Re-told Tales: Finbheara, The Faerie King & Ethna, The Bride...

     Finbheara [pronounced "Finvarra"] was the Tuatha de Dannan king of western Eire, who had a palace under Knock-ma hill in Connaugh.  Although he had one of the most beautiful faerie women, Ooona, as his wife he still desired human females.  And, so, he saw the bride Ethna, with her long, wavy blond hair and her skin like pink roses and knew he had to have her.  So, he stole her and took her to his faerie rath.

     Ethna's young human husband was not going to stand for this outrageous behavior and he mustered a troop of strong men to dig down into the hill of Knock-ma.  They dug and dug and dug until darkness fell.  Then, they put up their shovels and stopped for the night, intending to resume the next day.  You can imagine their surprise and frustration, when the next morning they saw no evidence at all of their digging!  Even the grass had grown over the spot at night!  It was all as before...

     So, the men began digging again, - and once again!  The next days, there was no sign of the deep trench they had made to go down into the faerie mound, to Finbheara's palace.  This all happened one more time.  Ethna's human husband was very angry, when, suddenly, he heard above him a voice that said, - "Sprinkle salt over your digging and Finbheara will not be able to cover over it."  Ethna's husband did this and saw that the dirt was not replaced the following morning.  His men began to dig once more.  This time deeper and deeper and deeper. 

     Then, they heard the voice say, - "Finbheara is sad because you have almost reached his palace.  A few more shovelsful of dirt and it's walls will crumble.  So, stop now and he will give you Ethna tomorrow morning."

     The husband was overjoyed and ordered his men to stop digging.  The next day, at dawn, the husband was very happy to see his wife Ethna approaching him, completely covered by a silver veil.  The husband kissed her and took her home.  But, she laid down on a couch, appearing like a dead person, a wax effigy of Ethna.  The husband went back to the digging and asked for the "real Ethna".  He was told that Finbheara had Ethna's spirit still with him in his palace, but that she would return to him entirely if the husband loosened and burnt her girdle, then scattered the ashes to the wind and buried the faerie pin holding it fast under a thorn bush.  This he did, with great difficulty.

     At the end of these tasks, Ethna became lively, her old self, and told her husband that she felt as if her time with Finbheara was like a dream of one night.  Finbheara never bothered the couple again.