FOMORIANS

the monstrous dcities of Irish mythology who are overcome in battle with the beneficent Danann deities. According to De Jubainville, the French Celtic authority, the Irish mythological system resembled that of ancient Greece. He regards the Dananns as Gaelic Olympians, and the Fomorians as Titans. Balor, the leader of the Fomorians, is slain with a stone (the sun) flung by Lugh (pronounced Loo), the Danann god, as Argos is slain with a stone by Hermes. De _ Jubainville’s view is that Argos and Balor personified night, while Her mes and Lughpersonificd the dawn. The derivation of ‘Fomorian’ or ‘Fomore’is uncertain. Rhy uggested fo-murib, ‘ander-seas,’ but afterwards abandoned this view. In Scottish Gaelic Fomhair (pronounced foo’ar) signifies ‘giant,’ and the Scottish Fomorians have no particular a ociation with the sea or with darkne . They occupy headlands, and fling boulders at one another acro valleys and arms of the sea. Others occupy caves or islands. There are no Dananns in Scotland. According to ancient Irish references, the Fomorians were the gods of the pre-Celtic peoples, the Fir-bolgs (men with the sacks), the Fir-Domnann, the Dumnonii, or Damn on i ans who occupied Devon and Cornvyall, the Strathelyde area of Scotland, and part of Central and South-Western Treland. Apparently the gods of the earlier people became the demons of the later, or were identified with the demons in their mythological system. Originally ‘¥ir-bolg’ had a definite racial significance, but it was in time applied to subject peoples. ‘Fomorian’ was likewise loosely applied to seafarers from the He brides, ., who invaded Ireland. It was probably a pre-Celtic term. BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. D’Arboise De Jubainville, Le Cycle My tho log i que Irlandais et la My tho logie Celtique; C. Squire, Celtic Myth and Legend; D. A. Mackenzie, Wonder T'ales from Scottish Myth and Legend.