Aoife (1)

Aoife (1)

Origin:

Ireland

Aoife is the second of Ailill of Aran’s three beautiful daughters. He offers them in marriage, one after the other, to Lir, Lord of the Sea. When her older sister dies, Aoife weds Lir, becoming stepmother to her sister’s children, two boys and a girl. She is jealous or feels threatened, and so, just like the proverbial “wicked step-mother,” she plots their demise. She transforms them, via enchantment, into swans, cursed to spend three hundred years on Ireland’s Loch Darravagh, three hundred years in the strait between Ireland and Scotland, and three hundred years over islands in the Atlantic. When her crime is revealed, Aoife’s enraged foster father transforms her into a Demon of the air.

For the warrior spirit, mother of Cu Chulain’s son, please see Aife.

SEE ALSO:

• Aife;
• Aoife (2);
• Lir;
• Sidhe

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by :Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.