Celtic Folklore - Blog Posts
"Hey, pretty girl, ready to go?" I asked as I rubbed my Púca's ears.
She neighed.
I told her before leaving, "Alright, I'll go and you come find me when you're ready, okay?"
I was just leaving when I felt a light hand on my shoulder. Behind me there was a young lady with black hair, a black dress with red accents, but the thing that stood out the most about her were her brilliant red eyes and horse ears that stuck up out of her hair.
"How do I look?" she asked before giving me a slow twirl.
I took her hands in mine, once she stopped, and kissed her cheek, murmuring, "Beautiful, as always." I unclipped my cloak. "You will need to hide your ears, though." I held my cloak out to her.
"Won't you get cold?" she asked, concern lighting her brilliant eyes. How did I get so lucky to get such a caring Púca such as her?
I smiled, "No, I'll be fine."
Hey eyes flickered between my eyes and the cloak before gingerly taking my offered article of clothing.
When she finally had it adjusted with her ears flat against her head, she asked, "Is this good?"
"You look human." I held my arm out to her. "Ready to go?"
My Púca was literally bouncing as she took my arm. She was beaming and just as giddy as a little kid. I looked forward and guided her out into the bustling streets full of people dressed up as monsters and heroes.
The large firebird screeched as he flew low enough to scorch the lower trees. The troops screamed in terror and abandoned their posts.
"Do you have to do this every time we go to war?" I asked my older twin brother.
"To be fair, what would you do if you saw a phoenix flying right at you?" he returned. He was in control of the phoenix and made sure that no one was too seriously injured.
"Fair enough." I glanced over at him. "I could've sent my Púca after the captain and a few others to scare them off."
He chuckled, "I appreciate the offer but my phoenix is already out there."
"Whatever it takes," I started, watching the forest burn in the night.
"To keep our kingdom safe," my brother finished.
"Hey, pretty girl," I murmured to the Púca I adopted when she was a small filly.
She grunted a quiet greeting before she came up to me. She grabbed a bit of the fabric on my shoulder and gave it a gentle tug.
"How long has it been since I last saw you?"
She whinnied but let go of my shoulder.
"Since yesterday?" I gave a fake frustrated sigh, "That's too long!" I hugged her around her neck. Her fur was coarser than that of other horses and ponies I've met but I wouldn't change anything about her. The other ones are nice but they aren't her.
She nudged me enough to take a small step back, reminding me why I originally came down to visit her.
"Do you want a snack?" I asked her. "Snack?"
She nuzzled me a bit harder.
"Which hand is the snack in?" She was always a smart girl.
She stood there for a moment before nudging my right shoulder. I rolled the apple to my right hand and held it out to her.
"Smart girl," I murmured as she ate the apple. I rubbed her ears just the way she likes it. "I'm going to talk to my big, fat, mean brother to see if I can't bring you into the court so I can give you all the love and rubs you want." I couldn't stop a soft chuckle. "He isn't big, fat, or mean."
The Púca I've known since she was a filly nickered in agreement. She's met my brother and likes him well enough but still doesn't like how he keeps her from me.
"You be nice to him the next time you see him, okay?" I murmured against her forehead.
Fun Fact:
As much as I admire the legends of merfolk and swan maidens, we ought to give some spotlight to the selkies.
Selkie folk, also known as "seal folk", come from Norse and Celtic folklore. They're what's known as "therianthropes", meaning they can transform from human to animal at will. In the case of the selkie, this is done by shedding their seal skin. When in their human form, selkies are super attractive. Both males and females have humans chasing after them, if they're lucky enough to see them naked on the beach.
The stories about male selkies are pretty hilarious and usually entail them being the object of desire for bored housewives (they were essentially medieval pool boys), but the female selkies always had it rougher. Men would steal their seal skin so they couldn't change back to their natural form, then coerce them into marriage. And what's really tragic is that even if the selkie does marry the thief, falls in love with him and has his children, the moment that she rediscovers her hidden selkie skin, she abandons her family and makes her escape back to the ocean, because that is where she's truly meant to be.
Fun Fact:
One of the scariest creatures in Celtic folklore has gotta be the Caorthannach. Also known as the "Celtic fire-spitter" and believed by some to be the mother of Lucifer himself, Caorthannach was the name of an old witch that was part human, part serpent. Whenever she would emerge from her watery abode, she would wreak havoc, murdering travelers, burning down homes with families trapped inside and the rare few who evaded her initial torment would still be caught and devoured later.
The Caorthannach's reign of terror ended thanks to Celtic hero Finn McCool. He and his band of warriors lit her up with arrows and she died right on the spot. Except, a year later, a little turd named Conan broke her thigh bone, allowing a worm to crawl out and escape into a lake. That worm was Caorthannach and when she emerged out of the same lake fully grown and ready to terrorize a nearby town, Conan let her swallow him whole. Then he cut her open from the inside, beheaded her and threw her head into the lake. Her blood then permanently turned the lake red, and it was called "Loch Derg" or the "Red Lake" from then on.
Well she sounds... lovely, doesn't she?
