Fir Bolg – in Irish mythology, the third of the mythical tribes that ruled Ireland. In the legendary Irish history, this race does not play a significant role.
Fir Bolg are descendants of Nemed’s son, Starna, who, after exile, led his people to Greece. Inhospitable Greeks forced the refugees to do hard work: the Irish people dragged the land from the fertile fields to the rocks so that the Greeks could set up their gardens there. The workers were carrying land in sacks (in Irish “Bolg”), from where, apparently, the name of this tribe originates: Fir Bolg – literally “people of sacks”. Tired of the slave life, the people of Starn made themselves boats of their bags and sailed to Ireland, where they arrived on August 1, the day of Lugnas. Along with them arrived t. Fir Domnan and Galeion, but all three peoples considered themselves to be one race, therefore they are called Fir Bolg.
With the arrival of Fir Bolg, the “agrarian” era of Ireland ended: the new settlers did not create new plains and lakes, as the two previous Irish tribes did. But it was this race that began the political formation of the country and laid the foundation for the tradition of sacred royal power.
The most notable of the rulers of Fir Bolg in the legendary history was Eochide Mac Erk, who married Tiltou, daughter of the King of the Land of the Dead. It was said about Eochide that “in his time it did not rain, only dew fell; there was not a single lean year. ” In addition, the country’s legendary history claims that it was this king who laid the foundations of justice in Ireland. It is precisely the “golden age” of Eochaid that apparently became the time of the birth of conviction that not only the flowering of the state, but also the productivity of the land depends on a good king.
Some researchers believe that the story of the real invasions of various tribes into Ireland was reflected in the myth of Fir Bolg.
The era of Fir Bolg ended after the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Tribes of the Goddess Danu, came to Ireland. The indigenous people did not accept the proposal of new settlers on the division of land in half, the war began. In the course of the Battle of Magus Tuired (i.e. The Plains of the Towers) Fir Bolg were defeated, and power over Ireland was transferred to a new tribe.
Sources:
Shirokova N.S. Myths of the Celtic Peoples
McCulloch John Arnott. Religion of the ancient Celts
Rolleston Thomas. Myths, legends and legends of the Celts
Celtic mythology