🐍 It’s one of my absolute favourite times of the year with such a long, layered history – if you’re interested in this too & haven’t seen my post on it you can read it here ⬅️
🎧 I’ve been re-listening to Story Archaeology’s episodes on Echtra Nera/The Adventures of Nera, an old Irish story that starts at Samhain – fascinatingly it’s linguistically thought to be over 1000 years old. If you enjoy a good chilling story – & some adventure as well – you might want to have a listen too! Of course, given how closely old Irish & old Scottish Gaelic cultures were linked, this story contains many similar elements to Scottish Gaelic stories. For example there are elements of how to protect your household from any roaming dangerous Otherworldly beings that will be very familiar to anyone aware of Scottish lore – such as carefully smooring the fire & making sure any dirty water used for washing etc was thrown outside before bed – & the consequences of not doing so 💀
🎙️ “Samhain Special: Corpse Carrying For Beginners” – episode discussing The Adventures of Nera, Samhain & comparing it with a later folktale: listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
🎙️ “Dindshenchas 08: The Further Adventures of Nera – The Cow and the Time Machine” – further discussion of this story: listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
📖 You can also read an English translation of the story without commentary here & Chris’ creative introduction to Echtra Nera here.
🌊 Samhain features prominently in many other Irish legends as an important time of year. See Morgan Daimler’s FB page for some great examples – the first one mentioned is also the same story that the famous hero Cú Chulainn goes to what seems to be Skye to train under Scathach, a formidable woman warrior, so this is among the many stories known in both Scotland & Ireland 🗡️
🏴 As well as Gaelic, there are also many Scots traditions at Halloween. For example, another of Robert Burns’ poems mentions the Fairies being out & about plus many divination traditions: have a read here. Tobar an Dualchais has many great examples too (not only in Scots but Gaelic & English as well) – this year they’ve shared some great ones from Orkney: see their FB post or go listen directly on their website 🧶
🍬 Whether you’re going out guising, having a party, staying in reading ghost stories or whatever else, have a good one 🥂
📸 Featured Photo credit: Pexel
Scottish history, archaeology, folklore & more~ 