Scél na Fír Flatha ‘The story of the pledges of sovereignty’/‘The story of the ordeals of sovereignty’
- Late Middle Irish
- prose
- Cycles of the Kings
This is the first tale in the composite text known as Scél na Fír Flatha, Echtra Cormaic i Tír Tairngiri, ocus Ceart Claidib Cormaic, corresponding to §§ 1-24 of Stokes' edition. The twelfth ordeal (Cormac's cuach) forms the subject of the next tale, Echtra Cormaic i Tír Tairngiri (§§ 25-54), which is also attested as an independent tale in a second Middle Irish as well as a modern recension.
Context(s)The (textual) context(s) to which the present text belongs or in which it is cited in part or in whole.
Manuscripts
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406]
f. 142vb ff p. 260b ff
col. 889 ff
Language
- Late Middle Irish
- late Middle Irish (Hull).(1)n. 1 Vernam Hull, ‘Echtra Cormaic maic Airt, ‘The adventure of Cormac mac Airt’’, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 64 (1949).
Form
prose (primary)
verse (secondary)
Contains poems
‘Tre-sin Moraind’ • ‘Adhraidh a dhaine’
Contents
[1] The reign of Cormac
Summary:The reign of Cormac ua Cuinn is good.
[2] The reign of Cormac: the feast of Tara
[3] The reign of Cormac: assemblies
[4] The reign of Cormac: public order
[5] The reign of Cormac: laws and judgments
» Comments: The list of bretha also occurs in the Pseudo-historical prologue to the Senchas Már. » Textual sources: Bretha Echach maic Luchta • Bretha Fachtnai maic Senchath • Gubretha Caratniath Teiscthi • Bretha Moraind • Bretha Eogain maic Durthacht • Brethd Doet Nemthine • Bretha Bríge Ambue • Bretha Déin Chécht
[6] The reign of Cormac: Bretha Nemed
[7] The reign of Cormac: rank and station
Sources
Notes
Vernam Hull, ‘Echtra Cormaic maic Airt, ‘The adventure of Cormac mac Airt’’, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 64 (1949).
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.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “The Irish ordeals, Cormac’s adventure in the Land of Promise, and the decision as to Cormac’s sword”, in: Ernst Windisch, and Whitley Stokes [eds.], Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch, 4 vols, vol. 3, Leipzig, 1891. 183–221.
web page identifiers
page name: Scél na Fír Flatha
page url: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Sc%C3%A9l_na_F%C3%ADr_Flatha
redirect: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Special:Redirect/page/11290
numerical alternative: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?curid=11290
page ID: 11290
page ID tracker: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=11290
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
May 2012, last updated: January 2024
