The two wise women of Bloom had looked after the boy Fionn since he was a baby. They had never told him who his true parents were and he had never asked.
But his two mothers had never kept Fionn's destiny hidden from him. He was Fionn MacCumhaill, and on his 18th birthday, he would take up his rightful role as chief of the Fianna, the elite band of soldiers who guarded His Majesty, the High King.
His two mothers had taught Fionn how to fight, hunt and defend himself with swords and spears.
The final two years of his education would be spent with Finneagas, the old scholar who lived in a tumbledown shack on the banks of the River Boyne.
Finneagas would teach Fionn wisdom. Then the young man would be fully prepared to take up his position at the court of the High King.
On his 16th birthday, Fionn left his two mothers and became Finneagas' only student. Over the next few weeks, he learned many strange and wonderful things about Irish history and culture.
But the boy could not understand why his teacher vanished every day at noon, when the sun was high in the sky.