Beannaithe the Dwarf Lass
'Good evenin', me wee darlin's. Are ye ready to hear more of Beannaithe's tale?' I asked me grandchildren not long before their bedtime.
'Aye,' said Diolun.
'We are,' said a few of the others.
Darowva, beamin' a smile from ear-to-ear, vigourously nodded her head.
Beacha, as always, had already fallen asleep.
'Where's Fikta?' asked Dooli while glancin' about the room for signs of the Dwarf.
'He's moved on, lad,' answered I. 'That's the nature of his work.'
Me grandkids let out a collective groan of disappointment.
'But before he left he shared the remainder of his part of the story with Daidí Beag, which I am now prepared to share with ye,' I said, hoping to ease their disappointment.
'Yes, please,' said Darowva, polite as always.
'All right,' said a couple of the lads disappointedly.
'Such enthusiasm!' I laughed. 'All right, here it is:'
'Wee Beannaithe was with the Dwarf for a year while he travelled from town to town and village to village. Durin' that time Fikta grew very fond of the lass, so fond in fact that he began callin' her Dóttir. Not knowin' any better, people assumed that Beannaithe *were* his daughter.'
"When will the lass be growin' a beard?" people asked the Dwarf.
"Oh, not for another ten years I reckon," he'd answer. "Dwarf lasses don't grow 'em as soon as the lads." The Dwarf wasn't prepared to tell people that he'd kidnapped a child of the Hobaid ("Hobbit Folk").'
'Dwarf lasses grow beards?' asked Daibhidh. His cousins laughed.
'Aye, of course they grow beards. What'd ye think?' I answered incredulously. Me grandkids laughed again.
'About the time that Fikta normally returned to Lyndelby for his annual visit he did not take the path that led to the vale. He passed Lyndelby the next year and the year that followed, too. Ten years went by without a visit to our village.
'Did the Dwarf not like us anymore?' asked Darowva.
'It weren't that at all,' I replied. 'See, Fikta had grown quite fond of his Dóttir. He knew that returnin' to Lyndelby would mean that he'd be obliged to find her parents. His old Dwarf heart could not bear to be parted from the lass.'
'Beannaithe were always a wee one for her age, but in those ten years she grew in stature, albeit very slowly. Fikta trained her in his former trade of blacksmithin'. She took to it like a fish to water. As her skill increased she grew both in strength and in confidence. She were a shy lass no longer.
Fikta also taught Beannaithe how to defend herself with a dagger. Not content to wield only one, she wanted a dagger in *both* hands. The old Dwarf laughed, but were happy to forge another for her.
The other Dwarves that saw Fikta durin' his travels, mostly in the Dwarf kingdom of the Lonely Mountain but occasionally elsewhere, were impressed with Beannaithe's skill with both dagger and smithin' hammer. "Precocious" they said she were.'
'What does "precocious" mean?' asked Diolun.
'If I knew I'd tell ye!' I answered with a laugh.
'I think it means that she were skilled beyond her years,' answered Darowva. We all looked at her with surprise.
'Where'd ye learn that word?' I asked.
She shrugged modestly, feignin' either not to know or not to care.
I laughed. 'What a clever one she is!' I thought.
'There were one way in which Beannaithe were not precocious,' I said, sayin' the last word very carefully while lookin' to Darowva for confirmation that I'd used the word correctly.
She subtly nodded her head so her brothers and cousins wouldn't notice.
'She weren't much for book learnin',' I continued. 'No matter how much Fikta tried, Beannaithe showed not the slightest interest in studyin' the Angerthas. That's what the Dwarves call their writin' system.'
'Ye mean the runes?' asked Dooli.
'Aye, the Dwarf runes.' I answered.
'Do *ye* know the An-ger-thas?' Daibhidh carefully asked.
'Aye, lad, I do,' answered I.
'Will ye teach us?' asked Darowva.
I carefully measured me reply before answerin'. 'Aye, if your mothers approve it,' I said. The lads weren't so certain they wanted book learnin' but me granddaughter were eager to start.
'I'll ask me mam first thing,' said Darowva. 'Wait, here she comes now. Mam...'
'We'll talk about it in the mornin', love,' answered Ériu who had just finished cleanin' up after supper with her sisters Banba and Fódla.
'Good night, Granda!' said Darowva.
'Good night,' said her brothers and cousin.
'Ye know she won't sleep a wink tonight, don't ye?' Ériu very crossly said to me.
'Aye, lass, I am sorry,' I said.
Despite bein' cross Ériu kissed me cheek before she and her sisters lead the grandkids to their beds.
This ends Part One
