Daal the Headless King and Balbha the Head-Bearer

Daal was an Orrish king who conquered an enclave of Portachs. Their king escaped, however, and sent his daughters to murder Daal in his own bed. Daal's queen, Balbha, awoke in the night as they approached and cried an alarm. One of the Portach daughters cut out her tongue, as the other beheaded King Daal, but the guard had arrived at that point, and the daughters were forced to flee.
By some ancient magic, Balbha animated her king's head. In some myths, she ventured into the bogs and traded her soul to a Portach witch. In more modern tellings, she makes this deal with Esakr, the Host of Magic. In one ancient telling, she is said to use "those magics the Aernigh disdained," thought to be a reference to Orrish magics.
Using her powers, Balbha was able to make Daal's head speak, and he indeed seemed to be himself. Yet the Orrish would not allow the unwhole to rule. Through Daal, Balbha invited anyone to try and depose her. The Queen proved a potent warrior, repelling attempted takeovers from three different kings, before a fourth insisted it was Daal he meant to displace, and seize Balbha as his queen. This fourth king seized Daal's corpse and cut it apart, throwing the pieces into a river.
Rather than submit to this king, however, Queen Balbha fled with Daal's head to the survivors of the Portach enclave and used her magics to bend them to her will. With the Portach army, she marched on her former kingdom and retook it, nearly destroying all the Orrish warriors. For this reason, her clan and the ancient nation itself is unknown and unnamed.