Monaghan Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore

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called the BOOK OF INVASIONS. Although the magi-

cal and sometimes monstrous races described are

clearly mythological, the text does reflect the his-

torical truth that Ireland was settled in multiple

migratory waves. Some of these were non-Celtic

people, including the unknown earliest settlers

and the later Picts. Then came the Celts, not all

at one time but in several waves. The earliest were

people whose dialect was called P-Celtic; later-

comers spoke a Q-Celtic language. It has not

been established beyond dispute how many

migrations took place, or what tribes came, nor

from what area they originated. What is clear is

that Ireland was not settled all at once by only one

people; nor was there always a peaceful reaction

to new people arriving in already occupied lands.

Among these early immigrants or invaders

were some that have come into legend as the Fir

Bolg; earlier scholars derived their name from the

presumed connection with the word for “bag”

and called them “men of the bags,” but the cur-

rent understanding is that their name is related to

the tribal names Builg or Belgae, the same Celtic

tribes that gave their name to Belgium. These

peoples may have traced their descent from a

hypothesized ancestral divinity named Bolg or

Bulg, possibly the ruler of thunder; thus their

name would mean “sons of the god/dess Bolg”

and would be corollary to the later

TUATHA DÉ

DANANN, “children of the goddess DANU.”

Legend has it that the Fir Bolg were

descended from the children of NEMED or

Nemedians, another mythological race who had

lived in Ireland generations before the Fir Bolg.

Cast out by the fierce FOMORIANS, Nemed’s son

STARN found himself in Greece, where his

descendants were enslaved for 230 years, carry-

ing bags of dirt to build up hills. Eventually they

turned these bags into boats and escaped,

returning to their ancient homeland.

They arrived on the harvest feast of LUGH-

NASA under the leadership of Dela, who divided

the island among his sons: the southwestern

PROVINCE of MUNSTER went to Gann and

Sengann; SLANE took the eastern province of

LEINSTER, and Rudraige, ULSTER to the north.

Dynasties were established and kings began to

rule. Among the Fir Bolg kings of note were

EOCHAID mac Eirc, who ruled the middle

province with his famed wife TAILTIU; Rinnal,

who invented spear points; and DELGA, who built

the great fort of DÚN Delgan, now Dundalk in

Co. Louth. Other renowned members of the Fir

Bolg were the healer Fíngein Fisiochda and the

hero

SRENG. Curiously, there is no mention of

the monstrous Fomorians who drove out the Fir

Bolg ancestors, although they reappear ulti-

mately to combat the Fir Bolg’s own conquerors.

The Fir Bolg ruled for only 37 years before the

Tuatha Dé Danann arrived, the most magical of

Ireland’s mythological races. In the great combat

called the first battle of MAG TUIRED, the Tuatha

Dé Danann king NUADA drove the Fir Bolg from

Ireland, although he lost his arm and his right to

the throne in the process (see BLEMISHED KING).

Like later (and possibly earlier) conquered peoples

in Ireland, the Fir Bolg retreated to the distant

reaches of the Celtic world: the Aran Islands off

Ireland’s west coast, where their king Aonghus

built the great fort of Dún Aongusa; to islands off

the Scottish coast; and to wild Connemara, where

their king was said to be named Bola, a possible

derivative of their tribal name.

Irish place-names refer to this mythological

race: Dún Bolg in Co. Wicklow, Moherbullog in

Co. Clare, Moyboulogue in Co. Cavan. If they

do represent a Celtic people who were driven to

the geographical fringes by later Celtic invaders,

it is likely that the inhabitants of those areas

descend from the Fir Bolg.

Sources: MacAlister, R. A. Stewart. Lebor Gabála

Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland, Part 4.

Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1941, pp. 1–90;

O’Rahilly, Thomas. Early Irish History and

Mythology. Dublin: The Dublin Institute for

Advanced Studies, 1946, pp. 16, 42.

fir chlis Scottish folkloric figure. The “nimble

man” personified the northern lights or aurora

borealis in Scottish folklore.

194 fir chlis

Fir Dea See TUATHA DÉ DANANN.

Fir Domnann See FIR BOLG.

fire Symbolic element. The force of fire is dif-

ferent from the other major elements in that it is

not constant. Water is available in rain as well as

rivers and oceans; the earth is everywhere

beneath our feet; air surrounds us continually.

But fire is found in only two ways: in the domes-

tic hearth and in the flames of wildfire, which are

often set by lightning. More distantly, fire can be

imagined as existing in the

SUN, often pictured as

a ball of flame; there is evidence that the Celts

connected the earthly and solar fires.

Fire deities are found in Celtic mythology,

typically with wildfire divinities being male and

those of the hearth fire, female. TARANIS, the

continental Celtic thunder god, was associated

with lightning and with the fires that typically

followed its strikes. LUGH appears to have served

the same function in insular mythology.

Honoring the hearth fire was a belief shared by

the Celts with their Indo-European kin from

areas as diverse as Lithuania and India; the ritual

was most notable in the cult of the Roman Vesta,

served by a college of priestesses. A similar col-

lege appears to have served the Irish goddess

BRIGIT; interpreters argue that the Christian sis-

terhood of Kildare replicated the Celtic tradi-

tion in which an ashless, ever-burning fire was

tended by one sister each night for 19 nights, the

20th being left for Brigit herself. Under

Christianity, that flame blazed for more than 10

centuries, to be extinguished by a Protestant

bishop; the holy flame was relit in 1994 by mem-

bers of the Brigidine order, the continuation of

that established by St. Brigit.

Given the preponderance of female hearth-

fire divinities and the association of that fire with

the sun, the likelihood of the sun being perceived

as a goddess seems high. However, a longstand-

ing belief that all cultures honored the sun as a

masculine force has kept this question from

being examined until recently. In the last several

decades, evidence has mounted that sun god-

desses were more common than previously pro-

posed. Many scholars now offer evidence that the

Celts saw the sun as a feminine force, as nurtur-

ing as the hearth goddess; others suggest a dou-

ble rulership of the sun by both god and goddess.

In Ireland fire was connected with a number

of festivals. Those of MIDSUMMER may be dis-

placed from celebrations of

LUGHNASA, the

Celtic summer festival, or may hearken to a pre-

Celtic past. St. John’s Eve, celebrated on June 23,

just two days after the year’s longest day on the

summer SOLSTICE, was called Bonfire Night in

many regions of Ireland. Celebratory blazes,

always circular, were lit near holy WELLS and at

other sacred sites, and dances were held through

the night. Neglecting the fires might mean that

FISH would not come into the rivers nor fields

bear grain and potatoes. In Co. Limerick, there

was a tradition of striking dancers with a recently

cut reed to protect them against illness; the reeds

were then tossed into the fire, the potential con-

tagion thus being burned away. The bravest

dancers leapt over the fire, whose ASHES were

used in blessings on crops, stock, and homes.

In Scotland fire was construed as both protec-

tive and purifying; fire carried around a house in

a sunwise direction protected building and occu-

pants from harm. Into recent times in Scotland,

the NEED-FIRE was practiced when famine or epi-

demic threatened; all hearth fires in an area were

extinguished, then a group of men created a new

fire by rubbing planks of wood together until a

flame burst forth. Those attending the ceremony

took a flame of the new fire to their home, while

the original fire was doused with water and the

ashes smeared on cattle for protection.

Sources: Danaher, Kevin. The Year in Ireland. Cork:

Mercier Press, 1922, p. 135; MacCulloch, J. A.

The Religion of the Ancient Celts. London:

Constable, 1911, pp. 261 ff, 199 ff;

McCrickard, Janet. Eclipse of the Sun.

Glastonbury: Gothic Image, 1994, p. 22; Ross,

Anne. Folklore of the Scottish Highlands. London:

B. T

. Batsford, Ltd., 1976, p. 98.

fire 195

Fir Ghorm (Fir Gorm) See BLUE MEN OF

THE MINCH.

Fir Gorm See BLUE MEN OF THE MINCH.

first footer (qualtagh) Scottish folkloric fig-

ure. In Scotland and on the Isle of Man, the first

person (or being of whatever species) met on the

road when on the way to a christening or a wed-

ding was traditionally offered bread and cheese,

to buy the goodwill of the spirits for the new

year. More important was the first person to

enter a home on January 1. Called the qualtagh

among the Manx and the first footer in Scotland,

this person should be a dark-complected man of

hearty good health. On the Isle of Man, RED-

headed people were feared as first footers, for

that coloring was thought to be connected to the

FAIRY realm, while in Scotland redheads were

acceptable. It was important for the first footer

to bear a gift, for an empty-handed caller indi-

cated poor fortune for the year. In return, the

first footer was offered something, usually food

or drink.

fish Symbolic animal. The preeminent Christ-

ian symbol had significance to the Celts as well.

The fish was emblematic of WISDOM, especially

in the form of the

SALMON or trout that was

believed to swim in holy WELLS and other water

sources. These fish were said to be speckled, with

the same number of spots as the

HAZEL nuts they

had devoured from the magical bushes that sur-

rounded the well.

Fisher King British or Arthurian hero. In

GRAIL legends, especially in stories concerning

the pure knight PERCIVAL, we find the image of a

king who, injured almost unto death, sits in his

boat and fishes while the land about him withers

and dies. Once a virile and vital young man, he

had unwisely attacked a mounted stranger who,

before he died, left a portion of his sharp lance

in the young king’s groin; on the lance tip were

the words, “The Grail.” Kept alive, but not well,

by a magical stone, the king waited in agony for

someone to lift the enchantment.

Although some disclaim any Celtic influence

on this figure, others point to the motif of the

BLEMISHED KING, in which the land and its ruler

are seen as a married couple, with the earth

reliant upon the king’s health to be fruitful. The

earth goddess could not be fructified by the

Fisher King, who needed the curative power of

the Grail to revive himself and the land. In addi-

tion to works based upon the Grail legends, this

figure appears in T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”

and in the film comedy The Fisher King.

In some texts Alain le Gros appears as

Percival’s father, called the Fisher King because

he reproduced a biblical miracle, feeding a throng

of people with only one fish, then building the

castle of

CORBENIC as a home for the Grail. Other

names for the Fisher King include Anfortas

(“infirmity”), Alain, Bron, Pelles, and Rothniam.

Fithel (Fítheal, Fíothal, Fithil) Irish hero. A

wise judge or BREHON of Irish tradition, he adju-

dicated the disputes of the warrior band, the

FIANNA, who served under his brother FIONN

MAC CUMHAILL; he eventually departed to serve

under king CORMAC MAC AIRT at TARA.

Fithir Irish heroine. When the beautiful

Fithir drew the eye of the king of LEINSTER, the

girl’s father Túathal Techtmar refused her hand

to the king, forcing him to wed her older sister

DÁIRINE instead. But then Dáirine mysteriously

died, or so the king reported when he returned

once again to ask for Fithir’s hand. This time his

wish was granted, but when Fithir discovered

that her sister was actually imprisoned with her

handmaidens in a high tower in a thick dark

woodland, she died of shock and shame.

five Cosmological number. The most signifi-

cant numbers to Celtic peoples were THREE,

representing intensification, and five, represent-

ing a natural order, as witnessed by the five

196 Fir Ghorm

fingers of each hand and the toes of each foot.

Five may have formed the basis of the early Irish

counting system, for the number appears in

many mythological contexts (the five-pointed

spear of the CONNACHT king AILILL mac Máta,

the five sacred names of the hill of TARA, the five

warriors who simultaneously killed the hero

FIONN MAC CUMHAILL). In addition, there was a

social context, for the smallest family unit, called

the geilfine, comprised five people. Ireland

applied the number geographically, dividing the

island into five mythological PROVINCES, of

which the central one, MIDE, was a magically sit-

uated center around which the other four were

located. Thus five can be seen as a magically

enhanced version of four, the number of whole-

ness, as well as a naturally occurring number that

has its own innate power.

Source: Rees, Alwyn, and Brinley Rees. Celtic

Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales.

London: Thames and Hudson, 1998, pp. 118 ff,

186 ff.

Flaith (Flaithius) See SOVEREIGNTY.

Flann Irish hero. Several minor figures of

Irish mythology bear this name, which means

“blood-red.” The two most prominent may be

versions of the same figure, for both are

renowned lovers: Flann mac Díma, lover of

MUGAIN, wife of DIARMAIT mac Cerbaill, who

burned down Flann’s house and caused him to

drown, thus bringing a curse upon himself; and

Flann ua Fedach, the FAIRY KING who eloped

with the queen of TARA, BECFHOLA.

Flidais (Flidas, Fliodhas) Irish goddess. Many

European cultures had a woodland goddess like

Flidais, who resembles the Greek ARTEMIS, the

Roman DIANA, and the continental Celtic ARTIO.

Flidais represented the force of FERTILITY and of

abundance. As goddess of wild beasts, whose very

name means “doe,” she rode in a chariot drawn

by DEER; as goddess of the domestic herds, she

possessed a magical COW that gave enough MILK

to supply 30 people each night.

Her animal nature was also revealed in her sex-

ual behavior, for she was as voracious as her con-

sort, the randy FERGUS Mac Róich; if Flidais was

not interested, Fergus made do with seven normal

women. Flidais was sometimes said to be married

to the fairy ÁDAMMAIR, about whom nothing else is

known. Her daughters had temperaments similar

to hers:

BÉ CHUILLE, evicted from FAIRYLAND for

her promiscuity; another wanton woman of whom

little legend remains, Bé Téite; and finally FAND,

the wild FAIRY who stole away the hero CÚCHU-

LAINN from his admired wife EMER.

Source: Clark, Rosalind. The Great Queens: Irish

Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní

Houlihan. Irish Literary Studies 34. Gerrards

Cross: Colin Smythe, 1991, p. 31.

Florence Arthurian hero. The great knight

GAWAIN had several illegitimate sons, including

Florence, who was killed when LANCELOT,

trapped in queen GUINEVERE’s bedroom, fled

with sword flying.

foawr Manx folkloric figures. These GIANTS

were said to live at sea and to amuse themselves

by throwing boulders at passing sailors. They

are occasionally thought to be derived from the

mythological Irish race, the FOMORIANS.

Fódla (Fodla, Fodhla, Fóta) Irish goddess.

Three goddesses of the magical race, the

TUATHA DÉ DANANN, met the mortal MILESIANS

when they staged the final invasion into Ireland

recorded in the mythological BOOK OF INVASIONS.

The goddesses each offered to let the invaders

pass if they would name the land for her. The

Milesians cavalierly promised they would do so,

and so she stepped aside. Fódla met the invaders

at Slieve Felim, a mountain in Co. Limerick, or

on nearby MAUHER SLIEVE, otherwise dedicated

to an obscure goddess named ÉBHLINNE, which

may be another name for Fódla.

Fódla 197

BANBA met the invaders on her mountain,

Slieve Mis; she offered them the same arrange-

ment, and they made the same agreement with

her. But it was ÉRIU, goddess of the central

mountain of UISNEACH, who was the most

impressive and wealthy, and so Ireland (Érinn) is

named for her. Some versions of the Book of

Invasions claim that it was not Ériu who owned

Uisneach but Fódla; the three goddesses of the

land are sometimes conflated in this fashion.

Fódla was married to MAC CÉCHT, a warrior of

her tribe. She was killed by EADÁN at the battle

of TAILTIU—which marked the victory of the

Milesians over the Tuatha dé Danann.

fod seachran See STRAY SOD.

fogou Cornish mythological site. Underground

stone chambers found in Cornwall, believed to

have been built between between 500 B.C.E. and

500 C.E., fogous appear to have been places of rit-

ual. As there is evidence of occupation by Celts

during the latter part of that period, it is possible

that the fogous were built by or used by them,

although evidence suggests a pre-Celtic spiritual

vision. An important clue is the alignment of

many of the fogous to the summer SOLSTICE

sunrise, which betrays a different CALENDAR

than that used by the Celts; some have suggested

that the stone chambers are late revivals of the

MEGALITHIC CIVILIZATION that inspired STONE-

HENGE. Legends link the fogous with unearthly

women, possibly goddesses. The beehive-shaped

fogous often have secret chambers within them;

imaginative reconstructions center on the idea

of initiation or other ceremonies being held in

the small chambers.

Sources: Bord, Janet, and Colin Bord. The Secret

Country: An interpretation of the folklore of

ancient sites in the British Isles. New York:

Walker and Co., 1976, pp. 76, 20; Straffon,

Cheryl. The Earth Goddess: Celtic and Pagan

Legacy of the Landscape. London: Blandford,

1997, pp. 20, 84–85.

Fomorians (Fomoire, Fomhóire, Fomoré)

Irish mythological race. Lurking in the back-

ground in Ireland’s mythological history are

monsters, which prey upon the various settlers

and wage unrelenting war until they are at last

defeated by the magical TUATHA DÉ DANANN. As

there is general agreement by scholars that the

myths of Ireland’s settlement related in the BOOK

OF INVASION and other texts are based in ancient

history, the question has arisen as to who, then,

these demonic beings could be. Certainly it is

unlikely that they had but one leg, and one arm

coming out of their chests, as early descriptions

have it. But there is little evidence to determine

who they really were. Earlier interpretations of

them as sea monsters or pirates have been dis-

counted as based on false etymology, for the mor

in their names is not the word for “sea” but for

“phantom.” More commonly they are now

interpreted as the remnant ghosts of ancient

divinities whose people, subjugated in early

invasions, remained in Ireland and intermingled

(and intermarried) with the invaders.

While the earliest narratives do not distin-

guish one Fomorian from the next, in later

mythological texts they are individually por-

trayed. They seem the peers of the Tuatha Dé

Danann, with whom they frequently intermarry;

the Tuatha Dé goddess ÉRIU, after whom Ireland

is named, took as her husband the Fomorian

king

ELATHA; their son BRES Mac Elatha became

king at TARA for a short time. The gigantic and

evil Fomorian King

BALOR, too, was related to

the Tuatha Dé through his daughter, the fair

EITHNE, whose son was the half-breed LUGH.

Such alliances were not stable, and the Tuatha

Dé finally met the Fomorians in the greatest

combat in Irish mythology, the second battle of

MAG TUIRED, at which Lugh killed his grandfa-

ther Balor and the Fomorians were driven for-

ever from the island and into the sea.

Forgall Manach Irish hero. He was father to

the beautiful EMER, the most accomplished

woman in Ireland and therefore the fit wife for

198 fod seachran

the hero CÚCHULAINN; Forgall’s main role in the

ULSTER CYCLE is to thwart Cúchulainn’s desires.

Forgall, whose surname means “the wily one,”

sent the hero away to train with the WARRIOR

WOMAN SCÁTHACH on the Isle of Skye, thereby

ensuring that his daughter’s husband would

become the greatest of Irish heroes, as Scáthach

ran the world’s best martial arts academy.

Fortuna Roman goddess. Not a Celtic god-

dess, the Roman divinity of fortune is found

nonetheless throughout Britain with her rudder,

her wheel, and her CORNUCOPIA, all symbols of

her power to steer the faithful through life’s

changes and to offer them abundance. Celtic

goddesses of abundance were typically earth

deities, but Fortuna was honored more in urban

areas; she was, however, associated with a plenti-

ful harvest during her June festival, the Cerealia,

celebrated in rural Britain until the 19th century.

Fortunate Isles Mythological site. Various

ISLANDS just off the shores of Ireland and

Scotland have been called by this name, which

refers to the belief that FAIRIES or the gods of the

TUATHA DÉ DANANN lived on beautiful floating

islands in the western sea.

fosterage Irish social custom. Noble children

in ancient Ireland were not reared by their own

families but by unrelated people, in a system

called fosterage. The practice created bonds

between families and territories, so intense that

the bond of fosterage was held to be five times

stronger than that of blood. The children

received training—in druidic arts, in war, in

householding—together with their food and

lodging, which was provided in accord with the

child’s family’s social status. Children raised in

the same household became foster brothers and

sisters to each other without being related by

blood. Some of the most intense relationships in

Irish mythology are those between fosterlings,

and unquestionably the most poignant single

scene in the many Irish tales is the combat

between the hero CÚCHULAINN and his beloved

foster brother FERDIAD, which after three days

ended in Ferdiad’s death.

Myth suggests that fostering by the mother’s

brother—the child’s uncle—was particularly

common. Thus Cúchulainn was fostered in the

court of his uncle, king CONCOBAR MAC NESSA.

Such reliance upon the maternal uncle suggests

that despite emphasis in Irish law on strict limi-

tation of women’s rights, the matrilineal line was

considered significant (see MATRILINY). The

legal relationship between uncle and fosterling

was almost as strong as that between parent and

child; it was a fosterling’s duty to care for his fos-

ter parents in their age. The bonds created by

such fostering were thus not only emotional but

legal and financial.

Fothad Canainne Irish hero. One of three

brothers, he was connected with two PROVINCES,

the western region of CONNACHT and the east-

ern one of LEINSTER. Most of his legend has dis-

appeared or been absorbed into that of the war-

rior hero FIONN MAC CUMHAILL, but he is

interpreted as a diminished ancient divinity, pos-

sibly a fire god.

Fourknocks Irish mythological site. Among

the many relics of the

MEGALITHIC CIVILIZATION

in the Irish midlands, Fourknocks is outstanding

for its size. While most other PASSAGE GRAVES are

so small that only a few people can comfortably fit

within their inner chambers, the huge mound at

Fourknocks could hold several dozen with ease.

Lintels engraved with zigzag designs are part of

this impressive site’s decorations.

four-leafed clover See FAIRY OINTMENT.

fox Symbolic animal. In the Cotswolds, the

wily fox was connected with a similarly canny

human—the WITCH, who could assume the fox’s

shape in order to steal BUTTER from her neigh-

bors and otherwise wreak havoc on the region. As

fox 199

foxes are known in farming communities for their

nighttime raids on valuable chicken flocks, the

connection of evil witch and thieving fox seemed

easy to those searching for a target for their anger.

foyson Folkloric motif. Within every sub-

stance on earth is its foyson or toradh (“essence”).

The foyson of food is its nourishment, and it was

this, Irish folklore contends, that the

FAIRIES

stripped from food when they stole it. The MILK

might remain there, creamy in the milk pail, but

without its foyson, it had no nourishment left.

Many rituals and verbal CHARMS existed to pro-

tect the foyson of foodstuffs from being stolen

AWAY by fairies.

Fráech (Fraoch, Fraich, Fróeach) Irish hero.

The romantic hero beloved of FINNABAIR,

daughter of queen MEDB of CONNACHT, Fráech

was the son of the goddess BÉBINN and thus was

half-divine. His appearance was entirely divine,

for he was the most handsome man in Ireland.

His reputation preceded him to Medb’s court at

CRUACHAN, and Finnabair fell in love with

Fráech just from the descriptions of his mascu-

line glories. Her desire was only heightened by

his actual presence. Happily, he fell just as much

in love with her. Finnabair gave him a little ring,

a gift from her father AILILL mac Máta, and sug-

gested that he ask for her hand in marriage.

Whether from greed or because he opposed

the match, Ailill set a dowry that Fráech could

not meet, demanding that the young man bring

the magical red-eared COWS of his goddess-

mother to Cruachan. This seemed impossible,

so Fráech resigned himself to the loss of

Finnabair. But Ailill was not assured that the

young man would not elope with his love, so he

stole Finnabair’s ring from Fráech while the lat-

ter was swimming, tossing it into the water,

where a SALMON ate it. Then he challenged

Fráech to gather the magical healing berries

from a ROWAN tree growing on an island; the

tree was guarded by a DRAGON that almost killed

Fráech, but he defeated the dragon in single

combat. Fráech was so badly wounded that it

took all the nurses of the OTHERWORLD to bring

him back to health, whereupon he returned to

earth, caught the ring-swallowing salmon,

returned to Cruachan, and demanded Ailill

agree to his courtship of Finnabair. This time, he

also agreed to bring his magical cows to Ailill,

and so an agreement was finally struck.

After happy years with Finnabair, Fráech

returned home one day to find her, their chil-

dren, and his magical cows gone. He traced

them to a stone castle in the high Alps, from

which an Irish spirit helped him free them. But

their reunion was short-lived, for in Ireland

Medb was mustering her armies for a CATTLE

RAID on ULSTER, which Fráech joined immedi-

ately upon their return. Facing the greatest of

Irish heroes, CÚCHULAINN, at a ford in the River

Dee, Fráech lost his life in combat, and

Finnabair died of grief.

This mythological story migrated from

Ireland to Scotland, where it lodged in a roman-

tic ballad about the “daughter of Donald” loved

by the handsome Fraoch, who swam across

Lough Luaim to get her the berries she desired.

Sources: MacCulloch, J. A. The Religion of the Ancient

Celts. London: Constable, 1911, p. 377; McKay,

John G. More West Highland Tales. Vol. 2. Scottish

Anthropological and Folklore Society.

Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1969, p. 115.

Fraechnat Irish heroine or goddess. One of

the women who arrived with the first boatload of

invaders into Ireland, according to the place-

lore called the DINDSHENCHAS, was Fraechnat,

who died and was buried on a mountain that

bears her name, Slieve Fraech. She does not,

however, appear on the list of CESAIR’s compan-

ions in the BOOK OF INVASIONS, so she may have

been a local divinity adapted to the tale.

framing spell Scottish magical belief. Crossing

two threads, in the way they would be interwoven

on a loom, was an occasional spell in Scotland.

200 foyson

Friuch Irish hero. The swineherd of the

supernatural magician BODB DERG had such

antagonism toward his competitor RUCHT,

swineherd to the farmer OCHALL OCHNE, that

whenever he died, he reincarnated in a form that

matched Rucht’s. Their combat went on lifetime

after lifetime, in the air and on the land and in

the sea, as they wore various animal and human

bodies. Finally they contrived to be reborn as

the strongest BULLS in Ireland—Rucht as the

white-horned bull FINNBENNAC and Friuch as

the brown bull DONN CUAILNGE. The two great

bulls of course fell upon each other in combat,

each killing the other. The story of their endless

cycle of REINCARNATION is part of the back-

ground to the great Irish epic, TÁIN BÓ CUAILNGE.

frog Symbolic animal. While it is relatively

rare for frogs to be described as magical in Celtic

folklore, there is a Scottish tradition of the King

Frog, who wore on his head a jewel that had

great power for HEALING. The only way to

obtain the stone was to locate the King Frog,

who hid in a fen or BOG, then let down a tame

OTTER into the water in hopes of scaring the

frog to the surface. When he appeared, one

rapped him on the head, thus dislodging the

stone, which had to be grasped quickly lest it dis-

appear beneath the water’s surface.

Fuamnach Irish heroine. This DRUID was the

jealous wife of the FAIRY king MIDIR. When

Midir sought to replace her with the beautiful

ÉTAIN, Fuamnach struck back. With a potion she

received from her foster father, she poisoned

Étain, who was transmuted into an insect.

(Romantic versions of the story call the trans-

formed Étain a butterfly, but others more baldly

call her a worm or a fly.) Some versions say that

Fuamnach waved a branch of ROWAN, a magical

tree, thereby turning Étain into a puddle of

water, a worm, and a fly; another wave of the

wand created such a wind that the fly was blown

clear out of Midir’s palace. Fuamnach did not

ultimately prevail, however, for Midir sought

out Étain after her rebirth as a human once again

and, though she was queen of TARA, brought her

back to his OTHERWORLD home.

fuath See VOUGH.

Fuinche See MURNA.

funeral rites Ritual observance. Not much is

known about ancient Celtic funerary rituals, but

burial rather than cremation or exposure appears

to have been the norm. Stones carved with

OGHAM writing are thought to have been erected

to mark some graves, although not necessarily

for those of lower status. Grave-goods—items

deposited in the grave, presumably to accom-

pany the dead to the OTHERWORLD—are found

in profusion: chariots, coins, ornaments,

weapons. There is some evidence of HUMAN

SACRIFICE at the graves of rulers, for skulls are

found detached from the rest of the skeleton,

pointing to decapitation.

There is both archaeological and textual evi-

dence of a fear that the dead could return to

haunt the living, and some funerary rites seem

designed to forestall that, including binding the

feet of corpses as though to assure they would

not wander about. Later customs kept the feet

free, apparently to speed the dead on their way

to the Otherworld and prevent their hanging

about to bother the living.

Source: MacCulloch, J. A. The Religion of the

Ancient Celts. London: Constable, 1911, pp.

309, 337 ff.

Furbaide Ferbend Irish hero. This ULSTER

warrior, son of CONCHOBAR MAC NESSA, used his

sling to kill the great queen MEDB of CONNACHT,

his aunt. Furbaide’s mother was Medb’s sister,

CLOTHRA, whom Medb killed at the very place

(Lough Ree in the Shannon River) where

Furbaide killed her.

Furbaide Ferbend 201

furze Symbolic plant. One of the most com-

mon BOG plants of Ireland, the thorny furze is

crowned with vanilla-scented yellow blossoms

for much of the year. It has little value except as

tinder, but it was described as feeding many

NEED-FIRES and other sacred blazes, presumably

because it was so plentiful. Fairy legends say that

people under a GLAMOUR or spell will mistake

the gold of furze for real metal and stuff their

pockets with it before returning home to find a

litter of petals. (See also GORSE.)

Fuwch Laethwen Lefrith See DUN COW.

Fynnodderee Manx folkloric figure. The

“hairy one” of the Isle of Man loved human

women—so much so that he was evicted from

the

OTHERWORLD for missing too many FAIRY

dances while pursuing non-fairy maidens. He

roamed about, neither of this world nor the

other, unable to settle down or to cut his long

shaggy hair. Despite his loneliness, the fynnod-

deree was invariably kind to humans and could

be as helpful as a BROWNIE.

Source: Keightley, Thomas. The Fairy Mythology.

London: H. G. Bohn, 1870, p. 402.

202 furze

Gabhair (Gavra, Gowra) Irish mythological

site. The great legion of warriors known as the

FIANNA, followers of the epic hero FIONN MAC

CUMHAILL, were almost invariably successful in

battle. Even such warriors, however, finally meet

their match, and so it was that the Fianna was

finally routed at a great battle at Gabhair, said to

be a plain near Garristown, Co. Dublin. The

Fianna had grown arrogant and troublesome, so

the high king CAIRBRE Cinn-Chait decided to

end their domination over the land. He was suc-

cessful, but in doing so lost his life to Fionn’s

grandson, the warrior OSCAR—who himself was

killed in the battle.

Gablach Irish heroine. The GIANT woman

Gablach was wooed by an equally huge man

from Spain named Lutur. When Gablach’s fam-

ily met her fiancé, an army surrounded them and

demanded battle, for the human hero Fuither

had set his sights on winning Gablach’s hand.

His violent suit came to naught, for Lutur

picked up a roofbeam and brained several dozen

soldiers, which excited Gablach so that she

joined in the fight, killing Fuither in her ener-

getic defense of her betrothed.

Gabriel hounds (Gabriel ratchets, gaze

hounds, lyme hounds) British folkloric figures.

In Britain spectral dogs (see BLACK DOG and

POOKA) were thought to disguise themselves as

migrating waterbirds, especially wild geese, and

to fly overhead barking in voices that sounded

like birdcalls. When they circled over a house

rather than flying straight on, it portended death

or other disaster. The antique name “ratchet,”

meaning a hunting hound, shows that the belief

is an old one, probably related to such FAIRY fig-

ures as the BANSHEE and other foretellers of

doom. The “Gabriel” to whom the hounds

belonged is another name for GWYNN AP NUDD,

the Welsh king of the OTHERWORLD, and does

not refer to the Christian archangel.

Gadelus See GOIDEL.

Gáe Assail Irish mythic symbol. Ireland’s

magical race, the TUATHA DÉ DANANN, had four

treasures: an inexhaustible CAULDRON that was

owned by the beneficent god DAGDA, the INAU-

GURATION STONE called the LIA FÁIL that stood

on the royal hill of TARA, the sword of the war-

rior king NUADA that always found its victim, and

the Gáe Assail, a spear that returned to the hands

of its thrower when it had finished its bloody

business. If the thrower yelled the word for

“yew” (ibar) while launching the spear, the result

was certain death for the victim.

203