In Ireland, Aos sí (also known in the older Irish word form as aes sídhe) is the Gaelic name for a supernatural race in Celtic mythology. These supernatural beings are often compared to fairies or elves. The oldest oral stories say that these fairies are either fallen angels or the descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the gods and goddesses in the Irish pagan pantheon.
Many historians say that the Aos sí emerged after the Tuatha Dé Danann lost their battles with the mortal Milesians (who came from Iberia). According to Geoffrey Keating, an Irish historian of the early 17th century, these invaders were known as “the people from the Land of the Dead.” Once these invaders beat the Tuatha Dé Danann, they were tricked into the terms of surrender. Since the Tuatha Dé Danann were immortals who walked both the mortal world and the otherworld, they were able to convince the Milesians into allowing the Tuatha Dé Danann to live within fairy mounds, or small fairy forts, all throughout Ireland. Unbeknownst to the Milesians, these fairy forts, often guarded by magical Hawthorn or Oak trees, were gateways that led back to the otherworld. This allowed the Tuatha Dé Danann to cross unheeded between the land of the living and the land of the supernatural. This freedom of movement became a problem for these pre-Celtic invaders. As a form of revenge, the descendants of the Milesians began stories that de-deified these immortal beings.
Most of what is know about the Aos sí, or Irish fairies, comes from an oral tradition that wasn’t recorded until monks arrived in Ireland and began to write down these stories in voluminous manuscripts. What is known is that the word aes sidhe means “people of the mounds”. In Ireland, the sidhe are small hills or burial mounds that dot the countryside, also called fairy rings or fairy forts. Once the Tuatha Dé Danann retreated into their forts, their ancestors became known as the Aos sí . No longer gods and goddesses, just average immortal beings.
The members of the Aos sí are considered to be the most beautiful men and women. They are never described by race or ethnicity, just with an otherworldly aura. Nineteenth and twentieth century literature gave them a more elven appearance. Although, like most myths, there are also monsters and animalistic entities within these stories. While the Aos sí appear as extraordinarily beautiful humans, the Cu Sith/Sidhe and Cait Sith/Sidhe, appear as magical animals. And the Bean Sith, aka Banshee, appear as monsters or vengeful spirits. Other forms of the Aos sí include Changelings, the Fachen, and the Dullahan. The most important thing to remember about these entities is that even if they don’t appear scary at first, or even seem enticing, they are terrible, fearsome creatures who are angry at the world of men who forced them into they fairy mounds when they used to roam Ireland freely.
Due to the brutal nature of the Aos sí , and the violent ways they protect their home (a fairy ring a fairy hill or mound, a fairy fort, a well, or a special tree) the Irish people have a long history of placating them. There are many stories, even into the twenty-first century, of the Aos sí fighting off those who try to infringe on their land. Even now, there are areas of Ireland that are protected, not for environmental reasons but because people are afraid of the retaliation of the fairies who live there. If you ever have a chance to visit Ireland, take a tour of the protected fairy lands. I promise you’ll feel like you’ve entered a mystical otherworld.
Another way of appeasing the Aos sí is by leaving small offerings such as food and drink. The people of Ireland have a complicated relationship with their fairy neighbors. While they fear them, they are also honored. It is believed that if a town protects and honors their fairy folk, they will be protected in return. Before you laugh, there are thousands of stories and legends and oral myths, dating back centuries, about how fairies have protected the humans that care for them.
It was also recently discovered that a pre-Celtic version of the word sídhe also refers to the palaces and courts of these fairies. That may explain the sheer volume of stories, including the Tam Lin legend, about people being tricked into the otherworld to attend fairy balls and fetes only to be then taken captive and held as prisoners who were required to prepare food and run errands for fairies in the mortal world. While the fairy folk, and the mortals forced to work for them, can travel between the worlds, they mostly do so at dusk and dawn when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest.
So the next time you walk through a forest, or pass a Hawthorn tree, leave a tiny present (like a piece of a granola bar) for the fairy folk. If they don’t exist, a squirrel will eat the offering. If they do exist, you’re guaranteed a safe passage through the woods. And that’s a bet worth taking!
