, and Dáire (4). Borabu was the horn of the Fianna, and Dord Fian its war-chant.

A full membership list of the Fianna would fill pages, but some names appear more often than others. At least ten are named Ailill or Crimthann, several are Illann/Iollann, and dozens are named Fáelán. Important women include: Bébinn (2), the giantess; Creidne, a female champion; Erc (3); and Étan (3). Notable warriors are: Ailbe; Angus mac Airt; Cáel; Ciabhán; Coil Cróda; Conán mac Lia; Conán mac Morna, a Falstaffian comic figure; Conn (2); Dian (2); Diorruing, the faithful attendant; Fáelán mac Finn; Fáelchu; Faltlaba; Fatha; Febal; Ferdoman; Fiachna (5); Foltor; Fothad Canainne; Garaid; Labraid Lámderg [red hand]; Liagan, another swift runner; Mac Lughach, Fionn's lazy nephew, Maine (10). The celebrated judge Fíthel may have been a member.

Heroic and romantic portrayals of the Fianna began in Anglo-Irish and English literature as early as 1800, giving rise to the neologism Fenian. Nineteenth-century writers like Sir Samuel Ferguson, Standish James O'Grady, and especially Lady Gregory in her Gods and Fighting Men (London, 1904) did much to enhance the chivalric identity of the Fianna. The name appears frequently in modern Irish contexts, such as the nationalist boy scouts founded by Countess Markievicz and Fianna Fáil, one of the Republic of Ireland's principal political parties. See Eoin MacNeill, ‘Military Service in Medieval Ireland’, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 46 (1941), 6–15; Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Dublin, 1988). See also CEITHERN [Ir., fighting men].