By the Gods!
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Selkie
Way up north, sitting by the sea, looking at seals all day, who could honestly say they haven’t had at least one romantic thought about those little water-dwelling blubber-bags? The story of the Selkie is the story of that love that dare not speak its name (basically).
In the folk tales of Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands the Selkie pops up from time to time; maintaining the form of a seal while in the water, the Selkies can come ashore, shed their skin, and take the form of a beautiful human. Nearly every story involving a Selkie is a romantic tragedy of some sort, whether it’s that of a beautiful lady Selkie tricking a sad farmer boy into the water to smash him up on rocks, or a guy with nothing better to do stealing the shed sealskin of a Selkie maiden and forcing her to marry him, the tales generally aren’t “feel-good.”
The males of the supernatural species spend most of time seeking out women who are angry or dissatisfied with their husbands and seducing them; their homewrecking abilities are unquestioned.
The leading theory on where the Selkies come from, regardless of what they do, is that they are the bizarre reincarnation of restless drowned souls.
Phooka
Original art by myself, influenced by the work of Brian Froud. :)
The Phooka is an Irish demon. It takes many forms and demi-forms. The most common are that of a horse, a goat, an eagle and a cow with long horns. The Phooka tricks weary travellers into accepting an invitation of a ride. Once upon the back of a Phooka, the rider is taken on a wild ride through the countryside until the Phooka dumps the rider into a marsh into a ditch. The sound of manic laughter afterwards is the laughter of the Phooka as it runs away.
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The Salmon of Knowledge - An Irish Legend
A young lad named Fionn (pronounced Fyun) was a promising youth. After his father died, his mother brought him to a poet named Finnegas to learn all he could so that in time, he could join the Fianna. The Fianna was a band of Irish warriors. But in order to join, a man needed to have wisdom and a wide knowledge of poetry, art and history.
Finnegas taught Fionn all he knew and the lad grew to be a fine young man. One thing that Finnegas talked about often was the myth of the salmon of knowledge. The salmon of knowledge was a fish that swam through the rivers of Ireland, the myth went that anyone who ate the salmon would gain all the wisdom of the world. Finnegas often sat by the river outside the hut where he and Fionn lived, fishing in hope to catch the salmon.
One day, Fionn heard Finnegas calling him from outside, running to the river, he saw that Finnegas had caught none other than the salmon of knowledge! Finnegas instructed the boy to cook it for him to eat, but warned him not to taste the fish at all, or he would gain the wisdom. Fionn did as he was told and began cooking the fish over a crude fire. he watched it carefully so as not to burn it. Suddenly, a bubble rose on the fish’s skin. Reaching out, Fionn burst it with his thumb. The bubble popped and burned his finger. Instinctively, Fionn stuck his thumb in his mouth and sucked it to soothe the burn.
When Finnegas saw what the boy had done, he grew very sad that he would never gain all the wisdom of the world, but was cheered at the thoguht that Fionn would be the greatest warrior the Fianna had ever known.
Fionn grew to be the leader of the Fianna. It is said that they sleep in a cave beneath Dublin and will rise when Ireland is in his greatest need. Their coming will be alerted by the sound of his hunting horn.
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Thanks for the submission! We can always use more Celtic mythology on here!
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