Celtic Mommy Goddesses and the Wailing Fairies of Death

Often used in horror movies, TV shows, and video games, the Banshee is a widely misunderstood being within Irish folklore. The wailing woman in white appears and cries in preparation for someone's death, but what is it? Are they dangerous? What is the origin of the Banshee? Welcome back to The Lore Lodge...
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[@meepmoopiethe3rd]

Remember, kids: If you hear weird screaming in the woods that isn't quite human, it's almost certainly a red fox or bobcat and not a mythical entity.

[@cabbageo_0]

True, but I don’t really want to be around of the three…woods aren’t for me anyways, I guess.

[@p1nkishninja]

I called the cops once years ago when I heard a cat screaming late one night. Didn't know it was a cat till later. I was convinced a child was being murdered. Was quite shook

[@meepmoopiethe3rd]

@@cabbageo_0 can't relate. Constantly outside. The woods grow less scary the more you're in them and realize everything is more scared of you.

[@thegreenknight8423]

Yeah foxes do scream like banshees. One screamed outside my window when I was a teenager, I came outside running thinking a woman was dying in my backyard.

[@BlondieG63]

The scream of a fox at night is rather chilling. It will scare the crap out of you!!

[@aboardman98]

I am Irish and when I was young hearing the "Banshee" used to scare the feck outta me. Once I went fox hunting with my uncle all my fears were laid to rest. I am near 100percent sure that what most people think is a Banshee is a horny fox.

[@martithdurel3974]

There is a paper written by Simon Young titled, "True Fairy Stories? Nineteenth-Century Irish Fairylore", which recounts some instances that were labeled as works of faeries that were most likely mundane. The story about the 'faerie pit' sticks out to me the most.

[@kasstlekrasher5468]

🤣 I'm telling everyone this for thr rest of my life

[@kaylahevans8334]

Yep, I had a vixen who used to scream outside of our house a few years ago. I'm sure she was a gorgeous animal but hearing her outside at 3 am while I tried to sleep was disturbing.

[@Arrusoh]

I have to disagree. People knew what Foxes sound like. Also some of the banshees were described as sounding similar to a fox, others weren't.

[@pst5345]

red cloak and vixen fox reference made me think the same. A horny fox or rabid one...

[@SpectrumAnalysis]

I feel like a lot of the animosity toward the Banshee is the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" effect. They portend terrible events, so people associate them with the events in bad spirit or even accuse them of causing the events, rather than just being there and knowing it'll happen and trying to warn you.

[@beansforwhat]

I was just about to say the same thing. People often mistake the byproducts of events fo the causes of them, and this very likely could be one such instance.

[@-Zer0Dark-]

​@@beansforwhat It's a terrible human tendency. So prevalent that the term "Don't kill the messenger" became necessary.

[@lykonic1763]

Please tell me that the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" Effect is an accepted concept in the world of academia; nothing would make me happier than something to contest the brilliance of the study claiming the rats they were testing were just too much of assholes to find any conclusive results.

[@chubbybunny6975]

Kinda similar to what people say about the Mothman. He doesn't kill people he doesn't bring death, he just warns about it, and people blame him

[@Sing_A_Rebel_Song]

Like the Mothman too

[@steveculbert4039]

In Appalachia, in the 1950s, banshees were spoken of as commonly present at night, especially in the woods. They were commonly considered to be female spirits mourning the death of a loved one belonging to her. The banshee was considered a bad onen suggesting death in the hearer's family. In Appalachia, the banshee wa considered a real entity that one never saw only heard.

[@MobiusMundUr]

So the thing about the "Fomorians" is that they were Giants, but not necessarily in the traditional sense. They were basically mutants of a sort, and came in all shapes and sizes, and would interbreed with the normal humans. This lead to the creation of many of the Fae folk. So yes, technically Leprachauns are part Giant. More interestingly though, in its origiinal Gaelic spelling, the Fomorians translates to: "The Ones who came from Below" and/or "The Ones who came from the Sea"

[@user-ns4zm8qe9p]

Puts a different spooky spin on it, why would they name it in that way if they didn’t see where the Fomorians came from?

[@TheLoreLodge]

Tracks with a lot of Western European mythology actually! One theory about the Norse, Greek, and Roman pantheons is that they’re mashups of the Indo-European and whatever was there before. Typically, fertility and agriculture gods and goddesses seem to predate the more warlike gods. The Titans are more elemental, while the Olympians are more civilizing. The Vanir are more associated with nature and farming, the Aesir more with war and trade.

[@tullyDT]

The stories I was told said that the Fomorians were very ancient and were almost like a force of nature. They were said to have come from the same place that darkness came from and you had to travel by sea to get there. The Fomorian warlord Balor of the Evil Eye was said to have had a fortress on Tory Island of the coast of Donegal.

[@tullyDT]

@@TheLoreLodge It's interesting how legends can continue to evolve in the modern times. There is a place in county Donegal called "The Poisoned Glen", local legend has it that the Fomorian warlord Balor was slain there when Lugh cast a spear into his eye, the blood that flowed from the eye was so poisonous that it split the stones and created the valley. The truth however, is less exciting. The true name of the valley is An Gleann Neamhe (The Heavenly Glen) as happened many times before and after, English cartographers not knowing Irish made a spelling error. In this case they spelled Neamhe as Neimhe which mean poison.

[@whims6278]

This is so interesting- thank you so, so much for sharing

[@composer_15]

My grandmother passed on Tuesday. I swear about 8 hours before she actually passed I heard a loud scream. I thought it was my cat. It was not.

[@ickyvicky333]

i’m so sorry for your loss

[@Lazarou101]

2 things: - Firstly I'm sorry for your loss, recently went through the same thing and I know how much it hurts - Secondly nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope

[@TheBurlingtonCrow]

A friend heard it the night his friend died in a car crash

[@Clowndude4.0]

@@Lazarou101 aw don't worry it was probably a fox or something...... probably......why do I hear screaming?

[@clararawr8177]

Thanks for doing us proud. You made a great job of the Irish for someone who doesnt speak it, i was dreading listening but Im glad i got to enjoy instead

[@TheLoreLodge]

I tried my best, I’m sure I still missed a few but I hope the thought counts 😅

[@crusher_of_souls_9817]

Glad to see some Irish folklore on the channel!

[@theganondorky7238]

Honestly I really like this version of the Banshee, nowadays it's been put as an enemy class or magic thing you summon, but this makes it feel more like a natural thing, not a creature of evil or darkness, but just a force of mourning to signify death, a more peaceful and impactful interpretation, something that could be used for very powerful scenes or parts of a story.

[@notsae66]

If you've ever heard a fox or cougar mating call, you can guess where these banshee and banshee adjacent myths come from pretty easily.

[@jtl-en4yx]

The night before grandmother passed away the foxes were keening outside. I know they were foxes, by I'm not sure it was a coincidence.

[@Konkata]

Nah. These people knew what a fox sounded like. Nature was right outside their front door day and night. Nature was a part of their every day lives (unlike today where someone might hear a fox and freak out) and they knew what a fox sounded like. They also knew what a fox didn’t sound like. I believe them when they say it was something different. They’d know. And there were no mountain lions in Ireland or Scotland.

[@theredknight9314]

Except cougars and big cars are a recent feature of the british isles that the government deny. And British foxes dont sound as screamy as the american ones.

[@AmeliasTea]

In Cath Maige Tuired (The Battle of Magh Tuireadh) it's said that the goddess Brigid "invented" keening, after her son dies on the battlefield. I've always considered there to be a strong link between her and the Bean Sídhe. I believe it's also said they scream when a person of royal blood is going die? Which Brigid's son (Rúadán) was... He was also part Fomorian! "Brig came and keened for her son. At first she shrieked, in the end she wept. Then for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland. (Now she is the Brig who invented a whistle for signalling at night.)"

[@l4dhat]

Hearing your pronunciation of half the counties makes my soul weep Aiden

[@TheLoreLodge]

I only had so much time to research this one 😅

[@l4dhat]

@The Lore Lodge Ahhh, its all good haha, sure it's far from the worst I've heard :p

[@anilover10]

When you're Mexican, but there's a chance your grandpa was Irish (need a DNA test to confirm first), there's two options the wailing could be now 😭

[@nikidessi]

You get a family specific Llorona 😭💀

[@briantomcollins]

Welcome to the club lad... 🇮🇪🍀🍻

[@ShrexyGuy]

That's tough just cause history too. It's like "England did this to us TWICE?!"

[@godwarrior3403]

Cartel victim

[@William_Seahill]

Me children 😂

[@tomsawyerpiper9412]

“Out from many a mud wall cabin; eyes were watching through the night Many a manly heart was beating for the blessed warning light Murmurs rang along the valleys to the banshee's lonely croon And a thousand pikes were flashing by the rising of the moon.” Excerpt from The Rising of The Moon, as preformed by The Dubliners

[@jtl-en4yx]

Love It! One of my all time favs!

[@horseandyogsim3348]

And where is the gathering we are to meet by the river that is well know to u and me

[@jtl-en4yx]

@@horseandyogsim3348 One word more for signal taken, whistle up the marching tune...

[@donaldsmith6814]

Well they fought for dear old Ireland and full bitter was their fate!

[@margaretzoheir7905]

I'm from Ireland, living now in Egypt. I am 73 and yes there was a belief in the bean sidh when I was a child. They are said to wail before the death of people who have 'O'' or 'Mac' 'Mc'' in their surname. I have an O in mine!

[@lmartinson6963]

"Are you or a loved one Irish?" May be the best video introduction

[@cgw3186]

I'm almost annoyed by how delighted I am by the fact that a video on the banshee requires a fifteen minute background ramble on the weird mythological history of Ireland. And Aiden pronounces Tuatha De Danaan correctly, which is a balm to my soul - as an Irish mythology nerd who's also cursed with an interest in the paranormal sheer number of times I've gritted my teeth at terrible butchering of the name is epic. 😂 You two make my day, so keep up the great work Aidens...

[@varangjar1544]

I wonder how much the banshee stories may have been influenced by norse legends of valkyries. They choose the slain, ie appear at our before death, are often described with norse beauty standards (extremely long fair hair) and are visible on battlefields. (Darraðarljóð)

[@wolfi9933]

>I wonder how much the banshee stories may have been influenced by norse legends of valkyries. Probably not at all, since both developed out of the same source and were fully developed concepts when Irish and Norse "met again"

[@EchoLog]

​@@wolfi9933 right, because English didn't change in any way grammatically when it met it's cousin French. And the fruit and tubor of those tomato-potato hybrids aren't in any way affected because "both nightshade". Mixing related things together doesn't revert or do nothing to or decrease diversity, it synthesises a particular mix from, and adds it to the collective. How much mixing did celts and nords do mythologically? Can't say I'm a layman. Did it happen? Yep - sharing ideas and killing each other are to be assumed - we're human.

[@wolfi9933]

@@EchoLog >ight, because English didn't change in any way grammatically when it met it's cousin French. When these concepts developed there were neither english and french... >Mixing related things together doesn't revert or do nothing to or decrease diversity, it synthesises a particular mix from, and adds it to the collective. Yeah, but there is no Gaelic-Norse-Mythology. When the Norse people and the Gaelic peoples met, but of their mythologies were literally a over 1500 years old. The idea that the banshee was influenced by the valkyrie makes no sense because it already existed for hundreds of years and was already a well developed concept. The concept of a wailing/weeping woman spirit is found in a lot of indoeuropean cultures, like the German Winselmutter/Klagemutter, variations of the Slavic Midnight woman etc.

[@EchoLog]

@@wolfi9933 my point is you're saying poets and bards and uncles around campfires never took inspiration from their neighbors, because their neighbors were the same as them, or at least the same long enough ago. Which is imbecilic. Only someone obsessed with a particular methodology would act in that way, composing their mythology as such.

[@userequaltoNull]

​@@EchoLog No, his point is that they didn't fucking need to, because celtic and Germanic cultures were both *A* roughly the same age and *B* diverged from a culture which, in all likelihood, had a "weeping woman of death" long before they split. I'll also note that Banshees and Valkyries are really not very similar at all, Banshees being an omen, while Valkyries are very specifically servants of the Divine who actively *choose* who dies in battle. Really the only similarity is that both take the form of a woman, and both have a vague association with the concept of "death".

[@smm855]

OH man, I'm so glad you included all that historical stuff I didn't know! The Tuatha De have some perfect aspects to fit into a story I'm writing 😍

[@Woodsbororipper]

You should cover vampire legends and missing persons reports and cold cases.

[@jtl-en4yx]

Each British culture has a version of this legend. The Irish have the Banshee "The Fairy Woman," the Scottish have the Caoineag "The Wailer," the Welsh have Gwrach Y Rhibyn "The Hag of the Dribble (mist)," and the English have Old Shuck the spectral black dog. I think the English version may be different because of the Germanic origins of the English.

[@BethLovitz]

I'm 8 minutes in and that repetitive acoustic loop in the background is driving me bonkers. It's making it a real challenge for me to listen to this one, which is very saddening because I love Irish folklore!

[@jmykle4827]

I made it to 20 min. Sucks because I really liked this one. The loop is actually aggravating.

[@jamespower9370]

Great video! It's always nice to hear people talking about Irish folklore. We've such a rich culture when it comes to stories of the supernatural that its a real shame at times how a lot of people only know Ireland for the Leprechaun. As someone that's lived in rural Ireland their whole live, I'd say superstition around the banshee is still pretty high, although that may just be because my parents grew up in the 70's and 80's when stories about it were more common. There's a canal about a twenty minute walk from my home where supposedly a banshee was seen by a neighbour's mother back when my dad was a kid (as well as other weird shit that's happened there, that canal is for sure haunted) and my mother maintains her grandfather met a banshee while enroute to a funeral in his community. Additionally I have friends that live in even more rural areas and their families have similar stories (about more than just the banshee ofc, Ireland's got a lot of persistent folklore). While I've definitely noticed a decline in banshee superstition among the general population since I was a kid in the early 2000s, growing up in an environment where it was treated as "a thing you might actually see" and not just a story definitely had an effect on me, to the point where the one time I had sleep paralysis I was convinced there was a banshee sitting in the corner of my room watching me. While as an adult I don't really believe in the banshee, it's just such a cultural cornerstone of rural Ireland that I'd be lying if I said the thought of maybe hearing it outside when I'm laying in bed late at night isn't something that enters my mind. Again fantastic video and thanks for giving some love to one of Ireland's most interesting sidhe!

[@henryfonseca4198]

I'm from South Texas, I heard a scream one night outside the home where we use to live near Saxet Lake here in South texas. It was a woman's cry, blend of a scream & cry & moan that was so ugly it literally made the hair on the back of my neck & arms stand up so bad. I had to stand up. From where I was sitting in the house, I had to stand up Shake myself aware of the situation. A week later, my girlfriends father died he was elderly. I think The cry was a warning of death to come to come near.

[@mushroomwings3236]

Me: Oh boy, a new Lore Lodge video about folklore!! And it's about the Banshee? I can't wait! My Irish ancestors: 👁👄👁

[@kasstlekrasher5468]

Boys. I have not even started the video and I'm in tears. I love banshee so much! I litterally dress as one every Samhain. I'm so hopeful for what you'll get into in this!!! (Also, worried. But hey, I'm sure I'll still love your work at the end)

[@kasstlekrasher5468]

Follow up; yall did amazing. My heart is full. Loved when you covered the different townships in what their appearances were. Telling the tale of how the Banshee are simply Mourners, not evil or with negative intent, was so good to hear. When the tales came to America it was twisted to saying they were scary and brought Death with them. I've always loved Banshee, as the idea of a creature that mournes you. That you were loved, and mattered enough to weep for. If always found that soothing. Interesting fact. The women who were Keeners were often paid in alcohol, rather than money or food, for their work, and it slowly killed them. They slowly starved to death as they traveled from parish to parish to weep for the dead. Would explain why they were so slight in frame. Amazingly, there was a woman in Ireland who was a traveling Banshee, who lived long enough to have her voice recorded!!! I've heard it somewhere on KZbin before. The practice has since seemed to die out as a career path. Covering the Bavenshee (I actually don't know the spelling, forgive me my ancestors...) was awesome!!! Cuz I haven't heard much of them before!!! Thank you for covering this!!!!! I love you guys still!!!

[@GhostzinZ]

Here in brazil we have a similar legend called "rasga mortalha". Usually it's an old hag that can shape shift into a bird/owl or some kind of bird with human head, and it appears to announce people's death

[@TheBurlingtonCrow]

@lorelodge I heard the banshee in Afghanistan when an IED killed one of our corpsmen. The wail started before the IED went off and I heard it from the patrol base. It was as described when this video talks about north west Irish county accounts. An impossibly loud and piercing kind of human shriek. Nobody else heard it and I didn’t know we had a KIA yet. Many legends involve the banshee being drawn to rivers. We were on the banks of the kajaki.

[@heatherofmorans]

holy shit! i'm Ossetian, from the Northern Caucasus (the republic of North Ossetia), Scythians and later Alans are my direct ancestors! hearing about them on this channel was the last thing I expected to encounter hahaha thank you Lore Lodge!

[@whims6278]

Again, absolutely fascinating. I cannot express how enthralled by this video I have been. You do such a great job with these.

[@Skylord_F]

It's pretty neat to hear about just a few of the things that inspired illwinter when they were making the Dominions game series

[@swagmuffin2983]

Cool thing about the white hair, is that red hair generally doesn't grey with age, it turns white.

[@forgingluck]

Oh my God 😂 that offhand O'Keefe reference. I knew there's a reason I love this channel even beyond the cool stories.

[@christineobrien7707]

This was a great clip. You have a true gift of storytelling. You're very knowledgeable, relatable & down to Earth. Oh,& funny too. Keep up the great work!!😎👍👍

[@gaylerobertson7971]

I LOVE the extent of the facts and, especially, the history you provide. AWESOME!!

[@katiemalone8238]

If you've ever cried really hard to where you do those quick shaky inhales, I imagine thats what they mean by hiccups

[@fawneyeslambheart]

very happy to learn more about irish folklore

[@steveculbert4039]

In the American South 1850-1960, approximately, keening was a fairly commonly heard verb meaning "bucklinv over at the waist or while seated leaning toward a dead person with one's face toward the ground." See Faulkner or Calvin Brown's reference.

[@-Adria]

You should do a video on La Llorona for all the Mexican folk

[@jandt9784]

Never heard of ( assuming)her. Seems the more popular lore is the cucoey that I embarrassingly only first heard of from the TV show supernatural

[@ginnygin7141]

​@@jandt9784 la llorona is one of the most (if not the most) well known/popular mexican folktales.

[@DanielSMV805]

​@@jandt9784 La Llorona is one of the most well known Mexican folktales "cucuy" is a word my parents would say to scare me when the house makes a noise. Basically "ooh the Boogeyman" 😂

[@UXMetalVTuber]

I am highly interested in these kinds of folklore and myth, so this is a very exciting topic to see covered!

[@georgetreepwood1119]

Great presentation Part of my family were Irish and were stationed near Carna - allegedly a very spooky place.Stories of people from the early 20th century disappearing into faerie caves and being offered a feast etc.I have a few of them written down somewhere...Supposedly crows gathered when they were passing.

[@Cabbage33]

It was awesome hearing u mention the Scythians!!

[@KatieLynnC92]

If you're familiar with The Cranberries song Zombie, the singing style utilized is very similar to Irish keening. Gives you a better idea of what a banshee might sound like

[@Athlynne]

As a kid, I used to love Darby O'Gill and the Little People, and to this day, the beansidhe in it scares me more than anything else I've ever seen on a screen.

[@ilyafoskin]

Waterford native here. Americans are used to hearing their places mentioned in pop media all the time but I've never heard my home said out loud by a non-native on KZbin before.

[@lovelysakurapetalsyt]

Thank you so much for this, I just seen this! I've always loved the actual story of the banshee that's known, it makes me feel a little more connected to part of my ancestry (Irish blood on two counts, a bit of Scottish too) as well as its fun to learn about cultures

[@tullyDT]

The version I heard from my Grandfather was that everyone except for the person who is going to die can hear the Banshee wailing

[@TheLoreLodge]

That’s one of the cool things about this legend, it varies just a bit from place to place, so it really does feel like each family may have their own

[@martithdurel3974]

-grabs a cast iron bar and settles in to watch the episode-

[@Luna_Spiritus]

I love it when the coffee bag smacks you in the face when you say it's name

[@maitland72]

Another excellent episode, Aidan(s)!!

[@mandilynnlangford1533]

I love the music in the background

[@coolcutiekitti17]

That intro just sent me into fits of laughter! God, I enjoyed that.

[@mecahhannah]

This is awesome have you heard the myth surrounding the cry of a screech owl signifying the death of someone close to you I wonder if there's a connection I've tried researching it but can't find anything maybe you'll have better luck Love your videos always interesting and really helpful I'm working on trying to Write my own fantasy story We also have a superstition in my family where we don't ever cut our hair on Sundays

[@kasstlekrasher5468]

I believe the owl screech is a native American tale? I know Owls represented Death for many tribes, for how silent and swiftly they kill.

[@swimmerkat3965]

My family has some members that believe in the owl thing too! My great aunt in particular was always suspicious about them and she always rolls this story about an owl showing up at her mother’s funeral. When my grandma passed away, she came to the house and suddenly an owl starts showing up in the nearby woods 🦉

[@tokitriplesixxx9953]

If you're working on writing a story, you should start by using punctuation to form sentences .

[@jtl-en4yx]

My Aunt told be they were screeching the night before my uncle died!

[@ickyvicky333]

this is honestly really interesting. both of my parents have terminal cancer and i swear ever since they got their diagnosis’, we’ve been hearing an owl nearby

[@RelativelyBest]

The description of the baobhan sith reminds me a lot of the Swedish skogsrå or Norwegian huldra. Though, at least in the case of the former, all she does is lure men into the forest until they get lost and then she leaves them there. Anyway, they look like beautiful women except something is wrong with them when viewed from behind: They may have animal tails, a hollow opening in their back, or a back covered in tree bark.

[@hoovy2319]

“Are you or a loved one Irish?” Me, with strong Irish heritage: “Uh oh.”

[@BakuraLOLZ54]

4:05 you just explained my grandmas lineage! So cool!

[@l4dhat]

Being Irish, I remember when I was a kid, the stories of the banshee scared the fuck out of me. Then my dad told me they only haunt family's that begin with "O'" like "O'Connell, etc..." then I went into school the next day and told him he was going to die because his surname started with O

[@holliecrawford2647]

Thanks for that I would be O’Sullivan 😫😫😫

[@propakindustries22]

Love the sponsor ad yet again. Do you ship to Australia?

[@scribeslendy595]

An interesting thing to note on your mentioning that most people never wrote down the background of banshees: this is also why we really don't know how ancient battles were fought. That is, no one really explained HOW the battles were conducted because it was assumed everyone reading already understood the mechanics. So while we have a rough idea of how battles MIGHT have even conducted, our actual first-hand sources are basically nil.

[@brycecollins9294]

The coffee is awesome! Just finished my first bag

[@mitchellsupan3481]

Glad you have a video on old Celtic Pagan Tales.

[@BungLer]

"But how did you survive??" "I turned into a fish"

[@swftshadow5563]

I have 2 friends named Aiden and Aden but with this channel I have 2 more

[@suzz1776]

So my great aunt, who lives in Kentucky (we r swiss German, not Irish btw) and she was hearing rattling chains and banging and wailing outside her front door. (She thought it was a demon trying to get in cuz she is very Catholic). But not too long later her husband died. This video reminded me of it, and even though we rnt Irish, and this was in Kentucky, this story is eerily family to what happens to my great aunt. (We r descended from a Germanic royal family so idk if they have banshees too, idk but this is very interesting)

[@TheStarwarsgeek1998]

See! I came back to watch it a second time since once wasn’t good enough for you, Aidens!

[@bansheesveiI]

oh this one's gonna be a banger

[@itallia666]

🇬🇧To hear the sound of Keening Which is unique & makes your skin go goosebumps Listen to a song by the Cranberries( an Irish Band) called Zombie The female singer the late Dolores O Riordan is a brilliant Keener Also the recently departed singer Sinead O Connor also adds Keening to some of her songs Sinead is one of my favourite female singers & id recommend her album " I do not want, What i have not got" All of the tracks are amazing Anyway both Dolores & Sinead both Keen on some of their songs & its unique talent & does sound unearthly! Thank you for the vid, Irish folklore & legend is just so Compelling. Peace 🇬🇧👧

[@tell-me-a-story-]

"These are more desendants of Noah.." Yeah, evryone is. That's...That's how it works.

[@theredknight9314]

As someone who has Irish in me. Im glad i don’t have to worry about the banshee cause i am decedent if the Norman conquers who became leaders of certain sections of ireland. 😎

[@hecklinjekyll3959]

"Also, if you're off in the forest, and a deer-hooved woman comes out to get it on with you, you probably shouldn't do it." Ah crap!

[@Sing_A_Rebel_Song]

There goes my weekend plans :(

[@Annihilation_Studios]

Ah goddamn it. Alright I'll go do something else

[@krystinameadows536]

Normally I listen to these when I’m relaxing or working out but the music in the background absolutely drove me crazy, the repetition of the banjo sound made me lose it. Only 15 minutes in too

[@NanaBren]

Aidan, I remember a story where a person comes upon a woman who is wailing. It’s said that if she is at a stream and washing a garment it is a banshee who is foretelling your demise. This story also has the woman as an old crone or alternatively a beautiful young woman. Supposedly if you hear the wail, someone in the family will die, but if you she her (especially washing blood from a garment), then your death is imminent. I’m 64 years old and I remember my grandmother telling me that when I was a kid. Of course, she could tell some pretty wild stories. LOL. Brenda (formerly McCormick)

[@DneilB007]

You forgot about a possible Norse origin for the banshee. The Norse had two distinct traditions of women who presaged the death of important family members-the Choosers of the Slain (valkyries) and the washer women at the fords. If a war band was on the march and they came across some women washing bloody clothes in a ford as they crossed it, this meant that the battle would go poorly and the leaders would die. The saga that comes to mind where this is described describes a battle that took place in Ireland.

[@feroxta]

My name is spelt Aoibhe, I had no idea there was a specifc banshee with a similar name lol, also your knowledge of irish history/mythology is very impressive! (Watching this from Galway rn)

[@holliecrawford2647]

How do you pronounce it lovely

[@kellentheofficialdata1334]

It’s starting!

[@miguelitomarques8]

"Siouxse and the Banshees" is one of the most badass band names of all.

[@bathtubmeggee7751]

37:35 me too buddy. Me too.

[@tracywilliamson4773]

Never heard one hope I don't, but when my son passed away last year the night he died a screech owl came and perched on the window near our living room and gave the most awful screech I've ever heard. Needless to say the next morning I got the call my son was dead 😢

[@austinlee4156]

A cloven woman appearing in the woods after a wish, kinda sounds like a furry pre-history 😆 🤣 😆

[@SkeeterMcBeater]

What's more impressive than turning into a salmon is being able to survive for 5500 years as a salmon. Pretty sure most of us would be eaten in less than a year.

[@williamhill9658]

Can you do more videos on Irish/Celtic folklore please

[@jessicapollman1672]

I’d like this as well!

[@malavery5017]

in my family the banshee was never cruel or evil. it’s like mothman-they’re not the reason for the death, their like kind of a guardian for a family. they’re just warning you so that you can prepare for a tragedy. my great aunt insists to this day that she heard the banshee a few nights before my grandfather died

[@natalyagopaul1559]

In Trinidad and Tobago, we have the La Diablesse, which is a woman in a long white dress, under which hides a hoofed foot (cow) and a normal foot. She wears broad rim hat to hide her face, it's also known to lure men into the forest.

[@arthurzanin4716]

I thought it was realy interesting hearing about the Banshee, I couldn't stop thinking about the Brazilian legend that is really close, that if a little bird makes a nest underneath your roof, someone on your family is going to die sometime in the future, I don't know where my grandmother heard it, but she always told me and it was never wrong

[@TwilightWolf2508]

That first banshee story actually sounds vaguely familiar. I remember one halloween when I was little, I was on the tailgate of a truck going through a neighborhood. This one woman caught my attention though, she was dressed in all white with light colored hair and had this moon-like glow. She was walking alone, fairly slowly, through a yard. There was a small strip of trees between two yards, she walked into it and, while I couldn't see her, I could see the weird glow until it disappeared. She never came out from the other side of the trees, and it was only maybe 10-15ft wide of a treeline. It wasn't a full moon, so actual moonlight wouldn't make sense for her glow imo. It's something that's always stuck with me. I'm pretty far from Ireland, but I do have Irish ancestry.

[@bromisovalum8417]

The banshee screams when members of old Irish families die, clans that go back to pagan days, especially nobles. It is a sort of curse that is carried on, in the sense of the sins of the father.

[@stevelyons2744]

We Lyons are everywhere. If you can't see us, we're behind you.

[@happierabroad]

What about banshees? Aren't they part of Irish folklore? There's a great movie about it with Sean Connery called "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" from a long time ago. The banshee in it is super scary. They had amazing special effects in the 50s and 60s it seems.

[@Andwack]

Watching from Northern Ireland

[@CryptidRenfri]

Aiden: Irish families who's names start with an O' or Mac are the oldest, most pure Irish bloodlines, most likely to be haunted by a banshee Me, of Irish descent and who's family name was originally spelt O'Tuama: Interesting. Very interesting. Aiden later in the video: Strangely, they do not follow Irish people or families who leave Ireland Well dang, guess I'll never know if they're real or not lol

[@georgej.4587]

If the next Coffee bit isn't him flinching in aniticpation, thinking he's in the clear and then gets hit anyways, I am Rioting. Good Video though. Appreciate these videos as a night shift guy. Keep it up!

[@jamiemohan2049]

Natural blonde hair is actually fairly common here. Red hair is the least common despite stereotypes. Dark brown/black hair is the most common hair colour followed by light brown to dark blonde hair and then lighter blonde hair.

[@celtofcanaanesurix2245]

with the tolkien elf tuatha de comparison, may I also note both ended up giving up all their land in the world of men for a mysterious land across the sea to the west. May I also add that in tolkien's mythos, when an elf stayed in middle earth too long and didn't return across the sea, their body faded, at which point they are called back by the judge god, but they can say no, so it's possible there are bad elves that are just bodiless phantoms, able perhaps to give people feelings like the ring wraiths who are going through a similar predicament brought on by the rings, or perhaps even move things and make sounds.... like a banshee Also the hair thing, Galadriel has silvery-golden hair, and gives to Gimli three hairs from her head as a sign of honor, as she refused to give even one hair to her talented though troubled cousin Feanor... This just keeps getting deeper

[@econarticles]

The dobro music is a nice touch. The notes sound similar to the opening music. Is the background music the dobro version of the opening music?

[@donpiedrabuena8054]

Once I made a full grown adult friend belive that there were witches in the forest around my house... as soon as foxes started barking or whatever they do, I took my things and run inside faking being scared. The next morning guilt made me tell him the truth.

[@katherineheasley6196]

Thanks for bringing up Proto-Indo-European! Yep, most of the languages of Europe and India, as well as Persian languages, are all related. In Europe, it broke down to the Romance, Germanic, and Slavic languages. The real mystery is the existence of language isolates, like (as you pointed out) Basque, and to a lesser degree, Hungarian and Finnish. They're just weird. On a less positive note, quite literally, the repetitive music in the background drove me quietly crazy while I was listening to this.

[@sulumsphony66]

This is very informative, fascinating even, however I am personally more interested in the contextual/etymological background on the drinking fairy of Irish mythology. The one that makes us drink every time we hear a glass clink or someone breathe 😝

[@lucifermagne7458]

Oh shit, the drinking fairy is here! Time to drink *again*....

[@KyleLyre13]

15:43 the whole otherworld thing kind of reminds me vaguely of Shinto belief

[@Skyfire-x]

29:07 perhaps ululating cries would be analogous to hiccuping described?

[@BreadApologist]

"Sobbing Death Fairies From the Otherworld" sounds like a good band name...or anime title.