Texts
Acallam na senórach ‘The dialogue of the ancients’
- Middle Irish
- prose, verse
- Finn Cycle
Author
Anonymous
Manuscripts
Five manuscript witnesses:
Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 610 ff. 59–72 and ff. 123–146 = (part of the) Book of the White Earl [c. 1410-1452]
ff. 123r–146r
beg. ‘Fer Muman andes ⁊ ro boí ac denam tshelga laithi naen annso’
Incomplete, due in part to chasms in the manuscript and due in part to omission. The six fragments correspond approximately to lines 2044-2235, 2401-3520, 3723-3909, 4079-7355, 7399-7546, 7597-7986 of Stokes' edition.
ff. 159–197
Ten fragments.
Dublin, University College, MS Franciscan A 4 [s. xv-xvi(?)]
Language
- Middle Irish
- late Middle Irish (or very early Classical Irish)
Form
prose, verse (primary)
Prosimetrum.
Textual relationships
Related: Ar chruitire Fhinn mhic ChumaillAr chruitire Fhinn mhic Chumaill
Expanded, modernised version of a poem concerning Fionn‘s harper Cnú Dereóil, which is found originally in Acallam na sénorach, where it begins Abhuc do fuair Finn ferdha (Stokes ll. 630–683).
A composite recension of the tale of the conversation (agallamh) between St Patrick and representatives of the old Fían, Oisín and Caílte.
Dinnshenchas of Ard RuideDinnshenchas of Ard RuideDinnshenchas of Ard Ruide, a royal seat in Munster.
Tóiteán Tighe FhinnTóiteán Tighe FhinnA ballad about a tragic event and its aftermath in Fenian tradition. It relates how Garad mac Morna burnt to death the wives of the fían-warriors in Finn's house and how he was afterwards slain by his son Aod.Dinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IDinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IPoem on the dinnshenchas of Tond Clidna, attributed to Caílte.Dinnshenchas of Tonn ChlidnaDinnshenchas of Tonn ChlidnaProse tract on the dinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna.Associated items
Dinnshenchas of Almu IDinnshenchas of Almu IDinnshenchas poem on Almu (the Hill of Allen, Co. Kildare), which recounts the tale of the conception of Finn mac Cumaill.Dinnshenchas of Ard RuideDinnshenchas of Ard Ruide
Dinnshenchas of Ard Ruide, a royal seat in Munster.
Rise up OsgarRise up OsgarForud na Fíann fás in-nochtForud na Fíann fás in-nochtGéisid cúanGéisid cúanIs úar geimred at-racht gáethIs úar geimred at-racht gáethDinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IDinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IPoem on the dinnshenchas of Tond Clidna, attributed to Caílte.Turus acam Día h-AíneTurus acam Día h-AíneSources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “Acallamh na senórach”, in: Ernst Windisch, and Whitley Stokes [eds.], Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch, 4 vols, vol. 4, Leipzig, 1900. 1–438, ix–xiv.
[ed.] OʼGrady, Standish Hayes, Silva Gadelica (I–XXXI): a collection of tales in Irish, vol. 1: Irish text, London: Williams & Norgate, 1892.
[ed.] Dillon, Myles [ed.], Stories from the Acallam, Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series, 23, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1970.
Six stories, corresponding to lines 1-120, 329-353, 354-468, 718-871, 949-1002 and 1868-1934 of Stokes' edition.
[tr.] Dooley, Ann, and Harry Roe [trs.], Tales of the elders of Ireland, Oxford's World Classics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
The first translation into English of the whole text.
Secondary sources (select)
Murray, Kevin, The early Finn Cycle, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2017. 200 pp.
abstract:
The Finn (or Fenian) Cycle (fíanaigecht) is classified by modern scholarship as one of four medieval Irish literary cycles along with the Ulster Cycle, the Cycle of Historical Tales (or Cycles of the Kings) and the Mythological Cycle. It is primarily composed of material dealing with the legendary character Finn mac Cumaill, his warrior band (fían), his son Oisín and his grandson Oscar. In a fashion recalling the expansion of the Arthurian legend throughout Europe, the traditions centred on Finn grew from localized beginnings to spread throughout the entire Gaelic-speaking world. This study takes as its focus the early Finn Cycle, up to and including the composition of the most significant fíanaigecht tale, Acallam na senórach (‘The colloquy of the ancients’), at the beginning of the Early Modern Irish period. The volume also deals in detail with topics such as the nature of the fían; the extent of early fragmentary Finn Cycle sources; the background to Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne (‘The pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne’); the boyhood deeds and death of Finn; and the development of the Fenian lay tradition. The Early Finn Cycle details and investigates the primary and secondary sources for the study of this material and traces the literary development of the early fíanaigecht corpus. In so doing, it seeks to account for the emergence of the Finn Cycle from fragmentarily documented beginnings to become the dominant genre of Gaelic literature after 1200.
esp. 21–49
Connon, Anne, “The Roscommon locus of Acallam na senórach and some thoughts as to tempus and persona”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 21–59.
Dooley, Ann, “The European context of Acallam na senórach”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 60–75.
Carey, John, “Acallam na senórach: a conversation between worlds”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 76–89.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Some strands and strains in Acallam na senórach”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 90–108.
Parsons, Geraldine, “The narrative voice in Acallam na senórach”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 109–124.
Ó Cadhla, Stiofán, “Gods and heroes: approaching the Acallam as ethnography”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 125–143.
Connon, Anne, “Plotting Acallam na senórach: the physical context of the ‘Mayo’ sequence”, in: Sarah Sheehan, Joanne Findon, and Westley Follett (eds), Gablánach in scélaigecht: Celtic studies in honour of Ann Dooley, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2013. 69–102.
Dooley, Ann, “Speaking with forked tongues: gender and narrative in the Acallam”, in: Sarah Sheehan, and Ann Dooley (eds), Constructing gender in medieval Ireland, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 171–190.
Dooley, Ann, “The deployment of some hagiographical sources in Acallam na senórach”, in: Sharon J. Arbuthnot, and Geraldine Parsons (eds), The Gaelic Finn tradition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2012. 97–110.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Keeping the Acallam together”, in: Sharon J. Arbuthnot, and Geraldine Parsons (eds), The Gaelic Finn tradition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2012. 111–121.
Ó hUiginn, Ruairí, “Fiannagheacht, family, faith and fatherland”, in: Sharon J. Arbuthnot, and Geraldine Parsons (eds), The Gaelic Finn tradition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2012. 151–162.
Connell, Sarah, “Writing on the land of Ireland: nationality, textuality, and geography in the Acallam na senórach”, Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies 7 — Space/place in the medieval imagination (2011). URL: <http://hortulus-journal.com/journal/volume-7-number-1-2011/connell/>.
Parsons, Geraldine, “Whitley Stokes, Standish Hayes O’Grady and Acallam na Senórach”, in: Elizabeth Boyle, and Paul Russell (eds), The tripartite life of Whitley Stokes (1830-1909), Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2011. 185–195.
Schlüter, Dagmar, “‘For the entertainment of lords and commons of later times.’ Past and remembrance in Acallam na senórach”, Celtica 26 (2010): 146–160.
Donahue, Annie, “The Acallam na senórach: a medieval instruction manual”, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 24–25 (2004/2005, 2009): 206–215.
Parsons, Geraldine, “Acallam na senórach as prosimetrum”, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 24–25 (2009): 86–100.
Parsons, Geraldine, “The structure of Acallam na Senórach”, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 55 (2008): 11–39.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Acallam na senórach: a ‘tri-cycle’?”, in: Dan M. Wiley (ed.), Essays on the early Irish king tales, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008. 63–83.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Life in the fast lane. The Acallam na Senórach”, in: Helen Fulton (ed.), Medieval Celtic literature and society, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005. 117–131.
Ó Coileáin, Seán, “The setting of Géisid cúan”, in: John Carey, Máire Herbert, and Kevin Murray (eds), Cín Chille Cúile: texts, saints and places. Essays in honour of Pádraig Ó Riain, 9, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2004. 234–248.
Géisid cúan is a poem preserved in Acallam na senórach.
McTurk, Rory, “Acallam na senórach and Snorri Sturluson’s Edda”, in: Séamas Ó Catháin, and Patricia Lysaght [et al.] (eds), Northern lights: following folklore in north-western Europe. Aistí in adhnó do Bho Almqvist: essays in honour of Bo Almqvist, Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2001. 178–189.
Roe, Harry, “Acallam na senórach: the confluence of lay and clerical oral traditions”, in: Cyril J. Byrne, Margaret Harry, and Pádraig Ó Siadhail (eds), Celtic languages and Celtic peoples: proceedings of the Second North American Congress of Celtic studies, held in Halifax, August 16-19, 1989, Halifax, Nova Scotia: D’Arcy McGee Chair of Irish Studies, Saint Mary’s University, 1992. 331–346.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Compositional concerns in the Acallam na senórach”, in: Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Liam Breatnach, and Kim R. McCone (eds), Sages, saints and storytellers: Celtic studies in honour of Professor James Carney, 2, Maynooth: An Sagart, 1989. 149–158.
web page identifiers
page name: Acallam na senórach
page url: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Acallam_na_sen%C3%B3rach
redirect: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Special:Redirect/page/2473
numerical alternative: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?curid=2473
page ID: 2473
page ID tracker: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=2473
Contributors
C. A., Dagmar Schlüter, Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
April 2011, last updated: September 2023
