A Bedtime Story with Daidí Beag
Call me Daidí Beag ("Wee Grandad"). Me family and I live in Lyndelby, a small village of the Hobaid ("Hobbit Folk"), in the mountain vale of Misthallow. There I have a farmhouse. It's not much, but it's enough to support meself and me extended family. Alas, me dear wife is gone, but our three daughters--Ériu, Banba, and Fódla--and their families live with me.
I began tellin' stories to me daughters at bedtime when they were yet wee lasses. Now that they're grown with children of their own, I tells stories to me grandkids. They're an inquisitive lot, me grandkids, always interruptin' me storytellin' with questions about this and that. It can be a bit exhaustin' at times, but I does me best to answer 'em.
One day in the middle of me stories Dooli, the eldest of me three grandsons, asks, 'Who're the Valar, Granda?
'Where'd you hear that word, lad?' I asked with surprise.
'From an old Dwarf what was peddlin' his wares in the village,' he answers.
'An old Dwarf tinker, was he? Hmph!' I scoffed. 'What does he know about the gods?' I received no answer from me grandkids nor did I expect one. 'Now where was I?'
'Ye was tellin' us about the Valar, Granda,' reminded Daibhidh. He's Banba's son, and me second oldest grandson. He knows I'm prone to losin' me chain of thought after bein' interrupted.
'Ah, the Valar!' I exclaimed. 'That's just another name for the Tuatha Dé Danann.'
'Who are they?' asks Diolun, Dooli's younger brother.
'Full of questions ye are, me wee darlin's,' I says with a laugh. 'I suppose young minds have much space for learnin'. The head of a white-haired seanduine ("old person") such as meself is so overfull that I start forgettin' things I ought not to.'
Despite me pleadin' me grandchildren resumed askin' about the Tuatha Dé. Finally I relented, tellin' 'em a tale about the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Nuada Airgetlám:
'King Nuada were a wise ruler and a great warrior. He lost a hand in battle against a group of invaders known as the Fir Bolg ("Men of Bags"). According to ancient law and custom the injury meant that Nuada could no longer serve as king.
However, Dian Cécht the Healer forged a silver hand to replace the one Nuada had lost. It were because of this silver hand that Nuada were given the name Airgetlám. Dian's son Miach turned the silver hand to one of flesh, blood, and bone thus enablin' Nuada to regain the throne.
It's said that in battle King Nuada wielded Claíomh Solais, the Sword of Light. Once the sword had been unsheathed no foe could withstand it's wrath. With this sword Nuada were able to defeat the Fomhóraigh ("Formorians"), horrible monsters full of malice and hate.
The leader of the Fomhóraigh were Balor of the Piercin' Eye...'
Just then me daughters came to take their children to their beds.
'Da,' Ériu, the eldest of me three daughters, interrupted, 'ye shouldn't be tellin' that sort of story to the children.'
'Aye,' says Banba, the second eldest, 'especially so close to bedtime.'
'Do ye want to be givin' 'em nightmares?' added Fódla, the youngest of me three daughters.
'It's time for this lot to lay down for their night's rest,' says Ériu.
'Aye,' says her sisters in stern voices.
Me grandchildren protested. 'Ah! Just a wee while longer?' says one of 'em. Their yawns, however, indicated that their mothers were correct.
'That's enough stories for this evenin', me wee darlin's,' I says to them. 'Time for bed.' They resisted for a short spell before finally headin' to their sleepin' chamber.
'Daidí,' me daughter Ériu says to me after layin' the children down to rest, 'ye shouldn't be fillin' their heads with such foolishness. It's bad enough ye did it to me and me sisters.' She was clearly annoyed.
'What harm is there in it?' I says to her. 'Ye all turned out fine, didn't ye?'
'Aye, we did,' she replies, 'but that were despite and not because of your nonsense tales of gods, goddesses, and monsters.'
'Bein' named for a goddess were the source of much teasin' when I were a wee lass,' says Banba in support of her sister. 'Tellin' the grandkids about the Tuatha Dé is sure to invite trouble.'
'Is that so?' says Fódla to Banba with surprise in her voice. 'Bein' named for a goddess made me feel grand.' She smiled with delight.
'See there!' I says with a grin. Ériu and Banba answered with a scowl.
'Hmmm,' I grumbled. Now 'twas me turn to be annoyed.
Me daughters sighed at their old Da, decidin' it were best to let the matter rest.
'Oíche mhaith, Daidí,' says Fódla with a kiss on me cheek. 'Good night, Da,' says the other two.
'Good night, me darlin' daughters,' says I.
