Each Uisge
The Each Uisge (Gaelic: [ɛxɯʃgʲə] - dt .: water horse ', engl .:, water horse') is in the Scottish popular belief, a shape-shifting creature of fairy realm or other world (engl .: Fairy Court, Seelie, Unseelie, Celtic Otherworld, Sìdhe), which is said to inhabit the lochs and coastal waters of Scotland and is considered to be one of the most dangerous water monsters in Scottish-Celtic mythology.
etymology
The term Each Uisge is one of the widespread creatures of the “water horses” in Celtic mythology, each means “horse” (Latin: equus) and uisge (Latin: aqua) means “water”. Compare Scottish Gaelic: each uisge , Irish Gaelic: each uisce , anglicized Irish form: aughisky , Manx: Cabyll-ushtey and glashtin , Welsh: Ceffyl dŵr .
Difference each uisge - each uisce / aughisky - kelpie
The "Each Uisge" can easily be confused with the Irish "Aughisky" (anglicized form of Irish Gaelic: "each uisce"), which the stories attribute the same skills and a similar behavior, but which is said to have inhabited the standing waters of Ireland . It does not gallop along the beach like its Scottish relative and neither does it inhabit flowing waters like the " Kelpie ".
Appearance and behavior
Like the kelpie, it's a shapeshifter. The Each Uisge can mainly be found in the form of a beautiful sturdy stallion, noble horse or pony . It waits near the shore or the beach for people who - deceived by the magnificent figure - are tempted to mount the horse. If a person was mounted, the Each Uisge fled immediately towards the sea or lake. Due to a sticky substance that the water horse secreted on its back, the victim was no longer able to get off the animal's back or to let himself fall. After the creature reached its humid element, it swam far out into the sea or to the deepest point of the hole, drowning its rider, and consuming almost all of its human prey. Only the liver was not eaten. The human organ was driven ashore after an attack, which the locals used as an indication that the water horse had once again claimed a human life. As long as the horse is ridden on land, it is harmless, but the smell of water or the slightest accumulation of water means the fatal end of its unsuspecting rider. The Scottish water horse is the most vicious and dangerous of all water horses, although it resembles the more harmless Cabyll-Ushtey of the Isle of Manx, which primarily kills cattle. Sometimes its appearance also manifests itself as a huge bird or a handsome young man. The creature usually takes human form to attract women. It can only be recognized by the aquatic plants in its hair. The people in the Scottish highlands therefore approached strangers and stray animals only suspiciously and extremely hesitantly. Unlike its cousin in Ireland, it inhabits the sea on the Scottish coast or large calm lakes / lochs in the Scottish interior, while the Scottish kelpie roams in flowing waters. Like its relatives in the Celtic lands, it kills those who want to ride it. Similarities can also be found to the Swedish Bäckahästen (German: 'Bach horse') in Scandinavia.
stories
Scottish folk tales tell of how an Each Uisge once appeared as a pretty little horse in front of some little girls near Aberfeldy, Tayside. As the children mounted the pony, it extended its back to accommodate everyone. Although the horse galloped wildly back and forth between the rocks, none of the children fell off the horse's back. The next morning their livers swam on the surface of the nearby hole. In addition to human sacrifices, cattle and sheep were also prey of every water horse, and it could be lured out of the water by the smell of roasted meat. A story from McKay's More West Highlands Tales goes as follows: A Raasay Island blacksmith swore revenge for the death of his pretty daughter, who was killed by an Each Uisge. Together with his son, he forged a series of large hooks that he distributed on the bank of the hole. Then he roasted a sheep and heated the iron hooks until they were red hot. Eventually a thick mist rose from the hole and the Each Uisge swam up from the depths of the hole, attracted by the smell of the roast sheep, and grabbed it. The blacksmith and his son immediately hooked the red-hot hooks into the flesh of the beast, and after a brief struggle it remained motionless. The next morning there was nothing left of the creature but a slimy substance.
literature
- Joane Eglantine Whitmore, Felicity Nightingale (Illustrator): Each Uisge Dhen Gleann Garaidh, The Glengarry Water Kelpie. Invergarry 2001, ISBN 0-9541291-0-5 .
- FW L Thomas: Notice of Beehive Houses in Harris and Lewis. With Traditions of the "Each-uisge", or Water-horse, connected therewith. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Volume 3, 1857-1859, pp. 127-144 ( online ).
- Anne Ross: Folklore of the Scottish Highlands. Gloucester 2000, ISBN 0-7524-1904-8 , pp. 95-96.
- Each uisge. In: Katharine Mary Briggs: An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. ISBN 0-394-73467-X , pp. 115-116.
- Brian Froud, Alan Lee: Elves, Goblins and Haunted Characters. Weltbild 2003, p. 120.
- JF Campbell: Dùn Èideann. In: More West Highland Tales. Volume 2, 1994, ISBN 1-874744-23-8 , p. 12.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ More West Highland Tales, Volume 2, JF Campbell, Dùn Èideann, 1994, duilleag 12. ISBN 1-874744-23-8
Web links
- "Each Uisge" in the Encyclopedia of the Celts , ISBN 87-985346-0-2