Accounts do not record a detailed cosmogonic origin for Abarta. In the surviving narrative he appears as an otherworldly individual who approaches Fionn mac Cumhaill soon after Mac Cumhaill succeeded his father as leader of the Fianna. He is presented variously in different versions as either one of the Tuatha Dé Danann or as a Fomorian; the sources do not resolve this discrepancy.
No specific personal physical description of Abarta is preserved in the cited material; the tale emphasizes his actions. The notable material object associated with him is a 'wild grey horse' which required fourteen Fianna to mount before it would move and which then carried the warriors into the Otherworld.
In the tale Abarta uses deception—offering himself as a servant to Fionn and gifting the Fianna a supernatural mount that transports them into the Otherworld. The narrative depicts him as having the agency to cause or effect transport of human warriors into the underground Otherworld where the Tuatha Dé Danann dwell. After pursuit by the Fianna he is compelled to free the prisoners and to undergo a humiliating act (holding the horse's tail while being dragged back to Ireland) to satisfy honour.
Weaknesses
- conditionsubject to compulsion and restitution as narrated (forced to release prisoners and to hold the horse's tail while dragged)
Wards
- otheractive pursuit into the Otherworld using a magical ship and a skilled guide (story-specific countermeasure)
Abcán (Abhcán)
Abcán (modern spelling Abhcán) is a named dwarf poet and musician of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth. He appears in a small number of narratives as a musician whose art has soporific power and as the ferryman who brings the goddess Ruad from the Otherworld to the human world.
Abhean
Abhean is a named poet of the Tuatha Dé Danann in medieval Irish literature, described as a poet in particular of Lugh and recorded as having been killed by Óengus before Midir in a poem by Fland Mainistreach preserved in the Lebor Gabála Érenn.
Achtland
Achtland is a figure from Irish tradition who, according to the surviving account, was a mortal woman famed for rejecting mortal suitors who married a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and crossed into the síde to become immortal as his wife.
Aed (Aodh)
Aed (Old Irish Aodh) is a named supernatural figure in Irish myth attested in variant genealogies: in some traditions he is one of the Children of Lir, while in others he appears as a son of the Dagda. His name derives from the Old Irish word for 'fire' and he appears in narratives that place him among the aristocratic households of the Tuatha Dé Danann/Daoine Sidhe.
Aengus
Aengus (Óengus, Aonghus) is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth, portrayed as a youthful, attractive figure associated with love, youth, poetic inspiration and seasonal/solar symbolism; he is linked to Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange) and appears as fosterer, protector, enchanter and avenger in multiple tales.
Ailill Angubae
Ailill Angubae is a human figure in the Irish tale The Wooing of Étaín, presented as the brother of High King Eochaid Feidlech who falls desperately in love with his brother's wife, Étaín. His unrequited passion leads to a wasting illness and a failed rendezvous when the Tuatha Dé Danann figure Midir casts him into an enchanted sleep.
Airmed
Airmed (Airmid) is a healer and keeper of herbal knowledge among the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth. Daughter of Díán Cécht and sister of Miach, she preserves the lore of healing plants, gathers herbs at Miach's grave, and is named among enchanters who sang over the well of Sláine to restore the wounded.
Aos Sí
Aos Sí are a broad class of supernatural beings in Gaelic (Irish and Scottish) folklore associated with the mounds and liminal places of the landscape. They are variously described as descendants or later forms of the Tuatha Dé Danann, ancestral or nature spirits, or otherworldly folk who coexist with humans and can be helpful or dangerous when offended.
Badb
Badb is an Irish supernatural female figure associated with warfare, death, and prophecy. She commonly appears as a crow or raven and as a wailing omen, acts on battlefields to sow confusion and foretell slaughter, and is often treated as one member of the triadic Morrígna.
Banba
Banba (modern spelling Banbha) is a matron goddess of Ireland in Irish mythology, daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She forms a triad of matronal personifications of the island with her sisters Ériu and Fódla, is associated with sovereignty and the land, and appears in origin and heroic narratives linked to specific Irish landscapes.
Bodb Derg
Bodb Derg is a kingly figure of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish myth, attested as ruler of the Munster síd and later elected king of the Tuatha Dé Danann after their defeat and withdrawal into the sídhe. His name is etymologically linked to the war-crow figure Badb and is glossed in sources as 'Red Crow.'
Celtic Mythological Beings
A pantheon of supernatural entities from ancient Celtic mythology, associated with various aspects of nature and the cosmos. (Note: - Power tier: Reduce to Lesser (some Greater entities are mentioned, but overall Celtic mythological beings are more regional or local spirits) - Weaknesses: Add "Disruption of natural cycles" as a we)
Community Record
- [1]Abarta — Wikipedia. Wikipedia entry 'Abarta'.wiki
- [2]Ábartach — Wikidata. Wikidata item Q305580 (Ábartach).other