Aengus

The Dagda lay with Eithne, and she bore a son named Óengus. Elcmar, who lived with Eithne at the Brú na Bóinne, knew nothing of the union or the child. The Dagda took Óengus to Midir’s house at Brí Léith, where he was fostered for nine years among three times fifty boys and the same number of girls. Óengus became the greatest among the youths and Midir’s favourite. He was also called Mac Óg, the young son, because his mother said that he had been conceived at the beginning of the day and born that same evening.

When Óengus sought land of his own, the Dagda acknowledged him as his son. He said that he would gladly give Óengus the Brú na Bóinne, on the north side of the Boyne, but Elcmar already lived there. The Dagda had wronged Elcmar by sleeping with his wife and fathering Óengus, so he would not remove him by force. Midir advised Óengus to go to the Brú at Samain with weapons. The day was one of peace throughout the land, so Elcmar would be unarmed. He would be standing on his síd with a forked hazel stick and a golden brooch on his cloak.

Óengus went to Elcmar and asked to borrow the Brú for a day and a night. Elcmar yielded to fear and granted the request. Óengus treated the words as covering every day and every night, and claimed the Brú na Bóinne for himself forever. The Dagda held an assembly and ruled that the Brú was Óengus’s land. He gave Elcmar other lands across the river as compensation. Óengus therefore became ruler of the Brú and of the people living near it.

A year later, on Samain, Midir returned to visit him. Óengus stood on the síd mound and watched two groups of boys playing on the plain. Elcmar watched from the southern side of the river. When fighting broke out, Óengus prepared to intervene, but Midir stopped him and went down to separate the boys. Midir ended the fight with difficulty and was wounded while doing so by a holly weapon.

Aonghus Óg fell in love with Cáer, the daughter of Ethal Anbual. Ethal held Cáer under his authority. Her release was secured after Ethal was defeated, although the account gives no details of the defeat, the place where it occurred, or the people who carried it out. Once Cáer was freed, Aonghus could take her with him.

Aonghus then changed himself into a swan. Cáer changed into a swan with him. The two birds rose into the air and flew away together. They were joined by a golden chain, which linked them as they departed. Aonghus carried Cáer away as his beloved, and both remained in swan form during their flight.

Aonghus Óg is also called Aonghus of the many exploits and mighty Mac in Oc. Other accounts describe him as the son of a god and as a child fostered by Midir. Through trickery, he gained the carved-stone palace of Brú na Bóinne, where trees bore tempting fruit and two pigs were cooked and eaten, only to come back to life. These episodes belong to other parts of his story.

Four white swans flew around Aonghus’s head when he travelled. The account does not state that they accompanied him and Cáer. Swans also appear in Irish stories as a team for a chariot or cart, with each bird linked to the next by a small chain. Here, the lovers themselves were joined by the golden chain as they flew from Ethal Anbual’s power.