Χρήστης:Bertlolt/αμμοδοχείο 2

H προ-χριστιανική Ιρλανδική μυθολογία δεν "άντεξε" την εξάπλωση του Χριστιανισμού, αλλά επέζησε αποστεωμένη από κάθε θεολογική πτυχή της στην Ιρλανδική μεσαιωνική Λογοτεχνία, καθιστώντας την την πιο καλοδιατηρημένη Κελτική μυθολογία. Από τα εναπομείναντα στοιχεία οι μυθολόγοι διαίρεσαν την Ιρλανδική μυθολογία σε τέσσερις κύκλους.

Υπάρχουν και κάποια ανένταχτα ευρήματα. Τέλος υπάρχουν κάποιοι θρύλοι που δεν βασίζονται σε αμιγώς μυθολογικές πηγές.

Πηγές

Οι τρεις κύριες πηγές της Ιρλανδικής μυθολογίας είναι τα χειρόγραφα του 11-12 αι., δηλαδή το Lebor na hUidre που βρίσκεται στη Βιβλιοθήκη της Βασιλικής Ακαδημίας της Ιρλανδίας, το Βιβλίο του Λέινστερ που βρίσκεται στο Δουβλίνο στο Κολλέγιο Τρίνιτυ και το χειρόγραφο Ρόουλινσον Β 502 (Rawl.) που βρίσκεται στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Οξφόρδης. Παρά την ηλικία τους αναφέρονται σε στοιχεία του 6ου και του 8ου αιώνα.

Άλλα σημαντικές πηγές περιλαμβάνουν χειρόγραφα προερχόμενα από τη δυτική Ιρλανδία στα τέλη του 14ου και αρχές του 15ου αιώνα: Το κίτρινο βιβλίο του Λέκαν,Το μεγάλο βιβλίο του Λέκαν, Το βιβλίο του Χάι Μένι, και το Βιβλίο του Μπάλλυμοτ. Το πρώτο περιέχει μέρος προγενέστερης έκδοσης του Táin Bó Cúailnge και φυλάσσεται στο Κολλέγιο Τρίνιτυ. Τα άλλα τρία βρίσκονται στη Βασιλική Ακαδημία της Ιρλανδίας. Άλλα χειρόγραφα του 15ου αιώνα περιέχουν σημαντικό υλικό, όπως Το Βιβλίο του Φερμόυ ή το Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (Η Ιστορία της Ιρλανδίας) (περίπου 1640), αφού οι συγγραφείς τους είχαν πρόσβαση σε χαμένα πλέον χειρόγραφα.

Τα περισσότερα από τα χειρόγραφα δημιουργήθηκαν από Χριστιανούς Μοναχούς, που ισσοροπούσαν ανάμεσα στην επιθυμία τους να καταγράψουν τα έθιμα του λαού τους και τη εχθρότητα τους προς τις παγανιστικές πεποιθήσεις. Πολλές από τις νεότερες πηγές υπήρξαν μέρος προπαγάνδας που προσπαθούσε να συνδέσει τους Ιρλανδούς με τους μυθολογικούς προγόνους των Βρετανών και τη δημιουργία της Ρώμης. Επιπλέον, επιχειρήθηκε η γενεαλογική σύνδεση με τους Έλληνες και άλλους Βιβλικούς λαούς.

Μυθολογικός κύκλος

Ο μυθολογικός κύκλος, που συνίσταται από ιστορίες των πρότερων θεών και της προέλευσης της Ιρλανδίας, διατηρείται καλά και στους τέσσερις κύκλους. Οι σημαντικότερες πηγές μας ερίναι το Metrical Dindshenchas ή Lore of Places και το Lebor Gabála Érenn ή Βιβλίο των Επιδρομών. Other manuscripts preserve such Mythological tales as The Dream of Aengus, The Wooing Of Étain and Cath Maige Tuireadh, The (second) Battle of Magh Tuireadh. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, or The Tragedy of the Children of Lir, is also part of this cycle.

Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to Noah. It tells of a series of invasions or "takings" of Ireland by a succession of peoples, one of whom was the people known as the Τουάθα ντε Ντανάν, who were believed to have inhabited the island before the arrival of the Gaels, or Milesians. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye. Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada (Lug of the Long Arm) at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the fairy people of later myth and legend.

The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great onomastic work of early Ireland, giving the naming legends of significant places in a sequence of poems. It includes a lot of important information on Mythological Cycle figures and stories, including the Battle of Tailtiu, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated by the Milesians.

It is important to note that by the middle ages the Tuatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, complete with death-tales. However there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities.

Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as Lug, the Mórrígan, Aengus and Manannan appear in stories set centuries later, betraying their immortality. A poem in the Book of Leinster lists many of the Tuatha Dé, but ends "Although [the author] enumerates them, he does not worship them". Goibniu, Creidhne and Luchta are referred to as Trí Dée Dána ("three gods of craftsmanship"), and the Dagda's name is interpreted in medieval texts as "the good god". Nuada is cognate with the British god Nodens; Lug is a reflex of the pan-Celtic deity Lugus; Tuireann may be related to the Gaulish Taranis; Ogma to Ogmios; the Badb to Catubodua.

Αλλες σημαντικές μορφές των Τουάθα ντε Ντανάν

Κύκλος του Όλστερ

The Ulster Cycle is set around the beginning of the Christian era and most of the action takes place in the provinces of Ulster and Connacht. It consists of a group of heroic stories dealing with the lives of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, the great hero Cúchulainn, the son of Lug, and of their friends, lovers, and enemies. These are the Ulaid, or people of the North-Eastern corner of Ireland and the action of the stories centres round the royal court at Emain Macha, close to the modern city of Armagh. The Ulaid had close links with the Irish colony in Scotland, and part of Cúchulainn's training takes place in that colony.

The cycle consists of stories of the births, early lives and training, wooings, battles, feastings and deaths of the heroes and reflects a warrior society in which warfare consists mainly of single combats and wealth is measured mainly in cattle. These stories are written mainly in prose. The centrepiece of the Ulster Cycle is the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Other important Ulster Cycle tales include The Tragic Death of Aife's only Son, Bricriu's Feast, and The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel. The Exile of the Sons of Usnach, better known as the tragedy of Deirdre and the source of plays by John Millington Synge, William Butler Yeats, and Vincent Woods, is also part of this cycle.

This cycle is, in some respects, close to the mythological cycle. Some of the characters from the latter reappear, and the same sort of shape-shifting magic is much in evidence, side by side with a grim, almost callous realism. While we may suspect a few characters, such as Medb or Cú Roí, of once being deities, and Cúchulainn in particular displays superhuman prowess, the characters are firmly mortal and rooted in a specific time and place. If the Mythological Cycle represents a Golden Age, the Ulster Cycle is Ireland's Heroic Age.

Κύκλος του Φένιαν

Like the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle is concerned with the deeds of Irish heroes. The stories of the Fenian Cycle appear to be set around the 3rd century and mainly in the provinces of Leinster and Munster. They differ from the other cycles in the strength of their links with the Irish-speaking community in Scotland and there are many extant Fenian texts from that country. They also differ from the Ulster Cycle in that the stories are told mainly in verse and that in tone they are nearer to the tradition of romance than the tradition of epic. The stories concern the doings of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of soldiers, the Fianna.

The single most important source for the Fenian Cycle is the Acallam na Senórach (Colloquy of the Old Men), which is found in two 15th century manuscripts, the Book of Lismore and Laud 610, as well as a 17th century manuscript from Killiney, County Dublin. The text is dated from linguistic evidence to the 12th century. The text records conversations between Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, the last surviving members of the Fianna, and Saint Patrick, and runs to some 8,000 lines. The late dates of the manuscripts may reflect a longer oral tradition for the Fenian stories.

The Fianna of the story are divided into the Clann Baiscne, led by Fionn, and the Clann Morna, led by his enemy, Goll mac Morna. Goll killed Fionn's father, Cumhal, in battle and the boy Fionn was brought up in secrecy. As a youth, while being trained in the art of poetry, he accidentally burned his thumb while cooking the Salmon of Knowledge, which allowed him to suck or bite his thumb in order to receive bursts of stupendous wisdom. He took his place as the leader of his band and numerous tales are told of their adventures. Two of the greatest of the Irish tales, Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne (The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne) and Oisín in Tír na nÓg form part of the cycle. The Diarmuid and Grainne story, which is one of the few Fenian prose tales, is a probable source of Tristan and Iseult.

The world of the Fenian Cycle is one in which professional warriors spend their time hunting, fighting, and engaging in adventures in the spirit world. New entrants into the band are expected to be knowledgeable in poetry as well as undergo a number of physical tests or ordeals. Again, there is no religious element in these tales unless it is one of hero-worship.

Ιστορικός κύκλος

It was part of the duty of the medieval Irish bards, or court poets, to record the history of the family and the genealogy of the king they served. This they did in poems that blended the mythological and the historical to a greater or lesser degree. The resulting stories form what has come to be known as the Historical Cycle, or more correctly Cycles, as there are a number of independent groupings.

The kings that are covered range from the almost entirely mythological Labraid Loingsech, who became High King of Ireland around 431 BC to the entirely historical Brian Boru. However, the greatest glory of the Historical Cycle is the Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne), a 12th century tale told in verse and prose.

Suibhne, king of Dál nAraidi, was cursed by St Ronan and became a kind of half man, half bird, condemned to live out his life in the woods, fleeing from his human companions. The story has captured the imaginations of contemporary Irish poets and has been translated by Trevor Joyce and Seamus Heaney.

Άλλα παραμύθια

Περιπέτειες

The adventures, or echtrae, are a group of stories of visits to the Irish Other World. The most famous, Oisin in Tir na nOg belongs to the Fenian Cycle, but several free-standing adventures survive, including The Adventure of Conle, The Voyage of Bran mac Ferbail and The Adventure of Lóegaire.

Ταξίδια

The voyages, or immrama, are tales of sea journeys and the wonders seen on them. These probably grew from the experiences of fishermen combined with the Other World elements that inform the adventures. Of the seven immrama mentioned in the manuscripts, only three survive: the Voyage of Mael Dúin, the Voyage of the Uí Chorra, and the Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riagla. The Voyage of Mael Duin is the forerunner of the later Voyage of St. Brendan.

Folk tales

At the beginning of the 19th Century, Herminie T. Kavanagh wrote down many Irish folk tales which she published in magazines and in two books. Twenty-six years after her death, the tales from her two books, Darby O'Gill and the Good People, and Ashes of Old Wishes were made in to the film Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Noted Irish playwright Lady Gregory also collected folk stories to preserve Irish history.

Αναφορές

Πρωτογενείς πηγές σε αγγλική μετάφραση

Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover. Ancient Irish Tales. Barnes and Noble Books, Totowa, New Jersey, 1936 repr. 1988. ISBN 1-56619-889-5.
Dillon, Myles. The Cycles of the Kings. Oxford University Press, 1946; reprinted Four Courts Press: Dublin and Portland, OR, 1994. ISBN 1-85182-178-3.
Dillon, Myles. Early Irish Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948; reprinted : Four Courts Press, Dublin and Portland, OR, 1994. ISBN 0-7858-1676-3.
Joseph Dunn: The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúailnge (1914)
Winifred Faraday: The Cattle-Raid of Cualng. London, 1904. This is a partial translation of the text in the Yellow Book of Lecan, partially censored by Faraday.
Gantz, Jeffrey. Early Irish Myths and Sagas. London: Penguin Books, 1981. ISBN 0-14-044397-5.
Kinsella, Thomas. The Tain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-19-281090-1.

Πρωτογενείς πηγές σε Μεσαιωνική ιρλανδική γλώσσα

Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired. Elizabeth A. Gray, Ed. Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1982. Series: Irish Texts Society (Series) ; v. 52. Irish text, English translation and philological notes.
Táin Bo Cuailnge from the Book of Leinster. Cecile O'Rahilly, Ed. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1984.
Táin Bo Cuailnge Recension I. Cecile O'Rahilly, Ed. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1976. Irish text, English translation and philological notes.

Επαναφήγηση των μύθων στην Αγγλία

Lady Augusta Gregory: Cuchulain of Muirthemne (1902)
Lady Augusta Gregory: Gods and Fighting Men (1904)
Juliet Mariller: "Daughter of the Forest", "Son of the Shadows", and "Child of the Prophecy" (Sevenwaters trilogy).
Gregory Frost: Tain
Gregory Frost: Remscela
Morgan Llywelyn: Red Branch
Morgan Llywelyn: Finn MacCool
Morgan Llywelyn: Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish

Δευτερεύουσες πηγές

Coghlan, Ronan Pocket Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend. Belfast: Appletree, 1985.
Mallory, J. P. Ed. Aspects of the Tain. Belfast: December Publications, 1992. ISBN 0-9517068-2-9.
O'Rahilly, T. F. Early Irish History and Mythology (1946)
O hOgain, Daithi "Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition" Prentice Hall Press, (1991) : ISBN 0-13-275959-4 (the only dictionary/encyclopedia with source references for every entry)
Rees, Brinley and Alwyn Rees. Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1961; repr. 1989. ISBN 0-500-27039-2.
Sjoestedt, M. L. Gods and Heroes of the Celts. 1949; translated by Myles Dillon. repr. Berkeley, CA: Turtle Press, 1990. ISBN 1-85182-179-1.
Williams, J. F. Caerwyn. Irish Literary History. Trans. Patrick K. Ford. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, Wales, and Ford and Bailie, Belmont, Massachusetts. Welsh edition 1958, English translation 1992. ISBN 0-926689-03-7.