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Editions

• S. H. O'Grady (ed. & tr.), Silva Gadelica (London 1892) I.326-30; II.368-73.

• Whitley Stokes (ed. & tr.), ‘The Death of Crimthann son of Fidach, and the Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedón’, RC xxiv (1903) 190-207.
  

Manuscripts

• The Yellow Book of Lecan

• The Book of Ballymote
  

Date

• Both Stokes and Dillon (Cycles 38) note that the tale in its extant form cannot predate the eleventh century.  This is in large part due to the reference at the end of the saga to King Máelsechnaill mac Domnaill who died in 1022.
  

Characters

• Eochaid Muigmedón mac Muiredaig Tírig: king of Ireland from Dál Cuinn.  Eochaid is the husband of Mongfhind ingen Fhidaig and by her the father of Brían (alias Brión), Fíachra, Fergus, and Ailill.  By Cairenn Casdub ingen Scáil, he is the father of Níall Noígíallach, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill.

• Brían (alias Brión): son of Eochaid Muigmedón and the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Briúin (an important Connacht dynasty)

• Fíachra: son of Eochaid Muigmedón and the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Fíachrach (an important Connacht dynasty)

• Ailill: son of Eochaid Muigmedón and the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Ailello (a minor Connacht dynasty)

• Fergus: son of Eochaid Muigmedón.  Fergus’s descendants did not achieve political prominence.

• Níall Noígíallach (d. in fifth century): king of Tara and the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill.

• Cairenn Casdub: the daughter of Scál Balb, king of the Saxons, and the mother of Níall Noígíallach.  She is attached to Eochaid Muigmedón either as a second wife or as a female slave captured on a raid.  Her social status is never specified in the text.

• Mongfhind: the daughter of Fidach and the brother of Crimthann mac Fidaig.  She is the wife of King Eochaid Muigmedón and the mother of Brión, Fíachra, Ailill, and Fergus.

• Torna Éices: a famous poet and the foster-father of Níall Noígíallach.

• Sithchend: the druid-smith associated with Eochaid’s household.
  

Notes

• This story is essentially the origin legend of the Uí Néill dynasty.

• A version of this tale in verse was written by Cuan Ó Lothchain (d. 1024).  Copies of the poem survive in the Book of Leinster and in Rawlinson B 502.  An edition and translation can be found in Maud Joynt (ed. & tr.), ‘Echtra mac Echdach Mugmedóin’, Ériu 4 (1908-1910) 91-111.

• As Dillon notes, the story ‘contains the motif of the evil-looking hag who is transformed by [Níall’s] kiss into a lovely maiden and reveals herself as the hypostasis of Sovranty’ (Cycles 38).  In Irish tradition, this motif is also found in a story about Lugaid Loígde, which is preserved in Cóir Anmann §70.

• Analogues of this motif can be found in later English literature.  Examples identified by Fred Robinson, Whitley Stokes, and Myles Dillon include the anonymous Middle English romance The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnall, Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and John Gower’s ‘Tale of Florent’ from Confessio Amantis.

• An earlier version of the burning of the workshop episode can be found in the Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories (ZCP 8, p. 304, ll. 31-8).  A translation of this episode can be found in Eleanor Knott and Gerard Murphy, Early Irish Literature (Barnes & Noble, Inc. 1966) 132-3.
  

Summary

Eochaid Muigmedón was king of Ireland.  By his wife Mongfhind, he had four sons, Brían, Fíachra, Ailill, and Fergus, and by Cairenn Casdub, he had another son named Níall.  Mongfhind, however, was bitterly jealous of Cairenn, so much so that when Cairenn was pregnant with Níall, Mongfhind forced her to perform heavy labor in the hopes that the child would die in utero (co n-eplead in lenap ina broind).  In due course, Cairenn went into labor and bore Níall on the green of Tara, but she was so afraid of Mongfhind that she dare not abandon her work, so she left the child on the ground exposed to the elements.  Nor would anyone else dare to rescue the boy because rumor had it that Mongfhind had powerful magic and everyone was afraid of her (ba mór a cumachta si 7 a huaman for cách).

Soon, though, the poet Torna came upon the infant Níall, picked him up, and as soon as he did so, he prophesized that the child would be a great king.  Torna took him home and raised him until he was old enough and fit enough to be king.  When the two came back to Tara, Níall freed his mother from servitude and dressed her in purple garments.

Needless to say, this act infuriated Mongfhind, all the more so because the people of Ireland began to rally behind Níall.  In response, she demanded that her husband name his successor.  Eochaid, however, demurred, passing the decision off to his druid, a man named Sithchenn.  To choose Eochaid’s successor, Sithchenn devised a test: all Eochaid’s sons were put inside a smithy and the smithy was lit on fire.  Sithchenn interpreted the worth of each son by the items he rescued from the blaze.  Níall brought out ‘the anvil and its block’ (in indeoin cona cip), and by this, Sithchenn determined that he was the best person to succeed his father.

Mongfhind, naturally, was not pleased by this turn of events.  She then told her four sons to start fighting amongst themselves, so that Níall would feel obligated to intervene and separate them.  As he tried to, though, they would be able to kill him and make it look like an accident.  However, just as Níall was about to intervene, Torna Éices prevented him saying ‘let the sons of Mongfhind be peaceful’ (bad sídaig maic na Moingfindi), and that sentence became a famous Irish proverb.

Still hoping to secure the kingship for one of her sons, Mongfhind sent the young men to Sithchenn to be given arms.  The druid-smith armed them all, but gave the finest weapons to Níall and sent them off into the wilderness to try their luck hunting.

Although the brothers killed some game, they managed to get themselves lost in the process.  Eventually, they settled down and cooked some food.  When they had eaten, they became quite thirsty.  Fergus volunteered to go find water and soon chanced upon a well guarded by the foulest looking hag he had ever seen.  She offered to give him some water in exchange for a kiss, but he refused and returned to his brothers empty handed.  One by one, the other brothers venture out for water and encounter the hag.  They all refused her price, save Fíachra, who gave the hag ‘a few kisses’ (póici uaddi), but returned with no water.  However, when it was Níall’s turn to go and look for water, he not only volunteered to kiss the hag but to have sex with her as well, but as soon as he got on top of her, the hag was transformed into a gorgeous young woman.  She then explained to him that she was Sovereignty (Misi in Flaithius, or si), which is foul when first sought, but fair once obtained.  Because he willingly embraced her, Níall would become king and his children would be king after him, save for two of Fíachra’s descendants.  She then instructed him to return to his brothers but to refuse to give them any water until they formally recognized his seniority.  Níall did as he was instructed.

When the brothers returned to Tara, Níall told Eochaid, Mongfhind, Sithchenn and the rest everything that had happened, and his brothers confirmed that they had granted him ‘seniority and the kingship’ (Doradsam ar sindserrdacht do Niall 7 ar rígi in céfhecht dar ceand uisci).

And so, the saga writer notes, Níall’s descendants—aside from a few interruptions—have held the Tara kingship from his time until the reign of Máelsechnaill mac Domnaill (d. 1022).