DeDanaan

Filed by Aine MacDermot

It will be seen that many of the elements contained in these sagas, and more especially the Slaying of Culdub, correspond to features of the Imbas forosnai as set forth for us in Cormac’s Glossary. In both the uncooked or partially cooked flesh of a pig or some other animal is passed from the possession of the owner through (i.e. behind) some door (comla). It is a curious fact that in the passage in Cormac’s Glossary the fili chews a mir, while in the sagas Finn chews a mer, or in later versions, ordain. Mir seems to mean a piece or morsel, but I know of no parallel in Irish literature for the eating of the flesh of cat or dog, and the passage is unconvincing. Again, it is curious that in both our passages and the stories of Finn, some object (mir, mer) is inserted in the doorway. Both Cormac’s fili and Finn then proceed to chant incantations (díchetal), and the phrase in Cormac - ‘chanted on his two palms’ - is not remote from Finn chanting over his finger or thumb. In both our passage and the stories of Finn, these motifs precede a revelation of occult knowledge. These resemblances may lead one to suspect that the ‘gods of the idols’ referred to in Cormac are the side (sid-folk), and that the phrase at opair do deib idol menas “take it to (from) the side,” with reference to Finn’s retrieving his meat. This is mere conjecture, however, and in any case the resemblance ends there. The sagas which we have considered tell us nothing of the mantic sleep, or of those who watch over him lest he should turn over or be disturbed.

Several of these elements of the imbas forosnai in Cormac’s Glossary which are not found in the sagas already considered are to be found in the story of Finn and the Phantoms, which, perhaps, also dates from the ninth century. Here Finn and his companions arrive at night at a house inhabited by misshapen phantom beings with a giant at their head. The giant slays Finn’s horse, and makes pretence of cooking its flesh, which he then offers to Finn and Cailte. It is emphatically stated, both here and elsewhere in the story, that the flesh was not cooked at all - quite raw. For this reason Finn indignantly refused it. The later poem on the same subject contained in the Book of Leinster, and believed to date from the eleventh century, is more explicit. -

Str. 165
Take away thy food, O giant!
For I have never devoured raw food.
I will never eat it from to-day till Doom.
(beir lett, a athig, do béad,
uair né dúadus biad om riam,
ni chathiub ondiu co bráth) :

Then a curious thing happens. According to Stern’s translation of the prose version, -

‘Alors, tout d’un coup tous partirent. Aussitôt le feu cessa de brûler ; Finn seul fut serré dans un coin pour être secoué et battu (par les fantômes). Comme des autres ne se séparient pas de Finn, ils étaient dans cette situation toute la nuit en jetant des cris. Enfin, ils tombèrent et restèrent faibles en défaillance complète. C’est ainsi qu’ils étaient comme des cadavres jusqu’au matin.

L’orsqu’ils se levèrent le lendemain de leur assoupissement, ils ne voyaient ni maison ni gens dans la pate campagne autour d’eux. Finn s’éveilla et trouva son cheval attaché à la houssine sans tache et sans défaut et sans dégât. Ils tinrent conseil ensuite pour savoir qui leur aurait fait cet outrage. Finn chanta un teinm laida et mit son pouce sur sa dent de savoir, alors le chose lui fut révélée. “Vraiment,” dit-il, “les trois fantômes de Hibar-glend (la vallée des ifs) sont tombés sur nous ; ce sont eux qui nous ont fait cet outrage pour se venger sur nous de leur soeur Cuichlend au muscau large que nous avons tuée.’

At the close of the prose version of Finn and the Phantoms we are told that Finn had a vision -

‘Il vit un massacre d’hommes vilandois sur las colline à droite, mais il ne vit bataille ni ordre de bataille y rangé. Puis, il apercut une flamme de feu descendant du ciel jusqu’à la terre. Enfin, il y vit une foule en costume inconnu . . . Alors Finn se réeilla du sommeil et raconta son songe à ses druides, Morna Mungairit et Ercoil Sainarma. Puis il mit son pouce sur sa dent de savoir et chants un teinm laida, et la chose lui fut découverte. “Vraiment,” dit-il, “le fils de la Vie viendra ici, duquel l’Irlande sera pleine.” Finn s’énonca ensuite en ces termes, en prédisant l’arrivée de Saint Ciaron, fils de Charpentier.’

From this it would seem that, as in folk-tales commonly,

1. The food of the sidhe is uncooked;
2. To eat the food of the sidhe involves permanent detention among them.

Finn’s phantoms and their house leave him because he has not eaten the raw flesh. We may, perhaps, suppose, therefore, that in Cormac’s glossary, when the fili eats the raw flesh (of pig, dog, or cat), the implication is that this is an unhallowed diet which immediately puts him into touch with heathen spirits. It may be added that this version of Finn and the Phantoms is late and considerably affected by Christianity. At the close of the story Finn has a Christian aislinge (vision). We may suspect that in the original version of the story Finn’s vision was quite different, and, in view of other stories in which Finn is represented as tasting the food of the side, we may also suspect that in the original version of Finn and the Phantoms Finn did not refuse the meat.

The story throws yet further light on a passage in Cormac’s entry. In Finn and the Phantoms the scene is laid in the sid. Finn refuses to eat the raw (horse) flesh of the side. In the first of the two paragraphs just quoted there is an obscure sentence to the effect that Finn is hustled into a corner to be shaken and beaten. Stern adds the words, ‘by the phantoms,’ by way of explanation ; but these words are not in the text, and I am not sure that the shaking and beating is not done on Finn by his own followers to bring him out of his trance. We shall see later that there is evidence for such a practice in Welsh tradition. In any case, if I am right in thinking that the passage in Cormac has a direct relation to some version of this story, the words, however we interpret them, may well have a bearing on the obscure phrase which Stokes translates as ‘people are watching over him in order that he may not turn over and in order that no one may disturb him.’ We may note, also, that, like the fili, Finn (and perhaps, also his followers) are plunged in a deep sleep or trance. It is, perhaps, worth noting that it is after this trance or sleep in the house of the ‘phantoms’ that Finn is enabled to chant a tenm laida, and to place his thumb on his ‘tooth of knowledge’ and obtain revelation of the occult.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10