Sacred Texts: Legends and Sagas

The King of Ireland's Son: The House of Crom Duv: Part IV: The Story of Morag

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This is a Celtic folk or fairy tale (likely Irish or Scottish Gaelic in origin, given names like Morag, Baun, Deelish, and the figure of Crom Duv) narrated in the first person by the youngest of three foster-sisters raised by a Spae-Woman (a seeress or wise woman). The story follows Morag as she sets out with her two foster-sisters to seek their fortunes, despite their contempt for her — they repeatedly try to abandon or trap her, calling her ugly and freckled. The tale's central argument is a traditional one about wisdom and humility over beauty and selfishness: Morag alone takes the half-cake with her foster-mother's blessing rather than the whole cake without it, and this moral orientation carries through to her actions. The bulk of the excerpt depicts Morag outwitting the Hags of the Long Teeth — supernatural crone figures who plan to deliver the girls to a giant called Crom Duv — through a sequence of small, clever stratagems: salting the Hags' porridge to make them thirst, switching the enchanted sleep-pins from her party's pillows to the Hags', and delaying bedtime with storytelling. What's distinctive is the tale's quiet, matter-of-fact tone and the way Morag's gifts are entirely practical (listening, improvising, working) rather than magical, with her Little Red Hen serving as a subtle guiding familiar rather than a flashy helper.

The King of Ireland's Son: The House of Crom Duv: Part IV: The Story of Morag

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