Fairy fort
Encyclopedia
Fairy forts are the remains of lios (ringfort
s), hillforts or other circular dwellings in Ireland
. From (possibly) late Iron Age to early Christian times, the island's occupants built circular structures with earth banks or ditches. These were sometimes topped with wooden palisades, and wooden framed buildings. As the dwellings were not durable, in many cases only vague circular marks remain in the landscape. Raths and lios are found in all parts of Ireland.
claimed that ringforts were "fairy forts" imbued with Druid
s' magic and believers in the fairies
did not alter them. The early pre-Celtic inhabitants of Ireland (known as the Tuatha Dé Danann
and Fir Bolg
) came to be seen as mythical and were associated with stories of fairies, also known as the "Good People". Fairy forts and prehistoric Tumuli
were seen as entrances to their world. Even cutting brush, especially the sceach or whitethorn
, on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act.
There are many folk tales
about supernatural events happening at fairy forts. For example a lady who allegedly lived in one jumped at her would be lover as a dragon
. Real accidents which happened at ringforts etc. could be given supernatural explanations. For example a man who tried to blast a Dolmen
suffered a septic
hand. The wrecked dolmen was subsequently left untouched.
Other traditions hold that a Leprechaun
may allegedly know of hidden gold in a Fairy fort.
In literature, British
author Rudyard Kipling
made allusions to the process by which such legends grow in his 1906 novel
, Puck of Pook's Hill
.http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/pkpkh10.txt
brought him back to life magically.http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/folklore/folklore_survey/chapter4.htm
told the farmer they had taken the cow because they needed the milk for their children. They had substituted an old stray
horse and made the horse to be like the cow. The farmer took his cow home. He became very prosperous because the fairies supported him.http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw20.htm
The farmer’s son and his wife rode to her parents’ house. The daughter proved who she was. The daughter had three brothers. The brothers went to the fairy fort and started digging till they found a large flat stone. The old fairy begged them to spare his house. When they spared it he became their friend and restored what he had taken. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw11.htm
Ringfort
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Iron Age , although some were built as late as the Early Middle Ages . They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland...
s), hillforts or other circular dwellings in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. From (possibly) late Iron Age to early Christian times, the island's occupants built circular structures with earth banks or ditches. These were sometimes topped with wooden palisades, and wooden framed buildings. As the dwellings were not durable, in many cases only vague circular marks remain in the landscape. Raths and lios are found in all parts of Ireland.
Interpretation
TraditionTradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
claimed that ringforts were "fairy forts" imbued with Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
s' magic and believers in the fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
did not alter them. The early pre-Celtic inhabitants of Ireland (known as the Tuatha Dé Danann
Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
and Fir Bolg
Fir Bolg
In Irish mythology the Fir Bolg were one of the races that inhabited the island of Ireland prior to the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann.-Mythology:...
) came to be seen as mythical and were associated with stories of fairies, also known as the "Good People". Fairy forts and prehistoric Tumuli
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
were seen as entrances to their world. Even cutting brush, especially the sceach or whitethorn
Common Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna, known as common hawthorn or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world where it is an invasive weed...
, on fairy forts was reputed to be the death of those who performed the act.
There are many folk tales
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
about supernatural events happening at fairy forts. For example a lady who allegedly lived in one jumped at her would be lover as a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
. Real accidents which happened at ringforts etc. could be given supernatural explanations. For example a man who tried to blast a Dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
suffered a septic
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
hand. The wrecked dolmen was subsequently left untouched.
Other traditions hold that a Leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
may allegedly know of hidden gold in a Fairy fort.
In literature, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
made allusions to the process by which such legends grow in his 1906 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Puck of Pook's Hill
Puck of Pook's Hill
Puck of Pook's Hill is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. The stories are all narrated to two children living near Burwash, in the area of Kipling's own house Bateman's, by people...
.http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/pkpkh10.txt
Fairies' revenge
Workmen were working to level earthworks in a fairy fort at Dooneeva. The originator of this fell apparently dead. His wife, a wise womanWhite witch
White witch and good witch are qualifying terms in English used to distinguish practitioners of folk magic for benevolent purposes from practitioners of malevolent witchcraft...
brought him back to life magically.http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/folklore/folklore_survey/chapter4.htm
A cow taken and restored
A farmer’s best cow kept grazing in a fairy fort. It was unlucky for the cow to graze there but the cow pined when it was prevented from going to the fairy fort. One day the farmer found the cow there with broken legs. He killed the cow and his family ate the meat, some fresh and some salted. A year later the cow was seen in the fairy fort. The fairiesFairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
told the farmer they had taken the cow because they needed the milk for their children. They had substituted an old stray
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
horse and made the horse to be like the cow. The farmer took his cow home. He became very prosperous because the fairies supported him.http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw20.htm
An old fairy was prevented from marrying a young girl
A rich farmer’s son investigated why none of the cows would enter a field with a fairy fort and found an old fairy in the fort. The old fairy asked the young man to help him get a young girl for his wife. The farmer’s son would not give the young girl to the old fairy but instead married her himself. As revenge the old fairy destroyed most of the father’s property.The farmer’s son and his wife rode to her parents’ house. The daughter proved who she was. The daughter had three brothers. The brothers went to the fairy fort and started digging till they found a large flat stone. The old fairy begged them to spare his house. When they spared it he became their friend and restored what he had taken. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw11.htm
See also
- DolmenDolmenA dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
- Early Irish literatureEarly Irish literature-The earliest Irish authors:It is unclear when literacy first came to Ireland. The earliest Irish writings are inscriptions, mostly simple memorials, on stone in the ogham alphabet, the earliest of which date to the fourth century...
- FairyFairyA fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
- Fairy pathFairy pathAccording to folklore a fairy path is a route taken by fairies usually in a straight line and between sites of traditional significance, such as fairy forts or raths , “airy” mountains and hills, thorn bushes, springs, lakes, rock outcrops, and Stone Age monuments...
- Hadrian's WallHadrian's WallHadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
- Hill fortHill fortA hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
- Irish literatureIrish literatureFor a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...
- MegalithMegalithA megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
- Puck of Pook's HillPuck of Pook's HillPuck of Pook's Hill is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. The stories are all narrated to two children living near Burwash, in the area of Kipling's own house Bateman's, by people...
- Stone circleStone circleA stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
- StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...