Geas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Gaesa" redirects here. For the heavy metal band, see Geasa (band)

A geas (pronounced /ˈɡɛʃ/, plural geasa) has two interpretations in Gaelic mythology and folklore.

First, it is a vow or obligation placed upon a person (usually a hero, such as Cuchulainn in Irish mythology). Traditionally, the doom of the hero comes about due to his violation of such geasa, either by accident, or by having multiple geasa and then being placed in a position where he has no option but to violate one geas in order to maintain another.

Later, a geas took the aspect of a taboo or prohibition. A geas can also be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone placed under a geas breaks it, the infractor will suffer dishonour or even death.

There is a considerable similarity between geasa (which are a phenomenon of Gaelic mythology) and the foretold deaths of heroes in Welsh mythology. This is not surprising given the close origins of many of the variants of Celtic mythology.

[edit] Etymology

Geas is the Scottish Gaelic spelling. In both Early and Modern Irish it is spelled geis.

[edit] Geasa in popular culture

The idea and term have proved popular in fantasy fiction and in role-playing games, often featuring as 'spells'. Dungeons and Dragons features two such spells: 'Lesser Geas', which forces the victim to obey a command issued by the caster, and 'Geas', which is much the same but with more severe penalties. Clark Ashton Smith featured them prominently in his Cthulhu mythos short story, The Seven Geases.