Cichuil

Cichuil and Fer Caille are the names of two legendary figures from Irish mythology .

Mythology and Etymology

In the story Togail Bruidne Da Derga ("The Destruction of the Hall Da Dergas"), Cichuil is an ugly old woman, the wife of the equally gruesome Fer Caille ("Forest Man"). He has only one eye, one arm and one leg, black pointed hair, carries a scorched, continuously squeaking piglet on his back and a spit in his hand; she has black skin, a huge mouth with a twig in it, but never speaks, and her lower lip hangs down to her knees. Its appearance reminds you in some ways of a Sheela-na-Gig . The two messengers of bad luck want to roast the piglet on a spit for King Conaire Mór in the festival hall of Da Derga ("the red god"). Conaire Mór cannot prevent the two of them from entering there with him, which violates one of his gessi (taboos) and leads indirectly to his death.

The name Cichiul is reminiscent of the Fomoren Cichol Gri-cenchos , it could mean "... of the Cichol". That and the demonic-unpaired figure of her husband would indicate that Cichuil and Fer Caille are also Fomori.

See also

• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
• Myths and legends from Ireland

literature

• Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .

Web links

• Harry Mountain: The Celtic Encyclopedia. Volume 3, Universal Publishers, 1998, ISBN 1-58112-892-4 , pp. 632 f. (books.google.at)
• Barbara Freitag: Sheela-na-gigs: unraveling an enigma. Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-34552-9 , p. 33. (books.google.at)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , pp. 732 f.