The king of Lir thought he would be appointed king of all of
Ireland. But one of the other king’s eldest sons was elected. He was angry and
left the assembly. The other kings would have harmed him because of this but
the new king wouldn’t let them. The king decided to join their two kingdoms by
marriage to bring peace. He sent the king of Lir three maidens to pick from. He
chose the oldest maiden. They had a set of twins, a boy and a girl, and then
two more boys after. His wife died giving birth to their last son, and the king
mourned his loss. After her death, the high king sent the maidens sister to
keep the peace. His new wife loved his children at first, but then grew to hate
them. She took the four children out to the lake one day. The kings daughter
had a dream that her new mother was going to harm her and didn’t want to go,
but she was pressured into joining. She told the people that lived by the lake
to kill the children, but they would not. So she attempted to kill them but
didn’t have the strength. She made them bathe in the lake, and turned them into
swans. The king of Lir had suspicion that his new wife had done something to
his children.
The king of Lir found the swans upon the lake, and since
they would speak they told him what happened to them. The king then turned his
wife into an air-demon as punishment. The king declared that no swan should
ever be killed. The children got hurt and separated in a heavy storm, but they
soon found each other again. They were so hurt and cold that they just nestled
against each other for warmth.
Bibliography:
More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1895)
More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1895)
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