The Legend of Ethna the Bride

In the hall of the Mountain King the harper tells his tale
Of the wonders of a maiden,the woman with burning hair
A Lily of Erin fair wed to a Connacht knight
Stolen by the Sidhe to dance away the night

Her lover, he did grieve her, give her up he would not
To the barrow he went riding, at the Great Hall he did knock
Entreating the Mountain King, his plea before him he did lay
To return his love to him before the end of the day.

So the maid was returned to her husband, she seemed none the worse for harm
She came out of the barrow and into her lover's waiting arms.
But a kirtle of gold and silver was bound about her waist
Her gaze was blank, her eyes unseeing, stared out of her face

Her lover he did mourn her, he knew not what to do
The Lily was returned to him but he grieved for her anew.
Until the day he was riding, out hunting the hart and deer
A fairy voice came tinkling,tinkling.. it whispered in his ear.

"Your Lily, she still dances in the Hall of the Mountain King,
He returned to you her body, but to him he makes her soul cling.
The kirtle wrapped around her makes him all that she can see
But do exactly as I tell you and you can win for her release."

"Unknot the kirtle from her body, be careful not to break a thread.
Burn it in pure fire, scatter the ashes round her bed.
Take the pin that's in the kirtle and bury it in good earth
Do these things and she'll return to the knight that shows his worth."

Now hearing these words to her side he sped, did exactly as he was told.
With trembling hands he undid the knots, too frightened to go bold.
With unseeing eyes she watched him burn the kirtle upon the hearth
But with the last bit of earth tamped down on the pin, to her eyes returned her heart.

That night she danced in her lover's hall for the first time in a year
The harper wrote the ballad that all might the story hear
Of a knight so bold and a love so strong for a woman with burning hair
That the might of the Sidhe was challenged for the Lily of Erin fair