A Story:

Let me tell you a very brief story.

Long ago, there lived a dreadful giant with a gaze so fierce and terrible that it could burn men or even whole villages to dust. His eyes, however, were usually closed and hidden behind thick brows. But, from time to time, his assistants would lift the brows and force back the eyelids using great iron pitchforks. And it was at these times that his deadly gaze would blaze forth for an instant, as terrible and sudden as a bolt of lightning.

Now, most of you who are reading this story in my journal are probably smiling and nodding. You have heard this story before, of course, for you are familiar with celtic myth. This is clearly the giant Balor, the Fomorian who featured so prominently in the second battle of Magh Tuiredh. However, you would be wrong to think that.

The giant in this story is named Vii and/or Swifteye, and the myth is a part of slavic legend. I just learned about him for the first time tonight. I thought, given the great similarity to Balor, many of the people who read this journal would find the connection interesting.