Finn and his hunting dogs Bran and Skolawn were chasing a deer. When they caught up to it, the dogs were playfully licking the deer's face. Finn realized the deer was actually a woman named Saba who had been cursed to take the form of a deer. She told Finn if she made it to his dwelling, the curse would be lifted. Saba and Finn fell in love and married. However, one day a sorcerer disguised as Finn turned Saba back into a deer. For seven years Finn searched for Saba but could not find her. He eventually found a naked boy in the forest who told them he had been raised by a loving deer, possibly Saba, until the same

1. Legend of the Golden Hind
One day when Finn and his friends returned with their dogs from a
hunt on Mount Allen, a deer crossed their path and everyone ran
after it. Soon the pursuers were left behind, except for Finn and his
two dogs, Bran and Skolawn. These dogs had a very peculiar origin
since they were children of Tyren, Finn’s aunt, who was transformed
into a dog by a spell. They were the best dogs throughout Ireland
and Finn loved them very much.
When the hunt was heading toward the valley, the deer stopped, lay
down, and Finn saw that his dogs were playing with the deer, licking
its face. Finn ordered that no one hurt the deer, and it followed
behind them on the way back. That same night, Finn woke up and saw
beside the bed the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his
whole life. Who said: I am Saba, oh Finn, I am the deer that you
hunted today. Because I refused to give my love to the Druid of
Fairyland, he turned me into what you see now, and I’ve been like this
for 3 years. But one of his slaves, taking pity on me, told me that if I
could arrive to your dwelling of Allen, O Finn, I would return to my
original form. I feared being crushed by your dogs, or injured by
your hunters, and for this I only reached out to you, and Bran and
Skolawn, who have the nature of man and would not hurt me.
That’s how Saba lived with Finn, and he made her his wife; so deep
was the love they had, that for months they were not separated. One
day, news came that warships from the north were in Dublin Bay, so
he called all his men and told his wife, “The men of Erin give us taxes
and hospitality to defend from the invaders, and it would be a shame
to accept the payments without doing what is asked of us.” For seven
days, Finn was absent until the Scandinavians departed from the
shores of Erin. On the eighth day he returned, but he saw the
concern in the eyes of men and women, Saba was not on the wall
waiting for his return. At the request of Finn, they told him what
happened. Saba waited anxiously his return, and one day Finn
appeared with his two dogs, and even the hunting call notes were
heard in the wind. Saba ran towards the gate to greet her beloved,

2. but a false Finn brandished a hazel wand and turned her into a
deer. His dogs began to pursue her, making her flee. The men took
all of the weapons they could find and went in search of the sorcerer,
but did not find anyone, nor Saba. Finn retired to him room and
locked himself away for a full day, then he continued to manage the
affairs of the Fianna like always, but for seven years he searched for
Saba by the ravines, forests and caves all around Ireland, with the
sole company of his faithful dogs, until he lost all hope and resigned.
One day while hunting in Ben Bulban, he heard the dogs growling
furiously, he and his men ran towards them and found that his dogs
tried to approach a child with long blond hair, which was naked at the
foot of a tree, while Bran and Skolawn kept their distance. The fians
separated the dogs, and took the child with them, when he learned to
speak he told them his story.
He had known neither father nor mother. He had always lived in a
valley enclosed by towering cliffs and had been cared for by a loving
doe. During the summer he fed on wild fruits and during the Winter
he endured with the provisions he saved in his cave. From time to
time, a man appeared with a dark look that spoke to the deer,
sometimes with tenderness and other times with threats, but the
deer always fled from him. One day the man came and spent a long
time with one deer until he touched it with a hazel wand and forced it
to follow him without looking back. The boy tried to go after them
but could not move his body, crying with rage and despair, he fell
down and lost consciousness. When he woke up he was on the
mountainside of Ben Bulban and he searched for days in the green
valley, until the dogs found him. Finn called him Oisin, small deer, and
he was known as a warrior and as a great composer of songs and
fables.