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fandomhigh2008-04-07 10:45 am
World Mythology - Monday, April 7th - 2nd Period
"We're going back around the world," Ghanima announced without preamble as the students arrived, "Back to Europe, and slightly north, past England and its stodgy weather to the madmen of Ireland. If you need a good story, there's no better land for myth than Éire."
Hopping off her desk, Ghanima wandered up to the board to begin writing. "The three main manuscript sources for Irish mythology are the late 11th/early 12th century Lebor na hUidre which is in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, the early 12th century Book of Leinster in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, and the Rawlinson manuscript B 502 (Rawl.), housed in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. Despite the dates of these sources, most of the material they contain predates their composition. The earliest of the prose can be dated on linguistic grounds to the 8th century, and some of the verse may be as old as the 6th century."
"Other important sources include a group of four manuscripts originating in the west of Ireland in the late 14th or early 15th century: The Yellow Book of Lecan, The Great Book of Lecan, The Book of Hy Many, and The Book of Ballymote. The first of these contains part of the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, or "The Driving-off of Cattle of Cooley", and is housed in Trinity College. The other three are in the Royal Academy. Other 15th century manuscripts, such as The Book of Fermoy also contain interesting materials, as do such later syncretic works such as Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (The History of Ireland) (ca. 1640), particularly as these later compilers and writers may have had access to manuscript sources that have since disappeared."
Recapping her marker triumphantly, she turned back to the class to wave it at them. "Now! When using these sources, it is, as always, important to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were produced. Most of the manuscripts were created by Christian monks, who may well have been torn between the desire to record their native culture and their religious hostility to pagan beliefs resulting in some of the gods being euhemerized. Many of the later sources may also have formed part of a propaganda effort designed to create a history for the people of Ireland that could bear comparison with the mythological descent of their British invaders from the founders of Rome that was promulgated by Geoffrey of Monmouth and others. There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit into the known schema of Greek or Biblical genealogy. When in doubt, subdue the enemy by subversion of their mythos. If you make them into you, you have fewer problems with uprisings and the like. "
Turning back to the board, she began writing again. "Now, it was once unquestioned that medieval Irish literature preserved truly ancient traditions in a form virtually unchanged through centuries of oral tradition back to the ancient Celts of Europe. Kenneth Jackson famously described the Ulster Cycle as a "window on the Iron Age", and Garret Olmsted has attempted to draw parallels between Táin Bó Cuailnge, the Ulster Cycle epic, and the iconography of the Gundestrup Cauldron. However, this "nativist" position has been challenged by "revisionist" scholars who believe that much of it was created in Christian times in deliberate imitation of the epics of classical literature that came with Latin learning. The revisionists would indicate passages apparently influenced by the Iliad in Táin Bó Cuailnge, and the existence of Togail Troi, a very early Irish adaptation of the Aeneid found in the Book of Leinster, and note that the material culture of the stories is generally closer to the time of the stories' composition than to the distant past. A consensus has emerged which encourages the critical reading of the material."
Today, however, we are looking at one of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, or The Tragedy of the Children of Lir," she said. "The Celts often mixed heros and gods all into one big pile of mythological fun, so it can often be difficult to sort out what is myth, fairy tale, hero tale, or folklore."
"Looking over the two handouts of the story, I'd like you to pair up and discuss why this particular story is usually classified as myth by scholars, and if you see any parallels to other myths we've studied. Begin."
"Oh, and for those of you last week who actually turned in the homework?" Ghanima gestured to a basket sitting on her desk. "Please have your promised cookies. Enjoy!"
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