you know, besides everything else, probably the best reason not to eat fairy food if it's ever offered to you is that it almost certainly isn't what you think it is.
don't trust appearances
soylent green is people
seriously though
"So that they were the Tuatha De Danann who came to Ireland. In this wise they came, in dark clouds. They landed on the mountains of Conmaicne Rein in Connachta; and they brought a darkness over the sun for three days and three nights."
- Lebor Gabala Erenn
Now I knew that the concept was genuine, but that the quote itself came from a mid 20th century source of questionable integrity. That led me to keep digging to see what else I could find. In researching the roots of ‘dead, mad’ or a poet’ and trying to find Graves unnamed source I found an 1874 entry discussing Cader Idris in the 1884 book ‘Bye-Gones, Relating to Wales and the Border Countries‘ which says: “There is a popular Welsh tradition that on the summit of Cader Idris is an excavation in the rock resembling a couch and that whoever should pass a night in that seat would be found in the morning either dead, raving mad, or endowed with supernatural genius.” It would seem likely from the similarity in wording that this or another identical such source from Welsh folklore influenced Graves’ later writing.
He didn't exactly make it up but he did put his own spin on it
Irish-American Witchcraft: “Dead, Mad, Or A Poet” | Morgan Daimler share.google/wffxIJW9dm6r...
Here's a fun fact the quote 'dead, mad, or a poet' is from Robert Graves' 1948 book The White Goddess.
Page 19 "There is a stone seat at the top of Cader Idris , 'the Chair of Idris', where, according to the local legend, whoever spends the night is found in the morning either dead, mad, or a poet"
Image of dark haired person wearing glasses holding book. Cover of book is a misty forest, with a woman in a red dress holding an owl. Text reads: "The Fairy Courts from folklore to fiction (by) Morgan Daimler
Just recieved author copies of The Fairy Courts, out the end of march
Morgan Freeman is amazing
My top 5 favourite vampire movies:
Lost Boys
Vampires vs the Bronx
Sinners
Interview with the Vampire
Blade
Honorable mentions:
What We Do in the Shadows
Bram Stokers Dracula
Fright Night 2
Children of the Night (for sheer strangeness)
Subspecies
for those who prefer or need audiobooks I have three books in that format:
Fairies a Guide to the Celtic Fair Folk
Fairycraft
Murder Between the Worlds (urban fantasy)
An offlicense áitiúla cinnte
"When [fairies] were given butterfly wings they were reduced to almost the status of insects, and in the sheltered days of the early twentieth century every care was taken to render them unalarming."
- Katherine Briggs, The Fairies in Tradition and Literature
Most read on #RTEBrainstorm: How the emergence of St Brigid's Day as a public holiday marks a renewed engagement with Indigenous Irish ways of understanding time, land and belonging. By Jennifer Manning @maynoothuniversity.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
Feel free
Brighid, Lady of healing May we find wholeness in troubled times Brighid, Lady of the smith's flame May we forge a brighter future from uncertainty Brighid, Lady of sweet speech May we raise our voices in eloquence and strength Brighid of the Hospitalers, May we support those in need around us Brighid of the Judgments, May we act fairly to all, friend or foe Brighid of the Cowless, May we protect the helpless among us Brighid of the Tuatha De Danann May we find courage to endure every challenge By the endless sea By the ever-changing sky By the firm earth Let it be so - M. Daimler, 2016
A prayer to Brighid in troubled times
Fun fact: armored knights and guns coexisted for about 200 years in Europe
“Of all the beings with which fear or fancy peopled the supernatural, the Fairies were the most intimately associated with men’s daily life.”
- Campbell, 'The Gaelic Otherworld' 1900
A rooster-headed creature with claws and wings chases a night-gown-clad child down a hall.
NEW EPISODE: What spirits (holy or not) haunt churches? Simon and Chris bicker about consecrated ground, stone tape theory, and wimples. Chris tells of infernal US churches, while Simon pontificates on the prophetic dead parading church porches. Plus: Jimmy Garlick www.buzzsprout.com/1859647/epis...
Im not sure but I'll try to find out
Book cover with image of blonde woman with pointed ears holding a glowing open book Text reads Murder Between the Worlds A Between the Worlds novel By Morgan Daimler
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Excited to announce that the first book in my urban fantasy series, Murder Between the Worlds, is now available on audiobook.
Narrated by Lauren Lasairfhíona Saville Allard with cover art by Valerie Herron
share.google/ZVm4AkL9fssU...
Sounds like something id say
An interesting talk on poets and poetry in the Book of Lecan by @thecelticist.bsky.social at the RIA. She touches on a brief reference to the Cailleach, the only female poet in the book, and the Banshenchas.
soundcloud.com/the-royal-ir...
After 2 1/2 years of work my translation of the Táin Bó Cúailgne is finished, and Moon Books will be publishing it in 2027
🎉
Looking forward to it 🙂
"Occasionally, indeed, acts of civil disobedience might invoke fairy protection, apperantly reflecting an instinctive association of fairies with other targets of oppressive regulation."
- R. Firth Green, 'Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church'
From one of my best friends: "you're really beautiful even though you're fat"
Yup i do say in the video that what they are is global but what they're called is complicated
Coming out in 2026 by Morgan Daimler The Fairy Courts - march Pagan Portals the Wild Hunt - June Tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann volume 2 - July Pagan Portals Macha- october
I cant stand authors who are willing to sell out artists for free book covers. All creatives need to stand together because AI is hurting all of us.
Are Fairies Exclusive to Europe?
Let's look at a very messy subject - are fairies only found in European folklore?
youtu.be/0UQiZh6V_Y8?...
Aca-Comic-Colleagues
A terrific new CFP put together by the wonderful Julia Round, Shambhavi Singh and Eszter Szép for the Companion to International Comics Studies (Intellect Books).
Full details are in the photos below:
"Can you wonder that the People of the Hills don't care to be confused with that painty-winged, wand-waving, sugar-and-shake-your-head set of impostors?"
- Puck in Puck of Pook's Hill, Kipling 1906
