The Salmon of Knowledge

This is what happened to young Finn at the house of Finegas the poet.

Finn did not think the time had come to claim the leadership of the Fianna until he had made himself wise and learned. So when he left the old men who had sheltered him in the wood, he went to study wisdom and poetry with Finegas, who lived beside the River Boyne, near where the village of Slane stands today.

In Rolleston’s telling, poets believe that poetry is revealed at the water’s edge. But Finegas had another reason for living there. An old prophecy said that whoever first ate of the Salmon of Knowledge that swam in the Boyne would become the wisest of all people. In ancient times this salmon was called Finntan. He was one of the Immortals, and he could be eaten and still live. In Finegas’s day he was called the Salmon of the Pool of Fec, after the place where the lovely river widens into a great still pool, with green banks sloping gently up from the clear brown water.

For seven years Finegas watched that pool, but the salmon was not caught until Finn had come to be his pupil. Then Finegas gave the fish to Finn to cook, and told him not to eat any of it.

When Finn came back carrying the cooked fish, Finegas knew at a glance that something had happened to the boy. He used to have the eyes of a young lad, and now he had the eyes of a wise man.

“Have you eaten any of the salmon?” asked Finegas.

“No,” said Finn. “But it burnt me while I was turning it on the spit, and I put my thumb in my mouth.”

Finegas struck his hands together and said nothing for a while. Then he spoke to the boy, who stood waiting obediently. “Take the salmon and eat it, Finn, son of Cumhal, for the prophecy has come true for you. Now go, for I can teach you nothing more. Blessing and victory be yours.”

About this telling

T. W. Rolleston tells this episode in The High Deeds of Finn and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland. In his preface he says these tales belong to the bardic literature of ancient Ireland, written with an artistic purpose by skilled poets, and that his own aim was artistic rather than scholarly: he kept the main outline of each story but retold it freshly, compressing some tales and reshaping others.

Rolleston explains within the tale itself that the poets of Ireland believed poetry was revealed beside water, and that the salmon, once called Finntan, was one of the Immortals.

This is a very short episode, and the retelling stays close to it, ending where Rolleston’s section ends, with Finegas sending Finn on his way.

Read the original: T. W. Rolleston, The High Deeds of Finn (Project Gutenberg #14749, Finn and Finegas)

Best for ages 9–12 — a short, famous Irish tale of how the young hero Finn gained his wisdom from a magic salmon.

The teacher’s second kind of wisdom

Finegas waits seven years for what Finn receives by accident. His silence leaves room for disappointment, but his next words offer food, recognition and a blessing. The magic gives Finn knowledge; Finegas’s response shows generosity that does not depend on winning the prize himself.

Read the pause

Write two thoughts Finegas might have during his silence, one resentful and one generous. Then use his actual final speech to decide which response he chooses. What would Finn learn from that response even without the salmon?

Questions to ask

• Why do you think the salmon’s wisdom went to Finn and not to Finegas, who had waited seven years?
• How did Finegas know something had happened to Finn before Finn said a word?
• Was Finegas kind or unkind when he found out? What would you have done in his place?

Related stories

• Cuchulain and the Hound of Culain — another tale of a young Irish hero’s beginnings
• The Voyage of Bran — another tale from ancient Irish tradition
• The Children of Lir — another of the great old tales of Ireland