way with Balder to Hell. It was afterwards returned as a token by Balder to his father when the latter sent his son Hermoᵭr to Hell to ask for Balder's release: Balder was not allowed to go back with Hermoᵭr, but he gave his brother his father's gold ring to carry home again: it had the peculiarity, that every ninth night it dropped eight others like itself.[1] Thus it symbolized the ancient week, and its recovery by Woden its owner must mean the restoration of the regular vicissitude of day and night.
Aitherne, having got the brooch, went on to the court of the king of North Leinster, which was at Naas, on the Liffey. There he was not satisfied with the rich presents given him, but he insisted on sharing the queen's love, and in leading captive to Ulster 150 of the chief ladies of Leinster, with 700 red-eared white cows. The poet and the Leinster men did not, we are told, bless one another when they parted; and no sooner had the former crossed the boundary into his own country, than the latter, released from the obligations of hospitality, pursued him and rescued their wives and daughters. They further forced him and the Ultonian army that arrived to protect him to fortify themselves on Howth Head, near Dublin, where they underwent a siege for some days. Finally, the Ulster braves sallied forth and routed the men of Leinster, and their king, overtaken on the banks of the Liffey, was beheaded by Conall Cernach. [2] But it would be useless to attempt to interpret this story bit by bit; suffice it to say that Conall Cernach, or C. the Victorious,
