Oberon
alternately, Auberon

This fairy king appears in the Carologinian medieval legend Huon of Bordeaux as the offspring of Julius Caesar and Morgan le Fay. Better known from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, where he is at war with his wife Titiana over a question of who has more power. With the help of his servant Puck, he accidentally casts a spell on his wife, making her fall in love with Nick Bottom, who is now in the form of an ass. But all is resolved, and I think you should really go and read the play.

The motif of conjugal rivalry shows up in the Irish Tain Bo Cuailnge, where Queen Medb and her husband King Ailill fight over who is more powerful, thus provoking a war. Medb is the origin of Queen Mab in later fairy lore, and Oberon is said in some sources to be the husband of Mab.

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Mary Jones © 2004