Faery Places

Magh Ildathach (Plain of Many Colors) Magh Breac, Bregmag, Bregia (Speckled Plain) Meayll Breck, Maol Breac, Maith Breac, Béal a’ na breac (World of the Bright Shadow) Hy-Brasil (Portuguese: Glowing Ember Tree) Brí Léith (Fair Green)

A be find in raga lim
O fair-haired lady come with me
I tir n-ingnad hi fil rind
Into a marvellous land of music
Is and nad bi mui na tai,
There is neither mine nor thine
gela det and, dubai brai,
white teeth there, black eyebrows;
Is li sula lin ar sluag,
A delight to the eye is the crowd;
no is brece is dath sion and cech gruad:
every cheek the colour of foxglove:
cid cain deicsiu maigi Fail
though pleasant the Fal Plains
annam iar gnais maige mair.
after knowledge of the Great Plain.
Cid mesc lib coirm inse Fail,
Though intoxicating the Isle of Destiny’s ale,
is mescu coirm tire mair,
intoxicating ale of a great country
amra tire tir asbiur,
wonderland is the land I mention,
ni theit oac and re siun.
never goes a young man before an old man.
...Srotha teith millsi tar tir,
Sweet warm streams flow through the land,
rogu de mid ocus fin,
choice mead and wine;
doini delgnaidi, cen on,
matchless people without blemish,
combart cen pecead, cen col.
conception without sin, without lust.
Atchiam cach for each leth,
We see everyone on all sides,
ocus ni-conn acci nech;
and no one sees us;
temel imorbais adaim
it is the darkness of Adam’s trespass
do-don-archeil ar araim
that hides us from the multitudes.
–Tochmarc Etain: Wooing of Etain

(pron. MOY BREHK, môy bräg, MAW BRAYG, BREE LAY) A great plain full of music mentioned by Nemglan: King of the Birds. Speckled, spotted with stones. It has dewdrops of honey, clear streams, silver and bronze chariots, old-yellow horses on the strand, crimson horses, others with sky-blue wool on their backs and many colors of the wind. Appears as an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Braganza, Spain once every 7 years, to look at it is to die. One portal is Brí Léith, Slieve Golry near Ardagh, County Longford, Ireland, another at Dowth: Dark Place in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. 2 mountain rivers, Béalánabreac and Faill Mór at Maam, East County Galway are portals. There is an underground connection between Loch Corrib and the other great lake, Loch Mask. They say that there are 365 islands on the lake but be this true or false, there are hundreds of them there. Cong: White Trout

Ruled by the Tuátha God Midir Mac Daghda: Wren (pron. MY-tir, MY-ter: Medyr ap Indui Medyredydd) who is called Medeyrn beirdd: King of Bards. He is handsome, with long golden hair and blue eyes that shine like the flame of a candle [others say gray]. He wears a green cloak, purple dress with silver brooches in the shape of lions & serpents, red tunic, gold brooches on each shoulder, golden crown and carries a 5 prong spear. Midyir brought the Stone of Destiny from Falias the city that is builded in the north of the De Danaan world to the earth. Midir was hit by a hazel tree twig and lost sight in one eye, then the healer god Dian Cecht: Strong Plough placed the healed eye back in its socket. He goes dreoilín: wren hunting. He was also the owner of the 3 Cranes of Denial & Churlishness, which might be described flippantly as personified gentle hints. They stood beside his door, & when anyone approached to ask for hospitality, the 1st one said: Do not come! do not come! & the 2nd added: Get away! get away! while the 3rd chimed in with: Go past the house! go past the house! These 3 birds were, however, stolen from Mider by Aitherne, an avaricious poet. Midir’s stronghold on the Isle of Falga also called the Isle of Man had 3 wonderful cows & a magic cauldron. Midir’s 3 cows, magic cauldron & daughter Blathnat: Flower were taken by King Conchobar of Ulster’s Red Branch Army.

In Tochmarc Étain: Wooing of Etain He lost a chess game twice to Eochaid Airem, King of Munster, and gave him 50 brown horses for game one. Losing game 2 had him perform 4 feats: Moin Lamraide/Mom Laraide road: Magh Mhór: Great Plain, clearing Midhe: Honey Place of stones, covering Tethra: Sea District with rushes, and covering Darbrech district in Yn Eearvee: Westmeath [¿2 Speckled Trouts?] with trees. Midir won the 3rd game and kissed the goddess Édaín: The Emerald Goddess agreeing to pick her up as his wife after a year. King Eochaid Airem barricaded the entryway of Tara at the appointed time, taking his place at the feast with the beautiful Étaín beside him all glittering with jewels and a golden crown on her head. The revelry went on until midnight. Just then, to his horror, the king looked up and there stood Midir in the middle of the hall, but noone seemed to percieve him except the king. He fixed his eyes on the queen, and coming towards her, he struck the golden harp he had in his hand and sang in a low, sweet voice, the words at left. Then he gently put his arms round the queen’s waist and went forth with her through the midst of all the guests, none hindering, and the king himself was like one in a dream, and could neither speak nor move. Eochaid’s Druid made spells with oghams on 4 wands of a hazel tree to discover she was at an enchanted palace deep down in a hill in the center of Ireland. When Eochaid Airem came to retrieve her on Halloween all he saw were 2 swans high up in the air, linked together by a golden chain. Midir by his enchantments sent forth 50 beautiful women identical to Étaín, yet Étaín was lifted by enchantment and came back with Eochaid to Tara. Midir keeps Étaín in a grianon: sunhouse for part of the year sustained on flowers. Midir’s jealous wife Fuamach: Sonorousness turned her into a dragonfly 3 times: each time she visited. The god Angus: Youth Son of Bees, Midir’s brother, made Étaín a beautiful palace with all the colors of the rainbow with 4 windows. To the west is a forest of golden apples, oak, and pine. The north window is a white mountain shaped like a spear, and white like flame, the south a far-stretching plain with many little gleaming lakes and the east a white sea; the window to the East fast closed, and Angus said she must never unbar it. Étain was happy for a long time in the rainbow-palace; at last the old longing came to her and she grew weary. [Worlds List]

Midir’s Brothers: Bodb Dearg: Dangerous Red, Cermait: Honey Mouth Yew, Coll: Hazel, Dían Cécht: Ploughman, Digon: Enough, Cathbad: Grain Cauldron, Gralon: Full Rank, Grannus: Sun, Tristan: Oak (6, 11:2, 23, 46, 47, 58. 75, 88, 97, 123. 133, 150, 161, 183, 253)