In our update on Ethliu, Mythical Women revisited: Series 5.3, we discussed the story of the birth of Lugh. The only available version of this story, Balor on Tory Island is to be found in “Hero Tales of Ireland” a book of orally narrated stories collected by folklorist and ethnologist Jeremiah Curtin and published in 1894. Jeremiah…
Author: Chris Thompson
The Birth of Lugh ~ a story
The air was rippled with watery sunshine.But through one small round window shone a bright brave sunbeam, clear and golden, cutting its way into the dim glow of the room.And in its cutting sat Ethlinn. She sat still, facing the window, facing the clear light, the fresh air; and a tear flowed down one cheek.For…
Navan Fort – Stories and Archaeology
Emain Macha, known as Navan Fort, is one of the main settings for the great heroic tragedies of the Táin Bó Cullainge, as well as many other stories of great feats and tragic losses. Here we find Conchobar mac Nessa, the legendary king of Ulster, the poison-tongued Bricriu, Cathbad the druid who foretells the fate of Deirdre…
The Mabinogion and the story of Rhiannon
Our podcast Macha – revisited refered to similarities between the tale of Rhiannon and Macha. . You can read the full story of Pwyll, son of Dyved and the story of Rhiannon in a translation by Will Parker, on his ecxcellent site Mabinogi.net. A brief background to these medieval Welsh texts The stories, now known as…
The Story Of Macha ~ revisited
Three and a half years on from our first examinationof Macha, I am still happy with my re-telling even though it id a touch fanciful.Near Armagh is the green mound of mysterious Emain Macha. This is the story of its naming. In my mind I still hear the rhythmic drumming of many hooves, the thrumming…
Origin stories – revisited
Virtually all cultures have creation stories… There are two main types of creation myth: the cosmogenic, which is about the creation of the universe or the world; and those that concern the creation of human beings. The stories of the creation of humans often comes in the same package as that of the creation of…
How long can a story last?- revisited
Defining the longevity of information passed orally from group to group, and from generation to generation, is hard to quantify. Stories change and grow. Their sources become lost in the mists of time, and yet they continue to have significance. Back in 1998, “The Year of The French”, commemorating the bicentennial of the political events…
The Shannon Pot
The Shannon is the longest river in Ireland and the UK with a length of 280km. The river flows from its source in the Cuilcagh Mountains to its estuary below Limerick. This important river and its tributaries drain some 15,500 sq km or about one fifth of the island of Ireland. The traditional source of…
The Story of Sinann
In the days of dreaming, when the Ever-Living Ones still walked freely among the misty mountains and green valleys of Ireland, when the soft light of enchantment still shone from every hill of the síd, there was a well.
A Description of the Sid of Labraid
Paraphrased from Laerg’s poem in Serglige Con Chulainn, “The Love-Sickness of Cú Chulainn” from “Serglige Con Chulainn“, ed. Myles Dillon from Lebor na hUidre; lines 486 – 513 Poetic rendering by Chris Thompson Colba do lepthaib crónda, úatne finna forórda, is sí caindell ardustá in lía lógmar lainerdá. Soft crimson beds there are Emblazoned gold…