Iubdán, Iubdan. Fairy king of Irish tradition, known as early as the 16th-century text of Echtra Fergusa maic Léti [The Adventure of Fergus mac Léti]. For a king, he suffers many humiliations. Eisirt, Iubdán's court poet, tells him that Ulster is a land of giants to deflate his boasting, and to prove his point brings home a dwarf, Áeda (1), who seems a giant in the fairy court. Eisirt then lays a demeaning geis on Iubdán, requiring him to travel to Emain Macha so that he may be the first there to eat porridge in the morning. As Eisirt correctly predicted, Iubdán clumsily falls into the porridge, is captured, and is kept prisoner for a year. In the bawdy Aided Fergusa [The Violent Death of Fergus], Fergus mac Léti has a grotesque adulterous affair with Bebo, Iubdán's wife, his greatest concern being that his male member is larger than she is. Fergus tells Iubdán of his pleasure with Bebo, but not until the fourth time does Iubdán condemn his lust. Later, Fergus captures both Iubdán and Bebo and will not release them until Iubdán surrenders his most prized possession, which is revealed to be a pair of enchanted shoes, allowing the wearer to walk on water. When Fergus puts them on, the shoes swell to fit his feet.

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.