A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Bran accompanies Fin in the coracle to the Kingdom of the Big Men. The enormous inhabitants regard Fin as a dwarf and the hound as a suitable lapdog. Their king carries each on a separate palm around the town and gives Fin a sleeping place by his own bed. The contrast is relational: the chapter does not make Bran a miniature dog everywhere or provide dimensions for his ordinary body.
When Fin undertakes the king’s nightly combat, Bran responds to his calls by striking the attacker’s breastbone with a venomous shoe. The blow removes heart and lungs, allowing Fin to take the head. He repeats this against the first monster’s father, initially whining and sitting on the beach before helping. A final giantess fights with a distaff-sized tooth as well as her hands, but Bran kills her in the same way. The dog’s equipment and three decisive interventions belong to this episode. His broader Fenian parentage, siblings and other exploits need separate witnesses and are not inferred from his name here.
Origins & earliest records
Jacobs cites J. G. Campbell’s The Fians, pp. 175–192, for the tale, while the directly inspected adaptation is the selected 1895 More Celtic Fairy Tales. The episode is situated in Scottish Gaelic Fenian transmission rather than treated as the sole description of Bran across traditions.
Records & interpretation
The palm-sized appearance relative to giants and the venomous shoe are explicitly narrated features. They attest a heroic supernatural hound in a collected story, not ordinary canine anatomy or a historical combat report. No zoological poison mechanism is proposed.
In the literature
“Bran had a venomous shoe”
How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men; p199; first combat
Bran accompanies Fin to a realm where they are treated as dwarf and lapdog. Against three successive monster relatives, Fin calls for assistance and Bran strikes with the narrated venomous shoe, enabling victories. The text does not identify this shoe as an anatomical claw.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
More Celtic Fairy Tales: How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men, pp. 194–203; note XLIII
Selected episode and relevant source note inspected. Earlier works named by Jacobs are attributed references, not falsely claimed as independently collated texts.
- 02
More Celtic Fairy Tales
Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, selected1895 Nutt/Putnam edition, PG34453. Complete How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men, pp194–204, and relevant noteXLIII independently read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
More Celtic Fairy Tales
Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, selected1895 Nutt/Putnam edition, PG34453. Complete How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men, pp194–204, and relevant noteXLIII independently read.
- Bran accompanies Fin to a realm where they are treated as dwarf and lapdog. Against three successive monster relatives, Fin calls for assistance and Bran strikes with the narrated venomous shoe, enabling victories. The text does not identify this shoe as an anatomical claw.
- The king repeatedly fears his visitors dead but finds Fin and Bran alive after each conflict. Bran first hesitates during the father’s fight before acting. Fin’s size does not prevent rescue, but the narration assigns the decisive disabling blows to Bran.
How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men, pp194–204; Shared survival and acknowledged aid
Narrated family, literal dialogue, deception and figurative comparisons distinguished. No song or ritual-formula excerpts.
Primary source witness
Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, selected1895 Nutt/Putnam edition, PG34453. Complete How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men, pp194–204, and relevant noteXLIII independently read.
- Jacobs credits J. G. Campbell’s The Fians, Waifs and StraysIV pp175–192. His suggestion that Swift might have remembered such a tale as an Irish child is speculative comparison, not evidence of an independently checked transmission chain.
XLIII. HOW FIN WENT TO THE KINGDOM OF THE BIG MEN, Source and comparison
No direct Campbell-page collation or Swift borrowing proof claimed.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textMore Celtic Fairy Tales, selected 1895 edition: How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men, pp. 194–203; note XLIIIResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
