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Most recent 13 results returned for keyword: mermaids (Search this on MAP)

Mark Kirshner : Mermaids - lovely! - http://pinterest.com/pin/117726977731771792/ Mermaids - lovely! - http://pinterest.com/pin/117726977731771792/ Mark Geoffrey Kirshner Mermaids - lovely! 4 minutes ago - Via Mobile - View - Letizia .V : Watch the video: Letizia - Turn loose the Mermaids [Cover] 52 minutes ago - Via YouTube - View - Winged Heron : Well before Disney's "Little Mermaid" and far more fun - even naughty fun for the late 40s Well before Disney's "Little Mermaid" and far more fun - even naughty fun for the late 40s Watch the video: Miranda 1948 Full Movie Film Public Domain Miranda 1948 , Sequel/Prequel to Mad About Men, Full Movie in Public Domain - a great comedy about mermaids 1 hour ago - Via Google+ - View - Alexis Murphy : Getting ready for a Mermaid Party for Memorial Day! #mermaids   #mermaidparty   #mermaidcupcakestopper... Getting ready for a Mermaid Party for Memorial Day! #mermaids   #mermaidparty   #mermaidcupcakestopper  http://www.jacolynmurphy.com/2013/05/mermaid-partywhat-fun-tail.html 1 hour ago - Via Google+ - View - Arts and the City : Δείτε το «Mermaids» του Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 2 hours ago - Via Google+ - View - Pat Rainville : Watch the video: May 20, 2013 8:51 AM Mermaids: Set Your Sights Higher Angel Tarot: Awakening, Archangel Gabriel 2 hours ago - Via YouTube - View - The Fandom Post : Never diss a mermaid’s scales. Never diss a mermaid’s scales. Muromi-san Episode #07 Anime Review One day, Mukoujima Takurou, a boy in high school who loves fishing, catches a pig tailed mermaid called Muromi-san who speaks in the Hakata dialect. She comes to visit Takurou often, along with her fellow mermaids Sumida-san, Fuji-san, Levia-san, Hii-chan, and even some other fantastical creatures such as Yeti and Harpy! 3 hours ago - Via Google+ - View - James Lewis : http://www.everywheremag.com/photos/10645 http://www.everywheremag.com/photos/10645 Everywhere: Photos: Mermaids on Parade everywheremag.com/photos/10645 6 hours ago - Via HootSuite - View - Natalia Moaten : JackpotCity Mobile Casino Games - ncmCasino.com JackpotCity Mobile Casino offers new players a 0 Double Deposit Bonus. Play your favorite mobile casino games like Thunderstruck and Mermaids Millions. 8 hours ago - Via Google+ - View - todaysmemory : Today's Memory Cher 's birthday born May 20, 1946, El Centro, California Cherilyn Sarkisian is an American... Today's Memory Cher 's birthday  born May 20, 1946, El Centro, California Cherilyn Sarkisian is an American singer and actress with a career spanning five decades. Recognized for having brought the sense of female autonomy and self-actualization into the entertainment industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in various areas of entertainment, as well as for continuously reinventing both her music and image which has led to her being called the Goddess of Pop. More on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cher Live In Las Vegas A movie, too, Mermaids MERMAIDS (1990) Winona Ryder - Full Movie DVD #todaysmemory   #hqspmusic  +HQSPMusic by +Bill Merrow  Watch the video: Cher Live In Las Vegas (Full Video) Cher live in Las Vegas. Performing Tramps and Theives 9 hours ago - Via Reshared Post - View - Mermaid Melissa : Mermaids drive promaster vans Help us promoting the contest by sharing my promotional picture for votes... Mermaids drive promaster vans Help us promoting the contest by sharing my promotional picture for votes to win the RAM ProMater Van. Don’t forget you can vote from all smart phones, iPads, computer browsers, and if we get our friends and families to help out, we may have a chance to make this traveling tour happen! http://bit.ly/16AV08m Chrysler Commercial Vehicles - Work Like A Pro 10 hours ago - Via Google+ - View - Roger Belt : Monster From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about legendary creatures & physical deformity... Monster From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about legendary creatures & physical deformity. For other uses, see Monster (disambiguation). Allegoria dell'immortalità (Allegory of immortality), by Giulio Romano. A monster is any creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is often hideous and may produce fear or physical harm by its appearance and/or its actions. The word "monster" derives from Latin monstrum, an aberrant occurrence, usually biological, that was taken as a sign that something was wrong within the natural order.[1] The word usually connotes something wrong or evil; a monster is generally morally objectionable, physically or psychologically hideous, and/or a freak of nature. It can also be applied figuratively to a person with similar characteristics like a greedy person or a person who does horrible things. However, the root of 'monstrum' is 'monere' - which does not only mean to warn, but also to instruct, and forms the basis of the modern English 'demonstrate'. Thus, the monster is also a sign or instruction. This benign interpretation was proposed by Saint Augustine, who did not see the monster as inherently evil, but as part of the natural design of the world, a kind-of deliberate category error.[2] Contents  [hide]  1 Definitions 1.1 Single Monsters 1.1.1 Gigantism 1.1.2 Repetition or Deficiency 1.1.3 Defective Closure 1.1.4 Hermaphrodites 1.1.5 The Origin of Single Monsters 1.2 Double Monsters 1.2.1 Unequal Double Monsters 1.2.2 The Origin of Double Monsters 2 Cultural History 3 Monsters in film 3.1 Pre–World War II 3.2 Post World War II 4 Monsters in gaming 5 See also 5.1 Monsters in legend 6 References Definitions [edit] A polemical allegory presented as a five-headed monster, 1618 Among newborn young and embryos of man and most species of animals are found occasional individuals who are malformed in whole or in part (cf. Teratology). The most grossly abnormal of these have been referred to from ancient times as monsters, probably because the birth of one was thought to signify something monstrous or portentous; while the less severe are known as abnormalities or anomalies or even birth defects. No sharp line separates these grades of malformation, all being due to various kinds and degrees of modification of the normal course of development of the embryo. The study of these deviations forms the subject of teratology, a branch of morphology or embryology.[3] A knowledge of the kinds of abnormalities which occur and of their causes may, like the more deliberate experiements of the laboratory, lead to a better understanding of normal development. According to form, two major classes of monsters may be recognised, those which represent defective or excessive growth in a single body and those which involve partial or complete doubling of the body or one of its axes. Single Monsters [edit] Giants and dwarfs are often classed as monsters, probably because of the prominent places they occupy in mythology. Since in man they generally result from abnormal growth, they cannot usually be recognised as abnormal at birth. An exception is the disproportionate dwarfism known as achondroplasia or chondrodystrophia in which the limbs and especially the legs are short, thick and bent, with head and trunk disproportionately large. This is a congenital abnormality in man, in cattle, particularly in the Dexter-Kerry breed in which the monstrous bulldog calves with chondrodystrophic dwarfism are often aborted before term, in domestic fowl and other animals. In bulldogs, a similar abnormality has become a breed character. In all of these cases the abnormal characters are inherited together. Cases in which this type of dwarfism in a human family behaves as a simple hereditary character have been reported. In other cases it may be due to other causes. Rudolf Virchow long ago noted the familial association of the chondrodystrophic type of monster with another type in which the limbs except for digist are nearly absent (phocomelus). It has since been shown by Walter Landauer[4] that the fowl phocomelus and chondrodystrophia result from the same hereditary factor, the former representing the homozygote, the latter the heterozygote. Gigantism [edit] Gigantism usually expresses itself during early growth. In man it often arises from endocrine unbalance. It may declare itself at birth in greater size, and sometimes in lower animals and plants, is due to the doubling of the normal chromosome number. (Cf. Heredity and Tetraploidy). Repetition or Deficiency [edit] Fiji mermaid, by P.T. Barnum (1842) Repetition or deficiency of single parts such as fingers or toes (polydactyly, hypodactyly) are frequent anomalies in man and other mammals. Absence or abnormality of whole limbs is less common and includes besides club-foot, the so-called congenital amputations, once thought to be due to strangulation of a limb by a fold of embryonic membrane (amnion). It is probable that endogenous abnormalities of the bone are more frequent causes of such "amputations" than are strangulations. Cases are recorded of human identical twins in which both members have the same type of limb abnormality, suggesting an hereditary predisposition to this type of malformation. In other cases injury and malposition are probably responsible.[3] In addition to monsters with rudimentary limbs (phocomelus), others are known with incomplete or underdeveloped extremities (hemimelus, micromelus, ectromelus). A rare type of monster, but one which has always attracted special interest, has the lower extremities more or less united, as in mammals of the order Sirenia such as the dugong or manatee and in the mytical figures of sirens or mermaids. Such sirenoid monsters may have a single foot (uromelus) or limbs fused throughout their length with no separate feet (sirenomelus or symelus). Defective Closure [edit] Defective closure of lines of junction in the embryo produces monstrosities, such as harelip and cleft palate, in which the ventral laminae of the palate have failed to fuse. A frequent abnormality in human infants is spina bifida in which the spine fails to close over, ad a gap is left in the vertebral column. Both conditions are inherited albeit somewhat irregularly in man. A related abnormality is hydrocephalus in which the embryonic spaces of the brain persist and are filled with fluid resulting in a greatly distended brain and head. An hereditary form is known in the mouse. Occasional monsters are found in which a part of the brain protrudes through the cranium as an encephalocoele; an extreme along this line is reached in pseudoencephaly in which the whole brain is everted and rests upon the top of the cranium like a wig.[3] Hermaphrodites [edit] The Crawling C. elegans, a hermaphrodite worm Hermaphrodites, as individuals containing both functional testes and ovaries, probably do not occur in higher mammals and man in which sex is determined in the fertilised egg and is fundamentally sharply distinct at birth. Intersexual offspring occur in which the sexual organs undergo some developments in the direction of those of the opposite sex. Minor anomalies of genitalia, such as hypospadias, are relatively frequent.[5] A remarkable feature of monsters in vertebrates including man is the association of multiple abnormalities in complex syndromes. Thus in man harelip, spina bifida, hydrocephalus and polydactyly may be found in the same monster; while in acrocephalosyndactyly we find an egg- or dome-shaped skull, partial or complete fusion of digits in both hands and feet and, often in addition, harelip, contractures, spina bifida and mental abnormality. Several authors have suggested that such multiple abnormalities trace to a common source in a retardation in early development which in the above case is probably due to a defective gene.[3] The Origin of Single Monsters [edit] Child with Cyclopia (Sevastopol, 2009) Much light has been gained from a study of those abnormalities which occur in graded series. Thus geneticists Sewall Wright and K. Wagner showed that an extensive series of monsters found in one inbred family of guinea pigs could be arranged in a series in which those with least defect are normal except for a single median lower incisor while with increasing grade of defect the lower jaw is reduced and lost (agnathia), the ears approach each other on the ventral side and fuse (otocephaly) leaving a single ear aperture in the throat; then the mouth and upper teeth are reduced, the nostrils formed into a proboscis, the eyes are reduced (microphthalmia) and fused in the centre of the forehead (cyclopia) and finally all head structures are lost except a small median ear (acraniate monster).[6] The primary factor in these cases is an abnormal heredity acting together with a chance assortment of minor environmental factors to produce varying degrees of inhibition at different times in early development when the antecedents of the head are being formed. Otocephaly, cyclopia, and related defects have been produced in experimental animals (fish and amphibian embryos) by chemical treatments which have inhibiting effects to which the head region is especially sensitive. Monster falling in similar series are found in man and other vertebrates. They probably arise as a result of interaction between a specific heredity and abnormalities in the environment of the embryo sometimes due to disease or injury. Double Monsters [edit] Fallow deer (siamese twins) The Two-Headed Boy, 1881 Individuals partially or wholly double, but joined together, are represented by the rare occurrence in man of Siamese twins, which also reveal the mode of origin of this type of monster. Siamese twins, so-called from a famous pair exhibited for many years in the 19th century, are identical twins joined by a bridge of tissue through which the circulatory systems of the twins communicate. They probably arise by the nearly complete separation of a single fertilised egg into two parts. The experimental production of such double monsters in newts was accomplished by German embryologist Hans Spemann by constricting the egg in the two cell stage with a hairloop. Human identical twins arise by the complete separation of the two halves of one embryo at a very early stage and thus represent an extreme of the same process which results in double monsters.[3][7] In man partially double symmetrical monsters are found verying from those with a single head but with neck, trunk and limbs doubled, through those with two heads and a single trunk, to others with head, shoulders and arms doubled but with one trunk and one pair of legs. Such double monsters probably arise following the less complete separation of the halves of the early embryo or partial separation at later stages. A rare type is one in which there is a Janus head, two faces on a single head and body. Janus monsters have been produced experimentally by a variety of treatments of amphibian embryos in early stages. A group of cases in which the hinder end of the body was doubled from the sacrum back has been found in one strain of mice and appears to be due to abnormal heredity. Doubling of whole limbs in amphibia has been produced experimentally by injuring the limb rudiment at an early sensitive stage.[8] Unequal Double Monsters [edit] Unequal double monsters consist of two parts of which one is usually well formed while the other is small, vestigial or abnormal, occurring as a parasite upon the more normal partner. Thus a young man of Genoa, Lazarus Colloredo, born in 1716, who was figured as a child by Fortunias Licetus and later by Danish physician Caspar Thomeson Bartholinus, bore at the lower end of his breast bone a living child as parasite. In other cases the parasite is attached in the head region of to the trunk. The parasite often shows the same types of monstrosities which in single monsters have been attributed to delayed development. Rarely the parasite is included within the abdominal cavity of the larger partner as a foetus in foetu.[8] The Origin of Double Monsters [edit] The origin of double monsters has been traced to a variety of causes including disease of mother or embryo, faulty placentation in man and other mammals, and other factors which reduce the oxygen supply or nutrition of the embryo. The most thoroughgoing application of the latter idea has been made by Charles R. Stockard who produced double monsters of many types as well as single monsters by subjecting eggs and early embryos of fish to a variety of stimuli (low temperature, poisons, etc.). He concluded that, "the primary action of all the treatments is to inhibit the rate of development, and the type of deformity that results depends simply upon the developmental moment at which the interruption occurs."[8] Aforementioned Wright and Wagner showed in addition that some of the factors determining the inhibition are internal, that is, part of the heredity of the embryo. In general for double as for single monsters, it is probably true to conclude that most of them are due to modifications of normal development during critical periods of embryonic life.[7] The Head of Medusa by Peter Paul Rubens, circa 1618. Monsters have been regarded by primitive peoples as of supernatural origin. Human monsters have been attributed to intercourse between women and the devil or between men and animals. Many mythical beings such as races of dwarfs and giants, cyclops with a single eye, sirens, mermaids, races of men with a single median leg — were probably suggested by actual observations of human monsters. The scientific study of monsters began with William Harvey (1651) who attributed them to deviations from the normal course of embryonic development. The present system of classification of monsters was introduced by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire whose great work on anomalies (Paris, 1832-1837) remains a valuable source of information.[3][7] Cultural History [edit] Ancient Greco-Roman, Celtic, Semitic, Norse, Chinese and Sumerian folklore all had a wealth of legendary beasts. Classical mythology is a catalogue of indescribable horrors, with all sorts of monsters populating a world of cruelty and evil. Folklore created a fantastic dimension dominated by strange forces and terrifying creatures, foul because the latter were hybrids that violated the laws of natural forms. The Sirens. First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble hyim to death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them. — Homer, The Odyssey, XII, 52ff. The Harpies. Saved from the sea, the Strophades we gain, / So called in Greece, where dwells, with Harpies, / Heavenly ire / Ne'er sent a pest more loathsome; ne'er were seen / Worse plagues to issue from the Stygian mire / Birds maiden-faced, but trailing filth obscene, / With taloned hands and looks for ever pale and lean. — Virgil, The Aeneid, III, 354ff. Polyphemus. This was the abode of a huge monster who was then away from home shepherding his flocks. He would have nothing to do with other people [...] With a sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them down upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were shed upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore them limb from limb and supped upon them. — Homer, The Odyssey, IX, 235ff. The Chimaera. The Chimaera, who was not a human being, but a goddess, for she had the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent, while her body was that of a goat, and she breathed forth flames of fire; but Bellerophon slew her, for he was guided by signs from heaven. — Homer, The Iliad, VI, 222ff. Pagan Divinities. These are the teachings of your gods that prostitute themselves together with you!... And what of your other images?! Certain statuettes of Pan, certain naked female figures, drunken satyrs and swollen phalluses, painted without any clothing and put to shame by their own immoderation. — Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus, 61 Monsters? There is also talk of other fabulous human portents, which are not real, but invented: they are symbols of a set reality. This is the case of Geryon, king of Spain, of whom it is said he was born with three bodies: in reality, there were three brothers who got on so well that it was almost as if the three bodies shared one soul. This is also the case with the Gorgons, prostitutes with snakes for hair, who with one look turned men into stone. They were said to have only one eye, which they took turns in using. In reality, they were three sisters all equally beautiful, almost as one to the eye, the sight of whom stunned men so much they fancied that the sisters had turned them into stone. — Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, XI, 3 Monsters in film [edit] Pre–World War II [edit] Hollywood's interpretation of Frankenstein's monster, played by Boris Karloff. During the age of silent movies, monsters tended to be human-sized, e.g., Frankenstein's monster, the Golem, werewolves and vampires. The film Siegfried featured a dragon that was actually a giant puppet on tracks. A few movie dinosaurs were created with the use of stop-motion animated models, as in RKO's King Kong, the first giant monster film of the sound era. Universal Studios specialized in monsters, with Bela Lugosi's reprisal of his stage role, Dracula, and Boris Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster. The studio also made several lesser films, such as Man-Made Monster, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as a carnival side show worker who is turned into an electrically charged killer who dispatches victims merely by touching them, causing death by electrocution. There was also a variant of Dr. Frankenstein, the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol (played by Peter Lorre), who transplanted hands that were reanimated with malevolent temperaments, in the film Mad Love. Werewolves were introduced in films during this period, and similar creatures were presented in Cat People. Mummies were cinematically depicted as fearsome monsters as well. As for giant creatures, the Flash Gordon serial did not use a costumed actor, instead used real-life lizards to depict a large dragon via use of camera perspective. The cinematic monster cycle eventually wore thin, having a comedic turn in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Post World War II [edit] Original Godzilla movie poster. In the post World War II era, however, giant monsters returned to the screen with a vigor that has been causally linked to the development of nuclear weapons, often pitting the monstrous against the scientific elite.[9] One early example occurred in the American film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which was about a dinosaur that attacked a lighthouse. Subsequently, there were Japanese film depictions, (Godzilla, Gamera), British depictions (Gorgo), and even Danish depictions (Reptilicus), of giant monsters attacking cities. A recent depiction of a giant monster is the monster in J. J. Abrams's Cloverfield, which was released in theaters January 18, 2008. The intriguing proximity of other planets brought the notion of extraterrestrial monsters to the big screen, some of which were huge in size, (such as King Ghidorah and Gigan), while others were of a more human scale. During this period, the fish-man monster Gill-man was developed in the film series Creature from the Black Lagoon. Britain's Hammer Film Productions brought colour to the monster movies in the late 1950s. Around this time, the earlier Universal films were usually shown on American television by independent stations (rather than network stations) by using announcers with strange personas, who gained legions of young fans. Although they have since changed considerably, movie monsters did not entirely disappear from the big screen as they did in the late 1940s. Card from the Japanese game obake karuta, c. early 19th century.[10] Occasionally, monsters are depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. King Kong & Frankenstein's monster are two examples of misunderstood creatures. Frankenstein's monster is frequently depicted in this manner, in films such as Monster Squad and Van Helsing. The Hulk is an example of the "Monster as Hero" archetype. The theme of the "Friendly Monster" is pervasive in pop-culture. Chewbacca, Elmo, and Shrek are notable examples of friendly "monsters". The creatures of Monsters, Inc. scare children in order to create energy for running machinery, while the furry monsters of The Muppets and Sesame Street live in harmony with animals and humans alike. Japanese culture also commonly features monsters which are benevolent and/or likeable, with the most famous examples being the Pokémon franchise and the pioneering anime My Neighbor Totoro. The book series/webisodes/toy line of Monster High is another example. Monsters in gaming [edit] Monsters are commonly used in fantasy or role-playing games, especially role-playing video games, when a large number of enemies to fight against are needed. However, the idea has been used across every genre to varying degrees. These can include aliens, all types of legendary creatures, or mutated versions of regular animals. In some cases, especially in role-playing games, "monster" is used as a catch-all term for hostile characters that are enganged in battle by the player. Sentient fictional races are usually not referred to as monsters. Other times, the term can carry a neutral connotation, such as in the Pokémon franchise, where it is used to refer to fictional creatures that may resemble, but are not, real world animals. Characters in games may refer to all animals as "monsters". 10 hours ago - Via Community - View - Roger Belt : Banshee From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the banshee of Irish folklore. For... Banshee From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the banshee of Irish folklore. For other uses, see Banshee (disambiguation). Banshee (Bean-sídhe (Gaelic) Bean Sí (Irish) Bean Shìth (Scottish) Bean-shìdh (Scottish)) Banshee (1897 painting by Henry Meynell Rheam) Creature Grouping Mythological Sub grouping Aos sí Sidhe Similar creatures Bean nighe Data Mythology Irish, Scottish First reported Folklore Country Ireland, Scotland The banshee (pron.: /ˈbænʃiː/ ban-shee), from Irish: bean sí [bʲæn ˈʃiː] ("woman of the sídhe" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. In legend, a banshee is a fairy woman who begins to wail if someone is about to die. In Scottish Gaelic mythology, she is known as the bean sìth or bean-nighe and is seen washing the bloodstained clothes or armour of those who are about to die. Alleged sightings of banshees have been reported as recently as 1948.[1] Similar beings are also found in Welsh,[2] Norse[3][4][5] and American folklore.[6][7] Contents  [hide]  1 Overview 2 History and mythology 3 In other mythologies 3.1 American folklore 3.2 Other Celtic cultures 4 Origin 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links Overview [edit] This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011) The story of the banshee began as a fairy woman keening at the death of important personages.[8] In later stories, the appearance of the banshee could foretell death. Banshees were said to appear for particular Irish families, though which families made it onto this list varied depending on who was telling the story. Stories of banshees were also prevalent in the West Highlands of Scotland.[8] The banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but she can also appear as a stunningly beautiful woman of any age that suits her. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a "banshee" is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan. Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die and usually around woods. In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seer who was later identified as a banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. There are records of several prophets believed to be incarnate banshees attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. Banshees are usually seen by a person who is about to die in a violent way such as murder. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry in the southwest of Ireland, her keen is experienced as a "low, pleasant singing"; in Tyrone in the north, as "the sound of two boards being struck together"; and, on Rathlin Island, as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl". The banshee may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel - animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft. History and mythology [edit] In legend, a banshee wails nearby if someone is about to die. There are some special families who are believed to have banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Most, though not all, surnames associated with banshees have the Ó or Mac prefix.[9] They were also associated with the Airlie clan.[8] Accounts of banshees go back as far as 1380 with the publication of the Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh (Triumphs of Torlough) by Seean mac Craith.[10] Mentions of banshees can also be found in Norman literature of that time.[10] The Ban Si was also known to wail at the crowning of the true king. Such a cry was reported to be heard at the crowning of Brian Boru. Traditionally, when a person died a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh, [ˈkɰiːnʲə] or [ˈkiːnʲuː], "caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail") at the funeral. These women are sometimes referred to as "keeners" and the best keeners would be in much demand. Legend has it that for five great Gaelic families — the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the Ó Briains, the Ó Conchobhairs, and the Caomhánachs — the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would sing the lament when a family member died, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death. The Ó Briains' banshee was thought to have the name of Eevul, and was ruler of 25 other banshees who would always be at her attendance.[10] It is thought that from this myth comes the idea that the wailing of numerous banshees signifies the death of a great person.[10] In later versions, the banshee might appear before the death and warn the family by wailing.[11] When several banshees appeared at once, it indicated the death of someone great or holy.[12] The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.[13] Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, often having long, pale hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. This comb detail is also related to the centuries-old traditional romantic Irish story that, if you ever see a comb lying on the ground in Ireland, you must never pick it up, or the banshees (or mermaids — stories vary), having placed it there to lure unsuspecting humans, will spirit such gullible humans away. Other stories portray banshees as dressed in green, red, or black with a grey cloak.[6] In other mythologies [edit] American folklore [edit] Stories of banshees can also be found in America in the late 18th century.[6] The most prevalent of the American stories comes from Tar River in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. However, in this variation of the story, the banshee is simply a ghoul, as opposed to a sign of misfortune.[6] In the badlands of South Dakota, a banshee is said to wail upon a hill near Watch Dog Butte. Like other American tales of banshees, this legend does not connect her to any particular death (aside, perhaps, from her own).[7] Other Celtic cultures [edit] In Scottish mythology, a similar creature is known as the bean nighe or ban nigheachain (little washerwoman) or nigheag na h-àth (little washer at the ford). In Welsh folklore, a similar creature is known as the Hag of the mist.[14] Origin [edit] One explanation for the origin of the banshee is in the screech of the Barn owl (Tyto alba).[15] The nocturnal hunter is known for its chilling screech and has long been associated with agricultural activities in Ireland, attracted to the rodent activity around grain stores and barns. 10 hours ago - Via Community - View -