Sengoídelc - War

Ba h-�lgen curmthigi is ba d�r debtha.

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:41:48 -0400

Ba h-álgen curmthigi is ba dúr debtha.

((he) was * gentle * of ale-house * and * (he) was * hard * of * strife)

He was a gentle man in the ale house and a tough one in battle.

This description of the ideal prince, which has the feel of a cliché, is found in "Tochmarc Ferbae" (LL 33716-7).

Bid co h-eistechtach cailli...

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:55:24 -0500

Bid co h-eistechtach cailli,
bid co féchsanach muigi,
oir ní fedrais, mór in mod,
nach biad t' escara it fharrad.

(be * hearingful * of forest /
be * watchful * of plain /
for * not * you know - great * the * deed /
that not * would be * your * enemy * in your * presence)

Keep your ears open in the forest
and your eyes open on the plain,
for you don't know -- this is important --
whether your enemy is near.

This is the eleventh stanza in the poem "Fionn's Advice to Mac Lugach" at the beginning of "Acallam na Senórach". See also "Dá trian do mhíne re mnáibh" in this collection.

Deog a topur �ca itib...

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 15:50:13 -0400

Deog a topur éca itib
i cath Detna la Lagnib.

(draught * from * well * of death * he drank /
in * battle * of Detna * with * Leinstermen)

He took a drink from the well of death
in the Battle of Detna against Leinster.

This half-stanza is from the poem "Mide magen clainne Cuind" by Flann Mainistreach. It is found in the Metrical Dindshenchas in LL (23881-2).

Doilig d�n l�echdacht.

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 23:56:40 -0400

Doilig dán láechdacht:
ní suthain a mbí,
ifernnaig a mairb.

(grim * profession * warriorship *
not * long-lived * their * living ones *
hell-damned * their * dead ones)

Warriors have a hard profession:
their life is short and then they go to hell.

The ecclesiastical and scholarly view of the profession of war, edited by Kuno Meyer at ZCP vi.261. For another instance of "short life and hell after", see "Goirde shaogail duit abhus 7 ifrenn thall" in this collection.

Ferr s�d sochocad.

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 23:08:24 -0500

Ferr síd sochocad.

(better * peace * (than) a successful war)

Peace is better than a successful war.

This three word maxim is found in "Bríathra Flainn Fína maic Ossu".

Gal chon for otrach sin.

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 21:35:06 -0400

Gal chon for otrach sin.

(battle fury * of dogs * on * dunghill * that)

That's the sound and fury of dogs on a dung heap.

Congal uses this proverbial image of empty valour to belittle the might of the Leinstermen in "Cath Muigi Rath" (p. 124 in FDG). He goes on to describe the forces of Connacht as a boiled cow's udder, and the men of Ossory as a pig's belly hanging between its flanks.

�bait f�aich l�gbairt lacht!

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 20:47:34 -0500

Íbait fíaich lúgbairt lacht!

(will drink * ravens * of (battle) garden * milk)

Ravens will drink the milk of battle!

From a poem of foreboding that Dubthach chanted to the army of Medb and Ailill at the outset of the Táin (LU & YBL). It employs two deceptively domestic metaphors for battle. "Lubgort" (here metathesized to "lúgbart") was used poetically in the sense of "garden of heroism" = battlefield, and "lacht" (milk) here becomes "blood".

Immgaib �g ocus not�img�ba.

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 20:24:20 -0400

Immgaib ág ocus not·imgéba.

(avoid * battle * and * it will avoid you)

Avoid a fight and it will avoid you.

Given in "Passions and Homilies" as the Irish equivalent of "Devitabis periculum et devitabit te." An almost identical version of the maxim is used as the first line of a poem in FDG (p. 172): "Imgaib ágh 's rod imgéba." Compare both "Is cian ó ghuasacht cech faitech" and "Ná hinguib, ná hindsaig ág" in this collection.

Isat craebsa nar craithead fa cnomheas.

Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:40:42 -0400

Isat craebsa nar craithead fa cnomheas.

(you are * branch * that not * was shaken * for its * nut-mast)

You are a branch that has not been shaken for its nut crop.

When Congal says this to Maelduin in "Cath Muighe Rath" (FDG, p. 294), he means that Maelduin is an untested warrior, unhardened by battle.

L�ech cach fer co forragar.

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 10:53:42 -0500

Láech cach fer co forragar.

(warrior * every * man * until * is overcome)

Every man is a hero until he meets defeat.

One line, a quarter-stanza, from a long poem of good advice edited by Kuno Meyer in ZCP iv.468.

Mallacht a gaiscid fair!

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 00:43:17 -0500

Mallacht a gaiscid fair!

(curse * of his * weaponry * on him)

A curse on his weapons!

This is Lugaid's curse on Ferbáeth, who has agreed to fight his old comrade Cú Chulainn in exchange for the hand of Finnabair, the daughter of Ailill and Medb.

M�r de ch�emaib do�rochratar ann i mb�aile b�is.

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 23:05:03 -0500

Mór de chóemaib do·rochratar ann i mbúaile báis.

(great * of * fair ones * have fallen * there * in * cattle fold * of death)

Many fair men fell there in the fold of death.

From the description of the carnage of the final battle in "Cath Maige Tuired".

Na sluaig na saiget segair.

Mon, 02 May 2005 00:23:18 -0400

Na sluaig na saiget segair.

(the * armies * that not * attack * is/are attacked)

Armies that don't attack are attacked.

In other words, "offense is the best defense". This proverbial advice appears as a line of verse in "Bóroma", in "Silva Gadelica" (381.17). For other versions, see DIL S 21.69-72.

N� ar l�n �c brister cath.

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 16:15:48 -0400

Ní ar lín óc brister cath.

(not * according to * number * of warriors * is broken * a battle)

Numbers alone don't win a battle.

A maxim from "Diambad messe bad rí réil". In an entry for the year 649 in the Mionannala (Egerton Annals, p. 397 in "Silva Gadelica"), Diarmait tells Cuimín Fota "nach ar líon na cruth brister cath acht amail as áil ra Dia" ("that it is not by numbers or appearance that a battle is won but by the will of God"). The opposite view is found in a maxim quoted in the Annals of the Four Masters in an entry for the year 1593: "Luighidh iolar ar uathadh" ("Many overpower few"), or in the English saying, "Providence fights on the side of big batallions".

N� gn�th orgain cen sc�ola.

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:26:12 -0400

Ní gnáth orgain cen scéola.

(not * usual * massacre * without * survivor)

However harsh the battle, someone usually survives to tell the tale.

In "Scél Tuain meic Cairill" in LU, Tuan says "ar ní gnáth orgain cen scéola do ernam esi do innisin scél dara n-esi; is mesi dano in fer sin" (for it is not usual for there to be battle-slaughter without a survivor to escape to tell the tale afterwards, and I am indeed that man). The word "scéola", which can be translated as "news-bearer" or "survivor", is derived from "scél" (tale, news). The ninth entry for the year 1582 in the Annals of the Four Masters says "gé nách gnáth ár gan élóidhtheach" (although a battle without a fugitive is not usual). Modern formulations given in "A Miscellany" are "Níl cath dá mhéid nach dtigeann duine as," and "Is cruaidh an cath ó nach dtig fear innsidh an sgéil."