Celtic mythologists/Pagans/Wiccans/etc please read.

Sektor31 · Post by **Sektor31** » 2003-02-07 01:14pm

I know I could find this anywhere on the net, but most of them are from people who don't know the crap they are talking about (all of them contradict each other).

Now I need to know from someone who knows their stuff. *rolls out long list*...

Who are the Tuatha de Danaan?
Who are the Sidhe?
Who are the Faeries (and their variants, not talking about diminutive pixies)?
What is Tir na nOg/Avalon?
Brief summarization of the legend please?

Lord_Xerxes · Post by **Lord_Xerxes** » 2003-02-07 01:42pm

I can't remember exactly, but I believe both the Sidhe and the Tuatha de danna were spirits of somekind that were stuck in the plains of hte mortal world and were imbittered by this. Something about if you went onto their moors or forests they would take you over. I can't remember exactly. I would consult my book, but it's at my mother's house.

I believe Tir Na Nog was like the faery realm.

Avalon was sort of a paradise that existed between the locks that if you knew the certain path through the mists you could go to it. It was sort of a heaven-on-earth type deal.

Again, my generalizations could be wrong. It's been along time since I'd been looking into celtic mythology (at least 2-3 years) and since I've read "The Mists of Avalon" an "Finn MaCool" and other sorts of Celtic historical-fiction pieces.

If you're looking for clarification on all this, consult the works of Morgan Llwellyn. She's a great celtic historical-fiction writter who I admire and is one of my top favorite authors. She's written several books, but Finn MaCool and Druids were ones that are tops in my views. She also wrote in a fantasy/sci-fi series with another writter that was extremely good. The name of that slips me though.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2003-02-07 04:03pm

I can't tell you a lot off hand. People in modern Ireland North or South aren't encouraged to learn about the old mythology of our land. We can find it quite patronising when people go on about the wee people and pot of gold. A friend of mine is well versed in such lore and i'll have him make a wee report.

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2003-02-07 06:26pm

The Tuatha de Danaan (pronounced TOO-a-ha de DONN-an) and the Sidhe (pronounced Shee) are essentially the same thing. According to Irish mythology, the Tuatha were the pre-Gaelic inhabitants of Ireland. They were defeated by the Milesian Celts from Iberia (Gaelic people led by a leader who's name was supposedly Milesius [curiously Latinized name for a Celtic leader]), and rather than vacate Ireland, they merely vacated the surface of it. They retreated to underground Sidhes, which are magical realms that mortals in Irish legend could occasionally wander into). The Tuatha developed magical powers and were essentially immortal.

Tir na nOg means the land of the young, or the land of youth. It was an island somewhere out in the Atlantic. The Irish hero Oisin (pronounced EE-shun) resided there for over a hundred years with a woman of the Sidhe. For some reason, he came back to Ireland (I can't remember the reson but it was only supposed to be a short visit), and was warned by his faerie lover not to dismount his horse. He fell off of it while trying to help someone who was pinned by a large stone. As soon as his feet touched Irish soil again, he became a feeble old man.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-02-07 09:09pm

PM Verilon. He's our resident Pagan.

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-02-08 02:22am

innerbrat wrote:PM Verilon. He's our resident Pagan.

LMAO (wonders if that could be a possible title addition...?)

Honestly, though, I don't know about that. I would answer if I had the knowledge, but I don't.

Johonebesus · Post by **Johonebesus** » 2003-02-08 05:02am

To add a bit to Peringuus' answer (not that it is really necessary), the sidhe folk are likely watered down and rationalized memories of ancient gods and nature spirits. As he pointed out, the mythical leader of the Gaels has a rather Latin name, indicating that the story is probably a rationalized mediaeval legend or literary creation. Some of the Tuatha are clearly gods, especially Manannàn mac Lir, lir being sea, so he was the son of the sea. Also, if I recall correctly, Danann was either the sun or the sun goddess, and tuatha means clan or nation, so their name means "people of the sun". Unfortunately, there really is no Gaelic equivalent of the Eddas, and the druids refused to write down their secrets, so not much Celtic mythology has been preserved.

Fairy is of French origin, and is just the Romanic equivalent of the Germanic elf-alfa. I do not know if there is a native Gaelic word for elf. In the nineteenth century folklorists catalogued all sorts of "species" of fairies, but just how old some of the folk beliefs were is hard to gauge.