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Balor
Balor, Balar, Bolar. Often called Balor of the Evil or Baleful Eye. A king of the Fomorians who had an evil or basilisk eye, never opened except on the battlefield, when four men were needed to lift the eyelid. If an army looked at the eye that army was rendered powerless. Balor acquired the terrible eye when as a child he saw his father's druids brewing charms. When such theories were in fashion, he was thought to be the sun deity of the Celts. Often compared with the Welsh Ysbaddaden Bencawr. Brian Ó Cuív, ‘Lugh Lámhfhada and the Death of Balar Ua Néid’, Celtica, 2 (1954), 64–6.
As he was the grandson of Néit, Balor has the occasional patronymic Ua Néit. He is sometimes credited with a wife, the loathsome Caitlín or Céthlionn of the crooked tooth. His daughter was Eithne, who mated with Cian to produce the great hero Lug Lámfhota. As Balor's death was prophesied to come at the hands of his grandson, he had a lifelong conflict with Lug, which finds its culmination in Cath Maige Tuired [The (Second) Battle of Mag Tuired], where the two meet in combat. In some versions Lug blinds Balor's eye with a spear made by Goibniu, the craft god. In other versions Lug decapitates Balor and places the severed head on a pike, using the still potent eye to split rocks. In some stories Balor was a bandit or pirate on Tory Island. From this base he stole the fairy cow Glas Ghaibhleann from its owner, Gaibhlín. The eminent folklorist A. H. Krappe once argued that the story of Balor and Lug represented the conflict between the Old Year or Winter against the New Year; see Balor With the Evil Eye (New York, 1927). |
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "Balor." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "Balor." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Balor.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "Balor." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Balor.html |
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Balor
BalorIn old Irish mythology, the mighty king of the Formorians, usually called "Balor of the Evil Eye." It was believed that he was able to destroy by means of an angry glance. When his eyelid became heavy with years, it is said that he had it raised by means of ropes and pulleys so that he might continue to make use of his magic gift. He was eventually killed by his grandson, Lugh, the sun god and son of his daughter Birog, who crept near him one day when his eyelid had drooped momentarily and slew him with a great stone, sinking it through his eye and brain. |
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"Balor." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Balor." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403800512.html "Balor." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403800512.html |
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Balor
Balor, the chief of the Fomors of Gaelic mythology.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Balor." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Balor." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Balor.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Balor." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Balor.html |
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