Aengus asks for his brother Bodb's help in finding the woman of his dreams in
"Aislinge Óenguso" (the Dream of Aengus). At the time, Bodb is king of the
síde of
Munster. Bodb successfully identifies the woman as
Caer Ibormeith. Following the Tuatha Dé Danann's defeat in the battle of
Tailtiu, Bodb is elected king of the Tuatha Dé Danann in the "Children of Lir", just as the Tuatha Dé are going underground to dwell in the
sídhe. The principle justification given for Bodb's election is that he is the Dagda's eldest son. He subsequently fathered many deities. Bodb's election is recognised by all of his rivals, save only
Lir, who refuses him homage. Bodb, however, counsels his followers to forbear from punishing Lir; later, Bodb will successively offer two of his own daughters in marriage to Lir to placate him. Both marriages, however, end unhappily. As king of the Munster
síde with
Lén as his
smith, Bodb Sída ar Femen ('of the Mound on Femen') plays a role in an important prefatory tale to
Táin Bó Cuailnge, for it is his swineherd who quarrels with that of the king of the Connacht
síde; the swineherds are later swallowed and reborn as the magical bulls
Donn Cuailnge and
Finnbennach, of which the former was the object of the great cattle-raid. In one
Fenian tale, Bodb leads the Tuatha Dé Danann to the aid of the
Fianna at the
Battle of Ventry. ==References==