I begged the man not to eat my little one. I promised to do him a good turn and so he threw my darling back into the sea. I watched him from under the deep pool. He sat on the quietly on rock above me. The water became so still that I could hear what he was thinking....
I still have an ache in my shoulder. “Why?” My grandchildren ask me. “Well, it happened when I released your grandmother from the underworld many years ago. She was trapped down there in a golden castle. I freed her easily enough, but I was left down...
The relationship that my two brothers and I have with the animals started one day when we went out hunting. We had gone some way through a thick wood when we came upon a grey wolf and her three cubs. Just as we went to shoot, the wolf said, “Don’t shoot me, and...
There is a great deal of magic in the world, and you will find it in my story. I was dying and my wife was very distraught, not only because I was leaving her in her youth, but also because I could not pay my debt to a creditor. The creditor had threatened to have me...
My eyes never close. My wings never tire. To some I am a bearer of ill-news and a bad omen. To others I am a simply a friend. When Covan the Brown-Haired sat down to eat his little cake in the forest, I appeared beside him cawing, “A bit for me! A bit for...
Oh, I was hungry. I stood outside my hut, howling with hunger. I was ready to eat anything, even my own child. Then who do I see coming towards me out of the forest but a man. Not much meat on him, but enough to quiet my groaning belly. “It is well that you have...
What’s this? She calls us with bowls of milk and sugar and then she stands blocking the door. “Oh, Queen of Snakes,” she cries, “Give me back my husband!” “Husssband? Hussssband?” I thrust my head into her face. She repeats...
The lad who came to chop wood in the forest was very well equipped with food and drink. I could smell the sweet cake in his pocket, and I asked him if he would share a bit of it with me. And maybe a few swigs of his wine. “Ah,” said the clever boy,...
Three brothers came along and stood under the tree where we have our nest. The two who thought themselves to be clever wanted to make a fire under the tree to get the honey. The third brother said, “Leave the bees in peace. I will not allow you to burn...
My brothers left me at the crossroads and I continued on my own to search for the wonderful vine. It was stolen from my father, and he cannot stop weeping over its loss. When I stopped to have something to eat, a lame fox came along and said he was hungry. I had very...
