Passing from The Magic Flute to Fionn and the Fianna (2001; from “Animated Tales of the World”), but continuing the theme of magical quests, magical tests, and magical gifts – this adaptation of the Irish saga of Fionn mac Cumhaill (a.k.a. Finn MacCool).
Several themes we’ve seen in other stories recur here, such as the chess-playing challenge (The Green Man of Knowledge) and the monster-periodically-attacking-the-royal-hall (Beowulf). And the fact that the monster can be killed only in a doorway (i.e., neither indoors nor outdoors) is another example of the magical-loophole stories I discussed last week.
[…] story features one of the most famous examples of the “magic loopholes” I discussed here and here, where Lleu can be killed only when neither indoors nor outdoors, neither on horseback nor on foot, […]