It Ain't Riverdance

Does anyone ever wonder how a country known for shamrocks, Guinness and St. Patrick is just as well known for their contentious natures and capacity for violence (listen the lyrics of some of those old Irish Ballads sometime, they’d have Tipper Gore in fits). Long before the leprechauns and “sure n’ begorrah”, Ireland was a country full of myths and legends propagated by a people whose prowess in battle was so fierce that they sent Ceasar’s troops scurrying home with their tail tucked firmly between their legs.* By reading those you get a good picture of the ancient roots that flowered into Irish** Celtic Culture.

The legends can be confusing and seemingly contradictory, probably the result of writers, Irish monks in the Middle Ages probably, trying to reconcile the local legends and the local versions of national legends (much like what was done with the Arthur legend) of Irish History. Legend that they are finding have some basis in fact.

Ireland, they say, is the result of a series of ancient invasions by various peoples. The most familiar to us (the ones who have the most written about them next to the Milesians/Human Celts) are the Tuatha De Danann. They were not immortal all-powerful Gods as we are used to in Greco-Roman legends, but beings who’s wisdom, knowledge and skills far-far outstripped that of the peoples around them. (For shorthand reasons I will still refer to them as “gods”.)

Looking at these gods and their legends, we see what the ancient Celts valued. The greatest God of the Dannan, the one who ruled them, was not a God of strength or war, but Lugh of the Long Hand, Master of All Arts and Crafts (and we ain’t talking macramé here folks). Another very prominent God is Dagda the Good God, who exploits of gluttony and lust can stretch into the comical. And another is The Morrigan. The Morrigan is a Goddess of both War and Fertility** that had three aspects: Morrigan is a Goddess of Violence & Bloodshed, Badb is a Goddess of Death, and Macha who is a Goddess of Horses & Fertility (and you really don’t want to mess with her either) or Nemian a Goddess of Frenzy. Some legends speaks of these being sisters, some speak of them being aspects of the same being. So here you have Brains/Skill, Lust for Life and War. There are many other legends of many other deities, but in my reading these deities are the ones that appear the most and have the most influence.

So ancient Celtic legends are filled with cleverness, violence, alcohol and sex.*** (Actually for all the Parental Groups Complaints, the levels of sex and graphic violence in most ancient legends is rather shocking to the modern TV watching American...though perhaps not for a Video Game playing one. ;) ) But one also has to remember in this violent world, these legends also emphasize and teach lessons of Duty, Honor, Courage, Loyalty, Knowledge & Wisdom, Using One’s Head Over One’s Fist, Love and Respect.

Legend states that when the Milesians (Humans) invaded, they conquered the Tuathe and made them go into the Barrows (burial mounds), but the Tuathe de Dannan still played a major role in the legends of the Celtic Humans in the Ulster Cycle; begetting children with humans, making enemies of heroes and kings, coming to aid their favorites when all hope is lost, roles very similar to those of Greek Gods in the Illiad. I don’t think they took on the “chubby leprechaun” aspect until the English invaded and marginalized the Irish and Irish culture near to the extent we marginalized the Native Americans (barring active genocide). It’s the interpretation through the English of the “Tales of the bog trotting Irish” that I think that rather condescending “cutesy” view of Irish Culture came into being.

So a word of advice: The sidhe or (which include Leprechauns), are not to be treated lightly for more than a spark of the mighty nature of the Dannan still lives in them, as does to their resentment for we supplanted them in the rule of Erin. So if you encounter one of the “Good Folk” after yer drahms of poteen this avenin', be respectful & polite, be honest, be helpful, and above all do not make any deals! ;-)



*The fact that the average Roman was a little over 5 feet tall and the Celts already averaged 6 foot...and tended to run into the thick of battle buck-ass naked, hair sticking up from lime paste, screaming, may have had a slight effect on morale.
**As opposed to Scottish Celts, Bretons, Welsh, French Gaelic, Germanic Celts, etc. They were all over the place. You wouldn't belive how thrilled my Czechoslovakian-decent (now Ex) BF was to find out he was Celtic.
***Rather reminiscent of Ishtar, the Babylonian Goddess of War and Love…then again, Aphrodite & Ares had a thing going on too...mankind seems to like to put those two aspects of life together a lot.
****Another interesting aspect is that the Irish Celtic legends do not mention or even deal with the afterlife, which decent into the underworlds is a common theme in myth, from Inanna’s visit to her sister Ereschkial to Orpheus failed rescue of Eurdyce. However, they do have a couple legends, such as “The Wooing of Etain”, that include reincarnation.