Apocrypha Hiberniae II, Apocalyptica 1: In Tenga Bithnua - The Ever-New Tongue 2503530753, 9782503530758

Citation preview

UMNO ANIA

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGYA

AREMONT

Bosse Gr dir

oy ons Nar are! GF

bw

en ee

Sa 1 iG kt, we

eekoitan ssorac Ny? de deeis? ee ei Ean ce

Neat ete, we

nae tae

a

we 8be | NL haa

f

CORPVS

CHRISTIANORVM Series Apocryphorum 16

CORPVS

CHRISTIANORVM Series Apocryphorum 16

CVRANTE

ASSOCIATION POUR L’ETUDE DE LA LITTER ATURE

APOCRYPHE

CHRETIENNE

3 eI 2a

vile

APOCRYPHA HIBERNIAE I] APOCALYPTICA 1 IN TENGA THE

BITHINUA

EVER-NEW

CVRA

TONGUE

ET STUDIO

John CAREY

TURNHOUT

BREPOLS & PUBLISHERS 2009

Theology Library

CLAREMONT

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY Claremont, CA

CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM Series Apocryphorum

SVB

AVSPICHIS:

INSTITUT ROMAND DES SCIENCES BIBLIQUES ECOLE PRATIQUE DES HAUTES

ETUDES

(SCIENCES RELIGIEUSES)

CONFERENCE UNIVERSITAIRE DE SUISSE OCCIDENTALE UNIVERSITE DE FRIBOURG UNIVERSITE DE GENEVE

UNIVERSITE DE LAUSANNE UNIVERSITE DE NEUCHATEL INSTITUT DES SOURCES CHRETIENNES UNION ACADEMIQUE INTERNATIONALE

Huic editiont curandae praefuerunt et uolumini parando operam dederunt Albert Frey & Rémi GOUNELLE

© 2009 BREPOLS & PUBLISHERS

(Turnhout - Belgium)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

In memory of Thetis Blacker As-reracht in domun

uile leis

R

Hearri4al

má 7

7

.

Bas

I

á

man

a Ailos

|ar

In.

P

-

,

I a5

¥

i ne

a. ing tp = Be§ Novlo as Cameioad ' ;

Very

kW

As

f © gsf

anion

he

ar

a

is

setegfsá (alg

a“

EA

iúhae-p

Y i eipe aige, Pee

(“a

"ogAAG)

a

As

aile ie

ar

á

Muga

ep ha agóid, ba

as

te

"al

FOREWORD This edition has been a long time in the writing; and there can be no more appropriate beginning to these prefatory words

than

a sincere

expression

colleagues,

both

those

the

on

Irish

of gratitude Editorial

to my

Board

for

Publication of Irish New Testament Apocrypha and those on the Committee of the Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), for the benign pressure which they have exerted in order to induce me to bring it to a conclusion. My involvement with In Tenga Bithnua extends over more

than twenty years, as it was in November

1988 that

I responded to a circular issued by the then incipient Corpus Apocryphorum Hiberniae project with an expression of my willingness to produce an edition of the version of the text which is preserved in the Book of Lismore. Fr Martin McNamara

responded

to this offer graciously, and I set to

work. At this time I held a teaching post in the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University: besides benefiting from the vast holdings of the Widener Library, I was able to take advantage of the more specialized resources of the Fred Norris Robinson Celtic Seminar Library.

Here

I found

Vernam

Hull’s

copy

of Whitley

Stokes’s 1905 edition of the Book of Lismore version, with many valuable annotations in Hull’s own hand.

Following the conclusion of my Harvard appointment, I had the good fortune to secure a Frances Yates Fellowship for the academic year 1992-1993 at the Warburg Institute, University of London. The Warburg Institute possesses what must be one of the best libraries anywhere for the study of cultural history; and it is precisely the strengths which

render it so idiosyncratic —

such as its fine collec-

tions of books on magic, on pre-modern cosmology, on monsters, on theology and liturgy, on the Gnostics and the Manichaeans — which made it the perfect environment in which to pursue the question of In Tenga Bithnua’s sources. I am

deeply

and

abidingly

grateful

to the

Institute

for

8

FOREWORD

having afforded me this precious opportunity, and for having generously allowed me to present my _ provisional findings in two seminar papers. The Warburg’s community of scholars was consistently helpful to me. I wish in particular to record my appreciation of the assistance which I repeatedly received from Charles Burnett, and of the encouragement and inspiration which I derived from conversations with Peter Kingsley. There were other resources to be drawn upon as well. The British Library was at that time still in Bloomsbury; and just across Byng Place from the Warburg Institute lay University College London, where I could consult the Egyptological library attached to the Petrie Museum, and whose

main

library

held

Stokes’s

papers

—

including

his

own annotated copy of the In Tenga Bithnua edition, and letters concerning it which he had received from colleagues in a broad range of disciplines. In April of 1993 I made a pilgrimage to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, there to examine the Book of Lismore itself; I am grateful to Peter Day, then Keeper of the Devonshire Collections, for having facilitated this visit. In 1995 I was invited to join the Irish Editorial Board. I began to have a clearer conception of the shape which my edition should assume

in order to conform to the principles

and conventions of the Series apocryphorum; and I participated in the preparation of the edition of Irish Infancy Gospels which eventually appeared in 2001. In the summers of 1997 and 2007 I presented papers on In Tenga Bithnua at the annual meeting of AELAC

of that gathering

in Dole; and the reactions

of distinguished

specialists have

assisted

me considerably in my continuing work on the text. For well over a decade, I have profited from the kindness

and the scholarship of the other members of the Irish Editorial Board. I wish especially to thank Maire Herbert, true

friend and best of colleagues, who has again and again given me valuable advice on the edition since I first embarked on

it in the late

1980s;

Caoimhin

Breatnach,

whose

un-

stinting and meticulous care in going through drafts of the material has rescued me from innumerable errors and inaccuracies; and Fr Martin McNamara,

MSC, whose

copious

FOREWORD

9

learning and apparently inexhaustible energy have been the backbone of all our efforts. I have also been greatly helped and guided by the members of the AELAC Committee. Here I must in particular express my indebtedness to the sympathetic and probing comments of Rémi Gounelle, to the extraordinarily astute and selfless attention dedicated to the text by Albert Frey, and to the wealth of insights provided

by the

external

readers

who

examined

the edi-

tion’s final draft. These individuals bear of course no responsibility for the failings of the present work (whether in matters of detail or in its overall approach), which they have done much to mitigate. Since 1993 I have been based in Ireland, and since 1995

I have taught in the Department Irish at University

College

Cork.

of Early and Medieval During

this time

I have

made extensive use of UCC’s microfilm holdings, for access to which I am grateful to the staff responsible for the Spe-

cial Collections at the Boole Library. I also thank Bernard Meehan, Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College Dublin, for having allowed me to examine the Yellow Book of Lecan.

To work on In Tenga Bithnua has been an education, an adventure,

a privilege,

and

a blessing.

It would

indeed

be

truer to say that it has been many blessings: my year at the Warburg led to my meeting my wife Stella, and to all of the happiness which she and our children Lavinia and Francis have brought to me. In these terms, I owe this re-

markable text more than I can ever repay. I would like to conclude these remarks by speaking of another blessing. It was my great good fortune, shortly

after my arrival in London, to make the acquaintance of the remarkable artist Thetis Blacker, whose dazzling images of cosmic

dramas

and

apocalyptic

beasts

adorn

some

of

the greatest churches and cathedrals in England. She was fascinated by In Tenga Bithnua from the first occasion of my describing it to her, and conceived the dream of producing a series of banners which would illustrate it. Over the years, other commitments and commissions again and again prevented her from undertaking this project, but her enthusiasm for it never wavered: at the last public talk

10

FOREWORD

which I heard her give, not long before her untimely death in December of 2006, she was still speaking of the text in glowing terms.

That the philological intricacies and enigmatic background of In Tenga Bithnua should be of interest to scholars is not at all surprising — all that is surprising, indeed, is that relatively few have studied it since the pioneering editions of Dottin and Stokes. Whatever his materials

may

have been, however,

the work’s author im-

presses us most forcefully by the power of his imagination: a reckless, visionary sensibility which did not hesitate to construct an entire fantastic universe as an offering to the God whose glory fills heaven and earth. It is perhaps the ultimate

testimony to his achievement

that another gifted

artist should have felt herself to be so at home in his creation —

more

truly so, perhaps, than has been the case for

anyone else in the course of the last several centuries. And so it is to Thetis

that

this

book

is dedicated,

in loving

memory. Cork, December

2008

John

Carey

ABBREVIATIONS Reference ACL Anecd. BSGRT CCCM CCSA CCSA.I CCSL CH

CSEL DIL

EIV GCS

Works

and Series

Archiv fiir celtische Lexikographie. Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts. Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana. Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis. Corpus Christianorum. Series Apocryphorum. Corpus Christianorum. Series Apocryphorum. Instrumenta Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina. Corpus Hermeticum (A. D. Nock — A. J. FEstuGIERE, Corpus Hermeticum, 4 vols., Paris 1945-1954). Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Dictionary of the Irish Language (E. G. Quin, Dictionary of the Irish Language Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials, compact edition, Dublin 1983). The Early Irish Verb (K. McCone, The Early Irish Verb [Maynooth Monographs 1], Maynooth 1987). Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte.

Gramm.

R. THURNEYSEN, A Grammar of Old Irish, trans. D. A. Bincuy — O. Berain, Dublin 1946.

Lexique

J. VenprRYES ef al., Lexique étymologique de Uirlandais ancien, Paris — Dublin 1959-. A Bibliography of Celtic-Latin Literature 400-1200 (M. Lapipce — R. Suarpe, A Bibliography of CelticLatin Literature 400-1200 |Dictionary of Medieval Latin from Celtic. Ancillary Publications 1], Dublin 1985). Nag Hammadi Codex. Patrologia graeca. Patrologia latina. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Revue celtique. W. Sroxes — J. STRACHAN, Thesaurus Palaeohibernt-

L&S

cus, 2 vols., Cambridge

ZCP

1901-1903.

Zeitschrift fiir celtische Philologie

Sigla Used for Texts Cited or Quoted AU BB

Annals of Ulster (S. Mac Airt — G. Mac NIOCAILL, The Annals of Ulster [to A.D. 1131], Dublin 1983). Book of Ballymote.

12

ABBREVIATIONS

The

BCr

Carlsruhe

Glosses

on

Bede,

ed.

Thes.,

vol.

2,

p. 10-30. Cat.

Celt.

Catechesis Celtica (A. WiLMart, “Catécheses celtiques”, in Analecta Reginensia. Extraits des manuscrits

latins de la Reine Christine au Vatican [Studi e testi 59], Vatican City 1933, p. 29-112). Corpus Turis Hibernici (D. A. Bincuy, Corpus iuris

ClH

Hibernici, 6 vols., Dublin Corm.

Y

Etym. Fél.

LL

LL TBC

Leinster, Dublin

1967).

Lebor na hUidre (R. I. Best — O. Beran, Lebor na hUidre. Book of the Dun Cow, Dublin 1929).

LU Met.

1978).

Sanas Cormaic (“Sanas Cormaic... Edited from the Copy in the Yellow Book of Lecan”, Anecd. 4 [1912], p. 1-128). Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae. Félire Óengusso Céli Dé (W. Stoxss, Félire Oengusso Céli Dé. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee [Henry Bradshaw Society 29], London 1905). The Book of Leinster (R. I. Best et al., The Book of Leinster formerly Lebar na Nuachongbdla, 6 vols., Dublin 1954-1983). Tain Bo Cualnge from the Book of Leinster (C. O’RauILtLy, Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of

Ds.

The Metrical Dindshenchas

(E. J. Gwynn,

The Met-

rical Dindshenchas [Todd Lecture Series 8-12], 5 vols., Dublin 1903-1935). MI

The Milan glosses, ed. Thes., vol. 1, p. 7-483.

“O’Davoren’s Glossary” (W. Stokes, “O’Davoren’s Glossary”, ACL 2 [1904], p. 197-504). O’Mulc. “O’Mulconry’s Glossary” (W. Strokes, “O’Mulconry’s Glossary”, ACL 1 [1900], p. 232-324, 473-481). PH Passions and Homilies from the Leabhar Breac (R. ArKinson, The Passions and Homilies from Leabhar Breac [Todd Lecture Series 2], Dublin 1887). The St Gall glosses, ed. Thes., vol. 2, p. 49-224. Sg SnG Stair na Gaeilge (K. McCone et al., Stair na Gaeilge in Omós do Padraig O Fiannachta, Maynooth 1994. SR Saltair na Rann (W. SToggs, Saltair na Rann, Oxford 1883). TB In Tenga Bithnua. TBC Rec. I Tain Bo Cuailnge: Recension I (C. O'RaniLLv, Táin Bo Cuailnge: Recension I, Dublin 1976). O’Dav.

Tur.

The Turin glosses, ed. Thes., vol. 1, p. 484-494.

Wb

The Wiirzburg glosses, ed. Thes., vol. 1, p. 499-712.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sigla Used Volume The

Of KO

for

Book

Manuscripts

of Lismore,

of the

the

13

Text

Devonshire

Edited

in this

Collections,

Chats-

worth House. Rennes, Bibliotheque municipale, 598/15489. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 O 48 a-b (476), known as the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. Paris, Bibliothéque nationale de France, Fonds celtique no. 1. Dublin, Trinity College, H.2.16 (1318), known as the Yellow Book of Lecan.

Other Abbreviations

RIA NLI

Royal Irish Academy National Library of Ireland

BIBLIOGRAPHY Apsot (T. K.) — Gwynn (E. G.) Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Dublin 1921. ABEL (E.), Orphei Lithica, Berlin 1881. ABERCROMBY (J.), “Two Irish 15'” Cent. Versions of Sir John Mandeville’s

368. ADRIAEN 143A,

Travels”,

RC

7 (1886),

(M.), S. Gregorii Magni 143B), Turnhout

p. 66-79,

Moralia

210-224,

358-

in Iob (CCSL

143,

1979-1985.

ALEXANDRE (M.), Le commencement du Livre, Genése I-V. La verston grecque de la Septante et sa reception (Christianisme anlique 3), Paris 1988.

AMSLER (F.), Acta Philippi. Commentarius (CCSA 12), Turnhout 1999. ANDERSEN (F.), “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, J. H. CHARLESworTH, ed., Garden City 1983, p. 91-221. ARNDT (W.), “Gregorii episcopi Turonensis historia Francorum”, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum merovingicarum, vol. 1, 1885, p. 1-450.

ASSMANN (E.), Lucii Ampelit Liber memorialis, Leipzig 1935. ATKINSON (R.), The Passions and Homilies from Leabhar Breac (Todd Lecture Series 2), Dublin 1887. ArrripGe (H. W.), “Greek and Latin Apocalypses”, Semeia 14 (1979), p. 159-186. Basut (E.-Ch.), Priscillien et le priscillianisme (Bibliotheque de UV'Ecole des Hautes Etudes. Sciences historiques et philologiques 169), Paris 1909.

14

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Banks (S. E.) — Binns (J. W.), Gervase of Tilbury, Otia imperialia | Recreation for an Emperor, Oxford 2002. BauckHaM (R.), “The Apocalypse of the Seven Heavens: The Latin Version”, Apocrypha 4 (1993), p. 141-175. BauMGARTEN (R.), “A Hiberno-Isidorean Etymology”, Peritia 2 (1983), p. 225-228. —,

“Discourse Markers in Medieval

Irish Texts:

Cs-, cair, ni, and

Similar Features”, Eriu 43 (1992), p. 1-37. Bay tess (M.) — LapipGe(M.), Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae 14), Dublin 1998. BEDA VENERABILIS, Opera. Pars 6: Opera didascalica (CCSL 123AC), 3 vols., Turnhout

1975-1980.

BEEsoNnN (C. H.), Hegemonius, Acta Archelai (GCS 1906. Berain (O.), “Varia II”, Eriu 11 (1932), p. 136-149.

16), Leipzig

Beran (O.) — Best (R. I.), “Tochmarc Etaine”, Ériu 12 (19341938), p. 137-196. BERNARD (J. H.) — ATKINSON

(R.), The Irish Liber hymnorum

(Henry Bradshaw Society 13-14), 2 vols., London 1898. Best (R. I.), “The Adventures of Art Son of Conn, and

the

Courtship of Delbchem”, Eriu 3 (1907), p. 149-172. —, “The Canonical Hours”, Eriu 3 (1907), p. 116. —, “The Settling of the Manor of Tara”, Ériu 4 (1910), p. 121172: —, “The Lebar Brecc Tractate on the Canonical Hours”, in Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer by Some of his Friends and Pupils on the Occasion of his Appointment to the Chair of Celtic Philology in the University of Berlin, O. BERGIN — C. MarSTRANDER, eds., Halle 1912, p. 142-166. Best (R. I.) — Berean (0.), Lebor na hUidre. Book of the Dun Cow, Dublin 1929. Best

(R. I.) ef al., The Book of Leinster formerly Lebar na Nuachongbala, 6 vols., Dublin 1954-1983.

Betz (H. D.), The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, including the Demotic Spells, Chicago and London 1986. BHREATHNACH (M.), “A New Edition of Tochmare Becfhola”, Eriu 35 (1984), p. 59-91. Biacs (F. M.), The Sources of Christ III: A Revision of Cook’s Notes (Old English Newsletter. Subsidia 12), Binghamton NY 1986. —, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture. The Apocrypha (Instrumenta Anglistica Mediaevalia 1), Kalamazoo, 2007. BIHLMEYER (P.), “Un text non interpolé de lApocalypse de Thomas”, Revue Bénédictine 28 (1911), p. 270-282. Bincuy (D. A.), Crith Gablach (Medieval and Modern Irish Series 11), Dublin 1941. —, Corpus iuris Hibernici, 6 vols., Dublin 1978.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

15

BiscuorF (B.), “Turning-Points in the History of Latin Exegesis in the Early Middle Ages”, trans. C. O’Grapy in Biblical Studies. The Medieval Irish Contribution (Proceedings of the Irish

Biblical

Association

1), M.

McNamara,

ed.,

Dublin

1976, p. 74-160. The first edition of the German text was published in Sacris Erudiri 6 (1954), p. 179-281. Buiatt (F.) - LEFEvRE (Y.), Novum glossarium mediae latinitatis. Ordior — Oz, Copenhagen 1983. Boyce (M.), “Sadwés and Pésiis”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 13,4 (1951), p. 908-915. Bonnet (M.), Acta apostolorum apocrypha, vol. 2, parts 1-2, Hildesheim 1959. BorsJeE (J.) - O Crornin (D.), “A Monster in the Indian Ocean”, Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 49 (1995), p. 1-11. Borst (A.), Der Turmbau von Babel. Geschichte der Meinungen tiber Ursprung

und

Vielfalt

der

Sprachen

und

Véolker,

4 vols.,

Stuttgart 1957-1963. Bovon (F.), “Les Actes de Philippe”, Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt H, 25.6 (Berlin — New York 1988), p. 44314527. Bovon (F.) — Bouvier (B.) - AMSLER (F.), Actes de l’apétre Philippe (Apocryphes 8), Turnhout 1996. —, Acta Philippi. Textus (CCSA 11), Turnhout 1999. Bovon (F.) — GEOLTRAIN (P.), Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1 (Bibliotheque de la Pléiade 442), Paris 1997. BREATNACH

(L.), “Some

Remarks

Eriu 31 (1980), p. 1-9.

on the Relative

in Old Irish”,

—,

Review of Mac Maruuna 1985, in Celtica 20 (1988), p. 177roe. Breen (A.), “The Liturgical Materials in MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Auct. F.4./32”, Archiv fiir Liturgiewissenschaft 34 (1992), p. 121-153. Bunce (E. A. W.), The Egyptian Heaven and Hell (Books on Egypt and Chaldaea 20-22), 3 vols., London

1905.

—, Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt, London 1913. Burnett (C.), Pseudo-Bede, De mundi celestis terrestrisque constilutione. A Treatise on the Universe and the Soul (Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 10), London

1985.

Burrus (V.), The Making of a Heretic. Gender, Authority and the Priscillianist Controversy (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage 24), Berkeley 1995. Bynum (C. W.), The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336 (Lectures on the History of Religions. NS 15), New

York

1995.

_

CALpEng (G.), Auraicept na n-Eces. The Scholar’s Primer, Edinburgh 1917. —, Togail na Tebe, Cambridge 1922. Carey (J.), “Where is Hell?”, Béaloideas 50 (1982), p. 42-43.

16

—, —, —, —, —, —, —,

—, —,

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Cosmology in Saltair na Rann”, Celtica 17 (1985), p. 33-52. “A Tract on the Creation”, Eigse 21 (1986), p. 1-9. “The Heavenly City in Saltair na Rann”, Celtica 18 (1986), p. 87-104. “Angelology in Saltair na Rann”, Celtica 19 (1987), p. 1-8. “Visio Sancti Pauli and the Saltair’s Hell”, Eigse 23 (1989), p. 39-44. “An Edition of the Pseudo-historical Prologue to the Senchas Mar”, Eriu 45 (1994), p. 1-32. “The Sun’s Night Journey. A Pharaonic Image in Medieval Ireland”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 57 (1994), p. 14-34. “Apuleius in the Underworld. A Footnote to Metamorphoses 11”, Alexandria 3 (1995), p. 371-375. “The Rivers of Paradise and Hell, and the Nine Suckers of the

Sea”, in The Road to Parnassus. Homage to Peter Russell on his Seventy-fifth Birthday (Salzburg Studies in English Literature. Poetic Drama

— Poetic

Theory

101), J. Hoaa,

ed., Salz-

burg 1996, p. 425-428. —, A Single Ray of the Sun. Religious Speculation in Early Ireland, Andover — Aberystwyth 1999. —, “In Tenga Bithnua: From Apocalypse to Homily?”, in The Scriptures and Early Medieval Ireland (Instrumenta Patristica 31), T. OLouautuin, ed., Turnhout 1999, p. 51-68. —, King of Mysteries. Early Irish Religious Writings, 2°° ed., Dublin 2000. : —, “The Lough Foyle Colloquy Texts: Immacaldam Choluim Chille 4 ind Oclaig oc Carraic Eolairc and Immacaldam in Druad Brain 4 inna Banfhátho Febuil ós Loch Fhebuil”, Ériu 52 (2002), p. 53-87. —, “The Seven Heavens and the Twelve Dragons in Insular Apocalyptic”, in Apocalyptic and Eschatological Heritage. The Middle East and Celtic Realms, M. McNamara, ed., Dublin 2003, p. 121-136. Carney (J.), Studies in Irish Literature and History, Dublin 1955. —, The Poems of Blathmac son of Cu Brettan (Irish Texts Society 47), Dublin 1964. —,

“The

Dating

of Early Irish Verse Texts, 500-1100”,

Eigse 19

(1983), p. 177-216. Carney (M.), “The Works of the Sixth Day”, Eriu 21 (1969), p. 148-166. Caraupi (M.), La Lingua Semprenuova — In Tenga Bithnua, Turin 1999. —, “‘Haeli habia felebe fae niteia temnibisse salis sal’. In colloquio con la Lingua Semprenuova”, in Epistolari e Conversari. Arti e pratiche del dire (Lingua e letteratura francese), V. GIANOLIO, ed., Turin 2001, p. 11-24.

BIBLIOGRAPHY —,

“Chaos

as

Aesthetics

Multiplicity.

&

Chaos.

Examples

17 in Medieval

Investigating

a

Creative

Ireland”,

in

Complicity,

G. MaRCcHIANO, ed., Turin 2002, p. 189-204. Cuapwick (H.), “Origen, Celsus, and the Resurrection

of the

Body”, Harvard Theological Review 41 (1948), p. 83-102. —, Priscillian of Avila. The Occult and the Charismatic in the Early Church, Oxford 1976. CHAPARRO Gomez (C.), De ortu et obitu patrum. Isidoro de Sevilla, Vida y muerte de los santos (Auteurs latins du Moyen Age), Paris 1985. CHARLES-Epwarps (T.) — Kerry (F.), Bechbretha (Early Irish Law Series 1), Dublin 1983. CHARLESWORTH (J. H.), “Odes of Solomon” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, J. H. CHaRLEsworth, ed., Garden City 1985, p. 725-771. Ciancy (T. O.) — MArxus (G.), Jona. The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery, Edinburgh 1995. Couuins (J. J.), “Sibylline Oracles” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, J. H. CHaRLEswortu,

ed., Garden

City 1983,

p. 317-472. Cross (J. E.) - Hix (T. D.), The Prose Solomon and Saturnus and Adrian and Ritheus (McMaster Old English Studies and Texts 1), Toronto 1982. Cumont (F.), Recherches sur le manichéisme,

vol. 1: La cosmogonie

manichéenne d’aprés Théodore Bar Khoni, Brussels 1908. CurrRAN (M.), The Antiphonary of Bangor and the Early Irish Monastic Liturgy, Dublin 1984. Danpo (M.), “Les Gnostiques d’Egypte, les Priscillianistes d’Espagne, et léglise primitive d’Irlande”, Cahiers d’études cathares 56 (1972), p. 3-34. De H-Ínpe (D.), “Tri Gáire an Domhain”, ZCP 17 (1928), p. 111112. Diaz y Diaz (M. C.), Liber de ordine creaturarum. Un anonimo irlandés del siglo VII (Monografias de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela 10), Santiago de Compostela 1972. Dick (A.), Martianus Capella (BSGRT), Leipzig 1925. Diets (H.), Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, Berlin 1906. Ditton (J. M.), Zamblichi Chalcidensis in Platonis dialogos commentariorum fragmenta (Philosophia antiqua 23), Leiden 1973. Ditton (M.), “The Yew of the Disputing Sons”, Eriu 14 (1946), p. 154-165. —, Serglige Con Culainn (Medieval and Modern Irish Series 14), Dublin 1953. —,

Lebor

na

Cert.

The

Book

of Rights

(Irish

Texts

Society

46),

Dublin 1962. DonauHuE (C.), “Grendel and the Clanna Cain”, Journal of Celtic Studies 1 (1950), p. 167-175.

18

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dorivat (G.), “Origéne et la résurrection de la chair”, in Origeniana Quarta. Die Referate des 4. internationalen Origeneskongresses (Innsbruck, 2.-6. September 1985) (Innsbrucker theologische Studien 19), L. Lies, ed., Innsbruck 1987, p. 290-321. Dorttin (G.), “Les deux chagrins du royaume du ciel”, RC 21 (1900) p. 349-387. —, “Le Teanga Bithnua du manuscrit de Rennes”, RC 24 (1903), p. 365-403. —,

“Une

rédaction

moderne

du Teanga Bithnua”,

RC

28 (1907),

p. 277-307. —, “Un traité irlandais du moyen-age: La Langue toujours nouvelle”, Annales de Bretagne 34 (1919-1920), p. 190-207, 278297. DrEssLER (F.), Petrus Damiani: Leben und Werk (Studia anselmiana 34), Rome

1954.

DuMvIiLLE (D.), “Biblical Apocrypha and the Early Irish. A Preliminary Investigation”, PRIA 73C (1973), p. 229-338. Duncan (L.), “Altram Tige Da Medar”, Eriu 11 (1932), p. 184225. Exuiotr (J. K.), The Apocryphal New Testament. A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation, revised reprint, Oxford 1999. Ersse (H.), Scholia graeca in Homeri Iliadem. Scholia vetera, vol. 5, Berlin 1977. Esposito (M.), “An Apocryphal ‘Book of Enoch and Elias’ as a Possible Source of the Navigatio Sancti Brendani”, Celtica 5 (1960), p. 192-206. Fasricius (J. A.), Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti, Hamburg big. FESTUGIÉERBE (A.-J.), “L’ame et la musique d'apres Aristide Quintilien”, Transactions of the American Philological Society 85 (1954), p. 55-78. —, Hermétique et mystique paienne, Paris 1967. FiscHer (B.), Vetus Latina. Die Reste der altlateinischen Bibel, Freiburg 1949-. —, “Die Lesungen der rémischen Ostervigil unter Gregor d. Gr.”, in « Colligere fragmenta ». Festschrift Alban Dold zum 70. Geburtstag am 7.7.1952 (Texte und Arbeiten | Erzabtei Beuron. Beihefte 2), B. Fischer — V. FIALA, eds., Beuron in Hohenzollern 1952, p. 144-159.

—,

Vetus Latina Institut der Erzabtei Beuron. Bericht 2, Beuron in Hohenzollern 1968. FLowER (R.), Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum, vol. 2, London 1926. Forster (M.), “Adams Erschaffung und Namengebung”, Archiv fiir Religionswissenschaft 11 (1907-1908), p. 477-529. FRIEDMAN (J. B.), The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought, Cambridge (Mass.) 1981.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

19

Gaipoz (H.), “La recommandation du vendredi”, Mélusine 4 (1888), p. 133-135. —, “La cosmologie celtique”, ZCP 1 (1897), p. 27-28. GasTER (M.), Letter written in 1906 to Whitley Stokes (in Stokes’s own offprint of his edition of TB), University College, London.

GEoLTRAIN (P.) — Karstii (J.-D.), Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 2 (Bibliothéque de la Pléiade 516), Paris 2005. GiJsEL (J.) - BEYERs (R.), Libri de nativitate Mariae (CCSA 9-10), Turnhout 1997. GINzBuURG (L.), The Legends of the Jews, tr. H. Szoip, 7 vols., Philadelphia 1953. GOLDBACHER (A.), S. Aureli Augustini Hipponiensis episcopi epistulae, pars II (CSEL 44), Vienna — Leipzig 1904. GOUNELLE (R.), Les recensions byzantines de V'Evangile de Nicodéme (CCSA.I 3), Turnhout 2008. GraFF

(E.), Diutiska.

Denkmdler

deutscher

Sprache und Literatur,

vol. 2, Stuttgart — Tubingen 1827. GREENE (D.), “In momento, in ictu oculi”, Eriu 21 (1969), p. 25-31. GriFFiTHs (J. G.), Apuleius of Madauros, The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI) (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans Empire romain 39), Leiden 1975. Griaas (C. W.), Early Egyptian Christianity from its Origins to 451 CE (Coptic studies 2), Leiden 1990. Grimm (J.), Deutsche Mythologie, 3 vols., 4" ed., Berlin 1878. GUNDEL (W.), “Naive Ansichten tiber Wesen, Herkunft und Wirkung

der

Kometen”,

Hessische

Bldtter

fiir

Volkskunde

7

(1908), p. 78-115. Gwynn (A.), The Writings of Bishop Patrick 1074-1084 (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae

Gwynn —,

1), Dublin

1955.

(E. J.), The Metrical Dindshenchas (Todd Lecture Series 8-

12), 5 vols., Dublin 1903-1935. “An Irish Penitential”, Eriu 7 (1914), p. 121-95.

—,

“The Rule of Tallaght”, Hermathena 44 (1927), second supplemental volume, p. 64-103. Gwynn (E. J.) - Purton (W. J.), “The Monastery of Tallaght”, PRIA 29C (1911), p. 115-179. Gwynn (L.), “De Shíl Chonairi Móir”, Eriu 6 (1912), p. 130-143.

—,

“Cináed

úa Hartacain’s

Poem

on Bruigh

na Bóinne”,

Eriu

7

(1914), p. 210-238. Hatt (T. N.), “The Reversal of the Jordan in Vercelli Homily 16 and in Old English Literature”, Traditio 45 (1989-1990), p. 53-86. Harpman (J.), Irish Minstrelsy or Bardic Remains of Ireland, 2 vols., London

1831.

Heist (W. W.), The Fifteen Signs before Doomsday (Studies in Language and Literature), East Lansing 1952. Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice olim Salmanticensi nunc 5) Bruzellensi (Subsidia hagiographica 28), Brussels 1965.

20

BIBLIOGRAPHY

HENNECKE (E.) — SCHNEEMELCHER (W.), New Testament Apocrypha, trans. R. McL. Wixson et al., 2 vols., Philadelphia 1963-1965. Hersert (M.) — McNamara (M.), Jrish Biblical Apocrypha. Selected Texts in Translation, Edinburgh 1989. HERBERT (M.) — Ó Briain (P.), Betha Adamnáin. The Irish Life of Adamnan (Irish Texts Society 54), London 1988. HerREN (M. W.), Hisperica Famina. I. The A-Text (Studies and Texts 31), Toronto

1974.

HicBere (I.), Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi epistulae, 3 vols. (CSEL 54-56), Vienna — Leipzig 1910-1918. Hitt (T. D.) “Notes on the Eschatology of the Old English Christ III”, Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 70 (1969), p. 672679. —, “The Old World, the Levelling of the Earth, and the Burning of the Sea: Three Eschatological Images in the Old English ‘Christ IIT’”, Notes and Queries 217 (1972), p. 323-325. —, “Cosmic Stasis and the Birth of Christ: The Old English Descent into Hell, Lines 99-106”, Journal of English and Germanic

Philology 71 (1972), p. 382-389. Hornunea (E.), Das Amduat. Die Schrift des verborgenen Raums (Agyptologische Abhandlungen 7,1; 7,2; 13), 3 vols., Wiesbaden 1963-1967. Hutt (V.), “Miscellanea”. ZCP 21 (1939), p. 319-338. —,

“Miscellanea.

Old

and

Middle

Irish

do-sna”,

Language

17

(1941), p. 152-155. —, “Miscellanea. Early Irish Initial Mutations after the Dative Plural”, Language 26 (1950), p. 275-276. —, “Apgitir Chrabaid. The Alphabet of Piety”, Celtica 8 (1968), p. 44-89. Hybe (D.), The Religious Songs of Connacht, London 1906. Isaac (E.), “1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, J. H. CHARLESworTH, ed., Garden

City 1983, p. 5-89.

Jackson (K. H.), “The Adventure of Laeghaire mac Crimhthainn”, Speculum 17 (1942), p. 377-389. —, “The Date of the: Tripartite. Life of St. Patrick”, ZCP. 41 (1986) p. 5-45. —,

Aislinge Meic Con Glinne, Dublin

1990.

Jacoss (A. S.), “The Disorder of Books. Priscillian’s Defense of Apocrypha”, Harvard Theological (2000), p. 135-159. James (M. R.), Apocrypha Anecdota. Second Series Studies 5,1), Cambridge 1897. —, “Irish Apocrypha”, Journal of Theological Studies p. 9-16. —, The Apocryphal New Testament, Oxford 1924.

Canonical Review 93 (Texts

and

20 (1919),

BIBLIOGRAPHY

21

JEAUNEAU (E.) — O’MeEara (J. J.), Iohannis Scotti Eriugenae Periphyseon (De diuisione naturae) liber quartus (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae 13), Dublin

1995.

JENSEN (I. H.), Die dilleste Alchymie (Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 4,2), Copenhagen 1921. Jounson (M. D.), “Life of Adam and Eve”, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, J. H. CHARLESwORTH, ed., Garden City 1985, p. 249-295. JosepH (L. S.), “The Origin of the Celtic Denominatives in *-sag-”, in Studies in Memory of Warren Cowgill (1929-1986), C. Watkins,

ed., Berlin 1987, p. 113-159.

Joynt (M.), Feis Tighe Chondin (Medieval and Modern Irish Series 7), Dublin 1936. Kee (H. C.), “Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs”, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, J. H. CHARLESwWORTH, ed., Garden City 1983, p. 775-828. KELLY (F.), “A Poem in Praise of Columb Cille”, Ériu 24 (1973), p. 1-34. —,

Audacht Morainn,

Dublin

1976.

—,

A Guide to Early Irish Law (Early Irish law series 3), Dublin 1988. KENNEY (J. F.), The Sources for the Early History of Ireland. Ecclesiastical. An

(1929').

Introduction

and Guide, repr., New

York

1966

Kim (H. C.), The Gospel of Nicodemus — Gesta Salvatoris, from the Codex Einsidlensis (Toronto Medieval Latin

1373. Kirson (P.), “The

Jewels

and

Bird

Hiruath

Tongue”, Ériu 35 (1984), p. 113-136.

Texts 2), Toronto

of the

‘Ever-new

KurmxeiT (H.-J.), Gnosis on the Silk Road. Gnostic Texts from Central Asia, San Francisco 1993. Kuinck (R.), Die lateinische Etymologie des Mittelalters (Medium aevum. Philologische Studien 17), Munich 1969. Knock (A.), “The Liber Monstrorum. An Unpublished Manuscript and Some Reconsiderations”, Scriplorium 32 (1978), p. 19-28. Knott (E.), The Bardic Poems of Tadhg Dall O hUiginn (Irish Texts Society 22-23), 2 vols., London 1922-1926. —,

Togail Bruidne

Da

Derga

(Medieval

and Modern

Irish

Series

8), Dublin 1936. LAGARDE (P. de), Aegypliaca, Gottingen 1883. —, “Sancti Hieronymi presbyteri Liber interpretationis Hebraicorum nominum”, in Sancti Hieronymi presbyteri opera, pars L1 (CCSL 72), Turnhout 1959, p. 59-161. LapipGE (M.), “Stoic Cosmology”, in The Stoics (Major Thinkers Series 1), J. M. Rist, ed., Berkeley 1978, p. 161-185. LapipGE (M.) — SHarpe (R.), A Bibliography of Celtic-Latin Literature 400-1200 (Dictionary of Medieval Latin from Celtic Sources. Ancillary Publications 1), Dublin 1985.

22

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lecouteux (C.), Pharasmanes, De rebus in oriente mirabilibus (Lettre de Farasmanes) (Beilráge zur klassischen Philologie 103), Meisenheim

am

Glan 1979.

Lees

(C. A.), “The ‘Sunday Letter’ and the ‘Sunday Lists”, Anglo-Saxon England 14 (1985), p. 129-151. —, “Theme and Echo in an Anonymous Old English Sermon for Easter Sunday”, Traditio 42 (1986), p. 115-142. Le Gorr (J.), The Birth of Purgatory, tr. A. GOLDHAMMER, London 1984. LEHNER (A.), Florilegia (CCSL 108D), Turnhout 1987. Letrouit (J.), “Chronologie des alchimistes grecs”, in Alchimie. Art, histoire et mythes (Textes et travaux de Chrysopoeia 1), D. Kaun — S. Marron, eds., Paris — Milan 1995, p. 11-93. LINpEMAN (F. 0.), “Varia IV”, Ériu 31 (1980), p. 164-167. Lotu (J.), “Notes étymologiques et lexicographiques”, RC 45 (1928), p. 173-201. Lowe

(E. A.), The

Bobbio

Missal.

A

Gallican

Mass-Book

(Ms.

Paris. Lat. 13246) (Henry Bradshaw Society 58), London 1920. —, “An Unedited Fragment of Irish Exegesis in Visigothic Script”, Celtica 5 (1960), p. 1-7. Mac Arrt (S.) — Mac NIOcAILL (G.), The Annals of Ulster (to A.D. 1131), Dublin 1983. MAcALISTER (R. A. S.), Lebor Gabdla Érenn (Irish Texts Society 34, 35, 39, 41, 44), 5 vols., London

1932-1956.

—,

The Book of Mac Carthaigh Riabhach otherwise the Book of Lismore (Facsimiles in Collotype of Irish Manuscripts 5), Dublin 1950. Mac Donncha (F.), “Medieval Irish Homilies”, in Biblical Studies. The Medieval Irish Contribution (Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association 1), M. McNamara, ed., Dublin 1976, p..59271, MacGinty (G.), Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus ex tomis canonicis (CCCM 173), Turnhout 2000. MACHIELSEN (J.), Clavis patristica pseudepigraphorum medii aevi, I: Opera homiletica, 2 vols., Turnhout 1990. Mac MATHÚNA (S.), Immram Brain. Bran’s Journey to the Land of the Women (Buchreihe der Zeitschrift ftir celtische Philologie 2), Tiibingen 1985.

Maue

(J. P.), Hermes en Haule-Egyple. Les textes hermétiques de Nag Hammadi et leurs paralléles grecs et latins (Bibliothéque cople de Nag Hammadi. Section textes 3 & 7), Québec 19781982. Matsuoka (T.), Celtic Biblical Stories [in Japanese], Tokyo 1999. McCartuy

(D.) — Breen

(A.), “An

Evaluation

Observations in the Irish Annals”, (1997), p. 117-138.

Vistas

of Astronomical

in Astronomy

41

BIBLIOGRAPHY

McCone

(K.), “The Wiirzburg

23

and Milan

Glosses.

Our Earliest

Sources of ‘Middle Irish’”, Eriu 36 (1985), p. 85-106.

—,

The Early Irish Verb (Maynooth Monographs 1), Maynooth 1987. McCone (K.) et al., Stair na Gaeilge in Omos do Padraig Ó Fiannachta, Maynooth 1994. McKenna (L.), Dan Dé. The Poems of Donnchadh Mor O Dalaigh, and the Religious Poems in the Duanaire of the Yellow Book of Lecan, Dublin 1922. McManon (J. H.), “The Refutation of All Heresies by Hippolytus”, Ante-Nicene Christian Library 6, Edinburgh, p. 17-403. McNatty (R. E.), Der irische Liber de numeris, diss., Munich 1957. —, “The Pseudo-Isidorean ‘De vetere et novo testamento quaestiones”, Traditio 19 (1963), p. 37-50. —, “‘Christus’ in the Hiberno-Latin De ortu et obitu patriarcharum”, Traditio 21 (1965), p. 167-183. —, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, pars I (CCSL 108B), Turnhout 1973. McNamara (M.), The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, Dublin 1975. —, Glossa in Psalmos. Gloss on the Psalms of Codex Vaticanus Palatino-Latinus 68 (Studi e Testi 310), Vatican 1986. —,

“Plan and Source Analysis of Das Bibelwerk,

Old Testament”,

in Ireland and Christendom. The Bible and the Missions (Ver6ffentlichungen des Europa-Zentrums Ttibingen. Kulturwissenschaftliche Rethe), P. Ni Stuttgart 1987, p. 84-112.

CuatTHAin

—

M.

RicurTer,

eds.,

—,

“The Bird Hiruath of the ‘Ever-new Tongue’ and Hirodius of Gloss on Ps. 103:17 in Vatican Codex Pal. Lat. 68”, Eriu 39 (1988), p. 87-94. —, “Celtic Christianity, Creation and Apocalypse, Christ and Antichrist”, Milltown Studies 23 (1989), p. 5-39. McNamara (M.) ef al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I. Evangelia infantiae (CCSA 13-14), Turnhout 2001. MEip (W.), Táin Bo Fraích (Medieval and Modern Irish Series 22), Dublin 1974. ‘ Menasce

(P. J. de), Sand-Gumanik

Vicar. La solution décisive des

doutes. Une apologétique mazdéenne du 1x* siécle (Collectanea Friburgensia NS 30), Fribourg 1945. Menpieta (E. A. DE) — RupsBere (S. Y.), Eustathius. Ancienne version latine des neuf homélies sur ’Hexaéméron de Basile de Césarée (Texte und Untersuchungen 66), Berlin 1958. Mever (K.), Aislinge Meic Conglinne, London 1892. —, Hibernica minora, being a Fragment of an Old-Irish Treatise on —,

the Psalter, Oxford 1894. “Stories and Songs from Irish Manuscripts”,

—,

(1899), p. 113-128. Liadain and Cuirithir, London

1902.

Olia Merseiana

1

24

BIBLIOGRAPHY

—,

s

—, —,

“Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 4 (1903), p. 31-47, 234-240, 467-469. “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 5 (1905), p. 21-25, 495-504. “The Expulsion of the Déssi”, Eriu 3 (1907), p. 135-142. “Fingen Mac Flainn’s Gedicht auf die Fir Arddae”, ACL 3 (1907), p. 291-301. “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 7 (1910), p. 297-312. : “Altirische Reimspriiche”, ZCP 7 (1910), p. 268-269. “Conall Core and the Corco Luigde”, Anecd. 3 (1910), p. 57-63. Betha Colmáin maic Luachdin (Todd Lecture Series 17), Dublin 1911. “Sanas Cormaic... Edited from the Copy in the Yellow Book of Lecan”, Anecd. 4 (1912), p. 1-128. “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 8 (1912), p. 102-120, 195-232, 559-565. “The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories”, ZCP 8 (1912), p. 291-338. “The Guesting of Athirne”, Eriu 7 (1913), p. 1-9. Miscellanea hibernica, Urbana 1917.

—,

v

—,

“Mitteilungen

—, —, —, —, —, —, —, —, —,

s s

aus

irischen

Handschriften”,

ZCP

12

(1918),

p. 290-297, 358-397. —, “Bruchstiicke der Alteren Lyrik Irlands”, Abhandlungen der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Jahrgang 1919, Phil.-Hist. Klasse Nr. 7. Meyer (M. W.), The Letter of Peter to Philip (SBL Dissertation Series 53), Chico (Calif.) 1981.

MEYER (M. W.) — Wisse (F.), “NHC VIII, 2: Letter of Peter to Philip”, in Nag Hammadi Codex VIII, J. H. Sieper, ed., Leiden 1991, p. 227-251. Muac An TSaoi (M.), Dhá Sgéal Arturatochta, Dublin 1946. Mitter (A. W. K.), “O’Clery’s Irish Glossary”, RC 4 (1880), p. 349-428. Mo.uanp

(L.), “Calendrier

francais du treizieme

siécle”, Revue

chéologique N. S. 5 (1862), p. 87-104. Morin (G. G.), S. Hieronymi Tractatus in Psalmos Turnhout

(CCSL

ar-

78),

1958.

Mu.curone (K.), “Die Abfassungszeit und Uberlieferung der Vita Tripartita”, ZCP 16 (1926-1927), p. 1-94. —, Bethu Phatraic, Dublin 1939. Murpocu (B.), The Irish Adam and Eve Story from Saltair na Rann, vol. 2: Commentary, Dublin 1976. Murpny (G.), Early Irish Metrics, Dublin 1961. Murray (K.), Baile in Scáil (Irish Texts Society 58), London 2004. Nic Enri (U.) —- Mac NIocaiLL (G.), “The Second Recension of the Evernew Tongue”, Celtica 9 (1971), p. 1-60.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

25

Nock

(A. D.) — FEsTueiEnpE (A. J.), Corpus Hermeticum, 4 vols., Paris 1945-1954. O’Brien (M. A.), “Varia: 9. Middle Welsh cyfyrdan, Old Irish cobordon”, Eriu 11 (1930), p. 92-93. —, Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae, vol. 1, 2"d ed., Dublin 1976. O Croinin (D.), The Irish Sex Aetates Mundi, Dublin 1983. —, “Cummianus Longus and the Iconography of the Apostles in Early Irish Literature”, in Sages, Saints and Storytellers. Celtic Studies in Honour of Professor James Carney (Maynooth Monographs 2), D. O CorrArn ef al., eds., Maynooth 1989, p. 268-279. —, “Hiberno-Latin Literature to 1169”, in A New History of Ireland, 1: Prehistoric and Early Ireland, D. Ó Crornin, ed., Oxford 2005, p. 371-404. Ó Cuív (B.), “The Seventeen Wonders of the Night of Christ’s Birth”, Eigse 6 (1950), p. 116-126. “Observations on the Book of Lismore”, PRIA 83C (1983), p. 269-292. —, “St Gregory and St Dunstan in a Middle-Irish Poem on the Origins of Liturgical Chant”, in St Dunstan. His Life, Times and Cult, N. Ramsay — M. Sparks — T. Tarron-Brown,

eds.,

Woodbridge 1992, p. 273-297. O Daty (M.), “An Rim, a Ri Richid Rain”, Eigse 2 (1940), p. 183186. —, Cath Maige Mucrama (Irish Texts Society 50), Dublin 1975. O’DonocuukE (T.), “Advice to a Prince”, Ériu 9 (1921-1923), p. 4354. O’Donovan (J.), The Banquet of Dun na n-Gedh and the Battle of Magh Rath, Dublin 1842. O’Grapy (S. H.), Silva Gadelica (I-XX XI). A Collection of Tales in Irish, with Extracts Illustrating Persons and Places, 2 vols.,

London 1892. O’Grapy (S. H.) — Flower (R.), _ scripts in the British Museum, O nAopua (D.), “The First Middle und Medienwechsel — Metrics H. L. C. Tristram,

Catalogue of the Irish Manu3 vols., London 1926-1953. Irish Metrical Tract”, in Metrik and Media (Scriptoralia 35),

ed., Tiitbingen 1991, p. 207-244.

—, Bethu Brigte, Dublin 1978. Outy (F.), Diamant und Bocksblut. Zur Traditions- und Auslegungsgeschichte eines Naturvorgangs von der Antike bis in die Moderne, Berlin 1970. O'KEEFFE (J. G.), “Cain Domnaig”, Eriu 2 (1905), p. 189-214. , “A Poem on the Day of Judgment”, Eriu 3 (1907), p. 29-33. —, “Poem on the Observance of Sunday”, Eriu 3 (1907), p. 143147. Ó Marte (T.), The Language of the Annals of Ulster (Publications of the University of Manchester. Celtic series 2), Manchester 1910.

26

BIBLIOGRAPHY

—,

“Merugud Cléirech Choluim Chille”, in Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer by Some of his Friends and Pupils on the Occasion of his Appointment to the Chair of Celtic Philology in the University of Berlin, O. Berain — C. MarsTRANDER, eds., Halle 1912, p. 307-326. Ó Maonaicu (C.), Smaointe Beatha Chríost, Dublin 1944. O'Meara (J.), Eriugena, Periphyseon (The Division of Nature) (Cahiers d'études médiévales. Cahier spécial 3), a revision of the translation by I. P. SHELDON-WILLIAMS, Montréal — Washington (D.C.) 1987. Omont (H.), “Interrogationes de fide catholica (Joca monachorum)”, Bibliothéque de l’Ecole des Chartes 44 (1883), p. 58aa —, “Catalogue des mss. celtiques et basques de la Bibliotheque nationale”, RC 11 (1890), p. 389-423. —,

“Lettre

a ’empereur Adrian

sur les merveilles

de lAsie”, Bi-

bliothéque de l’Ecole des Charles 74 (1913), p. 507-515. O'NEiLL (T.), The Irish Hand. Scribes and their Manuscripts from the Earliest Times to the Seventeenth Century with an Exemplar of Irish Scripts, Portlaoise

O’Rauitty (C.), Táin Dublin 1967. —,

Tain

Bo

Cuailnge:

Bo

1984.

Cúalnge

Recension

from

I, Dublin

the Book

of Leinster,

1976.

O’RauILiy (T. F.), “-genn for -chenn”, Eriu 13 (1942), p. 140-143. OrcHARD (A.), Pride and Prodigies. Studies in the Monsters of the “Beowulf’-Manuscript, Cambridge 1995. Oskamp (H. P. A.), “Echtra Condla”, Etudes celliques 14 (1974), p. 207-228. Parrotr (D. M.), Nag Hammadi Codices III, 3-4 and V, 1 with Papyrus Berolinensis 8502,3 and Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1081. Eugnostos and The Sophia of Jesus Christ (Nag Hammadi Studies 27), Leiden 1991. PARTRIDGE (A.), Caoineadh na dTrí Muire (Leabhair thaighde 43), Dublin 1983. Pasquaut (G.), Procli Diadochi in Platonis Cratylum Commentaria (BSGRT), Leipzig 1908. Parcr (H. R.), The Other World according to Descriptions in Medieval Literature, Cambridge (Mass.) 1950. PEAnsoNn (B. A.), Nag Hammadi Codices IX and X (Nag Hammadi Studies 15), Leiden

1981.

PEDERSEN (H.), Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen (Gottinger Sammlung indogermanischer Grammatiken), 2 vols., Gottingen

1909-1913.

PickLEs (J. D.), Studies in the Prose Text of the Beowulf Manuscripl, Ph.D. diss., Cambridge 1971. PLuMMER (C.), Letter written in 1906 to Whitley Stokes (in Stokes’s own offprint of his edition of TB, University College, London).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

27

—,

s

Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, 2 vols., Oxford

—,

s

“Betha Farannain”, Anecd. 3 (1910), p. 1-7.

1910.

—,

s

Bethada Naem nErenn, 2 vols., Oxford

1922.

—,

Irish Litanies (Henry Bradshaw Society 62), London 1925.

—,

“Notes

on

Some

Passages

in the Brehon

Laws.

IV”, Eriu 4

(1926-1928), p. 113-129. Poxorny (J.), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wérterbuch, 2 vols., Bern — Stuttgart 1959-1969. Porsia (F.), Liber monstrorum (Storia e civilta 15), Bari 1976. PREISENDANZ (K.) ef al., Papyri graecae magicae, 2° ed., Leipzig eas QuIN (E. G.), Dictionary of the Irish Language Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials, compact edition, Dublin 1983. QUINN (E. C.), The Quest of Seth for the Oil of Life, Chicago 1962. RADNER (J. N.), Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, Dublin 1978. ReMLEY (P. G.), Old English Biblical Verse. Studies in Genesis, Exodus and Daniel (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 16), Cambridge 1996. REITZENSTEIN (R.), “Zur Geschichte der Alchemie und des Mystizismus”, Nachrichten der kéniglichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Géttingen, Phil.-hist. KI. 1919, Heft 1. ReEYNOLDs (R. E.), “Rites and Signs of Conciliar Decisions in the Early Middle Ages”, in Segni e riti nella chiesa altomedievale occidentale (Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sulValto medioevo 33), Spoleto 1987, p. 207-249. Riese

(A.),

Anthologia

latina,

1: Carmina

in codicibus

scripta,

2: Reliquorum librorum carmina (BSGRT), Leipzig 1906. Roserts (A.), My Heart My Mother. Death and Rebirth in Ancient Egypl, Rottingdean (East Sussex) 2000. —, Golden Shrine, Goddess Queen. Egypt’s Anointing Mysteries, Rottingdean (East Sussex) 2008. Rosinson (F.), Coptic Apocryphal Gospels (Texts and Studies 4,2), Cambridge 1896. Ross (D. J. A.), Alexander historiatus (Warburg Institute Surveys 1), London 1963. Roya IRISH ACADEMY,

Leabhar

Breac,

the Speckled Book,

other-

wise styled Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre, the Great Book of Dun Doighre, Dublin 1872-1876. RusBinklewicz (R.), “The Apocalypse of Abraham”, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,

vol. 1, J. H. CHARLESWOBTH,

ed.,

Garden City 1983, p. 681-705. RussELL

(P.),

“The

Celtic

Preverb

*uss

and

Related

Matters”,

Eriu 39 (1988), p. 95-126. SANDERS (E. P.), “Testaments of the Three Patriarchs”, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, J. H. CHARLESWORTH, ed., Garden City 1983, p. 869-918.

28

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

Santos OTERO (A. de), Los evangelios apocrifos (Biblioteca de aulores cristianos 148), Madrid 1984. SCHENKL (C.), “Claudii Marii Uictoris Alethia”, in Poetae christiant minores, pars 1 (CSEL 16), Vienna 1888, p. 335-498. Scumipt (C.), Pistis Sophia, trans. V. MacDermor (The Coptic Gnostic Library. Nag Hammadi Studies 9), Leiden 1978. SEABHAC (AN) [ó SIOCHFHRADHA, (P.)], Seanfhocail na Muimhneach, Dublin 1984. SEBILLOT (P.), Le Folk-lore de France, 4 vols., Paris 1904-1907.

SELMER

(C.), Navigatio

Sancti Brendani

Medieval Studies 16), Notre Dame

abbatis (Publications

in

(Ind.) 1959.

Seymour (St. J.), “The Signs of Doomsday in the Saltair na Rann”, PRIA 36C (1923), p. 154-163. SILVERSTEIN (T.) — Hituorst (A.), Apocalypse of Paul. A New Critical Edition of Three Long Latin Versions (Cahiers dorientalisme 21), Geneva 1997. SmytTH (M.), Understanding the Universe in Seventh-Century Ireland (Studies in Celtic History 15), Woodbridge 1996. —,

“The Date and Origin of Liber de ordine creaturarum”,

17-18 (2003-2004), p. 1-39. SPITTLER (R. P.), “Testament Pseudepigrapha,

vol.

of Job”,

1, J. H.

in The

CHARLESwortu,

Old

Peritia

Testament

ed.,

Garden

City 1983, p. 829-868. STANCLIFFE (C.), “Red, White and Blue Martyrdom”, in Ireland in Early Mediaeval Europe. Studies in Memory of Kathleen —,

Hughes, D. WuHITELOCK ef al., eds., Cambridge 1982, p. 21-46. “Venantius Fortunatus, Ireland, Jerome: The Evidence of

Precamur Patrem”, Peritia 10 (1996), p. 91-97. STEVENSON (J.), “Ascent through the Heavens, from Egypt to Ireland”, Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 5 (1983), p. 21-35. —, “Altus Prosator”, Celtica 23 (1999), p. 326-368. STOKES (W.), Saltair na Rann, Oxford 1883. —,

—, —, —, —, —, —, —, —, —,

“The

Irish Verses,

Notes

and

Glosses

in Harl.

1802”,

RC

8

(1887), p. 346-369. Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, Oxford 1890. “The Bodleian Dinnshenchas”, Folk-Lore 3 (1892), p. 467-516. “The Edinburgh Dindshenchas”, Folk-Lore 4 (1893), p. 471497. “The Prose Tales in the Rennes Dindsenchas”, RC 15 (1894), p. 273-336, 418-484. “The Prose Tales in the Rennes Dindsenchas”, RC 16 (1895), p. 31-83, 134-167, 269-312. “Hibernica”, Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung 33 (1895), p. 62-86. “The Bodleian Amra Choluimb Chille”, RC 20 (1899), p. 3055, 132-183, 248-287, 400-437. Acallam na Senorach (Irische Texte 4,1), Leipzig 1900. “O’Mulconry’s Glossary”, ACL 1 (1900), p. 232-324, 473-481.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

29

» “O’Davoren’s Glossary”, ACL 2 (1904), p. 197-504. “Tidings of the Resurrection”, RC 25 (1904), p. 232-259. “The Evernew Tongue”, Eriu 2 (1905), p. 96-162. , Félire Oengusso Céli Dé. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee (Henry Bradshaw Society 29), London 1905. —, “The Fifteen Tokens of Doomsday”, RC 28 (1907), p. 308-323. , “Notes on the Evernew Tongue”, Ériu 3 (1907), p. 34-35. —, “The Glossary in Egerton 158”, ACL 3 (1907), p. 145-214. —, In Cath Catharda. The Civil War of the Romans (Irische Texte 4,2), Leipzig 1909. STOKES (W.) — STRACHAN (J.), Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, 2 vols., Cambridge 1901-1903. STRACHAN (J.), “Contributions to the History of the Deponent Verb in Irish”, Transactions of the Philological Society, 1894, p. 444-568. —, “Contributions to the History of Middle Irish Declension”, Transactions of the Philological Society (1903-1906), p. 202246.

= —,

—,

“The Infixed Pronoun

in Middle-Irish”, Eriu 1 (1904), p. 153-

179. , “Two Monastic Rules”, Eriu 2 (1905), p. 227-229. “An Old-Irish Homily”, Eriu 3 (1907), p. 1-10. Simayincen (J.), Die Kreuzauffindungslegende. Untersuchungen uber thre altchristlichen Fassungen mit besonderer Berticksichtigung der syrischen Texte (Forschungen zur christlichen Literatur- und Dogmengeschichte 11,3), Paderborn 1912. SUCHIER (W.), Das mittellateinische Gesprdch Adrian und Epictitus, Tiibingen 1955. TABpIEu (M.), Codex de Berlin (Sources gnostiques et manichéennes. Ecrits gnostiques 1), Paris 1984. THURNEYSEN (R.), “Mittelirische Verslehren”, in Jrische Texte, W. Stokes — E. Winpiscu, eds., vol. 3,1, Leipzig 1891, p. 1182. —, “Miszellen: 5. Zu den irischen Relativsatzen”, Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Sprachforschung 44 (1911), p. 115-117. —, “Tain bo Cuailghni (nach H.2.17)”, ZCP 7 (1912), p. 525-554. —, “Morands Fiirstenspiegel”, ZCP 11 (1917), p. 56-106. —, “Tuirill Bicrenn und seine Kinder”, ZCP 12 (1918), p. 239250. —, “Aus dem irischen Recht I: Das Unfrei-Lehen”, ZCP 14 (1923), p. 335-394. —, —,

—, —,

“Der mystische Baum”, ZCP 14 (1923), p. 16-17. Scéla Mucce Meic Datho (Medieval and Modern Irish Series 6),

,

Dublin 1935. “Zur Seitenfiillung”, ZCP 20 (1935), p. 261. A Grammar of Old Irish, trans. Dublin 1946.

D. A. Bincuy

— O. BERGIN,

30

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

TrerRNEY

(J. J.) Dicuili Liber de mensura

Latini Hiberniae 6), Dublin

orbis terrae (Scriptores

1967.

TIscHENDORF (C.), Evangelia apocrypha, Leipzig 1853 (1871°). Topp (J. H.), Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, London 1867. TristRAM (H. L. C.), “Der ‘homo octipartitus’ in der irischen und altenglischen Literatur”, ZCP 34 (1975), p. 119-153. TuRDEANU

(E.), Apocryphes

slaves el roumains

de Ancien

Testa-

ment (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigraphi 5), Leiden 1981. TuRNER (J. D.), “Trimorphic Protennoia”, in Nag Hammadi Codices XI, XII, XIII (Nag Hammadi Studies 28), C. W. Heprick,

ed., Leiden

1990, p. 371-454.

Van

Hamer (A. G.), Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories (Medieval and Modern Irish Series 3), Dublin 1933. —, Immrama (Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 10), Dublin 1941. VEILLEUX (A.), “Monasticism and Gnosis in Egypt”, in The Roots of Egyptian Christianity (Studies in Antiquity and Christiantty), B. A. Pearson — J. A. GoEHRING, eds., Philadelphia 1986, p. 271-306. VENDRYES (J.), Airne Fingein (Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 15), Dublin 1953. VENpRvYEs (J.) ef al., Lexique étymologique de Virlandais ancien, Paris — Dublin 1959-. VerRMES

(M.), Hegemonius,

Acta Archelai

(The Acts of Archelaus )

(Manichaean Studies 4), Turnhout 2001. VeTANT

(A.),

“Manuscrits

de

la

Bibliotheque

de

Rennes”,

in

Catalogue général des manuscrits des bibliothéques publiques de France. Départements, vol. 24, Paris 1924, p. 1-262. VoGueE (A. DE) — ANTIN (P.), Grégoire le Grand, Dialogues (Sources Chrétiennes 251, 260, 265), Paris 1978-1980. WALKER (G.), Sancti Columbani opera (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae 2), Dublin 1957. WILLARD (R.), Two Apocrypha in Old English Homilies, Leipzig 1935. Witmart (A.), “Catecheses celtiques”, in Analecta Reginensia. Extraits des manuscrits latins de la Reine Christine au Vatican (Studi e testi 59), Vatican City 1933, p. 29-112. Winpiscu

—,

(E.),

“Fis

Adamnain.

Die

Vision

des

Adamnan”,

in

Trische Texte, W. Srokes — E. Winpiscu, eds., vol. 1, Leipzig 1880, p. 165-196. “Das Fest des Bricriu und die Verbannung der Mac Duil Dermait”, in Jrische Texte, W. Stokes — E. Winpiscu,

eds., vol.

2,1, Leipzig 1884, p. 164-217. WINNINGTON-INGRAM (R. P.), Aristides Quintiliani De musica libri tres (BSGRT), Leipzig 1963.

BIBLIOGRAPHIE

31

Wisse (F.), “Gnosticism and Early Monasticism in Egypt”, in B. ALAND, ed., Gnosis. Festschrift fiir Hans Jonas, Gottingen 1963, p. 431-440. Woopine (J.), “St. Brendan's Boat. Dead Hides and the Living Sea in Columban and Related Hagiography”, in Studies in Irish Hagiography. Saints and Scholars, J. Carey — M. HErBERT — P. O Rian, eds., Dublin 2001, p. 77-92. Wricut (C. D.), The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 6), Cambridge 1993. —, “The Apocalypse of Thomas. Some New Latin Texts and their Significance for the Old English Versions”, in Apocryphal Texts and Traditions in Anglo-Saxon England (Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies 2), K. PowELL — D. Scraae,

—,

eds., Cambridge 2003, p. 27-64.

“Why Sight Holds Flowers. An Apocryphal Source for the Iconography of the Alfred Jewel and Fuller Brooch”, in Tezt, Image, Interpretation. Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature and its Insular Context in Honour of Eamonn 0 Carragain (Studies in the Early Middle Ages 18), A. Minnis — J. Roserts, eds., Turnhout 2007, p. 169-186.

Wricut (J. K.), The Geographical Lore of the Time of the Crusades. A Study in the History of Medieval Science and Tradition in Western Europe, gee ed., New

Wricut

York

mouth, 1: Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS.

WricuHt

1965.

(N.), The Historia regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Mon(R. B.), “Psalms

Pseudepigrapha,

vol.

508, Cambridge

of Solomon”, 2, J. H.

in The

CHARLESWORTH,

Old

1985.

Testament

ed., Garden

City 1985, p. 639-670. ZANGEMEISTER (C.), Pauli Orosii Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII (BSGRT), Leipzig 1889. Zycua (J.), S. Aureli Augustini Contra Felicem, De natura boni, Epistula Secundini,

—,

Contra Secundinum,

accedant Evodi De fi-

de contra Manichaeos et Commonitorium Augustini quod fertur (CSEL 35,2), Vienna 1892. Sancti Aureli Augustini De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim, eiusdem libri capitula, De Genesi ad litteram inperfectus liber, Locutionum in Heptateuchum libri septem (CSEL 28,1), Vienna 1894.

iba fi

oe

i “

“Fr OR,

a

FF“

E

har, á dw eet ae

AWE

Báin

aii

ape

i

“=

oa

“

a’

Deeb Fá ont sh

al Jae

rn

>

eo eegalf). Dr

kus

heats

Condit sagtoningletel eZ WA arene lis WB ycttle wore low was (ha faéiexiheúil Há Thú gs ads

io De

Guta ds. mán

cringe

en

sein iia

aes

ra inne, areere) st a

AM

ee ‘asta an)

at

TI) Wwi Mad

‘wha, bais boyy ds Aura

neem eh nn ah Wwe taswhen eae a

my! wal} Nior At.

atl ihe a

an

140)

ited

ee é

Aue RC

LE

ITÉ mae

Gel?

“I

ert? a

Vw

owe

ined

ae

nA os

Doe

3aineig, 400” “

va xx

»

ús

Gale, ad.

Me hi Mee Vv

2°

he

Fáiaáine

are hee

i

ib

á

ruin: F

ssl ba) aval

»a

&

ae a

I

*

INTRODUCTION The text known

as In Tenga Bithnua

(“The Ever-new

Tongue”; hereafter TB) undertakes to give an account of the entire universe: all that is contained in time and space,

and God in his relationship thereto. It is the most ambitious such work to have survived in the literatures of Old and Middle Irish ('), and the grandeur of its theme is matched by the visionary

extravagance

of its style. The latter has

been well described by Melita Cataldi, who writes of TB as “a great mélange of imagination and doctrine, of phantasmagorical invention and cosmological and theological

thought. In its pages we find enchanting originality and surprising refinement, delicate representations, violent imagery, profound views on the nature of time and the universe, grotesque catalogues of astonishing things, of visions alternatively ecstatic and dazzling or frightening

and darkly mysterious (“)”. It is on

this level,

apocryphal

first and

foremost,

composition” (*) should

that

this

“bizarre

be encountered:

I do

not think that there can be any real doubt that the author’s

primary aim was to inspire in his audience a sense of beauty, awe and wonder, of the mysterium tremendum and the mysterium fascinosum. But TB’s dizzying panorama (1) The only other such text of which I am aware is the description of the creation given in the first canto of the sequence of poems known as Saltair na Rann, apparently composed late in the tenth century: W. Sroxes, Saltair na Rann, Oxford 1883, lines 1-336. I have provided a

translation of this in King of Mysteries. Early Irish Religious Writings, 24 rev. ed., Dublin 2000, p. 98-108; and have undertaken an analysis of

its content in the article “Cosmology in Saltair na Rann”, Celtica 17 (1985), p. 33-52. The poem was recast as a brief prose work, which I have edited in “A Tract on the Creation”, Eigse 21 (1986), p. 1-9. (2) M. Caratpi, “Chaos as Multiplicity. Examples in Medieval Ireland”, in Aesthelics & Chaos. Investigating a Creative Complicity, G. Marcuiano,

ed., Turin 2002, p. 196-197.

(3) The phrase is that of C. D. Wriaut, The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 6), Cambridge 1993, p. 35.

34

INTRODUCTION

surely had deeper purposes as well, purposes both intellectual and spiritual. As Socrates is made to say in

Plato’s Theaetetus, the experience of wonder (QavucZety) is the characteristic passion (7&00c) of the philosopher, and is in fact philosophy’s sole origin ('). We find the spiritual uses of an awe-struck contemplation of nature also being evoked by the Irish theologian Columbanus, a monk who stemmed presumably from the same general milieu as the author of TB, and who

wrote

only a few centuries

before his time:

“Tf, then, anyone wishes to know that most deep sea of divine understanding,

let him first, if he is able, scruti-

nise this visible sea. And to the extent that he finds himself unable to know what things hide within the sea, so much the more let him realise that he can know even less concerning the depths of its Maker. And, as is right and fitting, let him presume to speak, not of the Creator, but of creation... Understand the creation, if you

wish to know the Creator (’).” But if we do go looking for enlightenment beneath the surface of TB’s picture of the world, what

may

we expect

to find there? In seeking a clearer picture of the author’s intentions and background, scholars have directed their attention to several different aspects of the text. Whitley Stokes and Montague Rhodes James, as we shall see in greater detail below, were interested primarily in its putative sources: Stokes pointed to evidence that TB is an Irish version of a lost Latin apocalypse, while James held that “its right place is not among apocalypses, but among dialogues...: [texts] for the most part thoroughly vulgar and popular in character, full of folk-lore and descending to elementary jokes” (°). Others, observing that TB’s framework includes an exordium and a peroration, have described it as a homily (Ó).

(1) Theaetetus 155D. (2) G. Waker, Sancti Columbani opera (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae

2), Dublin 1957, p. 64. (3) From a passage cited at greater length below; cf. p. 56, n. 1. (4) Thus T. K. Asporr — E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Dublin 1921,

INTRODUCTION

Peter

Kitson

has found

evidence

35

of the addition

to an

original core of exotic lore drawn from “lapidary texts and

travellers’ tales” ('). Martin McNamara, noting the similarity of some of the concepts in TB to Hiberno-Latin exegesis of the opening of the book of Genesis, has argued that “the work might conceivably be better described as a theological treatise than an apocryphon, even though in the climate of ideas with which we are dealing the differences between

one

and

the other

may

not be too

clearcut” (°).

Many other approaches are surely also feasible. Before all else, though, as Father McNamara has rightly emphasized, “much painstaking literary and source analysis is required before any really informed judgement can be passed on this interesting composition” (*). The present study is an attempt to contribute to such analysis. Structure

of the Edition

The Introduction gives first an overview of the different recensions of TB and the manuscripts transmitting them. A synopsis of the first recension (Book of Lismore text) provides the reader with a general impression of the text. A detailed study of the background and sources reviews the results of previous scholarship and assesses the characteristics and literary genre of TB. Among the sources of TB, particular attention is given to the Acts of Philip, and their transmission to the West is examined. It is argued that Latin versions of ActPhil II and an Egyptian revelation discourse came together and were used by an Irish author as the basis for a “hexaemeral-eschatological” treatise. This Latin text was written in the seventh or the early eighth century and later translated into Irish. The last chapter of the in-

troduction is devoted to dating the Irish version of TB by analysing at some length the linguistic features of the text. p. 103, in their entry for the copy of TB in the Yellow Book of Lecan. Cf. the discussion in the commentary on § 1 and 104-107 below. (1) P. Kitson, “The Jewels and Bird Hiruath of the ‘Ever-new

Tongue”, Eriu 35 (1984), p. 114. (2) In M. Herpert

— M. McNamara,

Irish Biblical Apocrypha.

Selected Texts in Translation, Edinburgh 1989, p. 183. (3) Loc. cit.

36

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

The texts and translations constitute the centre of the volume. The Lismore text (first recension) and its translation are printed on the right hand page; text, apparatus, and translation of the second recension are given on the left in order to facilitate the comparison of the two versions. This presentation is also convenient for following the arguments and explanations given in the commentary and the philological notes. A commentary endeavours to identify TB’s sources and general background, and calls attention to parallels to its doctrines which appear elsewhere. Again, reference is made to the Book of Lismore’s version in the first instance; but when the second recension seems closer to the exemplar, or where it advances alternative ideas, these are noted and dis-

cussed. I have also included in the commentary translations of passages in manuscripts of the second recension which de-

part significantly from the testimony of the manuscript which I have used as the basis for the edition. Many points in the text of TB are of specifically textual interest: these have a bearing on the age and development of the work, on the meaning of disputed passages, and on the philological study of Old and Middle Irish in general. Since these issues will be of particular interest to many readers who will not be primarily concerned with matters dealt with in the commentary (and vice versa), it has seemed desirable to place textual notes in a section of their own. Various indices conclude the volume. I. Recensions and Manuscripts First Recension (the Book of Lismore) The edition presented here is based on the copy preserved in the Book of Lismore (herafter L): a manuscript now kept, as part of the Devonshire Collections, in the library of Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England (’). (1) L was edited by W. Sroxes, (1905), p. 96-162. A new translation ponding to § 1-32, 64-66, 69-74 in M. Hersert — M. McNamara, Irish

“The Evernew Tongue”, Ériu 2 of much of this version (corresthe present edition) appears in Biblical Apocrypha, p. 109-118.

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

37

L was written late in the fifteenth century for the family of Mac Carthaigh Riabhach, lords of Cairbre; its copy of TB (on folios 88-94, following the principal foliation used in the Irish Manuscripts Commission facsimile) (‘) is the work of the main hand, designated “Scribe A” by R. A. S. Mac-

alister and Brian Ó Cuív (2). On the basis of its language, the Lismore version can be shown to go back to a text of the Old Irish period, somewhat modified by a Middle Irish redactor. Evidence for this dating will be provided below. Some nineteenth-century copies of L have also been preserved (°). Second Recension

At some point in the later Middle Irish period a second recension of TB was produced (*). This is preserved in the following manuscripts: Q

Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, Fonds celtique no. 1: a composite manuscript, the section containing TB having been written ca. 1473 by Uilliam Mac an Leagha. TB: fol. 24°-27” (°).

An Italian translation, based on Stokes’s edition, has been produced by M. CATALpt:L, La Lingua Semprenuova — In Tenga Bithnua, Turin 1999; and a Japanese translation, taking account of all previous treatments of the text, is included in T. Matsuoka,

Celtic Biblical Stories, Tokyo 1999,

p. 3-32. A preliminary version of the present translation of the Book of Lismore version, incorporating however several variants from the second recension, appears in J. Carey, King of Mysteries, p. 77-96. (1) Le., the foliation indicated on the upper right corner of rectos: The Book of Mac Carthaigh Riabhach otherwise the Book of Lismore, collotype facsimile with descriptive introduction and indexes by R. A. S. MAcALISTER (Facsimiles in Collotype of Irish Manuscripts 5), Dublin

1950. (2) R. A. S. MACALISTER, op. cit., p. xiv-xv; B. O Cuiv, “Observations on the Book of Lismore”, PRIA 83C (1983), p. 280-281. (3) These are found in Dublin, RIA manuscripts 24 C 6 (261), written

by Eamonn O Mathghamhna for John Windele in 1844-1845; and 23 H 6 (478), written by Seosamh O Longain for the Royal Irish Academy in

1868. (4) U. Nic Enri — G. Mac NíocAILL, “The Second Recension of the Evernew Tongue”, Celtica 9 (1971), p. 1-60. (5) H. Omont, “Catalogue des manuscrits celtiques et basques de la Bibliotheque nationale”, RC 11 (1890), p. 391, 394-395. The manu-

38

Y

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

Dublin, Trinity College, H.2.16 (1318), loosely referred to as the Yellow Book of Lecan; a collection of manuscripts bound together by Edward Lhuyd. Our text appears in a section written A.D. 1391 by Giolla Íosa

Mac Fir Bhisigh. TB: p. 817-86”. O

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 O 48 a-b (476), known as the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum, written in the first half of the 15'" century, possibly in Co. Roscommon. TB: vol.

1, fole35'37", M

Rennes, Bibliotheque municipale, 598/15489: a composite manuscript, the section containing TB having been written in the late 15'" century, probably in Co. Cork. TB: fol. 70'-74° (').

The text of Q is frequently inferior to that of the other manuscripts of the second recension, sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility: attention is called to several particularly corrupt readings in the textual

notes

and

commen-

tary. The scribe has also entirely omitted § 71-98. Q is however of particular interest because of its place in the stemma: that it is independent of the other manuscripts is reflected in its frequent agreement with L against YOM. It would be easy to add to the following examples: LQ vs. led

YOM : giliu L

gili Q

glicu YOM 1,5-6

: as

boidhi

cach

máthair

L

is buidiu

do

maithre-

chaibh Q om. YOM

script’s copy of TB was edited, with some variants from L, Y and M, by G. Dorrin, “Un traité irlandais du Moyen Age. La Langue toujours nouvelle”, Annales de Bretagne 34 (1919-1920), p. 190-207, 278-297. (1) On indications of the date of this part of the manuscript, see J. ABERCROMBY, “Two Irish 15" Cent. Versions of Sir John Mandeville’s Travels”, RC 7 (1886), p. 67-68; and A. VETANT, “Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque de Rennes”, in Catalogue général des manuscrits des bibliothéques publiques de France. Départements, vol. 24, Paris 1924, p. 258-260. Edition of our text, with occasional variants from Q and Y, by G. Dortin,

“Le

(1903), p. 365-403.

Teanga

Bithnua

du manuscrit

de Rennes”,

RC

24

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

2,1-2

: larsindi

4,5

aimricht — acht dia nama Q om. YOM : oenach L entaid Q

6,13

: faille L

8,3

flatha YO aingel M : guth solus L guth solusta Q ingnad YOM

13,1

: de geith ga aer

na

om. Y

fes —

mullaidh

failti Q

L

acht

O

dia

nama

mhullach

39

L

conach

roibi

M

do ghaith a d'áer Q

do er y do gaith YOM 131-2 : for-coemnacair L for-ceemnacair Q a adbur-sin Y a fochainn-sein OM fa? : serbha inna nder L déra 0 fod-era YO

14.1

14,4 14,8

na mur

16,7

do-beir sin M

: as-reracht in domun uile leis L in tan — da eirigh ind uile doman lais Q om. YOM : do-legfaidi L do-leiccfithea Q do-legfed Y do thoitfeadh O do tuitfed M : de biu na marbh L de biibh na de mharbhaib Q na tir Y

reltann na mara

19,3

: nad robai ordugud inna ligboth L gudh na libuaidh Q om. YOM : allinL alinQ

23,8

: do-coissin L

om.

O eile M

na raibhi ordu-

YOM

da-chuisib 0

om. YOM

This combination of conservatism and corruption suggests that Q is based on a second-recension exemplar more primitive than that shared by YOM, but that this strand of the text’s tradition suffered in the course of its subsequent transmission from the carelessness (and frequent incomprehension) of one or more scribes. Among the manuscripts YOM, it can be seen that OM make up a distinct subgroup. This is especially evident in their frequent omissions of material found in LQY, of which a few examples follow: LQY vs. OM 3,1-4,3: do shuilib —

ani-siu uili L

de shil —

om. through homoeoteleuton OM

gech rét QY

40

RECENSIONS

5,4

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

: .xxx. ar .cccc.aib ar tri milib .c. ar tri mili QY om. OM : bliadain — naid QY om. OM

mac

7,4

: ni talmaidiu

8,6

om. OM : dom-roided-sa

n-ennac

L

L

L

ochtmogat ar ceitri

thrí bliadn- —

mac

ec-

dabar

n-

talam 7 Q talman amair Y o dhia dofar n-acalluimh

L

acallaim-si (-si om. Y) rom faided-sa i talmuin ar sé QY om. OM

: ba la tuatha talman em ar se genar-sa L o iltuathaibh in talman ri geinedh mhisi ar sé QY om. OM : whole § LOY 11 om. OM 12,4-5 : do-rime a scel-sin L do-rinnedh in scél-sa QY om. OM : oulcena L archena QY 13,5 10,6

om. OM

15,5-6 : mani ecestar dun do leir L

mine hinnister duinn

co

lléir QY om. OM

OM also share many changes of wording, such as the following: 9.2

: nibu fubthud cin damna L nocharb ecla gen adbar (damna Y) QY 1 do gab uamhuin 7 eagla (u. 7 e.: ecla 7 vamhan M) mor iad OM 9,5-6 : 7 ba binne ceoluib L 7 iss é fa binne do cheolaib in domain (bethaa Y) QY 1 ni cualadar do ceoluibh an domhuin (betha M) a coimhbinn OM 12,2-3 : tria Moyse LOY co Maisi OM 14,4 : do-legfaidi L do-leiccfithea 0 do-legfed Y do thoitfeadh

Each which

of the are

clearly

O

do tuitfed M

manuscripts due

exhibits

to scribal

distinctive

innovation.

readings

Of the four,

however, it is M for which this is most conspicuously the case: M can indeed be thought of as representing a further phase in the development of TB, which also provided the basis for the “short recension” discussed below. This version

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

41

of the text is characterized by the addition of many passages: these, as they appear in M, are discussed in the notes and commentary. M exhibits many other changes as well, some examples of which may be given here: LQYO

vs. M

DS

6,1 12,4

: i tigh dhorcha

12,8-9 : con-rairceda

13.5

14,3.

LQYO

i prisun cumang M : oinach L chomhdail QYO comthinol M : do-cussin L filet QYO ata M —

colainn

cach

duine

L

di comraice-

tar sin (d. c. s.: con-rangadar YO) — colaind cech duine (archeana add. YO) QYO ata a cosmailes-sin uile ‘sa corp denna M : conid (corob YO) ed (iad O) do-gni (de-ni Q do-ber YO) LQYO is é is adhbar do sin .i. M : iar mbas

L_

iarna (o YO) bas QYO

6é€g7 ó adlac- M 14,4-5 : bratho LQYO dili M 19A,1

: adubradar

QYO

deest L

do fhiarfaigedar M 20,9 23,6

25,9 27,6

: tosach LQYO tus M : ifusmiud L a taiscidh ifrinn M

: findfiud

L

aitrebha

M

: as toidi L

finnbotha QYO is (and is add. YO) taidlighi QYO

is innti is comhnaidhthi

28,3-4 : cresaibh cetnuib L 33,1.

QYO

cresann adubramar sein L : cenmotha

bis M

cresaib cétna QYO romhainn M genmothait

(cenmotha

Y)

sin

QYO examla

33,7:

M

rotn-ainic L

rainic (inti add. O) riam QYO

a taistill na a tadhall oir M

On the basis of such patterns of agreement and divergence, it is possible to construct the following stemma for the second recension:

42

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

Y O The and

second

Gearóid

recension’s Mac

M

previous

Niocaill,

editors,

reached

Una

essentially

Nic Enri the

same

conclusions: “It is clear from the variant readings that of the manuscripts of the long recension, [M] and [O] derive from a common

hyparchetype,

ently of one another one,

now

and

that they do so independ-

is assured

in the other, where

by omissions,

now

the reading not omitted

in is

supported by [Q] or Y. It is also clear that this hyparchetype

in turn shares

a common

hyparchetype

with

Y, as against [Q] which is independent of the group Y[MO], and not infrequently offers better readings — better,

that is, in the sense

that they coincide

with the readings of the first recension,

closely

or can be seen to

derive from it. Comparison with this latter indicates that there is little to choose between Y and [Q] in the fidelity with which they have transmitted the readings of the archetype of the second recension (').” As a supplement to my edition of L, I have provided an edition of the second recension: my principal reason for doing this has been the consideration that, since L and the second recension go back independently

to a shared exem-

plar,

may

the

second

recension’s

readings

occasionally

reflect that exemplar more closely than do those of L. Thus

the second recension preserves the significant number “seventy-two”, changed to “seventy” by L (19,3); retains a reference to the seven heavens (20,3); keeps the word dealb

(1) U. Nic Enri — G. Mac

NIOCAILL,

“The

Second

Recension

of the

Evernew Tongue”, p. 2. Where the sigla used by Nic Enri and Mac Niocaill differ from those of the present edition, I have supplied the latter in square brackets.

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

43

“shape” where L substitutes cuairt “circuit” (20,8); describes one of the heavens as being grianda “sunny” where L’s granna “awful” looks like a scribal slip (27,10); has an older

form of the dual definite article (65,2); and appears to give a preferable reading when it speaks of streams of fire, not wheels of fire, as descending from a mountain and traversing a plain (66,18) (’). In the introduction

to their edition,

Nic Enri and

Mac

Niocaill described their approach to the text as follows: “We have ... adopted Y as the basis for this edition, or-

thographical eccentricities included, for the reason that the text of [Q] is incomplete... We have not, however, scrupled to insert the reading of [Q] into the text where it is supported either by the text of the first recension, or by [M] or [O], and thus in all probability gives the reading of the archetype. It should be noted that this latter

criterion

is valid

only

for substantive

variants:

such variants as the addition or omission of ocus at the beginning of a sentence, of .1. before enumerations, of demonstrative particles and the like, are too dependent on scribal whims ... to be of any indicative value. In a number of cases, we have been unable to make satisfactory sense of the text as transmitted, and have

ventured to emend it to a form which might well have been the reading underlying

the variants

of our manu-

scripts, largely on the basis of the reading of the first recension.

We

readily

concede,

however,

that

this

is a

hazardous proceeding... Where, however, [Q], Y, [M] and [O] are in disagreement and there is no means of determining intelligible,

the authentic we

have

reading,

retained

and

the text of Y is

this, in Housman’s

‘same

spirit of gloomy resignation with which a man lies down

on a stretcher when he has broken both his legs’ (’).” (1) Other instances where the readings of the second recension appear preferable to those in L, or contribute to a better picture of their shared exemplar, 25,5;

33,6;

are discussed 46,3; 47,4;

in the notes to IG 53,9;

57,4;

67,2-3;

ely óir 68,3-4;

75,4;

cd; 77,1-2;

84,1;

85,2; 92,5. (2) U. Nic Enri — G. Mac NíocAiLL, “The Second Recension of the Evernew Tongue”, p. 2-3.

44

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

Such phrases as “orthographical eccentricities”, “hazardous proceeding” and “gloomy resignation” suggest that Nic Enri and Mac Niocaill were not entirely at ease in their own minds with regard to the strategy which they had adopted. The resulting edition, while certainly a valuable contribution to scholarship, has a somewhat hybrid character: although it is an attempt to reconstruct a twelfthcentury work, this is presented in the spelling of a manuscript written at the end of the fourteenth century; and, despite the editors’ intentions, innovations in Y are frequently included in the main text (’). In the treatment

which follows, I have adopted a differ-

ent method, presenting a diplomatic edition of one of the manuscripts with an apparatus detailing the variants in the other witnesses (*). With such an approach, the central issue is the

choice

of a

codex

optimus;

a

choice

which,

in the

present case, must lie between Q and Y. Nic Enri and

to choose”

Mac

between

Niocaill,

the

two

as noted

as

above,

regards

found

their

“little

apparent

closeness to the archetype, an assessment with which I concur. In comparing the manuscripts myself, I have not-

ed 349 instances in which the readings of Q appear to be preferable to those in Y, as opposed to 331 in which the reverse is the case. Quantification of this kind is inevitably problematical, however. Does one assign the same weight to the omission or insertion of single words as to that of whole

(1) Thus they follow Y in giving fri hiurscarud 4 fri fuaslucud vs. fri erslocudh L, fri hosluggod Q (2,5); in omitting anything corresponding to imma-teighdis L, tndimthigidis Q (3,3), or to inna torudh L, na toraid Q (3,6); in reading mbeannaib vs. mindaib L, minnaib Q (6,3); in giving the analytic form do coimpred me vs. cotam-aipred L, rom coimpreadh Q (10,7), ete.

(2) In this I have been guided by the example of the first volume in the Apocrypha Hiberniae series, where a similar approach was followed by the editors of the “Infancy Narrative of the Leabhar Breac and related manuscripts”: “One option would have been to attempt to reconstruct an eclectic text, a presumed original InfLB based on the extant manuscripts. But we have rejected this option and decided to select one manuscript as our base text” (M. McNamara ef al., Apocrypha Hiberniae 1. Evangelia infantiae [CCSA 13-14], Turnhout 2001, p. 294.

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

45

phrases or lines? Is the substitution of one word for another

more significant than the changing of a word’s inflection? Should the wholesale recasting of a passage be seen as a single change, or as several (and, if the latter, how many)? In an attempt to be objective I have counted each variation, from the most trivial to the most radical, as a single

item; come Nic cause

but with other premises it would obviously be easy to up with very different figures (’). Enri and Mac Niocaill rejected Q as a base text beit is incomplete: this is a legitimate and a weighty

consideration (*). I believe

however

that

there

are

good

reasons for preferring Q, while using Y to take Q’s place where the latter is defective. At many points in its text of TB, Q preserves versions of phrases or even passages which are omitted in Y. Thus Y, by contrast with Q, lacks ae corresponding to the following in L: 14

1,5-6

: as cennsa cach mac 3 is cendsa na gech mac Q om. YOM : as boidhi cach máthair is buidiu do maithrechaibh

Q

om. YOM 2,1-2

: Iarsindi —

Conach — om. YOM

acht Dia nama

nama Q

3,2-3

: 4 na rend archena imma-teighdis

3,6-9

1 na renna i ndimthigidis Q om. YOM — la tetacht ngaimridh. At-chitis dano esserghe in domuin cona thess 4 a shoilse, cona blathaibh 4 a thorthib la erghe shamraidh doridhissi

(1) Thus if notice is taken only of “substantive variants”, as defined by Nic Enri and Mac Niocaill, the tally would be more in the order of 326 favouring Q, 278 for Y. (2) This was also the reason why the editors of the “Infancy Gospel” decided to present an edition of the text as it appears in Leabhar Breac, despite noting that there are several cases in which this manuscript’s readings appear to be inferior (ibid., p. 284-285, 280, 291; also notes 11,

18, 54, 63, 90, 104, 108-109, 152, 168).

46

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

la taidhecht ngréine geimrid. At-citis immorro

na soillsi

7 na blaith 4 na

toraid

ic taidecht

eirge

int

shamraid Q na soillsi 7 na mblath la techt int shamraid Y *om. OM 4,5

: uas oenach

os

entaid

Slebhe Sion

(mullaidh

O mhullach

M) Sleibhi

Sioin

QOM 6,5

14,1

om. Y : fri fursannad na cete arnach derbanad nach sin ic fursunnugud na cetni-sein, arna bid bron Q om. YOM : As-reracht in domun uile leis In tan do therna in Coimdhi, da eirigh ind uile do-

man lais Q 14,8

om. YOM : de biu na marbh

de biibh na de mharbhaib

Q

na mur na tir Y reltann na mara O eile M

16,7

: nad robai ordugud inna ligboth na raibhi ordugudh na libuaidh 4 Q om. YOM 28,3 : di gxith dec da gaith décc Q om. YOM 29,5-6 : isinn airm i forrumtha na noi tuirid tentigi fri nem indes is diairim co fuilit ne tuirthi teinntighi fri nem andes aga imfhulang Q om. YO san airm a fuilet .ix. tuiri teinntide fo nem andes M 33,5 : um innsib Sab. Ro-saigh nert a thuli a hindsib Sabuirn. Ro-soich osnadh a tonn Q om. Y n-innsibh Sabruind (Sabhuirnn atuaidh M) 4 ro-soith (do-soich M) osnadh a tonn OM 38,3-4 : co n-aplat a beoil i mbron 4 toirrsi co nd-eipleat eiter bas a bethaidh 4 bron 4 toirrsi + berid bas bron 4 toirrsi Y om. OM 39,5

: Ni thanic i ndomun

1 ni thainic isin bith Q om.

YOM

45,3-4 : and ara chind. Nach at-bail focetoir

nathir

don-aidle

no

theit tairis,

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

47

d'feraibh ann ara chind, 7 gech naithir thaidles é eiblid 4 dogeibit bas fo chétóir Q

om. YOM 53,9

: cend i cotlad

cenn a suan Q om. YOM 53,12-13: fri tethacht na ngaeth o thosuch domuin fri taidhecht na ngeth nglanfhuar o thosach main Q om. YOM

58,2

in do-

: asin ndunad

isind inad-sin Q om. YOM 58,2

: meic Shala

meic Sala Q om. YOM 65,2 : fo toibhuibh talman fo thebhaibh in talman Q om. YOM 66,11-12: fris’ ngairet glenn inna pian. To-aitne iar sin ircomuir a n-airbe n-uathach ilbuidnech imero iad donaib ifferndaib fair a nglinn na piann. Ocus taithnid iar sin fos tar illtuathaib ifirn fothuaidh, 4 tar dubghlenn 4 tar srothaibh aideithche ifrinn Q *om. YOM 66,17-18: ro damhnaiged do teinid bratha fri buaig da cach duil ro damnaighedh do theinid bratha fri buaidh do cach dail Q 1 as iad ar lasad uili do dubad dia domnaich Y 1 Siad ar lasad uile O ata ar derglasad do shir a comair in bratha do métugud M 66,18-20:

na

ilmhile

con-tuilet

in codladh

nderach

o thosuch

domuin i nglenn ina mblath. Toidid risna huili dhuile fuilet ‘sa chotlad derach o thosach in domain i nd-uaim na mblath. Rithaidh grian Q om. YOM : O thic tosach in domhnaig 4 0 thic in domnach Q om. YO *om. M 70,2-3 : 3 co lecet a ndera la uacht 4 snechta 4 do-niad déra la snechta 4 la fuacht Q om. Y 4 do-niad déra an/a n-aimsir reoigh 7 sneachta O 1 do-nit sin dobron a n-aimsir reoigh no sneachta M 68,14

48

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

106,5-8: Du i failet — tidnacar and Uair — anmann Q om. YO M has a different ending. There are, to be sure, counterexamples,

but these are not

as numerous. The following phrases and passages in L have equivalents in Y but not in Q: 1,3

6,7-8

6,10

: is ardiu cach

om. Q 1 (om. M) is airdi na cach YOM : 7 coic .c. airdrig om. Q 4 cuic .c. airdri Y *om. OM : canar isna noibnellaib

cantair (co cualadar OM) a nellaib nime YOM 1 is edh adeirdis a thosach cacha ceoil dib ann Q 11,3 : 1 uile gradh nimhe 7 ne ngrada nim Y om. Q *om. OM 15,2-3 : duib a scel-sa. Ar is dall fordorcha duib-si denamh dealbhai in domuin amal do-ruirmed daib a scel ar is dal fordorcha dib denam mar daniathai Y dibh sgela oir is dall fordorcha daib mar taai O scél 7 inganta an domain dib oir is dall 4 is dorcha cach en bis can eolus acht beith a n-ainfhis do sir M daibh imar di-rigned o chein Q 20,7 : iar n-escumluth a corpaib iarna n-ec Y ar n-eg OM om. Q 27,1-2 : Na .uil. nime emh, ol se, im-chomhaircid-si immon mbith: nem na .uli. nime iarfaigi-si am ar se ‘man mbith nem Y o fiarfaidhis am ar se inneosad-sa daibh iad .i. neam O

1 do fregur an T- B- dóib is amhl- so ar si ataid .i. neam M An cetneam dib ar tus ass é Q 29,3-4 : ara fomnatar muire fo gruadibh in nime atuaith. Criss uar aigridi fo fuilet mara fo gruaidhib nime atuaid Y fa fuilid mara fa neimhi atuaidh O

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

49

ó silit mórán do mharuib fo gradhaib an talmatuaid M om. Q 44,2-3 : Cia thoiter do thentib a grisaib fair, ni dhoher tes ind ce (da O) curthir a tinid ni teoaidi riam (om. 0) YO

1 cia beitis a teine ni tedaiti iat hi 7 ni fhuil ar bith arm dergus arinti aca mbit M om. Q 67,1-2:

tarbad-su dun riam

na hilcenéla rann ro luaidis (r.l.: adubartais O do fhuidhlis M) duind (om. OM) o chianaib (0. c. om. M)

YOM rindad cneas 7 Q 68,7-8 : Renda aili — Rennu aili dano reithit na reanna aili — ranna aili ann 7 rethid YO ranna eile — reanna eile dib rithes M om. Q 105,5 : quia ipse est ar is e fein Y air is e fein O óir is é fein M om. Q

Although Q’s readings are often corrupt, even these corrupt readings can be valuable: frequently, they represent garblings of older forms for which the branch of the second recension represented by YOM has found lectiones faciliores. Several examples of this are discussed in the textual notes ('). Such features are due in large part to developments which characterize YOM as a group. The redactor responsible for the exemplar shared by these manuscripts omitted many passages — often, doubtless, through simple inadvertence, but also in order to eliminate phrases which were obscure to him — and modernized and reinterpreted much

of what he retained.

The result, as reflected in Y, is a

reasonably clear and satisfying text, but is to just this extent further removed from the second recension’s earliest (1) See the notes on 1,5; 3,4; 7,1-2; 7,3; 10,8.9-10; 16,10; 23,5; 26,1;

29,5; 32,5; 32,12; 39,5-6; 43,1; 45,2-3; 47,2; 68,15-16. I have only noticed the preservation of a few such “decayed fossils” in Y: doget vs. deged L (33,7), aimim vs. anim L (49,3), la dasacht vs. lainderdacht L .

(104,3).

50

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

form. Q, although certainly responsible for additions, omissions,

modernizations

and

reinterpretations

of

its

own,

stands outside these developments. It seems to me accordingly to provide the best vantage point for surveying the second recension as a whole, together with that recension’s

relationship to the version preserved in L. Short

Recension

Robin Flower noted that a short text, opening with an assembly on Mount Olivet rather than with one on Mount Zion as in other versions, is also attested ('). This is found in the following manuscripts:

Dublin, National Library of Ireland, G 9, late 15'" cenfas. TS folk) Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 24 P 25 (475), known as Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne, A.D. 1513-1514. TB: fol. 65".

London, British Library, Egerton 136, A.D. 1630. fol. 53 ff. Maynooth, R 73, 18" century. TB: p. (b) 213 ff. Dublin,

National

Library of Ireland,

TB:

G 36, 19th century.

TB: p. 113 ff. (copied from G 9 above). This version is based on § 55-57, 49-53, 35-37, 39-47, 106

of the second this

“short

recension (*). Although

recension”

a detailed

study of

has yet to be undertaken,

it is evi-

dent that many of its readings are particularly close to those of M. This can be illustrated with a few examples (°): 56,1

: Only M begins the paragraph with An cualabur a truadha ar sé; cf. Et in cualabur a truagha ar se [2]. 57,3: Where QYO use forms of the word ette for the wings of the bird hiruath, M has scithan; cf. sciathan [3]. 49,2: M inserts 7 co ndeilb; cf. & co ndeilbh [4].

(1) R. Flower, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum, vol. 2, London 1926, p. 556-557. (2) An edition based on G 9, with “variants and occasional corrections

where they are supported by the long text” from 24 P 25, has been provided by U. Nic Enri— G. Mac Niocaz, “The Second Recension of the Evernew Tongue”, p. 54-59. (3) Numerals in square brackets refer to the paragraphing of the short recension by Nic Enri and Mac Niocaill (see preceding note).

RECENSIONS

AND

MANUSCRIPTS

51

90,1

: The first tree is named Games Q, Somesc measga O, Sciulis M; cf. Scuirus [4].

Y, So-

51,2

:

52,4

ebail Y, ni abela O, ni teit d'ég M; cf. ni theid d’eg [5]. : With the concluding passage aici re neach na ac

“Does not die” is expressed by ni fhaghbann bas Q, ni

neach

ris —

co

brach

aris, found

nech na ag nech fris — 53,8 : Only M states that the cures ugliness and wards 35,2 : Only M adds the phrase co n-illrechtaibh examla 41,3 : Only M adds the phrase aingil;

cf. &

co

only in M, cf. fri

co brach e [6]. fruit of the tree of Nataibén off old age; cf. [6]. co rechtaib examla orra; cf. forro [7]. a co fogur mbindesa mar ceol

mbinne

fogur

fria

ceol

n-idhan

na

n-aingil [9]. 106,2

: With

the extended

siracallaim

—

passage

tosach

Do boi in Tenga

in creidim,

peculiar

B. ac

to M,

cf.

Ocus o do bi in guth uasum mur sin ag accalluim — tosach creidim & maithusa doibh &rl [13-14].

As this recension belongs to a late and idiosyncratic phase in the development of the second recension, and its readings can accordingly have no bearing on attempts to determine the early form of TB, I have not made use of its testimony here. Third Recension

(Modern

Recension)

The second recension also provided the basis for a further version, variously referred to as the “modern recension” and

as the “third recension”. The oldest manuscript, where TB exists in a fragmentary and largely illegible copy, is Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv. 72.1.47 (formerly Advocates’

Library,

Gaelic

XLVII),

perhaps

of the

15%

century. The other manuscripts are all much later; I am aware of the following dating from the eighteenth century: Dublin, NLI, G 32, G 501; RIA, 23 L 24 (29), 23 L 29 (109), 12 F 7 (235), 23 I 25 (412), 23 D 8 (503), 24 B 29 (579), 23 L 35 (858), 23 N 18 (981), ó C 15 (1021); Trinity College, 1287 (H 1 13), 1413 (H 6 9), 1414 (H 6 10); Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv. 72.2.6 (formerly Advocates’ Library, Gaelic LV); London,

British

Maynooth, M 52,

Library,

Egerton

M 95, R 66.

171,

Egerton

174;

52

SYNOPSIS

There is a similar number of manuscripts of the 19'" century: Cork, Murphy 26; Dublin, NLI, G 365, G 432, G 656; RIA 23 L 6 (103), 23B 1 (225), 23 M 1 (329), 23 I 44 (428), 24 C 16 (598), 24 A 22 (659), 23 N 23 (732), 24 L 20 (809), 24 A 20 (928), 23 B 2 (1002); London, British Library, Add. 18945; Maynooth, M 39, M 73, B 2.

Next to no work has so far been done on this recension: scholars have probably been deterred by its lateness, by the multitude of copies, and by the poor condition of the oldest manuscript. Only one specimen of the recension has been published to date, based according to Robin Flower on “a corrupt modern MS. copied in 1901 from an original of 1817” ('). In his remarks on copies of TB in the British Library, Flower noted that some of these exhibit significant

divergence from Dottin’s text (°). II. Synopsis TB as it appears in L can be summarised as follows. The text opens with the first words of Genesis: In principio fecit Deus caelum et terram. It then goes on to say that “this account ... concerning the world’s form and creation” had been granted to humanity by the Son of God, whose

preeminence over all things is expressed by a series of extravagant comparisons (1). Before these matters were revealed, the nature of the universe was completely baffling to humanity: thus men had no understanding of the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, of the movements of the waters, or of the cycle of the seasons. These mysteries were finally disclosed to a great assembly convened at Mount

Zion (2-4). This assembly had been gathered from all parts of the eastern world, and included an enormous multitude of bishops and kings. They spent a year and four months (1) R. FLower, op. cit., p. 558, drawing on Dottin, “Le Teanga Bithnua du manuscrit de Rennes”, p. 365, n. 3. The edition is that of G. Dortin, “Une rédaction moderne du Teanga Bithnua”, RC 28 (1907),

p. 277-307. (2) Ibid., p. 14.

SYNOPSIS

53

praising God (5-6). At the end of this time, on the vigil of Easter,

zling light, itself men “the

a great noise was

heard

in the heavens

and

a daz-

spinning light descended (7). A voice issued from this speaking “in angelic language”. This voice identified to the company (now referred to simply as “the wise of the Hebrews”) as that of the apostle Philip, called Ever-new Tongue” by the angels on account of the

circumstances

of his martyrdom

(8-10). He had been

sent

“to make plain to you the wondrous tale which the Holy Spirit related by means of Moses son of Amram, concerning the making of heaven and earth, together with the things which are in them” (11-12). Philip began by relating how all of the substances in the cosmos had been used to make the human body: for this reason, not only mankind but also the entire universe had been redeemed

when

Christ’s body rose from the dead (12-

14). After an evocation of the void and indeterminate condition which preceded the creation, when nothing existed save God (15-16), Philip went on to give an account of the universe: a description whose basic structure follows that of the six days of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. At the very beginning, God made light. This entailed the creation of the supercelestial heaven (or riched), and the orders

of the angels. At the same time, God made “the manyshaped round circuit which was the material of the world” — in other words, the primal matter which would serve as the basis for his subsequent creations (17-22). This includes the material from which hell was to be made, as God had

foreknowledge of the fall of Lucifer (23-24). On the second day, God made the firmament. In this context, Philip enumerated the seven heavens and the five celestial zones (25-29). On the third day, God made bodies of water, and also the

earth together with precious stones and trees. Different seas and springs are described (30-42), as well as “four kinds of precious stones with the intelligence and semblance of humans” (43-47), and four remarkable trees (48-53). At this point, midway through the narrative, the Hebrew sages ventured to say that some of what they were hearing

54

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

was difficult to believe (54). Philip rebuked

them for their

incredulity, speaking of other marvels as further evidence that nothing is impossible for God: a vast sea beast which had been cast up “on the shore of Cephas”, and the giant bird hiruath, the shells of whose eggs could serve as ships on the sea (56-57). Despite this, a Jew incongruously named [Judas] Maccabaeus

persisted in refusing to believe in the

fourth of the trees which Philip had described. It was suddenly revealed to him, but at the same time his eyes burst and he was scorched by a fiery wind; he died expressing contrition for his doubts (58-60). The whole

company

beg-

ged for pardon, and Philip sternly reminded them of the blasphemy entailed in lack of faith. He was asked to resume his account (61-63). On the fourth day, continued Philip, God created seventy-two kinds of stars, as well as the sun’s circuit. He went on to describe the twelve plains on which the sun shines between

the times of its setting and its rising, and six of the

varieties of the stars (64-68). On the fifth day, God made seventy-two kinds of birds and seventy-two kinds of sea-beasts: descriptions of three sorts of birds are given (69-73).

Philip went on to speak of various exotic races of men, adding that their multifariousness represents the lapse of fallen mankind from the image and likeness of the one God

(74-82). Once he had spoken of the works of the six days, Philip was asked about a range of other topics: “the number of the relationships (ind lin coibdeluch) which God set upon his

creatures” (83-84); the horrors of hell (85-90) and of the Day of Judgment (91-92); the notable events associated with midnight (93-94); and the characteristics of God him-

self (95-103). He concluded with an evocation of the joys of heaven, and a prayer that we may all finally come there (104-107). III. Background and Sources As a text concerned with describing and explicating all of the mysteries of the cosmos,

TB very naturally drew on a

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

55

wide range of sources. We can see this process continuing as

it developed in the course of the Middle Ages, with the third recension in particular incorporating much new material. In the commentary which accompanies this edition, I have done my best to identify the types of texts and traditions which lie behind TB as it appears in L; the discussion in the present section will endeavour to summarise my findings. To some extent, I shall also be recapitulating the analysis presented in a short article written in 1993, and eventually published in 1999 (’). Previous Scholarship In his edition, Whitley Stokes suggested “with much hesitation” that TB is “a version of a lost Latin Apocalypse of Philip”: “..excepting the existence of seven heavens..., the nine ranks

of the

celestial

hierarchy...,

the

horned

monster

cast ashore on the night of the Nativity..., and the use of the number seventy-two..., the folklore in it is found in no other Irish composition.

Fragments

of the original

Latin appear to be preserved...; and the gibberish quoted as Hebrew, “the speech of angels”, “the language spoken in heaven”... resembles in its unintelligibility the Alemakan,

ikasame,

marmare,

nachaman,

mastranam,

achaman ascribed to Mariamne in The Acts of Philip. There is, however, in the Latin apocryphal literature known to me, no trace of such an Apocalypse (’).” Some details in Stokes’s reasoning here are open to qualification: thus several of the “fragments of the original Latin” are either tags such as Dixerunt sapientes Ebreorum, of a sort which it is easy to parallel in other Irish texts, or else quotations from the Bible. His central proposition, that TB ultimately derives from a Philip apocryphon, met how-

(1) J. Carey, “In Tenga Bithnua: From Apocalypse to Homily ?”, in The Scriptures and Early Medieval Ireland (Instrumenta Patristica 31), T. O’LouGu in, ed., Turnhout 1999, p. 51-68. (2) W. Sroxes, “The Evernew Tongue”, p. 96.

56

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

ever with the approbation of Montague Rhodes James, one of the great scholars of apocryphal literature in the early twentieth century. James observed that some of the Latin in TB occurs “in the form of sentences, not isolated words”.

“Stokes had no hesitation in regarding it as taken from an original in Latin (which he guessed might have been an Apocalypse of Philip), and no better opinion than his could be asked for. There which

we

was,

then,

have

a Latin

in this Irish

apocryph dress,

and,

of St.

Philip,

it seems,

in no

other. To trace its relationships and assign to it a place in literature will be worth while, if it can be done.

I may say at once that its right place is not among apocalypses, but among dialogues. There is a fairly large

class of old writings in the form of question and answer, of which the prototypes have not been fully investigated... These texts are for the most part thoroughly vulgar and popular in character, full of folk-lore and descending to elementary jokes. Solomon and Saturn and the Evernew Tongue are the only ones which can claim to be thought of as literature, and these are sufficiently bizarre. It is true that the category

of apocalypse

runs

into

that of dialogues, for question and answer are an important element in even the most classical of apocalypses... But in the dialogue class they are paramount. These writings may have been developed out of apocalypse, but they constitute a distinct group (').” Having cited similarities between TB and such questionand-answer texts, together with other repositories of lore available in the early Middle Ages, James went on to note a potential source of another kind:

“One episode in the Greek Acts [of Philip] — that called the Acta Philippi in Hellade — resembles, superficially at least,

the

E/ver-new]

Tfongue].

In

it the

apostle

(1) M. R. James, “Irish Apocrypha”, Journal of Theological Studies 20

(1918-1919), p. 9-16, at p. 10-11.

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

57

converts an assembly of 300 philosophers, and causes an unbelieving Jewish high-priest to be swallowed up in the earth by instalments. Here also... are sentences of socalled Hebrew which recall the ‘angelic language’ of the

E:T uC) Three

main

issues

inform

the trailblazing

Stokes and James. Should the background

remarks

of

of TB be sought

among question-and-answer texts rather than among apocalypses? Does it reflect a lost apocryphon of Philip? And do some of its episodes betray the influence of the Greek Acts of Philip? The first two of these questions may be dealt with at once; I shall return to the third below.

As James himself conceded, the line between apocalypses and dialogues is not always easy to draw. An apocalyptic text is dominated by a supernatural (or at least supernaturally inspired) informant, whose pronouncements are often elicited by questions posed by a hearer or hearers: this is for example a prominent element in the structure of the Coptic apocalypse Pistis Sophia, which can as we shall see be compared with TB in other respects as well. James sought however to dissociate TB from such works, and to class it with dialogues such as Solomon and Saturn, which he considered to be “vulgar”, “popular” and folkloristic. Although the influence on TB of literature of this kind can arguably be detected (Ó, I do not think that the origins of the work can be accounted for on this basis. The queries in texts like Solomon and Saturn are strung together pretty much

at random,

or else occur

in thematic

bunches;

some

are concerned with cosmology or sacred history, but at least

as often they involve riddles (James’s “elementary jokes”) or proverbs. The questions in TB seek to ascertain: the identity of the Ever-new Tongue (10); the language in which he speaks (11); the mysteries of the creation (15) and

(1) Ibid. p. 12. (2) As I argue below, TB probably did not draw its account of the making of Adam (§ 13) from a question-and-answer text. The only section of TB which seems likely to reflect the influence of literature of this kind is the enumeration of categories at § 84.

58

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

of what preceded it (17); the constituents of primal matter (21); the nature of the heavens and the celestial zones (26); the mysteries of the sea (31); the various kinds of trees (48); the twelve plains beneath the earth (65); the nature of the stars (67); the number of kinds of creatures (83); the nature of hell (85) and the Day of Judgment (91); and the time

of the world’s

creation

and

destruction,

and

of the

resurrection of Christ (93). There is nothing disjointed, incoherent or trivial here; rather, the questions provide much of the framework for a systematic (if idiosyncratic) exposition of the world’s creation, contents and destiny. A Revelation Discourse?

The dialogue dimension of TB is, in other words, entirely compatible

with

its classification

as an

apocalyptic

text.

More specifically, close parallels with the opening scenario in TB can be found in the apocalyptic (frequently Gnostic) genre

of “revelation

Christ appears Olives,

and

discourses”,

in which

the resurrected

to his disciples, usually on the Mount

reveals

to them

mysteries

which

he had

of not

disclosed during his public ministry. Here, as in TB, witnesses gathered on a mountain top are at first terrified by the apparition of a blinding heavenly light; this then proves to be a bearer of secret knowledge (in this case, Christ),

whose

utterances

are

often

elicited

by questions

from his hearers (’). It is especially in apocryphal literature preserved in Coptic that “revelation discourses” exhibiting such features can be found (°); it is perhaps relevant that the Hermetic texts, which were also composed in Egypt at around the same time, likewise have a dialogue format (*). Against this

(1) Cf. commentary on § 7-9 below; brief discussion, references, in J. Carey, “Jn Tenga Bithnua”, p. 55-57.

with

(2) That such texts are attested in Coptic is not, of course,

further evidence

that they derive from Egypt in the first instance: the Greek originals may or may not have been composed there. That they circulated in Egypt from an early date does, however, appear significant. (3) On the connections between Gnostic and Hermetic dialogue texts see H. W. ArrripGe, “Greek and Latin Apocalypses”, Semeia 14 (1979),

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

59

background, it seems significant that other elements in TB have analogues in writings from Egypt in the early centuries A.D. Thus the doctrines that the prime matter of creation was round or spherical (19,5-7), and that this matter already contained all of the qualities which would later be distributed among all creatures (22), are both to be found in the eighth treatise in the Corpus Hermeticum;

ideas are passages and the language

both

also attested elsewhere in Hermetic sources. The of fantastic language supposedly uttered by Philip, explanation that these are samples of an angelic (see commentary on 8,4-5), find their closest par-

allels in apocrypha with an Egyptian background. In TB’s account of the seven heavens, winds are associated with the

second and third heavens (27,4-5): there may be a connection here with the statement of Isis, speaking to her son Horus in a Hermetic fragment, that it is the second heaven “in which the movements of winds are born”. TB’s trees “in which it is thought that there are soul and intelligence like the life of angels” (49,2-3) can also be compared with angelic trees in Gnostic sources, including Pistis Sophia. That the human soul appears to be round when it leaves the body (20,6-7) recalls the teaching in later Platonism that the soul has a spherical vehicle: references to this idea by

Plotinus, by one of the Gnostic texts from Nag Hammadi, and

—

allegedly

—

in the teachings

of the followers

of

Origen all point to an association with Egypt. The most dramatic possibilities of a derivation from Egyptian tradition are afforded by the account of the nocturnal journey of the sun across twelve underworld plains in § 64-66: allusions to such ideas can be found in sources deriving, directly or at a remove, from Graeco-Roman

Egypt: Apuleius’ account

of having beheld “the sun at midnight” ('); magical papyri

p- 159-186, at p. 160; cf. J.-P. ManÉ, Hermes en Haute-Egypte. Les textes hermétiques de Nag Hammadi el leurs paralléles grecs et latins (Bibliotheque copte de Nag Hammadi. Section textes 3 & 7), Québec 1978-1982, especially vol. 1, p. 21-28, and vol. 2, p. 436-457. (1) Thus J. G. Grirrirus, Apuleius of Madauros, The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI) (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans Empire romain 39), Leiden 1975, p. 303-306; and cf. J. Carey,

60

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

which allude to the sun’s journeys beneath the earth, and to its passing through twelve phases in the course of the night ('); and the description in the Coptic Gnostic treatise Pistis Sophia of a cosmic serpent whose body contains twelve “prisons” and who overwhelms the sun “when it is beneath the world” (’). But the closest parallels occur in the Amduat, a funerary treatise of the pharaonic New Kingdom: here the twelve regions through which the sun passes in the night are described

in detail —

and some

of these

details, remarkably, correspond to what we find in TB (°). On this basis I propose that the ultimate source of TB was a “revelation discourse” of the type described above, in which a celestial messenger appeared as a blazing light to a group assembled on a mountain. Speaking in the language of the angels, this figure spoke of the origins and nature of the cosmos

and of the soul, of the nature

and

movements

of the

have mentioned Christian

at all, this text

native

sun

of the heavens,

at night;

he

may

also

trees with the consciousness of angels. If

with late Platonism,

upon

of the

was

Gnosticism,

Egyptian

heterodox: and

it shared

Hermetism,

tradition (*). It

may

and

have

ideas drew

been

“Apuleius in the Underworld. A Footnote to Metamorphoses 11”, Alexandria 3 (1995), p. 371-375. (1) K. PreisenDaAnz ef al., Papyri graecae magicae, 2"! ed., Leipzig

1973: I, 33-34; III, 499-537; IV, 446-447, 1600-1601, 1638-1671, 16951696, 1967-1969; V, 50-51; VIII, 80-84; XX XVIII. (2) C. Scumint, Pistis Sophia, trans. V. MacDermot (The Coptic Gnostic Library. Nag Hammadi Studies 9), Leiden 1978, p. 317-332. (3) I have discussed these resemblances at length elsewhere: “The Sun’s Night Journey. A Pharaonic Image in Medieval Ireland”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 57 (1994), p. 14-34. This article also deals with the Greek, Latin and Coptic sources just mentioned. (4) For some reflections on the milieu which may have produced this source text, see further J. Carey, art. cil., p. 31-32, citing F. Wisse, “Gnosticism and Early Monasticism in Egypt”, in B. ALAND, ed., Gnosis. Festschrift fiir Hans Jonas, Gottingen 1963, pp. 431-440; A. VEILLEUX, “Monasticism and Gnosis in Egypt”, in The Roots of Egyptian Christianity (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity), B. A. PEARSON — J. A. GoEnRING, eds., Philadelphia 1986, p. 271-306; and C. W. Griaes,

Early Egyptian Christianity from its Origins to 451 CE (Coptic studies 2), Leiden

1990, p. 176-180.

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

61

translated into Latin in Roman Africa, as was probably done in the case of the Hermetic treatise Asclepius (').

The Acts of Philip One respect in which TB differs from the texts with which I have been comparing it so far is in the rdle assigned to Philip. Philip may

appear

in Gnostic

sources

as one of

the recipients of the revelation, or even as its amanuensis (7); but he is not portrayed as being himself the revealer, nor is he described in terms of dazzling transfiguration. The central figure in the “revelation discourses” is the resurrected Christ, appearing to his disciples shortly after having risen from the dead: here it is the soul of Philip which is described in these terms; and the revelation occurs at some unspecified, but

clearly later, time. How are we to account for this? There may well have existed apocalypses in which Philip’s róle was more prominent than in the texts which have survived: thus Epiphanius of Salamis, writing in the later fourth century, mentions a “gospel of Philip” revered by one Egyptian Gnostic group, in which the apostle is made to say that “The Lord revealed to me what the soul must say on its ascent to heaven, and how it must answer each of the powers above” (°). The most promising evidence is however to be found in the source whose importance was recognised by James: the collection of documents which have been gathered together as the Greek Acts of Philip. Our knowledge of this text has been greatly advanced by the edition by Francois Bovon, Bertrand Bouvier and Frédéric Amsler, accompanied by Amsler’s commentary,

(1) J.-P. Mane, Hermes en transmission of African texts “Hiberno-Latin Literature to Prehistoric and Early Ireland,

Haute-Egypte, vol. 2, p. 56-61. For the to Ireland via Spain see D. O Cronin, 1169”, in A New History of Ireland, 1: D. Ó Crorin, ed., Oxford 2005, p. 390-

391. (2) Discussion in commentary on 10,7-8 below, and in J. Carey, “Jn Tenga Bithnua”,

p. 56-57.

(3) Panarion 1.2.26.13 (PG 41.352-353); cf. J. Carey, art. cit., p. 55.

62

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

which appeared in 1999 ('). According to their analysis, the work

consists

of four autonomous

segments.

Acts VIII-XV,

and the concluding Martyrdom of Philip, represent the oldest section, which appears to have been produced by the ascetic movement of the Encratites in Asia Minor, perhaps in the second half of the fourth century. Although the same beliefs animate Acts III-VII, their language, and some of their ideas and emphases, reflect a different authorship. Act I is again an independent narrative: it too was composed in an Encratite milieu, but appears to date from the very end of the fourth century, or from the early fifth. Finally,

Act

II represents

an

orthodox

attempt

to re-

habilitate the cult of Philip: although it draws on Act VI, and to some extent on the Martyrdom, distinctively Encratite elements are almost entirely eliminated. The editors date it at earliest to the second half of the fifth century (°).

It is in this second episode of the Acts of Philip (hereafter ActPhil II), the section whose relevance to TB was already noticed by James, that significant relationships to our text are to be found. In TB, Philip descends from heaven in a blinding light and speaks in a voice like thunder. An assembly of Hebrew wise men (see commentary on § 5-6; 10,7-8) eagerly ask him to instruct them; subsequently, however, they begin to doubt his words (54). At this point a Jew steps suddenly onto the scene and denounces Philip as a liar, only to be blinded and then destroyed (commentary on § 58-60); as he dies he cries out in what is presumably intended to be Hebrew (60,6-7).

In ActPhil If an assembly of Athenian philosophers eagerly ask Philip to instruct them, but are dismayed at what he tells them. They send for a Jewish priest who races to the scene and denounces Philip as a liar, only to be blinded and ultimately destroyed. In the course of their dispute

(1) F. Bovon — B. Bouvier — F. Amster, Acta Philippi. Textus (CCSA 11), Turnhout 1999; F. Amster, Acta Philippi. Commentarius (CCSA 12), Turnhout 1999. (2) Full discussion of ActPhil II in F. AMsLER, op. cil., p. 85-127.

BACKGROUND

Jesus

descends

from

AND

above

SOURCES

63

in a blinding light, Philip is

called “son of thunder” and cries out in what is purportedly

Hebrew, and a voice addresses him from heaven. The parallels are unmistakable. It is not difficult to see how a writer

possessing

course might which The single

(in which Philip may have played a prominent part), have drawn upon both in order to produce a text in it is Philip who is the celestial revealer. full text of the Acts of Philip survives only in a manuscript, where it bears the marks of some

AcfPhil

reworking;

almost

the

manuscript,

in a much

II, and

whole more

also an

is to

be

apocalyptic

found

conservative

in

version.

dis-

another Only two

parts of the work are otherwise attested: the Martyrdom and ActPhil II. The latter appears alone in two manuscripts; in a third, it is appended to the Martyrdom (’). That ActPhil IJ circulated independently, and did so more widely than did the Acts of Philip as a whole, increases the likelihood that some version of it may have served as one of

the sources of TB. Transmission

to the West

The Acts of Philip are known only in Greek: circumstances might they have been translated and found their way westward? It is tempting such developments with the movement founded lian of Avila, which

time subsequent teachings shared them,

may

have

survived

under what into Latin, to associate by Priscil-

in Galicia

for some

to his execution in 386 (Ó. Priscillian’s much with those of the Encratites: like

he advocated

abstention

from

meat

and alcohol,

and

discouraged marriage and procreation. He also stressed the spiritual equality of the sexes, an idea which seems to lie behind the prominent role accorded in some parts of the Acts to Philip’s sister Mariamme. Most of the apocryphal

(1) Full details of the manuscripts F. AMSLER,

in F. Bovon

— B. Bouvier

—

op. cil., p. Xili-xxv.

(2) V. Burrus, The Making of a Heretic. Gender, Authority and the Priscillianist Controversy (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage 24), Berkeley 1995, p. 165-166.

64

BACKGROUND

Acts

of the

apostles

reflect

AND

SOURCES

Encratite

ideas,

and

this

was

probably one of the main reasons for the enthusiasm with which Priscillian studied them. A Priscillianist connection could also be invoked to account for the apparent influence on TB of an Egyptian “revelation discourse”: Priscillian is supposed to have derived many of his ideas from disciples of a Gnostic teacher named Marcus, who had come to Spain from Memphis in Egypt. It was also asserted that Priscillian’s followers possessed a Manichaean

cosmological

text, one of the doctrines

of which appears to be echoed in TB (see commentary on 27,4). When it is further noted that various scholars have suggested Priscillianist circles in Spain as an early source from which apocryphal texts were transmitted to Ireland, the case would seem to be complete ('). Although I find it difficult to dismiss such suggestions entirely, it is important to note that the scenario which I have just sketched has serious weaknesses. As remarked above,

ActPhil II is the only non-Encratite

of Philip

corpus:

since

we

know

that

part of the Acts

it circulated

in-

dependently of the rest of the text, we have no grounds for supposing that it was not brought westward alone, in which

case it would be harder to see why it should have been of any particular interest to the Priscillianists. Scholars have also voiced grave doubts as to the reality of Marcus of Memphis, arguing that he is most probably a fabrication on the part of Priscillian’s detractors (*). These considerations do not exclude the possibility that ActPhil II and the postulated discourse text might have been acquired by a

(1) For the arguments, see M. Danvo, “Les Gnostiques d’Egypte, les

Priscillianistes

d’Espagne,

et léglise primitive

d’Irlande”,

Cahiers

d’études cathares 56 (1972), p. 3-34; D. DuMviLLEg, “Biblical Apocrypha and the Early Irish. A Preliminary Investigation”, PRIA 73C (1973), p. 229-338, at p. 322. Some further discussion in J. Carey, “In Tenga Bithnua”, p. 58-59. (2) E.-Ch. Bapur, Priscillien et le priscillianisme (Bibliotheque de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes. Sciences historiques et philologiques 169), Paris 1909, p. 33-36;

Charismatic

H. Cuapwick,

Priscillian

in the Early Church,

op. cit., p. 96, 130-133.

Oxford

of Avila.

The Occult and the

1976, p. 20-22; V. Burrus,

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

65

Priscillianist group at some point after Priscillian’s death, in a spirit of faithfulness to Priscillian’s well-known interest in the testimony of apocryphal works ('); but any such hypothesis must remain very tentative.

Hexaemeral and Cosmological Sources Under whatever circumstances these materials were brought together, the resulting fusion was given what can be described as a “hexaemeral-eschatological” framework: one in which the sequence of the days of creation is followed by an account of the last things. Something similar is found

in such

Irish

texts

as.the

hymn

Altus

Prosator,

of

whose twenty-three stanzas fifteen are devoted to the creation and structure of the universe, and seven to the end of the world Ch: and in the Liber de ordine creaturarum, often

mistakenly attributed to Isidore of Seville, which assigns twelve chapters to a description of the cosmos and then concludes with three more concerning hell, the purgatorial fire, and the future life (*). I see no reason not to suppose that this stage in the prehistory of TB can be assigned to

Ireland — and perhaps, like the two works just mentioned, to the seventh century. This earlier form of the text would have been in Latin, and is reflected in such Latin passages as 25,2-5 and 74,3-5 (citations of Genesis; note that the au-

thor used the Vulgate), together with § 26 (mysteries of the heavens on the second day), § 31 and § 48 (mysteries of the

(1) For Priscillian’s attitude to the apocrypha see E.-Ch. Basut, op. cit., p. 120-135; H. Cuapwicx, op. cit., p. 77-79, 81-85; A. S. Jacoss,

“The

Disorder

of Books.

Priscillian’s

Canonical

Defense

of

Apocrypha”, Harvard Theological Review 93 (2000), p. 135-159. (2) For recent treatments of this work, with references to earlier

scholarship, see T. O. CLancy — G. MArxus, Jona. The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery,

“Altus

Prosator”,

Edinburgh

Cellica

Mysteries, p. 29-50, 275.

1995, p. 39-68, 229-235;

23 (1999),

p. 326-368;

J. STEVENSON,

J. Carey,

King

of

‘

(3) M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum. Un anónimo irlandés del siglo VII (Monografias de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela 10), Santiago de Compostela 1972; cf. now M. Smytu, “The Date and Origin of Liber de ordine creaturarum”, Peritia 17-18 (2003-

2004), p. 1-39.

66

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

sea and varieties of trees on the third day), § 91 and § 93 (the Day of Judgment, and the time of the end of the world), and § 105 (the joys of heaven). It is only to be expected that such a work should reflect the thought of patristic authorities whom we know to have been influential in Ireland at this time: Augustine,

Gregory

the Great and Isidore. Thus Augustine is the likeliest source for the doctrines of the beginninglessness of the thought which

led God

to create

a universe

governed

by time,

of the creation of spirit and matter before time came

and

to be;

for the identification of the first light with the angels; and for the use of Ecclesiasticus

18, 1 as a proof text to demon-

strate that the six days of creation are not to be taken literally (see commentary on § 18-19 and 24). The evocation of the mysteries of nature in § 2-4 recalls a

passage in Gregory’s Moralia in Iob; and Gregory too may have been TBP's ultimate source for an apparition of wind and spinning light which combines elements from God’s speech

to Job

and

the theophany

of Pentecost

(see com-

mentary on 7,5-6). One of the principal themes of the book of Job,

as

of

TB,

is the

demonstration

of the

Creator’s

greatness by contemplating the grandeur of the creation: when the doubting Hebrews are exhorted to marvel at two gigantic

beasts

(56-57),

the

model

was

presumably

God’s

words to Job concerning Behemoth and Leviathan. TB’s use of Job (see further perhaps 64,7-9) was almost certainly guided by Gregory’s exposition in the Moralia (').

Many statements in § 33-47 seem to come from Isidore’s Etymologiae: the descriptions of the Red Sea and the Dead Sea (33), the properties of several

remarkable

springs (35-

39), the account of a river with golden sand (41), and several details in the section on precious stones (43-47). Isidore may also have contributed information on comets (68,2-4), on various stars (68,6-7), on the birds forest (70-72), and on pygmies (79).

of the

Hercynian

(1) The discussion of the nature of Gregory’s influence here supersedes that in “Jn Tengua Bithnua”, p. 62.

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

67

The author had a general familiarity with such cosmological doctrines as the location of the moon and sun in the first and fourth heavens respectively (27), the existence of twelve zodiacal signs and twelve winds (28), and the division of the heavens into five zones (29). These ideas go back ultimately to such ancient writers as Pliny the Elder, but were presumably common knowledge in early medieval Ireland: thus we find most of them again — together with much else — in Saltair na Rann ('). It is possible to be more

specific regarding

the sources

of other

information:

the account of precious stones in § 43-47 is based on a Hellenistic lapidary treatise (attributed to one “Damigeron”), supplemented

by Isidore;

while

the races

of mankind

in

§ 75-81 draw primarily on descriptions in a version of the fanciful travel narrative known as the Wonders of the East. Both “Damigeron” and Wonders were known in AngloSaxon England: TB provides evidence that at least some of their contents also circulated in pre-Norman

Given tions,

the eschatological

it is natural

that

concerns

the

author

Ireland.

of TB’s should

also

closing sechave

been

influenced by vision literature: evidence of this is found not only in the account of the Day of Judgment (92), but also in the description of the “stream of water which goes across the island of torments” (40), and in that of the sun’s nocturnal itinerary (66,2-5.11-13.16-18).

For the most part, the

eschatological elements present in TB are commonplaces for which no single source can confidently be proposed: the likeliest influences,

besides

the Book

of Revelation,

are the

Apocalypse of Thomas, Visio Sancti Pauli and an early version of the tract De quindecim signis preserved in the pseudo-Bedan Collectanea and known in another version to Peter Damian in eleventh-century Italy. Besides its evident indebtedness to sources known to have been available in Ireland at an early date, and to others which were potentially so, TB betrays a kinship with hexaemeral and cosmological texts of Irish authorship: with (1) W.

205-260;

Sroxes,

Saltair na Rann,

cf. J. Carey,

(1985), p. 33-52.

“Cosmology

Oxford

1883, lines 45-52,

in Saltair na Rann”,

149-160,

Celtica

17

68

BACKGROUND

the seventh-century

AND

SOURCES

Liber de ordine creaturarum,

mentioned

above; and also with a pseudo-Isidorian Liber de numeris and with the extended commentary known as the “Irish Reference Bible” or Das Bibelwerk (both thought to date from the eighth century) (’). Thus the Liber de ordine expounds ideas concerning the creation of hell comparable to those in TB (23); and TB’s discussion of the seven heavens

seems to reflect am awareness of what I have called an “Trish hexaemeral model” of the universe (27; see especially commentary on 27,4-5.5-6.6-8.8-11). Dragons in the atmosphere (28) can also be paralleled in Irish annalistic and exegetical writing of the eighth century; and the account of the bird hiruath (57) draws on Hiberno-Latin exegesis. The list of the materials out of which Adam was made (13)

occurs in many question-and-answer texts, but also in theological works of Irish provenance (Liber de numeris and the Catechesis

Celtica): it is probably in the latter context

that a background for the instance in TB is to be sought. The beast which causes tides by sucking in the seas (66,1416) can most readily be compared — even though none of the texts in question is earlier than 7B — with monsters in other Irish texts; and strated for the “hour

an insular context can be demonlists”, “Sunday lists” and “Friday

lists” which lie behind the catalogue of notable events which took place at midnight (94) (). The opening and closing sections of TB (1; 104-107) can be identified as the exordium and peroration of a homily; indeed, the Scriptural citation with which the text opens is

(1) R. E. McNatty, M.

McNamara,

“Plan

Der trische Liber de numeris, diss., Munich and

Source

Analysis

of Das

Bibelwerk,

1957; Old

Testament”, in Ireland and Christendom. The Bible and the Missions (Veroffentlichungen des Europa-Zentrums Tubingen. Kulturwissenschaftliche Reihe), P. Ni CHaTHAIN

— M. RicuTer, eds., Stuttgart 1987, p. 84-

112; G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus ex tomis canonicis (CCCM 173), Turnhout 2000. For a more general discussion of early Irish cosmological writings see M. Smyru, Understanding the Universe in Seventh-Century Ireland (Studies in Celtic History 15), Woodbridge 1996. (2) That this material belongs to this stage in TB’s development is also indicated by the fact that it is introduced by a question in Latin (§ 93).

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

69

the beginning of the first of the readings for the vigil of Easter. Easter is alluded to again later in the text: it is on the vigil of Easter that Philip appeared to the assembled multitude (7,1-2), a fact which Philip himself is made to mention

three

times

(12,6; 42,3-4;

95,1-2); and

the text’s

emphasis on themes of rebirth and renewal (2-4; 12-14) resonates with the miracle of the resurrection ('). This

homiletic

dimension

was

integral

to

TB's

earlier,

Latin version: in the peroration, § 105 is almost entirely in Latin; and the discussion of midnight in § 94, which would have little point apart from an association with the vigil, is introduced by a Latin question. The analysis so far has postulated two phases. In the first phase, Latin versions of an Egyptian “revelation discourse” and of ActPhil II came together, perhaps in Spain and conceivably in a Priscillianist milieu. In the second phase, these materials were used by an Irish author as the basis of a

“hexaemeral-eschatological”

treatise,

cast

within

the

framework of an Easter vigil homily. That this was written in Latin is suggested by the survival of Latin phrases in the existing text of TB;

that

it was

written

in the seventh

or

the early eighth century seems plausible in light of the sources used, and of the broader intellectual background with which the author was familiar. Translation

into Irish

There is also evidence of a third phase in the work’s development, which it is now time to consider. Throughout most of the text, Philip is interrogated by a group of “wise men of the Hebrews” (usually referred to in Latin). In § 5-6, by contrast, there is an elaborate account of an enormous multitude of kings and bishops assembling from throughout

(1) Besides discussion in the commentary, see my remarks in “The Sun’s Night Journey”, p. 33; “In Tenga Bithnua”, p. 64-66; and A Single Ray of the Sun. Religious Speculation in Early Ireland, Andover and Aberystwyth 1999, p. 75-106. For instances where the hexaemeral redactor may have drawn on other texts relating to Easter, see the commentary on § 73 and 94.

70

BACKGROUND

AND

SOURCES

the eastern world at Mount Zion: this gathering at Jerusalem, and the heavenly revelation which is communicated to it, are

both

strikingly

reminiscent

of Acts

2,1-12.

This

florid set piece, with its discrepancy from the bulk of the text (and also from the Latin traces of TB’s immediate source) seems likely to represent innovation. Since the passage exhibits linguistic features which are characteristic of Old Irish, it appears evident that it was added at the same time that the work which became TB was translated from Latin into the vernacular ('). Other features in the text are likeliest to have the same origin: the repetition of the same phrases or images to fill out certain sections (see commentary on § 50-53; 70-72; 104-107); and the adoption of elements from vernacular narrative. Thus various characteristics of the remarkable trees in § 50-

53 recall what is said in such texts as Airne Fingein concerning the legendary yew known as the Eó Mugna (supplemented by the descriptions of the Tree of Life in Genesis and Revelation); and some of the details in the ac-

count of the death of “Judas Maccabaeus” (including the very Irish idea of showing defiance by turning against the sun) can be paralleled in the origin legend of the Boyne (commentary on § 58-60) (Ó). The same sections which are notable for their use of repetition also seem to have drawn upon Irish voyage literature, using imagery reminiscent of the tales Nauigatio Sancti Brendani and Immram Snédgusa 4 Maic Riagla (see commentary on 53,13-16; 66,16-18.21-24; 72,4-6; 73). Much of this additional material serves to flesh

out the account that the coverage

of the works of the six days, suggesting of these

matters

was

uneven

and

often

sketchy in TB’s Latin forerunner. Even in its most conservative version, therefore, TB can be seen to have a long and complicated history. In the form in which we have it, it is doubtful whether it can be called an apocryphon: it belongs rather to the diverse and fascinating world of medieval Irish cosmological writing. But (1) See the detailed discussion in section IV below p. 71-93. (2) Besides the detailed discussion in the commentary, cf. my remarks in “In Tenga Bithnua”, p. 62-63.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

71

two apocryphal texts appear to have inspired its first composition. If the suggestions advanced above are valid, then TB preserves the only traces of a lost Egyptian apocalyptic discourse,

and

provides

us with

our

sole evidence

that any

part of the Acts of Philip found its way into Latin Christendom. IV. Language and Dating In his edition of the copy of TB in L, Whitley Stokes characterised it as “obscure and difficult”. He went on the surmise that “,..to judge from the survival of the neuter gender, and from the deponential and other ancient verbal forms, [it] may safely be ascribed to the tenth or eleventh century, when Old Irish was merging into the EarlyMiddle Irish of the Book of the Dun and the Book of Leinster (').” The view that TB “probably dates from the tenth century” has been reiterated by Martin McNamara (°); while David Dumville would place it in “the tenth century or earlier” (*). At no point, however, has the text been subjected to a detailed linguistic analysis. Stokes probably proposed a date in the tenth or eleventh century because the text exhibits a mixture of Old Irish features (such as the “ancient verbal forms” to which he alludes) with other elements which are clearly Middle Irish. But there is another way of reading this evidence: it can be seen

as resulting

from

the transmission,

and

partial recast-

ing, of an essentially Old Irish text in the Middle Irish period. In fact, I believe that the distribution of diagnostic features

favours

such an interpretation:

some

of the later

forms appear only sporadically, or indeed mainly in certain sections of the text; while forms found throughout the text

reflect not only (as Stokes noted) the survival of the neuter (1) W. Sroxes, “The Evernew Tongue”, p. 97. (2) M. McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, Dublin 1975, p. 115; cf. M. Herpert — M. McNamara, Irish Biblical Apocrypha, p. 182. (3) D. Dumvitte, “Biblical Apocrypha”, p. 338.

T2

LANGUAGE

and

the early inflection

AND

DATING

of many

deponents

and

strong

verbs, but also the old forms of the definite article, a full inventory

of

univerbation.

infixed

pronouns,

and

a

virtual

absence

On the basis of all of this evidence,

difficult to recognise

an Old Irish exemplar

of

it is not

beneath

the

surface of what we find in L. We may now consider the evidence in more detail.

Phonology (1) The text of TB in L contains several examples of -fh following an unstressed syllable: escumluth 20,7; fuirith 22,5; esruth 27,3 (and asruth 5); dulerath 59,6; teneth 71,2; -tualath 72,7; suamuth

73,15; dunebaith

94,17. This does not

appear to be an orthographic feature of the Book of Lismore as a whole: the only potential instances which I can find in Stokes’s discussion of the language of the saints’ Lives in that manuscript are in fact cases where -efh is an editorial

expansion of -3h ('). These spellings may go back to the original TB. In his analysis of the language of the Annals of Ulster, Tomas O Máille noted that -fh after an unstressed syllable, although it drops out of use in the early eighth century, reappears in the ninth and tenth. If we limit ourselves to considering common nouns in prose, the period of this “revived” -th runs in AU from 794 to 942: indreth 794, foruth 823, loscuth 825, coscrath 881, esriuth 893, brisiuth 902, innriuth

916, in-

driuth 942 (°). (2) It is difficult to assess the extent to which u-affection was

still viable

at the time

of TB’s composition,

as the use

of u in the L text is frequently inappropriate and clearly secondary. Often this appears to be due to scribal confusion between

u and

open

a: this must

for example

be the ex-

planation of sueth for saeth at 53,8. Instances of secondary

(1) W. Strokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, Oxford 1890, p. xlv-Lxxxi. (2). Ó MAite, The Language of the Annals of Ulster (Publications of the University of Manchester. Celtic series 2), Manchester 1910, p. 114-

116.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

75

iu, however, can only be accounted for as attempts at archaism: thus we find nom. sg. haimsiur 18,3, isiul 22,3, thuliu 34,2, airiumh 72,4, cucligiu 92,7, eigiumh 92,16; gen.

sg. slebiu 53,2; dat. sg. creitiumh 54,3 (cf. 56,1.11), gliund 88,5;

acc.

sg. biuth

88,14,

airiumh

92,14;

nom.

pl. eitiu

71,1.2; gen. pl. aingiul 72,8, tendtighiu 92,9; acc. pl. teithbindiu 70,5; 3 sg. pres. ind. as-toidiu 53,11. On the other hand, the number of spellings which conform with Old Irish usage is impressive. Besides 1 sg. conjunct s-subjunctive -ecius 15,2, we may note the follow-

ing dative singulars: aicniudh 23,9; aithbiu 34,3; aitherruch 60,2; aiur 88,9; 92,18; 95,5 (cf. aeor 88,15); anamduch 56,7; berlu 8,3;

16,1;

101,5;

731 ; ctul6133473:63)

biu 14,8; 88,10; ciund

6512:

carnu

comrue

50:1;

62,6; ceniul cunn

50,5:

deisciurt 59,2; deiriudh 73,8; ecnuch 55,5; fusmiud 23,6; lau 30,2; 64,3 (cf. lo 19,5; 92,13); mulluch 6,3; niul 72,8; sudhiu 66,1.24; tindscetul 73,7; tochur 92,27; tuaithbiul 59,1; tuiliu 34,3; urd 83,2. On the strength of this evidence, and of a

few readings in the second recension such as Q’s mbulg 2,2, lo 24-25,3, lou 64,2, it seems evident that u-affection was a

productive feature in the language of the exemplar. On balance, this would argue for a date of composition in the Old Irish period. There are indications of the decline of uaffection already in the Wiirzburg glosses ('); and although instances continue to appear in Middle Irish texts, the usage appears to be only artificially maintained at this point. Nouns

(1) Consideration of the survival of the neuter noun must take into account the situation of the neuter article, and of

nasalization following nouns generally; these subjects are treated separately. Granted that L often fails to show nasalization, it is notable that we do find instances following the nom. sg. of airdhe 8,2; beim 62,6.8; deadh 7,1; sil Vay lly and forad 50,2: in the case of sil nAdaim this occurs in a

(1) For a collection of examples, see K. McCone, “The Wurzburg and Milan

Glosses.

Our Earliest

p. 85-106, at p. 86.

Sources

of ‘Middle

Irish”, Hriu 36 (1985),

74

LANGUAGE

stereotyped other

phrase,

instances.

AND

DATING

but the same

Bélrae,

besides

cannot

taking

be said of the

the

neuter

article

(11,3.5-6), is represented by the neuter pronoun ed at 11,2. Another neuter pronoun may be present in arnach derbanad nach sin “lest any storm inconvenience

it” 6,5-6, where the

referent is céle: the latter is given a feminine article in the text, but was

originally

neuter.

There

are

also examples

of

the short nom./acc. pl.: possibly ilceniuil (for ilchenél?) 67,1, and definitely rind 27,7; 68,2. In L both the nom.

and acc.

pl. of torad appear as toraid (53,6; 50,2): since the latter would be quite unusual even in late Middle Irish, it seems likeliest that in both cases the exemplar had torad. The same explanation may account for the nom. pl. forms craind 49,2 and graid 100,2. Lin however appears unambiguously masculine: thus we find ba he lin 5,3 together with acc. sg. ind lin 83,1-2. There is no trace in TB of the old neut. nom./acc. sg. form of the adjectival indefinite pronoun na; accordingly the phrases nach cenél 77,3 (contrast acc. pl. inna ilceniuil 67,1),

nach

leth 39,6

(contrast

nom.

sg. a lleth 34,3),

nach

teidm 71,2 reflect the disappearance of the pronoun rather than a change in the gender of the noun

(but note that in

the last of these examples féidm is also referred to by a masculine

pronoun:

see notes). There

are two instances

of

nach nasalizing in the nom. sg. (nach n-ethar 33,7, nach nesconn

50,4), but the nouns

discussion hand

in the textual

in question

notes

use of the neuter form

are not neuters;

at 33,7.

Note

on

the

cf.

other

alaill to refer to torad at 50,4.

It is also noteworthy that rith is treated as a neuter: it nasalizes in the nom. sg. at 16,13, and perhaps takes a neuter article at 68,16. This may be a pseudo-archaism; it certainly contrasts with nom. sg. in riuth in the (ninth-century?) glosses on the Carlsruhe manuscript of Bede’s De rerum natura ('). Perhaps however TB here reflect’s rith’s earlier flexion: that it was originally neuter is suggested by the varying gender assigned to its Brittonic cognates (°). (1) Thes., voln2; p. 12.28. (2) J. VENpRYES ef al., Lexique étymologique Paris — Dublin

1959-, s. v. “riuth”.

de Virlandais

ancien,

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

75D

Even if rith is omitted from the reckoning, we still find 22 nouns at least intermittently treated as neuters in TB: airbe (66,11-12), airdhe (8,2-3), beim (62,6-7.8), belra (11,2.3.5-6), bile (53,12; 58,7), cenél (67,1), crann (53,3; 58,5), deadh (7,1), glenn (66,23-24), imchomarc (49,2), leth (34,3), mil (56,1-2), muir (94,8), oinach (6,1), ogh (57,4), rind (2737 5°68;2), scei (1,657; 1235; -etc.), sil (73;13-14), ‘sliab (66,8.17), sruth (66,2), timna (25,8), torad (50,2; etc.). The neuter gender was, therefore, evidently still a viable category when TB was written; the apparent treatment of some non-neuters as neuters (if not introduced in the course of the text’s transmission) may however reflect hypercorrection in response to incipient decline. The problem of the chronology of the disappearance of the neuter in Irish is,

as

Kenneth

Jackson

observed,

“involved

and

incon-

clusive” ('); the situation in TB is however compatible with a date in the later Old Irish period. (2) Most of the instances of acc. pl. o-stems in the text of L preserve the old ending -u (eonu 89,3, luachtiu 28,6, maccu 62,4, niulu 88,4, slogu 66,5, sluagho 9,2, soethu 50,7, toibu 66,15); contrast however aingle 100,6, thoiba 33,2.

(3) The gen. pl. of u-stems was already beginning to fall together with that of o-stems at the beginning of the ninth century: thus in Félire Oengusso we find the line cen chobair mo dér-sa (rhyming with nél-sa) (*). By the time of Saltair na Rann in the later tenth century, this usage had spread to the i- and r-stems as well. In TB it is found with u-stems only: dér “tear” has gen. pl. der 13,7; 68,11; 90,9, and rind “star” has rend 3,2 (twice), rind 16,14; 53,11; 64,3; 75,9;

92,10; while i-stems by contrast exhibit gen. plurals dula 14,2; 94,21, enlaithi 73,14, gnuse 13,11; 78,2; 90,8; 104,3, salmuire 92,19-20. The older form of the u-stem gen. pl. survives

riant

in imraitti

bláth 66,19

104,4

(perhaps

and

blatha

22,4;

also 22) probably

72,5:

the va-

reflects

the

(1) K. H. Jackson, “The Date of the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick”,

ZCP 41 (1986), p. 5-45, at p. 41. (2) W. Stokes, Félire Oengusso Céli Dé. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee (Henry Bradshaw Society 29), London

1905, Epil. 400.

76

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

alternative flexion of this specific noun (thus nom. pl. blaith 53,12 vs. blatha 59,4). (4) Only two of the u-stem acc. plurals in L exhibit the standard

Old

Irish form:

trachtu

5,2 and

fulochtu 62,5. In

light of the number of counterexamples (ildatha 36,1; gotha 59,6; 68,12; trachta 66,16; srotha 88,5), it seems

most rea-

sonable to take the forms with -u as examples of the secondary u characteristic of L’s text (see discussion of uaffection above) rather than as survivals of the early end-

ing. The development in question can be found elsewhere in later Old Irish sources: John Strachan noted the acc. plurals ilgotha Sg 197 a 11; degnima MI 81 d 1, drochgnima 99 d 1, sentintuda 107 a 3; feda Corm. Y 1159 (0). (5) The short dative is well represented in TB: ceo 66,21, dibairsit

3,4,

frescse

8,2,

indisi

39,4,

saldatu

13,6,

talumh

62,9, fein 13,3. Although the short dative survived into the Middle

Irish

period,

it was

commoner

in Old

Irish;

thus

O Maille suggests that “the non-nasal dative seems to have

been giving place to the nasal one early in the 10 tury”

cen-

() !

Adjectives (1) Concord: For the most part concord of adjectives with their nouns is well maintained in TB; exceptions may be ascribed to the blurring of distinctions between unstressed final vowels (whether in the original text or in the course of transmission). The following details may be noted:

(a) In most instances the dat sg. masc. adjective does not seem to be marked for case (e.g. 0 berlu ainglecdha 8,3-4, o ghuth ainglecda 10,3). Note however do cech anmanda

biu 88,9-10,

(b) Concord

inna berlu shaindilius

101,5.

is consistently found in the dat. pl. The

instances occur at 6,3.4; 15,4-5; 25,6-7; 28,2-3.3-4; 30,4;

33,3; 35,1-2;

53,14

(2 examples);

66,13-14;

73,4; 80,6.

(1) J. STRACHAN, “Contributions to the History of Middle Irish Declension”, Transactions of the Philological Society (1903-1906), p. 202246, at p. 228. (2) T. Ó Máir, Language of the Annals of Ulster, p. 148.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

77

This was still normal usage throughout most of the Mid-

dle Irish period (’). (2) Comparison (a) Equative

adjectives:

There

is only one equative

adjective in TB, occurring in the phrase duibider degaid “as black as a beetle” (60,4). This cannot be taken as evidence that the equative was still a productive category when

the text was

written,

as the locution

survived

into

later Middle Irish (*); on the other hand, TB contains no instances

of the

construction

with

com(h)

which

pre-

vailed in Middle and Modern Irish. (b) Comparative adjectives: There are 36 instances of the regular comparative adjective in L, two of them used as superlatives (at 86,5). Of these, most retain the old ending -(i)u; thus we find aidbliu 9,5, andsu 56,1 (cf.

80,2; 103,3), ardiu 1,3 (cf. 78,1), cainiu 80,5, diglaigiu 1,5, feochru 1,4, giliu 1,5 (cf. 100,4), glaisiu 27,5, gleu 9,3, noibiu 1,5, sairiu 18,6, sinu 18,4, soillsiu 9,3, uairiu 27,6;

while at 62,6 L’s ussa (for Old Irish assu) corresponds to usu in Y. The same ending is probably therefore to be restored in those instances where it is not found in the manuscript: airde 81,4, amrai 18,1 (cf. 97,1; 106,1), binne 9,6 (cf. 78,2), boidhi 1,6, cennsa 1,4, etrachta 7,6 (cf.

100,2). Treisi appears for tressa at 1,3. In Old Irish the comparative adjective is followed either by a prepositionless dative or by the expression olda(a)s “than is”: these are the two usages found in TB.

Examples of the former are found in § 1 (8 ex.), 9 (4 ex.), 18 (3 ex.), 78 (2 ex.), 80 (3 ex.), and at 81,4 and 103,3. The latter appears at 56,11; 62,6; 96,8; 97,1; 100,3.4 (2 ex.); 103,5, and 106,1, with the variant innas (already in MI 22 ¢ 14, 34 a 5, 85 b 11) at 7,7. Olda(a)s precedes a

singular noun or its equivalent in all cases except 96,8, where it is followed by the verbal phrase mar ata/t] (°).

(1) J. Srracuan, art. cit., p. 246.

(2) DIL s.v. “1 dega”, col. 220,38-44. (3) Cf. DIL s.v. “2 ol”, col. 130,27-32.58-66.

78

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

(c) Superlative adjectives: The comparative is found used for the superlative in the phrase badh luaithiu 4 bud treisiu luamain 86,5. Elsewhere the superlative ending survives: nessamh 27,3, airdem 27,9, sirem (for older stam;

nothing comparable in the second recension) 79,1, dech 106,6. This evidence is compatible with a date of composition in the early ninth century, as use of comparatives for superlatives is found already in Féilire Oengusso ('); survival of the superlative ending is not however

conclusive

evidence

of Old Irish provenance,

isolated examples

continue to be found in Middle

and Early Modern

Irish sources.

The

Definite

as

Irish

Article

Usage of the definite article in TB closely resembles that

in the Old Irish of the glosses. A few comments may be made on some specific points: (a) In the gen. sg. fem., and the gen. and acc. pl., the forms inna and na stand in the ratio 78:64. As James Carney has argued,

the shortened

form na existed

already in

poetry at the beginning of the eighth century, and tends to predominate in Old Irish verse generally (7); in prose however

inna

remained

the usual

form,

with

e.g. an

inna:na

ratio of 84:8 in the first 26 folios of the Milan glosses (Ml). Inna could easily be altered to na in the course of copying, and even quite careful transcripts of Old Irish texts reflect this:

the

Treatise

background

and

on

the Psalter,

period

emanating

from

the same

as MI (), has only 9 instances

inna to 24 of na; and the Annals

of

of Ulster has ratios of 2:12

for the eighth century and 3:13 for the ninth. The situation in TB is accordingly compatible with a date of composition in the Old Irish period.

(1) (2) Eigse (3)

W. J. 19 K.

Sroxes, Félire Oengusso Céli Dé, [34 NOOR Carney, “The Dating of Early Irish Verse Texts, 500-1100”, (1983), p. 177-216, at p. 199. Meyer, Hibernica Minora, being a Fragment of an Old-Irish

Treatise on the Psalter, Oxford

1894, p. xiii.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

79

(b) For the nom. pl. masc. there are five instances of the Old Irish form in/ind/int (6,11; 20,4; 23,8; 28,4; 56,4), as against one of the later (in)na (66,10). This contrasts with the situation in the Tripartite Life of Patrick (a composite work, the bulk of which was in Jackson’s view “possibly compiled in the very late O. Ir. period” (')), where the two are represented approximately equally (Ó); and with later Middle Irish prose, where the old form is increasingly rare (°). The isolated na in TB is probably a scribal innovation; it may conceivably however be an example of the

sporadic spread of (ín na in the Old Irish period (Ó). (c) In the dat. pl., forms of the type donaib, isnaib stand to dona,

isna, etc. in a ratio

19:15.

The

same

approximate

balance appears in the Treatise on the Psalter (8:7), but the proportion has shifted somewhat in the Tripartite Life (5:8) Ó). Dat. pl. articles in -na are already attested occasionally in Old Irish (°). Some of the instances in TB could accordingly be original; but the process of transmission, again,

could

also

account

for what

we

find

in the

manu-

scripts. (d) A particularly interesting feature of TB is the high number of survivals of the neut. nom./acc. sg. article a: there are 32 clear instances

of this, vs. 14 where

in is at-

tached to nouns which were originally neuter. In some cases this in contrasts with instances of a elsewhere in the text: with an mhuir at 56,2 cf. a n-ardmhuir 66,3-4, a mmuir 94,8; with in mbile 59,3 cf. a mbile 58,7 (and see note on

53,12). Here the late form is presumably scribal; the same may be true of its use with deilm 7,2, domnach 68,13-14, esca 92,11, nem 29,2, soithar 86,3, tract 56,5, and trath 68,5-6.

(1) K. H. Jackson, “Date of the Tripartite Life”, p. 5. (2) K. Mutcurone, “Die Abfassungszeit und Uberlieferung der Vita

Tripartita,” ZCP 16 (1926-1927), p. 1-94, at pp. 40-41. (5). Thus “T. Ó MáÁiLLE, Language of the Annals of Ulster, p. 123-124; K. H. Jackson, Aislinge Meic Con Glinne, Dublin 1990, p. 79. (4) R. THuRNEYSEN, A Grammar of Old Irish, trans. D. A. Bincuy — O. Berain,

Dublin

1946, § 268; K. McCone,

“The Wiirzburg and Milan

Glosses”, p. 90. (5) K. MuLcHROoNE, art. cit., p. 67. (6) R. THURNEYSEN and K. McCong, loc. cit.

80

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

On in ogh 57,4 see the separate discussion in the textual notes; words which appear already to have lost their neuter gender in the exemplar are discussed in the treatment of neuter nouns above. Whatever may be the explanations for individual forms in TB, the overall profile of the neuter article contrasts markedly with that in the Tripartite Life, where the a:in ratio is roughly 7:10 (); in the Annals

of Ulster a appears

for the last time in 911, while Saltair na Rann contains only 3 instances (“). (e) There are 3 examples of the dual article in L: in da crithmhil dec 28,1-2, na da mag dec 65,1-2, and na da suidi .lzx. 73,11-12. In the second of these na may be emended to earlier in on the evidence of the second recension (in da

magh décc in Q); the second

recension

omits the passage

containing the third instance. Pronouns

There is not much to discuss under this heading apart from the infixed pronouns, which are treated below. Independent personal pronouns are employed as in Old Irish, and in the 3 pl. only the older form é is found (57,4; 84,10); a suffixed pronoun appears in gaibthius (68,2). Other features depart from Old Irish usage. Relative a functions as a conjunct particle in a n-aisniter (16,6) and a faigbed (88,11.12.15; 89,2.5-6); parallels can however be found in the glosses to the constructions seen in a fil (87,2.3; 88,4.9; 95,4; 98,1-2; 101,1), a ndo ligdath do-adbat (39,4) and a n-as (79,1). The form infor 56,10, confirmed by in bar YO, is a Middle Irish innovation from earlier ibor. Infixed Pronouns

Instances of the infixed pronoun in TB may be tabulated

as follows:

(1) K. MuLcHROoNE, art. cit., p. 36-37. (2) T. O MAILLE, op. cit., p. 124.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

81

3,6; 10.85; 12,1. b2 2 — Ua to Ua

45,3;

60,3;

71,3.

“Invisible”

ex.

perh.

at

DeAc 05. 66,25.26.

6,11; 28,1; 34,4; 38,2; etc. 73,1. 10,7 ;.60,6.

11,5; 12,2 (2). 62,4.5; 73,11.12. 60,8.9. Dor AOD 60,4-5. 39,1. 60,10.

250576

Soe

Ded |

lel

39,7. nos “05 61,3. AD

Dk

OO LO:

b2DA ae.

The flourishing condition of the Class C infixed pronouns is particularly striking here. On the other hand, several more or less late features are also conspicuous; these may be dealt with individually. (a) In the 3 sg. masc. of Class A, the a-vocalism has been lost; this development was assigned by Thurneysen to the ninth century ('). That this absence of forms with -a- is not merely an artifact of the text’s transmission seems to be (1) R. THuRNEYSEN,

Grammar, § 415.

82

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

indicated by the lack of counterexamples, and by preservation of the old vowel elsewhere in the paradigm (note consistent use of -fa-, -da- where appropriate, apart from the instances of -dos- to be discussed below). Thurneysen did not give his reasons for the date which he proposed, but was probably thinking of the many instances of ro é ra, etc., in the Tripartite Life (e.g. ro ngab 618, ro mbaitsi 745, donarraid

832, ro n-adnaigset

1084, ro mberr

1161, donartha-

tar 1606) (’). (b) There 62,5; appear

are

fos-ndailet at 6,11;

only

two

examples

73,1), while 66,25.26;

of -sn-

instances

92,3.

This

(conus-n-esta

of non-nasalizing feature

-s-

is however

of

no significance for dating, as such nasalization was already optional in Old Irish (thus nos bered Tur. 134). (c) In 5 out of 7 instances, the 3 sg. neut. pronoun of Class C nasalizes; of the remaining two, it is impossible to tell whether or not nasalization is present in the case of forid-racht

60,10.

the nouns

referred

51,1;

53,7),

(cf. remarks pronouns

both

In the instances to are muir treated

above).

are found

which

show

nasalization,

(32,7; 33,7) and torad (50,5;

as neuters

It may

be

elsewhere

significant

closely associated

in the

that

text

these

with anomalous

na-

salization of another kind, that of nach before a nom.

sg.

masc.: nach n-ethar rotn-ainic (i.e. muir) 33,7, nach n-esconn

rot mblaisi (i.e. torad) 50,4-5. The latter usage is clearly Middle Irish (see note on 33,7), and may represent some kind of hypercorrection in these instances; nasalization after the neuter infix, and use of -t- for -d- (33,7; 39,7; 50,5),

could reflect the activity of the same archaizing redactor. (d) In dia-n-ar-forcoimnacair (61,3), the 1 pl. poss. pron. ar has replaced the Old Irish Class C pronoun -don-. The second recension has nothing corresponding to the passage in which this form occurs, and so it is possible that it originated in the branch of the text tradition represented by L. As it stands

it can

scarcely

be earlier than

the tenth

century: the Tripartite Life has no examples of infixed -ar-,

(1) References to this text, here and below, are to the line numbers in K. Mutcurone, Bethu Phdtraic, Dublin 1939.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

83

and in Saltair na Rann the ratio of -ar- to the older forms is still only 8:29 (’). (e) In the 3 pl. of Class C there are two examples of innovative

-dos-:

conus-n-esta

62,5 and nodos sasa

72,6. With

these may be contrasted instances of -da- in the Class C 3 sg. fem. and 3 pl., and of -fa- in the Class B 3 pl.: a total of 8 attestations. Given its relative rarity, can we conclude that -dos- entered TB at a relatively late stage in the text’s development? This is a strong possibility in the case of nodos sasa (v.ll. nos sasann

Y, shasas iad O), where the initial

s- of the verb could have facilitated a change -da- 5 -dos- at any point. The situation is more complicated when we consider n-itheadh

conus-n-esta

(v.ll. co nd-ethta

O, da n-ithi M): on

Ó, cero

the one

hand,

chaitea

Y, da

only L attests

the form in question; on the other, the nasalization after -s-

would seem to point to a relatively early date for the reading in L. If we do assign conus-n-esta to the original text, as I am

inclined

to do, then

TB’s treatment

of this

pronoun may be compared with the situation in the Tripartite Life: -da-/-ta- preponderate, but we do find Class B 3 sg. fem. fordosrala 1089, Class C 3 pl. nudas foilnaibed 2217. In summary, then, the survival of Class C points to a date of composition in the Old Irish period; features (a), (b),

and (e) above suggest the later portion of that period; while the Middle Irish developments in (c) and (d) can best be explained as the work of one or more redactors. Verbs

The Deponent The deponent has survived in most instances in TB, the following verbs appearing with deponent endings only: airlithir 85,2; conjunct -cuirethar 32,4; dicsigidir 34,2; doairissedar 10,10; do-cuirethar 32,11; 34,4, etc.; do-moinethar 8,2; 56,5; preterite for-coemnacair 13,1-2; 15,5; etc.; forluathar 57,3; for-tuigethar 51,7; gainithir 10,6; 42,2; 94,13;

| ro-fitir 10,1-2; ro-finnathar (1) J. Srracuan,

“The

Infixed

(1904), p. 153-179, at p. 161.

11,1; ete.; ro-laimethar Pronoun

in Middle-Irish”,

54,2; Eriu

1

84

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

suidigidir 4,2-3; 25,8. The only non-deponent forms of labraithir (at 11,3.4.6 and 47,4, vs. deponent forms at 4,4; 8,3; 10,3; 11,2; 16,1; 38,3 [see note]; 42,5) are evidently secondary (see discussion of the verbal endings -ann and -tait below).

Of the five originally deponent verbs which show nondeponent

forms,

three

are

also

attested

in TB

with

depo-

nent endings: beside the non-deponent instances of dofiuchtrathar at 34,5; 68,11; 70,4; 71,4; 75,2 we find -diuchtradar

32,11;

while

-foruaisligfider

100,6

contrasts

with

foruaisliges 100,7-8, and soillsidir 75,4 with soillsighfid 100,5. Consistently non-deponent is failt(n)igid 34,5; 64,8; 70,3; note also the unique attestation

of do-foillsig at 71,1.

This distribution suggests a date for TB not later than the end of the ninth century, as the deponent’s decline seems to have advanced further by the tenth. The survival of deponent

endings

in the

case

of so many

verbs

in -(a)ig-

is

particularly striking: Strachan was of the opinion that “the evidence seems to prove decisively that the verbs in -ig- had disappeared before the beginning of the tenth century”; and Jackson inclined more cautiously to the same view (’).

Simplification of Compound Several

distinct developments

Verbs in the language

are to be

classed under this general heading. (a) Already in Old Irish a compound verb can assume prototonic form even in independent position, if the pretonic preverb ends in a vowel and is followed by a stressed syllable beginning with a vowel or f-: thus instead of the opposition do-icc / ní ticc we find the simpler ficc / ni ficc. There are several examples of this in TB: tig 40,1, ticfet 73,9 (< do-icc); thalla 56,9 (€ do-alla); tindnaig 66,14, tidnacar 106,7 (twice) (< do-indnaig); tarbad 67,1-2 (< do-adbat); thimceallat 68,4 (€ do-imchella); thadhlibed 89,11 (< do-aidlibea).

(1) J. Srracuan,

“Contributions”, p. 551; K. H. Jackson,

the Tripartite Life”, p. 24.

“Date of

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

85

(b) In a subsequent development, verbs of this type came to be inflected as simple verbs; Jackson notes only a few such forms in the Tripartite Life and Saltair na Rann ('). TB

has

only

diuchtrait

34,5,

70,4

(< do-fiuchtrathar);

and

thidnaicius 106,6 (< do-indnaig). (c) Later, and even rarer in the Tripartite Life and Saltair na Rann (’), are simple verbs based on compound verbs which do not have the structure described in (a) above. In this class TB has aisnither 54,2 and asnidet 73,3.8.10; ergit 61,1 (see note); 80,3 (vs. ad-regat 75,4); indisit 73,11 (cf. imperative 2 sg. indis at 15,4 [with note]; 65,1; 83,1; 85,1).

In this respect, then, the situation in TB is roughly comparable to that in the Tripartite Life and Saltair na Rann. The rarity of the later forms in TB could also be explained on the hypothesis that these are isolated readings which have crept into the text in the course of transmission — an explanation which could be extended to the instances in the Tripartite Life as well. (d) Another kind of univerbation is that effected by prefixing ro or no to compound verbs; although a few forms like ro héilled (Ml 127 a 13) can be cited from Old Irish sources, this is for the most part a Middle Irish development. In TB we find ro thidhnaic 1,6; ro teclumadh 5,1; ro frecair 18,1, etc.; ro thusmed 23,2-3; no thindscanaind 86,2, ro tindscan 94,9; ro teilced 94,7; ro fhuaslaic 94,19; ro chuimrigh 94,20; ro fhorberad 96,7; and ro airlem and ro aittrebam 107,1. With this collection we may contrast the

attestations reckoning

of the infixed as-beir,

augment:

do-cuirethar,

do-gni,

leaving and

out

of the

imm-cuirethar,

which retain an infixed augment in the later language, there are by my count 30 instances in TB, involving 19 verbs. A case can be made for viewing the presence of the univerbated forms as a secondary feature of the text. Thus it is noteworthy that they are all inflected as weak verbs, although con-rig, do-fuissim, do-indnaig, and fris-gair take

(1) K. H. Jackson, art. cit., p. 28-29. (2) K. H. Jackson, art. cit.

86

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

dental preterites in Old Irish: elsewhere in the text the dental preterite is retained (some 20 instances, including dofuissim and fris-gair). Ro teclumadh moreover shows a metathesis attested only in Middle Irish sources; while ro fhuaslaic shows Middle Irish loss of the preverb do-. In light of these observations it may also be significant that, apart from the persistent ro frecair (on which see the note at 18,1),

all

examples

of

univerbating

ro

and

no

are

con-

centrated at the beginning and end of TB: indeed, 4 out of the 12 forms occur in a single paragraph. The relative rarity, conspicuous lateness, and uneven distribution of the verbs with univerbating augment all indicate that this feature should be attributed to a later redactor rather than to the original author of the text.

Sense of the Augmented Preterite The difference

in sense between

the augmented

and un-

augmented preterites appears to have become blurred in the course of the ninth century, and was no longer a living part of the language in the Middle Irish period; already in the Tripartite Life the two forms

are used interchangeably (').

In TB augmented forms preponderate over unaugmented in a proportion of approximately 13:8, which might be taken to indicate that the same falling together had run its course by the

time

that

the

text

was

written;

in fact,

however,

most of the augmented preterites in TB do seem to have a “resultative” force (“. That there are so many such forms is

due to the character of the work: most of the narration which it contains relates to the origins of things, hence to past events constitutive of reality in the present. The same is true of references to the life of Christ, and probably of the list of midnight happenings in § 94 as well: the audience is intended to feel a link between the night on which the revelation is received and the expanse of sacred history.

(1) K. H. Jackson, art. cit., p. 32-33; K. McCone, The Early Irish Verb (Maynooth Monographs 1), Maynooth 1987, XII.4.1. (2) For this term, and a lucid and perceptive characterization, see K. McCong, op. cit., 1X.3.2.1.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

87

If the presumably secondary examples with univerbating ro (discussed above) are left out of the reckoning, roughly three quarters of the augmented preterites in TB can be interpreted as resultatives; there are however some two dozen instances which cannot. The clearest cases are those in which augmented and unaugmented forms are used in parallel clauses, e.g. nat robai talam... nat batur cuartu 16,710;

lotar

De

Tuath

tre Muir

Ruadh

1 ro

baidhed

Forunn

94,11-12. Clearly, then, the Old Irish usage was in decline to at least some extent when TB was written; again, this

suggests a date in the second half of the ninth century. Personal Endings Three

of the

personal

endings

whose

usage

was _ in-

troduced or extended in the Middle Irish period are attested

in TB: (a) 3 sg. conjunct -ann/-enn, (b) 3 pl. independent -t(a)it, and (c) 3 pl. preterite conjunct -satar/-setar. In only two

cases,

ro raidsetar

11,1 and

-labrunn

47,4, is

the reading of L confirmed by the manuscripts of the second recension, and even in L the form of labraithir at 11,3 which may reflect an example of -f(a)it is not really legible

(see textual notes). Of the forms attested only in L, -fuilngsetar 60,1 and don-ethand 60,3 occur in a single paragraph, suggesting that they are the work of a single secondary hand; it is significant that in one other case (ternann 40,2) -ann in L is contradicted by the readings of the second recension (therna vel sim. QYO). Of the remaining examples, ro raidsetar 11,1 and labertait 11,6 occur in a single paragraph, while labertait and -labrunn are forms of a single verb (cf. discussion of deponents above). This clustering, together with the paucity of instances over all, strongly suggests that these endings were introduced by a redactor and did not form part of the original composition. Having noted these peculiarities of distribution, we may consider the endings individually. (a) -ann/-enn: -ternann 40,2, -labrunn 47,4, don-ethand 60,3. The view generally received is that this ending first appeared late in the tenth century ('); apart from a single (1) Thus K. H. Jackson, Aislinge Meic Con Glinne, p. 123.

88

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

instance in a poem attributed to Dallan mac Moire (c. 900), the earliest examples in the collection made by Carney oc-

cur in the poems of Cinaed ó hArtucan (died 973) (’). (b) -t(a)it: labartait (see note) 11,3, labertait 11,6. This ending has been discussed by Carney; some of the examples which he cites may belong to the Old Irish period (*). The most interesting feature of this ending is the date of its disappearance: Carney was unable to find any attestations of it later than the poetry of Cuan O Lothchan (died 1024). (c) -satar/-setar:

ro

raidsetar

11,1,

fo-dercsatar

56,4,

-fuilngsetar 60,1. Extension of the 3 sg. preterite ending -astar/-estar to non-deponent verbs is already attested in the Old Irish glosses (e.g. ad-roneestar Wh 4 c 35, ro dligestar MI 36 a 29); a corresponding extension of plural -satar/-setar took place by analogy, evidently considerably later. The Tripartite Life has only three examples of the latter devel-

opment, two of them closely related (¢ucsatar 2143, -rucsatar 2796); in Saltair na Rann however the ending has been extended to 18 non-deponents, with a total of 22 instances (°). It seems reasonable to see the tenth century as the period in which this wider use of -satar/-setar became common; in TB, the isolation of the examples is highlighted by the fact that the text contains no attestations of the earlier extension of -astar/-estar to non-deponent verbs. If I am correct in seeing all of the forms discussed in this section as the work

of a single redactor,

the evidence

dis-

cussed above would suggest c. 950-1025 for the time of his activity.

Inflection of Strong Verbs It can be seen from the above that many of the verbal forms in TB are Middle Irish. Over all, however, the inflection of strong verbs reflects Old Irish usage, with such a

high number of conservative forms that it appears reasonable to postulate an Old Irish date for the exemplar rather (1) J. Carney, “Dating of Early Irish Verse Tests”, p. 203-206.

(2) Ibid., p. 200-201. (3) K. H. Jackson, “Date of the Tripartite Life”, p. 30.

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

89

than to see the forms in question as instances of archaism. Thus we may note the following: (a) s-subjunctive: ad-cí (past pass. -aiciste 18,6); ar-icc (past pass. -airesta 2,6); con-icc (pass. -coimastar 92,14); do-adbat (past 3 pl. -taidbsitis 96,7); do-icc (past 3 sg. -thised 14,9; 89,5); do-roich (past 3 sg. doda-roigsed 89,10-11 [see note]); in-fét (1 sg. -ecius 15,2, past pass. -ecestar 15,5); ithid (past 2 pl. -esta 62,5); ro-cluinethar (2 pl. at-cloit-si 42,3, 3 pl. -cloitis 73,14); ro-icc (1 pl. ro-issam 107,1); ro-saig (past 3 sg. rosossed 53,10; 86,6); tarmi-tét (past 3 sg. -tarmtheissed 82,4).

(b) Reduplicated future: ad-fét (cond. 3 sg. at-fesedh 66,25); ad-gainethar (cond. 3 sg. -athgigned 14,5); ara-chrin (cond. 3 sg. ar-chiurad 96,5); con-icc (cond. 3 pl. -coimsaitis 99,2); fo-ceird (cond. 3 sg. fos-cichredh 89,6-7; 96,6); fo-loing (cond. 3 pl. -foilsatis 96,2); in-fét (cond. 1 sg. -eicsind 86,3; 90,1 3 pl. -eicsitis 95,7). (c) t-preterite: ad-gnin (3 pl. at-genatar 11,5); ar-eim (3 sg. ar-roet 14,2); at-reig (3 sg. as-reracht 14,1; 42,3; 58,1.4; 94,2;

95,1); do-eissim (3 sg. do-rosat 25,7, do-forsat 82,3); fo-fich (3 sg. forid-racht 60,10 [see note]); fris-gair (3 sg. fris-cart 20,1; 66,1; 68,1; 86,1 3 pl. fris-cartatar 10,1); in-essuirg (3 sg. -indsort 60,5); mairnid (3 sg. mert 58,3). (d) Reduplicated preterite: do-gni (3 sg. do-gene 4,1; 19,1); for-cumaing (3 sg. for-coemnacair 13,1-2; 15,5, -forchoimnacair 58,6; 61,3).

(e) Strong preterite passive: ad-ci (-acces 7,4); as-beir (asrobrath 16,9; 17,2, as-breth 25,8); con-beir (cotam-aipred 10,7); con-dieig (con-diacht 53,4); dingid (-decht 60,3); do-

eipen (-lerpad 23,7); imm-aig (immom-racht 12,1); tmm-diben (im-ruidbed

10,9);

in-fét (-eces 4,3); ro-cluinethar

(-clos 8,1;

16,1; 104,5); ro-fitir (-fes 2,1.3; 53,15). Some of these forms are sufficiently common in later literature that they have little or no evidential value when taken in isolation.

For others, however,

this is not the case:

thus TB appears to be the only text which has preserved the old preterite passive of dingid. Old forms of rare words, such as in-essuirg, are also unlikely to be mere conventional survivals.

90

LANGUAGE

The Substantive

AND

DATING

Verb

Usage of the relative and conjunct stem fil in the present indicative is not particularly conservative. The following points should be noted: (a) The specifically relative form file appears only once (80,1), while there are eleven instances of relative fil (57,8;

62,3: [see note]; 67,2; 87,2.3; 88,4:9; 95,4; 98,2; .101,1; 103,5). (b) There is one clear instance in which -fils logical subject is its grammatical object (tindtud followed by nasalisation

at 62,9-10).

On

the other hand,

the innovative

3 pl.

form is attested twice (fulet (fuilet Y) 65,2, failet 106,95), with no counterexamples of singular -fil with plural object. (c) Another inflected form of fil appears to be reflected in L’s a failti-si at 62,3; see however the textual note on the passage in question.

Relative forms without final vowel are attested already in the glosses (Wb 4 ¢ 1, 33 b 18; Ml 121 c¢ 8; BCr 18 ¢ 4),

and the two instances of the 3 pl. inflected form may be secondary —

it is suggestive that one of them occurs at the

very end of the text, where

several

other late forms

are at-

tested. As it stands, however, the evidence here points away from an early date of composition for TB. The Copula The following forms are attested in TB: Present; 5so.abs..is(¢) rel.

as

(once

is) 1,3-5;

10,01

87,2;

67,2-3 (in second recension; 84,10; rel. ala 29,8; 106,6.

115512452

conj.

Future:

3 sg. rel. bas 100,2.4;

Preterite;

3 sg. rel. budh

o: se. abs.

18,3.4,

in

see note). 3 pl. abs. it 57,4;

Present Subjunctive: 3 sg. conj. nochobo 11,4, 3 pl. conj. ciatfu] 37,2. Past Subjunctive: 3 pl. conj. comtis 96,7. Conditional: noptis 51,5.

13.0. ete;

nocho(n)

conj. connaba

97,1;

ba 2,2 (twice):

conj. nibu 9,2; rel. nadbu 9,5.

32,10, mad

92,13.

106,1. 3 pl. conj. 3,170.5;

7.43 elec

LANGUAGE

AND

DATING

91

In general this paradigm conforms with Old Irish usage; on cial[u and noptis see separate discussion in the textual notes. Nocho(n) is a Middle Irish spelling of nicon: the use of the latter as a negative form of the 3 sg. pres. ind. of the copula in ninth-century Irish has been discussed by Thurneysen ('). The absolute relative form bad in the conditional may be compared with bed, attested already in MI 89-be7, 105.b.14. Prepositions For isolated later forms which can probably be attributed to the scribal tradition of L see textual notes for uasin ndunad

9,4, oc accaill arna

bledmila 57,3, and for-ruirmedh

for sil nAdhuimh 82,1-2. Otherwise the evidence for case confusion is limited to a few of the text’s final paragraphs (92-100), and to instances of dative for accusative plural: the prepositions involved are efir (iter lamaib 97,2.5), for (for talmandaib 92,6 [vs. for talmanda 92,8], forna srothaib 92,18,

fornaib coic cathrachuib 94,7-8), and tar (dar innsib 94,17, tairsib 100,5). As it happens, most of the relevant passages are omitted in the second recension; but forna srothaib can be matched in YOM, rendering it likely that all of these forms go back to the shared exemplar. The bunching together of these forms at the end of the text suggests that they are the work of the Middle Irish redactor; cf. my remarks above regarding the incidence of univerbation. Particles

Jackson notes that “except for sporadic archaisations, not always correctly used, the O. Ir. preverbal particle nad gave place to nd in M. Ir.”; he goes on to state that although na has for the most part replaced ndd in the Tripartite Life, the older form has survived in eleven cases (*). In L there are four instances of nad/nat (3,4; 18,3.7; 61,5) vs. three of

(1) R. THURNEYSEN, Grammar, p. 538. (2) K. H. Jackson, art. cit., p. 20.

92

na

LANGUAGE

(39,5;

72,2;

73,4):

AND

since

DATING

the second

recension

has the

later nach in all cases where its readings can be closely compared, we can only conjecture how many of these go back to the TB exemplar. Nad is the spelling generally found in Old Irish sources; since nat is attested at Wb

15 d 6,

however, the instances of this spelling in TB need not be considered secondary. Date

of the Book

of Lismore

Version

Not surprisingly, perhaps, the evidence is equivocal. As I have indicated at various points in the preceding discussion,

the

balance

between

conservative

and

innovative

forms seems to me to be most easily explained on the hypothesis that TB was composed in the ninth century, but passed through the hands of a redactor perhaps c. 1000. It is not possible to be dogmatic, however, especially given that a text which is in other respects so unusual may well have been written

in a register different

from that of the

linguistic witnesses with which I have been comparing it. Stokes’s view, that TB may have been written in the tenth century by a writer with a good command of many features of the older language, therefore remains a possibility. Date

of the Second

Recension

Nic Énrí and Mac Niocaill observed that “few satisfactory criteria are available for dating texts in the transition period from Middle to Modern Irish, and these few yield in the present case only a vague answer”. Basing themselves on the converging indications of several linguistic features,

second

they proposed

that

“a date

in the middle

half of the twelfth century would

or

be acceptable” ;

and this assessment seems eminently plausible ('). Since the

version of 7B from which both the Book of Lismore text and the second recension derive appears itself to have been redacted

in the

later

Middle

Irish

(1) U. Nic Enri - G. Mac Niocamt, Evernew

Tongue”, p. 3-4.

period,

the

second

re-

“The Second Recension of the

PRINCIPLES

OF EDITION

93

cension’s exemplar can indeed scarcely be earlier than this. The

second

recension’s

subsequent

development

can

prob-

ably be assigned to the Early Modern period. M, and the earliest manuscript of the “short recension” to which it is closely akin, both date from the late fifteenth century: I see no reason for thinking that their shared exemplar antedated them by any significant interval. V. Principles of Edition Structure

The focus of the present work is the version of TB which is preserved in the Book of Lismore (L): this is by far the most conservative copy to have survived. The edition and translation of L’s text are therefore printed on the right hand page. Since the second recension does however provide some readings which are preferable to L’s — or which, in conjunction with L’s testimony, point toward forms which stood in their shared exemplar — an edition and translation of that recension, with full critical apparatus, have been included also. As the basis of this edition I have used the manuscript Q, for reasons explained above. The texts of L and Q are accompanied by translations. I have

tried to make

these fairly literal; where

words

not

present in the original must be supplied in English to make the meaning clear, these have been placed in parentheses. In two cases, the translation of L reflects the need to supply words dropped by the scribe (see notes to 46,3 toidid fri husci and 88,17 la bas): these are marked by square brackets. At many points the corrupt text of Q cannot be translated as it stands, and there is one word in the text of L which I have been unable to translate (see note to 68.7

rofhualcect): wherever this is the case, it is indicated by an ellipsis (...). The Book of Lismore

Text

As far as possible the text is reproduced as in the manuscript; I have collated the facsimile with the manuscript

94

PRINCIPLES

OF

EDITION

itself. In a few instances, where the original is damaged or darkened,

I have

consulted

the

two

nineteenth-century

copies in Dublin, RIA, 24 C 6 (261) and 23 H 6 (478): in these cases their testimony has been included in the apparatus, and discussed where appropriate in the textual notes. Marks of length (whether macron or sineadh fada) have not been supplied if absent in the MS.

Further aspects of my treatment of the text are detailed in the sections which follow. The

Second

Recension

For reasons set out above I have undertaken to present the text of Q, with variants

from

YOM.

Where

Q is de-

fective in § 71-98 I have given the text of Y, with variants from

O and

M:

to mark

the difference

in treatment,

these

paragraphs are enclosed in square brackets. I have used the same convention in presenting the poem added by YOM at § 57A, as it would be impracticably cumbersome to relegate this to the apparatus. The translation renders the text of Q, except where this is so corrupt as to be nonsensical or incomprehensible. In these cases, an ellipsis [...] appears in the translation, and the evidence of the other witnesses is discussed in the textual notes. Trivial slips of the pen and other occasional scribal

anomalies,

corruption rectified

which

cannot

or reinterpretation

by comparison

with

be considered

and

which

the other

can

to represent

readily

manuscripts,

be

have

been silently corrected in the main text: these emended readings are identified with “scripsi” in the apparatus, where the exact form found in Q is supplied.

Features of the text which may reflect the exemplar shared by the first and second recensions are discussed in the textual notes.

In the apparatus, purely orthographic variants are in general not given except in the case of proper names; in doubtful instances, I have leaned toward inclusivity. The following points should also be noted: A peculiarity of Q is its fondness for replacing historical do with

de or di, historical ro with re, etc. In this it is

PRINCIPLES

OF

EDITION

95

followed by none of the other manuscripts, whose conventional spellings of the words in question I have not noted in the apparatus.

O is particularly given to confusing with one another, or omitting, lenited d and g; it has not seemed worthwhile to note instances of this proclivity. Where I have been unable to make out the manuscript, the gap is marked by angle brackets € 5; where in such cases a reading can be conjectured but is uncertain, these brackets enclose it (e.g. 31

137

dhai aigreta aili chetamus ara fomnatar muire fo gruadibh in nime atuaith. Criss uar aigridi aili imma-naisce mila mara fo muirib, fo toibaib in talman andes, isinn airm i forrumtha na noi tuirid tentigi fri nem indes. Criss an aurlasair

airechta domuin do-foscai iltorad talman co n-erig immon mbith ara bruindib siar. Da chris aille ailgina ata urgala anmanna,

do-berat

uacht

7 tes, fo-certat

tola

tedmann

do

thoibhaib talman for cach leath.” 30 AIBNE FISEN ASB FRIB/ FLANIS LEIA SIETH .i. “Do-roine Dia isin tress lau linde 7 ilmuire 4 ilcenela usci 7 ildealbu salmuire; ocus cuairt in talman cona redib 7 a shleibhibh a a figbadhuib 7 a lecuib logmaraib 4 a ilcenelaib crand.” 31 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebriorum, “Indica nobis multa genera 7 misteria maris.” om. O cona QYM: conaa O10 ante shleibhtibh add. cona YOM fidhbaidh Q: fidbadaib YM fidhaib O co n- Q: y cona YO 7 is iat fós doniM ilchinélaib QYO:ilchinelaM postcrannadd.yzclochM 10-11 post loghmur add. isin cruinne M 31,1 duind

om.

Y

24a

QY:

achta O suig- a fuilitt siat M

ar O arin M _ timthirecht

QY: timtar-

—posf timthirecht add. supra lineam duind Y

icy zone first of all, because of which the seas are feared beyond the horizon to the north. Another cold icy zone, which

encircles

great

beasts

beneath

the

seas,

under

the

edges of the earth to the south, in the place where the nine fiery pillars have been placed to the south of heaven. A radiant zone, the noble flame of the world, which sustains the

abundant world,

produce of the earth until it arises around

before

it to

the

west.

Two

beautiful

mild

the zones

which are vital struggles, which bring cold and heat, which cast floods of plagues from the sides of the earth in all directions. 30 “Aibne fisen asbe fribe flanis leia sieth”, that is, “On the third day God made lakes and many seas and many kinds of water and many forms of salt seas; and the circuit of the earth with its plains and its mountains and its forests, and its precious stones,

and its many

kinds of trees.”

31 The wise men of the Hebrews asked: “Show us the many kinds and the mysteries of the sea.”

138

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

32 Ro freacair in Tenga Bithnua a cleithib nime 7 adubairt:

“Atait

mbith

.i. muir

talman,

frissa

ghlenn.

Ata

thalmain

ann

ámh”,

co

secht

salmuir

cetus,

ifearn 7 frisa

ghlordha

imon

fo thebhuib

cuirthear

ghlastonnach

in

gair im

imacuairt

im

de cech leith, toghluaisit tuili a aithfi, 7 sceas iltor-

ingnathach. 10

ndelbhaibh

domainte

adh in talman. tonna.

ar sé, “tri line do muiribh

Ata ann dano in treas muir, ass i lasardha

Sechtmogha

Ni chumsanann

ar secht tuile

cétaibh

o thosach,

ceól

canait

7 nochond

a

fhaicter

lan acht dia domnaig. In domnach chuirid suan, cona heirghenn toirni na ngeth la taidhecht in domnaig diada 4 la coiccetal na n-aingeal n-uasal. QYOM 32,1 Ro QO:34ro Y< }oM_ a cleithib — adubairt om. Y a cleithib nime Q: iad O dóibh M in adubairt Q: 7 is ed ro raidh O a at-bert riu M 2 ann ámh ar sé Q: am ar sé Y ar se O om. M muiribh 0: maraib YOM 2-3 imon mbith QY: inbar (inar M) timceall OM 3 co secht ndelbhaibh cetus Q: dorcha deathaidi (ata add. M) a ndorus ifrind YOM thebhuib Q: theb YOM 4 frissa domainte ifearn 7 om. YOM frisa

cuirthear gair Q: co cuire¢ > gair cum rasura Y co curinn O 4 teit rann don mhuir-sin M45 im ghlenn 0: a ndorus (tigi add. O aitrebi add. M) na pian (astech add. M) YOM s Ata Q: 7 YO om. M © salmuir Q: mur YOM _ ghlordha ghlastonnach Q: glas gleorda (glorach OM) YOM - 5-6 imacuairt im thalmain Q: (ata a add. M) timchell an talman YOM 6 toghluaisit Q: ac YOM _ aithfi Q: ac traig Y ac tradha

shir

M

aM M

6-7 iltoradh

Q: iltortha

ante Ataadd.&

32

O ac tradha

do

a sceas 0: co sceand Y co sgeith O a sgeithigh in muir-sin do shir

The

heaven,

O

(docum

annom.

Ever-new

add. M) YOM

YOM

Tongue

dano QOM:

replied

from

7 pr. in QYO: didiu Y

the

wassi

heights

na om.

of

and said: “There are indeed”, he said, “three groups

of seas around

the world.

first of all, beneath

That

is, a sea with seven

shapes,

the sides of the earth, against which hell

.., and against which a cry is raised around the valley. There is a noisy, blue-waved salt sea round about the earth on every side, ... the flood tide and ebb tide, and casts up the abundant produce of the earth. And then there is the third sea, which is fiery and wondrous. Its waves sing seven hundred and seventy songs. It does not cease from rising since the beginning, and it is not seen to be full save on Sunday. Sunday casts it into sleep, so that it does not arise

32 32 Ro

fhrecair

in Tenga

139 Bithnua:

“Atat

em”,

ol se,

“teora linde do muir | immon mbith .i. muir co .uii. ndealbuib cetamus fo thoibaib in talman, fris’ tormai int iffernd 4 fris” cuiredar gair imon nglend. Salmuir glas gleordai imacuairt imon talmain di cach leith, to-gluaise tuile 7 aithbe, sceas

iltorad.

Ata

dano

in tres lind

.i. lasarmhuir

legtair

asna nimib. .Ix. ngetha conidn-ualat asa suan, .Ixx. ar .uii. .c.uib ceol con-canat a thonnai iar ndiuchtradh assa shuan. Tormaid thoruinn asa thonngar. Ni chumsana di thule o thosach domuin 7 nochobo lan acht dia domnaig. I ndomnach do-curedar i suan, co ndiuchtradar toraind inna ngeth la techt in domnaig Dia de nim 4 la cocetal inna n-aingel nuassal. YOM lasardha Q: lasarrda loindearrda YO loinnerdha lasam- M 8 ingnathach Q: ingantach YO ann M 8-9 Sechtmogha — tonna om. M 8 canait Q: comchanaid Y co canann atait O 9 Ni chumsanann (a add. Y) tuile QY: gan cumsanadh O ata si ac sirthuile do shir M —posf thosach add. domain

co brath YO

an domain

co brach

M

nochond

0: ni YOM

fhaicter QYM: faicear hi O 10 post lan add. hi co brach M dia QYM: de O domnaig scripsi: domn- Q domnaich Y domnaidh OM In domnach cum signo simili symbolo contractionis litterae m supra In Q om. YOM _ chuirid Q: da curetar a Y do cuireadh a O 7 fos bidh sia M post suan add. hi O 3 a ceas dé domnaigh 3M 10-41 cona heirghenn Q: conach rucad air Y conach roibi O ni gluaisinn M 44 toirni na ngeth 0: toirm na geith Y toirneach na geth ann O gáth na toirrnech na anfad ele hi M

la taidhecht (tiachtain YO) OYO:om.M

in domnaig diada a 0: in

domnaich 7 YO dia domnaigh M 12 na n-aingeal n-uasal (om. Y) QY: aingil O aingil 7 archaingel a coirfiter a n-anoir in domnaigh M

32 The Ever-new Tongue answered: “There are, indeed”, he said, “three bodies of sea around the world; that is, first of all a sea with seven shapes beneath the sides of the

world, against which hell roars and makes an outcry around the valley. A clear blue salt sea round about the earth on every side, which

which

sets in motion

casts up abundant

the flood tide and ebb tide,

produce. And

then there is the

third sea: that is, a flaming sea, which is placed above the

heavens. Nine winds raise it from its sleep; its waves sing four hundred and seventy songs after it has been awakened. It gives forth a roar like thunder from the noise of its waves. Its tide has not ceased from rising since the

90°

140

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

33 “Atait ilcheinéla do muirib genmothait sin im thoebhthaib in talman do gech leith. Muir derg immorro, co nd-ilar legg loghmur, cona lonnradh fola, co ndaitibh diairim Eigipti 7 Inndia. Muir gainmech gheal co ndath snechta, atuaid a hindsib Sabuirn.

Ro-soich

osnadh

a tonn

co nellaibh nime. Muir mintonnach dub fo dath dighainn daigerdha, 7 gach tara rainic riam nocho ternathar as gean badud acht enes umaidhe, la hetruma a retha 4 la neart gaithe icca seidiugh. Ata inis arin muir-sin 7 ór a gaineam.

QYOM 33,1 Atait QOM: ata Y (aile add. Y) QYM:

wpost Atait add. didiu Y dono OM

ilceineil eile

O

muirib QY: maraib OM

(ann cenmotha YO) sin QYO: examla M QM: a tebaib YO

_ilcheinela

— genmothait

4-2 im thoebhthaib (thebaib M)

2 ante Muir add. & ata O i.

M

immorro

Q: cefas Y

.c.amus O cuiris M 2-3 co nd-ilar QYO: imat M a cona 0: co YOM lonnradh QYO: ndath M post fola add. uaithiy M 3-4 diairim Q: diairmidi Y examla OM _ post diairim add. iter thir Y 7 ata sin eter tir O ele yiterM 4 Eigipti 0: nEigept Y nEibith O Eighipt M Inndia QOM: an India Y ante Muir add. ata O ata si M gainmech 0: gemneach YO geimrech M ghealom. YOM 5 atuaid 0: tuaid Y fothuaidh O ata M a hindsib —

tonn om.

Y

ruind O Sabhuirnn M

a hindsib Q: n-innsibh

OM

post Sabuirn add. 7 O atuaidh

—€Sabuirn 0: Sab-

7M

Ro-soich 0:

(at) the thunders of the winds with the coming of God’s Sunday, and the singing together of the lofty angels. 33 “There are many kinds of seas besides those, around the edges of the earth on every side. A red sea moreover, with

many

precious

stones,

with

its brightness

of blood,

with the innumerable colours of Egypt and India. A sandy white sea with the colour of snow, north of the islands of Sabuirn. The sigh of its waves reaches the clouds of heaven. A black sea with small waves, with a meagre flamelike hue, and no one who has ever crossed it has escaped from it without drowning, save for a bronze (boat with a) single oar-bench, thanks to the lightness of its going and the strength of the wind blowing it. There is an island in that sea and its sand is gold.

33 33 “Ataat

dano

ilchenelu

141

do muirib

cenmotha

sein, im

thoiba talman di cach leith. Muir dherg cetamus, co n-ilar hac logmar,

co laindred

fhola, co ndathaibh

diordaib,

eter

tire Egipt 7 tire India. Muir gel gemnech co ndath snechtai, tuaid im innsib Sab. Ro-saigh nert a thuli co n-essreidet a tonna

cuairtriuth

nel. Muir

nemhthonnach

dhub

dano,

fo

dhath deged. Nach n-ethar rotn-ainic nocho ternoi ass acht oenshes nama, la étruma biastu ar-rancatar ann.

a retha 7 nert a geithe; 7 cathu

ro-soith O do-soich M 6 post nime add. & ata muir ele ann .i. O ac toghairm in bracha M 6-7 dub — gach QYO: dubfhograch an mhuir-sin adubart rib .i. muir innsi Sabhuirnn 7 ni lamann M dath dighainn daigerdha Q: dath doged Y dhathaibh O 770m. Y tara Q: ethar Y long O long na ethar M rainic (inti add. O) riam QYO: a taistill na a tadhall oir M_nocho

ternathar Q: ni therno YOM

YO uaithi ni dar thadhaill riam hi

M pr. la QY: le O lena M diugh add. dona tonnaib M M post a add. is M

€w-8 as gean badud 0: uaithi

M_ 8 zenes Q: oenses Y enseas O eneas

aretha Q: reatha Y om. OM 9 post sei—Atá om. Y arin 0: forsan Y asin O foran

beginning of the world, but it was never full save on Sunday. On Sunday it falls asleep, until the thunders of the winds awake at the departure of God’s Sunday from heaven, and by the singing together of the angels above it.

33 “There are moreover many kinds of sea besides those, around the edges of the earth on every side. A red sea first

of all, with many precious stones, with the brightness of blood, with golden colours, between the lands of Egypt and

India.

A roaring

white

sea

the

colour

of snow,

in the

north among the islands of Sab. The might of its flood tide is so great that its waves

cast their spray to the circuit of

the clouds. A sea with poison waves, black as a beetle. No vessel which has reached it has escaped from it save for a (boat with a) single oar-bench, thanks to the lightness of its going and the strength of its wind; and (men) have found multitudes of monsters there.

142

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

34 “Ata muir eile ann: at-cithear iat-sein ic linad o bealltaine

co

samain,

7

0

shamhain

go

belltaine

ic

aithbe.

Lethbliadhain ic tuili di a lethbliadain eili ic aithbe do grés. Eigit a piasta 7 a bladhmila ‘san aimsir geibes a feth chuice, 5 4 cuiridh ces 7 suan ‘san aimser eile forro. Ergit 7 folmaighit in ret bis ic tuili. Aibhne 7 srotha in domain ic tiacht leis imach 4 imuich. 35 “Atait dano da cheinel sechtmogat do tibhrataib co nilldealbhaibh imda examla isin doman. 36

“Tibra

Ebon

immorro,

imchlechlaid

ildatha

gecha

laithi do gres di, .i. dath snechta fuirri o turgabhail co teirt, dath uaine co nd-illdathaibh nathrach o theirt co nonaid, 4

QYOM 34,1 Ata QYO:3ata do-citar OM

O

_iat-sein:

M

ante at-cithear add.; YOM

isen

Y sin OiM _ 1-2 bealltaine QYM:

2 post a add. ac tragad aris (om. OM) YOM

bealltuin O bell-i aris

M

ic aithbe Q: i. YOM

at-cithear QY: bealltuin

_belltaine 0: bell- Y 3diom.

YOM = eiliom.

YOM aithbe do grés 0: tragad YO ac traghadh 8 M 4 pr. a om. M post piasta add. in mara-sin M bladhmila QM: bleidmila YO ‘san aimsir geibes a feth chuice Q: gen bis (bias O) ac tuili YO an gein bis ac tuile M s cuiridh 0: bid (bit M) a YOM ante suan add. a YOM ‘san aimser eile forro Q: a (an M om. O) cen bis ac aithbi (tradha OM) YOM 5-7 Ergit — imuich om. OM s Ergit 4 folmaighit Q: diuctrait a failtigit Y

6inret

Q:anairef

Y

ic tiacht om. Y

35,1 Atait QO: ata Y 7 at-bert an Tenga

adha 4 a lucht an meraighthi

Bithnua

co fuilit M

an fhider sib a tru-

dano QO:

didiu Y om.

M

34 “There is another sea there: ... is seen to flood from Beltaine

to Samain,

and to ebb from

Samain

to Beltaine.

For half a year it is flooding and for half a year ebbing, perpetually. Its monsters and whales cry out when it takes its calm to itself, and at another time it puts stupor and slumber upon them. They arise and ... when it is flooding. The rivers and streams of the world are going outward and abroad with it. 35 “There

are moreover

seventy-two

kinds of springs in

the world, with many and various forms. 36 “The spring of Ebon, then, turns many colours every day perpetually: it has the colour of snow from sunrise to terce, a green colour with the many hues of a serpent from

34 — 36

143

34 “Ata dano muir legthair i foirrgi deis indsi Ebian. Dicsidir a thuliu la cetemun co tet for aitbe la gemredh: leithbliadain for tuiliu, a lleth aili for aithbiu do grés. Eghit

a biasda 4 a blegmila i n-aimsir gebes aitbhe 7 dos-curedar i cess 7 suan. Diuchtrait a failtnigit la tuile 4 for-berat tiprait 1 aibhne 7 srotha in domain; is tria glinde tiagait co taiget iar cein. 35

“Ataat

dano

da

cenelach

.lxx.”,

ol se,

“do

tipratuib

ildealbdaim i talam: 36 “Tipra Ebion cetamus, im-shoi ildatha fri haimsir cach enlaithi do grés. Dath snecta fair o thurcbail gréne co

teirt. Dath uainidhi co n-ildath nathrach o theirt co noin.

sechtmogat QYO: rataib

QYM:

co rechtaib

examla

2 imda examla 36,1

Ebon

4 immorro

.x. 7 tri .xx. M

tobraibh

O

orra M

isin doman QY:

Ejibion

Q: cefas Y .i.M

datha M om. Y

post sechtmogat add. ann O

4-2 co n-illdealbhaibh

co n-illdealbhaibh

—

QY:

Q: asa chruindi Y examla O Ebrion

M

doman:

tibh-

isin cruinne

co nda¢

Yaibh O

.i. O

4-2 immorro

—

di .i.: om.

O

imchlechlaid ildatha Q: bidh si ac clechlodh

1-2 gecha laithi Q: cach le YM

2 do gres di .i. 0: do

gres Y i. M_ post snechta add. bis M wfuirni QY: furri do gres a3 O urri M 2-4 o turgabhail — fescor om. O 2 turgabhail Q: turgbail greni YM 3antedathadd.4M dathom. Y uaine QM: uairdhi Y co ndilidathaibh

no

M

nathrach

Q: a dath

Y bis urri

M

nonaid

0: hesbartaib

Y

post 4 add. bid Y

34 “There is moreover a sea set in the ocean south of the island of Ebian. Its flood tide rises at May Day, until it begins to ebb with (the coming of) winter: half a year of flood, half a year of ebb perpetually. Its monsters and whales cry out when it begins to ebb, and fall into stupor and slumber. They awaken and rejoice with the flood, and the springs and rivers and streams of the world arise: it is through valleys that they go, until after a time they come again. 35

“There

are

moreover”,

he said,

“seventy-two

kinds

of

manifold springs in the world: 36 “The spring of Ebion first of all, which turns many colours in the course of each day perpetually. It has the colour of snow from sunrise to terce. It is green, with the many

144

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

dath fola o nonaidh co fescor. In bél blaises, ni thic faitfedh

gaire tairis co bas. 37 “Tibra Asia a tirib Libia, de-ni coimpredh do mnaibh aimrite iarum. 38 “Tibra Presens a tirib Daraith: fiuchaid-sein for oes finghaili ga adharthai igal, 7 gech bél blaises di ros-la i feirg 4 i nd-esccaine go la in bratha, co nd-eipleat eiter bas 4 bethaidh 4 bron 4 toirrsi. 39 “Tipra Sioin a tiribh Ebrai: ni faicter gan tuili i, 7 ni bi lan acht dia domnaig, 4 ni faicter sruth aisti, 7 ni thainic

QYOM a fola QM:

ola

Q: cach YOM QYO: M

ticfa

Y

nonaidh QY: noin

bél QYO: M

bas QYO:

en M

M

fescor QY: hesparta;M

post blaises add. i O ni di sin

faitfedh QY: faidheadh

O om. M

s tairis QYO:

M

In thic

tara bel

brach M

37,1 Asia a tirib Libia Q: bis a tirib Aisia Y Libis a tirthaibh Asiaa O

Adidsia a tirthib Libis 7 M 4-2 de-ni — gacha domhnaidh O 1 de-ni coimpredh YM

2 iarum 0: blaisis ni dhi

38, 1-4 Tibra —

toirrsiom.

M om. Y M

a Presens 0: Shion YO

Q: tirib Israhel Y tirthaibh Israthel for oes Q: re hes YO

ros-la Q: linaid YO

iarum: tibidh tara bruachuibh Q: do-ber (sin add. M) breith

2 igal QY:

O

Wtirib Daraith

fiuchaid-sein Q: feichid Y fiuchai O uilc

i feirg Q: fearg YO

O-

bél QO:

ai

oen. Y_

di om.

Y

nd-esccaine 0: escaine Y

terce to none, and the colour of blood from none to vespers. The mouth which tastes (it), no laugh comes across it until death.

37 “The spring of Asia, in the lands of Libya, brings about conception for barren women thereafter. 38 “The spring of Presens in the lands of Darath: it boils up against kin-slayers and idolaters, and every mouth which tastes of it falls into wrath and cursing until the Day of Judgment, so that they perish between death and life and sorrow and wretchedness. 39 “The spring of Zion in the lands of the Hebrews: it is never seen save when it is flooding, and it is not full save on Sunday, and no stream is seen coming from it, and there

36)'— 39

145

Fo-cerdtar i ndath fholai | o nonai co fescur. Nach beoil blaiset, ni thic faitbiud na gen gairi forra i mbethaidh. 37 “Tipra Assian i tirib Libia, immi-foilngi combrite do mnaib ciat aimriti riam. 38 “Tipra Sheon i tirib Dard, fichid fri hess fingaile 4 adhartha idhul a cacha cloini. Nach beoil no blaisset, ros-la for feirg 7 escuinde; nocha labair iarum co n-aplat a beoil i mbron 4 toirrsi. 39 “Tipra Shion i tirib Ebra sund, nocon rodcad arinda fogbad

nach

beth.

Do-lin

cen

forbairt,

do-snai

forlan

i

38, 4 mbron: m/mbron ms (dittog.)

asguine O lá 0: laithi YO in bratha QO: mbratha Y 3-4 co ndeipleat — toirrsiom.O co nd-eipleat eiter bas 7 bethaidh Q: a berid bas Y 39,1 Tipra — tuilií om. 00 post Tipra add. ele atá a sliab M _ Sioin QM: Sion Y a tiribh Ebrai (Ebraidi Y) QY: 7 M gan tuili i (om. Y) QY: i do grés acht ac sirthuile o thosach in domain co brach M 1-2 ni bi QY:niO bidanM_ 2 post lan add. uisci-sin do grés innti Macht QYM: ach Odia domnaig scripsi: dia domn- Q an (isin OM) domnach YOM post domnaig add. nama YO amain M 4 (om. Y) ni faicter sruth aisti QY: om. OM 2-3 7 ni thainic — na bi Q: blas ola 7 fina 7 cach nuablas (nua gacha blasa O) YO 7 bi a lan fina gacha domnaigh innti M

hues of a serpent, from terce to none. It turns the colour of blood from none

to vespers.

Any lips which

taste of it, no

smile or laughter comes upon them during life. 37 “The spring of Assian in the lands of Libya, which causes women

to be fertile, though they were

barren before.

38 “The spring of Seon in the lands of Dard boils up against kin-slayers and idolaters and every wickedness. Any mouth which tastes of it has fallen into wrath and madness; he does not speak thereafter, until he dies in sorrow and wretchedness. 39 “Of the spring of Zion, here in the lands of the Hebrews, it is not destined that any fool should find it. It flows

without rising; it always wells up to the brim on Sunday.

gor?

146

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

isin bith d'ola na d’fhin na do m[il] blas ni na bi fuirre, 7 ni

chuimnigh bron na toirrsi aici. 40 “Ata sruth uisci co tes teinedh a tracht innsi na piann,

1 gach en rainic da fhis ni therna úadh co se 7 ni thicfa co ti in brath. 41 “Atait ceitri srotha mar airmither a ngluinibh sleibhi Nabhuan, co forblas fina 4 co nneirge donnfhola, co seirbhi shaile 7 co ngainemh oir.

QYOM 3 ni na scripsi: na ni cum nolis transpositionis Q 3-4 7 ni chuimnigh (nech a add. Y) bron na toirrsi aici (iarna blaisecht Y) QY: a cach en blaisis ni di ni tabar bron na toirrsi da uidh a bi lan d’ecna ac cosnum na firinne 7 ni thic sruth innti na aisti M om. O 40,1 uisciiom.O

coQYO:aM_

2 pr.3o0m.

YO

rainic da fhis Q:

teid indti (om. OM) la hainfir (la h.: re hanfirinne intti O lé bréicc ann M) YOM _

uaithi

(as O) co se

(seigh O) YO thic ar cúl co brach aris M 2-3 4 ni thicfa co 3 an fhider sib a truadha ar sé mar ata sruth na pian .i. uisci tene-so ann 7 ni aithidhenn ann ucht anmanna na pecach 4 ana comaidecht aca pianad 7 an tuicthi a truadha a mhét isin sruth-sin do ghnath M om. YO

therna

úadh

co se Q: terno

ti in brath Q: co .uii. tes na na demna bis do pein beith

41,1 Atait Ó: atat fos ar sé

(herno

Mom. YO

O) riam

mar airmither Q: airmigter Y

airmiter O om. M ngluinibh Q: ngleannaib YO nglenn M - sleibhi (tiri add. O) QYO: tsleibi M 2 Nabhtan Q: Nambuan Y Namuan O na pian M Mforblas 0: mblas Y mbl- O n-iarmblasaib M 40m. YO nneirge 0: ndergi YOM donnfhola QYO: fhola M 2-3 co seirbhi shaile om. M 3 47 QM: uair eile O om. Y post oir add. a co fogur mbindesa mar ceol aingil M

has not come

into the world any taste of oil or wine or ...

upon it; and (one) does not remember grief or wretchedness beside it. 40 “There is a stream of water with the heat of fire on the shore of the island of torments;

and everyone

who has

gone to get knowledge of it has not escaped from it until now, and will not come until the Judgment. 41 “There are four streams, as it is reckoned,

of the mountain

of Nabuan:

in the knees

with the taste of wine and

with the redness of dark blood, with the bitterness of brine and with sand of gold.

soa Al

147

ndomnach do grés. As-toidi fri haigti amal roithne gréne. Is lia indisi 7 epirt a ndo ligdath do-adbat on trath co araili. Ni thanic i ndomun

ann. Cach rath 40

di ola na fhin na mil blass na fogabta

Ni cumsana di thuile. Ni acces a shruth nach leth. en rot blaissi, nocho tainic tor na bron menman 1 niro ar bass. “Ata sruth usci dano tig ban indsi na bian, con-eraig

fri cach lin co n-anfir immod-cing;

noco

ternann

uadh.

41 “Cetra srotha ordha i nglinnib slebe Nabuan, co forblas fina, co ndergdath ola, co serbai shail marai, co ngai-

nemaib oir.

At night it shines like beams of the sun. More radiant colours than can be told or said appear from one hour to the next. No taste of oil or wine or honey has come into the world which could not be found therein. It never ceases from flowing, (but) its outlet is found nowhere. Whoever has tasted it has not experienced sorrow or grief of mind, and has not been given over to death. 40 “There is moreover a stream of water which goes across the island of torments,

which rises up against every

company which goes around it with falsehood; they do not escape from it. 41 “There are four golden streams in the valleys of the mountain of Nabuan: with the taste of wine, with the red hue of blood, with the bitterness of sea-salt, with sands of

gold.

148

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

42 “Sruth Oliua i n-innsibh Teibe: tormaighit amair toraind isind aidhche ro geineadh in Slainicidh a tiribh Ebra 1 ind aidhchi at-racht o marbhaibh do-maidetar. 43 “Ceitri ceinéla leg loghmur ann, co ndealbhaibh daine 14 co ceill cumsanaid in cech lig dibh-side. 44 “Lia adhamaint a tir India: cidh ré snechta no re morgaith ni fuairiti riam i, 7 ni thabhair ternud d’ordaib cruaidhiaraind: ge betar ica tuarcaint, ni fettar a brisiud. In

QYOM 42,1

Sruth

QYO:

atá

sr-

M

Oliua

Q:

Olian

Y

Oilien

O

ele

M

iQYM: an/a O in-innsibh scripsi: i nd-innsibh scr. ef d exp. Ó a n-indsib YOM Teibe 0: Tebia Y Teibia O Tibir ar siz M tormaighit 0: do thormaig Y ro tormaidh O metaighi-se M 4-2 amair (scripsi am- Q) toraind

isind aidhche

Q: rind

an

aidci

Y comainm

na

h-aidhchi

M

om.

O

2 ro geineadh in Slainicidh Q: crochda in Comded (Coimdhi O) YO an ro cesad Crist M 2-3 a tiribh Ebra g ind aidhchi Q: a t¢ 2 af € > aidchi cum rasuris Y 7 do traidh an aidchi O 4 bi an lan-sin ann gusan uair M a atracht Q: ro erig Y d’erigh O mar éirigh Crist M marbhaibh QYO: mharbh M do-maidetar Q: 7 turnaidh iar sin M om. YO 43, 4 Ceitri Q: atait cethri YO atat fos .uii.

M

ceinéla 0: hearnaili YO

n-ernaile M leg loghmur QYO: do leagaib loghmaraib M ann QYO: isin sruth .cna M 1-2 co ndealbhaibh — dibh-side: co céill 4 co ndeilb duine orra M 240c0 Q: cona YO cumsanaid in cech lig Q: 7 cona cinel 7 Y 7 cona ceinelaibh O dibh-side Q: dib-siden Y dib-sein O 44,1 Lia — India: 7 an lucht aca mbitt ar imchar M Lia Q: in liag logmar (loghmar O) frisa raiter YO post adhamaint add. fil YO tir 0: tirib Y tirthuibh O

cidh Q: ce roib YO cia beitis tarrnocht

M

1-2 no re

morgaith Q: re gaith Y co brach O om. M2 riam i Q: riam (om. O) ce (da O) curthir a tinid ni teoaidi riam (om. O) YO ga cia beitis a teine ni

42 “The stream of Oliua in the islands of Teibe: it resounds like thunder on the night in which the Saviour was

born in the lands of the Hebrews; and on the night in which he rose from the dead it bursts forth. 43 “There are four kinds of precious stones, with human shapes and with a sense of repose in each stone of them. 44 “The stone adamant in the land of India: though it meet snow or a great wind, it is never any colder, and it does not flinch from hammers of hard iron: although it may be pounded, it cannot be broken. The king in whose

42 — 44 42 “Sruth

Alien

a n-indsib

149

Tebe,

tormaid

amal

torainn

do grés isind aighthi ro genair Slainicid in bethu i tirib Ebra 1 mar at-cloit-si innoct isinn aighthi as-reract Crist o marbaib. Coic cenela

Cach

duine

.lx. ar .ccc. do cheolaib,

ad-connaic

dia focus,

iss ed tormas

ann.

nira labrastair iarum

in

cach aighthi do cein. Do-adbanar as do nim thormaid. 43

“Atat dano”,

ol se, “cethri cenéla liac logmar co ceil 4

chosmailius doine: 44 “Lia adamain i tirib India, ciar gabthar i ngethaibh 4 aigredaib 7 shnechta, ni fuairide fris. Cia thoiter do thentib 1 grisaib fair, ni dhoher tes ind. Cia buailter do bielaib 4

44,3 ni dhoher: sic Ó Longáin, sed lectio dubia est; pagina hic nimis infuscata, et O Mathghamhna haec uerba omisit

tedaiti iat hi 7 ni fhuil ar bith arm dergus arinti aca mbit M iu ni hair ternud Q: ce (da OM) thuaircter (tuaircear O tuaircthir M) 3 cruaidhiaraind ge betar ica tuarcaint Q: in betha (iat add. M) fettar Q: cumgaidter Y fétar Mom. O a brisiud QY: brister O a siud M 3-4 In rig QY: 7 Og an nech M

thabYOM YOM mbri-

42 “The stream of Alien in the islands of Tebe resounds like thunder always on the night in which the Saviour of the world was born in the lands of the Hebrews and, as you

could

hear tonight,

on the night in which

Christ arose

from the dead. Three hundred and sixty-five kinds of music

are in that sound. Whoever has got close to it has not spoken on any night for a long time thereafter. It seems that the sound comes from heaven. 43 “There are moreover”, he said, “four kinds of precious

stones with the intelligence and semblance of humans: 44 “The stone adamant in the lands of India: though it be held in winds and ice and snow, it is no colder because of that. Though there is a rain of fire and embers upon it, heat is not kindled in it. Though it is battered by axes and

150

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

rig a mbi laim i cath no i cleithcomraicc, moigid roime 4 bidh in crich aicce gen fhuireach. 45 ‘Lia ibén a tiribh Sab: lasaid a nd-aidhchi dhorcha amair choidle teinntighe. Doirtid cech neim ailistear d'feraibh ann ara chind, 4 gech naithir thaidles é eiblid 4 dogeibit bas fo chétóir. 46 ‘Lia istena a tiribh Libia: a nd- inchinnibh dreaccan do-gabur.

In cloch

no in mairlinn

a cuirter

fiuchaid

tara

bordaibh 4 tara bruachaibh. Soillsigid cech usce mad dorcha reime, 7 mad a ngeimredh curter inn do-ni toirnig amair toirnigh eir. Madh

a samradh

immorro,

do-ní osnaid amair

osnaidh ngeamoidhchi no morgaithi. QYOM 4 a mbí (mbia cleithcomraice e as coscrach dheireadh M 45,1 Lia — thirthaibh

O

4 nd-aidhchi Y

O) laim QYO: aca mbi cloch dib-sin ina laim M _ no i Q: no a comlann Mom. YO 45 moigid — fhuireach Q: as YO ni fétar brisiud na clodh fair g is é beiris buaidh fa Sab om. M

ibén Q: iben fil Y ibian fuil 0.

Sab 0: Abia

Y Arabia

dhorcha

Q: ndorcha

Y

3-4 d’feraibh —

1-2 lasaid —

aidchi Y

choidle teinntighe Q: choindill

curther

O

Y

tiribh QY:

ailistear om.

2 amair scripsi: am-

neimom.

fo chétoir om.

Y

OM

Q amar

ailistear Q: lestar a

YOM _ 3 thaidles

scripsi:

thlaidles Q

46,1 Lia — Libia QY: leag loghmar ele do-gabur a tirthib Libia 7 hesten a hainm 7 a sruth ‘sa tir-sin ata siz Mom. O _ istena Q: isten Y pr. a Y: a/a Qnd-inchinnibh QYO: n-incinn M dreaccan QYM: dreagain O 2 do-gabur QOM: fo-gabar Y post do-gabur add. hiO hiyM _— cloch QY:

hand

loch O sruth

M

it is in battle

in YOM:

ind scr. ef d exp.

or combat

QQ

is victorious,

mairlinn

and

Q: mair-

gains the

territory without delay. 45 “The stone ibén in the lands of Sab: it burns on a dark night like a fiery candle. It spills every poison ..., for men there in its presence, and every serpent which touches it dies and perishes immediately. 46 “The stone istena in the lands of Libya: it is found in the brains of dragons. The stone or the great pool in which it is put boils up over its borders and over its edges. It lights up every water if it were dark before, and if it be placed therein in winter it makes a thundering like the thunder

of the air. If it be in summer,

however,

it makes

sigh like the sigh of a winter night or of a great wind.

a

44 — 46 ordaib,

ni therbrui

ni de fris. Acht

edbairt, ni fuil ni fris’ terbrui. nainn

fuil ind

“Lia

amal

hibien

i tirib

chaindil tened.

Hab,

Do-fortai

dia fagba and ara

chind.

uain

cosind

| Cach ri ro gabh fora der-

deis ria ndul do chath, ro mebaidh

45

mar

151

lasaid

riamh.

i nd-amardall

cach neim

Nach

aighthi

a lleastar i furi-

nathir don-aidle

no

theit tairis, at-bail focetoir. 46 “Lia istien i tirib Libia, i nd-inchinnib dracon ar-recar

.l. iarna mbas. Berbaid na linne 7 na marlocha i furimar co fichet dar tire. Toidid fri husci amail toruind i ngaimhriud. Tormaid i cetemon amal ghethu. blind Y abunn

O linn mharb

M

a QYO:

ina M

cuirter QOM:

curther

Y 2-3 fiuchaid — bruachaibh: an cloch-sin ina mbruachaib M a fiuchaid Q: fichthaig Y fiuchai O 2-3 tara bordaibh 7 om. YO a bruachaibh Q: bruach 7 YO _ Soillsigid Y: soillsigid Q soillsighi O soill-i iat M 3-4 cech — reime QYO: 7 timaircer cach uile iasc 7 ainmidhi beo bis isna srothaib-sin ina timcill fein co marbtar iat fa thoil na ndeine fein 7 is comsolus la 7 oidhqi donti imchuires hi nd aca mbia M 3 post usce add. a curter YO. mad Q: cid YO 44 mad (ma 0) QO: mad YM curter om. M inn Q: a n-usce Y sin i ngar do uisci no do sháile M om. O toirnig Q: torann Y toirneach OM 4-5 amair (scripsi am- 0 mar Y) toirnigh eir QY: dermhair M om. O 5 ante Madh add. 4 OM immorro scripsi: h- 0 om. YOM osnaid QYO: osnadhach M _ 5-6 amair — morgaithi om. M 5 amair Q: amur

Y mor

O

6 osnaidh QY: osnaimh O _ ngeamoidhchi no

om. YO

hammers,

nothing breaks off from it because

of that. Save

for the blood of the lamb with the sacrifice, there is nothing

because of which it breaks. Every king who has set it on his right palm before going to battle has been victorious. 45 “The stone hibien in the lands of Hab: it burns in the blackness of night like a flaring candle. It spills every poison

from

therein across

the

before

vessel

in which

it. Any

it is placed,

serpent which

if it finds

touches

it

it or goes

it, dies immediately.

46 “The stone istien in the lands of Libya: it is found in the brains of dragons, that is, after their death. The pools and great lakes in which it is put boil until they seethe forth across the lands. It shines when it comes in contact with water, [and roars] like thunder in the wintertime. On May Day it roars like winds.

90%?

152

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

47 “Lia fameis a tíribh Anloil ic sruth Dara: at-chither da rétlainn décc ann, 4 roth ésca a teinedh ina tebhaibh, 7 a craidhedhaibh dreacon for muir do-gabur do gres, 4 cech duine i mbí i llaim noco cuir i uadh nocho llabrann bréig, 4 nn

ní thoillenn a timchell na cloichi-sin lín a breithte i tech fhir fhingaile na adhartha igal, 4 iss am trath iarmeirgi chanus ceol conidh cosmail ar binnes 4 ar aibnes re molad Righ nime 7 talman. 49

“Atait

ceitri croinn

i talmain,

andiu, 4 ciall duine in cech crann

mur

innisit

na

staraidi

dibh, .i.

QYOM 47,1 Lia — Dara QYO: ata cloch eile a tirthaib Laibia 7 lia fainis a hainm 7M fameis Q: fanes Y faineis 0 tiribh QY: tirthaibh O Anloil Q: Ibel Y Ibia O

at-chither 0: ad-citer

YO

do-citer an M

a

ré-

tlainn QY: reltainn O roth M ann om. YOM roth Q: rith YOM — ésca 4 teinedh Q: ésca 7 greni YO greine 7 ésca M 2-3 ina — dreacon QYM: uasa ceann O 2 tebhaibh QM: ndelbaib Y fter.4 om. Y a craidhedhaibh dreacon Q: craidib dracon Y craidhi dregain M for muir do-gabur do gres Q: fo mur Dara fo-gabar do grés Y isin sruth-sin do-gabar hi M om. O

30m.

Y

4duine

O si ‘na Mom.

Y

QYO:

noco

neach M~

pr.iQYO:acaM _— alt. iQ: ‘na

cuir i uadh Q: ni fedann YOM - nocho Iabrann

breig Q: go (breg M) da radad (ragha O radh M) YOM J 5 thoillenn QM: talla

Y bidh O

a timchell

na cloichi-sin

Q: ’na timchill (add. do deinib

M) YOM breithte Q: brethi Y breith OM tech QYO: tig M post fhir add. fealltanaM 6 fhingaile QOM: fingalaig Y 6-8 na adhartha — talman om. O 6 adhartha igal 0: idailadarthaig Y adhaltrannais M

47 “The stone fameis in the lands of Anloil, at the stream

of Dara: twelve stars are seen in it, and the wheel of the moon and of fire in its sides; and it is found always in the hearts of dragons upon the sea; and every person who has it in his hand does not tell a lie until he puts it from him; and

there

is not enough

number of people or idolater; and it a song which in praise of the King

room

around

that stone

for the

to bring it into the house of a kin-slayer is around the hour of matins that it sings melodiousness and sweetness is like the of heaven and earth.

49 “There are four trees in the earth, as the historians relate today, and human intelligence in each of them:

47 — 49 47

“Lia fanes i tirib Aulol

153

a ssrut Dar, ath-chiter

di ret-

lainn dec 4 roth escai 4 tenedchuairt gréne inna thoib. I cridhib inna ndracon tormthét fo mhuir ar-recar do grés. Nach duine a mbi laimh, nocon rala uad nocho labrunn goi.

Ni thalla impi do lin na sochraidi a tabuirt i tech i mbi fer fingaili no adhartha idhal. Im trath cecha iarmeirghi dorddaid ceol mbind dina frith cosmailius fo nimh.” 48 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebreorum atque plebs: “Rogamus te atque indices nobis diuersa genera quae in creacione mundi a Deo sunt plantata.” 49

Ro freacair in Tenga

se, “a n-imchomarc-sin.

Bithnua,

lignorum

“Is deithbir duib-si”,

ol

Ar itat ceitri craind dib-som i tom-

naiter anim 4 cial amal bethaid aingel. chanus QY: canait na clocha-sin M Y conidh — aibnes 0: do-rosce cach ceol Y is binne na cach uile cheól 4 oirfidedh a n-aimser na hiarmerghi M re molad Q: ic admolad YM 7-8 Righ nime 7 talman 0: De Y an Duilemon 7 bidh gradach cach en imonti aca mbia si fos M 49,1 Atait Q: ataid didiu Y & ataid O atát dono M ceitri croinn QYM:

.c. crann O_

talmain QY: talumh

3 as ed indister YO arse M24 co ndeilb nduillib

M M

duine QYM:

O tal- M

4-2 mur —

andiu Q:

ciall 0: aimim 7 ciall Y ciall O co céill 4

daíne O

in cech crann dibh 0: accu YO

ara

.i. om. YO

47 “The stone fanes in the lands of Aulol, in the stream of Dar: twelve stars and the wheel of the moon and the fiery circuit of the sun are seen in its side. It is found al-

ways in the hearts of the the sea. Whoever has it in he puts it from him. There the number of people that

hot tumultuous dragons beneath his hand does not tell a lie until is not enough room around it for would be needed to bring it into

the house of a kin-slayer or idolater. Every matins it gives

forth sweet music to which no likeness under heaven has been found.” 48 The wise men and people of the Hebrews asked: “We ask you to show us the various kinds of trees which were planted by God at the creation of the world.” 49 The Ever-new Tongue answered: “It is reasonable that

you

should

ask

those trees in which

that”,

he said,

it is thought

intelligence like the life of angels.

“for there

are

four

of

that there are soul and

154

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

50 “Crann Games co comracc Oír 4 Stain, 7 curter tri toraidh tresin crann-sin cecha bliadna .i. torad gléghlas in cétuair, 7 torad derg in tanaisti, 7 gorm in treas torad. Ocus cech en blaises ni dhe thoirthibh in croinn-sin, ticc ciall 4 cuimni 7 comairle do; a ni thorchair duille riam de oro dhelb Dia aran

doman

é; 4 cech duine co nd-ainim 4 co nd-eslainti

do thocht ina thochus do, slanaighter fri prapadh sula nama. 51 “Crann na bethadh a parrtus dano: cech bel blaises a thorad-sin

fos,

ni fhaghbann

bas

co

brath,

7 iss a

los

in

croinn-sin ro hinnarbadh Eaba 4 Adum a parrtus imach. Da

QYOM 50,1

Games

0: Somesc

Y Someasga

O Sciulis

M

co comrace

Oir 4

Stain Q: ac sruth Eorthannan .i. iter an dana thobar .i. Jor 7 Dan Y ac sruth Eothrannan eter an da tobur .i. Eor 7 Dan O atá ac sr- Orrtanain 4 iter da thobar Orrthannain atá sin 4 lor 7 Dan da ainm in crainn-sin M alt. 7 om. Y curter Q: curid YOM 2 tresin crann-sin 0: de YOM gléghlas QY: glas O gorm M 2-3 in cétuair 0: in .c.torad YO om. M 3 4torad om. Y derg QYM: geal O in tanaisti QO: an torad tanaisti Y om. M us gorm Q: glegel Y a taradh derg O a torad geal M in treas torad om. M Ocusom. Y 4 ni — sin Q: in da thorad deiginach Y ni da thoradh O in torad gorm M 45 tice — do 0: tig a ciall do Y ni bi easbhaidh ceille fair O budh cumain leis gach ni da cuala 7 da cluinfed gémad olc a chuimne roime 4 gach en blaisis in torad derg ni bia atach a bidh na etaigh an gein mharas M_ 5-6 3 ni — doman é Q: 4 nir thuit duilli de riam oro shir clann De Y om. OM 6-8 cech duine — nama QYO: gach

50 “The tree Games,

with the confluence

of the Or and

Stan. And three fruits are produced by that tree each year: a bright green

fruit the first time,

and

a red fruit second,

and the third fruit is blue. And anyone who tastes anything from the fruits of that tree gains intelligence and memory and prudence; and no leaf has ever fallen from it since God created it in the world; and every person with a blemish and with a disease who comes into its possession is healed in no more than a blinking of the eye. 51 “The Tree of Life in Paradise, moreover: every mouth which

tastes its fruit, moreover,

the Judgment.

does not obtain

And it is on account

death until

of that tree that Eve

50+ 51 50 “Crann

Sames

cetamus,

155

i comruc

Ior 4 Dan, do-curi-

dar tri toraid cacha bliadna. Torad ngelglas a torad toisech, derg a medonach,

etracht

a ndeiginach.

In tan is apuid a

cetna torad, is ann fhasas alaill asa blathaib. Nach n-esconn rot mblaisi a thorad-sin do-rala inna chunn shlan. Nocho torchair duilli dhe o do-gnith. Nach duine co n-ainimh no co ngalar dod-forlaic inna fhoscudh, dicuridh a shoethu dhe. 51 “Crann bethadh i parrdus Adhaimh, nach beoil rod mblaisiset a thorad nocon deochaid bas iarum. Conidh fo bith in craind-sin ro loingsighedh Adam 4 Eua a pardus. Ar

zen caithis in torad geal gémad eslan ainmech hé roime budh slán ‘na diaidh a .c.oir é 7 nír thoit duille an crainn-sin riam 7 ni lamhann aimsiugud inti blaisis €éM 6 co nd-ainim 7 co nd-eslainti Q: eslan no chach duni co n-ainib Y galrach no gonta O 7 do thocht ina thochus do Q: tig ‘na fhogus (farradh O) YO slanaighter Q: slanaighidh Y slanaidh e O 7-8 fri — nama Q: fo .c.oir amair bradan Y gein is beo O 51,1 Crann

QYO:

an cúalabar a truadha

ar sé scéla crainn M

mna om.

YO dano 0: a doba chóir creidem donti do cruthaig é oir M om. YO bel QYO: en M alt. a QM: ni (om. O) da YO 2 -sin fos om. YOM fhaghbann bas Q: ebail Y abela O teit dég M yom. Y 2-3 a los (om. O) in croinn-sin

QYO:

trit

M

a ro hinnarbadh

Q: ro dicured Y do-cuir-

eadh OM Eabayom.O _ post parrtus add. Ebhua O ima- Q om. YOM ante Da add. 4 M

50 “The

tree Sames,

Ior and Dan,

imach scripst:

first of all, at the confluence

of the

puts forth three fruits each year. The first

fruit is bright green,

that

in the

middle

is red, the

last is

white. When the first fruit is ripe, the next grows from its blossoms. Anyone deranged who has tasted its fruit has regained his right wits. No leaf has fallen from it since it was made. Anyone with a blemish or a disease who lays himself in its shadow casts his sufferings from him. 51 “The Tree of Life in Adam’s Paradise: whatever mouth has tasted its fruit has not died thereafter. It is on account of that tree that Adam and Eve were banished from

Paradise;

for if they had

tasted

of that tree’s fruit

death would never have visited them, but they would have

156

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

thoradh décc cecha bliadna cuirus de, .i. torad cecha mís”, 4 uidhi sect samlaithi uadha immach ro-soich foscudh a blaith

1 a thorad. 52 “Crann nduine

Araib

a n-indsib

a blath, 4 ro-shoich

Raib:

samailter

a fhosccudh

uidhe

re

deilbh

se samlaithe

uadh. Lega loghmura sgeallain a ubhall, 7 baidhit sin ferg 4 format chraidhi cech ain it-chi iat. 53 “Bile Nataiben, a ndeiscert Eabra: ni fhuaratar daine 6 tosach

iarraid

croinn

do crochad

Sleibhi domain

Crist, 7 is asa

Sioin a tirib co rrabas icc

gescaibh 7 asa

QYOM a cecha bliadna om. OM cuirus (sé add. M) de i. QOM: om. Y _ post de add. gacha bliadna (; add. M) OM 40m. YO 5 uidhi QOM: uidi uidi cum linea superposita primum uerbum del. Y sect QM: se YO samlaithi QY: samhla

OM

5-6 uadha —

ni fhuil ceól is combinn

uad

Y

thorad QYO:

ris ac adhmolad

do-cluinter fogur a dhuille 4

an Dúilemon

immach scripsi: imma- Q amach YO

Q: blath Y baladh

O

M

5 uadha

QO:

foscudh om. YO _ blaith

6 thorad 0: foscad YO

52, 4 Araib Q: Alaib Y Abaidh O Alaip M n-indsib Q: tirib Y tirthaib OM Raib Q: Raab YO Arabiay M 2 nduine 0: duni YOM blath QYO: dhath M yom. YO 2-3 ro-shoich — uadh 0: uidhi se samlaithi uad amach ro-soich a blath Y leitheatt O uighi .uii. samla ro-soich a deghbhalad for gach leth de M 3-4 Lega — iat: 4 gach en blaisis a thorad ni bi ferg na format aici re neach na ac neach ris 4 budh lan d’intlecht 3 do mhaithis hé ‘na dhiaidh co brach aris M a Lega loghmura om. YO — sgeallain O: sgeall- Q scilligin Y a ubhall 7 Q: ubaill do thorad air Y ubaill do thorad da thorad da mblaised duine O baidhit sin Q: baighid Y ro baidfheadh

O ni bí

M

alt. QYO:

naM_

a cech ain it-chi iat 0:

tara teit a shug (shug- O) YO

and

Adam

twelve

were

fruits

banished

every

year;

out of Paradise. that

is, a fruit

It puts forth every

month”.

And the shade of its flower and its fruits extends from it a journey of seven summer days. 52 “The tree Araib in the islands of Raib: its flower is likened

to the form

of a man,

and

its shade

extends

from

it a journey of six summer days. The pips of its apples are precious stones, and they quell anger and jealousy in the heart of everyone who sees them.

53 “The tree Nataibén, in the south of the mountain of Zion in the lands of the Hebrews: people did not find (it) from the beginning of the world until wood was sought for

D1v=53

157

dia mblaistis torad an crainn-sin nis taidlibead bds i nnach aimsir, acht noptis bi tre bithu*. | Da thorad dhec do-cuiretar in cach bliadain .i. ligthorad cach mis”. Uidhe .uii. samhlaithe do-imthasa a bolud parrdus, for-tugedar a foscudh. 52 “Crand nAlab a n-innsib Sab, samailter a indus fri deilb nduine. In blath do-chuiridar fair, do-badi cach teidm

7 cach neim. Uidhe se samla do-imthiasa a bolad a a midchlos dia blathaib riana riachtain. Leca logmara scinniti a thoraid. Do-badi feirg 4 format di cach cridi dara ndichet a sugh. 53

“Bile

Nathaben

i tirib

Ebre,

i ndeiscert

Slébi

Sion

sund; ni cian uaib i ta, i ndeiscert int slebiu i taidh. Ni fhuaratar meic doine co se a crann-sa o thosuch domuin, bia: Gen. 3; 22 b. Apoc. 22, 2

53, 4 Bile Nataibéen

Q: bili Nambuan

YO

a thruadha

ar se in cualabar

an crann ata M 1-2 a ndeiscert — Eabra 0: a tirib (tirthaib OM) Ebraidhi a ndescert Slebi Sioin (Sinabile M) YOM _2 post Eabra add. 4 Nabuana a ainm M ante ni add. YM fhuaratar daine Q: fuair duni YO frith é M ante domain add. in M 2-3 rrabas — crochad 0: tainic (om. M) aimser

crochadha

(chesta

M) YOM © 3 Crist

QM:

pr.asaQ:a Yas OM 3-4 gescaibh — ghlacaibh om. O ghégaib M 3-4 7 asa ghlacaibh Q: in croind-sin YM

in Comdedh

YO

a gescaibh QY:

been alive forever”. It puts forth twelve fruits every year; that is, a bright fruit every month”. Its fragrance encompasses Paradise, and its shade covers it, a journey of seven summer days. 52 “The tree Alab in the islands of Sab: its appearance is likened to the form of a man. The blossom which it brings forth quells every plague and every poison. Its fragrance and the scent of its blossoms encompass a journey of six summer days, before one reaches it. The seeds of its fruit are precious stones. It quells anger and jealousy in every heart which its juice traverses. 53 “The tree Nathaben in the lands of the Hebrews, in the south of the mountain of Zion here; it is not far from

you, in the south of the mountain where you are. Since the

9 ove

158

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

ghlacaibh ro letradh in crann risar crochadh in Slainicidh, Righ nime 7 talman, tresar hicad in doman ar tus. Secht toraidh

4 secht

mblatha

duine blaises a thoraidh na 10

imsnim

ris, acht cenn

chuires

de

cecha

in croinn-sin, a suan

bliadna,

ni thic seth

7 a suthaine

4 cech na galur

7 a sirslainte.

Ocus ni tainic a talmain do mhil na d’fhin na d’ola ro-soisedh cutrumus na cusmailius do blas na de mintoirthib in croinn-sin. Etrochta-gealghlana gréine, iss ed as cusmail re blathaibh, do thaithneamh lega logmura isna blathaibh-sin. Da chinél shechtmogat do cheolaibh caine coimghlesta canait immorro bairr in bile-sin fri taidhecht na ngeth

QYOM a ro lletradh QY: do teasgadh O do geradh talman

Q: na croithi Q na croichthi

dar tesairced 6 pr.jom.OO

M

inom. YOM

O na croiche M

45 risar —

€s tresar hicad

0:

YOM ar tus om. YOM — 5-6 Secht — bliadna om. M alt.yo0m. Y 7 duine QYO: en Ma QM: da Y ni da

in croinn-sin om. YOM _ thic QO: roith Y roich

M

8 na imsnim —

sirslainte Q: do iar sin acht slainti suthain Y ris ach slainti suthain O é 4 gémad docraidh a dhelb roime budh maith ina dhiaidh a delb 7 ni arsaigenn an gein mharus M 9 a talmain QM: ar talmain Y ar bith Odo mhil na om. YOM om.

d’fhin Q: do fhin Y fin OM

M _ 9-10 ro-soisedh

Q: ni ro-soised

na d'ola QY: na linn 0

Y do roisfeadh

O is comaith

M

10 cutrumus na cusmailius (scripsi: cusm-us Q) Q: cudroma na cosmailis Y

crucifying Christ; and from its boughs and branches was hewn the wood on which was crucified the Saviour, the King of heaven and earth, through whom the world was

first saved. It bears seven fruits and seven blossoms each year; and trouble and sickness and anxiety do not come

to

anyone who tastes the fruit of that tree, but (his) head (rests) in sleep and everlastingness and enduring health. No honey or oil or wine have come into the world which could

attain to the equivalence or the likeness of the flavour or the fair fruits of that tree. The bright pure radiances of the sun are like its blossoms in brightness; precious stones are in those blossoms. The tops of that tree, moreover, sing seventy-two kinds of lovely harmonious songs at the coming

53

159

acht oinlaithi con-diacht crand do crochad Crist; combu asa ghescuib do-breth crand inna cruiche triasra iccadh in bith.

.Uii.

toraid

do-cuiredur

a .uii.

mblatha

im-chloi

cecha

bliadna. Nach duine rod mblaise a thorad, noco tainic do galar na sueth; acht ro n-ithed ria mbas, nicon etarbai estu 10

anaimdhuigh, acht cend i cotlad. Noco ta talmain do mil na ola na fin ni ro-sossed cosmailius dia blas. Etrachta esce 4 grene 7 atoidiud rind as-toidiu asa blathaib. Da chenél .Ixx. do ceolaib con-canad a bile 4 a blaith fri tethacht na ngaeth o

thosuch

snechta,

domuin. co

Coic

n-eitibh

eoin

.Ix.

forordhaib,

om. OM _ do blas Q: da blas

ar co

Ya bl- O bl- ris

.cce., suilibh

M

co

n-etrochtai

luachthidhib,

10-11 na de mintoirthib

in croinn-sin om. YOM 11-12 Etrochta — blathaibh: 7 ata soillse gréine ‘na dhuillib a dath dergoir orra M 11 gealghlana om. YO gréine QY: ngréine scr. ef primam n exp. O 11-12 iss ed as cusmail ré blathaibh Q: ‘na blathaib (blath O) YO 12 do thaithneam — blathaibh-sin om. YOM 13 Da chinél QM: da cenela Y om. O — shechtmogat QYO: .x. 3 tri .xx.it M do cheolaibh QYO: d’atharrach ceol M_ caine coimghlesta om. YOM

14 canait Q: chanas

Q: barr YO

a bharr M

Y canus OM

in bile-sin om.

immorro om. YOM

M

44-45 fri taidhecht —

bairr in do-

main om. YOM

beginning of the world until now the sons of men have not found this tree, save only for the day when wood was sought for crucifying Christ; and it is from its boughs that there was brought the wood of the cross through which the world has been saved. It bears seven fruits, and changes its blossoms seven times, each year. Sickness or suffering have not come to anyone who tastes its fruit; provided that he eat it before dying, nothing will separate old age and death

save falling asleep. No honey or oil or wine (have come) into the world which could attain to the likeness of its flavour. The brilliance of the moon

and sun, and the shining

of the stars, shine from its blossoms.

soms

sing seventy-two

kinds

The tree and its blos-

of song together,

when

the

160 15

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

nglanfhuar o thosach in domain. Cuicc eoin sescat ar tri cétaibh co nd-édrochta shnechta 7 co n-eitib órda 7 co suilib amair lecca loghmura, a canait sin ilcheola ebde

examla

for

bélaibh 4 for geccaibh in croinn-sin.” 54 Ro freaccratar ecnaidi na nEbhraidhi sin 4 adubradar ann-sin anba mor, .i. “Is dogaing duinne da creidem-sin.” 55

Co clos in Tenga

Bithnua

a cleithib

nime, 4 iss ed it-

beart: “As fosud a is forusta in Righ uasalbreathach, na doirtenn in doman foruib-sea fri prapadh sula a micreidem bar n-aicenta a nd-ecnaic bur Tigerne .i. in Coimdhedh chumachtaigh. QYOM 45 Cuice eoin QY: 7 .u. in M om. O © sescat Q: .uiimoghadh YO .x. tri xx.it M 15-16 ar tri cétaibh Q: ar .iiii. .c.aib (d’enuibh add. O) YO én bis air M16 nd-édrochta 0: ngili YOM pr. 7 om. YO n-eitib QYO: scithanaib

M

Wórda 3 QM: fororda Y dergoir O

17 amair 0: mar Y am-

O om. M lecca QY: lig O bega M loghmura QYM: lomhuir O 4 canait sin Ó: canaid YO a canaid na heoin-sin M ilcheola QO: ceola Y ceól M 17-18 ebde — in croinn-sin: is binne na gach ceól ac adhmolad DeM ebde — bélaibh 7 Q: om. YO ag for (ar 0) geccaibh (gescaib Y) in croinn-sin QYO: 54,1

Ro

om. M

freaccratar

Q: ro frecairsead

Y & ro freagair

O adubradhar

M ~ ecnaidi QY: h- O ecnaidh M - sin 7 adubradar 0: he 7 adubrudar O om. YM

2 ante ann-sin add. ata YO

anba Y ann-sin mor O om. M

ann-sin anba mor .i. Q: ann-sin

Is dogaing QY: do gobaing O is decuir M

of the pure cold winds, since the beginning of the world. There are three hundred and sixty-five birds, with the brightness of snow, and with golden wings, and with eyes like precious stones; and they sing many beautiful diverse songs upon the edges and boughs of that tree.” 54 The wise men of the Hebrews replied to that, and they said a great thing then: “It is difficult for us to believe that.”

55 The Ever-new Tongue was heard in the heights of heaven, and this is what he said: “Steady and firm is the lofty-judging King, in that he does not hurl the world down upon you in the twinkling of an eye, on account of the incredulity of your nature in blaspheming against your Master, that is, the mighty Lord.

53°55

15

161

cantai ilcheolu i n-ilbelraib asa gescaib; ra-fes is belra dligthech con-canat, acht nat aithghnet cluasa doine.” 54 Dixerunt sapientes Ebreorum, laimemar,

ata and anba

do neoch

“A coimdhiu,

acht nat

aisnither dun as doilig do

creitiumh.” 55 Co clos ni, in Teanga Bithnua: ABIA FEBLE ABIA ALITRIAN AFEN ALPULA NISTIEN EROLMEA LEAM i. “Ainmnetach

ret”, ol se, “cride

co rad Rig nime,

innach

dortai in domun ar mod cacha huairi i fudomnuibh | pian 5 iar neoch dia ecnuch 7 aithisib 4 ecraitib do-lleici tenga caich inna gnuis.

duinne Q: sin M om. YO da Q: do YM re O sin om. YOM 55, 1 Co clos Y: co clas cum nó o supra lineam Ó do freaguir OM 1-2a cleithib nime 7 iss ed it-beart Q: 7 ro lobair a cleithi nime Y iad O dóib 4 is-bert friú M 2 fosud 7 is om. OM forusta QYO: foighidech M —€uasalbreathach

QY: cumachtach

Mom.

0

na Q: nach YOM

a

foruib-sea

Q: inbar (inar M) ceann OM om. Y fri prapadh Q: le frabad sula Y*° le prabad sula YP° om. OM a Q: ina Y trit bar O trebur M__ micreidem QOM: dichreidem Y 45 bar n-aicenta — chumachtaigh Q: daig an Ri do-ni doghaing do ni dib-sin Y re sprapadh sula O 7 M

winds meet them, ever since the beginning of the world. Three hundred and sixty-five birds, with the brightness of snow,

with

golden

wings,

with

gleaming

eyes,

sing many

songs in many languages from its branches; it is known that it is rational speech which they sing together, but that the ears of men cannot recognise it.” 54 The wise men of the Hebrews said: “Lord, save that we

dare not (say it), there is much in what we are being told which it is difficult to believe.” 55 Something was heard, the Ever-new Tongue: “Abia feble abia alitrian afen alpula nistien erolmea leam”, that is, “Patient”, he said, “is the gracious heart of the King of heaven, in that he does not hurl the world into the nether-

most torments on account of what is done in every hour, considering all the blasphemy and reviling and enmity which every tongue casts into his face.

91"

162

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

56 “Et ind ail duib creidem do denum, .i. in mil bennaig ro-soich ar traigh mhara Cucaist, i nd-aidhche re geined Slainicid in bethadh a tiribh Eabra? Re meabaid da sruth asa braigit .i. srut fina 7 sruth dergoir. Ocus as e radharce 4 fat a dealbha .i. ceitri cheeccait mile, is edh gabhus don traigh. Ceitri checcat adharc ingnadh fair. Ol cacca ar .c. in cech adhaire dibh; 4 mairit benda in mil-sin fos ‘ga bhur ndainibh 7 ‘ga bur-~ndeghfhlaithib. Ocus rob usaidi dibh aichne in sceoil-seo ina sin.

QYOM 56, 1 Et —

.i.: an cualabur a truadha

baid Y uair nach cubaidh

Q: do denumh 2 ro-soich

O

do Dia O om.

Ó: ro thet in mur

ar sé

M

Et ind ail Q: nach cu-

creidem QO: creideamuin

Y

Y

do denum

.i.

bennaig QY: bendach

mor M om.

O

Y tainic O do-chuaidh

M

ar 0:

a YOM

ante mhara add. in YO Cucaist QY: a tir Eighiti O Eighipt a tir M i nd-aidhche QYM: aighche O re geined Q: geni YO do geined M 3 Slainicid in bethadh Q: Crist YOM a tiribh Eabra (Ebraidi Y) QY: 7 mar do badar lucht in tire ann do conncadar an mil ingantach co n-imat dath exam- fairy Mom. O Re meabaid Q: do mhuidhsit Mom. YO da sruth QYO: tri srotha M post da sruth add. fhina do mebsad Y do meadhbaidh

O

4 braigit 0: belaib Y bel OM _ i. srut fina QO: .i. sruth

oir a lar a béoil M om. Y dergoir Q: oir Y ola O fina da gach leth de M 45 Ocus as e radharcc a fat a dealbha .i. Q: se radairc .]. ana fhat Y 4 uii. n-adharca

M

om. O

5 ceitri checcait mile Q: .l. ar .ccc.aib Y .1. ar

ceithribh .c.ulbh O 7 .u.c. M56 is ed — Ceitri checcat om. YOM 6 adharc ingnadh fair Q: adarc fair Y adharc do bi fair O adharc air 7 M ceecca (da .|.at Y) ar .c. QY: .c. O da .xxx. oclech M7 pr. in QOM: ar Y

56 “And are you willing to believe in the horned beast that arrived on the shore of the sea of Cucaist, on the night when the Saviour of the world was born in the lands of the Hebrews?

Two

streams

burst

from

its throat:

that

is, a

stream of wine and a stream of red gold. And this is the sight and length of its form: it took up two hundred miles of the shore. There were two hundred wondrous horns upon it. There was drink for a hundred and fifty in each of those

horns; and the horns of that beast remain in the possession of your people and your fair lords. And it would be easier for you to acknowledge this tale than that.

56 56 “Cid na dechaid-si,”

163

ol se, “ba handsu

do creidium

a

mmil mbeannach do-bert an mhuir la tracht Ceaphas i ndaighthi gene Crist i tirib Ebra? De-bruinniter srotha fina asa belaib ria mbas. Int sloigh na hindsi fo-dercsatar fair, do-rumenatar ba sliab no ardinis do-corustar forsin tract. Dos-roimid sruth asind aill amal bidh a leastar a inidh asa beluib oc anamduch. .L. ar .ccc. adharc n-egfhind asa cind sair. Se radairc .]. gabais fot a delba la tracht Ceaphas. Na 10

hadharca-sin tra, ol .J. ar .c. iss ed thalla in cach adhaire duibh; maruit cosindiu infor cathrachaib-si”, ol se. “Nibu

andsa a scel-sa aithne-sin.

dibh

yom. Y

Q: beanna

do creidiumh

oldas

creitimh

a breith

mairit QYM: mairi O _ post mairit add. fos YOM

YOM

fós 0: in bar nduintib

7 in bar cathrachaib

a

—benda aca

bar

mbarunuib 4 aca bar rigaib 7 aca bar taisechaib 7 Y in bar nunaib-si ‘ga bar mbarunaibh 4 ‘ga bar righaibh 7 ‘ga bur teisechaibh O aca bur righaibh 1 aca bur taisechaibh ina cathrachaib M _ 7-8 ‘ga bhur ndainibh 7 ‘gabur ndeghfhlaithib Q: aca bar ndeagdhainib Y om. OM gs rob QYO: dobo M_usaidi YO: usai 0 choruide M dibh QY: daib O dib-si M_ 9 aichne Q: creideamain

Y creidimh

OM

min scedil-seo ina sin Q: na scel-sin Y an

sc- so sin M om. O

56

“Why

do

you

not

see”,

he

said,

“that

it would

be

harder to believe in the horned beast that the sea brought to the shore of Cephas, on the night when Christ was born in the lands of the Hebrews? Streams of wine burst from its mouth before death. The hosts of the island who gazed upon it thought that it was a mountain or a lofty island which (the sea) had cast upon the shore. A stream burst forth for them from the cliff, as if from a vessel; and mead

(came) from its mouth as it expired. Three hundred and fifty horns, shining like ice, (grew) from its head at the front. The length of its form upon the shore of Cephas extended fifty-six times farther than the eye could see. As for the horns,

there

is room

in each

of them

for drink

for a

hundred and fifty men; they remain in your strongholds up to the present day”, he said. “It would be no harder to believe this tale than to believe and acknowledge that one.

164

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

57 “Ind aithnid daibh én na neimé machtnaighti dianad ainm int iruath, fil a tirthibh India? Ata do mét ind eoinsin conidh uidhe tri ngemla ro-soich fosccud

sgailes uadha bladhmhila

iat. Ocus is iatt biadha

mora

muiride,

go

mbeir

a eitedh, in tan

imfhuilnges

do, na

leis iat a cennaibh

a

crobh 4 a lathar sleibhtedh ngainim, 7 gaineam tirim air: is ann goires a ugha do grés. Ocus do-nither long fhuilnges seoladh 4 imrum do lethbleisc na huighi, beires seachtmogat lech ar ceitri mile cona n-arm 7 cona nd-eitedh 7 cona QYOM 57, 1 Ind —

neimé 0: 7 rob ingnad lib med in Y in O a thriadha

ar se

in cualabar scéla M 1-2 machtnaighti — ainm om. M 1 post machtnaighti add. en Y do Dia sin en O 4-2 dianad ainm Q: darab comainm YO

2 int iruath Q: iruath Y iruad O an iruaith

sin: sgan ingnad libM Q: na hIndia O

YO

M

2-3 fil —

2a Y:laQa/aO _ tirthibh QO: tirib

ante Ata add.

2-3 ind eoin-sin om. YO

06

doQ:da

YO

a conidh 0: corob YOM

ind eoin-

Y

mét QY: tri ngemla

India meidi QY:

uli. samhla OM post ngemla add. uadh ar cach leth Y eitedh QY: eiti O scithan M 4 uadha iat Ocus 0: iad Y iad a OM “is iatt 0: is e YOM biadha Q: biad YM om. O imfhuilnges Q: nos imfuilngenn YO fhoghnus M do Q: .i. Y do i. Mom. O 45 na bladhmhila 0: bleidhmila YO

in mil

M

s mora

0: mor M om.

YO

go mbeir leis 0: conus

ber les YO thocbas M iat om. OM a cennaibh (cinn M) a QM: ana YO 6 crobh Q: chrobaib Y crobaibh O cruibh M post crobh add. etaruas YO a a lathar sleibhtedh ngainim Q: enogh as ed beres cacha bliadna Y enugh beiris ar sliabh gainimh dhuibh gacha bliadna O 4 beridh leis e ar sliab ghainim dhuib isin India 7 ithidh isin sliab-sin e a cinn a chruibh 4 enogh beires isin sliab-sin cacha bliadna M a gaineam tirim 0: i ngaineam tirim Y om. OM 6-7 air is ann Q:7in grian YOM 7a ugha

57 “Is the bird of the astounding heaven known to you, whose name is the iruath, which is in the lands of India? So great is the size of that bird that the shade of its wings extends a journey of three winter days, when it spreads them

out. And the foods which sustain it are the great whales of the sea; and it bears them place

of mountains

off in the ends of its claws into a

of sand,

and

dry

sand

upon

it: it is

there that it always warms its eggs. And a ship capable of sailing and rowing is made from half of the shell of the egg, which bears four thousand

and seventy warriors, with their

weapons and with their raiment and with their provisions,

57

165

57 “En inna mete dermhaire dianad ainm hiruath i tirib India. Ro-saig di meit a dealbu conid uide tri ngaimlaithe di muirib no tirib for-luathar a ite oc accaill arna bledmila isin muir. Slebe gainme 7 grian, it e guirthe in ogh do-cuiriter iar ndoth. Libern co seoluib 7 ramaib do-gniter do leth ind ughu-sin iarna madhmaim. .Lxx.c. mile cona n-armuibh 7 a

Q:aogh YiOanughM do grés Q: 7 tic-seam (t .-s.: tig sin OM) iarum (om. O fein M) da fis in tan (úair M) ceadaiges (is mithidh le O) Dia do (om. O YOM Ocus om. YO do-nither QY: do-niter OM _ fhuilnges QYO: imfhuilnges M 8 seoladh Q: seol YOM a imrum QY: 4 imrud O om. M do YOM: do Q na huighi Q: a uighi-sin Y na huigi-sin OM beires Q: ceitri

mile

7 OM

om.

Q: ar da

Y

8-9 seachtmogat .c.aib

YO

7 -uiic.x.

lech QYO: M

n-arm

.x.nemur

M

Q: lointib

9 ar YM

n-

armaibh O 4 cona nd-eitedh om. YOM _ 9-10 cona lointibh QO: cona narmaib as ead Y co n-armuib M

57 “There is a bird of vast size in the lands of India whose name is hiruath. So great is its form that it is a journey of three winter days by sea or land (when) it beats its wings as it is hunting whales in the sea. Mountains of sand and the sun, it is they which heat the egg which is deposited after being laid. A ship with sails and oars is made of half of that egg after hatching. It bears one hundred and seventy thousand, together with their weapons and their

166 10

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

lointibh beires leis tar murbrucht gech mormara. sochaidhi

mor

dend

lucht

fil

isin

Ocus ata

chomdhail-se

fer

in

domain, 7 is a lethbleisc na huighi-sin tangadur tar Muir Ruaidh.

Ocus

na

dénaidh

amurus

ar

Dhia,

a

dhaine

truagha”, ar sé. [574 Corob do derbad na neicheadh-sin eolach in laidh-sea: Tatham dhaib ingnad cach dia ro-feas a tirib India:

do-roindi

int

dargab ar toraib a thuath, en dara comainm

iruath.

As e iascach rus lina, co mber les na bleidmila, conas ith i cind a cruib 10

asna slebtib gainim duib.

QYOM 10 beires QYM: berair O leis om. YOM mur (add. ‘na lethblaiss O) YOM Ocus

miurbrucht gech mormara 0: om. Y ata 0: atait YOM

44 mor — filom. OM morom. Y dendQ: don Y isin QM: asa Y ‘sa O chomdhail-se 0: comdail-seo YO comtinol-sin fein M 11-12 fer —

huighi-sin Q: a is a lethblaisc na huigi-sin Y om. OM 12 tangadur QY: tainic OM 13 post Ruaidh add. innte O a lethpleisc na huidhi-sin M 14 truagha ar sé QM: truadha O om. Y

across the sea-surge of every great sea. And a great many of the host which

is in this assembly

of the men

of the

world came across the Red Sea in half of that egg. Do not be incredulous

concerning

God, wretched

folk”, he said.

[57A And so it was to attest to those things that the scholar made this poem: I have a wonder for you, every day, which is known in the lands of India. Its race has arisen before multitudes: a bird whose name was iruath. It is fishing which fills it, so that it carries off the whales, and eats them at the end of its claw in the mountains of black sand.

57A

167

lointib, iss ead bereas dar muir. Ocus ata sochuidi mor dont

sluag-sa fil isin ceiti-se sunn is i lleth ind ugu-sin do-deo10

chatar dar Muir Ruadh. Na benaidh amhiris for Dia imm immut a mirbhol, amal mac i tigh amardhall.”

YOM 57A, 1-26 Corob — Ta. om. Q 7 a haithle na n-ingnad-sin adubramar isbert in Tenga bn. M 1-2 na neicheadh — int eolach Y: is-beart O 2 laidh-sea Y: lai ann O 3 Tathum Y: ata Ocach dia Y: o Dia O 4tirib Y: tirthuibh O 5 dargab Y: do clos O ar toraib Y: tar torthaibh O a thuath Y: na tuath O 6 dara Y: darub O iruath Y: iruadh O 7rus Y:nosO 10 asna Y: forna O

provisions, across the sea; and a great many of the host which is here in this assembly came across the Red Sea in half of that egg. Do not be incredulous concerning God's abundant

miracles,

like a child in a lightless house.”

168

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

Grian goires a og do gres a sleb gainim, buan

in bes;

trath as mithig le Righ nell, tic-seom ann da fhis a scel. Sechtmoga lech, lathair ngle, ar da .c.aib ar mile, beres ar mur,

forum

ndil,

a lethblaise a uigi-sin. An uair thocbas a sciath mor 20

eidig direcra

dimor,

foscad a eiti nama ro-soich uidhi .uii. samla. Ingnad do-roindi mo 25

Ri,

mac maith Muri ingini; is fair ro-fes ar cach la,

corob les in tir a ta. Ta. | 11-14 Grian — a scel om. O 15 ngle Y: ngleith O 16 mile Y: 47 ar Y: far O 18 a uigi-sin Y: na huighi-sin O 19 thocbas O mor Y: ardmor O 20 direcra Y: direguir 0 dimor Y: € 22 ro-soich Y: do soith O 23 do-roindi Y: do-rinne O as fair ro-fes scripst: 0 fes Y ro feas QO 26 Ta Y: atá daibh ingnad O

The sun always warms its egg in a hill of sand, perpetual the custom. When the King of clouds thinks it to be timely, it comes to learn tidings of it. It is seventy warriors, a bright arrangement, and two

hundred,

and a thousand,

that half of the shell of that egg bears upon the sea, a fair journey. When it lifts its great wing, hideous, incomparable, vast,

the shadow of its wing alone extends a journey of seven summer days. My King wrought a the good Son of the It is upon him that that his is the land

wonder, Virgin Mary. it is known, every day, in which it is.]

milibh O Y: togas 5moir O Y: fir 0

hin:thee ch

Re

roim

i Sam anancií wt) ihe Wadatoas poyeoi a aan Raith “Cratarrsseseptett geal emDAY dam

Eo

cast I

MeO. a Will .

Há H

ato

Si Fhál ó

afte

í d

“ia.

the hey

Th

ldeninadah hth ae

H

i

it)

Me.

[é

5

ela a

Cais! bie

“Bi

hyWi oe} tá

ity

PEAT

úr INA got

“es

)

t

at

mae

”

re

ie eta, á arte ead |

gé

SC

fh =

7

pé

ad

a

i

hy’

la

é

Wed, Finee

va Un móir! ap’

Neil PEN

seed ore

sg

tec

WEST

Soir

ORY

it “eh”

me

me

ry,

Aip,

.

,

a Ar

ni

i .

/ k

wii

Vihin óa, ir

1

ace

wit

70 ryt

CUIR Kéir wr halt) Bag AY:

use igh móire

Mí a

“Eye

sel vary : faite 1b As y ti “có

SG

ORR HR

oi tue mbufóis HEH)

a.

.

:Se

Te há it As há

racht Side

mi sith “3

1 we

ven mill

RR sig! dnhrhó Mitt © if AR hh te -2 a baad sft Mb Gna” dla de iM Wie SH die

|

a

má {

óil An; Cenanlliires i pet,

WE trite ail w

OLD

ee

Oe

E

i

Prin)

wut MP At

a

hé

) vrs

.

as

Fa

Mi “ian

os

S

Be MSS

t

a

Md

$. Insi

hi: Ei nm Bas

jn

yr

RAISE!

| k ms

Wé

He aay oe

nA chen? ea

re

cc >= Fá

Ws

Me

Ní sáimhhai Easa!

Pe abe

a | Ati dae)

ib irs 2

ir

ra

he

ty 9%) vem

aleislaietells i ite peal .

7?

Rasvat

we

co

= destin

peteBe Bs ao iS

ie

8) Feiler shin

spelenste

Se

5

k=

on tk edhe

AS a cH, ab

HeUs ix “i

ele mien TM

— Bk

abe

vgd't ai Snot oF dell yo y gáis! oh Thoiidedai at SEE”

Iona)

Ba.

haa

I

Ps

f

170

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

58 At-racht oglech do thuaith

Iudais isind inad-sin,

.i.

Iudas Macaibhis mac Gomeir meic Sala meic Arafacsat a crichaibh Coriath. “As fir co mairenn in Coimdhe”, ar se; 7 is do dreim na hescaine o chéin indall é. Ocus adubairt, “Is

bréce fós na croinn gusna buadhaibh imdha 7 gusna duillibh ordha, adubairt in fer ut do bith ann.”

59-60 Et mur thairnic do-sum sin do radh, impaighid se tuaitheal,

o thainicc™i

nd-adhaidh

thoile

ind Airdrigh.

Do-

QYOM 58,1 QY:

At-racht

tuathuibh

QY:

asa

O thuath-

haithle-sin

adubert

M

Q: Iuda YOM

Iudais

O do tracht

M

thuaith

isind inad-sin

om.

YOM 2 post Iudas add. a ainm i. Iudus Y Macaibhis 0: mac Cuis YM mac Ouis O mac scripsi: m-c QYM mic O Gomeir 0: Goimer Y Coimeir

O Gemir

M

2-3 Sala —

Sgairioth Y Sgario O Scarioth mairenn

Q: marnid

crichaibh 0: Iudais YOM

M

Y do braith

a Coriath 0:

As fir co 0: .i. Y lc- (?) O om. M OM

in Coimdhe

0: Isu Crist YO

Isa

M arse om. YOM 3-47 is do dreim na hescaine o chéin indall é 0: 7 dimrim na hesgaine anall o chein Yom. OM a Ocus adubairt 0: co ndebairt int Iudas-sa Y co n-abert Iudas O a adubert nech d’fine Iúdáis ac seeuradh an Iudais or gein M 5 fos 0: am ar se Y om. OM 5-6 na croinn — ordha Q: in crann cosna duileannaib orda 7 cosna ceolaib Y om. OM

6 adubairt

in fer ut do bith ann

Q: adubertais

o chianaib

Y

a n-

abraidh ar se re Pilip O a n-abr- a Pilib apséal oir is e Pilip apsfal in t.b.n. 1 is a cenn do benad a tenga fa tri 7 do athnuaiged do aris hi M 59-60, 1 Et mur — radh 0: 8 Y 7 mur adubert O 7 mur do bregn- an fer-sin in Tenga b.n. M_ impaighid Q: impaid Y do impo O do inntodigh M

sé QM:

in fer-sin Y om.

O-

2 tuaitheal

0: ar tuaithbel

‘ma

cuairt

ann-sin Y tuathfel O tuaithfell ar lar na sluagh M 2-5 o thainice — talmainom. O 20 thainicc Q: im techt Y ar techt do M ind Airdrigh Q: De Y De 7 tainic talamcumscugud arna duilib an uair-siny M — Do-riacht Q: do-roich Y do-soich M

58 A warrior of the tribe of Judas arose in that place: that is, Judas Maccabaeus

son of Gomer

son of Sale son of

Arphaxad, from the regions of Coriath. “It is true that the Lord lives”, he said — and he has long belonged to the company of the accursed. And he said: “It is a lie, moreover, the trees with the many virtues and with the golden leaves, which the man yonder said to exist.” 59-60 And when he had finished saying that, he turned withershins, since he went against the will of the High

58 — 60

171

58 Talmaidiu didiu iar sin at-raract oclach di tuaith Iuda asin ndunad anair .i. Machabes mac Gomeir meic Shala meic [udas Scariath

mert a Choimde,

cein. At-raract-side immorro

mac

a n-as-bert:

na mallacta

do

“Ni gua em”, ol se,

“a crand co n-enuibh na | n-ete forordha 4 cosna ceoluibh at-chuaid in fer-sa. Ata leam ni forchoimnacair. Ces: cid docelad a mbile i medon in maigi ar suilib caich?”

59 Im-shoi for tuaithbiul ar belaib ant sluaigh inna cete fadhes i ndeisciurt slébi Sion. Co n-acai ni fo céfoir: in nel

tendtighi. Do-scai in nel-sin ara suilib co n-acca in mbile cona ligthoirthib. As-toiditis a blatha amal grein. Co cuala iar soduin coicetal inna n-en forordai luachtide asnaib ilberlaib s inna ndulerath ligdatha fri gotha na nget. 60 Talmaidiu iar sin niro fhuilngsetar na suili pecdhachu sella frisna liga noiba. Madit a shuili ina cinn. Aitherruch

59, 2 fadhes: rasura

inter fa et dhes

58 Suddenly, then, after that there arose a warrior of the tribe

of Judah

from

the

encampment

in the

east:

that

is,

Maccabaeus son of Gomer son of Sale son of Judas Iscariot who

betrayed

moreover,

his Lord,

and said:

one

damned

from

of old. He

arose,

“A lie”, he said, “is the tree with birds

with golden wings, and with the songs, of which this man has told. I do not believe that it exists. A question: what

would conceal the tree, in the middle of the plain, from the eyes of all?” 59 He turned withershins before the host of the assembly on the south, to the south of Mount

Zion. Immediately

he

saw something: a fiery cloud. That cloud dissolved before his eyes, so that he saw the tree with its radiant fruits. Its flowers were shining like the sun. Then he heard the mingled singing of the shining golden birds in many languages, and of the leaves of bright colours stirred by the voices of the winds. 60 Then all at once his sinful eyes could not endure gazing upon the holy colours. His eyes burst in his head. Then

gj"

172

or

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

riacht nell teinntighe tar fiarlait muighi na cétne chuice, cor leaghsat súili in fir-sin ica féghadh, co torchair sé marbh for talmain i fiadhnaisi morshluaigh in domain na ceidni-sein. 61 Ro gabhsat ic atach a ic etarguidhi, 7 idubradar, “A Coimdhi uilichumachtaigh, ar do trocuiri 7 ar do buidhi 7 ar do mhine, na tabair aithfer ar nd-amarais oruindi mina faiced

ar suili hfirta 7 do mhirbuile.”

QYOM 3 nell om.

M

tar QY:

ar M__cétne

chuice

Q: ceti Y ceti co c#ruib

troma derga teinntidhi M4 leaghsat QM: legsed Y 45 ica féghadh — talmain Q: aca fegad co torchair marb Y 4 do-chuaidh a anum as OM 5 morshluaigh Q: in tluaig YO na sluadh 7 fúair bas can chunntabairt M in domain na ceidni-sein om. YOM 61, 1 ante Ro gabhsat add. mar (7 mar OM) ad-conncadar (do-conncadar OM) sluaigh na ceti (na c.: na criche O an domuin

M) sin (an fer-sin ar

n-ég M) YOM gic etarguidhi (add. in Comded Y) QY: in Coimhdhi O an Duilemon co dicraidh 7 0 ‘tconncadar in talamcumscugud-sin tucadar uile a ngnuisi ré lar ar mét a ngabud-sin M 4-2 ag idubradar — buidhi om. O 2 Coimdhi QY: Dia M ar do trocuiri 7 ar do buidhi Q: ar do buidhi (báidh M) 7 ar do trocairi YM 2-3 4 ar do mhine 0: duinne7M om. YO ana tabair (tobair Y tabair M) QYM: ma gan O aithferQYM:falaM ar QM: arar

Yan O _ nd-amarais

oraind Y orrtha O duinnM

Y foranninachM mhirbuile om. YOM

0: n-amarus

YM

amhairus

3-4mina—suiliom.O

faiced QY: faicmit

M

sin O

oruindi 0:

3mina 0: um ni nach

4 suiliQY:siat M

hfirta 4 do

King. A fiery cloud came to him across the plain of the assembly, so that that man’s eyes dissolved as he gazed at it,

so that he fell dead upon the earth in the presence of the great host of the world, of that assembly. 61 They set about praying and beseeching and they said: “O omnipotent Lord, for the sake of your mercy and your grace and your gentleness, do not bring the reproach of our lack of faith upon us, if our eyes do not see (your) mighty deeds and your miracles.”

60 - 61

173

dano iar sein don-ethand athach di ghoith tentigi co ndecht ina bruindi 7 inna gnuis, comdar duibider degaid a conid nindsort

lethmarbh

aridisi

for medon

an

dunuid;

et dixif:

EUI FALIA FASTE. EUI FALIA FASTE. EUI FALIA FASTE. MARIA FABLEA NELISE NAM .i. “Delchatach amirseach atam-comnaic.” Et dixif: “Andsa piana ardomthaat 4 ardom-neat. Sirectach ligmag ad-connarc, nadcon 10

accai nech riam. Ardecnach ro raidseam: mairg forid-racht.”

Inge nama as-rubairt iar sin, do-cuiredar marb for talmain. 61 Ergit la soduin sloig in dunuidh uili 4 do-ronsat aithrigi 7 iss ed at-bertis: “A mmo Chomde noeb, ar ecnairc do trocuiri 7 aprisci in adbhuir dia-n-ar-forcoimnacair, arna ecmonga aitber fearga forar n-aimiris. Ealgone ad-comcassem, acht ropu dall arar suilib in ret ingnad nat fetamar.”

61, 4-5 ad-comcassem: adcomchassem scr. et h exp. ms

the blast of a fiery wind assailed him, driving into his chest and face so that they became

as black as a beetle; and it

cast him down again half dead in the midst of the encampment. And he said: “Eui falia faste, eui falia faste, eui falia faste, maria

fablea nelise nam”,

that is, “I am

a faithless

scoundrel.” And he said: “Harsh are the torments which await me and are in store for me. Hauntingly beautiful is the bright plain which I have seen, which no one had ever seen before. Great blasphemy have we spoken: woe to the one who has committed it!” He had scarcely spoken when he falls dead to the ground. 61 Thereupon the hosts of the entire encampment arise, and they did penance, and this is what they were saying: “O my holy Lord, for the sake of your own mercy and the feebleness

of the substance

from which

we

were

made,

let

not the reproach of (your) anger fall upon our lack of faith! We have done things deserving of punishment; but dark to our eyes was the wondrous thing we did not know.”

174

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

62 “Is coir duibh-si dilgudh do cuingid ar Dia fodhesta”, bar Pilip apstal. “Uair cidh sochaidhi ata isin mortinol-sa fer ndomuin, gero marbhtha uili, 7 co nd-eabhtha a fuil, 7 co nd-ethta

a fheoil,

robo

usa

fo shecht

beim écnaidhi for Dhía 3 amurus builibh.” 63

Ro

freaccair

ecnaidi

na

a dhilgud-sin

anas

fora duilibh 7 fora mir-

ndEabraidi

sin 4 adubradar,

“Innis duinn”, ar siat, “ni do proiceptaib De fora duilibh 4 fora dhainib.” 64 Adubairt int apstal ann-sin, “Do-rinne Dia ar tus isin chetrumad lou da chinél sechtmoghat na n-ardrennach im QYOM 62, 1-2 Is coir — si Q: dib cetas

Y

Pilip: 7 (om. M) adubert (is-bert M) int OM ar Dia fodhesta

Q: ar int apstal

Y

a duibh-

2 bar Q: ar Y

apstal Q: apsdal OM om. Y 2-3 Uair — uili: da marbadh enduine a fuil annsa pobul morthineoil-si (annsa p. m.: isin doman-so do deinib M) OM 2 cidh sochaidhi

ata isin Q: sochaidi ata Y

3 ndomuin

Q: in domain

co nd-eabhtha (c. n.-e.: cero ebtha Y) a fuil QY: da n-itheadh bfeoil (fheóil M) OM 3-4 co nd-ethta (c. n.-e.: cero chaitea (feoil Y) QY: da n-ibeadh a bfuil (fhuil M) OM 4 robo usa dhilgud-sin anas Q: robad usu fa .uii. a dilgud ana dilgud Y Dia OM s beim — duilibh: amurus ara duilibh 7 beim beim QO: bemi Y

weéecnaidhi Q: ecnaidh YO

pr. fora Q: ar Y forna O 63,1 Ro QYO:4doM_

Y

(n-ithi M) a Y) a fheoil fo shecht a is doilghi le ara ecna M

for (ar Y) Dhia QY: om. 0

5-64 fora mirbuilibh Q: ina sin O na sin M om. Y freaccair 0: fhiarfaidsead

Y fiarfaidh O fhiar-

faigedar M 1-2 sin 8 adubradar, Innis duinn ar siat Q: co n-indised dóibh Y de Oom.M = 2 ni QM: amair do-chuaid Y cinnus O do proiceptaib Q: dono brechtad

fora QOM: for Y

Y do breachtnaidh

2-3

O doibrecaib

M

De QY:

Dia OM

fora dhainib om. YOM

62 “It is right for you to be seeking God’s forgiveness now”, said the apostle Philip. “For however many there are in this great assembly of the men of the world, though they were all to be killed, and their blood drunk, and their flesh eaten, it would be seven times easier to forgive that than to forgive blasphemy against God, and disbelief in his creatures and his miracles.” 63 The wise men of the Hebrews replied to that, and they said: “Tell us”, they said, “something of God’s preaching upon his creatures and upon his people.” 64 Then the apostle said: “On the fourth day God made at first the seventy-two kinds of the planets around heaven,

62 — 64

175

62 Co closs ni, | in Tenga Bithnua: NA ITHO ADNACUL LENISTEIA TIBON TALAFI AIA ASFA BIBO LIMBIA FLAUNE i. “A failti-si do coibdelchaib, eiter maccu 7 ingina ocus maithre 4 aithre, ce at[a]-agtha fo claidiub 4 ce atfa]-agtha for fulochtu iarum conus-n-esta ina carnu .i. ba ussa fa sheacht a dilgud-sein oldaas beim necnaich for Dia 7 amirsi fair fora duile 4 a mirboile. Ar mad beim n-ecnaig for Dhia 7 amirsi fora duile 7 forin Trinoit 4 forna hamra do-rigne Dia, ni fil i nnim nach i talumh tind10

tud

n-aithrige

iccas nech

aire, act bhithbeith

gan

forcenn

1

fudhomhnuibh pian.” 63 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebreorum dicentess: “Indica nobis quod cepisti.” 64 Co clos ni, in Tenga Bithnua: ALEA FAS UIDE UALA NISTIEN ALME AMA FAUS ELOBI REBA .i. “Do-roine Dia isin cethramadh lau da chenél .Ixx. inna rind 64, 1 Adubairt

QY: do freagur O dofre/do freguir M

an Tenga b.n. doib O rinne QOM: do-roindi trumad QY: iii, OM neoch M om.

int apstal QYO:

ann-sin (add. .c.amas 0) QYO: 43 adubert M__DoY war tus om. OM isin QO: in Ya M 2 chelou 0: laithi YOM 2-3 im nim 0: nime Y do

O

62 Something

was heard, the Ever-new

Tongue:

“Na

itho

adnacul lenisteia tibon talafi aia asfa bibo limbia flaune”, that is, “If you were to put all your kindred to the sword — sons and daughters, mothers and fathers — and then set them to roast so that you might eat their flesh, it would be seven times easier to forgive that than to forgive blasphemy against God, and disbelief in him with respect to his creatures and his miracles. There is not in heaven or earth any turning to repentance which can atone for blasphemy against God, and disbelief in his creatures and in the Trin-

ity and in the wonders which God has wrought — only eternal existence without an end in the nethermost torments.”

63 The wise men of the Hebrews inquired, saying: “Show us what you began (to recount).” 64 Something was heard, the Ever-new Tongue: “Alea fas uide uala nistien alme ama faus elobi reba”, that is, “On

the fourth day God made seventy-two kinds of wandering

94“

176

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

nim la timchuairt ngreine, go soillsiginn in bith 7 a rothess tar da magh dhéce fo thoebhaibh in talman o nonaidh co maitin.” 65

Adubradar

ececnaidi

na

nEbraidi,

“Indis

duinn”,

ar

siat, “in da magh deécc-sin i soillsighenn grian fo thebhaibh in talman, 66

uair is dall oraind

a fhis do beith aguind.”

“Ass edh ám”, ar eissium,

“teid grian siardes tar toeb-

uibh in talman, tar sruth mara glasaltaigh gaibhthig, co taithnenn re linntibh lethna lanmora na cris uiscide. Uair ass eisidhéin timcheilleas in doman, 4 mesraighthi a fuilti-si QYOM 3 la QY:

re O om.

M

timchuairt

0: timchellcuairt

YO

timchellus

M

ngreine (do gres add. O) QO: greni do gres Y grian M go soilsiginn (g. s.: gores Y) in bith QY: om. OM ga rothess Q: 7 rethais Y re teacht O 4 téit iar sin M a tar (dar O) da magh QYO: tara nemadh M post dhécc add. fuilet YO thoebhaibh QOM: theb Y post o add. trath O nonaidh QYO:

noin M

65, 1-2 ar siat om. YOM ain QYO: cadiat na M da (dana Y) magh QYO: nemhadh M 2-3 i soillsighenn — aguind om. O i soillsighenn — talman Y om. 66,1

Q: fuilet Y aderidh Ass edh —

amom.O —

M

asa uair —

aguind Q: ar is dall duind a fis

OM

talman

teid QYO:

ar eissium om. YO om.

O

tar

indeosat

ar se uair iss é .c.shiub-

© siardes 0: ar ndul Y dul M

toebuibh

in talman

Q:

do-ní M

4-2 siardes

fa bordaib

Y

om.

M

2 mara QM: manann YO - glasaltaigh 0: dishaltaig Y co sgailtech O om. M post gaibhthig add. co soilsigenn 7 (om. M) YOM 2-4 co taithnenn — timcheilleas: re muir orrtheraigh in domuin 4 co taitnenn ós cinn a crais

together

with

the circuit

of the sun,

so that

it illuminates

the world. And its great heat is across twelve plains beneath the edges of the world from nones until matins.” 65 The

wise

men

of the Hebrews

said, “of those twelve

said:

plains in which

“Tell us”, they

the sun shines be-

neath the edges of the earth; for having knowledge

of it is

obscure to us.” 66 “It is thus”, he said, “that the sun goes: (i) southwestward

beyond

the edges

of the earth,

across

the

stream

of

the wild blue perilous sea, so that it shines upon the broad abundant pools of the watery zones. For it is that which encompasses the earth, and it is the temperate (zone) in which you yourselves are. (ii) And after that it goes across

64 — 66

177

tairindredach nime, la tenedchuairt inna gréne guires in mbith co lluaithe goithe, co ceill a etracta aingel. As-toidi da mhagh decc fo thoibaib talman i lles cacha aighthe. Cuairt in sin frisi ngaire tenedmhuir 7 enlaiti, 7 cuairt fris” comruicet a frisa failtniget arbair aingel iar n-etractai aigte.” 65 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebreorum: “Indis dun na da mag dec-sin fulet fo toibhuibh talman, fris’ taitni grian fri les cach n-aigthi; ar is dall erunn a fhis.” 66 Fris-cart di sudhiu in Tenga Bithnua:

“Is ed em tete

in grian i fescar cacha aigti. Do-aitne cetamus a sruth nallmuirede co sceluibh airthir na llind. Do-aitne iarumh | a 64, 9 post aigte add. ar is dall ms per saltum ad 65, 3 66, 1 Tenga: Teang ms tair ar tus 7 a ndeiscert an domuin iar sin 7 timchill- uisci an domuin taithnighinn O lanmora Q: 7 as ina O post cris add. innis duinn O

34

Uair

ass eisidhéin

iar sin 4 ós cinn innsi Duinn ar n-iartar iar sin ac denum M a taithnenn QY: eiside Y iss e (?) sein O na Q: in Y ar siad i. O uiscide 0: usci Y uisci

0: in domain

YO

Wa timcheilleas

QY:

tim-

ceallaidus O in doman 7 Q: in YM na O mesraighthi QOM: measrochadh Y 46 a fuilti-si — timcilles im: 7 dergter an grian iar sin a aitrebaib teinntidhi an mhara ar n-iartar 7 atait M a fuilti-si QY: fuilitt sin O

heavenly which

stars, together

warms

the world,

with

the fiery circuit

of the sun

swift as the wind, with the intelli-

gence and radiance of the angels. It illuminates twelve plains beneath the edges of the world in its shining every night. That is the circuit because of which the fiery sea and the flocks of birds cry out, the circuit because of which

the hosts of angels assemble and rejoice after the of night.” 65 The wise men of the Hebrews asked: “Tell twelve plains beneath the edges of the earth, on sun sheds light for (their) benefit every night; edge of it is obscure to us.” 66 To that the Ever-new

Tongue

replied:

brightness us of the which the for knowl-

“It is thus, in-

deed, that the sun goes in the evening. (i) First it shines on the stream beyond the sea, with tidings of the waters in the east. (ii) Then it shines at night upon the lofty sea of fire,

91%?

178

on

10

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

féin. Ocus teit iar sin tar muir thretanmair thonghairb 4 srabhteinedh timcilles im tuathaibh in mara-sin, 7 isna tuathaibh-sin dergthair ór .i. o theinntigheacht in mhara-sin 4 0 chumusc thesa gréine dergthar. Ocus téit grian tairis-sin go Magh Meall na macraidhi, 7 is gaibhthech aggarbh am atathar isin muigh-sin acon macraidh móir michoirithi fil ann. Uair scéit piasta 7 bladhmila chuca, co lleatrat 4 co mberat dronga diana diairim dibh, co ndénat-san uchana 4 arghaire 1 a n-acainte uili chum nime suas, co traigheann in muir iar sin, co mbeir lé a piasta 7 a bladhmila,

co faccaim iat-sum

‘na n-oirechtaibh sgithacha sgailtecha, co huathmur ecclach imsnimach;

7 is edh innister, conidh

isin pein-sin.

anmanna

O sgibes grian tairrsibh-sein

pectacha

fil

is ed teit, tar

QYOM 5 féin Ó: ar se Y ar Pilip aspalO Ocus QY: deargter o srabteinntibh O teit iar sin om. YO thretanmair Q: treathan YO thonghairbh 0: tonnach Y tonnaidh O yom. YO 6imQ:imna Y na O _ tuathaibh QY: tuatha OM

6-7 in mara-sin 7 isna tuathaibh-sin

Q: derga as iad na

tuatha-sin Y aran muir-sin 7 M om. O 7 dergthair QY: deargter O deargter iat 7 an mhuir atd ‘na timchill M or i. om. YOM _ theinntigheacht Ó: srabtheindtib YO sreab-teinntidhi ó imbualad M in mhara QYO:

naM

na

marann

M

8 chumusc

dergthar om. YOM

thesa

QY:

teas

O

griis imurcrach

grian tairis-sin 0: iar sin YO an mhuir derg

a vast wave-rough sea. And sulphurous flame surrounds the

peoples of that sea, and gold is reddened among those peoples: that is, it is reddened by the fieriness of that sea, and by mingling with the heat of the sun. (iii) And past that the sun goes to Mag Mell of the boy-troop; and it is perilous and very harsh indeed for the great misbegotten boy-troop which is there. For monsters and whales spew upon them, so that they wound and carry off swift innumerable multitudes of them, so that they raise groans and great cries, and all their complaints,

up to heaven.

And

the sea

ebbs

after

that, so that it carries its monsters and whales away with it, so that it leaves them in their exhausted panies,

fearful,

terrified,

it is sinful souls which

full of anxiety;

and

are in that torment.

scattered comit is said that

(iv) When

the

66

179

n-ardmhuir thened dadaig 4 na treathnu sroibthenedh immna tuathu derga. Toidid iar sin slogu inna macradh isnaibh meallmuigib fo-cerdat in ngair dochum nimhe ar uamun in mil mharbus inna ilmile de shloguib fo thonnuib andes. To-aitne iarum a sliab co rothuib teinedh do-cumnet

lasamhain M 9 Meall: om. M macraidhi QYM: marcraidhi O aggarbh ám Q: am Y om. OM _atathar QYM: ithar O post atathar add. ann Y 10 post muigh-sin add. uair cach uair linas mur anes Y in uar linus YOM

an

muir

O

macraidh

óir cach QYM:

Uair Q: fuilet ann

uair

linus

marcraidh

Yom. OM

an O

mhuir-sin

M

10-11

michoirithi

móir

acon

0:

cosin

fil ann.

11 scéit 0: sceindid Y sgeithid O sceinnter

M bladhmila QM: bleidhmila YO chuca (san add. M) QYM: acu O pr. co QM: conas Y cona O lleatrat QY: leadraidh O leadraid iad M mberat Q: mberit leo YOM 12 diana diairim Q: diairmhe M om. YO ndénat Q: lecet YO n-éighet M -san 0: -som Y -sin OM _ uchana (osnadha cum tha supra lineam Y osnadha QO) 7 arghaire (ardgaire Y ardghartha O) QYO: om. M 13 a n-acainte 0: a n-aichthi YM a n-aigin O uili om. OM chum QO: docum YM nime QY: neimhi OM suas Q: 4 mar do-nid sin a n-aitrighthi-sin M om. YO co om. M _ traigheann QYO: troidhidh M post muir add. derg-sin M 13-14 iar sin 0: 7 YOM 44 co mbeir QYO: beridh M a piastay om. YO bladmhila QM: bleidmila YO co faccaim Q: a co facaib Y 7 co fagann O 4 co fagait M 45 ‘na n-oirechtaibh Q: ana rechtaib YO ina rechtaib féin M 15-16 sgithacha — edh 0: eclacha Y eaglacha féinig 07M _ 16 conidh anmanna Q: comad YO curab M _pectacha Q: pecaig YOM fil 0: no betis Y fuilid O atá M 17 isin QYO: ‘sa M O sgibes QY: o facus 0 7 M 47-19 grian — romaind om. M 17 tairrsibh-sein Q: a sin sis Y sinO is ed om.O

tar QO: ar Y

and upon the seas of sulphurous flame which surround the red peoples. (iii) Then it shines upon the hosts of youths in the playing-fields, who utter a cry to heaven for fear of the beast which kills many thousands of hosts beneath the waves to the south. (iv) Then it shines upon the mountain

180

20

25

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

sliabh co srothaib teinedh, 4 ass iat aitreabhait ainn-sein .i. demhna coimidechta na n-anmann ro raidhsemur romaind. Taitnid in grian iar sin re beinn in muil assa n-eirgit na ceitri curaidh .xx.et, co ngairit fa ghlinn na piann. Ocus taithnid in grían iar sin re hairbi in mil móir gusna ceitri slabhradhaibh .xx. fair a nglinn na piann. Ocus taithnid iar sin fos tar illtuathaib ifirn fothuaidh, 4 tar dubghlenn 7 tar srothaibh aideithche ifrinn. Ocus taithnid iar sin fos re slis in mil móir sgees in muir mor 7 na hilmuire im thoebaibh in talman, 4 tsuidhes ariis i co traigen i nd-uair aife. Ocus

QYOM 48 teinedh

7 Q: ann

3 O om.

(om. O) QO: ann-side Y na n-anmann

YO

Y

aitreabhait

0: ata YO

19 coimidechta na n-anmann

romaind

0: roime

is ead YO

ainn-sein

.i.

ro raidhsemur Q:

20 Taitnid

QM:

teit

YO pr. in om. YOM iar sin QM: coitcheann Y ann- sein O beinn in muil Q: fordorus (dorus M) ifrind YOM 20-24 assa n-eirgit — illtuathaib ifirn om. OM W20-22 assa n-eirgit — mil móir om. Y —22 gusna ceitri 0: cona tri Y 23 fair a Q: forsin Y na piann Ocus Q: sin fri pianad anmann Y 24 fdsom. Y fothuaidh QYO: atuaidh M pr.yzo0m.O tar QYM: far O dubghlenn Q: duibgleannaib Y é >gleanntaib O glenntaib M

25 srothaibh

0: dubsrothaib

YO

tibrataib

M

aideithche

om.

OM

sun moves past them, it goes across a mountain with streams of fire, and they who dwell there are the guardian devils of the souls of whom we spoke before. (v) After that the sun shines upon the top of the heap from which the twenty-four

warriors

arise, so that they shout

throughout

the valley of torments. (vi) And after that the sun shines upon the enclosure of the great beast with the twenty-four chains upon it, in the valley of torments. (vii) And it shines after that across the many peoples of hell to the north, and

across a black valley, and across the hideous streams of hell. (viii) And it shines after that furthermore upon the side of the great beast which spews the great sea and the many seas around the flanks of the earth, and sucks it in again so that it withdraws at the time of ebbing. (ix) And

66

10

181

inna credmaigi co sloghuibh in coimtecta indib. Toidet iarum airbe in mil mhoir fris’ n-eirget na ceithre coraid ficet fris’ ngairet glenn inna pian. To-aitne

15

iar sin ircomuir a n-

airbe n-uathach ilbuidnech imero iad donaib ifferndaib fothuaith. To-aitne isnaib dubglindib cosnaib srothaib sirrechtaibh dara ngnuisi. To-aitne iarum airbe in mil tindnaig na ilmuiri im toibu talman di cach leith, shuiges na ilmhuire aitherruch co facoib na trachta tirma di cach leth. To-aitne

ifrinn (atuaidh QYM:

add.

taithnighi O

M) YM:

ifr- Q ifn

fós scripsi: fos fos

O

Ocus

Q om. YOM

om.

YO _ taithnid

slis QY: teb M non

legitur O 26 mil 0: mara YOM —€sgees QY: sgeidhidh O sgeithis M in muir mor 7 Q: re Y om. OM mna (om. Y) hilmuire QYO: a tortha M im thoebaibh Q: a teb Y a tebhaibh O re teb M ter. in QYO: na M 27 tsuidhes Q: suiges Y suighi O suidhidh M pr.iom. YOM co traigen QYO:

a deilginn

M

i nd-uair aife Ocus Q: a n-uair aithbi Y 7 M om.

O

with wheels of fire, which traverse the plains of clay with hosts of followers in them. (v) Then it shines upon the enclosure

of the great beast

against

which

the twenty-four

warriors arise, against which they invoke the valley of torments. (vi) Then it shines before the terrible populous enclosure which has closed around the hell-dwellers to the north. (vii) It shines in the black valleys with melancholy streams across their faces. (viii) Then it shines upon the enclosure of the beast which brings the many seas around the flanks of the earth on every side, which sucks the many seas back again so that he leaves the beaches dry on every side. (ix) Then it shines on the mountain of fire which was

182

30

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

taitnidh in grian iar sin re sliabh ro damnaighedh do theinid bratha fri buaidh do cach dail. Taitnid in grian iarum risna huili dhúile fuilet ‘sa chotlad derach o thosach in domain i nd-uaim na mblath. Rithaidh grian iar sin fos tar glenn dubach dérach co nd-imat ndreccan, 4 atait da dhorus forsin nglenn-sin 7 ni chuirenn edrochta gréine soillsi ann. Taithnid in grian iar sin frisna hialla én chanus

35

ceol co mbuaid

for

linntib na mbláth, y-rithaid iar sin tar muighibh edrochta co mblath 4 co mboltanugud fina. Taithnid grian iar sin fri parrthus Adhaim indair, go toccaibh a cenn isin maidin foraibh-si.

Ocus ro biad mor do sgelaibh aicci re innisin,

da

mbeth tenga re fhaisneis.” QYOM 28 in grian iar sin Q: didiu Y dono

O

28-29 re sliabh —

bratha

Q: re

slebtib tenntigib ({ }einead O tenedh M) 7 as iad (7 a. i.: 7 siad O ata M) ar lasad (derglasad M) uili (do shir M) YOM _ 29 fri — dail 0: do dubad dia domnaich Y a comair in bratha do métugud M om. O ante Taitnid add.4 YOM — 29-31 in grian — Rithaidh grian Q: in (om. O) grian YO om. M

31 fos om.

YOM _ tar Q: re YOM

aa dubach

0: dubach

YO

ndu-

bach M dérach om. M 32-35 co nd-imat — mbláth QY: na pian OM 32 nd-imat ndreccan Q: ndracanaib ann Y 40m. Y atait 0: ata Y da Q: didiu Y

32-33 dhorus forsin glenn-sin Q: dorchadus

ni chuirenn Ó: conach cur Y

Y

34 in grian om. Y

comchanus

Y

co

edrochta

0: edrocht Y

hialla én Q: hilltuathaib

mbuaid

Q: comchubaid

Y

ann Y

eoin Y 34-35

33 7

ante soillsi add. a

chanus 0:

for linntib

Q: a

the sun shines after that on the mountain which was formed from the fire of Judgment, to triumph over every assembly.

(x) Then

the sun

shines

upon

all the creatures

which

are in the tearful sleep since the beginning of the

world

in the cave

of flowers.

(xi) The

sun runs

after that

moreover across the dark tearful valley with many dragons, and there are two doors upon that valley, and the light of the sun does not cast light therein. (xii) The sun shines after that upon the flocks of birds which sing a song of victory

upon the pools of the flowers. (xiii) And it runs after that across bright plains with the bloom and fragrance of wine. (xiv) The sun shines after that upon Adam’s Paradise in the east, until it lifts up its head upon you in the morning. And it would

have

many

disclose (them).”

tales

to relate,

if it had

a tongue

to

66

183

iar sin a tenedhshliab ro damhnaiged

do teinid bratha fri

buaig da cach duil. To-aitne iarum na ilmhile con-tuilet in codladh nderach o thosuch domuin i nglenn ina mbldth. 20

Toidid iar sin i mmag ndubhach nderuch cosnaib draconuib fo-ruirmidhi

con-chanat

inna

maigi

fon

ceo.

To-aitne

iarum

ialla

na

na ilcheola i nglinnib na mblath.

etrachtai

cosnaib

blathuib

fina

nglenn. To-aitne iar saidhiu fri pardus nAdhuimh 25

n-enlaithe,

Toidid iar sin

as-toidet

a

co turgaib

iarum anair madain; ros biadh tra mor do scelaib at-fesedh fora fecht manus beth tenga dia relad.”

21 ialla: conca add. per saltum ad clausam sequentem et totum uerbum exp. ms 25 iarum: spatium uacuum exhibet ms

nglind Y 35-36 7 rithaid — fina om. M as 4 rithaid iar sin Q: 7 (om. Y) is edh rethes (roithis O) grian YO 35-36 tar — fina om. 00 as tar 0: co Y 35-36 co mblath 7 co mboltanugud fina Q: co mboltnughugh fina co mblathaib sera Y 36 Taithnid — iar sin om. 0 Taithnid QY: a téit M_grianom. YM _ fri Q: re Y tar OM_~ 37 Adhaim om. M __indair 0: sair M om. YO go toccaibh Q: co tocaib anair Y co togann O 4 tócbanair M

37-38 isin maidin

foraibh-si

0: asa

maidin

Y a n-airde

a fod-

hoimhnidh O a fudomain an betha M €38 ro biad — innisin om. YOM 39 post tenga add. aici YO acan grein M_ ante re fhaisneis add. do biad moran do scelaib (m. d. s.: imat scél aici M) OM _ re (da Y) fhaisneis QYO: ré innisin M post re fhaisneis add. do biad mor do scelaib aici Y

formed from the fire of Judgment, to triumph over every created thing. (x) Then it shines upon the many thousands who sleep the tearful sleep since the beginning of the world in the valley of flowers. (xi) Then it shines upon the dark

tearful plain, with the dragons who have been placed under the mist. (xii) Then it shines upon the flocks of birds who sing many songs together in the valleys of the flowers. (xiii) Then it shines upon the bright plains with the wineflowers which illuminate the valley. (xiv) Then it shines upon Adam’s Paradise until it rises from the east in the morning; it would have many tales indeed to relate upon its journey, if it had a tongue to disclose them.”

184

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

67 “Indis duinn”, ar siat, “rindad cneas 4 ca haicnedh fuil

andimh; a in cosmhail aicnedh ara fut 7 a rétlann?” 68 Ro freacair in Tenga Bithnua a cleithibh nime sin. “Ni cosmail

on

amh”,

ar sé. “.X. ranna

Gaboin

ar tus, 4 to-

chuirid monga troma teinntighi dibh, 4 gabaid crith 4 toirchetla, plagha as deabtha for talmain. Atait ranna ann 7 do-beret rothes 4 rofhuacht co cenn cecca bliadna, co tic aimser chundscnaighthe dóib, a anta na ndn-inad, 7 o thicc ind aimser-sin lingit imna tuathaibh-sin glinne na ndér co cend

cheitri

mbliadan,

co

nd-eirgid

toirrsi

fair lé gáir na

QYOM 67, 1 siat QYO: tuatha na nEabraide

M

rindad cneas 7 0: na hilcenéla

rann ro luaidis (r.l.: adubartais O do fhuidhlis M) duind (om. OM) o chianaib (0. c. om. M) YOM 1-2 ca haicnedh — rétlann om. OM 2 andimh Q: intu Y arafutyom. Y aQ:naY__ post rétlann add. uili Y 68,1 Ro Q:74ro Y do OM a cleithibh nime om. YOM sin QY: iad 4 is ed ro raidh O 4 is-bert M 2amhom.M ar sé QO: ar se ii. Y ar Si ant inad a fhuilit M Gaboin ar tus (chedus Y) QY: om. OM 2-3 4 tochuirid monga troma teinntighi dibh 4 Q: teinntidhiy7 M om. YO a gabaid QY: co ngobaid O co ngabait M__ post crith add. mor O alt. 4 Q: 4 curid monga tenedh dib fri YO dofhulaing chucu 4 co crothait in an fhirmaimint la nert na soighnén a cur mhong tenntidhi díb M _ 4 toirchetla (toirchetal Y doirceadul O) plagha QYO: curab urusa a tuaruscbail do thabairt oir

M

as deabtha for (d.f.: dunidibaid forsan Y) talmain QY: om.

OM post talmain add. na reanna ele (.v-o. add. O) curid monga tenedh dib 4 (om. O) rethaid (re hataid O) YO Atait ranna ann om. YOM 5 post do-beret add. na soignein .c.na 7 na hairdrennaigh M a QM: no YO post rofhuacht add. forsan talmain na reanna aili (.h-. add. O) rethaid fri (far O) hanalaib drecon 4 aibgidhit (aipedhid O) torthi 4 tecaid

67

“Tell

us”, they said,

“of ..., and

them.

And

is their nature,

and

that

what

of their

nature stars,

is in similar

throughout?” 68 The Ever-new Tongue answered that from the heights of heaven: “Indeed, it is not similar. First of all, there are the ten stars of Gabon; and they cast heavy fiery manes

from them, and trembling and prophecies, plagues and conflicts assail the earth. There are stars which bring excessive heat or cold until the end of fifty years, until the time of

moving comes to them, and of resting in their place. And when that time comes, they spring among those peoples of

67 — 68

185

67 “Ces”, ol tuath inna nEbra: “a inna ilceniuil rend tarbad-su dun riam: cia aicned fil indib? 7 is cosmuil aicned na redland uile dar leinn.”

68 Fris-cart didiu in Tenga Bithnua: “Ni cosmail emh | aicned na renn. Deith rind Gabuen cetamus, gaibthius crith 1 do-cuiredar mongai tened dara gnuis fri taircetul plaga na dunebaid for talmain. Na renda aile, thimceallat in domun otha trath teirt co noin. Fos-cerd iarum i cess co tice in trath cetna. Renda aili dano, do-berat rotes nó rouacht no rofhualcect for talmain. Renda aili dano, rethit fri tomoltad draccon do-infidet in mbith. Rennu aili dano, reithit co

tedmanna trisna torthaib-sin ataid dono ranna aili ann 7 rethid YO forsan talmain ranna eile ata ann 4 rithid siad for analaib dregan maille re neim fergi an Duilemon do dighaltus bristi a rechta ar sil Adhaimh i úair ann aibidhit na ranna neimhe-sin tortha a ticid tedmanna 4 galur tre chaithim na torad-sin atat reanna eile dib rithes

M__cecca bliadna 0: cend a

(om. OM) mbl-a YOM co tic QYO: 7 is i-sin is M 6 chundscnaighthe (comthimchell Y) dóib 7 QY: om. OM anta QYO: adhanta M na ndn-inad

Q: doib

OM

om.

Y

6-13 o thicc —

cétna:

bidh

uair ele .uii.

mblia- gan rith uair is fó mhuir bis fich an Duilemhan risna dóeinib docum a ticit na teadma-sin 7 in tan is fergach é riu rithit na reanna .c.na mar adubramar romhainn

M

60

thicc 0: do-ic siden

Y om. O

Y ind aimser-

sin lingit (scripsi: lingidh Q) imna tuathaibh-sin Q: ar techt dhoib tar YO glinne Q: gleand YO post ndér add. thuaid (atuaid O) ‘na timchill YO

8 cheitri Q: .uii. YO

mbliadan

O: mblia- 0 mbl- Y

dan add. eile O co nd-eirgid 0: .l. Y teagaid O aris O fair om. YO

post mblia-

toirrsi 0: doridisi Y

67 “And the many kinds of stars which you declared to us earlier”, said the people of the Hebrews, “what nature is in them? In our opinion the nature of all the stars is similar.” 68 Then

the Ever-new

Tongue

answered:

“Indeed,

the

nature of the stars is not similar. (i) First of all, (there are) the ten stars of Gabuen: trembling seizes them and manes of fire cover their faces, to foretell pestilence and mortality upon the earth. (ii) The other stars circle the world between the hours of terce and none; then they lapse into weakness until the same

hour

comes

(again).

(iii) Other

stars, then,

bring excessive heat or cold or ... upon the earth. (iv) Other

gore

186

10

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

secht n-arcaingeal 7 la gothaibh dighainni dreaccan gnathaigis isin glinn-sin. Atait ranna aile ann 4 rithait-sein na sé la a na sé haidhchi noco ticc in domnach, 7 o thic in domnach tinnscnaidh ilcheola imdha examla 7 ro certaighit suan forna rothaibh cétna. 69 “Do-rinde Dia tra suidhiugud laithi da chinel sectmoghat do mhilaib mhara 7 da chinél sechtmogat do chinelaibh én, us cech cénel dibh-sein co ndeilbh 7 co ndath 4 co mbésaibh 4 co n-aicnedh for leith in cech cinel.

QYOM 9 gothaibh QY: 9-10 gnathaigis glind Y gleann rithait-sein Ó: YO

geire O dighainni dreaccan 0: na Q: gnathaigid Y gnath (?)/gnathaid O Atait ranna aile ann 4 Q: aroili re rith Y roithidh O 11 pr. sé QY:

alt. se QY: seacht O

haidhchi Q: n-aidchi

(ne O) ndracon YO O 10 glinn-sin 0: ranna (rann O) YO .uii. O lá 0: laithi

YO

noco

QY:

no O

tice QY: tiged O 11-12 o thic in domnach om. YO 12 tinnscnaidh ilcheola imdha examla Q: canaid ceol co teid seco (c. t. s.: ann 0) YO ro certaighit Q: tiagaid Y th-O cosin YO 69,1

rothaibh Do-rinde

cued YO.u.

M

QO:

13 stan Q: aris Y ‘na frithing

0

forna 0:

0: rith Y n-inadh O do-roindi

laithi QYO:

Y

la M

do-roine

M

tra suidhiugud

a do mhilaib mara

Q: isin

Q: do eltaib en Y

daltaibh en O d’énlaithib inn edir M 2-3 chinelaibh én 0: milaib mara YO bethadhachaib for muir M3 pr.y om. YOM cech cénel — ndath 4: co cinelaib 7 co ceolaib M dibh-sein om. O a co ndath om. YO 4 mbésaibh QYM: mbes O 7 co n-aicnedh QYO: examla a comcineoil fein acu M

for leith in cech cinél Q: ar leth Y om. OM

the valley of the tears until the end of four years, until they rise ... on account of the shout of the seven archangels and the mighty voices of the dragons who dwell in that valley. There are other stars, and they run for six days and six nights, until Sunday comes. And when Sunday comes they begin many numerous and varied songs, and they ... upon the same circuits. 69

“.. God

made

seventy-two

kinds

of sea-beasts,

and

seventy-two kinds of kinds of birds, and each of those kinds with its own form and colour and habits and nature for every kind.

68 — 69

10

15

187

cenn .l. bliadna, co ndegat aimser codulta doib. In tan gaibthi codlad, dos-lecet tuaith tenedmuir i nglindib inna nder co cenn .uii. mbliadna; con-tuilet co ndiuchtrat la gair na senaingel 7 la gotha inna ndracon do-gairet a nglenn. Araile rennu, rethit na .ui. laa 4 na .ui. aighthi co tic in domnach. O thic tosach in domhnaig do-innscanat ilcheola 1 fos-ceird i suan co toraid in domnach

Dia de nim; dos-curi-

dar iarum fora rith cetnai.” 69 ALIMBEA FONES ARIFE ASTE. BOIA FITEN SALMIBIA LIBE LIB EBILE NABLEA FABE i. “Doroine Dia isin coicedh laa da cenél .Ixx. do iallaib en 4 da cenél .uii.mogat do milaib mara, cach cenél dib cona deilb a cona bes 7 cona aicned fo leith.

68, 10 nglindib: -ib supra lineam scr. ms

stars, then, run to incite the dragons which breathe upon the world. (v) Other stars, then, run until the end of fifty years, they seek a time of slumber. When

sleep takes them,

they set to the north of the sea of fire, in the valleys of the

tears, for seven years; they sleep until they are awakened by the shout of the blessed angels and by the voices of the

dragons who call upon the valley. (vi) Other stars run for six days and six nights, until Sunday

comes.

With the be-

ginning of Sunday they embark upon many songs, and fall asleep until God’s Sunday hastens from heaven; then they embark upon their same course. 69 “Alimbea fones arife aste, boia fiten salmibia libe lib ebile nablea fabe”, that is, “On the fifth day God made seventy-two kinds of flocks of birds, and seventy-two kinds of sea-beasts,

each with its own form and behaviour and nature.

188

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

70 “Enlaith indsi Galaith immorro: ni fuil i talmain lidath na lonnrad na taitnid da n-ochtaib 7 da n-eitibh; a do-niad déra la snechta 7 la fuacht, 7 do-niat failti 7 suntaidhi le soininn. Eirgit cecha medhon aidhchi do gres, 4 canait ceola 7 ceileaburtha amair cheola tet. [74 “Enlaith indsi Ebir: soillsigid a n-eitidha amair choindle ara lonnreadh cach n-aidchi co rind gemrid 4 fuachta, 7 anas elba.dona beannaib erig didiu on chomair a n-aimser thesbaid. Canaid ceol triana collud. Airdi a ceoil na ceol aingil, amair toraind ngeithi.|

QYOM 70,1 Galaith Q: Nalaith Y Tobuirnn -h-.

O Sabhuirnn M

Q om. YOM © ni fuil i talmain QY: ni fuilO om.

datha

M

na lonnrad

immorro scripst: M

a lidath QYO: li

Q: na loc )crad Y na lainnreadh

O ‘na n-eitibh

M na taitnid scr. et fortasse d exp. Q: na bidh Y nach bi OM da nochtaib a da n-eitibh Q: ‘na tebaib YO ‘na sciathanaib na ‘na teb-M a23 4 do-niad

—

fuacht

om.

Y

—a do-niad

QO:

do-nit

sin

M

deéra QO:

dobron M la snechta 7 la fuacht 0: an/a (a M) n-aimsir reoigh 7 (nó M) sneachta OM do-niat QYO: do-nid M_3-4 failti 3 suntaidhi 0: suntaigi + failti YO subachus M 4 le Q: i nd-aimser Ya OM ante Eirgit add. 4 M.

cecha QY:a

burtha om. YOM

YOM deest Q

474Q0M:co

Y

5 ceola Q: ceol YOM Q amar

Y mar OM

tét QYO: aingil ac adhmol- Crist do sir M

70 “The

not on

OM

— amair scripsi: am-

birds of the island

earth

a bright colour

of Galath,

4 ceilea-

M€cheola 0: ceol

—ab hic usque ad 101, 1

moreover:

or radiance

which

there is

does

not

shine from their breasts and from their wings. And they shed tears at snow and cold, and show gladness and vigour in good weather. They arise always at every midnight, and sing songs and praises like the music of strings. [71 “The bird-flock of the island of Ebir: their wings shine like candles for radiance every night, until the extremity of winter and cold, and what is readiest of the birds arises from the assembly in the time of heat. They sing a song in their sleep. Their song is louder than the song of angels, like the roar of the wind.]

70> 71

189

70 “Enlaith cetamus indsi Naboth: ni attoidi for lar talman ligdath na laindred na atoidet asa n-eitib 7 co lecet a ndera la uacht 7 snechta, failtnighit la tess 7 ligdata samraid. Diuchtrait i mmedon aidche do grés 4 con-canat ceolu teithbindiu. 71 “Enlaithi Sabes: do-foilset a n-eitiu fri aimsir n-aighthi amal caindli teneth. Nach teidm ad-ellat a n-eitiu nó a foscud

for luamain,

is slan

fon-acoib.

Dos-curidar

i cess

marbhdhatad i nd-aimsir gaimrid | 3 uachtai, co ndiuchtrat la cetemon. Canait ina cotaltaib ardcheol n-ailghen, amal toruinn ngeithi.

70, 1 attoidi: att/toidi ms (dittog.)

YOM 71,1 Enlaith YO: énlaithe M Ebir Y: Heber O Eabar M amair Y: am- OM 2 choindle Y: coinnlibh O locrannaib M ara scripsi: ar- Y ar OM lonnreadh YO: lasadh M 2-3 co rind — beannaib Y: a ngeimhreadh eter rog 7 fuachtO 7M _ 3 erig Y: eirgid OM 3-4 didiu — thesbaid Y: a O síat ‘na tri drongaib cach n-aidhchiy7 M 4 post ceol add. suthain sirbinn M collud YO: codlad ac adhmolad an Duilemon M 5 amair toraind ngeithi om. OM

70 “First

of all, the birds of the island

of Naboth:

there

does not shine forth upon the surface of the earth any bright colour or radiance which does not shine from their wings. They shed tears at cold and snow, and rejoice at warmth and the bright colours of summer. They awaken always in the middle of the night, and sing songs together which are as sweet as the music of stringed instruments. 71 “The bird-flocks of Sabes: their wings shine at night like burning candles. Any pestilence touched by their wings, or by their shadow in flight, is healed. They fall into a state of dormancy in the time of winter and of cold, and awaken

with the coming of May. They sing a noble gentle song in their slumbers, like the roar of the wind.

garb

190

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

[72 “Enlaith atait a n-indsib Ebothen

a n-airter Afraici:

ni bi ligdath na taitnenn ‘na sciathanaib, 7 ni dechaid eti dib na clum o thosach domain co se, 7 ni lia ‘sa cach iad 4 ni huaiti.

Boladh

4 boltnugud

in tiri a builet,

is ead

nos

sasann; 7 nochon anaid a coigedol ciuil 4 niros scithaigid riam co se co ndeiligid a tosach aidchi la hord aingil ana tri n-eltadaib. |

[73 “Da en .uii.mogad ar cuic .c.aib ar mili an cach eltain dib. O thosach

aidchi chanaid

ceol in .c.enlaith dib,

ac molad De na n-adamraightheadh ndiairmi do-roindi Dia a n-inchleithi re ndenam a dul; 7 as iad saide nach feadadar aingil nime. Eirgid iar sin an enlaith medhonach a medon

YOM 72,1

atait a n-indsib

YO:

innsi

M

Ebothen

Y:

Eoben

O Ejiboin

M

Afraici Y: Afraici; O na hAfraici M2 ligdath Y: dath OM na taitnenn Y: nach biOM eti YM: eitigh O 3 naom.OM _ post clum add. dibh OM ante domain add.anO coseom.OM_ 4 ni lia ‘sa cach iad q YO: 1 nír romhatar an énlaith sin betha denna riam acht beith d’enbeth- ac molad Crist 4 ni roibi salchur na scannal a n-én acu ríam g is glormar ainglidhi M a ni huaiti Boladh a boltnugud Y: blath (blatha M) 7 baladh OM 4-5 is ead nos sasann (shasas iad O) YO: uatha M 5 nochon Y: ni OM anaid YO: anat an énlaith-sin M a coigedol YO: ac canamain M 5-67 niros — aingilom. OM 7 n-eltadaib Y: n-ealtuibh O healtadaib 7M

[72 “There

is a bird-flock

in the

islands

of Ebothen,

in

the east of Africa: there is no bright colour which does not shine in their wings, nor from

the beginning

of the world

until now has a feather or plume gone from them; nor is their number any greater or less. The fragrance and the scent of the land in which

they are, that is what

sustains

them; and they do not rest from singing songs together, nor have they ever down to the present become weary, until at the beginning of the night they divide into three flocks at the ordinance of the angels.| [73 “There are 1572 birds in each of those flocks. Starting at the beginning of the night the first flock sings a song praising God for the innumerable wonders which God performed

in secret before

things which

not even

making

the creation;

the angels of heaven

and those

know.

are

After

123

191

72 “Enlaithe Abuaidi a n-indsib iter airrther na Affraice 7 nem: ni thainic talmain ligdath na attoidet assa sciathaibh 7 nochu torchair eite asa sciathaib, na cluim, o thosuch domuin;

7 niro thormacht

a llin nach a n-airiumh.

Boludh 1

midclos inna mblatha 7 blas na .uii. finaband do-cumnet inna ligmuigi, iss ed nodos-sasa o tusuch domuin. Ni chumsanat do coicetal cheol 4 niptar scíth co tualath medon aigti la andort na n-aingiul assind niul. 73 “Fos-ndailet iarum na teoru enlaithi .i. da en .Ixx. ar .ixx.m.

in cach

enlaith.

Medon

aigti cotn-ocuib

an

cetna

enlaid a ngair 7 con-canat molad do Dia tria cheol a asnidet donaib adamraib rundaib diairmhidib incleithib na fetatur cidh aingil nime. Co nn-eirigh iarum ind enlaith medonach 72,1 a n-indsib: in margine, cum notis quae positionem in textu indicant 73,1 Daom.O

ar mili O: ar mi- Y .x. én bis

M2 eltain Y: ealtaidh

OM €O thosach aidchi chanaid ceol YO: 7 chanaid M W.c.enlaith Y: .c.alta OM post dib add. ceól suthain sirainglidhi M3 molad Y: adhmoladh OM De (ag innisin add. O) YO: Crist co dutrachtach 4 ac sirinnisin M wn-adamraightheadh Y: n-adamraidhi O n-adhamra M ndiairmi scripsi: nidiairmi Y arin ngnim O om. M do-roindi YM: do-rinniO 4a n-inchleithi re ndenam a dul Y: arna duilibh O riana duilibM 454 as — nime Y: an .c.trian don aidhchi dóib mar sin 7 M om. O 72 “The bird-flocks in the islands of Abuaidi, between

the

east of Africa and heaven: there has not come upon the earth any bright colour which does not shine from their wings, nor since the beginning of the world has a feather or plume fallen from their wings; nor has their number

or

count increased. The fragrance and the scent of the flowers, and the taste of the seven rivers of wine which traverse the bright plains, that is what sustains them since the beginning of the world. They do not rest from singing songs together, nor would they be weary, until midnight should come with the chanting of the angels from the cloud. 73 “Then

the three bird-flocks

divide themselves;

that is,

seventy thousand and seventy-two birds in each flock. The first flock lift up their voices at midnight and sing praise to God in song, telling of the secret innumerable hidden wonders which not even the angels of heaven know. Then the

192

THE

aidchi,

co

canaid

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

ceol trelinech

ac

indisin

na

ngnim

do-

roindi Dia o thindscetal in betha co brath. Ergid an enlaith derinach a nderead aidchi 4 canaid ceol .uii.delbach ac indisin uathbas 7 delba laithi brata. Sil nAdaim, 10

da cloistis

in ceol canaid an enlaith-sin, ni bfuigbidis ni ro shasfad iar scarthain ris.] [74 “Annsa ceinel

.uii.m-

tsheisedh do

shil

laithi

Adhaim

do-ronnad ar

Adam,

n-imarbus,

4 atait

7 cach

da

ni is

ingnad dib indeostair daib-si iad.]

YOM 6 post aidchi add. do shir 7 M co canaid Y: canaid OM _ trelinech YO: n-ainglidi M 6-7 do-roindi YM: do-rinni O 7 brath YM: brach O enlaith YO: enlaithi M8 derinach Y: deighinach OM a nderead aidchi om. OM post canaid add. sin M ceol om. O .uii.delbach Y: .vi.dealbach O .uiindelbach M 9 uathbas Y: uathbasa O uathbais M a delba om. M laithi brata Y: laithi an bratha 4 O an lei bracha do M nAdaim Y: Adhaimh O Adhaim 7 M Mcloistis YO: cluindis in cinedh denna M 10inceol YM: gachaaO_ bfuigbidis Y: fuidhdis O fhuidhitis M

Wniro (do O) shasfad (iad add. O) YO: a sasadh M

10-11 iar scarthain

ris Y: da n-eis O dia éis M 74,1

Annsa

Y:

isin O aan

M _ tsheisedh

Y:

.ui. OM

laithi YO:

la

M2 ceinel OM: chenl- Y shil Adhaim ar Y: é€ )r O ar neimh no ar M 3 indeostair Y: inneosatar Y indeost- M

that the middle

flock arises at midnight,

and sings a three-

lined song relating the deeds which God has wrought from the beginning of the world until the Judgment. The last flock arises at the end of the night, and sings a septiform

song relating the terrors and the Judgment. If the race of Adam bird-flock sings, they would not content them after parting from

appearance of the Day of heard the song which that find anything which could it.]

[74 “On the sixth day Adam was made, and since the Fall there are seventy-two kinds in the race of Adam, and

everything which is strange in them will be related to you.]}

ae

g|

193

cosin ciul trefhiltech la adhamhrugud inna n-ingnadh doroine in Coimdi o thindscetul in bethu co brath. Do-thet ind enlaith deiginach fair i ndeiriudh na aighthi. Asnidetside la handord 10

chiuil .uii.dealbaigh inna delmann

ticfet in

mbith la uath mbratha, a asneidet iar saide in fogail sectmogtaig na pian cosind lin ata-roillife 7 indisit na da suidi

xx. inna DIRESIR nAdaim, 15

ligboth i nimhib cosin cach ata-roillife. ET AIE An SIBErcALEA) ALIBME: LIS” .ie Sil

dia cloitis ceol inna n-enlaithi-sin,

ni bai failti na

mellchai diaro scardais fria cloissin act suamuth 7 sirrect 4 toirrsi co n-epeltais la cai.”

74 EFI LIA LASIEN FEROSA FILERA LEUS DISSIA NIMBILE NUE BUA FAUNE | INTORIA TEBN#, id est, “‘Faciamus

hominem

ad imaginem

et ad similitudinem

nostram et presit piscibus mariss et uolatilibus celi et bestis uniuerse terre*.’ Ata tra di fhoiltigi cumachta in Coimdhed 74 a. Gen. 1, 26

73, 6 trefhiltech: trefhiltnech scr. et n exp. ms

middle flock arises with its threefold song, marvelling at the wonders which God has wrought from the beginning of the world until the Judgment. The last flock takes it up at the end of the night: chanting a septiform song they tell of the tumults which will come upon the world with the terror of the Judgment; and thereafter they tell of the seventyfold division of the torments,

and those who will deserve them,

and they tell of the seventy-two seats of the bright dwellings in the heavens, and of everyone who will deserve them. Et diresir alba sibe alea alibme lis —

that is, if the race of

Adam heard the song of those bird-flocks, there would not be joy or pleasure after they ceased listening to them, but grief and longing and sorrow until they died of lamentation.” 74 “Efi lia lasien ferosa filera leus dissia nimbile nue bua faune intoria tebnx”, that is, “‘Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let him be over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the beasts of the whole earth*.’ So

gore

194

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

[75 “Curaid insi Emioin: se troigthi .l. a n-airdi cach oenfhir dib. Ni duiscenn asa codlud iad acht anfad mara no gair catha. Do-niat comdord ciuil 4 airfided ar n-ergi asa collad. Soillsigid a suili amair ruitnigit retlanna. Buaidrid na mara la taigliud a sul co tiagait na bledhmila ar tir, co n-ethad-som iad.] [76 “Ataid deine

finda

forlasorda

a

n-indsib

Odania.

Tecaid lasracha tenedh asa mbraigdib re duscad a fergi. Soillsighid a suili amair chaindli a n-aidchi. Gili a curpa na sneachta. Doberaid iasc asna haidchib asna hilmurib can bearbad,

as ed chaithid.|

YOM 75,1 Emioin Y: Eimhion

O Emion M

se Y: vii. OM

ante .l. add. ar

OM cach om. M 2 oenfhir YM: fir O ante Ni add. 3 OM post duiscenn add. ni M mara YO: fairgi M sa Do-niat YO: 4do-nitM a airfided om. OM _ 4 Soillsigid Y: soill- O a soill-it M amair Y: amOM ruitnigit Y: ruifmedh O om. M retlanna Y: reltann O reltanna ac reod 7 M46 Buaidrid — iad: 7 as i a cuid caithmhidh bleidhmhila muridhiO 5 na mara Y: an mhuir M la taigliud Y: ré sil: M tiagait Y: tecait M ar Y:aM_ 56 co n-ethad-som iad Y: cucu le nert a sul a ithit-sin iad mar biadh M 76,1 Odania Y: Odoinia O Edronia M a Tecaid Y: 7 O 7 tic M lasracha YO: lasair M a Soillsighid Y: 7 soillsidh O 4 soill-it M —chain-

[75 “The warriors of the island of Emion: each of them is

fifty-six feet long. Nothing wakes them from their sleep save a tempest of the sea or a shout of battle. They make a harmonious

musical humming,

and music, when

they arise

from their sleep. Their eyes shine like the radiance of stars. They stir up the seas with the brightness of their eyes so that the whales come ashore, so that they eat them.] [76 “There are white fiery people in the islands of Odania. Flames of fire come from their throats when their anger wakes. At night their eyes shine like candles. Their bodies are whiter than snow. They bring fish in the nights from the many seas, without boiling; that is what they eat.]

iris

195

co bhfuil cetheora dealbai .xx.et for sil nAdhaimh iar nimorbus. 75 “Curaid cetamus indsi Ebia: se traiged .]. legtair i fot cacha delba dib. Nocho diuchtrat asa cotlad acht tria anfadh mara, no gair chatha no shloigh, no chobordon ceol. In tan ad-regat asa suan soillsidir a suile amal ruithnighudh rind. For-berat isnaib murib i tat cu cochratar a mbiastu 4 a mbledmila for tire dia sasad. 76 “Tuatha finna forlassardha a n-indsib Odaib: dotheegat lasrai teined assa mbelaib fri burach ferga. Do-aitnet a suile amal chaindle teined fri aidhche. As-toidet a foilt a a cuirp amal snechte: fos-ceird i robane. Iasc a hilmuireibh cen bruith

cen

fuine, iss ed roda mbiatha.

dli Y: coinnill O choinnl- M a n-aidchi Y: no O 4M _— 3-4 Gili a curpa (gnuisi O) na sneachta YO: giliter sneachta a ngnuisi7 M 4 asna haidchib (hilmuiribh O) asna hilmurib (haithcib O) YO: a hinnberib M 4-5 ante can bearbad add. a eathaid O 7 caithit M 5 as ed chaithid Y: is ed canaid O é 7 is amhlaid atait M

versatile,

then,

is the

power

of the

Lord

that

there

are

twenty-four shapes upon the race of Adam after the Fall. 75 “The warriors of the island of Ebia first of all: fiftysix feet are established in the length of each of their bodies. They do not awaken from their sleep unless a tempest of the sea, or the shout of battle or an army, or the noise of music causes it. When they arise from their sleep, their eyes shine like the radiance of stars. They grow great in the seas

in which they are, so that their monsters and whales come onto the lands as food for them. 76 “White fiery tribes in the islands of Odaib: flames of fire come from their mouths when they grow angry. At night their eyes shine like burning candles.

Their hair and

bodies gleam like snow: they are very white. Fish from the many

them.

seas,

neither

boiled

nor

cooked,

is what

sustains

196

THE

[77 “Tuatha

EVER-NEW

Ethoir

a

sleib

TONGUE

Chucaist:

a

mbeoil

osa

mbruindi 7 ceithri suili a ndruim cach fir dib. Rotheas ana corpaib 7 romet a bais intib, conach fagbad a toil acht ac mnaib a comchineoil.} [78 “Tuatha ele etrochta atait asna hAsardhaib. As iad as caine do sil Adaim. As edh as bindi do ceolaib, estecht re

n-urrlabra. | [79 “Tuatha atait.a ndescert na hIndia; as iad as dereoili

do sil Adaim. Cethri troigthi a n-airdi cach fhir dib, 7 ni bi neach as airdi na’s isli ana cheili dib.| [80 “Bantrocht slebi Armenia: ni beraid acht ingena do eres. Erged asa codlad a medon aidchi, co sceet slamraigi tened asa mbelaib. Ro-soichet a n-ulchada a n-imleanna doib. Or as caime d’oraib in beatha fo-gabar ana ndornaib desa iarna n-ec.] YOM 77,1 Ethoir Y: Eithoir O Ethedir M Chucaist YO: Guguisg M post Chucaist add. 3 as amlaid atait 3 O 1-2 a mbeoil osa (asa O) mbruindi YO: 4 a meadhoin do beth a cúil 4 encliab easnaigh ina medhonaib M 2 fir YO: einfir M post dib add. 3 ata do M 3 4 romet a bais intib om. OM conach YO: nach M fagbad Y: faghuid OM Ma post comchineoil add. fein OM 78,1 As iad Y:3,asiadM4yO 2caine Y: caime OM _ As edh Y:4M om. O 2-3 do ceolaib estecht re n-urrlabra Y: do ceoluibh an beitha a nurlabra O inaid ceoil an beatha M

[77 “The tribes of Ethoir in Mount Caucasus: they have their mouths eyes

above their breasts, and each of them

in his back.

There

is great

heat

in their

has four

bodies,

and

very much lust in them, so that they cannot get their pleasure except with women of their own race.] [78 “There are other bright tribes among the Assyrians. They are the fairest of the race of Adam. Listening to their speech is the sweetest music.| [79 “There are tribes in southern India: they are the smallest of the race of Adam. Each of them is four feet high, and none of them is taller or shorter than any other.] [80 “The

host of women

of the mountain

of Armenia:

they never bear any save daughters. They arise from their sleep in the middle of the night, so that they spew masses

77 — 80

197

77 “Tuatha Ithier tuath shlebi Caucaist: a mbeoil ina mbruinnibh, cetheora suile inna mbruinnibh. Elscoth 4 rothes ina corpaib connach’ rodaim nach cenél aile. 78 “Tuatha aile etrachtai i tirib Asser: airdiu cach ceniul decsiu a ngnuisi. Ro-ssaig do binne a labhartha conid binde ceoluib cobordon a sluag. 79 “Tuatha deiscirt India co llaget a ndelba: a n-as sirem diib ni segat acht cubat .u. ndorn. 80 “Bantracht file i slebib Armenia: moo cacha doeinib a ndelbha.

Nocho

berat

acht

ingina

do grés. Andso

cacha

feraib a bhferga 7 a ngalu oc dula do chath. Eirgit asa suan medon aidche. Ar-osclaicet toidli teined assa mbelaib. Doacmongat a n-ulchi conicce a n-imlinda. Or as chainiu cach

forloscud ar-recar inna main do grés.

| ndornaibh

dessaib

iarna ngeine-

79,1 hIndia YM: hInniadhi 4 O hInnia .i. na lupracain 7 M _ dereoili YO: lugha M 2 ante Cethri add. i. M troigthi Y: duirnn OM bi Y: bfuil O fuil dib uile M sa na’s isli om. OM ana cheili dib Y: na ceile dibh O ina cheile M 80, 4 slebi YO: tsleibi M 2 post aidchi add. do shir M co sceet Y: 4 cuirid OM slamraigi Y: splangca O sblancach M 3 post mbelaib add. 4 fósM Ro-soichet Y: ro-sosaid O roithit M Wn-ulchada Y: n-ulcanna O fésoga M —n-imleanna YO: n-imlecain M 4-5 doib — iarna n-ec Y: ar negaibh doib O doib as ara lamhaib deasa ar n-ég dóib bit a fésoga M

77 “The tribes of Ithier north of Mount Caucasus: they have

their

breasts.

mouths

Burning

in their

and

breasts,

and

four

eyes

in their

great heat are in their bodies,

such

that no other race can endure it. 78 “There are other bright tribes in the lands of the Assyrians: gazing upon their faces is nobler than (gazing upon the faces of) every people. Such is the sweetness of their speech that the noise of their armies is sweeter than music. 79

“The

tribes

of southern

India,

with

the

smallness

of

their form: the tallest of them only reach a cubit of five hands. 80 “The host of women which there is in the mountains of Armenia: their bodies are greater than those of any men. They never bear any save daughters. Their wrath and their valour when going into battle are fiercer than those of any

gv

198

[81 “Tuatha

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

Arfaner a tirib Libia: lasaid meic imlesan a

sula fri feirg mar ubla tenedh. Ni thuilleann cach fear dib lin a trascartha. As iad as bindi ib. Ardi o med nait croind. Canaid ceol trena mail re ceol ainglegda ar bindi. Srotha fina

do denib im glor da daincollud as cosasa mbelaib

arna n-ec.”

[83 Adubradar

ecnaidi

na

nEbreidi,

“Indis

duind

in lin

cenel do ordaig Dia for duilib.”]

YOM 81,1 Arfaner Y: Arfaineis O Arfaneis

M

tirib Y: tirthuibh OM

meic

imlesan om. OM 2sula Y: suiliOM fri feirg Y: lé ferg Mom. O ubla (ubhlaib O) tenedh YO: theine M post tenedh add. la eérogoa Og M do denib im Y: a timceall OM — a cach om. M fear Y:fir OM dib YO: acu M 3-4 As iad — croind om. OM a ante Canaid add.a M 45 as cosmail re Y: am- OM Vs ainglegda Y: aingil OM Mar bindi Y: ara mbinne O a tecait M fina YO: tened scr. et nó fina supra lineam add. M post fina add. thecaid O +mbelaib Y: mbel O mbraighdib M 6 arna Y: ar OM post n-ec add. doib OM 83, 4 ecnaidi YM: tuatha O post duind add. ar siat M a cenel YO: cn- M for Y: fora OM

of fire from their mouths. Their beards reach as far as their navels. Gold which is the finest gold in the world is found in their right hands after their death.] [84 “The tribes of Arfaner in the lands of Libya: the pupils of their eyes burn like sparks of fire when they grow angry. There is not enough room around one of them for the number of men which it would take to overcome him. Theirs are the sweetest voices of all mankind. In size they are loftier than trees. They sing a song in their sleep which for sweetness is like the angelic singing. Streams of wine (come) from their mouths after their death.”] [83 The wise men of the Hebrews said: “Tell us the num-

ber of kinds which God ordained for creatures.”

Si= (83 81

199

“Tuatha Fones i tirib Libie: lasaitt a meic imlisain fri

feirg amal oible teined. Ni thallai do dainib im fer dhiib lin a sharaighthe ar nert. Ro-saig meit 7 binde a ngotha conid airde gothuib 4 chornuib. To-dailit a sruth fina asa mbeluib fria bas. Canait sirrechtcheol ina cotlad dona frith cosmhuil. 82 “Mor do dhelbhuibh cenmotha sin for-ruirmedh for sil nAdhuimh iar n-immorbus. Ar in céfna duine do-roine Dia i tosuch,

ba dia dheilbh 4 a chosmailius

do-forsat; 1 robad

ed

in cland no genfed uadh mane tarmtheissed.” 83 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebreorum: “Indis dun ind lin coibdeluch for-furim Dia fora duilib iar n-urd.”

81, 3 Ro-saig: ros/saig ms (diltog.) 4 chornuib: cheoluib scr. sed deinde e ef | exp. ef rn supra lineam post | add. ms

men. They arise from their sleep in the middle of the night. They release sparks of fire from their mouths. Their beards reach as far as their navels. Gold which is finer than that of any smelting is always found in their right hands when they are born. 81 “The tribes of Fones in the lands of Libya: the pupils of their eyes burn like sparks of fire when they grow angry. There is not enough room around one of them for the number of men which it would take to overcome him by force.

Such is the magnitude and sweetness of their voice that it is louder than voices and trumpets. When they die they pour forth a stream of wine from their mouths. They sing a haunting song in their sleep, to which no likeness has been found. 82 “Many shapes besides those were set upon the race of Adam after the Fall. For the first man that God made in the beginning, he made him in his own image and likeness; and the offspring begotten by him would have been the same, had he not transgressed.”

83 The wise men of the Hebrews asked: “Tell us in order the number of the relationships which God set upon his creatures.”

200

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

[84 “Innisfed,” ar Pilip abstal, “dream dib. Da ceinel .uii.m- do milaib fo murib. Da cenel .uii.m- do enaib a n-ar. Da ceinel .uii.m- do thorthaib forna fidbadaib. Da ceinel .uii.m- do chenélaib retlann. Da ceinel .uii.m- di airbrib

aingil a nim. Da ceinel .uii.mo- do cuibrigib pian a n-ifrinn. Da ceinel .uii.m- do cheolaib a nim. Da ceinel .uii.m- do thengthaib ac dainib. Da ceinel .uii.m- do dainib do sil Adhaim. Acht mad in lin tuath atait .i. se tuatha .l. ar .c. isin

bith;

acht

atait

illtuatha

fo

murib

iman

mbith

amuich.”]

YOM 84,1 Innisfed Y: inneosad OM Pilip abstal (aspal 0) YO: sé M dream dib om. OM ante Da add. atat M__ceinel OM: cenl- Y a milaib YO: bethadhachaib M fo murib Y: a (ar M) muir (g add. M) OM alt. do Y:d OM enaib YO: énlaithib M 3 ante pr. Da add.4M_ pr. ceinel OM: cenl- Y forna Y: ar OM fidbadaib YM: faidhaibh O ante all. Da add.s M alt. ceinel OM: cenl- Y a chenélaib retlann scripsi: cenlretlann Y ceinuib reltann O reltannaib a firmaimint 7 M _ ceinel O: cenl-

Ycn-M

di airbrib Y?°: di airmib Y“ d’aireamh O do rimh M

sa nim

YO: ar nem 4M _ Wceinel O: cenl- Y cn- M W.uii.mo- (supra lineam) Y: xx. OM cuibrigib Y?° : cuibritib Y*° cuibrechuib M om. O pian YM: pianuibh O n-ifrinn Y: n-ifern (ga add. M) OM 6 pr. ceinel O: cenl- Y en-M anim YO: arneam 7M _— allt. ceinel O: cenl- Y cn-. M 7 ante Da add.4 M ceinel O: chenl- Y cn- M dainib YO: cn- deine M 8 post

[84 “I will tell you some of them”, said the apostle Philip. “Seventy-two kinds of creatures beneath the seas; seventytwo kinds of birds in the air; seventy-two kinds of fruits on the trees; seventy-two

kinds

of kinds

of stars; seventy-two

kinds of companies of angels in heaven; seventy-two kinds of bonds of torment in hell; seventy-two kinds of music in heaven;

seventy-two

kinds of tongues of men;

seventy-two

kinds of people of the race of Adam.

If it be according to

the number

are

of tribes,

however,

there

one

hundred

and

fifty-six tribes in the world; but there are many tribes thoughout the seas, around the world on the outside.”]

84 84

“Ad-rimhfider

xx.

do miluibh

alur;

da cenél

duibh

fo murib;

201

emh”,

ol se,

da chenél

.Ixx. do biastuib

“.i.

da

chenelach

.Ixx. do ialuib en isind

fuidbig;

da cenél

.Ixx. di

natrachaib fris-ellgett uir; da chenél .Ixx. di thoirtibh fighbudh; da cenél .lxx. di gnusib retlann im-rolta fo nim; da cenél .lxx. do airbrib aingeal i nnim; da cenél .Ixx. do

cuimgib na pian isna ifernaib; da cenél .lxx. di cheolaib 4

10

ligbothaib ind nim; da cenél .lxx. di berlaib for tengthaib doine; da cenél .Ixx. di dhainib shil Adhaimh. Acht cena mad iar lin tuath, it e a llin .i. .uii. tuatha .]. ar .c. fon mbith; acht itat iltuatha fo muirib fon mbith.”

Adhaim

add. uile

airemh

M

M

atait YO:

Acht mad Y: acht an domain M

O acsoM

.i.omO

in lin Y: airimh a O se YO:

.uii. M

ante 11.

add. ar O post .c. add. do thúathaib atát Mg isin YO: ‘sin Macht q O) atait illtuatha YO: om. M murib Y: muir OM 10 amuich YM: amuith

O

84 “They will be reckoned “that

is, seventy-two

seventy-two

kinds

kinds

up for you, indeed”, he said: of creatures

of bird-flocks

beneath

the

seas;

in the air; seventy-two

kinds of predatory beasts; seventy-two kinds of snakes which crawl upon the earth; seventy-two kinds of fruits of the trees; seventy-two kinds of appearances of stars which

have been set throughout heaven; seventy-two kinds of companies of angels in heaven; seventy-two kinds of torments as punishments in the hells; seventy-two kinds of music and bright dwellings in heaven; seventy-two kinds of languages upon the tongues of men; seventy-two kinds of people of the race of Adam. If one reckons according to the number of tribes, however, this is their number:

that is,

one hundred and fifty-seven tribes throughout the world; but throughout the world there are many tribes beneath the seas.”

202

THE

[85 Adubradar

EVER-NEW

ecnaidi

na

TONGUE

nEabraidhe,

“Indis

duind

in

tuaruscbail ro furmistair Dia do pianaib na pecthach.”] [86 Frecrais

in Tenga

Bithnua,

“Cero

indsind,

ni fhet-

faind re mbrath, mar dagad do med a do domni glenna ifrind. Cero comluided int en bud luaithi 4 bad thresi luamain isin bith, robod edoigh a rochtain re mili bliadan tarin

ngleann-sin. | [87 “Nocho fhetar rim a pian co n-airemtar gaineam mara ar atait ann do pianaib, eter guin 7 loscad a letrad ar anmannaib ann.]

YOM 85, 4 ecnaidi

Y: h- O ecnaidh

M

1-2 in —

furmistair:

ar airmhertur

M a in (supra lineam) Y: an O 2 ro furmistair Y: do tuirmhisdair O pianaib YM: pianadh O pecthach Y: pecach (a n-ifernn add. M) OM 86,1 Frecrais Y: freagraidh O do fregur M post Bithnua add. iad O dóib 7 at-bert M 1-5 Cero — ngleann-sin om. M . 4 indsind Y: innisinn O 2 dagad Y: do gob O med Y: meighidhe O 3 comluided Y: imluaighinn O bud Y: is O- 3-4 7 bad thresi luamain om. O “á isin Y: arO robod edoigh a rochtain Y: tarin ngleann-sin O bliadan O: blY 45 tarin ngleann-sin Y: ni roitfeadh a ichtur O 87, 4 Nocho (ni O) fhetar YO: tenga a M rim Y: airimh OM a pian YO: pian ifrinn M co n-airemtar Y: nocon airimhthar (airm-t- M) OM 2 post mara add. no ithla ‘na héngrainneib no snechta ‘na enladhocaib M ar atait ann Y: ni hairimht- (hairmeochur M) imud OM

pian O pian n-écsam- ndothutrascbala

[85 The wise men

do pianaib Y: a

na teghdaisi sin 7 a traadha ar sé

of the Hebrews

said: “Tell us the de-

scription (of what) God has established for the punishment of the sinners.”| [86 The Ever-new Tongue answered: “Though I should relate (it), I would

not be able before the Judgment

... of

the greatness and the depth of the valley of hell. Even if the bird which was swiftest and strongest in flight in the world

should

set

out,

it would

be

unlikely

that

it would

manage to cross that valley before a thousand years.] [87 “Until the sand of the sea will be numbered, I do not know the number of its torments; for there are there, as

torments for the souls there, wounding and burning and laceration.|

8287

203

85 Dixerunt sapientes Ebreorum: “Indis dun do bailechro a n-ifernd ro n-airlestar Dia fri pianadh na pecdhuch.” 86 Fris-cart in Tenga Bithnua: “Is doilig eimh”, ol se, “a aisneis .i. cla no thindscanaind a aisnéis o thosach domuin, ni eicsind ria mbrath in soithar im-comaircidh uili amal rot-

ngab. Ro-saig cetamus do mheit in glinde 4 dia fhudhomnai, cia do-comladh

en

badh

luaithiu

7 bud

treisiu

luamain,

iss

ing | ma ra-soissed cind mile bliadna a dhomhnai.” 87 FUAN. maibh

ELESTIA “Nocon

TIBON fetar”,

fo mhuiribh,

dibe anmann

ITURIA

TAMNE

ITO

93"

FIRBIA

ar se, “cia de as lia: a fil do gaine-

anna

a fil do cheneluibh

biastu

fri tim-

a n-ithfernd.”

86, 4 Ro-saig: ros/saig ms (dittog.)

cidh innisinn-si reed éiccin dib-si do thuarascbalaib na teghdaisi-sin nibud nertmar mé ara innisin óir int én is luaithi 7 is treisi luamaireacht fa neimh da mbeith sé ré mile bl- ac taist- ifrinn nibudh eider leis rimh pian ifrinn 4 .uii. tengtha file ‘na chind 7 .uii. sourlabra suadh in gach tengaidh dib M eter guin om. O 7 loscad a letrad Y: a a losgadh 7 a leadradh O leadragh 3 loscad M 2-3 ar anmannaib ann (om. O) YO: iter sraill- 7 tarruing- 4 bual- iter gerradh a césadh 7 cnamlosc- na haitreibi wathmhaire sin M

85 The wise men of the Hebrews said: “Tell us of the prison in hell which God ordained for the punishment of sinners.” 86 The

Ever-new

Tongue

deed”,

said,

tell

he

“to

answered:

of it; that

“It is difficult

is, even

if I had

inset

about telling of it since the beginning of the world, I would not have related the nature of all the distress about which you ask before the Day of Judgment. To begin with, such is the greatness and depth of the valley that even though the bird which is swiftest and strongest in flight should set out,

it would scarcely reach its bottom at the end of a thousand years.” 87 “Elestia tibon ituria tamne ito firbia fuan. I do not know”,

he said,

“which

of the

two

is more

numerous:

all

the sand beneath the seas, or all the kinds of beasts that there are to maul souls in hell.

204

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

[88 “Ata do met na loiscnigi ann, cona fuil do usci a muirib

na

n-aibnib

na

srothaib

ni rus

baidhfed

a

tres.

Deithber on, air ni teni fhiches ann, acht ferg De. Ata didiu

do met a fuachta ann, da lecthea coibes anala cait de tar toll cuislindi isin bith, da ebeldais a fuil do dainib ar doman, 7 a buil do milaib fon mur, 7 do enaib a n-er, 7 a buil do anmannaib beo ar talmain ara fuaire. Ata do deni a tened 4 da loiscnigi, da leicthea encrithir di fan mbith, a fuil 10

do srothaib 7 do maraib ann do traighfidis rempi, 7 cach anmanna beo do gebad ann do loiscfead uili. Ata do dorchadus

ifrinn, da leicthea

cobes meic imlesan

sula duni de

‘sa mbith, nochon aicfidea les greni na soillsi co brath ann.]

YOM 88, 1 Ata (ann add. O) YOM:

a truadha

ar se atá

M

met na om.

OM

loiscnigi YO: gére theinedh ifrinn M annom.OM cona fuil do usci Y: da ndoirtea (ndoirtidi M) OM —4-2 a muirib na n-aibnib Y: mara O fairrgi M 2 na srothaib Y: srotha an domuin ann (‘na cenn M) OM ni rus baidhfed Y: ni coisgfeadh O nach turnfadais M_ 2-3 a tres Deithber on Y: enred da teas 7 ni baithfeadh eter O enred da tes 4 ni choiscfidis sin uile anmhuain enduine a n-ifrinn M 3De Y: Dia OM didiu Y: ann O dono M 4a YO: an M ann Y: atá and M om. 0 coibes YO: oiret M cait YO: gedidh M de YM: d’fhuacht ifrinn O 4-5 tar (tre O) toll cuislindi isin bith (i.b.: fan mbith O) YO: amach M 5-7 a fuil — fuaire: an cinedh denna iter duine sg beathadach a truadha ar sé M ar doman — beo Y: 7 denuib 7 do mhilaibh mara 7 d’anmannaibh O 7 ara Y: da O Ata YM: & O 7-8 deni a tened Y: teinedh a teinidh O déine tene ifrinn M 87 da loiscnigi om. O0M fan YM: isin O 9 do srothaib 7 do maraib

[88 “(i) So great is the burning there, that there is not

enough

water in seas or rivers or streams

to quench

its

force. And that is fitting, for it is not fire which seethes there, but the wrath of God. (ii) So great is the cold there,

that if as much of it as a cat’s breath were let into this world through the hollow of a pipe, there would perish from its coldness all the people in the world, and all the beasts

beneath the sea and birds in the air, and every living animal upon the land. (iii) Such is the fierceness and burning of its fire, that if a single spark of it were world,

all the streams

and

seas

there

let abroad

would

ebb

in the

before

it,

and it would entirely burn up every living animal on which

88

205

88 “Ro-saig do meit in derchainte isnaibh pianaibh conna cumcat

ainm

De

do

labra

and

ar toirrsi 1 derchoiniud,

la

meit na pian 7 lia n-ilar. Ro-saigh do meit in teined a in loiscthe 7 in tesa, a fil do lindibh isin domun eter niulu a srotha 7 aibhne 7 mure immon mbith, gia no dailte i ngliund na

pian

ni

airdibhdhadh;

ar

is ferg

Dhe

fhiches

isnaib

ifferndaib. Ro-saig do meit ind rouachta ann, dia tarlaicthe athach 10

uachta

samlaid

for deirc

cuislinde

isin mbith,

at-

beltais a fil di enaib isind aiur 7 do miluib fo murib 4 do cech anmanda biu fo-gebad for talmain. Ra-saig di ane in teined, dia tarlaicthe for chuslind ni de, a faigbed do lindib

forsin bhith no traigfedh riamh, a fuigbed do anmannuib

88, 6 airdibhdhadh: airdibhdhadhad ms (ditltog.)

YO: d’fhairrgi 3 do shrothaib ga do lochaib M ann Y: ar (isin M) bith OM traighfidis Y: theithfidis OM 9-10 7 cach — uili Y: do teisdeobhadis in cinedh denna da loisgnighi O ni turnfadais sin uile zncrithir do neimh na tenedh-sin 7 do gebdais in cined denna bas da neimh 7 a truadha arse M 11 cobes Y: oiread OM imlesan Y: imreasan OM duni om. OM 42 ‘sa mbith Y: isin doman O fon mbith M nochon aicfidea Y: nochan feicfea O ni faicfidhi M post soillsi add. tairis M brath Y: brach OM ann om. OM

88

“(i) So great is (their)

despair

among

the torments

that they cannot speak the name of God, such is (their) grief and despair at the magnitude and number of the torments. (ii) So great is the fire and the burning and the heat, that if all the bodies of water in the world — clouds and streams and rivers and the seas encircling the earth —

were

to be poured into the valley of torments they would not quench it; for it is the wrath of God that seethes in the hells. (iii) So great is the intense cold there, that if a gust of cold resembling it were conveyed into this world through the hollow of a pipe, there would perish all the birds in the air, and all the beasts beneath the seas, and every living animal which it could find upon the land. (iv) Such is the brilliance of the fire that if any of it were conveyed through a pipe, all the waters in the world which it would encounter would ebb before it, and it would burn up all the animals

206

THE

[89 “Ata

EVER-NEW

do med.na

gorta 7 na

na huili ainmnidi damad tus a lochaib

pian ifrinn,

uile de, do murfed med

an uamuin

TONGUE

hitad

isin domun da licthea

na huili anmanna

ann,

da faicthea

re prapad na sula, nocho

tem

ann,

do ebelddais

do beth. Ata do brenenbaindi ata

fo thalmain

‘san bith. Ata

do

do pen de fon mbith

curfed duni ar bith egla de co

brath.]

YOM 89,1 Ata YO: 4 ata M hitad Y: hitan fuil O hita ata M do ebelddais Y: co n-abeladis O co n-eibéldais M 2 ainmnidi YO: anmann M damad — beth Y: ¢ 5 feicsin O da fhaicdis enbuille da sil dezM 2-3 post brentus add. ifrinn M 3 a lochaib Y: loch O locha na M ifrinn YO: co h-airighti M_ licthea YO: léic M = enbaindi YO: enbren de M fo thalmain YO: fan doman M 4 uile de Y: dib O om. M_~ do murfed Y: do abeladis O co n-eibéldais M na huili — bith Y: a fuil isin domhun de O a fuil sa doman iter dhuine 7 bethadach M 5 an uamuin (omuin O) YO: na n-tathbas M ante ann add. fuilO atá M faicthea Y: feicdis (faicdis M) sil Adaimh (uile add. M) OM _ 5-6 tem — sula Y: eenbuille da súil d’enpein díb M om. O 6-7 nocho curfed — co brath Y: do abeladis uile O co n-eipeldais uile M

it would seize there. (iv) Such is the darkness of hell that if as much of it as the pupil in a man’s eye were let into the world, the radiance of the sun or (its) light would not be seen there until the Judgment. |

[89 “(i) So great are the hunger and thirst there, that all animals would perish if it were in the world. (ii) Such is the stench in the lakes of the torments of hell, that if a single drop of it were released throughout the whole earth, it would kill all the animals that there are in the world. (iii) So great is the fear there, that if a particle of its torment were seen throughout the world for the blinking of an eye, no one in the world would shake off the fear of it until the Judgment. |

88 — 89

207

ann ro loiscfed la dechtad in talman immacuairt. Ro-saig do meit inna ndorchai, dia tarluicthe ni dhe isin mbiuth .i. 15

meit meic imlesan duine, a fuigbed di enuib i nd-aeor 4 do doinib 7 do bhiasdaib for talmain ni fhaicfitis less na soillsi la bas. Ro-saigh do meit na brentad i llochaibh na pian, oinbanna

20

for-ruimfidhe

de

i mbruinnib

an

betha,

ani

for

ricfedh isin domun do anmandaib eter muir 4 tir 7 aeor, atbeldais uili. 89 “Ata do mheit inna gorta 4 inna hitadh and, dia tarlaicthe

oenuair

isin mbith

ni dhe,

a bhfuigbedh

isin bhith

eter milu as duine 7 eonu, at-beltais fri oinuair ar gorta 4 itaid. Ata do meit in omhain ann forna hanmunnaib riasna pianuibh,

dia tissed i ndomun

beim

di omhon

samlaid,

a

fuigbed di anmannaib a muirib 7 aeraib 4 talmandaib foscichredh | uili i ndasacht 4 ecodhnaighi la omon co n-epeldais de. Ata do meit inna sirechfa 7 in broin 4 na toirrsi, dia tarluicthi ni dhe tria cuislind isin domun ni boi di thete na 10

mellche

isin domun

na gnuisibh carat, na failti na fin doda-

roigsed, co n-epelud cach cridhe thadhlibed la sirect a choi.

which it encountered, splitting the earth around them. (v) So great is the darkness that if any of it were conveyed into the world — that is, even as much as the pupil in a man’s eye — and

all the birds that it encountered in the air, and men

beasts

upon

the earth,

would

not see radiance

or light

again [until the day they died]. (vi) So great is the stench in the lakes of the torments that if a single drop of it were placed

in the

midst

of the world,

all the animals

which

it

reached in the world, in sea and land and air, would perish.

89 “(i) So great are the hunger and thirst there, that if any of it were conveyed into the world for a single hour, all the beasts and men and birds that it encountered in the world would perish in a single hour of hunger and thirst. (ii) So great is the fear that the souls have of the punishments there that if a pang of such fear came into the world, whatever and

land would

animals

all become

it encountered mad

and

senseless

in sea and air with

fear, so

that they would die of it. (iii) So great are the melancholy and sorrow and grief there that if some of it were conveyed

ga'b

208

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

[90 “Ni cumaing neach a faisnes ar ilar a pian. Baili nach clunter acht guil 4 mairg 7 oman. Baili na cluinter com na failti na cumsanad na din. Baili na sailter cobair 4 nach fagbaigter ailgenaigi, acht imad srabtened 7 getha brena 4 dubsneachta tentigi, formuchadh for gnuisib, imat tigerna, 4 crith for dedaib 7 luas a n-analaib 7 truma a nosnadaib.” | [91 Adubradar ecnaidi na nEabraidhe, “Indis duind,” ar siad, “scela laithi bratha. Cindus discailter fo thir in doman,

4 cia haimser and i scailter?” |

YOM 90, 1-2 Ni cumaing — oman Y: óir ni fétar airemh ar imat péine na haitreibi-sin i. Mom. O 2na Y: nach OM 3 cemnaom. OM post cumsanad add. acht mairg 7 omhun O tre bithu sir acht gul 7 mairg 7 tamhan 4 éighmhe 7 nuall 7 gerain truadha imdha toirrseacha do shir ann 4 M quart. na Y: nach OM post cobair add. na furtacht d’fhag- sin M4 fagbaigter ailgenaigi Y: fathar (fuidhter M) co brach OM —€acht Y: baile nach bidh acht O 7 árus sin a fuilet dobhal-7 M —imad srabtened (sreabtenntidhi ndofulaing M) YM: om. O 454 (om. O) getha brena YO: om. M ms dubsneachta tentigi Y: duibhsneachta teined 4 O snechta dubteinntidhiz M formuchadh YO: muchad M 5-6 imat tigerna om. OM € for YO: arM = alt.40om.O an-analaib Y: ar analaib O for analaibM 6-7 a n-osnadaib Y: na n-osnadh O for osnadaib M 91,1 ecnaidi Y: h- O ecnaidh M

1-2 ar siad om. OM

M bratha Y: an bratha O bracha 4M M fo thir om. OM doman YO: bith scailter Y: a ndenter O a ndingentar M

alaithi YO: lei

discailter YO: disceilfidhter M~ 3 cia Y: ca OM and i

[90 “No one is able to tell of it because of the multitude of its torments: it is a place in which nothing is heard save

lament and woe and fear; a place in which a fair (thing), or joy, or respite, or shelter are not heard; a place where help is not hoped for and where mildness is not found, but abundance of lightning and foul winds and fiery black snow, smothering of faces, abundance of lords, and gnashing of teeth and swiftness in breaths and heaviness in sighs.”] [91 The wise men

of the Hebrews

said:

“Tell us”, they

said, “tidings of the Day of Judgment. How is the world dissolved throughout the land, and at what time is it destroyed?”|

905191 90

“Cidh

tra fris’ n-airceb

209

in soeth,

ni eicsind

uile cenco

cumhsanaind icca aisneis ria mbrath: airm inna closs guth acht mairg 7 omon 7 sirecht i cluasaibh; airm inna raibhe cumsanad

didanta

na

gne failte for gnuis;

airm

inna

robai

fiadh na airmhitiu na didhnad carat na guth ailgen, acht immut sroibtheined sg gheth mbren 4 imat duibhshnecta teindtigi

10

cosin

rouacht.

Dechtadh

inna

ndeut;

formuchad

inna ngnuise; fuidbech inna n-analai; imet inna trichmech; tiachra inna lamchomart; tuilged inna nder; sirecht inna nosnad; uamhnuighi inna cride; uathmhaire inna ndealbh;

timthirecht inna pian 7 a n-etrocuiri 7 a n-amaindsi 7 a naithisigi. Is loscud dhi cech leith. Is fubtad

di cech leit. Is

gol 7 eigim di cech leith.” 91 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebreorum: “Indica nobis de die iudicii 7 quo modo distruetur mundus 7 quo tempore distruetur.”

into the world through a pipe there would not be joy or pleasure

in the world

nor in the faces of friends,

nor would

welcome nor wine affect them, but every heart which it visited would perish of melancholy and lamentation. 90

“Wherever

I began

the

task,

moreover,

I could

not

relate it all even if I were not to rest before the Day of Judgment: it is a place in which ears heard no voice save woe and fear and melancholy; a place in which there was no pause for respite, nor look of joy upon a face; a place in which there was no honour nor dignity nor consolation of friends nor gentle voice, but abundance of lightning and and

foul winds

treme

cold.

much

Gnashing

pression of breaths, shedding

of tears,

fiery black

of teeth,

much woe

snow,

coughing,

with

together with

ex-

of faces,

op-

smothering

groans,

hands beaten hearts

full

in grief, of terror,

horrible shapes, the infliction of merciless, savage, shameful torments. Burning everywhere. Horror everywhere. Wailing and outcry everywhere.” 91 The wise men of the Hebrews asked: “Show us concerning the Day of Judgment, and how the world will be destroyed, and at what time it will be destroyed.”

210 [92 Adubert

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

int abstal, “Ni haibind

am

na scela-sin daib.

Ar in tan do-berad aingil nime dia n-airi, bid a crith 7 a noman orro asa tan-so. Cretha 7 omun na cuic cubad sescad ar tri cétaib do slebtib do mebsain re gnuis in Rig moir ardcumachtaig. Crith as cuigligi do gobail in domain uli. Fillfidit na .uii. nime asin chuil ndescertaig do nim*, 7 corob leir do thalmain soillsi etrochta aingil 4 grianbrug in rigthigi. Comergi na cethri ngeth tendtigi a cetharuillib in domuin”. Fuaim 7 bresbemneach na cuic rann ar tri .c. ar

YOM 92,1 Adubert YO: at-bert M int abstal (asp- O) YO: an Tenga .B. M am Y: daib O dib M na scela-sin YO: an scél-sin M daib YO: d'fhagbhMom. O 2 Ar YO: oir M_ do-berad Y: do-beirid OM dia Y: da OM 2-3 bid a crith — cretha om. OM 3 omun YO: tamhan M sescad Y: Jxx. O .x.lx.M 4 cétaib YO: .c. éirges an muir M do slebtib YO: ós tsleibt- an beatha M 45 do mebsain — ardcumachtaig YO: a lasfaid an cruinne an airdi .c.na 7 gebaid M 4 mebsain Y: mebhedaidh O gnuis Y: gnuisibh O 45 in Rig moir ardcumachtaig Y: amuith O 5 Crith YM: morcrith O 4 cuigligiom. O0M do gobail in domain uli Y: do gobhail (d.g.: dofhulaing an domhan M) o turghabail co fuinedh (a add. M) OM sé Fillfidit Y: toiteit O duiscf-ter M nime Y: neimhe OM asin Y: on OM ndescertaig Y: deisgirrtaidh OM nim YO: neimh co ro an cúil tuaiscertach 7 as sin co horrter 7 ó horrter gó hiartar M 6-7 7 corob (budh M) leir YM: om. O- 7 do thalmain Y: co talmain OM soillsi YM: soillsi/soillsi O etrochta YO: édrocht M _ post aingil add. ac commbris- M

[92 The apostle said: “Indeed, those tidings are not pleas-

ant for you. For when the angels of heaven give thought to them, there is trembling and fear upon them on their account: (i) the tremblings and fear of the three hundred

and seventy-five cubits of mountains, bursting before the face of the great high powerful King. (ii) Breaking and trembling seizing the whole world. (iii) The seven heavens will fold up from the southern corner of heaven*, so that the bright radiance of the angels and the sunny dwelling of the royal house will be plainly visible to the earth. (iv) The rising of the four fiery winds from the four corners of the world”. (v) The tumult and loud clashing of the 1,305 stars

92

211

92 Fris-cart in Tenga Bithnua: si”,

ol

se,

“ni

mellach

cid

a

“In brath im-comaircid-

comaithmet.

Ar

cid

aingil

nimhe, ros bi crith 7 uamun in tan for-athmentar 7 do-curedar ar ceil. Ar is damhnai moirchreatha 4 uamhain na .u. ergala .lx. ar .ccc. donaib

10

teinedhshliabhaibh

do madmaim

for talmandaib ria ngnuis in Rig mair isa cumhachta conscarfa an mbith. Cucligiu 7 maidm inna .uil. nime occa filliudh for talmanda*. Comeirge 4 toirm inna .iiii. ngeth tendtighiu | a mmusclaidib nimhe la fuam a tethacht thorainn 4 luachait da cach aird”. Torandfadach inna .u. rind

92 a. Isa. 34, 4; Apoc. 6, 14

b. Apoc. 7, 1

4 grianbrug Y: a ngrianbrodhaibh O na ngrianbrudh M 7-8 in rigthigi (le add. O) YO: uile fútha 7 na .uii. neime ga sined a aca slisbladhadh 7 aca siantarruing le M 8 post Comergi add. aingil 7 arcaingil; M cethri Y: cc. OM a om. O cetharuillib Y: ceachtar (ceitri M) culaibh OM 9 Fuaim 7 bresbemneach Y: brisbeimneach O a breisbéimnech 4 fúaim M ar SA) Mr cay Mic. aibh.

92 The Ever-new Tongue answered: “It is not pleasant”, he said, “even to be reminded of the Judgment concerning which you ask. Trembling and fear come upon even the angels of heaven when it is remembered and brought to mind. For it is cause for much trembling and fear: (i) the three hundred and sixty-five eruptions from the mountains of fire, bursting upon the lands before the face of the great King whose power will destroy the world. (ii) The tottering and breaking of the seven heavens as they bend down upon the lands’. (iii) The rising and the tumult of the four fiery winds from the cardinal points of heaven, with roaring and the coming of thunder and lightning from every quarter”.

gas

212 10

mile ac tuitim

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

for talmain‘, 1 esga da shodh

a dath fhola, 4

grian d’fastad a nduibi guail asa soillsi fen. Biaid do med in gabaid-sin conach bia aingil edrocht nach sefea delb acht

20

gnuis De nama. Loscod 7 tuitim na fidbad 7 na sliab re hanfad na mara tentigi, 7 egmeach na piast re tes tened purgadoir na n-anmann talmaidi, 7 siangal enlaithi a n-er forna srothaib tentigib, 7 buirfidach na mbledmil muridi ar rothes na tenead ac tragad umpu. Coigetal nai ngrad nime, 1 gairi na n-anmann ac toidecht ar ceann na corp asa ndernsat sognima 7 dognima. Budh truag tra gair na pecthach ann-sin ac nemela for Dia arna crad g ar tidecht tara YOM 10 mile scripsi: mi- Y da mile OM _ post tuitim add. da shosad féin 7 da gabl- ful- M for YO:arM pr.4 YM: .i.O da shodh YO: ac tuitim da shosad fein M 44 dfastad om. OM ante guail add. an O asa soillsi fen Y: ar ecla in ghabaid-sin 3 Mom. O 42 edrocht Y: edrochta O for/for neim M _ sefea YO: aithréb- M _ post delb add. lé mét in gabaidsin M acht YO: génmotha M13 gnuis YM: guis O _ post nama add. ba truadh tra mét an ghabaid-sin óir biaidh M _ fidbad Y: fibhuighi O fidhbaidi M a na sliab YO: isin tan-sin M re Y: le OM aa egmeach (eigeamh O) na piast YO: leaghfat piasta in mhara M re tes tened YO: lé rotheas na tene ar tradhadh umpo 7 M 45 purgodoir YM: purgud-

as they fall upon

the earth,

and

the moon

turning the col-

our of blood, and the sun confined in the blackness of coal

and (deprived) of its own light. (vi) So great will be that peril that there will not be a bright angel whose appearance will not change, save only the countenance of God. (vii) The burning and falling of the woods and mountains at the blast of the fiery sea, and the crying out of the beasts at the heat of the fire of the purgatory of the animals of the earth, and the screaming of the flocks of birds in the air because of the fiery streams, and the bellowing of the whales of the sea because of the great heat of the fire ebbing around them. (viii) The singing together of the nine orders of heaven, and the crying of the souls as they come

to take the bodies in which they did good deeds and bad deeds. Woeful indeed will be the cry of the sinners then, as they plead to God for mercy after their offence, and on account of having gone against his will. It will be a cry

92

213

Axx. ar .ccc. ar teora milib do thutim asind nim'. Int esca do shoudh i ndath fholu. In grian do dhith a soilse*. Biaid do lin arbhair nime isind lo-sin connaba cumhachta do nach doen ara tairchella rosc na ara coimastar a n-airiumh, acht 15

mad Dia nama. Talgud inna figbadh as inna slebe la anfud tentige di cech leth. Eigiumh inna mbiasta 7 inna n-uile nanmunda

20

in talman.

Fuilged tened in cech thir. Iachtad na

n-enlaithe isind aiur forna srothaib teinedh. Buredach inna mblegmil 7 inna n-iascrad isna muirib la tragud inna salmuire 7 ria ngorad in tenedh. Toiniud noi ngrad nimhe 4 gair 7 coicetul na n-anmann og tuidhecht ar cenn a corp asind úir. Golfadach 4 gair na pecthuch oc nemeli frisin Coimdid ro craidset; 4 bid gairm fri fas doib, bid aithrigi iar 92 e. Apoc. 6, 13 d. Apoc. 6, 12 orach O n-anmann YO: n-anum M talmaidi Y: tal- O om. M 16 forna Y: forsna O ar M _ tentigib Y: teinntighi OM buirfidach YM: bearbhfadhach O mbledmil muridi Y: mbleidhmil O piast n-écsam- M aa eos ae Oe = MH 47 na “tenead YM: a. deinedh O ac YO: arM 18 gairi Y: gair OM toidecht Y: tiacht O techt M ar YM: tar O 19 ndernsat YM: ndendais O sognima 7 dognima YM: sognim 7 dognim 7 O Budh Y: ba OM _ tra om. O pecthach Y: pecach OM 20 ann-sin — crad 7 om. OM _ tidecht scripsi: tid-t cum compendio obscuro Y tiacht O techt M tara Y: tar OM

(iv) The thundering of the 3,375 stars as they fall from heaven”. (v) The moon turning the colour of blood. (vi) The sun quenching its light. (vii) The hosts of heaven will be so numerous see

them

all, or

on that day that no mortal will be able to to

reckon

their

number,

but

only

God.

(viii) The woods and mountains dissolving in a fiery blast from every side. (ix) The crying out of the beasts, and of all the animals of the land. (x) The raining down of fire in every land. (xi) The flocks of birds in the air crying out because of the streams of fire. (xii) The bellowing of the whales and the fish in the seas because of the ebbing away of the salt seas and before the heat of the fire. (xiii) The descent of the nine orders of heaven, and the crying and singing of the souls as they come to take their bodies from the earth. (xiv) The wailing and outcry of the sinners as

214

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

timna. Bud gair cen airchisecht, a bud aithrigi cen taithlech, 4 bud gabad cen forcend.”| [93 Ro fhiarfaidset ecnaidi na nEabraidhe, “In a lo no a n-aidchi do-ronnad in doman, no cuin discailfigther, no ca

huair ad-racht Dia 0 marbaib?”] [94 Ro frecair in Tenga Bithnua, marbaib,

7 a mbansoillsi

do-ronad

Adam,

“Is a lo at-racht Dia o

le do-ronnad

4 a n-aidchi do-roni

in doman.

A n-aidchi

Cain fingal ar Aibel. A

YOM 21 post timna add. De doigh amh O dóib M Bud Y: ba O fa M gair Y: hegaine O haihrighi M bud Y: ba O fa M aithrigi YO: hégaine M 22 bud Y: ba O fa M post forcend add. sin O an gabadh-sin dona pecachaib truadha sin M 93, 4 fhiarfaidset Y: fiarf- O fhiarfaidhedar M

ecnaidi YM:

h- O-

In

a Y: ‘na O ca huair do M 4-2 a n-aidchi Y: ‘na n-aidhchi O d’oidhchi M 2 do-ronnad — cuin om. M discailfigther Y: discailter he O disceilter in domun M 3 huair YO: trath M ad-racht Dia (Diadh O) o marbaib YO: thiucfus Dia a coinne an bhraith do dénum an bhreithemhnais M 94,1 Ro Y: do OM Is Y: iad 7is ed ro raidh O om. M a lo YO: an laM 2740m.0Oa mbansoillsi le Y: an lo O ala M do-ronnad in doman

Y: deiridh an domuin

3 a n-aidchi Caidhin OM

(berus an breith add. M)7 OM _ A

YO: an la M ar Y: fur OM

do-roni 3-4

n-aidchi

YM: do-rinni O Cain Yo: A n-aidchi YO: 4 an la M

without (receiving) mercy, and it will be repentance without atonement, and it will be peril without end.”] [93 The wise men of the Hebrews asked: “Is it in the day or in the night that the world was made; or when will it be dissolved, or in what hour did God arise from the dead?”] [94 The Ever-new Tongue answered: “(i) It is in the day that God arose from the dead, and in the white light of day that the world was made. (ii) Adam was made at night; and at night Cain performed kin-slaying upon Abel.

92:94

215

n-assa. Gair inna n-ithfernaidhe oc tosceud inna n-anmunn 25

ar cend

inna

dala, co ructhar

breth

for cech

n-oen

iarna

airilliud. Comorcuin na .uii. nime oc tuilged tria getha teined. Cucligi in talman occa thochur dar aird 7 dar cenn. Golfaduch 7 gair na ndemna 7 anmunn na pecduch oc iadhad ind iffrind forru co forcenn.” 93 Interrogauerunt sapientes Ebreorum: “Quo tempore die uel nocte mundus factus est uel distruetur, 7 Dominus surexit a mortuis?” 94 Ro frecair in Tenga Bithnua: “I mmedon aidche emh”, ol se, “as-reracht in Coimdhiu 7 do-ronad in domun; 7 is a medon aidche do-ronad in cuairt roba damna don domun; 4 is a medon aidche ro loingsiged ind namha do nimh .i. diabul; ocus is a medon

Is i medon

aidche do-ronad

delbh duini i pardhas. |

aidche do-rone Cain in chetna fingail do-ronad

92, 26 Comorcuin:

comrorcuin

ms

they plead for mercy from the Lord whom

they have af-

flicted;

for them,

and

‘repentance

it will be a ‘cry into

too late’. (xv) The

the void’

outcry of those

and

in hell, as

the souls are vomited up to the assembly, so that judgment may be passed upon each one according to his deserts. (xvi) The smiting together of the seven heavens as they dissolve in the winds of fire. (xvii) The shaking of the earth as it is

knocked backwards and upside down. (xviii) The wailing and outcry of the demons and the souls of the sinners, as hell closes over them forever.” 93 The wise men of the Hebrews asked: “At what time of day or night was the world made, or at what time will it be destroyed; and at what time did the Lord rise from the dead?” 94 The Ever-new Tongue answered: “(i) At midnight, indeed”,

he said, “the Lord

arose

and

the world

was

made;

(ii) and at midnight the circuit was made which was the material of the world; (iii) and at midnight the Adversary —

that is, the Devil —

was

exiled from heaven;

(iv) and at

midnight the body of man was made in Paradise. (vy) At midnight Cain performed the first kin-slaying that was

93v)

216

THE

n-aidchi on

EVER-NEW

ro gen Crist, uar rob adaig ar ai sin: ro budh

sil

Adaim a ndorchadai 7 a n-ingnad 4 a n-athtogbail conigi sin. A n-aidchi ro crochad Crist ar cend pecaid Adaim cona cloind, da ro lin dorchadu aidchi don roAirdrig.

10

TONGUE

in domuin

o thert co noin a n-

Ro airg Crist ifrinn, 7 ro fuaslaic dona

hanmannaib asa cumgirad 4 asa dochraidi a rabadar, 7 ro saraig diabul umpu.]}

YOM 4ro gen Y: do geineadh OM 46 uar — conigi sin om. OM a adaig Y?*: agaig Y““ ut uid. 6A n-aidchi YO:ginlá M ro Y: do OM _ crochad YO: césad Mar Y: tar OM post pecaid add. EuayM_ 7 daro Y: oir do OM dorchadu Y: dorcacht OM in domuin om. M 7-8 a n-aidchi YO: an la-sinzin la M 8 don roAirdrig om. OM Ro Y:d OdoM 894 ro fuaslaic — rabadar om. OM 9ro YO: do M 10 umpu Y: ume O im cl- Adhaim M

(iii) Christ was born at night, for it was night for this reason: the race of Adam was in darkness and bewilderment and ... until then. (iv) Christ was crucified at night, for the sake

of the sins of Adam

and

his descendants,

when

dark-

ness filled the world from terce to none in the night for the sake of the great High King. (v) Christ harrowed

hell, and

freed the souls from the imprisonment and the degradation in which

they were,

and

he stole them

from the Devil. ]

94

10

15

isin bith. Is i medon aidche ro teilced sroibthene fornaib coic cathrachuib fora n-imerar a mmuir tenedh co brath. Is i medhon aidche ro tindscan in diliu todail forin mbith. Is i medon aidche ro celebhradh caisc ind uain in Ramisse i ndEgipt. Is a medon aidche lotar Tuath De tre Muir Ruadh 4 ro baidhed Forunn cona shloghuibh. Ba i medón aidche docoas for Babiloin. Ba i medón aidche ro genair Sldanicid in domuin i mBethil Iuda. Ocus is a medon aidche ro crochad dar cenn pecda Adaim cona shil: ar do-rala amardhall aighthe o tert co noin darsin mbith. Is a medon aidche dolluid iall aingel dar innsib

20

217

Sab co scailseat dunebaith

don

bith. Is i medon aidche do-lluid in Coimde do arcain ithfirnd, 7 ro fhuaslaic na hanmann asin chuimce 7 asin troighi irro bhatar, ocus ro chuimhrigh in namhait 4 in malartaigh inna ndula 4 in latur 4 in tathaid 7 in senbrataire .i. diabul i fudomnaib iffernd. Is i medon aidche tra ro damnaiged damna domhain. Is i medon aighthe con-scarfaither.

perpetrated in the world. (vi) At midnight sulphurous fire was poured down upon the five cities, upon which the sea of fire is inflicted until the Judgment. (vii) At midnight the Flood began to pour over the world. (viii) At midnight the Passover of the lamb was celebrated at Rameses in Egypt. (ix) At midnight the People of God crossed the Red Sea, and Pharaoh was drowned with his army. (x) At midnight Babylon was attacked. (xi) At midnight the Saviour of the world was born in Bethlehem in Judaea. (xii) And he was crucified at midnight, for the sake of the sins of Adam and his descendants; for the thick darkness of night covered the

world from terce to none. (xiii) At midnight a company of angels came across the islands of Sab, so that they scattered pestilence across the world. (xiv) At midnight the Lord came to harrow hell, and he freed the souls from the

imprisonment and misery in which they were, and he bound the enemy and the destroyer of creation, the thief and robber and ancient traitor —

that is, the Devil —

in the lowest

depths of the hells. (xv) At midnight the material of the world was formed. (xvi) At midnight, moreover, it will be destroyed.

218

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

[95 “An Comdi uilicumachtach

difaisneisi duilib.|

a cumachta

do-roindi na neichi-sin, is

7 a nert 7 a mordala ig a ord fora

YOM 95,1 uilicumachtach

om.

M

do-roindi YM:

do-rinne O

na neichi-sin

Y: sin uile (co cumachtach add. M) OM a difaisneisi YM: dofaisneis O a cumachta 7 om. OM a mordala 7 a ord (ordan O) YO: is mor a mirbuile 7 a cumus M

[95 “As for the all-powerful

Lord

who

did those things,

his power and his might and his splendours and his authority over his creation cannot be told.]

95.= 96

219

95 “In Comdi tra at-raracht o marbhuibh na

casc,

is diaisneisi

a chumachta

ocus

isind aighti-si

a nert 4 a mhiadh-

amla 4 a ghnimrad 4 a thimthirecta inna dhulibh o tosuch domuin co forcenn mbratha. Ar a bhfil do biasdaib fo mhuribh 4 do enlaithibh i nd-aiur 4 do cethraibh a biasduib 4 doinib i talmain 7 do ainglib i nnimib 7 do demnaib i ndiffturn, gia thinnscandais o thosuch domuin ni eicsitis ria mbrath .uii.mhadh a gnimraid De. 96 “Ata do mett uathmaire

a ferga, cetamus,

dia craittea

a menma co comairge fria muindter do-rrigena, ni fhoilsatis na talmandai in ferg-sin. Ar dia taidhbed a ghnuis co bhfeirg,

dos-lecfitis

nimhe

for talmain

7 no traighfitis muire

imon mbith. Ar-chiurad in talam conna tairisfed nach ret and. Flaith nime 4 aingil fos-cichred i cess, connach | taidbsitis 1 nnach airm. Ro-fhorberad int iffernd comtis annso a phiana oldas mar ata fo .uii. Ar is ferg Dé fhiches isna iffernaibh. 95 “As for the Lord who arose from the dead on this eve of Easter, his power and his might and his dignity and his deeds and his workings in his creation, from the beginning of the world until the end of the Judgment, cannot be told. For even if all the monsters beneath the seas and all the birds in the air and all the cattle and beasts and people upon the earth and all the angels in the heavens and all the demons in hell had begun at the beginning of the world, they would not have related even a seventh part of the deeds of God before the Judgment. 96 “So terrible is his wrath, first of all, that if his mind

were to be vexed to the point of bestirring itself against the household which he has created, earthly things could not endure that anger. For if he were to show his face in anger, the heavens would cast themselves down upon the earth and the seas would ebb away around the world. The earth would wither, so that nothing would remain therein. The kingdom of heaven and the angels would fall into a stupor, and would appear nowhere. Hell would increase exceedingly, so that its torments would be seven times worse than they are; for it is the wrath of God that seethes in the hells.

gare

220

THE

EVER-NEW

[98 “Ata dailli 4 dedrochta

TONGUE

a gnuisi, a fuil a n-ifrind ni

tibraidis a piana da n-aid aca fegad.|

YOM 98,1 Ata YO: 4 ata M daill YO: do aille M a d’edrochta a gnuisi Y: a gnuisi O dheilbi an Dúilemon M a n-ifrind scripsi: an frind Y i nifern OM 2 piana YO: pian M n-aid YO: n-aire M aca fegad Y: ac feghain (faicsin M) a gnuisi OM

[98 “Such is the beauty and radiance of his face that all

those that are in hell would when they gazed at it.]

not notice their punishments

97-100

221

97 “Cid budh amhra do retaib oldas in noidiu do chotladh iter lamaib

na hingine, in crith forsna

duilib 4 forsna

hainglib colleic? 4 ro iadh a dorn imna .uii. nime 7 immon talmain a im iffern 7 imna ilmuire ‘macuairt. Ind noidiu do chotlad

iter lamaib

na

hingine, in crith forsna

hainglib

col-

leic 4 for nimhib 7 for talmandaib cona n-aittrebthaigib forsna bledmhilaib i muribh 4 forna iffernaidib ar uaman chumachta 4 ar imdidnad naro craiditis. 98 “Ata do aille a edrochta a ghnuisi .i. dia ndercaitis bhfil do anmundaib i nd-iffiurn for etrochta a ghnuisi airechdais seth na pein na todernam ind iffirn. 99 “Ata

do noibhe

a dhelba,

cech

oen

no

dercfad

4 a i ni

fora

ghnuis ni coimsaitis imarbus iarum. 100 “Ata di etrachtu 7 ane 7 soilse a gnuisi, in tan astoidet .ix. ngraid nimhe, 4 bas etrachta cach aingel dib fo

97,6 cona n-aittrebthaigib: signum contractionis litterae n haud legitur, omissum per O Mathghamhna et O Longáin

97 “What thing could be more wondrous than the Child to be asleep in the arms of the Virgin, and yet a trembling upon creation and the angels? He has closed his fist around the seven heavens and the earth and hell and the many surrounding seas. The Child asleep in the arms of the Virgin, and yet a trembling upon the angels, and the heavens, and the lands with their inhabitants, and the whales in the seas,

and upon the dwellers in hell — for fear of his power, and in hopes of deliverance from vexing (him). 98 “Such is the beauty and radiance of his face that if all the souls in hell were to gaze upon the radiance of his face,

they would not notice the suffering and punishment and torture of hell. 99 “Such is the sanctity of his form, that whoever gazed upon his face would be unable to commit a sin thereafter. 400 “Such is the radiance and splendour and brilliance of his face that when the nine heavenly orders shine forth, and

222,

THE

101

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

“...4 is do sholabarthaighe cecha ceola cech ni dibh-

sin, a fuil d’ainglibh ar nim, 7 do dainibh for talmain, 7 do mhilaib

fo muiribh,

eirgit 4 cuirit

a nd-aghaidh

suas re Dia.

Ocus gidh saine bérla do chanadh cech oentenga dibh, ni thoirmisccedh athesc araili. 102 “Ata dano do griandacht a do ruithnighi 7 d'aille a ndealbha, go soillsighit ifrenn fothuaid conid amlaid ro beth: fo chusmuilius in rightighe uasail i nd-aithrebait aingil.

QYOM 101, 1 is Q: ata immorro Y ata OM

Q: solabarthai 7 do soberlaigi aici cecha — ainglib

do QY: da OM - sholabarthaighe

Y sholabaraidh

Y

ar QYM:aO_

(d’énaib M) a n-er OM

do dainibh 3 mhilaib QYO:

M -

saine

bérla

Q: berla

for (ar Y) talmain piastaib

sainamail

M

4-2

2 dainglibh QOM: M

O ar M) mur (g do diablaib a n-ifernn add. M) YOM n-enfecht uile YO a n-enfhecht M re QYM: friO comad

O sholabart-i

dibh-sin Q: coro (da OM) labraidis YOM

QY:

do

d’aenuib

fo muiribh 0: fo (a

eirgit — suas Q: a 4 gidh Q: cemad YO

(comaidheach

M) YOM

— do

chanadh Q: ro (do OM) labrad YOM oentenga 0: tenga Y en OM post dibh add. ro fetfad Dia aithesc a berla fen o cach oen dibh 4 Y fris dobodh tualaing Dia a teacosg ina berla fein gach en fo leith dibh O dobadh tualaing Dia fregra diles do thabairt ar gach en fo leth dib M 45 ni thoirmisccedh (thairmeoscad Y) athesc araili QY: om. OM 102,1 dano om. YOM - griandacht QYO: solus M a do ruithnighi 4 daille Q: a do ruithnigi Y 7 do ruithfneadh O om. M 4-2 a ndealbha (delba

OM)

thuaid

om.

QYO: YOM

do beith OM

ina deilb M 2-3 conid —

2 conid amlaid

2 soillsighit 0: soillseochad aingil: amal! (mur M) neamh scripsi: conaml-

no beth Y a post chusmuilius add. soillsi atrebann fen Y

Y

Q cid and Y

YOM damad

—foann

ro beth 0:

—_nd-aithrebait aingil Q: n-

101 “...and such is the eloquence of every song of each one

of them,

(that) all the angels in heaven

and

humans

upon the earth and beasts beneath the seas arise and turn their faces up to God. And though every single tongue of them should sing (in) a separate language, it would not hinder the response of another.

102 “Such are the sunniness and radiance and beauty of their appearance, that they illuminate hell northward so that it is thus that it would be: like the lofty royal house in which the angels dwell.

101-= 102 shect

oldas

in grian, 7 as-toidet

oincosmailius,

7 in tan

bas

223

anmann

inna

giliu in grian

noeb

fon n-

fo .uii. oldaas

innossa”, soillsighfid tairsib-sin uile etrachta gnuisi ind Righ mair ro gni cach nduil, co foruaisligder aingle 7 renna nime 1 anmand inna noeb soilse in Coimded, ocus amal foruaisliges soilsi gréne 7 a hetrachta renda aili. 101 “Ata di foilte a cumachta cia no labhraitis a bhfil do ainglib i nnimh 7 do demnaib i nd-iffiurn 4 do doinib for talmain 7 biasdaib 7 milaib fo muirib uili fri Dia, 4 cid sainberla

no

labhrad

cech

e

diib, ba sodaing

do Dhia

tai-

these do cech duil diib inna berlu shaindilius 7 inna aicned fadesin i nd-oinuair. 102 “Ata do aille a delba in Choimded .i. dia bhfaillsigthe 1 dia tarlaicthe isna ifernaib, im-soifitis iffirn i ligbotha a i

taitnemh | richidh amhail in flaith nemhdha.

g4r

100 a. Isa. 30, 26; Matth. 13, 43; 22, 30

100, 6 aingle: aingle/aingle ms (dittog.)

every angel of them is seven times brighter than the sun; and when the souls of the saints shine forth with the same semblance;

and when

the sun is seven

times brighter than it

is now”: — the radiance of the face of the great King who made every created thing will outshine them all, so that the brightness of the Lord will surpass the angels and the stars of heaven and the souls of the saints just as the sun’s brightness and radiance surpass the other stars. 101 “Such is the versatility of his power that even if all the angels in heaven and devils in hell and humans upon the earth and monsters and beasts beneath the seas were to address

God,

each

one

of them

speaking

in a separate

language, it would be easy for God to answer every creature among them simultaneously, in its individual language and in accordance with its own nature. 402 “Such is the beauty of the Lord’s appearance that if it were

revealed

and uncovered

in the hells, the hells would

turn into radiant dwellings and into the radiance riched, like the heavenly Kingdom.

of the

224

104

THE

“Amair

EVER-NEW

is difhaisneisi

TONGUE

in Coimdhe,

as difhaisneisi

a

fhlaithes, ar imat a cheól 7 a failted, 3 ar imat a aingeal 7 a arcaingel 4 a thimthiredh fo thecasccaib ind Airdrigh uasalchumachtaigh-sin, 7 aille a ndelba ant shloigh thruim theithbind taithneamaigh, 4 a n-imraiti gloine 7 gloiri 4 eangach na n-anmann. Uair ni clos guth feirgi na formait neich ri araile ann.

QYOM 104, 1-2 Amair — fhlaithes: dia freis (pro faisnéis?) tra is diaisneisi in Coimdhi M a Amair Y: am- QO pr. difhaisneisi Q: aisnes Y dofaisneis O alt. difhaisneisi QY: doghfaisneis O 2 ar imat — 7 (om. Y) ar imata QY: a a ceola imat a O 7 imat a cheól M quart. aa om M 364 a thimthiredh — n-anmann: ac sasad a theaghdhaisi a gach ein bis ann ó becc co mor teghdhais sin ina fuil sid suthain 7 imat aingel 7 archaingil iman Airdrigh is áille delb 7 is ceeime caidreb M Wa fó thecasccaib Q: fri (re O) haithescaib YO 3-4 uasalchumachtaigh-sin om. YO 46 7 aille n-anmann:

om.

O

oa

Gaisce

ndelba

Q:

delba

la

dasacht

Y

4-5 thruim theithbind taithneamaigh om. Y 5 a n-imraiti gloine 7 gloiri 4 Q: gloir a n-imraiti Y 6 eangach Q: ecnaigi Y Uair Q: ar YO oir M formait QYO: ac neach YOM

format na fich ná fuath na celg na faltanus araile Q: cheli Y ceile OM

M

Y neich 0:

ann om. 0

104 “As the Lord is ineffable, so his kingdom is ineffable,

on account of the multitude of its songs and its rejoicings, and on account of the multitude of its angels and its arch-

angels and its ministers, under the instructions of that lofty powerful High King, and the beauty of the appearance of the heavy melodious radiant host, and the pure thoughts and splendour and tumult of the souls. For a voice of anger or jealousy, of anyone against another, has not been heard there.

103 — 104

225

103 “Ata dano do li 7 etrochta a ghnuisi, as-berthar fri cach n-anmain n-inglain diaro ir Dia a dibad ceim isind adbai n-iffernaidi i lluag a thuile, ba handso cach pein forsnaib anmandaib .i. tochumlud o ghnuis De a bithscarad fri imchasin gnuisi De oldas a fil do crochaib a ilpianaib i nd-iffiurn. 104

“Amal

as diaisneisi in Coimdi,

is amlaid

as diaisneisi

a fhlaith 3 a findbiuth amal addaas: binde na gceol, failte na ngnuse,

aille na ndealb, lainderdacht 1 forlasardacht int

sloigh, glaine na n-imraitti,

endcze

na n-anmann.

inna

Airm

clos guth fergai na format na sirect na szeth.

103

“Such,

then, is the brilliance

face, that were it told to has given destruction — habitation — in payment for the souls to bear than

and

brightness

of his

every impure soul to whom God (that is) going into the infernal for its lust, that would be harder any torment: that is, departure

from God’s presence and perpetual banishment from behold-

ing his face would be harder to bear than all the crosses and many torments of hell. 104

“As

the Lord

is ineffable,

so his kingdom

and

its

blessedness are as ineffable as he is: the sweetness of the songs,

the

joy of the

faces,

the

beauty

of the

forms,

the

brightness and fieriness of the host, the purity of the thoughts, the innocence of the souls. A place in which there is heard no voice of anger, nor jealousy nor sorrow nor hardship.

226

THE

105 “Maghénar dhai-sein,

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

trath goirter isin sosad

a cumusc

a bhennachtan-san.

nertmar

neam-

Bail na regar a lés

soillsi gréine na ésca na retlann, acht mad gloine 7 edrochta na diadhachta ic soillsiugud a tobur na soillsi suthaine” i. port i ta sith suthain; 7 inat i ta soillsi 7 reithinche dona hanmhannaibh, 4 segul cen forcenn, 4 taithnemh na firinde, 5 innmasa righdha. Inat a fuilet srotha digainne dergoir, 4 moladh aingeal a arcaingel; 7 inadh nem 7 firén; 7 inadh na

QYOM 105, 1 Maghénar QOM: mongenar Y trath om. YOM goirter Q: curthir Y curtar OM ‘1-2 nertmar neamdhai om. YOM €32 ante a cumusc add.

i.

M

mbeannacht

alt.

OM

a 0: na

YOM

na 0: nach

retlann QY: reltann OM

mad

bhennachtan-san

YOM

0: beannachtan

Y

a post gréine add. na gaithi Y

0: soillsi YOM

gloine QYO:

glainidi M

4 na diadhachta ic Q: Dé ac YM ac Deadh O Msoillsiugud QYM: foillsiugud O a Q: cach redha o bic co mor ar is e fein Y doibh gach neith o biuc co mor air is e fein O dóib ó bec co mor óir is é fein M 4-5 .i. port — suthain om. YOM 54 (om. YO) inat (am add. O) i ta (i ta: a bfuil Y a bfuil beatha can bas 7 0) QYO: in betha can bas 7 int eibnes can forbas 4 int M Msoillsi Q: slanti (can galur add. M) YOM _ reithinche 0: rethinigi port a buil sith suthain Y reitheanaidh 7 port ana fuil sigh thuthain O in reinche co rath teaghdhais sin a fhuil sid suth- M s-6 dona hanmhannaibh om. M 6 post segul add. fada ga aibnis YOM cen forcenn QYM: ceana

O

OM

post righdha add. d’anmannaib

dhais sin M

taithnemh

QYM:

a fuilet QYM:

ordha YOM alt.40m.O inadh. Q: imad Y om. Ó.

taithfneadh

O

na firenach

7 innmasa

M

QY:

Inat QYO:

ina fuil O = digainne om. YOM

innmus

teagh-

dergoir 0:

8-94 inadh nem — shiraibhinn om. M 8 pr. 7 firén 7 Q: 4 Yom. Ona QY: nach O

105 “Happy, then, is the one who is summoned to that mighty heavenly dwelling, together with those blessings. A place where there is no need for the light of sun or moon or stars, but the purity and radiance of the Deity shining from the well of eternal light; that is, a haven in which there is eternal peace; and a place in which are light and tranquillity for the souls, and

life without

end, and

the radiance

of

righteousness, and royal treasures. A place in which there are unstinting streams of red gold, and the praise of angels and archangels; and a place of saints and righteous ones;

105

10

227

105 “Ceinmair tra gairther don flaith-sin, in tan at-bera friu in Coimdiu: ‘Uenite benedicti Patris mei, posidete regnum quod uobis paratum est ab origine mundi*.’ Ubi lumen solis non digetur nec lune nec stellarum, sed Dominus lux erit quia ipse est fons luminis”. Ubi erit sanitas. Ubi maria trancillitas. Ubi pax ingens. Ubi caritas inexpugnabilis. Ubi uita periennis. Ubi senectus non apparebit. Ubi iocunditas accipitur. Ubi sensus declarabantur. Ubi paradissus abundans et dulcis. Ubi splendor angelorum. Ubi candor iustitie. Ubi palma regalis. Ubi flumina aurea. Ubi suauis laudacio angelorum 7 conuentus omnium sanctorum. 105 a. Matth. 25, 34 b. Apoc. 21, 23

405, 11 omnium: oimnium scr. ef primam i exp. ms

105

“Happy,

then,

is the one

who

is summoned

to that

kingdom when the Lord will say to them: ‘Come, blessed ones of my Father, possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you since the beginning of the world’. Where the light of the sun is not needed, nor that of the moon and the stars, but the Lord will be light because he is himself the source of light”. Where there will be health. Where there is calm of the seas. Where there is vast peace. Where there is unassailable love. Where there is everlasting life. Where old age will not appear. Where joy is obtained. Where meanings will be declared. Where there is paradise, abundant and sweet. Where there is the splendor of angels. Where there is the brightness of justice. Where there is the royal palm. Where there are golden rivers. Where there is the pleasing praise of the angels and the assembly

228

10

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

fil soeth na galar na toirrsi, acht failti suthain shiraibhinn 4 inadh na testa 7 na teasbann 4 na teseba molad aingeal 4 archaingeal. 406 “Uair ni tabhar a luach da cinn na flatha-sin. Uair ni fhuil aigi nech a mbochta na i ngorta na i nd-itaid, acht beith tre bithu na bethadh a freacnarcus Athar 7 Mic 4 Spirata Noim. Uair is de itait na tri soillsi Righ thaitneas

QYOM 9 soeth na om. YO galar QY: galra O © shiraibhinn om. YO 10-11 na testa — archaingeal Q: na roibi esbaid 7 bia tre bithu Y na roibh easbaid 4 nach biadh 4 nach fuil co brach O nach fuil 7 nach roibi 7 nach bia a leithéit M 106, 1 pr. Uair Q: 3 M om. YO _ tabhar 0: tabair duni YO thuc neach da roibe na da mbiadh

M

da cinn Q: tara (tar O) ceann

YO

ar son M

na flatha-sin Q: an tegdaisi-sin gén co faic- acht enbuille da shuil di M om. YO

alt. Uair Q: doig (amh add. O) YO

dáigh

M

2 aigi nech 0: neach

ann (om. M) YOM —mbochta 0YM: mbochtacht O ngorta na 0: nochta na YM oom.0 2-6 i nd-itaid — anmann: a ndíth bídh ná hétadh na óir na airgit innti óir gén co beth do glóir sa tegdhais-sin acht na .uíi. mile aingil atát innti a ndelbaib coinnell ac soillsiugud cach ein o bec co mór 4 do shásfaithi fir an domain uile do bhalad cinn encoinnle dib 7 ni curtar do tucsin in flaithemnais-sin a feraib an domain ní nabud glórmure leó gnúis enaingil dib-sin d'faicsin énuair na sé. Atbert an Tenga B. re túath na nEbraide is begul dib an commórtus atá acaib ré Dia 4 impaidhi a truadha óbar commortus tráth no beithi iter corp 7 anum ina ghell a prisunaib brena teinntidhi na pian oir an firDhia forbthi forórdha do-róine a ndúbramar d'ingantaib 7 d'ilcinélaib examla iter duine 4 énlaith 3 fhomhorach 7 bethadach 7 do shuig- na .uii. neimhe 7 an doman uile iter er 4 talmain 7 teine 4 uisci 7 anti do innarp Luxcifer cona léogeonaib aingel trena dimus 7 trena n-anutabar 4 inti do sher Adham cona chlainn o ifernn 1 Crist cumachtach do sher popul Moisi on Eigipt 7 Dauid o Golias a Iósép ón prisun 7 inti do sher na huile fheisidech a fháidh 7 easpoc 4 mhartirech 4 confisoir 7 bannem ar pianaib ó laim na Pairisineach 7 na nlub- acar badar

and a place in which there is no hardship or sickness or sorrow, but eternal and lastingly sweet rejoicing; and a place where

the praise of angels and

archangels

does

not lack,

and is not lacking, and will not be lacking. 106 “For the price of that kingdom is not paid. For it does not have

anyone

in poverty

or hunger or thirst, but

rather being forever in the presence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For thence are the three lights:

105 — 106

229

Ubi lIerusalem celestis. Ubi nullus dolor nec tristitia post gaudium, sed leticia sempeterna. Ubi bonum non defuit nec deest nec deerit uncam. 106 “Cid budh amhra do duine oldaas in flaith-sin? Du na aicfider bochtu na nochtu na gorta na ita. | Du inna diuailsife nech comaccobor na comeicniugud broit na bidh, acht bith isin coiblid mair ordnighe tria bithu betha i frecnarcus Athar 4 Meic 7 Spiruta Noib. Du i failet na teora

106, 1 Du: do scr. ef u super o add. ms

a mbroid. A truadha ar si ni héider rimh ar áirimh ri na n-aingel d’ingantaib a dilcinelaib examla ar domun. Do boi in Tenga B. ac siracallaim thuath na nEbraide feadh an laoi 7 andar leó uile ni thainicc enuair do ló risan feadh-sin ara eibne leó beth ac éistecht ris. Óir do bi fogur binnesa ‘na urlabra comma samaltá ré ceól aingel gach urlabra dar chan ríu. Adubert an Tenga B. riu iar sin dabur tegusc do curid mhisi ó Crist. Adubradar tuatha na nEabraide do-bermait gloir do Dia fa éistecht riut ar siat. Adubert an T. B. da mbeitis tengta in domuin ris ni fétfadais a cumdach mét mhaithisa in Duilemon 7 na tairgisi a dheine truadha cur ré tuicsin cumacht an Airdrigh. Do cheilebur an Tenga B. doib iar sin 7 do imghedur tuatha na nEbraide iar sin da catrachaib co subachus ndermhair 1 co failti móir 7 do scribad leo gach ni da ndubrad riu 7 ba hé in tecusc-sin tuc in Tenga B. tosach in creidim M 2 1 nd-itaid 0: riachtanas lesa neich Y riachtanas a les bidh na hedaidh oir gein cu beidis .uii. mile aingil a ndealbaibh primhcoinnill ac soillsiugud an righthoighi 7 do shasfadh fir domuin do biadh 7 do digh baladh cinn encoinnle dib sin da buil O 2-3 acht beith — freacnarcus Q: asa (isin O) tegdais ardmoir oirdnidi (airmhinnighi aireadha O) sin bud (ba O) treb enda ig treda (.i. add. 0) YO 3 Athar

QY:

Athair

Noim Q: Naem YO

O

Mic

0: M-c

YO

Wa Spirata

0:

Sbirad

YO

46 Uair — anmann om. YO

of all the saints. Where the heavenly Jerusalem is. Where there ts no grief or sadness after rejoicing, but perpetual happiness. Where what is good has not been lacking, and is not lacking, and will never be lacking. 106 “What could be more wondrous to someone than that kingdom? A place where poverty and nakedness and hunger and thirst will not be seen. A place where no desire nor need for clothing or food will arise, but rather being at the great exalted feast forever in the presence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. A place where the three

94”3

230

THE

EVER-NEW

TONGUE

forna flaithibh, 7 soillsi na flaithedh iga n-achur forna cathrachaibh

nemdha,

4 soillsi anmann.

107 “Co fhaicem-ni shoillsi-sin!” Finit.

7 co

risem

4 co

nn-aitrebam

int

QYOM 107, 1-2 Co fhaicem —

shoillsi-sin om.

M

4 Co faicem-ni 7 0: ailim (co fa-

dum QO) trocaire De moir tre impidi (impi O) muinteri nime YO int Q: in tir sin (ii. add. O) na YO 2 sin 0: suthaine can crich cen forcend Y suthaine O

(the light of) the King who shines upon the kingdom, and the light of the kingdoms being restored to the heavenly cities, and the light of souls. 107

It ends.

“May

we

see,

and

reach,

and

dwell

in that

light!”

106 — 107

231

soillse ata dech legthair .i. soilse ind Righ thidnaicius in flaith, soilse na noeb dia tidnacar, soilse na flatha tidnacar and. 107

“Ro-issam

uile in flaith-sin, ro airlem, ro aittreabam!

In secula seculorum, amen.”

best lights have been set: that is, the light of the King who bestows the kingdom, the light of the saints on whom it is bestowed, the light of the kingdom which is bestowed there. 107 “May we all reach that kingdom, may we deserve it,

may we dwell in it! Forever and ever, amen.”

a is. ad

ee

carr tir

=

ve

ál wre

egw,

a

a

ai

inn

fa

me

CCE AM ht yo

+

et

as

=

ae Serio tri ears ‘a ir

7 E

Ais

er

,

i =

ye I

á

i

oi

mn)

E

Nua

i

E

us

™

i

his bail*

| ®

py ecabeeie

fo

i

.

Us

w vi i

ke

a

Ea

/

.

!

7

oA a laga,ae ate eM: febead,pba iain

ential or. 1 Hide TOPS Hdd

the

saw

oe.

i

t

3

=

pipesmut

Fe

7

.

ce

Buan

rah excreta

rs

Fil ó0

mae ais wae

naoy ban cow,

Fh al IEA dlla >

i

yor

~~

Se

es

COMMENTARY 1 This paragraph follows a pattern well attested in the exordia of Hiberno-Latin and Irish homilies: a Biblical pericope, followed by a eulogistic description of the speaker ('). Two early parallels may be cited from the so-called Catechesis Celtica (é), a collection of homiletic and other materials with extensive Irish affiliations found in Vatican manuscript Reg. lat. 49: a fragment praising Christ (°), and

a homily beginning with a citation from Matthew and an encomiastic description of Christ as the speaker (Ó). The Old Irish homily edited by John Strachan from the Yellow Book of Lecan clearly belongs to the same tradition: with Rex regum, et dominus dominantium,

profeta-

rum, princeps principum, princeps familiae caeli et terrae et inferni ... creator omnium elimentorum (°), cf. Is é Ri na rig a as Choimdiu na coimded, tuistid nime 4 talman, cruthaigthid aingel, forcetlaid fáithe, magistir apstal, tindnachtaid rechta, brithem fer mbetha. — “He is King of kings and Lord of lords,

maker

of heaven

and

earth,

creator

of the angels,

teacher of the prophets, master of the apostles, bestower of the law, judge of the men of the world (°).” A particularly interesting feature of the latter litany is that it concludes with

an

evocation

of God’s

transcendence

of all earthly

things, structurally comparable to the series of superlative comparisons in TB: is ardu nimib, is isliu talmanaib, is letha

muirib —

“he is higher than heavens,

deeper than lands,

broader than seas” (’).

(1) For Donncua,

general “Medieval

(2) L&S 8 974; celtiques”. (3) A. Witmart,

characterization Irish Homilies”,

partially

edited

of such

passages

in

A.

Wirmart,

“Catécheses celtiques”, p. 46.

(4) Ibid., p. 59. (5) Ibid., p. 46. (6) J. STRACHAN,

(7) Ibid.

see

F.

Mac

p. 59-71.

“An Old-Irish Homily”, p. 3.

“Catécheses

234

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

A more extensive passage of the same kind occurs in the “Leabhar Breac Infancy Narrative”, when the shepherds are asked to give their impressions of the infant Jesus (84,3): “Aille ind talam”, ol siat, “amra ind nem, glaine inat srotha, millse ind mil, mo ind renda nime, coemi inát aingil, soeri ind’n doman a labra, ferr ina’n bith, dile inát

soillsi ind grian, domun, ardi inat saegal, lethi ina’n na duli, ní roich

súil hé a ni thuill i cluassaib, nír ghab a ní géba in domun a shamail.” ““Fairer than the earth’, said they, ‘more wonderful heaven,

brighter

than

the

sun,

clearer

than

than

streams,

sweeter than honey, greater than the world, higher than the

stars

of heaven,

more

comely

than

angels,

nobler

than life, more expansive than the world is his speech, better than existence, more dear than the elements, eye does not reach him, and he fits not in ears, the world has

not found, nor will it find, his like (').” Charles D. Wright has assembled an extensive collection of similar passages from Hiberno-Latin, Irish, and Old English sources, ranging as far back in time as the writings of Columbanus (’); he notes the observation of Albert Lehner (*) that the source for this convention is evidently Gregory

the Great,

Moralia

in Iob

10, 9, 14: Quod

Deus

caelo excelsior, inferno profundior, terrae longior marique latior esse describitur (*). As a specimen of the Irish embellishments of this model may be quoted the instance in the pseudo-Isidorean De ortu et obitu patriarcharum: Quid dicam de eo, gui omnibus modis est immensus, mundo maior, sole clarior, caelis altior, pelago profundior, igne et tonitruo terribilior, tronis caelestibus sublimior, imis et in-

ferno imior, caelestibus et terrestribus sapientior, mele et favo dulcior, carminibus omnibus suavior, electro splendidior,

auro et gemmis pretiosior, renum et cordium scrutator, om-

(1) M. McNamara (2) C. D.

Wricut,

et al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I, vol. 1, p. 338-339. The

Irish

Tradition

in Old

English

Literature,

p. 246-247, n. 124. (3) A. Lenner, Florilegia, p. xxix. (4) M. Apriagn, S. Gregorit Magni Moralia in Iob, vol. 1, p. 547.

1 nium

viventium

235

vita et nutritor,

cunctorum

visibilium

et

invisibilium creator, cuius magnitudinis et pulcritudinis nec terminus est nec finis? “What shall I say concerning him, who is vast in all ways,

greater

than

the

world,

brighter

than

the

sun,

higher than the heavens, deeper than the terrible than fire and thunder, loftier than

sea, more the celes-

tial thrones,

hell, wiser

lower

than

the depths

and

than

than those of heaven and earth, sweeter than honey and honeycomb, more delightful than all songs, more brilliant than electrum, more precious than gold and jewels, the examiner

of reins and hearts, the life and nourisher of all

living things, the maker of all things visible and invisible, of whose greatness and beauty there is no limit nor end? (')” The pericope itself is of course Genesis 1, 1: an appropriate opening for a text which purports to describe the creation, particularly one which undertakes “to make plain . the wondrous tale which the Holy Spirit related by means

of Moses

son

of Amram,

concerning

the making

of

heaven and earth, together with the things which are in them” (12,1-4). The text (repeated at 16,3-4 below) is not that of the Vulgate; but the reading with fecit (rather than creauit) was so widespread in patristic sources that no conclusions can be drawn from this with regard to the Bible text available to the author of TB (ó). The verse is also liturgically appropriate, as the first chapter of Genesis furnishes the first lection in the Easter vigil service:

this usage

is found

in the Roman,

Gallican,

Spanish and Milanese rites (*), also in the ninth-century Welsh manuscript known as the Liber Commonei (*). The revelatory apparition of Philip described in TB is stated to

(1) R. E. McNatty, patriarcharum”,

“‘Christus’ in the Hiberno-Latin De ortu et obitu

p. 179.

(2) For a broad range of references (including some insular sources) see B. Fiscuer,

Vetus Latina, vol. 2. Old English Biblical

(3) P. G. RemMuey,

(4) B. Fiscuer, “Die Lesungen BreEEN, “The Liturgical Materials

Verse, p. 78-87, 219-220.

der rémischen Ostervigil”; cf. A. in MS Oxford, Bodleian Library,

236

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

have occurred at “the end of the eve of Easter” (7,1-2; cf. 42,3-4; 95,1-2); and the text contains discussions of the re-

lationship between the creation and the Easter miracle (1214) and of the importance of midnight (94). Some two decades ago, Martin McNamara already proposed that TB’s “central theme seems to have had to do with the bearing of the Easter mystery on the present scheme of things. It is probably because of this that the revelation given by the Evernew Tongue takes place at the Easter Vigil” ('). There is accordingly every reason to believe that 7B was

in fact intended as a homily for the vigil of Easter, and that Genesis 1, 1’s use as a pericope may be taken as evidence of this. The verse was used in the same way for instance by Augustine, who preached two sermons on this theme (Sermones 221 & 223 (°)). The same typology pro-

vided the basis of the early pseudo-Augustinian Sermo 157 (Ó; and another example is included in the Catechesis

Celtica (ó). The conclusion of TB is also characteristic of Irish homilies; see commentary

on § 104-107.

2-4 These paragraphs express (rather repetitively) the idea that all humanity was utterly ignorant of the nature of the universe until the revelation described in the body of the text. A comparable litany of natural phenomena is listed by Gregory the Great as corroboration of the truth of the resurrection

(Moralia

in Iob 14, 55):

“Indeed, in the course of each day that temporal light seems

to die, when

that which

is seen diminshes

with the

coming of the shadows of the night; and it seems to rise again when

that light which had been taken away

from

Auct. F.4./32”, p. 152-153, with remarks on this collection’s use of Irish material.

(1) M. McNamara, Christ and Antichrist”,

“Celtic Christianity,

Creation

and Apocalypse,

p. 16.

(2) PL 38,1089.1092. (3) PL 39, 2055; cf. J. MACHIELSEN, Clavis patristica pseudepigraphorum I, § 942. (4) A. Witmart, “Catécheses celtiques”, p. 39-44.

1 - 2-4

237

the eyes is restored again with the night’s banishing. And in the course of the seasons we see trees lose the green of their leaves, and cease bearing fruit; and then, lo! as if

from the drying wood, seeming to come by a kind of resurrection, we see leaves burst forth, fruits grow large, and the whole tree clothed with revived beauty. Ceaselessly we see the tiny seeds of trees being consigned to the dews of the earth —

from which,

not long thereafter,

we see great trees arise, and put forth leaves and fruits...

Why is it strange, then, if [God] should when he wishes make

that most fine dust, which we have

seen reduced

back to the elements, into a man again — he who brings back vast trees from the tiniest seeds (')?” As Whitley Stokes has noted, this passage is echoed in the Middle Irish homiletic tract Scéla na Esérgi (LU 27322736): “A duine tarom”, for int ecnaid, “demnig[et] duit in mirbail sea inna esergi, na craind dermara, cuirp na ndaine 4

na n-anmanna

archena

genit 4 tusmitir dina silaib der-

eolaib, turcbala dano na rind tar funiud, athnugud dano na

fer s na lubi 4 cech réta archena dia fil in forbairt 4 in beogud.” “O

man’, quoth the wise man,

‘let the great trees, the

bodies of men and of the other animals which are born and begotten from puny seeds, the rising of stars after their setting, the renewal of the grasses and the plants and of everything which grows and is vivified, confirm for you this miracle of the resurrection (°).” Gregory’s words, linking the wonders of creation with the miracle

of the

resurrection,

not

only recall

this section

of

TB but also accord well with the Easter theology of the work as a whole;

for further discussion

of the significance of

(1) M. Apriaen, S. Gregorii Magni Moralia in Iob, vol. 2, p. 742. (2) Cf. W. SroxEs, “Tidings of the Resurrection”, p. 252; other forerunners and parallels to Gregory’s exposition are noted in C. W. Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, p. 22-27.79.129.143.

238

THE

EVERNEW

cyclical movement

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

in TB, see the commentary

on § 14 be-

low, p. 258-260. 2, 2-3 Ar ba cenn i mbolg a ba bith i ligh dhorcha do shil Adhuimh — “for [the situation of] the race of Adam was ‘a head in a bag’, and ‘being in a dark house”. With the second of these two figurative expressions cf. the simile amal! mac*i tigh amardhall — “like a child in a lightless house” at 57,10. The “head in a bag” cannot be parallelled quite so readily. In his own annotations to Stokes’ edition Vernam Hull compared the expression Cend i lap lathar n-aigniusa minap fri hollamain — “It is ‘a head in mud’ to undertake pleading without an ollam” in the commentary to the legal treatise Uraicecht Becc (’). Somewhat closer to the present instance, but in a nonIrish source, is the Apocalypse of Thomas’ assertion that after the extinction of the heavenly bodies “on that day shall all nations behold as in a sack” (omnes gentes ita uidebunt, uelut in sacculo) (Ó). This peculiar expression may have been inspired by the statement

in Revelation

6, 12 that

“the sun

was made as black as sackcloth” (sol factus est niger tamquam saccus cilicinus) (*); alternatively, Robert Faerber suggests an association with the wearing of sackcloth as an expression of penitence (Ó). Although I find the possibility of a link with the Apocalypse of Thomas appealing, the resemblance between the

(1) CIA 2331,26-27 = CIH 1615.3; O'Dav. 1147. (2) Text in P. BIHLMEYER, “Un text non interpolé de ’Apocalypse de Thomas”,

p. 273,

lines

37-38;

translation

in

J.

K.

Exuiotr,

The

Apocryphal New Testament, p. 650, with the suggestion — first proposed by M. R. James — that sacculo be emended to speculo “mirror”. (3) Here,

as throughout,

the

Latin

text

of the

Bible

cited

is the

Vulgate unless otherwise stated. (4) P. GEOLTRAIN — J.-D. Karst, Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 2, p. 1033; for other evidence of Irish use of the Apocalypse of Thomas see M. McNamara (The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, p. 119-121), C. D. Wriacut (“The Apocalypse of Thomas”, p. 39), and notes on 66,16-18 and § 92 below. Bihlmeyer’s text is now supplemented by the copies from other manuscripts in C. D. Wriaut, op. cit., p. 51-64; general discussion, with further references, in F. M. Biaes, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, p. 71-72.

2-4 — 5,1-3

239

passages in question is not a compelling one; the expression cenn i mbulg could easily enough have arisen independently. 5-6 This elaborate description of “the assembly of the east of the world” gathered at Mount Zion seems to have been inspired by the description of the Pentecost miracle in Acts

2, 1-12.

In TB,

as in Acts,

a great multitude

from

many distant regions (mostly in the East) has come together in Jerusalem (2, 5.9-11); to the disciples, speaking of the “great things of God” in speech understood by men of all nations (2, 6-8.11), corresponds Philip, expounding divine and cosmic mysteries in an angelic universal language

(§ 11).

This Biblically derived description was probably a secondary accretion to a scenario derived from the second of the Acts of Philip (cf. commentary on 10,7-8 below, p. 250253): the three hundred Athenian philosophers who there constitute Philip’s first audience (') recall the sapientes Ebreorum

who

figure

elsewhere

in TB

(17,1;

31,1;

48,1;

Reh 05.150.)le. Oot aod, rolds 95, acha LO 15, rather than this cosmopolitan multitude of kings and clerics. The only further allusions to an (unspecified) multitude come

in the narrative episode at § 54-62 (57,8; 59,1; 61,1).

5,1-3 o shlebib Abian conice trachtu Mara Ruaidh, ocus otha Muir Marb conici insi Sabairnd — “from the mountains of Abian as far as the shores of the Red Sea, and from the Dead Sea as far as the islands of Sabairn”.

The implication would seem to be that the mountains of Abian represent the easternmost extremity of “the east of the world”

even

as the Red

Sea represents the westernmost;

if the islands of Sabairnd here are the same as the islands of Sab/Sabairn “in the north” at 33,5, they and the Dead Sea

may also be used here to mark northern and southern limits respectively. Similar names recur elsewhere in the text: with Abian cf.

the islands of Ebian (34,1) and Ebia (75,1), together with

(1) F. Bovon — B. Bouvier -

p. 40-49.

F. AMSLER, Actes de Vapotre Philippe,

240

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

the spring of Ebion (36,1), and the stone hibien of Hab (45,1); with Sabairnd compare the islands of Sab at 33,5 (where the second recension readings point to Sabairn), 52,1, and 94,17, also in one of the glosses to the poem Duan in Chotcat Cest ('); and the birds of Sabes at 71,1. The

double

collocation Abian/Sabairnd

here and Ebian/Sab

at

33-34 is particularly noteworthy. It is uncertain whether the

author of TB had any specific geographical reference mind, and I cannot go beyond guesswork in proposing source for the names themselves. One possibility might Isaiah 60, 6. In a context strikingly reminiscent of Acts

in a be 2,

1-12, multitudes from many regions are described as coming

to Zion to do homage to the God of Israel: Inundatio camelorum

operiet te, dromedariae

Madian

et Epha;

omnes

de

Saba uenient, aurum et thus deferentes et laudem Domino adnuntiantes (“A flood of camels will cover you [i.e. Zion], the dromedaries of Midian and Epha; everyone will come from Saba, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming praise to the Lord”). For Sab/Sabairn as a group of islands cf.

conceivably Psalm 72, 10: Reges Tharsis et insulae munera offerent; reges Arabum et Saba dona adducent (“The kings of Tarshish and the islands of the sea will offer presents; the kings of the Arabs and of Saba will bring gifts”). 6,2-3 fo noi .c.uib seol findanart co mindaib ordhaibh i mulluch Slébi Sion — “under nine hundred canopies of white linen with golden ornaments, on the summit of Mount Zion”. I have not been able to find any striking parallels in

other sources for most of the details of the assembly in TB. This reference

to “canopies”

is however

reminiscent

of the

tents included in pictures of ecclesiastical councils in the tenth-century Mozarabic manuscripts Codex Vigilanus and Codex

Aemilianus;

it has

been

suggested

that

some

ele-

ments in these depictions “may have models going back to Visigothic times” (°).

(1) K. Meyer,

“Mitteilungen

aus irischen

Handschriften”,

ZCP

4

(1903), p. 235, n. 16. (2) FR. E. BEvnoLps, “Rites and Signs of Conciliar Decisions in the Early Middle Ages”, p. 229-235.

5,1-3 — 7-9

241

6,9-11 co ceoluib inna failti canar isna noibnellaib .i. Gloria in excelsis Deo et reliqua — “with songs of the rejoicing that is hymned in the holy clouds, that is, Gloria in excelsis Deo, ete? The

scriptural

versions given Deo 4 in terra excelsis Deo as Deo O, Gloria tation,

but

innovating

source

here

is of course

Luke

2, 14; the

in the second recension are Gloria in exselsis pax omnibus bona uoluntatis tue Q, Gloria in in terra pax ho-ibus sc Y, Gloria in azxseilsis in exelsis M. Of these Q gives the fullest ci-

it is impossible

to

in doing so; note

say

whether

or

that in adding

not

it is

fue to the

standard text, and changing hominibus to omnibus, it agrees

with the Leabhar Breac Infancy Gospel, whose version of the Gloria begins Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax omnibus bone uoluntatis tue (83,4) ('). In excelsis contrasts with Vulgate in altissimis, but this does not tell us anything about the version of the Latin Bible which was known to the

author:

then

as now,

the former

would

have

been

far

more familiar than the latter thanks to its use in the liturgy. 7-9

Marvin

scriptural

and

Meyer

provides

apocryphal

useful

background

overviews for the

of the

themes

of

revelation to a gathering on a mountain top, and of supernatural manifestations which take the form of blinding light combined with an awe-inspiring voice (Ó). Thus Jesus prophesies to his disciples on the Mount of Olives (e.g. Mark 13, 3; 14, 26), and ascends from its summit into heaven (Acts 1, 12); and Paul’s conversion occurs when he sees “a

light from heaven brighter than the sun”, and is addressed by a disembodied voice speaking in Hebrew (Acts 26, 13). We find the motifs combined

already in Deuteronomy 5, 22,

where God is described speaking to “the whole multitude of your people on the mountain, in a great voice out of the midst of fire and cloud and darkness” (locutus est Dominus ad omnem multitudinem uestram in monte, de medio ignis et nubis et caligine uoce magna); and when Christ is

(1) M. McNamara (2) M. W. Meyer,

ef al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I, vol. 1, p. 335. The Letter of Peter to Philip, p. 98-99.105-112.

242

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

transfigured atop “a high mountain” the witnessing disciples see his face shine like the sun, and hear a voice speaking from a “bright cloud” (nubes lucida: Mt 17, 1-8; cf. Mk

1-8; Lk 9, 28-36; 2 Pet 1, 16-19). It appears however to be specifically ryphal

writing

combined course,

that

we

find

these

in Coptic

elements

9,

apoc-

repeatedly

to provide the introduction to a revelatory dis-

delivered

by the risen

Christ.

The

earliest

instance

known to me, from the Nag Hammadi tract The Sophia of Jesus Christ (second century), may serve as an example (NHC HI 90,14. — 92, 5): “After he rose from the dead, his twelve disciples and seven women continued to be his followers and went to Galilee onto the mountain called ‘Divination and Joy’. When they gathered together and were perplexed about the underlying reality of the universe and the plan ... the Savior appeared, not in his previous form, but in the invisible spirit. And his likeness resembles a great angel of light. But his resemblance I must not describe. No mortal flesh could endure it, but only pure (and) perfect flesh... The Savior laughed and said to them: ‘What are you thinking about? Why are you perplexed? What are you searching for?’ Philip said: ‘For the underlying real-

ity of the universe and the plan (').” Further instances appear in The Letter of Peter to Philip (third century: Christ addresses the disciples assembled on the Mount of Olives as a voice speaking from “a great light”) (Ó; in Pistis Sophia (fourth century: the disciples are terrified by the radiance of the risen Christ as he instructs

them on the Mount of Olives) (*); and, among later Coptic apocrypha, in The Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle (the risen Christ takes the

(1) D. M. Parrorr, Nag Hammadi 41; cf. M. Tarpieu,

Codices III, 3-4 and V, 1, p. 37-

Codex de Berlin, p. 203.

(2) NHC VIII 2, 134, 8-10: M. W. Mever— Letter of Peter to Philip”, p. 236-237;

F. Wisse, “NHC VIII, 2:

cf. M. W. Meyer,

Peter to Philip, p. 21. (3) C. Scumript, Pistis Sophia, p. 4-8.

The Letter of

7-9 disciples onto

the Mount

243

of Olives,

addresses

them

in an

unknown language, and reveals the mysteries of the heavens) ('), The Mysteries of Saint John the Apostle and Holy Virgin (the risen Christ assembles the disciples on the Mount of Olives; a cherub shining with blinding light appears and conducts John through the heavens) (“, and an Encomium on Saint John the Baptist pseudonymously ascribed to John Chrysostom (the disciples gather on the Mount

of Olives

to be instructed

places

them

a

on

“cloud

by the risen

of light”

and

Christ;

conducts

he

them

through the heavens) (*). I accordingly suggest that the description of the apparition in TB goes back ultimately to a Greek apocalypse similar to those on which the Coptic tradition drew (Ó). A striking feature of TB’s account is the repeated evocation of synesthesia: the assembly is described as “gazing upon the noise” (oc frescse in delma 8,2), and is addressed by a “bright voice” (guth solus 8,3) whose sound

“was brighter

and clearer [or more radiant] than the voices of men” (ba soillsiu 4 ba gleu gothuib doine 9,3). I have translated the verb as-toided at 9,2 as “resounded”, and it is indeed used of

sounds elsewhere (e.g. Wb 12 b 28); its usual meaning however is “shines”, and the ambiguity in the present instance is surely deliberate. This transgression of the normal categories of perception effectively conveys the transcendental source of the revelation itself; there may, as one of this edition’s anonymous readers has suggested,

be an echo of the statement

that the

people of Israel “saw voices” (uidebat uoces: Ex 20, 18) at Sinai. A close association of light with divine speech is also attested

in other

sources:

thus,

for

example,

John

1, 1-5

identifes the “light of men” with the life within the divine Word.

(1) E. A. W. Bunce, Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt, p. 202.

(2) Ibid., p. 241-242. (3) Ibid., p. 344-345. (4) Cf. J. Carey, “In Tenga Bithnua: From Apocalypse to Homily ?”.

244

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

7,5-6 Imme-soad ’macuairt in grianbruth etracht-sin, connach tairthed rosc sula — “that bright sunlike blaze was turning upon itself too fast for the eye to follow”. In the midst of a scene which recalls the miracle of Pentecost comes a detail which is perhaps inspired by God's voice issuing from a whirlwind in Job 38, 1; further echoes

of Job appear at § 56-57 below. The idea of combining elements from the Job and Pentecost theophanies may have come from Gregory the Great’s Moralia

in Iob 6, 28: in his

discussion of the voice from the whirlwind Gregory explicitly compares it with the wind and flames of Pentecost, suggesting that in both cases God may have communicated through an angelic intermediary (’). 7,6-7 ba etrachta fo shecht innas in grian —

“it was seven

times brighter than the sun”. The ultimate source of this expression is Isaiah 30, 26: Et

erit lux lunae sicut lux solis, et lux solis erit septempliciter, sicut lux septem dierum (“And the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days”). Cf. commentary on 100,2-5 below,

p. 406.

8,4-5 This is the first of the speeches in “angelic language”

in TB.

Others

appear

below

at 10,4-6;

16,2-3;

16,4-

6; 25,1-2; 30,1-2; 55,1-2; 62,1-3; 64,1-2; 69,1-2; 73,12-13; 74,1-2; bling

and the

87,1-2. others,

The

speech

seems

at 60,5-6,

intended

to

although

resem-

Hebrew.

These

be

passages are all omitted in the second recension. In L they are written in enlarged script, a convention usually employed in Irish manuscripts to distinguish primary text from commentary

and gloss (*). For Philip’s account

of the na-

ture of this language see § 11 below. Passages which purport to be Hebrew are found in various

apocryphal

texts,

and

the words

seem

sometimes

to

(1) M. Apriagn, S. Gregorii Magni Moralia in Iob, vol. 3, p. 1396. (2) Thus F. J. Byrne in T. O’Nettt, The Irish Hand, p. xv; cf. F. KELLv, A Guide to Early Irish Law, p. 226.

7,9-6 — 8,4-5

245

have a supernatural efficacy: instances occur in the Acts of Pilate, Visio Sancti Pauli, Martyrdom of Matthew, and Acts of Philip ('). In TB, 60,6-7 seems to belong to this category; as I suggest below (p. 337), the Acts of Philip may well be the model followed here. Perhaps surprisingly, specimens of angelic or celestial language appear to be rare; I have been able to find only a few examples, chiefly in Coptic sources. (a) In Pistis Sophia, a Coptic Gnostic text preserved in a fourth-century

papyrus

(cf. commentary

on

§ 7-9

above,

p. 242), Christ’s garment bears a mysterious inscription in “the writing of those on high” (Ó. Both works provide specimens of the celestial speech. (b) In the Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle (cf. commentary on § 7-9 above, p. 242-243), the risen Christ and Mary converse in “the language of his divinity” (*); celestial virgins sing in “the language of the cherubim” and “the heavenly language” (ó); and Christ addresses the disciples on the Mount of Olives “in a language which we did not understand,

but straight-

way He revealed it unto us” (°). Specimens of the language are given in the text. This work belongs to a family of Coptic Bartholomew texts, “not older than the 5927" *cen-

turies” (°).

(1) ActPil 1, 4 (C. TiscHENDorF, Evangelia apocrypha, p. 219), ApocPaul 30 (T. Siverstein — A. Hityorst, Apocalypse of Paul, p. 134-135, cf. F. Bovon — P. GEoLTRAIN, Ecrits apocryphes chreétiens, vol. 1, p. 808), MartMatth 21 (M. Bonnet, Acta apostolorum apocrypha, 2,1, p. 245), ActPhil

II, 18 and

Mart,

9 (F. Bovon

— B. Bouvier

—

F. Amster, Acta Philippi, p. 65 and 357) — conveniently translated in J. K. Exuiorr, The Apocryphal New Testament, p. 171.632-633.520.516-

Sil (2) C. ScHMipT, Pistis Sophia, p. 16. (3) E. A. W. Bunce, Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt, p. 12, ef. p. 189.

(4) Ibid., also p. 22 and 197. (5) Ibid., p. 28 and 202. (6) E. Hennecke — W. SCcHNEEMELCHER, New Testament Apocrypha,

vol. 1, p. 508.

246

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Other works with an Egyptian background refer to such a language without citing it: (c) In the Testament of Job the patriarch’s three daughters, after putting on miraculous girdles which their father had received from God, recite hymns in “the angelic language”, “the language of the archons”, “the language of those on high”, and “the language of the cherubim” ('). The text survives in several Greek

manuscripts,

and in a frag-

mentary Coptic papyrus of the fifth century; it appears originally to have been written in Greek in the first century B.C. or A.D., perhaps in an Egyptian Jewish community (°). (d) In the Bohairic Coptic version of the Transitus Mariae, Mary recites a prayer “in the language of the people of heaven”,

the same

and

Christ says that she heard

him

conversing

in

language with the angels (°); in a Sahidic frag-

ment of the same apocryphon Christ teaches the disciples a

“hymn of the people of heaven” (e) In the Sahidic version of Carpenter, a text probably based fourth or fifth century (°), Mary

(Ó). the History of Joseph the on a Greek original of the speaks “in the language of

the people of the heavens” (°). (f) Finally, mention may be made of a work without any known Egyptian associations: the Apocalypse of Abraham. This text survives only in Slavonic, but almost certainly originated in a Jewish milieu; an allusion in the Clementine Recognitions indicates that it already existed in some form by the mid-fourth century. Abraham, borne into heaven by an angel, sees “a great crowd in the likeness of men ... crying aloud words I did not know” (’).

(1) M. R. James, Apocrypha Anecdota, p. 135-136. (2) R. P. Sprrtter, “Testament of Job”, p. 829-834. (3) P. de Lacarpe, Aegyptiaca, p. 52.56; cf. F. ROBINSON, Coptic Apocryphal Gospels, p. 57.60-61. (4) Ibid., p. 74-75. (5) A. de Sanros OrerRo, Los evangelios apocrifos, p. 340. (6) P. de LAGARDE, Aegyptiaca, p. 27; cf. F. Ropinson, Coptic Apocryphal Gospels, p. 158. (7) R. Rusinxiewicz, “The Apocalypse of Abraham”, p. 696.

8,4-5

247

The idea of a celestial language seems to have been well established in Egyptian apocryphal tradition; the presence in TB of segments of angelic speech may therefore reflect the Egyptian provenance which I postulate for the text on other grounds. If it should indeed prove to be the case that only Egyptian parallels for this feature can be found, this possibility will be correspondingly more cogent. It is noteworthy, however, that the passages in TB bear no close resemblance to the angelic or Hebrew words in apocryphal sources, to the strange names and words in Gnostic

texts,

to magic

words,

or indeed

to any

other lan-

guage or pseudo-language with which they have so far been compared. Some isolated scriptural connections can perhaps be made — heli at the beginning of the first speech (8,4) surely echoes Eli at the beginning of Christ’s cry from the cross in Mark 15, 34, and maria (60,7) might recall the name of the Virgin — but no such explanation can be applied to the material as a whole. Moses Gaster, to whom

Stokes sent a copy of his edition,

could find no parallels in his wide knowledge guages of the Middle East:

of the lan-

“The gibberish, or the language of the Angels, to which you draw attention, is not Hebrew. I for a while, thought it might be Arabic, but on looking again very carefully through the various passages, I had to give up that idea. Still it is a problem which ought not to be lightly set aside, and it is this which strengthens me in my belief that we are dealing here with a remnant of that old heretical literature which is full of names and sentences in a mysterious, or so called sacred, language (').”

Mysterious though the “angelic language” is, certain descriptive observations may be made: (a) Some words recur in different speeches: alea 64,1; Fld

anair 10,635 163637525

nistien 55,2; 64,2; tibon 16,5;

62,2; 87,1; uide 16,2; 64,1.

(1) M. Gasrer, Letter written in 1906 to Whitley Stokes.

248

THE

(b) In some have the same,

EVERNEW

cases

TONGUE:

different

COMMENTARY

spellings seem

or nearly the same,

intended

to

phonetic realization:

alba 73,13: albe 16,3; ale 16,5: alea 64,1; 73,13; alma 25,1: alme 64,2; bea 16,4: boia 69,1; efi 74,1: eui 60,6; falia 60,6: uala 64,2;

fabne 16,4: faune 74,2; fuan 10,6; etc.: uaun

10,4;

Lhe 62,1 2 110 87.1% limbe 25,2: limbia 62,3. Note the apparent equivalences b/f/u and e/ot.

(c) More difficult to catalogue exhaustively are looser groupings whose unity is apparent despite metathesis, vowel change, and the addition of vowels and consonants. Some of these have only two or three members: firbia 87,1: fribe 30,1; flanis 30,1: flaune 62,3: flules 25,1-2; intoria 74,2: tturia 87,1; nablea 69,2: nimbile tamne

74,2;

87,1: lebna 74,2.

Other groups however are larger, and offer a wide range of variation. Here is the most extensive: abelia 16,2; able 10,5; alba 73,13; albe 16,3; alibme 73,13; alimbea 69,1; alma 25,1; alme 64,2; ambile 16,4; ebeloia 25,1; ebile 69,2; elbiw 25,2; elobi 64,2; erolmea 55,2; inbila 16,5.

(d) Finally, certain endings recur as well. The following list gives all of the endings which I have identified, but not

all of the examples of each: -be, -bea, -bia, -bix: albe 16,3; asbe 30,1; fabe 69,2; fribe 30,1; habia 8,4; libe 69,2; salmibia 69,2; tibia 10,5; -ese, -lase, -isse, -issia: ambiase 10,5; dissia 74,1; nimbisse 10,4; femnibisse 8,4-5; -ne:

bane 16,4; fabne 16,4; sabne 25,1; tebne 74,2;

-te, -leia, -tia: aste 69,1; elestia 87,1; faste 60,6; lenisteia 62,2; niteia 8,4

8,4-5

249

-ten, -tien: fiten 69,1; nistien 55,2; 64,2;

-us: faus 64,2 (cf. fas 64,1); leus 74,1 (cf. lis 73,13). Clearly, then, we are dealing with a body of material which exhibits some internal coherence: can anything be inferred from this? I can only put forward a tentative suggestion. One of the most striking things about the vocabulary of the angelic speeches is the pervasive presence of certain recurring syllables and consonant clusters; the differences between closely similar words seem moreover generally to be explicable in terms of the ear rather than of the eye. Some

of the similarities

could

conceivably

reflect

the structure of a real language; others (notably the groupings discussed at (c) above) cannot. All of this may be evidence of spontaneous invention. If the author set out to write down simply what arose in his mind or on his tongue — perhaps indeed hoping to achieve something analogous to glossolalia — the result might well be the rhythmical sentences

which

we

find in TB, with their web

of tantaliz-

ingly imprecise internal echoes. Sound sequences pleasing to the ear would be repeated, with variation, again and again; individual words, once articulated, might lodge in the memory and be reused. Note that the author explicitly contrasts his bélrae n-ainglecdae with Hebrew at 16,6 below;

he may have deliberately set out to devise speeches which drew upon no earthly language. The conjectures advanced above are broadly in harmony with the eloquent and perceptive remarks of Melita Cataldi: “F un dolce idioma che sembra portare l’eco di vocalizzi liturgici,

inventato

per libere

associazioni

foniche,

nato

dal piacere di giocare con le assonanze e le allitterazioni, ed é il primo esempio attestato in eta postclassica di ‘lingua inesistente’. In essa si esprime lutopia di un linguaggio unico — originario, soggiacente e finale — che sopravvive alla confusio postbabelica delle lingue e le tiene legate in una misteriosa unicita di provenienza e di destino (').” (1) M. CaraLpir, “‘Haeli habia felebe fae niteia temnibisse salis sal’. In colloquio con la Lingua Semprenuova”, p. 12.

250

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

10,7-8 Iss ed mo ainm Pilip apstal — “This is my name: Philip the apostle”. Why it should be Philip who acts as revealer is a question

fundamental

to

our

understanding

of

the

text (’).

Particularly interesting in the context of TB is Philip’s role in the “resurrection discourses” (cf. commentary on § 7-9 above, p. 241-243): in The Sophia of Jesus Christ he is the first to question the divine apparition, and in Pistis Sophia he appears as the recorder of the mysteries being disclosed (I, 42): “Philip

rushed

forward,

the book in his hand — words

which

Jesus

said,

seated

himself,

and

laid

down

for he is the scribe of all the and

of all the

things

which

he

did (°).” Subsequently,

addressing

Philip,

Thomas,

and

Matthew,

Jesus says that they will “write down all the speeches which I shall utter and do, and all the things which you will see, so that you may bear testimony to all the things of the heavenly kingdom” (“). In the Letter of Peter to Philip, it is Peter who takes the dominant role in convening an assembly on the Mount of Olives;

curiously,

however,

the

text

begins

with

a letter

sent specifically to Philip in which Peter exhorts him to attend and to submit to his authority. We may here have further oblique evidence of a tradition of resurrection discourses dominated by the figure of Philip, in this case only implicit in the emphasis on Philip’s subordination to Peter on just such an occasion; Marvin Meyer, who points out the structural parallels between the Letler and The Sophia of Jesus Christ, seems to suggest just this possibility (*). He goes on to propose that Philip’s role here (and perhaps elsewhere in Gnostic literature) may reflect the historical

(1) On Philip’s importance to the Gnostics see H.-Ch. Puech in E. HENNECKE — W. SCHNEEMELCHER, New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 1, p. 271-278; also F. Bovon, “Les Actes de Philippe”, p. 4458-4459. (2) C. Scumipt, Pistis Sophia, p. 71; cf. p. 32.

(3), [bids pi 72: (4) M. W. Meyer,

The Letter of Peter to Philip, p. 117-118; cf. p. 96.

10,7-8

Philip’s involvement perhaps

“in some

proto-Gnostic

251

way

Samaritan

with

an esoteric

Christian

and

movement”

(!):

an intriguing suggestion, but not directly relevant to the present study. TB departs radically from its putative sources by taking two decisive steps: the revelation occurs not in the immediate aftermath

of Christ’s resurrection,

but at some

later

point; and the revealer is not Christ, but Philip. From the standpoint of the tradition that Philip was the repository of the risen Christ’s secret teachings,

the second

of these steps

could be seen as following logically from the first; more startling is the description of Philip’s epiphany in terms which recall that of the Saviour. These

developments

can, I believe, best be explained on

the hypothesis that TB has been influenced by the second section

of the apocryphal

Acts of Philip:

some

of the re-

semblances between the texts were noted as long ago as 1919 by M. R. James (see introduction, p. 56-57). It is related

that,

when

Philip

went

to

Athens,

three

hundred

philosophers (cf. commentary on § 5-6 above, p. 239) asked him to instruct them: they were both eager and intimidated on account of their belief that “the wise men

of Asia” pos-

sessed “great wisdom”. Philip’s teaching so disturbed them that they sent to Jerusalem to consult the high priest Ananias:

the latter came

to Athens,

challenged

and

denounced

Philip, and was finally destroyed by God because of the obstinacy with which he clung to his disbelief (cf. commentary on § 58-60 below, p. 333-334). Various details in the account of Philip’s confrontation with Ananias recall elements in the celestial apparition in TB. (i) Ananias applies to Philip the epithet “son of thunder” (óroc Boovtyjc), assigned in the Gospels to James and John the sons of Zebedee (Mark 3, 17); subsequently, a voice speaking from heaven addresses Philip as “once the son of thunder, but now of meekness” (’). Here Philip is identified both

with

thunder

and

with

mildness,

by a celestial

voice.

(1) Ibid.; cf. F. AMSLER, Acta Philippi, p. 464. (2) F. Bovon — B. Bouvier - F. Amster, Actes de Uapotre Philippe,

p. 53.63.

2525

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

In TB, Philip is himself a celestial voice; his initial apparition is accompanied

with the sound

of thunder

(7,2); and

when he speaks it is like the roar of an army or a great wind, but at the same time it “was no louder in each man’s ear than the words of a friend; and it was sweeter than

music” (9,5-6). (ii) On Philip’s calling upon God, “Suddenly the heavens opened, and Jesus appeared descending in most splendid glory and in lightning. And his face was seven times brighter than the sun, and his garments were whiter than snow (').” One manuscript gives an account of this apparition which is even closer to what we find in TB: “A pillar of fire appeared, descending from heaven as far as the earth, in the midst

of the crowd

standing

around

the apostle. And those who stood around, not being able to bear it, fell with their faces on the earth, and fear and

trembling seized all (°).” (iii) At another point, Philip invokes Jesus with the — presumably “Hebrew” — words Zabarthan sabathabat bramanouch (°). That the Athenian philosophers of the Acts of Philip have become “wise men of the Hebrews” in TB can best be accounted for in terms of the apocalyptic discourse which I have proposed as TB’s ultimate source: this would have spoken of an apparition in the vicinity of Jerusalem, making Hebrews the revelation’s most natural witnesses.

Other indications of the influence on TB of the second part of the Acts of Philip will be discussed in the commentary on § 58-60 below, p. 333-334. It is not too difficult

to imagine how a “resurrection to a hilltop in the cosmos to

an author possessing a pair of texts — one, discourse” in which the risen Christ descends a blinding light to explain the mysteries of his disciples (among them Philip, and with

(1) Ibid., p. 61. (2) Ibid., p. 61, apparatus; cf. Exodus 13, 21-22.

(3) Ibid., p. 65.

10,7-8 — 10,9-11

253

passages in an “angelic language”); the other, a story in which Philip is asked to disclose his wisdom to a group of philosophers, is associated with thunder and addressed by a voice from heaven, invokes an overwhelming celestial apparition of the the risen Christ, and speaks in an incomprehensible language with supernatural results — should have sensed a kinship between the two, and should have conflated them along the lines reflected in TB. In view of the importance and close interrelationship (discussed above, p. 241-243) of light and voice in the apparition in TB, it is interesting to find in Irish sources the peculiar interpretation of the name Philippus as meaning os lampadis — “mouth of a lamp”: thus it figures in the text and gloss of the hymn “Celebra Iuda” ('), in the pseudoIsidorean Liber de ortu et obitu patriarcharum (7), and in the vernacular festilogy Félire Oengusso (*). The Irish presumably learned this doctrine from Isidore of Seville (Etym. 7, 9,

16),

who

had

derived

it

from

Jerome’s

Liber

inter-

pretationis hebraicorum nominum ("): the derivation of Greek gtrummos (“phil-hippos”), which really means “horse-loving”, from Hebrew 75? 7D (“peh lapid”) “mouth of a lamp” obviously belongs in the category characterised by Jerome himself as graeca nomina uel latina ... uiolenter secundum linguam hebraicam interpretata (’). 10,9-11 Noi fechtas im-ruidbed mo thenga asmo chind la geinte 4 noi fechtas don-arassar aitherruch do procept; conidh do-sin is ed mo ainm la muinnter nime, Tenga Bithnua. — “Nine times my tongue was cut from my head by the pagans, and nine times I persisted in preaching again; therefore I am called the Ever-new Tongue by the company of heaven.”

(1) J. H. BERNApp —

R. ATKINSON,

The Irish Liber hymnorum, vol. 1,

p. 19; L&S § 582. (2) PL 83, 1290; L&S § 780. (3) W. Stokes, Félire Oengusso Céli Dé, p. 108, 118. (4) P. de Lacarpe, “Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum”, p. 140.146.155.

(5) Ibid., p. 148.

254

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

I know of only two other attestations of the doctrine that, before Philip’s martyrdom, his tongue was repeatedly cut out and each time miraculously restored.

Both are Irish,

and both appear in texts written later than TB. (a) One appears in the Middle Irish Pais Pilip Apstail. I give Atkinson’s edition of the text in Leabhar Breac (PH

2547-2552), with adjusted punctuation translation:

and with my own

At-rachtsat tra dronga écraibdecha 4 na sacairt Iudaide i nagaid Pilip apstail, conid ed at-bertsat, a thengaid to thescad. Do-ronta samlaid; ar di ni lugati do-gnid-sum forcetul in popuil in ni-sin. At-bertsat in popul 4 na sacairt doridisi a thengaid do thescad; do-gniset tra, 4 niro erchotig do. Fo secht tra ro tescad tengaid in apstail leo, 4 niro airis-[s]ium oc forcetul frisin ré-sin. “The unbelieving crowds and the Jewish priests rose up against Philip, and said that his tongue should be cut out. It was done thus; but nevertheless he was preaching no less to the people. The people and the priests said that his tongue should be cut out again: they did it, but

it did him no harm. Seven times was the apostle’s tongue cut out by them,

and

all that time he did not rest from

preaching.” In all other respects this account

of Philip’s martyrdom

closely follows that in Isidore’s De ortu et obitu patrum, while the earlier part of Pais Pilip is based on the Apostolic History of pseudo-Abdias ('): the episode of the tongue is in fact the only significant element in the text which cannot be readily derived from these two sources. The most straightforward explanation for this isolated addition is that it was derived from T'B itself, perhaps from an early version

of the second recension: it may be significant that Philip is made to say to the people of Hierapolis, in a sentence taken neither from pseudo-Abdias nor Isidore, “I was sent to you” (rom foided chucaib-si; PH 2518) — wording which recalls

(1) C. Cuaparro Gomez, De ortu et obitu patrum, p. 209; J. A. Fapsricius, Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti, p. 736-742; cf. M. McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, p. 114.

10,9-11

255

Philip’s statement to the assembly on Zion in QY “I was sent to speak to you” (dábár n-accallaim-si rom faided-sa 8,3-4). (b) The other mention of the regenerated tongue occurs in a tract “on the genealogy of the apostles, and their deaths and appearances, and the places in which they were buried”, also preserved in Leabhar Breac ('): Pilip apstal, do treb Iuda do, coro crochad he iar mbein a thengad fo .uti. asa chind isin catraig i nEripoli. Ulcha fhota fhindruad fair 4 folt dond. “Philip the apostle: he belonged to the tribe of Judah, and was crucified after his tongue had been cut from his head seven times in the city of Hierapolis. He had a long light red beard, and brown hair.” This both

is one in

Latin

of a number and

the

of related

vernacular,

Irish

which

texts, deal

written with

the

deaths and appearances of the apostles (“. In none of the others

is there

any

mention

of the tongue,

nor indeed

of

Hierapolis as the place of Philip’s death: in this case Pais Pilip seems the likeliest source. If the story of the miraculous tongue originated in TB itself, what

is the explanation

for its introduction

there?

The text betrays no other interest in Philip’s earthly life, nor indeed in hagiography generally. I would suggest that the source text already spoke of the celestial Philip as “the Ever-new Tongue”, and perhaps already had this phrase as its title. “Ever-new Tongue” is in fact a very appropriate name for an immortal voice revealing the secrets of past, present, and future — especially in TB, where Christ’s resurrection,

the

seasonal

rejuvenation

of nature,

and

the

eschatological redemption of the cosmos are parts of a single thematic constellation (see especially § 12-14).

(1) W. Sroxes, “The Irish Verses, Notes and Glosses in Harl. 1802”,

p. 363. (2) For editions and discussion see W. Strokes, “The Irish Verses, Notes and Glosses in Harl. 1802”; M. McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, p. 84-87; and D. Ó Croinin,

“Cummianus

Iconography of the Apostles in Early Irish Literature”.

Longus and the

256

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

11,5-6 a iss ed a mbelra-sa labertait inna huile i mbrath — “and that is the language which all will speak at the Judgmeata.

Q here reads 7 is é in bérla Eabraidhi fhoighenus dona hanmannaibh iar mbrath — “and it is the Hebrew language which will serve the souls after the Judgment”. The identification of the angelic language with Hebrew is not present in Y, and the entire paragraph is omitted by OM; the idea can best be regarded as an innovation on the part of Q. 13 This enumeration of the ingredients of the human body draws upon the widespread tradition that Adam was formed from eight (or seven) substances: Emile Turdeanu has provided an updated summary of the detailed discussion of the theme by Max Forster ("); and its Irish and Anglo-Saxon attestations have been examined by H. L. C. Tristram (“). Most of the early examples from western Europe are found in question-and-answer texts, and it seems likely that TB derived its own version from a source of this type.

Of the groups into which Forster, followed by Turdeanu, subdivides the Latin lists of Adam’s components, two are relevant to a consideration of 7B: A and E. Version A is closest to the Slavic branch

of the tradition,

and

evidently

preserves the list in its earliest form; I cite the specimen in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 326, an insular manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century (°): Dic mthi, frater, unde fuit factus Adam? Ego dico tibi: de octo partibus fuit factus... Prima pars de limo terrae, inde est caro eius; II“ pars de mare, inde est sanguis eius; III“ pars de sole, inde sunt oculi eius; IIII* pars de nubibus

(1) E. TurpEanu, ment,

p. 410-423;

M.

Apocryphes slaves et roumains de ’Ancien Forster,

“Adams

Erschaffung

und

TestaNamen-

gebung”. (2) H. L. C. Tristram, “Der ‘homo octipartitus’ in der irischen und altenglischen Literatur”; further discussion in F. M. Biaas, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, p. 4-5 and C. D. Wriaut, “Why Sight Holds Flowers”,

p. 177-182.

(3) M. Forster, op. cit., p. 479-480.

11,5-6 — 13

257

caeli, inde sunt cogitationes eius; V“ pars de uento, inde est

anhela uel flatus eius; VI“ pars de lapidib[us/] terrae, inde sunt ossa eius; VII“ pars de spiritu sancto quae est posita in homine; VIII“ pars de luce mundi, quod interpretatur Christus. “Tell me, brother:

you: from ond part

of what was

Adam

made? I [will] tell

he was made of eight parts... The first part was the mire of the earth: thence is his flesh. The secpart from the sea: thence is his blood. The third from the sun: thence are his eyes. The fourth part

from the clouds of heaven:

thence are his thoughts. The

fifth part from the wind: thence is his breath or blowing. The sixth part from the stones of the earth: thence are his bones. The seventh part from the Holy Spirit which is placed in a man. The eighth part from the light of the world, which Christ is interpreted to be.” Here there are four points shared with TB: flesh comes from

earth,

eyes

come

from

the

sun,

breath

is from

the

wind, bones are from stones. Further correspondences are to be found in the E version: there are at least three insular examples, and the Anglo-Saxon attestations of the theme belong to the same tradition. The list is given as follows in the Catlechesis Celtica: Dies dominicus limi unde facta crimae, pondus uenti unde est oculorum,

dies beatus, in qua die spirafuit] est caro, pondus salis unde salsae ignis unde rubicundus est sanguis, anhela, pondus florum unde est

pondus

pondus roris quibus factus lestibus facta “The Lord’s that portion

nubis

unde

est

instabilitas

pondus sunt lapondus uarietas

mentium,

unde est sudor. Haec sunt VIII pondera de est Adam; alius pondus, idest anima, de ceest. day, a blessed day, on which there breathed of mire from which flesh is made, that por-

tion of salt whence

tears are salty, that portion of blood

whence blood is ruddy, that portion of wind from which is the breath, that portion of flowers from which is the diversity of eyes, that portion of clouds from which is the instability of minds, that portion of dew from which is sweat. These are the eight portions from which Adam

258

THE

was

made;

EVERNEW

another

TONGUE:

portion,

COMMENTARY

the

soul,

was

made

from

heavenly things (').” Earth and wind have here the same role as in A, but sun

has become

flowers (7) and

stones

have

dropped

out.

In

other respects, however, E resembles TB where A does not: tears are derived from salt and blood from fire; and al-

though “the freckling and pallor of faces, and the colour in cheeks” are not the same thing as uarietas oculorum, the derivation of both from flowers (an ingredient lacking in versions ABCD) makes some connection virtually certain. Does

TB represent a version of the list in transition be-

tween A and E, or a subsequent hybrid of the two? The latter seems likeliest: our text lacks the clouds shared by A and E, and in any case mixtures and contaminations

of

all kinds are very common in material of this type. An instructive parallel is the Hiberno-Latin Liber de numeris (L&S with

§ 778), which A

and

TB

contains

the

a text

derivation

of version

of bones

from

E sharing stones,

and

with BCD and the earliest example of E (that in Sélestat, Bibhothéque municipale, 1093, c. 700) that of hair from grass (°). TB’s own mixed background may be further reflected in the phrase dergthes fola — “red heat of blood”. This resembles both the calor sanguinis of the Liber de nu-

meris and the rubicundus sanguis of the Catechesis Celtica, and perhaps results from the conflation of two strands of E’s insular transmission (themselves due to an early divergence calor/color?). The same two traits of blood are specified in the Durham Ritual (pondus ignis. inde rubeus est sanguis et calidus) and in the Anglo-Saxon examples (Ó). 14 This paragraph, taking up a theme already adumbrated in § 12, sets forth one of the most striking doctrines in the

text:

that

the

presence

of all substances

in the

(1) A. Witmart, “Catéchéses celtiques”, p. 111. (2) Evidently through scribal error; thus C. D. Wricut, “Why Sight Holds Flowers”, p. 179.

(3) Relevant passages in J. E. Cross— T. D. Hitt, The Prose Solomon and Saturnus and Adrian and Ritheus, p. 68.

(4) Ibid., p. 26.67-68.

13-14

259

human body means that the entire cosmos has been redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. This idea may be seen as providing a unifying theme for TB as a whole: the text’s concern with cosmology and eschatology, consid_ ered within the liturgical context of the Easter vigil, makes perfect sense in light of this compelling synthesis. I have been unable to find any close comparanda elsewhere, and the doctrine may well be original to TB or to its primary source. It is interesting however to observe rather similar concepts being formulated by Eriugena in his Periphyseon, a work which I take to be roughly contemporary with TB itself: In ipso omnia

uisibilia et inuisibilia, hoc est sensibilis et

intelligibilis mundus, restaurata, inque unitatem ineffabilem reuocata sunt... Non itaque quis paruipendat, quod Dei Verbum

inhumanatum

sit, ac

ueluti

humanam

naturam

solummodo saluarit, sed firmissime credat, et purissime intelligat, quod per inhumanationem Filii Dei omnis creatura in caelo et in terra salua facta est. “All things visible and invisible, that is, the sensible and intelligible world,

are restored

in him, and recalled to an

ineffable unity... And so let no one make light of the Word of God having become human, as if only human nature were to be saved thereby; but let him most firmly believe,

and most

clearly understand,

God becoming human every earth has been saved (').” As in TB,

this doctrine

that by the Son of

is bound

heaven

and

the view

that

on

creature

up with

“in man is established every visible and invisible creature” (?). Eriugena’s source for these ideas was the Ambigua ad

lIohannem

of Maximus

the

Confessor;

the

similarities

with TB, however, suggest that some of the appeal of Maximus’ ideas for him may have lain in their similarity to teachings to which he had been exposed in Ireland. The pseudo-Isidorean

treatise

Liber

de ordine

creaturarum,

for

(1) PL 122, 913AB. (2) In quo, uidelicet homine, condita est (PL 122, 893B).

omnis

creatura

uisibilis

et inuisibilis

260

THE

instance, written

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

in Ireland

COMMENTARY

or in an Irish milieu toward

the

end of the seventh century, also associates the resurrection of mankind with the redemption of the world: “For when the human condition of being born and dying comes to an end, then the earth too will not experience increase and decline of its greenness and driness (')”. I have undertaken to explore this question in more detail in A Single Ray of the Sun (. 141-2 uair ro but aicned na ndula uile isin choluinn arroet Issu — “for the nature of all creation was in the body

which Jesus had put on”. For this statement Q reads uair rob e aignedh na ndul dul a colaind — “for the nature of the creatures was to pass into a body”. At first this might seem to represent a contrasting doctrine, and an intriguing one, on the part of the second recension. The other manuscripts are however much

closer to L in this regard (Oir bid aicned na n-uili [nduile O] dula [dul OM] isin cholaind [curp denna M add. arosoiset uili Y add. 7 OM] YOM): Q’s reading reflects no more than confusion of the adjacent words n-uile and nduile. 14,6-7 Acht tri nimhe ind richidh namma

—

“Save for the

three heavens of the lofty riched alone”. Riched means “heaven” in the sense of the habitation of God, rather than the planetary and stellar heavens of astronomy. In some texts its sense can be extended to include the latter, or to mean simply “sky”; in TB, however, the word nem is consistently used in such cases. 16,6 Mall uile a thuiremh tresan Ebrai a n-aisniter ann. —

“It would be tedious to recount in Hebrew everything which is related in that.” The idea is evidently that the angelic language can express a great deal in a brief compass; cf. M. R. James’ wry observation that “a peculiar feature ... of all such passages is that the interpretation of them is wont to exceed vastly (1) Cum enim nascendi et moriendi in hominibus condicio cessauerit, tunc etiam uiriditatis et ariditatis suae incrementa et damna ipsa terra non habebit (M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum, p. 170). (2) J. Carey, A Single Ray of the Sun. Religious Speculation in Early Treland, p. 75-104.

14-18

261

in length the possible content of the original” ('). It is interesting to note the author’s awareness of the fact that the Tongue’s audience were speakers of Hebrew, despite their use of Latin and Irish in the text itself. 18 The ideas in this paragraph derive from the interpretation of Genesis generally received in Latin Christendom, an exegetical tradition which looked back primarily to the writings of Augustine: in drawing upon this body of thought, the author shows considerable sensitivity to the theological issues involved. It would be difficult, and probably indeed not feasible, to seek to identify specific sources for his statements, but parallel citations may at least shed some light on the context within which he wrote. The description of God as transcending all categories and limitations,

notably those of time, is commonplace

enough

and developed at considerably greater length in § 95-103 below. More striking is the observation that the thought which

led

God

to

create

the

universe,

being

conceived

in eternity, had no beginning (Nicon rabai tosach dond imradhad-sin 18,5-6): this seems to develop considerations set forth by Augustine in his De Genesi contra Manichaeos aaLage a ae: “But although we believe earth at the beginning of understand that there was ning. For God made time

that God made time, we ought no time before as well; and so

time

time.

before

he had

made

We

cannot

heaven and certainly to time’s beginthere was no say,

accord-

ingly, that there was any time before God had made anything... If therefore [the Manichaeans] should say, ‘Why did God want to make heaven and earth?” they should be answered that those who desire to know the will of God should first learn the power of human

will. ...

For they seek to know the causes of the will of God, when the will of God is itself the cause of all things which

are.

For if God’s will has a cause,

something which precedes God’s will — lawful to believe.” (1) M. R. James, “Irish Apocrypha”, p. 12.

then

there

is

which it is un-

262

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

The idea that God’s motive for creation was the desire to render his glory manifest can be parallelled in many sources, both inside and outside Christianity. A particularly apposite Irish instance occurs in the De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae of Augustinus Hibernicus 1, 1: Aeternus ergo et omnipotens Creator rerum, trinus et indiuiduus semper manens, sine ullo potentiae suae detrimento, solus sine tempore cunctas praecessit creaturas: ac deinde ut immensam bonitatem ac potentiam et beneuolentiam, quas in se solo prius habuit, etiam per creaturas ostenderet; ex informi materia, quam ipse prius ex nihilo condidit, cunctarum uisibilium et inuisibilium rerum, hoc est, sensibilium et insensibilium, intellectualium et intellectu

carentium, species multiformes diuisit. “For the eternal and omnipotent Creator of things, abiding always as Three and as One without any diminution of his

power — he alone, beyond time, preceded all that he made. Then, so that he might reveal through created things all the vast goodness and power and benevolence which beforehand he had possessed within himself alone,

he divided the unformed nothing at the first into and invisible things — sensible, intellectual and

matter which he had made from all the manifold species of visible that is, things sensible and inlacking intellect (').”

19 The doctrines that God created the basic substance of spirit and matter (the “heaven and earth” of Gen 1, 1) before

time,

and

that

Gen

1, 3 (Dixitque

Deus:

Fiat

lux;

et

facta est lux) refers to the creation of the angels, both derive

ultimately from Augustine (*). Irish commentators however seem to have been most familiar with the first of these positions in the formulation given it by Isidore of Seville (Differentiae 2, 11): Duas res ante omnem diem et omne tempus condidit Deus omnipotens; angelicam, uidelict, creaturam et informem materiam... Itaque non omnia ex nihilo condidit Deus, sed

(I BI ao, 2151: xs (2) Thus

De

Genesi

S20

ad litteram

1, 1; 2, 8 (J. 7vcua,

Sancti

Augustini De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim, p. 4 and 43-45).

Aureli

189

263

quaedam ex aliquo, quaedam autem ex nihilo. De nihilo mundum, angelum et animas; ex aliquo hominem et caeteras mundi creaturas. “The almighty God made two things before every day and time: the angels, and unformed matter... And so God did not make all things from nothing, but some things from something, and some things indeed from nothing. From nothing [he made] the world, the angel and souls; from something [he made] man and the other creatures of the world (').” Echoes of this passage are found in such Hiberno-Latin works as the “Irish Reference Bible” (§ 98) (Ó, Prebiarum de multorium exemplaribus (°), Liber de numeris (*), De uetere et nouo testamento quaestiones (°), the pseudo-Bedan Expositio in primum librum Moysis (°), a gloss on the hymn Altus Prosator in the Irish Liber hymnorum (’), and the probably

Irish Genesis commentary bibliothek, 908 (°). Isidore

(Sententiae

in St Gall

manuscript,

1, 10, 3) also followed

Stifts-

Augustine

in

identifying the first light with the angels: Ante omnem creaturam angeli facti sunt, dum dictum est Fiat lux (“The angels were made before every creature, when it was said, ‘Let there be light”) (°). Augustine had distinguished between the creatura spiritualis created

before time, and the angels created

on the first

day; this distinction appears to have eluded Isidore, who seems to identify the angelic “light” with the primordial angelica creatura, and to situate its coming into being before

(1) PL 83, 74-75. (2) G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 43. (3) R. E. McNatty, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 169. (4) Ipem, Der irische Liber de numeris, p. 52-53. (5) Ipem, “The Pseudo-Isidorean ‘De vetere et

novo

testamento

quaestiones”, p. 45. (6) PL 91, 191AB. (7) J. H. Bernarp— R. Arkinson, The Irish Liber hymnorum, vol. 1, Og (8) The relevant excerpt of which, from his pending edition, has been kindly supplied to me by Charles D. Wright; cf. L&S 1260. (9) PL 83, 554.

264

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

the creation proper (ante omnem creaturam ... ante omnem creationem mundi) ('). Another way in which the two doctrines can be conflated is by asserting that the creation ex nihilo

of light/angels

and

prime

matter

took

place within

time, on the first day. This is the position adopted by TB, which refers explicitly to the first day as the time when God

“created

all things at once”

at § 24 below;

we

may

compare the account of the creation in the prose version of the Middle Irish Biblical paraphrase Saltair na Rann, and the closely related formulation in the Middle Irish pseudohistorical treatise Lebor Gabdla (e.g. LL 3-4) €).

19,2-5 Ba si soilsi do-gene .i. cuairt ind richidh, co nnoi ngradaib aingel. Sechtmoga a llin do thuathaib, cosna cetheora grianaib .xx. ar se ceduibh, co ceolutb 4 ligbothaib, amal ro ngab fona .utt. ndealba ind richid. — “This is the light which he made:

the circuit of the riched, with the nine orders of

angels. Seventy is the number of their peoples, with the six hundred and twenty-four suns, with songs and radiant mansions,

such as exist throughout

the seven

shapes of the

riched.” The author interprets the angelic “light” as a fully articulated celestial realm, one of two “circuits” (cuartat) of which the other contains the stuff of the world (see commentary on 19,5-7): cf. perhaps De Genesi ad litteram 5, 19 (ó, where Augustine speaks of the angels as “that entire exalted city (uniuersa illa superna ciuitas) which we believe was established on the first day”. The nine ranks of the

angels are those rendered canonical by pseudo-Dionysius’ De coelesti hierarchia in a scheme reflected in such HibernoLatin

works

as Liber

de ordine

creaturarum (*), the

“Irish

(1) Jbid. (2) Do-rigni dano sé cipinnas in maiss móir n-écruthaigh 4 soillsi aingeal isin domnach — “Somehow He made the great shapeless chaos and the light of the angels on Sunday” (J. Carey, “A Tract on the Creation”, p. 3, 7). (3) J. Zycna, Sancti Aureli Augustini De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim, p. 161. (4) M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum, p. 90-95.

199193527

Reference

Bible”

265

(§ 76) ('), Catechesis

Celtica (é), and

the

Genesis commentary in St Gall 908 (°). For the seventy-two “peoples” or tuatha cf. 84,9 below, where the angels are just one of several groupings subjected to a seventy-two-fold division (as in the second recension version of this passage; cf. textual note on 19,3, p. 440441). Cf. the statement in a Middle Irish homily for Easter that “the riched together with its angels were made on Sunday” (PH 3529-3530), here taken as the first day of creation (as in Catechesis Celtica: in die pascae incipit deus creare creaturas in principio mundi — “On the day of Easter God began to create the creatures at the beginning of the world” (*)). More mysterious are the “suns” (griana, L) or “sunny dwellings” (grianbruigi, second recension), variously reckoned as 624 (L), 7624 (Q), and 1724 (Y). L’s reading griana seems to me to be the lectio difficilior (cf. textual note on 19,3-4, p. 441), while the number in Q can perhaps best serve as point of departure for the figures in the other manuscripts. But what are these radiant entities? The statement that they are distributed “throughout the seven shapes of the riched” might be taken to refer to the seven planetary heavens; but these are not created until § 25 below, and are in any case distinguished

elsewhere

in the text

from the riched or spiritual heaven. 19,5-7

Do-roine

dano

isind

oenlo

cuairt

inna

ndealb

.i.

domna dia ndernad in domun. Ar is delb chuairtchruind cetadernai Dia do deilb in domuin. — “In the same day he made the

circuit

of the shapes,

that

is, the material

from

which

the world was made. For it is a round encircling shape which God first made as a shape for the world.” The doctrine asserted here and developed in § 20 —

that

the prima materia had a circular or spherical shape — contrasts sharply with conventional hexaemeral thinking. For

(1) (2) (3) (4)

G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 36. A. WILMART, “Catéchéses celtiques”, p. 105. See further J. Carey, “Angelology in Saltair na Rann”. A. Witmart, “Catécheses celtiques”, p. 58.101-102.

266

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

medieval writers the starting point was Augustine, who had devoted two chapters of his influential De Genesi ad litteram to explaining that the first matter had been formless (informis: 1, 14-15) ('), and had suggested elsewhere that the appearance

of the dry land in Genesis 1, 9 referred to mat-

ter’s shaping on the third day (De Genesi contra Manichaeos I, 12, 18). Although Augustine did not interpret the days of creation as temporal intervals, and envisaged formless matter as having had no existence separate from that of the creatures

formed

from

it (rebus quae de illa formatae sunt

simul concreata sit) (é), this subtlety was discarded by many of the Irish exegetes who drew upon his work; and informis materia appears in Lebor Gabála as one of the works of the

first day (°). The position of TB may reflect an interpretation of Augustine

independent

of this consensus:

the idea

that, since

matter never existed apart from form and since the universe as a whole is spherical (*), matter as a whole must have been spherical from the first. An alternative derivation is suggested by the closest analogues to the position of TB of which I am aware, two passages in the Corpus Hermeticum. The first, in the Latin treatise Asclepius appears to follow on from a reference to “matter

(§ 17), or the

world” as the “receptacle of all things” (°): Est enim caua mundi rotunditas in modum sphaerae ipsa sibi qualitatis uel formae suae causa inuisibilis tola, quippe cum quemcumque in ea summum subter despiciendi causa delegeris locum, ex eo, in imo quid sit, uidere non possis. Propter quod multis loci instar qualitatemque habere creditur. Per enim formas solas specierum, quarum imaginibus

uidetur

(1) J. Zycua, duodecim,

Sancti

insculpta,

Aureli

quasi

uisibilis

creditur,

cum

Augustini

De Genesi

ad litteram

libri

p. 20-22.

(2) Ibid., p. 22. (3) R.

A.

S. Macauister,

Lebor

Gabala

Erenn,

vol.

brp

16564.

J. Carey, “Cosmology in Salfair na Rann”, p. 34-36.

(4) Cf. ibid., p. 36. (5) “YAy autem uel mundus omnium est receptaculum; A. D. Nock — A. J. FESTUGIERE, Corpus Hermeticum, vol. 2, p. 315.

19,5-7

267

depicta monstratur; re autem uera est sibi ipsi inuisibilis semper. Ex quo eius imum ... si locus est in sphaera, Graece “Aiónc dicitur, siquidem ideiy Graece uidere dicatur, quo uisu imum sphaerae careat ('). “For the roundness of the world [or of matter] is hollow like a sphere, invisible as a whole to itself on account of its quality or form, since whatever position you choose on the top in order to look downward, you cannot see what is on the bottom. Therefore it is believed by many to have the same shape and qualities as space. For it is only visible

when

made

manifest

by the forms

of the

appearances with whose images it is seen to be engraved; in reality, however, it is always invisible to itself. Hence its lower part — if there can be an area on a sphere — is called “Avdyc¢ in Greek, since idezy in Greek means ‘to

see’; for the bottom of a sphere cannot be seen.” The passage is in some ways an obscure one, and it is not possible to undertake its full explication here; André-Jean Festugiére (°) sensibly suggests that the author has amalgamated the ideas (a) that the world is a sphere which cannot be perceived

as such

from

its own

surface,

and

(b) that

matter is invisible per se and only becomes manifest when forms are imposed upon it. The text’s equivocal usage of mundus and inuisibilis can be parallelled in TB’s own discussion of the material (domna) used to make the world (domun): although it is undifferentiated matter which is

being described, its roundness is asserted on the analogy of the spheres and

circles in the universe

as it now

exists; and

Philip’s statement at 20,1-2 that all things are disposed in “roundness”

(cruinne; cf. rotunditas) “though you do not see

it” appears to echo Hermes’ observation that we cannot see the sphere which we inhabit. Less equivocal is a section of the eighth tract in the Corpus, to which I shall return in discussing § 22 below; here a spherical shape is attributed to the matter of which

(1) Ibid., p. 316. (2) Ibid., p. 373.

268

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

the world is made before it receives any other qualities (CH VIII, 3): “The Father, forming into a body and heaping together all of the matter subject to his [will], made it spherical

(c@ateoetdéc) (').” This section of TB may accordingly reflect a development of ideas current in Hermetic circles; this possibility will be further explored in the commentaries which follow. 20,6-7 7 iss i cruinde dhelbha at-chiter na hanmand tar nescumluth a corpaib — “and it is in roundness of form that souls are seen after parting from bodies”. Here we may compare an anecdote related by Gregory the Great, in which Saint Benedict is said to have seen a soul carried to heaven by angels “in a fiery globe” (in spera ignea) (°): this may in fact be the source for the statement in TB. The latter’s context, however, in a discussion of cir-

cles and spheres which is perhaps indebted to Hermetic and/or Neoplatonic ideas, raises the possibility that the concept of the round soul may have come to our text from such a background. The formulation in TB is remarkably similar to the opinion attributed by a scholium on Iliad 23, 66 to the

Stoic philosopher Chrysippus of Soli (c. 280-207 B.C.) that “after separating from the body [souls] are spherical

(aparpoetdetc)” (*); but it is difficult to see how any significant link could exist between the two.

More promising are expressions of the same belief in later Platonism, developing naturally from assertions in the Timaeus that the world soul has the same shape as the spherical cosmos (34B; 36E), and that the human soul’s dwelling is the spherical skull (44D). The inference from these statements that the individual soul is spherical is

(1) Ibid., vol. 1, p. 88. (2) Dialogi

2, 35; A. de Voatr

—

P. ANTIN,

Grégoire

le Grand,

Dialogues, vol. 2, p. 238.

(3) H. Ersse, Scholia graeca in Homeri Iliadem, vol. 5, p. 377; and cf. the remarks of M. LApipsE, “Stoic Cosmology”, p. 182.

19,5-7 — 20,6-7

269

called “relativement rare” by Festugiere, who cites Marcus Aurelius’ reference to the “sphere of the soul, true to its own form” (Meditations 11, 12) as evidence that the idea

was already current in the second century ('). Plotinus alluded to the possibility that souls after death have “spherical forms” (cynwatx opateoerdy), without stating that this was

his belief (Enneads

IV, 4, 5, 18). Iamblichus

however definitely stated that the soul’s “vehicle (óymt-e&) is made spherical (opatorxdv), and moves in a circle” (°); while Proclus, who quoted this statement in his own commentary on the Timaeus, said elsewhere in his writings that gods and good daimones have “spherical vehicles” (spaterxe dxynwata) (*). Describing the descent of the soul, Aristides Quintilianus noted that when it enters the sublunary realm it exchanges its “spherical form” (c@atpoedéc oy%jua) for a

human one (De musica 2, 17) (’). How might this doctrine have entered apocryphal cosmology? There are doubtless many possibilities. I will limit myself to mentioning two cases in which the idea is reflected outside philosophical writing. The first is the doctrine, attributed to Origen in the sixth century, that the resurrection body will be spherical. It has been shown (°) that there is no evidence of this view in the surviving

writings

of Origen

himself;

Gilles

Dorival

has

pointed out however that Egyptian Origenists were accused of teaching that the resurrection body would have a spher-

ical form (oy%ju% oparooerdéc) as early as 403, when they were denounced by Theophilus of Alexandria, and charge was repeated by Antipater of Bostra c. 480 (5):

(1) A.-J.

FgsTuGibnE,

“L’ame

the

d'apres

Aristide

in Platonis

dialogos

et la musique

Quintilien”, p. 62-63.

(2) J. M.

Ditton,

Jamblichi

Chalcidensis

commentariorum fragmenta, 152-153. (3) G. Pasquaut, Procli Diadochi in Platonis Cratylum Commentaria,

p. 35, 20-26. (4) R. P. WINNINGTON-ÍNGRAM,

Aristides Quintiliani De musica libri

tres, p. 87, 23-24.

(5) E.g. by H. Cuapwick, “Origen, Celsus, and the Resurrection of the Body”, p. 94-97. (6) G. Dorrvat, “Origeéne et la résurrection de la chair”, p. 315-319.

270

THE

The second Marsanes,

a

EVERNEW

occurs text

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

in the fragmentary

in the

Nag

Hammadi

Gnostic

treatise

collection

tenta-

tively dated by its editor to the early third century. In an obscure discussion of the spiritual significance of the alphabet,

there

are

various

references

to

the

soul’s

having

a

“spherical form” (oyju« opaterxoy) ('). Plotinus and Marsanes were roughly contemporary: Plotinus was of Egyptian background, and Marsanes formed part of the library of a religious community in Upper Egypt. These circumstances raise the possibility that the doctrine of a spherical soul was first articulated in Egypt, providing a possible background for its adoption by Origen’s

followers and perhaps also by 7'B’s source. 21,1-2 isin chruindchuairt shaped round circuit”. The

wording

here,

as

ildelbhaig —

in the

case

“circuit of the shapes” at 19,6 above,

“in the many-

of cuairt

inna

ndealb

contrasts sharply with

the Augustinian terminology taken over by the Irish exege-

tes: ildelbach — “many-shaped” reflects an attitude to the first matter very different from that conveyed by the standard terms informis/ écruthach — “formless”. On the relevant

theological

issues

see

commentaries

on

19,5-7

and

§ 22 (p. 265-268 and 270-272). In the second recension, YOM

here add a sentence about

the material from which hell was made, anticipating § 23 below. It is best preserved in O: Js ann ro tuismididh adhbif-n oir ni dearnadh he fo .c.oir nocon deachaidh int arcaingil tafr] racht an Righ — “It is then that the material of hell was

created;

for it was

not

made

at once,

until

the

arch-

angel defied the law of the King.” 22 The doctrine that all qualities existed already in the “material of the world” appears again to represent a departure from the cosmology of Augustine: although he believed that “the unchanging principles of all creatures exist

in the

(1) NHC Hammadi

Word

of God”

and

X 1, 25*, 24-26; 27*, 26 —

that

“before

(creatures)

28*, 14 (B. A. Pearson, Nag

Codices LX and X, p. 292-293.298-301).

20,6-7 — 22

271

came into being they both were and were not” (De Genesi ad litteram 5, 12, 18) ('), these forms are spoken of as having preexisted in God’s mind, not in the “formless formable matter (informis formabilisque materies), both spiritual and corporeal, from which all that was to be made would come to be” (5, 5) (*). At another point Augustine does compare the world at its first creation to a seed containing within itself “in potentiality and cause” (potentialiter atque causaliter) the tree which it will become (5, 23) (°). But this too seems different from the amalgam of properties listed by the

author

of

TB;

more

closely

resembling

our

text

is

Bede’s statement, for which I do not know the source, that

“the elements of the world were made at the same time in unformed matter” (in materia informi pariter elementa mundi

facta sint) (De natura rerum 1) (ó). The phrasing of the paragraph recalls formulations of the idea, put forward by various Greek philosophers, that the elements were precipitated from a primordial whole. Thus Anaximander is said to have held “that the indwelling opposites are separated out from the one” (°); while Anaxagoras, speaking of the emergence of the cosmos from a state of original nondifferentiation, wrote that “the compact is separated from the diffuse, and the hot from the cold, and

the bright from the gloomy, and the dry from the wet” (fragment 12) (°). Ovid’s description of chaos includes a similar passage (Metamorphoses “Nothing

remained

1, 17-20):

in its form,

and one thing was resisting others: for in a single body cold fought with hot, moist with dry,

soft with hard, heavy with weightless.”

(1) J. Zycua, duodecim,

Sancti Aureli Augustini De Genesi ad litteram libri

p. 155.161.

(2) Ibid., p. 146. (3) Ibid., p. 168. (4) BEpA

VENERABILIS,

Opera.

Pars

6: Opera

didascalica,

p. 192. (5) H. Diets, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, vol. 1, p. 13.

(6) Ibid., vol. 1, p. 319.

vol.

1,

272

THE

EVERNEW

So far as I know,

TONGUE:

however,

COMMENTARY

this doctrine

did not form

part of the Christian cosmology of the Latin West. In light of the links with Hermetic tradition suggested above (p. 265-268,

on

19,5-7), it is interesting to find it reflected

at different points in the Corpus Hermeticum. A cosmogonic account in the third treatise includes the following passage: “When all things.were mingled together and unformed, the light things were separated upward and the heavy fixed on the wet sand, all things being separated by fire

and set in movement by breath (CH IU, 2) (’).” A similar idea is expressed in the eighth tract, in the description of the origin of the world which has already been

cited in the commentary on 19,5-7. Here the qualities must be infused into matter, but that infusion appears to precede the formation of individual creatures:

“Moreover, sowing the qualities (tx movk) of particular things

in the

sphere,

he enclosed

them

as if in a cave,

wishing to adorn that which he had shaped with every quality; and he encircled the whole body with immortality so that matter, even if it wished to lapse from its structure,

could not be dissolved back into its own VIE). Cy

disorder (CH

23 The position adopted here regarding the time and manner of the creation of Hell differs from that espoused by most theologians. Christ’s reference to “the eternal fire which is prepared for the Devil and his angels” (ignem aefernum qui paratus est diabolo et angelis suis; Mt 25, 41) was taken as evidence

that Hell had existed from the beginning;

and Gregory interpreted an allusion to “the fire which is not kindled” (ignis qui non succenditur; Job 20, 26) in the same light: “The justice of the Almighty, foreseeing future things, created the fire of Gehenna from the very beginning of the world — which at a single time was to begin to

(1) A. D. Nock - A. J. FEsSTUG:IERE, Corpus Hermeticum, vol. 1, p. 44. (2) Ibid., vol. 1, p. 88.

22— 23 punish

sinners,

but

which

273

would

never

cease

from

its

burning, even without wood (Moralia in Iob 15, 35) (*).”

It may be possible to trace the emergence of views more closely approximating that of TB in early Hiberno-Latin writings. Augustinus Hibernicus suggests that Hell was made

on

the

sixth

day,

the

fall of Lucifer

having

taken

place at some earlier point: Non solum ergo peccatum hominis praecessisse diabolica ruina credenda est, sed etiam perfectionem illam creafurarum

quae

in die sexta facta est... Quando

ergo prae-

paratus est ille ignis, nisi in perfectione creaturarum omnium? Nist forte dicamus post sexti diei perfectionem Dei aliquid creasse: quod absit, ne mendacem Scripturam, imo nosmetipsos faciamus. Cui ergo carcer in illa creaturarum conditione praeparatus est, illius peccatum originaliter illas creaturas praecessit. Quoniam, ut Scriptura inguit, “Ipse ab initio mendaxz est, et in ueritate non stetit”. “For we are to understand the Devil’s fall not only to have preceded the fall of man but even the completion of creation which was accomplished on the sixth day... For when was that fire prepared, if not in the completion of the entire creation? Otherwise we would have to say that God created something else after the perfection of the sixth day; and far be that from us, lest we make a liar of

Scripture — or rather of ourselves. He whose prison was prepared when the creatures were made had sinned in the beginning, before their creation; for, as Scripture says, ‘He is a liar from the beginning,

and has not stood in the

truth’ (De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae 1, 2) 6.” Developing the ideas of De mirabilibus, the pseudo-Isidorean Liber de ordine creaturarum (L&S § 342) states outright that “it is inferred that the Devil’s sin took place at the beginning, before the making of any visible thing” (ante omne tempus uisibilium rerum). Repeating Augustinus’ statement that God must have made the carcer for a culprit

(1) M. Apriaen, S. Gregorii Magni Moralia in Job, vol. 2, p. 770. (2) PL 35, 2153.

274

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

already guilty, pseudo-Isidore position:

COMMENTARY

elaborates

and

clarifies his

Nequaquam enim adhuc innocenti poenam dominus praeparasset, si non illius delictum praeparatam poenam praecessisset. “For the Lord would not have prepared a punishment for one who was still innocent, unless his crime had preceded the prepared punishment.” He immediately goes on, however, to claim that Hell was created simultaneously with Lucifer’s transgression, for which divine foresight had of course been prepared: Sed hoc etiam sine tempore fecit, qui illum et peccare praesciuil, et cum eius peccato pariter damnationis eius poenam qua seruus fugitiuus cruciaretur effecit. “But he made this apart from time, foreseeing also that he would

sin; and simultaneously

with his sin he made

that torment of his damnation with which his runaway servant was to be tortured (Liber de ordine creaturarum

8,7) 0)”

Here the two assertions that Hell was not made before the fall of the rebel angels, but that God foresaw the necessity for its making, appear to provide a parallel to the ideas in our paragraph. In the second recension,

Q states that hell would

have

been turned into “a white flower” had Lucifer and his followers not transgressed. This striking image is the result of textual corruption: with a mblath geal Q cf. in flaith na naingel L, a flaith nemurchoidig (“into a harmless realm”) Y. 24,2-3 Qui utuit in xternum

creauit omnia

simul —

“He

who lives forever created all things at once”. This scriptural citation (Sir 18, 1) plays a crucial. part in Augustine’s cosmogonic thinking — indeed, his writings on the creation are to a great extent concerned with re-

conciling

this

statement

that

God

created

all

(1) M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum, p. 138.

things

23 — 25

275

simultaneously with the six-day creation narrative in Gene-

sisote(*): The

text

corresponds

to

that

of the

Vulgate;

but

the

wording seems already to have been established before Jerome wrote. The author of TB would, in any case, far

likelier have encountered this verse as a citation in a theological and/or cosmological treatise than in the text of

Ecclesiasticus itself (°). 25 TB here identifies the seven heavens with the firmament;

this contrasts with the position of other Irish sources,

in which the firmament figures only as one of the seven (see

discussion of § 27 below, p. 277-279). The idea that the function of the firmament or the heavens is to conceal God’s glory from human eyes is reflected tersely in some texts of Isidore’s Etymologiae, which add to his derivation of caelum “heaven” from caelatum “engraved” (“for God has decorated it with bright lights”) an alternative explanation a superiora caelando “because it hides the higher things” (13, 4, 1) Ó). The formulation in the eighth-century Irish exegetical compilation Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus ex tomis canonicis, usually referred to in English as the “Irish Reference Bible” (L&S § 762) is particularly close to that of

our

passage:

Caelum

a celsitudine dicitur,

uel quod caelat

(1) For a direct confrontation with the problem, see De Genesi ad litteram 4, 34 (J. Zycua, Sancti Aureli Augustini De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim, p. 133-134); the discussion is echoed in e.g. Isidore. Differentiae VENERABILIS,

2, 11

(PL

83,

74-75),

Bede,

De

natura

rerum

1 (BEDA

Opera. Pars 6: Opera didascalica, vol. 1, p. 192), and the

Genesis commentary in St Gall 908 (for a copy of the relevant section of which

I am,

once

again, grateful

to Charles

D. Wright).

For further

discussion of the adoption of Augustine’s thinking on this question in Ireland, see M. McNamara, “Celtic Christianity, Creation and Apocalypse, Christ and Antichrist”, p. 9. (2) For a selection of instances, several in insular authors, see B. Fiscuer,

Vetus Latina, vol. 18/1.

(3) For the background and diffusion of this etymology see the discussion in R. Kuincx, Die lateinische Etymologie des Mittelalters, p. 86-89; vernacular instances in Old English, Old Norse, and Provengal are cited in J. E. Cross— T. D. Hii, The Prose Solomon and Saturnus and Adrian and Ritheus, p. 62-63.

276

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

diuina mysteria intra se (§ 74) ('); cf. Bede, De orthographia: caelum ... quod inuisibilia et incerta mortalibus celet arcana (’). With the idea of the “veil (fial) of heaven” cf. the following passage from the description of heaven in Fis Adomnain: Fial tened a fíal d’agriud i primdorus inna cathrach inna fiadnaisse a stat ifc] comthuarcain cind ar cind tria bithu. Fogur 4 fuamand dano na fial-sin oc comriachtain atcluinter fon mbith. Sil nAdadaim [sic] dia cluintis in fogur-sin nos gébad ule crith a úamun dofhulachta remi. I[t] torsig thrá 4 it buadertha na pecdaig ocond fogur-sin. Mad i lleth immorro fri muintir nimi ni cluinter din garbthoraind-sin acht lanbec do ráith, 4 binnithir cach céol atacomnaic. “There are a veil of fire and a veil of ice in the principal entrance of the stronghold of the Presence, striking against one another perpetually. The sound and din of the veils when they come together is heard throughout the world. If the race of Adam were to hear that sound, trembling and unbearable terror would seize them because of it; sinners are sorrowful and troubled at that sound. On the side which faces the household of heaven, however,

its harsh

thundering

is not

heard

at all, save

only for a little; and that is as sweet as the sweetest music (LU 2066-2073).” The reader will note a discrepancy between the theology of this paragraph and that of § 23 above: God would not anticipate the fall of Lucifer by creating Hell on the first

day, but he does anticipate the fall of humanity by creating the firmament on the second. 25,3-5 Fecit quoque Deus firmamentum inter aquas et diuisit aquas quae erant super firmamentum ab his quae erant sub firmamento — “And God also made the firmament between

the waters,

and divided the waters which were

above

(1) G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 34. (2) BEDA VENERABILIS, Opera. Pars 6: Opera didascalica, vol. 1, p. 18.

Do

the firmament

27

277

from those which were beneath the firma-

ment.”

Albeit with some variants, this is essentially the Vulgate text rather than any version of the Old Latin ('). 27 The teaching that there are seven heavens is fairly widespread in Irish literature, appearing for instance in allusions to God as ruler of the seven heavens in the poetry of

Blathmac (7) and Oengus mac Oengobann (°). At least three more or less overlapping theories concerning the nature of these heavens appear to have been current: (a) Classical astronomy held that the earth is surrounded by seven concentric spheres, their revolutions causing the movements

of

the

moon,

the

sun,

and

the

five

planets

which were known to the ancients. At least a rudimentary knowledge of this scheme was general throughout medieval Europe;

in Ireland

it is reflected

for instance

in SR

101-

104: Ro suidig secht rinn[e] reim o firmimint co talmain: Satuirn, Ioib, Mercuir, Mars, Sol, Uenir, Luna lanmas.

“(God) established the course of the seven stars from the firmament to earth: Saturn,

Jupiter, Mercury,

Mars,

Sol, Venus, lovely Luna.”

(b) For the Gnostics the seven heavens were a series of prisons or barriers, presided over by the hostile powers which seek to keep souls confined in physical existence. Several Gnostic and quasi-Gnostic writings describe ascent through the heavens as a series of ordeals which must be traversed on the path to salvation: in some of these accounts the “astronomical” character of the heavens is still evident, while in others it is less clear. One or more

works

in this tradition found their way to the British Isles, and

(1) For the latter see B. Fiscuer, Vetus Latina, vol. 2. (2) J. Carney, The Poems of Blathmac son of Cu Brettan, p. 20, § 56. (3) Feél., Prol. 2.

278

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

exercised a formative influence e.g. on the vision text Fis Adomnain ('). (c) The third scheme, first attested in Hiberno-Latin sources of the eighth century, proposes a seven-heaven model in which the planetary spheres are not a determining factor: its several versions seek to accommodate classical ideas of different levels of the atmosphere (air, ether, the rarefied air atop Olympus), together with the Biblical firmament and “upper waters”. This may for convenience be called the “Irish hexaemeral”

model, as most of the works

in which it occurs mention it of creation. I have attempted the texts (°), citing examples the “Irish Reference Bible”

in the context of the six days a brief discussion of some of from the Liber de numeris (°), (§ 74) (*), the pseudo-Bedan

Expositio in primum librum Moysis (°), Saltair na Rann (5), and the eleventh-century chronicler Marianus Scotus (’). The system expounded in TB does not fit neatly into any of these

categories,

although

it shares

elements

with

the

first and third. The placement of the moon in the first heaven and of the sun in the fourth assigns to these two luminaries the positions which they occupied in classical astronomy; and the concern with meteorological phenomena, and the contrasting regions of celestial fire and cold, recall features of the multiple heavens attested in other Irish hexaemeral material. The paragraph perhaps represents an attempt

to harmonize

an unfamiliar

scheme

with

(1) The most recent discussion of the relevant Irish material is that of J. Carey, “The Seven Heavens and the Twelve Dragons in Insular Apocalyptic”; cf. M. McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, p. 141-143, J. Srevenson, “Ascent through the Heavens, from Egypt to Ireland”; and, with particular regard to the Old English evidence and extensive further references, F. M. Biaes, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, p. 78-79. (2) J. Carey, “Cosmology in Saltair na Rann”, p. 40-44. (3) FR. E. McNALLyv, Der trische Liber de numeris, p. 122. (4) G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 35.

(5) PL 91, 192BC. (6) Late tenth century: SR 105-144. (7) F. BLATT — Y. LEFEVRE, Novum glossarium mediae latinitatis, s.v. “olympus”.

27 — 27,4-5

279

others better known to the author and his audience. One conspicuous feature of TB’s account which may point in this direction is its description of the second and third and of the fifth and sixth heavens in pairs rather than individually: was the author trying to expand a scheme comprising only five heavens? Beyond these tentative general remarks, I can identify no close analogues for the paragraph as a whole; instead I shall suggest comparanda for its various components. 27,2-3 nem

cetus etracht solus nelda as nessamh

dhuib, as’

toidi esca 4 esruth rind — “first of all the radiant bright cloudy heaven which is nearest to you, from which shine the moon and shooting stars”. This sentence appears to represent a straightforward conflation

of classical

to the first heaven,

in which

astronomy,

the first heaven

For the rendering

which

with the Irish scheme

assigned

the moon

mentioned

above,

is consistently that of aer “air”.

of esruth rind as “shooting

stars”, see the

textual note on that phrase. It was generally accepted that

these were an atmospheric phenomenon; thus Isidore spoke of “sparks (igniculi) fallen from the ether, which come to be when wind seeking the upper [regions] brings ethereal fire away with it, which as it is dragged along looks like falling stars aa ign. 3,5: 71;,3). 27,4-5 da nem

luachtidi lasardha

uasa-side,

co n-imsitnib

aingel indibh 4 asruth gaith — “two shining fiery heavens above that, with emissions of angels in them and scattering of winds”. The fiery character of the second and third heavens may be explained on the hypothesis that they are doublets based

on the second heaven in the Irish hexaemeral scheme. This was aether “ether”, a celestial substance either compared or identified with fire; thus Isidore called it the “place ... in which are the stars; and it signifies that fire which is raised

up apart from the whole world” separatus est) (Etym. 13, 5, 1). As remarked

in the previous

(a toto mundo

commentary

on

in altum 27,2-3,

Isi-

dore held that wind could occasionally reach the ether. In

280

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

general however it was thought of as a region free from the changeableness and turbulence of the lower atmosphere; Liber de ordine creaturarum, speaking of the excelsum spalium between the lower air and the firmament,

described it

as being purissimum

ac

sublilissimum,

nec

nubium

tumores

nec

uentorum inflationes nec pluuiarum aut imbrium humidas conspirationes nec niuium uel grandinum gelidas coagulationes nec aeris ullas motationes nec tempestatum et tonitruorum fragores ... nec ullas omnino diuersorum hemisperiorum perturbationes omnimodis habet. “most pure and most subtle, not having either the swellings of clouds, or the blowing of winds, or the moist gathering of rains or mists, or the frozen solidification of snow or hail, or any movements

of the air, or the din of

storms and thunders ... or any disturbances whatever of the various hemispheres” (Liber de ordine creaturarum 6, 10): More

briefly,

Saltair na Rann

states

explicitly that the

“ethereal heaven” is “without wind” (cen gaeth, 118); and the “Irish Reference Bible” says that the second heaven is aether, hoc est uacuum (§ 74) (°). The term could however be used in several different senses, and 7T'B’s description of the second heaven may reflect the overlap of two of them. I am here thinking specifically of a Hermetic

fragment,

part of a dialogue be-

tween Isis and Horus. At one point Isis contrasts the eagle, which

goes naturally

“to the ether, where

it is its nature

to

dwell”, with pigeons which tend toward “the nearer air” (°). Subsequently, outlining a fourfold division of the atmos-

phere, Isis says that the second layer is the highest in which it is possible for birds to fly, as well as being that “in which

(1) M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum, p. 120. (2) G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 35. (3) A.D. Nock - A. J. FESTUGIERE, Corpus Hermeticum, vol. 4, p. 70; cf. the “Reference Bible”’s curious speculation (G. MacGinry, loc. cit.) that the ether might be inhabited by birds which never alight upon the earth.

27,4-5

281

the movements of winds are born” (CH frag. 25 § 7) ('). Here aither appears as the place of winds par excellence: TB may combine some such doctrine as this with the notion of a fiery ether available from such sources as Isidore. The issues raised by the phrase co n-imsitnib aingel, the other element in the description, are discussed immediately below. 27,4-5 co n-imsitnib aingel indibh — angels in them”. The

word

imsitin,

earlier presumably

“with emissions of *imsitiu,

has been

plausibly interpreted as verbal noun of *imb-ess-sem-, with a stem occurring also in the verbs do-essim “pours”, do-fuissim “begets, bears, creates”: elsewhere in Indo-European a root *sem-

is attested

with

the

same

double

sense

“schopfen”,

“gieBen” (“). The present instance of the word appears to be one of only three attestations;

the other two occur among

the regulations of the Céili Dé, and both carry a strong negative connotation.

(a) One of these, in the Riagail na Céle nDé, is not entirely clear; it is apparent impure fluid of some kind:

however

that the imsifin

is an

Fothrucad hin n-imsitin: is aurchaill 3 is corbad don chach dos-beir tara cend in lind-sin. Is faithciu don oes graid farsa teit cend a cosmad 4 a coisecrad iarum. “Washing

in imsitin:

it is forbidden,

and

it is a defile-

ment for anyone who puts that liquid upon his head. It is more prudent for anyone in holy orders on whose head it goes to anoint and bless himself thereafter (§ 47) ee (b) In the other instance, found in the text called by its editors “The Monastery of Tallaght”, it is clear that the word refers to a seminal emission:

Indand don-ecmaic imsitin hi codlad do neoch 4 ni facaid deilb a nibi cumman lais ní do faicsin tresa mbed elned do, canad cethtra [sic] salmu 4 do-nigg in aqua, 4 ni nderban do

(1) Ibid., vol. 4, p. 71. (2) DIL s.v. “imsitiu”; J. Pokorny, Worterbuch,

Indogermanisches etymologisches

vol. 1, p. 901-902.

(3) E. J. Gwynn,

“The Rule of Tallaght”, p. 76.

282

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

dul do laim iarabarach. Fo bithin ni heillned do-som ind ni-sin, acht is michumne spiride fri télach neich din imarcraid lenda bis isind churp. “When imsitin happens to anyone in his sleep, and he does not see an image, and does not remember seeing anything. through which pollution might have befallen him,

he sings four

psalms

and

washes

in water;

and

it

does not prevent his receiving the eucharist next day. For that thing does not pollute him — it is (only) a forgetfulness of spirit at the release of some of the superfluous fluid which is in the body (§ 88) (‘).” But what relevance

could these passages have to angels,

and to the architecture of the heavens? The answer may lie in the eclectic range of materials which appear to have appealed to the followers of Priscillian. Orosius, in a discussion

of the doctrines expounded in the Memoria apostolorum, a book allegedly used by the Spanish sect of the Priscillianists, included

the following:

In quo etiam libro de principe humidorum et de principis ignis plurima dicta sunt uolens intellegi arte, non potentia dei omnia bona agi in hoc mundo. Dicit enim esse uirginem quandam lucem, quam deus uolens dare pluuiam hominibus principt humidorum ostendat, qui dum eam apprehendere cupit, commotus consudet et pluuiam faciat et destitutus ab ea mugitu suo tonitrua concitet. “In the same book concerning the Prince of Moisture and

the Prince of Fire more things are said, seeking to persuade

that it is by art, not by the will of God,

that

all

good things are done in this world. For it says that there is a certain Virgin of Light whom God, wishing to give rain to men,

shows to the Prince

of Moisture.

When

he

desires to seize her, in his disturbance he sweats and makes the rain; abandoned by her, he stirs up the thunder with his groaning (°).”

(1) E. J. Gwynn

— W. J. Purtron,

“The Monastery

of Tallaght”,

p. 164. (2) Consultatio siue commonitorium Orosii ad Augustinum de errore Priscillianistarum et Origenistarum 2 (ed. K.-D. Daur, CCSL 49, p. 160).

27,4-5

Orosius, onymian

283

together with the author IJndiculus de haeresibus

of the pseudo-Hier-

(§ 15) ('), appears to have

drawn on a document drawn up by Priscillian’s rival Itacius in 388 as part of the court proceedings against him: the current consensus views Itacius’ citations of the Memoria apostolorum as being most probably genuine (’).

The scenario described is myth, repeatedly mentioned ature (°) and also extensively scriptures themselves (*). Thus cording to Mani,

a version of a Manichaean in the heresiographical literattested in the Manichaean Theodoret wrote of how, ac-

“the archons of matter, desiring the Daughter of Light, and pursuing her, sweat and bring about the rain” (Haereticarum fabularum compendium 5, 10) (°). A fuller account is given in the Acta Archelai:

“A beautiful and well-dressed virgin, of great elegance, secretly approaches the princes who were led out by the living spirit and fixed to a cross in the firmament; when she appears she appears as a beautiful woman to the males,

but shows

a handsome

and desirable youth to the

females. But the princes, when they have seen her in all her finery, fall in love with

her and

become

lustful, and

because they cannot catch her they are aroused all the more and excited by the fires of love, for they are overcome by the heat of lust. So when, as they run after her, the virgin suddenly is nowhere to be seen, then that great prince produces clouds from himself, so as to darken the whole world in his anger. As he has been most distressed,

like a man sweating after exertion, so this prince sweats

from his distress, and his sweat is the rain (°).” (1) PL 81, 638. (2) K.-D. Daur, CCSL 49, p. 137-138. (3) Surveyin F. Cumonrt, Recherches sur le manichéisme, vol. 1, p. 54-68. (4) E.g. M. Boyce, “Sadwés and Pésis”; cf. P. J. de MENascE, Skand-Gumanik Vi¢ar, p. 260, and H.-J. KiimKeir, Gnosis on the Silk Road,

1993, p. 57.

(5) PG 83, 488B. (6) M. Beeson,

Vermes,

Hegemonius,

Hegemonius,

Acta

Archelai,

Acta Archelai, p. HSA

p. 51-52;

cf. C.

H.

284

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

That the “sweat” exuded by the lustful spirits in this story is a euphemism for semen was taken for granted by various Christian critics (thus Augustine, De natura boni contra Manichaeos, ch. 44 ('); and Evodius, De fide contra Manichaeos, ch. 17 (Ó), and is also stated in the ninth-

century Zoroastrian apologetic treatise Skand-Gumdnik vicar (°); Cumont, indeed, argued that this was the doctrine of the sources

on which Mani

drew (*). Be this as it may,

the supposition could also have been made independently by the author of TB or by one of his sources — if indeed imsitin itself means anything more specific than “bodily fluid”. That the archons have become angels in the Irish text is also a natural enough development; it is interesting to note that in the Slavonic Enoch the rebel angels are chained

precisely

in the second

heaven

(2 Enoch

7) Ó). I

suggest accordingly that the phrase is a reference to the rain, drawn from Gnostic-Manichaean

cosmology.

The reference to “emissions of angels” may, accordingly, reflect Priscillianist influences on the text; cf. in the com-

mentary on 27,4-5 the tentative comparison with Hermetic sources for another feature in the account of the second heaven.

It should

be noted,

estial urine also occurs

however,

that

the idea

in Isidore; cf. commentary

of cel-

on 68,6-7

below, p. 355-356. DIL proposes translating the instance in our text “metaphorically”

as “abundance”

(°). But the only basis for this

suggestion is the reading imat in OM, the two manuscripts of the second recension which are farthest removed from the exemplar.

(1) J. Zycua,

S. Aureli

Augustini

Contra

Felicem,

De natura

boni,

p. 882-883. (2) Ibid, p. 957-958. (3) (4) (5) (6) of the

P. J. de Menascr, Skand-Gumdnik Viéar, p. 252-255. F. Cumont, Recherches sur le manichéisme, vol. 1, p. 56.61-64. F. ANDERSEN, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, p. 112-115. Thus also U. Nic Enri- G. Mac NíocAiLL, “The Second Recension Evernew Tongue”, p. 19.

27,4-5 — 27,5-6

285

27,5-6 nem uar aigreta uasu dib, as glaisiu cach ligdath, as

secht-uairiu snecta, as’ toidi grian — “a cold icy heaven above those, bluer than every bright colour, seven times colder than snow, from which shines the sun”.

That classical and medieval astronomy placed the sun in the fourth heaven has been mentioned above; it also appears in the fourth heaven in 2 Enoch 11-17, which however

situates the moon there as well ('). For the intense cold and blue colour of the fourth heaven I can propose two possible explanations, both of which may conceivably form part of this passage’s background. If I am

correct in suggesting

that the second

and third

heavens in TB draw in part upon the second heaven in the Irish

hexaemeral

model,

then

that

model’s

third

heaven

might have influenced our text’s fourth. For the hexaemeral writers the third heaven is Olympus, described in the “Irish Reference Bible” as Olimpus id [est] iacinctus [i.e. hyacinthus], ubi nix et pluuia — “Olympus, that is ‘blue’, where are snow and rain” (§ 74) (Ó. Olympus, the blue heaven of snow, seems not far removed from the fourth heaven in TB.

Less directly comparable, well,

is the

doctrine

but perhaps relevant here as

of the

firmament

(cf. § 25

above,

p. 275-276). The “Irish Reference Bible”, although it places the firmament fifth above the earth, does speak of it as the

location of the sun and the other heavenly bodies (*); in Saltair na Rann and the pseudo-Isidorean Liber de numeris it comes

fourth (*). Basil’s

conjecture

that

might be a mass of ice (’) is also reflected Reference Bible” (§ 106) (°):

the firmament

in the “Irish

Alii dicunt caelum esse glatiale et iacinctum solidatum de agua, possitum inter humana et caelestia, sicut tabulatum

(1) F. ANDERSEN,

“2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, p. 120-131.

(2) G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 35. (3) Ibid. (4) SR 633-636; R. E. McNatty, Der irische Liber de numeris, p. 122. (5) E. A. de Menpieta

—

S. Y. Rupsera,

Eustathius,

p. 37-41;

J. Carey, “Cosmology in Saltair na Rann”, p. 44 and n. 62. (6) G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 49.

cf.

286

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

in domo; preuidit enim Deus quod filit hominum peccassent. In illo sunt luminaria. “Other say that it is an icy blue heaven congealed from water, placed between human and heavenly things like the roof of a house; for God knew that the sons of man

would sin. In it are the luminaries.” 27,6-8 da nem aile luachtide lasardhai for sudib, asna toidet tenedrind doberat toirthigi a niula 7 muir — “two more shining fiery heavens above those, from which shine the flaming stars which bring fruitfulness into clouds and sea”. Directly above Olympus the “Irish Reference Bible” (§ 74) and the Liber de numeris place the spatium ignitum or caelum igneum; according to the former this is the place of the

stars ('). Some of the characteristics of the fifth and sixth heavens

in TB

could accordingly

be explained

on the hy-

pothesis that its fifth and sixth heavens are partly based on the fourth heaven

in the hexaemeral

scheme;

but what

is

the source of the idea that the stars bestow fertility on the upper and lower waters? I cannot provide any close analogue; it may however be worth noting that in the Slavonic Enoch the sixth heaven is described as containing seven

groups the sun seasons oceans,

of angels whose “radiance was like the radiance of when it shines”: “there are angels who are over and years, and there are also angels over rivers and angels over fruit and grass, and of everything that

breeds” (2 Enoch 19) (?). 27,8-11 ardnem tendtigi an uasaib-side is airdem dib uili, fora forramad cuairt ind richid. Nem granna tentige seon, i mbi sethar la cocetal ceol 4 clasa aingel — “a fiery splendid lofty heaven above those which is the highest of them all, upon which is placed the circuit of the riched. That is an awful fiery heaven, in which there is labour with the singing together of songs, and with choirs of angels.”

(1) G. MacGinty, McNALLv,

(2) F. ANDERSEN,

p. 132.

Pauca problesmata

de enigmatibus,

p. 35; R. E.

Der irische Liber de numeris, p. 122.

“2 (Slavonic Apocalypse

of) Enoch”,

p. 133, cf.

27,5-6 — 27,8-11

287

TB’s cosmology here diverges from that of the Irish hexaemeral model: there the seventh heaven is itself the riched (“the

heaven

in which

is the

pure

noble

Lord”,

SR

636;

Hiberno-Latin “caelum Trinitatis” (')); but in TB the “circuit of the riched” has already been created in § 19, and the seventh heaven is only adjacent to it. It may not be necessary to find parallels for the statements that the highest heaven

is a fiery region and

however Enoch

full of angelic

be noted that the sixth heaven contains,

besides the angels mentioned

mentary on 27,6-8, angels who the heavenly bodies:

song;

it may

in the Slavonic in the com-

control the movements

of

“And they are the leaders of the angels and of celestial speech. And they make all celestial life peaceful; and they preserve the commandments and instructions, and sweet voices and singing, every kind of praise and glory

(2 Enoch 19) (?).” The

seventh

heaven,

also

full of angels,

is that

from

which God’s throne is first visible; these angels of the sixth heaven, preserving cosmic harmony and heavenly blessedness by their perpetual singing, recall our own text’s description of the heaven “in which there is labour with the singing together of songs, and with choirs of angels”. Granna “awful” is evidently an error for grianda “sunny”, the form found in the second recension; it is to be noted,

however, that the sun itself is assigned to the fourth heaven.

I am

inclined

to see this as yet another

of the loose

correspondences between the system in TB and that of the Irish hexaemeral scheme as set forth in the “Irish Reference Bible”;

for in the latter the firmament,

the next

heaven

above the spatium ignitum, is the location of the sun “ac-

cording to some” (*). At this point it may be helpful to set

out in tabular form the similarities between the two texts:

(1) “Irish Reference Bible” 74 (G. MacGinry, Pauca problesmata de enigmatibus, p. 35). (2) F. ANDERSEN, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, p. 132-133. (3) G. MacGInTy,

op. cit., p. 39.

288

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

“Trish Reference Bible” 3. Tertius Olimpus

TB

id est iacinctus

4. “...bluer than every bright colour,

ubi nix et pluuta. 4. Quartum

seven times colder than snow...”

spatium

ignitum

ubi

5-6. “two more fiery shining heav-

sidera.

ens

above

those,

from

which

shine

the flaming stars...” 5. Quintum firmamentum

ubi sol ut

7. “a sunny fiery heaven...”

alti.

28 This difficult paragraph has radically transformed whatever astronomical doctrines it drew upon, and any attempt to recover these can only be conjectural. I suggest that the author has here conflated and indeed confused three separate ideas: (a) that the zodiac takes its name from

twelve

beasts;

(b)

that

there

are

(c) that winds and other meteorological caused by aerial or celestial dragons.

twelve

winds;

phenomena

are

(a) The adjective Cwdiaxdg comes most immediately not from C@ov “animal, living thing” (by extension “figure, im-

age”) but from the latter’s derivative C@diov “image, sign”; hence the conventional Latin equivalent signifer. But the fact that so many of the signs are in fact animals made the link Cadiaxdg — Cov an inevitable one. Both the exact and the looser derivation appear together in Pliny’s allusion to the “circle named signifer, which has been represented with the pictures of twelve animals” (discripto circulo qui signifer uocatur in duodecim animalium

effigies; Naturalis historia 2,

9). That TB’s twelve beasts are described as being “in the zones

of the seven

flection

of the

heavens”

astronomical

appears teaching

to be an inexact that

the

sun,

re-

moon,

and planets travel in the circle of the zodiac (cf. Bede: Zodiacus uel signifer est circulus obliquus, .xii. signis constans, per quem errantes stellae feruntur — “The zodiac or ‘signbearer’ is an oblique circle comprising twelve signs, through which the wandering stars are borne”, De natura rerum 16 (')); the zodiac is already called a zona by Vitruvius (De architectura

(1) BEDA p. 207.

9, 1, 16).

VENERABILIS,

Opera.

Pars

6: Opera

didascalica,

vol.

1,

27,8-11 — 28

289

(b) For the doctrine that there are twelve winds, a classical

commonplace

attested

elsewhere

in Irish

sources,

see

my study on the cosmology in Saltair na Rann ('); I am grateful to Charles Burnett for calling my attention to the collection of references to texts associating the winds with the signs of the zodiac which has been assembled by W. Hiibner (Ó. A particularly clear example occurs in the Liber memorialis of Lucius Ampelius: Aries in aphelioten, Taurus in caeciam, Gemini in aquilonem,

Cancer

in septentrionem,

Leo

in thraciam,

Virgo in

argesten, Libra in zephyron, Scorpius in africum, Capricornus in austrum, Aquarius in eurum et notum [leg. euronotum], Pisces in eurum. “Aries

in the east, Taurus

in the

north-northeast,

north-northwest,

Virgo

in the east-northeast,

Cancer

in the

north,

in the

west-northwest,

Gemini

Leo

in the

Libra

in

the west, Scorpio in the west-southwest, Capricorn in the south,

Aquarius

in

the

south-southeast,

Pisces

in

the

east-southeast (§ 4) (°).” (c) Dragons in the heavens appear in the Annals of Ulster s. a. 735 (Draco ingens in fine autumni cum tonitruo magno post se uisus est — “A huge dragon was seen at the end of autumn, with great thunder after it”) and 746 (Dracones in caelo uissi sunt — “Dragons were seen in heaven” (“));

Daniel McCarthy and Aidan Breen have pointed out that 735 and 745 were years of high sunspot activity, and suggest accordingly that the term draco may in these cases designate the Aurora Borealis (°). The idea that dragons might be responsible for the weather is attested in the Book of Leinster version of the tale De Chophur in Da Muccida, in

(1) J. Carey, “Cosmology in Saltair na Rann”, p. 37-38. (2) W. Hosner, Die Eigenschaften der Tierkreiszeichen in der Anttke, ihre Darstellung und Verwendung unter besonderer Beriicksichtigung des Manilius (Sudhoffs Archiv. Beihefte 22), Wiesbaden 1982, p. 261-274. (3) E. Assmann, Lucii Ampelii Liber memorialis, p. 8. (4) S. Mac Arrt— G. Mac NíOCAILL, The Annals of Ulster, p. 188 and

200. (5) D. McCarry Observations

— A. Breen,

in the Irish Annals”,

“An p. 123.

Evaluation

of Astronomical

290

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

which two shapeshifting antagonists become “two dragons, each of which was driving (?) snow upon the land of the other” (batir da draic tuarcad cechtar de snechta for tir a cheili;

LL

32987-32988);

Hiberno-Latin

gloss

on

cf. the

further

the

Psalter

in

Palatinus Latinus 68, where Psalm Lord from the earth, dragons, and

eighth-century Vatican,

Codex

148, 7-8 (“Praise the all abysses, fire, hail,

snow, ice, the spirits of tempest which do his word”) receives the comment DRACONES. id est genus uolatile serpentium quod in spatio aeris terrae uicino in quo dracones et uenti ef niues et gelu et aues uolant — “DRAGONS: A flying kind of serpents which fly in the region of the air near the earth, in which there are dragons and winds and

snow and frost and birds (').” Similar

ideas

survived

into

the

nineteenth

century

in

European folklore: thus Jacob Grimm recorded the Estonian superstitions that “rothe streifen am himmel zeigen an, daB der drache auszieht, dunkle farbe der wolken,

beute heimkehrt, sternschuppen and Paul Sébillot discussed

daB er mit

[sic] sind kleine drachen”;

a Breton

belief in “dragons de

vent” (°). The idea that comets are dragons was also quite widespread, a famous example being the spectacular celestial display which according to Geoffrey of Monmouth foretokened

the

birth

of Arthur (*). An

identification

with

comets may lie behind TB's puzzling references to “fiery heads” (tenedcennuibh, 2) and “pillar-headed dragons” (dracoin turethcind, 5): in the latter case there might conceivably be an echo of Manilius’ statement that a comet can “resemble a squared beam or a rounded pillar” (quadrafamue trabem fingit teretemue columnam; Astronomica 1, 841); alternatively, fuiredchend could mean something like “torch-headed”, by analogy with tuiredchaindell “great

(1) M. McNamara, Glossa in Psalmos, p. 308. (2) J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, vol. 3, p. 491; P. SépiLLor,

Le

Folk-lore de France, vol. 1, p. 92.

(3) N. Wricut,

The Historia regum Britannie

mouth, p. 93-94; for a more

of Geoffrey of Mon-

general discussion see W. GUNDEL,

“Naive

Ansichten iber Wesen, Herkunft und Wirkung der Kometen”, p. 81-83.

28 — 28,2-3

torch” (cf. textual upon them in their dragons draw some were traditionally

291

note on 6,4). The reference to “plagues flanks” (5) could also be explained if the of their traits from comets, as the latter associated with pestilence (e.g. Isidore,

Etym. 3, 71, 16; and cf. 68,3 below).

28,2-3 cosnaib tenedcennuibh uasdaib inna corpuib nemdaib — “with the fiery heads above them in their celestial bodes, Instead of this phrase the second recension has co ndelbaib each 4 én ar lasadh — “with shapes of burning horses and birds”. Unlike the vast majority of the second recension’s variants, this cannot be seen as deriving (through

abbreviation, elaboration, or corruption) from the version of the text represented by L. This leaves us with two alternatives: the exemplar is here making a genuinely independent contribution;

or else it has here preserved an original

reading where L has not. Although heavenly or angelic birds are a commonplace of medieval

Irish

literature,

celestial

horses

are

rare.

In fact

I am aware of only one other instance: Fis Adomndin states that the throne of God is surrounded by “six thousand warriors in the forms of horses and birds ... burning forever

and without end” (sé mile do miledaib co ndelbaib ech a én ... for lassad cen crích cen forcend, LU 2017-2019 (')). There is obviously some close relationship between these passages, and it is possible that the author of the second recension simply drew upon Fis Adomnain here. If so, however, it seems odd that this text does not appear to have influenced TB (or vice versa) in other ways.

The ultimate source for this unusual image may be the “fiery horses” (equi ignei) which pulled the chariot which took Elijah to heaven in 2 Kings 2, 11; that these horses were in fact angels was the view of Augustinus Hibernicus (De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae 3, 4 (°)).

(1) Cf. E. Winpiscu,

p. 175, 28-29. (2) PL 35, 2195.

“Fis Adamnain.

Die Vision

des Adamnan”,

292

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

29 The division of the heavens

COMMENTARY

into five zones,

and the

association of the arctic and antarctic zones with cold and of the equatorial zone with heat, are doctrines taken over by Christian thinkers from Graeco-Roman

science ('). Here

however the basic scheme has been embellished with some unusual details which will require separate discussion. Analysis is rendered more difficult by the textual obscurities of this paragraph; these are discussed at length in the commentaries. 29,2-4 Criss uardhai aigreta aili chetamus, ara fomnatar muire fo gruadibh in nime atuaith. — “Another cold icy zone first of all, because of which the seas are feared beyond the horizon to the north.”

For the various interpretations of the form -fomnatar, see the textual note on that word

below, p. 449-450.

I take this

reference to the dangers of the northern seas to be an allusion to their frozen

condition

due to the “cold icy zone”.

Such a statement could reflect the reports of Irish or Scandinavian mariners, but could also be derived from literary sources. Thus Pliny cites from earlier geographers names for the northern ocean interpreted as meaning “frozen” (congelatus) and “dead sea” (mare mortuum); and states that the “solid sea” (mare concretum) is a day’s sail north of Thule (Historia naturalis 4, 95, 104). Both passages are quoted by the Irishman Dicuil in his late eighth-century De mensura orbis terrae (7, 13, 19 (°)). 29,3-4 fo gruadibh in nime — “beyond the horizon”. Stokes compares the usage at Ml 96 c 9, where in the line cum tenuitas aeris densetur in nubem inpulsi spiritus uiolentia, concaua

quoque

et conuexa

resonent,

the word

conuexa

is glossed .1. inna gruade no inna dixa. We seem accordingly to have here a specific Old Irish metaphorical usage referring to the heavens — but what is its sense? In the Latin (1) E.g. Pliny, Historia naturalis 2, 172; for their attestation in early medieval Ireland see J. Caney, “Cosmology in Saltair na Rann”, p. 4546. (2) J. J. Tierney, Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terrae, p. 74-76; L&S

§ 662.

29 — 29,4-6

293

text the concaua and conuexa are evidently masses of air brought into violent contact (cf. Isidore, De natura rerum 30, 3 ('); Etym. 13, 8, 1), but the glossator has taken them to be parts of the sky: concaua is glossed inna cocui (“the hollows”) .i. caeli. The concave part of heaven is obviously its vault, the zenith — but where is its convex part? I think that the glossator originally surmised that it must be the horizon;

“cheek”,

and

that gruad,

is to be understood

whose

most

to mean

basic

“horizon”

meaning

is

as an ex-

tension of its secondary sense “edge, rim”. Following this interpretation, the phrase nó inna diva — “or the heights” in the gloss would represent an alternative suggestion. 29,4-6 Criss uar aigridi aili imma-naisce mila mara fo muirib, fo toibaib in talman andes, isinn airm i forrumtha na noi tuirid tentigi fri nem indes. — “Another cold icy zone, which

encircles

great

beasts

beneath

the

seas,

under

the

edges of the earth to the south, in the place where the nine fiery pillars have been placed to the south of heaven.” The “great beasts ... under the edges of the earth” are presumably those which recur in the description of the antipodean regions in § 66; but there is nothing there to correspond to the fiery pillars. The only explanation which I can propose for the latter postulates the conflation of two cosmological models: that taken for granted in the bulk of the text, in which the earth is a sphere whose “lowest” section

is the antarctic

zone;

and

a “flat-earth”

model

in

which the world is held up by pillars. Hence we find fiery pillars supporting the earth (or the heavens?) on the underside of the world, but in this case this means that they are on the underside of a sphere. The idea that the earth or sky is supported upon pillars is widely attested, and must have arisen independently in many traditions. It may conceivably have formed a part of pagan Celtic belief (Ó); but the image appears also in the Bible, where we find references to pillars supporting both

(1) J. Fonraine, Traité de la nature (Bibliotheque de l’Ecole des hautes études hispaniques 28), Bordeau 1960, p. 280-283. (2) As suggested by H. Garpoz, “La cosmologie celtique”.

294

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

earth (Job 9, 6; Ps 75, 4) and heaven (Job 26, 11). This presumably is the source drawn upon by the early HibernoLatin hymn Altus Prosator (L&S § 580), which also mingles spherical-earth and flat-earth imagery when it speaks of the globus terrae as being supported “by columns like bars” (columnis uelut uectibus) ('). For specifically fiery pillars beneath the earth we must turn to the apocrypha; TB’s allusion could for instance have been abstracted from some such passage as the following in 1 Enoch: “I saw the cornerstone of the earth; I saw the four winds

which bear the earth as well as the firmament of heaven. I saw how the winds ride the heights of heaven and stand between heaven and earth: These are the very pillars of heaven... And I saw a deep pit with heavenly fire on its pillars; I saw inside them descending pillars of fire [v.l. heavenly pillars of fire] that were immeasurable (in respect to both) altitude and depth (J Enoch 18, 2SAb) Cy A somewhat

more straighforward description is given in

the Coptic Mysteries of Saint John:

“And I said unto the Cherubim, “What is it that supporteth the earth?’

And

the

Cherubim

said

unto

me,

‘It is

four pillars which support the earth, and they are sealed

with seven seals’ (°).” Why there should be nine pillars is unclear to me. Four is the most widely attested number (suggesting that .iiii. may have been miscopied as .uliii. at some point in the text’s transmission), but others are attested: thus Louis Ginzberg cites various Jewish sources for the reckonings of 1, 3, 4, 7,

(1) J. H. Bernarp - R. Atkinson, The Irish Liber hymnorum, vol. 1, p. 76. (2) E. Isaac, “1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, p. 22-23; on knowledge

of 7 Enoch

Anglo-Saxon

Literary

in insular tradition Culture,

p. 8-9;

also

see F. M. Biaas, J. Carey,

Sources of

“Angelology

in

Saltair na Rann”. (3) E. A. W. Bupae, Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt, p. 204.

29,4-6 — 32

295

and 12 ('). Other instances of the number in TB, besides several references to the nine angelic orders, are the nine excisions of Philip’s tongue (10,9-10), and the nine winds which rouse the heavenly sea (32,7). 29,6-10 leath. —

Criss an

aurlasair

airechta

domuin

... for cach

“A radiant zone, the noble flame of the world ... in

all directions.” I understand this passage to reflect two doctrines concerning the zones: that the heat of the torrid zone is the source of the earth’s fertility; and that the clash of heat and cold in the temperate zones is the cause of diseases. I can however suggest no source for either view, and indeed both seem to contradict the usual teaching concerning these regions; thus in his own discussion of the zones Martianus Capella states that “the middle [zone], parched (torridata) with flames and searing airs, burned up the living things which approached it; but the other two [zones], tempered (temperatae) with the breath of a life-giving breeze, bestowed a habitation upon animals” (De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii 6, 602) (°). 32 I know of no direct parallel for this conception of three cosmic

seas,

subterranean,

terrestrial,

and

celestial.

Some-

thing roughly comparable does occur in the poem Duan in Choitcat Cest, where a query as to the three “wells” (fopair) which suck up the sea is answered by a gloss containing the phrase Astrafons in caelo, Marefons in mare, Indefons in terra (§ 7) °): as Charles D. Wright and Frederick M. Biggs point out however in an unpublished draft edition of the Duan, these three locations for the three wells are not specified in any of this passage’s Hiberno-Latin and other analogues. I think it very possible that the three seas are an invention of the TB author himself, drawing on the repertoire of cosmological lore available in early medieval Ireland. (1) L. Ginzpura, The Legends of the Jews, vol. 5, p. 12 and 45; vol. 6,

p. 104-105. (2) A. Dick, Martianus Capella, p. 298, 4-7. (3) K. Meyer, “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”,

(1903), p. 235.

ZCP

4

296

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

For various details in the description of the subterranean sea (32,2-4) cf. § 66, where hellish seas of fire are said to lie beneath the earth (66,3-5), and warriors are described as crying out against a monster in terms similar to those found

here (fris’ ngairet glenn inna pian, 66,11). I shall argue below (p. 338-353) that much of § 66 reflects the apocryphon upon

which

TB

is based;

and

this may

have

been

the au-

thor’s main source here as well. On the other hand he could easily have derived his description from Biblical references to the abyssus beneath the earth (Gen 49, 25; Ps 24, 2; cf. Isidore, Etym. the Flood luded

13, 20, 1), whose fontes burst forth to cause

in Genesis

to in Psalm

7, 11 (cf. 8, 2), and

42, 7 and

Habbakuk

whose

3, 10. He

uoz may

is alalso

have been thinking of the seas of torment which figure in the vision literature ('). The

salt

sea,

encircling

the

earth

and

moved

by

tides

(32,4-6), is of course simply the sea proper. The mention of its casting up “many fruits” (ilforad) is an example of a theme

prominent

elsewhere

in

Irish

and

Hiberno-Latin

sources: cf. e.g. Audacht Morainn § 20 (?), the Hisperica Famina (*), DIL s.v. “muir” and “torad” (*) and also Liber de ordine creaturarum (°), where a phrase fructus maris corresponding to Irish muirthorad may lie behind the formulation munificentia suorum [scil. maris| fructuum. Most mysterious is the “flaming sea” (lasarmhuir) in the heavens (32,6-13). Various approximate analogues can be proposed without much difficulty, such as the “sea of glass like crystal” (mare uitreum simile crystallo) in Revelation 4,6; 15, 2; the “vast ocean, much bigger than the earthly ocean”

located in the first heaven in 2 Enoch 3, 3 (°); the abundance of water suspended in the first heaven in the Testament

of Levi 2, 4 (); or the snow-white

“Acherusian

(1) £.g. H. R. Parcu, The Other World, p. 84.108.109. (2) F. KELLv, Audacht Morainn, p. 6. (3) M. W. Herren, Hisperica Famina, p. 94, 404-407; L&S § 325.

(4) DIL, col. 194, 72-77 and 253, 60-63. (5) M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum, p. 148, 24-25. (6) F. ANDERSEN, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, p. 110. (7) H. C. Kee, “Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs”, p. 788.

32 — 33-34

297

lake” in the third heaven in Visio Sancti Pauli (22) ('). The most suggestive parallels of which I am aware occur however

in Liber

de ordine

creaturarum;

and

I suspect

that

it

was from the intellectual milieu represented by this work that the author drew most of the details of his description. According to TB the third sea is fiery, is situated “in the heavens” (asna nimib), is stirred by winds and the singing of

angels, and itself produces both music and thunderous noise. In pseudo-Isidore’s account of the “upper waters” one possible reason which is proposed for their existence is “so that they might temper the fiery heat (igneum ... calorem) which burns in the luminaries and the stars” (*); the waters themselves,

situated

above the firmament,

beneath

the

spiritual

heavens

and

are said to be located “between both

heavens” (inter utrosque caelos) (*) so that they divide the realm of the angels from the rest of physical existence; and the scriptural text chosen to clarify their position in the cosmos

is Psalm

148, 4: “Let the waters which

are above

the heavens praise the name of the Lord” (Aquae quae super caelos sunt, laudent nomen Domini) (*). Here, as elsewhere in TB,

none

of the correspondences

is exact but their number

seems nonetheless significant; I take it that the author was embellishing his recollections rather than consulting any text directly. 32,10 Nochobo

lan acht dia domnaig —

“It is never

full

save on Sunday”. Cf. 39,2-3 Do-snai forlan i ndomnach do grés — “It always wells up to the brim on Sunday”; also the commentaries on § 39 and 68,13-16 below, p. 302 and 357-358. 33-34

These

four

seem

seas

to be related

to the four

landmarks bounding “the east of the world” in § 5 above; they are

situated

on

however

the borders

of a larger area,

“around the edges of the earth on every side”. (1) T. SILvERSTEIN — A. HILHorst, Apocalypse of Paul, p. 118-119; cf. F. Bovon — P. GEOLTRAIN,

Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1, p. 803.

(2) M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Liber de ordine creaturarum, p. 104, 47-48.

(3) Ibid., p. 102, 26-27. (4) Ibid., p. 100, 12 — 102, 2.

298

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

33,2-4 Muir dherg ... eter tire Egipt a tire India — “A red sea ... between the lands of Egypt and India”. This is evidently the Red Sea, mentioned as the Muir Ruad

marking

the western

limits of the East at 5,2. Isidore

(Etym. 13, 17, 2-3) describes the red colour of its water, and further asserts that “because its shores;

of this, red gems

for a pebble covered

it is rubbed

in earth

are found

on

of that sort, when

by the sand, has the colour of the land and sea”

(ob hoc etiam in his litoribus gemmae rubrae inuentuntur; lapillus etiam eiusmodi humo inuolutus cum inter arenas attritus est, et terrae colorem habet et maris).

33,4-5 Muir gel gemnech co ndath snechtai, tuaid im innsib Sab... —

“A roaring white

sea the colour of snow,

in the

north among the islands of Sab...” Cf. the insti Sabairnd at 5,3, and the remarks on the name at that point in the commentary. I can suggest no external

source for the details of its description: the “colour of snow” seems a natural extrapolation from its location in the farthest north, while the height of its waves reflects a fondness for descriptions of extravagant tidal phenomena evidenced also at 32,9-10 and 34,2-7.

33,6-9 Muir nemhthonnach dhub dano, fo dhath deged... — “A sea with poison waves, black as a beetle...” This appears to correspond to the Dead Sea (Muir Marb 5,2-3). With the statement that it is poisonous cf. Isidore’s testimony that it “produces nothing living, nor does it receive any sort of living thing” (nihil gignit uiuum, nihil recipit ex genere uiuentium; Etym. 13, 19, 3); that no ships can escape from it may have been suggested by his observation that “it cannot be sailed upon, for it swallows up into the depths all things lacking life; nor will it support any material if it is not coated with gypsum” (neque nauigationis patiens est, quia omnia uita carentia in profundum mergitur, nec materiam lustratur; ibid.).

ullam sustinet, nisi quae bitumine in-

33,8 oenshes: This is to the best of my knowledge the only attestation of this term. Stokes rendered it “one boat”, taking the second element ses to mean “a boat, properly a

33,2-4 — 33,8-9

299

bench or rower’s seat in a boat”; but the meaning is surely that it is a boat with only a single bench, i.e. the smallest boat possible. Jonathan

Wooding

notes that Dicuil speaks

of islands north of Britain being reached by a priest in “a two-benched boat” (duorum nauicula transitorum), and cites references to a seven-benched vessel in Senchus Fer nAlban and “O’Davoren’s Glossary” (uir sese, .uii.sesach; the latter also speaks of a .u.sesach, CIH 1483,31). Of the present passage, J. Wooding observes: “I would story

suggest that this is a reference to the same

as in the

third

voyage

of Cormac

and

Jmmram

Curaig Ua Corra. This seems to support an impression which I have had that the enumeration of either hides or benches in the order of one to three is in some cases synonymous in indicating a small craft used for penance. It is also possible, however, that denses is a mishearing of denseiched — they are certainly easily conflated by the

ear (').” To my own mind, this last hypothesis is rendered unnecessary by the generous range of examples of compounds in -ses and -sesach which Wooding himself provides. The second recension adds the adjective umaidhe “of bronze”, recalling the bronze boats which appear in Otherworld contexts in such narratives as Vita Sancti Albei (°), Serglige Con Culainn (*) and Tochmarc Becfhola (§ 7) (’). Similar vessels occur in other traditions: cf. e.g. the golden

ship in Visio Sancti Pauli 23 (°). 33,8-9 7 cathu biastu ar-rancatar ann — “and [men] have found multitudes of monsters there”. Cf. Stokes: “And battalions of beasts (men) have found there”. The second recension, perhaps finding this statement obscure,

has replaced

(1) J. Woopine, (2) W. W. Heist,

(3) (4) (5) cf. F.

it with

Afá

inis arin

muir-sin

4 or a

“St. Brendan's Boat”, p. 86 and n. 57. Vitae sanctorum

Hiberniae,

p. 130-131.

M. Ditton, Serglige Con Culainn, line 152. M. Bureatunacn, “A New Edition of Tochmare Becfhola”, p. 73. T. SILvERSTEIN — A. HiLnorst, Apocalypse of Paul, p. 120-121; Bovon — P. GEoLTRAIN, Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1, p. 803.

300

THE

EVERNEW

gaineam —

“There

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

is an island in that sea and its sand is

gold”. Cf. the golden sands of the streams of Nabuan, § 41 below.

at

34 With the islands of Ebian here cf. the mountains of Abian at 5,2; on concern with the tides see the commentary on 33,4-5

above,

p. 298. The

meaning

of the final sentence

is not entirely clear; it seems however to reflect the widespread early notion that rivers are fed from the sea through subterranean channels (e.g. Etym. 13, 14, 3) (’). 35-39 Of the seventy-two springs mentioned in § 35, only four are described; comparable groupings of four jewels and four trees follow at § 43-47, 48-53. Lore concerning marvellous springs and wells was widely disseminated throughout the Middle Ages, with Pliny a frequent source (Naturalis historia 2, 227-232); in the present instance however I can find no close analogues to Pliny, and believe that the author was freely reworking material drawn from Isidore much as he did in the immediately preceding paragraphs. It will be noted that the Isidorean parallels which I propose for the four springs all occur within a few lines of one another in the Etymologtae. 35.4 Afaat:.;—— “There*are:..” Cf. atait QO,

ata Y. M however

reads:

a at-bert an

Tenga

B- an fhider sib a truadha 4 a lucht an meraighthi co fuilit — “And the Ever-new Tongue said: ‘Do you know, wretched folk and deluded

company,

that there are...” M has Philip

address his audience in similar terms subsequently in the text: 40,2-35 51,1 +.53,15 50.1 --57,1: 872.85 1.5-7.0-1M. Gl 57,13-14,

where

the address

a dhaine

truagha —

‘O wretch-

ed folk’ appears in all manuscripts of the second recension (apart from a daine alone in Y).

36 With the spring of Ebion, which changes colour three times

changes

a

day,

cf.

the

spring

of

Job

colour four times a year;

(1) Cf. J. K. Wriaut, The Crusades, p. 27-28.200-202.

Geographical

in

Idumaea,

which

in the latter case the

Lore

of the Time

of the

33,8-9 — 38

301

colours are “dusty” (puluerulentus), red (sanguineus), green (uiridis), and clear (limpidus) (Etym. 13, 13, 8). The change from four colours to three, and the substitution of white for

dusty and clear, may both reflect the prominence in Irish religious symbolism of the colour triad red — white — blue/green ('). I can make no specific suggestion concerning

possible sources for the effects attributed to drinking its water, unless the cure for insanity mentioned in the commentary on § 37 is its oblique inspiration. The curious reference at PH 1304 to a “spring of many colours” (¢opur co n-lumad datha), created by Saint George in order to baptise resurrected pagans, may echo our text; contrast the more conventional “spring of living water” (fopar usce bit), used for a similar purpose at PH 1338. 37 Cf. Etym.

13, 13, 4: “In Campania

there are waters

which are said to do away with sterility in women and insanity in men” (In Campania sunt aquae quae sterilitatem feminarum et uirorum insaniam abolere dicuntur). The next sentence describes a spring in Ethiopia; this may have suggested the African location of the spring of Assian. O replaces the statement that the spring’s waters grant fertility with the sentence Tibidh tara bruachuibh gacha domnaidh — “Jt spills over its brink every Sunday”. The scribe may have inadvertently skipped ahead to § 39, where

it is said of the spring of Sion that it is never full except on Sunday: note that O drastically abbreviates the latter passage, which it conflates with § 38.

38 I have not encountered the collocation of kin-slaying and idolatry in other Irish sources;

cf. however

47,5-6 be-

low. The statement that drinking the spring’s water brings on ferg “wrath” and escuinde “madness” probably reflects Isidore’s account of the Ethiopian fons rubrus mentioned in the commentary on § 37: whoever drinks of it becomes lymphaticus “rabid, frenzied, insane” (loc. cil.).

(1) See C. SrancuiFFE,

“Red, White and Blue Martyrdom”.

302

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

39 The descriptions of the spring of Sion here and of the nearby tree of Nathaben

at § 53 below have much in com-

mon, and some influence from the latter may be present in this paragraph. I take the primary source however to be Isidore’s description of springs and streams in Judaea: “The spring of Siloe at the foot of Mount Zion does not flow steadily, but at certain hours and days; in Judaea there was formerly a stream which used to dry up every Sabbath” (Fons Siloa ad radicem montis Sion non iugibus aquis, sed in certis horis diebusque ebullit; in Iudaea quondam riuus sabbatis omnibus siccabatur; Etym. 13, 13, 9). Thomas Hall has further

associated

our

passage

with

the

doctrine,

at-

tested in two Old English sermons which may themselves reflect

Irish influence,

that the Jordan

does

not

flow

on

Sundays (’). M adds several details on its own account: that the spring’s continuous flooding extends “from the beginning of the world until the Judgment” (0 thosach in domain co brach); that it is full of wine every Sunday (bi a lan fina gacha domnaigh innti); and that one who drinks from it is not only freed from sorrow but “is full of knowledge in striving after righteousness” (bt lan d’ecna ac cosnam na firinne). 40 The stream on the “island of punishments” which rises up against wrongdoers literature.

Thus

derives presumably

in Sibylline

Oracles

from the vision

2, 252-255

mention

is

made of “the blazing river and the unquenchable flame” through which only the righteous will pass unharmed (. In the Testament of Isaac 5, 21-25 appears a river of fire with “wisdom in its fire: it would not harm the righteous, but only the sinners by burning them” (*). A similar river is described in the Apocalypse of Peter 6 (*). For a flumen igneum in the Visio Sancti Pauli, a text whose presence in (1) T. N. Hair, “The Reversal of the Jordan”, p. 72-75. (2) J. J. Cotuins, “Sibylline Oracles”, p. 351. (3) E. P. Sanpers,

“Testaments

of the Three Patriarchs”,

p. 909.

(4) E. HENNECKE — W. SCHNEEMELCHER, New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, p. 672; cf. F. Bovon — P. GEOLTRAIN, Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1, p. 761-762; for evidence that this text was known

M. McNamara,

in Ireland see

The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, p. 107-108.

39 — 41 Ireland

is even

better attested,

303 see commentary

on 66,2-5

below, p. 340-342. In an eschatological fragment with pable but ill-defined Irish connections, a river of appears as a barrier to sinful souls in the fourth heaven Fis Adomnain, in a related description of purgatorial

palfire (’); as-

cent,

fifth

locates

such

rivers

in the

second,

fourth,

and

heavens (LU 2091-2099, 2106-2118). In specifying contrary to the consensus of such writings that the stream is of water, TB may be seeking to justify its inclusion in this section of the text;

note

however

that it is said in the second

re-

cension to have the heat of fire. Use of imm-cing “goes around” seems curious in this context. A possible analogue appears in the secular literature: the rising of the rivers Glais Chruind, Colptha, and Glais Gatlaig against the invading armies in Táin Bo Cuailnge, where the same verb con-éirig is used in all three cases, and the hosts are obliged to go around the streams by journeying to their sources (TBC Rec. I, 1000-1026). Alternatively there may be an echo of the legend of the origin of the Boyne here: Boand’s wrongful circumambulation of the well of Segais caused its waters to rise

against her and destroy her (’). M makes an extensive addition at this point: “‘And do you

know,

wretches’,

said he, ‘the nature

of the stream

of

torments? The water in it is seven times hotter than fire, and none frequent it save the souls of sinners, and the de-

mons who accompany them to torment them. And do you understand, wretches, how great is the torment of being in that stream continually?” (4 an fhider sib a truadha ar sé mar ald sr- na pian .i. uiscí co .uii. tes na tene-so ann a ni aithidhenn ann ucht anmanna na pecach 4 na demna bis ana comaidecht aca pianad 4 an tuicthi a truadha a mhél do pein beith isin sruth-sin do ghnath?).

41 Various rivers with golden sand were known to the ancients, the most famous probably being the Pactolus. In

(1) R. Baucxnam, “The Apocalypse of the Seven Heavens”, p. 153. (2) Thus LL 29706-29713; E. J. Gwynn, The Metrical Dindshenchas, vol. 2, p. 30.57-60; and cf. the commentary on § 58-60 below, p. 334-336.

304

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

the present instance, the combination of golden sand with red colour suggests the possible influence of Etym. 13, 21, 32-33: “The river Mineus in Galicia takes its name from the colour of a pigment found therein in great quantity... [The Tagus] is a river abundant in gold-bearing sand, and for that reason it takes precedence over the other rivers of Spain” (Mineus fluuius Galliciae nomen a colore pigmenti sumpsit, qui in eo plurimus inuenitur... [Tagus] fluuius harenis auriferis copiosus, et ob hoc ceteris fluutis Hispaniarum praelatus). Minium was a name given to two different red pigments, cinnabar and red oxide of lead. M,

following

conclusion

on

of the

Na(m)buan

from

its infernal

preceding

embellishment

paragraph,

to tsleibi na pian —

here

of the

alters

slébe

“mountain of torments”.

It

then strikes a contrasting note by adding “and with a melodious sound like the song of an angel” ( co fogur mbindesa mar ceol aingil) at the end of the paragraph.

42 Almost all of the elements in this description can be matched elsewhere in the text: the stream “resounds like thunder”

(formaid amal torainn;

cf. 32,9; 46,3) on the night

of Christ’s birth “in the lands of the Hebrews”

(i tirib Ebra;

cf. 56,3), and produces 365 songs (cf. 770 songs, 32,7-8; 72 songs

and

becomes

come

365

birds, 53,11-13).

speechless

from

heaven

Whoever

(cf. 38,3-4;

47,4);

(cf. 32,7-9;

perhaps

hears

the sound

its sounds

47,6-7).

seem

to

Although

the ultimate sources of many of these features are not clear, the absence of any unique material in this paragraph indicates that their use here is derivative. There are various innovations in the manuscripts of the second recension. Q, having begun by speaking like the other

witnesses

of the

“stream”

of Oliua

in the

singular,

unaccountably goes on to use the plural verbs tormaighit and do-maidetar; perhaps the scribe’s mind had slipped back to the four streams in the preceding paragraph. The reference

to Christ’s

passion in YOM.

birth

in LQ

Where

a reference

to his

Q states that the stream

becomes

bursts

forth again on the eve of Easter,

YOM

have

it subsiding at

that time: “its drying up again (?) on the night when he rose from the dead” (a f€rágud?;

a f aidchi ro erig

41 — 43-47

o marbaib)

305

Y, a do traidh an aidchi d’erigh 0 marbhaibh

—

“and it dried up on the night when he rose from the dead” O, 7 bí an lan-sin ann gusan uair mar éirigh Cr- 6 mharbh 4 turnaidh tar sin — “and it is full then until the hour when Christ rose from the dead, and it sinks down thereafter” M.

43-47 My remarks on these paragraphs will for the most part be based on an important article by Peter Kitson, in which

TB’s list of jewels is considered in the context of the

lapidary literature available in the British Isles in the early Middle Ages ('). Kitson argues that TB’s principal source for this section was the earliest surviving Latin recension of the Hellenistic lapidary attributed to the magician Damigeron; this version of the text appears to have been written in Italy in the late fifth or sixth century, and may

have

come

to England

in the seventh (*). TB has also

drawn upon one or more works in the mainstream of Latin literature for its information on gems: the likeliest source is Isidore, Etym. 16, 6-15, who based much of his own account

on the thirty-seventh book of Pliny’s Naturalis historia. Although the resemblances to Damigeron and Isidore are numerous and striking, they are not precise. The traits of the stones as given in TB differ in many details from what we

find

in the

earlier

works,

and

are

indeed

differently

grouped; nor, with the exception of adamant, are even the names the same. Kitson suggests that “some Irishman having read a text, most likely in England, remembered a cluster of details which had resonances with his native story-telling tradition, and passed them on by word of mouth

to compatriots

who

had less lore of stones than he”;

and he goes on to point out that the entries in Damigeron which seem to have contributed most to TB are bunched at the beginning of the text (*). This scenario is similar to that which I propose as an explanation for the peculiarities in

(1) P. Kitson, “The Jewels and Bird Hiruath of the ‘Ever-new Tongue”. (2) Ibid., p. 117; edition in E. Apgu, Orphei Lithica, p. 161-195. (3) P. Kitson, art. cit., p. 126. 339

306

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

many sections of TB: that they are the work of an author embroidering

upon

imprecise

memories

of a wide range

of

sources. Perhaps the most intriguing section in Kitson’s article is that

dealing

with

his

discovery,

in

the

twelfth-century

English manuscript London, British Library, Royal 6.A.zi, of a rendering into Latin of § 43-47 and 57 of our text ‘pt Below I present Kitson’s edition, which I have collated with

the manuscript; the translation is my own. De quatuor generibus preciosorum

lapidum.

Quatuor sunt preciosorum lapidum genera [cf. 43]; unum quorum est in India, nomine adamas. Hic si fuerit in niue aut frigore numquam potest frigidus esse, et st circumdaretur igne calidior non fit. Si percutiatur malleis, nichil

aliud ex illo uenit nisi sanguis, et ille sanguis multum prodest infirmitatibus multis. Quicumque illum habuerit in manu aut in comitatu aut in bello, non potest quis eum superare [cf. 44]. De absen lapide. Est alius lapis in figura gemme, absen nomine, in regione Abarht, qui in nocte tenebrosa in similitudine lucerne [.i. candele above line] lucet. Ille et uirus sumul in uno loco habitare non possunt. Si serpens illum uiderit, statim moritur. Et si quis uenenum biberit et prope adstans fuerit, si illum inuenerit, cito a ueneno liber erit. Virus enim cum illo habitare non potest [cf. 45]. De ysten lapide. Alius lapis esi in regione Libie, isten nomine.

Ille in cerebris draconum

inuenitur.

Si ignis non

fuerit, calefacit aquas in quibus eicitur quantum sufficiat illi qui aquam calidam facere uoluerit. Si per agros portafur, in gemita

murmurat

quasi

uocem

tonitrui;

in estate

uocem aquarum multarum aut uenatorum [leg. uentorum] affert. Qui hunc habuerit in nocte lumine lucerne |.i. candele above line] non indiget [cf. 46]. De fuus lapide. Alius lapis, fuus nomine, in regione Eulau in flumine Dar tinuenitur. Et sunt in illo imagines .xii. stellarum,

et unus

circulus

est lucens

in circuitu

eius, et

uirga ignis quasi lumen solis in latus eius. Hic in corda

(1) Ibid., p. 127-130.

43-47

draconum

manu

sepe

inuenitur.

nullo modo

307

Quicumque

illum

habuerit

loqui potest nisi eiecerit eum.

in

Omnes

homines totius mundi non possent eum portare super uirum

qui fecit homicidium uel qui adorauerit idolum. In gallicantu canticum cantat cui simile in hoc mundo non est [cf. 47]. De herodio. Auis est magna magnitudine, herodius nomine, in regione Indie. Umbre illius magnitudo guando alas suas extendit continet spacium

trium dierum deambu-

latione equi. Quando uolat in litus maris montes arena. In illis montibus oua sua eicit, et sol quousque ex eis aues fiunt. Et dimidio oui ipsius in quo nauigare possunt lax. uiri cum armis suis

facit de calefacit fit nauis [cf. 57].

“Concerning the four kinds of precious stones “There

are

named

adamant,

cold

four kinds

it could

of precious

is in India.

never

be

cold,

stones;

If this were and

one

of which,

in snow

if it were

or in

surrounded

with fire it would not be any hotter. If it be beaten with hammers nothing comes from it but blood, and that

blood is a great help to many illnesses. Whoever should have

it in his hand,

on

a hosting

or in battle,

no

one

is

able to overcome him. “Concerning the stone absen. There is another stone in the form

of a gem,

named

absen,

in the region of Abarht,

which shines in the dark night like a lantern (i.e. a candle). It and poison cannot be together in a single place. If a serpent

should

see

it, it dies

immediately.

And

if

anyone were to have drunk poison and were standing nearby, if he should find it, he will speedily be free of the poison. For poison cannot abide together with it. “Concerning the stone ysten. There is another stone in the region of Libya, named isfen. It is found in the brains of dragons.

If there

should

be no

fire, it heats

the water

into which it is cast as much as the one who wants to heat water might wish. If it is carried through fields, it

murmurs in gemita as if (it made) the sound of thunder; in summer it makes the noise of many waters, or of winds. Whoever might have this stone in the night does not need a lantern (i.e. a candle).

308

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

“Concerning the stone fuus. Another stone, named fuus, is found in the region of Eulau in the river Dar. And there

are in it the images of the twelve stars, and a single circle shining around it (?), and a rod of fire like the light of the sun in its side. This is often found in the heart of dragons. Whoever should have it in his hand cannot speak at all unless he casts it away. All the men in the world

would

not be able to carry it above

a man

who

commits murder or who would worship an idol. At cockcrow it sings a song like nothing in the world. “Concerning the herodius. There is a bird of great size named herodius in the region of India. The greatness of its shadow when it spreads its wings takes up the distance of three days’ journey on horseback.

When

it flies

it makes mountains of sand on the shore of the sea. It lays its eggs in these mountains, and the sun warms them until birds hatch from them. And from half of one of its eggs a ship is made in which seventy men can sail together with their arms.”

As Kitson has noted, the Latin appears to be a rendering of the Irish rather than vice versa ('). That TB is closer to Damigeron

than

is the

Royal

manuscript

will

appear

in

more detail below (especially p. 310); there are also passages in the latter which reflect an imperfect understanding of the Irish source. Thus in the description of adamant the phrase nichil aliud ex illo uenit nisi sanguis represents a resegmentation of the sentences ending ...ni therbrui ni de fris and beginning Acht fuil ind uain... (44,4); in the description of absen the clumsy clause et prope adstans fuerit may be based on ara chind 45,3; and in the description of isten the gibberish

pears

in gemita,

(pace

Kitson,

syntactically

who of

parallel to in estate, ap-

reads gemita

ingemita,

unattested

synonym

ngaimhriud

46,3. Other divergences from

an

“groanings”)

TB

otherwise to

echo

may

i

reflect

further misunderstandings, or else deliberate innovation, at one or another point in the evolution of the text. That

(1) P. Kirson, Tongue”, p. 130.

“The

Jewels

and

Bird

Hiruath

of the

‘Ever-new

43-47

309

sections of an Irish text should be rendered into Latin is unusual and indeed difficult to parallel. This is particularly the case since the redactor appears to have been an English cleric of the twelfth century, a time when the official contempt of the English hierarchy for the peculiarities of Irish culture was acute and outspoken;

monastic em

poeta,

“Hic

qui

Brendani

uitam

uult

cf. e.g. the podescribere”,

a

savage denunciation of the Brendan legend in an English manuscript of the eleventh or early twelfth century (’). The version of TB used by the Thus si circumdaretur igne is closer grisaib fair — “though there is a upon it” 44,2-3 than to ce curthir a be placed in fire” in the second

redactor was close to L. to cia thoiter do thentib a rain of fire and embers tinid et v.l. — “though it recension (this phrase is

omitted by Q); only L and the Royal text mention blood in

connection with adamant; the reference to isten being carried per agros may echo the phrase dar fire “across the lands”

46,3,

found

only

in L; the

second

recension

has

nothing comparable to Royal’s nisi eiecerit eum, L’s nocon rala uad —

“until he puts it from him”

47,4; and cui simile

in hoc mundo non est renders L’s dina frith cosmailius fo nimh — “to which nothing under heaven can be compared” (47,7) not the comparison of the stone’s song to the heavenly choir in the second recension. On the other hand, as Kitson

points out (°°), the Latin agrees in some respects with the second recension against L: in estate is equivalent to that version’s

a samradh

“in summer”,

not to L’s i cetemon

“on

May Day” 46,4; and in the description of herodius/hiruath L has nothing comparable to umbrae illius magnitudo quando alas suas extendit, while Q for instance reads fosccud a eitedh

in tan sgailes uadha iat — “the shade of its wings when it spreads them out”. The Royal text may therefore reflect a version

tion

of TB

and

the

manuscripts,

intermediary

exemplar

between

shared

the original composi-

by the

second

recension

or may perhaps preserve aspects of the source

(1) C. Plummer, Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. 2, p. 293-294; J. F. KENNEY, The Sources for the Early History of Ireland, p. 417. (2) P. Kitson, art. cit., p. 131.

310

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

on which both L and that exemplar drew. Some evidence in support of the latter hypothesis will be advanced at the end of the discussion of § 57 below, p. 332-333. 44 Isidore’s main entry on adamant characterizes it as an indicus lapis (Etym. 16, 13, 2, cf. 14, 3, 7); Damigeron says

that the best adamant comes from India ('). The statement that

adamant

cannot

be chilled,

heated,

or broken

with

axes or hammers looks like an elaboration of the same Isidorean passage: Hic nulli cedit materiae, nec ferro quidem nec igni, nec umquam incalescit (Etym., 16, 13, 2). Isidore goes on to say that adamant can only be broken with the aid of goat’s blood: Sed dum sit inuictus ferri ignisque contemptor, hircino rumpitur sanguine recenti et calido maceratus (Etym., 16, 13, 2; cf. Pliny, Naturalis historia 37, 57,59).

This

latter

doctrine

statement that adamant

appears

to be

reflected

in

TB’s

can only be broken by “the blood

of the lamb with the sacrifice” (fuil ind uain cosind edbairt, 44,4-5). Commenting on the change from goat to lamb Kitson observes that the earliest instance known

to him of

a Christological interpretation of the goat’s blood story occurs in Alcuin’s Aduersus

Elipandum

(PL 101, 287), and he

proposes that this is in fact the source on which TB drew: since “the detail from Alcuin can hardly have taken its present form before fairly late in the ninth century”, this would tend to corroborate the traditional view that TB was written in the tenth century (“). One purportedly early example, in a treatise De duplici martyrio attributed to Cyprian of Carthage, is not valid as evidence, as it has been shown that this work was forged by Erasmus in the sixteenth century (°°). But even if no preCarolingian source can be identified, the symbolic equation of scapegoat and sacrificial lamb could easily have occurred

to different writers independently: thus the arguably Hiberno-Latin Commentarius in euangelium Marci (",

(1) E. ABEx, Orphei Lithica, p. 166. (2) P. Kirson, “The Jewels and Bird Hiruath Tongue”, p. 120 & 136. (3) F. OnLv, Diamant und Bocksblut, p. 77-78. (4) L&S 345; seventh century?

of the

‘Ever-new

43-47 — 44

speaking of the goat sacrificed

ot

on the Day of Atonement,

remarks uf agnus occiditur ('). The bulk of the paragraph can accordingly be explained in terms of the tradition represented by Isidore; the final sentence however seems to reflect the discussion of adamant in Damigeron:

Hunc

lapidem

domitum

... porta, et inuictum

nibus superbis hominibus dolosus. “Carry

te praestabit et in-

aduersus inimicos et hostes et maleficos et ab om-

this

stone,

and

quia efficieris uniuersis formi-

it will

cause

you

to stand

forth

unconquered and unsubdued against enemies and foes and evildoers, and by all proud men, for you will be

made terrible to all (*).” As Kitson observes, the general resemblance to Damigeron is not borne out in detail: there is no reference to kings,

no specific reference to battle, and nothing about holding the stone in the right hand. The holding in the right hand appears to be an innovation, as Damigeron’s usual instructions are to bind a magical jewel to the left arm; but the other two elements occur together in the very next entry, that devoted to the stone memnonius: Laudant eum multi reges: experti sunt eum aduersus hostes et ad ualidas pugnas — “Many kings praise it, for they have used it against enemies and in victorious battles” (°).

M embellishes the second recension’s version of this paragraph with some further ideas, which it applies not to adamant (which it does not name) but to all four of the precious stones. Rather than it being the stones which do not suffer from cold, it is “the folk who are carrying them,

even though they were stark naked” (an lucht aca mbitt ar imchar cia beitis tarrnocht); and the scribe adds that “there is no weapon in the world which would wound the one who possesses them” (ni fhuil ar bith arm dergus arinti aca mbit). (1) PL 30, 636; Thes. vol. 1, p. 492; on the text see B. BiscHorr, “Turning-Points in the History of Latin Exegesis in the Early Middle Ages”, p. 129-131.

(2) E. ABEL, Orphei Lithica, p. 166.

fid

16.

312

THE

45 With Abian

EVERNEW

the names

5,2, Ebian

TONGUE:

hibien

34,1, Ebion

and

COMMENTARY

Hab

compare

perhaps

36,1, Ebia 75,1. Kitson

pro-

poses that hibien and Hab represent corruptions respectively of abeston < asbestos and Biblical Arphad (Jerome’s Arpharth), better preserved in the absen and Abarht of the Royal text.('). This possibility cannot be rejected out of hand; but since these derivations would if correct be wholly arbitrary, and there is no evident reason for preferring the forms in the Royal version,

I am uncomfortable about using

these readings as the basis for extrapolation here. The stone’s first trait, that of giving light at night as if it were

a candle,

from

traditions

is as Kitson about

the

notes

almost

carbuncle;

certainly

thus

derived

Isidore

states

Carbunculus autem dictus quod sit ignitus ut carbo, cuius fulgor nec nocte uincitur; lucet enim in tenebris adeo ut flammas ad oculos uibret “Carbuncle is so called because it is fiery like a coal (carbo), its radiance not even succumbing

to the

night, for it shines in the shadows so that it shoots its flames as far as the eye” (Etym. 16, 14, 1, elaborating on Pliny, Naturalis

historia 37, 92-98).

It is more difficult to make any specific suggestions regarding hibien’s powers of thwarting poisons and destroying snakes. Many precious stones were traditionally believed to protect against poison in various ways: thus Damigeron writes of one which identifies poisoners (7), two which cure snakebite (*), and a fourth which drives away snakes (Ó). Kitson suggests however that the idea of spilling poisons may echo the phrase uenena parata ... expellit in Damigeron’s description of memnonius (°) — a particularly attractive possibility given the apparent influence of memnonius on TB’s account of the adamant (see commentary on § 44 above, p. 311).

(1) P. Kirson, “The Jewels and Bird Tongue”, p. 134-135. (2) E. ABex, Orphei Lithica, p. 164.

(B)albidS P7777. (4) Ibid., p. 179. (5) Ibid., p. 167.

Hiruath

of the

‘Ever-new

45 — 46

313

46 Kitson is again surely correct in seeing as the model for istien (and for fanes below) the dracontites or “dragonstone”, said by Isidore to be extracted a cerebro draconis ('). Isidore says that the stone must be taken from the dragon’s head while the latter is still living, a statement lacking in the second recension of TB and in the Royal text, and directly contradicted by L: I take Ls .i. iarna mbas “i.e. after their death” to be a secondary insertion, but perhaps it should be seen as the original author’s direct reaction to the

doctrine of his source. I can propose no explanation for the name istien (or for fanes), any more than for hibien above, apart from noting the similarity of hibien and fanes to exotic names which occur

elsewhere

in the text;

cf. also perhaps

the word

nis-

tien in the angelic language (55,2; 64,2). The use of such names is all the more perverse given that Irish had borrowed the Latin words for carbuncle and dragon-stone into its own vocabulary (°). It is hard to avoid the impression of deliberate mystification here. The remainder of the paragraph, as Kitson has shown, is based on Damigeron’s description of heliotrope (immediately preceding the treatment of adamant and memnontus): Missus enim in peluem argenteam aqua plenam et positam contra solem, uertit eum et facit quasi sanguineum et obscurum... Continuo enim peluis incipiet aquam confundere, furbidus ut aer cum tonitruis et fulgoribus et pluuiis et procellis, adeo ut etiam imperiti potentia lapidum terreantur et conturbentur. “Being placed in a silver basin full of water, and set opposite the sun, it changes it and makes it seem bloody and dark... For the basin begins constantly troubling the water,

so

that

it is turbid

like air with

thunders

and

lightnings and rains and storms, so much so that even the ignorant are frightened and upset at the power of the

stones” (°).

(1) Etym.

16, 14, 7; cf. Pliny, Naturalis historia 37, 158.

(2) See DIL s.v. “carmocol”, “dracon”, “draconda”. (3) E. ABEL, Orphei Lithica, p. 165.

314

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

The silver vessel has disappeared in TB, and several other significant changes are readily apparent; but the concatenation of immersion in water, consequent turbulence of the water, and thunder and violent winds is present in the same sequence in both texts. To

the

statement

that

the

stone

illuminates

water,

M

adds an account of its use in fishing: “And every fish and living creature which is in those streams is gathered together around them, so that they are killed at their pleasure by the folk themselves; and day and night are equally bright for the one who carries or possesses it” (4 fimaircer cach uile iasc 4 ainmidhi beo bis isna srothaib-sin ina timcill fein co marbtar iat fa thoil na ndzine fein 4 is comsolus la 4 oidhqi donti imchuires hi nó aca mbia). 47 With the name fanes cf. Fones at 81,1 (cf. p. 371). Kitson suggests that the region of Aulol (Royal Eulau) may be a version of the Euila of Genesis 2,11-12, source of gold, bdellium,

and

an attractive

onyx;

the association

feature

with

of this suggestion,

precious stones

although

is

the sim-

ilarity of the names themselves is not great. The statement that fanes is found in the hearts of dragons is evidently merely a doublet of the dragon brains in § 46 above. The

doctrine

that twelve

stars, the moon,

and

the sun

can be seen in the side of fanes is associated by Kitson with an apparently corrupt reference to the twelve zodiacal signs

in Damigeron’s discussion of the magnet ('). To me this resemblance

appears

rather tenuous,

especially as I am

also

sceptical with regard to his other suggested instance of the magnet’s influence on fanes (see below). The moon and sun were more probably inspired by something like Isidore’s description of the solis gemma, so called because it shines like the sun, juxtaposed with the selenites, imaginem conlinens lunae (Etym. 16, 10, 6-7); the reference to stars may have been inspired by the example of the gems of sun and

moon, by accounts of gems with internal points of light (use of stella in this sense having been taken over by Isidore

(1) P. Kirson, “The Jewels and Bird Hiruath of the Tongue”, p. 125; cf. E. ABEL, Orphei Lithica, p. 185.

‘Ever-new

46— 47 iromsPhny,thus-Higm.

16, 7,12;

315 40,3513.

73''15;, 26)or

by a combination of these factors. I cannot propose any clear parallel in earlier sources for the idea that anyone holding fanes cannot utter a falsehood; but Kitson’s suggestion that it was elaborated on the basis of the statement Qui hunc lapidem gerit, numquam decipitur — “Whoever carries this stone is never deceived”, again in Damigeron’s description of heliotrope ('), is an attractive one. Damigeron does not, however, give us anything which can readily be compared with the stone’s refusal to enter the house of a kin-slayer or idolater; the use of the magnet to test a wife’s fidelity, adduced

by Kitson, differs from the account

of fanes in almost every respect (?). Earlier in TB the spring of Seon is said to seethe at the approach of a kin-slayer or idolater (38,1-2): here the connection is obvious, but I do not

know which passage has influenced the other. Finally, Damigeron’s statement that the heliotrope uaticinatur et praenuntiat futura per fluuios perennes et uocaliter per carmina (“prophesies and foretells future things through ever-flowing streams, and vocally through songs”) may have inspired TB’s description of the incomparable music of fanes at matins (°). Elsewhere in TB there are descriptions of a singing spring (42,4) and a singing tree (53,11-13);

certain

stars sing at dawn (68,14), as do the angels (27,10-11; 32,12-13; 64,8). A singing stone appears in the voyage tale

Immram Brain (‘): Do-fet in sloag tar muir nglan, don tir don-aidbri imram; im-rat íarom dond liic léur

asa comérig cét céul. Canaid airfitiud dont shlog tre bithu sir, nadbi trog;

(1) E. ABex, Orphei Lithica, p. 165. (2) P. Krrson, “The Jewels and Bird

Hiruath

of the

‘Ever-new

Tongue”, p. 125-126. (3) E. ABEL,

ibid.; P. Kitson,

art. cit., p. 124.

(4) Text from S. Mac Maruona, Jmmram Brain, p. 36, modified with reference to L. BREATNACH, Review of S. Mac Matruuna, Immram

Brain, in Celtica 20 (1988), p. 181-182.

316

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

tormaid céol co corib cét,

ní frescat aithbe na éc. “The host crosses the pure sea to the land which

rowing reveals;

then they row to the vigorous (?) stone from which arise a hundred songs. “Tt sings music which is not sad to the host, age after age;

the song roars with choirs of hundreds, they do not expect decline or death.” Could these verses also reflect a knowledge of lapidaries? Dragon-stones are referred to elsewhere in the same text (’).

It is interesting, incidentally, to find tormaid used again here of the noise made

by a stone;

cf. 46,4 above.

M changes “idolatry” to “adultery” (adhaltrannais), perhaps seeing this as more of a moral threat to a contemporary audience; at the end of the paragraph, it adds “and everyone around the one who will possess it will moreover be loving” (4 bidh gradach cach en imonti aca mbia si fos). 48 This paragraph is absent from the second recension. It

is noteworthy that in L it is entirely in Latin: the second recension,

which

otherwise

renders

nearly all of the Latin

surviving in L into Irish, may have eliminated it on that account.

49,2-3 ital ceitri craind dib-som amal

bethaid

aingel —

“there

are

i tomnaiter anim 4 cial four

of those

trees

in

which it is thought that there are soul and intelligence like the life of angels”. This may simply be a doublet based on § 43 above, where

it is stated that there are four precious stones “with the intelligence and semblance of humans” (co ceil 4 chosmailius doine). Alternatively, the derivation may have been in the opposite direction: I can suggest no external source for § 43,

and the idea of angelic trees appears to have been current

(1) S. Mac Matuuna,

Immram Brain, p. 35, 43: dracoin, ail dracoin.

47 — 50-53

317

in Gnostic circles. Thus the treatise Baruch written by the Gnostic Justin is said by Hippolytus to have allegorically interpreted the trees of Eden as angels ('); while the Coptic

Gnostic Pistis Sophia speaks repeatedly of the existence of “five trees” in the celestial hierarchies, and has Jesus state

that he dictated “the two books of Jet” to Enoch “when I spoke with him from the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life in Adam’s Paradise” (?). The righteous are identified with the trees of Paradise in the Psalms of Solomon (14, 3-4) (Ó and the Odes of Solomon (11, 18-19) (ó). Instead of simply attributing human intelligence to the trees like the other manuscripts of the second recension, M describes them as existing “with the intelligence and with the appearance of a person on their leaves” (co céill 4 co ndeilb duine ara nduillib). 50-53 These four paragraphs may to a great extent be considered

as a single unit,

as many

features

recur

with

only slight variation at more than one point in the sequence: the trees bear fruit several times a year (50,1-4; 51,5-6;

53,6-7),

they

heal

disorders

of the

mind

(50,4-5;

52,5-6) and body (50,6-7; 52,2-3; 53,7-9), their fragrance extends many days’ journey (51,6-8; 52,3-4). The general tenor of these descriptions is so commonplace that it might seem futile to seek specific sources for individual details; two legendary trees in particular do, however, seem to have exercised a strong influence on this section. These are the Tree of Life, as described in Genesis 3, 22 and Revelation 22, 2; and the Eó Mugna, known from several Irish sources of which the oldest to survive is the tale Airne Fingein Ó):

(1) Refutatio

omnium

haeresium

5,

21;

J.

H.

“The

McManon,

Refutation of All Heresies by Hippolytus”, p. 186. (2) C. Scumipt, Pistis Sophia, p. 247. (3) R. B. Wricut, “Psalms of Solomon”, p. 663. (4) J. H. CHARLESWORTH,

“Odes of Solomon”,

p. 745.

(5) J. VenprRYES, Áirne Fingein, p. 4-5; cf. further W. SToKEs, “The Edinburgh

Dindshenchas”,

p. 485;

IDEM,

“The

Prose

Tales

in

the

Rennes Dindsenchas”, RC 15 (1894), p. 419; 1nem, “The Prose Tales in the Rennes Dindsenchas”, RC 16 (1895), p. 278; E. J. Gwynn, The Metrical Dindshenchas,

vol. 3, p. 144-146;

the Manor of Tara”, p. 138-140.150.

R. I. Best,

“The

Settling of

318

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Crann fil fo dichleith ó aimsir na dilenn i nErinn 4 docuirethar téora frossa toraid tria chéo, comba lan a mmag forsa ta fo thrí dia dairmes; 4 in tan do-fuit in derco dédenach de, is and do-toet bláth na dercan totsigi fair; 4 ro shoerastar in diliu cen mannrad, 4 ntro derc rosc mac dunt fair cosinnocht. Mugna a ainm in chraind-sin ..., mac in chraind a parrdus. “A tree which is under concealment since the time of the Flood

in Ireland,

and

it sheds

three

showers

of fruit

through a mist, so that the plain on which it is is full of its acorns

thrice. And

when

the last acorn

falls from it,

the blossom of the first acorn comes upon it. And the Flood spared it without injury, and the eye of no son of man has seen it until tonight. Mugna is the name of that tree ..., the son of the tree from

Paradise.”

The analysis below will refer primarily to these Biblical and native texts. 50,1 1 comruc Ior a Dan —

“at the confluence of the lor

and Dan”. The idea that the river Jordan flows from two streams named lor and Dan appears in many sources: Stokes notes that it may be found in Jerome ('), and it is alluded to in

the fragments of Irish exegesis which leaves

of

Paris,

Bibliotheque

survive on the fly-

nationale

de

France,

lat.

536 (?). Cf. the account in Isidore, Etym. 13, 21, 18: “The Jordan,

a river of Judaea,

of which cated

far

is named apart,

Jor and have

is named the other

come

from two springs, one Dan.

together

in

After these, a

single

lobed,

thenceforth it is called Jordan.”

50,1-4 Do-curidar tri toraid cacha bliadna. Torad ngelglas a torad toisech, derg a medonach, etracht a ndeiginach. In tan is apuid a cetna torad, is ann fhasas alaill asa blathaib — “(It) puts forth three fruits each year. The first fruit is bright green, that in the middle is red, the last is white.

(1) W. Sroxes, “The Evernew Tongue”, p. 162. (2) E. A. Lowe, “An Unedited Fragment of Irish Visigothic Script”, p. 3.

Exegesis

in

50-53 — 50,5-6

When

319

the first fruit is ripe, the next grows from its blos-

soms.”

For the notion of cf. the Eó Mugna in pecially the sentence blossom of the first

a tree bearing fruit three times a year the commentary on § 50-53 above, es“When the last acorn falls from it, the acorn comes upon it”. That the three

fruits should be green, red, and white seems however to be an echo of § 36, where the waters of Ebion are described as turning white, green, and red in the course of each day. The

statement that the fruit of Sames cures madness may similarly have been suggested by the account of Ebion: whoever drinks of it never laughs again. 50,5 do-rala ina chunn shlan — “has regained his right wits”. QYO all speak of an enhancement or preservation of mental faculties, rather than of their restoration: “he gains intelligence and memory and prudence” (ticc ciall 4 cuimni 4 comairle do) Q, “his intelligence comes to him” (tig a ciall do) Y, “he does not suffer a loss of intelligence” (ni bi easbhaidh ceille fair) O. M, again, is considerably more elaborate: “he would remember everything which he had heard and which

he would

hear,

even

if his memory

had

been

bad

before; and everyone who tastes the red fruit will not [need to] ask for his food and clothing for as long as he lives” (budh cumain leis gach ni da cuala 4 da cluinfed gémad olc a chuimne roime 4 gach én blaisis in torad derg ní bia atach a bidh na etaigh an gein mharas). 50,5-6 Nocho torchair duillí dhe o do-gnith. —

“No leaf has

fallen from it since it was made.” Cf. the Hiberno-Latin hymn Altus Prosator’s account of the Tree of Life: in a stanza drawing on both Genesis and Revelation,

it adds the detail that it never

sheds its leaves

(...cuius non cadunt folia | gentibus salutifera) (0).

(1) J. H. Bernarp - R. ATRINSON, The Irish Liber hymnorum, vol. 1, p. 78.90.

320

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

50,7 dicuridh a soethu dhe — him”.

COMMENTARY

“casts his sufferings from

The second recension adds that this cure takes place in-

stantaneously: “in no more than a blinking of the eye” (fri prapadh sula nama) Q, “at once” (fo.c.oir, a .c.oir YM) ('). To this account of the tree’s healing powers Y adds the phrase amair bradan — “like a salmon”: apparently a forerunner of the stock comparison chomh folláin leis an mbradán — “as healthy as the salmon” (’). 51,1-5 Crann bethadh ... bi tre bithu. — “The Tree of Life .. alive forever.” These two sentences closely follow Genesis 3, 22-23:

“Now

therefore, lest perhaps he should put out his hand

and take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, the

Lord God drove him out of the Paradise of delight.” After the first clause M adds the statement “and it would

be fitting to believe in the one who made it” (4 doba choir creidem donti do cruthaig é): this is somewhat premature, as the incredulity

of the hearers

is not

expressed

until § 54

below. 51,5-6 ligthorad

Da thorad dhec do-cuiretar in cach bliadain .i. cach mis. — “It puts forth twelve fruits every

year; that is, a bright fruit every month.” The source twelve

fruits,

is Revelation 22, 2: “The tree of life, bearing bringing

forth

its fruit each

month;

and

the

leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations.” The statement that its leaves have healing properties may have influenced

50,5-7

above:

leaves, and its shade

cures

the

tree

every

Sames

deformity

never

sheds

its

and sickness.

51,7-8 for-tugedar a foscudh — “its shade covers it”. For the last few words in the paragraph, M substitutes “The sound of its leaves is heard; and there is no music so

(1) On

the

phrase

fri prapad

sula,

which

recension at 55,3 and 89,6, see D. GREENE,

(2) E.g. Muimhneach,

AN

Seapuac

Dublin

[P.

Ó

1926, § 2445.

recurs

in the

“Jn momento,

SIOCHFHRADHA],

second

in ictu oculi”.

Seanfhocail

na

DOL bail

321

beautiful as that, praising the Creator” (do-cluinter fogur a dhuille a ni fhuil ceól is combinn ris ac adhmolad an Duilemon). 52,1 Sab: marks

in the

For the name, commentary

cf. 33,5 and 94,17 and the reon

5,1-3.

The

second

recension

has Raib Q, Raab YO, Arabia M, reflecting misreading of s as r: an error easily made in dealing with insular script.

52,1-2 samailter a indus fri deilb nduine — ance is likened to the form of a man”. Cf. the commentary

on 49,2-3 above,

“its appear-

p. 316-317,

and the

reference to jewels with “the semblance of humans”

(chos-

mailius doine) at 43,2.

52,4-5 Leca logmara ... a sugh. — “Precious stones ... its juice.” For this concluding statement M substitutes: “Whoever tastes its fruit, his anger and jealousy against anyone are quelled, and those of anyone against him; and he will be

full of intelligence and wellbeing again forever after” (Gach en blaisis a thorad, ni bi ferg na format aici re neach na ac neach ris 4 budh lan d’intlecht a do mhaithis hé ‘na dhiaidh co brach aris). 53,1 Nathaben: Cf. below Naboth (70,1) and Y’s reading Ebothen (72,1); YOM read Nambuan, Nabuana, echoing § 41

above.

The basis for these names

is perhaps Nabataea,

a

region in northern Arabia described in Etym. 14, 3, 26:

Nabathea regio a Nabeth filio Ismael nuncupata. Iacet autem inter Iudaeam et Arabiam, et surgens ab Euphrate in mare Rubrum porrigitur, et est pars Arabiae. “The region of Nabataea is named after Nebaioth son of Ishmael. And it lies between Judaea and Arabia, extends from the Euphrates to the Red Sea, and

and is a

part of Arabia.” Nabataea could scarcely be described as lying “in the lands of the Hebrews”, but it was certainly south of Jerusalem: Orosius notes its proximity to Palestine ('); and in (1) Orosius, Historiae 1, 2; C. ZANGEMEISTER, riarum adversum paganos libri VII , p. 7, 3-4.

Pauli

Orosii Histo-

322

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

his poem “Ro-fessa i curp domuin duir” Mac Cosse includes in his paraphrase of this passage the information that Nabataea adjoins Palestine to the south: Feilistina cusin gloir | and-sin atat meic Iacoib | Naphathi friu andess co tend | 4 tuatha na Saircend — “Splendid Palestine, where are the sons of Jacob; the Nabataei

to the south of them, sternly,

and the tribes of the Saracens” (LL 16232-16235). The phrasing has probably been influenced by 39,1-2 above (or vice versa): Tipra Shion i tirib Ebra sund, nocon rodcad arinda fogbad nach beth — “Of the spring of Zion, here in the lands of the Hebrews,

it is not destined

that any fool

should find it.” 53,2-3 Ni fhuaratar meic doine co se a crann-sa o thosuch domuin — “Since the beginning of the world until now the sons of men have not found this tree”. Cf. in the passage cited from Airne Fingein above the statement Ro shoerastar in diliu cen mannrad, 4 niro derc rosc mac duni fair cosinnocht — “The Flood spared it without injury, and the eye of no son of man

has seen it until

tonight”. Another supernaturally concealed tree in Irish legend is the yew which caused the battle of Mag Mucrama ('). The doctrine that the tree’s invisibility was only lifted so that the wood of the Cross could be taken from it recalls the legend that the wood of the Cross came from three

seeds

which

Seth

was

allowed

to

take

from

Eden,

these having grown into a tree which lay hidden from the time of Solomon until the Crucifixion (°); a redactor, struck

by the tree of Nathaben’s paradisal qualities and supernatural concealment, may have been moved to identify it with the tree of the Cross. 53,7-8 noco tainic do galar no sueth — fering have not come to him”.

“sickness

or suf-

At this point Q continues in terms based upon the text represented by L, while YO have only “but perpetual

(1) Thus M. Ditton, “The Yew of the Disputing Sons”, p. 160; K. Meyer, “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 5 (1905),

p. 24, § 13. (2) E.g. E. C. Quinn, The Quest of Seth for the Oil of Life, p. 53.63.

53,1 = 753541-13

323

health” (acht slainti suthain). M embellishes: “and although his appearance was ugly before it will be good thereafter; and he does not age for as long as he lives” (a gémad docraidh a dhelb roime budh maith ina dhiaidh a delb 3 ni arsaigenn an gein mharus).

53,11-13 Da chenél .lxx. do ceolaib con-canad a bile 4 a blaith fri tethacht na ngaeth o thosuch domuin. — “The tree and its blossoms sing seventy-two kinds of songs together, when the winds meet them, ever since the beginning of the world.” Patch has seen another reference to a music-making tree in one of the poems describing the Otherworld in Serglige Con Culainn ('): “There is a tree in the gateway of the enclosure; singing together with it is not ugly” (Atá crand i ndorus liss, | ni hétig cocetul friss) (ó). But this rather elliptical statement, taken together with the description in the preceding quatrain of three further trees covered with singing birds, may refer to birds singing in a tree rather than to music being produced by the tree itself. Musical trees do however figure in continental descriptions of Paradise: Patch cites instances from the third-century Visio Perpetuae (*), from the story of Barlaam and Josaphat (*), and

from the Alethia of Claudius Marius Victor (°). Cf. further the Middle Irish tract which allegorically likens Christ to an enormous

tree

which

has

“all melodies

in its midst”

(na

huili chiuil ina medon): this music signifies “the fulfilment of all delight in the mysteries of the Godhead” (comlanus cacha haibniusa a ndiamraib na diadachta) (°).

(1) H. Medieval (2) M. (3) H. cessatione

RF. Patcu, The Other World according to Descriptions in Literature, p. 42. Ditton, Serglige Con Culainn, lines 498-499. R. Patcn, op. cit., p. 91, n. 19: quarum folia canebant sine — “[their] leaves were singing without cease”.

(4) Ibid., p. 103-104. (5) Ibid., p. 140, from C. ScHENKL, “Claudii Marii Uictoris Alethia”, p. 373. (6) R. THuRNEYSEN, “Der mystische Baum”, p. 16-17.

324

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

53,13-16 Coic eoin .lx. ar .ccc. ... acht nat aithghnet cluasa doine. — “Three hundred and sixty-five birds ... but that the ears of men cannot recognize it.” As I suggest in the commentaries to § 70-72 and § 73 below (p. 358-359

and

365-367),

this passage

seems

to have

provided the author of TB with the starting point from which he elaborated his descriptions of the fabulous birds of Naboth,

Sabes,

Paradise

and

and

the

Abuaidi.

native

Irish

Otherworld

accounts

of

regularly

sweetly singing birds ('), the earliest of which

heaven,

mention

I am

aware

being the birds which salute the canonical hours (ératha) in Immram Brain (’). A closer parallel however is afforded by the account of the Paradisus Auium in Nauigatio Sancti Brendant: Erat autem super illum fontem arbor mire latitudinis in girum, non minus altitudinis, cooperta auibus candidissi-

mis. In tantum cooperuerunt illam ut folia et rami eius uix uiderentur. “Above that spring there was a tree, wondrous on account of the breadth of its circumference and no less so from its height, covered with the whitest birds. They covered it so completely that its leaves and branches could barely be seen (°).” One of the birds explains that they are in reality angels from heaven,

and they sing psalms praising God

throughout the monks’

banished

sojourn on the island. Further re-

semblances between TB and this part of the Nauigatio will be discussed in the commentary to § 73 below, p. 367; for a

language understood by birds (and other creatures) but not by fallen humanity cf. § 11.

56-57 In the commentary on 7,5-6 above (p. 244) I suggested that the spinning of the supernatural light may reflect the influence of God’s speech to Job out of the

(1) Thus H. R. Parcu, The Other World according to Descriptions in Medieval Literature, p. 54-55. (2) S. Mac Matutna, Immram Brain, § 7. (3) C. SELMER, Navigatio Sancti Brendani abbatis, p. 22-23.

53,13-16 — 56 whirlwind

at Job 38, 1. In the speech

325 itself, God

exhorts

Job to feel awe at the wonders of the universe, the greatest emphasis being given to the descriptions of the enormous monsters Behemoth (Job 40, 10-19) and Leviathan (Job 40, 20 — 41, 24). This seems a likely model for these paragraphs of TB, where the doubting audience is likewise enjoined to recognize God’s omnipotence through contemplating two vast,

fantastic

creatures.

More

specific

indications

of the

Book of Job’s influence are to be found in the description of

the bird hiruath; see commentary on § 57 below, p. 331-333. 56 This beast is also mentioned in Middle Irish lists of the miraculous events attendant on the birth of Christ (’). While it does not appear in the poem which seems to represent the earliest surviving version of the list (“Text IIb”),

we find it briefly described in the version of the prose tract “Text Ila” which most closely parallels the poem (the “O form”), and at considerably greater length in the version of

the same tract found in other manuscripts. In these latter the story of the beast appears at the end of the sequence, uniquely characterized as information related by “historians” (staraige); this, together with its absence from the poem, suggests that it derives from a source different from that of the list as a whole. It will be useful to look at the interrelationships

of the various

texts

in somewhat

more

detail. The long form of the anecdote is found in four manuscripts: Leabhar Breac, Egerton 1781, the Book of Fermoy, and Leabhar Chloinne Suibhne. The text in Leabhar Breac is as follows: In .xvi. ingnad, amail indisit na staraige, co tarla mil mor for traig Mara Cucaist in oidche sin, .i. Semena a ainmsin. Ba difhasnési dermair a mét, ar boi .l. fer a forairdib a chind 4 head radairc etir cech da fher díb, is é-sin mét do thalmain ro gab in mil-sin. Batar didiu .l. for .ccc. adarc asa chind a ól .l. ar .c. in cech adairc dib-side. Ocus marait

(1) Edited Hiberniae

with

discussion

in M. McNamara

ef al., Apocrypha

I, vol. 2, p. 539-617 (cf. B. O Cuiv, “The Seventeen Wonders

of the Night of Christ’s Birth”).

326

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

na bláith sa na benna-sin beds i tigib dotned mor isna tirib araill. At-berait na scribenna in tan boí in mil-sin oc éc coro muidetar teora srotha asa bragait, .i. sruth forderg fina, 7 sruth ola, 4 sruth dergoir. “The

sixteenth

wonder,

as historians

relate,

was

that

a

whale was found on the strand of the Caucasian sea on that night. Its name was Semena. Its size was indescribably vast, for with fifty men on the top points of its head and as far as the eye could see between each two of them, that was the extent of land that the whale occupied.

There

were,

moreover,

three hundred

and fifty

horns coming out of its head and drinking capacity for one

hundred

and

fifty in each

one

of them.

And

these

cups and horns still survive in the houses of important people in several lands. And written sources say that when that whale was dying three streams gushed from its throat, a very red stream

of wine

and a stream

of oil

and a stream of red gold (').” This paragraph

closely resembling

appears

to derive

the exemplar

from a version

of the second

Like the latter, it omits or simplifies most

of TB

recension.

of the difficult

passages preserved in L. It also agrees with QY in reading Cucaist rather than Cephas and with QYM in describing streams of gold as well as of wine (and note that the phrase asa braigit recurs in Q); while marait na blaith 4 na bennasin beds i tigib doined mor is to be compared with mairit beanna in mil-sin fos in the second recension generally, and with ‘ga bhur ndainibh 4 ‘ga bur ndeghfhlaithib in Q specifically. On the other hand, the information that the streams poured from the beast’s mouth as it was dying (oc anamduch) survives only in L, as also the phrase .l. ar .ccc. adharc

. asa cind: the source used must have been closer to the original 7B than was the exemplar shared by the surviving

texts of the second recension. The “O form”, in the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum, gives a much shorter account:

(1) M. McNamara

ef al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I, vol. 2, p. 590-591.

56 In iii. hingnad

327

.x.: mil mor

do cur Muir

Torrian

fo

thracht Marahen 4 muidhi[t] tri srotha asa bel .i. sruth lo-

ma 4 ar .c. “The nian burst

sruth ola 4 sruth fina; 4 .l. adharc ro baidh fair 4 ol .1. oclach in gech adhuirc dibh. fourteenth wonder: a great beast which the TyrrheSea cast on the strand of Meroe. And three streams from its mouth: a stream of milk and a stream of

oil and a stream

of wine;

and there were

50 horns

on it

and 150 warriors could drink from each horn (’).”

This version is no closer to TB than are those in Texts I and III, and has in fact omitted additional material (the calculation of the beast’s vast length, the statement that the horns survive). Its main divergences look like lectiones faciliores: substitution of the Tyrrhenian Sea and Meroe for the

anomalous

“Caucasian

Sea”,

and

of a fluid

stream

of

milk for the stream of gold (cf. perhaps SR 997-998). I suggest that the “O form” of the prose tract drew upon the longer version to supplement the list which it derived from the poem:

the other

additional

item

which

it contains,

an

account of animals praising God, is also to be found in Leabhar Breac and Egerton 1781. The references to the beast in the lists of wonders at Christ’s birth may accordingly be taken as further testimony to the influence exercised by TB in the Middle Irish period. But what is the background of the account in TB itself? I suggest that it may be loosely based on Revelation 13, 1-4: “And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, and ten crowns upon its horns... And the whole earth marvelled at the beast ... and worshipped the beast, saying “Who is like the beast, and who is able to fight with it?”

(1) Ibid., vol. 2, p. 597. My translation differs from that of the editor; for Marahen vel sim. as a form of the name of the island of Meroe see R. A.S. Macauister, Lebor Gabdla Érenn, vol. 2, p. 180.184186.202.218; it is juxtaposed with the Tyrrhenian Sea ibid., p. 220.

328

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Here we find a beast with many horns emerging from the sea to become the occasion of wonder and awe. The immediate context of the passage brings it still closer to the creature described by Philip: for the preceding chapter describes the birth of a child identified with Christ (Rev 12, 1-

5), and also “water like a river” which a dragon pours from its mouth in an attempt to drown the mother (ef misit serpens ex ore suo post mulierem aquam tamen flumen, Rev 12, 15). Apart from the evocations

of the beast’s great size,

and the claim that its horns may still be seen as evidence that it really existed, these are the key elements in the TB description: the Revelation account, perhaps remembered rather than consulted

directly, seems

the likeliest source.

If this is in fact the case, however, it is evident that the Biblical material has been used extremely freely. In TB, the

beast is described as part of an exhortation to the audience to believe in the wonder-working powers of God; in Revelation, the awe inspired by the beast prompts mankind to lapse into idolatry. Vivid scriptural imagery has provided the basis for elaborating a largely original flight of fancy. Similar license is apparent in the use of Cephas as a place name (lines 2 and 8). It does not appear to be attested in this sense elsewhere, but does occur in the New Testament as another name for Simon Peter ('). As with Judas Maccabaeus at 58,2 below, a specific Biblical name is used for

no readily apparent reason — unless, as one of this edition’s anonymous readers has ingeniously suggested, the “shore of Cephas” is that spot beside the Sea of Galilee where Christ met Peter (Mt 4, 18). In the manuscripts of the second recension, the name has

become Cucaist “Caucasus” in QY (?). In OM it has been again altered to a tir Eighiti | Eighipt a tir “in the land of Egypt”.

(1) John

1, 42; 1 Cor 1, 12; 3, 22; 9, 5; 15, 5; Gal 2, 9: Aramaic x5?

(kyf’) = Greek sxérooc “rock”. (2) Cf. Caucaist at 77,1 below; also Chucais LL in D. O CRÓINÍN,

The Irish Sex Aetates Mundi,

R. A. S. Macauister,

16222.16244;

Cucais

p. 104, 223; Chucais in

Lebor Gabala Erenn, vol. 3, p. 74, 1178 & 1192.

96 — 57

329

57 A version of this paragraph follows the description of the

four

precious

stones

in

Royal

6.A.vi;

for

text

and

translation see commentary on § 43-47 above, p. 307-308. Martin McNamara has pointed out that a closely comparable

passage

appears

in the gloss on Psalm

104, 17 in

Vatican Codex Palatinus Latinus 68: the manuscript was written in the eighth or ninth century, while the text itself “appears to date from the early eighth century, and to have been compiled either in Ireland or in Northumbria, presumably in a Columban monastery” ('). The relevant section,

with McNamara’s

translation,

is as follows:

Hirodius quidam auis magnus est dux omnium auium, qui in monte arena ad hostium fluminis intrantis mare super inminenti confouet ouum et calor solis cum eo XL diebus et conpleto tempore ad hostium ouum de monte rostro trudit et illo distructo eitus dimedium C uiros trans hostium portat et hunc pro admiratione hic ostendit. “Hirodius

(heron)

is a large bird and

leader

of all the

birds; it warms its egg in a sand mountain on top of a projection (eminence) at the mouth of a river entering the sea, and the heat of the sun is with it for 40 days.

And when the time at the mouth (of the river) has been completed, with its beak it casts the egg from the mountain, and after it has been destroyed, the half of it

carries 100 men across the mouth (of the river) and out of admiration he shows this here (°).” As McNamara notes, only part of TB’s description of hiruath can be matched in this description. Comparanda other elements can be found in what seems (pace Kitson to be a closely related account: the tract on the bird ballus in the pseudo-Bedan Collectanea. This begins follows:

the for (°)) goas

Est auis quaedam in Indiae partibus, prope solis ortum, uiginti alas habens, cuius uoce audita omnes somno et so(1) M. McNamara, “The Bird Hiruath”, p. 89. (2) Ibid., p. 89-90; cf. M.McNamara, Glossa in Psalmos, p. 213. (3) P. Krrson, “The Jewels and Bird Hiruath of the “Ever-new

Tongue”, p. 132, n. 111.

330

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

pore sopiuntur; cuius uox per mille passus auditur. Huius auis magnae uocabulum est goballus. Est enim lapis in mart Oceano tam miri decoris, qui aliquoties apparet, aliquoties uero arenis praeoperitur. Haec autem auis, cum auiculam genuit nimis pulchram ac sonoram, uidens lapidem in mari sereno die radiantem, illius desiderio rapitur, et uolat ut capiat eum; quae dum adhuc alas extendit, lapis arenis tegitur. Est autem cetus in mari magnus ualde, qui cum uiderit goballum in lapidem uolantem, statim occurrit ad nidum huius, et auiculas auferens deuorat: et ueniens goballus in aestu nimis recurrit ad nidum, quoddam solatium sui laboris putans reperturum: et inueniens nidum uacuum, septies clamat, tta ut non solum ingentes lachrymas fundat, sed et omnes qui eam audiunt se a lachrymis cohibere non possint. Tunc seipsum in profundum mergit, et moritur.

“There is a certain bird in the regions of India, near the rising of the sun, which has twenty wings, and at the sound of whose voice all are lulled into sleep and stupor; its voice is heard at the distance of a mile. This great bird’s name is goballus. For there is a stone in the ocean

of very great beauty, which sometimes appears and at other times is covered by the sands. Now this bird, when it has brought forth a chick very beautiful and fair of voice, seeing the stone shining in the sea on a still day, is gripped by desire for it and flies to seize it; but as soon as it spreads its wings, the stone is covered by the sands. Now there is a very great whale in the sea, which when it sees goballus flying toward the stone makes haste at once to its nest, and carries off the chicks and devours them.

When

goballus, very

thinking to have some

troubled,

consolation

returns

to the nest,

after its toil, and finds

the nest empty, it cries out seven times, so that it not only sheds great tears itself, but all those who hear it cannot refrain from weeping. Then it plunges itself into the deep, and dies (').”

(1) M. BavLEss — M. Lapipce, Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae, p. 128, § 63.

57

There

follows an allegorical interpretation

the goballus to be mankind,

love of nothing heaping tention

331

wealth, and in TB. But up of sand, given to the

account

the the the bird’s

the chick

which

wisdom,

takes

the stone

whale folly: this corresponds to large bird residing in India, the enmity with whales, and the atoffspring all recall features in the

of the hiruath, and supplement the echoes already

noted in the gloss on the Psalter. Where did the Hiberno-Latin lore of the herodius/hiruath/goballus originate? Kitson suggested a more or less remote Jewish derivation ('), an idea developed in some detail by McNamara (). Indeed, the rabbinic doctrine that an enormous bird named 1° (ziz) is king of all birds recalls the statement in the Vatican gloss that the herodius is the dux omnium auium (although of course the immediate inspiration for the latter is the Psalm verse itself). Jewish sources

also parallel the gloss when

they speak of another

giant bird which hurled one of its own eggs so that it shat-

tered (°). The reason for the choice of the name herodius is to be sought in exegetical literature. As Kitson has noted, the

word is simply a Latinisation of Greek Zewd1é¢ “heron”. Its usage is apparently confined to scriptural contexts, and it would appear to be in this milieu that the idea of its great size developed: Jerome stated in his Tractatus in Psalmos that the erodion is a “bird ... of exceeding size; it is said to

conquer even the eagle, and to have the same food” (uolatile ... nimiae magnitudinis; dicitur autem uincere et aquilam, .

et ipsam habere escam) ('). I suggest that the material on the herodius derives from the attempt of a lost commentary on Job to elucidate 39, 13-18: “The feather of ostriches is like the feather of the hero-

dius, and of the hawk. (1) P. Kirson,

“The

Jewels

When and

it leaves its eggs in the

Bird

Hiruath

of the

‘Ever-new

Tongue”, p. 132, n. 116. (2) M. McNamara, “The Bird Hiruath”, p. 90-94. (3) L. Ginzpure, The Legends of the Jews, vol. 1, p. 28-29. (4) G. G. Morin, S. Hieronymi Tractatus in Psalmos, p. 185.

992

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

earth, is it perhaps you who warms them in the dust? It forgets that a foot can trample them, or that wild beasts can destroy them. It is hardened to its children as if they were

not its own;

it has toiled

in vain,

unaffected

by

fear. For God has deprived it of wisdom, nor has he given it intelligence. When the time comes, it raises its wings on high, it scorns the horseman and the rider.” The

bird described

here is of course

the ostrich,

but it

would not be difficult to misunderstand the opening verse and take it to be the herodius which is described in what follows. The passage is striking in that it both describes the laying of eggs “in the dust”, recalling the descriptions of the herodius/hiruath; and criticises the bird as a neglectful parent which leaves its eggs to be devoured by beasts, reminding

us of the goballus.

There

may

even

be a fore-

shadowing of the allegorical interpretation of the goballus’ lost chick as sapientia in the verse Priuauit enim eam Deus sapientia, nec dedit illi intelligentiam (39, 17). I suggest accordingly that the link between herodius and goballus may itself have been by way of a text expounding these verses. Such a text may already have existed on the Continent in the sixth century: in his own discussion of this material Gregory the Great observes that he could say a great deal about the herodius, but will refrain from doing so because

it

would be a digression ('). Another piece of evidence pointing in the same direction is the sentence Hunc pro admiratione hic ostendit in the Vatican gloss: this makes little sense in the context of the Psalm verse (a cryptic statement that the

“house

of the herodius”

is leader of the sparrows),

but would fit quite well if the description of the herodius had been lifted by the glossator from a commentary on God’s speech to Job. It is striking that the version in Royal 6.A.xi shares elements with these potential sources and comparanda which are not found in any version of TB: the name is herodius, not hiruath; its wings are described as stirring up the sand, as in the account

of the goballus; and the statement

that its

(1) M. Apriagn, S. Gregorit Magni Moralia in Iob, vol. 3, p. 1576.

57 — 58-60

333

wingspan is as wide as a three days’ journey on horseback

appears to echo the Biblical “it raises its wings aloft: it mocks the horse and its rider” (Job 39, 18). This series of correspondences can hardly be coincidental: the version of TB on which the Royal version drew must have been closer to the original text than that on which the surviving recensions are based. YO

here add a versified account

of the hiruath; M sub-

stitutes for this the line “and after those wonders which we have related, the Ever-new Tongue said” (4 a haithle na ningnad-sin adubramar is-bert in Tenga b.n.), which evidently seeks (not wholly successfully) to provide a transition to the next paragraph. The poem has affected the wording of § 57 in YOM at various points: the shade of the bird’s wings extends seven days’ journey rather than three (OM); the egg is warmed in black sand (OM); the bird comes to check on the egg at the time decreed by God (YOM); the eggshell ship carries 270 (YO) or 1710 (M) warriors, closer to the 1270 of the poem than to the 170,000 of L.

I am indebted to one of this edition’s anonymous readers for a further reference to the hiruath: in the late medieval comic tale Imthechta Tuaithe Luchra 4 Aided Fhergusa, a poem describing the opulence of the palace of the king of the leprechauns states that its “smooth platforms” (léibinn blaith) are made “from the shell of the egg of the hiruath of a single egg” (do blaeisg uighe iruaithe énugha) (’). It is intriguing that another poem about birds in TB has been preserved, in this case a version of § 72-73: this will be discussed below, p. 360-363. The existence of these two poems has led Nic Enri and Mac Niocaill to suggest the possibility of “a complete verse text of the Evernew Tongue

once having existed” (’). 58-60 This dramatic description of the defiance and downfall of the oddly named “Judas Maccabaeus” has been

(1) S. H. O’Grapy, Silva Gadelica, vol. 1, p. 249. (2) U. Nic Enri — G. Mac NIOCAILL, “The Second Recension of the Evernew Tongue”, p. 5.

334

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

tentatively compared by M. R. James with a scene in Acts of Philip H (). Further indications that TB drew on this text are noted in the commentary on 10,7-8 above, p. 250253. A look at the details of the episode mentioned by James reveals further points of comparison with what we find in TB, and I believe that the parallelism of the two accounts points to a real relationship between them. Thus when the Jewish high priest Ananias first seeks to strike Philip

“his hand

withered

and

his eyes were

blinded” (7);

and (as noted above, p. 252) the dispute between Philip and Ananias,

like

that

between

Philip

and

Judas,

involves

a

terrifying vision of heavenly radiance. There is a noteworthy contrast in TB between the “wise men of the Hebrews”, whose portrayal is neutral if not

benign, and the anti-Semitic caricature of “Judas Maccabaeus”. This can best be explained in terms of TB’s ultimate derivation from two sources. “Judas Maccabaeus” was inspired by the fanatically unbelieving Ananias in the Acts of Philip; while the sages go back to the gentile (hence correspondingly innocuous?) Athenian philosophers in the same text, identified as Hebrews because TB, like the revelation discourse on which it drew, described a miraculous

apparition in the vicinity of Jerusalem (cf. commentary on 10,7-8). The episode also appears to reflect the influence of native narrative literature. For the tree and the birds which inhabit

it see

the

commentary

on

§ 50-53

and

73;

other

details may derive from the legend of the origin of the river Boyne. Many versions of this story survive (*); I cite that in the topographical

poem

“Sid Nechtain

sund

forsin

tshleib” : Nechtain mac Labrada laind diarbo ben Boand, bagaimm.

(1) See general introduction, p. 56-57. (2) F. Bovon - B. Bouvier — F. Amster, Actes de V'apétre Philippe, p: 27. (3) E.g. J. VENDRYES, Airne Fingein, p. 3; A. G. Van HAMEL, Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories, p. 37-38.

58-60

335

Topur diamair boi ’na dun, assa maided cach mirun.

Ní fhaill no décced dia lar nach maided a da rosc ran;

dia ngluased do chlí no deis, nt thargad uad cen athis. Aire nis laimed nech de acht Nechtain ’s a deogbaire. It é a n-anmand, fri gním nglan: Flesc is Lam ocus Ludm. Fecht and do-lluid Boand ban dos-fuargaib a dimus n-dn cosin topur cen tarta

d’ atrigud a chumachta. Immar ro thimchill fo thri in topur co n-étuachli, maidit teora tonna de dia tanic aided Boinne. “I assert that Boand was the wife of Nechtan son of fierce Labraid. There was a secret well in his stronghold, from which every dark mystery used to gush.

“There was none who would gaze to its bottom whose bright eyes would

not burst; if he went to left or right,

he would not come thence without being disfigured. “Therefore none dared it save for Nechtan and his cupbearers.

Their

names,

for a pure

deed, were

Flesc, Lam,

and Luam.

“Once white Boand came — her lofty pride puffed her up — to test the power of the abundant well. “As she went three times around the well imprudently, three waves burst from it from which came Boand’s

death (').”

(1) E. J. Gwynn,

The Metrical Dindshenchas,

vol. 3, p. 28-30.

336

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

In other versions we are explicitly told that Boand circumambulated the well counter-clockwise ('). The motifs of eyes

which

burst

upon

beholding

a supernatural

wonder,

and of disrespect expressed by turning against the sun, do not so far as I know appear together except in these two tales, and. it is reasonable to suppose that TB has drawn upon some version of the Boyne legend. It is interesting to find so many

Irish elements associated specifically with the

tree of Nathaben. 58,2 Machabes: cension

YM,

the

Cf. in the manuscripts of the second re-

readings

Judas

Macaibhis

Q,

Iudas

mac

Cuis

Judas mac Ouis O. I take these variants to reflect the

name Judas Maccabaeus; the surname was taken by at least some

of the

scribes,

and

by all modern

editors,

to

be

a

patronymic with mac. With the spelling in L cf. Machabeus PH 6537, Machabeorum Iudas, closely

SR 7460.

a name

tainted

resembling

the

by the

word

sin of Judas

Judaeus

“Jew”,

Iscariot is a

and

natural

choice for a blaspheming unbeliever. A comparable character with the same name appears in the treatise De inuentione

crucis Domini (é), and

indeed

the latter’s influ-

ence may be present here. A further possible source occurs in Papias, in a passage in which Jesus has been describing the preternatural fruitfulness of plants in the kingdom of the saints:

“And

Judas,

being a disbelieving

traitor, asked,

‘How shall such growth be brought about by the Lord? But the Lord answered, “They shall see who shall come to those times” (°). I cannot however explain why TB’s Judas has the same family name as the famous Jewish patriot; cf. the use of Cephas at 56,2.

Equally puzzling is the ancestry provided for him. Gomer is the first of the sons of Japhet

named

in Genesis

10, 2;

(1) W. Sroxes, “The Bodleian Dinnshenchas”, p. 500; nem, “The Prose Tales in the Rennes Dindsenchas”, RC 15 (1894), p. 315-316; L. Gwynn,

“Cinded úa Hartacain’s Poem on Bruigh na Bóinne”, p. 229,

§ 74, (2) J. Srrausincer, Die Kreuzauffindungslegende. (3) PG 5, 1258-1259; the same passage preserved in Irenaeus, PG 7,

1213-1214.

58-60 — 61

337

while Sale is a grandson of Shem who appears in Genesis 10,

24; 11, 12-15. Q (alone among the witnesses) follows Genesis in making Sale the son of Arphaxad, a detail presumably original to TB: L omits this patronymic, while YOM omit Sale also. “It is true that the Lord lives” (As fir co mairenn in Coimdhe), the statement which Q incongruously puts in Judas

Maccabaeus’

verbs maraid Cr- “betrayer version of the of the family he was

mouth,

reflects

confusion

between

the

“lives” and mairnid “betrays”; cf. marnid Isu of Jesus Christ” at the same point in Y. M’s concluding challenge is as follows: “And one of Judas, exalting (?) the Judas from whom

descended,

said:

‘It is a lie that you

utter,

apostle

Philip’ — for the Ever-new Tongue is the apostle Philip; and it is from [his] head that his tongue was cut three times, and it was renewed for him again” (7 adubert nech d’fine Iuddis, ac seuradh an Iudais or gein: Is brecc a n-abra Pilib apstal oir is e Pilip apstal in t.b.n. 4 is a cenn do benad a tenga fa tri 4 do athnuaiged do aris hi). 59-60 M’s version of these paragraphs involves the displacement of some lines, and also the addition of some fresh material: it is said that the unbeliever’s defiant turning withershins was followed by an earthquake (fainic talamcumscugud arna duilib an uair-sin), and that the fiery cloud contained “heavy red fiery globes” (co ceruib troma derga teinntidhi). 60,6-7 Here the passage of fantastic speech differs from the others in TB in that it is put into the mouth of Judas, not Philip: it is presumably intended to represent Hebrew, not the

“angelic

language”.

It may

be significant

in this

connection that the section of the Acts of Philip on which TB appears to be drawing here is one of the only portions of that text to include specimens of fictive “Hebrew” ('); it may be this example which is being followed. 61 To the account of the prayers of the penitent Hebrews M adds the statement that “When they saw that earth(1) F. Bovon - B. Bouvier — F. AMSLER, Actes de Vapotre Philippe,

p» 6d.

338

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

quake, they all set their faces to the ground on account of the greatness of their danger” (O ‘tconncadar in talamcumscugud-sin tucadar uile a ngnuisi ré lar ar mét a ngabud-sin). 61,2-3 ar ecnairc do trocuiri 4 apriscit in adbhuir dia-n-arforcoimnacair — “for the sake of your own mercy and the feebleness of the substance from which we were made”. DIL provides many examples of the use of the words arprisc “frail” and aiprisce “frailty” in connection with the weakness

of human

nature

and

human

flesh;

see

for in-

stance assin folud appriscc inna colno — “from the feeble material of the flesh” Wb 9 c 10. This may accordingly be no more

than conventional

phraseology;

on the other hand,

it is reminiscent of Acts of Philip II, where Philip is made to refer to the “feeble nature” (&o0svyc gvotc) of the followers of Ananias when they beg for his mercy (’).

63 Q’s version of this paragraph seems corrupt; thus I know of no other instances of procept “preaching” being used with the preposition for “on, upon”. The other manuscripts begin Ro fhiarfaidsead ecnaidi na nEbraide (vel sim). —

“The

sponding

wise

men

of the

Hebrews

to the Interrogauerunt

For the remainder,

O’s cinnus

asked”,

directly

corre-

sapientes Ebreorum

of L.

do breachtnaidh

Dia fora dui-

libh — “how God brought diversity (?) upon his creatures” may best reflect the second recension’s exemplar. 64-66 I have made these paragraphs the subject of a separate study in which I argue that, although many details of the sun’s nocturnal

itinerary

were

drawn

from

sources

available in Britain and Ireland at the time of TB's composition, other features, together with the overall framework of a transit through twelve subterranean regions, reflect the influence of a tract originating in Graeco-Roman Egypt. I believe that this lost source was itself influenced by the Amduat, a funerary treatise first attested in the tomb of a pharaoh who died in 1493 B.C., but widely dis-

CU) Ibid pe Dts

61 — 64,7-9 seminated

for many

339

centuries thereafter:

this work

is div-

ided into twelve tableaux, each of which depicts one of the hours of the night and is itself divided into three horizontal registers ('). Much behalf

of the article

consists

of the thesis that the doctrines

of arguments

of the Amduat,

on and

perhaps some version of the text itself, were still known in the Graeco-Roman period. I will not recapitulate that discussion

here;

the

commentary

which

follows

will

concen-

trate rather on the background of the individual elements in TB’s account. 64,4-5 guires in mbith — “which warms the world”. The variants in the second recension at this point seem all to be due to difficulties in the transmission of the text. Y reads gores in bith 4 rethais [leg. rethes] tar da mag dec — “which

warms

the

world,

and

which

runs

across

twelve

plains”. Q, failing to understand rethes and apparently taking gores to be the conjunction go followed by an indecipherable verb, has produced the obscure go soilsiginn in bith 4 a rothess tar da magh dhécc — “so that it illuminates the world and its great heat [is] across twelve plains”. OM jettison the phrase guires in mbith entirely and replace rethes with forms of téit “goes”. The failure of QOM to preserve a form of goirid is curious, since it appears at § 57-57A above. Addition of the phrase do gres “always” before gores in Y (it is also present in O, although gores itself has disappeared) seems to reflect the influence of the line Grian goires a og do gres — “The sun always warms its egg” at 57A,11. 64,7-9 Cuairt in sin frisi ngaire tenedmhuir 4 enlaiti, 4 cuairt fris’ comruicet 4 frisa failtniget arbair aingel tar netractai aigte. — “That is the circuit because of which the fiery sea and the flocks of birds cry out, the circuit because of which the hosts of angels assemble and rejoice after the

brightness of night.”

“The Sun’s (1) J. Carey; E. Hornune, Das Amduat.

Night

Journey”;

for

the

text

see

340

The

THE

EVERNEW

“fiery sea” and

those mentioned

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

“flocks of birds”

at 66,3-5.21-22

below:

are the same their “cries”

as

mark

the sun’s setting and its rising, and are here used to bracket

its nocturnal itinerary as a whole. Loud noises are also associated with an infernal sea at 32,3-4 above.

The angels who salute the rising sun perhaps derive indirectly from Job 38, 7: “When

the mornings stars praised

me all together, and all the sons of God rejoiced”. Alternatively, they may have been contributed by the author of TB, who has the voices of angels wake a sleeping sea at 32,10-13, and wake sleeping stars at 68,11-12. It is also possible that this is one of the passages in which we can

discern the influence of the Amduat, which in the upper register of the twelfth hour depicts twelve deities who “pray to this great god in the morning, as he lingers in the eastern

gate of heaven”. Their prayer is a hymn of thanksgiving, beginning with the words “He who is born is born, he who is risen is risen —

the praiseworthy

one

of the earth, the

soul of the lord of heaven!” (’). 66,2-5

Do-aitne

cetamus

a sruth n-allmuirede

co sceluibh

airthir na llind. Do-aitne tarumh a n-ardmhuir thened dadaig 1 na treathnu sroibthenedh immna tuathu derga. — “First it shines on the stream beyond the sea, with tidings of the waters in the east. Then it shines at night upon the lofty sea of fire, and upon the seas of sulphurous flame which surround the red peoples.” Various examples of a fiery sea in the west may be cited from apocalyptic literature; one of the oldest is 1 Enoch 17, 5, where

the patriarch

is shown

“the

river

of fire which

flows like water and empties itself into the great sea in the

direction of the west” (*). A bounding stream with a fiery river to the west of it appears in the long version of Visio

Sancti Pauli (§ 31 in the Arnhem manuscript) (°):

(1) E. Hornune, Das Amduat, vol. 2, p. 187. (2) E. Isaac, “1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch”, p. 22. (3) T. St-versTEIN — A. Hituorst, Apocalypse of Paul, p. 137; cf. F. Bovon

— P. GEOLTRAIN,

Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1, p. 809.

64,7-9 — 66,2-5

341

Et profectus sum cum angelo et tulit me per occasum solis. Et uidi principium celi fundatum super flumen et interrogaul: Quis est hic locus? Et dixit michi: Hic est Occeanus, qui circuit orbem terrarum. Cum autem fuissem ad exteriora Occeani, aspexi et non erat ibi lumen nisi tenebre et mesticie, et suspiraui. Et uidi illic flumen igneum feruentem et in eo mulierum et uirorum multitudinem... “And I set out with the angel, and he took me by way of the setting of the sun. And I saw the beginning of heaven founded upon a river, and I asked ‘What is this place?’ And

he said to me:

“This is Ocean,

which

encircles the

earth.’ But when I had come to the outer parts of Ocean, I looked and there was nothing there but darkness and sorrows, and I sighed. And I saw there a fiery seething river, and in it a crowd of men and women...”

Here the resemblance to TB seems very close indeed. Inasmuch as the long version of the Visio was known in England and Ireland at an early date ('), it appears most reasonable to take it as the ultimate source of this passage. Various further ideas are introduced in the second recension. Q alone specifies that the sun begins by going “southwestward”

(stardes),

while

YO

replace

sruth.

mara

“stream of the sea” (as in QM) with sruth Manann “stream of [the Isle of] Man”. (My rendering of Q’s glasaltaigh as “wild blue” understands that form to represent glasallta, gen. sg. of glas-allaid.) A notably original contribution is the description of the equatorial or torrid zone as the cris uiscide “watery zone” (Q) or cris usci “zone of water” (YO), contrasting with the designations criss tessaigthi “heated zone” (SR 159) and [cris] tentide “fiery zone” (LL 16164 (°)). M replaces the line containing this phrase with an extended passage: “so that it shines upon the eastern sea of the world; and so that it shines above its midst [lif. maw] in the (1) Thus p. 94-97;

eg. J. Carey,

C. D. Wricut,

“The

Heavenly

The Irish Tradition

City in Saltair na Rann”, in Old English Literature,

p. 24-25; F. M. Biaas, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, p. 67-70. (2) The latter phrase also appears in W. Sroxes, In Cath Catharda, line 291.

342

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

east at first, and in the south of the world after that, and above the island of Donn in the west after that, and it makes a circuit of the waters of the world after that, ef-

fecting [their] tempering...” (co soillsiginn re muir orrtheraigh in domuin 4 co taitnenn ós cinn a crais tair ar tus 4 a ndeiscert an domuin tar sin 4 ós cinn innsi Duinn ar ntartar iar sin 4 timchill- uisci an domuin iar sin ac denum an mesraighthi). In describing the next sea, YOM specify that the fuatha “peoples” there are reddened by its flames, together with the heat of the sun; for Ó it is not the fuatha but gold which is so reddened. 66,5-8 Toidid iar sin slogu inna macradh isnaibh meallmuigib fo-cerdat in ngair dochum nimhe ar uamun in mil mharbus inna ilmile de shloguib fo thonnuib andes. — “Then it shines upon the hosts of youths in the playing-fields, who utter a cry to heaven for fear of the beast which kills many thousands of hosts beneath the waves to the south.” The second recension of TB attempts to elucidate this passage with the comment “It is said that it is sinful souls which are in that torment” (/s edh innister, conidh anmanna

pectacha fil isin pein-sin). But this is clearly a secondary conjecture, and sheds no light on the text’s statement that the monster’s victims reside isnaibh meallmuigib — a phrase which, whether we translate it as “in the playing-fields” or

“in the delightful fields”, can scarcely be dissociated from the blissful Otherworld of Mag Mell (cf. textual note to 66,5-6). A potential source appears in the second hour of the Amduat, in which the sun god Re enters the region of Wernes: this place name is followed by determinatives meaning “water” and “fields”, and evidently designates a region more pleasant and fertile than others described in the text ('). Re is drawn to Wernes by the cries of its inhabitants;

he “assigns them

their duties,

and

distributes

to

them the green plants of Wernes as food to the gods in the

(1) E. Hornune,

Das Amduat, vol. 2, p. 43.

66,2-5 — 66,8-9

343

retinue of Re”. The people of Wernes also fight on Re’s behalf against his archenemy, Apophis the serpent of darkness: as he himself says to them, “It is you who battle for the sake of my body, who protect me against Apophis” (’). Here all of the elements in TB’s description are foreshadowed:

the pleasant fields, the cries to a celestial deity,

the conflict with a devouring monster. In the Amduat it is the dwellers in the subterranean region who defend the god,

rather than vice versa; but the correspondences are striking nonetheless. Besides identifying the youths with sinful souls as noted above, the second recension innovates by describing the attacks upon them in considerably more detail: it is “monsters and whales” which assail them when the tide rises (this only clearly stated in YOM), but are then borne off again by the ebbing waters. Certain readings are peculiar to

one

or two

manuscripts:

in Q the boy-troop

is called

michoirithi, which I have understood as a form of michoirthe

“misbirth, monster”, while Caoimhin Breatnach suggests to me that it may represent michoraigthe “disordered”; the monsters spew at the youths (scéit Q, sgeithid O), when the context suggests that they should be springing upon them (sceindid Y; cf. sceinnter M); when the monsters retreat the

youths are left behind “in their shapes” (ana rechtaib YO) or “in their own shapes” (ina rechtaib féin M), rather than “in their companies” (‘na n-oirechtaibh Q). Q’s arghaire probably does not represent airgaire “prohibition” but rather ardgdire “great cries” as in YO. 66,8-9 To-aitne iarum a sliab co rothuib teinedh do-cumnet

inna credmaigi co sloghuibh in coimtecta indib. — shines

upon

the

mountain

with

wheels

“Then it

of fire, which

tra-

verse the plains of clay with hosts of followers in them.” Rothuib

“wheels”

in L is evidently

an error for srothaib

“streams”, the form preserved in the manuscripts of the second recension. The second recension again attempts to clarify the description in the first, taking its cue from the standard use of (1) E. Hornuna,

Das Amduat, vol. 2, p. 45.51.56.

344

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

genitive coimilechta/cotmthechta in references to guardian angels and devils (cf. textual note to 66,9): “those who dwell therein are the guardian devils (demhna coimidechta Q) of the souls we mentioned above”. But once more this is

clearly guesswork after the fact; nor indeed am I aware of any evidence that coimitecht was employed in this sense before the tenth century, or used of devils before the later

Middle Irish period (e.g. LU 1379). In the fourth and fifth hours of the Amduat Re traverses Rosetau, a region of sand and darkness.

In the lower register

of the fifth hour is a picture of a lake of fire, with the caption “The lake concerning which the gods in the realm of the dead lament. The (sun’s) boat does not journey upon it; the dwellers

in the underworld

cannot

master

its water,

which is in the necropolis. It is fire for those who are therein.” Above the lake appear four heads, each with the hieroglyph for “fire” on its brow. They are called “torchheads”, and described as being “behind this god. Their duty

is to devour and drive back his enemies” (’). The

lake

of fire, with

attendant

fire-beings,

shortly after the green fields of Wernes, ison

with

TB’s

streams

of fire “with

encountered

suggests compar-

hosts

of followers”,

visited by the sun after it has illuminated the mellmaige. The sand in the Egyptian account differs from the clay in the Irish: perhaps there has been semantic drift comparable to that responsible for the range of senses “sand, gravel 5 sea-bed, stream-bed

> clay, mud”

attested for Irish grian.

66,9-11 Toidet iarum airbe in mil mhoir fris’ n-eirget na ceithre coraid ficet fris’ ngairet glenn inna pian. — “Then it shines upon the enclosure of the great beast against which the twenty-four warriors arise, against which they invoke the valley of torments.” “Valley

of torments/punishments”

appears

again

as

a

designation for Hell at 88,5-6 below; cf. the references to infernal

common

and

valleys at 32,4; 66,13;

one elsewhere

survived

into

the

68,10;

in medieval

modern

86,4. The

image

is a

Irish literature as well,

period.

For

(1) E. Hornune, Das Amduat, vol. 2, p. 104.107.

the enclosed

66,8-9 — 66,11-13

345

beast and the twenty-four declaiming champions, however, it is necessary to look farther afield. Directly above the lake of fire discussed in the commentary on 66,8-9, and occupying the centre of the fifth hour’s

lower

within

an

register,

enclosure

underworld

god

is a

three-headed

of sand;

Sokar,

between

of whom

winged

its wings

serpent

stands

it is the guardian.

the

In the

upper register appear twenty-four deities: some of these address the serpent, one among them speaking of its destructive powers and calling upon it to “punish all your dead” ('). The resemblance of TB’s description to this scene

in the Amduat — riors” —

extending even to the number of “war-

is particularly arresting, and strongly suggests that

some chain of textual derivation links the two accounts. The second recension conflates this paragraph with that which follows (a natural slip given that each contains a sinister enclosure or airbe); most of the composite passage which results survives only in 0. Instead of one enclosure containing a great beast (mil mor) associated with twentyfour champions, followed by another enclosure containing “hell-dwellers”, Q speaks of a mound or heap (mul) associated with twenty-four champions, followed by an enclosure containing a great beast (mil mor) bound with twenty-four chains. It is not surprising that this confusing passage was abbreviated by the other manuscripts. 66,11-13

To-aitne

iar sin ircomuir a n-airbe n-uathach

il-

buidnech imero iad donaib ifferndaib fothuaith. — “Then it shines before the terrible populous enclosure which has closed around the hell-dwellers to the north.” A parallel to this description occurs in the fragmentary account of the vision of the monk Laisrén, tentatively as-

signed by its editor century (°):

to

the

late

ninth

or

early

tenth

As-bert iarum aingel don arbar mor frisin da aingel batar imme: “Beirid tra an fer-sa co n-aicedar ifern.” Legar

(1) E. Hornune,

(2) K. Meyer,

Das Amduat,

vol. 2, p. 98.106.

“Stories and Songs from Irish Manuscripts”, p. 115.

346

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

iarum fotuath fo glenn mar. Sirithir leis co n-acadar amail bid o turcbail greine co fuined. Co n-acadar fochlui mar amail bid beolu uama etir da sliab, co ristais tar n-uachtar.

Tiagait isin uaim cein mair, co rrancatar sliab mar n-ard ndub ara ciund for belaib an ifirn 4 gleann mar 1 n-ochtur an tslebi-sin. Iss ed indsin dono dorus an ifirn 4 a erportach ind uaim. “Then an angel of the great host said to the two angels who

were

may

see

beside

(Laisrén),

Hell.’ Then

he was

“Take

this

man

so

that

let go northward

he

along a

great valley. It was so long that it seemed to him as if he was looking from the sun’s rising to its setting. They saw a

great

pit,

like

the

mouth

of

a

cave,

between

two

mountains, and went down into it. They went a great distance into the cave, until they came to a great lofty black mountain

in front of them

at the entrance

of Hell,

and a great valley on top of that mountain. This is the appearance of that valley: broad below and narrow above.

That

cave, then, is the door and portico of Hell.”

Within this valley are all the sinners of Ireland. Brendan

too found the entrance of Hell in the north (’);

and an unpublished tract in a sixteenth-century manuscript likewise

asserts

that the door of Hell

is located

there (“).

This widespread doctrine found scriptural support in Lucifer’s statement the sides

“I will sit in the mountain

of the north

(in lateribus

of testimony,

aquilonis”

(Isa

in

14, 13);

thus Augustine commented that “the devil and his angels ... are figuratively placed in the north (per figuram tanquam in aquilone ponuntur)” (é); and Gregory the Great regularly identified the devil with the north wind, e.g. Moralia in Iob 17, 24: “In holy eloquence, it is customary to give the Devil the name

‘north’ (aquilo)” (Ó).

(1) C. Setmer, Navigatio Sancti Brendani abbatis, p. 64-65. (2) J.

Carey,

“Where

is Hell?”;

cf.

€.

D.

Wricut,

The

Irish

Tradition in Old English Literature, p. 129, n. 89. (3) Epistula 140, to Honoratus; A. GoLpBacuer, S. Aureli Augustini Hipponiensis episcopt epistulae, p. 201-202. (4) M. Apriaen, S. Gregorii Magni Moralia in Iob, vol. 2, p. 870.

66,11-13 — 66,14-16

347

66,14-16 To-aitne iarum airbe in mil tindnaig na ilmuiri im toibu talman di cach leith, shuiges na ilmhuire aitherruch co facoib na trachta tirma di cach leth. — “Then it shines upon the enclosure

of the beast who brings the many

seas

around the flanks of the earth on every side, who sucks the many seas back again so that he leaves the beaches dry on every side.” A beast which causes the tides by sucking in and spewing forth the sea also appears in a brief Middle Irish tract in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B 502: here Augustine

is cited as authority for an account of a monster which lives in the Indian Ocean, so huge and terrible that even the angels fear it. It causes the tide to ebb by swallowing the

seas, and to flood by spewing them forth; it also attempts to seize the sun in its mouth, but cannot reach it because of

its great heat ('). A very similar description is found in the pseudo-Bedan De mundi celestis terrestrisque constitutione (Germany (?), ninth-twelfth century). Again we are told of a monster (here a great serpent) which causes the tides and tries to seize

the

sun;

in this

case

it is named

Leviathan

and said to encircle the world, and earthquakes are attributed to its anger when burnt by the sun’s heat (Ó. Various other monsters in Irish sources more or less closely resemble the above: thus the Middle Irish commentary on the Amra

Coluim Chille includes a description of the sea beast rosuall, which causes plagues by spewing water upward, downward, or toward the land (*); and mysterious creatures called sugmairi “suckers” are mentioned in some late tales about Find mac

Cumaill (*), and

in an

unedited

poem

on remarkable

rivers and water phenomena (’).

(1) J. Borsse — D. Ó Crornin, “A Monster in the Indian Ocean”. (2) C. Burnett, Pseudo-Bede, De mundi celestis terrestrisque constitutione, p. 22, 24.

(3) W. Sroxes, “The Bodleian Amra Choluimb Chille”, p. 256-257. (4) W. Stoxes, Acallam na Senorach, line 4534; M. Joynr, Feis Tighe Chonain,

line 70 v.1.

(5) J. Carey, “The Rivers of Paradise and Hell, and the Nine Suckers

of the Sea”.

348

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

None of this material can be assigned a date earlier than TB, and so it is of no direct assistance in identifying a source for our passage. It is interesting that the tide-monster seeks to seize the sun in the Rawlinson tract and in pseudo-Bede: perhaps these texts, and the question-andanswer collections which speak of the sun as passing by night through the belly of Leviathan ('), preserve traces of the same traditions which are embodied

more fully in TB.

66,16-18 To-aitne iar sin a tenedhshliab ro damhnaiged do teinid bratha fri buaig da cach duil. — “Then it shines on the mountain of fire which was formed from the fire of Judgment, to triumph over every created thing.”

Other sources speak of the fire of Judgment Day as existing already in some distant region: that it takes the form of a mountain here may have been suggested by the mons magnus igne ardens which is cast into the sea in Revelation 8, 8. In the Irish voyage tale Immram Snédgusa 4 Maic Riagla, the earliest version of which is a poem probably roughly contemporary with the composition of TB itself, wandering monks come to an island inhabited by Enoch and Elijah (hence presumably to be identified with Paradise): it contains a lake of water and a lake of fire, which

“would have gone over Ireland long ago, by God’s will, if it had not been for Martin and Patrick pleading with Him” (Ticfatis Erinn 6 chianaib | Dé di thuil | manbad Martain | ocus Patraic oca guidi) (*). The ultimate source of this image — and perhaps of our passage also — is probably the Apocalypse of Thomas: Tunc in aduentum meum soluetur clausura ignis paradysi, quoniam ex igne paradysus cinctus est. Haec est autem ignis perpetuus, qui consumit orbem terrarum, et uniuersa mundi elementa. “Then at my coming there will be loosed the bond of the fire of Paradise,

since

Paradise

is girt about

with

fire.

(1) J. E. Cross — T. D. Hitt, The Prose Solomon and Saturnus and Adrian

and

Ritheus,

p. 35-36;

W.

SUCHIER,

Das

Gesprdch Adrian und Epictitus, p. 123, § 10. (2) A. G. VAN HAMEL, Immrama, p. 91; cf. p. 85.

mittellateinische

66,14-16 — 66,18-19

349

For this is a perpetual fire, which consumes

the earth

and all the elements of the world (').” Here the phrase uniuersa mundi elementa may be compared with our own text’s cach duil: duil is the Irish word regularly used to render Latin elementum. On the other hand, the Jmmram resembles the Apocalypse in a way not found in TB, in that the eschatological fire is there directly associated with Paradise. Perhaps both Immram Snédgusa and TB drew independently upon the Apocalypse, or upon a later

text

influenced

by it; for a similar

suggestion,

see

commentary on § 73 below, p. 365-367. The mountain’s eschatological character is obscured in the second recension: instead of the statement that the fire is there “to triumph over every created thing”, we have the variants “to triumph over every assembly” (fri buaidh do cach dail) Q, “and they are all burning for blackening (?) on Sunday” (a as iad ar lasad uili do dubad dia domnaich) Y, “and they are all burning” (4 siad ar lasad uile) O, “which are perpetually burning red, so as to increase the Judgment” (ata ar derglasad do shir a comair in bratha do métugud) M. 66,18-19 To-aitne iarum na ilmhile con-tuilet in codladh nderach o thosuch domuin i nglenn inna mblath. — “Then it

shines upon the many thousands who sleep the tearful sleep since the beginning of the world in the valley of flowers.” Here the closest analogue known to me is again an Egyptian one. In the Amduat, and in ancient Egyptian funerary literature generally, the dead are frequently portrayed as being roused from dormancy when the sun passes through the underworld region in which they reside, then subsiding again with cries of lamentation as it passes on to the next hour. The gods in the lower register of the third hour are for example described as follows:

(1) P. Thomas”,

Bintmeyver, p. 273,49-52;

“Un cf.

non

text P.

interpolé

GEOLTRAIN

apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 2, p. 1034.

—

de

J.-D.

lApocalypse KAESTLI,

de

Ecrits

350

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

“This is the way they are: they worship this great god (i.e. Re)... They live, when he addresses them... They wail and lament when this great god has passed them

by (*).” I am grateful to Alison Roberts for pointing out to me that similar imagery is found in a Greek alchemical treatise known as The Conversation of Cleopatra and the Philosophers, tentatively dated to the fourth or fifth century by

A.-J. Festugiére (Ó while J. Letrouit (Ó) argues that the text shows the influence of the seventh-century alchemist Stephen of Alexandria and must accordingly postdate him. As in TB, a group of sages is portrayed questioning an allknowing informant. The philosophers ask Cleopatra: “Say ... how the blessed waters descend to visit the dead,

weak and fettered and confined in the gloom and darkness

in Hades,

and

how

the medicine

of life comes

and

wakes them...”

She replies: “Having come, the waters wake the bodies and the spirits, which are shut up and without strength. For again ... they underwent confinement, and again they will have been enclosed in Hades; and in a little they grow and ascend and put on variegated and glorious colours, like the flowers in the spring. And the spring itself is glad, and exults in the blossoming which is upon them (*).”

Various writers have noted that these alchemical teachings resemble the initiations of ancient mystery cults (°).

(1) (2) (3) (4)

E. Hornune, Das Amduat, vol. 2, p. 71. A.-J. Festucitre, Hermétique et mystique paienne, p. 213. J. Lerrourt, “Chronologie des alchimistes grecs”, p. 83-85. R. REIT7ENSTEIN, “Zur Geschichte der Alchemie und des Mysti-

zismus”, p. 15-16.

(5) I. H. JENSEN, Die dilteste Alchymie, p. 15-16; A. Roperts, My Heart My Mother, p. 68.231; A. Roperts, Golden Shrine, Goddess Queen, p. 118-120.

66,18-19 — 66,21-24

351

66,20-21 Toidid iar sin i mmag ndubhach nderuch cosnaib draconuib fo-ruirmidhi fon ceo. — “Then it shines upon the dark tearful plain, with the dragons who have been placed under the mist.” I suggest that these dragons also derive ultimately from the Amduat, which mentions gigantic serpents at several points in its account of the sun’s passage through the underworld.

In

only

three

cases

are

they

found

in

any

numbers. In both the first and ninth hours there are groups of twelve fire-breathing serpents, the fire from whose jaws dispels the darkness ('). The fourth hour provides an even closer parallel: here the sun passes through a region of utter blackness, relieved only by the flames breathed forth by enormous

snakes

which

crawl

through

all three

registers;

and it is explicitly stated that the snakes are confined to that region, even as the dragons in TB are “placed” or “set”

on the dark plain beneath the mist (°). It is intriguing to find the same theme of intense darkness emphasised in the second recension: “There are two doors upon that valley, and the light of the sun does not put radiance there” (Atait da dhorus forsin nglenn-sin a nt chuirenn edrochta gréine soillsi ann) Q; “There is moreover darkness there, so that the light of the sun does not put its radiance there” (Ala didiu dorchadus ann conach cur edrocht greni a soillsi and) Y. As they stand, these variants are Middle Irish; but they may reflect a line from the original text lost in the exemplar of L. 66,21-24 To-aitne iarum

ialla na n-enlaithe, con-chanat na

ilcheola i nglinnib na mbláth. Toidid iar sin inna maigi etrachtai cosnaib blathuib fina as-toidet a nglenn. — “Then it shines upon the flocks of birds who sing many songs together in the valleys of the flowers. Then it shines upon the bright plains with the wine-flowers which illuminate the valley.” Sweetly singing birds and fragrant flowers are common features of Otherworld descriptions in Ireland and elsewhere. (1) E. Hornune, Das Amduat, vol. 2, p. 29.158. (2) Ibid., p. 83-91, especially p. 83.

302

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Particularly striking parallels are afforded by the clerical voyage literature, on which TB appears to have drawn (cf. commentary on § 73 below, p. 365-367). In Nauigatio Sancti Brendani wandering monks arrive at an island “full of flowers” (plenamque floribus) and inhabited by fallen angels in the shape of birds, who sing the psalms ('); another island is covered with huge white and purple flowers called scaltae, whose juice has the taste of honey (*). Similar wonders are encountered on a fabulous island in the late Middle Irish [mmram Curaig Ua Corra: Ba halaind in inis-sin tra sg ba hamra a tuaruscbail. Scotha derga méit chlár indi 4 siat oc siled 5 oc tepersin mela. Enlaithi ailli étrochta indi 4 ceól sirechtach sirbinn oca chantain occu. “Fair was

that island, and wondrous

was

its description.

There were red flowers therein the size of table-tops (?), oozing and dripping with honey. There were fair radiant bird-flocks therein, singing haunting, enduringly sweet music.” It subsequently emerges that these birds are “the souls of holy folk” (anmanna daíne ndebtha (°)). In Q, the curious phrase ceol co mbuaid “a song with victory” is to be understood as a garbling of the reading ceol comchubaid “harmonious song” preserved in Y. 66,24-25 To-aitne iar saidhiu fri pardus nAdhuimh co turgaib iarum anair madain. — “Then it shines upon Adam’s Paradise until it rises from the east in the morning.” The doctrine that Eden is situated in the easternmost part of the world was a Christian commonplace, deriving from the Septuagint’s rendering of Hebrew o7p7 “originally”,

“at first” with Greek xt’ &vatorAas “to the east” (Gen 2, 8) (‘). Other

(1) (2) (3) (4) 249.

Irish attestations

of the idea appear

in the

C. Setmer, Navigatio Sancti Brendani abbatis, p. 22-28. Ibid., p. 50-53. A. G. VAN Hamer, Jmmrama, p. 103-104. Discussion in M. ALEXANDRE, Le commencement du Livre, p. 247-

66,21-24 — 68,2-4

353

geographical poem “Ro-fessa i curp domuin dúir”, by Mac Cosse of Ros Ailithir (LL 16188-16189); and in “Síd Nechtain sund forsin tshléib”, in an account of the river Boyne’s fabulous wanderings across the world eastward (’). 67 Comparison of the readings of L and Y is sufficient to show that the more striking phrases in Q are due to garbling in its source: thus rindad cneas is to be compared with Y’s hilcenéla rann. Although its presence here is the result of misunderstanding, the expression is of considerable interest for its own

sake:

with

dependent

genitive

cnes

“of skins”,

the noun rindad “cutting; carving, painting, embroidering” presumably has the sense “tattooing”. Cf. the reference to Irish tattooing in Isidore: Scoéti propria lingua nomen habent a picto corpore, eo quod aculeis ferreis cum atramento variarum figurarum stigmate adnotentur (Etym. 9, 2, 103) (°). 68,2-4

Deith

rind

Gabuen

cetamus,

gaibthius

crith 4 do-

cuiredar mongai tened dara gnuis fri taircetul plaga na dunebaid for talmain. —

“First of all, (there are) the ten stars of

Gabuen: trembling seizes them and manes of fire cover their faces, to foretell pestilence or mortality upon the earth.” These stars are also mentioned in the poem Duan in Choicat Cest: the couplet In n-innisit aicnead ogh | fil hi uii. rannaib Gabon? “Do they relate the pure nature which there is in the seven stars of Gabon?” is glossed .i. cen chumscuchud i ndomnuch 4 na huili chiuil do chloisecht eisib i. ós insib Sab “i.e. (they) do not move on Sunday, and all music

is heard

from

them

[ef. 68,13-17];

i.e., above

the

islands of Sab [cf. 94,17]” (Ó. The name Gabuen (Gaboin 0, Gaboin Y, Gabon in the poem) seems to be taken from the Biblical

and

Vulgate

Gibeon,

and

rendered

appearing

as Gabaon

as

Gabén

in the Septuagint

in the

poems

of

(1) E. J. Gwynn, The Metrical Dindshenchas, vol. 3, p. 28,33-36. (2) Discussion in R. BAUMGARTEN, “A Hiberno-Isidorean Etymology”. (3) K. Meyer, “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 4

(1903), p. 235, § 8.

354

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Blathmac (*) and in Saltair na Rann (5105-5112). It is at this spot that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still for a day (Josh 10, 12-14): the name’s transference to the stars can be most satisfactorily explained if they too were originally conceived of as standing still for a day (as in the poem), rather than having the character ascribed to them by TB. 1 The reference to “manes of fire” (mongai tened) identifies the stars of Gabuen with comets, traditionally interpreted as portents of disaster. Isidore’s description of the latter may be cited as reflecting the consensus of early medieval learning:

“A comet is so called because it streams hairs (comas) of light out from itself. When this kind of star appears it signifies pestilence or famine or war. Comets are moreover called ‘hairy’ (crinitae) in Latin, because

they scat-

ter flames like hair (in modum crinium) (Eiym. 3, 71, 16LZ)? The statement that the hair of the comets “covers their faces” does not, however, appear to be parallelled in any such source. Might the idea be that their hair streams from their heads in grief at the disasters which they foretell? Loosened or dishevelled hair is a sign of mourning in many cultures:

thus

for instance

Gregory

states

that

“it was

a

custom of the ancients that ... one who cut his hair in time of peace would let it grow as a sign of affliction” (Moralia in Iob 2, 17) Ó). For Ireland, we may note two Middle Irish examples from Leabhar Breac (PH 1354) (°); other attestations extend into the later Middle Ages, and down virtually to the present day (’). 68,4-6 Na renda aile, thimceallat in domun co noin. Fos-cerd

(4) (5) (6) (7)

J. M. M. A.

iarum

otha trath teirt

i cess co tice in trath cetna. —

“Other

Carney, The Poems of Blathmac son of Cu Brettan, p. 32, 368. Apriaen, S. Gregorii Magni Moralia in Iob, vol. 1, p. 78. McNamara et al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I, p. 390, § 114. PARTRIDGE, Caoineadh na dTrí Muire, p. 89.94-96. 99; also

E. Knorr,

The Bardic Poems

vol. 2, p. 117.

of Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn, vol. 1, p. 176;

68,2-4 — 68,6-7

355

stars circle the world between the hours of terce and none; then they lapse into weakness until the same hour comes

(again).” This is the first of three references to stars which

are

motionless for certain periods: in this case for a few hours;

at lines 9-12 for seven years; at lines 13-16 throughout Sunday. If I am correct in thinking that TB drew upon a source which assigned motionlessness on Sunday to the stars

of Gabuen,

then

all of these

statements

could

have

been elaborated on that basis: similar examples of the generation of several descriptions from a single item are to be found elsewhere in TB. Behind the passage may lie a distorted simplification of the astronomical phenomenon called “station”, the apparent standing still of a planet when it reaches its perigee or apogee (e.g. Isidore, Efym. 3, 67, 70). I can adduce no meaningful comparanda for the precise interval

daytime

specified

here.

canonical

Terce,

hours,

sext, and

followed

none

by vespers

are the three

as the first

office of the evening: that these stars should run during this period, then “lapse into weakness” until the following morning, seems precisely contrary to stars as normally observed — which may well be the point. 68,6-7 Renda

aili dano,

do-berat

rotes no rouacht

no ro-

fhualcect for talmain. — “Other stars bring excessive heat or cold or ... upon the earth.” I am grateful to William F. Ryan for his suggestion that this sentence may have taken as its starting point some description of Sirius, the star held to be responsible for the “dog days” of summer; thus Isidore says that it “is in the very centre of heaven in the summer months; and when the sun ascends to meet it and is in conjunction with it, its heat is doubled” (aestiuis mensibus in medio centro caeli est: et dum sol ad eam ascenderit, coniuncta cum sole duplicatur calor ipsius; Etym. 3, 71, 14). No stars are explicitly held to be responsible for cold weather in the same way, but the distinction between a star’s heralding a particular season or kind of weather and being responsible for it is often blurred; thus the Hyades are so named because “at their rising they cause rains ... when they rise, they give signs of the

356

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

rains” (Ortu quippe suo efficiunt pluuias ... quando nascuntur, pluuiarum signa monstrantur; Etym. 3, 71, 12). For a discussion of the form of the obscure word rofhualcecht, see the textual notes (above, p. 484): I there note Stokes’ proposed derivation from fual “urine”, and mention the alternative possibility that it is connected with fualang “madness,

derangement”.

The

association

of

stars

with

urine is a curious one, but may be explicable in light of a passage in the same chapter of the Efymologiae from which I have already quoted descriptions of comets and Sirius: Isidore derives the name of the constellation Orion “from urine (urina), that is, from the flooding of waters; for when he rises in the winter he troubles the sea and land with waters and storms” (ab urina, id est ab inundatione aquarum, tempore enim hiemis obortus mare et terras aquis ac tempestatibus turbat; Etym. 3, 71, 10).

68,7-8 Rennu aili dano, rethit fidet in mbith. — “Other stars which breathe upon the world.” Are these the same dragons world in § 28, mysterious beasts

fri tomoltad draccon do-inrun to incite the dragons which breathe upon the associated both with the

twelve winds and with the signs of the zodiac? If, as seems likely, they are, then these stars could be thought of as causing

the winds

constellations,

to blow,

or as the

stars

of the zodiacal

or both.

In the second

recension,

Q does not mention

the dragons,

but the other manuscripts give a more extended account of them which may for convenience be cited from Y: Na reanna aili rethaid fri hanalaib drecon 4 aibgidhit torthi 4 tecaid tedmanna trisna torthaib-sin — “The other stars run against the breaths of dragons, and they ripen fruits, and plagues come by means of those fruits’. M characteristically introduces the theme of divine displeasure: rithid stad for anal- dregan maille re neim fergi an Duilem- do dighaltus bristi a rechta ar sil Adhaimh “they run upon the breaths of dragons, together with the poison of the wrath of the Creator, to revenge the breaking of his law upon the race of Adam”.

68,6-7 — 68,13-16 68,8-12

Rennu

aili dano,

reithit

357 co cenn

.l. bliadna,

co

ndegat aimser codulta doib. In tan gaibthi codlad, dos-lecet tuaith tenedmuir i nglindib inna nder co cenn .uii. mbliadna; con-tuilet co ndiuchtrat la gair na senaingel a la gotha inna ndracon do-gairet a nglenn. — “Other stars run until the end of fifty years, when they seek a time of slumber. When sleep takes them, they set to the north of the sea of fire, in

the valleys of the tears, for seven years; they sleep until they are awakened

by the shout of the blessed angels and

by the voices of the dragons who call upon the valley.” Almost all of the details in this description can be parallelled in § 66 above, and I suggest that our passage was in fact fabricated on this basis. The sea of fire appears there on

line

4, and

could

easily

have

been

conflated

with

the

infernal enclosure in the north at 11-13; with the “valley of the tears” cf. the “black valleys with melancholy streams” (13-14) and the “dark tearful plain” (20). Prolonged slumber is mentioned at 18-19, dragons at 20, and the rejoicing of

angels at 64,8-9 above; with the peculiar phrase do-gairet a nglenn cf. fris’ ngairet glenn at 66,11. After saying that the stars produce plague-bearing fruits, M concludes the paragraph in a manner unique to itself: Atat reanna eile dib rithes co cenn mbl-a 4 is i-sin is aimser adhanta dóib. Bidh uair ele .uti. mblia- gan rith uair is fo mhuir bis fich an Duilemhan risna déeinib docum a ticit na teadma-sin 4 in tan is fergach é riu rithit na reanna .c.na mar adubramar romhainn. “There

are other stars among

them

which run until the

end of a year, and that is the time of kindling At another time it remains without moving years, for the wrath of the Creator against the whom those plagues come is beneath the sea; he is angry

with

them,

the

same

stars

run

for them. for seven people to and when

as we

said

before.”

68,13-16 Araile rennu, rethit na .ui. laa a na .ut. aighthi co tic in domnach. O thic tosach in domhnaig do-innscanat ilcheola 4 fos-ceird i suan co toraid in domnach Dia de nim; dos-curidar iarum fora rith cetnai. — “Other stars run for six days and six nights, until Sunday comes. With the beginning

358

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

of Sunday they embark upon many songs, and fall asleep until God’s Sunday hastens from heaven; then they embark upon their same course.” In my remarks on 68,2-4 above (p. 353-354). I gave my reasons for suspecting that the association of the stars of Gabuen with resting and making music on Sunday, attested in Duan in Choicat Cest, reflects a doctrine earlier than their identification with comets in TB; I do not know this doc-

trine’s source.

For the resemblances

and 32,10, see the commentary

between

this passage

ad loc.

70-72 These paragraphs consist almost entirely of echoes of passages earlier in the text. All three descriptions have as

their point of departure the account of the birds in the tree of Nathaben at 53,13-16 above; and even the names Naboth

(70), Sabes (71), and Abuaidi/Ebothen dissociated

from

Sames

(50) and

(72) can scarcely be

Nathaben

(53). Features

shared by more than one paragraph will be discussed here; individual passages will be dealt with separately below. (a) All three paragraphs speak of the colour and brightness of the birds’ wings: ni attoidi for lar talman ligdath na laindred na atoidet asa n-eitib (70,1-2), do-foilset a n-eitiu fri aimsir naighthi amal caindli teneth (71,1-2), ni thainic talmain ligdath na attoidet assa sciathaibh (72,2). The underlying idea here derives from the description of the birds in the tree of Nathaben “with the brightness of snow, with golden wings, with gleaming eyes” (53,13-14); the wording however echoes phrases characterizing the tree itself: Noco ta/inic i] talmain

(53,9) and as-toidiu asa blathaib

(53,11). In the birds

whose wings shine “like burning candles” (71,2) may be detected the additional influence of Isidore: “Hercynian birds are so called from the Hercynian forest in Germany where they are born. Their feathers shine so brightly in the dark that, however overcast the night may be with thick shadows, they shine forth in front to show the way, and the path is made plain with the aid of shining feathers (Etym. 12, 7, 31).” (b) The birds of Naboth weep when it is winter and rejoice when it is summer (co lecet a ndera la uacht 4 snechta,

68,13-16 — 71,2-3

359

failtnighit la tess 4 ligdata samraid 70,2-4), while the birds of Sames are dormant in winter and only revive with the coming of summer (Dos-curidar i cess marbhdhatad i ndaimsir gaimrid 4 uachtai, co ndiuchtrat la cetemon 71,3-5). Both descriptions recall the account of the sea south of the island of Ebian, which floods with the coming of summer (la cetemun) and ebbs at the coming of winter (la gemredh): at the ebb its creatures “cry out ... and fall into stupor and slumber” (eghit ... 4 dos-curedar

i cess 4 suan), but at the flood they

“awaken and rejoice” (diuchtrait a failtnigit 34,2-5). (c) The birds of Naboth awake and sing sweetly at midnight (70,4-5); those of Sames

sing in their sleep “a noble

gentle song like the roar of the wind”

(ardcheol n-ailghen,

amal toruinn ngzithi 71,5-6); and those of Abuaidi

sing un-

til the chanting of the angels (andort na n-aingiul) sounds at midnight (72,6-8). There are several similarities here to the description of the fiery sea in § 32 which sings after it has been wakened by winds: it “gives forth a roar like thunder” when “the thunders of the winds (foraind inna ngzth) awake at ... the singing together of the angels (cocetal inna n-aingel) above it” (32,9.11-12). 70,4-5 con-canat ceolu teithbindiu — “they sing songs together which are as sweet as the music of stringed instruments”. Most of the manuscripts of the second recension simply say that the songs of the birds are like the music of strings (e.g. amar ceol ted Y); M departs from this to say that the songs are “like the songs of angel[s] praising Christ perpetually” (mar ceol aingil ac adhmol- Cr- do sir). 71,2-3 Nach teidm ad-ellat a n-eitiu nó a foscud for luamain, is slan fon-acoib. — “Any pestilence touched by their wings, or by their shadow in flight, is healed.” Cf. the account of the tree Sames: Nach duine co n-ainimh no co ngalar dod-forlaic inna fhoscudh, dicuridh a shoethu de — “Anyone with a blemish or a disease who lays himself in its shadow casts his sufferings from him” (50,6-7). Similarly the tree Alab bears blossoms which overcome plague (feidm) and poison (52,2-3), and the fruit of the tree Nathaben heals all sickness and suffering (53,7-8).

360

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

71,4-5 co ndiuchtrat la cetemon — coming of May”.

“and awaken

with the

To the account of the awakening of the birds M adds the information that they arise in three flocks (‘na tri drongaib), anticipating the description of the birds in § 72-73 below. When singing in their sleep, they are specifically said by M to be praising the Creator (ac adhmol- an Duil-). 72-73 A poem based on these paragraphs appears on a piece of vellum

inserted

at the end of the Trinity College

copy of Liber hymnorum; the editors observe that it “is evidently intended as an additional note on |. 624 of the Amra, for in the Stowe manuscript (C.3.2) it forms part of the gloss on that passage. The first verse is also cited at the

same point in YBL” ('). I reproduce their text (*), with my own

translation:

(q. 1) Pilip apstal, apstal cáidh: hi céile Pilip ro ráidh in enlaith sher shuthain sheang aitreabais inis Eidheand. (q. 2) I n-airthiur Afraice bid. Is e sethar suachnaigh gnit: nocho taraill seghal sin dath na fuil fora n-eitib. (q. 3) Maraid a clumha foraib o thosach dligthech domain, gin easbaidh nach xn eoin dib, gin fuilleadh riu, gin forrimh. (q. 4) Seacht ina muighib As eadh nos canaid ceolu

n-aibhne finda, co fad, t fuiled. biathand do grés: co cainbés.

(1) J. H. Bernarp—

R. Arxinson, The Irish Liber hymnorum, vol. 2,

p: 256. (2) Ibid., vol. 1, p. 185-186.

71,4-5 — 72-73

(q. 5) Do-roindsit medhon aidhche ar mbeth for eocho caidhche, ri dord na n-aingeal, ar luas, isin aidheor eadaruas. (q. 6) Canaid na céteoin co grind ni hecoir a [m]bith robind na huile adhamra rith do-rinde Dia riasin mbith. (q. 7) Canaid drong dib ar n-eirghe i n-aimsir na hiarmheirghe a ndingne Dia, digrais fath, o thosach domain co brath. (q. 8) Canaid na heoin is maith méin isin deadhoil dualaig déin a ndingne Dia dighnaib thall i llo bratha na ngrafand. (q. 9) Da én cethrachat ar céd ocus mile, nocho breg, roba rimh dóib, robo raith;

is ed a fir in gach enlaith. (q. 10) Da cluindis fireoin, gin acht, in coicedal cemh comhnart, ad-beldais uili, mor in mod,

ar eistecht re n-airfidiud. (q. 11) Impidhe Muire moire iar scothad na canoine co n-aittrebam thall, co grib,

isin tir a fuil Pilip. Pilip. (q. 1) “Philip the apostle, a holy apostle: Philip spoke in the assembly concerning the noble everlasting slender bird-flock which dwelt in the island of Eidheand. (q. 2) “It is in the east of Africa that they are. This is the work that they do: the time of old age has not injured a colour which is not upon their wings.

361

362

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

(q. 3) “Their feathers remain upon them since the lawful beginning of the world, without the loss of a single bird, without addition to them, without increase.

(q. 4) “There are seven white rivers, with length, in their plains in which they are. That is what nourishes them always: they sing songs with fair usage. (q. 5) “They divided the middle of the night after being on horses always (?), at the chanting of the angels, with swiftness, aloft in the air. (q. 6) “The first birds sing sweetly it is not improper that they are very melodious all of the wondrous courses which God wrought before the world. (q. 7) “A throng of them sings after arising at the hour of matins of what God does, a noble subject,

from the world’s beginning until Judgment. (q. 8) “The birds, whose disposition is good, sing at the lawful swift daybreak of what God does with reproaches yonder on the Day of Judgment of the tumults. (q. 9) “A hundred and a thousand,

and forty-two birds, it is no lie,

was their number, was their ...;

that is the truth of them in every bird-flock. (q. 10) “If the righteous were to hear, without doubt, the fair powerful singing, they would all perish, great the manner, on account of listening to their entertainment.

(q. 11) “A prayer to great Mary after the shortening of the Canon (?): that we may dwell yonder, swiftly, in the land where Philip is.”

72-73 — 72,4-6

363

There are several textual problems in this composition, as well as problems of translation: these must await a full edition. The poem’s main interest in the present context is what it may have to tell us about the transmission

of TB.

It is evidently based on a version intermediate between L and

the second

recension,

as the latter has

come

down

to

us. Thus the poem agrees with L in saying that the birds are sustained by seven rivers (although the “rivers of wine” in L have become “white rivers” here: q. 4); in speaking of the chanting of angels (ri dord here, la andort L, la hord Y: q. 5); and in using the phrase in gach enlaith where the second recension has an cach eltain (q. 9); while as eadh nos biathand in q. 4 may have been inspired by iss ed roda mbiatha at 76,5 below (vs. the second recension’s as ed chaithid). On the other hand, the poem agrees with the second recension in saying simply that the birds live “in the east of Africa”, not “between

the east of Africa and heav-

en” as in L, and in making it explicit that the first group of birds sings of God’s works before the creation (q. 6); and the count of 1142 in q. 9 seems closer to 1572 in the second recension than to 7072 in L. It is hard to say whether these differences are innovations shared by the poem and our second recension manuscripts, or whether

it is L which has innovated;

and the situation is

further complicated by the absence of Q’s testimony at this

point. Whatever about these uncertainties, the poem’s very existence is further evidence of the literary success of TB in the Middle Irish period. 72,3-4 nochu torchair eile asa sciathaib, na cluim, o thosuch

domuin — “nor since the beginning of the world has a feather or plume fallen from their wings”. Cf. again the description of Sames: Nocho torchair duille dhe o do-gnith “No leaf has fallen from it since it was made” (50,5-6). 72,4-6 Boludh 4 midclos inna mblatha a blas na .uit. finaband do-cumnet inna ligmuigi, iss ed nodos-sasa o tusuch domuin — “The fragrance and the scent of the flowers, and the taste of the seven rivers of wine which traverse the bright plains, that is what sustains them since the beginning of the world”.

364

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

With boludh 4 midclos inna mblatha cf. a bolad 4 a midchlos dia mblathaib (52,3-4). That there are rivers of wine in Paradise, and that one can subsist solely upon fragrance there, are ideas which can be paralleled elsewhere in Irish literature and which were probably widespread in medieval thought: for the former see e.g. SR 1010 ('); for the latter Nauigatio Sancti Brendani (?) and Suidigiud Tellaig Temro (°). Lore concerning the Phoenix may also have influenced this passage: Pliny states that no one has ever seen the Phoenix which

eat,

and

describes

it has filled with

its self-immolation

perfumes

(Naturalis

in a nest

historia

10, 4);

and according to the Carmen de aue Phoenice attributed to Lactantius the Phoenix eats no earthly food but subsists on nectar-laden dews: “these it gathers and by these, among the fragrances, the bird is nourished (alitur mediis in odoribus ales)” (*). This parallel raises the broader possibility that the author,

even

as he drew

upon

earlier sections

of

TB to compose the descriptions of the birds, was also thinking of the Phoenix: thus the Carmen speaks of its brilliant colours (°), its close bond with the sun (°), and the cries with which it marks the hours of day and night (’). In the second

recension,

M

has a distinctive

version

of

this passage: ..1 nír [fJromhatar an énlaith-sin betha denna riam, acht

beith d’xenbeth- ac mol- Cr-; 4 ní roibi salchur na scannal a n-én acu ríam; 4 is glormar ainglidhi blátha a boll- an tire a fuilet úatha.

“..and that bird-flock never tasted (?) human life, but their whole existence has been spent in praising Christ;

(1) Drawing upon Visio Sancti Pauli; thus J. Carey, “The Heavenly City in Saltair na Rann”,

(2) C. (3) R. Gregory episcopi (4) A.

p. 95.

Setmer, Navigatio Sancti Brendani abbatis, p. 6-8. L Best, “The Settling of the Manor of Tara”, p. 142; and cf. of Tours, Historia Francorum 7, 1: W. Arnot, “Gregorii Turonensis historia Francorum”, p. 291. Riese, Anthologia latina I, vol. 2, p. 25.113.

(5) Ibid., p. 26, 125-144. (6) Ibid., p. 21-22, 33-54. (7) Ibid., p. 22, 55-56.

72,4-6 — 73

365

and there was never uncleanness nor scandal in any one of those birds; and because of them the flowers and the

fragrance of the land in which they are are angelic and glorious.” 73 This paragraph describes a threefold litany which celebrates all of time. The birds of Abuaidi divide themselves into three groups which sing in sequence: the first relates “the secret innumerable hidden wonders which not even the angels of heaven know”, a statement explained in the second recension as referring to God’s works before the creation of the world (e.g. do-roindi Dia a n-inchleithi re ndenum a dul Y; cf. do-rinde Dia riasin mbith in the poem in the Trinity Liber hymnorum); wonders

from

the

world’s

third gives an account heaven.

the second describes God’s

beginning

to

its end;

of the Last Judgment,

and

the

hell, and

So terrible is this last song that if humans heard it

they would never feel any happiness again. A very similar description occurs in the voyage tale Immram Snédgusa 4 Maic Riagla (for another parallel with this work, cf. commentary on 66,16-18 above, p. 348-349). In the story’s earliest version, two monks come to an island

where there of the plain white bird preaches to did

before

is a tree covered with “the splendid bird-flock of heaven”. Their “choirs” (clasa) are led by a with a golden head and silver wings, who them concerning “the good things which God the

creation”

(a ndo-rigni

Dia

di maith

| ria

tuistin duile), the events of Christ’s life, and the “tidings of Judgment” (scéla brátha): at this final stage in its recitation all of the other birds beat their wings in distress until blood flows down their sides ('). Snédgus and Mac Riagla subsequently come to an island where Enoch and Elijah await their battle against the Antichrist at the end of the world, and to another where a “white king” who seems to be God presides over a court which is part palace and part church.

Essentially the same account of the birds is given in the later

(1) A. G. Van HAMEL,

Immrama, p. 88.

366

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

versions of Immram Snédgusa ('); cf. perhaps the description in Immram Curaig Ua Corra of Michael presiding in bird-form over the “bird-flock of angels” (’). A further development of the theme is represented by Fís Adomnáin (e.g. LU 2271-2272): here the birds are identified as the souls of the righteous, the chief bird’s place is taken by Elijah, and the subject of his preaching is the end of the world. A crucial element in this version is the statement that Elijah and Enoch are “the two sorrows of the kingdom of heaven” (da bron flatha nime) because, although dwelling in Paradise, they grieve for sinful humanity. Further variants of this account occur in the eschatological tract Da Brón Flatha Nime (*), the poem Duan in Choicat Cest (*), and the version of § 73 in the Modern Irish recension of TB (Ó). As I intend to demonstrate in detail elsewhere, the identification of Elijah and Enoch as the “two sorrows” was

taken by Fis Adomndin from Visio Sancti Pauli, a work which influenced it in many other ways as well; there the first figures whom Paul encounters are Enoch and Elijah, who weep for the faults of mankind (20a-20b) (°). The eschatological tradition of Enoch and Elijah’s battle against Antichrist is widely attested (’), and the Breton Historia de Enoch et Elia paraphrased in Godfrey of Viterbo’s Pantheon describes a visit to their overseas retreat which can be compared with Jmmram Snédgusa in several respects (5); but the threefold recitation of the birds appears to have no foreign parallels. It seems likeliest that the birds and the undying holy men were first brought loosely together

(1) A. G. Van HAMEL, Cléirech Choluim

Immrama,

p. 83-84; T. Ó MAILLE, “Merugud

Chille”, p. 315-316.

(2) A. G. VAN HAMEL, Immrama, p. 98. (3) G. Dorrin, “Les deux chagrins du royaume du ciel”, p. 376-378;

LU 1356-1362, LL 36405-36420. (4) K.

Meyer,

“Mitteilungen

aus

irischen

Handschriften”,

ZCP

4

(1903), p. 235, n. 19: (5) (6) cf. F. (7) (8)

G. Dortin, “Une rédaction moderne du Teanga Bithnua”, p. 300. T. SILvERSTEIN — A. Hitnorst, Apocalypse of Paul, p. 112-113; Bovon — P. GEOLTRAIN, Ecrits apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 1, p. 800. Thus M. McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church, p. 25-26. M. Esposrro, “An Apocryphal ‘Book of Enoch and Elias”.

73 — 74,3-5

367

in Immram Snédgusa or in an earlier voyage narrative from which it derived, and that they were then drawn into closer association in Fis Adomndin due to the influence of Visio Sancti Pauli. That the account of the singing of the birds of Abuaidi in our own text also goes back to Irish voyage literature is indicated by the degree to which the description in TB resembles not only that in Immram Snédgusa but also the account of the Paradisus Auium in Nauigatio Sancti Brendani (cf. commentary on 53,13-16 above, p. 324). Not only do the birds in the Nauigatio strike their sides with their wings like those in Immram Snédgusa ('), but they “return praise to the Lord by day and night” like the birds of Abuaidi (7); and when he prays to God for knowledge concerning them Brendan addresses him as the cognitor incognitorum et reuelator absconditorum omnium — “Knower of things unknown, and Revealer of all hidden things” (°). It

is not difficult to imagine what might have led the author of TB to borrow from a voyage text whose account of a tree covered with angelic birds may have shared elements with both Nauigatio and Immram: Brendan reaches the island of the birds at the season of Easter, the feast with which TB is of course intimately linked; and the bird-song in the Immram

and in TB itself, expounding the mysteries of all of the past, present, and future in a single recitation (or indeed a single

night), mirrors the structure of TB as a whole. 74,3-5 Faciamus litudinem nostram et bestis uniuerse terre. image and likeness, and the birds of the

hominem ad imaginem et ad simipresit piscibus maris et uolatilibus celi et — “Let us make man according to our and let him be over the fish of the sea air and the beasts of the whole earth.”

As with 25,3-5 above, this citation of Genesis 1, 26 reflects

the Vulgate rather than the Old Latin translation (Ó).

(1) C. SELMER, Navigatio Sancti Brendani abbatis, p. 25.

(2) Ibid., p. 26. (3) Ibid., p. 23; cf. God’s “secret innumerable hidden line 4 of this paragraph. (4) For which see B. Fiscuer, Velus Latina, vol. 2.

wonders”

at

368

THE

75-81

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

These paragraphs, which differ sharply from the

standard lists of monstrous races to be found in Pliny (Natu-

ralis historia, books 5-7), Augustine (De ciuitate Dei 16, 8), and Isidore (tym. 11, 3, 12-27), derive from a fabulous travel account which purports to be a letter from the Georgian monarch Pharasmanes II to the emperor Hadrian. The surviving versions go back to a Latin exemplar, itself evidently based upon a Greek original ('). The versions of this “Letter of Pharasmanes” may be enumerated as follows: (a) Divo Adriano:

Fermes divo Adriano salutem (hereafter

Fermes), surviving only in Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, 1065d. nouv. acq. lat.,

a Beauvais manuscript of the

ninth or tenth century (’). (b) Epistola Premonis regis ad Trajanum imperatorem (hereafter Ep. Prem.), attested only in the (no longer extant) Strasbourg manuscript C IV 4 (°). (c) The Wonders of the East (hereafter Wonders), surviving in both Latin and Old English in three English manuscripts:

London,

B.L.,

Cotton

English only); London,

Vitellius

B.L., Cotton

A

xv

(c. 1000;

Old

Tiberius B v (c. 1025;

Latin and Old English); and Oxford, Bodleian Library, 614 (c. 1125;

Latin

only).

An

Old

French

version

is found

in

Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale, 14562 (s. xiii). All versions, with extended Lecouteux

discussion,

gives the

are printed by J. D. Pickles (Ó);

Latin

of Wonders

as his text

D, and

the Old French and the Old English at the foot of the page; and A. Orchard provides new editions of both the Latin and

Old English versions with a translation of the Old English (°).

(1) Overall discussions of this material are provided by J. D. PickLeEs, Studies in the Prose Text of the Beowulf Manuscript, p. 34-56; by C. LecoutTeux,

Pharasmanes,

De rebus in oriente mirabilibus, p. Xvi-xx;

and by A. Orcuarp, Pride and Prodigies, p. 18-27. (2) Text printed by H. Omont, “Lettre a ’empereur Adrian sur les merveilles de l’Asie”, p. 507-515; and reprinted from Omont’s edition by Lecouteux as his text A. (3) Text printed by E. Grarr, Diutiska, p. 195-198; and reprinted by Lecouteux as his text B. (4) J. D. Pickies, Studies in the Prose Text of the Beowulf Manuscript, p. 34-87. (5) A. OrcHARD, Pride and Prodigies, p. 175-203.

75-81

369

In addition, the following works drew particularly heavily on the “Letter”: (d) Liber monstrorum, a tract surviving in several manuscripts whose textual tradition points to an exemplar somewhere in the area of the upper Rhine ('). Liber monstrorum brings together material from many sources, including the monstrous races described in the “Letter” (°). (e) Gervase of Tilbury in his Otia imperialia (completed c. 1211) reproduces extensive extracts from a text of Fer-

mes (°). (f) Finally, it may be mentioned that the fabulous races also found their way into the Alexander

literature by way

of an interpolated version of the Historia de preliis (ó). What are the affiliations of the TB material within this extended text tradition? In the analysis of individual para-

graphs below it will emerge that TB agrees repeatedly with Ep. Prem. and Wonders against Fermes (76, 77, 78, 79, 80), and once with Fermes and Wonders against Ep. Prem.:

evidently therefore it drew upon a version of Wonders. Especially intriguing are instances of its agreement with Ep. Prem. and the Old French Wonders against the readings of the Latin and Old English versions of the latter (79), or simply with the Old French alone (76, 78): TB’s source seems to have belonged to the branch of the text tradition of Wonders of which the Old French version is a later offshoot, and may accordingly have reached the British Isles independently

of the exemplar of the English manuscripts.

Lecouteux has argued that Isidore’s Etymologies reflect use of the “Letter”, indicating that a copy of the latter existed

(1) Cf. A. Knock, “The Liber Monstrorum. An Unpublished Manuscript and Some Reconsiderations”. (2) The most recent edition is that of A. OrcHarp, Pride and Prodigies, p. 254-320.

(3) This material appears in S. E. Banks — J. W. Binns, Gervase of Tilbury, Otia imperialia, p. 184-189; and is given by Lecouteux as his

text €. (4) Details

are provided

by D. J. A. Ross,

p. 32-33; and by C. Lecoureux, mirabilibus, p. Xvi-xx.

Pharasmanes,

Alexander

historiatus,

De rebus in oriente

370

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

in Spain toward the beginning of the seventh century (’). Perhaps an early version of Wonders was one of the documents which travelled from Spain to Ireland during this seminal period. TB’s use of the source

material

is very free, to an extent

which suggests that the author may here (as apparently elsewhere) have been working from memory: many details are omitted, and the traits which are drawn

are recombined

in an apparently

from Wonders

arbitrary fashion.

likely to be deliberate is the omission

of some

More

particularly

grotesque attributes: canine heads and enormous ears (76), and the hindquarters of a wild ass (78). The fabulous races of TB seem in general intended to evoke wonder, but not repulsion.

The descriptions are fleshed out with details from sources like Isidore (79) and

Orosius (80); the most

important

an-

cillary source however is TB itself. Thus nothing in § 75 and § 81 can confidently be derived directly from Wonders, while the following comparanda elsewhere in our text seem significant: 75,2-3 (awakened only by storm, army, or music), cf. 32,7-13; 68,11-12; 75,4-5 (eyes glow upon awakening), cf. 39,3, and especially 76,2-3; 75,5-6 (men grow so large they eat whales),

cf. the collocation

of the words

bledmila,

for-berat, and diuchtrait at 34,4-5; 81,1-2 (glowing eyes), cf. references

for 75,4-5

above;

81,2-3

(not

room

for

enough

men to overcome them), cf. 47,5-6; 81,3-4 (musical voices), cf. 78,2-3; 81,4-5 (wine from the mouth), cf. 56,3-4; 81,5

(singing in sleep), cf. 71,5-6, also 47,6-7. Two more internal borrowings occur in 80: with 3-4 (awake at midnight), cf. 70,4; while 4 (sparks from the mouth) recalls 76,1-2 above.

It should be noted that the list of monstrous was drawn upon in the poem “Gnimrada int lain” (Ó. That the poem derives from an early text is evident from its agreement with L manuscripts of the second recension in stating found

(1) C.

in the right hands

Lecoureux,

of the Armenian

Pharasmanes,

De

rebus

races in TB sheissid lai form of the against the that gold is

women

in oriente

at their

mirabilibus,

p. IX-x. (2) M. Carney, “The Works of the Sixth Day”, p. 152-153, § 13-25.

75-81 — 76

371

birth rather than after their death (§ 20; cf. § 80 in TB); and in giving the name of the race described in § 81 as Faines (cf. Fones L vs. Arfarner Y, Arfaineis O, Arfaneis M). 75,5-6 For-berat isnaib murib

i tat cu cochratar a mbiastu

3 a mbledmila for tire dia sasad. — seas in which

“They grow great in the

they are, so that their monsters

and whales

come onto the lands as food for them.” The logic of this sentence is unclear. The connection of ideas is rather easier to understand in the second recension,

where Y reads Buaidrid na mara la taigliud a sul co tiagait na bledhmila ar tir, co n-ethad-som iad — “They stir up the seas with the brightness of their eyes so that the whales come ashore, so that they eat them”. M gives essentially the

same account, while O has only a as i a cuid caithmhidh bleidhmhila muridhi — “and the portion which they consume is the whales of the sea”. The version in YM may be an attempt to make sense of the obscure statement preserved in L, inspired by the description of the glowing eyes in the previous sentence: note that (to judge from the citations in DJL) the rare verbal noun

taidliud, the corre-

sponding verb taidlid, and the related verb taidligid seem all to be most at home in the later Middle Irish period. 76 The men of the islands of Odaib combine the traits of four of the races in the “Letter”;

two

of these races are ad-

jacent in the source, and the other two nearly so. The eyes glowing like candles recall men “whose eyes shine like lamps” (quorum oculi sicut lucernae lucent), mentioned in Ep. Prem. and Wonders but not in Fermes ('); the preceding paragraph, which appears in all versions, describes men with giant ears whose bodies are as white as milk (Wonders: candido corpore sunt quasi lacteo) (é). The diet of raw fish is drawn from the description of the Homodubii; it figures in that description in

(1) A. OrcHarD, Pride and Prodigies, p. 179: § 22; cf. C. LEcourEux,

Pharasmanes, De rebus in oriente mirabilibus, p. 44-45: XXVI,5. (2) C. LecouTEvx, op. cit., p. 44: XXVL4.

372

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Fermes and Wonders, but has dropped out of Ep. Prem. (’). Immediately preceding the Homodubii are the Cynocephahi, monstrous dog-headed men who breathe fire (Wonders: ig-

nem et flammam flantes) (’). That TB agrees with Wonders against both Fermes and Ep. Prem. indicates that some version of the former was its source.

Use

of

chaindle

“candles”

rather

than

ldcharna

“lamps” (< lucernae) may indicate that TB’s source was the Latin exemplar of the Old French version; the latter says that the men in question “have faces which shine like candles” (ont les vis luisans comme candelles) (°). Y’s statement that they bring fish “from the nights, from the many seas” (asna haidchib asna hilmurib) is clearly corrupt; ef. “O's “in the: many seas, “in “the fords” (sna hilmuiribh

isna haithaib).

77 Headless men with their eyes and mouths in their chests are described in all versions of the “Letter” (*), and are well known in other sources (°). I cannot find any early parallel however to TB’s statement (if this is in fact the original reading) that the tribes of Ithier “have four eyes in their backs”: the closest analogy known to me is the doctrine,

attested

by several

authors,

that

there

is a race

of

headless men with eyes in their shoulders (°). A monstrous woman from Mount Caucasus is described in a poem in the second and third recensions of Lebor Gabala as having had “four eyes out of her back” (’); but this is probably simply a reflection of the influence of TB.

(1) A. OrncHaARD, Pride and Prodigies, p. 176: § 8; cf. C. LEcouTEux, Pharasmanes,

De rebus in oriente mirabilibus,

p. 16-17: XVI.1.

(2) A. ORCHARD, op. cit., p. 176: § 7. (3) C. LEcOUTEUX, op. cit., p. 44-45: XXVL5. (4) A. Orncuarp, op. cit., p. 178: § 15; cf. C. LEcouTEux,

op. cit.,

p. 26-29: XVII,5. (5) E.g. Isidore, Etym. 11, 3, 17. (6) Thus Pliny, Naturalis historia 6, 2, 23; Augustine, De civitate Dei 16, 8; Isidore, monstrorum,

EKtym.

11, 3, 17; Liber

monstrorum

(F. Porsta,

Liber

p. 176).

(7) ceitheora suili assa druim: Erenn, vol. 3, p. 74, § 3.

R. A. S. MACALISTER,

Lebor Gabála

fh toma

373

The statement “Burning and great heat are in their bodies, such that no other race can endure it” was interpreted

by the second recension to mean that the men of Ithier are so lustful that “they do not obtain their desire except with

women of their own race”. Stokes adopted this interpretation in translating the first recension. The second recension’s reading has echoes elsewhere in Irish literature — in the notion that Fergus mac Roich’s formidable sexual capacity could only be satisfied by his lover Flidais (e.g. LL 12485-12486), and in the tale of the lustfulness of the headless Ambacuc (e.g. LL 35711-35731) — but for this very reason it should probably be seen as a secondary rationalization. I suggest that TB in fact drew on a passage toward the conclusion of the “Letter”, found in Ep. Prem. and Wonders but not in Fermes. The version in Wonders reads:

black

“And

men

mountain

there

whom burns”

is another

no

one

mountain,

is able

(Est et alius mons,

where

there

to approach,

are

for the

ubi sunt homines nigri,

ad quos nemo accedere potest, quia ipse mons ardet) ('). Alternatively, or additionally, this detail may have been suggested by a description, toward the beginning of Wonders,

of fowls

whose

“whole

body

burns”

(fofum

corpus

comburit) if anyone seeks to touch them (Ó). For the statement that the tribes of Ithier/Ethoir have their mouths in/above their chests, M substitutes the line a meadhoin do beth a cúil a xencliab easnaigh ina medhonaib — “their abdomens turned backward, and a single ribcage (?) in their innards”. Other medieval Irish accounts of physical distortion involve the reversal of various body parts, but I am not familiar with an instance in which the medón or midriff is involved; the second phrase may be compared with the statement in Togail Bruidne Da Derga that three hostages from the monstrous race of the Fomoiri are “entirely a container (?) of bone” (’).

(1) A. Orncuarp, Pride and Prodigies, p. 181: § 36.

(2) Ibid., p. 176: § 3. (3) Cuim chnáma

uili, E. Knorr,

Togail Bruidne Da Derga, line 925;

cf. hand M’s gloss .i. cen alt intib “i.e., without a joint in them” in LU

7290.

374

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

78 The first sentence in this paragraph is difficult to construe (cf. textual note on 78,1-2), and has no parallels in the “Letter”. It is perhaps unnecessary to seek any specific derivation for the description of the sweetness of the Assyrians’ voices, but it may be noted that a possible source exists in the Wonders version of a paragraph peculiar to Wonders and Ep. Prem. ('). Describing a race of Homodubii whose lower bodies are those of wild asses, Ep. Prem.

that “they have feet like a horse” Wonders this becomes “with long and a mild voice” (longis pedibus English hi habbad long sceancan

adds

(pedes habent ut equus); in shins like (those of) birds, ut aves, leni voce; cf. Old swa fugeles 4 lipelice stef-

ne) (7). As in § 76 above, the Old French version of Wonders comes

closest to TB, reading

“they are twelve

feet tall, and

have a sweet voice like a bird” (il ont .xti. piés de lonc et souef vois comme oisel). 79 Diminutive men are mentioned only in Ep. Prem. and Wonders; and the readings again indicate that TB’s source was closest to the Old French version of the latter. Ep. Prem.’s account of the Ichthyophagi (*) makes no mention of their fish diet but says that they are “two feet tall, with beards reaching to their knees” (statura pedum binorum barbas usque ad genuas habentes); it names them cenodubii or

homunculi. In the Latin and Old English versions of Wonders they are called Homodubii and said to be six feet tall, ii having

become

ui through a scribal

slip (*). In the Old

French they appear as hommelés “mannikins”, and are again only two feet tall (n’ont que .ii. piés de lonc). These correspondences prompt two observations. First of all, the agreement of the Old French with Ep. Prem. against the other versions of Wonders is a clear corroboration of the view put forward by Pickles that it goes back

(1) A. OrcHARD, Pride and Prodigies, p. 178: § 17; ef. C. LEcouTEux, Pharasmanes,

De rebus in oriente mirabilibus,

p. 38-39:

(2) A. OrcHARD, op. cit., p. 194. (3) C. LEcouTEuxX, op. cit., p. 16-17: XVI,1. (4) A. ORCHARD, op. cit., p. 176: § 8.

XXIV,2.

78 — 80

375

to a Latin source independent of the exemplar shared by the surviving Latin and Old English texts ('). Second, the fact that Wonders calls the men Homodubii (?) may explain the placing of TB’s Indian dwarves immediately after the sweet-voiced Assyrians — if the latter are, as I have suggested, inspired by the onocentaur Homodubii

of Wonders.

All this having been said, it must be conceded that we are not dependent on the “Letter” for an explanation of this sentence. Both of its concrete statements — that these men live in India, and that they are a cubit tall (cf. textual note on 79,2) —

can be parallelled in Isidore, Etym.

11, 3,

26: “And there is a race there a cubit high, whom the Greeks call pygmaei from [their word for] ‘cubit’... They inhabit those mountainous regions in India to which the ocean is adjacent” (Est ef gens ibi statura cubitalis, quos Graeci a cubito pygmaeos vocant... Hi montana Indiae tenent, quibus est vicinus oceanus). Isidore should almost certainly be seen

as the source

for these

details;

the fact that no

fabulous races peculiar to Isidore appear to have contributed to the TB assemblage suggests however that the Etymologies were here used to embellish sketchy recollections of the material in Wonders. In the second recension, Y’s statement that the pygmies are four feet (cethri troigthi) in height is evidently secondary: the readings of the other manuscripts (ceiéri duirnn O, itt. duirnn M) are closer to the cubat .u. ndorn of L. M identifies them as “the leprechauns” (na lupracain). 80 The warrior women in TB are evidently modelled on two races of savage women mentioned side by side in the “Letter” (). In Ep. Prem. and Wonders these paragraphs immediately follow a reference to a mountain between

(1) J. D. Pickes, Studies in the Prose Text of the Beowulf Manuscript,

. 5A, ; (2) This reading may well lie behind the hommelés of the Old French; cf. homoduli ch’est a dire hommelet at C. LecourEux, Pharasmanes, De rebus in oriente mirabilibus, p. 38: XXIV,2. (3) A. Orcuarp, Pride and Prodigies, p. 180: § 26-27; cf. C:

LEcOUTEUX, op. cit., p. 30-33: XXI-XXIL.

376

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Media and Armenia ('); in Fermes however there intervenes a paragraph describing cities near the Red Sea, and the women

are said to live in the vicinity of the latter.

Of the details in TB’s description, the reference to the women’s great stature recalls the statement of Ep. Prem. and Wonders that members of the second race of women are thirteen (Old French: fourteen) feet tall; while the beards growing to their navels are based on the beards which grow as far as the breasts of the first race. Their ferocity in war may be obliquely derived from the hunting prowess of the first race and the boars’ tusks of the second, but is presumably more directly based on accounts of the martial exploits of the classical Amazons; the statement that they “bear only daughters” likewise probably reflects the belief that the Amazons killed all their male offspring (e.g. Orosius, Historiae aduersum paganos 1, 15, 3). If not directly inspired by the reference to the mountain Media

and

Armenia

mentioned

above,

the

between

statement

that

the women live in “the mountains of Armenia” may reflect the belief that the Amazons dwelt in Armenia’s general vi-

cinity (thus e.g. Etym. 14, 3, 37): a poem in the Book of Leinster version of Tain Bo Cuailnge refers to an expedition undertaken by Cu Chulainn to “the mountains of Armenia” (slebi Armenia) to fight against the Amazons (LL 88388841). I know of no source for the gold found in the right hand of the newborn infant; cf. the jewel held in the right hand of a victorious

king at 44,5-6.

81 For the derivation of the details in this paragraph from passages elsewhere in TB see the penultimate paragraph in the overall discussion of § 75-81 above, p. 370. In the second recension, the statement that the men of Arfaner are

taller

than

manuscripts mouths

after

trees

is peculiar

speak of streams they

die,

M

has

to Y.

of wine “streams

Where

coming of fire

the

other

from their or

wine”

(srotha tened no fina).

(1) A. OrcHARD, Pride and Prodigies, p. 179: § 25; cf. C. LecourEux, Pharasmanes, De rebus in oriente mirabilibus, p. 28-31: XVIII-XX.

80 — 84

377

82 The author here undertakes to reconcile the bizarre appearance of the races which he has been describing with the Biblical doctrine that man

was formed in God’s image:

our text’s phrase ba dia dheilbh 4 a chosmailius do-forsat evidently echoes the Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et sumilitudinem nostram — “Let us make man in our image and

of Genesis

likeness”

1, 26

(cf. 74,3-5

above,

of

use

i cosmulius delbe to render in similitudinem imaginis in Wb 1 b 19, and delb 4 cosmailius Dé again at PH 3570). Such a reconciliation is particularly important for the theology of TB, a work bound together by the threefold homology of the primordial body of Adam, the totality of the material universe, and the risen body of Christ (see especially § 1214). The transition from the physical perfection of Adam to the deformity of the monstrous races was a problem for medieval thinkers generally ('). 84 In answer to another question from the Hebrew

wise

men, Philip recites a catalogue of categories divisible into seventy-two

“kinds” or “species” (cenéla): there are seventy-

two kinds of (i) sea-beasts, (ii) birds, (iii) beasts, (iv) snakes, (v) fruits, (vi) stars, (vii) angelic companies, (viii) infernal punishments, (ix) heavenly rewards, (x) human languages, and (xi) races of mankind. Some of these reckonings recur elsewhere in the text (angelic companies at 19,3, stars at 64,3-4, birds and sea-beasts at 69,3-4, heavenly rewards —

and perhaps infernal punishments as well — at 73,10-12), together with a few more (extraordinary springs at 35,1, songs sung by the tree of Nathaben at 53,11-12). The poem Duan mans,

in Choicat infernal

Cest also asks the number punishments,

and

heavenly

of beasts,

hu-

rewards,

the

glossed answer being seventy-two in all cases (*): whatever

(1) Thus J. B. Frrepman, The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought, p. 87-107: for Middle Irish attestations of the doctrine that this deformity was inherited by the descendants of Cain and/or Ham see D. Ó Cronin, in C. DoNAHUE,

The Irish Sex Aetates Mundi, § 17, 33-34; and discussion “Grendel and the Clanna Cain” and J. Carney,

in Irish Literature and History, p. 102-112. (2) K. Meyer, “Mitteilungen aus irischen

(1903), p. 235, § 8-9.

Handschriften”,

Studies

ZCP

4

378

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

the relationship between this poem and TB, they are both expressing a single doctrine in this regard. A series of seventy-two-fold groups clearly derived from our paragraph occurs in the poem “Gnimrada int sheissid lai lain” (); as we have seen above (p. 370-371), the same poem reflects the influence of the immediately preceding § 74-82. Two traditions appear to be conflated here. One is the very widespread doctrine, based on counting the descendants of Noah in the Vulgate version of Genesis 10, that there are seventy-two races of mankind and consequently seventy-two languages (thus e.g. Isidore, Etym. 9, 2, 2). As a multiple of such symbolically important numbers as 12 and 36, 72 found other applications also; Jerome for instance pointed out that the “six legions of angels” mentioned at Matthew

explicitly

26, 53 would

connected

have

numbered

this with the traditional

72,000, and

reckoning

of

languages (’). The paragraph’s main source is however to be found elsewhere: in the enumerations of various creatures found in some of the early question-and-answer texts. Cross and Hill give a chart comparing several of these enumerations (*), a fair number of which appear in insular sources: the Collectanea

Bedae

(birds,

snakes);

the

Bobbio

Missal

(birds,

snakes); and the Old English dialogues Adrian and Ritheus (birds, snakes, fish) and Solomon and Saturn (birds, fish).

Some

continental

question-and-answer

the kinds

of quadrupeds;

groupings

are

seventy-two

attached

and

texts

also number

in at least one

to the statement

that

languages (*). No attempt is made

case

these

there however

are to

apply a single number — 72 or any other — to more than one of the categories: Cross and Hill plausibly suggest that the several figures given were obtained by counting the names in Isidore’s Etymologiae or some similar source.

(1) M. Carney, “The Works of the Sixth Day”, p. 155, § 37-42. (2) Commentarii in Matheum 4, 26 (CCSL 77, p. 258); cited by A. Borst, Der Turmbau von Babel, p. 390. (3) J. E. Cross — T. D. Hitt, The Prose Solomon and Saturnus and Adrian and Ritheus, p. 152. (4) Autun, Grand Séminaire, G J/J, ninth century; H. Omonr, “Interrogationes de fide catholica”, p. 62.

84 — 86,2-4

379

As we have seen happening elsewhere in the text, TB here draws upon its sources for concepts, not for specific information: instead of the series of distinct enumerations found

in the question-and-answer

literature,

the numinous

72 is applied to the entire range of natural, human, superhuman

categories.

The

author

of TB

and

is presumably

responsible for expanding the list, thereby bringing the array

of phenomena

which

it covers

into

closer

correspon-

dence with the contents of TB as a whole. 85-90 These paragraphs provide an extended description of hell, largely concerned with emphasising the inexpressiblity and unimaginable magnitude of its torments; a similar account of heaven and its blessedness concludes the text at § 104-106. Such paired evocations of the horrors of hell and the delights of heaven, designated “eschatological conclusions” by Frederic Mac Donncha (’), occur at the end of several Irish homilies (*). The corresponding sections of TB are thus best viewed as belonging to a widespread and well-established

Irish homiletic

tradition, which

the author

has elaborated with characteristic flamboyance: it would probably be fruitless to look for specific parallels to all of the individual statements which they comprise. For some of them, however, analogues or potential sources can be suggested; these are noted

below.

86,2-4 cia no thindscanaind a aisnéis o thosach domuin, ni

eicsind ria mbrath in soithar im-comaircidh uili amal rot-ngab — “even if I had set about telling of it since the beginning of the world,

I would

not have related the nature

of all the

distress about which you ask before the Day of Judgment”. Similarly, the sermon Scéla Lai Bratha states that “if someone were given seven ages, with a thousand years in each, he would not be able to relate more than a twentyfirst part of the evils of hell” (dia curta nech i secht n-desaib,

(1) F. Mac Donncua, “Medieval Irish Homilies”, p. 60. (2) Thus J. Srracunan, “An Old-Irish Homily”; LU

2406-2493,

2746-2758; and PH 3634-3654, 4302-4365, 4665-4681, 5014-5025, 56235631, 5929-5943, 6163-6179, 6396-6406, 8288-8349.

380

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

4 co mbeth mile bliadna in cach ats díb, ní mó anda oenmad rand fichet olc n-iffirnd no innisfed; LU 2454-2456); while in Saltair

na

tongues, ment,

Rann

it is said

that

100,000

if they spoke continuously

could

not describe

even

men

with

iron

until the Last Judg-

one

of hell’s 144 torments

(SR 929-932) ('). 86,5-6 cia do-comladh en badh luaithiu 4 bud treisiu luamain, iss ing ma ra-soissed cind mile bliadna a dhomhnai — “even though the bird which is swiftest and strongest in flight should

set out, it would

scarcely

reach

its bottom

at

the end of a thousand years”.

Cf. the description of the vastness of Heaven in Scéla Lat Bratha: ar in t-én as luathiu luamain for bith, ni thairsed do toichell richid 0 tossuch domain coa dered — “for the swiftestflying bird in the world could not traverse the riched from the world’s beginning to its end” (LU 2477-2478). 87,2-4 “Nocon fetar”, ar se, “cia de as lia: a fil do gainemaibh fo mhuiribh, anna a fil do cheneluibh biastu fri timdibe

anmann

a n-ithfernd.” —

“‘I do not know,

‘which of the two is more numerous: the seas,

or all the kinds

of beasts

he said,

all the sand beneath

that

there

are

to maul

souls in hell.” Cf. Saltair na Rann, which says that the pains of hell are

more numerous than luibi for maigaib, | no duili for fidbadaib — “plants upon plains, or leaves upon woods” (SR 935-936). Comparison of innumerable multitudes to grains of sand

must

be virtually

universal;

instances

in the Bible

include Genesis 22, 17; 32, 13 (12); Psalm

139, 18; Jeremiah

33,

phrase

22;

and

Revelation

gainem mara —

the sea” count of In the tions to

20,

8;

and

the

comtar

lir

“so that they were as many as the sand of

heads a list of such similitudes in the earliest acthe death of Cu Chulainn (LL 13952). second recension, M makes three significant addithis paragraph. In evoking the numberlessness of

(1) For the latter passage’s debt to one of the redactions of Visio Sancti Pauli see J. Carey,

“Visio Sancti Pauli and the Saltair’s Hell”,

p. 41-42; and, with much fuller documentation, C. D. Wricut,

The Irish

Tradition in Old English Literature, p. 145-156. Cf. 90,1-2 below.

86,2-4 — 88-89

381

the torments of hell, it likens them not only to the sand of the sea but also to “a granary in its single grains, or snow in its single flakes” (ithla ‘na héngrainneib nó snechta ‘na enladhocaib). And for Y’s ar atait ann do pianaib it substitutes the following: “Nt hairmeochur imat pian n-écsam- ndothurascbala na teghdaisi-sin; 4 a truadha”, ar sé, “cidh innisinn-si red éiccin dib-si do thuarascbal- na teghdaisi-sin, nibud nertmar mé ara innisin, óir int én is luaithi 4 is treisi liamaireacht fa neimh da mbeith sé ré mile bl- ac taist- ifrinn nibudh eider leis rimh pian ifrinn 7 .uit. tengtha file ‘na chind 4 .uul. sourlabra suadh in gach tengaidh díb.” “The multitude of the diverse indescribable torments of that

household

will not be numbered.

And

O wretches’,

said he, ‘even though I should relate to you something of the description of that household, I would not have the power to tell it; for the bird which is swiftest and strongest in flight under heaven, even if it were traversing hell for a thousand years, would not be able to number the torments of hell even if it had seven tongues of poets in its head, and the seven eloquences of a sage in every tongue of them.” Finally, it expands the list “wounding and burning and laceration”

to

“the

wounding

and

burning

and

laceration,

the scourging and dragging and battering, the mangling and suffering and bone-scorching of that terrible dwelling” (iter guin 4 leadragh 4 loscad, iter sraill- 4 tarruing- 4 bual-, iter gerradh a césadh 4 cnamlosc- na haitreibi uathmhatre-sin). 88-89 All of the sentences in § 88 begin Ro-saig do méit (with the exception of Ra-saig di ane in teined (10-11), where the author appears to be avoiding an exact repetition of Ro-saigh do meit in teined (3); and all of those in § 89 begin with Afá do méit. The first two sentences in § 88 state that those in hell lament too much to call upon God’s name, and that all the water in the world could not quench

hell’s fires; the rest of these two paragraphs is devoted to the theme that hell is so terrible that even the tiniest quantity of one of its components would destroy all life in this world.

A parallel to this appears

in the copy

of Fis

382

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Adomndin in Leabhar Breac, which speaks of “red huge pointed iron nails, equally dense, equally thick, equally sharp, equally high, with a drop of poison at the tip of each nail; and the poison of one of those nails would drown and burn the men of the whole earth (co mbdidfed ocus co loiscfed firu in talman uli neim cech clui dib-side)” ('). The characteristics of hell specified are: cold, darkness, stench,

hunger

and ‘thirst, fear, and

sorrow;

§ 87 speaks

of

ravaging beasts, and the first two sentences in § 88 of lamentation and fire. All of these are of course stock features in accounts of hell. We may compare a list in the eleventhcentury Liber de tribus habitaculis animae of Bishop Patrick of Dublin, which begins with sitis intolerabilis, pena famis, pena fetoris, pena horroris, pena timoris, pena angustie, pena tenebrarum,

seueritas

bestiarum

—

ment

stench,

of

torment

tortorum,

“intolerable

torment

of anguish,

presentia

thirst,

of

torment

demonum,

torment

horror,

ferocitas

of hunger,

torment

of darkness,

of

severity

tor-

fear, of tor-

turers, presence of demons, ferocity of beasts”, and goes on to speak of suspiria, miseria, dolor sine remedio — “sighs, misery, grief without remedy” (”); cf. further the sequence pena famis, pena sitis, pena frigoris, pene caloris, horride tenebre, facies demonum, uoces tortorum — “torment of hunger,

torment

of thirst,

torment

of cold,

torment

of heat,

horrible darkness, faces of demons, voices of torturers” in a homily in Leabhar Breac (PH 7136-7137). In

its

version

of

§ 88,

M

makes

some

original

con-

tributions: it speaks of a quantity of cold as great as the breath of a goose, not of a cat as in YO; and it says of the waters

ebbing before

a spark from

hell that

“all of them

would not diminish a single spark of the poison of that fire, and the human race would perish from its poison” (ni turnfadais sin uile encrithir do neimh na tenedh-sin 4 do gebdais in cined denna bas da neimh). 90,2-7 With

compare

the formula

“Where

“Where

there is much

there is no X, but Y”,

X, and little Y” in a de-

(1) E. Winpiscu, “Fis Adamnain. Die Vision des Adamnan”, p. 191. (2) A. Gwynn, The Writings of Bishop Patrick 1074-1084, p. 110.

88-89 — 90,12-13

383

scription of hell in a Leabhar Breac homily; e.g. “Where there is bitterness without sweetness: a place where they will have much bitterness and gall, and little of anything sweet-tasting” (Ubi amaritudo sine dulcedine: aitt i mbia doib immad cech sherbi 4 domblais 3 tercci cecha somillsi; PH 4310-4311, with the gaps in Atkinson’s presentation of the text supplemented from the manuscript). With “a place where was no pause for respite, nor look of joy upon a face” (3-4), cf. later in the same piece “Where there is no consolation: it is there that there is no comfort nor respite nor

refreshment for them” (Ubi nulla consolatio est: is ann-sin nach fil comdidnad no cumsanud na etarfuarad doib-sium; PH 4336-4337). 90,4 cumsanad — “respite”. Here O adds acht mairg 4 omhan — “but woe and fear”. M has fre bithu sír acht gul sa mairg 4 úamhan 4 éighmhe 4 nuall 4 gerdin truadha imdha toirrseacha — “...throughout long ages, but lament and woe and fear and screams and outcry and sorrowful numerous sorrowful complaints”. 90,7 Dechtadh inna ndeut — “Gnashing of teeth”. This renders the Biblical phrase stridor dentium, found in allusions to hell in Matthew

13, 42 and 50. The usual Irish

translation is crith for détaib, as in the second thus PH 3636, 4309, 5015, 5625, 6165.

recension:

90,9 tuilged inna nder — “shedding of tears”. Cf. perhaps tolégud for roscu or liquefactio oculorum

in

several Leabhar Breac homilies (PH 3636, 4328, 5016, 6165,

supplemented from the manuscript).

90,9-10 sirecht inna n-osnad — “woe with groans”. Cf. in the sermon Scéla in Lai Bratha the phrase co tromosnadaib strrechtaidib — “with heavy woeful groans” (LU 2408).

90,12-13 Is gol cry everywhere”. Gol a éigem is a again Scéla Lai wailing lamenting (LU 2409, 2435).

4 eigim di cech leith —

“Wailing and out-

fairly common phrase; in this context, cf. Bratha: nuall golfadach 4 éigmech — “a cry”, gol 4 egmech — “wailing and outcry”

384

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

92 The sources of TB’s account of the events attendant on the Last Judgment have been the subject of some desultory comment: St. John Seymour compared “the crying and singing of the souls as they come to take their bodies from the earth” (21-22) with the uox magna uttered by souls reclaiming. their bodies in the Apocalypse of Thomas ('); but W. W. Heist denied that this resemblance was sufficient evidence that the former had indeed drawn upon the latter. Heist preferred to assume that TB’s lost source had belonged to the same “general body of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic” as the Apocalypse of Thomas, and to see any similarities between the texts as being explicable on this basis: “in the present state of the evidence,

there seems

to be

little more to say of the relations of The Evernew Tongue to

earlier works” (’). When account is taken cension as well as of L, Apocalypse of Thomas can and (xvii): given that the

of the readings of the second rehowever, close parallels to the be found in items (ii), (xiii), (xvi) Apocalypse’s influence may also

be discernible

above,

connection Revelation the tract preserved which has

in 66,16-18

the case

for a significant

seems persuasive. (ii-vi) appear to derive from 6, 12-13; 7, 1. (i) and (ix-xii) resemble items in De quindecim signis: one copy of this work is in the pseudo-Bedan Collectanea, a miscellany been tentatively assigned to an insular milieu (°).

(ix-xii), however,

are

closest

not

to the

Collectanea

version

but to that used by the eleventh-century Italian reformer Peter Damian. A version resembling one of the sources used by the latter must therefore have been available to the author of TB (’).

(1) St. J. Seymour, “The Signs of Doomsday in the Saltair na Rann”, p. 162; text in P. BIHLMEYER, “Un text non interpolé de lApocalypse de Thomas”, p. 273,52-57; cf. P. Greottrain — J.-D. Kaestut, Ecrits apocryphes chretiens, vol. 2, p. 1034. (2) W. W. Herst, The Fifteen Signs before Doomsday, p. 65. (3) M. Bayiess — M. LapipGe, Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae, p. 30. (4) On the difficulty of identifying many of these sources see F. Dresster,

Petrus Damiani,

p. 207.

92, — 92,7-8

385

92,4-5 na .u. ergala .lx. ar .ccc. donaib teinedhshliabhaibh — “the three hundred and sixty-five eruptions from the mountains of fire”. Contrast the readings of the second recension: na cuic cubad sescad [.lxx. O, .x.lz. M] ar tri .c.aib [éirges an muir add. M] do slebtib [ós tsleibt- an beatha 4 lasf- an cruinne an airdi .c.na add. M]: YO read merely “the three hundred and sixty-five [or three hundred and seventy] cubits of mountains”, embellished by M to “the three hundred and seventy

cubits that the sea will rise above the mountains of the world; and the globe will burn to the same height”. The text was evidently already corrupt in the shared exemplar, going back ultimately to something like the first of the signs of Judgment in De quindecim signis: Prima die eriget se mare in altum quadraginta cubitis, super altitudines montium, et erit quasi murus, et amnes similiter. “On the first day the sea will raise itself up to the height of forty cubits, above

the heights of mountains,

and will

be like a wall; and rivers likewise (’).” The only version which makes coherent sense while retaining the reference to cubits is that of M. This evidently represents shrewd reinterpretation of a garbled source (inspired perhaps by Genesis 7, 20, or by other eschatological writings): thus the univerbated form éirges is relatively late. 92,6-7 ria ngnuis in Rig mair isa cumhachta conscarfa an mbith — “before the face of the great King whose power will destroy the world”. Y also refers to the face of God

here, but the text must

have become garbled by the time of the exemplar of OM. O reads merely re gnuisibh amuith — “before countenances outside (?)”; while M omits the phrase entirely.

92,7-8 Cucligiu 4 maidm inna .uii. nime occa filliudh for talmanda. — “The tottering and breaking of the seven heavens as they bend down upon [the] lands.”

(1) M.

Bay ess

— M. LapipGe,

Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae,

p. 178.

386

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

The word filliudh must here mean something like “bending”, “bowing”; contrast Y, where the verb can be taken in its sense “fold up”: Fillfidit na .uii. nime asin chuil ndescertaig do nim, 4 corob leir do thalmain soillsi etrochta aingil 4 grianbrug in rigthigi — “The seven heavens will fold up from

the southern

corner

of heaven,

so that the bright ra-

diance of the angels and the sunny dwelling of the royal house will be plainly visible to the earth”. In OM, as in L,

the folding or rolling up of the heavens is directly linked with the shaking

of the world,

here said to extend

o tur-

ghabail co fuinedh — “from east to west”. Cf. in SR the passages “Heaven will be rolled up ... from the depths of its substance” (Fillfidir nem ... a fudomnaib a adbair 8141-8142)

and

“The seven

holy noble heavens

will

be rolled up” (Na secht nime noebnara fillfitir 8261-8262). Here and in the second recension of TB (presumably also in the exemplar shared with L) the ultimate inspiration is probably Revelation 6, 14 Caelum recessit sicut liber inuolutus — “The heaven receded like a book which had been rolled up” (cf. Isa 34, 4 Complicabuntur

sicut liber caeli —

“The

heavens will be rolled up like a book”). The statement in the second recension that the rolling up of the heavens will reveal the angelic realm appears to echo one of the signs of the sixth day in the Apocalypse of Tho-

mas ('): Scindebitur firmamentum celi ab oriente usque ad occidentem, et erunt angeli celorum prospicientes in lterram per aperturas celorum, et omnes homines qui sunt in terra uidebunt exercitum angelorum prospicientes de celo. “The firmament of heaven will be torn from the east to the west, and the angels of the heavens will be gazing upon the earth through the openings in the heavens, and all the men who are on earth will see the host of angels gazing from heaven.”

(1) P. Thomas”,

BIHLMEYER, p. 273,

“Un

40-44;

text

cf. P.

non

interpolé

GEoLTRAIN

apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 2, p. 1033.

—

de J.-D.

Apocalypse Kagst11,

de

Ecrits

92,7-8 — 92,10-12

387

Cf. the statement in SR that “The fair doors of the splendid great riched will be opened” (Oslaicfitir coemdoirsi richid ranmair 8189-8190). M’s account

of the

consequent

destruction

is more

ex-

tensive: 4 duiscf-ter na .uit. neime ón chúil deiscertaig do neimh co ró an cúil tuaiscertach a as sin co horrter 4 ó horrter gó hiartar; soillsi édrocht aingil ac commbris- na ngrianbrudh uile fútha 4 na .uil. neime, gá sinad 4 aca slisbladhadh 4 aca siantarruing — “and the seven heavens will be roused from the southern corner of heaven as far as the northern corner, and

from

there

to the east and

from

the east to the west;

the bright radiance of the angels breaking all the sunny dwellings and the seven heavens beneath them, stretching them and shattering them and wrenching them”. 92,8-9 Comeirge 7 toirm inna .iilii. ngeth tendtighiu a mmusclaidib nimhe — “The rising and the tumult of the four fiery winds from the cardinal points of heaven”. Here the source is evidently Revelation

7, 1: “After that

I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth (super quattuor angulos terrae), holding the four winds of the earth”; the releasing of the winds by the angels is there anticipated, but not explicitly narrated. Thomas D. Hill’s suggestion that the passage here is to be compared with a reference to seven eschatological winds in the Old English poem Christ III depends on one of the few errors in Stokes’ reading of the Lismore text, the mistaking of .iiii. for .uii. (’). Besides the winds, M speaks of the arising at the same time of “angels and archangels”. 92,10-12 Torandfadach inna .u. rind .lxx. ar .ccc. ar teora milib do thutim asind nim. Int esca do shoadh i ndath fholu. In grian do dhith a soilse. — “The thundering of the 3,375 stars as they fall from heaven. The moon turning the colour of blood. The sun quenching its light.” Again, Revelation provides a ready source for these calamities, which are there described at 6, 12-13:

(1) T. D.

Hitt,

Christ III”, p. 676.

“Notes

on

the

Eschatology

of the

Old

English

388

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Et sol factus est niger tamquam saccus cilicinus, et luna tota facta est sicut sanguis, et stellae de caelo ceciderunt super terram.

“And the sun was made black like a bag of sackcloth, and the whole moon

was made like blood, and the stars

fell from heaven upon the earth.” The Apocalypse of Thomas is not quite so close to TB (’): Erunt tenebrae magnae in saeculo usque in sero, et erit aer tristis sine sole et luna, et stellae cessabunt a ministerio suo.

“There will be great darkness in the world until it is late, and the air will be sorrowful

without

sun and moon,

and

the stars will cease from their office.”

SR also speaks of the falling of the stars, and the quenching of sun and moon (8161-8164). Of the other eschatological

accounts

which

can

be

most

fruitfully

com-_

pared with TB, none comes as close: De quindecim signis

speaks only of the falling of the stars (°). In the second recension the number of the stars is given as

1,305

by Y,

as

2,305

by O, and

as

2,365

by M.

The

simple statement grian a nduibhi an guail “the sun in the colour of coal”, preserved in O, has been expanded in Y by

the addition of the obscure phrase d’fastad “confined (?)”; M states that the sun will turn black “for fear of that peril” (ar ecla in ghabaid-sin). M also adds that the stars will fall “from their own abode and from their supporting hooks” (da shosad féin 4 da gablaib fulaing); and substitutes “falling from its own abode” (ac tuilim da shosad fein) for do shoadh “turning”. 92,12-15 Biaid do lin arbhair nime isind lo-sin connaba cumhachta do nach doen ara tairchella rosc na ara coimastar a n-airiumh, acht mad Dia nama. — “The hosts of heaven will

(1) P. BIHLMEvER, “Un text non interpolé de lApocalypse de Thomas”, p. 273,35-37; cf. P. GEOLTRAIN — J.-D. Karstut, Ecrits apocryphes chretiens, vol. 2, p. 1033. (2) M. Baytess — M. LapipGe, Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae, p. 178, § 368; cf. Blathmac in J. Carney, The Poems of Blathmac son of Cu Brettan, p. 80, 948.

92,10-12 — 92,16-20

389

be so numerous on that day that no mortal will be able to see them all, or to reckon their number, but only God.” A sharply different version appears in the second recension: Biaid do med in gabaid-sin conach bia aingil edrocht nach sxfea delb acht gnuis De nama — “So great will be that peril that there will not be a bright angel whose appearance

will not change, save only the countenance of God”. M adds a further clause to introduce what follows: Ba frúadh tra mét an ghab- sin oir bíaidh —

“Woeful,

then, will be the

magnitude of that peril; for there will be...” 92,15-16 Talgud inna figbadh 4 inna slebe la anfud tentige di cech leth. — “The woods and mountains dissolving in a fiery blast from every side.” No close parallel to this seems readily apparent: neither the rain of hail and fire which destroys a third of all trees in Revelation 8, 7, nor the violent winds which uproot the woods in SR 8121-8124, show significant agreement in de-

tail. In the second recension, the destruction is caused by the “blast of the fiery sea” (hanfad na mara tentigi). 92,16-20 Eigiumh inna mbiasta 4 inna n-uile n-anmunda in talman. Fuilged tened in cech thir. Iachtad na n-enlaithe isind aiur forna srothaib teinedh. Buredach inna mblegmil 4 inna n-iascrad isna muirib la tragud inna salmuire 4 ria ngorad in tenedh. — “The crying out of the beasts, and of all the animals of the land. The raining down of fire in every land. The flocks of birds in the air crying out because of the streams of fire. The bellowing of the whales and the fish in the seas because of the ebbing away of the salt seas and before the heat of the fire.” The best analogues to this passage are afforded, not by De quindecim signis as it appears in the evidently insular pseudo-Bedan Collectanea ('), but by the version included by Peter Damian (1007-1072) in his Opusculum 59: Signum quarti diei: belluae omnes, et omnia quae moventur in aquis marinis, congregabuntur super pelagus, more con-

(1) M. Baytess

§ 360-361.

— M. Lapince,

Collectanea

Pseudo-Bedae,

p. 178,

390

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

tentionis, invicem mugientes et rugientes; nescientque homines quid cantent, vel quid cogitent, sed tantum scit Deus, cut omnia vivunt, officio gerendi. Haec quatuor signa pelagi sunt, et tria sequentia signa aeris, et aetheris sunt. Signum quinti diei: omnia volatilia coeli concionabuntur in campis, unumquodque genus in ordine suo; eaedem volucres invicem colloquentes et plorantes erunt, non gustantes, neque bibentes, adventum judicis timentes. Signum sexti diei: flumina ignea ab occasu solis surgent, contra faciem firmamenti, usque ad ortum currentia... Signum duodecimi diei: omnia animalia terrae de silvis et montibus venient ad campos rugientia et mugientia, non gustantia et non bibentia. “The sign of the fourth day: all whales, and all which are moved in the waters of the sea, will gather upon the sea as if giving battle, bellowing and roaring at one another; and men will not know what they are singing or what they are thinking, but only God knows, for whom all things live, performing their office. These four signs are of the sea, and the three which follow are signs of the air and of the ether. The sign of the fifth day: all the birds of the air will assemble

on plains, each kind in its order;

and those same birds will be conversing and lamenting with one another, neither eating nor drinking, fearing the coming of the Judge. The sign of the sixth day: fiery rivers will arise from the setting of the sun against the face of the firmament, flowing as far as [the sun’s] rising... The sign of the twelfth day: all the animals of the land will come roaring and bellowing from the woods and mountains to the plains, neither eating nor drinking (').” Not only does the “Damian” version speak of the outcry of creatures of water, air and land, but it also groups the water creatures and the birds together, and mentions rivers of fire (burning water in the primitive version) immediately after speaking of the birds: it was clearly a copy of the text within this tradition which influenced TB at this point. In this connection it is worth noting that the “Damian” version

(1) PL

145.840;

Petrus Damiani,

apparently

p. 240.

composed

after

1060:

F. DREsSLER,

92,16-20 — 92,20-22.26-27

391

was evidently the principal source of the later Airdena inna Cóic La nDéc ria mBrath ('). In the second recension the phrase fuilged tened in cech thir is replaced

by the statement

that the beasts

cry out

because of “the heat of the fire of the purgatory of the animals of the earth” (tes fened purgadoir na n-anmann talmaidi). According to Jacques Le Goff, “it would seem that the earliest use of purgatorium as a noun occurred shortly after 1170 ()”: for another example of the second recension’s introduction of relatively late doctrines, cf. my remarks on the phrase demhna coimidechta in the commentary on 66,8-9 above, p. 343-344.

92,20-22.26-27 Toiniud noi ngrad nimhe 4 gair a coicetul na n-anmann og tuidhecht ar cenn a corp asind uir... Comorcuin na .uil. nime oc tuilged tria getha teined. Cucligi in talman occa thochur dar aird 4 dar cenn. — “The descent of the nine orders of heaven, and the crying and singing of the souls as they come to take their bodies from the earth... The smiting together of the seven heavens as they dissolve in the

winds of fire. The shaking of the earth as it is knocked backwards and upside down.” These

events

can

be parallelled fairly closely in the ac-

count of the sixth day in the Apocalypse of Thomas: there Christ descends to the earth accompanied by the angels (cum uirtute et honore sanctorum angelorum), souls are returned to their bodies, the entire world is consumed by fire (ignis ... consumit orbem terrarum, et uniuersa mundi elementa; cf. commentary

on 66,16-18 above, p. 348-349), and

there is a universal earthquake (func erit terrae motus super uniuersum orbem terrarum) (°).

(1) For further discussion

of the motif of the sea’s destruction

by

eschatological fire, with reference to the account in the Collectanea, see T. D.

Hix, “The Old World, the Levelling of the Earth, and the Burning

of the Sea”, p. 324-325.

(2) J. Le Gorr, The Birth of Purgatory, p. 364. (3) P. Bratmeyer, “Un text non interpolé de Thomas”,

p. 273,

48-58;

cf. P.

GEOLTRAIN

apocryphes chrétiens, vol. 2, p. 1034.

—

JED!)

lApocalypse EAESTLI,,

de

Ecrits

392

The

THE

word

EVERNEW

foiniud

TONGUE:

is also used

COMMENTARY

of Christ’s eschatological

descent from heaven in the prayer “Patrick's Breastplate” ('), and in a medieval litany addressed to Jesus (°). 92,22-26.27-29 Golfadach a gair na pecthuch oc nemeli frisin Coimdid ro craidset; 4 bid gairm fri fas doib, bid aithrigi iar n-assa. Gair inna n-ithfernaidhe oc tosceud inna n-anmunn ar cend inna dala, co ructhar breth for cech n-oen iarna atrilliud... Cucligi in talman occa thochur dar aird 4 dar cenn. Golfaduch 4 gair na ndemna 4 anmunn na pecduch oc tadhad ind iffirnd forru co forcenn. — “The wailing and outcry of the sinners as they plead for mercy from the Lord whom they have afflicted; and it will be a ‘cry into the void’ for them, and

‘repentance

too late’. The outcry of those in hell,

as the souls are vomited up to the assembly, so that judgment may be passed upon each one according to his deserts...

wards

The

and

shaking

of the earth as it is knocked

upside down.

demons and the souls them forever.”

The

wailing and

of the sinners,

back-

outcry of the

as hell closes

over

I know of no close analogue to the three cries of the sinful souls. A loose parallel is afforded by a list of “three cries of the world”

standing

found

paragraph

in Dá

Bron

preserved

Flatha

Nime

in the Book

(“), in a free-

of Lismore (Ó),

and in a gloss (whose wording closely follows the Lismore tract) in the poem Duan in Choicat Cest (°): here the cries are those the Red

of the Israelites Sea, of hell when

when

they were

it was harrowed

driven

toward

by Christ, and of

souls at the Day of Judgment. Perhaps the three cries in TB were elaborated on the basis of the cry of the souls seeking their bodies (xiii), itself derived if Seymour is correct from the Apocalypse of Thomas.

(1) Thes. vol. 2, p: 255,.2. (2) C. PLUMMER, Irish Litanies, p. 42, 9. (3) G. Dorrin, “Les deux chagrins du royaume du ciel”, p. 382-385. (4) D. De H-Íprg, “Tri Gáire an Domhain”. (5) K. Meyer, “Mitteilungen aus irischen Handschriften”, ZCP 4 (1903); p..237,; n. 3-4.

92,20-22.26-27 — 94

393

92,23 bid gairm fri fas doib — “it will be a ‘cry into the void’ for them”. The expression gairm fri fas, literally “a cry against emptiness”, also occurs in the seventh-century poem “Fo réir Choluimb céin ad-fias”: in his edition of the latter Fergus Kelly translates the line Ni gairm fri fas fil form gein as — “What is on my lips is no ‘cry to the wilderness” ('). In his notes Kelly describes this as “a proverbial expression of

scriptural origin” (*), associating it evidently with such phrases as uox clamantis in deserto — “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” Lk 3, 4, Jn

(Isa 40, 3; cf. Mí 3, 3, Mk

1, 23). But there are significant differences

1, 3, be-

tween the Biblical expression and the Irish one: the former refers to divinely inspired prophecy, the latter to a wholly futile utterance; and the former speaks of the wilderness as the location of the cry, while in the latter it is its addressee. It seems evident that the two phrases have separate origins. 93 The wording here is quite close to that in a passage in a Christmas homily in Catechesis Celtica, speaking of Christ, it says: Ideo in horis nocturnis, idest in media nocte, natus est

et resurrexil, quia in media nocte factus est mundus et in media nocte distruetur (é). Cf. another passage from the same manuscript, cited in the commentary on 94,1-3 below,

Pp. O97. M differs from the other manuscripts in omitting the query about the time of the creation, and by asking not when Christ rose from the dead but “at what hour God will come to the Judgment, for making the judgment” (a coinne an bhraith do dénum an bhreithemhnais). 94 This paragraph enlarges upon the theme of midnight as the time of great turning-points in cosmic and human history, already adumbrated in the account of Philip’s own epiphany during the Easter vigil (§ 6-7). L assigns sixteen events (one of them mentioned twice) to this specific hour.

(1) F. Ketry, “A Poem in Praise of Columb Cille”, p. 23.

(2) Ibid., p. 32. (3) A. Witmart,

“Catéchéses celtiques”, p. 105.

394

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Such statements as the assertion that, at the crucifixion,

there was darkness upon the earth from the sixth to the ninth hour (e.g. Mt 27, 45-46); or that the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles at the third hour (Acts 2, 15), led writers from an early date to correlate the various canonical hours

with

events

in sacred

history:

examples

appear

in the

Apostolic Constitutions 8, 34; in Tertullian, De oratione 25; and in Cassian, Institutes 3, 3. In Ireland, we find these ideas alluded to in the Antiphonary of Bangor ('); and

treated in the miscellany Prebiarum de multorium exemplaribus (); in a note preserved in Dublin, H.3.17 (*); and, considerably elaborated, dénamm

tarbai”,

a poem

of 40 quatrains

Trinity College, in “Tánic teirt, found

in Leabhar

Breac and in Dublin, RIA, 23.N.10 (*) The passage in H.3.17 states that midnight (midnocht) is to be celebrated “for it is then that the elements were created”

(ar

is

and

do-rénta

in[n]Ja

duili);

“Tánic

teirt”

likewise assigns the creation to midnight. As will be noted below, authority can be found for assigning various of the other incidents in the list to midnight also; but this is by no means

the case

for all of them.

Thus,

as noted

above,

the

gospels explicitly state that Christ’s sufferings on the cross lasted from sext to none; the “harrowing of hell” is assigned to none by Cassian; while Christ’s resurrection was associated with the dawn (Mt 28, 1-2; cf. Cassian).

I propose that the author of 7B expanded his catalogue of midnight events by drawing upon lists of other kinds: specifically, upon lists of events held to have occurred on Sunday and Friday. “Sunday lists” are widely attested, notably in the insular literatures (°); “Friday lists” are less

(1) L&S § 532; discussion in M. Curran, The Antiphonary of Bangor and the Early Irish Monastic Liturgy, p. 171-184. (2) FR. E. McNatty, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 165-166; L&S

§ 777. (3) R. I. Best, “The Canonical Hours”. (4) IpEM,

“The

Lebar

Brecc

Tractate

on

the Canonical

Hours”.

A

discussion of the insular associations of midnight which includes Old English evidence is given in F. M. Biaas, Sources of Christ III, p. 6-7. (5) C. A. Legs, “The ‘Sunday Letter’ and the ‘Sunday Lists”; F. M. Biaas, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, p. 79-80.

94 common,

395

but various specimens can be cited from Irish and

Anglo-Saxon manuscripts ('). It seems noteworthy, given that TB appears itself to have been a homily for the vigil of Easter, that one Anglo-Saxon homily for Easter contains lists for both

days (Ó. As will be shown

in detail

below,

several events held to have taken place at midnight were also thought to have occurred on Friday or Sunday: this overlap would have made it all the easier for our author to draw upon Friday and Sunday lists in order to extend his account of midnight. “Poaching” of this kind is of course amply attested elsewhere; thus Lees cites an instance of a Sunday list being augmented with items from a list of “manifestations of the Godhead in Christ” (°). The findings which emerge from a detailed analysis of the paragraph can be summarized in the following table: Midnight Resurrection x Creation xX Fall of Lucifer Making of Adam Slaying of Abel Sodom and Gomorrah Beginning of Flood Passover ? Crossing of Red Sea Té Babylon Nativity x

Sunday x ze x

x x se

Friday

x x x x x ? x

x

Crucifixion

[Islands of Sab] X x

Harrowing of hell End of world

x x

x

The second recension’s version of this paragraph is far briefer, and assigns events not to midnight but to day and/

(1) C. A. Lees, Sermon”,

“Theme

and Echo

in an Anonymous

Old English

p. 128-130.

(2) Ibid., p. 117-119; cf. p. 129, n. 29. (3) Ipem, “The ‘Sunday Letter’ and the ‘Sunday Lists”, p. 148.

396

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

or night: Christ’s resurrection (day), creation (day; reinterpreted to become a reference to the Judgment in OM), making of Adam (night YO, day M), slaying of Abel (night YO, day M), birth of Christ (night YO, day M; explanation omitted OM), crucifixion (night YO, day M), harrowing of hell (no time specified YO, day M; extensively abbreviated YO). 94,1-2 I mmedon

aidche ... as-reracht in Coimdhiu —

“At

midnight ... the Lord arose”. The gospel accounts of the resurrection associate it with the early morning; Cyprian likewise states that at the dawn

office it is appropriate to invoke dead

(De dominica

oratione

Christ’s rising from the

34). Not

surprisingly,

“Tanic

teirt” assigns the event to the hour of matins (5); as does, on

the Continent,

the Rationale diuinorum

officiorum of Wil-

liam Durandus (°). In the face of this consensus,

Irish sources sides

the

it is striking that various

assign Christ’s resurrection

testimony

of TB

itself,

and

to midnight. the

Catechesis Celtica cited in the commentary (p. 393),

we

may

note

the

statement

passage

Befrom

on § 93 above

of a dialogue

text

which precedes the copy of the “Irish Reference Bible” in Paris,

Bibliotheque

nationale

de

France,

lal.

614A

that

Christ will come to judge the world ipsa hora qua resurrezit: id est media nocte in pascha erit aduentus eius (°*). 94,1-3 I mmedon aidche ... do-ronad in domun; 4 is a medon aidche do-ronad in cuairt roba damna don domun. — “At midnight ... the world was made; and at midnight the circuit was made which was the material of the world.” For midnight

as the time of the creation

in the H.3.17

note and in “Tanic teirt”, see the overall commentary on this paragraph above (p. 393-395): the poem speaks of midnight

as the hour in which

the earth, angels, and beasts

(1) R. I. Best, “The Lebar Brece Tractate on the Canonical Hours”,

p. 156-157. (2) Thirteenth century; ibid., p. 162. (3) Cited F. M. Biaes, Sources of Christ III, p. 6.

94 — 94,1-3

397

were formed ('). The same doctrine is found in a homily in Catechesis Celtica, cited in the commentary to § 93, and

also in an unpublished homily in the same manuscript: ...et in medio noctis factus est mundus, et iterum distruetur; et in medio noctis ueniet iudicare uiuos ac mortuos in die iudicii.

“..and at midnight the world was made, and will be destroyed again; and at midnight he will come to judge the living and the dead on the Day of Judgment (°’).” The creation, or the beginning of the creation, is regularly included in Sunday lists on the authority of Genesis 1, 1-5: Irish examples occur in the Hiberno-Latin Sunday lists

edited by R. E. McNally (°); in the tract Epistil Isu (*); and in the poem “Dénaid cain Domnaig Dé dil” (°). The first of the Latin texts begins by asking Qua in hac die creata sunt omnia, id est celum et terram, mare et omnia, quae in eis

sunt? — “Why were all these things created on this day: heaven and earth, the sea and all things which are in it?”; then cites Sir 18, 1 to the effect that God creauit omnia si-

mul (cf. § 24 above), and invokes Augustine’s view that the six “days” of creation in Genesis are not temporal intervals. The H.3.17 note states that midnight was the time when the “elements”

(duili) were

made;

TB

speaks here of the

making of the “material of the world” (damna don domun), and mentions the making of the material of the world again at lines 22-23 below. At least in the latter case, this may reflect the influence of a Sunday list: thus Lees notes the relatively early appearance in such lists of the doctrine that it was a Sunday which saw the creation of the elementa mundi (°). In Ireland, “Dénaid cain” specifies that on Sunday God made “matter, and the sand of the heavy green

(1) R. I. Best,

“The Lebar Brece Tractate on the Canonical

Hours”,

p. 154-155. (2) F. M. Biaas,

Sources of Christ III, loc. cit.

(3) R. E. McNatty, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 183.185. (4) J. G. O’Keerre, “Cain Domnaig”, p. 198-199. (5) Ipem, “Poem on the Observance of Sunday”, p. 143-144.

(6) C. A. Legs, “The ‘Sunday Letter’ and the ‘Sunday Lists”, p. 139.

398

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

earth, in which were harsh mighty fire, and water and air” (an mais | is gainium in talman tromglais, | i raibi teine tend trén | ’sa raibi uiscí is aeidher ('). 94,4-5 a medon aidche ro loingsiged ind namha do nimh .i. diabul — “at midnight the Adversary — that is, the Devil — was exiled from heaven”. I know of no tradition regarding the hour of Lucifer’s fall; but the poem

“Gnimhradha

in sheseadh lai lain” states

that on Friday “the angels left Paradise” following the creation of the first man (’). This seems to allude to the tradition that Lucifer fell because of his refusal to revere Adam (°). Since on the authority of Genesis 1, 27-31 Adam was created on Friday, Lucifer’s fall could reasonably be placed at the same time. 94,5 a medon aidche do-ronad delbh duini i pardhas — “at midnight the body of man was made in Paradise”. For the making of Adam on Friday see the preceding commentary

on

94,4-5;

it occurs

in such

Friday

lists as

“Gnimhradha” (*) and the Old English homily In die sancto Pasce (°). Adam

also figures in two

Sunday lists: the tract

De die Dominico in the Catechesis Celtica states that it was on this day that God breathed spirit into his body (°); while

“Dénaid cain” simply says that it was on Sunday that God made Adam (’).

(1) J. G. OKEErrE, “Poem on the Observance of Sunday”, p. 144. (2) M. Carney, “The Works of the Sixth Day”, p. 158. (3) E.g. Vita Adae et Euae § 13-16: M. D. Jounson, “Life of Adam and Eve”, p. 262; and cf. in Ireland SR 837-860. (4) M. Carney, art. cit., p. 158. (5) C. A. Legs, “Theme and Echo in an Anonymous Old English Sermon”,

p. 117-118.

(6) A. Witmart, “Catécheses celtiques”, p. Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 185; and cf. doctrine that Adam’s body was “three days discussion in B. Murpvocnu, The Irish Adam and na Rann, p. 62-64. (7) J. G. OKEEFFE,

art. cit., p. 144.

111; R. E. McNa.uy, SR 1041-1052 for the without a soul”, with Eve Story from Saltair

94,1-3 — 94,7-8

399

According to “Tanic teirt”, Adam’s creation took place at

medón

lái or sext ('). TB’s assignment of it to midnight

presumably follows a Friday list, perhaps reinforced by a list for Sunday. 94,6-7 Is i medon aidche do-rone Cain in chetna fingail doronad isin bith. — “At midnight Cain performed the first kin-slaying that was perpetrated in the world.” Also assigned to sext in “Tánic teirt” (°), Cain’s killing of Abel figures prominently in Friday lists. We find it in “Gnimhradha” (*); in a brief tract headed Comrad arin Aine (*); in the Old English In die sancto Pasce (5); and in

French Friday lists of the thirteen century (°). 94,7-8

Is i medon

aidche ro teilced sroibthene fornaib coic

cathrachuib fora n-imerar a mmuir tenedh co brath. — “At midnight sulphurous fire was poured down upon the five cities, upon which the sea of fire is inflicted until the Judgment.” Sodom and Gomorrah are described in Genesis 14, 2 and 8 as being in alliance with the cities of Adama, Seboim and

Segor: that all five cities were destroyed together is stated e.g. in Augustinus Hibernicus, De mirabilibus

1, 10 (PL 35,

2161). From the Bible’s account it appears that the cities were annihilated by day, as the angels tell Lot to flee from Sodom in the morning (Genesis 19, 15); that TB refers to their destruction here is presumably due to the event’s presence in a Friday list like the one in In die sancto Pasce (’).

(1) R. I. Best, “The Lebar Brece Tractate on the Canonical Hours”,

p. 148-149. (2) Ibid. (3) M. Carney, (4) H. Garpo;,

“The Works of the Sixth Day”, p. 158. “La recommandation

du vendredi”; cf. D. Hype,

The

Religious Songs of Connacht, vol. 2, p. 218. (5) C. A. Lees, “Theme and Echo in an Anonymous Old English Sermon”, p. 117-118. (6) Ibid., p. 128; L. Motanp, “Calendrier frangais du treizieme siecle”, p. 104. (7) C. A. Legs, art. cit., p. 117-118.

400

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

94,8-9 Is i medhon aidche ro tindscan in diliu todail forin mbith. — “At midnight the Flood began to pour over the world.” Again, this was probably taken from a Friday list. Cf. “on Friday ... came the beginning of the Flood” in “Gnimhradha” (isinn aendiden ... | tainig tosach na dileand) ('), and “on Friday the Flood was brought upon the world” in an Irish text which in most respects closely follows Comrad arin Aine (Dia h-Aoine do cuireadh an dile thar

an domhan) (). 94,9-11

Ramisse

Is i medon

t ndEigipt. —

aidche ro celebhradh

caisc ind uain in

“At midnight the Passover

of the

lamb was celebrated at Rameses in Egypt.” “Tánic teirt” says that it was at vespers (i n-uair fhescair)

that

“the people

of the royal law”

were

accustomed

to

make “the sacrifice of the lamb” (°); this follows Exodus 12, 6, where the Israelites dwelling in Rameses (Ex 12, 37) consume the lamb ad uesperam. Perhaps this item too was

drawn from a Friday list, as the Last Supper on Good Friday appears as a Passover meal in Matthew 26, 19-20; Mark

14, 16-18; Luke 22, 11-14. Alternatively, the sacrifice

may here be linked with the danger which it warded off: the slaying of the first-born in noctis medio (Ex 12, 29). The association of midnight with the destruction of the Egyptian first-born is emphasized in Prebiarum de multorium exemplaribus (*); and this association is given as grounds for thinking that the Judgment will also come at midnight in a pseudo-Bedan commentary on Exodus (°). 94,11-12 Is a medon aidche lotar Tuath De tre Muir Ruadh

4 ro baidhed Forunn cona shloghuibh. — “At midnight the People of God crossed the Red Sea, and Pharaoh was drowned with his army.”

(1) M. Carney, “The Works of the Sixth Day”, p. 158. (2) D. Hype, The Religious Songs of Connacht, vol. 2, p. 218. (3) R. I. Best, “The Lebar Brecc Tractate on the Canonical Hours”,

p. 152-153. (4) R. E. McNatty, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 165. (5) PL 91, 307B; cf. F. M. Biaas, Sources of Christ III, p. 7.

94,8-9 — 94,13-14

401

Midnight is associated with the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt in the Gallican hymn “Mediae noctis tempus est”, included in the Antiphonary of Bangor ('); “Tánic teirt”, by contrast, assigns the crossing of the Red Sea to the hour of none (’). Intriguingly, this event appears both in Friday lists (*) and in Sunday lists (*): its presence in two lists might have made it all the easier to add it to a third. 94,12-13 Ba i medón aidche do-coas for Babiloin. — midnight Babylon was attacked.” It is not

clear

exactly

what

event

is referred

“At

to here.

Note however that “Dénaid cain” assigns the end of the Babylonian captivity to Sunday (°); while the Sunday list in the Bobbio Missal includes a curious passage beginning Die sancto dominico respexit in terra Babilonis et uidit tres ciuitatis ardentis — “On the holy Lord’s day he looked in the land of Babylon and saw three cities burning”: the cities are identified as Babilla, Babillonis, and Landoglado (°). 94,13-14 Ba i medón aidche ro genair Slanicid in domuin 1 mBethil Iuda. — “At midnight the Saviour of the world was born in Bethlehem in Judaea.” Christ’s nativity is placed at matins by “Tanic teirt” and at midnight by Durandus (’). A collect for the midnight office in the Antiphonary of Bangor also speaks of this as the time when

Christ was born (*). The doctrine was evidently

(1) M. Curran, The Antiphonary Monastic Liturgy, p. 182. (2) R. 1. Best,

of Bangor

and

the Early

Irish

“The Lebar Brecc Tractate on the Canonical Hours”,

p. 150-151. (3) H. Garpoz,

“La

recommandation

du vendredi”;

D. Hypr,

The

Religious Songs of Connacht, vol. 2, p. 218. (4) R. E. McNary, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 182, 183, 185; J. G. O’Keerre, “Cain Domnaig”, p. 198-199; cf. E. A. Lower, The Bobbio Missal, p. 151, etc. (5) J. G. O’KrErre, “Poem on the Observance of Sunday”, p. 144. (6) E. A. Lowe, The Bobbio Missal, p. 151. (7) R. I. Best, art. cit., p. 156-157.161. (8) M. Curran, op. cit., p. 182; cf. the Catechesis Cellica homily cited in the commentary on § 93 above.

402

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

suggested by the statement in Luke 2, 8 that the nativity was announced by an angel to shepherds “keeping a night watch over their flock”; in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew this apparition is specifically said to have occurred in medio noctis ('). While traditions linking the nativity with midnight did accordingly exist, it may also have been significant that it figures prominently in Sunday lists (). 94,14-15 Ocus is a medon aidche ro crochad dar cenn pecda Adaim

cona shil. —

“And

he was

crucified

at midnight,

for

the sake of the sins of Adam and his descendants.” As mentioned above (p. 394), this directly contradicts the Biblical statement that Christ was on the cross between the sixth and ninth hours of the day. The crucifixion has surely come into our text from a Friday list. Indeed, no item is more consistently present in lists of this kind (°). 94,15-16 do-rala amardhall mbith

—

“the thick

darkness

aighthe o tert co noin darsin of night covered

the world

from terce to none”. This echoes the wording of the gospels: “And from the sixth hour shadows were brought upon the face of the whole

earth until the ninth hour”

(Mt 27, 45; cf. Mk

15,

33; Lk 23, 44). That terce appears here for sext may be due to the author’s familiarity with the interval 6 theirt co nóin in other contexts:

thus 36,3; 68,5; and

(1) J. GusgL - R. Beyers,

CIH

2.363,12.

Libri de nativitate Mariae,

p. 427-429.

(2) Irish examples occur in R. E. McNAaLLv, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 181.183.185; J. G. OKeerre, “Cain Domnaig”, p. 198-199; IDEM, “Poem on the Observance of Sunday”, p. 144; and the doctrine is

already attested in the apocryphon Transitus Mariae (A. de Santos OreERO, Los evangelios apdcrifos, p. 598-599). (3) Thus M. Carney, “The Works of the Sixth Day”, p. 158; H. Gaipoz,

“La

recommandation

du vendredi”;

D. Hypr,

The Religious

Songs of Connacht, vol. 2, p. 218; C. A. Lees, “Theme and Echo in an Anonymous Old English Sermon”, p. 117-118.128-129; L. MoLaNp, “Calendrier francais du treizieme siécle”, p. 104.

94,13-14 — 94,18-22

403

94,16-17 Is a medon aidche do-lluid iall aingel dar innsib Sab co scailseat dunebaith don bith. — “At midnight a company of angels came across the islands of Sab, so that they

scattered pestilence across the world.” I know nothing of any such event; is the author embroidering on the story of the angel killing the Egyptian first-born on the midnight of Passover (commentary on lines 9-11 above, p. 400)? For the islands of Sab, see commentary for 5,1-3. 94,18-22

Is i medon

aidche do-lluid

in Coimde

do arcain

ithfirnd... — “At midnight the Lord came to harrow hell...” The harrowing of hell could be associated with Christ’s giving up his spirit at the ninth hour: this is Cassian’s view (Institutes 3, 3), and it appears also in “Tánic teirt” and the Rationale of Durandus ('). The Byzantine Greek version of the Gospel of Nicodemus speaks of Christ coming to the souls in the underworld

“at the hour of midnight”

(év wox

Ó£ mecovvuxtiov) (*). Pseudo-Bede on Exodus, having given midnight as the hour of the death of the Egyptian firstborn

and

of the Last

Judgment,

goes

on to state

Media

autem nocte populus inferni solutus erat, et diabolus cum suis satellitibus uinctus (“At midnight, moreover, the people of the underworld was set free, and the Devil and his followers

were conquered”; PL 91.307B). This doctrine may have influenced our author; on the other hand, it is surely also significant that the harrowing

appears in lists for both Sunday (Ó and Friday (Ó).

(1) R. I. Best, “The Lebar Brecc Tractate on the Canonical

Hours”,

p. 150-151.161. (2) 18, 1.2: R. GouNELLE,

Les recensions byzantines de V'Evangile de

Nicodéme, p. 296-297; but in the Latin version, H. C. Kim, The Gospel of Nicodemus,

p. 36, this has become

in caligine tenebrarum.

(3) E. g. R. E. McNatty, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 184, 186;

J. G. O'KEEFFE, “Poem on the Observance of Sunday”, p. 144; C. A. Legs, “Theme and Echo in an Anonymous Old English Sermon”, p. 118-

119. (4) Ibid., p. 129.

404

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

9422-23 Is i medon aidche tra ro damnaiged damna domhain.

—

“At

midnight

the

material

of the

world

was

formed.” Cf. the commentary to lines 1-3 above (p. 396-398). 94,23 Is i medon aighthe con-scarfaither. —

“At midnight

it will be destroyed.”

The gospels consistently declare that the hour of the Last Judgment

cannot

be known:

Matthew

24, 36-51;

25, 13;

Mark 13, 32-36; Luke 12, 37-48; cf. Revelation 3, 3. It nevertheless remained,

naturally enough,

an attractive

topic for

speculation; and in this context the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, in which the bridegroom’s coming media ... nocte (Mt 25, 6) is explicitly likened to the Second Coming, may have seemed like a valuable hint. Whatever its escha-

tological associations may have been, the parable is referred to in a collect for midnight in the Antiphonary of Bangor, as well as in the hymn

“Mediae

noctis tempus est” ('). For

two passages concerning midnight in Vatican manuscript Reg. lat. 49 which contain the collocation mundus ... distruetur,

see

the

commentary

on

§ 93

and

94,1-3

above

(p. 393 and 396-398); as noted in the commentary on 94,1822, the pseudo-Bedan commentary on Exodus held that the Judgment would come at midnight. Durandus assigns the Judgment to midnight, while “Tanic teirt” associates it with matins (°). Also significant may be the Judgment’s presence in Sunday lists (Ó. The dialogue text in Paris, Bibliothéque nationale

de France,

lat. 614A,

cited in the commentary

on

94,1-2 above (p. 396), asserts that the Day of Judgment will fall on Easter — hence, on a Sunday. A homily in the Catechesis Celtica likewise claims that the last day will be

(1) M. Curran, The Antiphonary Monastic Liturgy, p. 182.

of Bangor

and

the Early

Irish

(2) R. I. Best, “The Lebar Brece Tractate on the Canonical Hours”,

p. 156-157.161. (3) £. g. R. E. McNALLY, Scriptores Hiberniae minores, p. 184, 186; J. G.

O’Keerre,

“Cain

Domnaig”,

p. 200-201;

tpEm,

“Poem

on

the

Observance of Sunday”, p. 144; C. A. Lees, “The ‘Sunday Letter’ and the ‘Sunday Lists”, p. 143, n. 61, p. 144-145.

94,22-23 — 97

405

Easter; when it states Item in die pascae incipit Deus creare creaturas in principio mundi... Item similiter putatur mundus dispergi per VII dies iudicii, et uocari iustos in VIII” die — “Moreover, on the day of Easter God began to create the creatures at the beginning of the world... Moreover, it is likewise thought that the world will be destroyed in the course of the seven days of Judgment, and the just summoned on the eighth day”, the formulation is reminiscent of TB’s wording in this passage ('). 97 Cf. perhaps the pseudo-Augustinian 39, 2012-2013): Quam stupenda dignatio! genetricis includitur, qui coelum terramque “How awesome an honour! He is enclosed embrace, he who holds heaven and earth in is now regarded as a composition of Peter

Sermo 135 (PL Inter amplexus complectitur — in his mother’s his grasp.” This Chrysologus or

Faustus of Riez (°). The stillness of all creatures at Christ’s nativity is found already in most texts of the Protevangelium of James (*). An Old English comparandum is adduced by T. D. Hill (*). The theme of the universe in the Child’s fist (lines 3 ff.) has been further discussed by Clare Stancliffe (°). She cites parallels from

Columbanus

Fortunatus,

hymn

Caesarius

“Precamur

of Arles,

Patrem”,

Commodian,

Venantius

etc., but

con-

cludes that “the originator or populariser of this striking image

was

not

Venantius

Fortunatus,

but

Jerome”.

She

goes on to cite a passage from the latter’s Epistula 22: Dei filius pro nostra salute hominis factus est filius ... inuoluitur pannis, blanditiis deridetur et ille, cuius pugillo mundus includitur, praesepis continetur angustiis. “The Son of God is made a son of man for our salvation . is wrapped in swaddling clothes and mocked with (1) A. Witmart, “Catécheses celtiques”, p. 58. (2) J. MACHIELSEN, Clavis patristica pseudepigraphorum I, § 920. (3) See further Martin McNamara’s remarks in M. McNamara ef al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I, vol. 1, p. 240. (4) T. D. Hit,

“The Old World, the Levelling of the Earth, and the

Burning of the Sea”. (5) C. SrancuirFe,

94.

“Venantius Fortunatus, Ireland, Jerome”, p. 93-

406

THE

coaxing;

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

and he, in whose

COMMENTARY

fist the world

is enclosed,

is

contained in the narrow space of a manger (').” 98 Charles D. Wright notes that this passage is echoed in Patrick of Dublin’s De tribus habitaculis animae (ó: Cuius faciem si omnes carcere inferni inclusi uiderent, nullam penam nullam dolorem nullamque tristiciam sentirent (“). 100,2-5 bas etrachta cach aingel dib fo shect oldas in grian, 4 as-toidet anmann inna noeb fon n-oincosmailius, 4 in tan bas giliu in grian fo .uti. oldaas innossa... — “every angel of them is seven times brighter than the sun; and when the souls of the saints shine forth with the same

semblance;

and

when the sun is seven times brighter than it is now...” The doctrine that at some blessed future time the sun will be seven times brighter than it now is derives from Isa 30, 26; cf. commentary

combined

with

the

to 7,6-7 (below p. 214). Here

ideas

that

after

the

this is

Judgment

“the

righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13, 43), and will be “like the angels in heaven” (Mt 22, 30). To follow the logic of the Biblical allusions here, the clauses must be taken in reverse order: (a) in the

last days the sun will be seven times brighter than it now is; (b) therefore, if the righteous are as bright as the sun is then, they will be seven times brighter than the sun is now; (c) if the righteous are like the angels, then presumably the angels will be this bright also. It is interesting to find these two verses of Matthew

also

cited together in the account of the future life in the Liber de ordine creaturarum (‘). 101-102 The text of Q resumes here: since it is continu-

ing directly from § 70, there is some make

what

is said relevant

adjustment so as to

to the birds

of the island

of

(1) I. Hirsere, Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi epistulae, vol. 1, p. 206. (2) C. D. Wricut, The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature,

p. 143. (3) A. Gwynn, § 102 below. (4) M. C. Diaz

The Writings of Bishop Patrick 1074-1084, p. 116; cf. y Diaz,

Liber de ordine creaturarum,

p. 196; further

parallels to this image are noted in C. D. Wriaur, op. cil., p. 250, n. 129.

97 — 104-107

Galaith rather than to God. YOM sense,

with

some

variation

407

follow L with respect to

in wording.

The

statement

in

§ 102 that the radiance illuminates hell “northward” (fothuaid) is peculiar to Q: for the infernal associations of the north in Irish tradition see e.g. the commentary on 66,11-13 above, p. 346. 102 As in § 98 above, Patrick’s De tribus habitaculis appears to be indebted to this passage: Cuius presentia si in inferno cum suis habitatoribus appareret, continuo infernus in amenum conuerteretur paradysum ('). 104-107 The author here passes from inexpressibility topoi to an evocation of the joys of heaven. Such passages occur frequently in Irish and Old English homilies as concluding perorations; in the present case, these paragraphs and the exordium at § 1 above jointly indicate that TB was itself a homily. Two parallels may serve to illustrate the

section’s affiliation: one from a homily in the Catechesis Celtica, the other from the Sermo ad reges preserved in Leabhar Breac: Beati quibus dicet: POSSIDETE REGNUM QUOD VOBIS PARATUM EST AB ORIGINE MUNDI... Beati quibus dabitur altum rus angelorum sine curis; ubi est dies sine nocte, tranquillitas sine uento, gaudium sine fine; ubi

sunt VII quae nullus in hoc mundo habere potest, etiamsi rex totius mundi: uita sine morte, tuuentus sine senectute, letitia sine tristitia, pax sine discordia, lux sine tenebris,

sanitas sine dolore, regnum sine commotatione. Beati qui habitant ... cum patri et filio et spiritu sancto, in pace et laetitia, in puritate et in iuuentute, sine fame et nuditate, cum abun(dantia) omnis boni sine ullo malo, circa regem iuuenem, largum, pulcrum, aeternum. Rogamus deum omnipotentem ut mereamur possidere illam beatitudinem in saecula saeculorum amen. “Blessed are they to whom he will say: ‘Possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you since the beginning of the world...’ Blessed are they to whom will be

(1) A. Gwynn,

The Writings of Bishop Patrick 1074-1084, p. 116.

408

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

given the lofty country of the angels without cares; where there is day without night, stillness without wind, rejoicing without end; where there are the seven things which no one in this world is able to have, even if he were

king of the whole

without

world:

age, joy without

life without

sadness,

peace

death,

without

youth

discord,

light without shadows, health without suffering, a kingdom without change. Blessed are they who dwell ... with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in peace and joy, in purity and youth, without hunger and nakedness, with abundance of everything good, without anything bad, around a King who is young, bountiful,

fair, eternal. We beg almighty God that we may deserve to possess that blessedness for ever and ever, amen (').” Tusti uero reges in tllud caeleste regnum uocabuntur; ubi absterget Deus lacrimas ab oculis eorum; ubi uita sine morte, gaudium sine tristitia, iuuentus sine senectute, pax sine discordia, regnum sine [c]omotatione, exultatio sine

fine;

ubi

paradisus

claritas dulcis;

angelorum; ubi omne

ubi

bonum

uita

perhennis;

abundabit,

ubi

et nullum

malum

erit; ubi sancti fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris

eorum; sanctae

ubi unitas utriusque ecclesiae; ubi unitas summae trinita[ti]s, Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, in

saecula saeculorum. Amen. “The just kings, indeed, will heavenly kingdom, where God their eyes; where there is life without sadness, youth without cord, a kingdom

without

be summoned into that will wipe the tears from without death, rejoicing age, peace without dis-

change, exultation

without end;

where there is the brightness of the angels; where there is everlasting

life; where

there

is the

sweet

Paradise;

where every good thing will abound, and no bad thing will be;

where

the saints

will shine

like

the

sun

in the

kingdom of their Father; where there will be the unity of each

church;

(1) A. Witmart,

where

there

will the unity

“Catécheses celtiques”, p. 111.

of the supreme

104-107 — 104,3-4

409

Holy Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, for ever

and ever. Amen (').” It is interesting that § 105 in TB, although it resembles these perorations (especially the second) quite closely, does not include a sequence of “joys of heaven” of the type uita sine morte, iuuentus sine senectute, etc. (6). It may further be noted that § 105 appears to be an insertion, breaking into a double sequence of phrases beginning airm inna... (104,4-5) and du /in]na... (106,1-5), preceded by another sequence beginning binde na gceol, failte na ngnuse, aille na ndealb... (104,2-4). Both paragraphs recall the description of hell in § 90 above, where a string of sentences beginning airm inna... (90,2-7) is followed by a string of phrases of the type dechtadh

inna ndeut, formuchad

inna ngnuise, fuidbech inna

n-analai, etc. (90,7-12). Another echo is provided by the opening sentence of § 106, which closely resembles the first clause in § 97.

104,3-4 aille na ndealb, lainderdacht 4 forlasardacht int sloigh, glaine na n-imraitti, endce na n-anmann — “the beauty of the forms, the brightness and fieriness of the host,

the purity of the thoughts, the innocence of the souls”. The second recension here introduces a reference to the hosts of angels and archangels which obey the “instructions” (Q) or “utterances” (YO) of God. Where Q reads aille a ndelba ant shloigh, Y has ar ailli a delba la dasacht int sluaig: the phrase la dasacht (literally “with the madness”, rendered “for ... the liveliness” by Nic Énrí and Mac Niocaill) is a garbled telescoping of the lainderdacht 4 forlasardacht preserved in L. The entire clause is omitted by OM, M adding a passage of its own which describes the angels and archangels as ac sasad a theaghdhaisi 4 gach xin bis ann ó becc co mor. Teghdhais sin ina fuil sid suthain 4 imat aingel a archaingil, iman Airdrigh is áille delb a is cxime caidreb.

(1) R. Arxinson,

The Passions

and Homilies

from Leabhar

Breac,

p. 418. (2) Cf. C. D. Wricut,

p. 102-105.

The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature,

410

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

“satisfying his household,

COMMENTARY

and everyone

from small to great. That is a household

who

is therein

in which there

are eternal peace, and abundance of angels and archangels, around the High King who is fairest of form and dearest of companionship”. The clause describing the pure thoughts and innocence of the heavenly realm is omitted in OM; in the remaining manuscripts

of the second

recension

the word

endce

“in-

nocence” has been variously corrupted to eangach (literally “noisy”) in Q, and to ecnaigi “wisdom” in Y. 105,3-5 Ubi lumen solis non digetur nec lune nec stellarum,

sed Dominus lux erit quia ipse est fons luminis. — the light of the sun is not needed,

“Where

nor that of the moon

and

the stars, but the Lord will be light because he is himself the source of light.”

This is rather a free paraphrase than a citation of Revelation 21, 23 (cf. further 4 Ezra 7, [42]; also Isa 60, 19): Et ciuitas non eget sole neque luna ut luceant in ea, nam claritas Dei illuminauit eam et lucerna eius est Agnus. “And the city will have no need that the sun or moon shine in it, for the radiance of God has illuminated it and

its lamp is the Lamb.” To the extent that the wording of TB does echo that of its source, I have not noticed any Old Latin reading ('). On emendation

of digetur to indigetur, see textual note on 105,4

(above, p. 510).

Where Q states that the heavenly kingdom is illuminated by “the purity and radiance of the Deity shining from the well of eternal light”, the other manuscripts recension

are

somewhat

of the second

closer to L; thus Y speaks

of “the

light of the purity and radiance of God illuminating everything,

from

small

to great;

for he is himself

the well

of

eternal light” (soillsi gloni 4 etrochta Dé ac soillsigud cach redha o bic co mor, ar is e fein tobar na soillsi suthaine).

(1) B. Fiscuer,

Vetus Latina, vol. 26/2.

104,3-4 — 105,13-14

411

105,5-6 Ubi erit sanitas. Ubi maria trancillitas. Ubi pax ingens. — “Where there will be health. Where there is calm of the seas. Where there is vast peace.” In the second recension, Q diverges from the other manuscripts in reading soillsi “light” where they have slainte “health” corresponding to L’s sanitas; the others are also closer to L in that they juxtapose the mentions of tranquillity and harbourage with that of peace. M has its own version: in betha can bas a int xibnes can forbas a int slainte can galur 4 in réinche co rath; teaghdhais sin a fhuil sid suth-. “life without death, and delight without end, and health

without

sickness,

and

tranquillity

with

good

fortune;

that is a household in which there is eternal peace.” 105,7-8

Ubi

uita periennis.

Ubi

senectus

non

apparebit.

Ubi iocunditas accipitur. — “Where there is everlasting life. Where old age will not appear. Where joy is obtained.” Here Q’s sxgul cen forcenn “life without end” seems like an abbreviation of segal fada 4 aibnis can forcend “long life and delight without end” in YOM. 105,10 Ubi flumina aurea. — “Where there are golden rivers.” I know of no parallels in other accounts of heaven for this remarkably concrete image. In the second recension it is rendered simply srotha ordha “golden streams” in YOM, srotha digainne dergoir “unstinting streams of red gold” in Q. 105,13-14 Ubi bonum non defuit nec deest nec deerit uncam. — “Where what is good has not been lacking, and is not lacking, and will never be lacking.” In the second recension, uncam (= unquam) is rendered tre bithu Y, co brach O; molad aingeal 4 archaingeal in Q is an

involuntary echo of the phrase’s occurrence a couple of lines above. Q is also inferior to the other manuscripts in redundantly providing two present verbs (na lesta 4 na teasbann) rather than a past followed by a present to correspond to non defuit nec deest: contrast na roibi esbaid 4 nach fuil YO. M substitutes another statement: 4 nach fuil 5 nach roibi 4 nach bia a leithéit — “and there is not and has not been and will not be its like”.

412

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

106,2 bochtu na nochtu na gorta na ita — “poverty nor nakedness nor hunger nor thirst”. Q omits mentioning nakedness, while Y has a mbochta na a nochta na riachtanus lesa neich — “in poverty or in nakedness, or [in] need of anything”. OM expand the latter version considerably, with O reading a mbochtacht

na-a

riachtanus

a les bidh na hedaidh,

oir

gein cu beidis .uit. mile aingil a ndealbaibh primhcoinnill ac soillsiug- an righthoighi 4 do shasfadh fir domuin do biadh a do digh baladh cínn encoinnle dib-sin da buil. “in poverty nor in need of food or clothing, even apart from the fact that there would be seven thousand angels

in the shapes of chief candles illuminating the royal house; and smelling the fragrance of the head of a single one of those candles would satisfy the men of the world with respect to food and drink.” M gives essentially the same account, but comes a little closer to Y (and L) with the reading a mbochta ina a nochta na a ndíth bídh na hétadh — “in poverty or in nakedness or in need of food or clothing”; it also says that there is no lack of gold and silver in heaven. 106,4-8 acht bith ... tidnacar and —

“but rather being ...

which is bestowed there”. Among the manuscripts of the second recension, Q is reasonably close to L, omitting however the reference to the “great exalted feast”, and giving a somewhat different (and even less clear) account of the “three ... lights”. YO omit the feast and all mention of the lights; they speak of heaven as a “lofty great exalted household” (tegdais ardmoir ounidi

Y) or

a

“lofty

great

honoured

noble

household”

(teadhais ardmoir airmhinnighi aireadha O), and —

prior to

enumerating the persons of the Trinity — as a “single and threefold dwelling” (treb enda 4 treda). M goes its own way

once more, adding a particularly copious passage: At-bert an Tenga B. ré tuath na nEbraide: “Is begul díb an commortus ata acaib ré Dia 4 impaidhi, a truadha, óbar commortus trath no beithi iter corp 4 anum ina ghell a pristinaib brena teinntidhi na pian. Óir an firDhia forbthi

106,2 — 106,4-8

413

forordha do-róine a ndubramar d’ingantaib a dilcinélaib examla iter duine 4 énlaith 4 fhomhérach 4 bethadach 4 do shuig- na .utt. neimhe 4 an doman uile iter ér 4 talmain 4 teine 4 uisci 4 anti do innarp Luxcifer cona léogednaib aingel trena [n]dimus 4 trena n-anúabar 4 inti do shér Adham cona chlainn o ifernn 4 Crist cumachtach do shér popul Moisi on Eigipt a Dauid o Golids 4 Idsép ón prisun 7 inti do shér na huile fheisidech 4 fháidh 4 easpoc 4 mhartirech 4 confisdir 4 bannem ar pianaib ó laim na Pairisineach 4 na nIub- acar badar a mbroid. A trúadha”,

ar st, “ni héider rimh ar áirimh ri na n-aingel d’ingantaib 1 @ilcinelaib examla ar domun.” Do boi in Tenga B. ac siracallaim thiath na nEbraide feadh an laoi 4 andar leo uile ni tháinicc énuair do ló risan feadh-sin ara exibne led beth ac éistecht ris. Óir do bi fogur binnesa ‘na urlabra comma samalta ré ceól aingel gach urlabra dar chan riu. Adubert an Tenga B. riu tar sin: “Da bur tegusc do curid mhisi ó Crist.” Adubradar tuatha na nEabraide: “Do-bermait glóir do Dia fa éistecht riut”, ar síat. Adubert an T. B.: “Da mbeitis tengta in domuin ris, ni fétfadais a cumdach mét mhaithisa in Duilemon 4 na tairgisi, a dhexine truadha, cur ré tuicsin cumacht an Airdrigh.” Do cheilebur an Tenga B. doib iar sin 4 do imghedur tuatha na nEbraide tar sin da catrachaib co subachus ndermhair 4 co failti móir 4 do scribad leó gach ni da ndubrad ríu 7 ba hé in tecusc-sin tuc in Tenga B. tosach in creidim. “The Ever-new Tongue said to the tribe of the Hebrews: ‘Dangerous for you is your rivalry with God; and turn, wretches, from your rivalry now; or else you will be on that account, both body and soul, in the stinking fiery prisons of the torments. For it is the perfect, very golden true God who made all that we have related of wonders,

and of the many various kinds of humans and birds and giants and beasts, and who established the seven heavens and the whole world, air and earth and fire and water;

and he is the one of angels because it is he who freed hell; and it is the

who banished Lucifer with his legions of their arrogance and great pride; and Adam together with his progeny from mighty Christ who freed the people of

414

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

COMMENTARY

Moses from Egypt, and David from Goliath, and Joseph from the prison; and it is he who

freed all the confessors

and prophets and bishops and martyrs and confessors and female saints from the hand of the Pharisees and the Jews

by whom

they were

held captive.

O wretches!’

it

said, ‘it is not possible to count the wonders and the many various kinds of things which the King of the angels established [reading ara fhuirim for ar dirimh] in the world.’ “The Ever-new Tongue was speaking to the tribes of the Hebrews continually, for the length of a day; and it seemed to them that there was not even an hour of a day in that whole time, so pleasant was it for them to be listening to it. For there was a sound of sweetness in its speech,

so that every

speech

which

it recited

to them

was likened to the song of angels. “After that the Ever-new Tongue said to them: ‘It is for your instruction that I was sent by Christ.’ The tribes of the Hebrews said, ‘We give glory to God on account of listening to you’, said they. The Ever-new Tongue said: ‘If the tongues

of the world

were

to set about

it, they

would not be able to embellish the amount of the goodness

of the Creator;

and

do not try, wretched

folk, to

understand the power of the High King.’ “After that the Ever-new Tongue bade them farewell, and the tribes of the Hebrews went to their cities after that with

everything down

much

gladness

which

by them,

had

and

been

with great rejoicing;

said to them

and that instruction

which

was

and

written

the Ever-new

Tongue gave was the beginning of the faith.” 107 Ro-issam uile in flaith-sin, ro airlem, ro aittreabam! In secula seculorum, amen. — “May we all reach that kingdom, may we deserve it, may we dwell in it! In secula seculorum, amen.”

Here the homiletic character particularly clear, as formulae found concluding Irish homilies. edited by John Strachan from ends as follows:

of the final section is made of this type are regularly Thus the Old Irish homily the Yellow Book of Lecan

106,4-8 — 107

415

Resam i flaith ind rig-sin, adaroillem, adarothrebum, in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Finit. “May we reach the kingdom of that King, may we deserve it, may we dwell in it, in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Finit (’).” It is noteworthy that in Middle Irish homilies the object of the verbs in these closing formulae is generally oentu “unity” rather than flaith “kingdom” (”); an example from a different genre occurs at SR 8385-8386. Another Old Irish text which uses flaith in this context — not in this case a

homily — is the monastic rule Riagail Céle nDé (°). The manuscripts of the second recension differ both from L and, to a certain

extent,

among

themselves

in their ver-

sions of the conclusion. Their readings are as follows: Q: Co fhaicem-ni 4 co risem 4 co nn-aitrebam int shoillstsin! Finit. “May

we

see,

and

reach,

and

dwell

in that

light!

Finit.” Y:

Ailim

trocaire De moir, tre impidi muinteri

nime, co

rrisem 4 co n-aitrebamm in tir-sin na soillst suthaine, can crich cen forcend. Finit. “I beseech the mercy of the great God, through the prayer of the household of heaven, that we may reach

O:

reach

-M:

and

inhabit

that

land

of

the

eternal

light,

without end or termination. Finit.” Co fadum trocaire De moir, tre impi muinntiri nimhe, co righsim 4 co n-aitreabhum an tir-sin .i. tir na soillsigh suthatne. Finid. “May we obtain the mercy of the great God, through the prayer of the household of heaven, that we may and

inhabit

that

land,

i.e., the

land

of the

eternal light. Finit.” Finit.

(1) J. Srracunan, “An Old-Irish Homily”, p. 6. (2) E.g. R. Arxtnson, The Passions and Homilies from Leabhar Breac,

p. 81.86.95.143.162.181 etc. (3) E. J. Gwynn,

“The Rule of Tallaght”, p. 86..

al

ale ee - á mm

Ree Apptad depen Ie aise, GRA

tS Sey

ae

w

Bh:fis ii i é pS Me a ; 7 7

.pats a i

.

!

hall” 8 r

ig

'iH

age

viiCoM Usa a aa bl os it md ai I

ve

iA

he ASmagaTbigat oe ae

bia Halon’ see rnc vil b5ry al,“

i=

Cé

só! aii anyost eoi me ! Ais ini

mt) "ol hin, sh Bhi 3

iiin Muirí

thusa ates “ane há in ha

4

i Mia i. Rar id ní NWie=a 1einy pt + 4há AC.ata

Ac “UI Wisi& oh

4) is

L Meat i

é

air aiit

>

'

7

ie

a) "1 nay béil Vict hes n Yw, ‘5rie af múrhan ah ay Nil aiwie u IA tia 4 Ye Seong add 7 -

rua

AtAwAitals afb

ape 7

cia siehal oval! góaihamhas nóanmó sisi!

;

“Vin helt decctudy wihigs

7 “iis

Gh

iol

Lig

‘y 1 w4Ane

oni

GALL lá

|

"RA tem

Wh Meee Ms oo ey!

ór

Ay iw waar

! AA

in ! MIASA: úd

Tyo

a

yaa? -

7

it

AS Be

We hidpieiee oe WG

nano

te int RIS Abe oe

od. :

Yo ata

rr

wet >

es

ATA

a

cary 4 HH ee)

KT

1,3 treisi, ardiu:

TEXTUAL

NOTES

The

Old Irish would

correct

be tresa, ar-

du. With ardiu here cf. airdem 27,9, airdiu 78,1, airde 81,4; with

treisi cf. treisiu 86,5. These

forms

are characteristic

of

the later language (cf. tressi PH 1195, tressiu LL 31728; airdiu LL 2037), and presumably reflect the Middle Irish redaction

of the text;

contrast

the treatment

of the cluster

in ard- before front vowel in ardnem 27,8, ardinis 56,5, ardecnach 60,10, ardcheol 71,5 (but airdri in all manuscripts at

133). 1,4 ndracon: Stokes expands L’s but the other manuscripts show a dreacan Q, dregan YM, dreagan O. DIL suggest the existence of two draco

in Irish:

dracon, drecon, tenth nation

an n-stem

reading as “ndracoin”, broad final consonant: The instances cited in main reflexes of Latin

draic, gen. drecon;

and

gen. dracoin (perhaps already reflected in in a verse dated by Murphy to “the late century” (')). Certain forms also suggest by the d- and i-stems; these do not seem

an

o-stem

nom. sg. ninth or contamirelevant

in the present case. I have been led by the vocalism of this

and the other attestations

of the word in L —

nom.

pl.

dracoin 16,15; 28,5; gen. pl. dracon, draccon 47,3; 68,8.12; dat. pl. draconuib 66,20 — to take the word to have been an o-stem

in the exemplar;

note however

that the vocalism

-e(a)- appears intermittently in manuscripts of the second recension, and in instances where the word is inflected as an

o-stem elsewhere (e.g. gen. sg. drecoin LL 7794). The word’s nasalisation is not a mark of the accusative (this would be anomalous following a comparative adjective), but an instance of the generalisation of this mutation after cach in the later language (thus DIL, s.v., col. 2,66-69); I am grateful to Caoimhin Breatnach for

calling this to my attention.

(1) G. Murpuy, Early Irish Metrics, p. 22-23.

418

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

TEXTUAL

NOTES

1,5 noibiu cach sen: Stokes translates “holier than every saint”, emending to san; but san is a borrowing from

French saint, found only in Modern Irish. Herbert more plausibly accepts the reading as it stands, and translates “holier than any ancient”: we may compare the gnomic statement i/s] sanct cech sen “every elder is a saint” in the poem “An rim a Ri richid rain”, dated to the “late Old

Irish” period by M. O Daly (’). 1,6 ro thidhnaic: Cf. the readings of the second recension:

de ordaigh Q, dorad Y, tuc OM. Such a range of variants allows for the possibility that the Old Irish form do-rindnacht still existed in their shared exemplar: this would have been univerbated in L, garbled in Q, paraphrased in YOM. For this verb’s univerbation nacar

in L ef. thidnaicius

106,6, tid-

106,7.

1,7 do iltuatha: The divergent readings of L and of the second recension are both peculiar: L has a noun which is formally in the accusative with a preposition taking the dative, while this situation is reversed in QYO (co hilltuathaib; contrast do thuath- M). While case usage following prepositions

becomes

erratic

in Middle

Irish

(SnG@

III,5,1,

with however only one instance of acc. following do), the sharp disagreement between L and QYO suggests that something else may be reflected here. Both readings could be seen

as deriving from

earlier co iltuatha,

which

would

in

terms of prepositional usage be the lectio difficilior. There are some instances elsewhere of the use of co in the senses “with respect to, for the sake of”: In tan raide int shillaib toisich, todachaidhe chugut int shillab dedenach “When you utter the first syllable, the last syllable is future to you” (“), dorigne an ldid-so cuigi “he made this lay for him” (°). 2,1-2 Jarsindi

... nama:

This awkward

sentence

survives

only in L; Q replaces it with conach roibi aimricht ar nech isin bith acht Dia nama

“so that there was no concealment

on anyone

save

in the world,

(1) M. O Daty,

“An

God

alone”;

while YOM

omit

Rim, a Ri Richid Rain”, p. 184: ef, EL 52452:

(2) G. CaLpER, Auraicept na n-Eces. The Scholar’s Primer, lines 90-91. (3) K. Meyer, Betha Colmáin maic Luachdain, p. 98,26.

1,5 - 2,6

419

it entirely. I take na fes ... nat rabhai as a double negative with simple negative force and postulate a do (lost by haplography?) in front of Dia. Cf. Herbert: “Because it was not known to anyone except God what any visible thing in the world was like.” The sentence is closely echoed by iarsindi na fes riam cissi dealbh ro bhai forsin domun

at 2,3-4 below. This is one

of several partial repetitions in this part of the text: cf. 1,68 a scel-sa ... do dheilbh a do thustin an betha vs. 4,1-2 a scelsa thusten in domhain cona dhealbaib; 2,4-5 ... nó cia dho-

rigne, co tainic a scel-sa do nim fri erslocudh chelle vs. 4,1 cia do-gene colleic co tainic a scel-sa and 3-5 co n-eces a scel-sa, conid erslaic in Tenga Bithnua labhrastair a clethe nimhe; and 3,1 ar ba fordhorcha cach ret vs. 4,3 fordhorca didiu anistu uile. 2,1.3 Jarsindi: The instances of this conjunction cited by DIL from the glosses have the sense “after”; in glossaries however

it can,

as here, mean

“inasmuch

as, because,

for”:

thus O’Mulc. 340.830f; Corm. Y 12.15.361.797, etc. 2,5 fri erslocudh chelle: Irregular lenition of chelle here is paralleled by cheilli in Q. Middle Irish use of the dative with prepositions which take the accusative in Old Irish is discussed

by Liam

Breatnach,

SnG

III,5,1 (note in particular

the instances which he cites from SR 3235-3236.3280): similar usage following la appears in la erghe shamraidh 3,8 below. In the present instance, the readings of L and Q are probably independent innovations which coincidentally agree, as fri seems unequivocally to take the accusative elsewhere in L: 25,9 fri gnusi 4 sella, 39,3 fri haigti, 52,1-2 fri deilb nduine,

59,6 fri gotha,

60,2 frisna liga, 66,24

fri

pardus nAdhuimh, 71,1-2 fri aimsir n-aighthi, 92,22-23 frisin Coimdid,

103,1-2 fri cach n-anmain.

2,6 co fogabtha: L has a deuterotonic verb here, but a prototonic form is required after co: either the co is itself an intrusive feature in the exemplar shared by the surviving manuscripts (by analogy with the immediately preceding co n-airesta?);

or, as seems

likelier in this instance,

the read-

ings of the second recension (faicthea Q, baghbaigthe Y) are closer to the original. In the latter case we should probably postulate fogbaithe for the exemplar; cf. conna fogbaithe in Fled Bricrenn, LU 9054-9055.

420

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

3,1 do shuilib shil Adaim:

TEXTUAL

The

NOTES

lenition

after the dative

plural here may be an artifact of the text’s transmission; on the

other

hand,

a few

instances

from

the

later

Old

Irish

period indicate that this feature was already possible at that date ('). Cf. di dhainib shil Adhaimh at 84,9 below. 3,2 tuirthiudh: This word is translated “course (?)” by Stokes, who in his glossary to the text suggests that it may derive from do-reith “hastens, traverses”; Herbert renders it

“motion”. The context indicates that the meaning must be something

of this sort,

and

the readings

of the

second

re-

cension point to rith “course” as the lectio facilior adopted in that version’s exemplar. The exemplar may have had

something like *fuiriud, the expected verbal noun of doreith: L’s reading may reflect confusion with fairthiud, usually “story, account,

description”,

sometimes

“fate, circum-

stances”. 3,2 na rend: There is an isolated instance of the inflection

of the gen. pl. of a u-stem on the model of o-stems in der, Fél. Epil. 397, but otherwise the earliest examples seem to be in SR (e.g. 274 na n-ilrind). L gives the gen. pl. as either rind

(16,14;

27,3;

53,11;

64,3;

75,5;

92,10)

or rend/renn

(67,1; 68,2). In the present case, L’s reading may not be original: Q (which is the only manuscript of the second recension to mention the stars at this point) has At-citis rith gréine 4 ésca 4 na renna. In most of the other instances the second recension’s readings are for one reason or another not comparable; but note 27,2 erradh rann (Q), 67,1 na hilcenéla

rann

(Y),

92,9

na

cuic

rann

(Q).

It seems

likely

therefore that the innovative form was used by the exemplar.

3,4 dibairsi: DIL gives only two other examples of this word,

both

from

the Old Irish period:

an instance

in the

law tract Cain Aicillne, where the phrase for dibuirsin is glossed ac snighi a huisci de “with its water dripping from it” (Ó); and one in “The Monastery of Tallaght”, where the

(1) V. Huu, “Miscellanea. Early Irish Initial Mutations after the Dative Plural”. (2) CIH 481.9; rendered “beim Abtraufeln” in R. THuRNEYSEN, “Aus dem irischen Recht I: Das Unfrei-Lehen”,

p. 348.

3,1 - 4,1

421

word dibursin (acc. sg.) is applied to a drop of blood squeezed out of a wound ('). Here the word appears as a short dative. Q has replaced it with its more widespread synonym

feipersiu; while Y substitutes mebsain, a late ver-

bal noun of maidid. 3,5-6 tobron in talman: Stokes (p. 161) is probably correct in emending to dobron here. This would appear to be the earliest attestation of the latter word, formed from the dero-

gatory prefix do- and brón “sorrow” (cf. the oxymoronic antonym sobron in the H.2.17 version of Tain Bo Cuailnge (ó). I take the phrase as a whole to be equivalent to bron

trogain

“sorrow

of

the

earth”,

hence

“autumn”;

in

Tochmarc Emire the latter expression is glossed .i. is and dobroini trogan .i. talam fo thoirthib “i.e., it is then that the earth suffers/travails under (its) fruits” (*). The gloss’s author may have had our own phrase in mind, as the verb dobroini does not appear to be attested elsewhere. Parallelism with bron trogain, and the fact that the context itself suggests that autumn is being referred to, lead me to prefer this interpretation to the hypothesis that the phrase contains the separate word tobron or tubron, glossed troscad “fasting”, which appears in the fragmentary law tract Cain

Fhuithirbe

(CIH 772,25;

Binchy

however

reads

dobron), and in two more citations (presumably from legal documents) in O’Dav. 1545. Dobron and tobron appear to have fallen together in the sixteenth-century poem “Fuair Bréifne a diol do shaoghlond”, by Sean mac Torna O Mael-

chonaire, where dubron is glossed trosgadh (Ó). 4,1 cia do-gene colleic: Cf. cia dho-rigne at 2,4 above; in both cases the verb has no expressed object, but the context indicates that the object is domun “world”. Colléic seems

here

to

(1) E. J. Gwynn

retain

its

Old

- W. J. Purton,

Irish

sense

“nevertheless”,

“The Monastery

of Tallaght”,

p. 150,38. (2) R. (3) A. (4) J. vol. 2, p.

TourNeysEN, “Tain bo Cuailghni (nach H.2.17)”, p. 539,19. G. Van Hamet, Compert Con Culainn and Other Stories, p. 43. Harpiman, Irish Minstrelsy or Bardic Remains of Ireland, 302.

422

THE

EVERNEW

TONGUE:

TEXTUAL

NOTES

rather than being used as a temporal conjunction as is the rule in the later language. 4,2 a thimthirechtaibh: The word timthirecht means

“act of

going to and fro”, hence “act of serving to, ministering to; ministration”: in the former sense it is used almost exclusively

of angels flying between

heaven

and

earth

(the

exception is a description of bees (')). In our own text cf. the phrase a thimthirecta inna dhulibh 95,3. I take the word

to mean something like “operations” here: the fimthirechta are the processes at work in nature, while the delba “forms” are the phenomena in which these processes are manifest. 4,4 -erslaic: For Old Irish -ersoilc. 4,4 labhrastair: A rare example, recurring at 8,3 below, of

a deponent absolute s-preterite; cf. the others cited by Thurneysen (’). Labrastar is the form which would be expected in a relative clause; note that the reading at 8,3 is in

fact labrastar, and cf. -labrastair for -labrastar at 42,5 (°). 5,1 ro teclumadh: teclamaid

“gathering, noun

This is pret. sing. passive of the verb

“gathers”,

itself

derived

from

collection”, a metathesised

of do-ecmalla

the

noun

feclam

form of the verbal

“collects”; cf. ra tecclamad (Togail Trot;

LL 31339), and such related forms as ni theclomdais (Tochmarc Etaine (*)). 5,1 celi: This word sense

was

“hill”, hence

recurs

at 6,11 and

59,1. Its original

“place of assembly”;

its further

ap-

plication to the activities carried on at assemblies appears to be reflected e.g. in the largely Old Irish B-text of Serglige Con Culainn (LU 3225-3226 cluchi 4 céti 4 dnius 4 aibinnius 4 longad 4 tomailt. The further extended meaning “gathering” seen here seems otherwise to be known only from apparently Middle Irish sources (e.g. LL 3940.17272); with the word’s use in our text may be compared a passage in the tract Airec na nApstal as this is preserved in Leabhar (1) E. Knort, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, p. 35,1169. (2) Gramm. § 675. (3) As Caoimhin Breatnach points out to me, -astar and -astair were both common conjunct endings for the 3 sg. pret. in the later language: SnG IV,7,16. (4) O. Berain - R. I. Best, “Tochmare Etaine”, p. 162.

4,1 — 6,5

423

Breac: “For the voice of John of the Breast [i.e., John the Beloved Disciple] was a thunder and a great noise above the gathering, i.e. the assembly of the pagans, relating the word of God with which the world was filled” (ar ba torann 1 ba fogur mor guth Eoin Bruinde uasin cetiu .i. oenach na ngénti oc indisin brethre Dé diar linad in doman, p. 145°, 26-

29). 5,3 conici insi Sabairnd:

Insi here could be either acc. sg.

or acc. pl.; I have taken it to be the latter on the hypothesis that these islands are the same as those referred to in the dat. pl. as innsib Sab at 33,5; 52,1; 94,17 below. 5,4-5 .ix. rig lx. ar .ix. .c.aib ar .iii. m. ar .l. .m.: The

figures given in the manuscripts are 54969 (L), 4970 (Q), 54960 (Y), 4026 (O), 7016 (M). Broad agreement between L and Y suggests that they reflect the exemplar most closely here;

but the first .ix. in L may

well be secondary,

antici-

pating the .iz. which precedes .c.aib in LQY. 6,4 do thuredhchaindlibh: Literally “pillar-candles”; evidently large candles or torches. This compound does not appear to be attested elsewhere, but may be equivalent to the expressions rigchaindel “royal candle”, caindel rigthige “palace candle” found in the sagas (thus Tain Bo Fraích (’), and LL TBC 4317). Where the word tuir “pillar” occurs later in the text, it is in the collocations fuirith tenedh “pil-

lars of fire” (22,5) and tuirid tentigi “fiery pillars” (29,6); an association with fire is also present in the reference to “dragons with breaths of fire, pillar-headed (turethcind) dragons” at 28,5. Cf. also perhaps the expression for tened “blaze, bonfire”, DIL, s.v. “2 tor”, col. 251,74-82. 6,5 arnach derbanad: The verb here is do-rorban