Page:Heroes of the dawn.djvu/23

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THE ANCIENT GODS
5

existed, for Manannan cast an enchanted mist over it which rendered it invisible. Sometimes Manannan would entice great kings and heroes to his isle, where death and sorrow were unknown, but after a time spent there, which seemed to the visitors no more than a day or two, they would return to their own people, only to find that their visit to the faery island of youth had extended over months, and sometimes years.

Two very magical things Manannan possessed: one was a boat called the Ocean-Sweeper, and whoever used that boat needed neither oar nor sail—they simply wished to be at the place they were bound for, and the Ocean-Sweeper glided swiftly over the sea, and were the waves high as mountains it was not hindered in its progress. The other was a milk-white horse, Enbarr of the Flowing Mane, which could travel over the sea-waves as quickly as it could on land, and never get wet; it could fly through the air, too, more swiftly than the strong wind blows in March. Sometimes, when one or other of the heroes had any great deeds to perform, Manannan would