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''Sanas Cormaic'' (; or ''Sanas Chormaic'', Irish for "Cormac's narrative"), also known as ''Cormac's Glossary'', is an early Irish
glossary A glossary (from , ''glossa''; language, speech, wording), also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a gloss ...
containing etymologies and explanations of over 1,400 Irish words, many of which are difficult or outdated. The shortest and earliest version of the work is ascribed to Cormac mac Cuilennáin (d. 903), king-bishop of Munster. It is an encyclopedic dictionary containing simple synonymous explanations in Irish or
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
of Irish words. In some cases, he attempts to give the etymology of the words, and in others he concentrates on an encyclopedic entry. It is held to be the earliest
vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...
dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
in any of the non-classical languages of Europe. Many of its entries are still frequently cited in Irish and Celtic scholarship.


Manuscripts and editions (with external links)

The glossary survives, in part or whole, in at least six manuscripts. The work may have been included in the '' Saltair Chaisil'' ("Psalter of Cashel"), a now-lost manuscript compilation that is thought to have contained various genealogical and
etiological Etiology (; alternatively spelled aetiology or ætiology) is the study of causation or origination. The word is derived from the Greek word ''()'', meaning "giving a reason for" (). More completely, etiology is the study of the causes, origin ...
lore relating to Munster. The versions of ''Sanas Cormaic'' divide into two groups: the earliest and shortest version represented by Leabhar Breac and the fragment in MS Laud 610, and a longer one represented by the Yellow Book of Lecan, which underwent some expansion in the hands of later redactors.


Content

The Sanas takes the form of an alphabetical list of words with information about their history,
etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
, meaning and their surrounding legends.


Mogheime

Under the entry for Mogheime (or "''Mug-éime''": oircne) Cormac describes a folk etymology surrounding the introduction of the first lap dog to Ireland. In parts he epitomises the Book of Armagh, envoking the myth of Falinis. He describes how British law allowed for expropriation of criminals as chattels in compensation for a crime (i.e. law code of Æthelberht): therefore when Coirpre caught the dog gnawing on his dagger he claimed the dog for himself and brought it back to Ireland. The passage describes the claim of
sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...
by the
Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...
over the whole of mainland Britain in the sub Roman period.
Gildas Gildas (English pronunciation: , Breton language, Breton: ''Gweltaz''; ) — also known as Gildas Badonicus, Gildas fab Caw (in Middle Welsh texts and antiquarian works) and ''Gildas Sapiens'' (Gildas the Wise) — was a 6th-century Britons (h ...
describes how the Anglo-Saxons were intitially invited to Britain as mercenaries to defend against the
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...
and Scots.
Mug-eime, the name of the first lap-dog that was in Ireland. Coirpre Músc, son of Conaire, brought it from the east, from Britain. For when great was the power of the Gael over Britain, they divided Scotland amongst them in districts, and each of them knew his friend's habitation, and the Gael dwelt on the east of the sea no less than in Scotia, and their residences and royal forts were built there. ''Inde dicitur'' Dinn Tradui, i. e. Dún Tredue .i. the three-fossed fort of Crimthan Mór, son of Fidach, king of Ireland and Albion and down to the Ictian sea, ''et inde'' Glasimpere nanGáedel ( Glastonbury of the Irish) a church on the border of the Ictian sea. (There was Glass son of
Cass Cass may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cass (surname), a list of people * Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey * Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie * Cass, ...
, swineherd of the king of Hiruath, with his swine feeding, and he it was that Patrick raised from the dead twenty-six years after he had been killed by the champions of Mac Con.) In that part is the fort of Map Lethain, in the lands of the Cornish Britons i. e. fort of Mac Lethain, for mac is the same as map in British. Thus did each tribe of them (''di suidiv'') divide, for there was an equal proportion on the east, and they possessed that power long after the coming of Patrick.Then was Coirpre Músc paying a visit in the east to his family and his friends. At that time a lap dog had never come into the Land of Erin: the Britons forbade that one should be given to the Gael for asking, or through free will, or through gratitude or friendship for the Gael. At that time the Britons had a law, to wit, "Every criminal for his crime who shall break the law". There was a beautiful lapdog in the possession of a friend of Coirpre Musc's in Britain, and Coirpre got it from him hus Once Coirpre went to his house, and great welcome was made to him, except concerning the lap-dog. Coirpre Músc had a splendid
dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...
, with ornamentation of silver and gold on its hilt. It was a marvellous treasure. Now Coirpre put a great deal of grease about it, and rubbed fat on its hilt, and then left it before the lapdog. The lap-dog took to gnawing the hilt till morning. It wounded (loitid) the dagger then, so that it was not lovely. Next day Coirpre made great complaint of this, and was eeminglymournful (or wrathful) about it, and demanded justice for it from his friend. "That is fair," and he said "I will pay* for the crime" (cin), said he. Said Coirpre: "I will take nothing but what is in the Britons,) law, namely, every criminal for his crime." So then the lap-dog was given to Coirpre, and the name clave to it, namely Mug-éime, 'slave of the hilt', mug Goth. magus i. e. a
slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
that was given on account of the hilt.The lap dog, which was a bitch, was with young. Ailill Flann the Little was ruler of Munster at that time, and Cormac grandson of Conn was at Tara, and these three began to quarrel, asking for and contending about the lap-dog. This is the way in which the matter was settled between the three, namely, the dog spent a certain time in the house of each of them. The dog thereafter littered, and each of them got a pup from the litter. In that way then descends every lap-dog still in Ireland.After a long time the lap-dog died, and Connla, son of Tadg, son of Cían, son of Ailill Olum, found that lap-dog's bare skull, and brought it home to test a poet who had come with an ái or airchetul to his father. Máen mac Edaini was the poet's name. Máen the bard then solved it through teinm laeda, and said ac Cain tonna etc. There is the head of Mug-éme, namely, the first lap-dog that ever was brought to Ireland.


References


Further reading

*Russell, Paul. "''Sanas Chormaic''." In ''Celtic Culture. An Encyclopedia'', ed. J.T. Koch. p. 1559. *Russell, Paul. "Dúil Dromma Cetta and Cormac's Glossary." ''Études celtiques'' 32 (1996): pp. 115–42. *Russell, Paul. "The Sound of Silence: The Growth of Cormac's Glossary." '' Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies'' 15 (1988): pp. 1–30.


External links


Mary JonesEarly Irish Glossaries
- all manuscripts of the Sanas Cormaic transcribed with images.
CODECS: Collaborative Online Database and e-Resources for Celtic Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanas Cormaic 9th-century books Texts in Irish Early Irish literature Irish dictionaries Irish-language literature Irish books Medieval European encyclopedias Irish encyclopedias