batch.motif.celtic-irish-gods-and-fighting-men-gregory-gutenberg-l14136-l14161
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-gods-and-fighting-men-gregory-gutenberg-l14136-l14161
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
passage_locator:
label: 'CHAPTER II. DEATH OF GOLL / CHAPTER III. THE BATTLE OF GABHRA / BOOK TEN:
THE END OF THE FIANNA. / CHAPTER I. DEATH OF BRAN; lines 14136-14161'
start: '14136'
end: '14161'
translation: Gods and Fighting Men
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: While Finn is hunting, Bran pursues a fawn. Finn shelters the fawn by sending
it through his legs, then kills Bran by squeezing her with his knees. Finn grieves
deeply. The passage reports conflicting explanations that the fawn may have been
Finn's mother or, more likely, Oisin's mother, and adds that Bran and Sceolan
are still said to be seen at night on the hill of Almhuin.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Finn is hunting when Bran follows after a fawn.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The fawn speaks, saying that neither the sea below nor the air above would
save it from Bran.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Bran is described as swift enough to overtake wild geese.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Finn tells the fawn to pass through his legs.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: When Bran passes under Finn, Finn squeezes his knees on her and she dies immediately.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Finn grieves and cries after Bran's death, as he did when Osgar died.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Some people say the fawn was Finn's mother, but the narrator rejects this
as unlikely and names Muirne as Finn's mother.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The narrator says it is more likely that Oisin's mother was in the fawn.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Some say Bran and Sceolan are still seen at night starting out of a thicket
on the hill of Almhuin.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Finn
description: Hunter who protects the fawn and kills Bran, then grieves for Bran.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Bran
description: Finn's swift hound or dog, pursuing the fawn; killed by Finn; later
said to be seen at night with Sceolan.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the fawn
description: A speaking fawn pursued by Bran and sheltered by Finn; identified by
some as Finn's mother and by the narrator as more likely connected with Oisin's
mother.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Osgar
description: A prior dead figure whose death is used as the comparison for Finn's
grief.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Muirne
description: Named as Finn's mother, daughter of Tadg and descendant of Nuada of
the Tuatha de Danaan; the narrator says it was not heard that she was changed
into a fawn.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Oisin's mother
description: The narrator says it is more likely that Oisin's mother was in the
fawn.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Sceolan
description: Companion of Bran in the report that they are still seen at night on
Almhuin.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: hunter
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Finn is hunting at the start of the passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: protector and killer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Finn directs the fawn through his legs and kills Bran as Bran follows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: pursuer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Bran follows after and would overtake the fawn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: night apparition or continuing presence
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:7
basis: Some say Bran and Sceolan are still seen at night starting out of the thicket
on Almhuin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: fugitive
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The fawn flees Bran and seeks escape through sea, air, and Finn's legs.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: possible transformed or hidden mother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
basis: The passage reports explanations that a mother was in the fawn, while rejecting
the claim that this was Finn's mother.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: grief comparison figure
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Finn's tears for Bran are compared with those he cried when Osgar died.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:8
label: named mother of Finn
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage names Muirne as Finn's mother and says it was not heard that
she was changed into a fawn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: speaking fawn
literal_form: fawn
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: swift hound
literal_form: Bran as a hound pursuing the fawn
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: sea below
literal_form: sea
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: air above
literal_form: air
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:5
label: thicket on the hill of Almhuin
literal_form: thicket on a hill
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Bran pursues the speaking fawn
summary: During Finn's hunt, Bran pursues a fawn that speaks of the impossibility
of escaping Bran by sea or air.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Finn kills Bran to save the fawn
summary: Finn tells the fawn to go through his legs; Bran follows, and Finn kills
Bran by squeezing her with his knees.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Finn grieves for Bran
summary: Finn weeps for Bran with grief compared to his grief for Osgar.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Explanations of the fawn's identity
summary: 'The passage reports and evaluates claims that the fawn contained a mother
figure: not likely Finn''s mother Muirne, more likely Oisin''s mother.'
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Night sighting of Bran and Sceolan
summary: Some say Bran and Sceolan are still seen at night starting from a thicket
on Almhuin.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: animal pursuit of a speaking or transformed fawn
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: The fawn speaks while fleeing Bran, and the passage discusses whether a mother
figure was in or changed into the fawn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage itself rejects the idea that Finn's mother Muirne was changed
into a fawn, and gives only a cautious alternative involving Oisin's mother.
- id: motif:2
label: hero kills beloved hound to protect a fugitive animal
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Finn protects the fawn and kills Bran as Bran passes under him, then grieves
deeply for Bran.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives the action and grief clearly, but does not explicitly
frame it as ritual or sacrifice.
- id: motif:3
label: continuing night presence of dead or absent hounds
taxonomy_refs:
- return
basis: The passage says some still see Bran and Sceolan at night starting from the
thicket on Almhuin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not explicitly state that the sighting is a ghost, resurrection,
or afterlife return; it only reports the continuing sighting tradition.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 14136-14144
quote_or_summary: Finn is hunting; Bran follows a fawn, and the fawn says sea or
air will not save it from Bran, who is swift enough to overtake wild geese.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 14146-14149
quote_or_summary: Finn tells the fawn to go through his legs; Bran follows, and
Finn squeezes his knees on Bran so that she dies immediately.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 14151-14152
quote_or_summary: Finn feels great grief and cries tears as he did when Osgar died.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 14154-14159
quote_or_summary: Some say the fawn was Finn's mother and that Finn killed Bran
to save her; the narrator rejects this for Muirne and says it is more likely Oisin's
mother was involved.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 14161-14161
quote_or_summary: Some say Bran and Sceolan are still seen at night starting out
of the thicket on the hill of Almhuin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/gods-and-fighting-men-gregory.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal events are clear. Motif identification involving transformation and
return is cautious because the passage reports variant explanations and does not
explicitly define the sightings as ghostly.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No comparison claims added because the passage does not itself compare the events to another corpus or tradition.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-gods-and-fighting-men-gregory-gutenberg__l14136-l14161
passage_sha256=55e6d7a6b7dfa8cf7a01282aa02409021aa711349f99b4ebb17124c94e6d64e2