Culture of The Isle of Man - Myth, Legend and Folklore

Myth, Legend and Folklore

The name of Isle of Man is eponymous after Manannán mac Lir, a Celtic sea god, according to an old Irish lexicon (Cormac's glossary or Sanas Cormaic). A further tidbit of Manx mythology provides that Manannan, who was "the first man of Man, rolled on three legs like a wheel through the mist" (O'Donovan, the translator of the glossary. Manannan was called "The Three-Legged Man" (Manx: Yn Doinney Troor Cassgh) and all the inhabitants were three-legged when St. Patrick arreived. (* It may be noted in passing that O'Donovan also records an Irish lore about Lon, the three-armed one-legged smith. see under Glas Gaibhnenn).

A "traditionary ballad" entitled Mannanan beg mac y Leirr; ny, slane coontey jeh Ellan Vannin ("Little Mannanan son of Leirr; or, an (whole) account of the Isle of Man")(dated to 1507-22), states that the Isle of Man was once under the rule of Mannan, who used to impose a token tax from the island folk, until St. Patrick came and banished the heathen. One quatrain runs: "It was not with his sword he kept it/ Neither with arrows or bow. / But when he would see ships sailing, / He would cover it round with a fog." (Str. 4) ". So Mannanan here is said to have raised a mist or fog to conceal the whole island from detection (cf. Féth fíada). The fee or rent that Mannanan demanded was a bundle of coarse marsh-grass like rushes (leaogher-ghlass), to be delivered every "Midsummer Eve" (August 1) (orig. text, Manx: Oie-Lhoine; dictionary lhuanys, lhunys "lammas", i.e., Manx equivalent of Lugnasad).

In the Manx tradition of folklore, there are many stories of mythical creatures and characters. These include the Buggane, a malevolent spirit who according to legend blew the roof off St Trinian's Church in a fit of rage; the often helpful but unpredictable Fenodyree; the Glashtyn who may be a hairy goblin or water-horse who emerges from his aquatic environs; and the Moddey Dhoo, a ghostly black dog who once wandered the walls and corridors of Peel Castle and frightened the guards on duty.

Mann is also said to be home to the mooinjer veggey /muɲdʒer veɣə/) or the little folk in the Manx language, though they are sometimes referred to obliquely by locals as themselves. There is a famous Fairy Bridge and it is said to be bad luck if one fails to wish the fairies good morning or afternoon when passing over it. It used to be a tradition to leave a coin on the bridge to ensure good luck. Other types of fairies are the Mi'raj(???) and the Arkan Sonney or Arc-Vuc-Soney "Lucky-Boar-Pig".

An Irish folktale attributes the formation of the Isle of Man to Ireland's legendary hero Fionn mac Cumhaill (commonly anglicised to Finn McCool). Finn was in pursuit of a Scottish giant, and hoping to prevent his escape by swimming across the sea, scooped a huge mass of clay and rock from the land mass and hurled it; but he overshot, and the chunk of earth landed in the Irish Sea, thus creating the island. The hole he gauged out became the Lough Neagh.

Peel Castle has been proposed as a possible location of the ArthurianAvalon.