The Abhartach

Abhartach (also Avartagh, Irish for dwarf) Irish pronunciation: [ˈawəɾˠt̪ˠax] is an early Irish legend that was first collected in Patrick Weston Joyce's The Origin and History of Irish Place Names (1875). Abhartah should not be confused with the eponymous Abartah, a figure associated with Fionn mac Cumhail.

## Legend

There are two versions of this legend. The word Abhartah itself, by the way, is not a name, in ancient Ireland this word was used to refer to dwarfs or small evil spirits. According to the first legend, many centuries ago Abharta was the head of the city of Errigal, known throughout the area as a very cruel tyrant as well as a black magician. He was unusually short, hence his nickname. His real name has been forgotten over the years. His violent temper eventually led to the fact that the leader of one of the neighboring clans, Finn McCool, killed him. As Abhartha was still of the ruling family, he was buried in the same way that clan leaders were traditionally buried in ancient Ireland - in an upright position. According to legend, Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was buried in the same upright position. And the next day, alive and unharmed, Abhartah was seen in his old house. He was very evil and began to do even more cruel deeds (which are not mentioned in the legend). Finn McCool was surprised at this, but knowing that Abharta was a wizard and expert in many spells, he attributed everything to the Devil's intrigues and decided to kill the evil dwarf again. In fact, he soon killed Abharta a second time, and again his body was buried in an honorable upright position. And the next day the people again saw Abharta alive and unharmed. This time the whole area was terrified as they decided Abharta was completely unkillable and there was no way they could get rid of him once and for all. Finn McCool thought too, and then went to visit the old druid and asked him for advice on how to get rid of the unkillable wizard. And he told him that Abharta would not rise if he was buried upside down. It is said that this will deprive the wizard of his magical powers. Finn McCool did just that, and when he killed Abharta for the third time, he buried him in a hole, head down and feet up. And after filling the hole with earth, he also piled heavy stones on top - such a grave in Ireland was called the word "lagt". After that, Abharta was never seen again. Either he couldn't get out from under the stones, or he really lost his magical power. As for the second version of this legend, it was assured that after the resurrection, Abhartah began to attack people and drink their blood. And Finn McCool in this version seeks advice not from a druid but from an early Christian saint. Also, according to this version, Finn McCool kills Abhartach with a special wooden sword, and the stones he piles on his grave are surrounded by some kind of "thorns".

## History

Abhartach, a jealous and suspicious man, convinced himself that his wife was being unfaithful to him. Unwilling to confront her directly and wanting to catch her in the act of adultery, he climbed out of a window and crept along the ledge towards his wife’s bedroom. Before he could clear the distance and have a peek into his wife's room, he slipped and fell to his death. Abhartach's body was discovered in the morning and the people of the town buried him as if he were a king, standing upright in his grave. ‌​​​ ​‌​​​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​ ‌​​​ ​‌​​​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​‌​ ‌‌‌​ ​‌​​ ​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​‌​ ‌‌‌‌ ​‌​​‌‌ ​‌​‌‌​ ​‌‌‌ ‌‌ The day after his funeral, Abhartach returned to Slaughtaverty demanding that each person cut their wrist and bleed into his bowl daily in order to sustain his life. His people complied - they were too terrified of Abhartach to oppose his will while he was alive, so they certainly did not want to do anything that would further upset him now that he was dead. However, it did not take them long to decide that they were unwilling to live under the tyranny of such an obvious REVENANT, so the citizenry hired an assassin to kill him. Although the attempt was initially successful, Abhartach returned, demanding his daily allotment of blood. Undeterred, another assassin was hired, but with the same results. After several more failed assassination attempts, a druid came forward and promised that he could free them from the creature, Abhartach, once and for all. The druid explained that because of the nature of the magic that was used to return the tyrant combined with the type of creature that he became, a murbhheo (ancient Gaelic for vampire), their evil ruler could not be permanently destroyed, only trapped. The druid, using a sword made of yew wood, ran Abhartach through and while he was in a weakened state, he was buried upside down in a grave that was then covered with ash branches, thorns, and a large boulder.​‌‌​‌‌ ​‌​‌‌‌‌ ​‌​‌ ‌‌​​ ‌​​​ ​‌​​​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​​‌ ‌​​​ ​‌​​​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​‌​ ‌‌‌​‌​​​‌ ‌‌ ‌‌​‌‌ ‌‌‌‌ In the town of Slaughtaverty (the name means “Abhartach’s Grave”) to this day Abhartach will attack anyone who comes too near his gravesite, as he is unable to fully escape it. Next to the boulder that helps imprison him, a large thorn tree now grows out of the burial site, pinning him to the earth.​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌ ​‌​‌ ‌‌​​ ‌ ​ ​‌​​​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​​‌ ‌​​​ ​‌​​​‌ ‌‌‌​ ‌​‌​ ‌‌‌​ ​