Depiction of the Less Fortunate
There are many things we can take away from the Abharacht story, as it has a deep and rich history. First of all, ‘Abharacht’ translates to ‘dwarf’ in Irish, which can give us some context to the story. This dwarf was depicted to be a bloodthirsty warlord as well as a vampire in the story, as that creates a good villain for the audience to rally against. However, it could very well be rooted in a hatred for ‘dwarves’ in that time. As we have seen in history, hateful propaganda can be spread in many forms, and a folklore tale could easily be one of them. The depiction of this singular, fictional dwarf essentially characterized these innocent people as killers and monsters, making an already tough existence even harder for them. Dwarves were naturally disadvantaged in an early Irish setting, as most of the work revolved around physical labor, such as farming and hunting, and an individual with a smaller stature would obviously have a hard time doing so. This made people who were not disadvantaged feel superior to those of a smaller stature, which can explain the use of them in such a negative light in this folklore tale. ​
Many important lessons come from this tale, including the dangers of greed, and to not treat those with disabilities differently. The greed lesson comes from Abharacht himself, as his tyrannical and violent tendencies led to him getting lost in his greed, and this resulted in the oppressed townsfolk to rejoice in his death. This teaches us not to succumb to our greed, in order to prevent harm to your peers. Another lesson we can learn from this story is the proper way to treat everyone, as Abharacht was a result of poor treatment due to his stature, which is something that he could not control. The torment that he received from those who were not disabled was endless, and in the end he sought out revenge against those who wronged him.
