—­“A hundred thousand welcomes to you,” said the high king.  “Who is it you are?”

—­“I know well who you are,” said the warrior, “and for a long time.”

—­“What name is on you?” said Eochaid.

—­“Nothing illustrious about it in the world,” said the other.  “I am Midir of Bregleith.”

—­“What has brought you hither?”

—­“I am come to play at chess with you.”

—­“I have great skill at chess,” said the high king; and indeed, he was the best at it in Ireland, in those days.

—­“We shall see about that,” said Midir.

—­“But the queen is sleeping in her chamber now,” said Eochaid; “and it is there the chessboard is.”

—­“Little matter,” said Midir, “I have here a board as good as yours is.”

And that was the truth.  His chessboard was of silver, glittering with precious stones at each corner.  From a satchel wrought of shining metal he took his chessmen, which were of pure gold.  Then he arranged them on the board.—­“Play you,” said he.

—­“I will not play without a stake,” said the king.

—­“What will the stake be?” said Midir.

—­“All one to me,” said Eochaid.

—­“If you win,” said Midir, “I will give you fifty broad-chested horses with slim swift feet.”

—­“And if you win,” said Eochaid Airem, sure of victory, “I will give you whatever you demand.”

Midir won that game, and demanded Etain the queen.  But the rules of chess are that the vanquished may claim his revenge,—­a second game, that is, to decide the matter; and the high king proposed that it should be played at the end of a year.  Midir agreed, and vanished.

The year ended, and Eochaid was at Tara; he had had the palace surrounded by a great armed host against Midir; and Etain was there with him.  Here is the description of Etain: 

“A clear comb of silver was held in her hand, the comb was adorned with gold; and near her, as for washing, was a basin of silver whereon four birds had been chased, and there were little bright gems of carbuncles on the rim of the basin.  A bright purple mantle waved round her; and beneath it another mantle with fringes of silver:  the outer one clasped over her bosom with a golden brooch.  A tunic she wore, with a long hood that might cover her head attached to it; it was stiff and glossy with green silk beneath red embroidery of gold, and clasped over her breast with marvelously wrought clasps of gold and silver, so that men saw the bright gold and the green silk flashing against the sun.  On her head were two tresses of golden hair, and each tress plaited into four strands, and at the end of each strand a little ball of gold.  Each of her two arms was as white as the snow of a single night, and each of her two cheeks of the hue of the foxglove.  Even and small the teeth in her head, and they shone like pearls.  Her eyes were blue as the blue hyacinth, her lips delicate and crimson. . . .  White as snow, or the foam of the wave, was her neck. . . .  Her feet were slim and white as the ocean foam; evenly set were her eyes, and the eyebrows of a bluish black, such as you see on the shell of a beetle.”