In the second part of Fled Bricrenn, our heroes make their way to Crúachán to be judged for the Champion’s Portion. But their routes there and back are most circuitous. Follow on their heels with the Story Archaeologists as Cú Chulainn, Loegaire and Conall are tested in some unexpected ways! If you have any technical…
Tag: Story Archaeology
The mead-circling hall ~ roundhouses and their stories
I have always liked round houses. Since, as a child, I first discovered that there were mysterious wicker chests of red-gold gem stories tucked away, unregarded, behind the marbled classical tales of fabled Greek heroes, I wanted to know more. But the stories from Wales and, above all, Ireland were hard to find, and even…
Dindshenchas 04: Fled Bricrenn 1 – The Feasting Hall
When Bricriu decides to hold a party, anyone who is anyone must put in an appearance. But Bricriu has no intention of getting in a few beers and a few bowls of nibbles. No, Bricriu’s feast will set the greatest heroes of Ulster at each other’s throats and send them racing off on adventures throughout…
The Two Sisters ~ An Old Ballad
The well of Inis Clothran, where Medb of Cruachan met her death, has murky depths, or at least, the tale of Medb and her sisters is somewhat opaque. As we discussed in the podcast , there are some unanswered questions. Does Medb kill Cothru or Ethne, or both of her sisters? Is Furbaide Clothru’s son…
Dindshenchas 03: The Well and the Cheese – The Unlikely Story of Medb and her Sisters
Inis Clothrann, the largest island of Lough Ree, Co. Longford, is famous for more than just its venerable monastic remains. It was here that Medb of Crúachán would bathe in the island’s well in fulfilment of a geis, imposed for killing at least one of her sisters. It was at this same well she met her death….
Dindshenchas 02: Dindshenchas and Dreamtime
Mythic cartography is the art of mapping stories onto a living landscape. In Ireland, these patterns are visible through the corpus of Dindshenchas poems and prose: in Australia, they have traditionally been painted onto rocks by the First Australians. Join the Story Archaeologists as they chart the Songlines and Storylines in these, environmentally differing, mythic map libraries….
References for Episode 12
In the episode, we referred to a passage in the introduction to Elizabeth Gray’s Irish Texts Society edition of Cath Maige Tuired [page 19 of the print edition]. If you have been reading the text on CELT, it doesn’t include the introduction. So below is a list of the sections she cites containing the Old Irish…
The Proto-Story – A Speculation
And the Morrigan spoke at last. “The time will soon be upon us, and unrest will not pass us by. The leader of our people will be fatally blemished. Núada will be wounded in heart and hand. No longer will he hold golden prosperity within his grasp.” The Dagda grinned. “Dían Cécht will make him…
The Battle of Moytura 12: An Experiment In Story Archaeology (Part 2)
We have dug down as far as we can go in this Story Archaeology dig of Cath Maige Tuired. We’ve studied the landscape, examined related stories, collected linguistic potsherds. So what are we left with? For the last episode in “The Battle of Moytura” series, the Story Archaeologists engage in some experimental story archaeology. What…
The Battle of Moytura 12: An Experiment In Story Archaeology (Part 1)
We have dug down as far as we can go in this Story Archaeology dig of Cath Maige Tuired. We’ve studied the landscape, examined related stories, collected linguistic potsherds. So what are we left with? For the last episode in “The Battle of Moytura” series, the Story Archaeologists engage in some experimental story archaeology. What…