Texts

Irish note on the twelve apostles (Christus dub dond a folt)

  • Middle Irish
  • prose
Medieval Irish note in prose on the personal appearances, chiefly hair and beards, of Christ and his apostles.
First words (prose)
  • Christus, dub dond a folt ⁊ cas ulcha foda gablanach fair
Manuscripts
Version 1

Beg. Christus dub don a folt.

f. 7vb
beg. ‘Christus, dub dond a folt ⁊ cas ulcha foda gablanach fair’

Version edited by Stokes (RC 8) and later by Carney.

f. 21vb
beg. ‘Christus dubhdhonn a fholt ⁊ cas ulcha fhota gablamach fair’
f. 50r.7ff
beg. ‘Críost folt dubh fair ⁊ ulcha chas ghabhlánach’
Version 2

A somewhat different version, with Latin and Irish words prefixed to the information about each apostle.

col. 332
beg. ‘crux. Christus folt dub et barba rufa longa’

This is the version edited by Stokes in RC 9: 364 (as an appendix to his article in RC 8).

Language
  • Middle Irish
  • Middle Irish?
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Related: Becca na delba acht delb DéBecca na delba acht delb DéMiddle Irish poem (11 qq) on the personal appearances of Christ and his apostles.
Irish treatise on the twelve apostles (genealogy, appearance, death)Irish treatise on the twelve apostles (genealogy, appearance, death)An Irish treatise on the Twelve Apostles, their genealogies, their personal appearances (chiefly hair and beards), their deaths and their burial places.

Classification

Subjects

Twelve Apostles
Twelve Apostles
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.] Carney, James P., “The Ó Cianáin miscellany”, Ériu 21 (1969): 122–147.
134–136 An edition of the texts in both BB and NLI MS G3, with English translation.
[ed.] Stokes, Whitley, “The Irish verses, notes and glosses in Harl. 1802”, Revue Celtique 8 (1887): 346–369, 538 (errata).
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
362. Text of BB.
[ed.] Stokes, Whitley, “Mélanges: Note on the personal appearance and death of Christ, his apostles and others”, Revue Celtique 9 (1888): 364.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
The version in YBL col. 332, transcribed from a photograph of the manuscript page.

Secondary sources (select)

McNamara, Martin, The apocrypha in the Irish Church, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975.
84 [id. 74A, b-c.]

Gives information about two prose versions: 74A, b, represented by BB and NLI G 3 f. 21v; and 74A, c., here said to be represented by YBL col. 247, Laud Misc. 610, and NLI G 3 f. 50r, which is “to be compared with the other two”. However, for YBL col. 247, perhaps read YBL col. 332, and for NLI G 3 f. 50r, read NLI G 1 f. 50r, which is closer to version b.

Plummer, Charles, “A tentative catalogue of Irish hagiography”, in: Charles Plummer, Miscellanea hagiographica Hibernica: vitae adhuc ineditae sanctorum Mac Creiche, Naile, Cranat, 15, Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1925. 171–285.
Utrecht University Library: <link>
256 [id. 309.]

Plummer gives BB, YBL col. 332 and Laud Misc. 610.

Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
May 2023, last updated: June 2023