Comment

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 25, 2012 at 9:49am

MEDB was the Highness of Connacht and her regional capital (venta) was at Crúachan, identified as Rathcroghan (Ráth Crúachan) [ringfort of the great mound]. Crúachan is a complex of archaeological sites near Tulsk in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is identified as the site of Cruachan, the traditional capital of the Connachta. While it is debatable whether this was a place of residence, it had huge importance as a cemetery and also hosted some of the main ritual gatherings in ancient times. It is an important site in Irish mythology, in particular as the seat of Ailill and Medb, king and queen of the Connachta in the Ulster Cycle. It is the setting for the opening section of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and the Táin Bó Flidhais. Cruachan seems to have heavy associations with the feast of Samhain, as it was during this time that the Irish believed that the prehistoric graves from before their time opened and their gods and spirits, who dwelt inside, walked the earth. The emerging of creatures from Oweynagat would be part of this belief. A legend based on this is "The Adventures of Nera", in which the warrior of the title is challenged to tie a twig around the ankle of a condemned man on Samhain night. After agreeing to get some water for the condemned man he discovers strange houses and when he finally gets him some water at the third house he returns him to captivity only to witness Rathcroghan's royal buildings being destroyed by the spirits. He follows the fairy host to the síd where he meets a woman who tells him that what he saw was a vision of what will happen a year from now unless his mortal comrades are warned. He leaves the síd and informs Ailill of his vision who then has the Sidhe destroyed.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 25, 2012 at 9:49am

THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE EAST were curative and regenerative otherworldly fruits that were in endless supply. They were found in the Gardens of the East of the World in Hisberna, a land conceived as east of Temhair. They were guarded by the three osprey daughters of the King of the East. Compare the Apples of Iðunn in Norse mythology as well as the Golden Apples of the Hesperides and the Golden Apple of Atalanta in Greek mythology. The term ‘golden apples’ is used in modern languages to denote the orange, the quince and the tomato.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 25, 2012 at 9:37am

The GLASHTIN (glashan, glaistyn, glastyn) [greenie] is a horse-like power of racing waters. It is the Manx counterpart of the Irish each uisce, Scottish kelpie, and Welsh ceffyl dwfr. At best, it is mischievous and at worst murderous. Although the glashtin might take human form, he could not hide his horse's ears. Sometimes confused with the heavier, shambling fenodyree, but more human in appearance.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 15, 2012 at 9:27am

The PIGS OF ÓENGUS were a sounder of more than a hundred and ten otherworldly swine under the patronage of the young Óengus Mac Óc. One black pig of their number was a son of Óengus himself; another was the son of the King of the Narrow Sea, another the son of the King of the Sea of Gulls; yet another was the son of Ilbhrec, son of Manannan, and seven score of them were the comely sons of fairy kings and queens.

They first appeared on the plain to the east as a terrible herd of great pigs, every one of them the height of a deer. And there was one pig out in front of the rest that was blacker than a smith's coal, and the bristles on its head were like a thicket of thorn-trees. They were so hard to catch that the Fíanna suffered losses of ten hundred men in trying so to do. The hunt for the pigs is said to have taken place over Slieve Cua and Slieve Crot with the chase going from Magh Cobha to Cruachan, and thence to Fionnabraic and to Findias. When the hunt was over in the evening, there was not one pig of the whole herd without a hurt. They could not be cremated except by a fire fuelled by the nameless wood that Finn's bitch-hound Bran brought but, once cremated, their ashes were cast into the sea. The vasty deep of the sea was a uncharted netherworld to the ancients: the English word 'soul' comes from a Germanic word meaning 'the one of the sea'.

The Fenian cremation of the pigs was the beginning of an odium between Finn and Óengus that led to Óengus's favouring the young Díarmuit and to a downward turn in Finn's fortunes.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 15, 2012 at 9:27am

Nuada Airgedlámh (Nuada of the Silver Arm) was king of the tribe known as the Tuatha Dé Danann who invaded Éireann (Ireland) in earliest times. In the First Battle of MoyTura, Nuada, while victorious, lost his right arm in this battle while in the second battle he lost his life. In his keeping was Cliamh Solais –the Sword of Fire, which, once unsheathed, was so powerful that no enemy could stand before it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/101708191/celtic-art-print-nuada-the-high-king

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 15, 2012 at 9:26am

The LAND UNDER WAVE was the submarine sovereign kingdom of the King Under Wave. It was a dreamy place where time imperceptibly rolled by. Díarmuit Úa Duibhne whiled away immeasurable time there in his desirous pursuit of the daughter of its king.

The picture is a Russian painting of the early mediaeval tale Sadko in the underwater realm.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 14, 2012 at 9:36am

FIGOL MAC MAMOIS, a druid of the Túatha De Danann, kindled the heat of battle with his war-stoking spell:

“Battle will be verified and portended
Of flame through(out) its contest of valour.
An ash-tree-grey sea has come to (us),
A poison not alive,
A millstone (crowd) of foreigners.
Surety (certainty) will break (over-turn).
Lugh of the Long-Arm will burn (rage).
Terrible blows of Ogma golden very red will break
For that demanding (the) life of kings.
Tribute-taxes will be turned (transformed),
Lives will be celebrated,
The ploughman(ship) of grain will (be made to) come.
The milk of the tribe will be declared.
Be freemen each in his sovereignty.
Declare (it) without a goal of plunder.
Hither (an advantage)!
Be there life from it.
Be (they) freemen each of them not a slaves of (other) persons,
O Nuada, (you) will thrust them away by a spear-tip of battle,
And battle will be verified and portended.”


Art by Lisa Hunt.
Thanks to En for the text.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 14, 2012 at 9:34am

GWYDION & GILFAETHWY brought the pigs of Pryderi from Ceredigion in the south to Caer Dathyl in the north through cunning, stealth and charm. The pigs had been given to Pryderi by Arawn a king of the otherworldly realm of Annwfn as a token of Arawn’s friendship with Pryderi’s father Pwyll. As the pigs were brought north, they tarried a while at a place and that place has forever after been called Mochdref (swine-thorp). Art by Alan Lee for an illustrated version of the Mabinogion.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 14, 2012 at 9:32am

At the CAD GODEU, Gwydion identified the warrior at the head of the trees by saying:

“Sure-hoofed is my steed on the day of battle
The high springs of alder are in thy hand;
The high sprigs of alder are on they shield.
Bran art thou called, of the glittering branches”

As soon as Gwydion knew Bran’s true name, Gwydion had power over him.

The picture shows the River Vernodubrum [alder-water] in Gaul, nowadays called the Vernobre. Alders are on its banks and in its grasp.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on July 14, 2012 at 9:29am

The MURYANS are believed to be the souls of ancient heathen people, too good for hell and too bad for heaven. Their size gradually dwindled until they were the size of ants, after which they vanished and no one knows what became of them. Another traditions tells that the Muryans were shape-changers and that after each time they changed, they became a little smaller. In Cornwall it was considered unlucky to kill ants. Muryan means ‘ant’ in Cornish.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• …
• 14
• Next ›
• Page