Story Of Tir Na Nog

State of eternal youth, beauty, wellness, affluence and joy in Irish gaelic mythology

In Irish gaelic mythology Tír na nÓg (Irish gaelic pronunciation: [ˌtʲiːɾʲ n̪ˠə ˈn̪ˠoːɡ]; "State of the Immature") or Tír na hÓige ("Land of Youth") is one of the names for the Celtic Otherworld, or perhaps for a part of information technology. Tír na nÓg is all-time known from the tale of Oisín and Niamh.^[ane]

Other Old Irish names for the Otherworld include Tír Tairngire (Country of Hope/Promised Country),^[two] ^[3] Tír fo Thuinn (Country nether the Wave),^[two] Magazine Mell (Plain of Please/Delightful Plain),^[2] Ildathach (Multicoloured Place),^[4] and Emain Ablach (the Isle of Apple tree Trees). Like myths in the northern Celtic cultures include these of Annwn, Fairyland, Avalon and Hy Brasil.

Description, themes, and symbolism [edit]

Tír na nÓg is depicted as an island paradise and supernatural realm of everlasting youth, dazzler, health, abundance and joy.^[2] ^[5] Its inhabitants are described as the Tuatha Dé Danann or the warriors of the Tuatha Dé, the gods of pre-Christian Ireland, who engage in poetry, music, entertainment, and the feast of Goibniu, which grants immortality to the participants.^[2] ^{[half dozen]} ^[7] In the echtrae (adventure) and immram (voyage) tales, various Irish mythical heroes visit Tír na nÓg after a voyage or an invitation from 1 of its residents. They reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, by journey through a mist, by going under water, or by travelling across the sea for three days on an enchanted boat or Manannán's horse.^[2] The tales of mortals who visit the Otherworld are referred to every bit echtrai (adventures) and baili (visions, ecstasies).^[8] The path across the sea is called Mag Mell (Patently of Dear). It is the golden path made by the sunday on the bounding main and to travel, "far over the green meadows of the waters where the horses of Lir accept their pastures."

The god that rules this region is said to exist the first ancestor of the man race and the god of the expressionless, and in the surviving tales is nearly e'er named as Manannán mac Lir.^[nine] In the tales, Manannán is usually described every bit a warrior and is sometimes accompanied by his gold-haired married woman or daughter, who sometimes wears a golden helmet.

Tír na nÓg is described equally a cute place (a forested wilderness or flowery meadow), only it is usually dangerous or hostile to man visitors (such as Ossian, Diarmuid, the Fianna, the Rex of Greece), who remain on the island for a period of time that is typically a multiple of 3 (three days or years). The women of Tír na nÓg are very cute - and maybe the merely residents - and sometimes leave to visit mortal men or otherwise establish a presence.

There is a salmon-inhabited well or fountain in Tír na nÓg that is found nearly an enormous tree or grove of nine hazels - or a lady's bower, "where bloom was on every bough, and the air heavy with the sweetness of orchards" and a lake expanse (perhaps Dulcinea). Typically an enormous tree lies at the centre of the island, and birds singing beautiful music in its branches are stated in the echtrai to be the souls of the expressionless. A drinking horn suspended near the well or an enchanted loving cup is also present in some of the tales along with a silver branch containing aureate apples (perhaps even somewhere an enchanted herb and a false war). There are cities and fortresses made of precious metals and feather thatch in Tír na nÓg, although their exact number is non clear. In some stories there is a multicoloured flowered plain full of bees in or underneath the forested wilderness of Tír na nÓg and a parting "is sweet as beloved" and maybe forever.

Literary appearances [edit]

Oisín and Niamh [edit]

In the tale, Oisín (a man hero) and Niamh (a woman of the Otherworld) fall in love. She brings him to Tír na nÓg on a magical horse that can travel over water. After spending what seems to be three years there, Oisín becomes homesick and wants to return to Republic of ireland. Niamh reluctantly lets him return on the magical equus caballus, but warns him never to touch the ground. When he returns, he finds that 300 years take passed in Republic of ireland. Oisín falls from the horse. He instantly becomes elderly, equally the years grab upwardly with him, and he quickly dies of onetime age.^[iv]

The story of Oisín and Niamh bears a striking similarity to many other tales, e.yard. the Japanese tale of Urashima Tarō.^[ten] Some other version concerns Male monarch Herla, a legendary king of the ancient Britons, who visited the Otherworld, only to render some 200 years later after the lands had been settled by Anglo-Saxons. The "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", a group of Christian youths who hid in a cave outside the urban center of Ephesus effectually 250, purportedly awoke about 180 years later during the reign of Theodosius II.

Oisín in Tír na nÓg [edit]

There is a rex of Tír na nÓg who held the crown for many years. The tradition of the land is that every seven years champions come to run against the king in order to dominion. They run up a loma to a throne and the showtime person to sit on the throne becomes king until a champion replaces him. The rex begins to fear that someone else will replace him as male monarch. He visits a Druid and asks about his fate as a monarch. The Druid tells him that he volition e'er exist rex unless his son-in law runs against him. Since the king's girl is not however married he decides to use the Druid's magic to turn his girl's head into that of a pig. The Druid then tells the king's daughter that she will get her own head dorsum if she marries a son of Fionn mac Cumhaill. The male monarch'due south daughter finds one of the sons, Oisín, and tells him what the Druid told her. They ally and she transforms back into herself. They and so get dorsum to Tír na nÓg and Oisín enters the claiming for the throne. He wins the throne and no 1 ever runs confronting him once more.^[11]

Kings are given a pig'south head and pigs are a common symbol in Irish mythology. For the civilization they were a vital meat source and they were smaller and fiercer than the modern domesticated hog. Early in Celtic culture, the pig was used as a funeral animate being and pigs were an important aspect of trade betwixt the Celts and Romans. They also stand for a connection to the warrior class and are said to be skilful luck to the person who catches them.^[6]

Cormac'south adventure in the Land of Hope [edit]

A grey-haired warrior visits Rex Cormac mac Airt carrying a argent branch with iii gold apples that creates a soothing music. The warrior, afterwards revealed to be Manannán mac Lir, is described as wearing a royal fringed curtain, a golden ribbed shirt, and white bronze shoes or sandals. When Cormac asks from what land Manannán has come, he responds that he comes from a land where there is no age or disuse, falsehood, sadness, gloom, hatred, envy, or haughtiness. Cormac asks to make an brotherhood, and when Manannán agrees, he demands the branch, which Manannán gives him in exchange for three favours. Those favors later on turn out to be Cormac's daughter, his son, and his wife.

After Cormac'south wife is taken, he follows her abductor, and is magically transported to a land in a heavy mist. The land is described equally a vast apparently containing two fortresses. The commencement fortress consists of a statuary wall with a white argent house thatched in white bird'south wings; at that place are horseman stationed there and a man is constantly called-for an oak burn. The other fortress consists of 4 silver houses thatched in white bird's wings with a statuary wall surrounding it. He enters the fortress and finds a palace made with bronze beams and silver wattle. Likewise in the fortress there is a shining fountain with v streams running from it; the fountain is surrounded by the nine purple hazels of Buan (an Ulster goddess).^[12] The hazels driblet their nuts into the fountains where five salmon eat them and ship their husks downwards the five streams. The residents of the palace drink water from the fountain, and the sound of the cascading water is more melodious than whatsoever music known to man.

When Cormac enters the palace, he meets a couple – the warrior who has stolen his wife and a beautiful xanthous-haired adult female wearing a golden helmet, whose feet are being warmed or washed without anyone else being present. This time the warrior is described equally having a cute shape, a comely form, and a wondrous countenance. A cook enters the palace with a log, an axe, and a pig, and begins to set up a meal in a cauldron. Manannán tells the cook to turn the pig, but the cook responds that the pig volition not cook until 4 truths accept been told.

The cook tells his tale first, recounting that he once stole cattle from a man, and when the man asked him to render them, he did and then in exchange for the pig, the axe, and the wood he now carries; he has been cooking the aforementioned pig ever since. Then the warrior tells a tale of harvesting wheat, indicating that when the people of his land wished to turn, plant, and harvest the wheat, each step had been completed equally soon as they desired it, and that they have been eating from that harvest always since. The woman in the gold helmet then tells her story, saying that she has vii cows and seven sheep, and that the milk and wool they produce is enough for all the people in the State of Promise. And so Cormac is asked to tell his truth, then he recounts his story with the silverish co-operative upwards to the present. With the four truths told, the pig is set up and Cormac is served a portion.

Cormac says he cannot consume without 50 men in his presence, so the warrior sings a song that puts Cormac to sleep and when he re-awakens, he finds fifty warriors forth with his girl, son, and wife. So the warrior places an enchanted cup of intricate and unusual workmanship and tells Cormac that when iii falsehoods are spoken it volition intermission into three pieces then when three truths are told, it can mend itself whole. The warrior then tells Cormac that his true name is Manannán son of Ler, and that his whole purpose was to bring him to the Land of Promise, but that after Cormac'southward decease, all that he has returned to Cormac (his son, daughter, wife, and cup) will be returned to the Land of Promise.

Manannán so explains what Cormac has witnessed. The horsemen at the offset fortress are the "men of art" in Ireland who collect cattle and wealth that laissez passer abroad into zippo. The homo collecting and burning the oak forest is a young lord who pays for everything he consumes. The Fountain is the Fountain of Noesis, and the five streams are the senses through which knowledge is obtained, and that no ane has knowledge who does not drink from the fountain or its streams. Finally, as like the salmon, were the people Cormac saw at the Fountain of Cognition.^[13]

The pursuit of the Gilla Decair and his horse [edit]

In the story of the Gilla Decair and His Equus caballus, the Fianna follow the Gilla, a past-proper noun of Manannán,^[14] beyond the sea to retrieve 15 of their number who were taken to the Gilla's island on the dorsum of his gigantic equus caballus. Finn leads the Fianna to Ben-Edair, where the Tuatha Dé Danann made a solemn oath to the Gaels that if they are ever in a time of need to leave Republic of ireland, ships will be provided. There, they encounter two heroic brothers, who offer to serve Finn for a year and create a fleet of ships for transporting the Fianna across the sea. Finn and the remaining Fianna travel for three days until they spot an island with a sheer cliff and cylindrical rock perched atop information technology, where they pick up the Gilla'due south track. Dermot is and so selected to scale the cliff (more slippery than an eel) because of his cowardly behavior and because he was raised on the Isle of Promise by Manannán and too taught by the Dagda's son Angus Og. Embarrassed by the scathing words of Fergus Truelips, Dermot grabs the two staves of Manannán and vaults onto the cliff.

Once on the island, Dermot encounters a vast tract of dense wood where he is surrounded past the melodious sound of streams, wind, birds, and bees. In the midst of the forest, he crosses a plain and spots an immense tree with interlacing branches. Abreast the tree is a rock well topped by a pointed drinking horn. The water is pure, and then Dermot stoops to drink it, and no sooner does he practice then and so folderol enters his head and a loud rumbling noise approaches him. When Dermot looks up, he encounters a wizard, who castigates Dermot for roaming through his woods and drinking his pure water. The 2 men come to blows and fight until dusk, when the magician dives into the well. Dermot kills and eats a deer that evening, and when he awakes the next morning, the Dermot finds the magician waiting for him; he upbraids Dermot for eating his deer, then the same episode from the previous day occurs (fighting until dusk when the wizard disappears into the well). On the 3rd day, Dermot grabs onto the wizard when he leaps into the well, and finds himself on the other side.

Dermot finds himself in a beautiful and flowery plane facing a purple city. He chases after the magician through a multitude of people until he crosses through the city gate, and at that place, the gates close backside him, and he is attacked by the people of the city. He fights fiercely until his assailants abscond further into the city and out into the forest, leaving Dermot broken in a puddle of his own claret. A burly wizard then approaches Dermot and kicks him in the side. The burly wizard tells Dermot that he is in a dangerous identify just volition transport him to another location where he volition slumber much better. The sorcerer takes Dermot on a long journey to another fortress, where Dermot is greeted by 150 men and their ladies as well equally the lady of the fortress, who all greet him past name. At the wizard's fortress, Dermot is placed in an infirmary and completely healed with salves of herbs. One time healed, he engages with the company in feasting, drinking, and intelligent entertainment each night. After three nights, Dermot asks his host in what land he is, and who is in charge of it. The burly magician tells Dermot he is in Tir fo thuinn and that the man with whom he battled is the Sorcerer of the Well who is the king of the country with whom he himself, the Sorcerer of Chivalry has a claret feud.

Growing tired of waiting for Dermot, Finn and the Fianna scale the cliff, and on the same plane encounter a horseman who kisses Finn iii times and asks the men to follow him to his fortress. There, the Fianna encounter an army and a well-armed keep and are entertained with feasting for iii nights. After three days Finn asks about the country and its ruler and is told that he is in the country of Sorcha, and that his host is the king of that land. A female messenger then comes to the Rex of Sorcha and tells him that his island is being invaded by the Greeks. The Fianna and the King of Sorcha then sally out to run into the Greeks and slaughter them in great carnage.

The King of Hellenic republic has a beautiful daughter who steals off to be with Finn. This upsets the Greek King more than the loss of his men, and declares that whoever tin call up her will exist given many precious things. A captain from his company explains that he has a magic co-operative that when waved releases beautiful music that will put people to sleep and promises to retrieve the King'southward girl. He does so, and the Greeks return to Athens.

The company splits up and some go to Hellenic republic to recall the Male monarch'south daughter, while others meet the King of the Isle, the Wizard of the Well, whose name is revealed to exist Abartach son of Allchad. When confronted by the Fianna, Abartach asks Finn what he is owed, to which Finn requests unmarried gainsay. Abartach indicates it is non in his interest to fight Finn, and requests what his wronged Fianna would like. Conán declares he wants 14 women and Abartach's ain married woman to ride his horse back to Ireland. Abartach assents to this. The Fianna return to Ireland and take a wedding feast.^[14]

Comparative mythologist Alexander Haggerty Krappe suggested that the "Gilla" character, a "horrible giant" who owned a demonic horse, was the ruler of the Otherworld realm of Tir fa Thuinn and was the "Celtic" Hades.^[15]

References [edit]

^ T.A. Rolleston (1990). Celtic Myths and Legends Courier Dover Publications.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Koch, John T. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2006. pp.1671
^ James MacKillop (1998). A dictionary of Celtic mythology Oxford University Press.
^ ^a ^b Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2004. pp.358, 368
^ The Celts: history, life and culture, J. Koch general editor.
^ ^a ^b Monaghan, Patricia (2008). The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Sociology. Checkmark Books.
^ The Book of Fermoy "The Fosterage off the House of the Two Pails"
^ Dillon, Myles (2003). The Celtic realms. Castle Books. ISBN0760742847. OCLC 52527112.
^ Smyth, Daragh (1996). A guide to Irish mythology (2nd ed.). Dublin: Irish gaelic Academic Press. ISBN0716526123. OCLC 36338076.
^ Shah, Idries (1991). World tales : the extraordinary coincidence of stories told in all times, in all places. London: Octagon. p. 359. ISBN978-0863040368.
^ Tatar, Maria (2017). Beauty and the creature : classic tales nigh beast brides and grooms from effectually the world. New York. ISBN9780143111696. OCLC 952384463.
^ Hull, Eleanor. The Cuchullin Saga in Irish Literature (1898), p 94.
^ "The Irish ordeals, Cormac'due south adventure in the Country of Promise, and the determination as to Cormac's sword". celt.ucc.ie . Retrieved 4 July 2019.
^ ^a ^b "The Pursuit of the Gilla Decair and his Horse". celt.ucc.ie . Retrieved 4 July 2019.
^ Krappe, Alexander Haggerty, "La poursuite du Gilla Dacker et les Dioscures celtiques". In: Revue Celtique 49 (1932): 96-108.
^ "Cells Of The Always Young: Getting Closer To The Truth". ScienceDaily. 2 June 2003. Archived from the original on 20 Feb 2018. Retrieved 19 Feb 2018.