The Greatest Warrior of the Fianna
Oscar was the son of Oisín and the grandson of Fionn mac Cumhaill — the third generation of the Fianna’s greatest family, and by the tradition’s own reckoning its finest warrior. Where Fionn was the greatest leader and Oisín the greatest poet-warrior, Oscar was the greatest fighter.
His courage was beyond ordinary measure. He fought in every battle the Fianna fought and was the decisive force in all of them. The tradition does not complicate his heroism with guilt or irony — he was simply the best, and everyone knew it.
He died at the Battle of Gabhra. Cairbre Lifechair, the High King, had declared war on the Fianna, and the two forces met at Garristown in County Dublin. Oscar killed Cairbre in single combat. Cairbre’s spear killed Oscar in the same exchange. Both men died of wounds given and received at the same moment.
The Fianna did not survive Oscar. His death was their death as an institution. The heroic age ended with him.
Fionn mac Cumhaill wept at his death. Fionn almost never wept. The tradition marks it specifically — the man who had the wisdom of the Salmon, who had seen and survived everything, wept for his grandson. His wife Aideen died of grief after Gabhra. The warrior died in battle; the woman he loved died of loving him.
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