Irish Mythology in the Arthurian Legend



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3. Irish Mythology

It has already been said in the previous chapter that mythology is a collection of myths. But what does the word myth mean? What functions or purposes does it serve in human history and literature? And how does it differ from legend? Before dealing with Irish mythology in greater detail let us first consider the words myth and legend and their different meanings for they will often appear throughout this work so their meaning should be made clear.

Myth often means different things to different people, but most often it is connected with something non-existing that is made up and therefore is not true at all. People also often interchange the meanings of the words myth and legend. The Oxford English Dictionary says about myth that it is: “A traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings or forces, which embodies and provides an explanation, aetiology, or justification for something such as the early history of a society, a religious belief or ritual, or a natural phenomenon”. According to Miranda Green myth deals with the basic ontological questions connected with our existence, its reasons and what happens after death (7). Legend, on one hand is similar to myth in its meaning, but its function is rather different. It does not explain or give answers to anything; it is rather an account of a Saint’s life or a hero’s deeds. The definition of legend given by the Oxford English Dictionary is following: “A collection of saints’ lives or of stories of a similar character” and/or “An unauthentic or non-historical story, esp. one handed down by tradition from early times and popularly regarded as historical”. Although these two terms should not be confused there are still many overlaps in their usage and they are often used interchangeably. To put it simply, legend often focuses on one person only and serves as a kind of historical record of his or her life and deeds, such as the Arthurian legend does, while myth presents rather explanations of complicated matters such as the origin of the world or the changing of day and night. Myths gave the ancient people at least some answers to the questions about their existence and about the natural phenomena they could not otherwise explain.

Irish myths rank among the oldest literary pieces in Europe; the oldest Irish literary works originated in the times of Celtic settlement in Ireland. They were transmitted orally and represented the whole world of the Celtic people. They represent a rich source of our today’s knowledge about Celtic beliefs, values or their system of gods and goddesses. What is typical of early Irish literature and storytelling is its “tension between reality and fantasy” (Gantz 1). Close relation to nature and natural elements as well as close relationship to the supernatural are also typical features of ancient Irish literature. Another thing typical of Celtic mythology is that it did not have a written form, and all the stories were transmitted orally for the druids did not write anything down despite their knowledge of the ogham writing. The stories started to be written down only after the arrival of Christianity in the sixth and seventh centuries AD by literate monks and scribes in monasteries. Although the scribes made some mistakes and sometimes, influenced by their religious beliefs, misinterpreted or changed some passages of the stories, their work is invaluable for the study of Celtic mythology. Unfortunately, due to the invasion of the Viking raiders in the eighth and ninth centuries, only few of the original manuscripts younger than AD 1100 survived (Gantz 20). The manuscripts that survived to our days are above all Lebor na hUidre (The Book of the Dun Cow), the Book of Leinster, the Yellow Book of Lecan and Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions), which date mostly from the twelfth century and include the most important Irish myths (MacKillop 19-20).

The whole collection of the Irish mythological stories has been divided by scholars into four so called cycles. The first cycle is called the Mythological Cycle and deals with the historical invasions of Ireland and the arrival of the first inhabitants to the island. The central role of this cycle belongs to Tuatha Dé Danann or the people of the Goddess Danu, a group of early Irish inhabitants with divine characteristics. The second cycle is called the Ulster Cycle according to the Irish province of Ulster where most of the stories take place. It deals less with the gods and goddesses and focuses instead on the life and deeds of a superhuman hero called Cú Chulainn. The third cycle is the so called Fionn Cycle focusing on the deeds of the warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill, his son Oisín and their companions. Although this cycle was not much recognized until the twelfth century it has managed to survive among the popular Irish storytellers to these days replacing thus the previously better-known stories of the Ulster Cycle. The last part of Irish mythology is represented by the Kings Cycle (or the Historical Cycle) which records the lives and deeds of the historical Irish kings. It should be noted that this division into cycles is modern and artificial to a certain extent, for, as Jeffrey Gantz points out, the ancient storytellers grouped the stories according to different criteria than modern scholars. They preferred to group the stories rather “by type – births, deaths, cattle raids, destructions, visions, wooings” (Gantz 22) so that they could remember them more easily. The stories of individual cycles thus do not represent one continual story but they often rather tend to blend together, the motifs repeat in several stories and the protagonists often appear in several different stories as well.

The Irish mythological stories have survived to our days mainly thanks to the work of Lady Gregory, an Irish dramatist living at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, who translated the myths from old Irish into modern English. W.B.Yeats comments Gregory’s contribution to Irish literary heritage in the preface to her collection of myths in the following way: “I think this book is the best that has come out of Ireland in my time. Perhaps […] it is the best book that has ever come out of Ireland; for the stories which it tells are a chief part of Ireland’s gift to the imagination of the world.” to which he later adds that “Lady Gregory has done her work of compression and selection at once so firmly and so reverently that I cannot believe that anybody, except now and then for scientific purpose, will need another text than this […]” (Yeats in Gregory 331). The work of Lady Gregory is invaluable for she not only made the myths more popular among the readers, but what is more important, she also helped to preserve them for future generations. In the following sections of this chapter we can thus take a closer look at the individual cycles and the stories they contain.



3.1 The Mythological Cycle

The Mythological cycle is the first of the four cycles and contains the earliest Irish myths. The Irish, in contrast to other nations, did not have any myth about the creation of the world which usually represents the basis of a nation’s mythology and which is the essential myth. The situation in Irish mythology (and in Celtic mythology in general) is different: the Celts did not have any world-creation myth; instead they created a collection of myths describing the invasions of their island and the arrival of the first inhabitants. This collection of the oldest Irish myths is commonly known as the Book of Invasions or Lebor Gabála Érenn in old Irish. Most of the stories focus on the godlike people of the goddess Danu or Tuatha Dé Danann who represented the fifth wave of invaders coming to the island.

There were six successive invasions altogether at the end of which the island was inhabited by the Celtic ancestors of today’s Irishmen. In the first invasion came a woman called Cesair, a granddaughter of Noah who fled from the Near East with fifty other women before the Flood. After her death Partholon and his men came to the island; after their arrival they cleared four plains and in addition to this seven lakes appeared in the countryside. Not only did Partholon’s people have to fight the demonic Fomhoires but they also have to begin with the crafts and customs on the island. They brewed the first beer, had their first teacher and first doctor and started the breeding of cattle. Finally, they all died of the plague. The next invaders were led by Nemhedh after whom they were called the Nemedians. Similarly to the Partholans, they also had to fight the Fomhoires and during their time they cleared twelve other plains and four new lakes appeared. After the death of Nemhedh they continued to fight the Fomhoires but they were defeated and after the fourth unsuccessful battle they fled the island. Some of their descendants joined the following wave of invaders known as the Fir Bholg people. They divided the country into five provinces and introduced the concept of kingship. The next invaders who came to the island and fought and defeated the Fir Bholg in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh were the Tuatha Dé Danann. These godlike people skilled in magic and druidism brought with them four talismans: Lia Fáil or “the stone of fate” which shrieked when the right king sat on it, the sword of Nuadu which could not be defeated, the magic spear of Lugh which was the guarantee of victory and finally the cauldron of Dagda which could feed any number of people. The cauldron is probably the most important of all four talismans for its motif appears at several places in both Irish as well as Welsh mythologies. Moreover, there is a possibility that it served as an inspiration for the Holy Grail of the Arthurian legend which will be focused on more in the last chapter.

Tuatha Dé Danann fought two important battles, in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh they defeated the Fir Bholg and the in the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh they faced the Fomhoires whom they finally defeated as well. There were several important figures among the Tuatha Dé Danann that appeared in both battles and thus should be mentioned here. They often correspond with the old Celtic gods and goddesses and appear in the stories throughout the whole Mythological Cycle (Mac Cana 57-58).

They are Dagda, the warrior, and leader of Tuatha Dé Danann, who is known for his cauldron and his gigantic club with which he marks the border between provinces. He could be the Celtic counterpart to the northern god Thor (MacKillop 167). The next is Bóand, the goddess of the river Boyne and the lover of Dagda who becomes the mother of Óengus Óg, the god of youth, love and poetry. Manannán mac Lir is the god of the sea and is sometimes connected with the Isle of Man. Next comes Nuadu (Nuadu of the Silver Hand) the former king of Tuatha Dé Danann and husband of the goddess Bóand. When he lost one of his arms he could not be the king of his people any longer and was replaced by Bres. Later his arm was replaced with an artificial silver one and he regained his sovereignty. He is also the owner of the magical sword, which is one of Tuatha Dé Danann’s talismans. Ogma is another important figure of Irish mythology for he is the patron of poetry and eloquence and the inventor of the ogham script. Donn is another god of Tuatha Dé Danann, the god of the dead and ruler of the otherworld; he is sometimes confused with Dagda. Finally, the last person that will be mentioned here is Goibniu, the godlike blacksmith and patron of Irish handicrafts (MacKillop 167-171).

As has been said earlier Tuatha Dé Danann fought two battles at Magh Tuiredh both of which are recorded in the earlier Irish myths preserved to our times. The First battle was fought against the Fir Bolgh who did not want to share the rule over the island with the new-coming Tuatha Dé Danann. The second battle was against a worse adversary – the Fomhoires. As the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh belongs among the core stories of Irish mythology it will be briefly described here as well (Mac Cana 58-59).

Tuatha Dé Danann were ruled by the wise and rightful king Nuadu, but after he lost one of his arms in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh he could not be the king any longer and had to leave his place to Bres who was of noble birth but it turned out that he was completely unsuitable for the king’s throne. In the meantime Nuadu got a new silver arm and could become king again and replaced Bres, who wanted to get the throne back and decided to look for help at the Fomhoires’ side where his grandfather Balar ‘of the baleful eye’ lived. Balar’s eye was so big that he needed four men to raise his lid so that he could open the eye whose gaze could destroy a whole army of men. Nuadu was finally helped by Lugh, the master of all crafts and second grandson of Balar. Nuadu made him king of the country and leader of his army. During the battle against Fomhoires, Lugh armed with a sling, drove Balar’s eye through his head so that he cast a destructive glance on his own people and Fomhoires were thus defeated and expelled from the country forever (Gregory 47-53).

After the last battle Tuatha Dé Danann ruled the country for some time until the arrival of the Milesians. Although the Milesians were common people, they managed to replace the Tuatha Dé Danann on the Irish throne and started to rule themselves. They are said to have arrived from Spain and were probably the historical predecessors of the Irishmen. After their arrival in Ireland they met three goddesses: Ériu, Banba and Fódla each of whom wanted the island to be called after her. Finally the Milesians chose Ériu whose name has been used for the island until these days. After victorious battles over Tuatha Dé Danann they started to rule over the island and the godlike Tuatha Dé Danann decided to leave the sphere of mortals forever and left for the underground. It is believed that they live under hills and mounds called sídh which serve as the entrance gates to their “fairyland” (MacKillop 175-180). Later, the word sídh started to be used as another name for the Celtic otherworld.



3.2 The Ulster Cycle

As the title of the cycle already suggests, the stories in this cycle focus on the Irish province of Ulster, whose king is Conchobar, and its relationship with the neighbouring province Connacht, which is ruled by the queen Medb. This cycle is also closely tied with the life and heroic deeds of Cú Chulainn whose name appears in several stories of this cycle. This part of Irish mythology bears thus some characteristics of the heroic literature so popular in the Middle Ages. The cycle is also connected with the names of Conall Cernach and Fergus mac Róich. There are also some important godlike women figures: Macha, Badb and Morrígan, whose common feature is that they can act as one or as three persons. They are also connected with certain animals, Macha with horses and the other two with ravens (Green 37).

The cycle begins with the story The Labour Pains of the Ulaid and the Twins of Macha (Gantz 127-129) explaining the name of Emain Macha, the king’s seat. It is connected with one of the appearances of Macha, the goddess of horses. In the story she appears as the divine wife of Crunniuc. She is an excellent runner and when her husband boasts about her special ability among other men, although she begged him not to do so, they ask her to prove the truth of it and although she is pregnant she has to take part in a race against the king’s horses. After her victory she gives birth to twins. Before she dies in the labour pains she curses all men of Ulster that in the hardest of times they will suffer from labour pains for five successive days and nights. The only exceptions from the curse are women, children, her husband and Cú Chulainn. The place where she died was later named Emain Macha (emain meaning twins in old Irish).

The story of Macha shows certain resemblance with the Welsh story of Rhiannon, the wife of Pwyll. Rhiannon is also connected with horses; she is an excellent horsewoman and afterwards she is accused of the murder of her newborn son she has to sit at the court’s gate every day and carry the visitors from the gate to the castle on her back like a horse. She does not die like Macha but she suffers a lot and when her son is finally found she calls him Pryderi which in Welsh means “the end of my trouble”2.

The attention is then turned to the life and deeds of the superhuman hero Cú Chulainn. This “invincible hero to whom fate ordains a short life with lasting glory” (Mac Cana 101) is the offspring of the god Lug and Deichtíne, the sister or daughter of king Conchobar. His birth and boyhood are described in stories called simply Birth of Cú Chulainn (Lady Gregory 319-342) and Boy Deeds of Cú Chulainn (Gregory 342-350). There is an interesting story connected with the hero’s name.

Cú Chulainn was originally called Sétanta and he got his new name in the following way: One day he was visiting a blacksmith called Cullan who had a dog guarding his house. When Sétanta came to the house the dog did not want to let him enter so the boy killed him. Cullan was disconsolate because of his dog’s death and when Sétanta saw him, he offered to bring up a new dog for him and fulfil the duties of the dog himself in the meantime. Because of his willingness to undo his deed he was called Cú Chulainn (Cullan’s dog) (MacKillop 235).

Later Cú Chulainn leaves for Scotland in order to be trained at Scáthach who teaches him the art of fighting. He does not only learn the art of fighting but he also learns the art of loving despite the fact that his future wife Emer is waiting for him at home. During his stay in Scotland Cú Chulainn conceives a child with one of Scáthach’s adversaries, an Amazon called Aífe (or Aoife). The son is called Connla and it is Cú Chulainn’s fate to fight with his own son face to face in the future. This fight between the two of them, from which Cú Chulainn comes out as a winner, is described in the story The Only Son of Aoife (Gregory 519-523).

The most important story of the whole cycle, however, is The War for the Bull of Cuailnge (or Táin bó Cúailnge) (Gregory 439-479) in which Cú Chulainn plays a significant role as well. The story begins with king Ailil and his wife, queen Medb, quarrelling over the fact who owns a better bull. The ownership of cattle was a sign of wealth in the pagan times, therefore, the better the cattle, the greater the wealth of its owner. When Medb finds out that Ailill has the white-horned bull Findbennach among his cattle, she gets angry and decides to get another bull, the brown bull Donn, for herself. Donn lives in Ulster and is owned by Dáire mac Fiachna who does not want to give it to Medb. She therefore decides to get it by force and the war between Connacht and Ulster begins. Cú Chulainn stands alone against the Connacht’s army for the other men are, because of Macha’s curse, unable to fight for five days and four nights. Cú Chulainn is a very skilful warrior and defeats Medb’s men quite easily. He is also helped by his godlike father Lug, who guards him for several days and nights so that the hero can have some rest. Finally, the decisive fight comes in which Cú Chulainn has to fight against Ferdia, his friend and colleague from Scáthach. It is sometimes referred to as The Fight at the Ford (Neeson 105-135). Both men had sworn never to fight against each other; however, there is no other option for there is no other warrior as skilful as Cú Chulainn and Ferdia is the only one who can face him because they were both trained by Scáthach. They meet at a ford where they fight for four days. At the end of each day Cú Chulainn sends medicaments to Ferdia who sends him food in return. On the fourth day Cú Chulainn uses his lethal weapon Gae Bulga and kills Ferdia. The fight between Ulster and Connacht thus ends with the victory of Ulster. Donn, the bull of Ulster, has, however, fled to Connacht where he meets and fights the white-horned Findbennach. They fight the whole day and night and finally Donn kills Findbennach and runs with his remains on his horns back to Ulster. However, when he reaches home, his heart splits and he dies as well. Thus the war between Ulster and Connacht ends and peace is made between the two kingdoms.

Another tale of the cycle is called Death of Cú Chulainn (Gregory 531-541) and tells the story of the hero’s death. Cú Chulainn dies because of three reasons. One of the reasons is his trespassing of a certain prohibition (geis), the second reason is the revenge of his enemies and the third is the magic of his enemies’ allies. In one of his battles Cú Chulainn killed a magician Cailitín whose wife gave birth to six children who got educated in magic. They are determined to revenge their father and are joined by Erc and Lugaid, both of whom also lost their fathers thanks to Cú Chulainn. Cailitín’s children cast a magic spell over Cú Chulainn, who thinks that the country is in danger. On his way to his stronghold, he is stopped by three witches who offer him roasted dog. His refusal would be a trespass of a common prohibition, known as geis, not to refuse any offered food, however, by eating the dog with them he trespasses one of his own geis, not to eat dog’s meat. Violation of any of these prohibitions means a disaster, in this case his own death. When he approaches the stronghold, at first his coachman is killed, then Cú Chulainn’s horse and finally Cú Chulainn himself is mortally wounded. He goes to the nearby lake where he washes his body and then ties himself to a pillar stone so that he can die standing. Nobody dares to approach him for three days after which Morrígan in the shape of a crow sits on his shoulder and confirms thus his death. Later, Lugaid cuts off his hand and head both of which are taken to the capital of Temaira. With the death of its main hero the Ulster cycle comes to its end as well.
3.3 The Fionn Cycle

The third cycle of Irish mythology is called the Fionn Cycle, and it is the best-preserved and most voluminous cycle of all four, in addition to this its stories are still alive in the fairy-tales and in the Irish story-telling tradition. The main heroes of the cycle are Fionn mac Cumhail with his men, his son Oisín and his nephew Caílte mac Rónáin. As Proinsias Mac Cana says the Fionn Cycle “is still a world of heroes [like the Ulster Cycle], but one formed in a different mould and conditioned by different temper of thought” (106), later on he adds that “the stories of the Fian are more akin to the mythological tales than are those of the Ulster Cycle” (109). The tales in this cycle do not focus only on the heroic deeds of Fionn and his men, the Fianna, as it was more or less the case with the Ulster Cycle where all the attention was concentrated on Cú Chulainn, they also show a close relationship with the natural and supernatural world as well (Clarus 137).

Fionn’s men, known as the Fianna, are excellent hunters and warriors. The membership of the group was not hereditary and the prospective member of the group had to undergo a very challenging entrance exam. According to Proinsias Mac Cana the applicant had to fight with other nine men while standing up to his waist in the ground and having only a shield and a hazel stick to defend himself. Then he had to run through the woods with his hair braided which had to remain so till the end of the race, moreover, no dead branch could crack under the runner’s feet. Then he had to jump over a bough as high as his forehead and run under one as low as his knees. And finally he had to be able to draw a thorn from his foot while running without changing his speed (108). If the applicant was able to do all this, only then was he admitted as a member of the Fianna.

Fionn’s birth and childhood are described in the story called The Coming of Finn (Gregory 117-123). He was the son of Cumhall and Muirne who was a daughter of Nuadu, the king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His father was killed in the battle against the sons of Morna and so young Fionn was for security reasons brought up secretly in the woods by a druid Bodhmall who taught him the love of nature and trained him for a skilful hunter and warrior as well. He gets his name, similarly to Cú Chulainn, only later in his life.

As a young boy he went to the poet called Fionn who was waiting for a Salmon of Wisdom for it was prophesised that he would become immensely wise after he eats it. When young Fionn (called Demhne at that time) brought the salmon to his master, he told him that he had sucked his burnt finger. The wise poet than told the boy that his name would be Fionn and that it was he who was destined to eat the salmon. Later, whenever Fionn wants to summon his special skills he starts to suck his finger (MacKillop 265).

Fionn was, like Cú Chulainn, who was born on the same day as his two horses, often connected with animals, especially with his two faithful dogs, Bran and Sceolan. These were in fact his two nephews. Also his wife Sadbh met Fionn for the first time in the shape of a hind into which she was enchanted by a Dark druid whom she refused to love. When Fionn took her to his home she changed into a beautiful woman and they got married. However, after some time, the druid came again and took Sadbh with him in the shape of a hind again. She gave birth to a child whom Finn found in the woods some time later and who got the name Oisín (a fawn), and later became one of Fianna’s best fighters and poets (Gregory 126-128). Here, the motif of the transformation of a human being into an animal appears again, which once more illustrates the interconnectedness between the world of Celtic people and the natural world.

Oisín appears in the story called The Call of Oisín (Gregory 288-290) in which he does not resist the temptation of Niam, daughter of the king of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She takes him to her land and marries him. After some time, however, Oisín, although happy with his wife, longs to visit his homeland and meet his father and peers. He does not know that since the time he left with Niam three hundred years have elapsed. Niam is sad for she knows that they will never see each other again and warns him not to step on the ground in Ireland. Oisín leaves her and when he comes to Ireland he not only does not find his father or his peers, but he also helps some men to raise a large stone during which he touches the ground and immediately becomes a three-hundred-year-old man and dies soon after that.

As has already been said in one of the previous chapters dealing with the Celtic society and religion, the otherworld played an important role in the Celtic life. The motif of the otherworld, here called Tír na nÓg or the land of eternal youth appears in Celtic mythology quite often. The Celts thought of the otherworld as a natural part of their own world which could be entered at several places on special days such as on Samhain. The Celts believed in the immortality of souls and so the idea of a world of the dead neighbouring with their world was an important concept for them which will be further seen as well in the next chapter dealing with Welsh mythology.

Another story in this cycle is concerned with Diarmaid and Gráinne and their unhappy love (Gregory 232-267), “the most beautiful and best-known story of the Fionn Cycle” (MacKillop 274). On the night of her betrothal feast Gráinne meets Fionn, her future husband, for the first time. When she sees him and realizes that he is much older than her, she feels disappointed and decides to act. She gives a sleeping potion to all men present, except Diarmaid whom she persuades to elope with her. Diarmaid, loyal to his master Fionn, does not want to leave at first but later agrees and they flee together to the woods. Diarmaid builds a dwelling there where they can hide before Fionn’s men come. When they arrive the lovers manage to escape with the help of Óengus Óg, the god of poetry. They have to flee further till they get to Scotland where they live for some time. One day Fionn is on a hunt for the boar of Ben Bulben, the enchanted half-brother of Diarmaid, who was predestined to kill Diarmaid, near their place and Diarmaid, in spite of his geis not to hunt boars, joins Fionn and his men. Diarmaid tries to kill the boar, but before he brings the animal down, he is seriously wounded by it. He asks Fionn to help him with a draught of water from his hands for Fionn was known to be able to heal people with the water taken by his hands. Fionn intentionally delays his help and so Diarmaid dies before the water reaches his mouth.

The cycle ends with the death of Fionn who, similarly to Cú Chulainn, dies because of the violation of one of his geis. One version of the story says that Fionn once jumped over a gorge after which he could spend a night with a fairy called Athmaith. Later, she told him that each year he will have to jump over the gorge again and thus show his strength, and if he does not make the jump, he will break the geis and die. When he feels that his days are coming to the end, he goes to the gorge once again to try if he still has enough strength to rule his men. Before he jumps he is given a horn with a drink and the witch that gives it to him tells him that this is his last drink. Fionn then jumps and ends in the abyss where he dies and thus the Fionn Cycle comes to its end as well (Clarus 182-183).


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