Quotations: The Characters Speak
 

Acht ropa airdirc-se, maith limm cen co beinn acht óenlá for domun.

(but * that I were * famous - emphatic * good * with me * without * that * I be * but * one day * on * earth)

If I were famous, I'd gladly have just one day on earth.

Spoken by Cú Chulainn in the "Youthful Exploits" section of the Táin, on the day that he first took up a grown man's weapons. A proverbial version of this sentiment, found in the Fiannaíocht and elsewhere, says "Is buaine bladh ná saol." (Fame is more enduring than life.) The late daredevil Evel Knievel framed a milder but colorful version of this sentiment: "Bones heal, chicks dig scars, pain is temporary, glory is forever."

Adeochosa inna husci do chongnam frim.

(I invoke * the * waters * for * helping * to me)

I call upon the waters to help me.

In the LU Táin (5512-14) Cú Chulainn appeals to the cosmos, particularized in triple form as earth, sea, and sky (see also "Mani má in talam fue" in this collection), to come to his aid in battle. The full quotation is:

"Adeochosa," or Cú Chulaind, "inna husci do chongnam frim. Ateoch nem 7 talmuin 7 Cruinn in tsainrethaig."

"I call on, said Cú Chulainn, "the waters do help me. I call on the sky and the earth and the (River) Cronn in particular."

Conflating the two sentences and normalizing the spelling gives: "Ad·teoch inna h-uisciu ocus nem ocus talmain do chongnam frimm." For more on the threefold image of the cosmos, see the discussion of "Mani má in talam fue" in this collection.

Áluinn duille an liubhair-si,
psaltair Cháoimhghin cháidh.
Áille duille mh'iubhair-si
i nGlinn Bolcáin báin.

(beautiful * leaf * of the * book-this /
psalter * of Caoimhín * holy /
more beautiful * leaf * of my yew /
in * Gleann Bolcáin * fair)

Beautiful is the leaf of this book,
the psalter of holy Kevin.
More beautiful the leaf of my yew
in fair Glen Bolcáin.

This stanza is from a poetic exchange between Suibhne Geilt (Mad Sweeney) and Saint Moling, his final protector. The first half stanza is spoken by Moling, the second by Suibhne. The theme of the beauty of the ordered religious life versus the beauties of the wild wood, or untamed nature, is further developed in this poem. This is also a constant theme in the poetic arguments of Oisín and Saint Patrick in the Fiannaíocht, or Fianna Cycle.

Anmain i n-anmain!

(soul * in * soul)

Spare my life!

This is the standard formula used to ask for quarter in combat, found in tales such as "Fled Bricrenn", "Tochmarc Emire", "Táin Bó Regamna", and "Echtra Fergusa maic Léti". The victor usually replies by demanding three wishes in exchange for clemency. (See "Tabair...")

At·tá lá i ndegaid alaile.

(is * day * in * following * of another)

One day follows another.
Tomorrow is another day.

In the tale "Tochmarc Étaíne" Ailill feels remorse because he fell asleep and missed his tryst with Étaín. She reassures him, saying "Ní ba son, ata la i ndegaid aloile." (Never mind. There's always tomorrow.)

Ba maith fer for a ferand fadessin.

(would be * good * a man * on * his * land * own)

A man were well in his own land.

Spoken by Conall Corc in "Conall Corc & the Corcu Luigde", published in Anecdota, iii.59. Conall is in Scotland but wants to return to Ireland. The heavy alliteration on 'f' in the original lends this statement the feel of a maxim.

Bíaidh do·berad ar ndee 7 ar dtoicthe dúinn.

(will be * might bring * our * gods * & * our * fortune * to us)

We will have whatever our gods and our fate bring us.

This pagan sentiment is put in the mouth of the Danish chieftain Horm in the Fragmentary Annals (p. 92).

Cid mesc lib coirm Inse Fáil
is mescu coirm Tíre Máir.

(although * intoxicating * with you * beer * of island * of Fál /
is * more intoxicating * beer * of land * great)

Although the beer of Ireland seems intoxicating to you,
the beer of the Great Land is more intoxicating still.

This half stanza is found in the poem "A Bé Find in raga lim", which Midir recites to Étaín in "Tochmarc Étaíne" (LU 10846-7) describing the wonders of the Otherworld, here called the "Great Land".

co ná rabar dá adaig i n-áeninad
(so that * not * I might be * two * nights * in * one place)

lest I be two nights in the same place = so that I never stop traveling

In a short anecdote edited by Kuno Meyer as "Mochuta und der Teufel" in ZCP 3.32-3, St. Mochuta says "Ragad isin luing fil oc himtecht a Herinn, co na rabar da hadaig a n-aeninad ac oilithre ar fud in domain moir." (I will get on the ship that is leaving Ireland, so that I'll never be two nights in the same place pilgrimaging throughout the wide world.) It turns out that his shoes have been infested by a demon of travel, whom St. Comgall exorcises. Once evicted from the shoes, the demon admits "ni leicfinn-si do beth da oidche a n-aeninad." (I would not have allowed him to be two nights in one place.) So Mochuta stays put after all. The image of never staying two nights in one place is a common one in Irish literature. A more recent stanza, edited by J. G. O'Keefe in "A Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer" (p. 248), begins

Ná hiarr anos 's anuraidh
dá oidhche é ar aontulaigh

Don't seek him now or last year
two nights on the same hilltop

Condolb cách ima dáinib fodesin.

(kin-loving * everyone * regarding his * people * own)

Everyone loves his own people best.

Medb uses this saying on Fer Diad as part of her campaign to persuade him to fight on behalf of Connacht against the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn, despite the fact that the two had a deep bond of affection. This version of the saying is from the YBL Táin. Another similar saying in found in Windisch's edition of the text:

"uair as badhach nech imá tir fén" (for one is partial to ones own country).