This is the true story the Irish banshee...
Thousands of years ago, there was an order of Gaelic people who lived in mounds, or sídhe, built into the earth to guard them against the cold Atlantic winds that sweep the island. The people were called Daoine Sídhe [dane sheed], "People of the Mounds".
The people were unnatural, said to be charged with powers beyond our earthly realm, and even today Irish folklore still regales the Daoine Sídhe as the ancestors of the spirits of nature.
The Daoine Sídhe tribes, being of such ancenstory, were feared by others on the island, and care was taken not to anger them. Gifts were offered to placate them, and no one was to name them directly.
The most terrifying of the Daoine Sídhe were the Ban Sídhe, literally "Women of the Sídhe". On cold windy nights, they were known to float over the Irish hillside, wailing into the darkness, an announcement of oncoming death. Anyone who heard the cry of the Ban Sídhe was not safe from death, nor were their family.
Today their mounds can still be found all along the countryside. You'll find that the Irish call them "fairy hills" today, but fairies here are something very different from what we know in the States.
In Ireland, fairies are who you blame when your keys go missing momentarily, just to appear a moment later in the strangest place. They are the ones who tear your laundry down from the line on the windless day. They are the heavy steps on the staircase late at night after everyone's gone to sleep.
In Ireland, "fairies" are their name for ghosts, and nearly every home has one. You'll be hardpressed to find a pubkeep who hasn't seen a fairy or two late at night in his establishment. The country is old, the buildings have seen many generations pass, and there's not a corner in Ireland that hasn't seen its fair share of fairies.
Thousands of years ago, there was an order of Gaelic people who lived in mounds, or sídhe, built into the earth to guard them against the cold Atlantic winds that sweep the island. The people were called Daoine Sídhe [dane sheed], "People of the Mounds".
The people were unnatural, said to be charged with powers beyond our earthly realm, and even today Irish folklore still regales the Daoine Sídhe as the ancestors of the spirits of nature.
The Daoine Sídhe tribes, being of such ancenstory, were feared by others on the island, and care was taken not to anger them. Gifts were offered to placate them, and no one was to name them directly.
The most terrifying of the Daoine Sídhe were the Ban Sídhe, literally "Women of the Sídhe". On cold windy nights, they were known to float over the Irish hillside, wailing into the darkness, an announcement of oncoming death. Anyone who heard the cry of the Ban Sídhe was not safe from death, nor were their family.
Today their mounds can still be found all along the countryside. You'll find that the Irish call them "fairy hills" today, but fairies here are something very different from what we know in the States.
In Ireland, fairies are who you blame when your keys go missing momentarily, just to appear a moment later in the strangest place. They are the ones who tear your laundry down from the line on the windless day. They are the heavy steps on the staircase late at night after everyone's gone to sleep.
In Ireland, "fairies" are their name for ghosts, and nearly every home has one. You'll be hardpressed to find a pubkeep who hasn't seen a fairy or two late at night in his establishment. The country is old, the buildings have seen many generations pass, and there's not a corner in Ireland that hasn't seen its fair share of fairies.
Féile Shamhna, Happy Halloween
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