Scottish mythology

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Scottish mythology may refer to any of the mythologies of Scotland. Myths have emerged for various purposes throughout the history of Scotland, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being completely rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives.

[edit] National mythology

• Origin Legends: Several origin legends for the Scots were created during the historical period, serving various purposes. Wishing to maintain a connection with Ireland, a common origin in the kingdom of Dál Riata was asserted for many centuries. The Scottish Crown's claim of independence against the aggressively expansionist English Crown during the Scottish Wars of Independence was the incentive for other more creative origin legends.
• Picts: Once the Picts were assimilated into the Gaelic world and their actual characteristics faded out of memory, folkloric elements filled the gaps of history. Their "sudden disappearance" was explained as a slaughter happening at a banquet given by Kenneth MacAlpin (an international folklore motif) and they were ascribed with powers like those of the fairies, brewing heather from secret recipes and living in underground chambers. In the eighteenth century, as Lowlanders were eager to be accepted as fellow Anglo-Saxons by the Anglocentric British Empire, the Picts were co-opted as a "Germanic" race.

[edit] Religious mythology

Myth is sometimes an aspect of folklore, but not all myth is folklore, nor is all folklore myth or mythological.

People who express an interest in mythology are often most focused on non-human (sometimes referred to as "supernatural") beings. There have been numerous groups of such entities in Scottish culture, some of them specific to particular ethnic groups (Gaelic, Norse, Germanic, etc), others of them probably evolving from the circumstances unique to Scotland.

The Aos-sídhe, Sìdhichean, or "Fairies" were originally the pre-Christian divinities of the Gaelic-speaking people. They eventually came to "co-habitate" the conceptual spiritual world with Christianity, generally diminishing in power and prominence over the centuries. The medieval Gaelic literati grouped them together as the Tuatha De Danann, who share certain characteristics with other characters in Celtic literature. Folk beliefs about the Banshee also reflect aspects of these beings.

There are other supernatual beings whose characteristics reflect folkloric patterns from around the world. Ancestral spirits, and giants who help to form the landscape and represent the forces of nature, are ubitiquous and may point to non-elite registers of mythology.