ight sea;
and Foltlebar was their pilot and steersman. And they set their sail and
plied their slender oars, and the ship moved swiftly westward till they
lost sight of the shores of Erin; and they saw nothing all round them
but a wide girdle of sea. After some days' sailing a great storm came
from the west, and the black waves rose up against them so that they had
much ado to keep their vessel from sinking. But through all the roaring
of the tempest, through the rain and blinding spray, Foltlebar never
stirred from the helm or changed his course, but still kept close on the
track of the Gilla Dacker.

At length the storm abated and the sea grew calm. And when the darkness
had cleared away they saw to the west, a little way off, a vast rocky
cliff towering over their heads to such a height that its head seemed
hidden among the clouds. It rose up sheer from the very water, and
looked at that distance as smooth as glass, so that at first sight
there seemed no way to reach the top.

Foltlebar, after examining to the four points of the sky, found the
track of the Gilla Dacker as far as the cliff, but no farther. And he
accordingly told the heroes that he thought it was on the top of that
rock the giant lived; and that, anyhow, the horse must have made his way
up the face of the cliff with their companions.

When the heroes heard this they were greatly cast down and puzzled what
to do; for they saw no way of reaching the top of the rock; and they
feared they should have to give up the quest and return without their
companions. And they sat down and looked up at the cliff with sorrow and
vexation in their hearts.

Fergus Finnvel, the poet, then challenged the hero Dermat O'Dyna to
climb the rock in pursuit of the Gilla Dacker, and he did so, and on
reaching the summit found himself in a beautiful fairy plain. He fared
across it and came to a great tree laden with fruit beside a well as
clear as crystal. Hard by, on the brink of the well, stood a tall pillar
stone, and on its top lay a golden-chased drinking horn. He filled the
horn from the well and drank, but had scarcely taken it from his lips
when he saw a fully armed wizard champion advancing to meet him with
looks and gestures of angry menace. The wizard upbraided him for
entering his territory without leave and for drinking out of his well
from his drinking horn, and thereupon challenged him to fight. For four
days long they fought, the wizard escaping from Dermat e