In The Hound of Ulster, Rosemary Sutcliff recounts the tales of Cuchulain and the Red Branch Warriors of Northern Ireland. The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cool balances these legends with tales from more southern regions of the country. Together, the two volumes provide a complete picture of the Irish heroic spirit. The Cuchulain tales are wild and harsh, while the Finn Mac Cool tales take on some of the softness of the Killamey countryside. The Dananns, or fairy people, appear in the Cuchulain tales as gods or demigods, but in the Finn Mac Cool tales they are much more human.