Irish mythology
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Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era. In the early medieval era, some myths were transcribed by Christian monks, who heavily altered and Christianised the myths. Irish mythology is the best-preserved branch of Celtic mythology.
The myths are conventionally grouped into '
There are also mythical texts that do not fit into any of the cycles; these include the echtrai tales of journeys to the Otherworld (such as The Voyage of Bran), and the Dindsenchas ("lore of places"). Some written material has not survived, and many more myths were probably never written down.
Figures
Túatha Dé Danann
The main supernatural beings in Irish mythology are the Túatha Dé Danann ("the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Túath Dé ("god folk" or "tribe of the gods").
They dwell in the
In some tales, such as
The medieval writers who wrote about the Túath Dé were Christians. Sometimes they explained the Túath Dé as fallen angels; neutral angels who sided neither with God nor Lucifer and were punished by being forced to dwell on the Earth; or ancient humans who had become highly skilled in magic.[3] However, several writers acknowledged that at least some of them had been gods.[3]
There is strong evidence that many of the Túath Dé represent the gods of Irish paganism.
Nevertheless, John Carey notes that it is not wholly accurate to describe all of them as gods in the medieval literature itself. He argues that the literary Túath Dé are sui generis, and suggests "immortals" might be a more neutral term.[3]
Many of the Túath Dé are not defined by singular qualities, but are more of the nature of well-rounded humans, who have areas of special interests or skills like the druidic arts they learned before traveling to Ireland.[6] In this way, they do not correspond directly to other pantheons such as those of the Greeks or Romans.[7]
Irish goddesses or Otherworldly women are usually connected to the land, the waters, and sovereignty, and are often seen as the oldest ancestors of the people in the region or nation. They are maternal figures caring for the earth itself as well as their descendants, but also fierce defenders, teachers and warriors. The goddess
Warrior goddesses are often depicted as a triad and connected with sovereignty and sacred animals. They guard the battlefield and those who do battle, and according to the stories in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, some of them may instigate and direct war themselves.[10] The main goddesses of battle are The Morrígan, Macha, and Badb.[11] Other warrior women are seen in the role of training warriors in the Fianna bands, such as Liath Luachra, one of the women who trained the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill.[12][page needed] Zoomorphism is an important feature. Badb Catha, for instance, is "the Raven of Battle",[13] and in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, The Morrígan shapeshifts into an eel, a wolf, and a cow.[10]
Irish gods are divided into four main groups.[14] Group one encompasses the older gods of Gaul and Britain. The second group is the main focus of much of the mythology and surrounds the native Irish gods with their homes in burial mounds. The third group are the gods that dwell in the sea and the fourth group includes stories of the Otherworld.[11] The gods that appear most often are the Dagda and Lugh. Some scholars have argued that the stories of these gods align with Greek stories and gods.[11]
Fomorians
The
Heroes
Heroes in Irish mythology can be found in two distinct groups. There is the lawful hero who exists within the boundaries of the community, protecting their people from outsiders.[12] Within the kin-group or túath, heroes are human and gods are not.[7]
The Fianna warrior bands are seen as outsiders, connected with the wilderness, youth, and liminal states.[12] Their leader was called Fionn mac Cumhaill, and the first stories of him are told in fourth century. They are considered aristocrats and outsiders who protect the community from other outsiders; though they may winter with a settled community, they spend the summers living wild, training adolescents and providing a space for war-damaged veterans. The time of vagrancy for these youths is designated as a transition in life post puberty but pre-manhood. Manhood being identified as owning or inheriting property. They live under the authority of their own leaders, or may be somewhat anarchic, and may follow other deities or spirits than the settled communities.[12][7]
The church refused to recognize this group as an institution and referred to them as "sons of death".[4]
Legendary creatures
The Oilliphéist is a sea-serpent-like monster in Irish mythology and folklore. These monsters were believed to inhabit many lakes and rivers in Ireland and there are legends of saints, especially St. Patrick, and heroes fighting them.[18][19]
Sources
The three main manuscript sources for Irish mythology are the late 11th/early 12th century
Other important sources include a group of manuscripts that originated in the West of Ireland in the late 14th century or the early 15th century: The Yellow Book of Lecan, The Great Book of Lecan and The Book of Ballymote. The first of these is in the Library of Trinity College and the others are in the Royal Irish Academy. The Yellow Book of Lecan is composed of sixteen parts and includes the legends of Fionn Mac Cumhail, selections of legends of Irish Saints, and the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley"). This is one of Europe's oldest epics written in a vernacular language.[20] Other 15th-century manuscripts, such as The Book of Fermoy, also contain interesting materials, as do such later syncretic works such as Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (The History of Ireland) (c. 1640). These later compilers and writers may well have had access to manuscript sources that have since disappeared.
Most of these manuscripts were created by Christian monks, who may well have been torn between a desire to record their native culture and hostility to pagan beliefs, resulting in some of the gods being euhemerised. Many of the later sources may also have formed parts of a propaganda effort designed to create a history for the people of Ireland that could bear comparison with the mythological descent of their British invaders from the founders of Rome, as promulgated by Geoffrey of Monmouth and others. There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit them into the schemas of Greek or biblical genealogy.
Whether medieval Irish literature provides reliable evidence of
Mythological Cycle
The
Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to before Noah. It tells of a series of invasions or "takings" of Ireland by a succession of peoples, the fifth of whom was the people known as the Túatha Dé Danann ("Peoples of the Goddess Danu"), who were believed to have inhabited the island before the arrival of the Gaels, or Milesians. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye. Balor was eventually slain by Lugh Lámfada (Lugh of the Long Arm) at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Túatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the fairy people of later myth and legend.
The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great
It is important to note that by the Middle Ages the Túatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, complete with death-tales. However, there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities.
Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as
Ulster Cycle
The
The cycle consists of stories of the births, early lives and training, wooing, battles, feastings, and deaths of the heroes. It also reflects a warrior society in which warfare consists mainly of single combats and wealth is measured mainly in cattle. These stories are written mainly in prose. The centerpiece of the Ulster Cycle is the
This cycle is, in some respects, close to the mythological cycle. Some of the characters from the latter reappear, and the same sort of shape-shifting magic is much in evidence, side by side with a grim, almost callous realism. While we may suspect a few characters, such as Medb or Cú Roí, of once being deities, and Cú Chulainn in particular displays superhuman prowess, the characters are mortal and associated with a specific time and place. If the Mythological Cycle represents a Golden Age, the Ulster Cycle is Ireland's Heroic Age.
Fianna Cycle
Like the Ulster Cycle, the Fianna Cycle or Fenian Cycle, also referred to as the Ossianic Cycle, is concerned with the deeds of Irish heroes. The stories of the Cycle appear to be set around the 3rd century and mainly in the provinces of
The single most important source for the Fianna Cycle is the Acallam na Senórach (Colloquy of the Old Men), which is found in two 15th century manuscripts, the Book of Lismore and Laud 610, as well as a 17th century manuscript from Killiney, County Dublin. The text is dated from linguistic evidence to the 12th century. The text records conversations between Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, the last surviving members of the Fianna, and Saint Patrick, and consists of about 8,000 lines. The late dates of the manuscripts may reflect a longer oral tradition for the Fenian stories.
The Fianna of the story are divided into the Clann Baiscne, led by Fionn mac Cumhaill (often rendered as "Finn MacCool", Finn Son of Cumhall), and the Clann Morna, led by his enemy,
The world of the Fianna Cycle is one in which professional warriors spend their time hunting, fighting, and engaging in adventures in the spirit world. New entrants into the band are expected to be knowledgeable in poetry as well as undergo a number of physical tests or ordeals. Most of the poems are attributed to being composed by Oisín. This cycle creates a bridge between pre-Christian and Christian times.[20]
Kings' Cycle
It was part of the duty of the medieval Irish bards, or court poets, to record the history of the family and the genealogy of the king they served. This they did in poems that blended the mythological and the historical to a greater or lesser degree. The resulting stories from what has come to be known as the Cycle of the Kings, or more correctly Cycles, as there are a number of independent groupings. This term is a more recent addition to the cycles, with it being coined in 1946 by Irish literary critic Myles Dillon.
The kings that are included range from the almost entirely mythological
Other tales
Eachtraí
The adventures, or
Immrama
The voyages, or
Folk tales
Although there are no written sources of Irish mythology, many stories are passed down orally through traditional storytelling. Some of these stories have been lost, but some Celtic regions continue to tell folktales to the modern-day. Folktales and stories were primarily preserved by monastic scribes from the bards of nobility. Once the noble houses started to decline, this tradition was put to an abrupt end. The bards passed the stories to their families, and the families would take on the oral tradition of storytelling.
During the first few years of the 20th century,
References
Citations
- ^ Koch, John (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 1326.
- ^ ABC-CLIO. p. 995.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Carey, John (2006). "Tuath Dé". In John T. Koch (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 1693–1697.
- ^ )
- ^ a b c Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (1991). Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 312–315, 407–409.
- ^ OCLC 37457923.
- ^ a b c d
H.G.T. (1949). "Reviewed work: Gods and Heroes of the Celts by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt & Mules Dillon". Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society (book review). 12 (1): 85. JSTOR 27728728.
- ^
Monaghan, Patricia (2004). The encyclopedia of Celtic mythology and folklore. Facts On File. OCLC 51886379.
- OCLC 857525147.
- ^ a b
Kinsella, Thomas (1970). The Tain [The Raid]. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-281090-1.
- ^ a b c
Dillon, Myles; Chadwick, Nora Kershaw (1972). The Celtic Realms (2nd ed.). London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. OCLC 813540156.
- ^ a b c d
Nagy, Joseph Falaky (1985). The Wisdom of the Outlaw: The boyhood deeds of Finn in gaelic narrative tradition. Berkeley & Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. - ^
OCLC 472847240.
- ^ OR 97219, Overseas and Off-Campus ProgramsLewis & Clark615 S. Palatine Hill Road MSC 11Portland. "Once Upon a Time, Irish Mythology Crash Course". college.lclark.edu. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (1991). Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 232–233.
- ^ Carey, John (2006). "Fomoiri". In John T. Koch (ed.). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 762.
- ^ Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (1991). Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 312–315.
- ^ "Oilliphéist".
- ^ "The Great Wyrms of Ireland | Folklore and fairy tales from the Emerald Isle".
- ^ a b c d e
Frehan, Pádraic (2012). Education and Celtic Myth: National self-image and schoolbooks in 20th-century Ireland. Rodopi. OCLC 819379953.
- ^
Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone (1964). The Oldest Irish Tradition: A window on the Iron Age. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 246461036.
- ^ Carey 2000, pp. 113, 116.
Sources
Primary sources in English translation
- Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover. Ancient Irish Tales. Barnes and Noble Books, Totowa, New Jersey, 1936 repr. 1988. ISBN 1-56619-889-5.
- Dillon, Myles. The Cycles of the Kings. Oxford University Press, 1946; reprinted Four Courts Press: Dublin and Portland, OR, 1994. ISBN 1-85182-178-3.
- Dillon, Myles. Early Irish Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948; reprinted : Four Courts Press, Dublin and Portland, OR, 1994. ISBN 0-7858-1676-3.
- Joseph Dunn: The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúailnge (1914)
- Winifred Faraday: The Cattle-Raid of Cualng. London, 1904. This is a partial translation of the text in the Yellow Book of Lecan, partially censored by Faraday.
- Gantz, Jeffrey. Early Irish Myths and Sagas. London: Penguin Books, 1981. ISBN 0-14-044397-5.
- Gregory, Lady Augusta. Cuchulain of Muirtheme. First Published 1902.
- Kinsella, Thomas. The Tain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-19-281090-1.
- MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Oxford University Press, 1990.
- Price, Bill. Celtic Myths, Oldcastle Books, 2011.
Primary sources in Medieval Irish
- Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired. Elizabeth A. Gray, Ed. Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1982. Series: Irish Texts Society (Series); v. 52. Irish text, English translation and philological notes.
- Táin Bo Cuailnge from the Book of Leinster. Cecile O'Rahilly, Ed. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1984.
- Táin Bo Cuailnge Recension I. Cecile O'Rahilly, Ed. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1976. Irish text, English translation and philological notes.
Secondary sources
- OCLC 1302630617.
- Coghlan, Ronan Pocket Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend. Belfast: Appletree, 1985.
- Mallory, J. P. Ed. Aspects of the Tain. Belfast: December Publications, 1992. ISBN 0-9517068-2-9.
- O hOgain, Daithi "Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition" Prentice Hall Press, (1991) : ISBN 0-13-275959-4(the only dictionary/encyclopedia with source references for every entry)
- O'Rahilly, T. F. Early Irish History and Mythology (1946)
- ISBN 0-500-27039-2.
- Sjoestedt, M. L. Gods and Heroes of the Celts. 1949; translated by Myles Dillon. repr. Berkeley, CA: Turtle Press, 1990. ISBN 1-85182-179-1.
- Williams, J. F. Caerwyn. Irish Literary History. Trans. Patrick K. Ford. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, Wales, and Ford and Bailie, Belmont, Massachusetts. Welsh edition 1958, English translation 1992. ISBN 0-926689-03-7.
Further reading
- Clark, Rosalind (1991) The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrigan to Cathleen ni Houlihan. Savage, MD, Barnes and Noble Books. ISBN 0-389-20928-7
- ISBN 1-85635-093-2
- Patterson, Nerys Thomas (1994) Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland. Notre Dame, IN, University of Notre Dame Press (2nd edition) ISBN 0-268-00800-0
- Power, Patrick C. (1976) Sex and Marriage in Ancient Ireland. Dublin, Mercier
- Smyth, Daragh (1988, 1996) A Guide to Irish Mythology. Dublin, Irish Academic Press
Adaptions, collections, and retellings
- James Bonwick, Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions (1894)
- Gregory Frost: Tain (1986), and Remscela (1988)
- Lady Augusta Gregory: Cuchulain of Muirthemne (1902), and Gods and Fighting Men (1904)
- Lenihan, Eddie and Carolyn Eve Green. Meeting the Other Crowd: The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland. New York. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. 2004. ISBN 1-58542-307-6
- Bard: The Odyssey Of the Irish(1984)
- Juliet Marillier: Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows, and Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters trilogy, 1999–2001).
- James Stephens: Irish Fairy Tales (1920)
- Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland (1887)