Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Nifty Buckles here to share folklore of the Leprechauns or also known as lúchorpáin in Gaelic.
They were the Fae ( Fairy Folk) that live on Emerald Isle and are descendants of the Tuatha De Danann.
Leprechauns are loners that enjoy living in trees, under rocks and lavishly green gardens.
Gifted Cobblers crafting tiny shoes for their fairy friends, worn for many a jig or two. Leprechauns are the financiers for the fae. They are tricksters and have a dark side.
Don’t ask them for a loan it is only for the fae! They are fierce protectors of the fae gold and even kept it from Viking warriors long ago. One fortunate person may discover it at the end of the rainbow.
According to Irish Folklore if you catch a Leprechaun he must grant you three wishes.
It doesn’t happen very often except for this first tale of the Leprechaun.
Yes, I remember it well. Fergus mac Léti, King of Ulster, was a very tired fellow that fell asleep on a rocky beach. A feisty leprechaun and his two cousins grabbed the king and dragged him off into the sea. They are after all, practical jokers.
Unfortunately, for the tricksters he woke up, fought them off and forced them to grant him three wishes and some Irish whiskey in exchange for his release.
They begrudgingly released him.
After the incident the three agreed to turn it down a bit on the shenanigan meter. Today, they continue mending and constructing shoes for the fae, dance a jig, and smoke a pipe and once in a while play a trick on an unsuspecting human.
©Nifty Buckles 2017-2020 All Rights Reserved.
Sources & References:
- Featured Leprechaun image in Public Domain
- Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry Sacred Texts Yeats
- Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.
