Chapter 1
We do not know where Becfola came from. Nor do we know for
certain where she went to. We do not even know her real name, for
the name Becfola, "Dowerless" or "Small-dowered," was given to her
as a nickname. This only is certain, that she disappeared from the
world we know of, and that she went to a realm where even
conjecture may not follow her.
It happened in the days when Dermod, son of the famous Ae of
Slane, was monarch of all Ireland. He was unmarried, but he had
many foster-sons, princes from the Four Provinces, who were sent by
their fathers as tokens of loyalty and affection to the Ard-Ri, and
his duties as a foster-father were righteously acquitted. Among the
young princes of his household there was one, Crimthann, son of Ae,
King of Leinster, whom the High
