{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/celt/vob/vob03.htm","path":"neu/celt/vob/vob03.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/vob/vob03.htm","text":"1. a tirib ingnath. This curious use of what is, apparently, the undeclined adjective after the noun is also found in the phrase tr\u00e9 bithu s\u00edr, iS. See Windiseh, s.v. s\u00edr.\nib., for l\u00e1ur. The old dative form l\u00e1ur is found in H alone, while all the other MSS. have the later form l\u00e1r. Similarly, in \u00a7 2 R, and in F 62, B alone have preserved the dative form Braun.\nib., rob\u00e1tar ind liss d\u00fantai. The plural of the word less, which generally means either the space enclosed by earthen ramparts, or the buildings in the centre of the enclosure, seems here to be used of the ramparts themselves. That this may have been the original meaning, the analog of Ir. r\u00e1ith and Teutonic t\u00fan seems to show.\na. ar a bindi. I do not know what to make of the form bindem or bindim which most of the MSS. have.\nib., \u00edsin. Most of the MSS. leave out this Old Irish form.\nib., cacha\u00edn. None of the MSS. have preserved the Old Irish form cechuin.\n3. This quatrain is composed in the metre called rannaigecht cetharchubaid recomarcach (Thumeysen, Mittelir. Verslehren, p. 143). There is internal assonance in Emain: semail, fora: glano.\nib., abaill. It is possible that abaild is the older form; at least this may be concluded from abailt, the spelling of E, and apuillt, that of H. An Old Ir. abald would agree well with the A.S. apuldr.\nib., dofed. This I take to be the 1st sing. of the present indicative of dofedim, 'I bring,' ex to-ved-\u00f3.\nib., glano. Here and in 12 (trilsi glano) B alone preserves this old form, the genitive sing. of the i-stem glain. Other MSS. write glana as if it were the nom. plur. of glan, 'pure.'\n4. This and all the following quatrains are composed in various kinds of debidc. There are two examples of debide garit in 34, 35; 36\nbut the stricter laws of poetical composition, as formulated in the c\u00f3rus bard cana bardni (Thumeysen, Mittelir. Versl.) and by O\u2019Molloy, are not consistently observed in this old poetry. The rule, e.g., that the final words of the second and fourth lines should exceed those of the first and third by one syllable, is not carried through. A hiatus is allowed to stand where, according to O'Molloy's rule (Thumeysen, l.c., p. 127), synizesis should take place, e.g., asa taitni | in n\u00e9l find, 24, os m\u00e9 | im\u2019 charput di ch\u00e9in, 33, etc. Again, there are many lines in which alliteration is entirely wanting. This rudimentary character of the poetry seems to speak for its age.\nib., gabra r\u00e9in. The 'kenning' groig mic Lir referred to on p. 4, note 5, also occurs in a quatrain quoted in H. 3. 18, p, 6\u00bd: cuthal .i. tlaith, ut dixit in file:\nib., t\u00f3ibgel tondat. The adjective attribute is put before the noun, as in ilm\u00edli m-brecc m-ban, 19.\nib., cethe\u00f3ir cossa. The old feminine form cethe\u00f3ir being no longer used or understood, the MSS., with two exceptions (HB), have either misread or altered it. As to the four feet on which the island rests, cf. 'The Voyage of Mael Duin,' Rev. Celt. x. p. 63, as translated by Stokes: 'Then they see another island (standing) on a single pedestal, to wit, one foot supporting it. And they rowed round it to seek a way into it, and they found no way thereinto; but they saw down in the base of the pedestal a closed door under lock. They understood that that was the way by which the island was entered.'\n5. Findarggat. The use of the undeclined form is curious. In 8, Arggatn\u00e9ul stands in apposition to the dative maig.\n6. findrune. It is possible that findbruine (B) is the older form.\n7. In the description of Mag Meld in Serglige Conculaind (Ir. Texte, p. 218) a similar quatrain occurs without reference to the Hours.\n8. datho. Here, and in 13, B alone preserves this old form of the gen. sg. of the u-stem dath.\nib., m\u00f3ithgretho. Most of the MSS. have moiter gretha--a blunder, having arisen from confusing the mark of aspiration over the first t with the horizontal stroke used as a compendium for er. B and S have preserved the final o.\n9. \u00e9c\u00f3iniud. Perhaps \u00e9c\u00f3ine (B, H) is the right reading.\nib., etargnath rhyming with mrath shows that through loss of stress gn\u00e1th has become short. Compare such rhymes as tan: crithlam, Salt, 1456.\nib., n\u00ed b\u00edi nach garg fri cr\u00faais. I have no doubt that crois, croais of the MSS. stands for cr\u00faais, just as clois, cloais in the next line is for cl\u00faais; oa evidently was the spelling of the archetypus for the more usual \u00faa; cf. oas, daroasat, oad, load, etc., infra. L, reading b\u00edi as a monosyllable, inserts guth to make up the seven syllables.\n11. f\u00eda. My rendering is taken from O\u2019Reilly fia (for fiadh?), and is very doubtful. Perhaps f\u00eda is cognate with W. gwy, and means 'water.'\nib., n\u00ed fr\u00edthid b\u00edd a c\u00eda. The same phrase occurs in LU. 64 a, 23: n\u00ed fr\u00edthid bid essine em .i. n\u00ed inund ocus \u00e9n dogab\u00e1il, 'This is not the same as carrying (lit. taking) birds,' says Medb, referring to the way in which L\u00e1eg carries the head of an enemy on his back. As to c\u00eda= c\u00e9o, meaning 'haze' or perhaps 'hue,' cf. O\u2019Cl. deann c\u00e9idheamhain .i. l\u00ed n\u00f3 do amhail ch\u00e9o bealtaine.\n12. trilsi glano. Cf. the note on glano, 3.\n13. \u00e9tatho, if I read rightly, seems the gen. of \u00e9-tath, the opposite of tath .i. searg, 'dryness, decay, consumption,' O\u2019Cl. and P. O\u2019C.\nib., f\u00edno \u00f3ingrindi. The genitive attribute is put before the noun, as in de betho br\u00f3u, 29, f\u00edne f\u00edrbolud, 43. See Rev. Celt. v. 350-51.\n15. In the description of Mag Meld quoted above from Serglige Conculaind a similar quatrain occurs:\nib., ualann. I have taken this to be a sister-form of oland, 'wool' Cf. uamun and \u014fmun, 'fear.' But it might be a word cognate with ualach, 'burden.'\n16. dofeith. This seems cognate with dofaith, 'ivit' (Wind. s.v.),\ndufaid (dofoid), 'venit,' Trip. Life, p. 72, 16, and t\u00e1idim, 'I come,' F\u00e9l. Index. L changes to dofaeth, 'will fall.'\n17. dond licc leur. Another such musical stone is mentioned in the following lines from Togail Bruidne D\u00e1 Choc\u00e6 (H. 3. 18, p. 711):\n19. b\u00e9su. This form occurs twice in the W\u00fcrzburg glosses, 6 b, 23: b\u00e9su dagduine, 'who may be a good man,' ib. 24: b\u00e9su maith. It should be compared with c\u00e9su, 'although it be,' and seems to be made up of the 3rd pers. sing. injunctive of b\u00edu, with an unexplained pronominal suffix -su.\n20. esnach, if I read rightly, may be cognate with esnad, 'music, song,' which is sometimes used of the notes or cries of animals, as, e.g., esnad daim, 'the bellowing of the stag.'\n21. cach \u00e1gi. Though this is the reading of none of the MSS., R alone coming near it, yet it seems to me highly probable. \u00e1ge, 'period,' seems a masc. io-stem; cf. LU. 134 b, 13: t\u00e1nic de int \u00e1ge h\u00edsin.\n22. erfind. This is a very doubtful reading, based upon the ailler find of L.\n24. i n-adig. This old spelling of adaig, preserved by R and E, caused L to alter into ina tig = mod. ina dtigh.\n25. di\u00ecb. Though none of the MSS. offers it, this old dissyllabic form is demanded by the metre, just as in Salt. 375: samlaim cech d\u00ed[i]b fo feib. Cf. Salt. 437.\n28. findchride. The spelling of the archetypus was no doubt finchride, which most of the MSS. retain.\n29. de betho br\u00f3u. The only one among the many meanings of br\u00f3 that seems to fit here is one given by O\u2019Clery, .i. iomad.\n32. isin charput iarsin muir. Thus in Serglige Conculaind (Ir. Texte, p. 225) Manann\u00e1n comes in a chariot across the sea:\nib., nogigned mac \u00faad. See Compert Mong\u00e1\u00edn, printed infra, p. 42.\n35. cennderga. L reads cen terca, a good example of the wilful alterations of this version.\n41. \u00f3imin. Cf. the spelling \u00e1imin, Goid. p. 20, 11.\n43. duilli co n-\u00f3rdath. Cf. the following quatrain in the description of Mag Meld quoted above:\n48. dorear\u00faasat seems corrupt. It does not rhyme with h\u00faasai. I have translated it as if it were dor\u00faasat with the pronoun of the 1st pers. plural (-r-) infixed.\n49. In delb h\u00e9. Cf. combad h\u00e9 Find Mac Cumaill Mong\u00e1n, LU. 133 a, 25. This construction reminds one of a similar one in Anglo-Saxon.\n50. Moninn\u00e1n. A hypocoristic form of Manann\u00e1n, also found in LU. 133 a, 24. Cf. Monann, 51.\nib., i curp criad gil. Cf. LU. 18, 22: H\u00e9le 7 \u00c9n\u00f3c ina corpaid cr\u00edad etir ainglib nimc = LL. 280 a, 51.--B, reading criad as a monosyllable, alters gil into ad-gil to make up the seven syllables.\n51. coniec. This old form, the 3rd sing. of the s-future of con-ligim, was no longer understood by the glossator. From our passage the word with the gloss got into Cormac's GIossary (Transl. p. 49).\nib., maccu. None of the MSS. have preserved this Old Ir. word, which seems to have become obsolete very early.\nib., Lirn. The n is here a merely graphic addition to have complete assonance for the eye.\nib., adndidma, 3rd sg. of the red. future of ad-damim, with infixed pronoun. CL alumdidm\u00e6, 'Thou wilt acknowledge me,' F\u00e9l. Epil. 494.\n52. adfii, 3rd sg. of the s-future of adfiadaim. CE adfias-[s]a, 'I shall relate,' Salt. 1785.\n55. suis ???, 3rd sg. Of the s-future of sligim.\n56. I have not been able to restore this quatrain, which has been handed down in a very corrupt form in all MSS. Most of them leave out bid in the first line, which may be right.\nib., fochischer airchend a \u00cdli. Stokes thinks that airchend here= W. arbenn, 'a chieftain.' The translation would then be, 'I shall send a chieftain out of Islay,' which would refer to Artur Mac Bicoir.\n57. arung\u00e9n. This I take to be the 1st sg. of the red. future of argn\u00edu, with infixed pron. of the 3rd person.\n58. bes n-guirit. As to bes with following relative n, cf. ML 54 a, 4: bes n-duthrachtach .i. duarngir-som beta n-duthrachtaig a gn\u00edmai-som do dia.\nib., oircthi. This seems the 3rd sg. pres. ind. of vircim with affixed personal pronoun.\n59. Loch L\u00e1u. In the glossed copy of Cinaed h\u00faa hArtac\u00e1in's poem beginning Fianna b\u00e1tar i n-Emain (Eg. 1752, fo. 53 a, 2) I find the following gloss on the line mentioning Mongin's death (see above, p. 26, note 5): .i. fian Chind-T\u00edri romarb Mongan ar br\u00fa Locha Lo n\u00f3 Locha Inncil (Mencii?). A Loch L\u00f3 is also repeatedly mentioned in Togail Bruidne D\u00e1 Choc\u00e6.\nib., g\u00e9btha. This looks like the 3rd sg. of the red. future of gabim (g\u00e9bid) with an affixed personal pronoun.\n61. oc ginig. Most of the MSS. have gignig, which is obscure to me. G\u00ednig seems the dat. fem. of a word ginach, a derivative of gin, 'mouth.'\nib., reris. This seems the 3rd sg. of the s-pref. of a verb rerim, the 3rd sg. rel. of the pres. ind: of which occurs in LU. 133 a, 10: intan reras in cath d\u00edaraiiu, 'When one army is drawn up (ranged) against the other.'\n63. \u00e9ulchairc. Though this word sometimes has the general sense of 'longing,' as in Echtra Condla, 4 (gabais e\u00f3lchaire \u00edarom inn\u00ed Condla immon mn\u00e1i atchonnairc) it seems originally to have denoted 'longing for home, home-sickness'; from \u00e9ol, 'home,' and -caire=W. -caredd. As to this meaning of \u00e9ol, cf. the following gloss from Harl. 5280, fo. 49 b, 2: eol .i. gn\u00e1th, ut est:\nand see Rev. C. xiii. p. 2. In LL 170 b, 30, for coa \u1e61eol read cos eol, 'to his home,' as in BB. 402, 47. dia eol, ib. 403 a, 2.\n65. cen nech dobir toind usci glain. The line has one syllable in excess. Perhaps dorat, 'who gave,' is a better reading than dobir, 'who gives.'","title":"The Voyage of Bran: Notes","type":"page"}