Fand ("tear", "teardrop of beauty") or Fann ("weak, helpless person'") is an otherworldly woman in

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...

. The two forms of her name are not phonetic variants, but two different words of different meaning and the history of her name is debated.James MacKillop, ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), s.v. "Fand".

Appearance in ''Serglige Con Culainn''

Fand appears most prominently in the Ulster Cycle tale, '' Serglige Con Culainn'' ("The Sickbed of Cúchulainn") as the daughter of Áed Abrat, sister of

Lí Ban Lí Ban (; thus 'paragon of women') may refer to an otherworldly female figure in Irish mythology. This Lí Ban claimed the beautiful Fand as sister, and was wife to Labraid Luathlám ar Claideb ("Labraid of the swift sword-hand"), the ruler of ...

and one Angus, and wife of Manannán. She enters the story in the form of an otherworldly sea bird. In her sea bird form, she flies with a flock of enchanted birds, with each pair joined together by a silver chain. Fand, flying with her sister

, stands out from the rest as they are connected by a gold chain. The hero Cúchulainn hurls stones at the seabirds, one of which passes through Fand's wing feathers. Later, Fand and Lí Ban return in the form of "Otherworldly women" and confront him on the shore of the lake. They beat Cúchulainn with horsewhips until he falls ill and lies abed for a year, unable to rise. Cúchulainn eventually regains his health by the favor of Fand when, via negotiators (Lí Ban, and Cúchulainn's charioteer, Láeg), Cúchulainn reluctantly agrees to travel to the Fand's otherworld island and help her in a battle against her foes. Cúchulainn and Fand then become lovers. The relationship does not last, as Cúchulainn's wife,

Emer Emer (), in modern Irish Eimhear or Éimhear (with variations including Eimer, Eimear and Éimear) and in Scottish Gaelic Eimhir, is the name of the daughter of Forgall Monach and the wife of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish m ...

is very jealous and comes to attack the couple with a troop of women armed with knives. Fand sees that Emer is worthy of Cúchulainn, and obviously upset by their affair, so Fand chooses to leave him. She chants a poem, and then returns to her husband Manannán, who shakes his magical cloak of mists between Fand and Cúchulainn, that they may never meet again. Cúchulainn and Emer then drink a drink of forgetfulness, provided by the

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

Other appearances in early literature

According to MacKillop, "her mother is sometimes given as

Flidais Flidas or Flidais (modern spelling: Fliodhas, Fliodhais) is a female figure in Irish Mythology, known by the epithet ''Foltchaín'' ("beautiful hair"). She is believed to have been a goddess of cattle and fertility. Mythology Flidas is mentioned ...

, the woodland deity. In variant texts she is described as the wife of Eochaid Iúil, one of Labraid's enemies vanquished by Cúchulainn". The goddess or otherworldly woman,

Niamh Niamh (; from Old Irish ) is an Irish feminine given name (meaning "bright" or "radiant"), anglicised as Neve, Nieve, Neave, Neavh or Neeve. In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the quee ...

of the Golden Hair, is said to be a daughter of Manannán. As Niamh and Fand share some of the same characteristics, it is possible Niamh is also the daughter of Fand. Some sources mention another possible daughter of Manannán, Cliodna, but as Manannán is known to have partnered with a number of goddesses and mortal women, her connection with Fand is unclear.

Appearances in modern literature

Fand inspired

William Larminie William Larminie (1 August 1849 – 19 January 1900) was an Irish poet and folklorist. He was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, of Huguenot descent and was educated at Kingstown School and Trinity College Dublin, from which he graduated in 1871 w ...

's ''Fand and Other Poems'' (Dublin, 1892) and Arnold Bax's tone poem ''

The Garden of Fand ''The Garden of Fand'' (1916) is a tone poem by the English composer Arnold Bax. It was inspired by an Irish mythical figure, Fand, the daughter of the lord of the ocean. The work does not portray the events of the mythical tale, but evokes Fand' ...

'' (1916). Fand has also appeared as a recurring character in Kevin Hearne's ''

The Iron Druid Chronicles ''The Iron Druid Chronicles'' is a series of urban fantasy novels, novellas, novelettes and short stories, written by Kevin Hearne and published by Del Rey Books. All the books, including short stories, have recorded as audiobooks narrated by Luk ...

'' series.

References

*
The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain
, an English translation of the above

{{Irish mythology (Ulster) Irish goddesses Tuatha Dé Danann Ulster Cycle

Appearance in ''Serglige Con Culainn''

Other appearances in early literature

Appearances in modern literature

See also

References