MovieChat Forums > Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1960) Discussion > Question: accurate portrayal of the bans...

Question: accurate portrayal of the banshee or not?

posted 17 years ago by gaelcelt
2 replies | jump to latest

I have read a number of sources about the nature of the banshee, and I can't help but feel that the banshee was adapted for dramatic purposes.

By most accounts that I have read, she appears as a woman in a silver-grey cloak. Not every one will see her, but she appears outside of a house in the night, wailing mournfully. Her wail is a warning to the family that death is near for one of them.

Just how accurate is her portrayal in this movie?

[–] DannyJane 17 years ago

The Banshee is pretty accurate according to the stories I've read. She usually is brushing or combing her long hair as she wails. Darby's Banshee does exactly that.

Has anyone read the Darby stories by H.T. Kavanaugh? He has a run in with her there too, when she loses her comb.

She's a wonderful character.

[–] ThePaladin1 17 years ago

Like all legendary characters the Bean Si varies from telling to telling. you are correct that they are often portrayed as wearing a silver cloak and wailing a lament, in some version they specifically appear to foretell the death of a member of an old irish family, five "great" families in particular. And as DannyJane said she is frequently portrayed with fair fair and brushing it with a silver comb.

So while it might be dramatized a little, it's pretty accurate