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…
Author: Chris Thompson
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…
The Island of the Pillar – For Real?
In episode 14 of the series “Rowing Around Immráma”, we treated the Fenian tale, The Pursuit of the Gilla Decair and his Horse, as a kind of spoof Immrám. While this is the impression given, it also has another purpose. One of the prime functions of Fenian tales is to illustrate that whatever genre its heroes…
Underworld, Otherworld ~ part1: Underworld
Underworld, Otherworld: Introduction There are, as we have frequently noted, only four official members that can be strictly classified as Immráma . These are, of course, Immrám Brain Mac Febul, Immrám Snedgussa ocus Mac Ríagla, Immrám Uí Corra, and Immrám Curaig Máel Dúin . However, series four has already reached podcast episode 13 the longest series that…
Mongán, Taliesin, Finn and Arthur!
What is so special about Mongán? Mongán is no longer a well-known figure in Irish mythology; and yet we have found ourselves giving three full podcast episodes to exploring his stories. In the Irish annals (3.1), Mongán was referenced as a king who died in 625 CE. There is also an existing prose text and…