Others which tell of the battles and deeds of Conn and Art and Cormac and Cairbre of the Liffey, Cormac's son, are more or less linked on to the Fenians.

On the whole, Finn and his warriors, each of a distinct character, warlike skill and renown, are the main personages of the cycle, and though Finn is not the greatest warrior, he is their head and master because he is the wisest; and this masterdom by knowledge is for the first time an element in Irish stories.
If the tales of the first cycle are mythological and of the second heroic, these are romantic.

The gods have lost their dreadful, even their savage character, and have become the Fairies, full often of gentleness, grace, and humour.

The mysterious dwelling places of the gods in the sea, in unknown lands, in the wandering air, are now in palaces under the green hills of Ireland, or by the banks of swift clear rivers, like the palace of Angus near the Boyne, or across the seas in Tir-na-n-Og, the land of immortal youth, whither Niam brings Oisin to live with her in love, as Morgan le Fay brought Ogier the Dane to her fairyland.

The land of the Immortals in the heroic cycle, to which, in the story of _Etain and Midir_ in this book, Midir brings back Etain after she has sojourned for a time on earth, is quite different in conception from the Land of Youth over the far seas where delightfulness of life and love is perfect.