an and Ki

d all their captains and men of war came thither, to show their feats before the King, among whom was the strong man, namely Glowar, whose might was such that with his battle-axe he could hew down a thistle at one st

. Soon the wine began to flow from the vats of dark-red yew-wood, and the carvers carved busily at great haunches of roast hares and ribs of field

with pride, and he asked of the company, "Come now, have any of you ever seen a king more glorious and powerful than I am?" "Never, in truth," cried they all. "Have ye ever seen a stronger man than my giant, Glowar?" "Never, O King," said they. "Or battle-steeds and men-at-arms better than mine?" "By

oved thee to this laughter?" "I know a province in Erinn," replied Eisirt, "one man of whom would harry Faylinn in the teeth of all four battalions of th

me, O mighty King, but three days' respite, that I may travel to Erinn to the court of Fergus mac Leda, and

lease him, and he fare

t, lords and ladies,

r was twisted in four-ply strands after the manner of poets and he wore a gold-embroidered tunic of silk and an ample scarlet cloak with a fringe of gold. On his feet he wore shoes of white bronze ornamented with gold, and a silken hood was on his head. The gatekeeper wondered at the sight of the wee man, and went to report the matter to King Fergus. "Is he less," asked Fergus, "than my dwarf and poet ?da?" "Verily," said the gatekeeper, "he could stand

d him." The cupbearer seized Eisirt and put him into a tankard of ale, and he swam on the surface of it. "Ye wise men of Ulster," he cried, "there is much knowledge and wisdom ye might get from me, yet ye will let me be drowned!" "What, then?" cried they. Then Eisirt, beginning with the King, set out to tell every hidden sin

ful art." "That will I," said Eisirt, "and the poem that I shall recite to you sh

arch o

dan my

w is sn

black a

ed cop

itten w

geth t

dan th

en, th

ic and

ords of

for th

tacle

orrent t

waving

ridles al

eks all

ttle-steed

errible, death

, straight

ubdan i

men one

dens ar

old is t

ilver

rk, he

ver sha

and we

ontlets

throug

usic do

gus,

n all

a maiden so p

give her

sses t

l thee, t

st never

y, magnificent

ll man standing. Then Eisirt said, "Truly a generous and a worthy reward have ye given me, O men of Ulster; yet take back these precious things I pray you, for every man in my king's household hath an abundance of them." But

to his own country. Now ?da, the King's dwarf and minstrel, begged Eisirt to take him with him on a visit to the land of Faylinn; and Eisirt said, "I shall not bid thee com

t ran off like a flash and was soon an arrow flight in front of ?da. When the latter at last came up with him, he said, "The right thing, Ei

ce of the waves. "Save and protect us!" cried ?da at that sight; and Eisirt asked him what he saw. "A red-maned hare," answered ?da. "Nay, but that is Iubdan's horse," said Eisirt, and with that the creature came prancing to land with flashing eyes and waving tail and a long

the ocean till at last they reached the Kingdom of Faylinn, and there were a great concourse of the Wee Folk

Ulster. He is moreover the King of Ulster's dwarf, and in all that realm he is the smallest man. He can lie in their great men's bosoms and stand upon their hands as though he were a child; yet

e for thyself the region from which we have come, and make trial of the

aid under bonds of chivalry by Eisirt to go to the land of the giants; and he bade her prepare to

, and it was now past midnight. And they were greatly afraid, and said Bebo, "Let us searc

o reach the silver ladle that was in it. In straining downward to do so, however, he slipped and in he fell, and up to his middle in the thick porridge he stuck fast. And when Bebo heard what a plight he was in, she wept, and said, "Rash and hasty wert thou, Iubdan, to have got into this evil case, but surely

an to be stirring, and ere long th

with great laughter b

ellow that was here before, for he had yellow hair, but this o

"and am indeed king over them, and th

varlets, "and guard him well"; for he mis

e coarse fellows. I pledge thee my word that I will no

said Fergus, "I would

my word," said Iubdan

, and he kindled the fire for Iubdan, throwing on it a woodbine together with divers other sorts of timber. Then Iubdan said, "Man of smoke, burn not the king of the trees, for it i

sts of Inisfail, whom none may bind, but who like a strong monarch holds all the other trees in hard bondage.

branches, of the white blossoms, to whose

good craftsman burns not this timber; little though

ornament of poems; bees drink from its b

rowan with its berries, this burn; but avo

hat speeds the wheel, that yields the rider his s

the sharp and green; he flays and cuts t

you a pain in the head if you use him overmuch,

he hottest tree in the fight; burn assuredly

in the dry; of all trees in the w

rown bark, burn him to cinders

l means burn him too, the

e russet aspen; late or early, burn

od as the companion of feasts he is known; o

the smoke, and it shall go

ome as he pleased; and all the Ulstermen delig

this Iubdan gave a laugh. "Why dost thou laugh?" said Fergus. "Meseems the healing is applied very far from the hurt," replied Iubdan. "What mean

e too thin. At this Iubdan laughed again, and being asked why, he said, "I must need laugh to hear yon fellow grumbling about his brogues, for the soles of these brogues, thin

t out to confer with them. "Give us back our king," said the Wee Folk, "and we shall redeem him with a great ransom." "What ransom, then?" asked Fergus. "We shall," said they, "cause this great

cess to its dam, and in the morn there was no milk to

bdan, we shall defile every well and lake and river in Ulster."

anded Iubdan, saying, "To-night we shall burn with fire the shaft of

delivered to us" "What vengeance?" said Fergus. "We shall snip off every ear of corn

l ye do next?" asked Fergus. "We shall shave the hair of every man and every woman in Ulster," said they, "so that ye shall

have liberty to go and speak with them, and I shall bid them make goo

owshot off, for they believed they had prevailed and that Iubdan was released to them. But Iubdan said, "My faithful people, you must

downcast and sorrowful, but the

d said, "Take, O King, the choices

oicest treasure

uments of music that played without touch of human hand, and vats of ale that could never be emptied; and he named amo

much did he entertain the King and all the court with tales of the smallness of the Wee Folk, and their

aylinn, and to let Iubdan go. And he gave him rich gifts, as did also the nobles of Ulster, and wished him blessing and victory; and I

e river-horse, which inhabited that lake. Horrible of form it was, swelling and contracting like a blacksmith's bellows, and with eyes like torches, and glittering tusks, and a mane of coarse hair on its crest and neck. When it saw Fergus it laid back its ears, and its neck arched like a rainbow over his head, and the vast mouth gaped to devour him. Then Fergus rose quickly t

n let all mirrors that were in the palace be put away. But one day it chanced that a bondmaid was negligent in preparing the bath, and Fergus being impatient, gave her a stroke with a switch whic

saw his face in it, he said, "The woman spake trut

es down in

nd with him went the lords of Ulster. And when he reached the margin of the l

eyes upon the tossing water, they saw Fergus rise to his middle from it, pale and bloody. In his right hand he waved aloft his sword, his left was twisted in the coarse hair of the monster's head, a

that a seed of honour had been sown that day in their land from which shoul