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verse beg. Rin(g)cne quasi quinque

  • Middle Irish
  • prose
  • Sanas Cormaic, Finn Cycle, Medieval Irish literature about poets

Entry for ‘rincne’ in Sanas Cormaic, with an anecdote about Ferchess, Mac Con and Finn úa Báiscni.

First words (verse)
  • Rin(g)cne quasi quinque
Context(s)The (textual) context(s) to which the present text belongs or in which it is cited in part or in whole.
Summary
(1) The word ‘rincne’ (quasi quinque) was uttered by Ferchess when Finn counted every five in turn in the host of Lugaid Mac Con in order to find Ferchess (Finn appears to assist Lugaid in this story). (2) Ferchess passed by Finn, killed Mac Con with a cast of his spear and said: ‘Rincne (quasi) cairincne ris ríg’ (John O’Donovan tentatively translates this as “a little pentad is a king’s reproach”). (3) Finn used to utter the same phrase whenever he counted every five in turn.
Manuscripts
Language
  • Middle Irish
  • (?)
Date
Assigned by Meyer to the 9th century.(2)n. 2 Kuno Meyer, Fianaigecht (1910).
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Similar versions of this episode are told in [[Scéla Moshauluim ocus Maic Con ocus Luigdech |Scéla Moshauluim ⁊ Maic Con ⁊ Luigdech]] and by Geoffrey Keating in his Foras feasa ar Éirinn, where rincne is the name of the spear. In the story of Mac Con's death in Cath Maige Mucrama and Aided Meic Con, Finn is not involved, although in the latter his fían is said to have avenged Mac Con's death.
Related: Aided Meic ConAided Meic ConCath Maige MucramaCath Maige MucramaForas feasa ar ÉirinnForas feasa ar ÉirinnThe prose history of Ireland completed by Geoffrey Keating (Seathrún Céitinn) in c. 1634. Comprising an introduction, two books and appendices, it narrates the history of the island from the time of Creation to the Norman conquest in the 12th century. As set out by the vindicatory introduction (an díonbhrollach), the work was written in response to the cultural biases of Anglo-centric writers (e.g. William Camden and Edmund Spenser).Scéla Moshauluim ⁊ Maic Con ⁊ LuigdechScéla Moshauluim ⁊ Maic Con ⁊ Luigdech

Classification

Sanas Cormaic
Sanas Cormaic
id. 940
 Finn Cycle
Finn Cycle
id. 578
Medieval Irish literature about poetsMedieval Irish literature about poets
...

Subjects

Finn mac Cumaill
Finn mac Cumaill (Find úa Báiscni)
(time-frame ass. with Finn Cycle, Finn mac Cumaill, Cormac mac Airt)
Finn mac Cumaill (earlier mac Umaill?), Find úa Báiscni: central hero in medieval Irish and Scottish literature of the so-called Finn Cycle; warrior-hunter and leader of a fían
See more Lugaid Mac Con
Lugaid Mac Con
Often simply Mac Con, a legendary high-king of Ireland from a people based in Munster; said to have defeated Éogan Mór and Art mac Cuinn in the battle of Mucrama after a return from exile following the battle of Cenn Abrat.
See more Ferchess mac Commáin
Ferchess mac Commáin
No short description available
See more

Sources

Notes

1.
Whitley Stokes • John O'Donovan, Sanas Chormaic: Cormac’s Glossary (1868): 142–143.
2.
Kuno Meyer, Fianaigecht (1910).

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.] Meyer, Kuno, Fianaigecht: being a collection of hitherto inedited Irish poems and tales relating to Finn and his Fiana, Todd Lecture Series, 16, London: Hodges, Figgis, 1910.
National Library of Scotland – PDF: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
xx–xxi.
[ed.] Stokes, Whitley [ed.], Three Irish glossaries: Cormac’s Glossary, O’Davoren’s Glossary and a glossary to the Calendar of Oengus the Culdee, London: Williams and Norgate, 1862.
TLH – ‘Cormac’s Glossary’ (pp. 1-44): <link> Internet Archive: <link>, <link>
38–39.
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed.], and John OʼDonovan [tr.], Sanas Chormaic: Cormac’s Glossary, Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, Calcutta: O.T. Cutter, 1868.
Internet Archive: <link> HathiTrust: <link>, <link> Google Books: <link>
142–143.

Secondary sources (select)

Meyer, Kuno [ed.], “Sanas Cormaic. An Old-Irish glossary compiled by Cormac úa Cuilennáin, king-bishop of Cashel in the tenth century”, in: Osborn Bergin, R. I. Best, Kuno Meyer, and J. G. OʼKeeffe (eds), Anecdota from Irish manuscripts, vol. 4, Halle and Dublin, 1912. 1–128 (text), i–xix (introduction).
Internet Archive – vols 1-5: <link> Internet Archive – vols 3-5: <link>
97
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
May 2011, last updated: January 2024
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