Talk:Formarians

Aargh. There doesn't seem to be any consensus on what these people were called, or whether they even existed. And, just for good measure, the material below is signed, and I can't find anything on who "Brian Timmins" is, whether it's still in copyright, or, if so, whether it's under the GFDL. Which means I'm moving the whole thing here, and faking a stub for the moment.

More information from the person (not signed in at the time) who put this here would be great. Failing that, any experts on Irish history, myth or folklore, please help. Vicki Rosenzweig

The first race to inhabit the traditional northern areas of the Celts, appears to have been the Fomorians, frequently compared to the giants inhabiting the earth before the coming of the gods, as in many other European pagan myths (especially the Nordic). These lived either outside of Ireland on an island resembling the otherworlds of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, or under the sea depending on which authority you believe. Nineteenth century folklorists, such as Gregory and Hibbert, have suggested that the Fomorians represent the dark side of the gods, which is understandable, when you consider the reported appearance of a Fomorian. Few Fomorians have been described as handsome, rather they are even chaotic in their appearance. They have a tendancy to lack limbs and are of gigantic stature. Surnames like the footless or the cow-faced are not uncommon amongst them. This is important because we see the same deliberate tendency towards horrify the appearances of those who shouldn't be honoured any more, but rather feared, as with the later appearing sidhe of both Ireland and Scotland. There, we see older accounts in which most sidhe are beautiful and tall, and the newer accounts, where they are lanky and ugly, hideous creatures with only one eye, enormous sagging breasts and twisted faces, for what better propaganda is there, than fear? This denigrating of the sidh was typical of the attitude of Christian churches everywhere where they wanted to supplant the old beliefs with their own.

The Fomorians were almost certainly an ancient sea-faring race and it is thought that they originally came from Northern Africa or Asia, as they are described as having dark hair and dark skin in the original accounts. This might indicate that they were fore-runners of the Picts. So most Fomorians are described as dark-haired but there are exceptions Elatha, a latter day Fomorian, the father of Bres, was described as having 'golden-hair and being the handsomest man in sight'. He also seems to have been less blood-thirsty and more interested in justice. He refused to go to war with his son Bres against the Tuatha Dé Danaan because it was an 'unjust cause'. Today scholars believe that 'Mor' means 'phantom' or 'spirit' and therefore indicates that the Fomorians were considered to be Gods with magical powers. But the name 'Fomor' literally means 'beneath the sea' from the Gaelic faoi-mhuir so many Celtic historians and folklorists in the past have placed the Fomorians as diabolical creatures, or as one put it, "demons of the deep sea". From this name itself they have also been called the Children of Domnu[?], who has been identified as a goddess of the deep sea and abyss. Considering the meaning of the ocean to the Celts as a means of death and a passage to the Otherworld, it is not hard to see the "mythical" value of the Fomorians to one of a religion with such a concept.

Conaing[?] is one of the first of these Fomorians to have settled in Ireland but they seem to have settled on all the Northern Islands along the coast of Ireland and across to Scotland and Norway. They were reputed to have great magical powers. It would seem that they split up into different tribes and that some did decide to reside in the Underworld such as Tethra the Fomorian faerie king. They were certainly renowned Sea-farers and their ships were important to them. An account from the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh says that their fleet stretched from Norway to the North-east coast of Ireland.

According to the ancient accounts in the Lebor Gabala Erenn (The Book of Leinster[?]) the tribes of the Nemedians, Fir Bolg, and Tuatha Dé Danaan all spoke the same tongue and were supposed to be descended from the same family, but the Fomorians were a completely separate race. With separate language and customs. They came and went and came again all through the first four migrations into Ireland and seemed quite willing on an individual basis to intermarry successively Partholonians, Nemedians, The Fir Bolg and finally even with the Tuatha De Danann.

One of the final legendary Fomorian characters was Balor One-Eye. When the invasions of the other peoples arrived and the various battle forced the Fomorians into the northwest corner of Ireland, they made their headquarters on an island of the Donegal coast called Tory Isle. when the Tuatha Dé Danaan finally arrived in Ireland, armed with their four great magics they had no trouble in defeating the Fir Bolgs. But the leader of the defeated Fir Bolgs persuaded the Formorians to raise an army to challenge the Tuatha Dé Danaan. The mightiest and most vicious of the Formorian's was the one eyed Balor of the Baleful Eye. His odious eye required four men to lift it's lid and its gaze, when opened, was deadly. His only fear was an ancient prophecy that he would be killed by his own grandson. Balor's had only one child, a daughter called Eithne. To prevent any chance of the prophecy coming true he imprisoned her in a remote cave on Tory Isle. Though hidden from all eyes, it was known that she grew to be a beautiful young woman. One day a Tuatha Dé Danaan champion called Kian disguised himself and sneaked into the cave and seduced Eithne. On discovering what had happened, when his daughter gave birth to triplets, to circumvent the prophecy an outraged Balor threw the newborns into the sea. Legend has it that those who drowned became the ancestors of the seals. However, one baby had magical powers and swam to shore unseen. He was raised by an uncle, who educated him, and named him Lugh. At the age of twenty-one Lugh became King of the Danaan and prepared for a final battle with the evil Formorians. On the afternoon of the great battle, surrounded by all his warriors, Balor of the Baleful Eye seated himself at the fron of his host where he could see the greatest number of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. His gave killed many hndreds of the Danaan but Lugh, armed with his great sword, was not among them. When Balor's eye closed Lugh galloped forward on his horse, which could outrun even the wind, and hurled a stone from his sling just as the evil eye re-opened. The stone knocked out the eyed and traveled into Balor's brain and he died instantly. The eye rolled around pointing towards the Fomorian host and most of them died. Thus was the prophecy fulfilled. The remaining Formorians fled Ireland leaving the Tuatha Dé Danaan in peace.

Brian Timmins