Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

134 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[161]Smooth and sweet are the streams that flow through it; meadand wine abound of every kind; there men are allfair, without blemish; there women conceivewithout sin.We see around us on every side, yet no man seeth us; the cloudof the sin of Adam hides us from theirobservation.“O lady, if thou wilt come to my strong people, the purest ofgold shall be on thy head—thy meat shall beswine's flesh unsalted, 126 new milk and meadshall thou drink with me there, O fair-hairedwoman.I have given this remarkable lyric at length because, thoughChristian and ascetic ideas are obviously discernible in it, itrepresents on the whole the pagan and mythical conception ofthe Land of Youth, the country of the Dead.Etain, however, is by no means ready to go away with astranger and to desert the High King for a man “without nameor lineage.” Midir tells her who he is, and all her own historyof which, in her present incarnation, she knows nothing; andhe adds that it was one thousand and twelve years from Etain'sbirth in the Land of Youth till she was born a mortal child tothe wife of Etar. Ultimately Etain agrees to return with Midir toher ancient home, but only on condition that the king will agreeto their severance, and with this Midir has to be content for thetime.A Game of ChessShortly afterwards he appears to King Eochy, as alreadyrelated, 127 on the Hill of Tara. He tells the king that he has cometo play a game of chess with him, and produces a chessboard126 The reference is to the magic swine of Mananan, which were killed andeaten afresh every day, and whose meat preserved the eternal youth of thePeople of Dana.127 See p. 124.