This article has been made available to us by kind permission of its author, Professor Jacqueline Borsje, University of Amsterdam and University of Ulster. It was published in Peritia, the Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland, volume 13, 1999. Please do not re-use this content without the express permission of the author / publishers….
Category: Articles
Supporting articles, texts and translations and related materials for each episode
The Declaration of Peace
This is the poem spoken by Lóch Lethglas, the poet of Indéch Mac Dé Domnann, and is the third “request” he grants to Lug in return for peace. It serves as a peace-treaty or declaration from the Fomoire. There are certain similarities between this poem and the Mór Rígain’s vision of peace (see Poems of…
Poems of the Morrigan
from Cath Maige Tuired, edited by Elizabeth Gray These translations were originally posted with Mythical Women episode 6: Encountering the Morrigan Poem A: Section 137, Lines 683 – 693 Translation by Isolde Carmody: Afraigid rig don cath Kings arise to [meet] the battle rucatair gruaide Cheeks are seized aisnethir rossa Faces [honours] are declared ronnatair feola,…
The Banishment of Balor
It is then that Lug said: I may look small next to you, but I am the one who will choose the day of your death. And Balor replied: Now I see that in the germ of the seed that I planted lies the form of my own destruction. Lug replied: It is so, for…
The Morrigan’s View
Then the Morrigan said … So it came to battle at the last. It came, at last, to red and slaughterous battle as it always has, and it always will. It came, at the last, to the calling of kings To the feats of feasting The feasts of poetic words The talking and taking of…
How to Get Help from a Craftsman
There are a number of intriguing Irish texts which can only be described as spells or charms, and they still lie in great obscurity, despite calls for attention from Kuno Meyer nearly 100 years ago, and from Dr. John Carey in his excellent article in 2000 (Léachtaí Cholm Cille, issue 30). There are two “charms”…
Goibniu and the Gobbán Sáor
In the podcast episode on “The Four Craftsmen”, we discussed the manner in which characters found only within the saga of Moytura developed an enduring popularity in folklore and story. This would seem to have particular relevance in the case of Goibniu the Dé Danann smith. Goibniu is certainly connected, if not cognate, with the…
The Judgements of the Four Craftsmen
Throughout this part of our discussion of Cath Maige Tuired, we have talked of the four craftsmen: Dían Cécht, the physician; Goibniu the smith; Luchta the wright; and Creidne Cérd the brazier. This might be surprising, considering that the latter three so often appear together, and only rarely with Dían Cécht, who is more usually…
Metal Crafting ~ Some notes
The descriptions of the preparation for the battle of Moytura by the various skilled craftsmen lead to intriguing speculation about the skills and technologies of the builders and weapon-makers within the story. For example, Section 122, which describes the daily restoration of the Dé Danann weapons, creates an entertaining and “high-octane action” picture of the…
The Forge and the Well
from Cath Maige Tuired, Sections 122-3, Lines 526 – 543 Edition: Elizabeth Gray Translation: Isolde Carmody To accompany our discussion of the Four Craftsmen, here are the sections of the text describing the beautifully choreographed work in the forge. I’ve also included the following section describing the family of physicians working around the well of…