can someone please tell me the legend of the Banshee, i'm so interested in it, please??

Answer 1

http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html

Answer 2

The Banshee , from the Irish bean sídhe or bean sí ("woman of the sídhe") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the Bean Nighe ("washer-woman").

The sídhe are variously believed to be the survivals of pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Some Theosophists and Celtic Christians have also referred to the sídhe as "fallen angels". They are commonly referred to in English as "fairies", and the Banshee can also be described as a "fairy woman".

Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh ([kwi:nʲə])) at their funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as "keeners". Legend has it that, for five great Gaelic families: the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the Kavanaghs, the lament would be sung by a fairy woman. These families had a fairy woman associated with them, who would make an appearance after a death in the family to sing this lament. Tales recount how, when the family member had died far away then the appearance or, in some tales, the sound of the fairy keener, might be the first intimation of the death.

When these oral narratives were first translated into English, a distinction between the "banshee" and other fairy folk was introduced which does not seem to exist in the stories in their original (Irish or Scottish) Gaelic forms. Similarly, the funeral lament became a mournful cry or wail by which the death is heralded. In these tales, hearing the banshee's wail came to predict a death in the family and seeing the banshee portends one's own death.

Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, and often having long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids - stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red or black with a grey cloak.

Banshees are common in Irish and Scottish folk stories such as those written down by Herminie T. Kavanagh. They enjoy the same mythical status in Ireland as fairies and leprechauns.

Answer 3

The Banshee is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld.
You can find out more about banshees here-->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee

Answer 4

The Banshee, or Bean Sidhe, in Celtic folklore, was a type of fairy or spirit who was attatched to certain families. She could be heard crying when a member of the family was going to die. A Cyhyraeth was a form of banshee who would cry or groan before multiple deaths by epidemnic or accident.

Answer 5

According 2 legend, a banshee was a fairy that would wail in front of a house when death was coming to one of the occupants of the house.

Answer 6

This site has a description with examples of the banshee (Bean Sidhe) in Irish mythology. Actually, it is an excellent site for looking up things in Celtic mythology and poetry in general and cross-referencing them.
http://www.maryjones.us/jce/beansidhe.html

Answer 7

The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death. According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list.

Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain.)The Banshee She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman).

Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form. There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, the keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone as "the sound of two boards being struck together"; and on Rathlin Island as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl".

The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.
http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee

Answer 8

My Grandpa used to tell me that a Banshee would stay in certian families,and would "pick" certian members of each generation to hear it scream, when another generation (who it had assigned) died. I don't know other than that, my Grandpa was always teasing us. But when he died, I was awakened by a woman screaming. Later in the day, when I told my Grandmother about this, was the exact time of his death, and my cousin had awakened her household screaming at the same time! So I will be interrested to see what others say!

Answer 9

a banshee is an irish fae that wails by the home of a person when one of their family members is close to death or has died

Answer 10

Bean Sidhe.