I love old lore and found this info about a warrior sect in ancient ireland.
The warriors were known as the Fianna and were the days elite. From the tests below you can see why.
Interesting to see that they valued intelligence as much as martial skill.
Membership was subject to rigorous tests. In one such test the applicant
would stand in a waist-deep hole armed with a shield while nine
warriors threw spears at him; if he was wounded, he failed. In another
his hair would be braided, and he would be pursued through the forest;
he would fail if he was caught, if a branch cracked under his feet, or
if the braids in his hair were disturbed. He would have to be able to
leap over a branch the height of his forehead, pass under one as low as
his knee, and pull a thorn from his foot without slowing down. He also
needed to be a skilled poet.
Fire by hand drill
2 comments:
Yes, I'd hate to be afield without the ability to rhyme!
Extremely interesting topic!!!!! The nine hazels thrown at the warrior might be a Kenning suggesting a connection to the "nine hazels of fine mast" of poetry, i.e. the "nine materials of the tower of Babel" (Auraceipt na nÈces), hinting to a defence against poetic satire (glam dicinn, corr-guineach) in addition to the martial abilities.
It´s quite certainly a very, very different approach to warfare, even if not as romantic as it might seem at first glance. Thanks a lot!
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