Top 5 Irish fairy tales and folktales to feed your imagination

2022年09月12日

今日は、アイルランドの素敵なおとぎ話を見ていきましょう。(English) Today we will taste a wonderful Irish fairy tale.

Top 5 Irish fairy tales and folktales to feed your imagination

Ireland is full of fantastical fairy tales, and folklore passed down through generations. Here is a list of our top five Irish fairy tales and folktales to feed your imagination.

1. Children of Lir - a tragic tale of cursed children

2. The harp of Dagda - beware the harp's music

3. Finn MacCool (Fionn mac Cumhaill) - a tale of giant tricks

4. Tír na nÓg - the land of youth comes at a price

5. Changelings - be careful your baby is your baby

Banshee, fairies, leprechauns, pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, changelings, and many more things you've probably heard about before all come from Irish fairy tales and folktales.

Storytelling is a huge part of Irish culture and heritage.

Storytellers would gather in the evenings to tell their tales.

Many of them told the same stories; if any version varied, it would be put to the council to determine which version was correct.

Stories were passed down from generation to generation, and many are still told today.

If you want to learn a little more about Irish traditions and beliefs, there is no better way to do it than by hearing some Irish fairy tales, so here are our top five Irish fairy tales and folktales.

Ireland is full of fantastical fairy tales, and folklore passed down through generations.

First, No.1 story is as follows:

1. Children of Lir - a tragic tale of cursed children

King Lir, the ruler of the sea, was married to a beautiful and kind woman named Eva. They had four children, three sons and one daughter.

Eva sadly died while giving birth to her two youngest twin boys, Fiachra and Conn, and King Lir married Eva's sister Aoife to ease his broken heart.

Aoife became increasingly jealous of Lir's time with his four children, so she plotted to use her magical powers to destroy the children.

She knew that if she killed them, they would come back to haunt her forever.

So she took them to the lake near their castle and turned them into swans binding them to spend 900 years in the lake.

Aoife told Lir that all his children had drowned, so he went to the lake to mourn for them.

His daughter, Fionnuala, in her swan form, told him what happened, and he banished Aoife, spending the rest of his days by the lake with his children.

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The children spent their 900 years as swans and were soon well known all across Ireland.

One day they heard a bell toll and knew their time under the spell was ending.

So they returned to the lake near their castle and met a priest who blessed them and transformed them back into their now elderly human bodies.

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Next, No.4, the story is as follows:

4. Tír na nÓg - the land of youth comes at a price

Tír na nÓg, or 'land of the young, is an otherworldly realm from Irish mythology whose inhabitants are gifted with everlasting youth, beauty, health, and happiness.

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It was said to be the home of the ancient gods and fairies, but humans are forbidden.

Mortals could only enter Tír na nÓg if they were invited by one of its inhabitants.

Tír na nÓg features in many Irish stories, but the most famous one is about Oisín, son of Finn MacCool.

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Oisín was out hunting with his father's tribe, the Fianna, when they noticed something moving across the ocean on a wave.

Fearing an invasion, they hurried to the coast and prepared for a battle, only to find the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.

She approached the men introducing herself as Niamh, daughter of the God of the Sea, from Tír na nÓg.

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The men feared her as they thought she was a fairy woman, but Oisín introduced himself.

The two instantly fell in love, but Niamh was bound to return to Tír na nÓg.

Unable to bear leaving her beloved Oisín, she invited him to come back with her.

Oisín accepted her invitation leaving his family and fellow warriors behind.

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Once they crossed over the sea to the realm of Tír na nÓg, Oisín received all of the gifts it was famous for; everlasting beauty, health, and of course, the ultimate happiness with his new love.

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However, he began to miss the family he left behind, so Niamh gave him her horse to travel back to see them.

But he warned him he could not touch the ground or he would become mortal again and would never be able to return to Tír na nÓg.

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Oisín traveled across the water to his former home, only to find everyone was gone.

Eventually, he came across three men and asked them where his people were.

They told him they had all died many years ago.

Realizing that time passes much slower in Tír na nÓg than on earth, Oisín was devastated and fell to the ground, instantly transforming into an older man.

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As he touched the ground, he could not travel back to Niamh in Tír na nÓg and died of a broken heart soon after.

This is one of the top Irish fairy tales and folktales to feed your imagination.

Ref)

The stories that are currently popular in Japan generally go something like this.

A man (or fisherman) named Urashima Taro came across a group of children bullying a turtle on the beach.

He buys the turtle, protects it, and releases it into the sea.

A couple of days later, the turtle appears, takes Taro on its back as a thank-you, and takes him to the Dragon Palace in the sea.

At the dragon palace, Otohime(Oto princess) welcomed Taro.

After a while, when Taro expresses his intention to return home, Otohime gives him the Tamatebako(Treasure casket), telling him that he must never open the lid.

When Taro returns to the original beach on the turtle, 700 years have passed on earth, and there is no one that Taro knows.

When Taro forgets his advice and opens the Tamatebako, white smoke is generated from within, and Taro is transformed into a grey-haired, wrinkled older adult of his actual age.

*The Urashima child legend is said to be the original story, and descriptions of the code can be found in documents from the early years (Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), Manyoshu (Anthology of Myriad Leaves), and Tangokuni Fudoki (anecdotes).