Gráinne

thumb|"Grania questions the druid", illustration by Henry Justice Ford in The Book of Romance (1903) Gráinne (), sometimes anglicised Grania, is the daughter of king Cormac mac Airt in the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology. She is one of the central figures in the Middle Irish text Finn and Gráinne, as well as the 17th-century tale The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, which tells of her betrothal to Fionn mac Cumhaill, leader of the Fianna, and her subsequent elopement with Fionn's warrior Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.

==History== In The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, Gráinne was promised in marriage to Fionn but, repulsed by his age, she forms a relationship with Diarmuid at their betrothal party. At first he refuses out of loyalty to Fionn but she places a geis upon him to run away with her. Their long flight from Fionn is aided by Diarmuid's foster-father Aengus Óg. Eventually, Fionn pardons Diarmuid after Aengus intercedes on their behalf; the pair settle in Kerry and produce five children. Years later Diarmuid is wounded by a boar while hunting with Fionn, who stalls in healing him until it is too late; texts vary on Gráinne's subsequent actions. In some versions, she mourns her husband until she dies herself; in others, she swears her sons to avenge their father's death on Fionn. In still others, she forgives Fionn or even marries him.