For other characters with the same name, see Sláine.

Sláine (pronounced 'slahn-yeh') is a comic book hero from the pages of 2000 AD - one of Britain's most popular comic books. IPC Media is a large British publishing company, mainly producing consumer magazines. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to the date or issue of a characters first appearance. ... Pat Mills is one of the major figures in the British comic book industry as both an editor and writer. ... Sláine graphic novel cover by Mike McMahon 1986 Sláine (pronounced slahn-yeh) is a comic book hero from the pages of 2000 AD - one of Britains most popular comic books. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... 2000 AD logo 2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction oriented comic. ...

Sláine is a barbarian fantasy adventure series based on Celtic myths and stories which first appeared in 1983, written by Pat Mills and initially drawn by his then wife, Angela Kincaid. Most of the early stories were drawn by Mike McMahon and Massimo Belardinelli. Other notable artists to have worked on the character include Glenn Fabry and Simon Bisley. The current artist is Clint Langley, whose striking work combines painting, photography and digital art. Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or degree of polish with the speaker or writer employing the term. ... Look up Fantasy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other definitions of fantasy, see fantasy (psychology). ... The word Celtic can refer to: the European Celtic people, ancient or modern the Celtic languages, spoken by these people and their modern descendents the Celtic (Lusitania), Celts from the Alentejo. ... A Celtic cross incorporating the Celtic knotwork motif associated with Celtic cultures Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pat Mills is one of the major figures in the British comic book industry as both an editor and writer. ... Judge Dredd by Mike McMahon, 2000 AD prog 2, 1977 Judge Dredd by Mike McMahon, 2000 AD prog 85, 1978 This article is about Mike McMahon the comics artist. ... Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist who was hugely popular in the 1990s for his work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine. ... The Mona Lisa is perhaps the best-known artistic painting in the Western world. ... Lens and mounting of a large format camera Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light. ... Digital art is art created on a computer in digital form. ...

Sláine's favourite weapon is an axe called "Brainbiter". He has the power of the warp spasm, based on the body-distorting battle frenzy of the Irish hero Cú Chulainn and similar to the rage of the Viking berserker (who have appeared as adversaries), in which earth power "warps" through his body, turning him into a terrifying, monstrous figure who knows neither friend nor foe. He is a devotee of the earth goddess Danu. For other uses, see Axe (disambiguation). ... Warp spasm (riastradh in Irish Gaelic) is a mythological feat found in Celtic myth by which warriors enter a frenzied state of contortion in battle that makes them invincible. ... Young Cúchulainn, 1912 illustration by Stephen Reid. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... Berserkers (or Berserks) were ferocious Norse warriors who had sworn allegiance to the heathen god Odin. ... A goddess is a female deity in contrast with a male deity known as a god. A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic (or gender neutral) deities. ... In Irish mythology, Danu or Dana was the mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (peoples of the goddess Danu), although little is recorded about her as a character. ...

Plot

At the start of the series Sláine was a wanderer, banished from his tribe. He explored the Land of the Young (Irish Tír na nÓg) in the company of an unscruplous dwarf called Ukko, fighting monsters and mercenaries in the fantasy tradition. In one early adventure he rescued a maiden, Medb (named after the Irish mythological queen Medb) from being sacrificed in a Wicker Man, only to earn her enmity - she was a devotee of Crom Cruach, the god to whom she was to be sacrificed, and was looking forward to the experience. Her master and mentor, the ancient, rotting and insane Lord Weird Slough Feg, became the series's main villain. . (, Medb, Medhbh, Meabh, Maeve, Maev) is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Human sacrifice was practiced in many ancient cultures. ... A wicker man is burned as part of possibly traditional Gaelic or possibly neo-pagan festivities, especially Beltane, a rite of spring. ... In Celtic mythology, Crom Cruach was one of the chief gods of Ireland. ... A deity or a god, is a postulated preternatural being, usually, but not always, of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings. ...

Following stories featured sky chariots (flying longships), dragons and prehistoric alien gods. Longships is the name given to a group of rocks situated 1. ...

As the series progressed, Sláine returned to his tribe and became king (as had been foretold in the narrative of his first appearance), leading them against the Fomorians, a race of sea demons who were oppressing them. Then, in the landmark storyline The Horned God, Sláine united the tribes of the earth goddess against Slough Feg and his allies, while his personal devotion to the goddess led to him becoming a new incarnation of the Horned God Carnun (based on the Gaulish deity Cernunnos). By the end of the story the Land of the Young is no more, and Sláine is the first High King of Ireland. In Irish mythology, the Fomorians (Irish Fomóire, Fomórach) or Fomors were a semi-divine race who inhabited Ireland in ancient times. ... The Pashupati-like figure on the Gundestrup cauldron The Horned God is a modern syncretic term, invented in the 20th century to link together numerous male nature gods out of such widely-dispersed and historically unconnected mythologies as the Celtic Cernunnos, the Welsh Caerwiden, the English Herne the Hunter, the... Gaulish is name given to the now-extinct Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Romans, the Franks and the British Celts invaded. ... A deity or a god, is a postulated preternatural being, usually, but not always, of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings. ... Depiction of Cernunnos from the Pilier des nautes, Paris Cernunnos was an important deity of the Celts, essentially a nature god associated with produce and fertility. ... The office of High King of Ireland (Irish: Ard Rí Érenn) was in origin a pseudohistorical construct of the eighth century that placed a king of all Ireland atop the fragmented pyramid of kingship that actually existed at that time. ...

Subsequent stories saw Sláine sent through time by the earth goddess to fight alongside Celtic heroes and heroines such as Boudicca and William Wallace, and more recently return to Ireland to defend his people against new enemies. Boudicca (also written Boudica, Boadicea, Buduica, Bonduca), was a Celtic female chieftain who led the Iceni and a number of other Celtic tribes, including the neighbouring Trinovantes, in a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces in Britain in AD 60 or 61 during the reign of the emperor Nero. ... Sir William Wallace (c. ...

There is also a role playing game setting based on the comic book series. This article is about traditional role-playing games. ...

External links

• 2000 AD Profile (http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=SLAINE)
• Sláine - "The Time Monster" (http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=thrill&page=thrillviewer&choice=time)
• Sláine gallery (http://www.simonbisleyonline.com/galleryslaine.htm) from Simon Bisley Online (http://www.simonbisleyonline.com/)