Week 12 reading B: The Shee An Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire

There once was a fairy that went to ask for the hand of the daughter of the king in marriage. The only way the king would give the fairy his daughter’s hand in marriage is if he can accomplish the tasks and find out what stopped the laughing goblin from laughing, for his laugh could be heard all over the world. In the garden there were 12 iron spikes, 11 of them had the heads of kings sons who also came seeking his daughter.  Not one of them were able to get the answer to why the goblin had stopped laughing so their heads were mounted on spikes. The fairy made no answer but set out on his quest.

The fairy traveled all day until he came to a house, saying he was a man for hire. The man hired him to watch the cows, and in return received food and a place to sleep. At supper the fairy found out the man was the laughing goblin himself. The next morning the goblin instructed him to take his 5 golden cows and his bull with no horns out to the pasture, but to keep them away from the land of the giant.

He drove the cattle to the pasture and saw the land of the giant. He noticed that it was covered in woods and high walls. He proceeded to take the cows on the land and climb a tree to eat apples. Then there was a great crashing coming from the woods. It was the giant who had come to eat the fairy and his cows. They fought all afternoon and just when the giant had the upper hand the fairy grew strength and bested the giant. He then beheaded the 5 heads of the giant and cut out each of their tongues.

That night he slept and the next morning he asked the goblin why he had stopped laughing. The goblin refused to answer, which angered the fairy. Eh ran through the house like a madman finding some rope. The fairy bound him up until he agreed to tell him his secret. The goblin told him that he use to live in a castle with his 12 sons, until one day a brown hare came in tossed up ashes from the fire and then ran away.  The Hare came again and this time the goblins followed him to a small house owned by yellow face and his 12 daughters. Yellow face gave them the choice between an iron pike and a wood pike, and then to pull food from the pot. The goblin received nothing so him and his sons fasted while the others ate. The next morning he gave him him the choice to put his own neck in a wood ring or his 12 sons in iron which then lead to his sons death. He was then shaved and had a sheep back put on his own.

The fairy stayed until one day the hare came back, and he followed and killed it in front of yellow face. Yellow face offered the same challenge as before but this time he choose the wood pike and yellow face starved that night.