A
banshee (
;
bean sí, from
:
ben síde , "woman of the
" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in
who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or
. Her name is connected to the mythologically important
or "mounds" that dot the
countryside, which are known as
(singular
síd) in Old Irish.
Sometimes she has long streaming hair and wears a grey
over a green dress, and her eyes are red from continual weeping. She may be dressed in white with
and a ghastly complexion, according to a firsthand account by
in her
Memoirs.
in
Ancient Legends of Ireland provides another:
The size of the banshee is another physical feature that differs between regional accounts. Though some accounts of her standing unnaturally tall are recorded, the majority of tales that describe her height state the banshee's stature as short, anywhere between one foot and four feet. Her exceptional shortness often goes alongside the description of her as an old woman, though it may also be intended to emphasize her state as a fairy creature.
Sometimes the banshee assumes the form of some sweet singing virgin of the family who died young, and has been given the mission by the invisible powers to become the harbinger of coming doom to her mortal kindred. Or she may be seen at night as a shrouded woman, crouched beneath the trees, lamenting with veiled face, or flying past in the moonlight, crying bitterly. The cry of this spirit is mournful beyond all other sounds on earth, and betokens certain death to some member of the family whenever it is heard in the silence of the night.
In Ireland and parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the
woman (
bean chaointe), who wails a lament—in
:
Caoineadh, pronounced
(Munster dialect),
(Connaught dialect) or
(Ulster dialect),
caoin meaning "to weep, to wail". This keening woman may in some cases be a professional, and the best keeners would be in high demand.
Irish legend speaks of a lament being sung by a fairy woman, or banshee. She would sing it when a family member died or was about to die, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come. In those cases, her wailing would be the first warning the household had of the death.
The banshee also is a predictor of death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing, giving rise to a banshee also being known as a wailing woman.
When several banshees appear at once, it indicates the death of someone great or holy. The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.
