Fuamnach

First appears: The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1

In The Courtship of Etain, Fuamnach is another wife of Mider, jealous of Etain and seeking to drive her from his house. With Bressal Etarlam the Druid, she transforms Etain into a butterfly; a wind raised by Fuamnach’s spells carries Etain from Mider’s house for seven years.

At Oenach Bodbgnai, Angus Mac O'c strikes off Fuamnach’s head. A different account says that, with Manannan the Son of the Sea’s aid, Fuamnach and Mider were slain at Bri Leith. In the Egerton version, Mider refers to Fuamnach’s sorcery and Bressal Etarlam’s spells as what “put us apart.”

Relationship record

Life events

• Fuamnach was also Mider's wife.(The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1)
  • With: Mider
  • “Now Mider had also another wife named Fuamnach who was filled with jealousy against Etain, and sought to drive her from her husband's house.”
• Fuamnach and Bressal Etarlam the Druid transformed Etain into a butterfly.(The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1)
  • With: Etain Bressal Etarlam
  • “And by the spells of the Druid, and the sorcery of Fuamnach, Etain was changed into the shape of a butterfly that finds its delight among flowers.”
• Fuamnach's spell-driven wind carried Etain from Mider's house for seven years.(The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1)
  • With: Etain
  • “And when Etain was in this shape she was seized by a great wind that was raised by Fuamnach's spells; and she was borne from her husband's house by that wind for seven years”
• Mac O'c struck off Fuamnach's head.(The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1 · 📍 Oenach Bodbgnai)
  • With: Angus Mac O'c
  • “And Mac O'c attacked her, and he struck off her head, and he carried the head with him till he came to within his own borders.”
• In an alternative account, Manannan helped bring about the deaths of Fuamnach and Mider.(The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1 · 📍 Bri Leith)
  • With: Manannan the Son of the Sea Mider
  • “Yet a different tale hath been told of the end of Fuamnach, for it hath been said that by the aid of Manannan both Fuamnach and Mider were slain in Bri Leith”

The Courtship of Etain · Prologue in Fairyland · Part 1

• married with Mider “Now Mider had also another wife named Fuamnach who was filled with jealousy against Etain, and sought to drive her from her husband's house.”
• rivals with Etain “Now Mider had also another wife named Fuamnach who was filled with jealousy against Etain, and sought to drive her from her husband's house.”
• with Bressal Etarlam (Fuamnach sought and received the druid's aid.) “And Fuamnach sought out Bressal Etarlam the Druid and besought his aid; and by the spells of the Druid, and the sorcery of Fuamnach, Etain was changed into the shape of a butterfly that finds its delight among flowers.”
• with Angus Mac O'c (Mac O'c killed Fuamnach in this telling.) “And Mac O'c attacked her, and he struck off her head, and he carried the head with him till he came to within his own borders.”
• with Manannan the Son of the Sea (An alternate telling says Manannan aided in Fuamnach's death.) “Yet a different tale hath been told of the end of Fuamnach, for it hath been said that by the aid of Manannan both Fuamnach and Mider were slain in Bri Leith, and it is of that slaying that men have told when they said:”

The Courtship of Etain · Egerton Version · Part 2

• with Mider (interaction) “it was the sorcery of Fuamnach and the spells of Bressal Etarlam that put us apart.”

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Extracted from the original text of Heroic Romances of Ireland. Made with Rho MD.