She has certainly done the rounds. She was the second wife of Midir, and their marriage caused no little jealousy in the heart of his ex, Fúamnach. With a little help from friends, she magically changed Étaín into a pool of water.

Midir, very perplexed when his wife went missing, started investigations on a Godly scale. To keep ahead of the game, Fúamnach then changed Étaín into a worm. And then a fly... but whoosh, the fly flew down her throat, and — as happens surprisingly often in these cases — Fúamnach became pregnant.

Eventually Étaín was reborn — as a mortal. Growing from a baby into she knew not who, she married a king called Eochaidh. But she really fancied his brother Ailill, which probably caused a little ill-will.

To cut a long story short, one day she met Midir again, had a memory lapse in reverse and fancied him something rotten. And vice versa. To untangle the whole marriage confusion, he managed to win her at a game of chess, and although we’re sure there’s much more, we should stop whilst we have a relatively happy ending.

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Article last revised on May 23, 2019 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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