Bodach

No single origin narrative is uniformly attested in the provided sources. Linguistically the word derives from Old Irish botach and in historic usage denoted an old man, tenant, serf, or peasant; alternative etymologies link it to Old Irish bod ('tail, penis') with the suffix -ach or to a word for 'cottage, hut' (possible Norse/English borrowing). In narrative traditions the bodach functions as a folkloric persona and in at least one tale (Eachtra Bhodaigh an Chóta Lachtna) is identified with the Otherworld sea-deity Manannán mac Lir, indicating narrative syncretism between a social-type figure and mythic beings.

As a lexical label the bodach literally means an old man and many traditional accounts give only sparse physical detail. In folklore he is often represented simply as an old man or a shabby peasant. Vivid physical descriptions in the provided material come largely from literary adaptations: Lady Gregory's retelling (inspired by Eachtra Bhodaigh an Chóta Lachtna) renders a disguised Manannán as a clownish old man in striped clothes with puddle water in his shoes and scorched spears; modern fiction (Alan Garner, Dean Koontz) presents further creative variants (goblin-spearmen or shadow-like presences). The Bodach Glas ('Old Grey Man') is named as a grey/old-man figure but detailed traditional physiognomy is not recorded in the supplied sources.

Traditional sources depict the bodach primarily as a trickster and bogeyman: a figure who plays tricks, poses riddles (attested in roadside encounter tales), and serves as a cautionary monster who, in Scottish lore, 'comes down the chimney to kidnap naughty children.' In some narratives the bodach is a disguised Otherworld being (identification with Manannán mac Lir), which implies mythic capacities in those specific tales, and the Bodach Glas functions narratively as an omen of impending death. Modern literary treatments ascribe additional powers (invisibility, premonitory gathering before disasters) but these are not part of the traditional attestations in the provided material.