Ardibdaba dochell blátha.

(will cut off * inhospitality * flowers)

Inhospitality will destroy flowers.

This maxim is part of Fercertne’s long litany of pessimistic pronouncements about the days to come, found in his final speech in “Immacallam in Dá Thúarad”. It concisely encapsulates the old belief that human behavior, a king’s actions in particular, could influence the fruitfulness of the earth. A gloss in one MS identifies the “flowers” as “mess ⁊ torud” (wild produce and cultivated fruit).

Topics: Maxims & Wise Counsel