Aos Sí
Irish folklore tells of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of gods who walked the ancient world.
According to Gaelic tradition, their descendants live still in the ancient ceremonial burial mounds, known as sí, or, in English, “shees”, “fairy mounds”, “elf mounds”, or “hollow hills”
That’s pronounced eess SHEE in English. Sort of.
And the name Irish folklore uses for these creatures is the aos sí, aos sídhe or, in its older form, Áes Sídhe
Actually, they have a lot of names… including (but not limited to):
Aingil Anúabhair: "Proud angels"
Daoine Uaisle: "The noble folk"
Daoine maithe: "Good people"
Deamhan Aerig: "Air demons"
Dream Anúabhair: "Excessively proud [people]"
Sídhfir: "fairy men"
Sídheógaídhe: "Young Moundlings"
Slúagh Cille: "Host of the churchyard"
Slúagh na Marbh: "Host of the dead"
Slúagh Sídhe: "Mound host"
Slúagh-Sídhe-Thúatha-Dé-Danann: "Mound host of the Túatha Dé Danann"
na Uaisle: "The noble" or "The gentry"
In case you were wondering, we’ll get to why that is later.
Anyway.
Aos sí means “folk of the sí” or, if you’re a thickie thickie dum dum like me and don’t speak Irish Gaelic, “folk of the fairy mound”.
Apt.
Because, according to Irish folklore, the aos sí are kind of like fairies or elves - but in a far more Tolkien-ish sense than most European fairies/elves are.
Although… some sources speak of them more like fallen angels, like the Adhene from the Isle of Man.
I digress.
Besides the usual stunningly beautiful form that fairy-like creatures take, the aos sí have a party trick: if they don’t like you, they will be hideous and terrible.
Scare the pants off you. Maybe worse.
The aos sí are said to be ferocious. Fierce guardians of what they consider ‘theirs’, be it a mound, a fairy ring, a special tree, or even a particular loch or wood.
If you happen to live in the vicinity of the aos sí, you step carefully. You provide offerings, and you never insult them.
And you don’t ever use their name. You call them “The Fair Folk” or “The Good Neighbours”.
But in the way a mafia boss gets called “Godfather”.
Yeah, it doesn’t mean they’re nice. It just means you don’t want them mad at you. Like… ever.
Because if you cross them, for any reason—well, there’s a laundry list of things that might offend them, and an equally long list of things they might do to you in return.
Invade their home, for example, and they might take your children and replace them with changelings.
Hence the tradition in some places of leaving them offerings of baked goods, fresh fruit or berries.
The fascinating thing about the aos sí is that I bet you’ve heard of some of them, but don’t really know the truth behind them.
For example, I bet you’ve heard of the bean sídhe - the woman of the fairy mound.
No?
What if I anglicise it to “Banshee”?
Ah, now it’s all coming back to you, right?
That’s actually a super interesting story on its own, but I’ll get to that in another post.
Spoilers🤫
Back to the greater aos sí.
The aos sí come in a myriad of forms that are common throughout folklore.
Creatures like a fairy cat (cat-sìth), a dog that haunts graveyards (cù-sìth), and the fairy lover (leannan sídhe) are all still common tropes in fantasy stories today. And they’re all aos sí.
Well… the aos sí have versions of them, at least.
I know you’re thinking… “But I’ve never seen a banshee in one of your stories. How do the aos sí fit in?
Ha! Foolish reader… I have tricked you.
I was inspired by the idea of a fairy host: the police force of the Slipworld—the Feygard—was inspired by and is largely populated by aos sí.
So now you know. 😜