Books: Pagan Paladin

THE RETURN OF THE HERO—Darrell Figgis—Boni (50c). Famed among Ireland’s ancient heroes is Oisin (pronounced “Usheen”), son of Finn. Finn’s followers, the Fianna, were to Ireland what Arthur’s knights were to England, and like them ended in a disastrous battle. After the fight at Gabhra, Oisin was carried away to the land of eternal youth. Although he liked it there he was wishful to see again his beloved Ireland, find out the survivors of the Fianna. But he had been away 200 years. The pagan Ireland Oisin had known was gone. Padraic mac Alphurn (St. Patrick) and his bishops had Christianized everything in sight. Oisin and the new Ireland found each other incomprehensible. With St. Patrick alone he got along well, for they were both simple, both men of action. When it came to converting Oisin, however, even St. Patrick finally failed. When the old hero learned that Finn and the Fianna were in hell, in a great rage he set off to join them.

When The Return of the Hero was published in 1923 under the pseudonym “Michael Ireland,” curious readers wondered who the author was, decided it must be James Stephens (The Crock of Gold, Etched in Moonlight). Such flattery persuaded the late Darrell Figgis to reveal his identity. A Sinn Féiner, he used to run guns into Ireland from Germany for the Irish Volunteers, was arrested in 1916 following the Dublin insurrection, became a member of the Dáil Eireann (Irish Free State Parliament). The year after The Return of the Hero was published, his wife shot herself. One year later, Widower Figgis committed suicide. Other books: Children of the Earth, Songs of Acaill, Annals of the Irish Wars.

The Return of the Hero is the first of Boni’s Paper Books sold at the new cut-rate price of 50c (formerly $1).