QUIZ: ARE YOU A CELTIC ROCK STAR?

When it comes to a knowledge of Celtic folklore and culture, are you a Rock Star or a faint sparkle from a waning moon? Take the quiz below to find out. Just write your answers down and check them against the key at the bottom. No peeking now or the faeries will get ya! You can treat it as an open book quiz, though, if you want. Most of the answers can be found in the first seven Celtic Moonfish blog posts. Enjoy and ádh mór! (Good luck!)

1) Celtic feast days start at

A) daybreak

B) noon

C) sundown

D) midnight

2) Lughnasa is a celebration of

A) dancing

B) the harvest

C) horses

D) Spring

3) Lugh is the Celtic god of

A) music

B) the sun

C) the sea

D) whiskey

4) Samhain is the Celtic feast day which

A) marks the beginning of the light half of the year

B) marks the beginning of the dark half of the year

C) starts the new year in the Celtic calendar

D) celebrates witchcraft and other black magic

E) A and C

F) B and D

G) B and C

5) Celtic folklore warns never to eat bramble berries after Samhain because

A) the blackthorn tree’s guardians, the moon faeries, consider it a sacred time and will curse you

B) the berries were reserved for wine for the Druid’s sacred autumn rituals

C) their odor attracts the Dullahan, the headless horseman, who will strike you dead

D) the Puca spits on them after Samhain

6) If the Sluagh Sidhe catch you, they will

A) paralyze you with a stick

B) roast you for dinner

C) tear your bones apart

D) steal your soul

7) To get the protection of the Scottish Bean Nighe

A) drop thistle and clove blossoms into a sacred well at midnight, then request her help

B) dance seven times around an Elder tree while inverting a bluebell

C) suck from one of her breasts and claim her as your foster mother

D) wash your clothes in Loch Ness with a hazel stick

8) The Irish grogoch is a

A) house faerie, cousin to the Scottish brownie

B) giant talking rabbit of Welsh folklore

C) dish of cabbage, onion, and nettles made to celebrate the first full moon of the new year

D) fairy tale about three trolls

9) If you trick or corner a leprechaun into giving you his gold, you will

A) be lucky for nine years

B) have a long life but never find love

C) end up with a handful of dust once he gets away from you

D) be able to ride a rainbow and find his pot of gold

10) Trooping faeries like to dance and have fun and they are

A) harmless

B) capricious, as likely to curse you as to bless you

C) similar to gnomes

D) found exclusively in Scotland

11) The Ceffyl Dwr is a Welsh water horse which

A) grants wishes

B) resembles a unicorn

C) lures humans onto its back, flies into the air and drops its victim to his /her death

D) draws the funeral carriage for the Dullahan

12) Irish folklore says that if you bring honeysuckle into the house, you will bring ______ in with it.

A) faeries

B) happiness

C) misfortune

D) money

13) According to plant magic folklore, basil and poplar can help you

A) find love

B) become invisible

C) fly

D) have a safe journey

14) According to sacred druid ritual, mistletoe should be harvested only

A) at midnight on Christmas Eve

B) if it’s growing on an Oak tree

C) by virgins who’ve bathed in lavender and rosemary

D) on the sixth day after the first full moon of autumn

15) In Scotland and Ireland, _________ was punishable by death.

A) cutting down a hazel tree

B) picking sloe berries from a hawthorn tree

C) lighting a fire on Samhain's Eve

D) dancing on Lughnasa

16) To protect yourself from witches, Celtic folklore advises you to plant _____ around your house.

A) Alder trees

B) Gorse bushes

C) Hawthorn trees

D) Meadowsweet

17) Lone trees growing in a field or beside a road are known in Ireland as faerie trees and they are

A) decorated on May Day with colored ribbons, each representing a wish

B) used to make shillelaghs

C) believed to be haunted by ghosts

D) believed to be protected by faeries. Disturbing them (let alone cutting them!) is believed

to result in misfortune or even death

18) Ivy growing on a grave is said to be a sign of a

A) peaceful soul

B) restless soul

C) holy soul

D) returning soul

19) Willow trees, according to Celtic folklore,

A) protect a house from lightning strikes

B) will take in a secret, if you tell it to them, and lock up so no one finds out

C) peer into children’s bedrooms at night

D) walk after strangers at night and mutter at them

E) all of the above

F) all except C

20) According to Celtic plant magic beliefs, ________ is a return-to-sender curse breaker.

A) bay leaf

B) chamomile tea

C) stinging nettle

D) yarrow

Answer Key: 1. C 2. B 3. B 4. G 5. D 6. D 7. C 8. A 9. C 10. B

11. C 12. D 13. C 14. D 15. A 16. C 17. D 18. B 19. F 20. C

Scoring: Add up the total of your correct answers to see how you scored.

16-20 You're a Celtic Rock Star!

11-15 Sure and you're a faerie!

6-10 Your Celtic moon is waning. Get indoors before the Puca finds you!

0-5 Call for the Fairy Doctor; you’re ailing!

Thanks as always for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please like and share.

Next week: This Halloween Be a Celtic Folklore Character!

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SLAN!