Tír na nÓg in Elven Culture
Tír na nÓg, the Land of the Young, is an island paradise and land of eternal youth considered to be a supernatural realm that grants immortality to its residents.
Summary
Tír na nÓg is perhaps one of the most famous Celtic myths, but to the Fae it is their heritage or their future. T Celtic Elves are overwhelmingly Dhamin, and those fae who were born or raised into the lands previously inhabited by Celtic tribes believe Tír na nÓg to be the home of their ancestors and the place to which they will someday return.
Though individual belief varies, the story remains similar. Centuries before humanity existed on this Earth, the mist that separated the world of the living and the world of the dead was thin. The spirits of the land could pass in and out of each realm at will, and some chose to remain on either side. The Fae existed on both sides of the realms, borne from magic and nature to protect the balance of spirit and solid form.
When the first humans began to emerge, the balance shifted. No record exists of what truly happened, but the mists between the worlds began to thicken, and as they thickened the humans coveted the power of Tír na nÓg, but the harder they tried to break through the thicker the mists became until none could enter, and those who left could never return.
Though new Fae are still borne from the Earth and its natural magics, many Dhamin and Celtic fae believe themselves to be descended from those original spirits who were trapped on this side of the mists, and most believe that they will one day return to the land of eternal youth, whether that be in death or through their actions in life.
Spread
The legend of Tír na nÓg is spread through Celtic humans and fae alike, though through different paths and stories. Some tribes of Dhamin further across the continent have similar stories, most likely due to their nomadic nature, and similar stories under different names exist in multiple Dhamin cultures around the world.
Variations & Mutation
There are many variations from tribe to tribe, mostly small differences such as the reasoning for the mist thickening (some name human greed, others say the fae closed it to keep Tír na nÓg secret). Some name the Otherworld differently or blame a fae king for the birth of humanity and upset of the balance. Others describe the fog as a veil, wall or door.
Cultural Reception
As with many aspects of Dhamin culture, the tale of Tír na nÓg is divisive among other Elven races. Civin tend to percieve it either as an over-romanticisation of their origins or a mystical and foreign concept worthy of study.
Qealin are torn on the idea -- some aspects of Qealin belief also state the existance of an alternate world from which all fae magic is derived, and so many see Tír na nÓg as another iteration of that concept while others see it as a primitive oversimplification of their true origins.
Thin are perhaps the least troubled by the idea of Tír na nÓg. They hold their own beliefs in the Gods and origins of elvenkind, and recognise Tír na nÓg only as a seperate belief.
Related Species
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