Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Tuatha Dé Danann
How to say Tuatha Dé Danann — "TOO-ah-ha day DAN-un," the divine race of Irish myth who became the fairy folk.
Section
Category: <span>Myth & Folklore</span>
Celtic legend, gods, heroes and spirit beings — each story traced to the tradition it belongs to, the text it was first written down in, and its date.
Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Bean Sídhe (Banshee)
How to say Bean Sídhe — "ban-SHEE," the Irish behind "banshee": literally the woman of the fairy mound.
Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Púca
How to say Púca — "POO-kuh," with a long oo. The shapeshifting Irish spirit that is cousin to Shakespeare's Puck.
Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Mabinogi
How to say Mabinogi — "mab-in-OG-ee," with a hard g. The Four Branches of medieval Welsh tale, and why the title's meaning…
Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Cú Chulainn
How to say Cú Chulainn — "koo KHUL-in," the Hound of Culann. Why that ch is a throaty loch sound, not a…
Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Samhain
How to say Samhain — it is "SOW-in" (rhymes with cow-in), not "Sam-hane." Why the mh trips everyone up.
Celtic Legends
Say It Right: Sidhe
How to say Sidhe — it is simply "shee," the Irish word for a fairy mound and the Otherworld folk who dwell…
Celtic Legends
Cú Chulainn
The Hound of Ulster who defended a province alone: birth in Compert Con Culainn, glory in the Táin (Lebor na hUidre c.1100),…
Celtic Legends
The Wild Hunt
The spectral riders are a pan-European motif — Germanic, Norse, Welsh, English and French — not one Celtic myth. Who leads the…
Celtic Legends
The Morrígan
The Irish goddess of sovereignty, war and prophecy — as she appears in Cath Maige Tuired and the Táin — kept distinct…