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Echtra Nerai ‘The adventure of Nera’

  • Early Irish
Manuscripts
London, British Library, MS Egerton 1782 [1516-1518]
ff. 71v–73v
beg. ‘Bui Ailill ocus Meudb aidqi samnoi hir-Raith Cruachan cona techluch huili’
Here the tale bears the title Echtra Nerai.
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1318 cols 573–958 = section of the Yellow Book of Lecan [s. xivex/xvin]
pp. 60a line 42 – 62a cols 658–662
rubric: ‘Tain Be Aingen and so’
Here the tale bears the title Táin bé Aingen.
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 O 48b (476) = Liber Flavus Fergusiorum, part 2 [c. 1435-1440]
p. 51rb–51va (102rb–102va in earlier folation)
Fragment (incomplete). No heading.
Language
  • Early Irish
Textual relationships
Related: Dinnshenchas of Áth LúainDinnshenchas of Áth LúainDinnshenchas on Áth Lúain

Classification

Subjects

NeraNera
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
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Samples

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A passage from the tale, edited and translated by Kuno Meyer.
Lotar iarum don taich hi sin.tened imon tellach hisin Confaccatar iarum ni, in loch tiniuth immon tech sin. Ni fil ar n-dig hissin tig siuistigsea, ol in cimith. Ni bi teniu gen cogluidtine cencoiclead ann do-gres. Tair riunn don taich aili donotairr roinn dontig naile dino iss nessim duinn, ol in cimith. Lotar dono do sidi.lodur dino dosuidiu. Confaccatar dono loch n-uscci hime suidiu. Na herich don tich sin,confhacadar ni dino in loch usci imiside nahercdino don tigsea ol in cimith. Ni gnath athinndlad na athfotraccod na ambor co némiudamur conemed ann ind aichce iar cotlud. Tair riund don toig aili beus, or in cimid. Ata mu dig-siumodeochsa isin taig siu immoro, or in cimid. Dolleciu de for lar. Tet issin tech. Athinnlat ogus athfothruccud ann, ocus bid dig hi cectur de.and ibid deod a ceachtarde Ammor con-nemid danaconemed dino for lar in taige. Ibid dono dig a cechtarna dosuidiu, ⁊ sroithid loimb n-degenuchdino deod deside ⁊ sroithe loim deigenach asa beluib im aigti na n-doini batar hisin tig, conn-apatar uili. Is iariarn MS. siniarsin tra ni maith athindlat na athfotraccod na teniu gin cogluid na ammor con-nemidconnemed a taig iar cotludcollad. So they went to that house. Then they saw something. A lake of fire round that house.round that hearth, H. 2. 16. There is no drink for us in this house, said the captive. There is no fire without sparing in it ever. Let us therefore go to the other house, which is nearest to us, said the captive. They went to it then and saw a lake of water around it. Do not go to that house ! said the captive. There is never a washing- nor a bathing-tub, nor a slop-pail in it at night after sleeping. Let us still go to the other house, said the captive. Now there is my drink in this house, said the captive. He let him down on the floor. He went into the house. There were tubs for washing and bathing in it, and a drink in either of them. Also a slop-pail on the floor of the house. He then drinks a draught of either of them and scatters the last sip from his lips at the faces of the people that were in the house, so that they all died. Henceforth it is not good (to have) either a tub for washing or bathing, or a fire without sparing, or a slop-pail in a house after sleeping.
Echtra Nerai • Edition and translation by Kuno Meyer. Work in progress. Expansions will be marked later on.

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.] Meyer, Kuno [ed. and tr.], “The adventures of Nera”, Revue Celtique 10 (1889): 212–228, 520. Corrigenda in Revue Celtique 17: 319.
Celtic Digital Initiative: <link> Internet Archive: <link>, <link>
Based on Egerton 1782, with variants from YBL.
[tr.] Carey, John [tr.], “[Various contributions]”, in: John T. Koch, and John Carey (eds), The Celtic Heroic Age. Literary sources for ancient Celtic Europe and early Ireland & Wales, 4th ed., 1, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2003. [Various].
§ 83 [‘Echtra Nerai The adventure of Nera’]
[tr.] Draak, Maartje, and Frida de Jong [trs.], Van helden, elfen en dichters: de oudste verhalen uit Ierland, Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1979.
60–67 Dutch translation
[ed.] Carey, John, “Sequence and causation in Echtra Nerai”, Ériu 39 (1988): 67–74.
73–74 An edition of the fragment in 23 O 48.

Secondary sources (select)

Carey, John, “Sequence and causation in Echtra Nerai”, Ériu 39 (1988): 67–74.
Meyer, Kuno [ed.], “Mélanges: Addenda to the Echtra Nerai”, Revue Celtique 11 (1890): 210.  
comments: BL, Harley 5280, f. 54a.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
Fragment from Harleian 5280, f. 54a, which mentions Echtra Nerai.
Ó Coileáin, Seán, “Echtrae Nerai and its analogues”, Celtica 21 (1990): 427–440.
Celtica – PDF: <link>
Ó Duilearga, Séamus, “Nera and the dead man”, in: John Ryan (ed.), Féil-sgríbhinn Eóin Mhic Néill: Essays and studies presented to professor Eoin MacNeill on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, May 15th 1938, Dublin: Three Candles, 1940. 522–534.
Ó Flaithearta, Mícheál, “Echtra Nerai, Táin bó Regamna und ihr Verhältnis zur Táin bó Cuailgne”, in: Hildegard L. C. Tristram (ed.), Deutsche, Kelten und Iren: 150 Jahre deutsche Keltologie: Gearóid Mac Eoin zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet, Hamburg: Buske, 1990. 155–176.
Watson, Alden, “A structural analysis of Echtra Nerai”, Études Celtiques 23 (1986): 129–142.  
abstract:
Analyse structurale inspirée des méthodes de Claude Lévi-Strauss. Echtra Nerai est constituée de deux légendes, l’aventure de Nera dans le monde du sid, et le Vol du bétail d’Aingen. L’auteur analyse différents épisodes autour de quelques thèmes essentiels («souveraineté», «destin héroïque») .
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 23, 1986: <link>
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
March 2011, last updated: October 2024
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