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Synonym of geas(“a mystical injunction: a prohibition, or obligation/compulsion”).
1933, John Revell Reinhard, The Survival of Geis in Mediaeval Romance, page 58:
36a we read that there was (19) a geis upon ships to leave the 'port' of Athens till someone had defeated Atalanta in a running race. The nature and function of the geis that lay upon objects appears to better advantage, however, in one of the stories about Ailill Dock-Ear.
1985, Elliott B. Gose, Jr., The World of the Irish Wonder Tale: An Introduction to the Study of Fairy Tales, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN:
'In some cases a geis is imposed by one man upon another, often by means of a successful exploit, as when Cu Chulainn lays a geis upon the Connachtmen, binding them not to pass the ford until someone has removed the branch which he has ...
1995, Risa Aratyr, Hunter of the Light, HarperCollins, →ISBN:
The púca scrunched up his face in puzzlement and rubbed his bald head. Glad he should be, his geis fulfilled and the Good God satisfied.
2016, Yasmine Galenorn, Once Upon A Curse: 17 Dark Faerie Tales, Fiddlehead Press, →ISBN:
“I place a geis upon you, my son,” I rasped, my eyes burning with impending wrath. I pressed my palm to his chest and conjured my symbol, the mark which tied a Faelorehn life to my service.
2021, Alethea Kontis, et al., Once Upon A Wish: 16 Dreamy Faerie Tales, Fiddlehead Press (→ISBN):
Before she died, she placed a geis upon me, that all the glamour I would ever be capable of possessing would gather in my hair. She did it so they wouldn't kill me, too, but because of that, I have never been free.