Banshee

In Irish and other Gaelic folklore, there is a woman often reported as screaming or lamenting through the night (a scream that they named "caoine" or "keening") and it's said that it is only heard as a presage of the death of a family member to those who hear it, or to the one that hears it themself.

This mysterious wailing woman was dubbed 'The Banshee' (Bean Sidhe/Ban Sith - Woman of the Fairies). 

Sometimes she would appear as an old woman and sometimes as a young woman, sometimes she is a floating spectre and others she is human and in Ireland, it is believed that she only warns those of pure Irish descent similar to in Wales where the "Gwrach y Rhibyn" or "The Ribyn Witch" would visit only those of pure Welsh stock.

Image by Mary Evans

In "Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft" by Sir Walter Scott (1830), it mentions a belief of a kind of banshee or a household spirit in certain Highland families.

She has also been said to appear as; a beautiful woman wearing a shroud, a pale woman in a white dress and long red hair, a woman with a long silver dress and silver hair, a naked-from-the-waist-up headless woman carrying a bowl of blood and an old woman with red eyes, a green dress and long white hair.

 

Where does the legend come from?

The first stories of Banshees have been traced back to the 8th Century and were based on a tradition in which women sang sorrowful songs to lament a persons death.

These women were called "keeners" and were seen as sinners and were punished by being doomed to become Banshees due to them accepting alcohol as payment.

According to mythology, if a Banshee is seen, she will vanish into mist, creating a sound similar to that of wings flapping. It also states that Banshees don't bring death, they only warn of it.

These women were not all hate-filled. There were some that had strong ties to their families and continued to watch over them after death, manifesting themselves as beautiful enchanting women that sing a song full of concern and love.

The angry and scary ones that are most often depicted in shows and stories are women who had reason to hate their families and appeared as distorted apparitions filled with hatred (similar to a poltergeist don't you think?) whose howls were enough to chill you to the bone and instead of being a warning, they were a celebratory sound for the demise of someone they loathed in life.

 

In other Irish legends, they state the Banshee is a ghost of a young girl that suffered a brutal death and whose spirit - appearing as an old woman with rotten teeth and long nails - continued to warn the family members of imminent death.

In some tales, some Banshees would wail at a person until they took their own life and would seek out specific victims to do this to.

Ones that can physically harm people though are pure fiction and exist only in modern-day horror films and stories. Banshees cannot cause death, only warn of it.

Along with the belief in Banshees, the theory of a personal observer to each family member that would report back to the banshee is slowly dying out and Banshees are now regarded as nothing more than a spooky bedtime story but many centuries ago, the belief in this harbinger of death was widespread and to be a disbeliever was blasphemous.

 

 

Sources: Brevertons Phatasmagoria: A compendium of Monstoners, Myths and Legends - Terry Breverton

 

https://www.celtic-weddingrings.com/celtic-mythology/ 

Image Sources: Google