The Young King Of Easaidh Ruadh
Encyclopedia
The Young King Of Easaidh Ruadh is a Scottish fairy tale
collected by John Francis Campbell
in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands
, listing his informant as James Wilson, a blind fiddler, in Islay. Andrew Lang
included a variant in The Lilac Fairy Book, as "The King of the Waterfalls", listing his source West Highland Tales.
He went to play a third
time, and this time he lost. The Gruagach set as the stakes that he must get the Glaive of Light of the king of the oak windows, or lose his head. He went back to his wife. She told him he had the best wife and the best horse and should not be afraid. She saddled the horse herself; the saddle looked like wood but was full of sparklings with gold and silver. She told him to listen to his horse.
The horse bore him to the castle of the king of the oak windows and sent him into the king's chambers while the king ate, warning him to take it softly. He made a soft sound, and the horse told him they must flee. They were chased by a swarm of brown horses, which they could outrun, and then by a swarm of black horses, one white-faced and with a rider. The horse told him that horse was its brother, and faster; he must cut off the head of the rider, the king. He did, and his horse had him ride the black horse home. He brought the sword to the Gruagach and, as his wife warned him to, stabbed him to death in a mole.
He came home to find a giant
had stolen his wife and the two horses. He set out in search and met a cu seang, a dog. They greeted each other and the dog gave him meat. He thought he should go home, having no way to recover his wife and horses. The dog encouraged him and sent him on, promising to aid him. The next nights, he met a falcon and an otter as well, who did the same. Then he found a cave where his wife and the two horses were. She wept; he complained that he had journeyed hard to find her. The horses told her to hide him before them all.
The giant returned and the wife persuaded him that no one had come. He went to feed the horses, and they would not let him come near. He said if he had his soul in his body, they would have killed him. She asked where it was; he told her in the Bonnach stone, near the edge. When he left the next day, she pushed it so it was steady on the ledge, and told him she was afraid it would be hurt. He said his soul was in the threshold. She cleaned it, because his soul was in it, and he told her that a stone was under the threshold, and a sheep under it. The sheep held a duck, the duck held an egg, and the egg held his soul.
The king and queen moved the threshold and the stone. The sheep escaped, and the king called on the dog to catch it; the duck escaped, and the king called on the falcon to catch it; the egg rolled into the river, and the king called on the otter to retrieve it. The queen crushed it, killing the giant. They went home with the giant's gold and silver, visiting the otter, the falcon, and the dog on the way.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collected by John Francis Campbell
John Francis Campbell
John Francis Campbell , Celtic scholar, educated at Eton and Edinburgh, was afterwards Secretary to the Lighthouse Commission...
in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands
Popular Tales of the West Highlands
Popular Tales of the West Highlands is a four-volume collection of fairy tales, collected and published by John Francis Campbell, and often translated from Gaelic as well. Alexander Carmichael was one of the main contributors...
, listing his informant as James Wilson, a blind fiddler, in Islay. Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
included a variant in The Lilac Fairy Book, as "The King of the Waterfalls", listing his source West Highland Tales.
Synopsis
The young king of Easaidh Ruadh decided to amuse himself by playing a game with the Gruagach. He sought advice from a Seanagal first. He did not take his advice to not go, but the Seanagal told him to ask for the prize, if he won, the cropped rough-skinned maid behind the door. He went and won at the game. When he would not be put off from his prize, they gave him the maid, and she turned into a beautiful woman. He married her. He went to play again, and his wife warned him that it was her father, and he should take only the dun shaggy filly that has the stick saddle on her. He won, and go the filly.He went to play a third
Rule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...
time, and this time he lost. The Gruagach set as the stakes that he must get the Glaive of Light of the king of the oak windows, or lose his head. He went back to his wife. She told him he had the best wife and the best horse and should not be afraid. She saddled the horse herself; the saddle looked like wood but was full of sparklings with gold and silver. She told him to listen to his horse.
The horse bore him to the castle of the king of the oak windows and sent him into the king's chambers while the king ate, warning him to take it softly. He made a soft sound, and the horse told him they must flee. They were chased by a swarm of brown horses, which they could outrun, and then by a swarm of black horses, one white-faced and with a rider. The horse told him that horse was its brother, and faster; he must cut off the head of the rider, the king. He did, and his horse had him ride the black horse home. He brought the sword to the Gruagach and, as his wife warned him to, stabbed him to death in a mole.
He came home to find a giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
had stolen his wife and the two horses. He set out in search and met a cu seang, a dog. They greeted each other and the dog gave him meat. He thought he should go home, having no way to recover his wife and horses. The dog encouraged him and sent him on, promising to aid him. The next nights, he met a falcon and an otter as well, who did the same. Then he found a cave where his wife and the two horses were. She wept; he complained that he had journeyed hard to find her. The horses told her to hide him before them all.
The giant returned and the wife persuaded him that no one had come. He went to feed the horses, and they would not let him come near. He said if he had his soul in his body, they would have killed him. She asked where it was; he told her in the Bonnach stone, near the edge. When he left the next day, she pushed it so it was steady on the ledge, and told him she was afraid it would be hurt. He said his soul was in the threshold. She cleaned it, because his soul was in it, and he told her that a stone was under the threshold, and a sheep under it. The sheep held a duck, the duck held an egg, and the egg held his soul.
The king and queen moved the threshold and the stone. The sheep escaped, and the king called on the dog to catch it; the duck escaped, and the king called on the falcon to catch it; the egg rolled into the river, and the king called on the otter to retrieve it. The queen crushed it, killing the giant. They went home with the giant's gold and silver, visiting the otter, the falcon, and the dog on the way.
See also
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- The Flower Queen's DaughterThe Flower Queen's DaughterThe Flower Queen's Daughter is a Bukovinan fairy tale collected by Dr Heinrich von Wlislocki in Märchen Und Sagen Der Bukowinaer Und Siebenbûrger Armenier. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
- The Giant Who Had No Heart in His BodyThe Giant Who Had No Heart in His BodyThe Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.George MacDonald retold it as "The Giant's Heart" in Adela Cathcart...
- What came of picking FlowersWhat came of picking FlowersWhat came of picking Flowers is a Portuguese fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.-Synopsis:A woman had three daughters. One day, one picked a pink rose and vanished. The next day, the second, searching for her sister, picked a rose and vanished. The third day, the third...
- The Sea-MaidenThe Sea-MaidenThe Sea-Maiden is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John Mackenzie, fisherman, near Inverary. Joseph Jacobs included it in Celtic Fairy Tales.-Synopsis:...
- The Dragon and the PrinceThe Dragon and the PrinceThe Dragon and the Prince or The Prince and the Dragon is a Serbian fairy tale collected by A. H. Wratislaw in his Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources, tale number 43...
- The Three Daughters of King O'HaraThe Three Daughters of King O'HaraThe Three Daughters of King O'Hara is an Irish fairy tale collected by Jeremiah Curtin in Myths and Folk-lore of Ireland.-Synopsis:A king had three daughters. One day, when he was away, his oldest daughter wished to marry. She got his cloak of darkness, and wished for the handsomest man in the...