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The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland was preserved in oral tradition. This oral tradition is known as 'Béaloideas'. With the arrival of Christianity, the first manuscripts were written in Ireland, preserving many of these tales in medieval Irish literature. Though the Christian influence is also seen in these manuscripts, this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. Although many of the manuscripts have not survived and much more material was probably never committed to writing, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of distinct, if overlapping, cycles: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Historical Cycle. There are also a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit into any of the cycles, and many recorded folk tales that continued as the oral tradition ran parallel to the manuscript tradition which, while not strictly mythological, feature personages from one or more of these four cycles.
Fionn mac Cumhaill was a mythical hunter-warrior in Irish mythology, occurring also in the mythologies of Scotland and the Isle of Man. The stories of Fionn and his followers, the Fianna, form the Fenian Cycle, much of it narrated in the voice of Fionn's son, the poet Oisín.
Manannán or Manann, also known as Manannán mac Lir, is a warrior and king of the Otherworld in Irish mythology who is associated with the sea and often interpreted as a sea god, usually as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology. They are featured in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill. They are based on historical bands of aristocratic landless young men in early medieval Ireland.
Goll mac Morna was a member of the fianna and an uneasy ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He had killed Fionn's father, Cumhal, and taken over the leadership of the fianna, but when Fionn grew up and proved his worth Goll willingly stepped aside in his favour.
Cumhall or Cumhall mac Trénmhoir is a figure in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, a leader of the fianna and the father of Fionn mac Cumhaill.
Muirne or Muireann Muncháem was the sister of Uirne and the mother of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology.
Bodhmall is one of Fionn mac Cumhaill's childhood caretakers in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology and the daughter of Tréanmór mac Suailt. She is a druidess and the sister of Fionn's father Cumhal, and both she and her associate Liath Luachra are known as great warriors.
The Fenian Cycle or Fiannaíocht or the Finn Cycle, also referred to as the Ossianic Cycle after its narrator Oisín, is a body of prose and verse centring on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna.
Gráinne is the daughter of Cormac mac Airt in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. She is one of the central figures in the Middle Irish text Finn and Gráinne and, most famously, in the 17th-century tale The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, which tells of her betrothal to Fionn mac Cumhaill, leader of the Fianna, and her subsequent elopement with Fionn's warrior Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.
Cairbre Lifechair, son of Cormac mac Airt, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He came to the throne after the death of Eochaid Gonnat. During his time Bresal Belach was king of Leinster, and refused to pay the bórama or cow-tribute to the High King, but Cairbre defeated him in the Battle of Dubchomar, and from then on exacted the bórama without a battle.
Tadg, son of Nuada, was a druid and the maternal grandfather of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. It is unclear whether his father was the short-lived High King Nuada Necht, the god Nuada Airgetlam of the Tuatha Dé Danann, or another figure of a similar name. Nuada Airgetlam is usually the father of Tadg with a mortal woman. He lived on the hill of Almu.
Oscar is a figure in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the son of Oisín and Niamh, and the brother of Plor na mBan, his bride is called Malvina. Though possibly a later addition to the cycle, Oscar was a popular character, and appeared prominently in several later Fenian tales, serving his grandfather as one of the fianna.
The Salmon of Knowledge is a creature figuring in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, sometimes identified with Fintan mac Bóchra, who was known as "The Wise" and was once transformed into a salmon.
Conán mac Lia is a figure in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. A member of the warrior band the fianna, he is, in a way, less famous than the group's other Conán, Conán mac Morna.
The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn is a medieval Irish narrative belonging to the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. As its title implies, it recounts the boyhood exploits of Fionn mac Cumhaill, the cycle's central figure.
Cath Gabhra is a narrative of the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. It tells of the destruction of the fianna and the deaths of most of its warriors in a battle against the forces of High King Cairbre Lifechair. It is notable for depicting the fianna, the heroes of the cycle, in a negative light.
Irish Fairy Tales is a retelling of ten Irish folktales by the Irish author James Stephens. The English illustrator Arthur Rackham provided interior artwork, including numerous black and white illustrations and sixteen color plates. The stories are set in a wooded, Medieval Ireland filled with larger-than-life hunters, warriors, kings, and fairies. Many stories concern the Fianna and their captain, Fionn mac Uail, from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology.
The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cool is a children's novel by Rosemary Sutcliff and was first published in 1967. It is a retelling of the stories of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fenian Cycle. According to her own statements in the introduction, these stories are closer to Folklore and Fairytale, being timeless and contradictory, having organically grown from generations of storytellers; she contrasts them to the Ulster Cycle stories of Cuchulainn, which belong to the Heroic Epic, and compare with the Iliad and the Odyssey.
References
- Citations
- ↑ Nutt, Alfred (1881), "A Dictionary of Irish Mythology", The Folk-Lore Record, 4: 17 and note†
- 1 2 "Liath Luchra", MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-860967-1.
- ↑ "The Boyish Exploits of Finn" ¶4, Meyer (1904) , p. 181
- ↑ "The Boyish Exploits of Finn" ¶2, ¶16,Meyer (1904) , pp. 180, 185
- Bibliography
- Meyer, Kuno (1904), "The Boyish Exploits of Finn" [tr. of Macgnimartha Find], Ériu, 1: 102–103
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