Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (Irish: [ˈkal̠ʲəx, kəˈl̠ʲax], Scottish Gaelic: [ˈkʰaʎəx]) is a divine hag and ancestor, associated...

figure in Gaelic folklore and mythology. The bodach "old man" is paired with the cailleach "hag, old woman" in Irish legend. Bodach (Old Irish also botach)...

century, Egerton MS 154) Fenian tale. The bodach is a trickster figure, consort or male analogue of the cailleach ("hag"), already known from Old Irish sources...

connection between the beithir and the mythological hag known as the Cailleach Bheur. In a story from Argyll the Cailleach was slain by a hunter who hacked...

25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance. Baobhan Sith Cailleach Caoineag Clíodhna Devil Bird La Llorona Klagmuhme Madam Koi Koi Psychopomp...

but historians say she (and her alleged ancestors and spouses) was purely mythological and was created to explain the name and to fit the Gaels into a...

the mysterious divide between nonlife and life. Baubo Cailleach Dilukai Green Man Herma Lajja Gauri Vagina and vulva in art Andersen, Jorgen (1977). The...

god of the storms, as are the Cailleachan – Scottish storm hags – and the Cailleach herself, who brings the first winter snows to the land by washing...

wooden pole. Cailleach An old woman, a hag, or a particular ancient goddess. Cairn From càrn. The word's meaning is much broader in Gaelic, and is also used...

appear as beautiful women who seduce their victims before attacking them and killing them. According to the Scottish folklorist Donald Alexander Mackenzie...

moon, And his name was Aiken Drum. Chorus And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle, And he played upon a ladle, and his name was Aiken Drum. And his...

power and blessings. It is also used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting some action. Geasa are common in Irish and Scottish folklore and mythology...

sources and archaeology for their rituals and beliefs, including offerings to spirits and deities. Language study and preservation are essential, and daily...

severe winter storms, to gain control of the seas and the weather. Eventually Sea Mither overcomes Teran and sends him to the depths of the ocean, but the...

In ancient Celtic and Gallo-Roman religion, Cernunnos or Carnonos is a god depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and is associated with stags, horned...

serpent of Orcadian folklore, capable of contaminating plants and destroying animals and humans with its putrid breath. It is probably an Orkney variant...

giving gifts. In Irish and Scottish mythology, the cailleach is a hag goddess concerned with creation, harvest, the weather, and sovereignty. In partnership...

shapeshifter described by John Gregorson Campbell in Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1902): Sometimes it bore the form of...

(or tongie) is a shape-shifting sea spirit in the folklore of the Orkney and Shetland Islands in Scotland. A sea horse or merman, it takes on the appearance...

religious objects, as well as place and personal names. Celtic deities can belong to two categories: general and local. General deities were known by...

means the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over. At Imbolc on the Isle of Man, where she is known as Caillagh ny Groamagh, the Cailleach is said...

Assipattle and the Stoor Worm is an Orcadian folktale relating the battle between the eponymous hero and a gigantic sea serpent known as the stoor worm...

Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink. They appear to be localised to the Minch and surrounding areas...

Irish: Oghma) is a god from Irish and Scottish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a deity and may be related to the Gallic...

otherworld is a place where sickness and death do not exist, a place of eternal youth and beauty. Here, music, strength, life, and all pleasurable pursuits come...

Dwelly, a Scottish lexicographer, lists tarbh-boidhre as "Monster, demon" and "God capable of changing himself into many forms"; tarbh-aoidhre is given...

accompanied by a corpse-light. Like the Irish banshee and the Scottish Cailleach, to which the cyhyraeth and the Gwrach y Rhibyn are closely related, the cyhyraeth...

settlers and, like the folklore of the islands, blended Norse and Scottish characteristics. The Norsemen's impact on the folklore of the Orkney and Shetland...

washerwoman') or nigheag na h-àtha ('little washer at the ford'). Beira Cailleach Caoineag Hulder Les Lavandières The Morrígan Moura Encantada Wirry-cow...

Place'), and Emain Ablach ('Isle of Apple Trees'). Similar myths in the northern Celtic cultures include these of Annwn, Fairyland, Avalon and Hy Brasil...