Text items (beta)

AOA I (YBL version, § 2)

When the boy is seven years old, he goes to visit his father. The Ulaid are at a gathering (óendál) by Trácht Éisi when they see the boy approach them in a bronze skiff (luingíne) with gilded oars. He is showing remarkable skills at bringing down birds from the sky without killing them:

(1) The first time, he takes his staff-sling (cranntaball) to shoot stones at birds, striking them unconscious and releasing them afterwards.

(2) The second time, he performs the so-called ‘palate-feat’ (per Meyer, carpat clis ‘feat of palate’ or per Van Hamel’s emendation, the compounded form carpat-chles) between his two hands, conátairthed súil (Meyer: “so that the eye would not reach it (?)”, and likewise, Draak: “zodat geen oog het kon volgen”; or Gantz: “until his upper jaw reached his eye”), and he tunes his voice for the birds. In this way, he brings down the birds another time and revives them afterwards.

Agents

UlaidUlaid
A people and kingdom in early Ireland, from which the province of Ulster takes its name.

See more Connla mac AífeConnla (var. Connláech) or Conla; or Óenfir Aífe (‘Aífe’s only son’)
son of Cú Chulainn and Aífe; tragically killed in single combat by his honour-bound father
See more

Places

Trácht ÉiseTrácht Éise

No description available

Lexical items

Ir. carpat clisIrish carpat clis
Search eDILIr. carpat-chlesIrish carpat-chles
Search eDILIr. cranntaballIrish cranntaball
Search eDIL

The Ulaid are gathered in Mag Ene when they see Ainfer Aífe approach them in his currach (currach).