In the 21st century, we have quite different ideas of government, nationhood, sovereignty and royalty to our ancestors of 1000 and more years ago. Indeed, it is hard to imagine that an island as small as Ireland had as many as 150 túatha (usually translated as “tribes” or “petty kingdoms”) between the 5th and…
Tag: Cath Maige Tuired
The Story of Bres
It wasn’t his fault. How could one so noble, so beautiful, have been at fault? He was the golden youth, the beloved one chosen by his mother’s people. How could it all have gone so wrong? How had his golden dreams become so tarnished? He had grown up with his mother’s glowing stories. “When you…
The Battle of Moytura 02: Echtrae Breis – The Adventures of Bres
Bres the Beautiful, the Half-Blood Prince of the Túatha Dé Danann, fared little better than his modern literary counterpart. As the Battle of Moytura draws near, we explore the terrible tale of the king set up to be brought down by meanness and false judgement. Join the Story Archaeologists as we try to piece together…
Cath Maige Tuired – Sections 1 – 14
Edition: Elizabeth Gray Translation: Elizabeth Gray [Isolde Carmody] This text and its published translation are made available by kind permission of CELT, the Corpus of Electronic Texts, at University Colege Cork: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/ We will not always put the full text here on our blog, and we recommend that you read Gray’s edition, or better still,…
The Story of Nuada
Nuada stared into a palm of silver, a cupped pool reflecting a refracted and shattered image of his frowning face. He held the hand up before him, flexed his fingers and five silver rays flared like a crown around his image. So it worked to his will then. It was more than a magnificent glove….
The Battle of Moytura 01: Echtrae Nuadat – The Adventures of Nuada
Nuada Láim Argait, the merchant king with the Silver Arm, leads his people in wisdom and strategy for much of the saga of the Second Battle of Moytura. He is widely regarded as cognate with the British Celtic god Nodens. So when and how, mythologically speaking, did he come to Ireland? This first episode of…
Series 2: The Battle of Moytura
Our second series of podcasts concerns the great mythical saga, Cath Maige Tuired, The Battle of Moytura. Now, you may legitimately ask “Which one?”, because the tradition does indeed have two battles at Moytura. The first battle was between the Túatha Dé Danann and the Fir Bolg at Magh Tuired Coinge, near Cong in Co….
Mythical Women 06: Encountering the Morrigan
Battle-hag. Nightmare. Phantom Queen. The Morrigan has been called all of these. But is the battle-cry her only anthem? Uncover the evidence in conversation with the Story Archaeologists. Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest podcasts! By The Story Archaeologists. Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.
The Morrigan’s Prophecy
From “the Morrigan’s prophecy” spoken at the close of the battle of Moytura. (based on the translation by Isolde Carmody) Beneath the peaceful heavens lies the land. It rests beneath the bowl of the bright sky. The land lies, itself a dish, a cup of honeyed strength, there, for the taking, offering strength to each…
The Mórrígan Speaks – Her Three Poems
From Cath Maige Tuired, “The Battle of Moytura” Introduction At the end of the Old Irish saga of Cath Maige Tuired, there are three poems attributed to the Mórrígan; one immediately before the main battle, and the other two afterwards, ending the saga as a whole. These three poems were the main topic of my Masters…