The Colloquy of Colmcille and the Youth at Carn Eolairg As it might have been reported by the most insignificant and junior of the sainted man’s monks Some say it was Mongán, son of Fiachna, who spoke to Colmcille that Thursday morning. They had conversed all day, they had – and all night too. Some of…
Story Archaeology goes Kind of Epic!
Just when you thought there wasn’t enough Story Archaeology around, we go and do an interview for the Kind of Epic Show! We’re featured in a St. Patrick’s Day special on this “weekly look at all things geek” with Gabe Canada. Here’s a direct link to the episode which will play automatically: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kind-of-epic-show/e/37361615?autoplay=true Here’s a…
An Open Letter to QI
QI is a long-running BBC panel show hosted by Stephen Fry. It is produced by “Quite Interesting Ltd.”, and has become an unofficial source for Quite Interesting facts and exploding General Ignorance. But their research is not flawless… Dear QI Elves, Please can you stop spouting nonsense about Ancient Ireland? I know it’s a…
Rowing Around Immrama 11: The Mongan Mysteries – Some Poetic Fragments
In our third and final episode on the lost hero, Mongán, we piece together some intriguing potsherds. What has the son of Manannán to say to Saint Colm Cille? What happened when he had his “Frenzy”? Can we re-construct his death-tale, Aided Mongáin? Join the Story Archaeologists as they look for edges and corners in…
The Humiliation of Eochu Rígéigeas
Eochu, chief poet of Ireland seethed furiously, shame diffusing his face into red rage. To make a fool of him, to humiliate him in public – it was an unforgivable insult to a man of his status. But for a young man, hardly more than a child, to be the cause, the origin of his discomfiture;…
Rowing Around Imrrama 10: Mongán and the Poets
In our second dip into Mongan’s mysterious waters, we compare several stories showing off Mongan’s miraculous poetic skill. As a boy-wonder, he humiliates his father’s chief poet; as a king, he terrifies a poor student into a mysterious quest; and finally lets slip that he may have been here before… Join the Story Archaeologists as…
Extolling the Holly
Poetry specifically describing the properties of different woods is not all that common, although I know of a couple of poems that gives Ash prime place. This poem, in keeping with the season, places the holly as the best of winter woods, It also favours the fragrant honeysuckle, the woodbine. The poem is part of the story of …
A Crock of Old Cobblers ~ A Holiday Special
Fergus mac Léite gets to encounter the underwater world of the Lupracán, a story which in the late middle / early modern Irish version, almost certainly, inspired Swift’s wonderful satire, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. The Story Archaeologists, ear herbs at the ready, dive right into the tale, but wonder how these small, but proud and fiercely independent, beings…
Rhiannon, meet Dubh Lacha – You have a lot in common!
The Prequel to the wedding of Pwyll and Rhiannon; from Mabinogi Pwyll Pwyll Peneuic, Lord of seven Cantrefs of Dyfed, goes hunting at Glyn Cuch and becomes separated from his companions. He hears the cries of a pack of hounds chasing a stag, but it is not his own hounds he hears. This pack is…
The Text of Immram Brain Part 2: Manannan’s Poem and the Prophecy of Mongán
Here is the second part of the text of Immram Brain, as edited by Séamus Mac Mathúna. The translation is based on that of Kuno Meyer, although where my translation differs significantly from his, I have included his translation in brackets. For Chris Thompson’s rendition of part of the poem, see Manannán’s Prophecy of Mongán….