Bibliography
William Sayers
s. xx–xxi
Sayers
Contributions to journals
Sayers, William, “Irish affinities of De tonitruis, a treatise of prognostication by thunder”, Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies 10 (2017): 2–15.
abstract:
Five newly edited manuscripts reveal that the treatise De tonitruis purports to be adapted from the Irish language. In this essay, possible Irish affinities are explored and are found to lie, in increasing order of importance, in the ornate prose style, the recondite and culturally highly significant vocabulary, and the eulogistic citations of unnamed natural philosophers as authorities for thunder prognostics. In all these respects, De tonitruis differs from conventional European brontologies. Although it is surely not translated from the Irish language, the mark of Irish learning is distinctive.
abstract:
Five newly edited manuscripts reveal that the treatise De tonitruis purports to be adapted from the Irish language. In this essay, possible Irish affinities are explored and are found to lie, in increasing order of importance, in the ornate prose style, the recondite and culturally highly significant vocabulary, and the eulogistic citations of unnamed natural philosophers as authorities for thunder prognostics. In all these respects, De tonitruis differs from conventional European brontologies. Although it is surely not translated from the Irish language, the mark of Irish learning is distinctive.
Sayers, William, “Mesocosms and the organization of interior space in early Ireland”, Traditio 70 (2015): 75–110.
abstract:
In early medieval Ireland, the cosmos was conceived as tripartite, composed of the heavens, earth's surface, and underearth and undersea. Harmonious relations with cosmic forces were assured by just royal rule. Crossing this vertical coordinate, which also had implications for the human hierarchies of rank and function, were the manifold phenomena as known to human life. This external reality was mentally organized as a vast set of homologies, the recognition and maintenance of which contributed to the prosperity and fertility of the kingdom. The literate record displays multiple taxonomies and categories, often expressed in numerical values. Among these are the pentad and, in spatial terms, the quincunx. This fivefoldness and the order it represented were recognized and replicated on a variety of scales: the five provinces of Ireland, the family farm and its neighbors, the house and its outbuildings. Also implicated as mesocosms were the interior arrangements of royal banquet halls, hostels for kings on circuit and other travelers, and law courts. The quincuncial organization of interior space reflects and promotes macrocosmic order but in the great corpus of literate works is the setting for disruptive human dynamics — the stuff of story — often associated with themes of the heroic life and royal rule. This conception of interior space was elaborated in the pagan period and, in formal terms, was readily accommodated in subsequent Christian centuries, with new hierarchies and the perdurable conception of the kingship as stabilizing factors.
abstract:
In early medieval Ireland, the cosmos was conceived as tripartite, composed of the heavens, earth's surface, and underearth and undersea. Harmonious relations with cosmic forces were assured by just royal rule. Crossing this vertical coordinate, which also had implications for the human hierarchies of rank and function, were the manifold phenomena as known to human life. This external reality was mentally organized as a vast set of homologies, the recognition and maintenance of which contributed to the prosperity and fertility of the kingdom. The literate record displays multiple taxonomies and categories, often expressed in numerical values. Among these are the pentad and, in spatial terms, the quincunx. This fivefoldness and the order it represented were recognized and replicated on a variety of scales: the five provinces of Ireland, the family farm and its neighbors, the house and its outbuildings. Also implicated as mesocosms were the interior arrangements of royal banquet halls, hostels for kings on circuit and other travelers, and law courts. The quincuncial organization of interior space reflects and promotes macrocosmic order but in the great corpus of literate works is the setting for disruptive human dynamics — the stuff of story — often associated with themes of the heroic life and royal rule. This conception of interior space was elaborated in the pagan period and, in formal terms, was readily accommodated in subsequent Christian centuries, with new hierarchies and the perdurable conception of the kingship as stabilizing factors.
Sayers, William, “Fantastic technology in early Irish literature”, Études Celtiques 40 (2014): 85–100.
abstract:
[FR] La technologie fabuleuse dans la littérature irlandaise ancienneLa description d’objets techniquement ingénieux ou complexes n’est pas un thème reconnu de la littérature irlandaise ancienne, mais l’on trouve des exemples de moyens de transport, de pièces d’armement et de procédés pour acquérir ou préparer des aliments qui montrent qu’une intrigue peut impliquer un élément de technologie fabuleuse – ce dernier pouvant apparaître comme un thème quasiment indépendant dans une histoire culturelle foisonnante. Les objets merveilleux ne sont pas surnaturels, ni même magiques ; pourtant, il s’agit d’objets fantastiques qui ont dû avoir plus d’existence dans la littérature qu’ils n’en ont jamais eu dans la réalité historique. La «réalisation» verbale de ces procédés suppose une domestication et une exploitation du langage, dont la complexité potentielle reflète bien celle de ces inventions.
[EN] The description of technically clever or complex objects was not a recognized subgenre in early Irish literature but examples of transport means, weaponry, and food procurement and preparation devices illustrate how a touch of fantastic technology could be implicated in the plot, even in dilemmas of heroic ethics, or be a nearly free-standing item in a rich cultural history. The wonderful artifacts are not supernatural, preternatural, or even magical. Yet these fantastic instruments may have more life in literature than they ever had in historical reality. Language is harnessed and exploited in the literate realization of these devices, the potential complexity of the one reflecting the comparable complexity of the invented others.
[EN] The description of technically clever or complex objects was not a recognized subgenre in early Irish literature but examples of transport means, weaponry, and food procurement and preparation devices illustrate how a touch of fantastic technology could be implicated in the plot, even in dilemmas of heroic ethics, or be a nearly free-standing item in a rich cultural history. The wonderful artifacts are not supernatural, preternatural, or even magical. Yet these fantastic instruments may have more life in literature than they ever had in historical reality. Language is harnessed and exploited in the literate realization of these devices, the potential complexity of the one reflecting the comparable complexity of the invented others.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 40, 2014: <link>
abstract:
[FR] La technologie fabuleuse dans la littérature irlandaise ancienneLa description d’objets techniquement ingénieux ou complexes n’est pas un thème reconnu de la littérature irlandaise ancienne, mais l’on trouve des exemples de moyens de transport, de pièces d’armement et de procédés pour acquérir ou préparer des aliments qui montrent qu’une intrigue peut impliquer un élément de technologie fabuleuse – ce dernier pouvant apparaître comme un thème quasiment indépendant dans une histoire culturelle foisonnante. Les objets merveilleux ne sont pas surnaturels, ni même magiques ; pourtant, il s’agit d’objets fantastiques qui ont dû avoir plus d’existence dans la littérature qu’ils n’en ont jamais eu dans la réalité historique. La «réalisation» verbale de ces procédés suppose une domestication et une exploitation du langage, dont la complexité potentielle reflète bien celle de ces inventions.
[EN] The description of technically clever or complex objects was not a recognized subgenre in early Irish literature but examples of transport means, weaponry, and food procurement and preparation devices illustrate how a touch of fantastic technology could be implicated in the plot, even in dilemmas of heroic ethics, or be a nearly free-standing item in a rich cultural history. The wonderful artifacts are not supernatural, preternatural, or even magical. Yet these fantastic instruments may have more life in literature than they ever had in historical reality. Language is harnessed and exploited in the literate realization of these devices, the potential complexity of the one reflecting the comparable complexity of the invented others.
[EN] The description of technically clever or complex objects was not a recognized subgenre in early Irish literature but examples of transport means, weaponry, and food procurement and preparation devices illustrate how a touch of fantastic technology could be implicated in the plot, even in dilemmas of heroic ethics, or be a nearly free-standing item in a rich cultural history. The wonderful artifacts are not supernatural, preternatural, or even magical. Yet these fantastic instruments may have more life in literature than they ever had in historical reality. Language is harnessed and exploited in the literate realization of these devices, the potential complexity of the one reflecting the comparable complexity of the invented others.
Sayers, William, “Extraordinary weapons, heroic ethics, and royal justice in early Irish literature”, Preternature 2:1 (2013): 1–18.
abstract:
The synthesis of pagan and Christian cosmologies that informs medieval Irish letters incorporates prestigious and extraordinary weapons, and other such objects into an all-compassing Nature, in which they are preferentially associated with the themes of heroic ethics, legitimate and just royal rule, and the removal of errant rulers through a cosmic deployment of the “instruments of their fate.” Yet only rhetorical effects of literary depiction raise such weapons to a status approximating the preternatural.
abstract:
The synthesis of pagan and Christian cosmologies that informs medieval Irish letters incorporates prestigious and extraordinary weapons, and other such objects into an all-compassing Nature, in which they are preferentially associated with the themes of heroic ethics, legitimate and just royal rule, and the removal of errant rulers through a cosmic deployment of the “instruments of their fate.” Yet only rhetorical effects of literary depiction raise such weapons to a status approximating the preternatural.
Sayers, William, “‘Finn and the man in the tree’ revisited”, e-Keltoi 8:2 (April, 2013): 37–55. URL: <http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi>.
Sayers, William, “Survivals of Gaulish in French: buta ‘hut, dwelling place’”, French Studies Bulletin 34 (2013): 1–3.
abstract:
This note examines previously unrecognised evidence for the preservation of Gaulish buta ‘hut, dwelling’ in Middle French, and in so doing illustrates the difficulties attendant on research into the Celtic substratum of Gallo-Romance vocabulary. These difficulties notwithstanding, new discoveries of Gaulish-derived lexis are still possible in legal and other utilitarian texts, and throw important light on cultural preservations of more than simple vocabulary.
(source: first paragraph of the article)
abstract:
This note examines previously unrecognised evidence for the preservation of Gaulish buta ‘hut, dwelling’ in Middle French, and in so doing illustrates the difficulties attendant on research into the Celtic substratum of Gallo-Romance vocabulary. These difficulties notwithstanding, new discoveries of Gaulish-derived lexis are still possible in legal and other utilitarian texts, and throw important light on cultural preservations of more than simple vocabulary.
(source: first paragraph of the article)
Proposes that modern English boondocks (British and later, US slang) may ultimately derive from Irish buannacht ‘billeting’, buannaidheacht ‘experience of billeting’.
Sayers, William, “Conventional descriptions of the horse in the Ulster Cycle”, Études Celtiques 30 (1994): 233–249.
abstract:
[FR] Descriptions conventionnelles du cheval dans le Cycle d'Ulster.
La description normative du cheval chez Isidore de Séville est proposée comme modèle de l'organisation et du contenu du portrait de l'attelage qui figure dans le topos étendu du guerrier qui s'avance dans le cycle épique des Ultoniens. L'origine des traits stylistiques de la suite d'adjectifs enchaînée, toutefois, est à chercher dans la tradition indigène et, vraisemblablement, orale. L'article se termine par un glossaire de 150 adjectifs recueillis dans 15 textes typiques.
[EN] Isidore of Seville’s normative description of the horse is posited as an antecedent for the organization and content of the portrayal of the team of horses that figures in the larger topos of the approaching warrior in the Ulster cycle of epic texts. Stylistic features of the enchained sequence of adjectives, however, have their origin in the native, most likely oral, tradition. The article concludes with a glossary of 150 adjectives from 15 typical texts.
La description normative du cheval chez Isidore de Séville est proposée comme modèle de l'organisation et du contenu du portrait de l'attelage qui figure dans le topos étendu du guerrier qui s'avance dans le cycle épique des Ultoniens. L'origine des traits stylistiques de la suite d'adjectifs enchaînée, toutefois, est à chercher dans la tradition indigène et, vraisemblablement, orale. L'article se termine par un glossaire de 150 adjectifs recueillis dans 15 textes typiques.
[EN] Isidore of Seville’s normative description of the horse is posited as an antecedent for the organization and content of the portrayal of the team of horses that figures in the larger topos of the approaching warrior in the Ulster cycle of epic texts. Stylistic features of the enchained sequence of adjectives, however, have their origin in the native, most likely oral, tradition. The article concludes with a glossary of 150 adjectives from 15 typical texts.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 30, 1994: <link>
abstract:
[FR] Descriptions conventionnelles du cheval dans le Cycle d'Ulster.
La description normative du cheval chez Isidore de Séville est proposée comme modèle de l'organisation et du contenu du portrait de l'attelage qui figure dans le topos étendu du guerrier qui s'avance dans le cycle épique des Ultoniens. L'origine des traits stylistiques de la suite d'adjectifs enchaînée, toutefois, est à chercher dans la tradition indigène et, vraisemblablement, orale. L'article se termine par un glossaire de 150 adjectifs recueillis dans 15 textes typiques.
[EN] Isidore of Seville’s normative description of the horse is posited as an antecedent for the organization and content of the portrayal of the team of horses that figures in the larger topos of the approaching warrior in the Ulster cycle of epic texts. Stylistic features of the enchained sequence of adjectives, however, have their origin in the native, most likely oral, tradition. The article concludes with a glossary of 150 adjectives from 15 typical texts.
La description normative du cheval chez Isidore de Séville est proposée comme modèle de l'organisation et du contenu du portrait de l'attelage qui figure dans le topos étendu du guerrier qui s'avance dans le cycle épique des Ultoniens. L'origine des traits stylistiques de la suite d'adjectifs enchaînée, toutefois, est à chercher dans la tradition indigène et, vraisemblablement, orale. L'article se termine par un glossaire de 150 adjectifs recueillis dans 15 textes typiques.
[EN] Isidore of Seville’s normative description of the horse is posited as an antecedent for the organization and content of the portrayal of the team of horses that figures in the larger topos of the approaching warrior in the Ulster cycle of epic texts. Stylistic features of the enchained sequence of adjectives, however, have their origin in the native, most likely oral, tradition. The article concludes with a glossary of 150 adjectives from 15 typical texts.
Sayers, William, “Norse weaves and Irish woolens in medieval Ireland: ME falding”, American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures 4 (1992): 43–54.
The ME term falding, used of a heavy cloth type imported from Ireland, has been traced to MIr. fallaing. It is proposed that this, in turn, derives not from ON feldr ‘cloak’ but from faldr ‘fold’, reference being made to the voluminous folds of the garment or to the weaving technique of folding short lengths of yarn around the threads of the warp to give a shaggy exterior finish. Also reviewed are questions of early Irish dress, the medieval cloth trade, and Irish motifs in the Icelandic Laxdæla saga. (source: Cambridge Journals)
The ME term falding, used of a heavy cloth type imported from Ireland, has been traced to MIr. fallaing. It is proposed that this, in turn, derives not from ON feldr ‘cloak’ but from faldr ‘fold’, reference being made to the voluminous folds of the garment or to the weaving technique of folding short lengths of yarn around the threads of the warp to give a shaggy exterior finish. Also reviewed are questions of early Irish dress, the medieval cloth trade, and Irish motifs in the Icelandic Laxdæla saga. (source: Cambridge Journals)
Sayers, William, “Images of enchainment in the Hisperica famina and vernacular Irish texts”, Études Celtiques 27 (1990): 221–234.
abstract:
[FR] William Sayers, Images d’enchaînement dans les Hisperica Famina et dans les textes irlandais vernaculaires
L’expression «ausonica catena» dans les Hisperica Famina ne signifie pas l’incapacité de parler ni latin ni irlandais, mais plutôt la soumission volontaire à la discipline de la rhétorique latine, telle qu’elle était conçue par les «faminateurs». L’image de la chaîne dans la littérature irlandaise ancienne symbolise pour la plupart un lien avec l’Au-delà, d’où le guerrier, le musicien, l’historiographe, l’orateur et le juge tirent la force, l’art et la vérité.
[EN] Images of Enchainment in the Hisperica Famina and Vernacular Irish Texts.
The expression “ausonica catena”, in the Hisperica Famina, does not refer to the unability to speak Latin or Irish, but rather to the voluntary submission to the discipline of Latin rhetoric, as the “faminatores” conceived it. In the ancient Irish literature, the chain image symbolizes a link with the Otherworld, from which warriors, musicians, historiographers, rhetors and judges draw power, art and truth.
L’expression «ausonica catena» dans les Hisperica Famina ne signifie pas l’incapacité de parler ni latin ni irlandais, mais plutôt la soumission volontaire à la discipline de la rhétorique latine, telle qu’elle était conçue par les «faminateurs». L’image de la chaîne dans la littérature irlandaise ancienne symbolise pour la plupart un lien avec l’Au-delà, d’où le guerrier, le musicien, l’historiographe, l’orateur et le juge tirent la force, l’art et la vérité.
[EN] Images of Enchainment in the Hisperica Famina and Vernacular Irish Texts.
The expression “ausonica catena”, in the Hisperica Famina, does not refer to the unability to speak Latin or Irish, but rather to the voluntary submission to the discipline of Latin rhetoric, as the “faminatores” conceived it. In the ancient Irish literature, the chain image symbolizes a link with the Otherworld, from which warriors, musicians, historiographers, rhetors and judges draw power, art and truth.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 27, 1990: <link>
abstract:
[FR] William Sayers, Images d’enchaînement dans les Hisperica Famina et dans les textes irlandais vernaculaires
L’expression «ausonica catena» dans les Hisperica Famina ne signifie pas l’incapacité de parler ni latin ni irlandais, mais plutôt la soumission volontaire à la discipline de la rhétorique latine, telle qu’elle était conçue par les «faminateurs». L’image de la chaîne dans la littérature irlandaise ancienne symbolise pour la plupart un lien avec l’Au-delà, d’où le guerrier, le musicien, l’historiographe, l’orateur et le juge tirent la force, l’art et la vérité.
[EN] Images of Enchainment in the Hisperica Famina and Vernacular Irish Texts.
The expression “ausonica catena”, in the Hisperica Famina, does not refer to the unability to speak Latin or Irish, but rather to the voluntary submission to the discipline of Latin rhetoric, as the “faminatores” conceived it. In the ancient Irish literature, the chain image symbolizes a link with the Otherworld, from which warriors, musicians, historiographers, rhetors and judges draw power, art and truth.
L’expression «ausonica catena» dans les Hisperica Famina ne signifie pas l’incapacité de parler ni latin ni irlandais, mais plutôt la soumission volontaire à la discipline de la rhétorique latine, telle qu’elle était conçue par les «faminateurs». L’image de la chaîne dans la littérature irlandaise ancienne symbolise pour la plupart un lien avec l’Au-delà, d’où le guerrier, le musicien, l’historiographe, l’orateur et le juge tirent la force, l’art et la vérité.
[EN] Images of Enchainment in the Hisperica Famina and Vernacular Irish Texts.
The expression “ausonica catena”, in the Hisperica Famina, does not refer to the unability to speak Latin or Irish, but rather to the voluntary submission to the discipline of Latin rhetoric, as the “faminatores” conceived it. In the ancient Irish literature, the chain image symbolizes a link with the Otherworld, from which warriors, musicians, historiographers, rhetors and judges draw power, art and truth.
Sayers, William, “Old Irish fert ‘tie-pole’, fertas ‘swingletree’, and the seeress Fedelm”, Études Celtiques 21 (1984): 171–183.
abstract:
Dans le char de guerre irlandais, fert/feirtsi ne désigne pas les «brancards», et fertas ne désigne pas le limon. Les feirtsi reliaient la caisse du char à l'essieu ; fertas désignait le palonnier. Examen de quelques autres parties du char.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 21, 1984: <link>
abstract:
Dans le char de guerre irlandais, fert/feirtsi ne désigne pas les «brancards», et fertas ne désigne pas le limon. Les feirtsi reliaient la caisse du char à l'essieu ; fertas désignait le palonnier. Examen de quelques autres parties du char.
Contributions to edited collections or authored works
Sayers, William, “Guin agus crochad agus gólad: the earliest Irish threefold death”, 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. 65–82.
External links
William Sayers – Publications. A list of the author's publications, thematically organised by the author.
