batch.motif.celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg-l1814-l1914
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg-l1814-l1914
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
passage_locator:
label: THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN / EGERTON VERSION / THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN / LEABHAR
NA H-UIDHRI VERSION; lines 1814-1914
start: '1814'
end: '1914'
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: Mider challenges Eochaid to chess with stakes. After Eochaid first wins,
he requires Mider and his people to perform major works for the realm. A steward
observes Mider's fairy host and fairy oxen building a causeway, and the passage
explains the origin of a new ox-yoking custom and Eochaid's epithet. Later Mider
wins a game whose stake is whatever the winner demands, and he asks to hold Etain
and kiss her. The passage then explains that Mider had earlier wooed Etain, that
she would go only if he obtained her from the master of her house, and that his
earlier losses were a deliberate way to place Eochaid in debt.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Mider sets out a chessboard and calls on Eochaid to play; Eochaid refuses
to play unless there is a stake.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Mider offers fifty dark-grey, blood-red-headed steeds as a possible forfeit
if Eochaid wins.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Eochaid wins multiple games because Mider does not use his full strength,
and Eochaid demands public works instead of the offered gifts.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The demanded works include clearing stones from Meath, removing rushes around
Tethba, cutting down the forest of Breg, and building a causeway across the bog
of Lamrach.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: After sunset, Eochaid's steward sees Mider, a fairy host, and fairy oxen working
on the causeway.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The passage says that the fairy folk place the yoke on the shoulders or necks
of the oxen, and that Eochaid afterward adopts this practice throughout Ireland.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The passage explains Eochaid's name Airemm, translated as Eochaid the Ploughman,
by reference to the ox-yoking change.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The fairy host sings while making the road.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The road would have been unsurpassed, but because the fairy folk were observed
while working, a breach is left in the causeway.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: The steward tells Eochaid about the powerful laboring band he saw.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Mider appears before Eochaid, complains of cruel treatment and hardship, and
says anger has filled his mind.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: Mider and Eochaid play chess again with the stake defined as whatever the
winner shall demand, and Eochaid is defeated.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:13
text: Mider demands as his stake permission to hold Etain in his arms and obtain
a kiss from her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:14
text: Eochaid delays the demand for one month and says Mider may then receive what
he has asked.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:15
text: The passage says Mider had earlier wooed Etain for a year and had not obtained
her.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:16
text: Etain had said that she would go with Mider if he obtained her from the master
of her house, but not otherwise.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:17
text: The passage explains that Mider intentionally allowed Eochaid to win earlier
games so that Eochaid would be in his debt.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Mider
description: A challenger at chess who commands or works with a fairy host, performs
demanded works, later wins a stake from Eochaid, and seeks Etain.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Eochaid
description: The ruler or master of the house who plays chess with Mider, demands
realm-benefiting works, adopts the ox-yoking method, and later forfeits a stake.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Etain
description: The woman previously wooed by Mider; Mider asks to hold her and kiss
her, and she has said she will go if Mider obtains her from the master of her
house.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Eochaid's steward
description: The observer sent by Eochaid to see how the work is done; he witnesses
the fairy host and later reports to Eochaid.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Fairy host
description: Mider's fairy folk, described as laboring at the causeway and singing
while making the road.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Fairy oxen
description: Oxen associated with Mider's fairy host, seen laboring at the causeway
and yoked at the shoulders or neck rather than the forehead.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
roles:
- id: role:1
label: chess challenger and strategist
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Mider initiates chess-play, sets stakes, and later is said to have allowed
earlier losses to create Eochaid's debt.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: supernatural labor provider
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Mider agrees to and carries out public works with his fairy host and fairy
oxen.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: suitor of Etain
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Mider demands to hold and kiss Etain and is described as having previously
wooed her for a year.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: stake-setting ruler or house-master
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Eochaid sets terms for chess, demands works for his realm, and is identified
as the master of Etain's house in her condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:5
label: culture-practice origin figure
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage attributes the adoption of neck-yoking oxen in Ireland and Eochaid's
epithet to him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: desired woman under household authority
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Etain is the object of Mider's requested stake and says she will go only
if Mider obtains her from the master of her house.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: witness and reporter
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The steward sees the fairy labor and reports its power to Eochaid.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: fairy laboring band
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The fairy host works on the causeway and sings while laboring.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:9
label: supernatural draft animals
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Fairy oxen are seen laboring at the causeway and are yoked in the new manner.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: chessboard and wagered game
literal_form: Chessboard and games played for stakes or forfeits
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: sym:2
label: fifty steeds
literal_form: Fifty dark-grey steeds with blood-red heads and strong, spirited qualities
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: causeway across Lamrach
literal_form: Road or causeway built across the moor or bog of Lamrach
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: ox-yoke on shoulders or neck
literal_form: Yoke placed on the shoulders or necks of oxen instead of on their
foreheads
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: observed fairy work and breach
literal_form: A breach in the causeway caused because the fairy folk were observed
working
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: embrace and kiss as forfeit
literal_form: 'Mider''s requested stake: to hold Etain in his arms and obtain a
kiss from her'
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Initial chess stake
summary: Mider invites Eochaid to play chess; Eochaid requires a stake, and Mider
offers fifty extraordinary steeds as the forfeit.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Supernatural public works
summary: After Eochaid wins games, he requires Mider and his folk to improve the
realm by clearing land and building the Lamrach causeway; a steward sees Mider's
fairy host and oxen working after sunset.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Song, observation, and flawed causeway
summary: The fairy host sings at the work; the causeway would have been perfect,
but observation of the fairy work leaves a breach. The steward reports the power
of the laboring band.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Mider wins the stake of Etain's embrace
summary: Mider appears angrily, challenges Eochaid to another game with a stake
defined by the winner's demand, defeats him, and asks to hold and kiss Etain.
Eochaid grants this after a month.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Explanation of Mider's strategy
summary: The passage explains that Mider had earlier wooed Etain, that Etain would
go if he obtained her from the house-master, and that Mider's earlier chess losses
were planned to place Eochaid in debt.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Wagered game creates binding obligation
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Chess games are played for stakes; earlier winnings require Mider to perform
major works, and a later loss obliges Eochaid to grant Mider's demand.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the exchange as a game-stake obligation; the broader
religious or legal force of the obligation is not explained here.
- id: motif:2
label: Supernatural labor transforms the landscape
taxonomy_refs:
- culture_hero
basis: Mider and his fairy host clear land and build a causeway, and the passage
links their method to the origin of a practical ox-yoking custom in Ireland.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The culture-hero label mainly rests on the etiological explanation of
the ox-yoke and Eochaid's epithet, not on an explicit hero title.
- id: motif:3
label: Hidden fairy work spoiled by being seen
taxonomy_refs:
- trickster_boundary
basis: The road would have been unsurpassed, but because the fairy folk were observed
working, a breach remained in the causeway.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage states the consequence of observation but does not explain
the rule or taboo behind it.
- id: motif:4
label: Beloved claimed through a wagered forfeit
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
- divine_beloved
basis: Mider wins a game and demands the right to hold and kiss Etain; the passage
states he had already wooed her and had planned the game-debt to obtain her from
the master of her house.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: Within this passage Mider asks only for an embrace and kiss, and Etain
is not yet carried away; broader identification with abduction or divine-beloved
patterns requires surrounding text.
- id: motif:5
label: Conditional consent dependent on house-master's grant
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_marriage
basis: Etain says she will go with Mider only if he obtains her from the master
of her house; Mider's chess strategy is explained as a way to meet that condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: low
cautions: The passage does not explicitly describe a marriage rite; the taxonomy
reference is tentative because the available evidence is limited to wooing and
household authority.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1814-1832
quote_or_summary: Mider sets out the chessboard; Eochaid insists on a stake; Mider
offers fifty extraordinary dark-grey steeds with blood-red heads as his forfeit.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1833-1847
quote_or_summary: 'Eochaid wins many games and demands works for his realm: clearing
stones from Meath, removing rushes around Tethba, cutting down the forest of Breg,
and building a causeway across Lamrach. At sunset the steward sees Mider, his
fairy host, and fairy oxen laboring there.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1848-1860
quote_or_summary: The fairy folk yoke oxen by the shoulders or neck rather than
by the forehead; Eochaid adopts this practice, and the passage derives his epithet
Airemm, Eochaid the Ploughman, from it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1861-1869
quote_or_summary: The fairy host sings while making the road. The road would have
been better than any in the world, but because the fairy folk were observed, a
breach was made in the causeway.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1870-1883
quote_or_summary: The steward reports the powerful laboring band to Eochaid. Mider
appears, complains of hardship and anger, challenges Eochaid again, sets the stake
as whatever the winner demands, and defeats him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1884-1893
quote_or_summary: When Eochaid asks what Mider wants, Mider demands to hold Etain
in his arms and obtain a kiss from her. Eochaid says Mider may come one month
later and receive it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1894-1914
quote_or_summary: The passage explains that Mider had wooed Etain for a year without
obtaining her. Etain had said she would go if Mider obtained her from the master
of her house. Mider had allowed Eochaid to win earlier games so Eochaid would
be in his debt and had paid the agreed stakes.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The literal sequence is clear in the supplied passage. Motif labels are candidate-level
and depend partly on the available taxonomy; broader Etain-cycle context is not
used.
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 itself does not make or support a specific cross-text comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg__l1814-l1914
passage_sha256=c1818e5f256ca4c75f66b7402ea5d3dc1b6a45b53d034f09c07d5e1ea69cd41d