Mayo Theme -
4
An Irish Saga
A good deal of very ancient Irish mythology
survives still. It is the narrative of gods and
goddesses, of the áes síde or
fairy people, of ancient heroic kings, and of the
exploits of druids, fighting men, shape-shifters
and much more.
Though much of this mythology survives, none of
it survives in its original form - whatever that
might have been. It only survived at all because it
was written down in the middle ages by literate
people (mostly monks and clergy) after it had been
part of a centuries long mix-and-match of native
Gaelic story-telling and of Christian biblical
culture. It was also transformed by the pressure of
historical events - such as Viking invasions -
which lent their own spin to the stock of legend;
and even some classical influences from the
Aenid and the Iliad.
One of the most impressive products of this
mythical inheritance is the Táin
Bó Cúailnge, 'the Cattle Raid of
Cúailnge'. It is a prime example of this
kind of transformation. A splendid epic tale, its
events are regarded as having taken place around
the first century BC/AD. However, though it
purports to be a written version of an ancient oral
epic, it includes many things which are much later
- references to ogham
script, for example, which only appeared in Ireland
centuries after the events of the
Táin are meant to have taken
place.
Nevertheless, if used carefully the
Táin can at least offer suggestions
as to the life and culture of pre-literate Irish
society. It is too optimistic to call it (as
Kenneth Jackson did) 'a window on the Iron Age': it
just isn't that transparent. But we may be able to
discern certain traces of a more ancient past,
nevertheless.
The story begins with Medb, the mythical queen
of Connacht, in bed at Crúachan with her
husband Ailill. They are arguing over who has the
greatest assets. Medb claims that it was she who
gave Ailill the sort of wealth and stature that he
could only dream of. She calls him a kept man,
saying she paid a handsome price for him, and seeks
to humiliate him, diminishing his masculine
prowess.
Ailill is disgusted with this interpretation and
counters that he came and took Medb after he had
heard about this woman ruling a province, the only
province in Ireland to be ruled by a woman. Medb
argues that regardless of the circumstances of
their betrothal her wealth is greater than his.
Ailill insists that it is he who has the
greatest wealth of anyone in the whole of Ireland.
What follows is an inventory of both their
belongings. In
the end their vast wandering herds of cattle were
brought in from the four corners of the province
and found to be equal in size and number, but for
one thing: there was a great bull in one of
Ailill's herds which had been born of one of Medb's
cows. It didn't like being owned by a woman,
however, and so it had gone over to Ailill's herd.
It's name was Finnbennach - 'Whitehorn'.
All of Medb's wealth and property meant nothing
to her now that she didn't have a bull to match the
Finnbennach. She summoned Mac Roth and told him to
find her the match of Ailill's bull. Mac Roth told
her that he knew of an even greater bull in the
province of Ulster, in the territory of
Cúailnge, in the herd of Dáire mac
Fiachniu.
Medb sought the loan of the Brown Bull of
Cúailnge for a year, and promised
Dáire payment of fifty heifers, a fine
chariot and a fine portion of the Plain of
Aí to rule over. She also offered the
Dáire the pleasures of 'her own friendly
thighs'.
Dáire mac Fiachniu at first accepted the
offer, but after Medb's men offended his honour he
changed his mind. Medb's reply was that if the bull
were not given freely then it would be taken by
force. So began the Cattle Raid of Cúailnge,
the violence and slaughter of heroes, and the final
ruin and defeat of Medb - a woman who has behaved
dishonourably during the tale. The moral is
pronounced by one of the characters at the end: "We
followed a woman's arse; a herd led by a mare is
usually strayed and destroyed." Ultimately, Medb is
a negative figure in the Táin, acting
dishonourably, dishonestly and inadequately. She
aspires to a male role of leadership, and
fails.
These mythical texts give us some insights into
the society of the past, particularly when we read
them in conjunction with archaeological evidence.
But we must be careful: the use of arrows in the
Táin, for example, is an anachronism. There
is no evidence of archery in Ireland at any point
from around 1500 BC until the coming of the Vikings
in the ninth century AD. When archery does appear
in the Gaelic language, the word for the weapon is
saiget, a word borrowed from the Latin word
sagitta, 'arrow'.
Other aspects of the tale do reflect ancient
Irish mythology, however. Medb is a personification
of the goddess of sovereignty and fertility. Her
name is also related to the English word 'mead' -
the intoxicating honey drink - and suggests her
role as the goddess who makes drunk, also
associated with king-making. Just as the myth of
kingship described a man becoming king by having
sex with the goddess, so in our story Ailill has
become king of Connaght by virtue of his marriage
with Medb. Similarly, when she offers Dáire
the rule over a tract of land and invites him to
enjoy 'her own friendly thighs', she is offering
the same kind of gift.
Key
References
- Thomas Kinsella, The Tain (with drawings by
Louis de Brocquy), Oxford Paperbacks, 1970
- Cecile O'Rahilly, Táin Bó
Cúailnge: Recension I, Dublin Institute
for Advanced Studies, 1976
- J.P. Mallory (ed.), Aspects of the
Táin, Belfast, 1992
- Kim McCone, Pagan Past and Christian Present
in Early Irish Literature, Maynooth, 1990
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This
project has been supported by the EU as part of the Culture
2000 programme.