Texts
Bretha nemed dédenach
Incoming data
Old Irish tract on the law concerning poets, such as their privileges and their responsibilities, as well as various other matters, such as fosterage and surety.
Manuscript witnesses
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1317
CIH 1111.1-1132.40. A continuous copy that is wanting at the beginning and the end.
pp. 135a–152b
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337/4
CIH 603.16-604.38. Glossed citations.
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337/9
CIH 725.7-726.20. Glossed citations.
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1338
A transcript of TCD 1317 by Eugene O'Curry.
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1363/9 (pp. 85-88)
CIH 1587.18-1588.8
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.
- Diplomatic editions
[ed.] Binchy, D. A. [ed.], Corpus iuris Hibernici, 7 vols, vol. 3, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1978.
comments: numbered pp. 745–1138; diplomatic edition of legal material from Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337 (continued, pp. 745–1109); Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1317 (pp. 1111–1138)
1111.1–1132.40 TCD 1317
[ed.] Binchy, D. A. [ed.], Corpus iuris Hibernici, 7 vols, vol. 2, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1978.
comments: numbered pp. 339–744; diplomatic edition of legal material from: London, British Library, MS Harley 432; Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1316; Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337.
603.16–604.38; 725.7–726.20 TCD 1337
[ed.] Binchy, D. A. [ed.], Corpus iuris Hibernici, 7 vols, vol. 5, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1978.
Volume 5 of the Corpus iuris Hibernici, which is numbered pp. 1532–1925, contains diplomatic editions of legal material from TCD 1363 (H 4. 22), the Book of Ballymote (RIA 23 P 12), BL Egerton 90 and TCD 1336 (H 3. 17).
1587.18–1588.8 TCD 1363
[ed.] Binchy, D. A. [ed.], Corpus iuris Hibernici, 7 vols, vol. 6, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1978.
comments: numbered pp. 1926–2343; diplomatic edition of legal material from:
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1336 (continued)
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1387
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 502
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1308
- London, British Library, MS Additional 4783
- London, British Library, MS Nero A 7
- Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, MS NKS 261b
- Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 3
- Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 11
- Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS C i 2
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1318/16
- Dublin, Trinity College, MS E 3. 3
2342.16–2343.21 (De dlighedh Gotha) Glossed passage
- Critical editions and translations
[ed.] Gwynn, E. J., “An Old-Irish tract on the privileges and responsibilities of poets”, Ériu 13 (1942): 1–60, 220–236.
13–44.23 (TCD 1317; what follows is from BNT); 54–56 (extracts from TCD 1337, pt 4); 59–60 (notes referring to some extracts from TCD 1337, pt 9, transcribed by Eleanor Knott)
[tr.] Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, Liam Breatnach, and Aidan Breen, “The laws of the Irish”, Peritia 3 (1984): 382–438.
420–422. Portions of the text in translation.
[tr.] Watkins, Calvert, “Indo-European metrics and archaic Irish verse”, Celtica 6 (1963): 194–249.
226, 230, 233, 236, 240 Translations of several passages from the text.
Secondary sources (select)
Breatnach, Liam, A companion to the Corpus iuris Hibernici, Early Irish Law Series, 5, Dublin: DIAS, 2005.
A companion to D. A. Binchy, CIH (1978). Review article: Neil McLeod, ‘Review,A true companion to the Corpus iuris Hibernici’, Peritia 19 (2005).
184–188 [id. 5.15. ‘Bretha Nemed Dédenach’]
Breatnach, Liam, “Satire, praise and the early Irish poet”, Ériu 56 (2006): 63–84.
abstract:
The role of the fili in the composition of praise-poetry in the pre-Norman period has been questioned. This paper begins with an examination of its negative counterpart, satire, and then goes on to look at the connection between satire and the fili, and the connection of satire with praise, before proceeding to discuss the evidence from the law texts, which shows that the composition of praise-poetry was indeed an important function of the fili.
Kelly, Fergus, A guide to early Irish law, Early Irish Law Series, 3, Dublin: DIAS, 1988.
268–269, 45, 47, 51 n. 104, 64 n. 198, 67, 78, 116, 137–138, 147, 162, 170 n. 93, 235.
Stacey, Robin Chapman, Dark speech: the performance of law in early Ireland, The Middle Ages Series, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.
197–201
Breatnach, Liam, “Araile felmac féig don Mumain: unruly pupils and the limitations of satire”, Ériu 59 (2009): 111–137.
This paper offers an annotated edition and translation of a short Middle Irish tale about poets. It includes discussion of language and date, Bérla na Filed, the metre aí fhreisligi and the use of satire as a means of gaining redress.
(source: p. 111)
(source: p. 111)
