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Dinnshenchas of Srúb Brain
verse beg. Matan do Choin na Cerdda

  • Middle Irish
  • verse, prose
  • Early Irish poetry, Dinnshenchas Érenn, Ulster Cycle, dinnshenchas
Dinnshenchas of Srúb Brain. The placename is etymologised as ‘Raven’s Bill’ with reference to an account of how Cú Chulainn killed a multitude of giant ravens or black birds and placed the bill of the last bird on the rock (Srúb Brain).
First words (verse)
  • Matan do Choin na Cerdda
Context(s)The (textual) context(s) to which the present text belongs or in which it is cited in part or in whole.
Manuscripts

include:

A (verse)
L =
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1339 (H 2. 18) = Book of Leinster [s. xii2]
p. 154b
C (prose and verse)
R =
Rennes, Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, MS 598 ff. 90-125 [s. xiii/xiv (?)]
B =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406]
Le =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 2 = Book of Lecan (Leabhar Leacain) [s. xvin]
S =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS D ii 2 (1222) [s. xvi (?)]
f. 34
beg. ‘Maiten do choin na cerda’
S3 =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS B iii 1 (742) [s. xvii]
M =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS D ii 1 (1225) = Leabhar Uí Mhaine (The Book of Uí Maine) [1394]
H =
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1322 (H 3. 3) [s. xvi]
Language
  • Middle Irish
Form
verse, prose (primary)
Textual relationships
The story deviates from an earlier tradition that accounts for the placename, or at least if it refers to the same place. In [[Immram Brain maic Febail |Immram Bran]], Srúb Brain is thus called because it is where the voyager Bran returns from the Otherworld.

Classification

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...
Dinnshenchas Érenn
Dinnshenchas Érenn
id. 6712

The Dinnshenchas Érenn is a compilation of literary compositions, in prose or verse, on lore surrounding the prominent places of Ireland. These texts usually offer origin legends which purport to explain how a well-known place in Ireland, such as a certain hill, plain or lake, received its present or former name. The genesis of this collection is usually dated to the late Middle Irish period (11th and 12th centuries).

Ulster Cycle
Ulster Cycle
id. 1797
dinnshenchasIrish narrative literature, onomastic lore and learning, topographical literature
dinnshenchas
id. 32607

Subjects

Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn
Young Ulster hero and chief character of Táin bó Cuailnge and other tales of the Ulster Cycle; son of Súaltam or Lug and Deichtire (sister to Conchobor); husband of Emer (ingen Forgaill)
See more
Srúb Brain
Srúb Brain ... Stroove Point
County Donegal
No short description available
See more Dún Delga
Dún Delga ... Castletown Hill
County Louth
No short description available
See more RamannRamann
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more RedgRedg
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more
Contents

A flock of black birds appears

Summary:
Prose. Cú Chulainn is at Dún Delga when he encounters a flock of black birds (3 x 50). These birds are extraordinarily large (measurements are given for their bills and their necks).

Verse. One morning, Cú na Cerdda (i.e. Cú Chulainn) keeps watch at Dún Delga (ll. 1-4). He witnesses an enormous, "monstrous" flock of black birds (3 x 50) as it gathers over the sea. The sight of these birds and their hoarse cries are rather unpleasant. These birds are extraordinarily large (measurements are given for their bills and their necks).

» People: Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn chases and kills the birds

Summary:
Prose. Cú Chulainn pursues the birds from Dún Delga. In every land he traverses while doing so, he kills one of them with his sling.

Verse. Cú na cath (i.e. Cú Chulainn) attacks the birds by Rámand and Redg (l. 32), using his sling to kill them. In whichever inlet (gaibél) he finds them, he kills them all in this manner.

» People: Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn and the last raven

Summary:
Prose: Cú Chulainn kills the last raven (branén) at Redg and Ramann. He decapitates the bird, bathes his hands in its blood, and places its bill/beak (srúb) on the rock, calling it Srúb Brain (‘Raven’s Bill’).

Verse. Cú Chulainn kills the last raven (branén). He decapitates the bird and bathes his hands in its blood: “the cunning hero (in callait) wove each mystic sign (rún)” (tr. Gwynn). He places its bill/beak (srúb) on the rock known since that day as Srúb Brain (‘Raven’s Bill’); “every secret meaning (rún) is seen by reference to an exploit” (tr. Gwynn).

» People: Cú Chulainn

Tathus drecht dron-amhnus » entry

» Comments: This poem about Cú Chulainn is added to several copies of the dinnshenchas of Srúb Brain.

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.] Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 3, Todd Lecture Series, 10, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1913.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vols. 1-3: <link>  : View in Mirador
256–259 + ix (corr. for l. 32) [id. 48. ‘Srúb Brain’] direct link direct link direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 5, Todd Lecture Series, 12, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1935.
Internet Archive – vol. 5: <link>  : View in Mirador
136 Revised translations for ll. 39 (tentative) and 42, both referring to rún. direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley, “The prose tales in the Rennes dindshenchas”, Revue Celtique 15 (1894): 272–336, 418–484.  

An edition and translation of the prose texts in the Dinnshenchas Érenn as they occur in Rennes, Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, MS 598. Missing texts are supplied from the Book of Lecan version.

TLH – edition (I, pp. 277-336): <link> TLH – translation (I): <link> TLH – edition (II, pp. 418-484): <link> TLH – translation (II): <link> Celtic Digital Initiative: <link> Internet Archive – 272–336: <link> Internet Archive – 272–336: <link> Internet Archive – 418–484: <link> Internet Archive – 418–484: <link>
450 [id. 54. ‘Srub Brain’] direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley, “Hibernica [VIII–X]”, Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen 33 (1895): 62–86.
Internet Archive: <link>
82 Edited and translated from TCD 1322 (H 3. 3)

Secondary sources (select)

Hellmuth, Petra S., “The Dindshenchas and Irish literary tradition”, 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. 116–126.
Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 3, Todd Lecture Series, 10, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1913.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vols. 1-3: <link>  : View in Mirador
524 [id. 48. ‘Srúb Brain’] direct link
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
August 2012, last updated: March 2024
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