Ossian and Niamh of the Golden Hair

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According to Irish mythology, Ossian, also spelled Osin, was the son of Fionn mac Cumhail and of Sadb. He was honored in legend as Ireland's master poet. He was also portrayed as a warrior of the fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish myth. The scene pictured here by the English painter Bacon (1865/8-1914) shows Ossian riding off with a fairy woman named Níamh Chinn Óir, meaning Niamh of the Golden Hair or Head. She was a daughter of Manannán Mac Lir, a god of the sea, and had fallen in love with Ossian. She takes him away to Tir na nÓg, the land of the young (also referred to as Tir Tairngire, the land of promise).

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Size: 3480px × 5400px
Photo credit: © Ivy Close Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: bacon, chinn, cumhail, cycle, fenian, fianna, fionn, godlen, golden, hair, head, ireland, irish, jhf, legend, lir, literature, mac, manannan, myth, mythology, na, niamh, nog, oir, osin, ossian, ossianic, poetry, sadb, tairngire, tales, tir