Join us at the campfire for tales from around the world, told by storytellers of all backgrounds and creeds. From the heros and heroines of old, let us relearn and rediscover the wisdom of our ancestors. Shhh..the story begins..

NOTE: The tale of Mael Duin is the earliest known Celtic travel myth. It formed the basis of many others, including "The Voyage of St. Brendan," one of the most popular stories of medieval Europe.

Mael Duin was the son of a nun and a famous warrior named Ailill Edge-of-Battle. Before the birth of Mael Duin, Ailill was killed in combat and when Mael Duin grew to manhood, he vowed to avenge the death of his father. A druid told him that the land where the killers lived could be reached only by sea, and that Mael Duin must take with him no more than seventeen men; however, as Mael Duin set sail, his three foster brothers jumped into the waves lapping around the boat and begged to be allowed to accompany him. To save them from a watery grave, Mael Duin pulled them from the water and dragged them on board.

After one day and half a night of constant rowing, the company came to two small islands...the home of those who had slaughtered Ailill. Mael Duin made ready to land, but a sudden tempest blew the boat far out to sea. "This is all your fault," Mael Duin berated his foster brothers. "Because of your actions, I have been forced to disobey the druid's instructions!"

The storm continued and, eventually, Mael Duin and his band strayed among the magic islands of the Otherworld. One was inhabited by giant ants; another by giant horses, and a third by a beast that alternately revolved within its skin or had the skin revolve around its body. From the high cliffs of one island, Mael Duin seized a twig that bore three magic apples, each of which fed the entire crew for forty days. On yet another, they gathered fruit in orchards tended by red, fiery pigs whose underground sites provided heat for the whole island. When all the fruit had gone, they found another island on which stood a white tower with rooms full of food and treasures being well-guarded by a cat. Beneath its watchful gaze, they ate their fill, but as they were leaving, one of Mael Duin's foster brothers snatched a necklace from the wall. At once, the cat leapt right through him, reducing his body to cinders.

On the next island, there lived two flocks of sheep...one white and one black. They were divided by a wall and watched over by a giant who would occasionally pick up a sheep and put it on the other side of the wall, whereupon it would change color. After this, came an island full of people with dusky skins who were weeping piteously. When the second of Mael Duin's foster brothers landed on this island, his skin too darkened and he began to weep. Despite all efforts to rescue him, the crew was obliged to leave him there and continue without him.

Now with just one excess passenger aboard, Mael Duin sailed on. They encountered a bronze-doored fortress, accessible only by a glass bridge; an island which had started as a sod of Irish soil, but which each year grew a foot in breadth and sprouted a new tree; the Isle of Prophecy, whose inhabitants shouted, "It is they!" and pelted them with nuts; a gigantic silver column, from the top of which a giant trawled a silver net; and, finally, the Isle of Women, where Mael Duin and his men found wives and were promised eternal youth. Mael Duin married the queen of this island.

After three months, the crew grew homesick and demanded to leave. As they sailed away, the queen threw Mael Duin a length of twine which stuck to his hand and allowed her to draw them back. Three months later, they tried again, but the same thing happened. At the third attempt, realizing that their leader secretly desired to stay, a crewman severed Mael Duin's hand as he caught the rope and the ship finally made its escape.

Onward they voyaged, past more strange islands, until they came to the Isle of the Laughing Folk, where everyone lived in perpetual joy. The men drew lots to determine who should be the first to land. Mael Duin's third foster brother won. He set foot on the island and immediately began laughing and singing along with the rest of the inhabitants. He could not be persuaded to leave, so there he remained as the ship sailed away.

With no illicit crew members on board, Mael Duin could now return home. A falcon led him southeastward, back to Ireland, where the ship landed on the isle of Ailill's murderers. Mael Duin confronted the men he sought, but they greeted him like a hero after his long journey into the Otherworld. With no heart left for vengeance, Mael Duin pardoned his former enemies and proceeded to give an account of his most extraordinary adventures.