daoi-sith vs du-sith: a folklore question

[Rawlinson]

I found lots of vague, unhelpful, and contradictory information on the Inturwebs about daoi-sith and du-sith in Celtic folklore. Anyone here know anything helpful on this subject? What exactly are they? Any good stories?

[Bugbear]

Cool! This should be interesting!

* I'm finding information on daoi sith so far, but none on du sith. You might try "Sleeth Ma," as a related term; hope I spelled it correctly.

[macwilkin]

Are you thinking of the Cu Sith/Cait Sith?

T.

[dfmacliam]

I think you are possibly refering to the daoine sidhe the Fairies People

[Bugbear]

Never mind; it's Tolkien.

[Bugbear]

Came across this in my collection.

THE FAIRY MINISTER



(The Rev. Mr. Kirk of Aberfoyle was carried away by the Fairies in
1692.)

People of Peace! a peaceful man,
Well worthy of your love was he,
Who, while the roaring Garry ran
Red with the life-blood of Dundee,
While coats were turning, crowns were falling,
Wandered along his valley still,
And heard your mystic voices calling
From fairy knowe and haunted hill.
He heard, he saw, he knew too well
The secrets of your fairy clan;
You stole him from the haunted dell,
Who never more was seen of man.
Now far from heaven, and safe from hell,
Unknown of earth, he wanders free.
Would that he might return and tell
Of his mysterious Company!
For we have tired the Folk of Peace;
No more they tax our corn and oil;
Their dances on the moorland cease,
The Brownie stints his wonted toil.
No more shall any shepherd meet
The ladies of the fairy clan,
Nor are their deathly kisses sweet
On lips of any earthly man.
And half I envy him who now,
Clothed in her Court's enchanted green,
By moonlit loch or mountain's brow
Is Chaplain to the Fairy Queen.

From Andrew Lang's, Ban and Arriere Ban--A Rally of Fugitive Rhymes; which is now in the public domain and can be found online at Project Gutenberg.

[thanmuwa]

I found lots of vague, unhelpful, and contradictory information on the Inturwebs about daoi-sith and du-sith in Celtic folklore. Anyone here know anything helpful on this subject? What exactly are they? Any good stories?

I think the reason that you are finding contradictory information is that people are still in the process of making it up . Daoine Sidhe, Cu sidhe and Cat sidhe are certainly mentioned, but the Tolkienesque dark and light elves that daoi-sith and du-sith suggest seem to me to be a modern mish-mash of multiple mythologies (I wanted to put "Western European" before "mythologies" but that would have ruined the alliteration ).

[Bugbear]

Never mind, I guess it's Tolkien lore...

[slohairt]

I think the reason that you are finding contradictory information is that people are still in the process of making it up . Daoine Sidhe, Cu sidhe and Cat sidhe are certainly mentioned, but the Tolkienesque dark and light elves that daoi-sith and du-sith suggest seem to me to be a modern mish-mash of multiple mythologies (I wanted to put "Western European" before "mythologies" but that would have ruined the alliteration ).

Actually, the concept of dark and light elves comes more from Norse/Germanic mythology which Tolkien was well-acquainted with. He then used it to create his own mish-mash!

[thanmuwa]

Actually, the concept of dark and light elves comes more from Norse/Germanic mythology which Tolkien was well-acquainted with. He then used it to create his own mish-mash!

Yes, and Tolkien had the ambitious aim of providing an Anglo-Saxon mythology (obviously heavily based on the Norse/Germanic mythologies) which he considered sadly lost.
I guess what I meant is that the people talking about daoi- and du-sith seem to me to be taking their inspiration from Tolkien and other fantasy sources rather than European legends. Put it this way, one of the highest results when searching on Daoi-sith is for a game called adventure quest....

Certainly I have never heard about dark and light Sidhe in Irish legends. The concept of the dark elf is much more likely to be represented by a Fomor or Firbolg (not that the Sidhe are considered particularly similar to light elves, they are probably equivalent to dark (or at the very least shady) elves by themselves!)