Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Bone and Sickle
Episode: Banshees
Description: Banshees are spirits of Irish folklore, who warn of impending deaths.  Originally considered fairies, their Irish name, bean sĂdhe, means âwoman of the mounds,â those mounds (sĂdhe) being the ancient burial mounds believed in Ireland to be the home of fairies.
The bansheeâs wailing, which betokens imminent death of a blood relative, is probably based upon the wailing of Irish mourners called âkeeners,â from the Irish word caoineadh, or âlament.â  You can hear some snippets of traditional keeners in this segment, incliuding  a 1957 field recording released by Smithsonian Folkways.
Next we look at how the bansheeâs app...