Celtic fairy traditions
Samain
The Adventures of Nera places Samain at Cruachan, where executed bodies remain exposed through the night. The tale gives that time exceptional danger because demons and the Sidhe move freely. The Sick-Bed of Cuchulainn also marks a turning point near Samain, when an unknown messenger offers recovery through an Otherworld visit. The festival provides narrative timing for encounters across a boundary.
Also known as Samhain
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In the sources
Principal account
ReportedThe Adventures of Nera places Samain at Cruachan, where executed bodies remain exposed through the night. The tale gives that time exceptional danger because demons and the Sidhe move freely.
Further detail
ReportedThe Sick-Bed of Cuchulainn also marks a turning point near Samain, when an unknown messenger offers recovery through an Otherworld visit. The festival provides narrative timing for encounters across a boundary.
Context & interpretation
Evans-Wentz combines named informants, manuscript narratives, and his own psychical theory in a 1911 survey. This entry preserves those distinctions: collected belief and literary tradition do not establish the physical existence of an Otherworld.
Original passages
Source 1
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
in their palace of Cruachan celebrated the feast of Samain (November Eve, a feast of the dead even in pre-Christian times). Two culprits hadOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 319
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0319
- Original scan leaf
- 320
- Recorded leaf number
- 320
- Current Reader position
- 315
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
— there came to him an unknown messenger who sang to him a wonderful song, promising to cure him of his maladyOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Celtic fairy traditions; active reader leaf 376
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0045-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0045-E001-P0376
- Original scan leaf
- 377
- Recorded leaf number
- 377
- Current Reader position
- 372
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed