t they might get them whether or no. To this they all
agreed, and the Sons of Turenn were invited to come ashore, where they
were courteously and hospitably entertained in the King's palace. On
the morrow the pigs were given to them, and great was their gladness,
for never before had they won a treasure without toil and blood. And
they vowed that, if they should live, the name of Asal should be made
by them a great and shining name, for his compassion and generosity
which he had shown them. This, then, was the fifth quest of the Sons
of Turenn.

"And whither do ye voyage now?" said Asal to them.

"We go," said they, "to Iorroway for the hound's whelp which is
there."

"Take me with you, then," said Asal, "for the King of Iorroway is
husband to my daughter, and I may prevail upon him to grant you the
hound without combat."

So the King's ship was manned and provisioned, and the Sons of Turenn
laid up their treasures in the Boat of Mananan, and they all sailed
joyfully forth to the pleasant kingdom of Iorroway.

But here, too, they found all the coasts and harbours guarded, and
entrance was forbidden them. Then Asal declared who he was, and him
they allowed to land, and he journeyed to where his son-in-law, the
King of Iorroway, was. To him Asal related the whole story of the sons
of Turenn, and why they were come to that kingdom.

"Thou wert a fool," said the King of Iorroway, "to have come on such a
mission. There are no three heroes in the world to whom the Immortals
have granted such grace that they should get my hound either by favour
or by fight."

"That is not a good word," said Asal, "for the treasures they now
possess have made them yet stronger than they were, and these they won
in the teeth of kings as strong as thou." And much more he said to him
to persuade him to yield up the hound, but in vain. So Asal took his
way back to the haven where the Sons of Turenn lay, and told them his
tidings.

Then the Sons of Turenn seized the magic spear, and the pigskin, and
with a rush like that of three eagles descending from a high cliff
upon a lamb-fold they burst upon the guards of the King of Iorroway.
Fierce and fell was the combat that ensued, and many times the
brothers were driven apart, and all but overborne by the throng of
their foes. But at last Brian perceived where the King of Iorroway was
directing the fight, and he cut his way to him, and having smitten him
to the ground, he bound him and carried