Art went to the old man, and told him of all that had happened.
“You were very foolish,” said the old man, “to do what you did. Why did you not keep the head and bring it to me? I would tell you what to do.” The old man cured Art’s wounds, and after supper he asked, “Will you fight the gruagach again?”
“I will.”
“Well, if you have the luck to knock the head off him a third time, never part with it till you come to me.”
Art went a third time to the gruagach, struck him with the flat of his sword, and knocked ferns out of his eyes.
“Oh, ho! Art, son of the King of Leinster, you are not satisfied yet, it seems. To-day will tell all. You’ll fall here.”
They went at each other with venom; and each sought the head of the other so fiercely that each hair on him would hold an iron apple. The gruagach had the upper hand till evening. Art thought of home then, of the young princess, and of the mean opinion that she had of him, and gave such a blow that the gruagach’s head vanished in the sky. The body went through the earth, and Art stood as before at the place where it sank till he saw the head coming; he seized it, cut two withes, passed them through the ears, threw the head over his shoulder, and went toward the old man’s cabin. He was within one mile of the house, when he saw, flying from the southeast, three ravens, and each bird seemed the size of a horse. At that time a terrible thirst came on him; he put the gruagach’s head on the ground, and stooped to drink from a spring near the wayside; that moment one of the ravens swept down and carried off the head.
“I am in a worse state now than ever,” said Art, lamenting.
He went to the cabin of the old man, who received him well, and cured him, and said, “You may go home now, since you did not keep the head when you had it; or you may go into a forest where there is a boar, and that boar is far stronger and fiercer than the gruagach: but if you can kill the boar, you will win yet, if you do what I tell you. When the boar is dead, open the body and hide in it. The three ravens will come after awhile to eat; you can catch one of them, and hold it till the others bring the head.”