Lia Fail
Also called Lia Fáil, Stone of Destiny.
The Lia Fail is the Stone of Destiny of the Tuatha De Danann, brought from Falias to Tara, that cried aloud beneath the rightful king of Ireland.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Irish folklore
- Region
- Ireland (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The False Guides
- Symbols
- Stone
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Stone is image-domain Stone denotes hardness, permanence and foundation, closed against entry and therefore inviting meaning, raised upright to make a presence where there was only ground.
why
The Lia Fail is the Stone of Destiny of the Tuatha De Danann, brought from Falias to Tara, that cried aloud beneath the rightful king of Ireland.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Omens
- Linked to megalithic monuments
why
The literary and historical record agrees that Celtic kings were inaugurated standing on sacred stones, and the Lia Fail is the most famous of the class; a phallic pillar stone stands on the hill of Tara today under the name, though tradition itself hedges — one legend insists the real stone remained forever in the otherworld and only a replica was sent into this one.
Curses
- Judges visitors
why
The stone's power is a test of sovereignty: set at Tara, it screamed aloud when the true king touched it — the whole doctrine of rightful kingship compressed into an acoustic fact.