Also called Balor of the Evil Eye, Balor Birugderc, Balar.
Their story
Balor was a leader of the Fomorians with an eye that destroyed whatever it looked on, so heavy that four men had to lift the lid with a polished handle. At the Second Battle of Mag Tuired his grandson Lugh put out the eye with a sling-stone, driving it through his head so that it wiped out the Fomorian ranks behind him. Folklore from Tory Island in Donegal tells that he locked his daughter Eithne in a tower to escape a prophecy that her son would kill him, but she bore Lugh all the same.
Best times to give to them
- Lughnasadh, as the defeat of blight is remembered
- Samhain, when old dangers are recalled
What they like being given
- none; he is remembered, not honoured
- tell his story to show that fate cannot be escaped
How to honour them
- Use his story at Lughnasadh to reflect on overcoming what threatens your harvest.
- Consider what harsh gaze, your own or others', you need to close.
How they can help you
- understanding fate
- the triumph of skill over brute force
Symbols
- the single poisonous eye
- the sling-stone
- Tory Island
The Tory Island version of his story comes from nineteenth-century folklore collected by John O'Donovan.
Sources
- Cath Maige Tuired
- Lebor Gabála Érenn
More Celtic beings
- Bres The beautiful, ungenerous king
- The Fomorians The dark powers from under the sea
- Taliesin The chief of bards, born of the cauldron
- Y Ddraig Goch The red dragon of Wales