Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index In Irish mythology Midir (also spelled Midhir) was a god who, as all gods of both sexes had to do after being defeated by the Milesians, lived in the sidh of Bri Leith. Midir was the husband of Fuamnach, but later fell in love with Etain, receiving Aengus's help to make her his new bride; this provoked Fuamnach's vengeance against the young new wife, causing her several disgraces, until some years later Etain married Eochaidh, by that time the High King of Ireland. Far from giving up, Midir made an attempt to bring his wife back home, going to see the king and challenging to a game, supposedly of chess. As Midir won, he asked a kiss from Etain as his prize, but Eochaidh refused, breaking his word and banishing Midir from Tara. Nevertheless Midir could enter the city and the palace, and turning himself and Etain into swans left the royal residence through the chimney. Eochaidh did not accept the loss of his wife and pursued them. Then Midir used his magical powers to turn fifty women into similar to Etain, offering the king the possibility to choose only one. Eochaidh, trying to find the true one, chose his own daughter by accident and lost Etain. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.