''Anfuigell'' (

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

for "Wrong judgement" or "No judgement") is a fragmentarily preserved

early Irish legal Early Irish law, also called Brehon law (from the old Irish word breithim meaning judge), comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norman invasion of 1169, but underwen ...

text, dealing with situations in which legal judgement is difficult or impossible.

Manuscripts

No copy of ''Anfuigell'' has survived. Instead, quotations and excerpts from it are preserved (with commentary) in various manuscripts. For example,

O'Davoren's Glossary O'Davoren's Glossary is an early modern glossary of Old Irish terms, many of which are legal in nature. The glossary is important for its well-preserved quotations from early Irish legal texts (which would otherwise have been lost or preserved on ...

preserves three quotes from ''Anfuigell''. Some excerpts belonging to '' Aidbred'' were previously mis-allocated to ''Anfuigell''.

Charlene Eska Charlene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Charlene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Charlene or Charleen * Charlene (singer), American singer Charlene D'Angelo (born 1950) Music ...

has published the fragments of ''Anfuigell'' (divided into 58 sections and a heading) with translation and commentary. The title derives from the

incipit The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of Musical note, notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin an ...

of the text: ("The wrong decision of a judge is a raven's call to battle"). The word can be analysed as negative prefix + ('judgement'). It can be translated as "wrong judgement" or "no judgement".

The subject-matter of ''Anfuigell'' is scenarios in which judgement is difficult or impossible. Many different scenarios, touching on an unusually broad range of early Irish law, are thus discussed. It shares with ''

Gúbretha Caratniad ''Gúbretha Caratniad'' (Old Irish for "False judgements of Caratnia") is a collection of exceptions to the rules of early Irish law. These exceptions are given in a formulaic manner, as a dialogue between the legendary high king Conn Cétchatha ...

'' and ''

Recholl Breth ''Recholl Breth'' (Old Irish for "Shroud of Judgements") is a legal text dealing with cases in which a legal fault is not immediately obvious. It touches on contract law, rightful kings, and marriage law. It is the 13th text in the ''Senchas Má ...

'' an interest in unusual or exceptional cases in early Irish law. In some of these scenarios, where the judge cannot decide in favour of either party, it is deemed improper to even have brought the case before a judge. From the surviving fragments, it is difficult to see a method by which these scenarios were organised. Eska conjectures that the text originally had the same dialogic structure as ''Gúbretha Caratniad.'' In discussing so varied a set of legal matters, ''Anfuigell'' shines light on a number of aspects of early Irish society. For example, the section of ''Anfuigell'' on funerals gives very early evidence for the practice of

keening Keening (, ) is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition, known to have taken place in Ireland and Scotland. Keening, which can be seen as a form of sean-nós singing, is performed in the Irish and Scotti ...

. Eska emphasises the image they give us "of the sordid side of medieval Irish society". ''Anfuigell'' contains provisions for contracts entered into while drunk and injuries sustained at funerals. In two manuscript sources, the ''Anfuigell'' carries a

Middle Irish Middle Irish, also called Middle Gaelic (, , ), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of Late Old English and Early Middle English. The modern Goideli ...

introduction. This introduction follows an '' accessus ad auctores'' schema, giving pseudo-historical details as to the place (Fuithrime Cormaic, i.e., Muckross Estate), time (of Finguine mac Cú-cen-máthair), author and reason (one Cumain, who was confused by a ruling). It appears to have been modelled after the introduction to another legal text, '' Cáin Ḟuithirbe''. Fangzhe Qiu suggests the Cumain referenced here was intended to be

Cumméne Fota Cumméne Fota or Fada, anglicised Cummian (''fl''. ''c''. 591 – 12 November 661 or 662), was an Irish bishop and ''fer léignid'' ( lector) of ''Cluain Ferta Brénainn'' (Clonfert). He was an important theological writer in the early to mid ...

, a 7th-century bishop. The surviving text of ''Anfuigell'' is a combination of linguistic layers. This frustrates assigning it a date on a linguistic basis. Eska suggests that it could be dated anywhere between the second half of the 8th and the 9th centuries.

Manuscripts

Contents

References

Further reading