Celtic Religion in "GreedFall"
How a Forgotten Belief System Manifests in a Fantasy Game
With September being dedicated to GreedFall on Senchas Claideb, both to celebrate the 5th anniversary of its release and the upcoming prequel, each of this month’s posts will relate to a different aspect of the game. This week, we will be looking at how different theories surrounding the pre-Christian Celtic religion appears in GreedFall and what some of the inspirations the developers might have had when designing this part of the lore.
This post contains spoilers for GreedFall, so if you would rather experience the great story and lore of the game go play it for yourself!
To begin, I would like to clarify that we have next to no idea what any Celtic religion preceding Christianity looked like. We may speculate and look to folklore and the sagas for evidence, and we also have the names of some deities or characters that could have once been deities, but the likelihood of uncovering the exact practices and philosophies of this belief system is slim. Most of what I’m going to be comparing GreedFall’s themes to are theories from recent scholarship, references in historical texts, and possible folk memories as seen in literature. I also want to preface this post by saying Spiders themselves and their lead creative designer, Jehanne Rousseau, have stated GreedFall drew in many other sources beyond Celtic language, myth, and literature to develop their secondary world.
The world of GreedFall has two distinct religions each associated with a particular faction in the game. One is the “pagan” religion of the Teer Fradeean Natives and most of its creeds involve maintaining the balance and stewardship of the natural world. It is, at first glance, very reminiscent of most “druid religions” you might find in fantasy media, those non-descript “old ways” whose adherents border on hippy communes with a lot more actual magic. Thankfully, GreedFall is a bit more nuanced in its portrayal of a nature-centric, animistic religion, otherwise I wouldn’t have given it much thought. The other religion is practiced by one of the major factions from the continent of Gacane, the Magocracy of Thélème,1 a culture and belief system with strong comparisons to Spanish Catholicism, the Inquisition, and even some Puritanical witch-hunter aesthetics—making Solomon Kane builds totally viable in GreedFall. The religion of Thélème is monotheistic and very much focused on the advancement of civilization through a spiritual-religious approach.
The primary deity of Tír Fradí is a god known as en on míl frichtimen (“the one of a thousand faces”), who, as their name implies, is able to manifest throughout the island in different forms, aspects, or “faces.” The possible inspiration behind the Natives’ deity is the theory that pre-Christian Celtic deities may have actually been a single god with innumerable different aspects. As a full disclaimer, I heard this theory presented once by a professor in one class I audited on Celtic civilizations during my graduate school program. I didn’t catch the name of the theory or the scholars who proposed it, but it could have been something the developers at Spiders also came across when researching for GreedFall. Another interesting aspect about en on míl frichtimen is its primary physical manifestation when players finally encounter them in the game. The god’s sanctum is within the island’s central volcano and they inhabit a large tree inside said volcano. It is quite common in Celtic literature to find supernatural beings inhabiting mound-like structures (i.e., the síde of Ireland), however with this being the only example in GreedFall it may point to a grander idea of a religious axis mundi—a physical site that represents the center point of a culture’s cosmology.2 Commonly, this axis mundi may take the form of “…a pillar, a tree or a mountain or a cave.”3 These ideas are not limited to Celtic religion specifically, but many animistic pre-Christian religions across the world.
It is revealed during one questline that Thélème’s Enlightened is actually en on míl fritchtimen, whose image and philosophy had been altered after word of them reached Gacane. The founder of Thélème’s religion, Saint Matheus, was trained as a doneigad after sailing to Tír Fradí on a holy mission. Although Thélème’s interpretation of Matheus’ religious teachings are more reflective of traditional Catholicism, the fact such a religion sprang out of an encounter with an animistic, nature deity is reminiscent of “Celtic Christianity.” One of the reasons why Ireland was often regarded as separate from the rest of the Catholic world was due to its holdovers of pre-Christian traditions and stories that had been repurposed for the new religion. Most of these traditions involved recognizing the divine in nature; Irish and Welsh poetry often praises the natural world as God’s greatest creation, if not God communicating through the plant and animal life.
Religion is also closely tied with magic in GreedFall, with the primary spellcasters being religious figures among the Natives and mages of Thélème. In keeping with the themes of each belief system, the Natives’ magic is very earth-based and Thélème’s manipulates light and shadow. In mechanical gameplay there is not a very distinct difference between the magic systems, other than the color of the spells (the Natives’ magic is a yellowish green while Thélème’s is dark purple), but in cinematics we see a lot more examples of Natives manipulating the natural world, drawing power from it, and being changed because of it. The player character of GreedFall, despite having parentage from Teer Fradeean Natives, only has access to Thélème’s magic likely having been disconnected from their home island for so long. The Natives’ magic in GreedFall does not resemble any spells from Irish literature, as it more so plays off standard tropes of fantasy magic. The Natives’ arcane abilities really shine when looking at their connection with religion and the natural world of Teer Fradee.
In Native Teer Fradeean culture, most of their people, especially their lore-keepers and magic-users (known as doneigada), are bonded to the land. Bonding with the land causes physical and magical changes in those who undergo this process. The Yecht Fradí term for a person with this bond is on ol menawí (“one who is marked”4; pl. sin ol menawí “those who are marked”), and the most distinguishing feature of these individuals are green, root-like marks that appear upon one side of their face. Players’ first witness this mark on GreedFall’s player character, De Sardet. It is revealed that De Sardet was adopted as an infant from Native Teer Fradeean parents who might have both been sin ol menawí although De Sardet never makes the bond at any point in the game, showing that this trait can possibly be passed down to children.
As mentioned prior, the bond causes physical transformations that become more apparent as the bond becomes stronger. Other traits begin to manifest such as greenish skin, antlers, enhanced constitution and strength, and more fantastic powers. NPCs whose bonds are significantly developed include the NPC companion Síora a young Native woman and doneigad, Mev a high priestess, and Vinbarr the high king of Tír Fradí. The bond culminates in a drastic transformation that turns the on ol menawí into an inhuman creature known as a nádaig (‘guardian”5), who—as their name implies—are fated to protect sacred sites across Tír Fradí for the rest of their lives. When researching GreedFall for a term paper I wrote on its potential influences from medieval Welsh literature, I reached out to Spiders’ creative director, Jehanne Rousseau, and included a question about the inspiration behind the nádaig and what monsters from Celtic literature might have inspired them. Rousseau responded, saying,
…I think the Celtic influence in GreedFall is probably the most visible into the story of the ancient kings and queens. Their transformation into creatures, after their pact with the island spirit to protect the island is a pattern that can also be found in the Celtic Myths. This transformation is done again by all the ones who decide to accept the gift of magic from this divinity at the end of their ‘human’ life.6
The “story of the ancient kings and queens” Rousseau refers to is likely the concept of sacral kingship in Ireland. Essentially, part of the initiation into kingship in Ireland required a marriage (i.e., a bonding) to the land that would become symbiotic with a king’s reign. Many tales exist in Gaelic manuscript and folkloric tradition of candidates for kingship encountering a woman who represents the sovereignty of the land, such as in the tale Echtra Mac Echach Muigmedoin (“The Adventure of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedon”) where the progenitor of the Uí Néill (O’Neil) dynasty, Niall of the Nine Hostages, encounters and sleeps with a hag that is actually a beautiful woman dubbed In Flaithius (“the Sovranty”) who deems him worthy of kingship.7 If a king ruled justly then the land would flourish, but if he neglected his duties then it would wither and be plagued with calamities not limited to rapine and piracy.
The high king of Tír Fradí, Vinbarr, clearly embodies this idea of sacral kingship and the function of intermediary with the land itself as a divine or sacred being. It is never stated that he “marries” en on míl frichtimen, but his powerful bond to the land is a definite signifier of his loyalty to his god and people. His status as high king allows him the privilege of regularly communing with en on míl frichtimen,8 and it is only after player successfully defeat and install a new high king that they are given permission to speak with the island’s deity.
Returning briefly to the concept of the nádaig, it is also possible Roman observations of sacred Celtic sites—known as nemetons—could have influenced their development. Lucan writes, “When Phoebus is in the mid sky, or dark night possesses the heavens, the priest himself dreads the approach, and is afraid to meet with the guardian of the grove.”9 The nemeton Lucan describes is likely a forest, but in the Teer Fradeean religion, other areas can be considered sacred than just groves. These include plains, forests, mountains, swamps, and the coast. Each of these sites has a particular type of nádaig associated with it that takes on distinct aspects of the environment they are destined to protect forevermore. When Lucan says “guardian”, it is likely he is referring to the deity within the site rather than a specific creature like a nádaig. When looking at how GreedFall might have interpreted this quote, the act of becoming a nádaig is literally the bestowal of one of en on míl frichtimen’s faces, thus instilling an aspect of the god in the guardians of these sacred sites. Rousseau cites “Celtic Myths” as a potential inspiration for this transformation, but did not provide a text as an example. I think potentially the concept of people figuratively transforming into monsters or supernatural entities may have been another inspiration for these creatures; one prevailing theory about the “faeries” or Little People of Ireland is that they may have once been pre-Christian deities, who in turn may have been inspired by pre-Celtic civilizations living on the island. Readers of Robert E. Howard and Arthur Machen may see where I’m going with this, since those two authors had stories featuring the Little People who were holdovers from some ancient tribe in Britain and Ireland were driven into hiding by Celtic invaders and subsequently degenerated into monstrous sub-humans with access to esoteric knowledge about the primordial earth.
Religion in GreedFall is a very interesting theme as it remains mysterious and nuanced among both the Natives and mages of Thélème. Especially on the side of the Natives, though players siding with them may sympathize with their struggles against the colonists, there is the somewhat darker aspect of en on míl frichtimen slowly turning their devotees into monstrous guardians. It is a quite eldritch aspect to GreedFall’s lore that I have seen just barely touched on in discourses about the game. This post (and each post this month) is meant to expand on what I already wrote about the game in grad school, but with a more focused approach to the broader Celtic aspects that I as a scholar in the field noticed. I hope to bring more attention and scholarly discourse to this overlooked game as it does take its inspirations seriously but does not become weighed down by them. It was a pleasure to get to speak with Jehanne Rousseau on Spiders’ inspirations for the game when I first reached out a few years ago and if she or other Spiders employees are reading this, merci for this experience! I hope we can talk more on it sometime soon!
Thanks for reading this week’s post! If you are a fellow scholar of pre-Christian Celtic religion, feel free to share your thoughts and observations in the comments! Were there stories or theories I missed? Did you happen to play GreedFall and notice something that I didn’t mention?
Refer your friends to Senchas Claideb and receive access to special rewards, including a personalized Gaelic phrase and a free, original short story!
Follow me on other social media platforms!
Pronounced teh-lay-may.
Proinsias Mac Cana. The Cult of the Sacred Centre: Essays on Celtic Ideology Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (2011), 73-4.
Mac Cana, 74.
Project Yecht Fradí s.v. on ol menawí
Project Yecht Fradí s.v. nádaig
From email correspondence with Jehanne Rousseau, April 14, 2022.
Echtra Mac Echach Muigmedoin. Translated by Whitley Stokes in Revue Celtique 24 (1903). Sections 11-5.
Ethan Sabatella. “The Spoils of Tír Fradí: The Medieval Welsh Influences in the Narrative and Worldbuilding of GreedFall.” St. Francis Xavier University, 2022: 19.
Lucan, Pharsalia, translated by H.T. Riley: 113.
Great write-up! You’ve already made me much more curious about this game, it sounds like a gem.
Very interesting take on a fantasy game. There is always more than meets the eye in literature, and that includes fantasy games. When I was teaching, I encouraged my most reluctant readers to read comic books. Many of them responded very well to this and eventually came around to other forms of literature. Today, fantasy games may play a similar role.