The Fairy Sword of Islay

Alasdair MacEachern, a renowned blacksmith on the Island of Islay, cherished the simple life he led with his son Neil, who was a fine young blacksmith in his own right. One day the boy suddenly took ill, the cause of which could not be determined, until a wiseman came to the bedside of Neil and told Alasdair that his son had been taken away by the Fairy Folk and replaced with a changeling. Some instructions were given to Alasdair regarding disposal of the changeling, and accessing the Fairy Kingdom from the green knoll upstream from their cottage. Through trickery and magic, Alasdair was able to rescue Neil from the Fairy realm where he had been enchanted by otherworldly song and dance, and return him to the land of mortals. However, before the door between worlds was shut, a small and crafty fairy poked its head out and laid a curse on Neil so that he would not speak until he broke the curse. Despite his frozen tongue, Neil and his father lived contentedly in their cozy cottage next to their forge, with Neil having no memory of his time in the Fairy realm until that fateful day, one year and one week later. Alasdair had given his son the task of forging a new claymore for the Chief of their clan, and as Neil held the metal to the fire he suddenly had a flash of memories from his time spent enchanted, dancing and singing with the Faeries on the green knoll upstream from their cottage. He set about forging the sword at such a rapid pace it gave a fright to Alasdair. He remembered that in the Faeries' world, swords were forged with magic and spells as well as with fire. When he was finished, he held the sword up high, it gleaming with light like a full moon, and spoke "This is a sword that will never fail the man who wields it." From then on, Neil spoke again and the Chief of their clan never lost a battle, but Neil could never again forge a Fairy Sword, nor would he remember his time spent in the Fairy Kingdom.