From Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends of Ireland. pp. 94-96.

Now it happened that the king of Munster one day saw a beautiful girl bathing, and he loved her and
made her his queen. And in all the land was no woman so lovely to look upon as the fair Edain, and
the fame of her beauty came to the ears of the great and powerful chief and king of the
Tuatha-de-Danann, Midar by name. So he disguised himself and went to the court of the king of
Munster, as a wandering bard, that he might look on the beauty of Edain. And he challenged the king
to a game of chess.

"Who is this man that I should play chess with him?" said the king.

"Try me," said the stranger; "you will find me a worthy foe."

However, when the queen heard that a stranger had challenged the king to chess, she sent her page in
with a chess-board, and then came herself to greet the stranger. And midar was so dazzled with her
beauty, that he could speak not, he could only gaze on her. And the queen also seemed troubled, and
after a time she left them alone.

"Now, what shall we play for?" asked the king.

"Let the conqueror name the reward," answered the stranger, "and whatever he desires let it be
granted to him."

"Agreed," replied the monarch.

Then they played the game and the stranger won.

"What is your demand now?" cried the king. "I have given my word that whatever you name shall be
yours."

"I demand the Lady Edain, the queen, as my reward," replied the stranger. "But I shall not ask you to
give her up to me till this day year." And the stranger departed.

Now the king was utterly perplexed and confounded, but he took good note of the time, and on that
night just a twelvemonth after, he made a great feast at Tara for all the princes, and he placed three
lines of his chosen warriors all round the palace, and forbade any stranger to enter on pain of death. So
all being secure, as he thought, he took his place at the feast with the beautiful Edain beside him, all
glittering with jewels and a golden crown on her head, and the revelry went on till midnight. Just then,
to his horror, the king looked up, and there stood the stranger in the middle of the hall, but no one
seemed to perceive him save only the queen. He fixed his eyes on the queen, and coming towards her,
he struck the golden harp he had in his hand and sang in a low sweet voice--

     "O Edain, wilt thou come with me
     To a wonderful palace that is mine?
     White are the teeth there, and black the brows,
     And crimson as the mead are the lips of lovers.

     "O woman, if thou comest to my proud people,
     'Tis a golden crown shall circle thy head,
     Thou shalt dwell by the sweet streams of my land,
     And drink of the mead and wine in the arms of thy lover."

Then he gently put his arm round the queen's wait, and drew her up from her royal throne, and went
forth with her through the midst of all the guests, none hindering, and the king himself was like one in
a dream, and could neither speak nor move. But when he recovered himself, then he knew that the
stranger was one of the fairy chiefs of the Tuatha-de-Danann who had carried off the beautiful Edain
to his fairy mansion. So he sent round messengers to all the kings of Erin that they should destroy all
the forest of the hated Tuatha race, and slay and kill and let none live till the queen, his young bride,
was brought back to him. Still she came not. Then the king out of revenge ordered his men to block up
all the stables where the royal horses of the Dananns were kept, that so they might die of hunger; but
the horses were of noble blood, and no bars or bolts could hold them, and they broke through the bars
and rushed out like the whirlwind, and spread all over the country. And the kings, when they saw the
beauty of the horses, forgot all about the search for Queen Edain, and only strove how they could
seize and hold as their own some of the fiery steeds with the silver hoofs and golden bridles. Then the
king raged in his wrath, and sent for the chief of the Druids, and told him he should be put to death
unless he discovered the place where the queen lay hid. So the Druid went over all Ireland, and
searched, and made spells with oghams, and at last, having carved four oghams on four wands of a
hazel-tree, it was revealed to him that deep down in a hill in the very centre of Ireland, Queen Edain
was hidden away in the enchanted palace of Midar the fairy chief.

Then the king gathered a great army, and they circled the hill, and dug down and down till they came
to the very centre; and just as they reached the gate of the fairy palace, Midar by his enchantments
sent forth fifty beautiful women from the hillside, to distract the attention of the warriors, all so like the
queen in form and features and dress, that the king himself could not make out truly, if his own wife
were amongst them or not. But Edain, when she saw her husband so near her, was touched by love of
him in her heart, and the power of the enchantment fell from her soul, and she came to him, and he
lifted her up on his horse and kissed her tenderly, and brought her back safely to his royal palace of
Tara, where they lived happily ever after.

But soon after the power of the Tuatha-de-Danann was broken for ever, and the remnant that was left
took refuge in the caves where they exist to this day, and practise their magic, and work spells, and are
safe from death until judgment day.

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