Gilded Oars

In this small boat of bronzeI've set sail on a journey beyondTowards a long destined fateIn my mind still echo the songsMy mother Aoife used to singOf her life in angerThe quest for revengeOf Cuchulainn risingPrevailed in the endOf their bond of bloodThe birth of their sonNamed ConlaochOf the day the time had comeFor my father to departTo leave behind his blissful lifeAnd break my mother's heartThus on that day my father spoke:"This ring I give you for our childAs you raise him, train him wellScáthach will teach the feats,When he's old enough to wear my ring,He must go out to seek his kingYet, three geasa I will put on him:First,He should not give wayTo any hero from this planeSecond,He should never tell his nameThrough fear to any warrior in this worldThird,To any man, however strongHe should not refuse a fightFor the greatest warrior I want him to be,Even mightier and more fierce than me."And thus I was born and raisedLike my father once had imposedWith an iron hand I was trainedIn Scáthach's feats of warIn my mind still echo the songsMy mother Aoife used to singOf her life in angerThe quest for revengeOf Cuchulainn risingPrevailed in the endOf their bond of blood,The birth of their sonNamed ConlaochI am Conlaoch!Then when I was old enoughFor my thumb to fill the ringTears sprang from my mother's eyesAs I asked her one last time to singAnd wave me goodbyeAs I forever left the Isle of SkyeSo Erin, here I comeCuchulainn's only son,Rowing towards your sacred shoresIn this small boat of bronzeWith gilded oars