and as to that true god of thine , worker of miracles and helper of his people , no miracle in all the world is there that i , by mine own unaided power , can not work the like . i can create a sun and moon ; the heavens i can sprinkle with radiant stars of night . i can call up to life men fiercely fighting in conflict , slaughtering one another . wine i could make of the cold water of the boyne , and sheep of lifeless stones , and swine of ferns . in the presence of the hosts i can make gold and silver , plenty and to spare ; and hosts of famous fighting men i can produce from naught . now , tell me , can thy god work the like ? " " work for us , " says the king , " some of these great wonders . " then sheen went forth out of the house , and she set herself to work spells on murtough , so that he knew not whether he was in his right mind or no . she took of the water of the boyne and made a magic wine thereout , and she took ferns and spiked thistles and light puff - balls of the woods , and out of them she fashioned magic swine and sheep and goats , and with these she fed murtough and the hosts . and when they had eaten , all their strength went from them , and the magic wine sent them into an uneasy sleep and restless slumbers . and murtough , in his sleep and in his dreams , heard the battle - shout , and he rose impetuously from off his bed , but the wine overcame him , and his strength departed from him , and he fell helplessly upon the floor . then he heard the challenge a second time , and the stamping of the feet without , and he rose again , and madly , fiercely , he set on them , charging the hosts and scattering them before him , as he thought , as far as the fairy palace of the brugh . but all his strength was lost in fighting phantoms , for they were but stones and sods and withered leaves of the forest that he took for fighting men . now duivsech , murtough 's wife , knew what was going on . she called upon cairnech to arise and to gather together the clans of the children of his people , the men of owen and of niall , and together they went to the fort ; but sheen guarded it well , so that they could by no means find an entrance . then she went everywhere throughout the house , and took lighted brands and burning torches , and scattered them in every part of the dwelling . and she returned into the room wherein murtough slept , and lay down by his side . and she caused a great wind to spring up , and it came soughing through the house from the north - west ; and the king said , " this is the sigh of the winter night . " and sheen smiled , because , unwittingly , the king had spoken her name , for she knew by that that the hour of her revenge had come . " it is i myself that am sigh and winter night , " she said , " and i am rough wind and storm , a daughter of fair nobles ; and i am cry and wail , the maid of elfin birth , who brings ill - luck to men . " after that she caused a great snowstorm to come round the house ; and like the noise of troops and the rage of battle was the storm , beating and pouring in on every side , so that drifts of deep snow were piled against the walls , blocking the doors and chilling the folk that were feasting within the house . but the king was lying in a heavy , unresting sleep , and sheen was at his side . suddenly he screamed out of his sleep and stirred himself , for he heard the crash of falling timbers and the noise of the magic hosts , and he smelled the strong smell of fire in the palace . he sprang up . " it seems to me , " he cried , " that hosts of demons are around the house , and that they are slaughtering my people , and that the house of cletty is on fire . " " it was but a dream , " the witch maiden said . then he slept again , and he saw a vision , to wit , that he was tossing in a ship at sea , and the ship floundered , and above his head a griffin , with sharp beak and talons , sailed , her wings outspread and covering all the sun , so that it was dark as middle - night ; and lo ! as she rose on high , her plumes quivered for a moment in the air ; then down she swooped and picked him from the waves , carrying him to her eyrie on the dismal cliff outhanging o'er the ocean ; and the griffin began to pierce him and to prod him with her talons , and to pick out pieces of his flesh with her beak ; and this went on awhile , and then a flame , that came he knew not whence , rose from the nest , and he and the griffin were enveloped in the flame . then in her beak the griffin picked him up , and together they fell downward over the cliff 's edge into the seething ocean ; so that , half by fire and half by water , he died a miserable death . 
he drank the wine .
why did murtough have many terrible dreams and visions ?
why did murtough have many terrible dreams and visions ?