HoneyAleA game played with a guestWhite flowersMusic
Invocation Approach
Tone
Courteous and guarded
Address
MidirLord of Brí LéithMidir of the Mound
Relationship
The host who offers a bargain and keeps the terms
Warning
The terms are exact and he will hold you to them
Resonance
Those who deal with the otherworld those who must keep an agreement
Symbols
Fidchell boardSíd moundSwan chainHazel
Mythology Summary
Midir of Brí Léith is a lord of the síd and the foster-father of Aengus Óg; in Tochmarc Étaíne, 'The Wooing of Étaín', he wins Étaín from her husband Eochaid Airem through a series of fidchell games whose stakes are set in advance, and the two leave together as swans. He appears among the Tuatha Dé Danann in Cath Maige Tuired, and his mound at Brí Léith (Ardagh) is named in the Dindshenchas. The tale survives in Lebor na hUidre and the Yellow Book of Lecan.
Modern Practice
Approached as a host and a bargainer rather than a patron: offerings are given at boundaries and at mound-like places, and an agreement is written down before it is made. Fidchell and board games serve as a devotional and divinatory frame.