THE SONG OF CARROLL'S SWORD (a.d. 909)
Hail, sword of Carroll! Oft hast thou been in the great woof of war,
Oft giving battle, beheading high princes.
Oft hast thou gone a-raiding in the hands of kings of great judgments,
Oft hast thou divided the spoil with a good king worthy of thee.
Oft where men of Leinster were hast thou been in a white hand,
Oft hast thou been among kings, oft among great bands.
Many were the kings that wielded thee in fight,
Many a shield hast thou cleft in battle, many a head and chest, many a fair skin.
Forty years without sorrow Enna of the noble hosts had thee,
Never wast thou in a strait, but in the hands of a very fierce king.
Enna gave thee—'twas no niggardly gift—to his own son, to Dunling,
For thirty years in his possession, at last thou broughtest ruin to him.
Many a king upon a noble steed possessed thee unto Dermot the kingly, the fierce:
Sixteen years was the time Dermot had thee.
At the feast of Allen Dermot the hardy-born bestowed thee,
Dermot, the noble king, gave thee to the man of Mairg, to Murigan.