# Fergus Fionnliath — Irish Fairy Tales character guide

> Fergus Fionnliath in Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Fergus

**First appearance:** 0014-the-boyhood-of-fionn

## Snapshot

Fionn's poet, called True-Lips, whose measured testimony can silence a battlefield and whose word even his rivals trust.

## Who they are

When Fionn's people and clann-Morna fall into a bloody brawl, Fergus gathers the poets and chants the combatants into stillness. At Tara he is the one witness Goll will accept, sworn to do justice between the two sides, and his account of the slaughter carries the judgement. He embodies the poet's strange power in a warrior world: to stop swords with rhythm and to speak truth where kings and chiefs cannot.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/chapters/i)

A man who hates dogs, throws rocks at them, and lives near Galway harbour.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/chapters/ii)

The unfriendliest man to dogs, to whom Uct Dealv brings the transformed Tuiren.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/chapters/iii)

Reluctantly accepts the hound under compulsion from Fionn's supposed message.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/chapters/iv)

Fergus is the master who initially resents the task of curing the hound but eventually becomes deeply attached to it, calling it his 'One Treasure' and threatening severe punishment to anyone who harms it.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/chapters/v)

Suffers from blighted affection but recovers after receiving a pup from Fionn.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/characters/fergus_fionnliath
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/irish_fairy_tales_se/characters