Starting Sarah Iles Johnston's book The Story of Myth (2018). She begins: "The word 'myth' is a notoriously slippery beast. Even if we stick to scholars' attempts to define it (setting aside the ways in which 'myth' is used informally to mean a misconception or a lie), we find ourselves afloat upon a sea of capacious, and therefore frustratingly vague, definitions..." I am looking forward to this!
[#]mythology
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This petition will be ending soon, but there's still time to sign if you haven't already! #academia #CelticStudies #Irish #Welsh #Celtic #linguistics #medieval
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The medieval Irish text Mesca Ulad "The Intoxication of the Ulstermen," as found in the 12th century Book of Leinster, describes the sunrise as ra chomérig grían sech comchruinni in talman "the sun rose past the sphere of the earth." The second member of the compound comchruinne is cruinne, which can mean "roundness, rotundity: round mass" or "universe, world." #OldIrish #Celtic #medieval #CelticStudies
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My last blog post of the year is up now and looks at some conflicting chronologies in the Ulster Cycle involving Medb and her family. These kinds of variations are typical of complex mythological systems and offer some interesting opportunities for us to think about how these stories might have been experienced by their original audiences and how modern readers might approach them.
[#]UlsterCycle #IrishLiterature #Medieval #CelticStudies #Mythology
https://ulstercycle.hcommons.org/2024/12/20/medbs-family-and-problems-in-the-timeline-of-the-ulster-cycle/
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In Mesca Ulad "The Intoxication of the Ulstermen," the Ulstermen attempt to go from one feast in Ulster to another feast in Ulster (while intoxicated) and end up in Munster. The description of their journey is pretty much just a list of roughly 32 names of places that they pass through. It's not so fun to read for a modern audience, but I wonder at what point in the list the original audience would have realized how far off track they were and started to laugh. #CelticStudies #Irish #Medieval
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There are 3 versions of the medieval Irish Aided Chon Roí "The Violent Death of Cú Roí." Only Version 3 had English translations available. Version 1 had been translated into German, but I recently posted an English translation on my blog. As far as I know, there is no available translation of Version 2 in any language, so I have now posted a translation of that as well. It mostly matches parts of Version 3, but I hope it may be useful. #CelticStudies #Medieval #Irish
https://ulstercycle.hcommons.org/2024/12/09/version-2-of-aided-chon-roi-the-violent-death-of-cu-roi-a-translation/
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The leg is also dangerous though, and becomes too heavy for Lugh. He abandons the foot and drags the shin-bone behind his chariot, where its weight forms a ditch filled with the putrefaction of the rotting bone. When Lugh finally leaves it behind, a dorb "worm" burrows into it, eats the marrow, and grows into the smirrdris. The smirrdris meets its end in the Acallam when Finn drains the lake that it lives in until it is too small for it and then kills it. 3/3
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In the Acallam we also find the story of a smirrdris in Loch Lurgan. Smirrdris seems to be a form of muirdris, a compound of the word muir "sea" and -dris, which seems to be connected to the word dragon. The origin story of this smirrdris is found in the Early Modern Irish version of Cath Muighe Tuireadh "The Second Battle of Mag Tuired." After Lugh kills his grandfather, the cyclops Balor, he takes his head as a trophy. Because the head is toxic and destructive, Lugh takes Balor's leg. 2/3
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Medieval Irish literature has many lake monsters, especially in the Acallam na senórach "The Dialogue of the Ancients." Some have fascinating origin stories. The lake monster in Glendalough, called a peist, was once a quarter of the brain of the Leinster king Mess Gegra, which had been turned into a stone and used to kill the Ulster king Conchobar. At some point part of the brain was swallowed by the earth and transformed. The monster was eventually bound by St. Kevin. #MythologyMonday 1/3
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The Battle of Leitir Ruidhe is a medieval Irish text about the war between the high-king Fachtna Fathach and Eochaid Feidlech, who deposed him. Copious genealogical detail makes the story hard to follow, but there are some striking phrases, as when Eochaid attacks his sons' killers: "Because the boiling wrath of Eochaid Feidlech about the death of his sons was the wrath of a venomous serpent and the fierceness of an injured lion, they were both killed by him." #Celtic #IrishLiterature #Medieval
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Today I came across the Old Irish word danmargach, which is derived from Danmarg (Denmark) and means "ferocious foreigner, fierce warrior, marauder." It's often found alongside díbergach "marauder, bandit, pirate, etc." and allmarach "foreigner, outlander." This reminds me of another reference to Denmark in medieval Irish: in the text Aided Guill ocus Gairb "The Violent Death of Goll and Garb," Denmark is referred to as inis Danmarg "the island of Denmark." #OldIrish #Irish #Medieval #Celtic
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Happening in Toronto:
Attend "Listening to Women in Medieval Irish Literature" by Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto Alumna Joanne Findon (Professor Emerita of English Literature, Trent University) next Tuesday, November 26 at 5pm at University of St. Michael's College!
RSVP now at https://bit.ly/3Cyzfyt #CelticStudies #Medieval #IrishLiterature #Academia #Toronto
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In Irish myth, Conganchnes was a nearly invincible warrior with a horn-skin. After he was killed, he was beheaded and his head was buried in a cairn. Later a crying sound was heard from the grave, and three puppies were found inside. They became three famous dogs from Irish myth: Culann's Hound, Mac Dathó's dog Ailbe, and Celtchar's dog Dóelchú. #MythologyMonday
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New blog post! This week I look at how Cú Roí's soul is hidden in a golden apple inside a salmon that only appears every seven years, or, what folklorists call motif E710 External Soul. This turns out to be rare in medieval Irish literature, but more common in later folktales. I look at parallels in the stories of Cano, Cian, Conchobar, Cú Chulainn, and the Greek hero Meleager. #UlsterCycle #Celtic #CelticStudies #Irish #IrishLiterature #Folklore #Mythology #Medieval https://ulstercycle.hcommons.org/2024/11/18/cu-rois-soul-in-a-golden-apple/
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My last blog post was a translation of the earliest version of "The Death of Cú Roí," in which Cú Roí is called "ind ammait." The standard definition of ammait is "witch" or "hag." Today, I look at some of the different uses of ammait to describe witches and a number of supernatural beings, including the Morrígan herself and the Greek Furies, and consider how to translate this word when used of Cú Roí. #CelticStudies #Celtic #Mythology #Irish #Medieval #IrishLiterature https://ulstercycle.hcommons.org/2024/11/12/cu-roi-as-ammait-witch-hag/
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If you haven't already, please sign and share this petition to save the Bachelor of Celtic at Utrecht University. It's such a wonderful and successful program and it's so important to protect the diverse perspectives that smaller fields bring to our educational and cultural landscapes. #CelticStudies #Celtic #Academia #Irish #Welsh #Celts #Medieval #Literature #History #Linguistics #Folklore #Gaelic #Mythology https://www.change.org/p/red-de-opleiding-keltisch-save-the-bachelor-celtic
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Another interesting thing from the version of "The Death of Cú Roí" that I'm currently translating: unlike in the other versions, here Cú Roí's soul is hidden in an apple that is inside of a salmon that only appears every seven years. To kill Cú Roí, the apple must be cut using his own sword. You'll be able to read the story for yourself on my blog "Reading the Ulster Cycle" on Monday! https://ulstercycle.hcommons.org/
[#]UlsterCycle #IrishLiterature #Mythology #CelticStudies #Celtic #Irish #Blog #Medieval
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I'm working on an English translation of "Version 1" of the medieval Irish text "The Death of Cú Roí," as there doesn't seem to be one. Cú Roí is known to be a sorcerer and uses magic to disguise himself in several stories. In this text though he is called "ind ammait" - "the witch/hag." The word is usually thought to be specific to women. More forthcoming on my blog, and the translation will be up Monday! #UlsterCycle #Medieval #IrishLiterature #Irish #Celtic #Blog #Mythology #CelticStudies
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Please sign and share this petition to save the Bachelor of Celtic at Utrecht University. Celtic Studies at Utrecht has been hugely important to the field for over a century. To cut this program is a complete betrayal of generations of scholars and students, most especially future ones, and of the mission of higher education itself. This program is unique, much valued, and needed. #CelticStudies #Celtic #Academia #Medieval #Linguistics #IndoEuropean #Irish #Gaelic #Welsh https://www.change.org/p/red-de-opleiding-keltisch-save-the-bachelor-celtic
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Please consider signing this petition against cuts to Dutch higher education. I know how much Dutch universities have contributed to my field, especially Leiden and Utrecht. We need them and we need to support them. #Academia #Petition #CelticStudies #IndoEuropeanStudies #IndoEuropean https://www.change.org/p/stop-cuts-on-dutch-higher-education
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