batch.motif.celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg-l1917-l1992
---
record_id: batch.motif.celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg-l1917-l1992
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 1917-1992
start: '1917'
end: '1992'
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: The passage opens with a verse about forced labor clearing and building
with soil, trunks, wattles, rushes, and stones. Mider then comes to Tara on an
appointed night, demands Etain as what Eochaid had promised, and carries her away
through the skylight after Eochaid refuses to resign her but permits an embrace.
Two swans are seen circling Tara and going toward the elf-mound of Femun. Eochaid
attacks and digs into elf-mounds to recover Etain; after a long conflict, Mider
uses sixty women shaped like Etain to deceive him, but Etain later reveals herself
and is brought back to Tara.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The opening verse commands soil to be piled and thrust, describes red oxen
toiling, tree-trunks and wattles being placed, and rushes and stones being cleared
from Teffa and Meath.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Mider appoints a day at the end of the month to meet Eochaid, and Eochaid
gathers the heroes and champions of Ireland to guard Tara in rings, inside and
outside.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Eochaid and Etain are in the palace, with the outer court shut and locked;
Etain is dispensing the banquet and pouring wine for the kings.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Mider appears standing in the center of the palace, is described as fairer
than before, amazes those he gazes on, and silences the hosts.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Mider asks for what had been promised to him, calls it a debt, and says Eochaid
had promised Etain herself.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Etain blushes; Mider tells her not to blush and says he sought her for a year
with jewels and treasures but did not take her until Eochaid might permit it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Etain says she had told Mider she would grant him nothing until Eochaid resigned
her to him; she says Mider may take her if Eochaid is willing to resign her.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Eochaid says he will not resign Etain, but says Mider may take her in his
arms on the floor of the house as she is.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Mider takes his weapons in his left hand and Etain beneath his right shoulder
and carries her off through the skylight of the house.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The hosts rise around Eochaid, and they see two swans circling Tara and going
toward the elf-mound of Femun.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Eochaid goes with an army to the elf-mound of Femun, follows counsel, and
digs up each elf-mound in order to take his wife from there.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: The bracketed continuation says Mider and his host oppose Eochaid; trenches
made by Eochaid are repeatedly destroyed, and some say the struggle lasts nine
years.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: When Eochaid's armies reach the borders of the fairy mansion by digging, Mider
sends sixty women shaped like Etain, so similar that none can tell which is the
queen.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:14
text: Eochaid is deceived and chooses Etain's daughter, named Messbuachalla or,
in another account, Esa, instead of Etain.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:15
text: After discovering the deception, Eochaid returns against Bri Leith; Etain
identifies herself by unmistakable proofs, and Eochaid brings her back in triumph
to Tara.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Unnamed commanding voice in the opening verse
description: A poetic speaker who commands soil to be piled and refers to the toilers
as oxen and men.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Toilers addressed as oxen and men
description: Figures in the opening verse who toil with soil, tree-trunks, wattles,
rushes, and stones.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Mider
description: A fair figure who appears in Tara, claims Etain as promised, carries
her off, and later opposes Eochaid from the fairy mansion.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Eochaid
description: The king at Tara, husband of Etain, who guards the palace, refuses
to resign Etain, and later digs into elf-mounds to recover her.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Etain
description: The queen who pours wine at the banquet, is claimed by Mider, is carried
away, and later reveals herself to Eochaid.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Heroes, champions, and armies of Ireland
description: The Irish warriors gathered by Eochaid to guard Tara and later used
in the effort to reach the fairy mansion.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Sixty women in the shape of Etain
description: Women sent by Mider to the side of the palace, all resembling Etain
so closely that none can identify the queen.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Messbuachalla or Esa
description: Etain's daughter, or in a variant name Esa, whom Eochaid mistakenly
chooses instead of Etain.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Mider's host
description: The host that opposes Eochaid during the long conflict around the fairy
mansion.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: commanding poetic speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The voice issues imperatives to pile and thrust soil and describes the labor
being done.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: laboring subjects addressed as oxen and men
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The verse describes red oxen toiling and also says the heavy-seeming troops
are men.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: claimant of a promised woman
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Mider demands what was promised and identifies Etain as the promised object.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: king and husband guarding the queen
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Eochaid gathers armies to guard Tara and is with the queen in the palace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: queen, banquet pourer, and contested beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Etain pours wine at the banquet and is the person whom Mider claims and Eochaid
refuses to resign.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: guards and military supporters
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The heroes, champions, and armies gather around Tara and later dig toward
the fairy mansion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: supernatural abductor and opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Mider carries Etain away through the skylight and later opposes Eochaid with
his host.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: pursuer and recoverer of wife
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Eochaid goes to the elf-mound, digs up elf-mounds to recover his wife, and
eventually brings Etain back to Tara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: deceptive doubles
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The sixty women are shaped like Etain and deceive Eochaid about which one
is the queen.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: mistaken substitute
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Eochaid chooses Messbuachalla, or Esa in another account, instead of Etain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:11
label: opposing otherworld host
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Mider and his host oppose Eochaid during the long struggle around the fairy
palace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: forced clearing and building labor
literal_form: soil, oxen, tree-trunks, wattles, rushes, and stones
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: guarded royal center
literal_form: Tara and its shut and locked palace court guarded by rings of champions
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: skylight escape opening
literal_form: the skylight of the house
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: two swans after the abduction
literal_form: two swans circling round Tara and moving toward the elf-mound of Femun
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: elf-mound of Femun
literal_form: the elf-mound of Femun, called the mound of the Fair-haired-Women
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: sixty identical Etains
literal_form: sixty women all in the shape of Etain
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Verse of earthwork and compelled labor
summary: A poetic voice commands soil to be piled and describes toilers as oxen
or men engaged in clearing and building with natural materials.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Mider appears in guarded Tara
summary: Eochaid fortifies Tara with champions and locked courts; during Etain's
banquet service, Mider appears in the center of the palace and silences the hosts.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Demand for Etain as promised debt
summary: Mider demands Etain as the promised payment; Etain states her condition
of Eochaid's consent, while Eochaid refuses to resign her but permits Mider to
take her in his arms.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Abduction through the skylight and swan flight
summary: Mider takes Etain under his right shoulder and carries her through the
skylight; afterward the hosts see two swans circling Tara and going toward the
elf-mound of Femun.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Assault on elf-mounds and recovery of Etain
summary: Eochaid and the armies dig into elf-mounds to recover Etain. Mider and
his host resist, send sixty women shaped like Etain to deceive him, and Eochaid
later recognizes and brings back the true Etain.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Stolen or contested beloved carried off by a supernatural claimant
taxonomy_refs:
- stolen_beloved
basis: Mider claims Etain as promised, Eochaid refuses to resign her, and Mider
carries her away through the skylight, prompting Eochaid's pursuit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage includes Eochaid's partial permission for Mider to take Etain
in his arms, so the abduction is framed through a contested promise rather than
simple seizure alone.
- id: motif:2
label: Bird-form flight after abduction
taxonomy_refs:
- shapeshifter
basis: Immediately after Mider carries Etain away, the hosts see two swans circling
Tara and moving toward the elf-mound of Femun.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage does not explicitly state that Mider and Etain transformed
into the swans; the identification is implied by sequence and direction.
- id: motif:3
label: Recovery quest into an elf-mound or fairy palace
taxonomy_refs:
- mystical_quest
- hero_descent
basis: Eochaid goes with an army to the elf-mound of Femun, digs up elf-mounds to
recover his wife, reaches the borders of the fairy mansion, and later brings Etain
back to Tara.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The action is military digging and assault rather than a solitary descent;
the taxonomy fit is functional rather than exact.
- id: motif:4
label: Deceptive doubles of the beloved
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Mider sends sixty women in Etain's shape, indistinguishable from the queen,
causing Eochaid to choose the wrong woman.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy reference directly names this motif.
- id: motif:5
label: Promise-debt exchange concerning a bride or beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
- sacred_marriage
basis: Mider calls Etain a debt due from a promise, says he has paid all that he
promised, and frames his taking of Etain through Eochaid's permission and Etain's
stated consent condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The earlier terms of the promise are not included in this passage, so
the full exchange structure depends on context outside the extracted lines.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1917-1931
quote_or_summary: 'Opening verse: a voice commands piling and thrusting soil, describes
red oxen and heavy troops, tree-trunks and wattles, and the clearing of rushes
and stones from Teffa and Meath.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1932-1946
quote_or_summary: Mider appoints a meeting day; Eochaid gathers Ireland's heroes
and champions around Tara, locks the outer court, and Etain pours wine at the
banquet when Mider appears in the palace and silences the hosts.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1947-1961
quote_or_summary: Mider asks to receive what was promised, calls it a debt, and
says Eochaid promised Etain herself; Etain blushes, and Mider says he sought her
for a year with jewels and treasures.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1962-1971
quote_or_summary: Etain says she would grant Mider nothing until Eochaid resigned
her; Eochaid says he will not resign her, but says Mider may take her in his arms
on the floor of the house.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 1972-1978
quote_or_summary: Mider takes his weapons in his left hand and the woman under his
right shoulder, carries her off through the skylight, and the hosts see “two swans
circling round Tara” heading toward the elf-mound of Femun.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1978-1982
quote_or_summary: Eochaid goes with an army to the elf-mound of Femun, called the
mound of the Fair-haired-Women, and digs up each elf-mound to take his wife from
there.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1982-1989
quote_or_summary: The bracketed continuation says Mider and his host oppose Eochaid;
trenches are repeatedly destroyed, the struggle lasts nine years according to
some, and Mider sends sixty women all shaped like Etain, causing Eochaid to choose
Messbuachalla, or Esa in another account.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 1989-1992
quote_or_summary: After realizing the deception, Eochaid returns against Bri Leith;
Etain makes herself known by unmistakable proofs, and Eochaid brings her in triumph
to Tara.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/celtic-irish/project-gutenberg/heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Named figures and actions are explicit. Motif assignment is strongest for
the contested/stolen beloved and deceptive doubles; swan transformation and descent/quest
classifications are plausible but not explicitly named in the passage.
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: |-
Used only supplied passage and metadata. Comparison claims are left empty because no cross-tradition comparison is made explicitly in the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:celtic-irish-heroic-romances-of-ireland-leahy-gutenberg__l1917-l1992
passage_sha256=f09f9b16f3ff3601c20fc4fc76b1627b7c1b37027a665a51cf810193d548c4fb