TUATHA DE DANANN: CONTRADICTORY CHARACTERS by Madeleine Drake. The Tuatha De Danann — according to Irish legend, they’re the fifth group of people to settle Emerald Isle. When the Gaels (the first Celts to settle in Ireland) arrived, they discovered that the island was already inhabited by the Tuatha De Danann. Peaceful co-existence was apparently not an option, and war broke out, ending only when the Dagda, leader of the Tuatha de Danann, agreed that his people would live underground in the mounds known as sidhe. Yes, the same sidhe which the Fae are supposed to occupy.
This legend, which was written down long after Christianity had taken hold in Ireland, portrays the Tuatha De Danann as mortals. It’s far more likely that these legendary figures were originally gods and goddesses, as they strongly resemble deities known to have been worshipped by Celts in other parts of Europe. What do the Tuatha De Danann have to do with the Fae? Faery’s Bargain A witch gets more than she bargains for when she lends her magic to a sexy Fae warrior Excerpt: Ishtar and the Morrigan. Inanna. Ishtar. Anat. Sekhmet-Bast. The Morrigan. These goddesses of love and war were the original kick-ass heroines: the Buffys and the Anita Blakes of the ancient world. The similarities between Ishtar and Morrigan are many: Both are warriors in cultures when men dominated the battlefield, and both were lusty in nature, taking lovers as they pleased, before and sometimes after marriage. Is it a coincidence that these goddesses from such different parts of the world have so much in common?
Jungians might argue that Ishtar and the Morrigan are similar because they're both expressions of an archetype that's embedded in the human subconscious. There are several different points in history where the Celts could have been exposed to Ishtar: The people who eventually became the Celts originated in the steppes of Russia, migrating westward into Europe.
Who's your favorite kick-ass heroine? One lucky commenter wins their own copies of Blood Hero and Faery's Bargain! Faery's Bargain. Three Types of Faery Lovers. Faery Lovers Faeries are said to be a lusty bunch, and their habit of taking human lovers is well-documented in European folklore: Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin are two of the most famous stories featuring human-faery liaisons. Sadly, the majority of these unions turned out badly. The medieval Church frowned upon all things Fae, preaching that faeries had no souls and no hope of salvation, as they are not "children of Adam. " A human who took a faery lover was seen as endangering his or her own soul, and many of these stories do double-duty as warnings to avoid the Fae and metaphors for the problems created by extra-marital sex. Sexual encounters with faeries seem to fall into one of three categories: Procreative: A faerie marries or abducts a human and has children with them, possibly because humans are said to be more fertile than the Fae.
Sometimes the Fae seek a human mate. Passionate: A faerie and a human fall in love. About Madeline Drake: About Faery's Bargain: Excerpt: Apparently so. Faith in Fae: The Origins of Faery Lore. Faith in Fae: The Origins of Faery Lore By Madeleine DrakeIn pagan times, belief in faeries and elves was widespread throughout Europe: everywhere you find Celtic and Teutonic culture, faery lore shows up in folk customs and tales. But why faeries? What's the origin of the belief in the Hidden People? One of the earliest "explanations" for faeries comes from the saga of Beowulf, which contained a mixture of both pagan and Christian beliefs.
In Beowulf, faeries are lumped into the same category as monsters like Grendel and other demons, who are described as the descendents of the Biblical Cain. Starting in the Middle Ages, proponents of Christianity argued that faeries were fallen angels whose sins were lesser than that of Lucifer's, so God cast them down to Earth instead of sending them all the way to Hell. But as the fledging sciences of anthropology and archaeology developed, other explanations for the popularity of faery faith arose. • They live underground, often in burial mounds.