Tonight he will return, after tearing his own flesh and letting out the wild part that lives inside him. The faoladh or conriocht is the werewolf of Irish folklore, he is a shapeshifter. The Emerald island was populated by large numbers of wolves, until 1786 when the last wolf was killed. Ireland was called Wolfland until the Middle Ages. So the wolf has always been part of Irish folklore and tradition. The faoladh is different from the werewolf that terrifies and devours us. He's a protector and guardian, and they were even recruited by kings to fight on the battlefield. These faoladh were the Laignach Faelad. The Laignach Faelad were a tribe that worshipped the god Cromm Crúaich. They were bloody warriors comparable to the Scandinavian úlfhéðnar or berserker. The laignach faelad were so ruthless that the only payment they accepted was newborn flesh as food. Some faoladh were transformed into wolves by a curse, which after a few years would be passed on to another human, so the legend has been passed down from generation to generation. Legend has it that if a faoladh dies in his wolf shape his wounds will not heal and his body will have all the remnants of his wolf adventure. Other stories say that if someone moves the body of a faoladh while his spirit is out, he wouldn't be able to return to his body. That's why I think being a faoladh is not a curse. I think they are different beings, wild, primitive and ancestral. The wolf, solitary or in packs, hunter, loyal, sincere, connected to the forest in a way we cannot even understand. The wolf, loved since ancient times, keeps alive the folklore of Ireland, which wouldn't be the same without this awesome being... Art by Nashoba Hostina
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