Celtic Mythical Creatures

Celtic Mythical Creatures

Banshee • Appears a either young woman combing her hair with silver or gold comb OR old lady • Cry is a dark omen of the death of someone • Eyes usually read from weeping

Scottish household faerie generally friendly who comes out a night to help with household tasks. • Do not speak to them directly or thank them for their help or they will leave • Pay them with glass of milk, oats, cakes, or bowl of cream. Brownies

"The Horned One” • Deer-headed Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. • Depicted with the antlers of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin. • The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the triple goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. • He alternates with the goddess of the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation. • He is the doorkeeper to the other world and those that wish to enter must first answer his questions. Cerunnos

Cluricaun A cross between a leprechaun and a hobgoblin These creatures tend to not create a nuisance if business is running smoothly. However if business is bad, the Cluricauns drink and eat far more than they should emptying the cellar of stock rapidly. • These are cellar spirits who take the form of small men. • Wear a red pointed hat with red overalls, a white buttoned shirt, stockings and pointed shoes. • Inhabit the cellars of wine merchants and landlords.

Kelpie A mystical Water Horse of Celtic myth. White and can take the form of a shaggy-haired human. Usually it appears as an innocent horse. Whenever someone attempted to ride the horse, it would run into a nearby stream or lake and disappear under water with its rider and devour him at leisure. • Can also appear as a human and ambush riders by jumping on their back and frightening them to death or squeezing them to death. Whoever was able to subdue the beast could keep this magical horse. • Before storms can be heard wailing

Solitary faerie who makes shoes and generally guards a pot of gold • Gold sometimes hidden in forests or at end of rainbow • Name comes from Irish leithbrog • Tend to be practical jokers • Usually takes form of old man, dressed in red or green coat Leprachaun

Water dwellers who are human from the waist up but with tails of fishes Irresistible singers who sometimes lure fishermen to their deaths. Can take the form of a human with tiny scales and move about on land. Wear a cohullendruith, which is a red cap covered with feathers. Females are attractive with fair skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Males have narrow pig-like eyes, a pointed red nose and green skin. Merrow

Goddess of victory in war , war magic and shape shifting. • Name translates as either "Great Queen" or "Phantom Queen • The Morrigan appears as both a single goddess and a trio of goddesses. The other deities who form the trio are Badb ("Crow"), andNemain ("Frenzy"). • Frequently appears in guise of a hooded crow. The Morrigan

Puca A trickster half-animal spirit of Irish folklore. They can transform into other animals and punish those who are ungrateful and grave robbers. They are friendly to animals and rescue them from bogs

Redcap • Small human-like creature with blazing red eye, long white beard, eagle claws for hands • Kills humans • Stains hat with blood of victims • Very agile and quick

Seelie Court • trooping faeries are benevolent towards humans, but will readily avenge any injury or insult. • considered the true aristocrats of faerie world; also prone to a great deal of mischief, especially when bored; pranks rarely caused true harm • really very fond of humans. • judges, dispensing justice to the other faerie when it was required, and served as frequent arbitrators of the many faerie quarrels. • The Seelie Court was very political, complete with cliques, factions, gossiping, and rivalry. • Sometimes called the ‘Blessed Ones,’ strict code of conduct : death before dishonor, love conquers all, beauty is life, and never forget a debt • Often depicted as a procession of brilliant light riding on the night air; would often use these excursions to find those in need of help.

Selkie • Creature who appear to be seals that can transform into humans when they come onto land • Remove seal skins • Female selkies become beautiful women who blend into society; good wives • Male selkies control weather and create storms; destroy hunting ships in revenge for seals that were killed

Depicted as grotesquely ugly, and were said to be found at old ruins and barrows guarding buried treasure and generally acting as fairy bodyguards. • Able to change its size from being quite small to an enormous creature. • Derive from Cornwall and spend most their time as thieves • Cause problems to others especially those who insult them • Can bring bad storms, steal from others or capture babies and put a Changeling in its place Spriggan

Land of Eternal Youth • one of the names for the Otherworld • Depicted as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy • Inhabitants are the TuathDé, the gods of pre-Christian Ireland Tir Na Nog TírnanÓg is best known from the tale of Oisín and Niamh. In the tale, Oisín (a human hero) and Niamh (a woman of the Otherworld) fall in love. She brings him to TírnanÓg on a magical horse that can travel over water. After spending what seems to be three years there, Oisín becomes homesick and wants to return to Ireland. Niamh reluctantly lets him return on the magical horse, but warns him never to touch the ground. When he returns, he finds that 300 years have passed in Ireland. Oisín falls from the horse. He instantly becomes elderly, as the years catch up with him, and he quickly dies of old age.

Triple Goddess • Goddess who is maiden, mother and crone • As maiden, virginal young woman; all about enchantment and new beginnings, youthful ideas and enthusiasm. • As mother, about fertility, abundance and growth, the gaining of knowledge • As crone, the hag and the wise woman, the darkness of night, and eventually death.

Tuatha De Danaan • The TuathaDéDanann ("People of the Goddess Danu") were one of the pre-Christian mythical tribes who settled in Ireland before the arrival of the Milesians, the ancestors of modern Gaels. • The Dananns were descendants of the goddess Danu. Her son Dagda was their most powerful leader of the Dananns. • The TuathaDéDananns were a race of deities as well as race of heroes, who excelled over all people. They were skilled in art and science, poetry and magic.

Unseelie Court Depicted as a dark cloud riding upon the wind from where their unnerving cackles and howls can be heard. Have their own code of conduct: change is good, glamour (magic) is free to use; honor is a lie; passion before duty • Faeries who are never favorable to humans; contains the most malicious, malevolent and evil of the faeries, and a number of monsters of horrible appearance and fearsome abilities • Either solitary evil faeries or bands of faeries called the Slaugh (the Host - band of the unsanctified dead who fly above the earth, stealing mortals and children, and take great pleasure in harming humans); use elf-shot against humans and cattle. • Often called the “Unblessed Ones”

Traditionally symbol of evil • Can breathe fire, fly • Greedy, keep hordes of gold and other precious treasure • Large beasts with bat-like wings and scaly body • Often time kidnap maidens Western Dragon

A faerie who appears at night in lonely places carrying a lantern. It uses this light to cause travelers to loose their ways by disappearing as the travelers get closer. • Modern science has explained that these orbs of light seen is an effect of a chemical reaction that is created when certain gases are released from a marsh or swamp Will O’ the Wisp

Celtic Mythical Creatures