Sengoídelc - The Characters Speak

Acht ropa airdirc-se...

Wed, 25 May 2005 01:27:55 -0400

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.

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 01:22:57 -0400

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.

�luinn duille an liubhair-si...

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 12:04:18 -0500

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!

Fri, 28 Jan 2005 19:33:11 -0500

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�t� l� i ndegaid alaile.

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 18:02:46 -0500

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.

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:02:38 -0400

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.

B�aidh do berad ar ndee 7 ar dtoicthe d�in.

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:12:23 -0400

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 F�il...

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:22:57 -0400

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 n� rabar d� adaig i n-�eninad

Tue, 24 May 2005 01:48:51 -0400

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 c�ch ima d�inib fodesin.

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 21:09:38 -0400

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).

Condrecat lochta ocus fulachta sund indiu.

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 20:18:42 -0500

Condrecat lochta ocus fulachta sund indiu.

(meet * faults * and * cooking pits * here * today)

Today has been a bloody shambles.

This is Medb's comment to Fergus on the outcome of the final battle in the Táin. The version given is from the YBL version, except that I've recplaced "correcad" with the better form of the verb found in the LL version, which is "Condrecat lochta ra fulachta and so indiu." The play of the sounds of the words "lochta" and "fulachta" marks this as a clichéd expression, but why "faults" should meet "outdoor cooking pits" to produce an image of battlefield carnage is no longer apparent.

Cucum dom thig t�ssaid uili �ar bar n-�caib!

Sat, 05 Feb 2005 11:54:44 -0500

Cucum dom thig tíssaid uili íar bar n-écaib!
(to me * to my * house * you should come * all * after * your * deaths)

Let all of you come to my house after your death.

Spoken by Donn, the Irish god of the dead. Found in Todd's "Irish Nennius", p.248, and quoted by O'Rahilly in EIHM, p. 125.

D�madh �r in duille donn...

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:26:41 -0400

Dámadh ór in duille donn
chuiris di in chaill,
dámad airget in gheal-tonn
ro thidhluicfed Find.

(if were * gold * the * leaf * brown /
that puts * f rom it * the * wood /
if were * silver * the * bright-wave /
would bestow * Finn)

If the brown leaves
that the trees shed were gold,
if the bright waves were silver,
Finn would give it all away.

In "Acallam na Senórach" Saint Patrick asks Caílte, one of the last surviving members of the Fianna, if Finn was a good lord. He replies with this short encomium ("ocus ro ráid Cáilti in formolad bec-so"), which praises above all his dead leader's generosity, and does so in terms of the natural beauty that the poets return to again and again in the Fiannaíocht. Generosity was arguably the greatest virtue a man could have among the Gael. See "Eochair ferta féile", "Cendaig in mes mór", and especially "Sladbrad ocus guin duine" in this collection.

Dar ar mbr�thir...

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 23:58:38 -0400

Dar ar mbréthir trá isatt áilsiu damsa 7 bidat áil hi céin bat béo.

(upon * our * word * indeed * you are * desire * with me * & * you will be * desire * in * length * you may be * alive)

I give my word that you are my desire and you will be as long as you live.

Spoken by Cú Chulainn to Emer when she invites him back after he has strayed with Fand ("Serglige Con Culainn" 724-5).

Dar f�r ar cubais!

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 23:26:04 -0400

Dar fír ar cubais!

(by * truth * of our * conscience)

Upon our conscience! By what we deem right!

The first thing that Fergus exclaims upon hearing Medb's plan to wipe out a company of her own allies at the beginning of the Táin, before going on to tell her "Over my dead body!" ("Ní dingnea bás dóib-siút acht intí dogéna bás dam-sa!") Keating uses the expression "Dar mo chubhas" in an Early Modern Irish poem, and the modern version of the same is "Dar mo chúis!" For another example of the Early Irish use of the potent word "fír" (truth), see "For fír th'ainich ocus t'anama!"