No·dedlaistis finna for uisciu.

(they would cleave * hair * on * water)

They would split a hair on the water.

This image of very keen blades appears twice in descriptions of swords in “Togail Bruidne Da Derga”. Other versions of it are found in other tales: “contescfad finna i n-agid srotha” ( so that it would cut a hair against a stream of water) in the LL version of the “Táin”, and “no thescbad finna fri gaith” (it would cut a hair against the wind) in “Fled Bricrend” in LU. All the variants, including the modern “chomh géar is go ngearrfadh sé olann ar uisce” have been brought together by Cáit Ní Dhomhnaill in the article “A Simile for Sharpness” in ZCP 40.40-46.

Topics: Similes, Metaphors & Kennings