Tochmarc Étaine and the Elements
Disclaimer: This is me just pondering again and so I have no references for this, only thoughts.
Living under Brí Leith, it is constantly there, on my mind and if it isn't, it insists on popping in with random light bulb moments. "It" being the legend of Midir and Etain. There are so many layers to it, so much wisdom, some of which I have touched on before.
On and off I have been considering the elements and the legend and for some reason they are lingering with me this last week so I must out them. What is the message about the elements the story is telling us? All are there in some way. The obvious being Wind with Fuamnach but Water is there as Etain turns into a puddle first which breathes life into the worm then butterfly. Water/Etain/life.
I've often considered Etain's connection to rivers, she was met at a river washing her hair, she wanders, seemingly innocently, all over the country as the many rivers do and gets to the sea quite often, Beara, Newgrange - Boyne, Skellig. All the important places are in this legend too. And on another path I go, no, not today. While Fuamnach blew the butterfly away on the wind I still feel Etain is water, wind blows the rain around.
Earth, this is a stretch but again I've had the notion Midir is the land for quite a while, the bog, the Sidhe Mounds, the way to the Otherworld under the ground, he is also the grounding for the other elements, parts of the story, the connection. This seems to conflict with the notion which sticks that he is Mananann but not really. Oh another digression. Back to the Elements.
Fire! Aenghus is Fire, God of love, passion, heat. Fuamnach and Midir love him passionately as their foster son and he them. He flames their feelings, he flames a lot of feelings throughout the legend. He is not as innocent as he appears. He warms Etain and shelters her. At a push he destroys. It's him that wields the sword to cut off Fuamnach's head while in another version she is literally burned by fire, still Aenghus.
I'm still playing with this so forgive the randomness. The lesson, (or a lesson as there are many - no need for any other learning, just immerse yourself in this and you'll know everything... or nothing like me!) the lesson, for today, may be that we need to stop trying to control Nature or she will fight back and consume us with her Wind in Tsunamis, Water in flooding, Earth in landslides and earthquakes and lastly but definitely not least, Fire will destroy us all with great passion. It's interesting that the human who controlled an element was destroyed. Damn fairies get away with everything.
That might be a lesson, or maybe I'm just wandering again, with Aenghus this time, sorry Midir, you did go and get stuck in that bog. I often wonder is Midir depression.... Oh here I go again, down another rabbit hole.... This legend has everything in it.
