Comments on: Inspiration from the Emerald Isle

By: Weekly D&D Link-Around « Jonathan Drain’s D20 Source: Dungeons & Dragons Blog

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:17:50 +0000

[...] Dungeon Mastering: Inspiration from the Emerald Isle [...]

By: Andrew French

Andrew French — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:06:02 +0000

I was just looking through some back issues and ran across this. You’ll be happy to know that the knots in hair concept is a real piece of folk lore. They’re called “elf locks”.

By: phycoshane

phycoshane — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:10:44 +0000

hi i live in ireland and always try to incorporate some irish mythology into my campains.i also include irish language as a language for characters.going on a quest for celtic gods that need help can make great adventure too. i have never actually seen a circle of muserooms.but i have seen circles of grass many times but whats more peculiar is that ever when cut with the grass around them at the same time they sill emerge,growing in a ring taller or somtimes shorter them the grass around them.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:39:14 +0000

@HeirToPendragon: Yup, I noticed. It’s a folklore classic, just a coincidence we both wrote about it at the same time.

By: Steve-o

Steve-o — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:30:10 +0000

I love the fey and the whole mythology surrounding them. I think they are truly fascinating. Over the years I have built up a nice library on the subject and my campaigns always have a fey/sidhe/ Tuatha deDannan/ influence and background with them eventually getting involved in the overall plot. The feywild is the only reason why I may get the Manual of the Planes or whatever it is called.

By: HeirToPendragon

HeirToPendragon — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:50:24 +0000

Your idea about the circle of toadstools was suggested by WotC when they previewed the Fey Wild

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20081208

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:39:34 +0000

@Hammer: I knew that actually, the inspiration for the article was reading the rather strange changeling story found in the Roman Satyricon. I choose Ireland because I like the way the stories were told there in particular and hoped you guys would too.

By: Hammer

Hammer — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:53:11 +0000

I hate to disappoint you, but neither Fairy Rings nor Changelings are specifficly Irish myths.

The Changeling stories can be found in just about every folk history in Europe. They even exist in the Roman myth, which may be why they spread around Europe so much.

Fairy Rings seem to be a myth of the British Isles, with it being extremely popular in England. Less so in Scotland and Wales, but it is common.

Some other myths you might be interested in investigating for inspiration are the stories of the Kelpie (a Celtic water-horse), Tír na nÓg (Irish land of eternal youth), the Ghillie Dhu from Scotland and the Shellycoat (a river monster from Scottish and German folklore).