Everything about The Banshee totally explained
The
Banshee, from the
Irish bean sí ("woman of the " or "woman of the
fairy mounds") is a female spirit in
Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the
Otherworld. Her
Scottish counterpart is the
bean shìth (also spelled
bean-shìdh).
The
aos sí ("people of the mounds", "people of peace") are variously believed to be the survivals of
pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Some
Theosophists and
Celtic Christians have also referred to the
aos sí as "fallen angels". They are commonly referred to in
English as "
fairies", and the banshee can also be described as a "fairy woman".
Etymology
The term
banshee is an anglicization of the [Irish
bean sídhe or
bean sí, or the
Scots Gaelic bean shìth, - both meaning "woman of the fairy mounds" or "woman of peace". Both names are derived from the
Old Irish ben sídhe:
bean: "woman", and
sídhe: "of the mounds". Some consider the
bean nighe ("washer-woman") the Scottish counterpart of the Irish banshee. However,
bean shìth is the linguistic and mythological equivalent, appearing in a number of different roles and situations in folklore and mythology. The
bean nighe is a specific type of
bean shìth. In Scottish Gaelic,
bean shìth can also be spelled
bean-shìdh.
Síd in Irish, and
Sìth in Scots Gaelic, also mean "peace", and the fairies are also referred to as "the people of peace" -
Aos Sí or
Daoine-Sìth.
Banshees in history, mythology and folklore
In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have Banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament (in
Irish:
caoineadh, [ˈkiːnʲə] or [ˈkiːnʲuː],
"caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail") at their funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as "
keeners" and the best keeners would be in much in demand. Legend has it that, for five great Gaelic families: the
O'Gradys, the
O'Neills, the
O'Briens, the
O'Connors, and the
Kavanaghs, the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she'd sing the lament when a family member died, even if the person had died far away and news of their death hadn't yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.
In later versions the banshee might appear before the death and warn the family by wailing. When several banshees appeared at once, it indicated the death of someone great or holy. The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a woman who died in childbirth.
Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, and often having long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local
mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids - stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red or black with a grey cloak.
They are common in Irish and Scottish folk stories such as those recorded by
Herminie T. Kavanagh. They enjoy the same mythical status in
Ireland as fairies and
leprechauns. Banshees continue to appear in
modern fiction that deals with mythology, folklore or the supernatural.
References and footnotes
General references
Specific references and notesFurther Information
Get more info on 'Banshee'.
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