Iubdan

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Iubdan

In Ultonian romance (the Ossianic stories of Ireland), the king of the Wee Folk. One day he boasted of the might of his strong man Glower, who could hew down a thistle at one blow. His bard Eisirt retorted that beyond the sea there existed a race of giants, any one of whom could annihilate a whole battalion of the Wee Folk. Challenged to prove his words, Eisirt returned with Creda, King Fergus's dwarf and bard. He then dared Iubdan to go to Fergus's palace and taste the king's porridge.

Iubdan and Bebo, his queen, arrived at the palace at midnight, but while trying to get at the porridge so he could taste it and be gone before daybreak, Iubdan fell in. He was found in the pot the next morning by the scullions, and he and Bebo were taken before Fergus, who after a while released them in exchange for a pair of water shoes, which by wearing a man could go over or under water as freely as on land.