batch.motif.celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg-l1259-l1369
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg-l1259-l1369
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
passage_locator:
label: PROLOGUE IN FAIRYLAND / FROM THE LEABHAR NA H-UIDHRI / THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
/ EGERTON VERSION; lines 1259-1369
start: '1259'
end: '1369'
translation: Heroic Romances of Ireland
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Eochaid encounters Etain, who says she is from the fairy mound and has
loved him since childhood. After a bride-price is paid, he brings her to Tara.
At the Tara feast around Samhain, Ailill, Eochaid's brother, falls in love with
Etain and later becomes gravely sick from concealed love or envy. A physician
identifies the cause, but Ailill will not confess it. Eochaid leaves Etain to
care for Ailill while he travels Ireland and instructs her to arrange burial honors
if Ailill dies. Etain visits Ailill and asks what could heal him; Ailill replies
in verse that he takes no joy in harp music and leaves milk untasted.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Eochaid is seized by desire for a maiden and sends a messenger to her kindred
so she may await him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The maiden identifies herself as Etain, daughter of the king of Echrad, and
says she is from the fairy mound.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Etain says she has lived twenty years in the fairy mound and that fairy-mound
men, kings, and nobles have wooed her, but she refused them because she loved
Eochaid.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Etain asks that a fitting bride-price be paid before her desire is fulfilled.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Eochaid gives seven cumals as Etain's bride-price and brings her to Tara,
where she is welcomed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: 'Ailill Anglonnach is described as Eochaid''s brother and as having one stain:
love for his brother''s wife.'
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The men of Ireland gather for the Feast of Tara for fourteen days before Samhain
and fourteen days after it.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: At the Feast of Tara, Ailill falls in love with Etain and gazes at her for
as long as the feast lasts.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: Ailill's wife says that long gazing is a token of love; Ailill blames himself
and stops looking at Etain.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: After the feast, Ailill becomes afflicted by envy and desire, develops a severe
sickness, and is taken to Fremain in Tethba.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: Ailill remains sick for a year and hides the cause of the sickness.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:12
text: Eochaid and then the physician Fachtna each place a hand on Ailill's chest,
after which Ailill sighs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: obs:13
text: Fachtna says Ailill's sickness is caused by either the pangs of envy or the
pangs of love.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:14
text: Ailill is ashamed and refuses to confess the cause of his illness to Fachtna.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: obs:15
text: Before departing on a royal progress through Ireland, Eochaid tells Etain
to treat Ailill gently and to provide burial honors if he dies.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: obs:16
text: Eochaid specifies a burial mound, a standing-stone, and Ogham writing in memory
of Ailill if Ailill dies.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: obs:17
text: Etain visits the house where Ailill lies sick and asks what ails him and what
would content him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- id: obs:18
text: In verse, Ailill says he takes no joy in the pleasant sound of the harp and
that milk lies untasted beside him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Eochaid Airem
description: King who desires Etain, pays her bride-price, brings her to Tara, and
later leaves on a royal progress through Ireland.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:15
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Etain
description: Maiden from the fairy mound, daughter of the king of Echrad, later
Eochaid's wife, who cares for Ailill during his sickness.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:15
- ev:16
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Ailill Anglonnach
description: Brother of Eochaid, called Ailill of the Single Stain because of his
love for his brother's wife; he becomes sick from envy or love.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:10
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Ailill's wife
description: Daughter of Luchta of the Red Hand from Leinster; she notices Ailill's
long gazing at Etain.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Fachtna
description: Eochaid's chief physician who diagnoses Ailill's sickness as caused
by envy or love.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Men, kings, and nobles of the elf-mounds
description: Inhabitants of the fairy mounds who wooed Etain but were refused.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Men of Ireland
description: Assembly attending the Feast of Tara around Samhain.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: king
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Eochaid is called the king and acts as ruler.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:15
- id: role:2
label: bride-price payer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Eochaid gives seven cumals as Etain's bride-price.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: fairy-mound maiden
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Etain says she is from the fairy mound and was born in the mound where the
fairies dwell.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: beloved bride
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Eochaid desires Etain, pays her bride-price, and brings her to Tara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: brother in forbidden love
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ailill is Eochaid's brother and is said to love his brother's wife.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: lovesick sufferer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Ailill becomes sick after desiring Etain, and Fachtna attributes the illness
to envy or love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:13
- id: role:7
label: absent royal traveler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Eochaid departs on a royal progress through Ireland for a year.
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: role:8
label: caregiver and questioner
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Eochaid asks Etain to deal gently with Ailill, and she visits him to ask
what would content him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- ev:16
- id: role:9
label: observer of love-token
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Ailill's wife identifies long gazing as a token of love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:10
label: diagnostic physician
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Fachtna is summoned as chief physician and diagnoses Ailill's condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: role:11
label: unsuccessful otherworld suitors
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The fairy-mound men, kings, and nobles wooed Etain, but she refused them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:12
label: festival assembly
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: All the men of Ireland come to the Feast of Tara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: fairy mound
literal_form: mound where the fairies dwell
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: bride-price of seven cumals
literal_form: value of seven cumals
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: Tara feast at Samhain
literal_form: festival of Tara held fourteen days before and after Samhain
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:4
label: long gazing
literal_form: Ailill gazing upon Etain from afar
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: sick-bed
literal_form: Ailill lying sick for a year in Fremain of Tethba
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:16
- id: sym:6
label: burial mound and standing-stone
literal_form: burial mound, standing-stone, and Ogham inscription
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: sym:7
label: milk untasted
literal_form: milk lying untasted beside Ailill
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
- id: sym:8
label: harp sound without joy
literal_form: pleasant sound of the harp that gives Ailill no joy
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:17
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Etain identifies herself to Eochaid
summary: Eochaid seeks speech with the maiden; Etain gives her name, lineage, fairy-mound
origin, and long-standing love for him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Bride-price and arrival at Tara
summary: Etain requires a fitting bride-price; Eochaid gives seven cumals and brings
her to Tara, where she is welcomed.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Ailill's love at the Tara feast
summary: During the Tara feast around Samhain, Ailill gazes at Etain until his wife
identifies the gaze as a token of love; he then stops looking at her.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:4
label: Ailill's concealed sickness and diagnosis
summary: After the feast Ailill becomes sick from desire and envy, hides the cause,
and is diagnosed by Fachtna as suffering from envy or love.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:12
- ev:13
- ev:14
- id: scene:5
label: Eochaid entrusts Ailill to Etain
summary: Eochaid leaves on a royal progress and asks Etain to treat Ailill gently
and arrange a mound, standing-stone, and Ogham inscription if he dies.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
- id: scene:6
label: Etain questions Ailill in his sickness
summary: Etain visits Ailill and asks what ails him and what would heal him; Ailill
answers that he does not enjoy harp music and leaves milk untasted.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:16
- ev:17
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Otherworld woman becomes king's bride
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
- sacred_marriage
basis: Etain is identified as a maiden from the fairy mound; Eochaid desires her,
pays her bride-price, and brings her to Tara as his wife.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses fairy-mound origin rather than explicitly divine status;
the sacred-marriage framing is interpretive and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:2
label: Bride-price as condition for union
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Etain requires that a fitting bride-price be paid before her desire is fulfilled,
and Eochaid pays seven cumals.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents a legal or social exchange; any sacred dimension
depends on wider context.
- id: motif:3
label: Concealed forbidden love causes wasting sickness
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Ailill loves his brother's wife, becomes sick after the feast, hides the
cause, and is diagnosed as suffering from envy or love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:10
- ev:11
- ev:13
- ev:14
confidence: high
cautions: No taxonomy reference is supplied that directly names lovesickness or
forbidden desire.
- id: motif:4
label: Seasonal festival as setting for desire
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: The love of Ailill for Etain arises at the Feast of Tara, held before and
after Samhain, the day when summer ends.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage makes Samhain the temporal setting; it does not explicitly
state that the seasonal boundary causes the desire.
- id: motif:5
label: Memorial mound and inscribed standing-stone for the threatened dead
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Eochaid instructs Etain that if Ailill dies, a burial mound should be heaped,
a standing-stone set up, and Ogham letters written on it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:15
confidence: high
cautions: This is an instructed funerary commemoration rather than an enacted burial
in the passage.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1259-1265
quote_or_summary: Eochaid desires the maiden, sends a man to her kindred, comes
to her, and asks her origin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: 1265-1268
quote_or_summary: '"Etain is my name, the daughter of the king of Echrad; ''out
of the fairy mound'' am I"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1268-1281
quote_or_summary: Etain says she came under Eochaid's safeguard, has lived twenty
years since birth in the fairy mound, was wooed by fairy-mound men, kings, and
nobles, and loved Eochaid before seeing him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 1283-1285
quote_or_summary: '"Let the bride-price that befits me be paid," said the maiden,
"and after that let my desire be fulfilled."'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1285-1288
quote_or_summary: Eochaid gives the value of seven cumals as bride-price and brings
Etain to Tara, where she is welcomed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 1290-1295
quote_or_summary: Three brothers, sons of Finn, include Eochaid Airem and Ailill
Anglonnach; Ailill's only stain is love for his brother's wife.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 1295-1299
quote_or_summary: All the men of Ireland come to the festival of Tara for fourteen
days before Samhain, when summer ends, and fourteen days after.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 1299-1302
quote_or_summary: At the Tara feast, love for Etain comes upon Ailill, and he gazes
upon her throughout the feast.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 1302-1308
quote_or_summary: Ailill's wife, daughter of Luchta of the Red Hand, asks why he
gazes from afar and says long gazing is a token of love; Ailill blames himself
and stops looking.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 1310-1315
quote_or_summary: After the feast, Ailill is filled with envy and desire, brings
on a choking misery of sickness, and is taken to Fremain in Tethba.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 1315-1318
quote_or_summary: Ailill remains sick and distressed for a year but lets no one
know the cause of his sickness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: 1318-1327
quote_or_summary: Eochaid learns of Ailill's condition, places his hand on Ailill's
chest, and Ailill sighs; Ailill says he grows worse but does not know what ails
him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: 1329-1336
quote_or_summary: Fachtna, Eochaid's chief physician, is summoned, places his hand
on Ailill's chest, and says the sickness is caused by either envy or love.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: 1336-1339
quote_or_summary: Ailill is ashamed and refuses to confess the cause of his illness
to Fachtna, who then leaves him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:15
type: summary
locator: 1341-1352
quote_or_summary: Eochaid leaves Etain in his fortress while he makes a royal progress
through Ireland; he tells her to treat Ailill gently and, if Ailill dies, to heap
a burial mound, set a standing-stone, and write his name in Ogham.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:16
type: summary
locator: 1356-1362
quote_or_summary: Etain comes to the house where Ailill lies sick and asks what
ails him, saying that if they knew what would content him he should have it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:17
type: quote
locator: 1363-1369
quote_or_summary: '"I joy naught at my harp''s pleasant sound; / Milk untasted beside
me is lying"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is strongly supported by the supplied passage. Motif labels
involving divine or sacred categories require review because the passage itself
says fairy-mound origin and bride-price but does not explicitly provide interpretive
classifications.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the supplied passage does not itself make an explicit comparative claim to another text, tradition, or motif family beyond candidate taxonomy tagging.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg__l1259-l1369
passage_sha256=689aa6c0676bfee8a9f18e2a1bda57851da6c92897dc83958c4d6134c0c978e6