Heroic Legends Of Ireland Part 9

ALFRED NUTT.

GENERAL NOTES.

THE COURTs.h.i.+P OF ETAIN.

THE translation of both versions of this romance has been revised by Professor Strachan, and the linguistic notes are due to him, unless otherwise stated. The rendering given in the text is noted as "doubtful," in cases where Professor Strachan does not a.s.sent.

PAGE 7.

Line 17. "By a means that he devised," do airec memman, lit. "by a device of mind." Compare airecc memman ith (Meyer, Hib. Minora, p. 28).

Line 17. "So that she became well-nourished, &c.," lit. "till there came to her fatness and form;" sult probably means "fatness," and feth "form."

PAGE 8.

Line 25. "Curvetting and prancing," tuagmar, foran. These are guesses by O'Curry: curvetting may be right, but there is little authority for rendering foran as "prancing "; this word is doubtful. "With a broad forehead," forlethan, lit. "broad above," O'Curry renders "broad-rumped."

Line 34. "Upon the sh.o.r.e of the bay," forsin purt. Windisch's rendering of port is "bank, harbour"; but it is doubtful whether the word means more than "place."

PAGE 9.

The literal rendering adopted for the poem runs thus: Etain is here thus at the elf-mound of the Fair-Haired Women west of Alba among little children to her on the sh.o.r.e of the Bay of Cichmaine.

It is she who cured the eye of the king from the Well of Loch da lig, it is she who was drunk in a draught by the wife of Etar in a heavy draught.

Through war for her the king will chase the birds from Tethba, and will drown his two horses in the lake da Airbrech.

There shall be abundant and many wars through the war for thee on Echaid of Meath, destruction shall be on the elf-mounds, and war upon many thousands.

It is she who was hurt in the land (?), it is she who strove to win the king, it is she as compared to whom men men speak of fair women, it is she, our Etain afterwards.

Line 2. "West of Alba" is literally "behind Alba," iar n-Albai : iar is, however, also used in the sense of "west of."

Line 14 is given by Windisch "through the war over Meath rich in horses"; this is impossible.

The translation of line 17 is not quite certain; the literal translation of the MS. seems to be "it is she who was hurt and the land." Da Airbrech in line 12 may mean "of two chariots."

PAGE 10.

Literal translation of the quatrain: Ignorant was Fuamnach, the wife of Mider, Sigmall and Bri with its trees in Bri Leth: it was a full trial were burned by means of Manannan.

PAGE 11.

Line 5. "Labraid the Tracker." This is a very doubtful rendering, the text gives Labradae Luircc.

Line 25. "That he desired full knowledge of." There seems to be something with the Irish here; the word is co fessta which could only be third singular subj. pa.s.s. "that it might be known," which does not make grammar. It should be co fessed or co festais, "that he (or they) might know."

PAGE 12.

Line 9. "His officers who had the care of the roads." A very doubtful rendering; the Irish is tarraluing sligeth.

Line 29. "A bright purple mantle waved round her," lit. "a bright purple curling (?) mantle," but the sense of caslechta as "curling" is not certain.

Line 30. "Another mantle." The word for mantle here is folai, in the former line it was brat.

PAGE 13.

Line 3. "As white as the snow." ba gilighuir mechto: not "whiter than the snow," as Windisch's Dict. gives it.

Line 17. "All that's graceful, &c.," cach cruth co hEtain, coem cach co hEtain. Compare conid chuc.u.m bagthir cach n-delb. (L.U., 124b, 17, "Courts.h.i.+p of Emer "), and Ir. Text., iii. p. 356, 1. 4, from which it may be seen that the meaning is that Etain is the test to which all beauty must be compared.

PAGE 14.

Line 19. "So long as they were," not "so long as he was." The Irish is cein ropas, and ropas is the impersonal preterite pa.s.sive.

Line 29. "The choking misery, &c.," lit. "he let come to him the slaodn of a heavy sickness:" slaodn is the cough of consumption.

PAGE 15.

Line 2. Lit. "worse and worse," messa a cach.

Line 18. "His burial mound," a fert fodbuigh. Compare Zimmer, Kuhn's Zeitschrift, x.x.x. 9, for fotbuig.

Literal rendering of the dialogue: B. What hath happened to thee, O young man?

long is thy bed of sickness, prostrate is thy full and splendid pace, however fair the weather may be.

A. There is cause for my sighs; the music of my harp contents me not; neither does any milk please me, it is this that brings me into a pitiful state.

E. Tell me what ails thee, O man, for I am a maiden who is wise; tell me of anything which may be of benefit to thee that thy healing may be wrought by me.

A. To speak of it is not possible for me (lit. "finds not room in me"), O maiden, lovely is thy form, there is fire of some one behind her eyes (?) nor are the secrets of women good.

B. Though the secrets of women are bad, yet, if it is love, the remembrance remains for long; from the time when the matter is taken into hand this thing is not deserving of its (?) recognition.

A. A blessing on thee, O white maiden, I am not worthy of this speech to me; neither am I grateful to my own mind, my body is in opposition to me.

Wretched indeed is this, O wife of the King, Eochaid Fedlech in very truth, my body and my head are sick, it is reported in Ireland.

E. If there is among the troops of white women any one who is vexing thee, she shall come here, if it is pleasing to thee, there shall be made by my help her courts.h.i.+p.

In verse 3, line 2, inniss dam gach dal, dal means no more than thing it is not an accusative from dl, a meeting.

Verse 4, line 3. Meaning doubtful.

Verse 7, line 2. The confusion between Eochaid Airemm, the king in this story, and his brother Eochaid Fedlech is obvious. It may, as Windisch thinks, be an indication that the poem is not part of the romance as originally composed, but other explanations are possible.

Line 4. "It is reported." Not quite certain; Irish is issed berair .

PAGE 17.

Line 11. "And great gain, &c." Text defective, and meaning uncertain.

Line 13. Rhetoric; the literal translation seems to be as follows, but some words are uncertain: It is love that was longer enduring (?) than a year my love, it is like being under the skin, it is the kingdom of strength over destruction.

It is the dividing into quarters of the earth, it is summit (7) of heaven, it is breaking of the neck, it is a battle against a spectre.

It is drowning with cold (or ? water), it is a race up heaven, it is a weapon under the ocean, it is affection for an echo; (so is) my affection and my love and my desire of the one on whom I have set (my love).

PAGE 18.

Line 2. The translation given is Windisch's, "it is sorrow under the skin is Strachan's rendering.

Line 5. Translation uncertain. Irish is dichend nime.

Line 8. Is combath fri huacht (I read husce).

Literal rendering of the poem: Arise, O glorious Ailill, great bravery is more proper to thee than anything; since thou shalt find here what was wished by thee, thy healing shall be done by me.

If it should please thee in thy wise mind, place hand about my neck; a beginning of courts.h.i.+p, beautiful its colour, woman and man kissing each other.

But, if this is not enough for thee, O good man, O son of a king, O royal prince, I will give for thy healing, O glorious crime, from my knee to my navel.

A hundred cows, a hundred ounces of gold, a hundred bridled horses were collecting, a hundred garments of each variegated colour, these were brought as a price for me.

A hundred of each other beast came hither, the drove was great; these to me quickly, till the sum was complete, gave Eochaid at the one time.

Line 14. Of poem. "Were collecting," ratinol. This is the rendering in Windisch's Dictionary, but is a doubtful one.

Line 18. Imerge means "drove," not "journey," as in Windisch.

Line 27 of text. "Wrought a great healing, &c." Irish, ro lessaig , "healed him" (Windisch); "waited upon him" (Strachan).

PAGE 19.

Line 17. "For fear of danger." Baegal, "danger," has sometimes the sense of "chance," "risk."

Line 23. "That is what I would demand of thee." Translation not quite certain Irish, cid rotiarfaiged.

PAGE 20.

Line 2. "That both of us do indeed deem, &c." lit. "it is so indeed well to us both."

Line 22. For the incident compare Bodleian Dinnshenchas (Nutt, p. 27): the introduction of Crochen is a human touch which seems to be characteristic of the author of this version. The Dinnshenchas account seems to be taken from the romance, but it gives the name of Sinech as Mider's entertainer at Mag Cruachan.

Line 25. "The Fairy Mound of Croghan." Irish, co sith snighe Crachan; for snighe read Maighe, "to the sid of Mag C."

PAGE 21.

Line 2. Until the same day upon the year, &c.," n l cu cle , "from that day to its fellow," i.e. "till the same day next year."

Line 10. "Three wands of yew." This looks like an early case of a divining-rod Line 2 1. "Hath smitten thee," rotirma.s.s for ro-t-ormaiss , "hath hit thee."

Line 29. "They ruined," "docuas ar," an idiomatic phrase; "they overcame," an idiomatic phrase. Compare Annals of Ulster under years 1175, 1315, 1516.

PAGE 22.

Line 2. "Messbuachalla." This makes Etain the great-grandmother of Conary, the usual account makes her the grandmother, so that there is here an extra generation inserted. Yet in the opening she and Eochaid Airem are contemporary with kings who survived Conary!

Line 4. "The fairy host, &c." The order of the words in the original is misleading and difficult sithchaire and Mider are the subjects to ro choillsiut and to doronsat.

PAGE 23.

Line 12. That there should be adjusted)" fri commus, lit. "for valuation," but commus has also the sense of "adjusting."

PAGE 24.

Line 4. "Since he for a long time, &c.," fodaig dognith abairt dia sirsellad. See Meyer's Contributions, s.v. abairt.

Line 23. "To gaze at her." Up to this point the L.U. version (exclusive of the Prologue) bears the character of an abstract, afterwards the style improves.

PAGE 25.

Line 2. "But it shall. not be in the abode, &c." Windisch seems to have mimed the point here, he considers these lines to be an interpolation.

PAGE 26.

Line 5. Following Windisch's suggestion, this poem has been placed here instead of the later place where it occurs in the text. This famous poem has been often translated; but as there appear to be points in it that have been missed, a complete literal rendering is appended: O fair-haired woman, will you come with me into a marvellous land wherein is music (?); the top of the head there is hair of primrose, the body up to the head is colour of snow.

In that country is no "mine" and no "thine"; white are teeth there, black are eyebrows, the colour of the eyes is the number of our hosts, each cheek there the hue of the foxglove.

The purple of the plain is (on) each neck, the colour of the eyes is (colour of) eggs of blackbird; though pleasant to the sight are the plains of Fal (Ireland), they are a wilderness (7) for a man who has known the Great Plain.

Though intoxicating to ye the ale of the island of Fal, the ale of the Great Country is more intoxicating a wonder of a land is the land I speak of, a young man there goes not before an old man.

Stream smooth and sweet flow through the land, there is choice of mead and wine; men handsome (?) without blemish, conception without sin, without crime.

We see all on every side, and yet no one seeth us, the cloud of the sin of Adam it is that encompa.s.ses us from the reckoning.

O woman, if thou wilt come to my strong people, it is top of head of gold shall be on thy head, unsalted pork, new milk and mead for drink shalt thou have with me there, O fair-haired woman.

Line 2. Hi fil rind. The meaning of rind (?) music) is uncertain.

Line 3. Is barr sobarche folt and. This line is often translated as "hair is wreathed with primrose": the image would be better, but it is not the Irish. Barr is "top of head," and folt is "hair."

Line 4. Is and nad bi mui na tai. Muisse is in old Irish the possessive of the first sing. when followed by a noun it becomes mo, when not so followed it is mui; tai is also found for do. O'Curry gave this line as "there is no sorrow nor care."

Lines 7 and 10. Is li sula lin ar sluag and is li sula ugai luin are so similar that is li sula must mean the same in both, and cannot mean "splendour of eyes" in the first case unless it does so in the second. The idea in the first case seems to be that the hosts are reflected in the eyes; it is so rendered in the verse translation. A blackbird's egg has a blue ground, but is so thickly powdered with brown spots of all shapes that it looks brown at a distance. At first I was inclined to take the idea to be "hazel" eyes, but comparing line 7, it seems more likely that the idea is that all sorts of shapes appear in the pupil.