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Deirdre Scanlan
Deirdre ( , ; ) is a tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is also known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows" (). Deirdre is a prominent figure in Irish legend. American scholar James MacKillop assessed in 2004 that she was its best-known figure in modern times. In legend Deirdre was the daughter of the royal storyteller Fedlimid mac Daill. Before she was born, Cathbad, the chief druid at the court of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, prophesied that Fedlimid's daughter would grow up to be very beautiful, but that kings and lords would go to war over her, much blood would be shed because of her, and Ulster's three greatest warriors would be forced into exile for her sake. Hearing this, many urged Fedlimid to kill the baby at birth, but Conchobar, aroused by the description of her future beauty, decided to keep the child for himself. He took Deirdre away from her family and had her brought up in seclusion by Leabharcham, a poet and wise woman, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deirdre Lament Millar
Deirdre ( , ; ) is a tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is also known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows" (). Deirdre is a prominent figure in Irish legend. American scholar James MacKillop assessed in 2004 that she was its best-known figure in modern times. In legend Deirdre was the daughter of the royal storyteller Fedlimid mac Daill. Before she was born, Cathbad, the chief druid at the court of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, prophesied that Fedlimid's daughter would grow up to be very beautiful, but that kings and lords would go to war over her, much blood would be shed because of her, and Ulster's three greatest warriors would be forced into exile for her sake. Hearing this, many urged Fedlimid to kill the baby at birth, but Conchobar, aroused by the description of her future beauty, decided to keep the child for himself. He took Deirdre away from her family and had her brought up in seclusion by Leabharcham, a poet and wise woman, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George William Russell
George William Russell (10 April 1867 – 17 July 1935), who wrote with the pseudonym Æ (often written AE or A.E.), was an Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, painter and Irish nationalist. He was also a writer on mysticism, and a central figure in the group of devotees of theosophy which met in Dublin for many years. Early life Russell was born in Lurgan, County Armagh (not in Portadown as has sometimes been misreported), in Ireland, the second son of Thomas Russell and Mary Armstrong. His father, the son of a small farmer, became an employee of Thomas Bell and Co., a prosperous firm of linen drapers. The family relocated to Dublin, where his father had a new offer of employment, when George was eleven years old. The death of his beloved sister Mary, aged 18, was a blow from which he took a long time to recover. He was educated at Rathmines School and the Metropolitan School of Art, where he began a lifelong, if sometimes contentious, friendship with W. B. Yeats. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chariot
A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 1950–1880 BC and are depicted on cylinder seals from Central Anatolia Region, Central Anatolia in Kültepe dated to c. 1900 BC. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the spoked wheel. The chariot was a fast, light, open, two-wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more Equidae, equids (usually horses) that were hitched side by side, and was little more than a floor with a waist-high guard at the front and sides. It was initially used for ancient warfare during the Bronze Age, Bronze and Iron Age, Iron Ages, but after its military capabilities had been superseded by Light cavalry, light and Heavy cavalry, heavy cavalries, chariots continued to be used for travel and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version. The ''Iliad'' is often regarded as the first substantial piece of Western literature, European literature and is a central part of the Epic Cycle. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the war's final weeks. In particular, it traces the anger () of Achilles, a celebrated warrior, from a fierce quarrel between him and King Agamemnon, to the death of the Trojan prince Hector.Homer, ''Iliad, Volume I, Books 1–12'', translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Loeb Classical Library 170, Cambridge, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "the Irish ''Iliad''", although like most other early Irish literature, the ''Táin'' is written in prosimetrum, i.e. prose with periodic additions of verse composed by the characters. The ''Táin'' tells of a war against Ulster by Queen Medb of Connacht and her husband King Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge. Due to a curse upon the king and warriors of Ulster, the invaders are opposed only by the young demigod, Cú Chulainn. The ''Táin'' is traditionally set in the 1st century in a pagan heroic age, and is the central text of a group of tales known as the Ulster Cycle. It survives in three written versions or " recensions" in manuscripts of the 12th century and later, the first a compilation largely written in Old Irish, the second a more consistent work i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medb
Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méabh(a) () and Méibh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had several husbands before him who were also kings of Connacht. She rules from Cruachan (now Rathcroghan, County Roscommon). She is the enemy (and former wife) of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, and is best known for starting the ''Táin Bó Cúailnge'' ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley") to steal Ulster's prize stud bull Donn Cúailnge. Medb is strong-willed, ambitious, cunning and promiscuous, and is an archetypal warrior queen. She is believed by some to be a manifestation of the sovereignty goddess.Ó hÓgáin, DáithÃ. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. pp. 294–295Monaghan, Patricia. ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore''. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p.31 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ailill Mac Máta
Ailill mac Máta is the king of the Connachta and the husband of queen MedbMatson, Gienna: ''Celtic Mythology A to Z'', page 2. Chelsea House, 2004. in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He rules from Cruachan (Rathcroghan in County Roscommon). Family background, marriage and offspring The sagas explain ''mac Máta'' as a matronymic: his mother is Máta Muirisc, daughter of Mága, of the Fir Ol nEchmacht, a tribal grouping of Connacht, through whom he claimed the throne of the Connachta. His father is Rus Ruad, king of the Laigin, whose other sons include Cairbre Nia Fer, king of Tara, Find Fili, who succeeded him as king of the Laigin, and in some texts Cathbad, chief druid of Conchobar mac Nessa of the Ulaid. The ''Táin Bó Cúailnge'' says Medb chose him as husband, ahead of Find, Cairbre and Conchobar, because he alone among them was without meanness, jealousy or fear.Cecile O'Rahilly (ed. & trans.), ''Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of Leinster'', Dublin Institute fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connacht
Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uà Fiachrach, Uà Briúin, Uà Maine, ConmhaÃcne, and Delbhna). Between the reigns of Conchobar mac Taidg Mór (died 882) and his descendant, Aedh mac Ruaidri Ó Conchobair (reigned 1228–33), it became a kingdom under the rule of the Uà Briúin Aà dynasty, whose ruling sept adopted the surname Ua Conchobair. At its greatest extent, it incorporated the often independent Kingdom of Breifne, as well as vassalage from the lordships of western Mide and west Leinster. Two of its greatest kings, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (1088–1156) and his son Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (c. 1115–1198) greatly expanded the kingdom's dominance, so much so that both became High King of Ireland. The Kingdom of Connacht collapsed in the 1230s because of civil war within the royal dynasty, which enab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Éogan Mac Durthacht
Éogan mac Durthacht is king of Fernmag (Farney, County Monaghan) in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. At the feast given by Mac Da Thó, Cet mac Magach relates how he blinded Eogan's eye by casting back the spear that struck his shield. Eogan was an enemy of Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ... and its king, Conchobar mac Nessa, but later made his peace with them. He murdered Deirdre's husband, Naoise, on Conchobar's orders. Later the bereaved Deirdre is asked by Conchobar whom she detests the most, and she replies Conchobar himself and Eogan mac Durthacht, whereby Conchobar decided she should go live with Eogan for a year. But the heroine chooses death over this fate., p.19-20 Footnotes References * (ed. & tr.) awl. B 512, f. 105v.-* , from text o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Branch
The Red Branch (; alternatively, ) is the name of two of the three royal houses of the king of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa, at his capital Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh), in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. In modern retellings it is sometimes used as the name of an order of warriors, the Red Branch Knights. The names of two of Conchobar's houses can be translated as "Red Branch", as Old Irish had two words for "red": ''derg'', bright red, the colour of fresh blood, flame or gold; and ''ruad'', russet, used for the colour of red hair. The ''Cróeb Ruad'' (modern Irish ''Craobh Rua'', "russet branch") was where the king sat;Whitley Stokes (ed. & trans.), "Tidings of Conchobar mac Nessa", ''Ériu'' 4, 1910, pp. 18-38 its name has survived as the townland of Creeveroe in County Armagh. The ''Cróeb Derg'' (modern Irish ''Craobh Dhearg'', "blood red branch") was where severed heads and other trophies of battle were kept. His third house was called the ''Téite Brec'' or "sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Navan Fort
Navan Fort ( ; ) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the Ulaidh. It is a large circular hilltop enclosure—marked by a bank and ditch—inside which is a circular mound and the remains of a ring barrow. Archeological investigations show that there were once buildings on the site, including a huge roundhouse-like structure that has been likened to a temple. In a ritual act, this timber structure was filled with stones, deliberately burnt down and then covered with earth to create the mound which stands today. It is believed that Navan was a pagan ceremonial site and was regarded as a sacred space. It features prominently in Irish mythology, especially in the tales of the Ulster Cycle. According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', "the amhain Mhachaof myth and legend is a far grander and mysterious place than archeological ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
