Texts

verse beg. Abstalón, adba na ríg

  • Late Middle Irish
  • verse
  • Early Irish poetry
Late Middle Irish poem on the beheading of St John the Baptist by Mog Ruith.
First words (verse)
  • Abstalón, adba na ríg
Manuscripts
f. 7v (14) b
beg. ‘Apsalon baile in righ’
A different and shorter version of the poem (6 qq) appended to a prose tale of John the Baptist.
Language
  • Late Middle Irish
Form
verse (primary)

Classification

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...

Subjects

Legends of Mog Ruith, Simon Magus and John the Baptistapocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature
Legends of Mog Ruith, Simon Magus and John the Baptist
id. 61081
Mog Ruith
Mog Ruith
Legendary Irish magician from Munster, who was linked in Ireland to biblical and apocryphal traditions, notably as a pupil under Simon Magus and as one responsible for the beheading of John the Baptist. He appears in Irish genealogies as a descendant of Medb and her lover Fergus mac Roích and as an ancestor for Fir Maige Féine, in the area about present-day Fermoy.

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John the Baptist
John the Baptist
No short description available

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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.] Ó Cuív, Brian, “Two items from Irish apocryphal tradition”, Celtica 10 (1973): 87–113.
[id. 2.]
[ed.] [tr.] Mackinnon, Donald, “The executioner of John the Baptist”, The Celtic Review 8 (1912–1913): 168–170.
Internet Archive: <link>
The version from the Edinburgh MS
[ed.] [tr.] Mackinnon, Donald, A descriptive catalogue of Gaelic manuscripts in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, and elsewhere in Scotland, Edinburgh: Brown, 1912.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
76–77 Edinburgh version
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
March 2014, last updated: January 2024