Finn McCool (Fionn mac Cumhaill), legendary Gaelic Irish warrior
27th September 2006
Some Finn McCool folklore is too high-fantasy even for me (like the part about chucking a big piece of earth at an enemy, missing, and accidentally creating the Isle of Man when it landed in the Irish Sea).
However, other parts of the legend are pretty good. His battle with the Scottish Giant Fingal is a good story although one does wonder how a Giant disguises himself as a baby. Still, the part about building a crossing to get at Fingal. Though Finn McCool should have taken a break every once in a while so he wasn’t too tired for a real fight when he finished. I guess he forgot to call upon the salmon’s wisdom by sucking his thumb.
Finn McCool has been described several ways in various legends. His spear that never missed makes things too easy for good fiction, but his sword has a cool name:  Mac an Luin or Son of the Waves. The sword has also been called Birga and while I’m not crazy about the name, but the story this site shares has some interesting ideas like hounds that were really McCool’s cured nephews and a deer who was really a young woman cursed by a druid.
Finn McCool has inspried some stories in modern fantasy, such as in The Dark Druid, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. I was also able to find a collection of creative writing by Irish students. These students worked on creating new stories about Fionn mac Cumhail. I’m not sure if I’ll borrow from parts of the legend, but knowing it can’t hurt a fantasy fiction writer.