Fear gorta

In Irish mythology, the fear gorta (Irish: Man of hunger / Man of famine; also known as the fear gortach) is a phantom of hunger resembling an emaciated human.

According to Yeats' Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry the fear gorta walks the earth during times of famine, seeking alms from passers-by. In this version the fear gorta can be a potential source of good luck for generous individuals.^[1] Harvey relates a myth that the fear gorta was a harbinger of famine during the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, and that the spirit originally arises from a patch of hungry grass (féar gortach).^[2]

References

↑ Yeats, W. B. (ed.) Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. 1888.
↑ Harvey, Steenie. Twilight places: Ireland's enduring fairy lore. World and I, March 1998, v13 n3

Fairies

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Fairies in folklore

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Fairy-like beings in folklore

African folklore	Abatwa Asanbosam Aziza Bultungin Jengu Kishi Mami Wata Obayifo Rompo Tikoloshe Yumboes

Australasian folklore	Bunyip Manaia Muldjewangk Patupaiarehe Taniwha Tipua Wondjina Yara-ma-yha-who Yowie

American folklore	Alux Curupira Encantado Ishigaq Jogah Menehune Nawao Nimerigar Pukwudgie Saci Squonk

Asian folklore	Apsara Diwata Kappa Kijimuna Kitsune Kodama Koro-pok-guru Mogwai Orang Bunian Puteri Peri Bake-danuki Tengu Tennin Yaksha Yakshini Yōkai Yōsei

Greek folklore	Dryad Hamadryad Kallikantzaros Lampad Maenad Naiad Nereid Nymph Oceanid Pan Potamides Satyr Silenus

Romanic folklore	Căpcăun Faun Iele Lares Penates Sânziană Spiriduş Squasc Vâlvă Vântoase Zână Zmeu

Slavic folklore	Bagiennik & Bannik Berehynia Domovoi Karzełek Kikimora Likho Polevik Psotnik Rusalka Vila Vodyanoy

Celtic folklore	Tuatha de Danaan

See also: Portal Category List of beings referred to as fairies

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