Texts
Mittelirische Verslehren III
Incoming data
A Middle Irish metrical tract intended to enumerate and illustrate various metrical types, both common and uncommon.
Manuscript witnesses
Text
Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 3
Not consulted by Thurneysen
ff. 14ra (line)–15rb (line 21)
Text
ff. 134(192), 133(191)rb.20–vb.i, 136(194)–137(195)rb.62
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1289
A copy of the former
Text
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1308/pt 2
§§ 1-9 (end missing) and following a gap, §§23-76
pp. 15b–19b
MS
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1308/pt 2
incipit: Incipit do na aistib. Do aistib ind aircetail icoitchenn Rules for various kinds of versification. There's a gap in the manuscript on page 16, beginning on 16a line 8 and covering both this column and much of the next.
p. 15b.11–
Text
Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv. MS 72.1.1 (2)
Not consulted by Thurneysen.
ff. 16va (line 1)–18rb (line 3)
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.] McLaughlin, Roisín, “A critical edition of Mittelirische Verslehren III”, unpublished ph.D. thesis, Trinity College, Dublin, 2007.
abstract:
This thesis consists of a critical edition and translation of a Middle Irish metrical tract known as Mittelirische Verslehren III (hereafter MV III). The tract is an important source of information on rhyming syllabic verse in the Middle Irish period. It consists of two hundred and nine stanzas which illustrate various types of metres, ranging from common metres to more complex metrical forms, many of which are not represented in the standard works of reference. The metres are classified into four sections as gnáthaisti ‘common metres’ (§§2-127), gnátha medónda ‘moderately well-known’ (§§128-47), anaichinti ‘unfamiliar’ (§§148-66) and écoitchenna ‘uncommon’ (§§167-210). The stanzas cited as illustrations cover a wide range of subject matter, including panegyric, satiric, religious and topographical material. At present, the text is available only in a diplomatic edition by Rudolf Thurneysen (1891, 1-182). This is based on two manuscripts: Royal Irish Academy MS 23 P 12 (the Book of Ballymote) and TCD MS H.2.12. He subsequently published (1912, 60- 72) a selection of readings from RIA MS D ii 1 (the Book of Uí Maine). Two further manuscript witnesses of the text were not available to Thurneysen. These are National Library of Scotland Gaelic MS 1 (Advocates 72.1.1) and National Library of Ireland MS G 3, both of which contain important variant readings.
Tara.tcd.ie – PDF: <link>
[ed.] [tr.] McLaughlin, Roisin, Early Irish satire, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2008. 300 pp.
An edition and translation of the satires in the text, with manuscript readings and critical apparatus.
[ed.] Thurneysen, Rudolf [ed.], “Mittelirische Verslehren”, in: Ernst Windisch, and Whitley Stokes [eds.], Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch, 4 vols, vol. 3, Leipzig, 1891. 1–182.
comments: An index of verse metries and initial lines of verse is provided at the end of this contribution.
Internet Archive: <link>
67-105
Secondary sources (select)
McLaughlin, Roisin, Early Irish satire, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2008. 300 pp.
Ó hAodha, Donncha, “The first Middle Irish metrical tract”, in: Hildegard L. C. Tristram (ed.), Metrik und Medienwechsel / Metrics and media, 35, Tübingen: Narr, 1991. 207–244.
