Magic (3): The Huld Manuscript

3.

The Huld Manuscript 

A modern transcription, decryption and translation.

The Icelandic manuscript called “Huld”, presumably from the word “Hulda” meaning secrecy, was made by Geir Vigfússon in 1860. It is one of many dated from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries, featuring collections of runic alphabets and/or magic symbols and sigils that were used in earlier times. This particular one stands apart in its artistic presentation and skill of handwriting. There are 27 leaves, written and drawn by hand on each side – the pages are numbered to 60 with the sequence interrupted in the middle by what is likely to be pages that were blank and removed for that reason. The first half comprises a list of 329 runic alphabets, some recognisable and some very cryptic. The second half comprises a comparitively small set of 30 “stafir”, an Icelandic word meaning characters or staves, which are symbols, sigils, insignia and bindrunes (a string of runic symbols), along with Icelandic and crypticly coded text that provides titles, descriptions and instructions for each case. In present times these symbols are referred to as “galdrastafir” – the word “galdur” meaning magic. 

This presentation focuses only on the second half of the manuscript and aims to provide a more complete and accurate English translation of the text, and hopefully will be a platform from which further exploration can be embarked upon. This is not the only translation of this manuscript, nor is it the only similar manuscript that has been translated into English (you can find several others published by Strandagaldur, the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft). 

Previous attempts at investigation and translation of this manuscript have lacked in accuracy and have led to subsequent errors. The first endeavour was by Ólafur Davíðsson in 1903, when his essay titled “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher” was translated from Icelandic for the German journal Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, Vol. 13. In it he writes that the stafir were drawn for him, as was most likely the text, and this has resulted in some inconsistancies. This essay became a secondary source for Steven Flowers in his book The Galdrabók - An Icelandic Grimoire, 1989. His book now had a 4th generation text translation of Huld and the images presented in it were low resolution photocopies from the 1903 essay. Copies and extracts from Flowers book have spread across the internet as interest in the subject grew and these have been used as inspiration for art and other commentary, making the errors somewhat ubiquitous. Flowers 2nd revised edition of this book in 2005 did much to further his translation of the primary focus of his book, a manuscript called “Galdrabók”, but did not fix any of the Huld problems.

It should be noted that the manuscript is in itself a copy from earlier sources, and mostly likely several generations along from any actual grimoire (of which there are very few now in existence). These same symbols appear in other “collection” manuscripts which upon close scrutiny reveal that they were closer to source grimoires. The two of particular importance are Galdrakver - Lbs 4627 8vo (available online from National and University Library of Iceland) and Galdraskraeda by Jochum “Skuggi” Eggertsson (published in magazine form in 1940 and recently reworked by Arnar Fells as a graphics presentation). Hopefully a comparitive study to these other manuscripts will emerge at a later date.

In this work  the spelling has been occasionally corrected of Old Icelandic where this makes translation to English easier. Additional characters that  are placed within square brackets. Coded text (see below) is written in italic. Text that is taken from within a symbol is marked with angled quotation marks (guillemets). Notes are added where meanings would be unclear otherwise.

Letter Transpositions:

Medieval Icelandic Runic Alphabet:

There are occasional variations to the above tables, such as in item IV: Vatnahlífir, where t = g and z = f, and other one off differences that seem to be just mistakes or hard to read characters. Also note that in tables i can be a j or y, all vowels can be their accented version, p is usually þ and d is usually ð. Finally, the old Latin for s usually appears in the manuscript as the “long s = ſ” variant, which looks like an f with no cross bar.

Talbyrdingur, edur sem adrir kalla Galdrahollina.

Þessi galdra höll, brukuðu fornmenn til kukls sína, og ristu (1.) á keldusvíns huð.

« Araton, Adona, Helga, Olma »(2.)

Reckoning Table. Or which others call Magic-hall.

This “magic-hall” the ancients used for their sorcery, and scratched it on water rail (3,) skin.

« Araton, Adona, Helga, Olma »

1.Rist / ríst are often unclear on their exact meaning, which can be either carve or scratch, depending on what it is that is being worked on.

2. From top going clockwise are these four names, presumably of angels.

3.Water rail = Rallus aquaticus, a wetlands bird now extinct in Iceland, but still seen widely across Europe.

No. II Talbyrdingur

edur sem adrir kalla… Configuration

Galdra tölu skipið

Galdra tölu sit þetta brukuðu fornmenn til að týna situm með.(4.)

« Ginnir. Gapi. »(5.)

No. II. Reckoning Table.

Or which others call… Configuration

Ship of Magic Numbers.

The ancients used this in order to destroy ships.

« Alure. Gape. »

4. The code words “sit” and “situm” undoubtedly should be “skip”and “skipum”.

5. It is uncertain if these words have some special meaning by themselves or if they are related to two other galdrastafir called Ginnir and Angurgapi, shown in Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og ævintýri Vol I, page 446 et seq. by Jón Árnason, 1862.

No. III. Kaupaloki. Sker þennan staf á beykiviðar-töflu og ber í millum (6.) brjósta þér þa þú villt sigur hafa í kaupum og sölum.

No. IV. Vatnahlífir. Þennan staf skal bera undir hægri-hendi þegar hlífa skal.

« Guð gefi mér til lukku og blessunar í Iesu Nafni Amen. »

No. V. Kaupaloki. Þennan staf skal rista á beykiviðar-töflu og bera milli brjósta sér.

No. III. Deal closer. Cut this symbol on a beechwood board and carry it in the centre of your chest, if you want to have success in buying and selling.

No. IV. Water protection. This symbol is to be worn under the right arm, when you need protection.

« May God give me luck (7.) and blessings in Jesus’ Name Amen. »

No. V. Deal closer. This symbol should be carved on a beechwood board and carried in the centre of ones chest.

6. “beri millum” in the script means “ber í millum”, i.e. bear in the middle (or carried between)

7. “Lukka” in Old Icelandic means luck, however in modern Icelandic it means happiness.

No. VI. Brýnslustafir. Rist efri stafinn ofaná brýni þitt, an hinn neðana, legg síðan gras yfir um stund, brýn undan síðan sól og lít ekki í eggina

No. VII. Draumstafur. Rist þennan staf á rauðagreni og sof á honum, og mun þig þá dreyma það þú villt.

No. VIII. Draumstafur. Rist þennan staf á svonefnda manndrápseik og legg undir hofud þess er þú villt að fái drauma honum óvitandi.

No. VI. Whet Symbols. Scratch the upper symbol on top of your whetstone, the other underneath, then place grass over it for a while, then whet away from the sun and do not look at the cutting edge.

No. VII. Dream symbol. Carve this symbol on red spruce and sleep on it, then you will dream about what you want.

No. VIII. Dream symbol. Carve this symbol on so-called “man killing oak” and put it under the head of the one that is to get dreams according to your will, without them knowing.

No. IX. Draumstafir. Rist stafi þessa á silfur eða hvitt skinn, á sjálfa Jónsmessunótt og sefur á þeim þá dreymir þann hvað hann vill þá sól er lægst.

No. X. Svefnþorn. Stafir þessir vóru ristir á eik og lagðir undir höfuð þess sem sofa átti, og mátti hann ekki vakna fyrren tekið var burtu.

No. XI. Lukkustafir: Sá er ber stafi þessa á sér mætir ekki slysum hvergi á sjó og landi.

« (Allpha) (Omega) »

No. XII. Óttastafur. Rist þennan staf á eikar spjald og kasta fyrir fætur óvinar þins til að ótta honum.

No. IX. Dream symbols. Scratch these symbols on silver or white leather, on St John’s Night (8.) and they who sleep on them dream about what they want, when the sun is at its lowest.

No. X. Sleep thorn. These symbols were carved on oak and laid under the head of whoever that was sleeping, then he could not wake up until it was taken away.

No. XI. Lucky symbols. Whosoever bears these staves on him will not meet with mishaps on sea and land.

« (Alpha) (Omega) »

No. XII. Fear symbols. Scratch these symbols on an oak tablet and throw it at the feet of your enemy, to make him afraid.

8. St John’s Day is known Midsummer: the Northern European solstice between 21st and 25th of June. However St John’s Night may refer more specifically to St John’s Eve: the night before the 24th of June.

No. XIII. Dreprún. Viljir þú að óvinur þinn tapi grip þá legg stafi þessa í hestfarið.

No. XIV. Lásabrjótur. Legg þennan staf við lásinn og blás í hann

“Tröll öll taki í mellu, taki í djöfu[l] s[v]o braki”.

No. XV. Fengur. Viljir þú að píka verði barnshafandi af völdum þin þa sker stafi þessa á osthleif og gef henni að eta.

No. XVI. Þórshamar. Þennan staf brukuðu töframenn til þjófa stefnu og fleiri töfra.

No. XIII. Killing rune. If you want your enemy to lose their livestock, then put this symbol on the horse trail.

No. XIV. Lockbreaker. Put this symbol onto a lock and blow into it.

“All trolls grab the lock, [and] grab a demon, so that [combined] it cracks”.(9.)

No. XV. Catch [a girl?]. If you want a girl to get pregnant by you, then cut this symbol into a piece of cheese and give it to her to eat.

No. XVI. Þórr’s hammer. Wizards used this symbol to summon [expose] thieves and do other magic.

9. This small verse is difficult to translate: word forms and spelling appear to have been altered to achieve ryhme and alliteration, and word definitions extended to fit the context, eg. ‘mellu’ probably is from ‘mella’ where one uncommon definition is an iron door bolt, ‘braki’ can mean a breaking noise or broken pieces. The translation given here is speculative and will need futher investigation of folklore surrounding the original verse.

No. XVII. Þjófastafur. Lát þennan staf undir dyra þrepskjöld ovinar þins og mun honum bregða þá yfir hann stigur ef sekur er í þjófnaði frá þér.

No. XVIII. Þjófastafur. Viljr þú að einn steli þa rist staf þennan á botn skerdisks er hann neytir af.

No. XIX. Þjófastafir. Til að sjá þjóf þa rist stafi þessa á sonefnda manndraps-eik, og haf undir hendi þer.

No. XX. Þjófastafir. Rist stafi þessa á valbjarkar-við og legg undir höfuð þér, og muntu þá í svefni þjófinn sjá.

No. XVII. Thief symbol. Put this symbol under the doorstep of your enemy and he will recoil when he steps over it if he is guilty of theft from you.

No. XVIII. Thief symbol. Should you want someone to steal, then scratch this symbol on the bottom of the plate (10.) he eats from.

No. XIX. Thief symbols. To see a thief, scratch these symbols in so called man-killing-oak and have it under your hand.

No. XX. Thief symbols. Scratch these symbols in birch-wood and put it beneath your head, then you will see the thief in your sleep.

10. Wooden or carving dish.

No. XXI. Salómons Insigli. Berist á sér til varnar.
No. XXII. Daviðs Insigli. Berist á sér móti illum øndum.
« Amen – Jesus Kristus – JK »
No. XXIII. Jósúa Insigli.
« J X° – Jeru – salom »
No. XXIV. Sáttgjafar. Ef annar hatar þig þá rita stafi þessa, á bókfell og legg undir hofud hans, honum óvitandi

No. XXI. Solomon’s seal. Carried on oneself for defence (11.)
No. XXII. David’s seal. Carried on oneself against evil spirits.
« Amen – Jesus Christ – JC »
No. XXIII. Seal of Joshua.
« J C – Jerusalem »
No. XXIV. Reconciler. If another hates you then write these symbols on parchment and put it under their head, without them knowing.

11. Varnar (the gen. form of vörn) has often been translated as “protection”, which is commonly the purpose for English talismans and charms. However Icelandic sources confirm both the modern and Old Icelandic translation is “defence”.

No. XXVIII. Róðukross
No. XXIX. Róðukross
Insigli Olafs Konungs ens Helga; sem borin vóru á sér til varnar.

No. XXVIII Crucifix.
No. XXIX. Crucifix.
Seal of King Olaf the Holy (12.) which was carried on oneself for defence.

12. Referring to Olaf II Haraldsson, later known as St. Olaf, king of Norway from 1015 to 1028.

Nos. XXVII + XXIX. Vegvisir.
Beri maður stafi þessa á sér villist maður ekki í hríðum né vondu veðri þó ókunnugur sá.
XXVIII. Þjófastafur.
Sé stafur þessi ristur á mundlaugar botn utan og innan með fullu-tungli og fullu-sjávarfalli

Nos. XXVII + XXIX. Path Guide.
Carry this sign with you and you won't get lost in storms or bad weather, even though in unfamiliar surrounds.
No. XXVIII. Thief symbol.
If this symbol is scratched into the bottom of a wash bowl inside and outside at full moon and high tide ...

No. XXX. Herðslustafir. Ber stafí þessa á vinstra brjósti þér til að herða upphugann.
No. XXX. Strengthening symbols. Carry these symbols on your left chest, in order to strengthen up the mind.

By Justin Foster 

Nico

Gaelic Folklore (15): Fians, Fairies and Picts

15.

Fians, Fairies and Picts.

Fians (Fianna) were small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology. They are featured in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool). They are based on historical bands of aristocratic landless young men in early medieval Ireland. 

The Picts were a confederation of peoples who lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval periods.

Fairies are a type of mythical beings or legendary creatures in European folklore (and particularly Celtic, Slavic, German, English, and French folklore), a form of spirits, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. (Wikipedia)

David MacRitchie tried to proof that the three (Fians, Picts and Fairies) are one and the same people. 

What follows are descriptions and tales from an old source:

he general belief at the present day is that, of the three designations here classed together, only that of the Picts is really historical. The Fians are regarded as merely legendary—perhaps altogether

mythical beings; and the Fairies as absolutely unreal. On the other hand, there are those who believe that the three terms all relate to historical people, closely akin to each other, if not actually one

people under three names. To those unacquainted with the views of the realists, or euhemerists, it is necessary to explain that the popular definition of Fairies as little people is one which that school is quite ready to accept. But the conception of such little people as tiny beings of aerial and ethereal nature, able to fly on a bat's back, or to sip honey from the flowers "where the bee sucks," is regarded by the realists as simply the outcome of the imagination, working upon a basis of fact. An illustration of this position may be seen in the Far East. There is a tradition among the Ainos of Northern Japan that they were preceded by a race of little people, only a few inches in height, whose pit-dwellings they still point out. But the pottery and the skeletons associated with these habitations show that not only were their occupants of a stature to be measured by feet rather than by inches, but also that, by reason of a certain anatomical peculiarity common to both, the traditional dwarfs were very clearly the ancestors of the Ainos—a race which, though now blended, was once most distinctly a race of dwarfs, if one is to believe the earliest Japanese pictures of them. Similarly, the dwarfs of European tradition are believed to have had as real an origin as the little people of Aino legend, at any rate by those who hold the realistic theory.

ny attempt to reconcile the pygmies of the classic writers with actual dwarfs of flesh and blood is outside my province. M. Paul Monceaux, wrote in an article in the Revue Historique wherein he compares the traditional and historical descriptions with the statements of modern travelers, and draws the inference that the pygmies of the Greek and Roman writers, sculptors and painters, are all derived from actual dwarfs seen by their forefathers in Africa and India. (Still less doubt is there with regard to the dwarfs in Ancient Egyptian paintings.) And whereas Strabo is, says M. Monceaux, the only writer of antiquity who questions the existence of the dwarfs, all the others are on the side of Aristotle, who says—"This is no fable; there really exists in that region (the sources of the Nile), as people relate, a race of little men, who have small horses and who live in holes.” And these little men were of course the ancestors of Schweinfurth's and Stanley's dwarfs. But although M. Monceaux confines his identification to equatorial Africa and to India, he does not omit to state that Pliny and other writers speak of dwarf tribes in other localities, and among these are "the vague regions of the north, designated by the name of Thule.” This area, vague enough certainly, is the territory with which Fians and Picts are both associated; as, also, of course, the Fairies of North European tradition.

he attributes with which the little people of North Europe are accredited cannot be given in detail here. It is enough to note that they were believed to live in houses wholly or partly underground, the latter kind being described as "hollow" mounds, or hills; that when people of taller race entered such subterranean dwellings (as occasionally they did) they found the domestic utensils of the dwarfs were of the kind labelled pre-historic in our antiquarian museums; that the copper vessels which dwarf women sometimes left behind them when discovered surreptitiously milking the cows of their neighbours, were likewise of an antique form; further, that they helped themselves to the beef and mutton of their neighbours, after having shot the animals with flintheaded arrows; that melodies peculiar to them are still sung by the peasants of certain localities; that words used by them are still employed by children in their games; and that many families in many districts are believed to have inherited some of their blood.

f this intercourse between the taller races and the dwarfs, there are many records in old traditions. In the days of King Arthur, when, as Chaucer tells us, the land was "ful-filled of faerie,” the knights errant had usually a dwarf as attendant. One of King Arthur's own knights was a Fairy. According to Highland tradition, every high-caste family of pure Gaelic descent had an attendant dwarf. These examples show the little people in a not unfriendly light. But many other stories speak of them as malignant foes, and as dreaded oppressors. Of which the rational explanation is that these various tales relate to various localities and epochs.

he connection visible between Fians and Fairies, between Fians and Picts, and between Picts and Fairies, may now briefly be stated. The earliest known association of the first two classes occurs in an Irish manuscript of the eleventh or twelfth century, wherein it is stated that when the ninth-century Danes overran and plundered Ireland, there was nothing "in concealment underground in Erinn, or in the various secret places belonging to Fians or to Fairies” that they did not discover and appropriate. This statement receives strong confirmation from a Scandinavian record, the Landndma-bok, which says that, in or about the year 870, a well-known Norse chief named Leif "went on warfare in the west. He made war in Ireland, and there found a large underground house; he went down into it, and it was dark until light shone from a sword in the hand of a man. Leif killed the man, and took the sword and much property. He made war widely in Ireland, and got much property. He took ten thralls.” Although the Scandinavian record does not speak of the owner of the earth-house as either a Fian or a Fairy, it is quite evident that this is an example of the plundering referred to in the Irish chronicle, and that the Gaels of Ireland seven or eight centuries ago, if not a thousand years ago, regarded the underground people as indifferently Fians and Fairies.

any other associations of Fians with Fairies are to be seen. In one of the old traditional ballads regarding the Fians, they are described as feasting with Fairies in one of their "hollow" mounds. A Sutherlandshire story relates the adventures of the son of a Fairy woman, who took service with Ossian, the king of the Fians. One of the Fians (Caoilte) had a Fairy sweetheart. Another of them (Oscar) has an interview with a washerwoman who is a Fairy. A Fenian story recounts how one day the Fians were working in the harvest-field, in the Argyleshire island of Tiree, and on that occasion they had left their weapons of war in the armoury of the Fairy Hill of Caolas; from which one is to infer that the Fians made use of Fairy dwellings. In the same collection of tales we are told that one time when the Fians were hunting in the Isle of Skye, they left their wives in a dwelling which bore a title applied to dwellings of the Elfin race. It is further stated that one popular belief in the Scottish Highlands is that the Fians are still lying in the hill of Tomnahurich, near Inverness, and that others say they are lying in Glenorchy, Argyleshire. Now, both the Inverness-shire mound and the mounds in Glenorchy are also popularly regarded as the abodes of Fairies. The vitrified fort on Knock-Farril, in Ross-shire, is said to have been one of Fin McCoul's castles and Knock-Farril, or rather a knoll opposite Knock-Farril is remembered as the abode of the Fairies of that district. Glenshee, in Perthshire, is celebrated equally as a Fairy haunt and as a favourite hunting-ground of the Fians. The Fians, indeed, were said to have lived by deer-hunting, so much so that Campbell of Islay suggests that their name signifies the deer men; and the deer, it is believed, were a fairy race. The famous hound of the famous leader of the Fians was a Fairy or Elfin dog. In short, the connection between Fians and Fairies, recognised in the Gaelic manuscript of eight or ten centuries ago, is apparent throughout the traditions of the Gaelic-speaking people.

ut if the Fians were either identical with, or closely akin to the Fairies, they must have been little people. The belief that they were so is supported by one traditional Fenian story. This is the well-known tale of the visit of Fin, the famous chief of the Fians, to a country known to him and his people as The Land of the Big Men. The story tells how Fin sailed from Dublin Bay in his skinboat, crossed the sea to that country, and shortly after landing was captured and taken to the palace of the king, where he was appointed court dwarf, and remained for a considerable time the attached and faithful adherent of the king. The collector of this story has assumed that it is purely imaginary.

et it be contrasted with the following extract from the Heimskringla. The period is the early part of the eleventh century, and the scene Norway: "There was a man from the Uplands called Fin the Little, and some said of him that he was of Finnish race. He was a remarkable little man, but so swift of foot that no horse could overtake him. He had long been in the service of King Hrorek, and often employed in errands of trust. Now when King Hrorek was set under guards on the journey Fin would often slip in among the men of the guard, and followed, in general, with the lads and serving-men; but as often as he could he waited upon Hrorek, and entered into conversation with him.” And, like Fin the dwarf in the Gaelic story, this little Fin rendered great service to his king. Now, the Heimskringla Fin is unquestionably a historical personage, and the account of him was written by a twelfth century historian. The Gaelic story was only obtained in the Hebrides, and reduced to writing twenty-three years ago. Although Fin of the Fians is stated in Irish records to be the grandson of a Finland woman, and although the Scandinavian and the Hebridean tales look very much like two versions of one story, this cannot precisely be the case, as the Fenian Fin is placed in an earlier era than his namesake of Norway. A dwarf king named Fin is also remembered in Frisian tradition; and that he and his race were small men is pretty clearly proved by the fact that when one of the earth-houses attributed to him was opened some years ago, it was found to contain the bones of a little man. Both of these dwarf Fins, Little Fin of Norway and Little Fin of Denmark, are undoubtedly real; and there seems no good reason to suppose that the dwarf Fin of Hebridean tradition was not equally real. Whether they were three separate people is a problem. Fin appears to have been at one time a not uncommon name, whatever its etymology and that of Fian may be. At any rate, there is nothing in history (which speaks of a close intercourse between Scandinavia and the British Isles, in former times), and nothing in the ethnology of North- Western Europe, to make us regard as mythical the capture and enthrallment of any one of these three little Fins.

f Fin of the Fians, therefore, was a typical Fian, they were little people. In regarding the Fians as a race of dwarfs, I do not overlook the fact that they are also spoken of as giants. But to assume them to have been of gigantic stature is both totally at variance with the bulk of the evidence regarding them, and at variance with the fact that the word giant has very frequently been used to denote a savage, or a cave-dweller.( For example, the late Rev. J. G. Campbell, Tiree, says of “the Great Tuairisgeul “that he was “a giant of the kind called Satnhanaich—that is, one who lived in a cave by the sea- shore, the strongest and coarsest of any".  This term was one of contempt, given by Gaelic-speaking people to those giants (and apparently based upon their malodorous characteristics), ”it is a common expression to say of any strong offensive smell, mharbhadh e na Satnhanaich, it would kill the giants who dwell in caves by the sea. Samh is a strong oppressive smell." McAlpine defines Samh as a " bad smell arising from a sick person, or a dirty hot place"; and he further gives the definition “a savage"). The word Samhanach itself is defined by McAlpine as “a savage,” and he cites the Islay saying: chuireadh tu eagal air na samhanaich , you would frighten the very savages.

rom these definitions it will be seen that a word translated giant by one is rendered savage by another. Mr. J. G. Campbell also practically regards it as signifying cave-dweller, or perhaps a certain special caste of cave-dwellers. With this may be compared McAlpine's uamh, a chief of savages, terrible fellow, cha'n'eil ann ach uamh dhuine, he is only a savage of a fellow. Islay has also another word to denote a Hebridean savage. This is ciuthach, kewach, described in the Long Island as naked wild men living in caves. One of these "kewachs” figures in the story of Diarmaid and Grainne, and one version says that he "came in from the western ocean in a coracle with two oars (curachan)" (His name assumes various shapes e.g., Ciofach Mac a Ghoill, Ciuthach Mac an Doill, Ceudach Mac Righ nan Collach.) These three terms samhanach, uamh dhuine, and ciuthach all seem to indicate one and the same race of people. And these are probably the people referred to by Pennant when he says, speaking of the civilised races of the Hebrides in the beginning of the seventeenth century:"Each chieftain had his armour-bearer, who preceded his master in time of war, and, in time of peace; for they went armed even to church, in the manner the North Americans do at present [1772] in the frontier settlement, and for the same reason, the dread of savages."

o more appropriate illustration of this can be found than the local tradition that a certain artificially hollowed rock in the island of Hoy, Orkney, was the abode of a giant and his wife. Now, this same giant is also remembered as a dwarf, and the largest cell in his dwelling is only 5 feet 8 inches long. Similarly, there is in Iceland a certain Trollakyrkia, literally the dwarfs' church which is translated "the giants church."  For these reasons, then, I do not regard any reference to the Fians as giants as indicating that they were of tall stature; although I see no objection to the assumption that they were savages and cave-dwellers. Fians, then, are closely connected with the little people called Fairies.

he connection between Fians and Picts is equally well marked. Regarding them historically, Dr. Skene identifies the Fians with one or other of two historical races believed to have occupied Ireland

before the coming of the Gaels. These two races are known in Irish story as the Tuatha De and the Cruithne. Now, the Tuatha De are the Fairies of Ireland. Therefore, according to Dr. Skene, the Fians were either Fairies or Cruithne. Now, Cruithne is simply a Gaelic name for the Picts. Consequently, the Fians were either Fairies or Picts—according to Dr. Skene. In one traditional story, already referred to, the Fians seem to be unhesitatingly regarded as Picts. This story, obtained in Sutherlandshire, tells how a certain king lived for a year with a banshee, or fairy woman, by whom he had a son. (In this tale, the phonetic spelling ben-ee shows the unusual aspirated form beanshithe. She is elsewhere spoken of as the Lady of Innse Uaine, and her son is the hero of the tale Gille nan Cochla- Craicinn.)When this son grew up he went to the country of the Fians, and there he entered into the service of their king, who was no other than the celebrated Oisin. The Gaelic narrator calls him Oisin, Righ na Feinne, that is, Ossian, King of the Fians; but the collector of the story, who had no doubt obtained the translation on the spot, renders Righ na Feinne as king of the Picts. No explanation or comment is given, and one is therefore led to infer that in Sutherlandshire Feinne is without question regarded as a Gaelic name for the Picts. This identity is, indeed, borne out otherwise. There is a Gaelic saying in Glenlyon, Perthshire, to the effect that “Fin had twelve castles“ in that glen, and the remains of these "castles,” all said to have been built by him and his Fians, and of which one in particular is styled Castle Fin, are known to the English-speaking people of Scotland as Picts houses. For they belong to a peculiar class of structures, all radically alike, and all known, in certain districts, as Picts houses.

he term Picts' house is unknown in the Hebrides, says one writer. “In the Hebrides tradition is entirely silent concerning the Picts : (…) there the Fenian heroes are the builders of the duns." Yet the self-same class of building is elsewhere assigned to the Picts. To these structures I shall presently refer more particularly; but it is enough to note in passing that, just as Oisin, King of the Fians, is translated into Ossian, King of the Picts, so the dwellings ascribed to the Fians in one locality, are in another said to have been made and inhabited by the Picts. Fians, then, are associated or identified with Fairies, and also with Picts. To complete my equilateral triangle, the Picts ought also to be regarded as Fairies, or as akin to them. This undoubtedly is a popular belief.

he earliest alleged reference of this kind is placed by one writer in the middle of the fifteenth century, before the Orkney Islands had passed from the crown of Denmark to the crown of Scotland. A manuscript of the then Bishop of Orkney, dated Kirkwall 1443, states that when Harald Haarfagr conquered the Orkneys in the ninth century, the inhabitants were the two nations of the Papae and the Peti, both of whom were exterminated. By the former name is understood the Irish missionaries: the Peti were certainly the Picts, or Pehts. (They are plainly no other than the Peihts, Picts, or Piles the Scandinavian writers generally call the Piks, Peti, or Pets: one of them uses the term Petia, instead of

Pictland and, besides, the frith that divides Orkney from Caithness is usually denominated Petland Fiord in the Icelandic Sagas or histories.

ow, of these Picts of Orkney it is said, that they "were only a little exceeding pigmies in stature, and worked wonderfully in the construction of their cities, evening and morning, but in mid-day, being quite destitute of strength, they hid themselves through fear in little houses underground."  The exact date of this statement is at present doubtful, but it is quite in accordance with the widespread ideas held throughout Scotland and Northumberland with regard to the Picts: that they were great as builders, but were of very low stature, and closely akin to Fairies. Moreover, they are famous for doing their work during the night. Whatever be the explanation of the above curious statement that at mid-day they lost their strength and withdrew to their underground houses, it is at any rate interesting to compare with it the remark made by the traveller Pennant as he was passing along Glenorchy in 1772. This is the entry in his journal : ”see frequently on the road-sides small verdant hillocks, styled by the common people shi an (sithean), or the Fairyhaunt, because here, say they, the fairies, who love not the glare of day, make their retreat after the celebration of their nocturnal revels."

ow, as the Picts' houses are, to outward appearance, small verdant hillocks, the parallel is very exact. With these two references compare also the mention, in a quaint old gazetteer printed at Cambridge in 1693 of the tribe of the germara, denned as a people of the Celtae, who in the day-time cannot see. Although the author usually gives the sources of his information, in this instance he gives none. But the statement agrees perfectly with the belief found everywhere throughout Northern Europe that the dwarfs could not bear daylight, and during the day hid in their holes. (This also is one of the articles of belief in Shetland, with regard to the trows, as the trolls are there called.) It really seems impossible to avoid the inference that all this was perfectly true.

hen Leif went down into the underground house in Ireland, he could not see at first, though at length he saw in the obscurity the glimmer of his opponent's sword. Consequently, the denizens and builders of these subterranean retreats must either have had something very like cat's eyes, or else they must in general have had numerous lamps burning.  It seems to me beyond question that a people living this underground life must have differed very distinctly from ourselves in the matter of vision; and to them the brightness of noonday must have been blinding. This physical fact—if it be a fact would explain much that is otherwise strange and incredible in the traditions relating to the Picts or Pechts, as they were formerly called in Scotland. However, it is sufficient for my present purpose to note that this peculiarity associates, and indeed identifies, the Picts with the dwarfs or fairies of tradition.

aving thus shown that Fians, Fairies, and Picts are so closely associated as to be, in some aspects, almost indistinguishable from one another, I shall now refer to the structures which are popularly believed to have been their dwellings. Some of these are wholly underground, others partly so, and others quite above ground. In many other ways, also, they vary. But all of them are unquestionably links in one special style of structure; of which the most marked feature, or at any rate that which is common to all, is the use of what is called the  cyclopean arch. This is formed by the overlapping of the stones in the wall until they almost meet at the dome or apex of the building, when a heavy keystone completes this rude arch. The principle of the arch proper was obviously quite unknown to the originators of such structures. Of the various Hebridean specimens of these buildings, very interesting and complete descriptions have been given by the late Captain Thomas, R.N., and Sir Arthur Mitchell, who visited some of them together in 1866. Referring to the most modern examples of this kind of structure, the latter writer says :"They are commonly spoken of as beehive houses, but their Gaelic name is boh or bothan. They are now only used as temporary residences or shealings by those who herd the cattle at their summer pasturage; but at a time not very remote they are believed to have been the permanent dwellings of the people.” And he thus describes his first sight of the beehive houses: “I do not think I ever came upon a scene which more surprised me, and I scarcely know where or how to begin my description of it. By the side of a burn which flowed through a little grassy glen (...) We saw two small round hive-like hillocks, not much higher than a man, joined together, and covered with grass and weeds. Out of the top of one of them a column of smoke slowly rose, and at its base there was a hole about three feet high and two feet wide, which seemed to lead into the interior of the hillock—its hollowness, and the possibility of its having a human creature within it being thus suggested. There was no one, however, actually within the bo'h, the three girls, when we came in sight, being seated on a knoll by the burn-side, but it was really in the inside of these two green hillocks that they slept, and cooked their food, and carried on their work, and—dwelt, in short."

t is enough here to state that they are built of rough stone, without any mortar. "Though the stone walls are very thick,” says my authority , “they are covered on the outside with turf, which soon becomes grassy like the land round about, and thus secures perfect wind and water tightness.” Sometimes they occur in groups, as those shown in Plate III.; of which scene Captain Thomas justly remarks that “at first sight it may be taken for a picture of a Hottentot village rather than a hamlet in the British Isles.” Here there is little or no grassy covering outside, however; and consequently none of the hillock-like effect. Of the "agglomeration of beehives" pictured in the latter, Sir Arthur Mitchell observes :" It has several entrances, and would accommodate many families, who might be spoken of as living in one mound, rather than under one roof". Of another such dwelling, now ruined, he says that it could have accommodated “from forty to fifty people.” This last, however  represents another variety of earth-house, the chambered mound or beehive, with an underground gallery leading to it. Of this kind two examples are here shown. 

t is difficult, and indeed hardly necessary, to distinguish between one variety and another of what is practically the same kind of building; but to this last class the term earth-house is most frequently accorded in Scotland. In the broader dialect it is yirdhouse or eirde-house, which at once recalls the form jord-hus in the saga which tells of Leif's adventure underground in Ireland. The term weem is also applied to these places in Scotland. This is merely a quickened pronunciation of the Gaelic uam or uamk, a cave; and it reminds one that, both in Gaelic and in English, the word "cave” is by no means restricted to a natural cavity. Indeed, one of the two artificial structures under consideration is known as Uamk Sgalabhad, the cave of Sgalabhad. Another old Gaelic name for those underground galleries is tung or tunga; while another name, by which they are known in Lewis is tigk fo thalaimh or house beneath the ground. Martin, in his description of the Western Islands, printed in 1703, when their use would appear to have been still remembered, speaks of them [these underground structures] as ' little stone-houses, built under ground, called earthhouses, which served to hide a few people and their goods in time of war.' Dean Monro writes, “there is sundry coves and holes in the earth, coverit with hedder above, quhilk fosters many rebellis in the country of the North head of Ywst" [North Uist]." From O'Flaherty's description of West Connaught, written in 1684, it appears," observes Captain Thomas, but referring more strictly to the beehive-house, “that this style of dwelling had already become archaic." For, although that writer mentions certain cloghans as being still inhabited, holding forty men in some cases, yet he says they were "so ancient that nobody knows how long ago any of them were made.” Of the underground galleries another writer says :“It has been doubted if these houses were ever really used as places of abode. But as to this there can be no real doubt. The substances found in many of them have been the accumulated debris of food used by man. Ornaments of bronze have been found in a few of them, and beads of streaked glass. In some cases the articles found would indicate that the occupation of these houses had come down to comparatively recent times.” In conclusion, these remarks of Captain Thomas, who made so thorough a study of the subject, may be quoted : ”The Pict's house on the Holm of Papay [Orkney] would have held, besides the chiefs at each end, all the families in [the island of] Papay Westray when it was built. Maes howe was for three families—grandees, no doubt; but the numbers it was intended to hold in the beds may be learned by comparing them with the Amazon's House, St. Kilda.

 consider the relation between the boths [beehive houses] and the Picts' houses of the Orkneys (and elsewhere) to be evident—the same method of forming the arch, the low and narrow doors and passages, the enormous thickness of the walls, when compared with the interior accommodation— exist in both. When a both is covered with green turf it becomes a chambered tumulus, and when buried by drifting sand it is a subterranean Pict's house. I regard the comparatively large Picts' houses of the Orkneys as the pastoral residence of the Pictish lord, fitted to contain his numerous family and dependents. Such an one exists on the Holm of Papa Westray, which, according to the Highland method of stowage, would certainly contain a whole clan. When writing the description of it, I had not made acquaintance with a people who would close the door to keep in the smoke, or that nested in holes in a wall like sand-martins(...) "But the both of the Long Island is only the lodging of the common man or  Tuathanach, and is consequently of small dimensions, and not remarkable for comfort. If the modern Highland proprietor or large farmer should ever be induced to lead a pastoral life, and adopt a Pictish architecture in his residence, we might again see a tumulus of twenty feet in height, with its long low passage leading into a large hall with beehive cells on both sides."

ut the point of all this is that these dwellings, whether above ground or below, are known as Puis' Houses, Fairy Halls, Elf Hillocks, the hidden places of Fians and Fairies. Thus, the three titles which I have shown to be associated in other ways are all given to the alleged builders and occupiers of those very archaic and peculiar structures. It is true that, in their most modern form, some of those dwellings are still inhabited for months at a time. And their inhabitants are neither Fians, Fairies nor Picts. But it is among those people that stories of Fians and Fairies are most rife, and many claim an actual descent from them. And although they are certainly not pigmies, yet they live in a district in which the small type of this heterogeneous nation of ours is still quite discernible; and that part of the island of Lewis (Uig), which has longest retained those places as dwellings, is inhabited by a caste whom other Hebrideans describe as small, and regard as different from themselves. Dr. Beddoe states that the tallest people in the United Kingdom are to be found in a certain village in Galloway, where a six-foot man is perfectly common, and many are above that height. It is quite certain that such men could not "nest like sand-martins“ in the holes in the wall described by Captain Thomas. And, in proportion as such Galloway men are to the modern Hebridean mound-dwellers, so are these to the much more archaic race with whom the oldest structures are associated. For a study of the dimensions of these will show that they could not have been conceived, and would not have been built or inhabited by any but a race of actual dwarfs; as tradition says they were.

Fians, Fairies And Picts, by David MacRitchie, 1893

Nico