Editing Firbolg (section)

==Original Mythology==

The Firbolg (also spelled Fir Bolg or even Fir Bholg) are a race of humanoids from the ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', also known as the 'Book of the Conquest of Ireland' or the 'Book of Invasions'. This was a psuedo-historical account written in the 12th century by Irish clergy, explaining what they viewed as the history of Ireland. Unfortunately, we don't have the original Celtic mythology that this was likely based on, since the Druids refused to write anything down for religious reasons, instead keeping everything as an oral tradition. Since by the time of this writing, the druids had died out, we only have what the clergy had chosen to record. To make a long story short, there is not much written about the Fir Bolg, and what ''is'' written should be taken with a grain of salt. In the Book of Invasions, the Fir Bolg are described as the fourth people to inhabit Ireland. The first  people to inhabit Ireland are wiped out by the Biblical flood (as you can see the Christians added some stuff to make it suit their own world-view), the second people was led by Partholàn, who battled against the Fomhoire (aka the Fomorians), and were eventually wiped out by a plague. Next came the children of Nemedh, who after doing a bunch of stuff were enslaved by the Fomhoire, tried to rebel, got almost wiped out, fled Ireland, before eventually returning and re-settling Ireland and becoming known as the Fir Bolg (there is more to this story, but listing all the other stuff going on in the story would take forever, so go read the Book of Invasions for yourself if you are curious). Then the Tuatha Dé Danann (these are almost certainly the original Irish gods, but since the story was written by Christians that part is never explicitly stated, and instead they are depicted as just regular humans who know magic) invade and after a number of battles, culminating in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh, the Fir Bolg are conquered by the Tuatha Dé Danann. After this, the Fir Bolg pretty much drop out of the picture for the rest of the story. Note that the original Fir Bolgs are not giants, nor do they have any great magical powers; they are pretty much just regular humans, albeit badass ones. Goddess only knows why D&D decided to make them giants, it's not like D&D doesn't have enough of those already.