Today, most scholars regard the
Lebor Gabála as myth rather than history. Ireland's inhabitants (in this case the Fir Bolg) are likened to the Israelites by escaping from slavery and making a great journey to a '
Promised Land'. The pagan gods (the Tuath Dé) are depicted as a group of people with powers of sorcery. The name
Fir Bolg is usually translated in the early literature as "men of bags". The Irish word
fir means "men" and the word
bolg/bolc can mean a belly, bag, sack, bellows, and so forth.
Kuno Meyer and
R. A. Stewart Macalister argue that the name comes from the term
Fir i mBolgaib, meaning "
breeches wearers", literally "men in (baggy) breeches", which could be interpreted as a term of contempt for the "lower orders". Macalister suggests this expression had fallen out of use by the time the
Lebor Gabála was written, and the writers tried to make sense of it by creating a story about men with bags. It has also been suggested that it originally meant men who were "bulging" or "swollen" with battle fury. The name may be based on, and cognate with,
Belgae. O'Rahilly's theory has been challenged by historians and archaeologists, and is no longer accepted.
John Rhys and
R. A. Stewart Macalister suggest that the Fir Bolg are the
Fomorians (Fomoire) under another guise. Macalister notes that the Fir Bolg are the only group of settlers who are not harried by the Fomorians. == See also ==