DOCSLIB.ORG

Irish Perspectives on Heimdallr

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Irish Perspectives on Heimdallr William Sayers Irish Perspectives on Heimdallr n a succinct but thorough entry “Heimdal(l)” in Kulturhistoriskt lexikon för nordisk medeltid, Folke Ström (1961) made a non-controversial observation, but one with important methodological consequences for students of Nordic mythology: Heimdallr was not, to the best of our I 1 knowledge, the object of a cult, but belongs to the world of myth. In another capsule judgment, Jan de Vries (1962) headed a nonetheless rather long entry for Heimdallr in Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch with the summary state- ment: the etymology is opaque (“undurchsichtig”). But if we heed Polomé’s call (1989, 55–58) to break our fixation on etymology (like an atavistic belief that knowledge of the name gives power over the bearer) and investigate the entire file of a given divinity—“myths, rites, cults, toponymic and anthroponymic data . symbols, consecrated animals and so forth”—we are then held to a quite limited body of evidence in the instant case. Limited, but still tantalizing. Heimdallr has generated a considerable quantity of ink, as much a consequence of the scholarly problems we have set ourselves as of agreement with Ellis Davidson (1969, 105–7) that Heimdallr is the most impressive after the great gods and Loki.2 He has been variously interpreted as the god of the heavens, of light, the father of the gods, an emanation of an older god, an equivalent of Varuna, Mithra and Janus, an embodiment of the world tree Yggdrasil, most recently the god of fire (Schröder 1967).3 Our almost exclusively literary evidence can be assigned to some externally determined, rather than inherent, categories. Most numerous, we have the ref- erences in the Edda and other works of Snorri Sturluson. In a strictly narrative 1. A more recent overview in Polomé 1987; more strictly etymological concerns are treated in exemplary fashion and with exemplary purpose in Polomé 1990, 452–53. 2. Fuller treatment in Davidson 1964, 172–76. 3. Schröder returns to the earlier suggested parallel with Indian Agni, on the very slim evidence of the frequent Indian description of Agni as “descendant of waters,” and a Norse heiti, “sævar niðr,” that is not conclusively shown to be a reference to Heimdall; see infra for a review of Heimdallr’s supposed wave-mothers, and of Snorri’s and the skalds’ view of the elements as siblings, which further lightens the weight of Schröder’s argument. alvíssmál 2 (1993): 3–30 4 William Sayers work, such as Gylfaginning, we have come to recognize a degree of subjectivity in Snorri’s accounts, whether we go on to identify this as the result of error, rationalization, or attempted synthesis. An arguably more objective body of data is the list of names, descriptors, and circumlocutions for Heimdallr that are cited in Skáldskaparmál; it may be thought to have been both less open to authorial manipulation and well known to his public, especially his fellow poets. The other primary source for Heimdallr is the Poetic Edda, and its evidence can be judged to complement Snorri’s—at least nothing in these two main sources is directly contradictory. A third category of references to Heimdallr would be allusions in the poems of other skalds, although here, too, we are in the main limited to the citations and paraphrases in Snorri, particularly of Úlfr Uggason’s tenth-century Húsdrápa, which, as a poetic tour de force purportedly describing carved wall panels in Óláfr Hoskuldsson’s new house, portrays select scenes rather than full stories. The larger constraint on further scrutiny of the Heimdallr file is one common to most of our early Norse mythological testimony. Theonyms, even when suc- cessfully interpreted, may neither reveal the original conception of the divine figures nor describe adequately their subsequent early medieval functions/spheres of influence, e.g., Týr < Ti¯waR < IE *dyeus ‘luminous diurnal sky’. Further, many functional domains seem to have been the field of action of more than a single god, and a degree of overlapping between some scholars’ conception of Heimdallr and Freyr is a case in point. Our perspective here is perhaps determined, to a degree unconsciously, by a desire to impose more order—an interpretatio graeca or romana—than the evidence will bear. Some of this functional duplication may have resulted from the Æsir/Vanir fusion, if we see a nuclear historicity here and accept the continuing influence of an Old European mythology, in a northern guise, after the proto-Germanic penetration of Scandinavia. Another trend that we might presume, if not adequately prove, is that gods who became the focus of cultic observance would, over time, gain functional strength at the expense of those that did not. Here, other factors could also come into play, such as geo- graphical preferences, e.g., very roughly, Freyr associated with fertility in the East, Þórr in the West, or even vocational affiliations, e.g., poets under Óðinn’s aegis, controlling the poetic medium, in part determining the textual record, and cele- brating their patron in language as frequently disguised as he. If, then, Heimdallr’s file, in terms of categories if not actual volume, is a rather spare one, if etymological leads end in an impasse, and more general limitations attend our search for a suitable method of more accurately mapping Heimdallr in his several contours, where is one to turn? The comparative method, with its seductive selectivity, has been available since its assumption into mythol- ogy from philology, and not unsurprisingly Heimdallr has been matched up with legendary figures from other cultural communities heirs to the Indo-European patrimony. What is surprising is how often the scholarly gaze has turned toward Irish Perspectives on Heimdallr 5 the Celtic lands. While Heimdallr’s attributes and “biography” will be more fully catalogued below, one can here cite Dumézil’s efforts to make Heimdallr’s nine mothers the waves of the sea, and him, thus, the grandson of Ægir, ruler of the sea. This conclusion was rather shakily buttressed by late and suspect Welsh testimony that the ninth wave was called “the ram,” the animal most surely associated with the Norse god. Since the Rígr of Rígsþula, who fathers the three estates of men, is identified as Heimdallr in the preface to the poem, and since Rígr can be plausibly derived from OIr. rí (gen. ríg), Chadwick could cite the Irish god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir, as a prototype or parallel, calling him, too, a visitor to people’s homes for the purpose of begetting children. Young found other Irish accounts of undersea conception. Again on a point of detail, Turville-Petre focused on Heimdallr’s purported death by means of another’s head, to then call attention to the Irish epic hero Conall Cernach, who had mixed an opponent’s brains with lime to create a souvenir, but then lost his trophy to another who used it as a missle that, embedded in the head of King Conchobar, would eventually cause his death. On another occasion, notes Turville-Petre, Conall, a late arrival in the hall, would throw a severed head across a banquet table to gash the lips of its owner’s brother and thus secure the champion’s portion.4 The comparative method will also be exploited in this article and the chief evidence will be from legendary Ireland, but the methodological objective is to locate and isolate a data set that is both more comprehensive than the above atomistic detail, and internally consistent in Irish tradition — a dense Irish file if you will — with a view to presenting one or more multifaceted figures for comparison with Heimdallr. More specifically, attention will be turned to two apparently discrete, but not unrelated, personages in legendary Irish history, the first a step down from Heimdallr in the hierarchy of beings and literary mode of deployment, the other a step up to a still powerful, although somewhat coarsened, major divinity in lightly euhemerized form. As general familiarity with Heimdallr, for all his mystery, may be expected of this article’s readers, his textual file will be rather summarily reviewed, permitting fuller consideration of the Irish evidence. Drawing on the communal store of knowledge, which does not preclude poetic invention at some stage of its development, Snorri lists the following ways to refer to Heimdallr: Svá, at kalla hann son níu mœðra eða vorð guða, svá sem fyrr er ritað, eða Hvíta ás, Loka dólg, mensæki Freyju. Heimdalar hofuð heitir sverð; svá er sagt, at hann var lostinn manns hofði í gognum. Um hann er kveðit í Heimdalargaldri, ok er síðan kallat hofuð mjotuðr Heimdalar; sverð heitir manns mjotuðr. Heimdalr er eigandi Gulltopps; hann er ok tilsækir Vágaskers ok Singasteins; þá deildi hann við Loka um Brísingamen; 4. The extensive earlier scholarship on Heimdallr, of which the studies this century by Chadwick, Cour, Dumézil, von Friesen, Holthausen, Jessen, Much, Pering, Ohlmarks, Pipping, Rosén, de Vries, and Young serve more as way-markers than definitive statements, is handily characterized in Lindow 1988. Turville-Petre 1964 stays close to the textual evidence and is a useful antidote to much earlier speculation. Briefer recent comment on Heimdallr in Boyer 1983, 125; Schach 1983, 98–99. 6 William Sayers hann heitir ok Vindhlér. Úlfr Uggason kvað í Húsdrápu langa stund eptir þeiri frásogu, ok er þess þar getið, er þeir váru í sela líkjum, ok sonr Óðins. (Skáldskaparmál chap. 16, Jónsson 1931, 98–99, orthography normalized) [By calling him son of nine mothers, guardian of the gods, as was written above, or the white As, Loki’s enemy, recoverer of Freyia’s necklace. A sword is called Heimdall’s head; it is said he was struck through with a man’s head.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Role of Cú Chulainn in Old and Middle Irish Narrative Literature with Particular Reference to Tales Belonging to the Ulster Cycle
    The role of Cú Chulainn in Old and Middle Irish narrative literature with particular reference to tales belonging to the Ulster Cycle. Mary Leenane, B.A. 2 Volumes Vol. 1 Ph.D. Degree NUI Maynooth School of Celtic Studies Faculty of Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy Head of School: An tOllamh Ruairí Ó hUiginn Supervisor: An tOllamh Ruairí Ó hUiginn June 2014 Table of Contents Volume 1 Abstract……………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter I: General Introduction…………………………………………………2 I.1. Ulster Cycle material………………………………………………………...…2 I.2. Modern scholarship…………………………………………………………...11 I.3. Methodologies………………………………………………………………...14 I.4. International heroic biography………………………………………………..17 Chapter II: Sources……………………………………………………………...23 II.1. Category A: Texts in which Cú Chulainn plays a significant role…………...23 II.2. Category B: Texts in which Cú Chulainn plays a more limited role………...41 II.3. Category C: Texts in which Cú Chulainn makes a very minor appearance or where reference is made to him…………………………………………………...45 II.4. Category D: The tales in which Cú Chulainn does not feature………………50 Chapter III: Cú Chulainn’s heroic biography…………………………………53 III.1. Cú Chulainn’s conception and birth………………………………………...54 III.1.1. De Vries’ schema………………...……………………………………………………54 III.1.2. Relevant research to date…………………………………………………………...…55 III.1.3. Discussion and analysis…………………………………………………………...…..58 III.2. Cú Chulainn’s youth………………………………………………………...68 III.2.1 De Vries’ schema………………………………………………………………………68 III.2.2 Relevant research to date………………………………………………………………69 III.2.3 Discussion and analysis………………………………………………………………..78 III.3. Cú Chulainn’s wins a maiden……………………………………………….90 III.3.1 De Vries’ schema………………………………………………………………………90 III.3.2 Relevant research to date………………………………………………………………91 III.3.3 Discussion and analysis………………………………………………………………..95 III.3.4 Further comment……………………………………………………………………...108 III.4.
    [Show full text]
  • The Death-Tales of the Ulster Heroes
    ffVJU*S )UjfáZt ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY TODD LECTURE SERIES VOLUME XIV KUNO MEYER, Ph.D. THE DEATH-TALES OF THE ULSTER HEROES DUBLIN HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO. LTD. LONDON: WILLIAMS & NORGATE 1906 (Reprinted 1937) cJ&íc+u. Ity* rs** "** ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY TODD LECTURE SERIES VOLUME XIV. KUNO MEYER THE DEATH-TALES OF THE ULSTER HEROES DUBLIN HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., Ltd, LONDON : WILLIAMS & NORGATE 1906 °* s^ B ^N Made and Printed by the Replika Process in Great Britain by PERCY LUND, HUMPHRIES &f CO. LTD. 1 2 Bedford Square, London, W.C. i and at Bradford CONTENTS PAGE Peeface, ....... v-vii I. The Death of Conchobar, 2 II. The Death of Lóegaire Búadach . 22 III. The Death of Celtchar mac Uthechaib, 24 IV. The Death of Fergus mac Róich, . 32 V. The Death of Cet mac Magach, 36 Notes, ........ 48 Index Nominum, . ... 46 Index Locorum, . 47 Glossary, ....... 48 PREFACE It is a remarkable accident that, except in one instance, so very- few copies of the death-tales of the chief warriors attached to King Conchobar's court at Emain Macha should have come down to us. Indeed, if it were not for one comparatively late manu- script now preserved outside Ireland, in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, we should have to rely for our knowledge of most of these stories almost entirely on Keating's History of Ireland. Under these circumstances it has seemed to me that I could hardly render a better service to Irish studies than to preserve these stories, by transcribing and publishing them, from the accidents and the natural decay to which they are exposed as long as they exist in a single manuscript copy only.
    [Show full text]
  • An Examination of the Role of Wealhtheow in Beowulf
    Merge Volume 1 Article 2 2017 The Pagan and the Christian Queen: An Examination of the Role of Wealhtheow in Beowulf Tera Pate Follow this and additional works at: https://athenacommons.muw.edu/merge Part of the Other Classics Commons Recommended Citation Pate, Tara. "The Pagan and the Christian Queen: An Examination of the Role of Wealhtheow in Beowulf." Merge, vol. 1, 2017, pp. 1-17. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ATHENA COMMONS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Merge by an authorized editor of ATHENA COMMONS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Merge: The W’s Undergraduate Research Journal Image Source: “Converged” by Phil Whitehouse is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Volume 1 Spring 2017 Merge: The W’s Undergraduate Research Journal Volume 1 Spring, 2017 Managing Editor: Maddy Norgard Editors: Colin Damms Cassidy DeGreen Gabrielle Lestrade Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kim Whitehead Faculty Referees: Dr. Lisa Bailey Dr. April Coleman Dr. Nora Corrigan Dr. Jeffrey Courtright Dr. Sacha Dawkins Dr. Randell Foxworth Dr. Amber Handy Dr. Ghanshyam Heda Dr. Andrew Luccassan Dr. Bridget Pieschel Dr. Barry Smith Mr. Alex Stelioes – Wills Pate 1 Tera Katherine Pate The Pagan and the Christian Queen: An Examination of the Role of Wealhtheow in Beowulf Old English literature is the product of a country in religious flux. Beowulf and its women are creations of this religiously transformative time, and juxtapositions of this work’s women with the women of more Pagan and, alternatively, more Christian works reveals exactly how the roles of women were transforming alongside the shifting of religious belief.
    [Show full text]
  • Number Symbolism in Old Norse Literature
    Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Medieval Icelandic Studies Number Symbolism in Old Norse Literature A Brief Study Ritgerð til MA-prófs í íslenskum miðaldafræðum Li Tang Kt.: 270988-5049 Leiðbeinandi: Torfi H. Tulinius September 2015 Acknowledgements I would like to thank firstly my supervisor, Torfi H. Tulinius for his confidence and counsels which have greatly encouraged my writing of this paper. Because of this confidence, I have been able to explore a domain almost unstudied which attracts me the most. Thanks to his counsels (such as his advice on the “Blóð-Egill” Episode in Knýtlinga saga and the reading of important references), my work has been able to find its way through the different numbers. My thanks also go to Haraldur Bernharðsson whose courses on Old Icelandic have been helpful to the translations in this paper and have become an unforgettable memory for me. I‟m indebted to Moritz as well for our interesting discussion about the translation of some paragraphs, and to Capucine and Luis for their meticulous reading. Any fault, however, is my own. Abstract It is generally agreed that some numbers such as three and nine which appear frequently in the two Eddas hold special significances in Norse mythology. Furthermore, numbers appearing in sagas not only denote factual quantity, but also stand for specific symbolic meanings. This tradition of number symbolism could be traced to Pythagorean thought and to St. Augustine‟s writings. But the result in Old Norse literature is its own system influenced both by Nordic beliefs and Christianity. This double influence complicates the intertextuality in the light of which the symbolic meanings of numbers should be interpreted.
    [Show full text]
  • The Culture of Literature and Language in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland
    The Culture of Literature and Language in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland 15th International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Literature and Language (ICMRSLL) University of Glasgow, Scotland, 25-28 July 2017 Draft list of speakers and abstracts Plenary Lectures: Prof. Alessandra Petrina (Università degli Studi di Padova), ‘From the Margins’ Prof. John J. McGavin (University of Southampton), ‘“Things Indifferent”? Performativity and Calderwood’s History of the Kirk’ Plenary Debate: ‘Literary Culture in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland: Perspectives and Patterns’ Speakers: Prof. Sally Mapstone (Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews) and Prof. Roger Mason (University of St Andrews and President of the Scottish History Society) Plenary abstracts: Prof. Alessandra Petrina: ‘From the margins’ Sixteenth-century Scottish literature suffers from the superimposition of a European periodization that sorts ill with its historical circumstances, and from the centripetal force of the neighbouring Tudor culture. Thus, in the perception of literary historians, it is often reduced to a marginal phenomenon, that draws its force solely from its powers of receptivity and imitation. Yet, as Philip Sidney writes in his Apology for Poetry, imitation can be transformed into creative appropriation: ‘the diligent imitators of Tully and Demosthenes (most worthy to be imitated) did not so much keep Nizolian paper-books of their figures and phrases, as by attentive translation (as it were) devour them whole, and made them wholly theirs’. The often lamented marginal position of Scottish early modern literature was also the key to its insatiable exploration of continental models and its development of forms that had long exhausted their vitality in Italy or France.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Symmetrical Battle” Extended: Old Norse Fránn and Other Symmetry in Norse-Germanic Dragon Lore
    The Macksey Journal Volume 1 Article 31 2020 “The Symmetrical Battle” Extended: Old Norse Fránn and Other Symmetry in Norse-Germanic Dragon Lore Julian A. Emole University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://www.mackseyjournal.org/publications Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, German Linguistics Commons, Indo-European Linguistics and Philology Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Emole, Julian A. (2020) "“The Symmetrical Battle” Extended: Old Norse Fránn and Other Symmetry in Norse-Germanic Dragon Lore," The Macksey Journal: Vol. 1 , Article 31. Available at: https://www.mackseyjournal.org/publications/vol1/iss1/31 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Johns Hopkins University Macksey Journal. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Macksey Journal by an authorized editor of The Johns Hopkins University Macksey Journal. “The Symmetrical Battle” Extended: Old Norse Fránn and Other Symmetry in Norse-Germanic Dragon Lore Cover Page Footnote The title of this work was inspired by Daniel Ogden's book, "Drakōn: Dragon Myth & Serpent Cult in the Greek & Roman Worlds," and specifically his chapter titled 'The Symmetrical Battle'. His work serves as the foundation for the following outline of the Graeco-Roman dragon and was the inspiration for my own work on the Norse-Germanic dragon. This paper is a condensed version of a much longer unpublished work, which itself is the product of three years worth of ongoing research.
    [Show full text]
  • Nú Mun Hon Sökkvask
    Lauren Hamm Kt. 290191-5219 MA in Old Nordic Religions: Thesis Autumn 2019 Nú mun hon sökkvask: The Connection between Prophetic Magic and the Feminine in Old Nordic Religion Lauren Hamm Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Gunnell Útskriftarmánuður: Október 2019 Lauren Hamm Kt. 290191-5219 MA in Old Nordic Religions: Thesis Autumn 2019 Nú mun hon sökkvask The Connection between Prophetic Magic and the Feminine in Old Nordic Religion Lauren Hamm Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Gunnell Félags - og mannvísindadeild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands Október 2019 Lauren Hamm Kt. 290191-5219 MA in Old Nordic Religions: Thesis Autumn 2019 Nú mun hon sökkvask: The Connection between Prophetic Magic and the Feminine in Old Nordic Religion Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA – gráðu í Norrænni trú og er óheimilt að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Lauren Hamm, 2019 Prentun: Háskólaprent Reykjavík, Ísland, 2019 Lauren Hamm Kt. 290191-5219 MA in Old Nordic Religions: Thesis Autumn 2019 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible if it were not for the endless kindness and patience of my thesis advisor, Dr. Terry Gunnell. I truly do not have words eloquent enough to iterate how very much he deeply cares about his work and the work of his students nor how much this meant to me personally. The year of waking up to 6:00 AM skype meetings every Tuesday with Terry provided a gentle reminder of my duties and passion for this topic as well as a sense of stability and purpose I badly needed during a tumultuous time in my life.
    [Show full text]
  • How Uniform Was the Old Norse Religion?
    II. Old Norse Myth and Society HOW UNIFORM WAS THE OLD NORSE RELIGION? Stefan Brink ne often gets the impression from handbooks on Old Norse culture and religion that the pagan religion that was supposed to have been in Oexistence all over pre-Christian Scandinavia and Iceland was rather homogeneous. Due to the lack of written sources, it becomes difficult to say whether the ‘religion’ — or rather mythology, eschatology, and cult practice, which medieval sources refer to as forn siðr (‘ancient custom’) — changed over time. For obvious reasons, it is very difficult to identify a ‘pure’ Old Norse religion, uncorroded by Christianity since Scandinavia did not exist in a cultural vacuum.1 What we read in the handbooks is based almost entirely on Snorri Sturluson’s representation and interpretation in his Edda of the pre-Christian religion of Iceland, together with the ambiguous mythical and eschatological world we find represented in the Poetic Edda and in the filtered form Saxo Grammaticus presents in his Gesta Danorum. This stance is more or less presented without reflection in early scholarship, but the bias of the foundation is more readily acknowledged in more recent works.2 In the textual sources we find a considerable pantheon of gods and goddesses — Þórr, Óðinn, Freyr, Baldr, Loki, Njo3rðr, Týr, Heimdallr, Ullr, Bragi, Freyja, Frigg, Gefjon, Iðunn, et cetera — and euhemerized stories of how the gods acted and were characterized as individuals and as a collective. Since the sources are Old Icelandic (Saxo’s work appears to have been built on the same sources) one might assume that this religious world was purely Old 1 See the discussion in Gro Steinsland, Norrøn religion: Myter, riter, samfunn (Oslo: Pax, 2005).
    [Show full text]
  • University of London Deviant Burials in Viking-Age
    UNIVERSITY OF LONDON DEVIANT BURIALS IN VIKING-AGE SCANDINAVIA Ruth Lydia Taylor M. Phil, Institute of Archaeology, University College London UMI Number: U602472 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U602472 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT DEVIANT BURIALS IN VIKING-AGE SCANDINAVIA The thesis brings together information yielded from archaeology and other sources to provide an overall picture of the types of burial practices encountered during the Viking-Age in Scandinavia. From this, an attempt is made to establish deviancy. Comparative evidence, such as literary, runic, legal and folkloric evidence will be used critically to shed perspective on burial practices and the artefacts found within the graves. The thesis will mostly cover burials from the Viking Age (late 8th century to the mid- 11th century), but where the comparative evidence dates from other periods, its validity is discussed accordingly. Two types of deviant burial emerged: the criminal and the victim. A third type, which shows distinctive irregularity yet lacks deviancy, is the healer/witch burial.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dagda As Briugu in Cath Maige Tuired
    Deep Blue Deep Blue https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/documents Research Collections Library (University of Michigan Library) 2012-05 Following a Fork in the Text: the Dagda as briugu in Cath Maige Tuired Martin, Scott A. https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/138967 Downloaded from Deep Blue, University of Michigan's institutional repository Following a Fork in the Text: the Dagda as briugu in Cath Maige Tuired Scott A. Martin, May 2012 The description of the Dagda in §93 of Cath Maige Tuired has become iconic: the giant, slovenly man in a too-short tunic and crude horsehide shoes, dragging a huge club behind him. Several aspects of this depiction are unique to this text, including the language used to describe the Dagda’s odd weapon. The text presents it as a gabol gicca rothach, which Gray translates as a “wheeled fork.” In every other mention of the Dagda’s club – including the other references in CMT (§93 and §119) – the term used is lorg. DIL gives significantly different fields of reference for the two terms: 2 lorg denotes a staff, rod, club, handle of an implement, or “the membrum virile” (thus enabling the scatological pun Slicht Loirge an Dagdai, “Track of the Dagda’s Club/Penis”), while gabul bears a variety of definitions generally attached to the concept of “forking.” The attested compounds for gabul include gabulgicce, “a pronged pole,” with references to both the CMT usage and staves held by Conaire’s swineherds in Togail Bruidne Da Derga. DIL also mentions several occurrences of gabullorc, “a forked or pronged pole or staff,” including an occurrence in TBDD (where an iron gabullorg is carried by the supernatural Fer Caille) and another in Bretha im Fuillema Gell (“Judgements on Pledge-Interests”).
    [Show full text]
  • Táin Bó Cúailgne Comprehension Questions 4
    Táin Bó Cúailgne Comprehension Questions 4 Q-1 • Cú Chulainn suffers utter exhaustion and significant injuries as a result of his four-day combat against his foster-brother, Fer Diad. Who places in the streams and rivers that flow through Cú Chulainn’s home territory of Muirthemne the “herbs and healing plants” used in an attempt to restore the young warrior to health? Q-2 • In a gesture of support for the injured Cú Chulainn, the Ulster warrior Cethern mac Fintain attacks Medb’s camp. What kind of armor does he wear? Severely injured as a result of his offensive, Cethern joins the convalescing Cú Chulainn, who asks his charioteer, Láeg, to obtain physicians from among the “men of Ireland” to cure Cathern. How does Cathern interact with the 15 physicians who — having, with great reluctance, responded to Cú Chulainn’s demand (conveyed by Láeg) — conclude that Cathern can’t be cured? Q-3 • At Cú Chulainn’s request, Láeg obtains the services of Fíngan, a “seer-physician,” who examines several of Cathern’s wounds individually. From Cathern’s descriptions of who inflicted a given wound, Cú Chulainn is able to identify the attacker or attackers by name — for example, two of Medb and Ailill’s sons (known as the Maines): Maine Máithremail and Maine Aithremail. From which foreign country did two other warriors, inflictors of wounds, come? With which of his sons did Ailill attack Cethern, and what does that individual’s name mean? Q-4 • Of the two options for healing that Fíngan proposes to Cethern, which one does the injured warrior choose? Why, having engaged in the chosen cure, does Cathern fix the “board of his chariot” to his person? Q-5 • What does one of the Maines (Maine Andóe) do when — after having been healed — Cethern approaches the encampment of the men of Ireland? Why does he take that action? After Cethern’s death, his father, Fintan, attempts to avenge his honor by means of an action remembered as Fintan’s tooth fight.
    [Show full text]
  • Nationalist Adaptations of the Cuchulain Myth Martha J
    University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations Spring 2019 The aW rped One: Nationalist Adaptations of the Cuchulain Myth Martha J. Lee Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Lee, M. J.(2019). The Warped One: Nationalist Adaptations of the Cuchulain Myth. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/5278 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Warped One: Nationalist Adaptations of the Cuchulain Myth By Martha J. Lee Bachelor of Business Administration University of Georgia, 1995 Master of Arts Georgia Southern University, 2003 ________________________________________________________ Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2019 Accepted by: Ed Madden, Major Professor Scott Gwara, Committee Member Thomas Rice, Committee Member Yvonne Ivory, Committee Member Cheryl L. Addy, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School © Copyright by Martha J. Lee, 2019 All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This dissertation and degree belong as much or more to my family as to me. They sacrificed so much while I traveled and studied; they supported me, loved and believed in me, fed me, and made sure I had the time and energy to complete the work. My cousins Monk and Carolyn Phifer gave me a home as well as love and support, so that I could complete my course work in Columbia.
    [Show full text]