Puck

Puck

Puck (Original)

 
Puck is possibly one of the most famous and popular figures in English fairy tradition. He is also known as Robin Goodfellow and some sources believe that his roots could go back as far as the Greek God Pan and to the Pagan deity, the Green Man. The name, Puck, derives from the Middle English 'pook' or 'pouke', another word for an elf or sprite. He is similar to the German spuk, a hobgoblin, and the Dutch spook, 'a ghost', although the last is denied by some linguists. There also seem to be similarities with the Welsh 'pwca', and the Icelandic 'púki', both being imps, and with the shapechanging Irish 'phooka'.

In early England, the name Puck seems to have been used in association with the Devil, probably through the encouragement of the Church. Examples of this particular use can be found in Langland's Piers Plowman. In Ben Jonson's play, The Sod Shepherd, the term 'Puck-hairy' is used, which may originally come from the German picklehäring, a jester. 

 

To be 'pooke-ledden' in Worcestershire once meant the same thing as to be 'pixy-led' in Devon. Another phrase likened to being pixy-led is Robin Goodfellow has been with you tonight; a phrase that can be found as early as 1531. In Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholie, we are told 'Necromancers take upon them to raise and lay them at their pleasures: and so likewise those which Mizaldus calls Ambulones, that walk about at midnight on great heaths and desert places, which (saith Lavater) 'draw men out of the way, and lead them all night a bye-way, or quite bar them of their way,' these have several names in several places; we commonly call them Pucks.' This statement identifies Puck with the 'Jack-o'-lanthorn', 'Will-o'-the-wisp', and 'Friar Rush'; different names for a misleading spirit which, with his shifting light, manipulated travellers into bogs and bad situations, much like the hero of Robin Goodfellow. Here we find Robin, misleading travellers with the sound of his voice and causing general mischief, linking him with Puck. According to this play, Robin apparently shape-changes into a horse and tempts travellers into riding him, when he would bear them into pools and ponds. This links him not just to Puck but to the Hampshire spirit once known as the 'colt-pixy'. The colt-pixy was believed to tempt other horses into bogs and quagmires. In Chester we find the 'picktree-brag' in the likeness of the Galloway Pony, which was believed to drop strangers and travellers into stagnant ponds before retreating with an outburst of laughter. Sometimes the picktree-brag would take the likeness of a calf sporting a white handkerchief around its neck and a bushy tail, or, at times, it would appear as an ass. The Irish phooka was also believed to take the form of a horse. As the 'lob', 'lob-lie-by-the-fire', or 'lubberfiend', Puck is equated with the Irish leprechaun or lubberkin. This association probably stems from the French lubin, with Puck assuming the role of heath-dwelling domestic spirit. In this role, according to John Milton in L'Allegro:

Tells how the drudging Gobin swet
To ern his Cream-bowle duly set,
When in one night, ere glimps of morn,
His shadowy Flale hath thresh'd the Corn
That ten day-labourers could not end,
Then lies him down the Lubbar Fend.
And stretch'd out all the Chimney's length,
Basks at the fire his hairy strength 

 

Milton's Puck is not small, as he might be perceived today, but nearer to a Green Man. Joseph Ritson tells of another unnamed source that is of some relation to Milton, giving us another description of Puck, although somewhat similar to Milton's: '...she, particularly, told of his thrashing the corn, churning the butter, drinking the milk, &c. and, when all was done, 'lying before the fire like some rough hurgin bear.'' 

 

Both Milton and Ritson give the impression that Puck is also a domestic spirit. Puck would thresh the corn to earn a bowl of cream before relaxing by the fire, much like the household Brownie, Hob or Hobgoblin. The Hobgoblin or Hob was despised by the 17^th Puritans. A Hob is really just a shortened version of the name Robert or Robin, which was once a term used for the Devil. However, Puck the Hobgoblin later became a much loved character of children's literature with Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1906) and Rewards and Fairies (1910). 

Kipling's Puck is extremely critical of the common modern image of the fairy: 'Can you wonder that the People of the Hills don't care to be confused with that pointy-winged, wand-waving, sugar-and-shake-your-head set of imposters? Butterfly wings, indeed!' Kipling's Puck is the oldest thing in England and not only is he critical of modern fairies, he is immune to many of the things once believed to deter them. ''By Oak, Ash and Thorn!' Cried Puck, taking off his blue cap. 'I like you too. Sprinkle plenty of salt on the biscuit, Dan, and I'll eat it with you. That'll show you the sort of person I am.  Some of us,' - he went on, with his mouth full – 'couldn't abide Salt, of Horse-shoes over the door, or Mountain-ash berries, or Running water, or Cold Iron, or the sound of Church bells. But I am Puck!' 

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Original)

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare, gives us a summary of Puck which was probably drawn from folklore sources. 

 

Fairy: Either I mistake your shape and making quite,

Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite

Called Robin Goodfellow. Are you not he

That frights the maidens of the villagery

Skim milk and sometime labour in the quern,

And bootless make the breathless housewife churn,

And sometimes make the drink to bear no harm,

Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?

Those that Hobgoblins, call you and sweet puck,

You do their work, and they shall have good luck,

Are you not he?

Puck: Thou speakest aright;

I am that merry wanderer of the night.

I jest to Oberon and make him smile.

When I a fat and bean fed horse beguile,

Neighing in the likeness of a filly foal,

And sometimes lurk I in a gossip bowl

In very likeness of a roasted crab,

And when she drinks against her lips I bob

And on her withered lips dewlap pour the ale,

The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,

Sometimes for three foot stool mistaketh me;

Then slip I from her bum, down topple she.

And tailor cries, and falls into a cough;

And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,

And waxen in their mirth, and sneeze and swear

A merrier hour was never wasted there.

This verse gives us a good overview of who Puck is as a character. Shakespeare tells us that Puck is a crafty and deceitful spirit who is often called Robin Goodfellow. He also tells us that Puck scares the village maids, steals cream and frustrates housewives by stopping their milk from turning into butter. He stops beer from foaming and misleads travellers in the night. Shakespeare also tells us that Puck is sometimes called Hobgoblin and that he will help some, giving them good luck. In the same passage, Puck himself tells us that he tricks horses into thinking he is a female horse and that, disguised as an apple, he hides in the bottom of an old woman's drink before bobbing against their lips, scaring them into spilling their drink all over themselves. He also disguises himself as a three-legged stool and waits for someone to sit on him before dropping them on the ground to make people laugh. 

 

There is some difference in opinion as to whether Puck and Robin Goodfellow are one and the same. However, from the comparisons made above, in my opinion, it is easy to see that they are, at the very least, very similar and, more likely, identical. The Hobgoblin can also be grouped in with Puck. The Mad Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow, possibly written by Shakespeare's friend Ben Jonson, agrees with this conclusion, telling us in the introduction: Robin Goodfellow, alias Pucke, alias Hobgoblin, in the creed of ancient superstition," says Bishop Percy, "was a kind of merry sprite... Shakespeare's statement in A Midsummer Night's Dream seems to verify the matter, showing that it's appropriate to suggest that Puck can also be called Robin Goodfellow and Hobgoblin. 

The Greek God Pan (Original)

 

When we look further back, Puck or Robin Goodfellow have been linked to the Greek God, Pan. In Midsummer: Magical Celebrations of the Summer Solstice we are told, 'Robin Goodfellow is sometimes described as having the head of a youth and the body of a goat. Like the god Pan, he has a lusty nature, small horns on his head, and carries musical pipes. It may be that he is the fairy remnant of the ancient horned god or nature spirits, since there originally seem to have been a race of pucks.' 

The Green Man (Original)

 

A connection has been made between Robin Goodfellow and the Green Man, a Pagan nature deity. In The Paganism Reader by Chas Clifton, the connection between links both Robin Goodfellow and the Green Man to Robin Hood. 'It should come as no surprise to find that the same Robin Goodfellow is none other than the Green Man or the spirit of the spring found in many old morris dances. The Green Man whose effigy was carved by masons on a boss in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral, in the transept of Llantilio Crossenny church in Monmouthshire, among the decorations of Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh and in many other sacred edifices. The Green Man whose smiling face appears among the carvings on the front of one of the oldest inns in Sussex, at Alfriston. The same Robin whom the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland petitioned King James VI in 1577 and again in 1578 to ban, in connection with the performing of plays featuring Robin Hood, King of the Man, on the Sabbath day, mainly because of the unseemly ribaldry of the vulgar people on these occasions.' It is interesting that carvings of the Green Man can be found in many churches and cathedrals across the country. In most cases, the Church had a low view of the very idea of the Green Man due to his connection with not only Paganism but blasphemous gods. It is believed that many of these images were carved into the stone walls of churches and cathedrals secretly and without the permission of the Church authorities. The Green Man represents Nature, renewal, and reproduction, and is closely linked to the passing of the seasons as well as the waxing and waning of the sun. 

Robin Hood (Original)

 

The Church's opinion of Puck, Robin Goodfellow and the Green Man, and subsequently the public's opinion, was that they were associated with the Devil. This can be seen in William Langland's The Vision of Piers Plowman, with statements such as: 'Nor neither heat, nor hail nor none hell's pouke,' which refers to puck as a demon, and 'Out of the pouke's poundfold no mainprise may fetch us.' This last statement actually means that no bail will get you out of the demon's prison. Langland makes a pouke, later changed to puck, a great adversary to God and man. This is, undoubtedly, a view that was encouraged by the church. It is interesting to note that, during the witch trials, a favoured name for witches familiars was Robin – from Robin Goodfellow and, therefore, Puck. This could potentially have been an embellishment made by the Church and their authorities. In his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Arthur Golding also gives the impression that he linked a pouke with the Devil: 

 

'The country where Chymeara that same 'pouke'

With goatish body, lion's head and breast, and dragon's tail.'

Some sources also believe that Robin Hood could have originated as Puck. This is much debated and many seem to disagree. Some sources tell us that Robin Hood is actually a corruption of Robin of the wood or Robin in the Wood. There are many things that could link Hood with Goodfellow. Robin Hood: From Darkwood to Hollywood states: 'In European lore we find that elves of the wood were seen with Hoods and that Robin Hood is linked with Robin Goodfellow, otherwise now known as Puck or Hob... As Puck he can be traced across the entire European continent and it is believed to be of Proto-Indo-European origin, revealing the ancient nature of this particular strand of folklore. As Hob he is the Hobgoblin and Hob is also interchangeable with Rob or indeed Hod.... Puck on the other hand as a Nature spirit doesn't care for our perceptions, he can manipulate nature to serve his own ends. In this respect Robin Hood has also been linked with the global phenomenon of the Green Man or Wildman of the Woods.' Some sources, however, argue that the similarities between Robin Hood and Puck are not definitive proof that the two are actually linked. In Imagining Robin Hood we are told,''Moreover Robin Goodfellow was a prankster, and... Robin Hood himself takes on the shape of a prankster in at least one story. One cannot therefore dismiss out of hand the links between Robin Hood, the green outlaw and the Maytime setting with hidden and deep-rooted folk memories. But this is a long was from arguing, as many folklorists have, that Robin Hood is essentially the personification of a pagan deity, the mythic Green Man who encapsulated the power of nature and man's oneness with the earth.' Robin Hood's connection to the Green Man and Robin Goodfellow, and, alternatively, the Green Man's/ Robin Goodfellow's connection with May Day is interesting. May Day was once a moveable feast day which was dependent on the first blossoming of the hawthorn and, according to Mike Harding, the author of A Little Book of the Green Man, 'was the signal for all and sundry to hie them away to the woods for a mass orgy.' The difficult winters and bad diets meant not only high fatalities but low fertility, so it was important to make sure there were plenty of babies by way of women having many sexual partners. Children born of these orgies went under the name of the Robin Hood games and later became known as Robson, Robinson or Hudson. It was only when Cromwell put an end to these festivals that the 'Robin Hood games' came to an end.

In conclusion, Puck is a mischievous, domestic fairy who is also known as Robin Goodfellow and Hobgoblin or Hob, which is a shortened version of Robin. He has the ability to shapeshift into a horse, calf, donkey and, in some cases, an eagle, and loves to play tricks on people and to make mischief, misleading travellers in the night and laughing at them. He has also been known to do house and farm work to earn the reward of cream or milk, much like the English Brownie. Puck can be traced back to the Greek God, Pan and to the Pagan Green Man. Puck has connections with the European 'Hoods', or elves of the woods, often connecting him with Robin Hood, which can, again, be traced back to the Pagan Green Man, along with Robin Goodfellow and Hobgoblin.. He has been called pouke, pooke and poake, which have been terms used for a demon or the Devil. His association with the Devil is due to his connection to, what the Church considered, blasphemous Gods. This, in turn, has given the household Hobgoblin a bad name, with further associations with the Devil. However, in modern times, Puck is seen as a good natured and somewhat troublesome fairy, more often connected with William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream and, as a popular and much loved character in children's literature, with Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill. 

Next time:  We will look at the witch's familiar, which also has a little something to do with fairies. 

How Fairy Traditions Influence Modern Ireland

How Fairy Traditions Influence Modern Ireland

Fairy traditions and beliefs were once rife in Ireland and, while they do not continue in the modern age to the extent that they once did, fairies still hold influence over Ireland today.  Lets look at some cases in which people's beliefs have influenced modern Ireland.

In March 1997, an electricity substation was intended to be built on an old fairy fort in Kilkeel, Ireland. However, once work began on the project, a chain of accidents occurred, some of which included failures of machinery and injuries to those involved. While the Irish are not necessarily avid believers in fairies, they do respect that disturbing such places may invite bad luck and, consequently, blamed fairies for this run of bad luck. This belief had repercussions, with the substation being relocated. There are many other examples of this Irish belief of ill luck following those that disturb old fairy forts, causing problems in the construction of buildings and also roads.

The fairy bush which moved a motorway (Original)

 

This deep-rooted belief surfaced in 2000, in Latoon, Co. Clare, when workers refused to destroy a hawthorn bush which stood in the way of the £100m bypass of Newmarket-on-Fergus. Hawthorn bushes are said to be sacred to fairies and it is considered an invitation of bad luck to cut one, let alone to destroy it. Consequently, the road was constructed around the hawthorn bush as opposed to destroying it.

Fairies make the news in Ireland (Original)

In January, 2007, fairies were blamed for problems with electricity poles that had been erected in Sooey, Ireland. ESB contractors erected a number of electricity poles, two of which were placed within 20 yards of a fairy fort. However, within a short time, these two poles were bent over by the wind. The contractors returned and straightened the poles, only for them to fall over during the Christmas holiday period. While non-believers blamed strong winds, some locals insisted that the fairies were showing their disapproval. One local man was quoted as saying, 'Some of the others have bent over a bit but none have been knocked over completely like the two near the fort.' He added that those local to the area had 'great respect for the fairy fort' and that it had never before been interfered with for fear of what may have followed.

The Hill of Tara (Original)

Another example of the Irish apprehension of fairy forts occurred during the construction of the M3 motorway in Ireland. Apparently, during the planning of the M3's construction, Eddie Lennihan, a storyteller, warned the Irish Government against destroying the fairy forts of Tara Skryne Valley and that, if they did, they would be cursed. A spokesman for the National Roads Authority allegedly mocked the seanchai and said that they were unconcerned. In June 2007, Dick Roche, the Minister for the Environment, signed an order to destroy Lismullin Henge, a 4000 year old astronomical observatory and place of worship that has been called one of the most important archaeological finds of the century and has, by the Irish, been associated with fairies, and work on the M3 began. A series of accidents followed. Dick Roche was held up by an armed gang, was demoted and lost his job; the Minister of Transport, Martin Cullen was almost sucked out of a helicopter when the door fell off; the chief Health and Safety Officer was seriously injured by a falling tree when the felling of trees began at Rath Lugh; and a worker was killed when he became trapped in a fairy house. Then, in the summer of 2009, several large wasps nests, which, according to Celtic Lore, are associated with the anger of Mother Earth, were discovered throughout the Valley. The destruction of the many fairy forts along with the occurrence of accidents has led many of the Irish to believe that they have been cursed. Anti-highway activist, Carmel Divine told reporters that a 'modern day Curse of Tara' has been unleashed on Ireland due to the 'destruction and desecration of the M3 Motorway'. She claims that all of Ireland's troubles date back to 2007, when the work on the M3 began and that, as long as humans continue to meddle with sacred ground, the curse will remain.

In 2011, locals blamed the bankruptcy of Sean Quinn's multi-billion euro empire on fairies. They believe that Quinn incurred the fairy's wrath when he relocated a 400 year old megalithic tomb in order to expand his quarry near Ballyconnel. Eddie Leniham was quoted as saying, 'You don't interfere with a fort, a 'sceach', or fairy bush...' He added that while the belief in these traditions is not as strong as it once was, it is far from gone.

The Aughrim Wedge Tomb in the grounds of the Slieve Russell Hotel in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan (Original)

The occurrence at Kilkeel, as I have demonstrated above, is not an unusual event in Ireland. The fear of destroying forts and raths due to the repercussions that may follow has come up during many different construction projects over the years and, while a hindrance to the Irish Government and construction companies, this belief helps to preserve Ireland's many archaeological sites that would otherwise be destroyed.

Next time: We will learn about Puck, his origins and how he is portrayed today.

The Cottingley Fairies

 The Cottingley Fairies

The story of the Cottingley Fairies is one of the best known controversies concerning the argument of whether fairies actually exist. It all began in July of 1917, with Frances Griffiths getting into trouble with her mother for coming home with wet shoes and stockings. In frustration, Frances' mother said that she didn't understand what attracted the two girls to the beck as there was nothing there to see. In her book, Reflections on the Cottingley Fairies, Frances says, 'I did what I had never done before. I answered her back, yelling, 'There is! I go up to see the fairies!' Frances' mother, obviously, did not believe her daughter and sent her to the attic bedroom which she shared with her older cousin Elsie Wright. She also made sure to ask Elsie if she had seen these fairies, to which Elsie said she had.

After being teased mercilessly, Elsie concocted a plan to fool the adults. 'Elsie got tired of the joking and one night suggested to me that she would copy the dancing figures of fairies from one of my most precious possessions, my Princess Mary's Gift book... 'That will shake them!' she said. 'They'll have to stop making fun of us then.'' The next time that the two girls were teased by their parents, Elsie challenged her father, telling him that if he lent them his camera, a Midg quarter plate, the two girls would try to take a photograph of one of the fairies. While Arthur, Elsie's father, wasn't happy about it, after being pestered by his wife and daughter, he eventually gave in. After loading the camera with a glass plate and setting the camera's shutter speed of 1/50s, the girls took the camera down to the beck to photograph a fairy.

 

'Elsie had already prepared her fairy figures when no one was about,' says Frances in her book. The figures were painted onto a stiff paper and poked into the ground using flat-headed hatpins which was stuck onto the backs of the figures. 'On the lower bank she had found a small toadstool growing and a poor-looking little harebell, and she had arranged her fairies artistically on this bank... She then told me to stand behind the bank and she would take the photograph.' And so the first photograph was taken.

 The First Photograph – Frances and the Dancing Fairies (Original)

 

Once the photograph was taken, Frances and Elsie proceeded to destroy the evidence. 'Before leaving the beck we'd torn the cut-outs into tiny pieces and just stuck the hatpins into the earth...just getting rid of what, I supposed, would be called 'The Evidence!'' The girls then went home and Elsie's father took the plate out of the camera to expose it, with Elsie going with him. It was not long before Elsie could be heard shouting, 'Frances, they're coming up!'

To make sure that the adults did believe that the fairies existed, Elsie convinced Frances to help her take another photograph. '...she thought it would consolidate our position...if we took another photograph. She would like to paint a gnome and I was to have the job of taking the photo.' 

 

The girls, again, destroyed the evidence, with Frances later commenting, '...I had no feeling of guilt at all... to me, it was of no consequence.' Elsie's father then developed the second plate, and was somewhat irritated by the appearance of another strange figure as the plate developed. He believed that the girls were trying to play some kind of trick on him but, when he questioned them, they adamantly denied any kind of trickery, insisting that these were the fairies with which they had been playing. The girls' parents had apparently been searching for proof that the girls were trying to fool them but could find no evidence that might have suggested trickery.

While Polly, Elsie's mother, was sceptical about the photographs, she took an interest in the Theosophical Society, attending some of their meetings in 1919. Here the two photographs attracted great interest and later came to the attention of Mr Edward L. Gardner.

'It was early in this year, 1920, that I heard from a friend of photographs of fairies having been successfully taken in the North of England,' commented Gardner, in the first published account of the Cottingley Fairies, printed in the Christmas edition of The Strand, published in November 1920. Gardner requested prints of the photographs and, upon viewing them, requested the plates which he received a few days later. Upon seeing the negatives, Gardner was filled with hope that these photographs could be genuine.

The Second Photograph – Elsie and the Gnome (Original)

Consequently, Gardner had them examined by Mr Snelling, an expert photographer with, at the time, 30 years practical experience. He passed the photographs to Snelling with no explanation, only asking what he thought of them. Gardner writes, 'After examining the 'fairies' negative carefully, exclamations began: This is the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen! Single exposure! Figures have moved! Why, it's a genuine photograph!' As a leading expert in faked photographs, Snelling's opinion was believed to be unquestionable, so when he gave his approval of the photographs genuineness,Gardner was convinced. In the article printed in The Strand, Arthur Conan Doyle comments, '...let me add the exact words which Mr Snelling allows us to use... He laughs at the idea that any expert in England could deceive him with a faked photograph. 'These two negatives, he says, 'are entirely genuine, unfaked photographs of single exposure open-air work, show movement in the fairy figures, and there is no trace whatever of studio work involving card or paper models, dark backgrounds, painted figures, ect. In my opinion, they are both straight untouched pictures.''

 

Prints that were touched up and sharpened were taken from the negatives, apparently to avoid damaging the originals. In the summer of 1920, Gardner decided to visit the family and was greatly relieved to find that they seemed trustworthy and honest.

It was not long after this that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle received a letter from a Miss Scatcherd, Gardner.'s sister.

I wish you could see a photo he has... He [Gardner] has got in touch with the family in Bradford where the little girl... Elsie, and her cousin, Frances, constantly go into the woods and play with the fairies. The father and mother are sceptical and have no sympathy with their nonsense... Some little time ago, Elsie said she wanted to photograph them, and begged her father to lend his camera. For long he refused, but at last she managed to get the loan of it and one plate. Off she and Frances went... Frances 'ticed them, as they call it... Soon three fairies appeared, and one pixie dancing in Frances' aura. Elsie snapped and hoped for the best. It was a long time before the father would develop the photo, but at last he did, and to his utter amazement the four sweet little figures came out beautifully.

Edward got the negative and took it to a specialist in photography who would know a fake at once... He pronounced it absolutely genuine and a perfectly remarkable photograph.

… I wish you could see that photo and another one of the girls playing with the quaintest goblin imaginable.

Conan Doyle wrote to Gardner soon after receiving the above letter to express his interest in Gardner's findings.

In the summer of 1920 Gardner revisited Cottingley and left two Cameo quarter-plate folding cameras, a tripod and 24 marked plates, asking Elsie to photograph the fairies again. Frances, at the time 13 years old, received a letter telling her about Gardner's visit and inviting her to Cottingley to photograph the fairies during her summer holidays, with Frances begrudgingly accepting. In her book, Frances writes, 'Then the letter came from Gardner saying he was sending us a good camera 

  Photograph 3: Frances and the leaping fairy (Original)

 

and plenty of plates so we could take photographs. He'd arranged with Aunt Polly that I should

spend a fortnight... with her and wanted Elsie and me to go up the beck and take more photographs of fairies and gnomes. This was not funny. I couldn't write to Elsie to ask what she intended to do and we weren't on the phone, so I just accepted the camera with thanks.' At this point Frances was feeling uncomfortable about the whole idea and no longer wanted to pretend. 'It wasn't a joke anymore. People were taking it too seriously and it had all got out of hand.'

Regardless, the two girls went to the beck, Elsie already having prepared her fairies cut-outs. 'She'd

made up her mind to have... the one of the fairy holding out a harebell... the hatpin was stuck at a right angle to the figure and the point neatly pushed into the branch of the tree.' This particular image was much criticised for the contemporary hairstyle of the fairy. It was this photograph that prompted Conan Doyle to point out the fairy's 'navel', actually the appearance of the hatpin to which the fairy was pinned. 

Photograph 4: Fairy offering a posy to Elsie (Original)

 

At this stage, Frances believed that they had nothing more to worry about, but her aunt Polly had other ideas. 'I do remember how my heart sank when Aunt Polly said very firmly... that we MUST take some more photographs seeing how much money had been spent on the cameras and plates Mr Gardner had sent us... the second week went by with Aunt Polly complaining that we were ungrateful.'

So the girls went out once more to the beck with no further cut-outs, calling it 'a hopeless task.' Impulsively, Frances pointed her camera at a bird's nest and took a photograph, with Elsie telling her that she had wasted a plate. It was this photograph that later sparked an argument between Elsie and Frances as to who had taken the photograph but, at the time, they all believed it to be a wasted plate.

'Uncle duly developed it and we weren't surprised it was a dud. It looked very queer. A face in a bird's nest and some faces in the background, one with what looked like dark bobbed hair and other unfocused faces in odd places. This was discovered long after I left Cottingley and we all thought it a waste of a plate.'

In September 1920, Conan Doyle received a letter from Gardner on the results:

I have received from Elsie three more negatives taken a few days back. I need not describe them, for enclosed are the three prints... the most amazing that any modern eye has ever seen surely!... I went over to Harrow at once, and Snelling without hesitation pronounced the three as bearing the

 The Fairy Bower (Original)

same proofs of genuineness as the first two, declaring further that at any rate the 'bower' one was utterly beyond any possibility of faking.

In November 1920, Conan Doyle wrote an article on the Cottingley Fairies which was published in the Christmas edition of The Strand. Opinions on Conan Doyle's article varied greatly, with considerable interest from Yorkshire reporters who made 'elaborate inquiries and... that photographers for a considerable radius from the house were cross-questioned to find if they were accomplices.' The magazine, Truth, published an article expressing their opinion that it was nothing more than a deception, ending it with a prayer to Elsie that she should own up as to how it had been done. The best attack, in Conan Doyle's opinion, came from the Westminster Gazette, published on January 12, 1921, which expressed the opinion that the whole episode was indeed faked, although no proof was found to prove this opinion.

Conan Doyle later wrote, '...Elsie could only have done it by cut-out images, which must have been of exquisite beauty, of many different models, fashioned and kept without the knowledge of her parents and capable of giving the impression of motion when carefully examined by an expert. Surely this is a large order.' He did not, for a second, realise how right he was.

In August 1921, Frances and Elsie were brought together again in one final attempt to photograph the fairies, only this time Mr Hodson, a so-called psychic and friend of Gardner's, went with them. He apparently witnessed the many fairies for himself, much to the girl's amusement. 'In the end our normal selves came to the surface and one of us, I think it was Elsie, said she saw... a fairy which she described as looking just like Cinderella's fairy godmother... Yes, yes, Hodson said eagerly, and added that it was materialising. So we played up to him and we 'saw' things we would never have imagined under other circumstances.' Conan Doyle later writes, 'I have before me the reports, which are in the form of notes made as he actually watched the phenomena... Seated with the girls, he saw all that they saw, and more, for his power proved considerably greater... The whole glen, according to his account, was swarming with many forms of elemental life, and he saw not only wood-elves, gnomes, and goblins, but the rarer urdines, floating over the stream.'

In 1982, the dispute between Frances and Elsie about who took the final photograph arose, probably due to the comments made by Illingworth, the photographic manufacturer that supplied the marked glass plates used to take the photographs. Gardener, in a letter to H. Watt (Messrs A. P. Watt and Son), wrote, 'You may be interested to learn that apart from Mr Snelling who has been positive as to the genuineness all through, I interviewed Illingworth's late yesterday, and they conceded that the Bower negative was utterly unfakeable. It was quite amusing to see their Manager give way for he consistently held the non-committal position concerning the others.' Frances claimed that she was the one that took the photograph. Elsie, however, gave two differing versions of her taking the photograph, first saying she had done so with a tripod in Frances' presence and then saying that it was taken whilst Frances was absent. 

Professor Joe Cooper, author of The Case of the Cottingley Fairies, apparently wrote to Frances in 1984 telling her that Elsie, at this point, now had four differing versions of events. However, a letter written by Polly to Gardner in 1920, gives confirmation that it was indeed Frances who took the fifth and final photograph. 'And the third one [the Bower photograph] Elsie can't quite make out the circular shape in the middle, the one at the left hand corner Elsie thinks has some slight draping on, as Frances was quite near only did not focus her camera.' That this final photograph has no sign of forgery adds a little mystery to the events that took place.

In 1983, it all came to a head, with Frances writing a confession article for The Times. 'I'm fed up with these stories... I hated those photographs and cringe everytime I seem them. I thought it was a joke, but everyone kept it going. It should have died a natural death 60 years ago.'

Despite this final confession, Frances maintains that she did see fairies during her stays at Cottingley. In her book, Frances writes of her sightings of the fairies, calling them her 'little men' and that 'This was my secret – mine alone – and I didn't want to share it.' By the time Mr Hodson came to them, Frances was fed up and felt that she was too old to sit and wait for nothing. '...for I'd made up my mind that if I saw my little men or the others [the 'conventional' fairies], I wouldn't tell them. Let them see for themselves! I thought. I didn't like this charade and would much have preferred spending my holiday in Scarborough.' In 1986, Frances passed away, still believing in fairies and, whilst admitting that the first four were, indeed, fake, she always maintained that the final photograph was genuine and that the fairies did exist.

Next time: I'll tell you about Tir na nOg and the Tuatha De Danann.

Tir na nOg and The Tuatha De Danann

Tir na nOg

In Irish mythology, Tir na nOg, or 'Land of the Young', is best known as the Otherworld and was visited by some of Ireland's greatest heroes. This is where the Tuatha De Danann settled when they were driven from Ireland's surface. It's location is said to be on an island to to far west, and is a place that is said to be beyond the edges of the map.    

The Entrance to Tir na nOg (Original)

Tir na nOg is similar to some of Ireland's other mythical places, including Mag Mell and Ablach.  It also bears similarity with the Greek Elysium and the Norse Valhalla, although there are also important differences.  Popular beliefs say that Tir na nOg was the afterlife for heroes who had died, but it was more a paradise inhabited by  preternatural beings, with the very fortunate few sailors and adventurers stumbling across it on their travels.  In this paradise there was no sickness and no death, instead being a place of everlasting life and beauty.

One Irish myth portrays Tir na nOg, telling the story of Oisin, who became one of the few mortals to live in Tir na nOg: 

Oisin in Tir na nOg
One day Oisin and his father, Finn Mac Cumhail, were out hunting, a magnificent white horse came galloping towards them.  On the horse was a beautiful girl with long, flowing, golden hair which lay across the horse's back.  As the horse reach Oisis' side, the girl stopped the horse, saying to Oisin, ''I am Niamh Cinn Oir.  I have come from Tir na nOg to take you back with me so you can be my husband.

Oisin and Niamh riding to Tir na nOg (Original)

She described Tir na nOg, telling Oisin that it was the land of eternal youth.  Here he could have  infinite sheep and cattle; he could be in command of warriors; he would live forever.  Of course, Oisin agreed to go with Niamh after she told him of this paradise where he could be powerful and immortal.  

They rode of days and nights, crossing lands and seas, never stopping until they reached Tir na nOg.  Niamh's parents, the King and Queen, welcomed Oisin as their future son-in-law.  Oisin saw that everyone who lived in the golden land of Tir na nOg were young and strong, and Oisin was amazed by everything that he saw.  After staying here for three months, Oisin decided to visit his father and friends in Ireland.  Niamh said that he could go, however, she also warned him not to eat the food that he should not set foot of Irish soil.

When Oisin got back to Ireland, he could find no trace of his father or friends.  The great fortresses of Fianna were no more than earthen mounds.  Unfortunately for Oisin, he did not understand that time moved differently in Tir na nOg.  For every month that passed in Tir na nOg, one-hundred years passed in Ireland, and Oisin discovered that he had been absent from his homeland for three-hundred years.

One day, while Oisin rode through County Sligo, he saw a group of men struggling to lift a heavy rock.  To Oisin, these men seemed small and weak, so he offered to help them.  He leaned down from he horse to move the rock, but the strain of this broke the girth of the saddle and Oisin fell to the ground, with the horse galloping off into the distance and disappearing.  Oisin quickly aged, turning into an old, old man.  He never saw Niamh Cinn Oir or Tir na nOg again, instead living out the rest of his life in Ireland, friendless and alone.

 Tuatha De Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann were known throughout ancient Ireland and were believed to be the people of the Goddess Danu or Dana, who is also known as mother. According to D'Arbois de Jubainville, the Tuatha Dé Danann were known as 'the People of the god whose mother was called Dana'. The Goddess Dana was known as Danand in middle Irish times. Throughout history, Danu became known as Brigit, who was adopted into Christianity as a saint. The Annals of the Four Masters tells us that the Tuatha Dé Danann ruled Ireland from 1897BC to 1700BC.

The Goddess Danu (Original)

M3303.1 [Which equals 1897, by subtracting 3303 from 5200]: The tenth year of the reign of Enochaidh, son of Erc; and this was the last year of his reign, for the Tuatha Dé Dananns came to invade Ireland against the Firbolgs; and they gave battle to each other at Magh Tuireadh, in Conmaicne Cuile Toladh, in Connaught, so that the King Eochaidh, son of Erc, was killed, by the three sons of Neimhidh, son of Badhrai, of the Tuatha De Dananns; Ceasarb, Luamh, and Luachra, their names. The Firbolgs were vanquished and slaughtered in this battle. Moreover, the hand of Nuadhat, son of Eochaidh, son of Edarlamh (the king who was over the Tuatha Dé Dananns), was cut off in the same battle. 
 

The Firbolgs, ruled Ireland for 37 years, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, and for 80 years according to the 16^th century scholar O'Flaherty, before the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann

These new invaders were considered a formidable enemy, led by Nuadhat-Airgetlamh, or Nuad of

the Silver Hand. Apparently they arrived on the first day of Beltaine, now known as May Day, landing to the north-west of Connacht. Upon landing, some say that the Tuatha proceeded to burn their own fleet, rendering all retreat impossible. According to superstition, the Tuatha Dé Danann were skilled in magic, making themselves invisible to the current inhabitants of Ireland until they had penetrated into the very heart of the country. 

The Tuatha De Danann (Original)

 

The current occupants apparently struggled to explain the arrival of these strangers, who they said that they came 'out of nowhere' or 'out of the heavens.' Eachaid Ua Flainn, a poet who died in 985AD wrote: They had no vessels... No one really knows whether it was over the heavens, or out of the heavens, or out of the earth that they came. Were they demons of the devil...were they men?
 

Lady Gregory, in her book Gods and Fighting Men, states: 'It was in a mist the Tuatha de Danann, the people of the gods of Dana, or as some called them, the Men of Dea, came through the air and the high air to Ireland.' So, the Tuatha Dé Danann probably landed under the cover of fog, mist, or, possibly, smoke. This could be ascribed the the Tuatha burning their ships upon landing on the shores of Ireland. Others have said that they arrived, not on ships, but on dark clouds, leading the people to believe that they had descended from heaven. This has also led some to believe that the Tuatha Dé Danann are actually ancient aliens, but I find this explanation to be unlikely, believing it is more likely that this 'dark cloud' was probably the smoke of their burning ships.

Some sources tell us that the Tuatha Dé Danann came from the north and some say that they came from the west, although there has been some debate on where they originated. One theory is that they originally came from Denmark. According to the traditions of the Tuatha Dé Danann, they spent seven years in the north of Scotland before travelling to Ireland, staying in places named Dobhar and Lardahar. Before Scotland, they are said to have spend some time in Lochlonn, which has been linked with Denmark. In modern Gaelic, Lochlainn refers to Denmark and it is interesting that the Danes call their country Danmark, or the land of the Dan people. However, prior to their settling in Scandinavia or Denmark, the Tuatha are said to have come from a place called Achaia. There is a region called Achaiyah in Syria, which has been called the homeland of The Annage, or the 'Shining Ones', who were great teacher gods of the Sumerian tradition. Interestingly, the Tuatha Danann were tall and fair haired, appearing as 'shining-faced' sages. The Sumerians, who ruled the region from at least 4000BC, and the sudden rise of their culture, is still surrounded in mystery and was attributed by the Sumerians to the influence of their teacher gods. It is possible that a small group of these mysterious 'teachers', potentially the last of their kind, decided to pass their knowledge onto other tribes, working their way from Mesopotamia through Europe, maybe teaching the Greeks in the same manner that the Tuatha taught the Old Irish people. Others still say that they may have come from the region around the Danube River in Austria/ Germany due the the similarity of the names or, even, that they came from Atlantis, leaving only after it disappeared into the sea. There are yet other sources that tells us the Tuatha originally came from Greece: '...in ancient Greece... there lived a race of nomads known as the Pelasgians. Tribal in nature, they were seafarers who claimed to be born from the teeth of the Comic Snake Ophion, and the Great Goddess Danu.' The Pelasgians ruled Greece until the coming of Achaeans in 1900BC, who tried to destroy the Pelasgian people but failed. Although they were eventually accepted by Achaeans, not all wished to stay in Greece. This group, who are said to have later called themselves the Tuatha Dé Danann, migrated north to Denmark, later coming to Ireland. This seems to be the most acceptable theory for the Tuatha's origin. 
 

The Book of Dun Cow tells us 'wise men do not know the origin of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but that it seems likely to them that they came from heaven, on account of their intelligence and for the excellence of their knowledge.' According to one source, the earliest reference to the Tuatha Dé Danann states that 'after they were banished from heaven because of their knowledge, they descended on Ireland in a cloud of mist.' This shows that, in the face of new religions such as Christianity, the skills and knowledge of the Tuatha Dé Danann could only have been learnt in heaven. The only way to explain their living on earth could, therefore, only be attributed to their banishment from heaven.

Lia Fail (Original)

In Scandinavia, the Tuatha settled in four cities where they are said to have learnt their many skills. '...great Falias, and shining Gorias, and Finias, and rich Murias that lay to the south.' In these cities there were four wise men who taught the skills, knowledge and wisdom that the Tuatha brought to Ireland. There was 'Senias in Murias; and Arias, the fair-haired poet, in Finias; and Urias of the noble nature in Gorias; and Morias in Falias itself. The Tuatha supposedly brought four treasures from those four cities: 'a Stone of Virtue from Falias, that was called the Lia Fail, the Stone of Destiny; and from Gorias they brought a Sword of Nuada, which always inflicted a mortal blow upon the enemy; and from Finias a Spear of Victory; and from Murias the fourth treasure, the Cauldron of Dagda that no company ever went away from unsatisfied.'

These treasures, along with their appearance in Ireland 'out of nowhere' led many to believe that the Tuatha Dé Danann were great sorcerers, described in the Book of Dun Cow and the Book of Leinster as 'gods and not-gods'. Later scribes found some difficulty in deciding whether the Tuatha Dé Dananns were a mythical race or whether they actually existed. In a poem written by the 10^th century poet Eochaid O'Flynn, this indecision becomes apparent. In this poem, preserved in the Book of Ballymote, O'Flynn writes:

Though they came to learned Erinn

Without buoyant, adventurous ships,

No man in creation knew

Whether they were of the earth or of the sky.

If they were diabolical demons,

They came from that woeful expulsion;

If they were of a race of tribes and nations,

If they were human, they were of the race of Beothach.

In this same poem, O'Flynn tells us that the Tuatha were hosts of siabra, which is an Old Irish word meaning fairies, sprites, or ghosts. The Irish people believed so strongly in the Tuatha Dé Danann and their magical skills that Christian transcribers 'could not deny their existence as a non-human race of intelligent beings'. However, these transcribers could not allow themselves to believe that the Tuatha Dé Danann were a good, kind race and frequently misinterpreted them, placing them in a category with evil demons. This is illustrated in the story of the 'Sick-bed of Cuchulainn: So that this was a vision to Cuchulainn of being stricken by the people of the Sid [the Tuatha Dé Danann]: for the demoniac power was great before the faith; and such was its greatness that the demons used to fight bodily against mortals, and they used to show them delights and secrets of how they would be in immortality. It was thus they used to be believed in. So it is to such phantoms the ignorant apply the names of Side and Aes Side.

As I have already said, Nuada was the leader and king of the Tuatha, but there were also chiefs of the Tuatha – Ogma, brother of Nuada, who taught writing; Diancecht, a healer; Neit, 'a god of battle', Credenus, the craftsman; and Goibniu, the Smith. It is also said that there were many great women among them: Badb, 'a battle goddess; Macha, 'whose mast-feeding was the heads of men killed in battle'; and the Morrigu, the 'Crow of Battle'. There was also Eadon, 'the nurse of poets'; Brigit, a poet, who is said to have been worshipped by other poets because she was great and noble. Brigit was also a healer and a smith, said to have made the first whistle enabling them to call one another through the night. Her name was believed to mean 'a fiery arrow'. Finally there was Dana, Mother of the Gods, and greatest of them all.

The Firbolgs, taken by surprise, failed to attack until the Tuatha had marched almost across Ireland. They are said to have fought their first battle 'on the plain of Moyturey, near the shore of Lough Corrib, in part of the ancient territory of Partry.' Here the Firbolgs were overthrown and slaughtered. 
 

There is, however, another version of events, according to an ancient Irish manuscript mentioned in The History of Ireland, Ancient and Modern, which is apparently more consistent with later history. According to this account, 'the battle of Southern Moyturey resulted in a compromise rather than in such defeat...' The Firbolg king was killed during the battle, but another leader, Srang, was chosen. After some negotiation, the Tuatha Dé Dananns and the Firbolgs agreed to split the land, with the Firbolgs taking Connaught, and the Tuatha Dé Dananns taking the remaining land. This second account seems to make sense, due to the 'firm footing which we find these people all along holding  in Ireland, and for their position at the Milesian epoch, when they were at first received as allies by the invaders, and were afterwards, for centuries, able to resist the war.'

As the Annals of the Four Masters tells us, Nuadhat lost his hand during the battle. Apparently a silver hand was later made for him by Credne Cerd and fitted by the physician Diencecht. Diencecht's son, Miach, apparently improved on this work and, according to legend, infused 'feeling and motion into every joint of the artificial hand as if it had been a natural one.' This is how Nuadhat the Silver Hand came by his name. This description of the crafting, fitting and improvement of Nuadhat's artificial hand can be taken as an example of the surgical and mechanical skills believed to be possessed by the Tuatha Dé Danann. 
 

Apparently this feat took seven years to achieve and, during this time, a temporary king was elected as the Tuatha Dé Danann had a law stating that a man had to be in perfect shape if he was to be king. The temporary king, Breas, had a Fomorian father and a mother born of the Tuatha De Danann. He was supposedly chosen because of this.

Once the seven years were up, Nuadhat resumed his role as king. However, during the 20^th year of his reign, a battle was fought against the Fomorians, said to be a race of giants, at a place called Northern Moyturey, or Moyturey of the Fomorians. This battle was apparently instigated and encouraged by Breas and, possibly, aided by Firbolg refugees. Nuadhat was apparently killed by 'Balor 'of the mighty blows', the leader of the Fomorians, who is described in old traditions as 'a monster both in barbarity and strength, and as having but one eye.' Balor was also killed during this battle by a stone thrown by his daughter's son, Lugh Lamhfhada, as revenge for his crimes. 
 

Lugh Lamhfhada, who killed Balor, succeeded Nuadhar as king, and, due to his connections to both the Fomorians, through his mother, and Tuatha Dé Danann, through his father, peace existed between the two races. He reigned for forty years, during which he established the public games, or fair, of the hill of Tailltean to commemorate his foster-mother, Taillte, who had married a Tuatha Dé Danann chief and fostered an infant named Lewy. These games continued until the 12^th century, held on 1^st August; a day which is still called Lugh's fair, during which these traditions are still preserved. The Tuatha Dé Dananns ruled for 197 years, until 1700BC. 
 

When the Sons of Mil, the ancestors of the Irish, also known as the Milesians, came to Ireland, they found the Tuatha Dé Danann in full possession of Ireland. The Milesians, named after Milesius, the King of Spain, arrived in Ireland, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, in 1700BC. Bardic legends say that Ireland was made invisible to the Milesians through necromancy used by the Tuatha. However, when the Milesians landed and marched into Ireland, the Tuatha confessed that, with no standing army, they were not prepared to resist them. They are said to have told the Milesians that, 'if they [the Milesians] again embarked, and could make good a landing according to the rules of war, the country should be theirs.' So the Milesians went back out to sea, withdrawing 'the distance of nine waves' away from the shore. Upon doing so, a huge storm began, believed to have been raised by the Tuatha, scattering the Milesian fleet, with many ships being lost completely. However, the Milesians managed to come back. The Annals of the Four Masters tells us: The fleet of the sons of Milidh came to Ireland at the end of this year, to take it from the Tuatha Dé Dananns; and they fought the battle of Sliabh Mis with them on the third day after landing. In this battle fell Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh, wife of Milidh; and the grave of Scota is to be seen between Sliabh Mis and the sea. Therein also fell Fas, the wife of Un, son of Uige, from whom is named Gleann Faisi. After this the sons of Milidh fought a battle at Tailtinn, against the three kings of the Tuatha Dé Dananns, Mac Cuill, Mac Ceacht, and Mac Greine. The battle lasted for a long time, until Mac Ceacht fell by Eiremhon, Mac Cuill by Eimhear, and Mac Greine by Amhergin.

Their three queens were also slain; Eire by Suirghe, Fodhla by Edan, and Banba by Caicher. The battle was at length gained against the Tuatha Dé Dananns, and they were slaughtered wherever they were overtaken. 
 

After the battles were won, the Milesians had possession of Ireland, forming alliances with the Firbolgs, who were allowed to keep certain territories, and with other races living within Ireland. There are many different legends about what happened to the Tuatha Dé Danann after their defeat. Some believe that the land was divided, with the underground being given to the Tuatha Dé Danann, where others say that the Goddess Danu sent them to live in Tir na nOg, finding underground homes for those that didn't want to leave Ireland.

Another legend says that the Tuatha did not even fight the Milesians because their skill in prophecy told them of the impending battle and consequent loss of their country. This led to the supposed creation of future kingdoms prepared by the Tuatha beneath various hills to which they fled when the Milesians arrived. In this case, legend holds that the Tuatha Dé Danann became the fairy folk of Ireland, also known as the Sidhe (pronounced 'Shee'). 'Assuming invisibility, with the power of at any time reappearing in a human-like form before the children of the Sons of Mil, the People of the Goddess Danu became and are the Fairy-Folk, the Sidhe of Irish mythology and romance.'

Sons of Mil (Original)

The Sons of Mil, who believed that the Tuatha Dé Dananns were sorcerers, blamed the Tuatha when their crops failed and when their cows failed to produce milk. This, apparently, forced them to treat with the Tuatha. Once this treaty was made, the Sons of Mil were once again able to grow their crops and their cows again began to produce milk. 
 

Others say that where the Milesians were going to destroy the Tuatha Dé Danann, they gradually became fascinated and captivated by them because they were 'skilled in all magic, and excellent in all the arts as builders, poets, and musicians.' They allowed the Tuatha Dé Danann to remain in Ireland where they built forts at which 'they held high festival with music and singing and the chant of the bards.' Apparently the horses reared by the Tuatha could not be matched or bettered by any found elsewhere in the world: '...fleet as the wind, with the arched neck and broad chest and the quivering nostril, and the large eye that showed they were made of fire and flame, and not of dull, heavy earth.' These horses were stabled in 'the great caves of the hills...' This has led people to call the Tuatha Dé Danann the 'cave fairies'.

The palaces to which the Tuatha Dé Danann are said to have fled to were hidden in the depths of the earth. The Dagda, High King of the Tuatha Dé Danann controlled the distribution of these palaces – giving one to Lugh, the Tuatha god of the sun, and keeping two for himself – Brug na Boinne or Castle of the Bayne, due to its location near the River Boyne, and Sid or Brug Maic ind Oc, meaning Enchanted Palace or Castle of the Son of the Young. The most enchanted was Maic ind Oc, which contained three trees which always bore fruit, a vessel full of excellent drink, and two pigs – one alive and the other cooked and ready to eat at any time. It is said that no one living in this palace ever died.

Today, the Tuatha Dé Danann are more often referred to as 'the People of the Sidhe', or simply Sidhe. This is probably due to the popular belief that they are a subterranean race, who are sometimes described as gods of the earth or dei terreni, as in the Book of Armagh. It was believed that they controlled the ripening of the crops and the milk-giving of cows, and, because of this, the ancient Irish regularly worshipped them with sacrifices, much like they did with more modern fairies by the leaving of food at night for the fairies to eat. It is believed by some that in a just battle, the Tuatha Dé Danann will fight beside mortals and that, when they fight, they do so with lances of blue flame and shields of pure white.

In conclusion, the Tuatha Dé Danann are considered to be an Irish race of gods, known for their magical abilities and founded by the Goddess Danu or Dana, who invaded Ireland. They are said to have ruled for around 197 years from about 1897BC to 1700BC. They are then believed to have been defeated by the Milesians who drove them into underground palaces where they are still believed, by some, to live today. Their origin is unknown and is shrouded in mystery, although some say that they may have come from Denmark, Syria, Germany, or even Atlantis. The most plausible theory of their origin is that they came from Greece and were once a tribe known as the Pelasgians. They have been treated, by some, as mythical and by others as actual people. In popular legend they have become associated with the many fairies that are said to inhabit the Irish countryside. While their story has been much distorted over time, there is growing evidence that their story is rooted in fact. Remains from some of the battlefields have been discovered, which casts a whole new light on this magical people who once inhabited Ireland. Some scholars have also speculated that the Arthurian legends may have been based on the Tuatha Dé Danann. Whatever the truth may be, their legacy lives on in the fairies who are believed to still live in the many fairy mounds and raths that cover the Irish landscape.

Next time: Read about how fairy traditions have influence modern Ireland.