“And before all the host rode King Brian Boru on a white steed, his white locks blown about his ancient face and eyes strange and fey, so that the wild kerns gazed on him with superstitious awe.”

-The Grey God Passes

In keeping with his terse sense of the supernatural, fey is an excellent adjective for Howard’s stylistic purposes. His use, in the context of the story cited above, in which the hero king rides to his death in a battle that liberates his people, Howard seems to be using it after the Scottish manner. Also, within the narrative Howard reveled in pointing out that Scottish clansmen came to the aid of the Irish against their Viking enemies.

fey

(feɪ)

adj

1. interested in or believing in the supernatural

2. attuned to the supernatural; clairvoyant; visionary

3. chiefly Scot fated to die; doomed

4. chiefly Scot in a state of high spirits or unusual excitement, formerly believed to presage death

[Old English fæge marked out for death; related to Old Norse feigr doomed, Old High German feigi]

ˈfeyness n

fey

(fā)

adj.

1.

a. Overrefined, exaggerated, or affected:

b. Effeminate:

2.

a. Having or displaying an otherworldly, magical, or fairylike aspect or quality:

b. Having visionary power; clairvoyant.

c. Appearing touched or crazy, as if under a spell.

3. Scots

a. Fated to die soon.

b. Full of the sense of approaching death.

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[Middle English feie, fated to die, from Old English fǣge.]