stars

Welcome my dear friends. Enjoy your visit and share your thoughts. Thank you, much love

Saturday 5 July 2014

Frizzy Lizzy Humor Corner


Hi dear friends and followers, it's Saturday humor corner time. Please come on in, kick your shoes off and make yourself comfortable. Some light humor for you to enjoy now that the weekend is here, Have a great read, above all, smile. 



I would also like to thank you so very much for your support and participation in this blog. I do hope that today, Lizzy's humor sets the pace for your day. Please feel free to share.

Hi peeps , having a great day are we?

Just had a wonderful dream about this charming gentleman. Wow!  I didn't know they still made them.  But when I woke up I was disappointed when I found Charley taking up space in the other half of the bed snoring like a Pioneer chainsaw with all the blankets wrapped around him.  So there I sat in bed shivering. like Chilly Willy with his tail caught in the ice. 


There are times when I might take the chainsaw over Charley.  Now that I have both of them for a long time, they seem equally as good at conversation.  Both make loud, irritating noises.  Both can stink at times.  But that's where it stops.  I get lots more work out of the saw than I do out of Charlie.

Back in my day the old saying was give a man a fish he will eat for a day but if you teach him how to fish he will have a regular meal everyday for as long as he shall live.

Today's version with my Charlie is more like give a man a rod and tackle and he makes his woman a fishing widow!


I was thinking with all that packing I have been doing for the cruise Charley promised me...well there goes my diet plan out the window.  The only way I could possibly loos the ten pounds I expect to gain over tht holiday is if I go shopping in the Bahamas, on foot, and swim back home!

Speaking of gaining wight have you ever wondered why those radio show DJ's who talk about their weight loss plans, like why are they not on TV?

Well I thought about applying for one of those greeter jobs at one of those department stores thinking that might help with a little exercise and make a few bucks while I'm at it but I just found out Kiss my Ass still doesn't count as a greeting yet.
Thank you very much for dropping by my dear friends and I hope that this weeks Frizzy Lizzy lived up to your expectations.
Have a beautiful day


.¸¸.'  With love from your Fairy Lady' .¸¸.



Friday 4 July 2014

Irish Fairy Beliefs: Interview with Folklorist Dr. Jenny Butler

Hi dear friends and followers I have a very interesting You tube audio  to share with you today, 
Irish Fairy Beliefs: Interview with Folklorist Dr. Jenny Butler

Today's posting is what is likely the final word about Irish Fairy Beliefs. It's an audio interview presented by Irish Radio with the folklorist, Dr. Jenny Butler, made available on YouTube. So pour yourself a nice drink of your choice and get
 comfortable. Here's Dr. Butler:






Thank you for allowing me to share some time with you. I wish for my American Friends to have a... 

¸.•*¨*•*´¨) Happy Fourth of July! ¸.•*¨*•*´¨)

With love from your Fairy Lady



HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY MY DEAR AMERICAN FRIENDS


HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY MY DEAR AMERICAN FRIENDS


WITH LOVE FROM THE FAIRY LADY
♪♫♪❤❤❤❤♪♫♪♪♫♪❤❤❤❤♪♫♪





Thursday 3 July 2014

Some Irish Superstitions

Hi my dear friends. I hope you are all having a great day! Today we journey into some of the ancient Irish Superstition. 
I have to admit, this post brought a few smiles.  Have a great read and feel free to share your thoughts. Thank you


Some Irish Superstitions 


Though the two may not be mutually exclusive, it can definitely be argued that superstitions are intrinsically tied in with traditional folklore, and with a culture as steeped in customs and fables as Ireland’s, it’s no surprise that there are more than a handful of superstitions unique to the country and its people. This article aims neither to quell nor to poke fun at such beliefs. Instead, its intent is simply to celebrate the rich traditional backing behind each, and perhaps, for the more superstitious, even to lead lives at their optimum luck level.

The phrase “the luck of the Irish” isn’t all it may seem. In fact, it isn’t in the least bit what it sounds like at all. Dripping with irony, the sarcastic phrase refers instead to the bad luck that has befallen both Ireland and many an Irishman. Just read up on Irish poetry and you’ll be struck with multiple tragedies that have peppered the history of the nation. 


With that, it’s no wonder that Irish folk have a well-rounded and equally well-cultivated list of unlucky omens that should always be avoided at all cost – or as much as the situation may permit. For example, finding a magpie at your doorstep looking at you symbolizes an impending death that cannot be averted, and similarly on the bird-related front, killing a robin redbreast would mean an onslaught of bad luck for the rest of your life.


Besides being a potentially painful ordeal, stumbling at the foot of a grave is considered bad luck, although actually falling and touching the ground in the process would signal the fact that death will be in your near future – before the year is up, to be exact. 

Other choice bad luck omens include: girls whistling, crowing hens, accepting a lock of hair from your lover, if your chair falls when you stand up and a hare crossing your path, specifically before sunrise. 


Fishermen are also encouraged to return their first salmon catches of the season to ward off bad luck, just as one should never ask a man going fishing just where he is headed to. Unlucky omens to encounter while on a trip include magpies, cats, or limping women. Perhaps my favourite of the lot would be if you get your top wet, while washing the dishes – unwittingly or otherwise – you will end up marrying a drunk. Let it be known that the above bad luck omens are just the tip of the iceberg.

It may seem like the Irish have a lot to blame their bouts of misfortune on, but fear not, as they too have an extensive list of lucky symbols, apart from the usual four-leafed clover.

For instance, if you hear a cuckoo, or see not one, not two, but three magpies on your wedding morning, you’re in for good luck. Once again on the bird front, if you hear a cuckoo on your right, you’re in for an entire year of good luck, just as finding a hen and her chicks venturing into your house is a sign of good things to come.

Similarly, it is a good luck sign to see two magpies on your right. However, seeing three on your left is widely considered to be highly unlucky. An old Irish saying goes “find a penny, pick it up, and all day long, you’ll have good luck”.

Bear in mind this only applies if the penny is lying heads up. Aside from that, many Irish believe that an incessant itching in your left hand symbolizes a windfall of fortune, and it your right hand itches, a new friend is on the horizon. Superstitions, it seems, all boil down to the nitty gritty.

Fairies – the overarching category under which leprechauns and banshees fall – also play an integral role in Irish superstition. 

Several attempts have been made to venture guesses about their origins, though, as expected, not one has had much success in proving their credibility. The first of which would be that fairies are, in fact, the Túatha Dé Dannan, the original gods of Ireland, who were defeated by the Sons of Mil. The result being that they were diminished in size and banished to live amongst the hilly plains. With the power of immortality amongst others, fairies are invisible to humans, only seen by whomever they may choose to be seen by. A second stab alleges that they are fallen angels, much like Lucifer. While some fell into Hell when they were cast from Heaven, others fell onto earth, where they live until this day as fairies. There are both benevolent as well as malevolent fairies, the latter having developed a deep-rooted resentment towards human beings, as while mankind will be granted immortality with “The Last Day”, fairies will, on the other hand, simply vanish off the face of the earth.

As such, fairies are more than blithe sprites to the Irish. And, as a result, there isn’t a shortage of superstitions revolving around fairies. To preface this, it is widely believed that fairies should never be referred to as “fairies” aloud, as they prefer, instead, to be called “The Wee Folk”, “The Other Crowd”, or “Them” – anything but “fairies”. A definite harbinger of misfortune would be to build a house or do anything to obstruct a fairy path, as that would lead to sickness, and eventually death. Likewise, their mounds and burrows should never be disturbed, as doing so would (unsurprisingly) incur their wrath.

As legend has it, three young Irish lads once decided that digging up a fairy mound for buried treasure would be a bright idea. This only led to their painful deaths by way of tuberculosis. Pretty grim stuff.


Fairies may also choose to make their paths clear through your home as they please, and the result is much unlike the parade of sprinkles and fairy dust one might expect. What often happens is quite the opposite, actually, as residents may fall ill. In order to undo this, dwellers are urged to board their doors so that the fairies would have to go around the home instead.
That’s not all, as dwellers are even supposed to build a brand new house on the other side of the existing one to further rid the family of its illness. Fairies also often derive joy from disguising themselves as beggars and moving from door to door, hoping for bits of charity. People who donate will find themselves a reward, while those who don’t will fall prey to the repercussions of a disgruntled beggar-fairy.

While there are superstitions that may come across as highly baseless (for example, the one about ginger women being evil), one cannot deny that there may just be some truth, or at the very least, a semblance of perfectly logical reasoning behind some of them. For one, killing a robin is discouraged as it is seen as an unlucky omen, but people shouldn’t feel entitled to go around hurting innocent animals, either way. Or should one go berserk destroying nature’s mounds or burrows as they fancy? Perhaps there really is more to superstitions than misfortune or luck; perhaps behind each superstition was a wise sage, planting seeds of morals into each passing generation. Just maybe.

Reference:


http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/Bad-luck-on-Friday-the-13th-and-other-Irish-superstitions-116914263.html
http://visiting-ireland.blogspot.com/2009/02/irish-superstitions.html
http://www.the-irish-path.com/irish-superstitions.html
http://www.littlebytesoflife.com/2008/10/bad-luck-of-irish.html
http://othstoday.com/the-irish-omens-superstitions/
http://www.the-irish-path.com/irish-fairies.html

✿✿ڪےڰۣ✿✿ڪےڰۣ✿✿ڪےڰۣ

I hope you all have enjoyed reading this short interesting analogue of the Irish Superstitions. 

Thank you very much dear friends for dropping by

With love, from your Fairy Lady


Wednesday 2 July 2014

Aquatic elves


Hi my dear friends. I hope everyone is having a great day! Today we journey into elven land or should I say the elven sea. Sea dwelling aquatic elves who live peacefully and avoid all contact with other races. I loved working on this posting I found this elf species to be quite interesting read. 
 
Wikipedia Aqua Elves

Aquatic elves (also called sea elves and Alu'Tel'Quessir in their own tongue[1]), are water-breathing cousins to land-dwelling elves. They live amid the waves and the ocean depths with allies such as dolphins and whales. Aquatic elves fight underwater with tridents, spears, and nets.

Description

Although they are of the same subrace, aquatic elves from the Great Sea have a different appearance to those from the Sea of Fallen Stars. The former have deep green skin, mottled and striped with brown. The latter have blue skin with white strips and patches. Both groups are robust and tall with long limbs, and long, thickly webbed digits. Their hair is usually thick and somewhat stringy, and can be blue, black silver or even occasionally red. The most unusual feature is the gills visible in their necks and over their ribs[2].

Sea elves are either lightly clad or wear no clothes at all. Their clothes are formed from underwater plants, in blacks, browns and greens. Warriors clip their hair, but other sea elves wear it long and flowing[3].

A certain type of mutated sahuagin, called a malenti, look like aquatic elves and occasional infiltrate sea elven society.[4]

Aquatic elves are isolationist by their physical nature, and by choice – though they are not quite as reclusive as the wild elves. They trust only themselves, their clan, and no others. They cannot understand why the surface elves do not understand that community and alliances mean survival, whereas rivalry and factionalism means death

The aquatic elves merely want to maintain their colony in Lake Sember and protect Semberholme as part of the deal[1]. However this caution is tempered with curiosity and sea elves can spend much time secretly observing the land bound races.

__________________________

~Aquatic Elves~
The Sea Elves of the Oceans

Few people have ever seen the Sea Elves,
but they are as numerous as their landbound cousins.
They partrol the deeps of oceans and large inland waters,
holding court beneath the waves.



Aquatic Elves have gill slits much like elves,
but can also survive out of water for a short time by breathing.
Their skin is typically silver-green, matching seaweed.
Some possess a bluish tinge to their skin.


Their hair complements their skin and is green or bluish green.


The Sea Elves play an important role in the underwater ecology.

They serve to keep the seas safer for the inhabitants.

Aquatic elves keeps the devastation of creatures
as saguagin, ixitzachitl and sharks to a minimum.


Because they fear the terrible creatures of the deeps,
they work together with the dolphins to keep at least some areas safe.

They follow ships and protect them and the friendly sea creatures.

Seaside communities often punish people who hurt the Sea Elves gravely.




Aquatic Elf communities consists mainly of those sea elves that live in a 5 mile area. There is a titular king or queen whom they pay homeage, but he/she has no real power over their daily life.

Sea elves live as they please, coming together under a ruler only in times of trouble.


They have cities of living corals, supplemented with glittering crystal domes.

Their undersea paradise is marked by farmers tending schools of fish, 
and the peace you can only find beneath the waves.

Magic and religion


Sea elves are the least magical of the elven races, although they still have as many mages as human realms. Those who are spellcasters devote their long life spans to study and become extremely skilled. They have developed a range of waterproof magical items, and a system of writing underwater.

Most aquatic elves revere Deep Sashelas, an undersea god of knowledge and beauty. Some are known to worship Istishia.
Culture

Aquatic elven society is based on family and clan – and although females can and do wield power they are patriarchal. Noble families rule, but in a benign and loose fashion rather than with an iron fist. Families or individuals may own their dwelling but most other property is held in common. Such communal ownership means theft is almost unknown.


The majority of aquatic elves live in the Sea of Fallen Stars, and the Great Sea. However smaller communities can be found along the western coast and in Lake Sember.

A large community of several thousand sea elves exists around the island of Evermeet.

 King Elashor, residing in the city of lumathiashae (or "Mother of Pearls"), holds sway over this realm. The sea elves of this area defend Evermeet from the many undersea threats such as sahuagins and scrags.


Arts and Leisure

The special acoustics of a watery environment lend themselves to music, and sea elves are exposed to the eerie and beautiful songs of the whales and other denizens of the deep. It is not surprising that aquatic elven bards have a range of powerful and evocative songs.
History

Aquatic elves were the last of the elven races to reach Faerun, and have always kept themselves somewhat apart from their land bound kin. At first they were nomadic wanderers but gradually they began to form separate communities. Sea elves have had a somewhat warlike history. They attempted to stay aloof from the conflict, but this failed and the destruction and turbulence spread to their homes, driving some of the Great Sea elves north into (the Sea of Fallen Stars). 



I hope you all have enjoyed reading this fascinating mythology as much as I have on Aquatic Elves. It seems like the further in we journey the more we discover about the unseen world.

Thank you very much dear friends for dropping by

With love, from your Fairy Lady 






Tuesday 1 July 2014

The Legend of Midir


Hi my dear friends. Today I would likke to present to you a  mythical legend called  
The Legend of Midir

Below I present you with two renderings of the same story. The first one is a very condensed retelling of a legend of love, hate, jealousy, magical charms, and duplicity, all in five paragraphs. The second is taken from a volume called Gods and Fighting Men, by Lady Gregory, [1904], at sacred-texts.com and is in greater detail. It tells the “why” behind the “how” and “who.” Please take a few minutes and enjoy them. Thank you for your thoughts


The Legend of Midir

Thank you for sharing your time with me.

In the Mythological Cycle of early Irish literature, Midir (Old Irish) or Midhir (Modern Irish) was a son of the Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann


After the Tuatha Dé were defeated by the Milesians, he lived in the sidh of Brí Léith (believed to be Ardagh Mountain, Co. Longford). In the First Recension of the Lebor Gabála, Midir of Brí Léith is made the "son of Induí son of Échtach son of Etarlam"

Midir is one of the leading characters in the Old Irish saga Tochmarc Étaíne ("The Wooing of Étaín"), which makes leaps through time from the age of the Túatha Dé Danann to the time of Eochaid Airem, High King of Ireland.

Midir was the husband of Fúamnach, but later fell in love with Étaín, receiving the help of his foster-son and half-brother Aengus (also Oengus) to make her his new bride. This provoked Fuamnach's vengeance against the young new wife, causing her a number of disgraces until after several transformations (including water, a worm, and a butterfly or dragonfly) Étaín fell into the drink of another woman and was reborn. She later married Eochaid Airem, at that time the High King of Ireland.

Far from giving up, Midir made an attempt to bring his wife back home, going to see the king and challenging him to many games of fidchell. Eochaid won all but the last, when Midir won and asked a kiss from Étaín as his prize. Eochaid kept his word and allowed Midir the kiss, but Midir turned himself and Étaín into swans and left the royal residence through the chimney.

Eochaid did not accept the loss of his wife and pursued them. Then Midir used his magical powers to turn fifty women into swans similar to Étaín, offering the king the possibility to choose only one. Eochaid, trying to find the true one, chose his own daughter by accident and lost Étaín, also fathering a daughter upon his own daughter in the process.

Gods and Fighting Men, by Lady Gregory, [1904], at sacred-texts.com
Part I Book IV: Midhir and Etain

AND Midhir took a hill for himself, and his wife Fuamach was with him there, and his daughter, Bri. And Leith, son of Cehchar of Cualu, was the most beautiful among the young men of the Sidhe of Ireland at that time, and he loved Bri, Midhir's daughter. And Bri went out with her young girls to meet him one time at the Grave of the Daughters beside Teamhair. 

And Leith came and his young men along with him till he was on the Hill of the After Repentance. And they could not come nearer to one another because of the slingers on Midhir's hill that were answering one another till their spears were as many as a swarm of bees on a day of beauty. And Cochlan, Leith's servant, got a sharp wound from them and he died.

Then the girl turned back to Midhir's hill, and her heart broke in her and she died. And Leith said: "Although I am not yet come to this girl, I will leave my name with her." And the hill was called Bri Leith from that time.

After a while Midhir took Etain Echraide to be his wife. And there was great jealousy on Fuamach, the wife he had before, when she saw the love that Midhir gave to Etain, and she called to the Druid, Bresal Etarlaim to help her, and he put spells on Etain, the way Fuamach was able to drive her away.

And when she was driven out of Bri Leith, Angus Og, son of the Dagda, took her into his keeping; and when Midhir asked her back, he would not give her up, but he brought her about with him to every place be went. And wherever they rested, he made a sunny house for her, and put sweet-smelling flowers in it, and he made invisible walls about it, that no one could see through and that could not be seen.

But when news came to Fuamach that Etain was so well cared for by Angus, anger and jealousy came on her again, and she searched her mind for a way to destroy Etain altogether.

And it is what she did, she persuaded Midhir and Angus to go out and meet one another and to make peace, for there had been a quarrel between them ever since the time Etain was sent away. And when Angus was away from Brugh na Boinn, Fuamach went and found Etain there, in her sunny house. 

And she turned her with Druid spells into a fly, and then she sent a blast of wind into the house, that swept her away through the window.

But as to Midhir and Angus, they waited a while for Fuamach to come and join them. And when she did not come they were uneasy in their minds, and Angus hurried back to Brugh na Boinn. And when he found the sunny house empty, he went in search of Fuamach, and it was along with Etarlaim, the Druid, he found her, and he struck her head off there and then.

And for seven years Etain was blown to and fro through Ireland in great misery. And at last she came to the house of Etar, of Inver Cechmaine, where there was a feast going on, and she fell from a beam of the roof into the golden cup that was beside Etar's wife. And Etar's wife drank her down with the wine, and at the end of nine months she was born again as Etar's daughter.

And she had the same name as before, Etain; and she was reared as a king's daughter, and there were fifty young girls, daughters of princes, brought up with her to keep her company.

And it happened one day Etain and all the rest of the young girls were out bathing in the bay at Inver Cechmaine, and they saw from the water a man, with very high looks, coming towards them over the plain, and he riding a bay horse with mane and tail curled. A long green cloak he had on him, and a shirt woven with threads of red gold, and a brooch of gold that reached across to his shoulders on each side. And he had on his back a shield of silver with a rim of gold and a boss of gold, and in his hand a sharp-pointed spear covered with rings of gold from heel to socket. Fair yellow hair he bad, coming over his forehead, and it bound with a golden band to keep it from loosening.

And when he came near them he got down from his horse, and sat down on the bank, and this is what he said: "It is here Etain is to-day, at the Mound of Fair Women. It is among little children is her life on the strand of Inver Cechmaine.”

"It is she healed the eye of the king from the well of Loch da Lig; it is she was swallowed in a heavy drink by the wife of Etar.”

"Many great battles will happen for your sake to Echaid of Midhir; destruction will fall upon the Sidhe, and war on thousands of men."

And when he had said that, he vanished, and no one knew where he went. And they did not know the man that had come to them was Midhir of Bri Leith.

And when Etain was grown to be a beautiful young woman, she was seen by Eochaid Feidlech, High King of Ireland, and this is the way that happened.

He was going one time over the fair green of Bri Leith, and he saw at the side of a well a woman, with a bright comb of gold and silver, and she washing in a silver basin having four golden birds on it, and little bright purple stones set in the rim of the basin. A beautiful purple cloak she had, and silver fringes to it, and a gold brooch; and she had on her a dress of green silk with a long hood, embroidered in red gold, and wonderful clasps of gold and silver on her breasts and on her shoulder. The sunlight was falling on her, so that the gold and the green silk were shining out. Two plaits of hair she had, four locks in each plait, and a bead at the point of every lock, and the colour of her hair was like yellow flags in summer, or like red gold after it is rubbed.

There she was, letting down her hair to wash it, and her arms out through the sleeve-holes of her shift. Her soft hands were as white as the snow of a single night, and her eyes as blue as any blue flower, and her lips as red as the berries of the rowan-tree, and her body as white as the foam of a wave. The bright light of the moon was in her face, the highness of pride in her eyebrows, a dimple of delight in each of her cheeks, the light of wooing in her eyes, and when she walked she had a step that was steady and even like the walk of a queen.

And Eochaid sent his people to bring her to him, and he asked her name, and she told him her name was Etain, daughter of Etar, King of the Riders of the Sidhe. And Eochaid gave her his love, and he paid the bride-price, and brought her home to Teamhair as his wife, and there was a great welcome before her there.

And after a while there was a great feast made at Teamhair, and all the chief men of Ireland came to it, and it lasted from the fortnight before Samhain to the fortnight after it. And King Eochaid's brother Ailell, that was afterwards called Ailell Anglonach, came to the feast. 

And when he saw his brother's wife Etain, he fell in love with her on the moment, and all through the length of the feast he was not content unless he could be looking at her. And a woman, the daughter of Luchta Lamdearg, of the Red Hand, took notice of it, and she said: "What far thing are you looking at, Ailell? It is what I think, that to be looking the way you are doing is a sign of love." Then Ailell checked himself, and did not look towards Etain any more.


But when the feast was at an end, and the gathering broken up, great desire and envy came on Ailell, so that he fell sick, and they brought him to a house in Teffia. And he stopped there through the length of a year, and he was wasting away, but he told no one the cause of his sickness. And at the end of the year, Eochaid came to visit his brother, and he passed his hand over his breast, and Ailell let a groan. "What way are you?" said Eochaid then. "Are you getting any easier, for you must not let this illness come to a bad end." "By my word," said Ailell, "it is not easier I am, but worse and worse every day and every night" "What is it ails you?" said Eochaid. "And what is it that is coming against you." "By my word, I cannot tell you that," said Ailell. "I will bring one here that wilt know the cause of your sickness," said the king.

With that he sent Fachtna, his own physician, to Ailell; and when he came he passed his hand over Ailell's heart, and at that he groaned again. "This sickness will not be your death," said Fachtna then; "and I know well what it comes from. It is either from the pains of jealousy, or from love you have given, and that you have not found a way out of." But there was shame on Ailell, and he would not confess to the physician that what he said was right. So Fachtna went away then and left him.

As to King Eochaid, he went away to visit all the provinces of Ireland that were under his kingship, and he left Etain after him, and this is what he said: "Good Etain," he said, "take tender care of Ailell so long as he is living; and if he should die from us, make a sodded grave for him, and raise a pillar stone over it, and write his name on it in Ogham." And with that he went away on his journey. One day, now, Etain went into the house where Ailell was lying in his sickness, and they talked together, and then she made a little song for him, and it is what she said:

"What is it ails you, young man, for it is a long time you are wasted with this sickness, and it is not the hardness of the weather has stopped your light footstep."

And Ailell answered her in the same way, and he said: "I have good cause for my hurt; the music of my own harp does not please me; there is no sort of food is pleasant to me, and so I am wasted away." Then Etain said: "Tell me what is it ails you, for I am a woman that is wise. Tell me is there anything that would cure you, the way I may help you to it?" And Ailell answered her: "O kind, beautiful woman, it is not good to tell a secret to a woman, but sometimes it may be known through the eyes." And Etain said: "Though it is bad to tell a secret, yet it ought to be told now, or how can help be given to you?" And Ailell answered: "My blessing on you, fair-haired Etain. 

It is not fit I am to be spoken with; my wits have been no good help to me; my body is a rebel to me. All Ireland knows, O king's wife, there is sickness in my head and in my body." And Etain said: "If there is a woman of the fair-faced women of Ireland tormenting you this way, she must come to you here if it pleases you; and it is I myself will woo her for you," she said.

Then Ailell said to her: "Woman, it would be easy for you yourself to put my sickness from me. And my desire," he said, "is a desire that is as long as a year; but it is love given to an echo, the spending of grief on a wave, a lonely fight with a shadow, that is what my love and my desire have been to me."

And it is then Etain knew what was the sickness that was on him, and it was a heavy trouble to her.

But she came to him every day to tend him, and to make ready his food, and to pour water over his hands, and all she could do she did for him, for it was a grief to her, he to wither away and to be lost for her sake. And at last one day she said to him: "Rise up, Ailell, son of a king, man of high deeds, and I will do your healing."

Then he put his arms about her, and she kissed him, and she said: "Come at the morning of to-morrow at the break of day to the house outside the dun, and I will give you all your desire."


That night Ailell lay without sleep until the morning was at hand. And at the very time he should have risen to go to her, it was at that time his sleep settled down upon him, and be slept on till the full light of day.

But Etain went to the house outside the dun, and she was not long there when she saw a man coming towards her having the appearance of Ailell, sick and tired and worn. But when he came near and she looked closely at him, she saw it was not Ailell that was in it. Then he went away, and after she had waited a while, she herself went back into the dun.

And it was then Ailell awoke, and when he knew the morning bad passed by, he would sooner have had death than life, and he fretted greatly. And Etain came in then, and he told her what had happened him. And she said: "Come to-morrow to the same place."

But the same thing happened the next day. And when it happened on the third day, and the same man came to meet Etain, she said to him: "It is not you at all I come to meet here, and why is it that you come to meet me? And as to him I came to meet," she said, "indeed it is not for gain or through lightness I bade him come to me, but to heal him of the sickness he is lying under for my sake."

Then the man said: "It would be more fitting for you to come to meet me than any other one. For in the time long ago," he said, "I was your first husband, and your first man." "What is it you are saying," she said, "and who are you yourself?"


"It is easy to tell that," he said; "I am Midhir of Bri Leith." "And what parted us if I was your wife?" said Etain. "It was through Fuamach's sharp jealousy and through the spells of Bresal Etarlaim, the Druid, we were parted. And you will come away with me now?" he said. But Etain said: "It is not for a man whose kindred is unknown I will give up the High King of Ireland." And Midhir said: "Surely it was I myself put that great desire for you on Ailell, and it was I hindered him from going to meet you, the way you might keep your good name."

And when she went back to Ailell's house, she found his sickness was gone from him, and his desire. And she told him all that had happened, and he said: "It has turned out well for us both: l am well of my sickness and your good name is not lessened." "We give thanks to our gods for that," said Etain, "for we are well pleased to have it so."

And just at that time Eochaid came back from his journey, and they told him the whole story, and he was thankful to his wife for the kindness she had showed to Ailell.

It was a good while after that, there was a great fair held at Teamhair, and Etain was out on the green looking at the games and the races. And she saw a rider coming towards her, but no one could see him but herself; and when he came near she saw he had the same appearance as the man that came and spoke with her and her young girls the time they were out in the sea at Inver Cechmaine. And when he came up to her he began to sing words to her that no one could hear but herself. And it is what be said:

"O beautiful woman, will you come with me to the wonderful country that is mine? It is pleasant to be looking at the people there, beautiful people without any blemish; their hair is of the colour of the flag-flower, their fair body is as white as snow, the colour of the fox-glove is on every cheek. The young never grow old there; the fields and the flowers are as pleasant to be looking at as the blackbird's eggs; warm, sweet streams of mead and of wine flow through that country; there is no care and no sorrow on any person; we see others, but we ourselves are not seen.”

"Though the plains of Ireland are beautiful, it is little you would think of them after our great plain; though the ale of Ireland is heady, the ale of the great country is still more heady. O beautiful woman, if you come to my proud people it is the flesh of pigs newly killed I will give you for food; it is ale and new milk I will give you for drink; it is feasting you will have with me there; it is a crown of gold you will have upon your hair, O beautiful woman!”

"And will you come there with me, Etain?" he said. But Etain said she would not leave Eochaid the High King. "Will you come if Eochaid gives you leave?" Midhir said then. "I will do that," said Etain.

One day, after that time, Eochaid the High King was looking out from his palace at Teamhair, and he saw a strange man coming across the plain. Yellow hair he had, and eyes blue and shining like the flame of a candle, and a purple dress on him, and in his hand a five-pronged spear and a shield having gold knobs on it.

He came up to the king, and the king bade him welcome. "Who are you yourself?" he said; "and what are you come for, for you are a stranger to me?" "If I am a stranger to you, you are no stranger to me, for I have known you this long time," said the strange man. "What is your name?" said the king. "It is nothing very great," said he; "I am called Midhir of Bri Leith." "What is it brings you here?" said Eochaid. "I am come to play a game of chess with you," said the stranger.
"Are you a good player?" said the king. "A trial will tell you that," said Midhir. "The chess-board is in the queen's house, and she is in her sleep at this time," said Eochaid. "That is no matter," said Midhir, "for I have with me a chess-board as good as your own." And with that he brought out his chess-board, and it made of silver, and precious stones shining in every corner of it. And then he brought out the chessmen, and they made of gold, from a bag that was of shining gold threads.

"Let us play now," said Midhir. "I will not play without a stake," said the king. "What stake shall we play for?" said Midhir. "We can settle that after the game is over," said the king.

They played together then, and Midhir was beaten, and it is what the king asked of him, fifty brown horses to be given to him.

And then they played the second time, and Midhir was beaten again, and this time the king gave him four hard things to do: to make a road over Moin Lamraide, and to clear Midhe of stones, and to cover the district of Tethra with rushes, and the district of Darbrech with trees.

So Midhir brought his people from Bri Leith to do those things, and it is hard work they had doing them. And Eochaid used to be out watching them, and he took notice that when the men of the Sidhe yoked their oxen, it was by the neck and the shoulder they used to yoke them, and not by the forehead and the head. And it was after Eochaid taught his people to yoke them that way, he was given the name of Eochaid Airem, that is, of the Plough.

And when all was done, Midhir came to Eochaid again, looking thin and wasted enough with the dint of the hard work be had been doing, and he asked Eochaid to play the third game with him. Eochaid agreed, and it was settled as before, the stake to be settled by the winner. It was Midhir won the game that time, and when the king asked him what be wanted, "It is Etain, your wife, I want," said he. "I will not give her to you" said the king. "All I will ask then," said Midhir, "is to put my arms about her and to kiss her once." "You may do that," said the king, "if you will wait to the end of a month." So Midhir agreed to that, and went away for that time.

At the end of the month he came back again, and stood in the great hall at Teamhair, and no one had ever seen him look so comely as he did that night. And Eochaid had all his best fighting men gathered in the hall, and he shut all the doors of the palace when he saw Midhir come in, for fear he would try to bring away Etain by force.

"I am come to be paid what is due to me," said Midhir. "I have not been thinking of it up to this time," said Eochaid, and there was anger on him. "You promised me Etain, your wife," said Midhir. The redness of shame came on Etain when she heard that, but Midhir said: "Let there be no shame on you, Etain, for it is through the length of a year I have been asking your love, and I have offered you every sort of treasure and riches, and you refused to come to me till such a time as your husband would give you leave." "It is true I said that," said Etain. "I will go if Eochaid gives me up to you."

"I will not give you up," said Eochaid; "I will let him do no more than put his arms about you in this place, as was promised him." "I will do that," said Midhir.

With that he took his sword in his left hand, and he took Etain in his right arm and kissed her. All the armed men in the house made a rush at him then, but he rose up through the roof bringing Etain with him, and when they rushed out of the house to follow him, all they could see was two swans high up in the air, linked together by a chain of gold.

There was great anger on Eochaid then, and he went and searched all through Ireland, but there was no tidings of them to be had, for they were in the houses of the Sidhe.
It was to the Brugh of Angus on the Boinn they went first, and after they had stopped there a while they went to a hill of the Sidhe in Connacht. And there was a serving-maid with Etain at that time, Cruachan Croderg her name was, and she said to Midhir: "Is this your own place we are in?" "It is not," said Midhir; "my own place is nearer to the rising of the sun." She was not well pleased to stop there when she heard that, and Midhir said to quiet her: "It is your own name will be put on this place from this out." And the hill was called the Hill of Cruachan from that time.

Then they went to Bri Leith; and Etain's daughter Esa came to them there, and she brought a hundred of every sort of cattle with her, and Midhir fostered her for seven years. And all through that time Eochaid the High King was making a search for them.

But at last Codal of the Withered Breast took four rods of yew and wrote Oghams on them, and through them and through his enchantments he found out that Etain was with Midhir in Bri Leith.

So Eochaid went there, and made an attack on the place, and he was for nine years besieging it, and Midhir was driving him away. And then his people began digging through the hill; and when they were getting near to where Etain was, Midhir sent three times twenty beautiful women, having all of them the appearance of Etain, and he bade the king choose her out from among them. And the first he chose was his own daughter Esa. But then Etain called to him, and he knew her, and he brought her home to Teamhair.

And Eochaid gave his daughter Esa her choice of a place for herself. 

And she chose it, and made a rath there, that got the name of Rath Esa. And from it she could see three notable places, the Hill of the Sidhe in Broga, and the Hill of the Hostages in Teamhair, and Dun Crimthain on Beinn Edair.

But there was great anger on Midhir and his people because of their hill being attacked and dug into. And it was in revenge for that insult they brought Conaire, High King of Ireland, that was grandson of Eochaid and of Etain, to his death afterwards at Da Derga's Inn.


Thank you dear friends for being here to read and to share your thoughts, they are much appreciated. I hope that you have enjoyed reading the story. 
Thank you for sharing your time with me. Have a beautiful day filled with love and happiness,
from your Fairy Lady



AYÚDEME PROSPERAR, IGUAL QUE TÚ

AYÚDEME PROSPERAR, IGUAL QUE TÚ
HELP ME PROSPER, JUST LIKE YOU