Texts
  1. Home
  2. Texts
  3. Dúan in cethrachat cest

Dúan in cethrachat cest ‘Poem of forty questions’
verse beg. Apraid a éolchu Elga

Eochaid ua Céirín
  • Middle Irish
  • verse, prose
  • Early Irish poetry, Irish legendary history, Mythological Cycle
Poem consisting of a series of questions concerning miscellaneous bits of lore, with the answer given in prose form in interlinear gloss.
First words (verse)
  • Apraid a éolchu Elga
Author
Eochaid ua Céirín
Eochaid (Eolach) úa Céirín
(fl. 11th century?)
Middle Irish poet
See more
Ascribed to: Eochaid ua Céirín
Eochaid (Eolach) úa Céirín
(fl. 11th century?)
Middle Irish poet
See more
Manuscripts
London, British Library, MS Egerton 1782 [1516-1518]
ff. 53va–54rb
rubric: ‘Duan in chethrachat cest in so, dorigni Eochaid ua Cerin’
Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 130 [s. xviii]
f. 58a
Copy from Egerton 1782. 16 qq.
Language
  • Middle Irish
  • If the attribution to Eochaid úa Céirín is correct, the poem may be datable to the eleventh century. Thurneysen, who edited the poem, has very little to say about the language, however, and a linguistic analysis of the poem as well as that of the accompanying prose remain a desideratum. Thurneysen allows for the possibility that the answers in prose were written by another author, possibly one from Eochaid’s school (“Wenn diese auch wohl nicht vom Verfasser selber herrühren, da der Glossator in Str. 9 son n-doilbthe als Kompositum sonndoilbthe gefasst zu haben scheint, so doch offenbar von einem Eingeweihten, vielleicht von einem Schüler Eochaids”).
Form
verse, prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Related: A fhir thall triallusA fhir thall triallusMiddle Irish poem (30qq) attributed to Fíngen mac Flainn, in the form of a series of questions and interlined answers concerning Irish history and pseudo-history.

Classification

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...
Irish legendary historyIrish legendary history
...
Mythological CycleMythological Cycle
...

Sources

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.] Thurneysen, Rudolf [ed. and tr.], “Das Gedicht der vierzig Fragen von Eochaid ua Cérín”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 13 (1921): 130–136.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – German translation: <link> Internet Archive: <link>

Secondary sources (select)

Thurneysen, Rudolf, Die irische Helden- und Königsage bis zum siebzehnten Jahrhundert, Halle: Niemeyer, 1921.  

Contents: Part 1 (chapters 1-23): Allgemeines; Part 2 (chapters 1-85): Die Ulter Sage.

Internet Archive: <link>
490
web page identifiers
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2010, last updated: March 2024
Retrieved from ‘https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Dúan_in_cethrachat_cest&oldid=304295’