Fachan
A one-eyed, one-handed, one-legged giant from Scottish folklore.
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The fachan is a monster or giant from Scottish folklore described by John Francis Campbell as having a single eye, one hand, and one leg.[1] It has a single tuft of hair on its head that Campbell says "it were easier to take a mountain from the root than to bend that tuft"[1] The Irish word fathach (giant) and the Scottish famhair (giant) may be related to the term fachan, which Hyde proposed as a diminutive form.[2]
Quick Facts
- Type
- Monster or giant
- Described by
- John Francis Campbell
- Work
- Popular Tales of the West Highlands
- Also mentioned by
- Douglas Hyde
- Related traditions
- Irish folklore, Arabic tradition (nasnas, shiqq)
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
John Francis Campbell described the fachan in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, first published in 1862.[1] The creature has a single eye in the middle of its face, a single hand protruding from its chest, and a single leg emerging from its central axis.[1] Campbell draws attention to possible influence from Arabic creatures such as the nasnas or shiqq, described as "half of a human being" and hopping on one leg.[1] Hyde's creature held a very thick iron flail-club in its skinny hand with twenty chains and fifty apples on each chain.[2]
Each apple had a venomous spell on it, and the creature wore a girdle of deer and roebuck skins.[2] It had one eye in its black-faced forehead, one bare hairy hand coming out of its chest, and one veiny thick-soled leg.[2] A close dark blue mantle of twisted hard-thick feathers protected its body, and it was "more like unto devil than to man"[2] Hyde believes both descriptions represent branches of a common Gaelic tradition.[2]
What the cited sources add
Hyde's 1890 account provides specific details about the creature's weapon, describing a flail-club with twenty chains and fifty apples each bearing a venomous spell.[2] Hyde also notes the creature wore a mantle of twisted hard-thick feathers and a girdle of deer and roebuck skins.[2] Campbell's 1862 work notes a possible influence on the fachan from Arabic folklore creatures such as the nasnas and shiqq.[1]
References
- Wikipedia, "Fachan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Campbell, John Francis (1893) [1862]. Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Vol. 4 (New ed.). Alexander Gardner. pp. 297–98. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Fachan" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hyde, Douglas (1890). Beside the Fire: A Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories. David Nutt. pp. xx–xxii. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Fachan (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Irish folklore
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Fachan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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