Who is the Cailleach Bheur?
The Cailleach Bheur is an old-woman goddess of winter in the folklore of the Scottish Highlands and Ireland. Her name means something like “the blue (or sharp) old woman” in Gaelic, and she is also simply called “the Cailleach” (the old woman). Described as a huge one-eyed old woman with a blue face, she is the leading example of the hag, a fairy in the form of an old woman.
The old woman who rules winter and the land
The Cailleach Bheur is said to rule the winter half of the year, from the festival of Samhain at the end of autumn to the festival of Beltane in spring. She strikes the ground with her staff to freeze it and calls up storms and snow. She is also said to have made the mountains of Scotland by dropping rocks she was carrying in her apron. It was said that when she washed her shawl in the Corryvreckan, the great whirlpool off Scotland’s west coast, it turned pure white and snow covered the land.
The coming of spring and the winter hag
When spring comes, the Cailleach Bheur loses her power and is said either to turn to stone or to be reborn as a beautiful young woman. As a being representing the turning of the seasons itself, she has long been told of by the people of Scotland.
