Round him stand soldiers with tall spears, and a great crowd waiting to see him die." "Is he, then, a malefactor ?" "Nay," said the druid, "but holiness, innocence, and truth have come to earth in him, and for this cause have the druids of his land doomed him to die, for his teaching was not as theirs.

And the heavens are darkened for wrath and sorrow at the sight." Then Conor leaped up in a fury, crying, "They shall not slay him, they shall not slay him! Would I were there with the host of Ulster, and thus would I scatter his foes"; and with that he snatched his sword and began striking at the trees that stood thickly about him in the druid grove.

Then with the heat of his passion the sling-ball burst from his head, and he fell to the ground and died.
Thus was fulfilled the vengeance of Mesgedra upon Conor mac Nessa, King of Ulster..