the portion of food that was allotted to him; and she wrought a great
healing upon him: for it grieved her that he should perish for her
sake. And one day the lady spoke to Ailill: "Come thou to-morrow,"
said she, "to tryst with me at the break of day, in the house which
lieth outside, and is beyond the fort, and there shalt thou have
granted thy request and thy desire." On that night Ailill lay without
sleep until the coming of the morning; and when the time had come that
was appointed for his tryst, his sleep lay heavily upon him; so that
till the hour of his rising he lay deep in his sleep. And Etain went
to the tryst, nor had she long to wait ere she saw a man coming towards
her in the likeness of Ailill, weary and feeble; but she knew that he
was not Ailill, and she continued there waiting for Ailill. And the
lady came back from her tryst, and Ailill awoke, and thought that he
would rather die than live; and he went in great sadness and grief.
And the lady came to speak with him, and when he told her what had
befallen him: "Thou shalt come," said she, "to the same place, to meet
with me upon the morrow." And upon the morrow it was the same as upon
the first day; each day came that man to her tryst. And she came again
upon the last day that was appointed for the tryst, and the same man
met her. "'Tis not with thee that I trysted," said she, "why dost thou
come to meet me? and for him whom I would have met here; neither from
desire of his love nor for fear of danger from him had I appointed to
meet him, but only to heal him, and to cure him from the sickness which
had come upon him for his love of me." "It were more fitting for thee
to come to tryst with me," says the man, "for when thou wast Etain of
the Horses, and when thou wast the daughter of Ailill, I myself was thy
husband. "Why," said she, "what name hast thou in the land? that is
what I would demand of thee." "It is not hard to answer thee," he
said; "Mider of Bri Leith is my name." "And what made thee to part
from me, if we were as thou sayest?" said Etain. "Easy again is the
answer," said Mider; "it was the sorcery of Fuamnach and the spells of
Bressal Etarlam that put us apart." And Mider said to Etain: "Wilt
thou come with me?"
"Nay," answered Etain, "I will not exchange the king of all Ireland for
thee; for a man whose kindred and whose lineage is unknown." "It was I
myself indeed," said Mider, "who filled all the mind of Ailill with
love for thee: it was I also who prevented his coming to the tryst with
thee, and allowed him not thine honour to spoil it."
After all this the lady went back to her house, and she came to speech
with Ailill, and she greeted him. "It hath happened well for us both,"
said Ailill, "that the man met thee there: for I am cured for ever from
my illness, thou also art unhurt in thine honour, and may a blessing
rest upon thee!" "Thanks be to our gods," said Etain, "that both of us
do indeed deem that all this hath chanced so well." And after that
Eochaid came back from his royal progress, and he asked at once for his
brother; and the tale was told to him from the beginning to the end,
and the king was grateful to Etain, in that she had been gracious to
Ailill; and, "What hath been related in this tale," said Eochaid, "is
well-pleasing to ourselves."
And, for the after history of Eochaid and Etain, it is told that once
when Eochaid was in Fremain, at such time as the people had prepared
for themselves a great gathering and certain horse-races; thither also
to that assembly came Etain, that she might see the sight. Thither
also came Mider, and he searched through that assembly to find out
where Etain might be; and he found Etain, and her women around her, and
he bore her away with him, also one of her handmaidens, called Crochen
the Ruddy: hideous was the form in which Mider approached them. And
the wives of the men of Ireland raised cries of woe, as the queen was
carried off from among them; and the horses of Ireland were loosed to
pursue Mider, for they knew not whether it was into the air or into the
earth he had gone. But, as for Mider, the course that he had taken was
the road to the west, even to the plain of Croghan; and as he came
thither, "How shall it profit us," said Crochen the Ruddy, "this
journey of ours to this plain?" "For evermore," said Mider, "shall thy
name be over all this plain:" and hence cometh the name of the plain of
Croghan, and of the Fort of Croghan. Then Mider came to the Fairy
Mound of Croghan; for the dwellers in that mound were allied to him,
and his friends; and for nine days they lingered there, banqueting and
feasting; so that "Is this the place where thou makest thy home?" said
Crochen to Mider. "Eastwards from this is my dwelling," Mider answered
her; "nearer to the rising-place of the sun;" and Mider, taking Etain
with him, departed, and came to Bri Leith, where the son of Celthar had
his palace.
Now just at the time when they came to this palace, king Eochaid sent
out from him the horsemen of Ireland, also his wizards, and his
officers who had the care of the roads, and the couriers of the
boundaries, that they might search through Ireland, and find out where
his wife might be; and Eochaid himself wandered throughout Ireland to
seek for his wife; and for a year from that day until the same day upon
the year that followed he searched, and he found nothing to profit him.
Then, at the last, king Eochaid sent for his Druid, and he set to him
the task to seek for Etain; now the name of the Druid was Dalan. And
Dalan came before him upon that day; and he went westwards, until he
came to the mountain that was after that known as Slieve Dalan; and he
remained there upon that night. And the Druid deemed it a grievous
thing that Etain should be hidden from him for the space of one year,
and thereupon he made three wands of yew; and upon the wands he wrote
an ogham; and by the keys of wisdom that he had, and by the ogham, it
was revealed to him that Etain was in the fairy mound of Bri Leith, and
that Mider had borne her thither.
Then Dalan the Druid turned him, and went back to the east; and he came
to the stronghold of Fremain, even to the place where the king of
Ireland was; and Eochaid asked from the Druid his news. Thither also
came the horsemen, and the wizards, and the officers who had the care
of the roads, and the couriers of the boundaries, to the king of
Ireland, and he asked them what tidings they had, and whether they had
found news of Mider and Etain. And they said that they had found
nothing at all; until at the last said his Druid to him: "A great evil
hath smitten thee, also shame, and misfortune, on account of the loss
of thy wife. Do thou assemble the warriors of Ireland, and depart to
Bri Leith, where is the palace of the son of Celthar; let that palace
be destroyed by thy hand, and there thou shalt find thy wife: by
persuasion or by force do thou take her thence."
Then Eochaid and the men of Ireland marched to Bri Leith, and they set
themselves to destroy that fairy dwelling, and to demand that Etain be
brought to them, and they brought her not. Then they ruined that fairy
dwelling, and they brought Etain out from it; and she returned to
Fremain, and there she had all the worship that a king of Ireland can
bestow, fair wedded love and affection, such as was her due from
Eochaid Airemm. This is that Eochaid who ruled over Ireland for twelve
years, until the fire burned him in Fremain; and this tale is known by
the name of the "Sick-bed of Ailill," also as "The Courtship of Etain."
Etain bore no children to Eochaid Airemm, save one daughter only; and
the name of her mother was given to her, and she is known by the name
of Etain, the daughter of Eochaid Airemm. And it was her daughter
Messbuachalla who was the mother of king Conary the Great, the son of
Eterscel, and it was for this cause that the fairy host of Mag Breg and
Mider of Bri Leith violated the tabus of king Conary, and devastated
the plain of Breg, and out off Conary's life; on account of the capture
of that fairy dwelling, and on account of the recovery of Etain, when
she was carried away by violence, even by the might of Eochaid Airemm.
THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
LEABHAR NA H-UIDHRI VERSION
Eochaid Airemon took the sovereignty over Erin, and the five provinces
of Ireland were obedient to him, for the king of each province was his
vassal. Now these were they who were the kings of the provinces at
that time, even Conor the son of Ness, and Messgegra, and Tigernach
Tetbannach, and Curoi, and Ailill the son of Mata of Muresc. And the
royal forts that belonged to Eochaid were the stronghold of Fremain in
Meath, and the stronghold of Fremain in Tethba; moreover the stronghold
of Fremain in Tethba was more pleasing to him than any other of the
forts of Erin.
Now a year after that Eochaid had obtained the sovereignty, he sent out
his commands to the men of Ireland that they should come to Tara to
hold festival therein, in order that there should be adjusted the taxes
and the imposts that should be set upon them, so that these might be
settled for a period of five years. And the one answer that the men of
Ireland made to Eochaid was that they would not make for the king that
assembly which is the Festival of Tara until he found for himself a
queen, for there was no queen to stand by the king's side when Eochaid
first assumed the kingdom.
Then Eochaid sent out the messengers of each of the five provinces to
go through the land of Ireland to seek for that woman or girl who was
the fairest to be found in Erin; and he bade them to note that no woman
should be to him as a wife, unless she had never before been as a wife
to any one of the men of the land. And at the Bay of Cichmany a wife
was found for him, and her name was Etain, the daughter of Etar; and
Eochaid brought her thereafter to his palace, for she was a wife meet
for him, by reason of her form, and her beauty, and her descent, and
her brilliancy, and her youth, and her renown.
Now Finn the son of Findloga had three sons, all sons of a queen, even
Eochaid Fedlech, and Eochaid Airemm, and Ailill Anguba. And Ailill
Anguba was seized with love for Etain at the Festival of Tara, after
that she had been wedded to Eochaid; since he for a long time gazed
upon her, and, since such gazing is a token of love, Ailill gave much
blame to himself for the deed that he was doing, yet it helped him not.
For his longing was too strong for his endurance, and for this cause
he fell into a sickness; and, that there might be no stain upon his
honour, his sickness was concealed by him from all, neither did he
speak of it to the lady herself. Then Fachtna, the chief physician of
Eochaid, was brought to look upon Ailill, when it was understood that
his death might be near, and thus the physician spoke to him: "One of
the two pangs that slay a man, and for which there is no healing by
leechcraft, is upon thee; either the pangs of envy or the pangs of
love. And Ailill refused to confess the cause of his illness to the
physician, for he was withheld by shame and he was left behind in
Fremain of Tethba to die; and Eochaid went upon his royal progress
throughout all Erin, and he left Etain behind him to be near Ailill, in
order that the last rites of Ailill might be done by her; that she
might cause his grave to be dug, and that the keen might be raised for
him, and that his cattle should be slain for him as victims. And to
the house where Ailill lay in his sickness went Etain each day to
converse with him, and his sickness was eased by her presence; and, so
long as Etain was in that place where he was, so long was he accustomed
to gaze at her.
Now Etain observed all this, and she bent her mind to discover the
cause, and one day when they were in the house together, Etain asked of
Ailill what was the cause of his sickness. "My sickness," said Ailill,
"comes from my love for thee." "'Tis pity," said she, "that thou hast
so long kept silence, for thou couldest have been healed long since,
had we but known of its cause." "And even now could I be healed," said
Ailill, "did I but find favour in thy sight." "Thou shalt find
favour," she said. Each day after they had spoken thus with each
other, she came to him for the fomenting of his head, and for the
giving of the portion of food that was required by him, and for the
pouring of water over his hands; and three weeks after that, Ailill was
whole. Then he said to Etain: "Yet is the completion of my cure at thy
hands lacking to me; when may it be that I shall have it?" "'Tis
to-morrow it shall be," she answered him, "but it shall not be in the
abode of the lawful monarch of the land that this felony shall be done.
Thou shalt come," she said, "on the morrow to yonder hill that riseth
beyond the fort: there shall be the tryst that thou desirest."
Now Ailill lay awake all that night, and he fell into a sleep at the
hour when he should have kept his tryst, and he woke not from his sleep
until the third hour of the day. And Etain went to her tryst, and she
saw a man before her; like was his form to the form of Ailill, he
lamented the weakness that his sickness had caused him, and he gave to
her such answers as it was fitting that Ailill should give. But at the
third hour of the day, Ailill himself awoke: and he had for a long time
remained in sorrow when Etain came into the house where he was; and as
she approached him, "What maketh thee so sorrowful?" said Etain. "'Tis
because thou wert sent to tryst with me," said Ailill, "and I came not
to thy presence, and sleep fell upon me, so that I have but now
awakened from it; and surely my chance of being healed hath now gone
from me." "Not so, indeed," answered Etain, "for there is a morrow to
follow to-day." And upon that night he took his watch with a great
fire before him, and with water beside him to put upon his eyes.
At the hour that was appointed for the tryst, Etain came for her
meeting with Ailill; and she saw the same man, like unto Ailill, whom
she had seen before; and Etain went to the house, and saw Ailill still
lamenting. And Etain came three times, and yet Ailill kept not his
tryst, and she found that same man there every time. "'Tis not for
thee," she said, "that I came to this tryst: why comest thou to meet
me? And as for him whom I would have met, it was for no sin or evil
desire that I came to meet him; but it was fitting for the wife of the
king of Ireland to rescue the man from the sickness under which he hath
so long been oppressed." "It were more fitting for thee to tryst with
me myself," said the man, "for when thou wert Etain of the Horses, the
daughter of Ailill, it was I who was thy husband. And when thou camest
to be wife to me, thou didst leave a great price behind thee; even a
marriage price of the chief plains and waters of Ireland, and as much
of gold and of silver as might match thee in value." "Why," said she,
"what is thy name?" "'Tis easy to say," he answered; "Mider of Bri
Leith is my name." "Truly," said she; "and what was the cause that
parted us?" "That also is easy," he said; "it was the sorcery of
Fuamnach, and the spells of Bressal Etarlam. And then Mider said to
Etain:
Wilt thou come to my home, fair-haired lady? to dwell
In the marvellous land of the musical spell,
Where the crowns of all heads are, as primroses, bright,
And from head to the heel all men's bodies snow-white.
In that land of no "mine" nor of "thine" is there speech,
But there teeth flashing white and dark eyebrows hath each;
In all eyes shine our hosts, as reflected they swarm,
And each cheek with the pink of the foxglove is warm.
With the heather's rich tint every blushing neck glows,
In our eyes are all shapes that the blackbird's egg shows;
And the plains of thine Erin, though pleasing to see,
When the Great Plain is sighted, as deserts shall be.
Though ye think the ale strong in this Island of Fate,
Yet they drink it more strong in the Land of the Great;
Of a country where marvel abounds have I told,
Where no young man in rashness thrusts backward the old.
There are streams smooth and luscious that flow through that land,
And of mead and of wine is the best at each hand;
And of crime there is naught the whole country within,
There are men without blemish, and love without sin.
Through the world of mankind, seeing all, can we float,
And yet none, though we see them, their see-ers can note;
For the sin of their sire is a mist on them flung,
None may count up our host who from Adam is sprung.
Lady, come to that folk; to that strong folk of mine;
And with gold on thy head thy fair tresses shall shine:
'Tis on pork the most dainty that then thou shalt feed,
And for drink have thy choice of new milk and of mead.
"I will not come with thee," answered Etain, "I will not give up the
king of Ireland for thee, a man who knows not his own clan nor his
kindred." "It was indeed myself," said Mider, "who long ago put
beneath the mind of Ailill the love that he hath felt for thee, so that
his blood ceased to run, and his flesh fell away from him: it was I
also who have taken away his desire, so that there might be no hurt to
thine honour. But wilt thou come with me to my land," said Mider, "in
case Eochaid should ask it of thee?" "I would come in such case,"
answered to him Etain.
After all this Etain departed to the house. "It hath indeed been good,
this our tryst," said Ailill, "for I have been cured of my sickness;
moreover, in no way has thine honour been stained." "'Tis glorious
that it hath fallen out so," answered Etain. And afterwards Eochaid
came back from his royal progress, and he was grateful for that his
brother's life had been preserved, and he gave all thanks to Etain for
the great deed she had done while he was away from his palace.
Now upon another time it chanced that Eochaid Airemm, the king of Tara,
arose upon a certain fair day in the time of summer; and he ascended
the high ground of Tara to behold the plain of Breg; beautiful was the
colour of that plain, and there was upon it excellent blossom, glowing
with all hues that are known. And, as the aforesaid Eochaid looked
about and around him, he saw a young strange warrior upon the high
ground at his side. The tunic that the warrior wore was purple in
colour, his hair was of a golden yellow, and of such length that it
reached to the edge of his shoulders. The eyes of the young warrior
were lustrous and grey; in the one hand he held a five-pointed spear,
in the other a shield with a white central boss, and with gems of gold
upon it. And Eochaid held his peace, for he knew that none such had
been in Tara on the night before, and the gate that led into the Liss
had not at that hour been thrown open.
The warrior came, and placed himself under the protection of Eochaid;
and "Welcome do I give," said Eochaid, "to the hero who is yet unknown."
"Thy reception is such as I expected when I came," said the warrior.
"We know thee not," answered Eochaid.
"Yet thee in truth I know well!" he replied.
"What is the name by which thou art called?" said Eochaid.
"My name is not known to renown," said the warrior; "I am Mider of Bri
Leith."
"And for what purpose art thou come?" said Eochaid.
"I have come that I may play a game at the chess with thee," answered
Mider. "Truly," said Eochaid, "I myself am skilful at the chess-play."
"Let us test that skill! said Mider.
"Nay," said Eochaid, the queen is even now in her sleep; and hers is
the palace in which the chessboard lies."
"I have here with me," said Mider, "a chessboard which is not inferior
to thine." It was even as he said, for that chessboard was silver, and
the men to play with were gold; and upon that board were costly stones,
casting their light on every side, and the bag that held the men was of
woven chains of brass.
Mider then set out the chessboard, and he called upon Eochaid to play.
"I will not play," said Eochaid, "unless we play for a stake."
"What stake shall we have upon the game then?" said Mider.
"It is indifferent to me," said Eochaid.
"Then," said Mider, "if thou dost obtain the forfeit of my stake, I
will bestow on thee fifty steeds of a dark grey, their heads of a
blood-red colour, but dappled; their ears pricked high, and their
chests broad; their nostrils wide, and their hoofs slender; great is
their strength, and they are keen like a whetted edge; eager are they,
high-standing, and spirited, yet easily stopped in their course."
[Many games were played between Eochaid and Mider; and, since Mider did
not put forth his whole strength, the victory on all occasions rested
with Eochaid. But instead of the gifts which Mider had offered,
Eochaid demanded that Mider and his folk should perform for him
services which should be of benefit to his realm; that he should clear
away the rocks and stones from the plains of Meath, should remove the
rushes which made the land barren around his favourite fort of Tethba,
should cut down the forest of Breg, and finally should build a causeway
across the moor or bog of Lamrach that men might pass freely across it.
All these things Mider agreed to do, and Eochaid sent his steward to
see how that work was done. And when it came to the time after sunset,
the steward looked, and he saw that Mider and his fairy host, together
with fairy oxen, were labouring at the causeway over the bog;] and
thereupon much of earth and of gravel and of stones was poured into it.
Now it had, before that time, always been the custom of the men of
Ireland to harness their oxen with a strap over their foreheads, so
that the pull might be against the foreheads of the oxen; and this
custom lasted up to that very night, when it was seen that the
fairy-folk had placed the yoke upon the shoulders of the oxen, so that
the pull might be there; and in this way were the yokes of the oxen
afterwards placed by Eochaid, and thence cometh the name by which he is
known; even Eochaid Airemm, or Eochaid the Ploughman, for he was the
first of all the men of Ireland to put the yokes on the necks of the
oxen, and thus it became the custom for all the land of Ireland. And
this is the song that the host of the fairies sang, as they laboured at
the making of the road:
Thrust it in hand! force it in hand!
Nobles this night, as an ox-troop, stand:
Hard is the task that is asked, and who
From the bridging of Lamrach shall gain, or rue?
Not in all the world could a road have been found that should be better
than the road that they made, had it not been that the fairy folk were
observed as they worked upon it; but for that cause a breach hath been
made in that causeway. And the steward of Eochaid thereafter came to
him; and he described to him that great labouring band that had come
before his eyes, and he said that there was not over the chariot-pole
of life a power that could withstand its might. And, as they spake
thus with each other, they saw Mider standing before them; high was he
girt, and ill-favoured was the face that he showed; and Eochaid arose,
and he gave welcome to him. "Thy welcome is such as I expected when I
came," said Mider. "Cruel and senseless hast thou been in thy
treatment of me, and much of hardship and suffering hast thou given me.
All things that seemed good in thy sight have I got for thee, but now
anger against thee hath filled my mind!" "I return not anger for
anger," answered Eochaid; "what thou wishest shall be done." "Let it
be as thou wishest," said Mider; "shall we play at the chess?" said he.
"What stake shall we set upon the game?" said Eochaid. "Even such
stake as the winner of it shall demand," said Mider. And in that very
place Eochaid was defeated, and he forfeited his stake.
"My stake is forfeit to thee," said Eochaid.
"Had I wished it, it had been forfeit long ago," said Mider.
"What is it that thou desirest me to grant?" said Eochaid.
"That I may hold Etain in my arms, and obtain a kiss from her!"
answered Mider.
Eochaid was silent for a while and then he said: "One month from this
day thou shalt come, and the very thing that thou hast asked for shall
be given to thee." Now for a year before that Mider first came to
Eochaid for the chess-play, had he been at the wooing of Etain, and he
obtained her not; and the name which he gave to Etain was Befind, or
Fair-haired Woman, so it was that he said:
Wilt thou come to my home, fair-haired lady?
as has before been recited. And it was at that time that Etain said:
"If thou obtainest me from him who is the master of my house, I will
go; but if thou art not able to obtain me from him, then I will not
go." And thereon Mider came to Eochaid, and allowed him at the first
to win the victory over him, in order that Eochaid should stand in his
debt; and therefore it was that he paid the great stakes to which he
had agreed; and therefore also was it that he had demanded of him that
he should play that game in ignorance of what was staked. And when
Mider and his folk were paying those agreed-on stakes, which were paid
upon that night; to wit, the making of the road, and the clearing of
the stones from Meath, the rushes from around Tethba, and of the forest
that is over Breg, it was thus that he spoke, as it is written in the
Book of Drom Snechta:
Pile on the soil; thrust on the soil:
Red are the oxen around who toil:
Heavy the troops that my words obey;
Heavy they seem, and yet men are they.
Strongly, as piles, are the tree-trunks placed
Red are the wattles above them laced:
Tired are your hands, and your glances slant;
One woman's winning this toil may grant!
Oxen ye are, but revenge shall see;
Men who are white shall your servants be:
Rushes from Teffa are cleared away:
Grief is the price that the man shall pay:
Stones have been cleared from the rough Meath ground;
Whose shall the gain or the harm be found?
Now Mider appointed a day at the end of the month when he was to meet
Eochaid, and Eochaid called the armies of the heroes of Ireland
together, so that they came to Tara; and all the best of the champions
of Ireland, ring within ring, were about Tara, and they were in the
midst of Tara itself, and they guarded it, both without and within; and
the king and the queen were in the midst of the palace, and the outer
court thereof was shut and locked, for they knew that the great might
of men would come upon them. And upon the appointed night Etain was
dispensing the banquet to the kings, for it was her duty to pour out
the wine, when in the midst of their talk they saw Mider standing
before them in the centre of the palace. He was always fair, yet
fairer than he ever was seemed Mider to be upon that night. And he
brought to amazement all the hosts on which he gazed, and all thereon
were silent, and the king gave a welcome to him.
"Thy reception is such as I expected when I came," said Mider; "let
that now be given to me that hath been promised. 'Tis a debt that is
due when a promise hath been made; and I for my part have given to thee
all that was promised by me."