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verse beg. Torann Domhnaigh créd fatá

  • Late Middle Irish, Early Modern Irish
  • verse

Medieval Irish poem variously attributed to Fintan or Colum Cille, containing prognostications from thunder. The first part deals with thunder as it may occur on different days of the week, while the second one deals with the phenomenon at different times of the day.

First words (verse)
  • Torann Domhnaigh créd fatá
Author
Ascribed to: Colum Cille
Colum Cille
(fl. 6th century)
founder and abbot of Iona, Kells (Cenandas) and Derry (Daire).
See more Fintan mac Bóchra
Fintan mac Bóchra
(time-frame ass. with universal history)
A figure of medieval Irish tradition who survives the Flood and lives to give eye-witness accounts of the history of Ireland
See more
The version in L bears an ascription to Colum Cille in the final quatrain of the poem (beg. Is misi Colum Cille). The version in H ascribes it to Fintan (Is me Finntan mac Scail buain), who may be the legendary figure Fintan mac Bóchra invoked as an authority in Irish literature elsewhere.
Manuscripts

Two different manuscript versions:

L =
Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 615 = Saltair Choluim Chille [s. xvi1]
pp. 33.12–34.2
rubric: ‘Colum Cilli’
beg. ‘Torann Domnaigh cred fa ta’
8 qq. Here attributed to Colum Cille.
H =
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1363 14, pp. 159-210 [s. xv]
p. 161b.13ff
6 stt. Here attributed to Finntan mac Scail.
Language
  • Late Middle Irish Early Modern Irish

  • Máire Herbert observes “confusion of accusative plural for dative plural forms [which is] comparatively rare in early Middle Irish, [and] later becomes more frequent.” “The use of do for ro and the independent pronoun mé might argue a date around or later than c.1200 for the poem. That it does belong to Middle rather than Old Irish is indicated by forms such as tig (§ 4c), tigfa (§ 4d), with simplification of earlier compounds. In this case, however, do chuir mé might be scribal. Syllabically, one could equally well read rom-chuir.” (Herbert: 316-17).

Form
verse (primary)
Length
Number of stanzas: 8
Textual relationships

Máire Herbert argues that the two parts of the poem may go back to “what may originally have been two different sets of prognostications”.

Classification

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.] Herbert, Máire, “Some Irish prognostications”, Éigse 14:4 (Geimhreadh, 1972): 303–318.
303–306 (text and translation), 316–317 (notes)
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2018, last updated: September 2023
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