#Celtic#FolkloreThursday: How did the storytellers of the #IronAge learn about the prehistory of #Ireland? #Fintan mac Bochra could tell them all about it, because he lived for at least 5000 years after the Deluge well into the time of #Fionn Mac Cumhaill, becoming the repository of all knowledge of #Ireland and all history.
#Celtic#FolkloreThursday: #Ogma mac Elathan, son of Delbaeth, is according to #Irish tradition the inventor of the #Ogham script. This Son of Art was not only extremely famous in the art of speech and poetry, but also an athletic trénḟer, a power man. In the battle of #MagTuired he fought on the side of the #TuathaDéDanann against #Bres and his #Fomorians.
Source: Helmut Birkhan Die #Kelten
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday: #Cróchan Crogderg (= ”bloodred”) was an obscure goddess or heroine who gave birth to the great queen/goddess #Medb in the cave of #Cruachain. Medbs royal seat was named after Cróchan which means cuporcauldron. Both form an entrance to the #Otherworld, a miniature well. Source: Patricia Monaghan The Red-Haired Girl From The Bog`
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday: The liminal nature of #Conaire (later as "Conaire the Great" High King of #Ireland) is immediately understood at his birth. His mother, Mes Buachalla, who is herself connected to the #otherworldly áes síde, conceived Conaire through a union with a supernatural bird-warrior, #Nemglan, who placed a geis on his son to not harm birds.
Source: Bridgette Slavin The Irish Birdman: Kingship and Liminality in Buile Suibhne https://x.com/eDIL_Dictionary/status/866639498586845184
#LegendaryWednesday: King Cathaír Mór had a dream, in which a woman was pregnant for eight hundred years, finally giving birth to a son near a fragrant, singing fruit tree. His #druid explained to Cathaír that the lady was the River Slaney that ran near Tara, her child the harbor at its mouth, and the singing tree the king himself.
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and Folklore
Four friends, after hunting, encountered four Baobhan Sith who appeared as beautiful women. They danced and sang, luring the men, except for one who resisted their charm. He witnessed the enchantresses slaying his friends and narrowly escaped by hiding among iron-shod horses, which these malevolent fairies feared. He survived until dawn, then vowed to share his tale to prevent others from falling victim to the Baobhan Sith.
The Baobhan Sith - Folklore Scotland #Celtic
RT @frome_maude
The Baobhan Sith is a faery vampire of the Scottish Highlands. She appears as a beautiful woman in a long green dress that hides her hooves, immediately after a yearning male hunter expresses a desire for female companionship. She seduces then attacks her prey. #FaustianFriday
James Macgrigor encountered a Kelpie disguised as a stallion. Recognizing it, he stroke its nose with his claymore, severing its magical bridle bit. The Kelpie pleaded for its return, revealing its transformational powers and ability to reveal hidden beings: “If you look through the holes in the bit, you will see all manners of fairies and witches and devils.” Macgrigor lifted the bit to his eyes and peered through, and sure enough, the world he saw was bright with colour and full of beings invisible to the human eye. He was so enamoured by the contraption that he wanted to study it in more detail. He was also not deaf to the Kelpie’s claim that without the bit, he would die, and Macgrigor saw an opportunity to free the people of the surrounding area from the Kelpie’s reign of terror.
Macgrigor, captivated by the bit’s power, decided to study it further, leaving the Kelpie in a vulnerable state. Despite the Kelpie’s pleas and threats, Macgrigor cleverly kept the bit, learning about the #Otherworld. #Celtic
„Rarely is a Kelpie the victim of a trick, but after that day, no one went missing on the banks of Loch Ness ever again, all thanks to the cunning of James Macgrigor.“
Source: The Kelpie of Loch Ness - Folklore Scotland https://twitter.com/gonzalokenny/status/1790707801330688016?s=19
#Celtic#FairyTaleTuesday: Three soldiers deserted their army and each took a different path. The sergeant and corporal were tricked and imprisoned by a lady at her palace. The private, however, won her heart and they planed to marry. Repeatedly put to sleep by a tailor’s tricks, the soldier received gifts from his fiancée: a golden ring, a penknife and a golden pin. Despite the tailor’s efforts, the soldier set out to find his beloved in the Kingdom of the Green Mountains. An eagle from the kingdom agreed to carry him, but grew weak from hunger. The „eagle agreed to continue on her journey; but only if the soldier would let her have a bite from his thigh.
After eating from both of his thighs, soldier and eagle finally arrived at the kingdom of the Green Mountains.“ After his wounds had healed, the private reunited with his beloved after showing her the tokens of their past. They married, and he freed his old friends imprisoned in the lady’s castle. Each found their own happily ever after.
Source: The Kingdom of the Green Mountains - Folklore Scotland
#Celtic#FairyTaleTuesday: "The Swans Swim Sae Bonnie" tells of two sisters, one dark and one fair, who were inseparable in their childhood. Over time, however, the dark sister developed jealousy of her fair sister, who was favoured by others. This jealousy grew into hatred as both sisters competed for the love of the same man. In an act of desperation, the dark sister drowned her fair sister in the river. Later, three fiddlers used parts of the fair sister's body to improve their musical instruments, leading to a ghostly revelation that exposed the dark sister:
“It’s yonder he sits ma aul-man the king,
It’s yonder she sits ma mither the queen.
It’s yonder she sits ma fause sester Jean
An sae lightly she pushed me inta the stream.”
The dark sister was burnt as punishment. John fell into madness. The king, however, now had no children at all.
Source: https://folklorescotland.com/the-swans-swim-sae-bonnie/
#Celtic#FairyTaleTuesday: One night, a group of merfolk shed their seal skins to play on the shore. A Shetlander found a skin and a beautiful mermaid lamenting its loss. He refused to return it, offering marriage instead. They lived together for years and had children. One day, a child found the hidden skin. The mermaid bid her children goodbye, returned to the sea, and left the human world forever. She confessed to her second husband, who stood miserably on the shore: “I always loved my first husband best.”
Source: The Mermaid Wife - Folklore Scotland
#Celtic#MythologyMonday: „The Giant Finn McCool scales the frontage of the country's
former National Wax Museum in Dublin (the building was later demolished in 2006 to be replaced by a 'Comfort Inn' hotel). Once inside, visitors could see the giant's head looking down on them from the staircase ceiling!“
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fionn_mac_Cumhaill
#Celtic#MythologyMonday: #Mythical creatures and #animals with body parts potruding from their mouths stand for the eternal cycle of death and reincarnation.
Source: Natural History Museum Vienna
#Celtic#MythologyMonday for #MuseumDay: The Three Gods of Art (‘Trí de Dána’) settled in an area called Magh Rein, on the borders of Co Cavan and Co Leitrim. From there, it’s not a long trek to Corleck Hill, where a carved stone head with three faces was found, now on display at the Museum of Archeology in Dublin.
Source: https://aliisaac.substack.com/
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: There are about 1200 known crannogs in #Ireland, but it is estimated that there are probably many, many more yet to be discovered. The majority are concentrated in the drumlins area of the midlands, the north and north-west of Ireland. There are thought to be up to 300 on Lough Gara. Lough Allen also has numerous crannogs with a submerged stone pathway leading to them. The Black Islands of Lough Ree numbered 52. They were often built in small clusters overlooking a larger one further out in deeper water… the home of the chieftain, perhaps.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Crannogs were in use in #Ireland from the middle Bronze Age into the seventeenth century. A crannog is an artificial island constructed from brush, timber, clay, peat and stone, often supported by timber piles. Large stones were added to their edges, probably to protect them from the force of the water. The surface would have been topped with a fine layer of earth and sand. The old Irish word is crannóc, from crann, meaning ‘tree’ and óg, meaning ‘young’. It is not known if this term refers to the island itself, or the structures built upon it.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Dún Dealgan means ‘the stronghold of Dalgan’ in #Irish. According to legend, long before it became the home of Ulster’s hero, #CùChulainn, it was originally the site of a fortress constructed by a Fir Bolg chieftain by the name of Delga.
This legendary and historic site is situated on a ridge just outside of Dundalk, overlooking the Castletown River, known also as Abhainn Chaisleán Dhún. The tower, known as ‘Byrne’s Folly’, which is still standing today, was built by a local landowner named Patrick Byrne. He was quite a character by all accounts, as he was reputed to have made his fortune by smuggling.`
Source: Ali Isaac
#FolkloreSunday: Behind the fortification of Cronk ny Merriu are the remains of a homestead. Originally believed to have been build in the #Celtic #IronAge it was later re-occupied during the Norse Period. The site has a building nearly rectangular in construction with three doorways and a standard Norse central hearth. Remains of this building are clearly visible.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronk_ny_Merriu
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Angus is supposed to have made his home at #Newgrange, near the Boyne the underground temple which was formerly called Brugh na Boinne. The old stories say that three trees grew there which were always heavy with fruit, and whoever rested at Brugh na Boinne and ate of this fruit would be deathless.
Source: Heroes of the Dawn by Violet Russel
Each Fenian warrior was equipped by the smiths working in the caves of Keshcorran with a sword and spear of superlative quality. „Each sword had a different name, details of which were related in the tale. Fionn’s sword was called Mac an Luin. The happy warriors were also provided with accommodation and when they awoke next morning,
they found themselves back on Slieve Luachra still bearing their new weapons.“
Source: Antiquarian Research in Co. Sligo as a Background to the #Mythology and Archaeology of Moytura by Eamonn P. Kelly #Celtic
Each Fenian warrior was equipped by the smiths working in the caves of Keshcorran with a sword and spear of superlative quality. „Each sword had a different name, details of which were related in the tale. Fionn’s sword was called Mac an Luin. The happy warriors were also provided with accommodation and when they awoke next morning,
they found themselves back on Slieve Luachra still bearing their new weapons.“
Source: Antiquarian Research in Co. Sligo as a Background to the Mythology and Archaeology of Moytura by Eamonn P. Kelly #Celtic
#Culann, the smith, who was also a Divine and Prophet, is said to have lived for a time on the Isle of Man, where he manufactured sword, spear, and shield of such transcendent excellence for Conchobar, that he was invited by him to dwell in his realm.
Source: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fim/fim04.htm#Celtic
`While awaiting the completion of his weapons on the Isle of Man, Conchobar was able to overpower a mermaid. To induce him to liberate her, she informed him that she was Teeval, the Princess of the Ocean; and promised that if he caused the smith Culann to form her representation on the shield surrounded with this inscription, 'Teeval, Princess of the Ocean,' it would possess such extraordinary powers that when ever he was about engaging his enemy in battle, and looked upon her figure on the shield, read the legend, and invoked her name, his enemies would diminish in strength, while he and his people would acquire a proportionate increase in theirs. Conchobar had the shield made according to the advice of Teeval, and, on his return to Ireland, such extraordinary success attended his arms, that he won the kingdom of Ulster.
Source: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fim/fim04.htm#Celtic
After Culan had crafted weapons of transcendent excellence for Conchobar on the Isle of Man, he accepted the offer of the ambitious young man from #Ulster, to dwell in his realm, and settled on the plain of Murthemne, which was fabled to have been formerly situated beneath the sea. It was here that he was visited by Conchobar, accompanied by his Court and Setanta. Culann was the possessor of a terrible hound, which was slain by the youthful Setanta; who was in consequence called #CúChulainn, i.e., Culann's hound.`
Source: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fim/fim04.htm#Celtic
#MythologyMonday: Geali Dianvir was the eldest son of the king of the Fir Bolg, #Irish invaders who may be mythological memories of early #Celtic arrivals; his people were defeated by Balor, king of the evil Fomorians, who similarly may reflect historical indigenous peoples. After the battle, the defeated Fir Bolg sailed away from #Ireland, returning to the mysterious land of Gallowna, where they attempted to recoup their strength.
From Gallowna, Geali Dianvir was sent back to repair the damage to his people’s reputation that Balor had dealt. When he arrived in Bantry, in western Co. Cork in the southwestern province of Munster, Geali Dianvir found the Formorian queen surrounded by Balor’s men, who every night applied venom to their swords so that they were unbeatable in battle. The venom was obtained from a well into which the warriors plunged their weapons; the Fir Bolg hero decided to eliminate their advantage by turning it from poison to clear water. To do this, he poured 20 measures of the milk of the magical cow of abundance, the glas ghaibhleann, into the well. The Fir Bolg hero was then able to gain the advantage over Balor’s men and drive them to the outer reaches of the land.
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore https://x.com/dublinmacker/status/1271541748863508480?t=VlZCYYhpw-KLu22YntMnsw&s=09
#Celtic#MythologyMonday for #MuseumDay: „In #Irish#mythology, the #TuathaDéDanann were said to have played hurling with their enemies, the Fir Bolg, before the Battle of Moytura commenced.
According to Lady Gregory in her book, Of Gods and Fighting Men, this is what happened:
“It was on a Midsummer day they began the battle. Three times nine hurlers of the Tuatha de Danaan went out against three times nine hurlers of the Firbolgs, and they were beaten, and every one of them was killed.”
So the Fir Bolg won the game, but unfortunately for them, went on to lose the battle. In some versions, they actually played with the heads of their enemies, instead of a ball.“
Source: Ali Isaac