though a narrow aperture to reach the chamber in the heart of the mountain Hnitbjörg, which houses the precious liquor. To this series of parallels can also be added the motif of the sword-bridge (compare Chinvat Bridge and As-Sirāt) leading to the water-girt otherworld realm of Goirre (scribal error for 'Voirre' - 'glass') in Chrétien de Troyes' Lancelot, Knight of the Cart, an early Arthurian romance rooted in Celtic mythology. The other two tales concerning Tlepsh included in Colarusso's anthology have a more overt connection with the Nart leader's mastery of smithcraft, for in one he fashions the first sickle and in the other a razor-sharp sword. It is noteworthy that in "How They Made Tlepsh Fashion the First Sickle" Tlepsh does not actually invent/design the tool in question. He does, however, know which female supernatural being the other Narts need to consult in order to find out how to design it, namely the old wife of the harvest god T'haghalig (compare the Cailleach, reaping and sovereignty goddess of the goidelic-speaking Celts). In yet a further remove, T'haghalig's wife does not know how to design the sickle herself, but knows that it is Lady Isp, the mother of the Nart hero Pataraz (Ossetian Batradz / Batraz) who will be able to do so - which does indeed prove to be the case. Lady Isp, a clever, frog-like little water-sprite (compare The Frog Princess) inadvertently reveals that 'Like a rooster's tail you should bend it, like a baby snake's tooth you should sharpen it...' and, using this description, Tlepsh is able to forge the wondrous new tool, giving it an edge that never grows dull no matter how often it is used. In the tale "How Nart Tlepsh Killed Bearded Yamina with the Avenging Sword" Tlepsh has become too old to wield a weapon but demonstrates instead his formidable magical skills by fashioning what is essentially a lethal jack-in-the-box, containing 'a sword that could move under its own power'. The 'Bearded Yamina' of the title is the personification of the disease cholera, who/which has killed Tlepsh's son. When at dusk, as instructed by Tlepsh's messenger, Yamina takes the mysterious closed chest he has been sent as a present to a private room in his house and opens it, 'the sword, which had lain at the bottom, rose of its own, sliced through Bearded Yamina, and so killed him'. Despite the brevity