Dictionary of mythology - part 4 doc

see also Yolkai Estsan a trickster-hero of the Athapascan tribe a hero He killed a prince who was threatening King Asland and won the king’s daughter for his wife.. Eumenides Etzalqualiz

Eriphyle Erh-lang

mother of Bres by Elatha

A Danaan woman who had an affair

with Elatha, king of the Fomoire,

producing Bres

In some accounts, she is the same as

Eire (see also Eire)

father of Greid

second wife of Aloeus

When the twins Ephialtes and Otus

imprisoned Ares, it was Eriboea who

told Hermes who then released the

two giants

a herald with the Argonauts

During the enforced stay in Libya, he

and Canthus were killed by

Capharaus, a shepherd, when they

tried to steal some of his flock

Eric (see Erik.Svipdag)

Soon after Virgil died, Erichtho sent

him to the underworld to retrieve a

It is said that he was accidentally

fathered on Gaea by Hephaestus when

he attempted to rape Athena but, in

some accounts, he is the son of Atthis

and husband of Praxitea

He had snakes’ tails for legs He was

adopted by Athene and nursed by

Aglauros, Herse and Pandrosos,

daughters of Cecrops, king of Athens

He is said to have invented the chariot

to hide his serpent-like legs He

deposed Cranaus to take the throne of

Athens and was set in the stars as the

constellation Auriga and worshipped

as a serpent when he died

Some accounts identify him with

Erechtheus

son of Dardanus and Bateahusband of Astyochefather of Tros

He is said to have owned a herd ofhorses which numbered some twothousand

In another version it was the riveritself which was formed from the tears

of the Heliades, sisters of Phaeton, athis death

In some accounts, she was carried off

by Artemis, whose priestess she became,

to save her from the sword of Orestes; inothers she became the second wife ofOrestes and bore a son, Penthilus

a harvest-goddessdaughter of IcariusHer father was killed by shepherdswho, drunk on the wine he gave them,thought he had bewitched them

Erigone was led to his grave by thedog, Maera, and hanged herself there

father of Henwas and Henbeddestyr

a monstrous birdThis bird, which has a poisonoustooth, was regarded as a form of Zu

a 3rd C BCpoetess

She was the author of Distaff and died

at the age of nineteen

[Demeter Erinys]

goddess of wrath, a form of DemeterShe is said to be the mother of thehorse Arion, by Poseidon

mother of Alcmaeon, Amphilochus and Demonassa

Polyneices bribed her with thenecklace of Harmonia to persuadeAmphiarus to join the Seven AgainstThebes Amphiarus knew that he wasfated to die and made his childrenswear to avenge his death and conquerThebes She later accepted a bribefrom Thersander, who gave herHarmonia’s wedding veil, to persuadeAlcmaeon to join the Epigoni in theirassault on Thebes Alcmaeon led the

Erippe Ernmas

Epigoni who conquered Thebes andthen killed his own mother for herbetrayal of her husband

a princessmother of Eurytus by OdysseusOdysseus is said to have raped thisdaughter of a king of Epirus, fathering

a son, Euryalus When he grew up,Erippe sent her son to kill his fatherbut, warned of his coming, Odysseuskilled the youth

[Ate.‘strife’:=Roman Discordia]

the goddess of discorddaughter of Zeus and Hera or Nyxsister of Ares

mother of Agea, Amphilogeai,Androktasiai, Ate, Dysnonia,Hyominai, Lethe, Limos, Logos,Machai, Neikos, Philotes, Phonci andPonos

In some stories she is the daughter

of Erebus and Nyx Some say that Ate

is Eris, others that Ate is the daughter

of Zeus by Eris Some say she was the consort of Ares and mother ofHorcos

She was thrown down to earth byZeus in one of his angry moods It wasEris who precipitated the Judgement

of Paris and all that followed from it bythrowing the golden apple, inscribed

‘for the fairest’, into a gathering of thedeities at the wedding of Peleus andThetis (see also Ate)

goddess of fair competition, some say

Erishkigal (see Ereshkigal)

Erisichthon (see Erysichthon)

the god of tempests

Eriu (see Eire.Eri1)

the name of Attila’s wife

in Thidrekssaga

a god of the hunt

He is depicted with the head of a dog

a Tartar god of evil

He was the precursor of man made byUlgan from mud and was sent down torule the underworld when he tried tomake his own universe and seizedsome of the dolls which Ulgan used toturn into humans

He killed the saviour, Maidere, whowas sent to earth by Ulgan

[Ermalyn]

a vixenwife of Reynard the Fox

[Erminia]

the realm of Rouland

(see also Parmenie)

In Jerusalem Delivered, Erminia fell inlove with Tancred and became awarrior-maid to serve alongside him inthe Christian forces

Ermenerich (see Ermenrich)

He proposed to marry Swanhild, thedaughter of Sigurd and Gudrun, andsent his son, Randwer, and a servant,Sibich, to escort her to his palace

Sibich lied to the king saying thatRandwer had seduced Swanhild on thejourney The angry king had his sonhanged and Swanhild trampled todeath by horses

Gudrun ordered her three sons byJonakur to avenge her daughter’s deathand they set off to find him Hamdirand Sorli killed their younger brother,

Erp, en route, deeming him to be tooyoung to be helpful, and when theyfound the king they cut off his handsand feet Only the intervention of Odin,

in his usual disguise as an old man,prevented them from killing the king.Some say that he was poisoned bySibich, others that he was killed bySwanhild’s brothers

In another story, he hanged twonephews, Imbreke and Fritele, forallegedly having designs on the queen

In a Danish version, he is Iarmerikwho is due to marry Svanhild Acounsellor called Bikki accused her ofadultery with Broder, the king’s son,and Iarmerik had her trampled todeath by horses but spared the life ofhis son because he was his only heir

In Germanic stories, he wasEmperor of the West and the brother

of Dietmar, who, when Dietrichsucceeded his father on the throne ofBern, demanded tribute fromDietrich When this demand wasrejected, Ermenrich invaded, capturingHildebrand and several more ofDietrich’s men Ermenrich, bythreatening to kill the captives, forcedDietrich to surrender and to leave hiskingdom, taking a small band offriends and going to the court of Etzel

brother of Dywel and Geraint

a king of Armeniafather of Josian

He bought the young Bevis as a slavebut treated him well, giving him thehorse, Bevis, and the sword, Morglay, aswell as his daughter Josian for a wife

wife of Jarlmother of KonurShe and Jarl are regarded as thefounders of the class of nobles

father of Badb, Macha or Morrigan

Esaugetuh Emissee Ernol

a count living in Castle Curteloise

His three sons raped his only daughter

and killed her when she tried to tell

her father They then wounded Ernol

and locked him in a dungeon from

which he was later released by

Bors, Galahad and Percival Having

told them to seek the Maimed King,

he died

There are different accounts of his

parentage In some stories he is the

son of Ares by Aphrodite, Cronus by

Aphrodite, Hephaestus by Aphrodite,

Hermes by Artemis, Uranus by Gaea,

Zephyrus by Ino or Iris, or Zeus by

Aphrodite An earlier version makes

him the son of Aether and Hemera

who helped him create the world from

chaos In a variation, Erebus and Nyx

produced a cosmic egg from which

Eros was hatched

In one story, he caused Dido to fall

in love with Aeneas by taking the form

of Ascanius and shooting Dido with

one of his arrows

He is depicted as a winged youth

with a bow, sometimes blindfolded,

shooting gold-tipped arrows into the

hearts of those he wishes to become

lovers He sometimes used lead-tipped

arrows to cause lovers to spurn those

who loved them

In later years, this deity became

pluralised as the Erotes

(see also Cupid.Erotes.Iao1)

Igbo spirits invoked to promote

fertility and prosperity

[=Roman Amoretti]

worshippers of Eros: minor

love-gods (see also Eros)

He was killed in the battle between

Dietrich and the invading army of

Ermenrich (see also Erp3)

[Erpr]

son of Atli and Gudrunbrother of EitelWhen Atli treacherously killed herbrothers Gunnar and Hogni, Gudrunkilled her son Erp and his brotherEitel and served their hearts and blood

to Atli and his guests (see also Erp2)

[Erpr]

son of Jonakur and Gudrun

In one version of the story of Atli andGudrun, Gudrun survived anattempted suicide after killing her sonsand husband and married Jonakur bywhom she had three sons, Erp,Hamdir and Sorli When herdaughter, Swanhild, was killed byErmenrich, Gudrun ordered her sons

to avenge her death They set off tofind Ermenrich and the two elderbrothers killed Erp en route, deeminghim to be too young to be helpful

a warrior of ConnaughtBoth he and his charioteer, Foich,were killed when they challengedCuchulainn at the ford

a warrior-hero

Ertrael

a demon

Erua (see Sarpanitu)

Erucina (see Venus Erycina)

devils in the lore of the AboriginesThese beings, so it was said, couldmake a man into a medicine man or eathim instead

Erusikhthon (see Erysichthon)

a kingson of a dragon

He was said to be extremely ugly andcould crumble rock by a mere glancefrom his evil eye

Erycina (see Venus Erycina)

a huge wild boarThis animal was captured by Heracles

as his fourth Labour

He was made to suffer perpetualhunger by Demeter for cutting trees inher sacred grove Having sold all hispossessions and his daughter for food,

he finally ate himself

[Erythea]

a nymphShe is often said to be one of the sevenHesperides

a king in Sicilyson of Butes and Aphrodite

He challenged Heracles to a wrestlingmatch and was killed

[Erzilie.Erzulia.Ge-Rouge]

a Haitian goddess of loveShe is represented as wearing threerings, one for each of her husbandsAgwé, Damballah and Ogoun

Erzulie-Ge-Rouge West Indian

a name of Erzulie lamenting thebrevity of life and love

a creator-god of the Ket people

He is said to have made mankind fromclay, producing men with his righthand, women with his left

the site in Babylon of Marduk’s templeand annual resurrection

a name for god

Esaugetuh Emissee North American

Esbern Essara

clay when the flood subsided, dryingthem in the sun Some swam awaybefore they were properly baked andthese became the white races Thosewho stayed in the sun long enoughbecame the brown races

[Esbern Snare]

husband of HelvaHelva’s father agreed that Esberncould marry his daughter only if hebuilt a great church He agreed andpromised to give his eyes, heart andsoul to the dwarf who undertook thework on his behalf He would be freed

of this penalty only if he could discoverthe name of the dwarf by the time thechurch was finished Helva prayed tothe gods and discovered that his namewas Father Fine, so saving her lover’slife

the moonThe proper name was taboo soeuphemisms such as ‘esca’ were used

(see also gealach.luan.re)

a knight of King Arthur’s court

It was said of him, as of Gawain, thathis strength increased until noon andthen diminished When he carried off

a serving-maid from Arthur’s court,Gawain killed him

a knightnephew of Escanor le Grand

In a French story, he fought aninconclusive duel with Gawain, afterwhich they became friends

a knightuncle of Escanor le Beau

He is described in a French story asthe son of a giant by a witch

Eschenbach, Wolfram von German

a 13th Cwriter, composer of over40,000 verses, who contributed

to the Arthurian legends,

Esclados (see Knight of the Fountain)

Esclairmond (see Esclaramonde)

at her husband’s court, and they fledtogether when the king found out Shelater married Vivien

Instead, Merlin made her his captive

Esculapius (see Asclepius)

a name for Isis

[Ashmun.Eshmoun.Esmoun(os).Esmun:

=Greek Asclepius]

a god of medicineson of Sydykbrother of the Cabeiri

He was castrated by the goddessAstronoe

In some accounts, a name of Baal

As an attendant on the creator-god,

Fa, he was responsible for openingsome of the god’s eyes each morning

He was a servant of Orisha but hatedhim so much that he rolled a huge rock

on to his house, killing Orisha andsplitting him into 401 pieces

He was said to have persuaded thesun and the moon to swap functions onone occasion, causing great chaos

He keeps a watchful eye on eventsand reports to Oloron, judging theactions of men

Esicalibur (see Excalibur)

Eskander (see Al-Iskandar)

esp (see extra-sensory perception)

a knightfather of Partinal

He was killed by Goon Desert whowas killed by Partinal using the GrailSword to avenge his father’s death

(see also Espinogres)

son of Brangemore, queen of Cornwall

He murdered his mother and buriedher body under the altar in thePerilous Chapel (see alsoEspinogee)

son of Amadis and Orianafather of LisuarteWhen Esplandian’s grandfather,Lisuarte, was imprisoned by theenchanter, Archalaus, Urganda tookEsplandian from Firm island in hermagic boat, Green Serpent He foundhimself on a rocky island where, with

a marvellous sword he foundembedded in a temple wall, he killed ahuge dragon

A dumb sailor took him by sea toanother country where Archalous lived

in a castle on Forbidden Mountain Atthe gate of the castle, Esplandian killedthe giant Argantes and, inside, hefought and killed not only Archalausbut his nephews Furion and Matroco.Their mother, Arcabone, threw herself

to her death from the castle walls andLisuarte was freed

He may be the same as Esru

son of Gaedhealfather of Sru (see also Esras)

Ess (see Etain Oig)

a replica, made by Tiamat, of theSumerian Abzu who was killed by the gods

Etan Essaunien

daughter of Naestan and Yadilyil

sister of Yolkai Estsan

wife of Tsohanoai

mother of Nayenezgani

and Tobadzistsini

She was created by the Yei from

turquoise and found on a mountain

by Tsohanoai Hastehogan and

Hasteyalti fed her on pollen so that

she was fully matured in eighteen

days She produced from maize-flour

a man and a woman to serve as the

ancestors of each of the eight tribes

and then became the goddess of

Sunsetland

In another version she made men

and women from pieces of her own

skin and became queen of the

underworld or made Yolkai Estsan

from flakes of dry skin from under

her breasts

She was said to rejuvenate herself

when she grew old

Some say that she is the same as

Changing Woman

(see also Yolkai Estsan)

a trickster-hero of the Athapascan

tribe

a hero

He killed a prince who was

threatening King Asland and won the

king’s daughter for his wife

Estoire del Sainte Graal French

a 13th Cstory of the Holy Grail

Estonea-pesta North American

[Lord of Cold Weather]

controller of the north wind

and snow

He gave Sacred Otter the Snow-lodge

and a magic pipe which protected him

from the winter storms

[Lord of the Scottish Wilderness]

a Scottish lordfather of Passaleon

He was killed by Bruyant the Faithlessbut his son avenged his death bykilling Bruyant

[Escorant]

king of SarrasWhen Bors, Galahad and Percivalarrived in Sarras with the Holy Grail,

he threw them in prison On his bed, a year later, he asked their pardonand they were released, Galahadbecoming king in his place

[Ille Estrange]

the realm of King Vagor

the realm of Lac

of Estrildis Gwendolen avengedherself in a battle in which Locrinuswas killed She took over the throne ofEngland and had both Estrildis andHabren thrown into the Severn

Estsanatlehi (see Estanatlehi)

a Frankish knightnephew of Tiébaut

He fought alongside his uncle againstthe Saracens at the Battle of Archamp

Esu (see Eshu.Isis)

[E(a)dain.Eadaoin.Eda(e)in.Eithne.

E(o)da(o)in.Ethne]

sister of Aoife and Cliona

She eloped from the Otherworld withher two sisters and Ciabhan, Eolus andLodan Manannan sent a huge waveafter their boat which either drownedall six or just the three girls or, in someaccounts, swept the girls back to the Otherworld

[E(a)dain.Eadaoin.Eda(e)in.Eithne E(o)da(o)in.Ethne]

in some accounts, mother of Cormacmac Airt by Art (see also Achtan)

[E(a)dain.Eadaoin.Eda(e)in Echraidhe Eithne.E(o)da(o)in.Ethne]

daughter of Ailill, king of Ulsterwife of Midir and Eochaid Airemh or,some say, Eochaid FeidhleachMidir put aside his first wife,Fuamnach, in favour of Etain Thediscarded wife turned Etain into a fly

or a butterfly and caused her to bebuffeted by storms for many years.Finally, Etain was blown into thepalace of Etar, an Ulster chieftain, andfell into a cup from which Etar’s wifedrank As a result, Etar’s wife becamepregnant and bore a child, thereincarnated Etain

She married Eochaid Airemh butMidir, the husband of her earlierincarnation, carried her off to fairyland,both in the form of swans Eochaiddiscovered where they were andstormed the fairy mound with his army,demanding the surrender of Etain Midir conjured up fifty copies ofEtain and Eochaid chose the one hethought was the real one She was,according to Midir, a daughter of thereal Etain so that Eochaid was nowmarried to his own daughter who borehim a girl, Etain Oig Some say shealso bore Conary Mor

In some stories, she eloped with, orwas carried off by, Angus Og Otherssay that she is the same as Befind

[E(a)dain.Eda(e)in.E(o)da(o)in.Ess.Ethne]

daughter of Eochaid Airemh and EtainEachraidhe

wife of Cormacmother of Mess BuachallaWhen Eochaid chose from the fiftycopies of Etain the one he thought washis wife, he in fact chose his owndaughter and slept with her, fathering

a daughter, Mess Buachalla

daughter of Riangabair and Finnabairsister of Id and Laeg

Etana ettin

a Babylonian king of Kish

a demi-god

He was said to have flown to heaven

on an eagle to establish his divine right

to rule and to obtain a plant that wouldprocure a son for him and his wife Insome stories, he fell to earth and waskilled, in others the eagle was killedbut he survived and had a son Somesay that he ruled for 1,500 years

In some accounts he is regarded asthe leader of the revolt that led to theconstruction of the Tower of Babel

[Edar]

an Ulster chieftainHis wife drank from a cup into whichEtain, in the form of a butterfly, hadbeen blown As a result she gave birth

to the reincarnated Etain

He and Caibell fought a battle withthe suitors for the hand of their twobeautiful daughters Caibell and bothsuitors were killed

father of LaodamusAfter the abdication of Oedipus, histwo sons were cursed by their fatherfor some slight; he prayed that eachshould kill the other They agreed torule in alternate years but Eteoclesrefused to yield at the end of his year

and banished his brother Polyneices

He was killed by Polyneices insingle combat during the Argive attack

on Thebes (the Seven against Thebes)and killed his brother in the samefight

[Eteokles]

a king of Orchomenuesson of Andreus or Cephisus and Euippe

son of Iphis or Cephisus

In some accounts, he is included in thelist of the Seven against Thebes andwas killed by the Theban, Megareus,whom he faced at the Neistan Gate

Some say that he is the same asHippomedon

Eternal Dreamtime (see alchera)

Eternal Land (see Takama-ga-hara)

an aspect of Tengri as god of fate

[Eidirsceol.Eterscel(e)]

a high-king of Irelandson of Fiachu Fear Mara

He took the girl Mess Buachalla as hiswife but she had previously been visited

by Nemglan, the bird-god, as a Danaanyouth who arrived in the form of abird The son of this union was ConaryMor who was raised as the king’s sonbut fostered with a noble, Desa

[Ethal Anubal.Ethal Anubhail]

a Danaan ruler father of Caer Ibormeith

Ethal Anubal (see Ethal Anubail)

Ethal Anubhail (see Ethal Anubail)

[Table of the Sun]

fertility personified, providing for all

on the orders of Balor but one of them,Lugh, was saved by Manannan and, inlater years, fulfilled the prophecy bykilling Balor

Ethne (see Eithne.Etain.Ethlinn)

Ethniu (see Eithne.Ethlinn)

the eagle attacking Prometheus when

he was chained to a rock

a horse of Hector

a Haitian voodoo spirit, derived from

These beings are said to cause diseases

Etlyn (see Edlym Redsword)

a nymph of Sicilymother of the twin gods, Palici byHephaestus, in some accounts

Etna 2 (see Mount Etna)

He was saved by Nimue who, usingher magic, made Ettard fall in lovewith Pelleas – too late She also put aspell on Pelleas who now rejected thelady who had previously rejected him

In some versions, Pelleas marriedNimue

Eumenides Etzalqualiztli

Etzalqualiztli Central American

a festival in honour of the rain-god,

Tlaloc, held around the middle of May

On this occasion, the officiating priests

dived into a lake, acting the part of

frogs, animals associated with the

husband of Helche and Krimhild

father of Porte and Scharpfe

father of Ortlieb by Krimhild

When his first wife died, he married

Krimhild whose first husband, Siegfried,

had been killed by Hagen He was

later persuaded by Krimhild to invite

Gunther and his nobles to the court

where Krimhild plotted their death

He died when Aldrian lured him

into the cave where the Nibelung

treasure was stored and then locked

him in, leaving him to starve to death

In some stories of Dietrich von Bern,

he gave shelter to that hero when he

ceded his kingdom to Ermenrich in

exchange for Hildebrand and some

others who had been captured

In Thidrekssaga he is Attila and his

wife is Erka

daughter of Megarius

wife of Alcathous

She was given as a wife to Alcathous

when he killed the Cithaeronian

lion which had ravaged her father’s

kingdom

His swine were swallowed up in the

chasm that opened up when Hades

abducted Core and he was able to tell

Demeter what had happened to her

son of Polyeidus

He was with the Greeks at Troy where

he was shot and killed by Paris

Eudaf

[Evdaf]

a king of Britainson of Caradocfather of Cynan, Elen and Gadeon

(see also Octavius)

a king of Aquitane

He led his forces to help Charlemagneagainst the invading Saracens led byAbd-el-Rahman

[Oede]

brother of Sevinusuncle of Huon

He was captured by pirates, sold as aslave to Gaudisso and embraced theMuslim faith Huon met him when hetravelled to Gaudisso’s court

one of Actaeon’s dogsWhen Artemis discovered Actaeonwatching her as she bathed, she turnedhim into a stag His hounds, includingEudromos, tore him to pieces

Euedorachos (see Enmenduranna)

a king of ScotlandSome say, he captured Guinevere andheld her prisoner

Eugpamolak Manoba (see Manama)

Author of Sacred Scripture, he

maintained that gods were simply menwho had accomplished great deeds andwere rewarded by deification and that

the deeds related in myths were actualhistorical events

[Euhippe.Evippe.Hippe.‘mare’]

daughter of Chironmother of MelanippeShe was seduced by Aeolus and waschanged into a horse or put in theheavens by Artemis as the constellationEquus

In some accounts Euippe is calledMelanippe

[Euhippe.Evippe.Hippe.‘mare’]

daughter of Daunuswife of Diomedes She became the second wife ofDiomedes who had deserted his firstwife, Aegile, for being unfaithful tohim while he was fighting with theGreeks at Troy

[Euhippe.Evippe.Hippe.‘mare’]

wife of Andreusmother of Eteocles

[Euhippe.Evippe.Hippe.‘mare’]

wife of Pierusmother of Oeagris and the Pierides

son of Thestius and Eurythemis

a swineherdson of Ormenus

He had been sold as a slave to Laertesand served him and his son, Odysseus,all his life When Odysseus returnedhome after his ten years of wanderingfollowing the fall of Troy, Eumaeushelped him to defeat the gang ofsuitors who were besieging Penelope

a king of Pheraeson of Admetus and Alcestisbrother of Hippasushusband of Ipthinoe

He led a contingent of his people tofight alongside the Greeks at Troy

a king of Patraefather of Antheas

Eumolpidae Eurution

This play deals with the punishment ofOrestes for the murder of Aegisthusand Clytemnestra

descendants of Eumolpuspriests of Demeter

he tried to rape another of herdaughters, he was banished to Thrace

Here he was given a daughter of KingTegyrius as wife but was againbanished when he plotted againstTegyrius He next went to Eleusis andled the attack on Athens when thedaughters of Erechtheus weresacrificed and he was himself killed

(see also Eumolpus2)

[Emolpus]

a singer and flute-player

He supported Phylonome’s assertionthat her stepson, Tenes, had tried torape her She was killed by herhusband, Cycnus, when he discoveredthe truth

In some accounts he is the same asEumolpus, son of Poseidon andChione

[Euneos]

a king of Lemnosson of Jason by Hypsipyletwin brother of Thoas

He and his brother Thoas rescued hismother who had been sold as a slave toLycurgus He supplied the Greekarmy at Troy with wine

the goddess of spring and good governmentdaughter of Zeus and Themisone of the Horae, in some accounts

[Cyathus]

a cup-bearer to Oeneusson of Architeles

He was accidentally killed when ayoung boy when Heracles boxed hisears for spilling wine

an Inca god of the underworld towhom children were sacrificed

son of Erechtheusfather of Daedalus, in some accounts

the Argo was stranded in Libya, Triton

gave him a clod of earth which he laterdropped into the sea From this grewthe island of Calliste, later Thera

[Euphorbos]

a Trojan soldierson of Panthousbrother of Hyperenor and Polydamas

He wounded Patroclus who was thenkilled by Hector and was himself killed

by Menelaus

Pythagoras asserted that he was areincarnation of Euphorbus

son of Achilles and Helen

In some versions, Helen marriedAchilles after death and produced ason, Euphorion

Euphrosine (see Euphrosyne)

[Euphrosine]

one of the 3 Graces – mirth or goodcheer

daughter of Zeus by Eurynome

Euphrosyne 2 (see Yevrossima)

[Euroclydon]

the north-east wind personified

(c 484–407 BC)

a dramatist

He was the author of about fifty plays

of which nineteen survive Among

them are Alcestis, Andromache, The Bacchae, Cyclops, Electra, Hecuba, Helen, Heracles, Heraclidae, Hippolytus, Ion, Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia in Tauris, The Maidens, Medea, Orestes, The Phoenicians, Pleiades, Rhesus, The Suppliants and The Trojan Women.

Some say that he was torn to pieces

by the king’s dogs

Euroclydon (see Euroquilo)

mother of Aeacus by Zeus, some say

In some accounts, her father wasPhoenix; others say that she was themother of the Minotaur

She was carried off to Crete by Zeus

in the form of a handsome bull.Changing form to an eagle he ravishedEuropa who bore the three sonsMinos, Rhadamanthus and Sarpedon.The god gave her the dog, Laelaps, aspear which never missed its mark andTalus, the bronze guardian of Crete.She later married Asterius, king ofCrete, who adopted her three sons.After her death, she was deified

(see also Iodama)

in some accounts, a moon-goddessdaughter of Tityus

mother of Euphemus by Poseidon

Minos as the son of Europa

European Sibyl

a mediaeval prophetess

Eurynome Euryale

[‘wide-springer’]

one of the 3 Gorgons

daughter of Phorcos and Ceto

sister of Medusa and Stheno

daughter of Minos and Pasiphae

mother of Orion by Poseidon

Euryalus 1

a soldier with Aeneas

He and his friend Nisus were killed in

an attempt to break through the lines

of the Latins and Rutulians to take a

message to Aeneas who was away

seeking help for his small band of

Trojans who were attempting to find a

new home in Italy Instead of creeping

quietly through the enemy lines, they

killed a number of the enemy and the

noise roused the other soldiers who

surrounded the two Trojans and killed

son of Odysseus and Erippe

He was born as the result of rape and,

when he grew up, his mother sent him

to find his father and kill him Warned

of the youth’s arrival, Odysseus killed

him, not knowing who he was

Another version says that

Odysseus sent the boy to Penelope

who later accused him of rape so

Odysseus killed him

daughter of Pactolus

wife of Tantalus, some say

mother of Broteas and Niobe

mother of Pelops in some stories

a herald of Odysseus at Troy

He and Talthybius fetched the captive

Briseis from Achilles’ tent when she

was awarded to Odysseus in place of

daughter of Pontus and Gaea

mother of Astaeus, Pallas and Perses by

He was killed by Heracles

[Euryclea]

nurse to OdysseusWhen Odysseus finally returned homeafter wandering the earth for ten yearsafter the fall of Troy he arrived disguised

as a beggar His old nurse recognisedhim by a scar on his leg She was able totell Odysseus which of the servants hadcollaborated with the importunatesuitors of Penelope who had set uphome in her palace and he killed theseservants after killing the suitors

to the underworld and charmed Hadesinto releasing her but, when Orpheusbroke the rules by looking back tomake sure she was following him,Hades reclaimed her and she was lostforever

[Euridice]

wife of Creonmother of Glauce, Haemon and MenoeceusShe stabbed herself to death from grief

at the death of Haemon

[Euridice]

daughter of Lacedemonwife of Acrisius, in some accountsmother of Danae

a sailor with Odysseus

He was the leader of the group ofsailors turned into swine by Circewhen they landed on her island andmanaged to escape to tell Odysseuswhat had happened He died in theshipwreck following the sacrilegiousslaughter of the cattle of Helius

He was killed by Dionysus in the battlebetween the gods and the giants

[Altha(a)ea.Cardea.Queen of the Circling Universe]

an ancient goddess, produced fromChaos

daughter of Oceanus and Tethysmother of Atrabyrius

mother of the Graces by ZeusShe created Ophion the serpent-godwith the co-operation of the NorthWind and coupled with Ophion toproduce all the things in the world.She later banished Ophion to theunderworld and then created theTitans and the first man, namedPelasgus

She rescued Hephaestus from thesea when he fell, or was thrown byHera, from Mount Olympus.She is depicted in the form of amermaid

daughter of Nisuswife of Glaucusmother of Bellerophon by Poseidon,some say

Euronyme Euterpe

wife of Orchamusmother of Leucothoe

father of Telemus

[Eurypilus]

son of Euhaemon or Dexamenus

He was leading a troop fighting for theGreeks at Troy and was wounded inthe fighting that occurred when theparty inside the Wooden Horse, ofwhich he was one, climbed out andstarted the final battle

After the war, he went mad when helooked on an image of Dionysus made

by Hephaetus which he had found in achest at Troy

[Eurypilus]

leader of the Mysian contingentfighting at Troy

son of Telephus and Astyoche

He killed Machaon and Nireus in thebattle at Troy but was himself killed byPyrrhus

[Eurypilus]

a king of the Meropes on Cosson of Poseidon by Astypaleaone of the Argonauts

He was killed by Heracles whose fleetwas driven to Cos by a storm sent byHera after Heracles had sacked Troy

He mistook them for pirates in thedark of the night

[Eurypilus]

a king of Libyason of PoseidonTriton adopted the form of Eurypytuswhen he gave the clod of earth toEuphemus and told the strandedArgonauts how to get back to the sea

Some say that he dragged the Argo

across the land to the sea

He was the son of Ajax by a concubine

a co-king of Spartason of Aristodemus and Argiatwin brother of Procles

king of Argosson of Sthenelus and Menippebrother of Alcinoe and Medusahusband of Nicippe

father of Admeta and ErypilusHis birth was accelerated by Hera sothat he inherited the kingdom whichshould have fallen to Heracles

He set the tasks for Heracles toperform as his Labours but was soscared of his bondsman that he hid in alarge bronze jar when issuing hisorders which were then relayed toHeracles by the king’s herald, Copreus

When he later invaded Attica, hewas killed by Hyllus or Iolaus, orcaptured and put to death on theorders of Alcmene His head wasburied in a pass on the road to Athens

to protect the city

a nymphmother of Oeneus by Portheus

wife of Thestiusmother of Althaea, Euippus, Eurypylus,Hypermnestra, Iphiclus, Leda,Plexippus and Toxeus

[Eurution.Eurythion]

a herdsmanson of Ares

He tended the herds of Geryon andwas killed by Heracles when he seizedthe cattle as his tenth Labour

In some accounts, Eurytion was aseven-headed dragon

He was one of the Argonauts and amember of the party hunting theCalydonian Boar, when he wasaccidentally killed by Peleus

a king of Oechaliason of Melaniusfather of Clyteus, Deioneus, Iole,Iphitus and Toxeus

He offered the hand of his daughterIole to any man who could beat himand his sons at archery WhenHeracles won, he reneged on hisundertaking He was killed by Apollofor his temerity in challenging the god

to a similar contest Heracles killed hisson Iphitus in a dispute over somestolen horses

In some accounts he had earliertaught Heracles the art of archery

of Elis, when Heracles attacked hiskingdom and were later killed byHeracles who ambushed them enroute to the Isthmian Games

son of Idabrother of Godfrey de Bouillon

one of the 9 Muses – musicmother of Rhesus by Strymon, some sayShe is said by some to have inventedthe double flute

Evippe Euthymus

a famous boxer

son of Ceacinus

The ghost of Polites, who had been

stoned to death for the rape of a

maiden, had to be appeased by the

yearly sacrifice of a young woman

Euthymus, in love with one girl

chosen for sacrifice, drove the ghost

into the sea and married the girl

[Euxinus.Friendly Sea]

the Black Sea (see also Axine)

a Knight of the Round Table

He was once turned into a dwarf by

sorcery and when he met Gawain he

regained his full stature but Gawain

Her husband was one of the Seven

against Thebes who was killed in the

fighting there When his body was

recovered after Theseus defeated the

Thebans, she killed herself by jumping

on to his funeral pyre

daughter of Pelias

Pelias had murdered the parents and

young brother of Jason who, returning

with the Golden Fleece, sought

revenge Medea bewitched Evadne

and her sister Amphinome and they

killed their father and dismembered

him, believing they could rejuvenate

him The third sister, Alcestis, refused

to take part In some versions, Pelias

was bewitched into trying to

rejuvenate himself in the boiling

cauldron

After the death of Pelias, Acastus

took the throne and banished Evadne

from Iolcus

daughter of Poseidon by Pitane

She was reared by Aepytus and, when

she gave birth to Iamus, her son by

Apollo, he reared the boy also

wife of King Bors

sister of Elaine

mother of Bors and Lionel

When her husband died, she became a

nun and her children were left in thecare of Pharien

a goddess of the night, in the lore

of some of the tribes of the Amazon basin

a Knight of the Round Table

He was one of the party whichaccompanied King Arthur to Cornwallfor the trial of Isolde

He was banished from Greece forkilling his father and went to Italywhere he helped Aeneas in his fightwith the Latins and Rutulians Otherstories say that he was in Italy beforeAeneas and founded Rome

In some accounts he is identifiedwith Pan before moving to Italy

Others say he was the son of Echemus

In the Roman version his mother wasCarmenta

[Euander]

a king of Lyciason of Sarpedonhusband of Deidamia

In some accounts, their son Sarpedonwas the famous warrior at Troy ratherthan his grandfather, though some saythat he was the son of Zeus byDeidamia

[Avalloc.Evalach.Evalak.Mordrain]

a king of Sarrasfather of Eliezer and Grimal

He was said to have been born in Gauland was sent to Rome as a slave Helater went to Syria where he killed theson of a governor, fleeing to Babylon

He was made king of Sarras for helpingTholomer, the king of Babylon, withwhom he later went to war

He embraced Christianity and wasbaptised as Mordrain before his battlewith the Saracen king and Joseph ofArimathea gave him a white shield onwhich, during battle, appeared the

figure of Christ on the cross whichrouted the enemy He and Josephcame to Britain and built the Castle ofCarbonek which could be invisible tosinners Joseph (or Josephus) on hisdeath-bed emblazoned a red cross onthe shield with his own blood,enjoining Evelake to give the shield toNascien the hermit to guard until itwas claimed by Galahad

He is said to have lived for 300 or

400 years (see also Avalloc)

Evening Sky North American

in the lore of the tribes of the north-west, daughter

of Kumush

a river-god in Sicilyson of Ares by Demonicehusband of Alcippefather of Marpessa

He made suitors for the hand ofMarpessa take part in a chariot-racewith him and when he won, as healways did, he cut off their heads.When Idas abducted Marpessa, usingthe magic chariot of Poseidon, Evenuspursued the fleeing couple but, failing

to catch them, he drowned himself in ariver which thereafter was calledEvenus

a king of Lyrnessus

Ever Breath

son of Selepusfather of Epistrophus and Mynes

Ever Breath (seeHeng Hsi)

Ever Sublime (seeHeng O)

father of Teiresias by Chariclo

Evergreen Land Pacific Islands

[=Japanese Ryugu]

the site of the palace of the sea-god

Everything-maker (see Raweno)

Evil One, The (see Ahriman)

a spell which induces the dead or thedevil to appear

a sun-god in Guinea

[Caladfwlch.Caladviolch.Caledfwlch.

Caleburn.Caliburn(ius).Escalibor.

Esecalibur.Excalibar.Hungry One.Mirandoise]

King Arthur’s swordThis marvellous weapon was said tohave been created by Merlin Some say

it came to King Arthur from Avalon,others that it was a gift from Vivien,Lady of the Lake

In some accounts, the Sword in theStone which Arthur pulled out, sodemonstrating his right to the throne,was Excalibur and was engraved withthat name on the blade In otherversions, that was a different swordand when it was broken in combat with

an unnamed knight who hadchallenged Arthur, not knowing hewas the king, Merlin took Arthur to alake where an arm ‘clothed in whitesamite’ rose out of the water holdingExcalibur which Arthur claimed andused until his death when it wasreturned by Bedivere to the lake wherethe hand rose to receive it and carry itbelow the surface of the water

Yet another version says thatExcalibur was made by Merlin andgiven to Uther Pendragon as a symbol

of his office as king When Utherobjected to handing over the babyArthur, as he had promised, Merlinblinded Uther, taking both the childand the sword

While he was wearing the scabbard

he could never lose blood if wounded

Some say that Excalibur was given

to Arthur by Morgan le Fay; certainlyshe once stole it from Arthur and gave

it to her lover, Accolon, in revenge forthe execution of another of her lovers,but Arthur soon recovered it

exploratores (see criminatores)

extispicy (see haruspication)

extra-sensory perception

[esp.sixth sense]

alleged ability to perceive thingsoutside the range of the normalsenses

a co-king of Elis with Agorius

a name for Coyote as ‘sub-captain’

eye

the eye of a cockerel is said to guardagainst witchcraft; that of a newtguards against disease

Eye-juggler North American

a tricksterWhen he lost his eyes, he found others

to take their place but they turned out

to be made of pitch

Eye of Atum (see Eye of Ra)

[Udjat.Wedjat(-eye)]

the left eye of Horus

Horus lost this eye, which was themoon, in his battles with Set but it wasrestored by Hathor As the wedjat (orwedjat-eye), it became the symbol ofhealing

a name of Thoth as the moon, regarded

as the weaker eye

(see also Eye of Horus1.Udjat)

[Eye of Atum.Hathor-Sakhmet.Qedeshet]

a manifestation of the goddesssHathor or Sakhmet when she wassent to punish mankind: the uraeus

(see also udjat)

a god

a king of SwedenRagnar had wooed the daughter ofEystein but failed to divorce Aslaug infavour of the princess, so Eysteininvaded Denmark His forces werehelped by an enchanted cow whichcaused great slaughter and Agnar andErik, Ragnar’s sons, were killed Whentheir brothers and the pirate, Hastings,joined Ragnar’s forces, Ivar killed thecow with his magic, Eystein was killedand the invasion repelled

a son of Satan in Dante’s Inferno

F Central American

a Mayan deity of uncertain identity

known as god F: perhaps Nacon

or Xipototec

This deity is depicted with black lines

painted all over his body and face,

which some interpret as wounds

[=Yoruba Ifa]

the Fon god of destiny

son of Minona, some say

He is said to have sixteen eyes and lives

in a palm-tree in the sky The

messenger-god, Eshu, was responsible for opening

some of Fa’s eyes each morning

a man who betrayed the secret of

Chang Kuo-lao’s identity

When he told the emperor that Chang

Kuo-lao was really a white bat, he

dropped down dead but was restored

to life when the immortal sprinkled

water on his face

Fa-she-lo Fu-to-lo

(see Fa-she-na-fu-to)

[Fa-she-lo Fu-to-lo.Fashena-futo]

the Chinese version of Vajraputra

[Fakahotu]

an earth-goddesswife of AteaFa’ahotu, the earth, was created fromone half of the cosmic egg Atea, thesky, was created from the other half

In some accounts, she is the same as Papa

[=Hawaiian La’a Maomao:=New Zealand Raka Maomao]

a Samoan wind-god

Fabas

a demon

fable

a fictitious story: a myth

Fables of Bidpai British

the English version of

the Panchatantra

the French version of

the Panchatantra

Fabula (seeAcca Larentia)

Fabulae (see Genealogiae)

god whose job it was to teach children

to speak (see also Vagtanus)

the face of KirttimukhaThis lion face, all that remained of thedemon Kirttimukha, was revered as asymbol of wrath

[‘father’]

husband of ModirModir produced a son, Jarl, fathered

by Heimdall when he visited earth inthe guise of Riger

faerie

[faery]

a fairy: fairylandHumans may enter this realm if theyabstain from eating and drinking andcarry something, such as a knife, made

of iron (see also fairy)

Faerie King, The British

a 17th Cpoem in which the story ofByanor appears

Faerie Knight, The British

son of Tom a’Lincoln by CaeliaAfter the death of Tom and Anglitora,

he joined forces with his half-brother,the Black Knight, and they came toBritain

Faerie Queene, The English

the 16th Callegorical poem by Spenser in which Arthur, not yet king, appears

F

Faet Fiada (see Veil of Invisibility)

Fafaki-Tahi Pacific Islands

Samoan sailors, descendants

of KahomovailahiThese men were said to have inheritedthe ability to ‘feel the sea’ and correctlygive the location of their boat at sea

a bard

He composed a satire which causedthe King Meilge to break out inblotches on his face

[Fafner]

son of Hreidmarbrother of Otter and Reginbrother of Fasolt, in some accountsFafnir’s father had received a hoard ofgold and a magic ring from Loki ascompensation when Loki killed Otterbut he refused to share it with Fafnirand Regin Fafnir then killed his fatherand seized all the treasure, turninghimself into a dragon in Gnitaheid toguard it Sigurd killed not only thedragon but also Regin who hadpersuaded him to do it andappropriated the treasure for himself

In the Wagnerian version, Fafnirand his brother Fasolt, Frost Giants,built Valhalla for Odin but demandedFreya as payment When they weregiven the Rhinegold as ransom, theyfought over the treasure Fafnirkilled his brother and then used theHelmet of Invisibility to changehimself into a dragon

a title given to Sigurd in his role askiller of Fafnir

a tree-god (beech) in the Pyrenees

[Falinis]

an old name for Ireland

[Falinis]

a houndThis animal was owned by the king ofIoruaidhe and was the same animalthat the sons of Turenn were required

to get as part of their punishment forthe murder of Cian

It was said to be able to catch anyanimal it chased, turn water into wineand win every fight it engaged in

a king of Munster

He gave shelter to St Mochuda and his

followers who had been expelled fromtheir monastery

Fair Forlorn (see Beltenbros)

[Beaumains.Handy]

a nickname for Gareth

Fair Maid of Astolat (see Elaine3)

Fair Maiden North American

second wife of KulshanShe left her husband to visit hermother and was turned into an island

as, also, was her new-born child

Fair One (see Finn mac Cool)

Fair Unknown, The (see Gingalin)

a name for the sun

an attendant on the Queen of HeavenShe was said to have extremely goodhearing

bridges over which the good dead wereconducted across the Inevitable River

markers said to indicate the presence

of the Divine People, the Danaans

Fairy Palace of the Quicken-trees

(see Bruighean Caortheinn)

The glow from this source was said to

be made by fairies to light their revels

fairy stone

a lucky charmThis stone brings good fortune to itsowner but, if it is touched by anotherperson, it loses its effectiveness

fairyland

[faerie]

the imagined home of the fairies

In The Faerie Queene, it is the realm

ruled by Oberon where Arthur, before

he was made king, fell in love with thefairy queen, Gloriana

Faitaulanga Pacific Islands

a priest of Tagaloa

He persuaded forty-two youths andseven maidens to offer themselves forsacrifice to lift a plague and they tried

to escape the clutches of the god ofdeath in seven canoes After manyadventures and disasters, the crew ofeach boat was depleted, the rowersdying or being killed one by one, untilonly one youth and one maiden wereleft in each boat At this point, Tagaloarelented and the survivors sailed safely

to Samoa

Faivarongo Pacific Islands

a god of marinersson of Ariki Kafika Tuisifo

an Indian wonder-worker

in Papuan lore, a spirit living in rocksnear the sea, which causes storms

Fal (see Stone of Destiny)

Fal stone (see Stone of Destiny)

Fale-o-le fe’e Pacific Islands

a stone temple said to have been built by Fe’e, a Samoan god of war

an enchantressShe owned an enchanted garden inwhich she imprisoned many knights,including Florismart and Ricardo.Roland gained entry after killing thedragon guarding the gate, tied her to

a tree, took Balisardo, the magicsword she had made, and releasedher prisoners

Faet Fiada

Falernus Italian

a peasant who entertained Liber

He was too poor to provide wine but

the god filled his cups and caused the

surrounding land to be covered by

vines

Falhofnir (see Fallow-hoof)

[Falia]

one of the 4 cities cited as the origins

of the Danaans

This city was ruled by Morfessa and it

was from here that the Lia Fail is said

to have come

a horse of Dietrich von Bern

This animal, said never to grow tired,

was given to Dietrich by his follower,

Heime

a giant, in Aztec lore

He was one of four giants who

supported the sky at the beginning of

the Fifth Sun He was regarded as the

symbol of divine power on earth

Falling Star 1 North American

one of the 4 Associated Gods of

the Sioux

falling star 2 (see meteor)

Falling Water (see Cala-Paluma)

[Falhofnir]

a horse of the gods

False Face Society

(see Hadiganso Shano)

[Guinevere the False]

half-sister of Guinevere

She was the daughter of Leodegrance

by another woman but Guinevere’s

physical double She took the real

Guinevere’s place for over two years

but finally admitted the deception

a sub-king in Spain

He was in charge of the first of the

three armies hidden in ambush at

Roncesvalles and was killed by Roland

[=Greek Pheme]

the 100-tongued goddess of rumour

familiar

[sending]

a spirit, often in the form of a cat,

attending when called, usually

by a witch

In Africa, Basuto witches have hugeanimals known as obe while theZulu sorcerer uses an exhumedcorpse which he revivifies in theform of an umkovu

In Arabia, the magician’s familiar

skin (see labuni).

In ancient Hebrew lore thefamiliar was known as an ôb

The Inuit medicine-men use anartificial seal, known as a tupilaq, as

a familiar

In Malaya, a sorcerer can kill bypointing his kris at a victim Assoon as the spell takes hold, bloodwill drip from the point of theknife His familiar may be a badger

or an owl

In North America, somemedicine-men stuff the skin of anowl and make it fly against theintended victim causing him tostarve to death

In the islands of the Pacific,sorcerers have familiars in the form

[Phanes]

an ancient fire-god

a cunning Immortal

a star, home of the god Yang Ching

mother of Gaiar and SegdaWhen she quarrelled with herhusband, who left her, she wasattacked by three Fomoire Her sister,

Li Ban, induced Cuchulainn to rescueher and Fand had an affair with him,curing him of an illness by singing tohim When Emer heard about theaffair, she tried to kill Fand andManannan forced Fand to choosebetween himself and her lover Sheopted to stay with Manannan.Another version says that herbrother, Labraid Luathlam, neededthe help of Cuchulainn in a fight withthree warriors and promised to giveFand to the great hero as his mistress

in return for his help

In some accounts, she and Li Banincapacitated Cuchulainn for a wholeyear by attacking him with whips

one of the 3 Islands of the Blessed

(see Fortunate Islands3)

Fang Cheng-hsüeh (see She Wang)

an official of the celestial Ministry ofTime who acts as a herald

benevolent Swiss fairies

a son of Finn mac Cool

a story-teller

By custom, the king of Radofan waskilled on a day decreed by the priestswho read the stars Sali, sister of the

king, Akaf, induced Far-li-mas to tellsuch wonderful stories that the priestsforgot about the stars and no date wasever fixed for her brother’s death.

a hero in Malihusband of Nana Miriam

He attacked the monster tamus Mali, which had eaten all hiscrops, with a spear but it ate him aswell His wife paralysed the beast with

hippopo-a mhippopo-agic spell (see also Faran Maka)

Faraguvol Central American

an itinerant god of Haiti and PuertoRico, a deified tree

father of Belide and Clodion

He was said to have been a slave who,when freed, became king of France

He once entered King Arthur’s court

in disguise to spy on his enemy

He fell in love with Rosamund

a giant hero of the Songhai tribefather of Wango and WeikareWhen the water-spirit, Zin-Kibaru,caused the fish to eat Faran Maka’s riceplants, he fought and killed the spiritand kept his magic guitar

He is said to use his long beard tocatch fish in the river and eats at leastone hippopotamus each day

He found a girl in a termite-hill andshe bore him two children, Wango andWeikare

(see also Fara Maka)

(see also Farasul Bahri)

a sea-horse, said to be the mount

of Salana (see also Farasi Bahari)

[Firbauti]

a name of Bergelmir as father of Loki

by Laufeia, in some storiesfather of Byleist and Helblindi

In other accounts, Farbauti is the son

the devil in Dante’s Inferno

He brought order out of theoriginal chaos; created the sevenheavens; killed Teliko, the spirit of thehot winds of the desert; produced thefirst human beings by impregnatinghimself and bearing twins and gavemankind the power of speech Heuprooted the tree-god, Pemba, when

he was planted by the first woman,Musso-koroni

(see also Faro2)

in the lore of the Mande, the brother

of the first man (see also Faro1)

Fashena-futo (see Fa-she-na-fu-to)

[Fasold]

a giantbrother of Fafnir, in some accounts

In the Wagner version, Fafnir and hisbrother Fasolt, Frost Giants, builtValhalla for Odin but demanded Freya

as payment When they were given theRhinegold as ransom, they fought overthe treasure Fafnir killed his brotherand then used the Helmet of Invisibility

to change himself into a dragon

In Germanic stories, as Fasold, hewas the brother of Ecke and, whenDietrich rescued Bolfriana and hernine daughters who had been

imprisoned by Ecke, he joined forceswith Dietrich

a story by Ovid including an account

of the rape of Lucretia

Fasting Coyote (see Nezhualcoyotl)

He is known as The Flasher

a fairy

Fata 2 (see Tria Fata)

[Le Chateau de Morgan le Fée]

a mirage seen in the Straits of MessinaThis vision, a scene of architecturalwonders, was seen by Roland in thegarden of the enchantress, Falerina.Some say that it represented apalace of Morgan le Fay

a name of Morgan le FayMorgan was reputed to have anotherhome in Sicily where she was known asFata Morgana The generation of amirage to lure ships on to the rockswould be consistent with her role as atrouble-maker

a goddess (or goddesses) who wroteout the fate of each child at birth

In some accounts, they are the same asthe Fates

[Matronae Devones]

goddesses of the oak wood

the trio Ana, Badb and Macha

as Morrigan

Fates (see Moirae.Norns.Parcae)

a mythical giant (see also Fomoire)

Father Atoja South American

a rain-spirit of the Aymara

A magician collects several basins of

Father Atoja Fara Maka

water with frogs from Lake Titicaca

and places them on top of the

mountain, Atoja, praying to the spirits

of that mountain, Father Atoja and

Mother Atoja When the sun has

evaporated the water in the basins, the

frogs croak loudly and the spirits then

cause rain to fall

a dwarf

He built the church for Esbern in

return for his eyes, heart and soul if

Esbern failed to discover his name

before the building was complete

Helva’s prayers enabled her to discover

the dwarf’s name and save her lover

[Hu]

a sky-god

Father Mars (seeMars Marspite)

Father of Battle (see Odin)

Father of Mankind (see Latipan)

Father of the Forest (see Mezatevs)

Father of the Gods (see Latipan)

Father Sky (see Guamaonocon.

one of the 3 beings who determine the

fate of a new-born child

In the plural (Faiti) they are also called

Niren

[Fadu]

the moon-god of the Society Islanders

son of Roua and Taonoui

faticaria (see witchcraft)

In The Arabian Nights she was killed by

a sorcerer who, disguised in her

clothes, entered Aladdin’s home

a princess

She was saved by Hammadi as she was

about to be devoured by the Dragon of

the Lake and married her rescuer

[Fatu-titi]

an ancestor of Tane-Mahuta

He gave Tane-Mahuta the thunderbolt

as a weapon though, in some accounts,

Fatu-tiri is the thunderbolt with which

he killed Atea

Fatu-titi (seeFatu-tiri)

[Fatuus]

a name of Faunus as ‘speaker’

a god of personal destiny

an imp of wheat-stores in Brittany

Faula (see Acca Larentia.Fauna)

[=Hawaiian Haumea]

mother of Tu-nui-ka-rere and faumea by Tangaroa

Turi-a-In Tuamotu they say that she had eels

in her vagina that killed men but sheshowed Tangaroa how to remove themand their union produced two children

In some accounts she is identified withBona Dea, in others with Angitia

Others make him the son of Mercurywho killed strangers and offered them

in sacrifice to his father who then gavehim the hindquarters and hoofs of agoat in punishment Some say he wasthe son of Picus (see also Faunus2)

a king of Italyson of Hermes, some sayfather of Latinusfather of Acis, some say

He had the habit of killing allstrangers and sacrificing them to hisfather, Hermes

He was killed by Heracles (duringhis tenth Labour) and some say that itwas Heracles who fathered Latinus,not Faunus

His spirit was said to have warnedLatinus not to allow his daughter,Lavinia, to marry any but a strangerwho would soon arrive from over thesea This turned out to be Aeneas

In some accounts, he is the same asFaunus, the Italian god of vegetation

[(Dr) Faustus]

a man who sold his soul to the Devil

in return for unlimited knowledgeand youth

[Fastulus]

a royal herdsmanhusband of Acca Larentia

It was he or his wife who found thetwins Romulus and Remus when theywere cast adrift on the Tiber

[The Good Folk.The Little People Wee Folk]

fairies or leprechaunsThis race of people, much smaller thandwarfs, was ruled by Iubdan and Bebo

In some accounts, Iubdan’s realm,rather than his people, is referred to asFaylinn

he would desert his friend Cuchulainnduring the battles of the Cattle Raid ofCooley.

Fear Caille (see Alladhan)

Fear da Leithe (see Bearchan)

[The Dark Druid]

a druid who turned Saba into a deerwhen she rejected his advances

a musicianLugaid mac Con went to war withEoghan Mor when they argued aboutwhich of them had first discoveredFear Fi

a magical type of grass which causesinsatiable hunger

Another version describes it as a demon in the form of a wrinkled oldman

a charioteer to Ailill and Maev

a Pictish kingCriomhthann mac Fiodhaigh sentConall Corc to the Scottish court with

a coded note asking the king to kill thebearer, believing that the young manhad tried to rape Criomhthann’s wife

The message was changed by Gruibne,

a friend whom Conall had earlierrescued from captivity, with the resultthat Fearadhach not only welcomedConall but gave him his daughter’shand in marriage

a king of Scotland

He came to Ireland to take the throne

on the death of Cairbre Caitcheannbut was defeated by the forces ofConnaught led by Daithi

daughter of GeargWhen Sin came to her father’s house

to seek the hand of Fearbh, Conor macNessa attacked the house and both Sinand her father were killed

daughter of a king of ScotlandShe fell in love with the poet, Cearball,and when her father put him in prison,she helped him to escape Her fatherlater deceived her into believing that

her lover was dead and she died of abroken heart

A similar story is told of Cearballand Eleanor

Fearcheas mac Comain Irish

[Ferchess]

a poet-seer at the court of Ailill Olom

He was with Ailill Olom, during a vigil

at Samhain, when the latter rapedAine Fearcheas killed her father,Eoghabal, and, at Ailill’s instigation,Fearcheas killed Lugaid mac Con with

a spear but Finn mac Cool tracked himdown and killed him

a warrior of Leinsterbrother of Fingheal or Finnine

He was said to have killed a monsterliving in a lake and, when Finn macCool told him of a dangerous wildboar, he hunted it down and killed itafter it had killed his three hounds Inthis story, his sister was calledFingheal Another story says that hissister was Finnine and, when she wasbadly treated by her husband, Conanmac an Leith Luchra, Feardhomhainkilled him but was himself killed inthe fight

a kingfather of Aedh DubhWhen he opposed St Caillin, he wasswallowed up by the earth

In some accounts, his father wasSuibhne, king of Dalriada

a son of Partholan

Feast of Age (see Feast of Goibhniu)

Feast of Anna Perenna Roman

a celebration, held on March 15th, ofAnna Perenna’s deception, in theform of Minerva or Nerio, or thewar-god, Ares

Feast of Bricciu (see Bricciu’s Feast)

[Fle(a)d(h) Ghoibhnenn.Feast of Age.

Fled Gabnenn]

a feast in the underworld at which the smith-god gave his guests food and drink that made them immortal

This was one of three gifts fromManannan to the Danaans The othertwo were the Veil of Invisibility (FaetFiada) and the Pigs of Manannan

a sacred object to the Indians

Feather Cloak of Freya (see Valhamr)

Feather Man North American

a wind-spirit of the Pueblo tribes

[Celestial Feather Robe]

a garment used by the moonfolkThey wrapped the moonmaiden,Kaguya, in this garment when theytook her back to her home in the sky,

to erase her memories of life on earth

Feather Woman (see Soatsaki)

Feathered Serpent (see Quetzalcoatl)

Feathered Staff (see Quetzalcoatl)

[=Etruscan Dis:=Greek Pluto]

the god of the dead

sister of Ethnewife of Loaghaire BuadhachShe forewarned Maev that she would

be defeated in the battle for the BrownBull of Cooley

Fedlimid (see Feidhlimidh.Felim)

a Polynesian war-god and god of the dead

one of the Aitu

He is said to have given birth to all therocks and islands

He is depicted as a giant cuttlefishencompassing the world with histentacles His undersea palace wasknown as Bale-Fe’e

Fe’e Fear Caille

fée 2 French

a fairy

a maiden of the Tewa of New Mexico

When a drought came, the men of the

tribe entered the kiva to pray and to

fast but one of them drank the water of

the lake His body split open and

flooded the kiva and all present were

turned into frogs or water-birds

Feenenee was turned into a snake

When the god Loa visited them, they

killed their baby daughter and served

her at a meal, having no other food

(see also kava1)

a sex-changing spirit

Fei (see Huang Fei-hu)

a famous magician who warned of an

impending national disaster

a double-bodied flying snake with 4

wings and 6 legs

in some accounts, daughter of

Conor mac Nessa and wife of

Conn Cearnach

a saint

son of Caolcharna and Lasair

It is said that a host of angels hovered

over him and that he performed many

miracles When his friend Aodan was

imprisoned, he rescued him by killing

his jailer and then restoring him to life

so that he was persuaded to release

Aodan He also achieved the release of

prisoners of Ailill mac Dunlaing, king

of Leinster, by causing an earthquake

which shook the shackles from the

prisoners Here too, the king was

killed and restored to life by Feichin

He once carried a leper to the king’s

court at Tara to be cared for It is said

that this leper was Christ, who gave

the saint his staff

[Fedelm]

wife of Eochu

mother of Aodan and Brandubh

When she gave birth to twin boys,

Eochu exchanged one of them for one

of the twin daughters born at the sametime to Ingheanach, wife of Gabhran

She could identify the boy from a grain

of gold which she had put in hisshoulder and when, as a man, Aodanmac Gabhrain, he invaded Leinster,she prevailed upon him to make peacewith Brandubh, his brother

[Fedelm.Lair Dhearg.Red Mare]

a sorceressfoster-mother of Conal Corc

[Fedelm]

daughter of Fachtna and Nessasister of Conor mac Nessawife of Cairbre Nia Fearmother of Earc

son of Ailill and Maev

He was one of seven sons all known

Feidhlimidh 3 (see Felim mac Dall)

Feidhlimidh Cam O Baoill Irish

[Fedlimid]

a warrior of DonegalHis family feuded with the MacSuibhne sept and, when he visited thehouse of Mac Suibhne, the latter tried

to kill him He got out of the houseand, after a furious chase, escaped bysea

Feidhlimidh mac Criomhthann Irish

[Fedlimid]

a warrior-king of Munsterbishop of Cashel

In some versions, he is regarded as asaint He once took shelter with thesatirist, Gul, whose daughter Sadhbhtricked him out of his clothes and hishorse In revenge, he sent Dunnoir toseduce her

He quarrelled with the high-kingNiall Caille and was defeated by him atthe Battle of Carman

Feile Brighde (see Imbolc)

Feimurgan (see Morgan le Fay)

early settlersWhile most accounts refer to thedescendants as the Danaans, the fifth

in the series of invaders of Ireland,others refer to her descendants as theFeini and regard them as the first

settlers of that country.(see also Fianna)

father of Niul

a leader of a troop of the Fianna

Feirceirtne (see Fer Cherdne)

Feircheirdne (see Fer Cherdne)

parti-He met his half-brother in combatwithout realising their relationshipbut, when they were reconciled, hejoined Percival in the Grail Quest

At King Arthur’s court, he metRepanse and, after converting toChristianity, married her, taking her toIndia where Repanse bore him a sonwho became the magician, PresterJohn

[Samain Feis]

an Irish name for Samhain

Feis Tighe Chonain Irish

the story of Finn mac Cool’s visit tothe castle of Conan in theOtherworld

the goddess of good luck

(see also Fortuna)

[Fedlimid.Feidhlimidh.Phelim]

a harp-player at the court of Conormac Nessa

son of Dallfather of Deirdre

Felix 1 British

father of Mark and Meliad, some say

In some accounts he was the king ofCornwall and Lyonesse

a monk

He stood listening to the song of thebirds and later discovered that he hadlistened for 300 years which, to him,had seemed like just a few minutes

a name for Venus as the bringer ofgood fortune

a pre-Inca king

He had the carved stone figure known

as Llampallec moved from Chot

When a demon in the guise of a lovelymaiden seduced him and torrentialrain ruined all the crops, the prieststied him up and hurled him into thesea from a cliff-top

[Feminee]

the realm of the Amazons

a heroine of AngolaVidiji Milanda had been bewitchedand lay asleep on the bank of a river

He could be wakened only by amaiden shedding eleven jugfuls oftears Fenda Maria filled ten jugs and,having given one away to free a slavegirl, got tired of weeping and asked theslave girl to fill the eleventh jug Thisshe did and woke the sleeping princewho took her for his wife instead ofFenda Maria The slave then took onthe role of her mistress and the realFenda Maria became her slave, nowcalled Kamaria

Later, the prince brought Kamariapresents she had asked for; a lampwhich lit itself, a razor whichsharpened itself, scissors which couldcut unaided and a stone which told thetruth With the help of these objectsshe convinced the prince that she wasthe real Fenda Maria and they weremarried, burning the imposter in abarrel of tar

one of a race of Hungarian demons ortheir realm

[Chu-ch’ieh.Feng Huan(g).Vermilion Bird]

the Chinese version of the phoenixone of the Four Auspicious Animals

chief of the feathered animalsruler of the south and the summer seasonThis fabulous bird is described asbeing composed of parts of manyother birds and the tail of a fish,although it is sometimes depicted asthe Oriental pheasant It is reputed toalight only on the wu t’ung tree andlives on the seeds of the bamboo

Another version describes it as ascarlet or vermilion bird, one of foursupporting the corners of the earth

(see also Luan)

brother of Horvendil

He killed his brother, Horvendil, king

of Jutland, married his widow,Gerutha, and took the throne He waslater killed by Horvendil’s son,Amleth

[Fiollnir.Fjollnir]

a name used by Odin when he wastaken aboard ship by Sigurd who metthe god walking on the sea

(see also Hnikar)

an 8th Cgiantone of the Eighteen Lohan, some say

He was said to have been seven feet talland rode a tiger, in which form he isgenerally depicted In this respect, he

is similar to Tamra Bhadra

a soldier-immortal

In the Battle of 10,000 Spirits, he wasdefeated by Li No-cha who used hismagic bracelet

[Count of the Winds.Fei Lien.Feng Shih]

a sky-godson of Huang Tihusband of Feng-p’o-p’oThis deity was in charge of the sackwhich contains the winds, hungerand drought

He tried to overthrow his father andwas defeated He was banished to amountain-top cave where he sentwinds to cause trouble until I, thearcher, shot a hole in his wind-bag

Feng Po was wounded in the leg at thesame time and was left with apermanent limp

He is depicted as a white-beardedold man or as a dragon with the head

of a deer or as having the body of a

stag, a sparrow’s head, the horns of abull and a snake’s tail

[Madame Wind]

a wind-goddesswife of Feng PoShe is said to ride a tiger in the sky

a system of landscape magic

or geomancyThis art is sometimes used todetermine the orientation of graves or

of houses and their contents so thatthey are in harmony with naturalforces

The principles of this techniquewere collected by Kung P’o (3rd-4th C)

[Fenge.Fenja]

a giantessdaughter of Greip, some sayShe and her sister Menia were bought

as slaves by Frodi to work his magicgrindstone, Grotte

[Fianna Cycle.Finn Cycle.Fionn Cycle Ossianic Cycle]

a collection of stories relating the exploits of Finn mac Cool and his warriors, the Fianna

[Fenise]

wife of AlisWhen her husband died, she marriedhis nephew, Cligés

[Fenise]

a queen of Ireland

In the French story, Durmart le Gallois,

she was loved by Durmart

Fenius (see Feniusa Farsa)

Fenoderee Felix

Fenodyree Manx

[Fenoderee]

a mythical hairy monster or brownie

[Fenrer.Fenrir.Hrodvitnir]

a wolf

offspring of Loki and Angerbode

brother of Hel and Iormungandr

Odin took the wolf to Asgard hoping

to tame him but it grew to such size

and strength that the gods tied him up

for safety They bound him first with

the chain, Laeding, from which he

broke free; then with a stronger chain,

Droma, which he also broke; then

with Gleipnir, a thin cord fashioned

by the dwarfs which none could break,

fixed with the fetter, Gelgia Fenris

allowed himself to be tied only if one

of the gods would put a hand into his

mouth as a surety Tyr complied and

when Fenris found himself unable to

break free he bit off Tyr’s right hand

When he opened his huge jaws and

howled, the gods thrust a sword into

his mouth causing an outflow of blood

that formed the river Von

Fenris remained tied through the

rock Gioll to a large boulder called

Thviti on the island of Lyngvi until the

final battle of Ragnarok when he broke

free and fought on Loki’s side against

the gods It was foretold that he would

kill Odin but he was killed by Vidar

who, arriving late in the battle, put his

one large foot on the wolf’s lower jaw

and, grasping his upper jaw in his bare

hands, tore him apart

[Fensal.Fensalier]

the palace of Frigga

Fer Chedne (see Fer Cherdne)

[Feirceirtne.Feircheirdne.Fer Chedne.

Fercherdne.Ferchertne]

a poet at the court of Lugaid, king

of Leinster

He was said to have accompanied the

king when he was banished from

Ireland

In some accounts, the three Fer

Cherdne characters are all manifestations

of the same person

In some accounts, the three FerCherdne characters are all manifestations

of the same person

[Feirceirtne.Feircheirdne.Fer Chedne.

Fercherdne.Ferchertne]

a poet, a retainer of Curoifather of AithirneSome say that it was he, not Aithirne,who demanded and got Eochaid macLuchta’s one remaining eye

When his master’s wife, Blathnat,was being carried off by Cuchulainn,Fer Cherdne seized her and jumpedwith her from a high cliff, killing bothBlathnat and himself

In some accounts, the three FerCherdne characters are all manifestations

of the same person

Fer Fedail (see Fer Fidail)

[Fer Fedail]

a druid of Manannanson of EoghabalThe god sent Fer Fidail, in the form of

a woman, to procure the maidenTuage but the druid slept with her forthree days before returning to TirTairnigiri The angry god drownedTuage and killed the druid

a druidWhen Oscar killed Meargach in battle,the dead man’s wife, Aille, persuadedthe druid to capture Finn, Oscar’sgrandfather When Finn was released,Oscar killed Fer Gruadh

He fought on the side of Cairbre inthe Battle of Gabhra and when Finnmac Cool killed his son, Fer-ti, toavenge the death of Oscar at the hand

of Cairbre, Fer-tai fought Finn insingle combat and was killed

[Fear-ti]

son of Fer-tai

At the Battle of Gabhra he was killed

by Finn mac Cool When Fer-tai, hisfather, tried to avenge his death, Finnkilled him also

Fercherdne (see Fer Cherdne)

Ferchertne (see Fer Cherdne)

on each side In other versions,Cuchulainn ran Ferdia through withhis sword

a king of Spainfather of Alfonso, Elvira, Garcia,Sancho and Urraca

When El Cid came to his court, hebanished him for his haughty mannerbut soon restored him to favour when

El Cid started to win battles againstthe Moors

He was in dispute with Ramiro ofAragon and appointed El Cid as hischampion to settle the matter in singlecombat with Martin Gonzalez Inanother dispute, when he refused topay homage to the Pope, El Cid onceagain settled the matter in his favour

by defeating the Pope’s champion

Ferdoman Irish

son of Bodb Deag

He was one of the party of nine, led byGol mac Morna, which recoveredFinn mac Cool’s hounds, Bran andSceolan, when they were stolen byArthur

[Fearg(h)al]

a high-king of Irelandfather of Aedh Allan and Niall Frasach

He had an affair with a nun who wasthe daughter of Congall WhenCongall entered her bedroom, she sat

on top of Fergal and persuaded herfather of her innocence Rather thanbetray his presence, Fergal made nosound, even when a cat bit pieces out

of his legs

He attacked Leinster with a largearmy which included a young musicianand poet, named Donn Bo, whom hehad undertaken to keep safe In a battlewith the forces of Leinster, both theking and Donn Bo were killed anddecapitated Donn Bo’s head sang sosadly at the celebration feast of theLeinstermen that they returned it tothe site of the battle, placed it on hisbody and Donn was restored to life

The head of Fergal was given toCathal mac Fionghuine, king ofMunster, who washed and dressed it infinery at a feast where it spoke itsthanks for the honour

a companion of Conary Mor

He was a ploughboy whose imaginationwas fired by seeing King Arthur and his knights, and he wanted to becomelike them

He borrowed his father’s old armourand rode to the king’s court,despatching a pair of robbers en route,and found himself the butt of Kay’sridicule He was, nevertheless, made aknight and set out to kill the BlackKnight to prove himself He stayedovernight at Castle Lidell where theowner’s niece, Galiene, fell in love

with him Fergus rejected her because

he felt unworthy until he had achievedhis aim Having disposed of the BlackKnight he returned to the castle, only

to find that Galiene had left He spentover a year searching for her and wasthen told that he could win her handonly by first winning the ShieldBeautiful which was guarded by adragon and a giantess in CastleDunostre Fergus killed both of theseguardians and won the shield and thenset off for Lothian where Galiene wasunder siege On the road to Scotland,

he killed the giant of Mount Dolerous,freed two ladies held in that giant’scastle and acquired the marvelloushorse, Arondiel In Lothian, he killedArtofilaus, nephew of the king whoseforces were besieging Galiene and sentthe king himself as hostage to KingArthur’s court Arthur had, for sometime, been searching for Fergus and,having found him, organised a greattournament at which Fergus waschampion As a reward, Fergusreceived Galiene as his wife and wasmade king of Lothian

[Fe(a)rg(h)us]

a Knight of the Round Table

a Cornish earlHis lands were ravaged by thegiant Taulurd until Morholt killedthe giant

[Fe(a)rg(h)us]

son of Eochaid Muigl and Mongfhinnbrother of Ailill, Brian and Fiachrastep-brother of Niall Noigiallach

[Fe(a)rg(h)us.Wise Lips]

a seerson of Finn mac Cool

[Fe(a)rg(h)us]

son of Ailill and Maev

He was one of seven sons, all known

a counsellor to Finn mac Cool

a fertility-lord

A former wife of Iollan turned Uirne,whom he proposed to marry, into abitch and gave her to Fergus as apresent When she resumed her humanform and returned to Iollan, Fergusgave her whelps to Finn mac Cool whocalled them Bran and Sceolan

[Fe(a)rg(h)us]

a king of UlsterSome say that he is the same as Fergusmac Leda or Fergus mac Roth

[Fe(a)rg(h)us]

son of Nemedfather of Britan

He led the Nemedians on a raid on theFomoire on Tory Island and killedtheir leader, Conan

He was one of the few Nemedians

to escape from Ireland and he and hisson came to Britain where theybecame the ancestors of the British

[Fe(a)rg(h)us]

son of Earcbrother of Murtagh

He established the kingdom of DalRiada Having borrowed the Stone

of Destiny from his brother for hisown coronation, he never returned it

to Ireland

[Fe(a)rg(h)us mac Leide.Fergus mac Le(i)te]

a king of UlsterLugaid Luaighne divided Ulster intotwo parts, giving one to Fergus andone to Congall Clairingleach Later,Fergus took all the province andConall went to Scotland On hisreturn, Fergus mac Roth helped him

to defeat Fergus mac Leda in battle

He captured Iubdan, king of theFaylinn, and his wife Bebo when theyfell into a bowl of porridge He had anaffair with Bebo and released her andher husband only when Iubdan handedover his magic shoes

In one account, he was given thewoman Dorn as compensation for thedeath of Eochaid Yellowmouth whohad been killed by men sent by thehigh-king, Conn He was also giventhe power by sea-sprites to swim underany water except Loch Rudhraighe

Fergus mac Leda Ferdoman

When he ignored this ban, he was

attacked by the monster, Muirdris, and

fear caused his mouth to move to the

back of his head When Dorn revealed

his secret, after a quarrel during which

Fergus struck her, the king used the

shoes given to him by Iubdan to

protect himself when he went back to

the lake and had a second fight with

the monster Although he managed to

kill the beast, he was himself wounded

and died

In some accounts, he is the same as

Fergus mac Roth or Fergus Foga

while others say that Tiobraide was

the king of Ulster at the time of

Eochaid’s murder

Fergus mac Leide

(see Fergus mac Leda)

Fergus mac Leite

(see Fergus mac Leda)

Fergus mac Lete

(see Fergus mac Leda)

Fergus mac Rogh

(see Fergus mac Roth)

Fergus mac Roich

(see Fergus mac Roth)

Fergus mac Roigh

(see Fergus mac Roth)

Fergus mac Rosa

(see Fergus mac Roth)

[Fe(a)rg(h)us mac Ro(i)gh.Fearg(h)us

mac Rioch.Fergus mac Roich.Fergus mac

Rosa.Fergus mac Roth.Fergus mac Roy]

one of the champions of the

Red Branch

king of Ulster

son of Ros Ruadh and Roch

half-brother of Fachtna

husband of Flidhais and Nessa

father of Buino and Illus

father of Ferdia, some say

foster-father of Cuchulainn

He came to the throne on the death of

Fachtna and married Fachtna’s widow,

Nessa, who stipulated that he must

allow her son, Conor, to rule for one

year At the end of the year, Conor

refused to relinquish the throne and

banished Fergus to Connaught with

Dubhthach and his son Cormac

Some say that he fell in love with

Flidhais, wife of Ailill Fionn, and

attacked his rival’s castle, killing Ailill

and taking Flidhais for his wife In this

story, he was killed by a giant, the Fool

of Barr Uisce, as he was driving his

wife’s great herd of cattle

Another version of this story

substitutes Muinchinn for Flidhais and

Donal for Ailill and Fergus, worried incase his newly-acquired wife shouldbetray him as she had betrayed Donal,drowned her

Another story says that he was in theparty that escorted Deirdre and thesons of Usna back from Scotland toConor’s court and after Conor’streachery he went into exile withCormac and Dubhthach in Connaught

As herald to Maev, he went to Ulster

to try to persuade the king, Daire, tolend Maev the famous Brown Bull ofCooley for one year Daire refusedand Fergus later fought with Maevand Ailill against Ulster in the CattleRaid of Cooley but refused to fightCuchulainn, his friend and pupil, insingle combat He became Maev’slover and was killed by a spear thrown

by Lugaid, a blind poet, when Ailillcaught them bathing together in a pool

He is said to be the author of thefirst account of the Cattle Raid ofCooley by virtue of a legend sayingthat the original story was lost and thepoet, Seanchan, raised the dead Ferguswho recited the whole story beforegoing back to the grave

In some accounts, he is the same asFergus mac Leda

Fergus mac Roy (see Fergus mac Roth)

a companion of Conary Mor

an Etruscan fertility-goddess andgoddess of fire

the goddess of spring flowers

[Ferracute.Ferrakut]

a giant of Portugal

He fought and defeated all the greatest

of Charlemagne’s knights in singlecombat but was finally beaten andkilled by Roland

In some accounts, the Brazen Head

was kept in his castle

Ferrant d’Espagne European

[Ferrec]

son of Gorboduc and Judon

He quarrelled with his brother Porrexover the inheritance of the throne ofBritain and was killed by his brotherwho was then killed by their motherand her maids

father of Muinremuir

a companion of Conary Mor

Fersefassa (see Persephone)

[Perlesvaus]

the setting for some of the early Grail stories

a goddess helping the needy

Festival House North American

an underwater hallThis building was used for holding themeeting of the spirits called byHanging Han to curb the power of thewhirlpool, Keagyhil Depguesk

Festival of Fire (see Holi)

Festival of Flowers

(see Hanamatsuri)

Festival of Mongfhinn (see Samhaim)

Festival of Nine Nights

(see Navaratri)

Festival of Pure Brightness

(see Ch’ing Ming)

Festival of Seven Grasses

(see Nanakusa)

Festival of Tanabata Japanese

[Festival of the Weaving Lady]

a festival held in honour of Tanabata,the Weaving Maiden

This festival occurs on the seventh day

of the seventh month and celebratesthe love-story of Tanabata andHikoboshi

Festival of the Dead Japanese

[Bommatsuri.Bon-e.Bon(matsuri).Feast

of Lanterns.O-bon.Obo.Urabon:=Chinese Festival of the Hungry Ghosts]

a period, July 13th to 16th, when thespirits of the dead are said to returnand wander in the countryWhen the ghosts of the dead appear,they are given food and the Bon Odoridance is performed When the ghostsdepart, sacred boats full of food,shoryobuni, are set afloat on the lakesand rivers to carry the ghosts andsustain them on their journey back tothe Otherworld

Festival of the Hungry Ghosts

Chinese

[Analambana.Yü Lan Hui:

=Japanese Festival of the Dead]

a festival at which ghosts of the deadare appeased

The gates of hell are opened to allowthe spirits to return to earth for thirtydays and they are given variousofferings to prevent them frombecoming evil spirits

Festival of the Weaving Lady

(see Festival of Tanabata)

[Cold Food Festival]

a celebration of spring and worship ofdeparted spirits

Festival of Wasa

[Laughing Festival of Wasa]

a festival held in October recalling thelaughter of the gods

It is said that the gods met once a year

to arrange love-matches for the people and, on one occasion, MiwaDaimyojin came on the wrong day,causing much laughter when the godsheard about it

Festival of Weeping Women

fetch-light (see fetch-candle)

Feth Fiadha (see Veil of Invisibility)

fetish

[fetich(e)]

something revered irrationally

an object supposed to invoke theservices of a spirit inside it

a Samoan god of the sky at nightconsort of the first woman, Ele’ele

consort of Fefanafather of KavaonauWhen the god Loa visited Fevangaand Fefana they killed their babydaughter and served her at a meal,having no other food to offer

(see also kava1)

daughter of Savarywife of Orson

daughter of Ailill and MaevMaev promised Fi to the warrior FearBaoth if he would desert his friendCuchulainn during the battles in theCattle Raid of Cooley

a warrior of UlsterThis young hero is featured in someearly versions of the Cattle Raid ofCooley in place of Cuchulainn

[Fiacail (Fi).Fiachu]

a warrior with the Ulster Fianna

He needed to wear weights round hisneck to prevent him from running sofast

He gave Finn the magic spear thatinduced battle-fury if the blade werelaid on the bearer’s forehead

Fiacha mac Fir Feibhe Irish

[Fiacail.Fiachu]

in some accounts, son of ConallCearnach by Feibh

He was said to be one of the Ulstermen

exiled to Connaught and was one ofonly three who survived the battle atthe hostel of Da Coga when CormacCond Longes was trapped by theforces of Connaught

He helped Cuchulainn to kill thesons of Calatin

by Midac, Fiachna and Innsa were told

to hold the ford against the Norsemensupporting Midac Innsa killed many

of the first wave of attackers but wasfinally killed by their leader Fiachnacame upon him carrying Innsa’s headand slew him He reported Innsa’sdeath to Finn and returned to the ford

He killed all but one of the secondwave of attackers, led by Kiron Thethird wave was led by Midac himselfand all were killed by Fiachna Midacwas killed by a spear thrown byDermot who led a party to the rescuebut, with his dying effort, Midac killedFiachna

Another story says that he wasswallowed by a dragon but cut himselffree, releasing at the same time otherswho had been swallowed earlier

be destroyed The boy was raised by

an abbot and was later reconciledwith his father

of Archall

In some accounts, he reared theyoung Cormac mac Airt when hisfather, Art, was killed at the Battle ofMagh Mucramha Others say that theboy was reared by Lughna

[Fiachna mac Baetain.Fiachna mac Baodain]

Fiachna Lurgan Festival of the Hungry Ghosts

a warrior-king of Dalriada

cousin of Fiachna mac Deamhain

husband of Cantigern

He and Aedan mac Gabrain fought

the Saxons in Scotland While he was

away, Manannan seduced his wife,

threatening to allow her husband to

die in battle if she refused him She

bore him a son named Mongan

With Manannan’s help, the Saxons

were defeated

In another story, he was visiting

Scandinavia and saved the life of

Eolgarg, the king, by procuring from

an old woman a cow needed to cure

him The king recovered but refused

to pay the woman so Fiachna invaded

Scandinavia and, with the help of

Manannan, he defeated Eolgarg’s

forces As reward, Manannan claimed

the right to sleep with Cantigern,

fathering Mongan

Offered a choice between heaven

and victory, he chose the former and

was killed in his next battle with his

cousin, Fiachna mac Deamhain

Fiachna mac Baetain

(see Fiachna Lurgan)

Fiachna mac Baodain

(see Fiachna Lurgan)

Fiachna mac Dealbhaith Irish

a high-king of Ireland

Fiachna mac Deamhain Irish

cousin of Fiachna Lurgan

father of Dubh Lacha

He and his cousin were continually in

conflict and Fiachna Lurgan always

won with the prayers of St Congall

Fiachna mac Deamhain forced the

saint to pray for him as well with the

result that he won the next battle and

killed his cousin

a man from the Otherworld

father of Der Greine

When Fiachna’s wife and daughter

were abducted by Goll, ruler of Mag

Mell, he asked Laoghaire mac

Criomhthann for help Laoghaire took

a force of fifty men, killed Goll, and

rescued Fiachna’s wife and his

daughter, Der Greine, whom he

married

[Fiachtra]

son of Eochaid Muigl and Mongfhinn

brother of Ailill, Brian, Fergus and Niall

father of Daithi

He went to war with his brother Brian

for supremacy in Connaught and was

defeated at the first Battle of

Damnchluian where he was captured

At the second battle, his son Daithidefeated Brian, who was killed, andreleased his father Fiachra was killed

in a battle with Munster

[Fiachtra]

a son of Lir by his first wife, Aobh

(see Children of Lir)

[Fiachtra]

son of Conor mac Nessa

He led the attack on the hostel atEmain Macha to kill the party that hadescorted Deirdre and Naisa back fromScotland under safe conduct given byhis father and was wounded by Illan

When Conall Cearnach, who savedFiachra, was told by the mortally-wounded Illan of Conor’s treachery,Conall killed Fiachra

Fiachra Casan (see Fiachna Casan)

a high-king of Irelandfather of Tuathall Techtmar

He was killed by Eilim mac Conrachwho took over the throne until hewas killed by Tuathall who reclaimedthe kingship

Fiachu 2 (see Fiacha mac Fir Feibhe)

a king of Dalriada

He deposed Cormac mac Airt but thelatter sought help from FiachuMuilleathan, king of Munster, andwith his help, soon regained thethrone of Ireland, defeating FiachuAraidhe at the Battle of Fochaird

Fiachu Fermara (see Fiachu Fear Mara)

a king of Munsterson of Eoghan and MonchaHis father slept with Moncha,daughter of a druid, on the eve of abattle in which he was killed Monchadelayed the birth of her son, by sitting

in the river until the day on which,according to her father, he wouldbecome king As prophesied, hebecame king of Munster

He helped Cormac mac Airt regainthe throne from which he had been

expelled by Fiachu Araidhe, defeatingthe latter at the Battle of Fochaid

In another account, he refused topay a tribute of cattle to Cormac whothen attacked Munster With the help

of the druid, Mogh Ruith, who caused

a conflagration to engulf Cormac’sforces, Fiachu defeated the attackers atthe Battle of Drom Damhgaire.Another story says that he wasswallowed by a dragon but cut himselffree, releasing at the same time otherswho had been swallowed earlier

A young relative, Connla, was toldthat he could be cured of his leprosyonly by bathing in the blood of a king,

so he arranged to go swimming withFiachu and stabbed the king when theywere together in the water

a high-king of Irelandfather of Muireadhach

He was killed by the Colla brotherswho fled to Scotland when an armyappeared, headed by Muireadhach

[Fiall]

sister of Emerdaughter of Forgall Manach

[Fjalar.Fralar(r)]

a dwarfone of the Lovar

He and Galar made the magic brewfrom the blood of Kvasir whom theyhad killed They also killed the giantGilling and his wife Suttung, Gilling’sbrother (or son, in some accounts)seized the two dwarfs and would havekilled them had they not savedthemselves by giving the giant themagic brew

[Fjalar.Fralar(r)]

a red cockerelThis bird, perched on Valhalla, wasthere to give the gods advance warning

of approaching doom In some stories,

he was perched above Eggther to warnthe giants

a member of the Fianna

Fianchuive (see Finchory)

Fianna

[Fianna Eirinn.Feinne.Fenians.Fiana Finn’s People.‘warriors’]

an élite military order, bodyguard ofthe king of Ulster

This order required that members

passed stringent tests of skill andstamina and flourished under theleadership of Finn mac Cool It wasorganised originally by Fiachald into

150 groups of twenty-seven men, eachwith its own leader

They fought on the side of Midir inthe war with the Danaan gods

The high-king, Cairbre Lifeachear,became fearful of their power andbroke it by defeating them at theBattle of Gabhra The dead wereconsigned to hell but, in later years,when Oisin and Cailte met St Patrick,they were released by the saint’sprayers (see also Feini)

Fianna Cycle (see Fenian Cycle)

Fianna Eirinn (see Fianna)

a leader, or leading group, of the Fianna

Fides Publica (see Deus Fides)

a creator-god in Zaire

[Deus (Publica) Fides.Dius Fidius:

=Greek Zeus Pistios:=Sabine Sancus]

a name for Jupiter as god of goodfaith and contracts

a name for the earth used by the gods

a part of the underworld where souls wait while their fate isdetermined

Field of Celestial Offerings Egyptian

a part of the underworld where thedeeds of men were weighed

Field of Happiness (see Mag Mell)

Field of Iarhu (see Field of Reeds)

Field of Iaru (see Field of Reeds)

Field of Mars (see Campus Martius) Field of Offerings (see Field of Reeds)

[Field of Iar(h)u.Field of Offerings Khernetei]

part of the underworld where the deadgathered cereals

Field of Towers (see Moytura)

the home of the 3 judges Aeacus,Minos and Rhadamanthus in the underworld

Field of Zoan (see Sekhet-Tchant)

[corn-spirit]

a spirit of growing cropsThis spirit is said to flee through thecrop in front of the mowers as they cutswathes, finally being caught andbound in the last sheaf which ispreserved until the planting of freshseed in the spring

(1707–1754)

a dramatist

He was the author of the farce Tragedy

of Tragedies in which King Arthur’s

wife is called Dlloalolla

Fields of Peace (see Amenti1)

[Ferumbras]

king of Alexandria

a prince of Spainson of Balanbrother of FloripasThis huge Saracen warrior ownedmuch of the Middle East and Russia

He took, from the Holy Sepulchre inJerusalem, Christ’s crown of thornsand the embalming fluid which couldcure illness and heal wounds

Another version says that he and hisfather captured Rome, killing the popeand escaping after a battle withCharlemagne’s forces, reaching Spainwith a number of holy relics

Charlemagne pursued the Saracen,and Fierabras (in this account,measuring fifteen feet tall) challengedOliver and was defeated He con-verted to Christianity but his father,who refused to convert, was put todeath Charlemagne gave half of Spain

to Fierabras and the other half to Gui

de Bourgogne

Fierabras’ balsam European

embalming fluid taken from Jerusalem

by Fierabras

Fiery God, The (see Te Atua Wera)

Fiery Mary (see Oynyena Maria)

Fiery Mirror (see Tezcatlipoca)

Fifinella

a female version of the gremlinThis particular female was said totickle aircraft crew just as they hadlined up the plane for a bombing run

Fifth Sun Central American

[Four Earthquake.Naollin.Nahui Ollin]

fifth age of the Aztec creation cycleThis is the present age ruled by thegod Nanautzin

The gods’ first choice for the rulerwas Tecciztecatl but, when it came tothe final ceremony in which thechosen one is required to commithimself to the fire, he could notsummon the necessary courage to do

so Instead, Nanautzin threw himselfinto the flames and became the sunwhile Tecciztecatl had to contenthimself with the moon

It is said that this age will end indestruction by earthquake

(see also sun1)

fig tree

a tree with edible fruit full of seeds

In some accounts, the Biblical Tree ofKnowledge was a fig tree

Some say the bo-tree under whichthe Buddha meditated was a fig-tree

In the Pacific Islands the fig-tree,called waringin, is a sacred tree, said to

be the home of spirits

a druid

He was reputed to have reduced thestrength of the Fomoire and increasedthat of the Danaans at the secondBattle of Moytura In some versions hewas said to have poured fire on theFomoire

[hi’ona.higona:=Solomon Islands vigona]

a Melanesian spirit in the form of afemale snake

Some of these beings inhabit rocks,pools and trees and never appear tohumans Others are said to take theform of stones In some islands, afigona is the ghost of a dead person

(see also adaro)

one of the dwarfs

Filial Piety (see Twenty-four)

an emperor of Constantinople

in the French version of the

Arthurian legends

filla-ma-loo (see philamaloo)

Filth-eater (see Tlaelquarni)

a river in Niflheim, one of the 12

rivers known as Elivagar

[Fimbulvetr]

the exceptionally severe weather,

lasting 3 (some say 7) seasons,

which preceded the end of

the world and Ragnarok

a name for Odin as ‘great helper’

Fimbulvetr (see Fimbul Winter)

a goddess attendant on Frigga

one of the Asynjur

In some accounts she is the same as

Frimla

the Manx name for Finn mac Cool

Fin 2 (see Fionnbharr)

Finbeus

a knight of King Arthur’s court

His mistress, a fairy, had given him a

stone which made the holder wise,

handsome and invincible Guinevere

borrowed the stone and wanted it for

herself, so Gawain won it for her by

fighting Finbeus

[Finnbeara]

king of the fairies in Munster

(see also Fionnbharr)

[Finchaem.Fin(d)choem.

Findchoom Fionnchaomh]

daughter of Cathbad and Maga

sister of Conor mac Nessa

wife of Amergin mac Eigil Salaigh

mother of Conall Ceranach

She raised the infant Setanta, the boy

who later became known as

Cuchulainn, and in some accounts was

the sister of Cet

[Finchaem.Findchoom.Fionnchaomh]

daughter of Eochaid Ronn

She was carried off by Cuchulainn

whom she loved

[(Island of) Fianchuive.Fincara]

the undersea home of the sea-nymphsOne of the tasks set for the Sons ofTurenn, as punishment for the murder

of Cian, was to get the goldencooking-spit from the nymphs ofFinchory

[=Gaulish Vindonnus]

a seer, the personification of wisdom

He was said to have emerged, alreadymature, from the water and became agreat seer who, as with Finn mac Cool,could summon up knowledge by

sucking his thumb (see also Find File)

a name for Lugh as ‘fair’or ‘blond’

Find 3 (see Finn mac Cool)

Find Bennach (see Whitehorn)

a king of Leinsterson of Ros Ruadhbrother of Cairbre Nia Fear

In some accounts, his other brother isAilill mac Mata and he is regarded as alater manifestation of the seer, Find

Findbaidhe (see Furbaidhe)

[Findaba(i)r.Fionnabhair]

daughter Ailill and MaevShe loved Fraoch but could not marryhim because he could not provide thebride-price Her parents, who hadoffered Findbhair to Ferdia (and, insome accounts, to Fear Baoth also, orany other warrior) if he would meetCuchulainn in single combat, inducedFraoch to swim in a lake where amonster lurked Findbhair helped him

to kill the monster and her parentsagreed to allow her to marry Fraoch

In later years, she and her threechildren were carried off by cattle-raiders but were rescued by Fraoch andConall Cearnach

Another version says that Fraochchallenged Cuchulainn and when hewas killed, Findbhair died of grief

[Findaba(i)r.Fionnabhair]

daughter of Lugaid LuaighneShe fell in love with Fergus macLeda when he came to her father’scourt at Tara

Findbharr (see Fionnbharr)

a maiden of the Otherworlddaughter of Conan Cinn SleibhneFinn mac Cool fell in love with herand a wedding was arranged WhenFinn arrived for the ceremony, hisparty was attacked by the girl’s formerlover, Fionnbharr, and driven away

brother of Fiachna Casan

He and his brother fought alongsideTuathal to help him regain the throne

of Ireland from the usurper, Eilim

Fine Weather WomanNorth American

daughter of an Indian chiefDigging on the sea-shore, she found atiny baby under a cockleshell Shereared the child, who was called Sin, and

he grew very quickly, later changinginto a bird and ascending into theheavens as a sky-god She could causestorms simply by loosening her robe

[Finn Eger.Fin(n)eces.Finnegas (Nuada) Finneigeas]

a druid and magician

He renamed Demna as Finn,instructed him in the magic arts andcaught the Salmon of Knowledge Hegave it to Finn to cook and when Finnsucked his thumb, which had burnt onthe fish, he, not Finegas, received thesupernatural knowledge He then gavethe salmon to Finn to eat

In some accounts, he is referred to

as Black Arcan, a name also applied to

a supposed killer of Finn mac Cool

In some accounts, the father wasUmhall

Fingen (see Finghein)

finger amulets

luck charms made from human fingers

Fingers of Ida (see Dactyls)

a surgeon to Conor mac Nessa

It was he who decided that it wouldnot be safe to remove the brain-ball,fired at Conor by Cet, which hadlodged in the king’s forehead

[Fingen]

a man in touch witb the Otherworld

A woman of the Otherworld, namedRothniamh, visited Finghein everyyear and told him what the futurewould bring She correctly predictedthe birth of Conn who would becomehigh-king and unite all the provinces

a fetish, usually in the form of acalabash or a small pot, in which theindividual’s spirit is housed

[Finias]

one of the 4 cities cited as the origin

of the DanaansUscius, master of this city, gave theDanaans the marvellous sword of Nuada

a creator-god of the Shawnees

an early sun-god

Finn Cycle (see Fenian Cycle)

the 3 sons of Eochaid Feidhleach and Cloithfhionn

Breas, Lothar and Nar, the brothers

of ClothraWhen Cloithfhionn left her husband,she took her triplet sons, Breas, Lotharand Nar, with her They raised a force

to depose Eochaid and attacked,despite being offered a share of thekingdom They were defeated at theBattle of Comar, fleeing to Connaughtwhere they were overtaken bypursuing warriors and killed Their

father died of grief when he heard oftheir death It was said that the threeslept with their sister, Clothra, on theeve of the battle, fathering LugaidRiabhdhearg

a clan-chiefhusband of Hildeburh

He was at war with the clan led by hisbrother-in-law, Hraef, who was killed

in battle The new leader, Hengest,talked peace but treacherously killedFinn and took Hildeburh back to herown people

[Demna.Fair One.Find.Finn mac Cumhal.

Fionn mac Cuma(il)l.Fionn mac Cumhail:=Manx Fin:=Scottish Fingal:

When Cumaill was killed by Gollmac Morna, Cumaill’s wife, fearing forthe life of his son, hid herself in thehills until the child, Demna, was born

She then handed him over to her sister(or sister-in-law) Murna and thewarrior-maid Liath Luachra whoreared the boy in the wild When Gollheard of him, he set the ConnaughtFianna to hunt the boy down and killhim Demna fled and soon gathered aband of warriors and found thesurvivors of the Battle of Knock inwhich his father had been killed Hethen sought out the druid Finegas whotutored him

Finegas caught the Salmon ofKnowledge and cooked it When Finnaccidentally touched the fish andsucked his thumb, he acquiredsupernatural knowledge and the power

to change his shape Thereafter,putting his thumb in his mouthenabled Finn to foretell the future andheal the sick

Another version of how Finnacquired supernatural knowledgeoccurs in the story of Culdub

He killed Lia, the treasurer of theFianna and gave his bag of money tothe survivors of the Battle of Knock,including his uncle Crimmal, andwon the captaincy of the Fianna bykilling the demon Aillen who set

fire to the palace at Tara every year,killing it with the magic spear given tohim by Fiacha

While Finn was hunting inScotland, the king of Dublin landedfrom his ship and asked for Finn’s help.Two (or seven) of his children, on thenight they were born, had been seized

by a huge hand which came down thechimney His wife was now at the point

of birth once again and he was afraidthat they would lose another child inthe same way Finn and some of hismen sailed to the king’s home and,when the hand appeared, one of themseized it and tore off the arm of thegiant who nevertheless seized the babywith his other hand They tracked thegiant over the sea to his tower andrescued not only the baby but severalchildren the giant had previouslystolen and two young hounds Whenthe giant pursued them, one of themen shot him through the onlyvulnerable part of his body – a mole onhis left hand – and killed him As areward, Finn claimed the brindlewhelp which he called Bran, leavingthe other, Sceolan with the gratefulparents Finn was later captured byLochlanners who left him bound in aglen where Sceolan, now gone wild,roamed By showing the hound thegolden leash he used for Bran, Finntamed the ravaging hound and, when

he was rescued by the Fianna, tookSceolan with him

On another occasion, a very uglyman called Gilla Dacar, who had abroken-down mare, took service withFinn but left when the Fianna mockedhim Some who had climbed on to thehorse’s back were unable to dismountand were carried off to sea Finnsearched for them and found an islandwhere he and his men entered a cave,emerging into the land under the sea,Tir-fa-Tonn Here they helped aprince, Abharthach, who hadpreviously appeared as Gilla Dacar, torout the forces of his brother who haddeprived Abharthach of his half-share

of the kingdom

One day when hunting, he and hismen captured a hind which they tookback to their fortress and which thenturned into the maiden Saba who hadbeen changed into a hind by TheDark Druid whose love she hadrejected She married Finn and stayedwith him until he was called away to

Finn mac Cool Fingen

fight the Northmen While Finn was

away, the druid appeared in the form

of Finn and turned Saba back into a

hind Finn searched for Saba for years

but never found her He once followed

a hind (who was really the girl Milucra

in disguise) to an enchanted island

Here she turned Finn into an old,

grey-haired man because she knew

that he would never marry her and she

wanted to ensure that he would never

marry her sister, Aine, of whom she

was jealous He was restored to his

youth by Aine who gave him a drink

when the Fianna dug down into the

fairy mound where she lived He refused

a drink which would have restored his

fair hair and remained grey-haired for

the rest of his life Years later, in

another hunt, Finn found Oisin, ‘little

fawn’, his son by Saba

Another version of how he became

grey-haired says that he was inveigled

into diving into a lake to retrieve a

bracelet dropped by the daughter of

Cuilleann and was transformed into an

old man Cuilleann gave him a drink

which restored his youth but left him

with grey hair

He lived for some time with Ailbe,

daughter of Cormac mac Airt, who

had answered a set of riddles he put to

her

He was betrothed to Grania but, at

the betrothal feast, she fell for the

charms of Dermot and eloped with

him Although Finn and Dermot were

later apparently reconciled, Finn never

forgave Dermot and when Dermot

was mortally wounded by the boar on

Ben Bulben, Finn refused to give him

the drink of water that would have

saved his life He later married Grania

Other women in his life included a

number of mortal women such as

Ailbe, Bearrach, Cruithne, Daolach,

Lendebair, Luchar, Maighnis, Manissa,

Scoithfhionn and Smirnat and some

from the Otherworld, including Aine,

Blai Dheirg (Saba) and Scathach He

fathered a number of children

including sons Aedh Beag, Caoince,

Daire Dearg, Fergus, Feobhar, Iollann,

Oisin and Raighne and daughters Aoi,

Caon, Grian, Lugaid and Samhair

A woman named Mair fell in love

with Finn and sent him some magical

nuts which would have put him in her

power had he eaten them Finn merely

buried them

One of Finn’s men, Cairbre, slept

with a woman who was Finn’s lover atthat time and the jester, Lomhna, toldFinn when he saw them together

Cairbre killed Lomhna and Finnfollowed the murderer to his cottageand killed him When another of hiswomen fell in love with his servant,Derg Colla, he sent him into exile

Another woman he seized was calledBadhamair and when she wasbeheaded by Cuirreach Life, Finnkilled him too As a result, Finn cameinto conflict with Fodhadh Canainne,Cuirreach’s half-brother Finn alsotracked down and killed Fearchas whohad slain Lugaid mac Con

On one occasion, a being from theOtherworld made off with a pig thatFinn and his men were roasting butFinn retrieved it when he followedthis being, Culdubh, and killed himwith a spear-cast

It is said that Finn recruitedmagicians and warrior-maidens fromall parts of the world to save Leinsterfrom a flood by sucking up the waters

He spared the life of Midac, son ofColga the king of Lochlan, who wasthe only survivor of the battle with theFianna when Colga invaded Ireland,and he gave the young man land at themouth of the Shannon Years later,Midac brought an invasion force of hiscompatriots to Ireland and theytrapped Finn and some of his men inthe Hostel of the Quicken Treeswhere only the heroism of Fiachna,Innsa, Fotla and Dermot saved themfrom death

In a Scottish story, the giantCucullin crossed the Giant’s Causeway

to find and challenge Finn who bit offthe giant’s middle finger, the source ofall his strength, whereupon hecrumbled to dust In this story, Finn’swife was called Oona

He is said to have been 230 yearsold when he died and is reputed tohave built the Giant’s Causeway asstepping stones across to Scotland

The accounts of his end varyconsiderably One version says that hewas killed by a man referred to asBlack Arcan or by Aichleach during arebellion among the Fianna Anothersays that, in the Battle of Gabhra, thefive sons of Uigreann, who had beenkilled by Finn, each threw a spear sothat each could claim a part in hisdeath Some say he was drowned when

he tried to jump across the River

Boyne and still others say that, likeKing Arthur, Finn is merely sleeping,waiting for a call to serve his countryagain Others say that he was re-incarnated as Mongan

(see also Noidhiu)

Finn mac Cumhail

(see Finn mac Cool)

wife of Riangabairmother of Etan, Id and Laeg

Finnbeanach (see Whitehorn)

Finnbeara (see Fionnbharr)

Finnbehenach (see Whitehorn)

Finnbeheanach (see Whitehorn)

Finnbenach (see Whitehorn)

Finnebenach (see Whitehorn)

Finnbeheanach (see Whitehorn)

Finnbheara (see Fionnbharr)

Finnbhenach (see Whitehorn)

sister of FeardhomhainWhen her brother was fighting a wildboar, she ran to help him but fell into

a lake and was drowned

(see also Finnine)

[Finnen.Finnian of Moville]

a saintWhen Mughain, who had beenpunished by god with barrenness,appealed to him for help, Finnian gaveher holy water to drink and sheproduced first a lamb and then a fish

He then blessed Mughain herself andshe bore Aedh Slaine

He was told the history of Ireland

by Tuan mac Carell

one of the 4 Alaisiagae

sister of Feardhomhainwife of Conan mac an Leith LuchraConan treated her so badly that herbrother, Feardhomhain, killed him Inother stories, his sister was calledFinngheal

Finn’s People (see Fianna)

[Finntain.Fionntan]

son of Labraid and Bochnahusband of Cessairfather of Larafoster-father of St Caillin

He was one of the three men who

came to Ireland with Cessair and fiftywomen and was the only one of theparty to survive the flood which he did

by taking shelter in a cave andchanging himself into a salmon He issaid to have lived for thousands ofyears, acquiring great wisdom and may

be regarded as a manifestation of theseer, Find Others say that this fish isthe same as the Salmon of Knowledge

(see also Goll Easa Ruiadh.

Salmon of Knowledge)

[Finntain.Fionntan]

a prince of Munsterfather of Fursa

[Finntain.Fionntan]

a warrior of Ulsterfather of Cethern

a creator-god

Finvarra (see Fionnbharr)

a Pictone of the 7 children of CruithneWhen Cruithne divided Scotlandbetween his seven children, Fiobh wasgiven Fife

the name used by Angus Og when heappeared to the poet Flann

in the lore of the African population

of Surinan, an insectThis insect is said to be generatedwhen one feigns friendship for anenemy It can cause sickness, real death

or death of the soul Those so killedcan be revived by a sorcerer whodivines the cause of resentment andremoves it by the pura mofo ceremony

[Fiolnir.Fjolnir]

son of Frey and Freya or Gerda

a name for Odin as a shape-changer

son of Becnat

He was said to be the son of Becnat by

a golden salmon with which she matedwhile swimming in a lake

He was credited with the duction into Ireland of wheat fromItaly

Fionn Cycle (see Fenian Cycle)

Fionn mac Cumaill

(see Finn mac Cool)

Fionn mac Cumal

(see Finn mac Cool)

Fionnabhair (see Findbhair)

[Fionsneachta]

a high-king of Irelandson of Dunchadhfather of Breasal

He befriended the young Adamnanbut they later fell out when Adamnancriticised the king for some foolishaction

He was tricked by St Moling intogiving up the annual tribute, theboramha, that had been levied onLeinster for many years

He loved the Otherworld maiden,Findearbh, daughter of Conan whohad promised her to Finn mac Cool,and raised an army which attacked anddrove off Finn and his party when theyarrived for the wedding ceremony

He and his wife, both Danaans,became king and queen of the fairies,deposing Mac Moineanta

Fionnchaomh (see Finchoom)

years to make himself pure enough to

be received into heaven

He took part in many battles,leading from the front and breathingout fire, if the opposing forces rejectedhis offers of peace

Fionnghuala (see Fionuala)

Fionsneachta (see Fionnachta)

[Finola.Fionguala.

Fionnghuala Fionnuala]

daughter of Lir by his first wife, Aobh

(see Children of Lir)

[Fiorgynn.Fjorgyn(n)]

a giantessmother of Erda and Thor, some say

In some versions, Fiorgyn was an earlyfertility goddess and mother of Frigga:some equate her with Erda In otheraccounts she was one of the Asynjur

in some accounts, a husband of Frigga

Fir Bhuilg (see Fir Bolg)

[Fir Bholg.Fir Bhuilg.Firbolg]

an early invading tribeDescendants of the earlier invaders led

by Nemed, in some stories they weresaid to have been defeated by theDanaans at the first Battle of Moyturaand exiled Other versions say thatthey made peace and lived inConnaught Some say they came fromSpain, others from Greece where, itwas said, they were forced to carry soil,

in leather sacks, from the fertile valleys

to the rocky mountain tops Theyrebelled, made boats from their leatherbags and sailed to Ireland where theyruled for thirty-seven years, dividingthe country into five parts

There were three groups; the Fir

Fir Bolg Fintan

Bolg, Fir Domnan and Fir Gailean.

[Merry Dancers.Nimble Men]

the Aurora Borealis which was

regarded as being made up of the

souls of fallen angels

[Fir Dea.Red Men]

imps, the forerunners of the

leprechauns

Fir Dhomhnann (see Fir Domnan)

[Fir Dhomhnann.Fir Domnann]

a branch of the Fir Bolg

Fir Domnann (see Fir Domnan)

[Ga(i)le(i)on.Ga(i)lio(i)n.Galiean.Galioin]

a branch of the Fir Bolg

the inhabitants of the sidhe:

fairies

a divine king of the Chibcha of

Colombia

Firdaus (see Gardens of Paradise)

[Firdawsi]

the 10th Cauthor of Shah Name

fire

fire plays a part in many

mythologies, sometimes for the

benefit of man, sometimes to

destroy the world, sometimes to

carry a soul to heaven

(1) In Celtic lore, the sacred fire of

the Druids was known as Tan

(2) In China it is said to typify

summer, destroy metal and

produce earth It came into being

when earth and sky separated

(3) In the East Indies, the

inhabitants of Woodlark Island say

that a young man stole fire from

the heavens and gave it to man,

whereupon the angry deity split

what remained into two parts and

threw it into the sky, forming the

sun and moon

(4) The Greeks say that Prometheus

stole fire from the heavens for the

benefit of mankind and, for this

crime, was chained to a rock for

30,000 years while a vulture pecked

his liver, which was eaten by day,

and restored by night

(5) In Hindu lore, fire was used to

control dragons and is regarded as

sacred There are three forms:

Dakshinagni, the fire of theatmosphere, the fire of Vayu,associated with dead ancestors;

Ahavaniya, the fire of the sky, thefire of Surya; Garhaptya, the fire ofAgni, associated with mankind

(6) In Japan, as in China, fire wasproduced when earth and skyseparated and is regarded as asymbol of the phoenix

(7) The Mexicans regard fire as alife-giving force and keep a fireburning for four days when a child

is born to protect it from evil

(8) Norse mythology says that thefinal battle between the forces ofgood and evil, the Battle ofRagnarok, ends with the worlddestroyed by fire started by theflaming sword of the giant Surtur

(9) In the Pacific, fire is said toprotect the living from onslaughts

of sixteen different types of fire andkept always alight withsandalwood; Spenishta, the mostsacred fire, which burns inparadise; Urvazishta, fire caused byfriction; Vazishta, the fire oflightning; Vohu Fryana, the fireproducing the internal body heat ofanimals and men

(12) The Phoenicians regarded fire

as an element, offspring of primalbeings Genos and Genea

animals living in Gamag NaraThe king of this realm sends out theFire Dogs to capture the sun or themoon so that he can have light in hisnearly dark country They always failbut, when they bite the sun or themoon, they cause an eclipse

Fire Dragon North American

a celestial spirit of the IroquoisThe supreme spirit made the maiden,Awenhai, pregnant but came to believethat she had been seduced by FireDragon or Aurora Borealis so hepushed all three of them out of the skythrough the hole that appeared when

he tore up the onodja tree

a spirit of the tribes of the south-west

It was said that he, Buckeye Bush andShooting Star set on fire the firstworld created by Olelbis

[Fireshade.(Hiko-)hoho-demi.Ho-wori Hoori.Urashima.Yamasachi]

a Shinto deityson of Ninigi and Sengenbrother of Fire Flash and Ho-no Susorihusband of Toyo-Tama

father of Amasuhiko

He was an expert hunter who swappedroles with his brother, Fire Flash Heborrowed his brother’s magic fish-hook but lost it in the sea Whenretrieving the fish-hook from the sea-bottom, he met Toyo-Tama, daughter

of the Dragon-King of the Sea,Watatsumi, and married her He wasgiven the magic jewels which gave himcontrol of the tides His wife gavebirth to a dragon but when hedisobeyed her and saw the birth, sheassumed the form of a sea-dragon andreturned to her home in the sea,leaving the infant Amasuhiko whogrew up to be the father of JimmuTenno, the first emperor

(see also Urashima)

[Fireshine.Ho-deri.Ho-no-susori Ho-suseri.Hoderi.Umisachi]

a Shinto deityson of Ninigi and Sengenbrother of Fire Fade

He was an expert fisherman, owner of

a magic fish-hook, who one dayexchanged roles with his brother

Fire Mocassins North American

a monster in tribal loreThis ogre wore mocassins which setalight everything they touched as hewalked

Fire of the Dragons

(see Zmayevska Vatra)

Fire Thunder (see Hono-ika-zuchi)

a fire-breathing dragonThese beasts lived in caves, usuallyguarding treasure One such monsterwas killed by Beowulf but inflic-tedwounds on the hero from which hedied

In the Pacific, the Balinese believethat leyaks can turn into fireflies.

Fireshine (see Fire Flash)

the home of Apollidon and Grimanesa

It was here that Apollidon built theArch of True Lovers and theForbidden Chamber to test the purity

of lovers who might enter

the creator of the Dieri aborigines

He first created tiny black lizards but,when he found that they could notstand properly, he cut off their tailsand they became human beings,ancestors of the tribe

First Creator North American

a deity of the Mandan tribe

He created the mountains, trees,streams and some animals while LoneMan created the flat lands

first humans

most cultures have stories of the firsthuman beings and how they cameinto existence

–African

(1) The Abaluyia say the firstcouple were Mwambu and Selawho lived in a house on stilts

(2) In Angola they say that the firstman was Nambalisita, created bythe god Kalunga

(3) The Bakongo say that the firstman, made by Nzambi, wasNdosimau who married the womanBreaker of Prohibitions or, inanother version, the androgynousMahunga was split by the tree,Muti Mpurgu, into a man, Lumbu,and a woman, Musita

Another version says that Nzambicreated a being called MuntuWalunga, with male and femalefaces, in the form of a palm tree

(4) The Bakuba say Kihanga wascreated by Imana and descendedfrom heaven His skin was black andwhite The first woman, Nchienge,produced a son, Woto, and adaughter, Labama, who married

(5) The Bambara say that Pembathe wood-spirit created a woman,Musso-koroni, who producedanimals and humans

(6) The Banyarwanda say the firstman was Kazikamunti

(7) In Botswana the first man isknown as Tauetona

(8) The Buganda say that the firstman was Kintu, forerunner ofthe Dinka

(9) The first man in the lore ofthe Burundi was Kihanga, made

(12) The Dogon say the firsthuman, made by Amma, wasAmma-Serou

(13) The Efe say that Baatsi wasmade from the earth by god whoalso made a woman She developed

a pre-natal craving for theforbidden fruit nahu, and Baatsipicked it for her As punishment,god took away their immortality

(14) In Liberia they regardGonzuole as the first woman

(15) In Madagascar they claim thefirst man was Andrianbah-omananaand the first woman wasAndriamahilala

(16) For the Makoni, the first manwas Mwuetsi for whom was made agirl, Massassi who bore the grass,trees, etc and a woman, Morango,who bore animals, birds and humanchildren

(17) The Mande say that Faro andPemba were twins generated fromseeds planted by the gods at thefour corners of the earth Faro’sbody was cut up and the piecesscattered to become trees

(18) The Masai say the first humanwas a pygmy named Dorobo

(19) The Orandonga called the firstman Amangundu

(20) In Potomo lore the first manwas Mitsotsozini or Vere

(21) The Shilluk say that the firstman was Omara

(22) In Uganda they say that thefirst woman was Nambi

(23) The Yoruba say that Oreluerewas the first of sixteen men made

cut off their tails and they becamethe first humans

–Balkan

In Slovenia it is said that, when godwas making the world from a grain

of sand, a drop of his sweat fell on

to the sand and from this mixturehuman beings were created

–Burmese

(1) The first man, Thanoi, and thefirst woman, E-u, were created bythe supreme god Ea-pe

(2) The creator-spirit, Hkun HsangLong, created the first couple, Ta-hsek-khi and Ya-hsek-khi, whowere born in the form of tadpolesliving in the lake Nawng Hkeo.After eating the gourd, they matedand the creator renamed them asTa-hsang-kahsi (Yatawn)

(3) Some believe that men weredescended from tadpoles

–Central American

(1) The Aztecs say that Cipactonaland Oxomoco were the firstcouple, created by Pilzintecuhtli.Other accounts say that Xolatlretrieved bones from the under-world and produced the first manand woman from ground-up bonesmixed with the blood of the gods.(2) The Mayas say the gods createdfour brothers, Balam Agab, BalamQuitzé, Iqi Balam and Mahucutah,from whom the human racedescended

–Chinese

The first man was Pan-ku; or hemodelled mankind from clay; orthey developed from fleas on Pan-ku’s body; or they were the children

of Fu-hsi and his wife Nü-kua; orNü-kua made men from clay

–East Indian

(1) In the Admiralty Islands, theprimordial being known as Hi-asacut her finger and collected theblood in a shell Two eggs formedfrom the blood and the first manand woman emerged from theeggs

(2) In Borneo the first man wasBujang

(3) The Dayaks say that the firsttwo beings were Amei Awi andBuning Une, gods of agriculture,who had twelve children, eight ofwhom became the ancestors of thetribes while the other four becamethe phases of the moon

An alternative version says that

first humans Fireshade

the first man was Tunggal Garing

and the first woman was Puteri

Bualu

(4) In the Moluccas the first two

men were known as Maapita and

Masora In another story the first

human was Patinaya Nei who took

the form of banana-tree, the fruit

of which produced further humans

(see also (12) below)

(5) In New Guinea the first

woman was Namora She swallowed

a fish and produced a son, Maruka

Akore These two mated to

produce the tribes

(6) In the New Hebrides they say

that the first woman was

Jujumishanta and that the first man

was Morfonu who was made from

her body

(7) On Nias the first man was

called Sihai

(8) Some Papuans say that the

maggots that bred in the body of a

dead female wallaby became the

first humans Another Papuan

story says that a huge turtle

swimming in the primordial

waters laid eggs from which

emerged the first man, Kerema

Apo, and the first woman, Ivi Apo

Next came Avo Akore and Ohare

Akore who became coconut trees

(9) In Sulawesi, the first two beings

were the brothers Sangkuruwira

and Guru ri Seleng Their

children, Batara Guru and

Nyilitimo, came to earth to

produce ancestors of the people

Another story says that the

sun-god, Ilai, and the earth-goddess,

Indara, made humans by breathing

life into stones

Yet another version says that the

first human being was the woman,

Lumimu’ut, born from a stone

Her son, Toar, produced when she

was made pregnant by the wind,

mated with her to produce the

people and their gods

(10) It is said that the first man

stole the feathers of one of a flight

of cassowaries which had taken off

their feathers to bathe when they

appeared as women He kept the

woman and mated with her to

produce the forerunners of the

human race

(11) The creator-god, Mahatala,

carved a stick into the shape of

male and female human figures

When he threw it down, it brokeinto male and female halves Hewas Tunggal Garing and she wasPuteri Bualu Her menstrualblood produced all the demons inthe world but, following instruct-ions from Mahatala, they wereable to procreate properly andproduced many children, ancestors

of the tribes

(12) Some tribes believe that thefirst humans emerged from trees orcame from the fruit of a tree whichbecame the god Lowalangi

(see also (4) above)

(13) Other tribes say that the firstman was Turer who now acts as theguide for souls on their journeyfrom Beg to Boigu

(14) Still other tribes say that mancame from larvae and worms living

–Greek

(1) The Argive story says thatPhoroneus was the first man andhis daughter Niobe was the firstwoman

(2) The first man was Pelasgus

The first woman was Pandora,created by Zeus as a gift forPrometheus, or in some stories forEpimetheus, who rejected her

(3) Men were created by the gods,first the golden race like godswhose spirits lived on; then thesilver race, less intelligent, whosespirits did not live on; then thebrass race who were very violentand killed themselves; then theheroes who had great adventuresand departed to the Islands of theBlessed and finally the iron race,the present race, who will getsteadily worse until the godsdestroy them

(4) The first man, created byPrometheus, was Phaenon whobecame the planet Jupiter Theother humans created byPrometheus grew so wicked thatZeus destroyed them in a flood

Only Deucalion, son ofPrometheus, and his wife Pyrrhaescaped, warned of the comingdisaster by his father They were

told to throw the bones of theirmother behind them They inter-preted this to mean stones and didwhat they were told From thestones came the Stone People fromwhom the present races aredescended

–Hindu

In the early Vedic scheme of things,the first male being was Purushafrom whose body the world wasmade; the first couple were Manuand Parsu

In the later Hindu version, thefirst man was Yama and the firstwoman was Yami, born of Vivasvat,the rising sun

Others say the first man wasNara who acted as Vishnu’s bow-carrier

–Indian

In the Andaman Islands they saythat the first man, Juptu, was borninside a bamboo cane and that hemade himself a wife from clay

–Mesopotamian

(1) The Akkadians regard Adapa asthe first man He was made fromclay by the god Ea and was con-sequently half-human, half-divine.(2) The Babylonians said that thefirst humans were made from theblood of Kingu

(3) The Sumerian version has itthat the first man was made fromclay by Ninmah

Hine-ahu-(2) The first woman was hanau-moku and the first man wasWakea

Papa-(3) Another Maori story hasMarikoriko as the first woman,created by Arohirohi

–Norse

The first man was Ask, made from

an ash tree; the first woman wasEmbla, made from an elm tree

Uoiot In some accounts, humanswere made from flakes of thecreator’s skin.

(3) The Cherokee say that thefirst man was Kanati and his wifewas Selu

(4) The Chinook tell a story inwhich Too-hux cut open a whaleand out flew the raven, Hahness

The giantess Quoots-hooi ate theraven’s eggs from which the firsthumans appeared

(5) The Fox say that the first manwas Mama’sa’a

(6) The Hopi say that Sky Fatherand Earth Mother produced OneAlone, the progenitor of mankind

Another story says that the godKloskurbeh created two beings,one from his breath and the otherfrom one of his tears These twomated to produce the first humans

(7) The Huchnom say that the firsthumans were made from sticks ofwood

(8) The Kato say that the first manwas Nagaitco

(9) The Keres say the first manwas Pashayani

(10) The Maidu say that the firstman was Kuksu and the firstwoman, Laidamlulum-Kule Theywere given the power to rejuvenatethemselves by immersion in water

(11) The Mandan say that the firstman was Numokh Mukana

(12) The Navaho say that FirstMan and First Woman produced adaughter, Estanatlehi, who createdthe progenitors of the tribes frommaize-flour or ears of corn Inanother version, she producedhumans from pieces of her ownskin

Another version says that thefirst man, Aste Hastin, mated withthe first woman, Aste Estsan, whoproduced five sets of twins whobecame the ancestors of theNavaho

(13) The Papago say that the firstman was Montezuma who laterproclaimed himself all-powerful

(14) The Pawnee say that BrightStar mated with Great Star toproduce the first woman whileSakuru and Pah produced the firstmale, Closed Man The man andwoman mated to populate theearth

(15) The Pueblo Indians call the

first men the Koshare, made fromthe skin of a goddess The first manwas Poseyemu

(16) The Shawnee version has itthat men were created from ashes,clay and beads

(17) Sia lore says that two sisters,created by Sussistinnako, were thefirst humans and the ancest-resses

of the Indian tribes Nowutset wasthe progenitor of the other humanraces

The Tagua of New Mexico callthe first man Puspiyama

(18) The Sioux say that the firstman was We-Ota-Wichusa (RabbitBoy) who was born from a tearshed by the sun He mated withFirst Woman, created by the GreatSpirit, to produce the forerunners

of the tribes

(19) The Zuni Indians envisage adual-sex deity, Awonawilona, whoformed the sun which mated withthe sea which consolidated andsplit into earth and sky, AwitelinTsta and Apoyan Tachi Theseproduced the first humans, the firstman being Poshaiyangkyo Thesefirst beings were said to haveseveral animal features, includingwebbed feet

–Pacific Islands

(1) On Fiji, the hawk Turukawa laidtwo eggs which were incubated bythe primaeval serpent, Degei, andhatched a human boy and girl whostarted the human race The firstwoman was called Vitu

(2) In the Gilbert Islands thecreator-god, Nareau, made the firstcouple, Debabou and De-ai

(3) In Hawaii the first man wasKumu-honua, made from mud byKane, and the first woman wasLalo-honua

Another version says Wakea wasthe first man and his wife was Papa-hanau-moku while yet another saysthat Tiki was the first man andIowahine the first woman, bothcreated by Tane

(4) In the Marshall Islands they saythat the first man, Wulleb, and hisfemale consort, Limdunanji, wereborn from the leg of the god Loa

Another story says that Wulleb andLejman, two worms, in a shell,became the first couple

(5) In Melanesia, the godHasibwari came down to earth and

made the first woman from clayand the first man from one of herribs

(6) In Micronesian lore the firstwoman was La’i-La’i

(7) In New Britain, the first manwas To-Kabinana who was formedfrom the earth and the blood of the creator-god His brother, To-Karvuvu, was formed next To-Kabinana found a mate when awoman emerged from a tree which

he had felled

(8) In the Philippines, the Tagalogaccount says that men emergedwhen bamboo canes cast ashorefrom the sea were split open bybirds

(9) The Polynesians have a storythat Matuenga or, some say, Tane,created Tiki, the first man, whomated with Hina

(10) Samoans say that the first manwas Atu and the first woman wasEle’ele, the consort of the godFetu

Another account says that thefirst man was Tele or Tutu and thefirst woman was Ila, Tonga orUpolu, while others say that thefirst couple grew from a pair ofgrubs

(11) In Tahiti they say that the godTa-aroa made a man from red clayand later put him to sleep, took abone from the man’s body and,with it, made a woman

(12) In Tonga, the first man wasKohai (see also Tiki1)

–Persian

(1) The primaeval man, Gayomart

or Gaya Martan, was poisoned byAhriman From his seed cameMashye and Mashyane, the firstcouple, who were in the form ofplants with fifteen leaves fromwhich came ten races They atetheir own offspring until Ormadzmade them unpalatable

(2) Another version has Yima andYimeh as the first mortals Some saythat men were made from the body

of the cow, Ur-Kuh, killed by Yima.(3) Another story says that the firstmortal couple were Tazh andTazhak

–Siberian

(1) The Buriats say that the firstman was Erlik, created by Ulgan.(2) The Chukchee people say thatthe first human was Ku’urkil

first humans first humans

(3) The Koryak say that the first

man was Quikinna’qu

(4) The first couple of the Tungus

were Khadau and Mamaldi

–South American

(1) The first men were killed in a

flood after the animals and their

tools revolted The sun re-emerged

after five days and hatched five eggs

from which emerged five falcons

who became men

(2) Another story says that an early

race was made by Con, the

boneless man, but they were turned

into monkeys by Pachacamac who

made a new race

(3) The Arawak say that the first

woman was the stone-woman, Maiso

(4) The Castunawa say that, when

the giants who inhabited the earth

were killed in the flood, their

bodies rotted in the sun and men

emerged from the maggots that

appeared on the corpses

Another story says that men

grew from seeds planted in the

earth

(5) The Chaco say that the first

men were made of stone, the

second race of wood and the final

race from clay

(6) The Chamacoco say that men

come out of trees when they are

split open

(7) The Incas were said to have

issued forth from a cave, Pacari,

which had three exits Eight

ancestors of the royal family, four

male, four female, emerged from

the central exit, the common

people from the other two

Another story says that the god

Inti sent his son and daughter,

Manco Capac and Mama Occlo,

down to earth to teach mankind

Another version says that

Viracocha made the first men but

they were unsatisfactory so he

turned them all into stone and

made a new race

Pachacamac, the Inca

creator-god made the first man and woman

but he overlooked the fact that they

would need food The man died but

the woman bore a son to the

sun-god Pacahacamac then produced

fruit and vegetables from the body

of this boy whom he killed

Another Peruvian story says that

men emerged from eggs produced

by the sun-god The status of the

person was determined by the type

of egg (gold, silver or copper) hecame from Other accounts say thatthe eggs were produced by a hugebird

Yet another version says that thefirst man was Guamansuri, father

of the twins Apocatequil andPiguerao

(8) The Mbaya say that men weredug up from the earth by a dogwhich had picked up their scent or,

in another version, hatched fromeggs laid on top of a mountain by ahuge bird

(9) In the lore of the Paressi tribe,the first man was Uazale, son of thestone-woman, Maiso

(10) The Quiche Indians say thatthe first men, made from mud,were too weak to stand and had nomind; a second race, made of wood,were totally self-centred and weredestroyed by the animals and tools;

the third and final race was madefrom clay

Another story says that the firstman was Hurakan, created byGucamatz and Qubanil

(11) The Taulipang say that thefirst men were made from wax butthey melted in the heat of the sun

so the culture-hero who madethem tried again and made menfrom clay

(12) The Terero say that the firstmen emerged from a hole in theearth

(13) In Tierra del Fuego some saythat the first man was Keros whomade sexual organs from peat

These mated to produce theforerunners of the people

(14) In the lore of the Tupari of theAmazon region, the first man wasValedjad, a giant born from a rock

(15) The Warrau say the firsthumans descended from the sky

(16) The Yaruro (and others) saythat the first humans came up from

an underground world

–Taiwanese

The early Formosans said that menemerged from a rock when it splitopen

–West Indian

The first man was Louquo whocame down from the sky

First Made Man North American

one of the early humans in the lore ofthe Tewa pueblo tribe

It appears that men existed before theearth dried out from the primordialocean, living in two caves, the brighthome of Summer Mother and thegloomy abode of Winter Mother.These beings sent First Made Man tothe surface from time to time to seethe state of the world and hecontinually reported that it was not fitfor humans Finally he went up againand was attacked by various animalsbut his wounds healed and the animalsgave him symbols to take back to hispeople He led his people up from thecave of Summer Mother and settledthem in the plains and then brought upthose from the cave of Winter Motherand settled them along the shore-lines

He then went off to live among theanimals where he was made HuntChief (see also Poseyemu)

a name used by Coyote in his disputewith Lone Man

First of the Westerners

(see Khenti-Amentiu)

First Real Boy North American

in the lore of the Metis tribe, a boywho once snared the sun

(see also Little Brother)

First Sun Central American

[Four Ocelot.Sun of Jaguar.

Another version, called the Sun ofWater, says that animals and manexisted in total darkness The animalsate the men and the world was over-whelmed by a flood from which onlytwo humans escaped to continue life

(see also sun1)

the beginning of the world

the soft sea breeze

fish

[ichthys]

fish are sacred in some cultures,

in others they play an active role in myths

(1) Some African tribes regard fish

as the embodiment of departedsouls

(4) In Egypt, where several types offish are sacred, a talisman in theshape of a fish was said to bringgood fortune As an emblem ofOsiris, it signifed rebirth; as anemblem of Set it signified evil.

(5) Hindu mythology tells of tenavatars of Vishnu, the first of whichwas in the form of a fish known asMatsya, in which form he towedthe boat of Manu to safety whenthe flood came

(6) In parts of India, as in China,the fish is regarded as a symbol ofregeneration

In the far north, some tribesthrow fish-bones back into the sea

in the belief that they will becomefish for the next season

(7) In Persian lore, the fish Mahsupports the universe

[Fisherman King.Grail Keeper.Grail King.King Pêcheur.Le Roi Mehaigne.

Le Roi Pêcheur Maimed King.

Parlan.Pellam.Rich Fisher.

SinnerKing.Wounded King]

the keeper of the Holy Grailbrother of Goon Deserthusband of La Veve Dame, some say

In some accounts a distinction is madebetween the Fisher King who was said

to be Pelles and the Maimed King,variously known as Parlan, Pelham,Pell(e)am, Pellean or Pelleham Thealternative name, Le Roi Pêcheur, iscapable of two translations givingFisher King or Sinner King Otherssay his name was Bron, a friend of

Joseph of Arimathea while othersidentify him with Joseph Some Grailstories refer to him as Amfortas

A common feature is that hesomehow became wounded, usually inthe thigh(s)

Some accounts say the wound wascaused by the Sacred Spear or by Balin

or by the fragments of the swordwhich killed Goon Desert; some say itwas punishment for drawing theSword of Strange Girdles

It was said that, because of thiswound, his only occupation was fishing

- hence his title (see also Alan1.Amfortas.Pelles.Rich Fisher)

Fisherman King (see Fisher King)

a dwarfone of the Lovar

[Fiothal]

a judgefather of Socht and Flaithri

He decided that Cormac mac Airtshould have Socht’s sword which hadonce been used to kill Cormac’sgrandfather, Conn

daughter of TuathalWhen Eochaid, king of Leinster,caused the death of Fithir and hersister Dairne, both of whom he hadmarried, their father, the high-king,killed Eochaid and exacted a tribute ofcattle

the intervals in the development ofthe human race

The first age, the Age of Gold, wasone of revelry and happiness, free ofdisease and old age Next came theAge of Silver in which men becamearrogant and were destroyed by Zeusfor neglecting the gods of Olympus Inthe Age of Bronze which followed,men discovered metals, became brutaland killed each other in war Thefourth age was the Age of Heroes,those born of the union of gods andhumans, characterised by the classicalheroes of Greek myths The final period

is the Age of Iron where men must workand where evil opposes good

Five Brothers North American

in the lore of the Snohomish, 5 seal hunters

One of these five brothers tricked theothers into following a wooden sealinto the far northern seas where they

got lost, finally landing in a placeinhabited by very strange dwarfs.When these people were attacked byducks and cranes, the four brothersdrove the birds off and revived thedwarfs who had been shot withfeather-darts discharged by the birds

On their way home, the brotherschanged into killer whales for the longsea journey and then, having exactedvengeance on their brother, becamewhales again and swam out to sea

deities in the Chinese pantheon based

on the Five Emperors

Five Celestial Buddhas

(see Dhyanibuddhas)

5 of the 9 major works of theConfucian canon

These works are listed as Ch’un-ch’iu, I Ching, Li Ching, Shih Ching and Shu Ching The other four in the canon are

known as the Four Books

[Five Devils.Five Plague Spirits]

plague demons causing sicknessThese demons caused such problemswhen they were sent down to earth bythe Jade Emperor that they werebanished to the underworld on theorders of Chang Tao-ling He allowedthem to return later and the emperorgave them symbols of office – a fan forthe demon causing colds, a fire-basketfor the one causing fevers, a wolf-stickfor the bringer of toothache, a band ofiron for the one who causes headachesand a water-jug for the one who causessweating

Another version says that, whenthey came to earth, they becamescholars but were reduced to playing asitinerant musicians when they wererobbed The emperor then used them

to test the magic powers of T’ien-shihand they were killed When theirspirits tormented him, T’ien-shihrestored them to life and gave each ofthem the power to cause a particularailment

Five Devils (see Five Demons)

Five Elements (see elements2)

creator-godsThese were Chuan Hsü, Huang Ti,K’u, Shun and Yao and they, with theThree Sovereigns, created the universe

Five Falcons South American

the Peruvian hero Paricaca and his 4 brothers

Fish-man

Five Flower (see Macuilxochiti)

Five Great Gods (see Mahapancaraja)

Five Great Kings (see Mahapancaraja)

Five Holy Mountains (see Wu Yüeh)

Five Lamat Central American

the eighteenth of the 20 days of the

Mayan creation cycle

On this day the sea-lake was created

(see also Lamat)

the countries making up the universe

The centre was occupied by Rirab

Lhunapo, a mountain, which extended

some 3,000 miles above and below the

earth’s surface The surrounding lands,

floating in the primordial ocean, were

Balancho, Dra Minyah, Dzamo and

Lo Phag

sky-gods

Each of these deities was responsible

for a particular part of the heavens and

they are given as Ch’i, Ch’ing Ti, Huan

Ti, Huang Ti and Po Ti

the fifth day of the 20 days of the

Mayan creation cycle

On this day life forms (but not humans)

were created (see also Men)

Five Plague Spirits (see Five Demons)

Five Sacrificial Beasts Chinese

these are the dog, the fowl, the goat,

the pig and the ox

Five Separate Heavenly Deities

(see Separate Heavenly Deities)

Five Sisters North American

in the lore of the tribes of British

Columbia, primordial beings

These daughters of the creator-god,

the Old One, were created from hairs

from his beard Three of them became

earth, sea and sky, the others became

the progenitors of the human race

Five Sisters of Long Life Tibetan

sister-goddesses of the Himalayas

(see Sisters of Long Life.

Miyolangsangma.Tashi Tseringma)

Five Suns Central American

the intervals in the development of

the world, in Aztec myths

The first period, which lasted for 676

years, was ruled by Tezcatlipoca who

was superseded by Quetzalcoatl who

ruled the Second Sun The Third Sun

was the period of Tlaloc’s rule which

ended when the earth was destroyed

by fire The fourth period, ruled by

Chalchihuitlicue, ended with a

world-wide flood The present Sun, the Fifth,

ruled by Nanautzin, will end when the

world is destroyed by earthquakes

Five Wisdom Buddhas

(see Dhyanibuddhas)

a dramatic poem in the Elder Edda

Fjolnir (see Feng.Fiollnir)

a poem in the Elder Edda

In the guise of an ugly old woman, shedemanded to be kissed Only Niall wasprepared to oblige, whereupon sheturned into a beautiful young girl, thevery embodiment of sovereignty

son of Flitheal

He was the tutor of the son of thehigh-king, Cormac, and, as a test, toldthe queen that he had killed the boy

She betrayed his secret to the king andFlaithri would have been executed had

he not produced the boy alive and well

[Floberge]

a sword of Charlemagne and Rinaldo

In some accounts the sword belonged

to Aymon who when he was dying,gave it to Rinaldo (see also Fusberta)

offspring of Genos and Genea

a deity who devoured humans

A race of winged men, the KeenKeengs, captured humans and threwthem into a hole in the cave where thefire-god lived

[plur=flamines]

a priestThere were originally three flamines,one dedicated to each of the godsJupiter, Mars and Quirinus In lateryears, there were twelve or fifteen Allwere lifetime appointments

Flaming Teeth Pacific Islands

a giant of FijiThis huge giant was killed by a band ofyouths who extracted the teeth whichwere like flaming logs As a result, theislanders had fire for the first time

the wife of a flamen

wife of the flamen Dialis who helpedher husband in his priestly duties

the office of a flamen

a man from the Otherworld

He and his brother were constantlyfighting other relatives for possession

of an island which had belonged totheir grandfather, Feadhach He metBec Fola and took her to this islandbut later returned her to her husband

A year later, wounded from thefighting, he re-appeared on the sceneand Bec Fola went with him, never tobeen seen again

[Flann mac Lonain]

Flann mac Lonain (see Flann Aidhne)

a saintson of Toidhealbhach

It was said that, on his journey to Rome

to be consecrated, he was carried by afloating rock He performed manymiracles and caused any meat stolen toputrefy before the thieves could eat itand turned to stone those who sought

to satirise him

a 14th Cdocument which includes

Hyndlu-Ljod and the abridged Voluspa

Flauros

a demonone of the 72 Spirits of SolomonThis being, depicted as a leopard, issaid to have the power to destroyenemies of the sorcerer by fire

Flea-footed (see Piqu-Chaqui)

Fleberdigibet

a demon of the dance

(see also Flibbertigibbet)

Fled Aise (see Feast of Age)

[Fleadh Bricend.Fledd Bricrenn]

the story of Bricciu’s feast

Fled Goibnenn (see Feast of Goibhniu) Fledd Bricrenn (see Fled Bricend)

a supernatural being of theWinnebago

twin brother of StumpTheir mother was killed by an ogrebefore they were born and they wererescued from her body and raised bytheir father who later left them

They killed many monsters,including the one who had killed theirmother, but when they killed a beaver,one of the animals said to support theworld, the supreme god, Earthmaker,intervened to stop their activities

a demon in King Lear

(see also Fleberdigibet)

a fiend of mowing

flibbertigibbet 3 North American

a fabulous animal

[Flidais.Flidass.Fliodhais:=Gaulish Dea Arduinna]

a goddess of wild animals, a huntress goddessmother of Fand and Li Ban, some say

In some accounts, she was the wife of aking called Adhamain to whom shebore a son, Nia Seaghamain Otherssay that she was the wife of Fergus macRoth who had taken her from AilillFionn who was killed when Fergusattacked his castle In some versions,Flidhais is referred to as Muinchinn

and Ailill as Donal Dualbhiu

She owned the marvellous cow,Maol, that could provide milk forhundreds at one milking

Flight of the Chiefs 1 Pacific Islands

an ancient kingdom in Fiji during thegolden age of that islandThis kingdom, in which people couldtalk to the spirits of their ancestors,was ruled by The Eldest

Flight of the Chiefs 2 Pacific Islands

a collection of tales of Fijian lore

by B H QuainThese stories were largely composed

by Velema who is said to have heardthem from his predecessors or bydirect communication with deceasedancestors

son of Nokomis

He is said to have stolen from his ownmother a dish of blood from whichWabus emerged

brother of Manabozho

He was one of quadruplets and hekilled their mother at birth He waskilled by Manabozho when they grew up

tutelary deities of the Pueblo tribes,flint personified

These spirits gave freely of themselves

so that the people could fashion toolsand weapons

a monster, in the lore of the ApacheThis monster, one of many killed byKiller-of-Enemies, took the form of ahuge rock

a fabulous animal

Floating Sky Pacific Islands

in the lore of Bali, a region of heaven

Flood

[Deluge]

many cultures have myths relating

to one or more inundations, referred

to as the Flood or the Deluge, sent

to eliminate the human race,usually with an advance warning

to enable a few to survive torepopulate the world

–Central American

(1) In the lore of the Aztecs, thegod Titlacahuan warned Nata andhis wife Nena of the impendingdeluge which ended the FourthSun They built a dug-out canoeand survived on one ear of maize.Another version has the floodoccurring at the end of the FirstSun when people became fish.(2) The Mayan floods, caused byHunab, put an end to variousphases of the creation cycle and, inone story, caused the sky to col-lapse Kanzibyui raised the sky toits normal position and supported

it on trees

(3) Some Mexican tribes say thatthe flood was sent by the godHokomata After it had subsided,Pukeheh, the daughter ofHokomata’s brother Tochopa,mated with the gods Sunshaft andWaterfall to repopulate the earth

–Chinese

(1) The thunder god trapped bytheir father gave Nü-kua and herbrother Fu-hsi a tooth when theyset him free From this grew a treewhich produced a gourd in whichthe children survived the ensuingflood They mated but producedonly an unformed lump of flesh.Fu-hsi cut this into pieces andscattered them over the earth toproduce mankind

(2) The flood was caused whenKung Kung pulled down the pillarssupporting the sky Alternatively,

he tore a hole in the sky when hetried to commit suicide by banginghis head against the heavenlybamboo

–Greek

Prometheus warned his son,Deucalion, that Zeus was about tosend a flood so Deucalion built anark and survived with his wife Pyrrha.Flasher, The

A god, Vishnu, appearing as a small

fish found in his washing water,

warned Manu of the coming flood

It outgrew successively a bowl, a

tank and a lake and had to be put in

the sea Manu built a boat and the

fish towed him to safety on Mount

Himavat when the flood came The

gods granted him a wife and they

became the progenitors of the

present human race

–Irish

Cessair was Noah’s grand-daughter

but even she was refused a place in

the Ark She sailed for Ireland

where she landed with fifty women

and three men, the only survivors

Most of them later perished in the

flood

–Korean

When the flood came, a huge bay

tree, which had fathered a son on a

heavenly being, was toppled but his

son was saved by riding over the

waves on the floating tree He

rescued a swarm of ants and

another of mosquitoes and also a

young boy They all landed on a

mountain where they found the

only other survivors, an old woman

with two daughters The four young

people were able to repopulate the

earth

–Lithuanian

It is not made clear what caused the

flood but there are various stories

about what happened after the

flood had come

In one version, Pramzimas

threw a nutshell into the waters

The shell became a boat and one

man and one woman survived in

this boat to restart the human race

In another version, all the

animals and humans gathered on

the top of a mountain and

Pramzimas sent a boat in which

they sailed away, leaving behind

only one elderly couple This pair,

instructed by Pramzimas, jumped

nine times On each occasion, a

young couple appeared and these

became the progenitors of a new

race

–Mesopotamian

(1) Ea warned Atrahasis who

survived in the ship Preserver of

Life In another version, Ea warned

Utnapishtim

(2) Enki warned king Ziusudra of

the flood being sent by Enlil,enabling him to survive

–New Zealand

The Maoris say that the floodresulted from the efforts of therain-gods to douse the fire whichstarted when Maui stole fire fromMahuika

Another story says that Tawhakistamped on the floor of heaven,releasing the waters through thecracks his action caused

–North American

(1) Some Algonquian tribes say thatthe spirits of the underworld, theanamaqkiu, caused a flood whenManabush killed two of theirnumber Manabush managed toescape by climbing a tree which, bymagic, he caused to grow muchhigher Otter, Beaver and Minkdied in an attempt to find dry landbut Muskrat finally found a smallpiece of soil from which Manabushre-created the world

(2) The Caddo say that fourmonstrous children, each with fourarms and legs, stood back to back in

a square and grew until they fusedtogether and reached the sky Aman planted a rod which alsoreached the sky and was told totake his wife and a pair of each ofthe animals on earth into a reedwhen the flood came Themonsters fell into the waters andwere drowned and when the waterssubsided, those inside the reedemerged to repopulate the earth

(3) The Inuit say that only theyexisted before the flood After thewaters had receded the first whitepeople appeared, fathered on one

of their girls by a dog

(4) In the lore of the Papago, onlyMontezuma, the first man, andCoyote, the trickster, survived theflood in boats they had made Afterthe waters receded, Great Mysteryrepopulated the earth

(5) The Pima say that the flood wassent by Great Eagle and that onlySzeuka survived

(6) A Sioux story says that the floodwas sent by Unktehi, a water-monster One girl was rescued bythe eagle Wanbhee Galeshka whotook her up to his nest on a highpeak They mated and producedtwins, a boy and a girl, who becamethe progenitors of a new tribe

(7) The Skagit of the west coast saythat the flood covered the worldleaving only the tops of MountBaker and Mount Rainier exposed.Two people in a canoe managed toescape and repopulated the world

–Pacific Islands

(1) In the Banks Islands, Qat waswarned of the flood and built acanoe in which he survived.(2) In Fiji, the flood was sent byDegei to drown the people whohad killed his friend, the hawkTurukawa

(3) In Hawaii, Nu’u survived in aship that landed on a tall mountain.(4) In the Society Islands, afisherman’s hook became entangledwith the hair of a sleeping sea-god,Ruahaku, who was so angry that hesent the flood

(5) Some say that the flood wascaused by the rising of a sea-goddess from the depths of theocean

–Siberian

The Buriats say that the god, Ulgan, warned Namu of thecoming flood and he built an ark inwhich he survived

creator-–South American

(1) Advance warning of one of thefloods was given by the llama.(2) The Araucanians blame thetwo huge serpents known asKaikai and Trentran for causingthe flood when they demonstratedtheir powers by causing the waters

to rise

(3) The Arawaks blame the flood

on Sigu who cut down the tree ofknowledge allowing water to gushout to cause the flood

(4) The land of the ChibchaIndians was flooded by the work-god Chibchacum, aided by Chia,and the god Bochica appeared as

a rainbow to create a channel tothe sea and bring out the sun todry the land

(5) The Inca god Viracocha caused

a flood to destroy the first humans,after which he created a new andbetter race

(6) The Karaya tribe say that theflood was sent by the demonAnatiwa but some of the tribeescaped when the water-hen,Saracura, brought soil which theyused to raise the height of the hillTupimare

(7) The Quechua say that the onlypart of the world not covered bythe flood was Mount Condorcoto.

When the waters receded, five menwere born from eggs that hadsurvived the flood on the higherpart of the mountain

(8) The Tupari say that the floodwas caused by the the first man, thegiant Valedjad

(9) In the Tupi story, Arikute andTawenduare quarrelled and thelatter split the earth when hestamped on the ground, allowingwater to come gushing out

(10) Other versions say that thegod Monan tried to destroy theearth with fire and the flood wascaused when a magician, Irin Mage,brought about a heavy downpourthat put out the flames but alsoflooded the earth

–Taiwanese

The Taiwanese say that Peirounwas warned of the coming flood andwas able to escape

–Thai

The flood was sent by the gods, the Thens, when the peoplerefused to acknowledge the gods

[=Greek Chloris:=Hindu Kusumamodini]

an Italian goddess of flowers and fruitfulness

consort of Favonius, some sayShe is said to have touched Juno with amagic herb so that she conceived Marswithout the help of Jupiter

When Florismart was imprisoned inthe Castle of Oblivion, she enlisted thesympathy of Angelica, who hadescaped from the besieged city ofAlbracca to seek help, and Florismartand the other imprisoned knights werefreed

Guinevere in flagrante All except

Mordred were killed by Lancelot

He and his brothers restored Briolania

to the throne of Firm Island,overthrowing the tyrant who hadusurped the kingdom When theyarrived on Firm Island, both Florestanand Galaor refused to try to passthrough the Arch of True Lovers and,when they tried to enter theForbidden Chamber, they werethrown back by unseen forces whileAmadis was allowed to enter

He and his master had been carried off

by pirates and sold as slaves to aBarbary prince His master converted

to the Muslim faith and became a citygovernor and Floriac was allowed tolive nearby as a Christian He gavehospitality to Huon and Sherasmin ontheir journey to the court of the sultan,Gaudisso

son of Elyadusfoster-son of Morgan le Fayhusband of FloreteWhen the emperor of Constantinopleattacked Sicily, King Arthur went tothe aid of the king, Elyadus Floriantmarried the emperor’s daughter,Florete

Floriant et Florete French

a 13th Cstory of these two lovers

[Floree]

a queen of KanadicShe raised Ilinot, one of King Arthur’ssons who died of grief when sherejected his love

daughter of JuhanShe was raped by Roderick

daughter of Balansister of Fierabraswife of Guy de BourgogneShe protected the prisoners, includingOliver, held by her father until theywere rescued by Charlemagne and fell

in love with one of them, Guy deBourgogne, whom she later married

[Floire]

a king of Hungaryhusband of Blanchefleurfather of BerthaThe Saracen king of Spain captured agroup of French pilgrims and one ofthe ladies in the group gave birth to agirl, Blanchefleur, on the same day thatthe king’s consort gave birth to a boy,Floris They grew up together butFloris was sent away to school andBlanchefleur was sold to a slave-trader.Floris set out to rescue her andstayed with Darius, a bridgekeeper,

in Babylon where Blanchefleur wasimprisoned He bribed his way intothe tower and was reunited with hisbeloved but they were later found inbed together and condemned todeath Their obvious love for eachother softened the emir’s heart andthey were allowed to marry andreturn to Spain

a sorceressShe was taught the magic arts byMerlin and is said to have killed herselfout of envy of Isolde’s beauty

[Lord of the Sylvan Tower]

a Saracen knight who became one ofCharlemagne’s paladins

He was defeated by Astolpho, in singlecombat, who spared his life and theybecame friends

He was imprisoned in the Castle ofOblivion but freed by Angelica, whohad escaped from the besieged city ofAlbracca, when Flordelis, his lady-love, told Angelica of his plight.When he heard of Roland’smadness, he went in search of him andmet Rodomont at the bridge leading

Florismart Flora