Sengoídelc - Love & Sex

C� ben dob�r?...

Tue, 03 May 2005 10:51:37 -0400

"Cá ben dobér?" ar in mac.
"Da fagair na móra finna ocus na báingela duba, tabair íet."

(what * woman * I will take * quoth * the * son /
if * you find * the * big * blondes * and * the * white-bright * dark ones * take * them)

"What woman shall I take?" said the son.
"If you can find the big blondes and the dark-haired ones with white skin, take them."

So the son asks, so the father replies. This is from a much longer dialogue in which the father advises his son on marriage, which was edited by Meyer in ZCP 8, 113.

Ceilid serc ainmi ocus olc.

Tue, 03 May 2005 11:01:34 -0400

Ceilid serc ainmi ocus olc.

(hides * love * blemishes * and * ill)

Love conceals blemishes and bad character. Love is blind.

A proverb from the poem "Diambad messe bad rí réil". The Modern Irish version is "Folaíonn grá gráin." A 16th century poem, quoted in "A Miscellany" (p. 22) gives as a proverb "Ní breitheamh comhthrom an grádh" (Love is not an impartial judge).

Ceist, in n-�l�fa limm?

Fri, 04 Feb 2005 01:24:39 -0500

Ceist, in n-éláfa limm?
(question * ? * you will run away * with me)

Tell me, will you elope with me?

Spoken by Fráech to Findabair (who refuses, saying she deserves a proper wedding!) in "Táin Bó Fraích".

Cid as m�ithi saill tuircc mesa?

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 21:18:33 -0500

Cid as méithi saill tuircc mesa?
Miscais do·berar íar serc.

(what * that is * fatter * than salt-meat * of boar * of mast /
hatred * that is given * after * love)

What is fatter than the bacon of an acorn-fed boar?
Hatred that comes after love.

This arresting image comes from "Tochmarc Ailbe", where it is one of thirty riddles that Finn poses and Ailbe answers.

D�ambad messe in banmacc�n...

Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:41:06 -0500

Díambad messe in banmaccán
no·cechrainn cach felmaccán,
fer nád·fintar co·cluinter,
slánchéill chéin dúib, a muinter.

(if were * I * the * girl /
I would love * every * young student /
man * that is not known * until he is heard /
sound-sense * long * to you * o * (my) people)

If I were a girl,
I'd love every student,
a man you don't know till you've heard him;
I wish you all the best, my people.

A stanza found in the "Auraicept" (ll.533-6), which seems to argue that the young intellectual in his worn cloak may not look like much, but that his golden tongue has its own charms.

Dia�fagbainn-se br�in �achtair...

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 13:27:09 -0400

Dia·fagbainn-se bróin úachtair, do·géntae bró íochtair dím.

(if I were to find * millstone * upper * would be made * millstone * lower * of me)

If I found an upper millstone, I would be the lower millstone.

Ailbe says this to Finn during the verbal sparring and word play of their courtship in "Tochmarc Ailbe", letting him know that she'd gladly join in marriage with a man who was suited to her. The image of the wife as the lower millstone, also called an "inneóin" or "anvil", is found in Fíthal's advice to his son on choosing a wife. Their exchange begins:

Cid imma ngabthar trebad? ol a mac fri Fíthal.
Ní hansa. Im indeóin cothaigthe, ol Fíthal.
Ceist. Caide an indeóin threbtha? ol in mac.
Ní hansa. Ben maith, ol Fíthal. (ed. Meyer, ZCP viii 112)

Around what is a household established? said his son to Fíthal.
That's easy. Around a steady lower millstone, said Fíthal.
Tell me, what is the lower millstone of a household? said the son.
That's easy. A good woman, said Fíthal.

"Cá ben dobér?", also in this collection, is from later on in this father-son exchange.

F� mo ruach...

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 11:56:19 -0500

Fó mo ruach!
Comrac fri mnaí mo druad:
sech romfácaib mo bhean féin,
bean mo druad ní romaithgéin.

(good * my * mire /
[sexual] encounter * with * wife * of my * druid /
besides * (that) has left me * my * wife * own /
wife * of my * druid * not * has recognized me)

Mine is a fine mess!
A tryst with my druid's wife:
not only has my own wife left me,
my druid's wife ignores me.

This lone stanza is embedded in a compilation of lore surrounding the idiot saint Mac Dá Cherda and St. Cummaine of Foda, edited and translated by J. G. O'Keeffe in Ériu, volume 5. Alan Harrison in "The Irish Trickster" explains that Mac Dá Cherda lost his sanity as a result of this episode, after the aggrieved druid cursed him.

Gel cech n�a, s�sad ngl�...

Tue, 29 Mar 2005 22:15:49 -0500

Gel cech núa, sásad nglé,
utmall álcha ócduine,
áilli bretha bíte im sheirc,
milsi bríathra fir thochmairc.

(bright * every * new thing * satisfaction * clear /
unsteady * desires * of young man /
beautiful * decisions* that are * around * love /
sweet * words * of man * of wooing)

Everything new is shiny, a bright enjoyment,
restless are a young man's desires,
beautiful are decisions about love,
sweet the words of a man who's courting.

This stanza was written into the top margin of page 121a of LL, and has been slightly edited to normalize it. For another instance of the phrase "is gel cach núa", see "Is álaind cech nderg" in this collection.

Ilar mbr�athar mbl�ith rot�char.

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 14:13:40 -0500

Ilar mbríathar mbláith rot·char.

(a great number * of words * gentle * have loved you)

Many gentle words have loved you.

Spoken by Emer to Cú Chulainn in a poem in "Serglige Con Culaind". The indirection of the subject, "words" rather than "people" or "I", is intriguing.

Inum-bia-sa �air coibligi latt?

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:55:34 -0500

Inum-bia-sa úair coibligi latt?

(? will be to me - emphatic * an hour * of lying together * with you)

Will I have an hour of love with you?

The classic pick-up line, spoken by Eochaid to Étaín in "Togail Bruidne Da Derga" and by Elatha to Ériu in "Cath Maige Tuired".

Is descaid seirce s�rshilliud.

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 17:32:14 -0500

Is descaid seirce sírshilliud.

(is * sign * of love * constant-gazing)

Long staring is a sign of love.

From "Tochmarc Étaíne", where Ailill Anguba has taken to gazing helplessly at Étaín, so smitten is he. The three-word maxims of "Bríathra Flainn Fhína maic Ossu" contains this version: "Descad serce sírshilliud."

Is ferr do neoch a chor ass mani charthar mar charas.

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:57:25 -0500

Is ferr do neoch a chor ass mani charthar mar charas.

(is * better * for * one * its * putting * out * if not * is loved * as * that loves)

It is better to give it up if one is not loved as one loves.

This advice to spurned lovers like herself comes from Fand in "Serglige Con Culainn". It calls to mind a line from Proust's "Du côté de chez Swann": "La preuve qu'il est trop aimé dispense à tout jamais d'aimer assez celui qui la reçoit."

Is m�r n� s�igios lesrach bansc�ile.

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 15:03:53 -0400

Is mór ní súigios lesrach banscáile!

(is * great * thing * that absorbs * thighs * of woman)

A woman's thighs can absorb a lot!

In the tale "Aided Fergusa" found in "Silva Gadelica", Fergus falls in lust with Bébó, the queen of a very small race of Otherworld folk. The tale then relates the following:

Ocus in uair ro búi Fergus ic comriachtain ria tug lám ar mullach a cinn ocus ro fhiarfaig in rigan de cid imar chuir in lám ar a bathais.
"Ingnam lium," arsé, "in ball ferrda ina bfuilit secht nduirn ocus gan innatsa acht trí duirn gan a dhul trét chenn sechtair. Ocus is uime sin do chuires mo lám ar do chenn."
"Léig as alé, a Ferguis," ar sí. "Is mór ní súigios lesrach banscáile! "

And while Fergus was having sex with her he put a hand on the top of her head and the queen asked him why he put the hand on the crown of her head.
"I'm amazed," he said, "my manly part being seven handwidths and you being only three handwidths that it doesn't go right out through your head. That's why I put my hand on your head."
"Well, stop it, Fergus," she said. "A woman's loins can absorb a lot!"

It � saigdi goine s�ain.

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:59:38 -0500

It é saigdi goine súain.

(they are * arrows * that kill * sleep)

These are the arrows that murder sleep...

This is a line from the love song of Créde, daughter of Gúaire, for the warrior Dinertach. The arrows are the very real ones that have pierced her beloved. The verb could be translated "wound" or "kill" or "slay", but Shakespeare's verb in "Macbeth does murder sleep!" is hard to resist.

Maraid serc c�in mardda aithne.

Tue, 03 May 2005 11:05:36 -0400

Maraid serc céin mardda aithne.

(lasts * love * so long * that lasts * bestowal)

Love lasts as long as munificence lasts.

A cynical view of love, jotted down by a scribe in a ninth century manuscript of a Priscian's Grammar. A modern saying given in Ó Longáin's Collection and quoted in "A Miscellany" , says "Mo ghrá thú, an rud agat!"
(I love you - what you have!)