Queens: B

Bioras Buí, Biror, Berwr, Beler (Yellow Lily)
Irish triple goddess and daughter of Leno. She takes the form of a beautiful young maiden who carries a yellow lily at her breast and bathes every day at noon in Lóch Léin: Leno’s Lake: Veiled Lake, Killarney Cill Airne: Church of the Sloes (pronounced kih LAHR nee), County Kerry, Ireland with her sisters blue lily and white lily. Her father played cards against the son of the king of Ireland in 3 games. The 1st for 2 estates. The 2nd for 500 bulls with gold horns and silver hooves and the 3rd for their heads. The King’s son lost the 3rd time and had to give his head up after a year and a day. He journeyed to a hill and met 3 long-toothed hags over a period of 3 days. The oldest of the 3 sisters gave him thread to lead him to the giant’s castle and warned him that it was surrounded by 700 iron spikes covered with heads of noblemen and that the last spike was reserved for him if he did not heed her advice which was to steal the clothes of the Yellow Lily while she was bathing in the lake. He followed the instructions and Yellow Lily promised to save his life in exchange for her clothes. She saved him from drowning, eating bewitched meat and helped him complete 3 tasks: clearing a stable to find the giant’s bar an suan: sleep pin, thatching a house with bird feathers, and getting a crows egg from a 900 foot tall glass tree.
When the feast was over she took out a knife from her pocket and said: -“Now you must kill me, strip the flesh from my bones, take all the bones apart, and use them as steps for climbing the tree. When you are climbing the tree, they will stick to the glass as if they had grown out of it; but when you are coming down, and have put your foot on each one, they will drop into your hand when you touch them. Be sure and stand on each bone, leave none untouched if you do. it will stay behind. Put all my flesh into this clean cloth by the side of the spring at the roots of the tree. When you come to the earth, arrange my bones together, put the flesh over them, sprinkle it with water from the spring, and I shall be alive and well before you. But don’t forget a bone of me on the tree.” The king forgot to step on the very last bone and she was put back together with 9 toes. All the tasks were completed and they married. bioras: Water lily. cuirinnein, duileag bhaite bhàn: white water lily. The Tiffenotes live on the Moselle & protect white water lilies (25, 147)

[French Ministry of Education Site: Centre national de documentation pédagogique]