embrace Étaín, but when he does, the pair fly away through the skylight, turning into swans as they do so. Eochu instructs his men to dig up every síd (fairy-mound) in Ireland until his wife is returned to him. Finally, when they set to digging at Midir's síd at Brí Léith, Midir appears and promises to give Étaín back. But at the appointed time, Midir brings fifty women, who all look alike, and tells Eochu to pick which one is Étaín. He chooses the woman he thinks is his wife, takes her home and sleeps with her. She becomes pregnant and bears him a daughter. Later, Midir appears and tells him that Étaín had been pregnant when he took her, and the woman Eochu had chosen was his own daughter, who had been born in Midir's síd. Out of shame, Eochu orders the daughter of their incestuous union to be exposed, but she is found and brought up by a herdsman and his wife, and later marries Eochu's successor Eterscél and becomes the mother of the High King Conaire Mór (in Togail Bruidne Dá Derga she is named as Mess Búachalla and is the daughter of Étaín and Eochu Feidlech). The story ends with Eochu's death at the hands of Sigmall Cael, Midir's grandson. Influence The chivalric romance Sir Orfeo, retelling the story of Orpheus as a king rescuing his wife from the fairy king, shows so many motifs in common with this tale that it appears to have been a major influence on Sir Orfeo. References Manuscript sources H 2.16 or Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL), col. 876-877 (= facs. p 175a-b) (Dublin, Trinity College Library). Middle part. G 4 ((Dublin, National Library of Ireland). Vellum fragment formerly belonging to the main part of the Yellow Book of Lecan) col. 985-97. Egerton MS 1782, fo. 106r-108v (London, British Library). Middle part as incorporated into Togail Bruidne Da Derga 23 E 25 or Lebor na hUidre (LU), 10636-10707; 10790-10915 (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy). H 3.18, p. 605-606 (Dublin, Trinity College Library). Glossed extracts. Editions and translations Müller, Edward (ed. and tr.). "Two Irish Tales. 2. The History of Aillel and Etain." Revue Celtique 3 (1878): 351-60 [Egerton 1782]. Windisch, Ernst (ed.). "Tochmarc Étáine: 'Das Freien um Etain'." In Irische Texte mit Übersetzungen und Wörterbuch 1 (1891). 113-133. Egerton and LU versions. Stern, Ludwig Christian (ed. and tr.). "Das Märchen von