Myths and Legends of the World

It’s that time of year again, the time when people start drinking green beer, wearing green clothes, and loving all things Irish, the time when leprechauns come to the forefront of our thoughts. Leprechauns are the wee men folk of the fairy world. A lot of superstition and stereotyping happens around leprechauns. And though we know of them, very well (I mean, everyone knows what a leprechaun is!), there simply are not very many stories about leprechauns. Sure, there are lots of modern stories, particularly children’s stories, but not a whole lot in the realm of folklore. Generally, the leprechaun is mentioned in a story but doesn’t have an entire fairy tale or story about him. Origins The origins of leprechauns are very strange. Leprechauns are usually considered to be a small earth dwelling fairy. They originated, most people think, in Ireland. They were called Cluricaunes, luricanes, lurikeens, and lubberkins. They were not called leprechauns until late seventeenth centur...

Long before their people fought religious wars over Christianity, the Tuatha de Danann were revered as the gods of Ireland, larger-than-life figures who inspired as much by their squabbles and intra-family troubles as by their awesome prowess in combat. Descended from the Great Mother Danu, they freed Ireland from the depredations of the Fomorians (their Titans) and ruled it in relative peace for centuries before the invasion of new peoples and religions eventually forced them to follow their Great Mother and High King into the fairy mounds and depart from the world for all but the most important of matters. Some of the Tuatha de Danann Deities Few Titans (Elder Gods) are so inextricably linked to both the gods and world as Danu, the great Ancestral Mother of the Celtic pantheons and personification of the land that gives fruitful fertility to support all life upon it. She, as Great Mother, is the source of all things that give life and the wild foundation that takes it away aga...