Balor

Balor (regularly distinguished by the archaic Old Irish epithets Béimneach, 'The Smiter', and Bíobur-shúileach, 'Of the Evil or Piercing Eye') is the formidable sovereign king of the Fomorians (Fomóire), the primordial race of monstrous, chthonic giants who embody barrenness, winter storms, cosmic chaos, and marine piracy in early Irish mythological literature. Dwelling in his coastal stronghold on the precipitous crags of Tory Island (Toraigh) off the coast of County Donegal, Balor is celebrated across medieval saga codices for possessing a single colossal eye endowed with catastrophic lethal power. According to the foundational text Cath Maige Tuired (The Second Battle of Mag Tuired), the heavy eyelid of this venomous organ remained shuttered during peace and required four warriors equipped with polished wooden or iron hooks to hoist it open in battle; once exposed, its poisonous gaze incinerated armies and felled any warrior who met its sight. Forewarned by druidic prophecy that he would be slain by his own grandson, Balor imprisoned his daughter Ethniu atop an inaccessible tower on Tory Island; nevertheless, noble Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann gained access to her chamber and fathered the polytechnic sun-god Lugh Samildánach. In the apocalyptic clash of Mag Tuired, Balor struck down the high king Nuada Airgetlám and the war goddess Nemain, but was slain by Lugh, who drove a sling-stone (lía tailm) through the destructive eye, driving the venom backward into the Fomorian ranks.

7 min read · Reviewed on September 29, 2026 · How we research

The giant eye, the eyelid raised by hooks and destruction

Primary sources

• Elizabeth A. Gray (ed. and trans.), Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired (Episode of Balor's Eye). translation: Irish Texts Society, volume LII, Naas, 1982. read
• Gaelic Mythological Tradition / R. A. S. Macalister (ed.), Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Conquest of Ireland: Kings of Tory). translation: Irish Texts Society, Dublin, 1941. read
• Standish Hayes O'Grady (ed. e trad.), Silva Gadelica (The Death of the Children of Tuireann and the Legends of Balor on Tory Island). translation: Williams and Norgate, London, 1892. read
• John O'Donovan (ed. e trad.), Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters (Notes on Balor and Tory Island). translation: Hodges and Smith, Dublin, 1851.

Studies

• John Arnott MacCulloch, The Religion of the Ancient Celts (Chapter V: The War of the Fomorians and Balor). T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1911. open
• Proinsias Mac Cana, Celtic Mythology (The Myth of Balor and the Second Battle of Mag Tuired). Hamlyn, London, 1970. open
• Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition (Balor entry). Prentice Hall Press, New York, 1991. open
• Charles Squire, Celtic Myth and Legend (The Fomorian Kingdom and the Fall of Balor). Gresham Publishing, London, 1905. open