Last time we had fun with monsters and pumpkin lanterns. Tonight we go back to where Halloween began. Far to the west, beyond Gaul and beyond Britain, there is an island the Greeks call Ierne. Its people say that tonight the year turns.
Learn from Songs · Festivals: Halloween · Part 2 of 4 · B1–B2
Samhain: I Put a Spell on You
Where Halloween began: Samhain, the night when the old Irish year turned towards winter, in the gods’ battles, the heroes’ tests and the kings’ feasts of medieval Irish literature. The passive and the language of legend (was celebrated, it is said that, is believed to have been), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria, and Nina Simone’s spell.
SOPHIA
PHILO
Turns? Like our new year, Rosh Hashanah, in the autumn?
SOPHIA
Something like it. Summer is over, the dark half of the year begins, and the doors between this world and the Otherworld stand open. And tonight’s song is about a spell.
MARCOS
A spell? Now I’m listening.
Before you listen: the song
Ireland, in the old stories
Samhain (say SOW-in) is the old Irish feast at the beginning of November. In medieval Irish stories it is one of the four great feasts of the year, with Imbolc, Beltaine and Lughnasa, and it marks the beginning of winter. Because the Irish day began at sunset, the feast began on the evening before: our 31 October.
Was it a new year? Many books say so. The idea of a “Celtic New Year” was made popular in the 1800s by scholars such as John Rhys and James Frazer. The medieval texts themselves say that Samhain begins winter and the dark half of the year: certainly a turning point, the start of a new cycle. Julius Caesar wrote that the Gauls counted time by nights, not days; the Hebrew Bible does the same, and in the Jewish calendar the new year, too, comes in autumn.
In the old stories, almost anything can happen at Samhain. The kings of Ireland hold their great feast at Tara. The fairy hills, the síde, open, and the people of the Otherworld walk among the living. Battles are fought, heroes are tested and enchantments are broken. Later, the Church placed All Saints’ Day on 1 November, and the night before became All Hallows’ Eve: Halloween.
Our song, “I Put a Spell on You”, was written by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in 1956. He performed it wildly, sometimes climbing out of a coffin on stage. In 1965 Nina Simone made it a dark, serious love song: the singer is casting a spell on a man who does not love her back.
The night the year turns, and the doors stand open.
Listen: the spell
PHILO
Listen once. Who is the singer talking to? Why does she want to put a spell on him?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A. Listen to how Nina Simone’s voice changes: soft, then fierce.
🔮 Listen to the song: “I Put a Spell on You” (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, 1956), sung by Nina Simone (1965).Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “I Put a Spell on You”, Nina Simone.Read the lyrics →
The Mythological Cycle: the gods at Samhain
SOPHIA
In The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, the gods of Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danann, fight the Fomorians at Samhain. Before the battle, it is said, the Dagda meets the war goddess, the Morrígan, at a river.
DEMETRIA
So Samhain is when the future of Ireland is decided.
The Ulster Cycle: the Otherworld opens
MARCOS
In The Adventures of Nera, a young warrior goes out on Samhain night, follows a host of fairy warriors into a hill, and lives a whole life in the Otherworld.
SOPHIA
And in The Dream of Óengus, the girl Óengus loves becomes a swan every other Samhain. Only on that night can he find her. Samhain is when one shape changes into another.
The Fenian Cycle: the music that put Tara to sleep
PHILO
Every Samhain, a being called Aillén came to Tara and played music so sweet that everybody fell asleep. Then he burned the royal hall with his fiery breath, year after year.
SOPHIA
Until the young Fionn mac Cumhaill kept himself awake by pressing the point of a magic spear to his forehead, and killed him. A real spell, broken on Samhain night.
The Historical Cycle and the Book of Armagh
DEMETRIA
In the Historical, or Kings’, Cycle, kings feast and kings fall at Samhain. The death of King Muirchertach mac Erca, it is said, came on Samhain night, just as a prophecy had warned.
SOPHIA
And in the Book of Armagh, written around the year 807, Patrick lights a fire on the hill of Slane while the High King holds a great pagan feast at Tara. The old festivals and the new faith meet, and slowly, Samhain becomes All Hallows.
The passive and the language of legend
MARCOS
Samhain was celebrated at Tara. The hall was burned every year.
SOPHIA
be + past participle when the action matters more than who did it. For legends and uncertain history: It is said that…, Samhain is believed to have been…, The hills were thought to open. These say: this is what people believe, not necessarily what is true.
Sophia’s shelf: books for the Library
SOPHIA
Read the old sources yourself: The Annals of Ulster (ed. W. M. Hennessy, 1887); The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology (H. d’Arbois de Jubainville, trans. R. I. Best, 1903); Fenian Tales; and A History of Ireland.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| was / were + past participle | the past passive | Samhain was celebrated at Tara. |
| It is said that… | telling legends | It is said that the hills opened. |
| is believed to have + past participle | beliefs about the past | It is believed to have been a turning point. |
| was / were thought to + verb | what people used to believe | The hills were thought to open. |
| by + agent | who did it, when it matters | The hall was burned by Aillén. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Who is the singer talking to?
2. Why does she want to put a spell on him?
3. Who wrote the song?
4. According to the medieval texts, what does Samhain begin?
5. When did the Irish day begin?
6. Who stayed awake and broke Aillén’s spell?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. Samhain celebrated at Tara. (be)
8. The royal hall burned every year. (be)
9. It is that the fairy hills opened on Samhain night.
10. Samhain is believed to been a turning point of the year.
11. The hills were to open on that night. (think)
12. All Saints’ Day was on 1 November. (place)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Samhain was celebrate at Tara.”
14. “It is said that the gods fought at Samhain.”
15. “The hall was burn by Aillén.”
16. “The feast is thought to have begun at sunset.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Two new years. Compare Samhain with a new year you know (1 January, Rosh Hashanah, the Chinese New Year, the school year). When does it begin? Why then? Use the passive: It is celebrated… It is said that…
Discuss. 1. Why do so many cultures have a festival of the dead at the end of autumn? 2. Why do you think 19th-century scholars liked the idea of a “Celtic New Year”? 3. Is a love song a kind of spell?
Write (120–150 words). A Samhain legend. Retell one of the stories in this lesson as a legend: It is said that… He was given… The spell was broken by…
Now play the gamebook: a stranger’s fire on the last night of October, and a rumour of witchcraft.Play the gamebook →