Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Ch ...

, Abarta (also Ábartach, possibly meaning "doer of deeds"Cotterell, Arthur: ''The Encyclopedia of Mythology'', page 96. Hermes House, 2007. ), was in some accounts one of the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gae ...

and in others a

Fomorian The Fomorians or Fomori ( sga, Fomóire, Modern ga, Fomhóraigh / Fomóraigh) are a supernatural race in Irish mythology, who are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings. Originally they were said to come from under the sea or the eart ...

, and is associated with

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of y ...

.Matson, Gienna: ''Celtic Mythology A to Z'', page 1. Chelsea House, 2004. One tale of Abarta's trickery is where he offered himself as a servant to Fionn mac Cumhaill, shortly after Mac Cumhaill had succeeded his father as leader of the

Fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; gd, Fèinne ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young males, often aristocrats, "who had left fosterage but had ...

, a band of mighty Milesian warriors. In a gesture of goodwill, Abarta then gave them a wild grey horse, which fourteen Fianna had to mount onto its back before it would even move. After Abarta had mounted behind the Fianna on the horse, it galloped off taking the warriors to the

Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherwor ...

where the Tuatha Dé Danann had been driven underground by the Milesians. The Fianna, led by Fionn mac Cumhaill's assistant Foltor, had to acquire a magical ship to hunt down Abarta's steed. Foltor, being the Fianna's best tracker, managed to navigate into the otherworld, where Abarta was made to release the imprisoned Fianna warriors, and to satisfy honour, had to hold on to the horse's tail and be dragged back to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Abarta was later rejected from being allowed to join the Fianna over this incident.

References

Aos Sí Fairies Fenian Cycle Irish folklore Irish gods Tuatha Dé Danann {{Celt-myth-stub