Balor

In Irish mythology, Balor (Balar, Bolar) of the Evil Eye was a king of the Fomorians. His father was Buarainech. His wife was Cethlenn. He is supposed to have lived on Tory Island.

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One of Balor's eyes could kill anyone it looked upon; he gained this power as a child when he looked out the window when his father's druids were preparing poisonous spells, and the fumes rose into his eye. This eye was normally kept closed, and only opened on the battlefield by four men using a handle fitted to his eyelid, or, in some versions, a system of ropes and pulleys.

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According to a prophecy, Balor was to be killed by his grandson. He locked his daughter, Ethlinn, in a tower made of crystal to keep her from becoming pregnant. However, Cian, one of the Tuatha D? Danann, with the help of the druidess Birog, managed to enter the tower. She gave birth to triplets by him, but Balor threw them into the ocean. Birog saved one, Lugh, and gave him to Manannan mac Lir, who became his foster father. He was called Lugh Lamhfada and became a member of the Tuatha D? Danann.

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Lugh led the Tuatha in the second Battle of Magh Tuiredh against the Fomorians. Ogma disarmed Balor during this battle, but Balor killed Nuada with his eye. Lugh shot a sling-stone which drove Balor's eye out the back of his head, where it continued to wreak its deadly power on the Fomorian army. In other versions Lugh blinded Balor with a spear made by Goibniu, or decapitated him and used his eye against the Fomorians.

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Irish mythology: The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. Although many o...

Fomorians: In Irish mythology, the Fomorians, Fomors, or Fomori (Irish Fom?iri, Fom?raig) were a semi-divine race who inhabited Ireland in ancient times. They may have once been the beings who preceded the gods, similar to the Greek Titans. It has been suggested that they represent the gods of chaos and wild n...

Buarainech: In Irish mythology, Buarainech was the father of Balor, the King of the Fomorians....