[RightWhale]

Good catch. "The druid Finegas catches the Salmon of Knowledge and gives it to him to cook. Finn burns himself while doing so and sucks his thumb, thus acquiring the gift of prophecy" The story is nearly mythical and is based on prehistoric (possibly Proto IndoEuropean) myth. It happened to a lot of people.

http://www.mth.kcl.ac.uk/~tcoolen/finn/maccool.htm

[SunkenCiv]

Jerry: "It's Salman, not Salmon."

;')

I believe that "The story is nearly mythical" s/b "The story is clearly mythical".

sidebar: Finn also appears as Cuchulain in the Ulster sagas, and in Scotland as Fingal. For that matter, the late Stan Rogers references Fingal in his song "Giant" (it's on his first album, "Fogarty's Cove").

Fingal's cave, made of the same basalt as that making up the Giant's Causeway:
http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/arb/scotland/fingals.html

[Jeff Chandler]

"The druid Finegas catches the Salmon of Knowledge and gives it to him to cook. Finn burns himself while doing so

Grease from the frying pan splashed him?