Children of Lir

Let's dive into Marillier first.

This book is a masterful retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of the Six Swans, deeply intertwined with the Celtic mythology of the Children of Lir, and it is set in early medieval Ireland.

The forest of Sevenwaters in this novel isn't a portal to another universe.

It is the sacred ordinary.

Very personal.

It draws its narrative architecture from very specific, heavily rooted folklore, namely the Irish legend of the Children of Lir, heavily synthesized with the classic European fairy tale The Six Swans.

I brought this up right at the beginning of our deep dive because the premise is just staggering.

It's intense.

then the king and his nobles wondered much for they had never heard the like from a boy so young the king then called his wisest bard to answer telyassin but he could only play on his lips as before and each of the king's four-and-twenty bards tried in the same way and could do nothing more then the king bade taliesin sing again and he began discover thou what is the strong creature from before the flood without flesh without bone without vein without blood without head without feet it will neither be older nor younger than at the beginning great god how the sea whitens when first it comes great are its gusts when it comes from the south great are its evaporations when it strikes on coasts it is in the field it is in the wood without hand and without foot without signs of old age it is also so wide as the surface of the earth and it was not born nor was it seen it will cause consternation wherever god willeth on sea and on land it neither sees nor is seen its course is devious and will not come when desired on land and on sea it is indispensable it is without equal it is many-sided it is not confined it is incomparable it comes from four quarters it is noxious it is beneficial it is yonder it is here it will decompose but it will not repair the injury it will not suffer for its doings seeing it is blameless but being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on male one being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwn gwynedd and while he was thus singing his verse near the door there came suddenly a mighty storm of wind so that the king and all his nobles thought the castle would fall on their heads they saw that taliesin had not merely been singing the song of the wind but seemed to have the power to command it then the king hastily ordered that elphin should be brought from his dungeon and placed before taliesin and the chains came loose from his feet and he was set free as they rode away from the court the king and his courtiers rode with them and taliesin bade elphin propose a race with the king's horses four-and-twenty horses were chosen and taliesin got four-and-twenty twigs of holly which he had burnt black and he ordered the youth who was to ride elphin's horse to let all the others set off before him and bade him as he overtook each horse to strike him with a holly twig and throw it down then he had him watch where his own horse should stumble and throw down his cap at the place the race being won taliesin brought his master to the spot where the cap lay and put workmen to dig a hole there when they had dug deeply enough they found a caldron full of gold and taliesin said elphin this is my payment to thee for having taken me from the water and reared me until now and on this spot stands a pool of water until this day CHAPTER III.

tales of the enchanted islands of the atlantic by thomas higginson chapter three the swan children of lear king lear of erin had four young children who were cared for tenderly at first by their stepmother the new queen but there came a time when she grew jealous of the love their father bore them and resolved that she would endure it no longer sometimes there was murder in her heart but she could not bear the thought of that wickedness and she resolved at last to choose another way to rid herself of them one day she took them to drive in her chariot Finola, who was eight years old, with her three younger brothers, Eor, Fieker, and little Con, still a baby.

They were beautiful children, the legend says, with skins white and soft as swan's feathers, and with large blue eyes and very sweet voices.

Reaching a lake, she told them that they might bathe in the clear water, but so soon as they were in it she struck them with a fairy wand.

beside the sea of moil they found no longer the peaceful and wooded shores they had known but only steep and rocky coasts and a wild wild sea there came a great storm one night and the swans knew that they could not keep together so they resolved that if separated they would meet at a rock called karak naroon Finola reached there first and took her brothers under her wings, all wet, shivering, and exhausted.

Many such nights followed, and in one terrible winter storm, when they nestled together on Carachnerone, the water froze into solid ice around them, and their feet and wings were so frozen to the rock that when they moved they left the skin of their feet, the quills of their wings, and the feathers of their breasts clinging there.

when the ice melted and they swam out into the sea their bodies smarted with pain until the feathers grew once more one day they saw a glittering troop of horsemen approaching along the shore and knew that they were their own kindred though from far generations back the daedanen or fairy host they greeted each other with joy for the fairy host had been sent to seek for the swans and on returning to their chiefs they narrated what had passed and the chiefs said we cannot help them but we are glad they are living and we know that at last the enchantment will be broken and that they will be freed from their sorrows so passed their lives until finola sang one day the second woe has passed the second period of three hundred years when they flew out on the broad ocean as was decreed and went to the island of innis glora there they spent the next three hundred years amid yet wilder storms and yet colder winds no more the peaceful shepherds and living neighbors were around them but often the sailor and fisherman in his little coracle saw the white gleam of their wings or heard the sweet notes of their song and knew that the children of lear were near But the time came when the nine hundred years of banishment were ended, and they might fly back to their father's old home, Finaha.

Flying for days above the sea, they alighted at the palace once so well known, but everything was changed by time.

one being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwyn gwynedd and while he was thus singing his verse near the door there came suddenly a mighty storm of wind so that the king and all his nobles thought the castle would fall on their heads they saw that taliesin had not merely been singing the song of the wind but seemed to have the power to command it then the king hastily ordered that elphin should be brought from his dungeon and placed before taliesin and the chains came loose from his feet and he was set free as they rode away from the court the king and his courtiers rode with them and taliesin bade elphin propose a race with the king's horses four-and-twenty horses were chosen and taliesin got four-and-twenty twigs of holly which he had burnt black and he ordered the youth who was to ride elphin's horse to let all the others set off before him and bade him as he overtook each horse to strike him with a holly twig and throw it down then he had him watch where his own horse should stumble and throw down his cap at the place the race being won taliesin brought his master to the spot where the cap lay and put workmen to dig a hole there when they had dug deeply enough they found a caldron full of gold and taliesin said elphin this is my payment to thee for having taken me from the water and reared me until now and on this spot stands a pool of water until this day CHAPTER III.

Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic by Thomas Higginson Chapter 3 The Swan Children of Lear King Lear of Arran had four young children who were cared for tenderly at first by their stepmother, the new queen.

But there came a time when she grew jealous of the love their father bore them, and resolved that she would endure it no longer.

Sometimes there was murder in her heart, but she could not bear the thought of that wickedness, and she resolved at last to choose another way to rid herself of them.

beside the sea of moil they found no longer the peaceful and wooded shores they had known but only steep and rocky coasts and a wild wild sea there came a great storm one night and the swans knew that they could not keep together so they resolved that if separated they would meet at a rock called karak naroon Finola reached there first and took her brothers under her wings, all wet, shivering, and exhausted.

Many such nights followed, and in one terrible winter storm, when they nestled together on Carachnerone, the water froze into solid ice around them, and their feet and wings were so frozen to the rock that when they moved they left the skin of their feet, the quills of their wings, and the feathers of their breasts clinging there.

when the ice melted and they swam out into the sea their bodies smarted with pain until the feathers grew once more one day they saw a glittering troop of horsemen approaching along the shore and knew that they were their own kindred though from far generations back the daedanen or fairy host they greeted each other with joy for the fairy host had been sent to seek for the swans and on returning to their chiefs they narrated what had passed and the chiefs said we cannot help them but we are glad they are living and we know that at last the enchantment will be broken and that they will be freed from their sorrows so passed their lives until finola sang one day the second woe has passed the second period of three hundred years when they flew out on the broad ocean as was decreed and went to the island of innis glora there they spent the next three hundred years amid yet wilder storms and yet colder winds no more the peaceful shepherds and living neighbors were around them but often the sailor and fisherman in his little coracle saw the white gleam of their wings or heard the sweet notes of their song and knew that the children of lear were near But the time came when the nine hundred years of banishment were ended, and they might fly back to their father's old home, Finaha.

Flying for days above the sea, they alighted at the palace once so well known, but everything was changed by time.

one being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwyn gwynedd and while he was thus singing his verse near the door there came suddenly a mighty storm of wind so that the king and all his nobles thought the castle would fall on their heads they saw that taliesin had not merely been singing the song of the wind but seemed to have the power to command it then the king hastily ordered that elphin should be brought from his dungeon and placed before taliesin and the chains came loose from his feet and he was set free as they rode away from the court the king and his courtiers rode with them and taliesin bade elphin propose a race with the king's horses four-and-twenty horses were chosen and taliesin got four-and-twenty twigs of holly which he had burnt black and he ordered the youth who was to ride elphin's horse to let all the others set off before him and bade him as he overtook each horse to strike him with a holly twig and throw it down then he had him watch where his own horse should stumble and throw down his cap at the place the race being won taliesin brought his master to the spot where the cap lay and put workmen to dig a hole there when they had dug deeply enough they found a caldron full of gold and taliesin said elphin this is my payment to thee for having taken me from the water and reared me until now and on this spot stands a pool of water until this day CHAPTER III.

tales of the enchanted islands of the atlantic by thomas higginson chapter three the swan children of lear king lear of erin had four young children who were cared for tenderly at first by their stepmother the new queen but there came a time when she grew jealous of the love their father bore them and resolved that she would endure it no longer sometimes there was murder in her heart but she could not bear the thought of that wickedness and she resolved at last to choose another way to rid herself of them one day she took them to drive in her chariot Finola, who was eight years old, with her three younger brothers, Eot, Fieker, and Little Con, still a baby.

They were beautiful children, the legend says, with skins white and soft as swan's feathers, and with large blue eyes and very sweet voices.

Reaching a lake, she told them that they might bathe in the clear water, but so soon as they were in it she struck them with a fairy wand.

the daedanon, or fairy host.

They greeted each other with joy, for the fairy host had been sent to seek for the swans, and on returning to their chiefs they narrated what had passed, and the chiefs said, We cannot help them, but we are glad they are living, and we know that at last the enchantment will be broken, and that they will be freed from their sorrows.

So passed their lives, until Phenola sang one day, the second woe has passed the second period of three hundred years when they flew out on the broad ocean as was decreed and went to the island of innis glora there they spent the next three hundred years amid yet wilder storms and yet colder winds no more the peaceful shepherds and living neighbors were around them but often the sailor and fisherman in his little coracle saw the white gleam of their wings or heard the sweet notes of their song and knew that the children of lear were near But the time came when the nine hundred years of banishment were ended, and they might fly back to their father's old home, Finaha.

Flying for days above the sea, they alighted at the palace once so well known, but everything was changed by time.

Three hundred years shall ye pass on the stormy waters of the sea betwixt Aran and Alba, and three hundred years shall ye be tempest-tossed on the wild western sea, until Deca be the queen of Larnan, and the good saint come to Aran, and ye hear the chime of the Christ-bell.

neither your plaints nor prayers neither the love of your father lear nor the might of your king bov derg shall have power to deliver you from your doom but lone white swans though ye be ye shall keep for ever your own sweet gaelic speech and ye shall sing with plaintive voices songs so haunting that your music will bring peace to the souls of those who hear and still beneath your snowy plumage shall beat the hearts of finola aide fiacre and con and still forever shall ye be the children of lear then did eva order the horses to be yoked to the chariot and away westward did she drive and swimming on the lone lake were four white swans WHEN EVA REACHED THE PALACE OF BOVEDERG ALONE, GREATLY WAS HE TROUBLED LEST EVIL HAD BEFALLEN THE CHILDREN OF LIR.

BUT THE ATTENDANTS, BECAUSE OF THEIR GREAT FEAR OF EVA, DARED NOT TO TELL THE KING OF THE MAGIC SPELL SHE HAD WROUGHT BY THE WAY.

THEREFORE BOVEDERG ASKED, WHEREFORE, O EVA, COME NOT FINOLA AND HER BROTHERS TO THE PALACE THIS DAY? AND EVA ANSWERED, BECAUSE, O KING, LIR NO LONGER TRUSTETH THEE, THEREFORE WOULD HE NOT LET THE CHILDREN COME HITHER.

Then great cries of sorrow went up from the Dadanans, and again Lear sobbed aloud.

But at the last silence fell upon his grief, AND FINOLA TOLD HOW SHE AND HER BROTHERS WOULD KEEP FOREVER THEIR OWN SWEET GALIC SPEECH, HOW THEY WOULD SING SONGS SO HAUNTING THAT THEIR MUSIC WOULD BRING PEACE TO THE SOULS OF ALL WHO HEARD.

SHE TOLD, TOO, HOW BENEATH THEIR SNOWY PLUMAGE THE HUMAN HEARTS OF FINOLA, AID, FIACRA, AND KHAN SHOULD STILL BEAT THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN OF LIR.

STAY WITH US TONIGHT BY THE LONE LEG, SHE ENDED.

then the king and his nobles wondered much for they had never heard the like from a boy so young the king then called his wisest bard to answer telyassin but he could only play on his lips as before and each of the king's four-and-twenty bards tried in the same way and could do nothing more then the king bade taliesin sing again and he began discover thou what is the strong creature from before the flood without flesh without bone without vein without blood without head without feet it will neither be older nor younger than at the beginning great god how the sea whitens when first it comes great are its gusts when it comes from the south great are its evaporations when it strikes on coasts it is in the field it is in the wood without hand and without foot without signs of old age it is also so wide as the surface of the earth and it was not born nor was it seen it will cause consternation wherever god willeth on sea and on land it neither sees nor is seen its course is devious and will not come when desired on land and on sea it is indispensable it is without equal it is many-sided it is not confined it is incomparable it comes from four quarters it is noxious it is beneficial it is yonder it is here it will decompose but it will not repair the injury it will not suffer for its doings seeing it is blameless but being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwyn gwynedd one being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwyn gwynedd and while he was thus singing his verse near the door there came suddenly a mighty storm of wind so that the king and all his nobles thought the castle would fall on their heads they saw that taliesin had not merely been singing the song of the wind but seemed to have the power to command it then the king hastily ordered that elphin should be brought from his dungeon and placed before taliesin and the chains came loose from his feet and he was set free as they rode away from the court the king and his courtiers rode with them and taliesin bade elphin propose a race with the king's horses four-and-twenty horses were chosen and taliesin got four-and-twenty twigs of holly which he had burnt black and he ordered the youth who was to ride elphin's horse to let all the others set off before him and bade him as he overtook each horse to strike him with a holly twig and throw it down then he had him watch where his own horse should stumble and throw down his cap at the place the race being won taliesin brought his master to the spot where the cap lay and put workmen to dig a hole there when they had dug deeply enough they found a caldron full of gold and taliesin said elphin this is my payment to thee for having taken me from the water and reared me until now and on this spot stands a pool of water until this day CHAPTER III.

Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic by Thomas Higginson Chapter 3 The Swan Children of Lear King Lear of Arran had four young children who were cared for tenderly at first by their stepmother, the new queen.

But there came a time when she grew jealous of the love their father bore them, and resolved that she would endure it no longer.

Sometimes there was murder in her heart, but she could not bear the thought of that wickedness, and she resolved at last to choose another way to rid herself of them.

when the ice melted and they swam out into the sea their bodies smarted with pain until the feathers grew once more one day they saw a glittering troop of horsemen approaching along the shore and knew that they were their own kindred though from far generations back the Daedanen, or fairy host.

They greeted each other with joy, for the fairy host had been sent to seek for the swans, and on returning to their chiefs they narrated what had passed, and the chiefs said, We cannot help them, but we are glad they are living, and we know that at last the enchantment will be broken, and that they will be freed from their sorrows.

So passed their lives, until Finola sang one day, the second woe has passed the second period of three hundred years when they flew out on the broad ocean as was decreed and went to the island of innis glora there they spent the next three hundred years amid yet wilder storms and yet colder winds no more the peaceful shepherds and living neighbors were around them but often the sailor and fisherman in his little coracle saw the white gleam of their wings or heard the sweet notes of their song and knew that the children of lear were near But the time came when the nine hundred years of banishment were ended, and they might fly back to their father's old home, Finaha.

Flying for days above the sea, they alighted at the palace once so well known, but everything was changed by time.

then the king and his nobles wondered much for they had never heard the like from a boy so young the king then called his wisest bard to answer telyassin but he could only play on his lips as before and each of the king's four-and-twenty bards tried in the same way and could do nothing more then the king bade taliesin sing again and he began discover thou what is the strong creature from before the flood without flesh without bone without vein without blood without head without feet it will neither be older nor younger than at the beginning great god how the sea whitens when first it comes great are its gusts when it comes from the south great are its evaporations when it strikes on coasts it is in the field it is in the wood without hand and without foot without signs of old age it is also so wide as the surface of the earth and it was not born nor was it seen it will cause consternation wherever god willeth on sea and on land it neither sees nor is seen its course is devious and will not come when desired on land and on sea it is indispensable it is without equal it is many-sided it is not confined it is incomparable it comes from four quarters it is noxious it is beneficial it is yonder it is here it will decompose but it will not repair the injury it will not suffer for its doings seeing it is blameless but being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwyn gwynedd one being has prepared it out of all creatures by a tremendous blast to wreak vengeance on maelgwyn gwynedd and while he was thus singing his verse near the door there came suddenly a mighty storm of wind so that the king and all his nobles thought the castle would fall on their heads they saw that taliesin had not merely been singing the song of the wind but seemed to have the power to command it then the king hastily ordered that elphin should be brought from his dungeon and placed before taliesin and the chains came loose from his feet and he was set free as they rode away from the court the king and his courtiers rode with them and taliesin bade elphin propose a race with the king's horses four-and-twenty horses were chosen and taliesin got four-and-twenty twigs of holly which he had burnt black and he ordered the youth who was to ride elphin's horse to let all the others set off before him and bade him as he overtook each horse to strike him with a holly twig and throw it down then he had him watch where his own horse should stumble and throw down his cap at the place the race being won taliesin brought his master to the spot where the cap lay and put workmen to dig a hole there when they had dug deeply enough they found a caldron full of gold and taliesin said elphin this is my payment to thee for having taken me from the water and reared me until now and on this spot stands a pool of water until this day CHAPTER III.

Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic by Thomas Higginson Chapter 3 The Swan Children of Lear King Lear of Arran had four young children who were cared for tenderly at first by their stepmother, the new queen.

But there came a time when she grew jealous of the love their father bore them, and resolved that she would endure it no longer.

Sometimes there was murder in her heart, but she could not bear the thought of that wickedness, and she resolved at last to choose another way to rid herself of them.

the daedanon, or fairy host.

They greeted each other with joy, for the fairy host had been sent to seek for the swans, and on returning to their chiefs they narrated what had passed, and the chiefs said, We cannot help them, but we are glad they are living, and we know that at last the enchantment will be broken, and that they will be freed from their sorrows.

So passed their lives, until Phrenola sang one day, the second woe has passed the second period of three hundred years when they flew out on the broad ocean as was decreed and went to the island of innis glora there they spent the next three hundred years amid yet wilder storms and yet colder winds no more the peaceful shepherds and living neighbors were around them but often the sailor and fisherman in his little coracle saw the white gleam of their wings or heard the sweet notes of their song and knew that the children of lear were near But the time came when the nine hundred years of banishment were ended, and they might fly back to their father's old home, Finaha.

Flying for days above the sea, they alighted at the palace once so well known, but everything was changed by time.