Fomorians

The Fomorians or Fomori (Old Irish: Fomóire, Modern Irish: Fomhóraigh / Fomóraigh) are a supernatural race in Irish mythology, who are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings. Originally they were said to come from under the sea or the earth. Later, they were portrayed as sea raiders and giants. They are enemies of Ireland's first settlers and opponents of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the other supernatural race in Irish mythology; although some members of the two races have offspring. The Tuath Dé defeat the Fomorians in the Battle of Mag Tuired. This has been likened to other Indo-European myths of a war between gods, such as the Æsir and Vanir in Norse mythology, the Olympians and Titans in Greek mythology, and the Devas and Asuras in Indian mythology.

One theory is that the Fomorians were supernatural beings representing the wild or destructive powers of nature; personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought.

In Old and Middle Irish, the race is usually called the Fomóire or Fomóiri (plural), and an individual member is called a Fomóir (singular). In Middle Irish, they are also called the Fomóraiġ (plural) and a Fomórach (singular). This is spelt Fomhóraigh/Fomóraigh (plural) and Fomhórach (singular) in Modern Irish. Their name is Latinized as Muiridi in the Lebor Bretnach. In English, they are called the Fomorians, Fomori or Fomors.

The etymology of the name is debated. The first part is generally agreed to be the Old Irish fo, meaning under, below, lower, beneath, nether, etc. The meaning of the second part is unclear. One suggestion is that it comes from Old Irish mur (sea), and that the name means something like "the undersea ones". This was the interpretation offered by some medieval Irish writers. Another suggestion is that it comes from mór (great/big) and means something like "the great under(world) ones", "the under(world) giants" or "the nether giants". A third suggestion, which has more support among scholars, is that it comes from a hypothetical Old Irish term for a demon or phantom, found in the name of The Morrígan and cognate with the archaic English word "mare" (which survives in "nightmare"). The name would thus mean something like "underworld demons/phantoms" or "nether demons/phantoms". Building on this, Marie-Louise Sjoestedt interprets the name as meaning "inferior" or "latent demons", saying the Fomorians are "like the powers of chaos, ever latent and hostile to cosmic order". John T. Koch suggests a relationship with Tartessian omuŕik.

Originally the Fomorians seem to have been regarded as malevolent spirits dwelling underwater and in the nether regions of the earth. In one of the earliest references to them, a probably 7th-century elegy for Mess-Telmann, they are said to dwell "under the worlds of men". Later they were portrayed as sea raiders. This was influenced by the Viking raids on Ireland that were taking place around that time.

They are often portrayed as monstrous. Sometimes they are said to have the body of a man and the head of a goat, according to an 11th-century text in Lebor na hUidre (the Book of the Dun Cow), or to have had one eye, one arm and one leg. However, those Fomorians who have relationships with the Tuath Dé, such as Elatha and his son Bres, were portrayed as darkly beautiful.

The Fomorians are the enemies of Ireland's first settlers and of the supernatural Tuath Dé, with whom they are contrasted. However, in some sources there is an overlap between the Fomorians and Tuath Dé. A figure called Tethra is named as presiding over both races.

The conflict between the Tuath Dé and Fomorians has been likened to other Indo-European myths of a war between gods: between Æsir and Vanir in Norse mythology, between Olympians and Titans in Greek mythology, and between Devas and Asuras in Vedic mythology. Dáithí Ó hÓgáin writes that the Tuath Dé gaining agricultural knowledge from the Fomorians is similar to the Norse and Vedic versions, where the defeated races represent the fertility of the soil.