Tradition / Region: Irish Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Dog
The Myth
Bran and Sceólang were the two great hounds of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, leader of the Fianna.
They were no ordinary dogs. Both were said to be mostly white, with striking colors marking their bodies — purple upon their flanks, a crimson tail, and blue feet. They were enormous, standing as high as Fionn’s shoulder, and were famed for their speed, loyalty, and intelligence.
Their birth was itself strange. Their mother, Uirne, sister to Fionn’s own mother, had been transformed into a dog while pregnant. In that form she gave birth to the twins. Afterward she was restored to her human shape, but the two children remained hounds. Because of this, Bran and Sceólang were not only companions to Fionn, but also his kin.
The two dogs accompanied Fionn throughout many of his adventures and hunts. Bran in particular was said to remain always at his master’s side. In later stories it was told that the two hounds grew up together and were inseparable.
They were the first to find Fionn’s son Oisín when the boy wandered alone in the wilderness, discovering him naked in the forest and bringing him back to the world of men.
Yet the end of the two hounds came in sorrow.
Sceólang died during a hunt in the place later called Thrush Glen. There she chased a strange doe that was half black and half white, pursuing it until she met her death.
Bran’s end came later. In a moment of anger or impulse, Fionn struck his beloved hound. Whether from grief, injury, or the breaking of their bond, Bran afterward chose to cast himself into the water and drown.
So the two great hounds of the Fianna passed from the world, remembered not only as hunting dogs, but as companions of heroes and creatures whose lives were bound by blood and fate to the family of Fionn himself.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Bran and Sceólang. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_and_Sce%C3%B3lang
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
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Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive