Texts
Bruidhean chaorthainn
Incoming data
Late Gaelic prose romance in the form of a so-called bruidhean tale about Fionn mac Cumhaill and his men, perhaps composed in the 15th or 16th century. In the story, Fionn and a number of companions are entrapped in a sinister enchanted hostel or bruidhean by Míodhach (Midac), son of Colgán (Colga), king of Lochlann. Míodhach was taken up and reared by the Fían after his father was killed in an unsuccesful attempt to seize Irish territory, but on coming of age, plotted revenge and so invited Fionn to a feast at ‘The hostel of rowan’ on the Shannon. Once inside, Fionn and his men find themselves magically glued to their seats, awaiting death by decapitation, while Míodhach is making foreign allies. They chant a dord fían (a low kind of humming), which reveals their whereabouts to the remaining members of the Fían, including Oisín, Caoilte, Innse, and Diarmuid. A series of fights ensues in which the latter resist foreign attackers and kill Míodhach. Diarmuid slays the kings of Inis Tuile (Thule) and uses their blood to release Fionn and the other captured men from the spell of enchantment (although Conán Maol does not come away without being partially skinned alive). Finally, a great battle is fought and won over the ‘King of the world’, who is defeated and beheaded.
Manuscript witnesses
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.] Ó Cróinin, Breandán, “Bruidhean chaorthainn ón lámhscríbhinn is sine i Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hAlban”, unpublished MA thesis, NUI Maynooth, 1995.
The text according to the manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland
[ed.] Pearse, Patrick [Mac Piarais, Pádraic], Bruidhean chaorthainn: sgéal fiannaidheachta, Dublin: Conradh na Gaeilge, 1908.
Internet Archive: <link>
Irish version
[ed.] [tr.] Campbell, J. F. [ed.], Leabhar na Féinne: heroic Gaelic ballads collected in Scotland chiefly from 1512 to 1871, vol. 1, London, 1872.
Secondary sources (select)
Breatnach, Caoimhín, “Exploiting the past: Pearse as editor and interpreter of fiannaíocht literature”, in: R. Higgins, and R. Uí Chollatáin (eds), The life end after-life of P. H. Pearse. Pádraic Mac Piarais: saol agus oidhreacht, Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2009. 195–207.
197ff Discusses how Pearse and Joyce have approached the text (in their edition and translation respectively).
Murphy, Gerard, Duanaire Finn: The book of the lays of Fionn, 3 vols, vol. 3: Introduction, notes, appendices and glossary, Irish Texts Society, 43, London: Irish Texts Society, 1953.
Internet Archive: <link>
xxviii–xxix Draws comparisons with an Irish folk tale concerning Lorcán Mac Luirc
Craigie, W. A., “Three tales of the Fiann”, Scottish Review 24 (October, 1894): 270–297.
Internet Archive: <link>
