Part Three
With the incident of the replacing of the severed head on its trunk, and the mournful strain chanted by the head itself, we may compare the closing lines of the story introducing the Reicne Fothaid Canainne, attributed by Meyer to the close of the ninth, or the beginning of the tenth century. The poem (reicne), which is quoted at length, is said to be chanted by the severed head of FothadCanainne to the wife of Ailill Flann Bec mac Eogain, with whom he has made a tryst, and by whose husband he has been killed ; and the mournful lay is said to be chanted to the woman as she comes to fufill her tryst in death, carrying the head to the grave where the body lies. Reference may also be made to the lament chanted by the severed head of Sualtam, CuChulainn's father, in the Tain Bo Cualinge.
All these people, then, are represented as performing after death an artistic feat which may be described as 'singing from the head.' This art, however, is not confined in the stories as we have them to heathen mantic sages. The head of Fergal, when taken from its covering at a feast (exactly like the one at which DonnNo chants his dirge) performs a Christian dicetal or asneis. The head of the sage Morann is said to have performed a Christian dicetal or asneis when its covering falls off. It is not stated that his head was severed. The whole story is, indeed, very obscure ; but it is clear that the sage was virtually headless so long as his head was covered with its 'hood' (con-aices rop æn pait uili o dib guaillibh suas, - 'ni facas bel fair no sineistri etir).
We may suspect that it is because these utterances from heads were clearly capable of transformation into Christian hymns and testifyings (dicetal, asneis) at the hands of Christian redactors that they are said by the author of Cormac's Glossary to be left i corus cherddae - though whether he intends to ascribe this tolerant attitude to Saint Patrick, or whether the statement is an afterthought, a kind of colophon of his own, is not clear. That the old mantic art was sometimes well-known to Christian clerics we have clear testimony.The title Mac da Cherddae ('Boy of two arts'), borne by the famous cleric and scholar of Armagh, who is mentioned in Cormac's Glossary (s.v. ana) and elsewhere, appears to have reference to his proficiency in both mantic (imbas ?) and Christian (i.e., Latin) learning ( sous ?). The author of the Aislinge meic Conglinne, albeit his devoutness has been questioned, was clearly himself a man of both arts, and it is curious to observe that he is represented as a contemporary of Cathal mac Findguini, whose men brought DonnBo's head to their feast, and who himself treats in a similar manner the head of Fergal, though a Christian colouring has been given to this narrative. It is tempting to pursue our enquiry into imbas further, and to examine the relationship of 'nuts' or 'hazels' of imbas, to which reference was made in the first part of this paper, and which are associated with the Springs of Shannon and Boyne in the Dinnsenchas and elsewhere, to the imbas and the tenmlaida of the stories which we have already considered. In regard to Finn, the imbas derived from eating salmon fed on the hazel nuts of the spring at the source of the Boyne appears to represent a variant tradition from that which associates his imbas with the slaying of Culdub. But the nuts of imbas are a curious and interesting subject deserving of a fuller treatment than space permits of here, and I hope to make them the subject of a separate study.
From the evidence before us it would seem, on the whole, that the practice described under imbas forosnai in Cormac's Glossary is most fully represented in the Finn stories, and that the technique ascribed here and elsewhere to the fili is most clearly exemplified in Finn himself. An attentive reading of the earliest stratum of Finn stories shows us Finn enacting, at one time or another - possibly all in close juxtaposition - the principal items of the procedure set forth by the author of the Glossary. Moreover, if we read the passage in the Glossary in the light of these Finn stories, though much still remains obscure to us, yet there is no doubt that many of the original obscurities become clearer - the raw meat, the 'chewing,' the association with the 'stone' and the 'doorway,' the heathen gods,' or 'idol gods' (which we may presume to be the form of diction in which the Christian author refers to the side), the mantic sleep, the people watching over him, and the reference to the shaking or turning of the sleeper. It almost looks as if the Christian antiquarian author of the passage in the Glossary has been pursuing a line of study not very dissimilar to our own, and searching the heathen traditions for accounts of mantic practices. If so we must suppose that the picture of the practice of the fili given in the Glossary is a synthesis based, not on observation, but on deduction from literary sources, perhaps not always very clearly understood. This would be fully in accord with what we know of his practice in other passages. If this conclusion is correct, we must suppose, either that the redactor has been drawing his material from a series of traditional stories of Finn, such as those which we have been considering, or else that the passages in the Glossary and the Finn Cycle are based on a common and widespread practice of which, nevertheless, we have no satisfactory traces elsewhere. Even if we suppose that the name of Finn has been inserted into some of these stories at a comparatively late date (cf p. 144 above, foot-note 1), we need not suppose that the character of the stories has been substantially modified. The consistency of their general character would, indeed, be against such a supposition.
For many reasons the second of the alternatives suggested above is improbable. Considering the great wealth of Irish leterary evidence, it is surprising that if the stories of imbas forosnai and tenm laida were commonly associated with other known heros or filid besides Finn so few references to them should have been preserved. Nor have we anything in the Annals or the stories of the kings to suggest that such mantic practices were common. We have seen that the terms are found frequently in the metrical tractates and schedules for the education of the filid. But these entries contain nothing which suggests the widespread practice of the process under discussion. On the contrary, these references rather suggest, on the whole, that they are, like the entry in the Glossary, the result of antiquarian speculation on metres and poems to which the names imbas forosnai, tenm laida, etc., have become attached after the terms had lost their original significance. And in several cases we have seen that the examples cited are identical with others which we have found in the sagas, from which there can be little doubt they are temselves derived.
Against this it may be urged that references to the actual practice of imbas forosnai and tenm laida are to be found in the ancient Irish laws. Thus there occurs in the Commentary on the Introduction to the Senchas Mor, a reference to the means employed in order to discover a name. The passage opens with the words, 'Indiu is do cendaib colla tall' ; but the passage which follows is strongly reminiscent of our own and other passages in Cormac's Glossary, to which it appears to me to bear direct and close verbal relationship. The passage in the Senchas Mor tells us that when the fili sees a person or thing before him he recites an extempore verse (comrac) do focetair do cendaib a cnama. 'But this is (only) since the Conversion ; before St Patrick's time it was performed differently. At that time the fili placed his staff on the person's body or head (fors in colainn no fors in cend) and found his name . . . and discovered every unknown thing which was put to him co de (? for cend) nomaide do dala no tri ; and this is tenm laida or imbas forosnai, for the same thing used to be revealed through them ; they, however, were performed after a different manner, for a different kind of offering was made at each of them (ar is inand ni do foillsigtea trepta ; ocus ba sain imorro amail do gnitea cectar de, .i. sain cinel nudbairt do gnitea oc cectar de).
. . . But Patrick abolished those three things from among the poets, because they were heathen rites (anidan), for neither tenm laida nor imbas forosnai could be performed without the accompaniment of heathen offerings (gin udbairt do deib idal ocaib).'
Again, in one of the 'Stories from the Law Tracts,' recently edited and translated by Myles Dillon, the nobles of Ireland are represented as referring to the filid, 'so that they should try the revelation of imas as to what state Angus (i.e., an ancient King of Leinster) was in after death on account of the judgement, false through carelessness, which he had given.' The story goes on to tell that the filid 'tried the revelation of true imas, and he was shown to them condemned to half punishment,' etc. (ocus gu ndernsatsum faillsiugudh in fhirimais, ocus is amlaid ro faillsiged doib he iar tabairt leth-indechda.) There can be no doubt, however, that these references in the Laws are merely literary allusions, and cannot be used as evidence of historical practice.
The absence of satisfactory corrobrative evidence in early Irish literature or of traces in early Irish history of the actual practice of the type of imbas forosnai described in the Glossary and the Finn stories is rather surprising, even making allowance for it's notoriously heathen character. Indeed, we may suspect that literary men of antiquarian interests had themselves observed and been struck by the absence of such evidence, and had for this reason surmised that the rite had been bansished by St Patrick at the outset. It is, moreover, surprising that the poetry generally cited as recited by Finn or other filid when they sing through imbas forosnai or tenm laida appears to be for the most part absolutely untranslatable.
We have seen that the fili Amargin is also represented in the Leabhar na Gabhala as reciting a set of rhetorics immediately on landing in Ireland. Presumably, therefore, he had acquired them elsewhere. The authroity is too late to have independent value, but the rhetorics themselves resemble those ascribed to the Welsh poet, Taliesin, and those contianed in the dialogue between Ferchertne and Nede in the Immacaldam in da Thuarad, which is ascribed to the tenth century. In the latter work we are told that the youthful sage Nede, who is represented as defeated by the elderly sage, Ferchertne, in filidect, has just returned from Britain, where he has been acquiring imbas. We have seen also that in the CuChulainn Cycle imbas forosnai is said to have been learnt by the banfhaid Fedelm in Britain, and to have been practised by Scathach, also in Britain. It was long ago suggested by Sir John Rhys that Welsh tradition has also preserved traces of communities resembling those of Scathach and Aoife in the CuChulaunn Cycle. In particular he pointed to the Nine Witches of Gloucester, who appear to be endowed not only with skill in arms, but also with the gift of prophecy, and who are also responsible for the training of the hereo, Peredur. A careful scrutiny of this and other Medieval Welsh stories - notably that of the Cave of the Addanc, also in Peredur - would doubtless bring other instances to light. Rhys regarded both the Welsh and Irish stories of female communities where instruction was given in military and mantic art as derived from a common origin, but he sought this origin in a 'Goidelic' community settled in the south-west of England. If he were right in this, and if the arts were pre-eminently Irish, we may, indeed, ask why the prophetess Fedelm, and many heros, notably the popular hero CuChulainn himself, should be obliged to come over to this country to learn them?
We have seen, however, that the chief exponent in Irish legend of both the imbas forosnai and the tenm laida is Finn mac Cumail, or more correctly, Finn mac Umail, who is represented in Irish tradition as having acquired all his magic arts in Ireland, though these traditions vary considerably among themselves as to the exact manner in which he acquired these arts. Finn is, perhaps, the most gifted magician of all Irish legend. He is, in fact, more of a magician than a hero. his character and mantic experiences have more in common with those of Conn Cétchathach and his line than with those of CuChulainn, on the one hand, or the more authentic historical traditions of later kings on the other. These experiences, however, are never identical with those of Conn's line. We search the baile literature in vain for traces of mantic experiences analogous to those of the passage in Cormac's Glossary under imbas forosnai, or to those in the stories of Finn.
How are we to account for these individualites of Finn? And where do his closest affinities lie?
The nearest analogies of the stories associated with Finn which we have been considering are contained, not in Irish tradition, but in Welsh legend. These stories of Finn are analogous especially to those of Pwyll Prince of Dyved, who, like Finn visits Annwn or the heathen spirit world. We may refer also to Rhonabwy who lies down to sleep on a yellow calf-skin, and has a mantic sleep and dream. One would like to know the relationship between Finn and Gwyn (the Welsh phonetic equivalent of Finn) ap Nudd, to whom, according to a passage in Kulhwch and Olwen, 'God gave control over the devils in Annwn' - the Welsh equivalent of the side of Irish saga, and of the 'idol gods' of Cormac's entry.
Giraldus Cambrensis (c. 1147 - c. 1223) mentions in his Description of Wales a class of people whom he calls Awenithion, and who appear to practise an art closely resembling that described by Cormac as imbas forosnai.
'Sunt et in hoc Kambriae populo quod alibi non reperies, viri nonnulli, quos Awennithion vocant, quasi mente ductos. Hi super aliquo consulti ambiguo stsim frementes spiritu quasi extra se rapiuntur, et tanquam arrepti fiunt. Nec incontinenti tamen quod desideratur edisserunt ; sed per ambages multas, inter varios quibus effuunt sermones nugatorios magis et vanos quam sibi coherentes, sed omnes tamenornatos, in aliquo demum verbi diverticulo qui responsumsolerter, observat quod petit accipiet enucleatum. Et sic denique de hac extasi tanquam a somno gravi ab aliisexciantur, et quasi per violentiam quandam ad se reverticompelluntur. Ubi et duo notanda reperies ; quia post responsum, nisi violenter excitati et revocati, ab hujuscemondi quasi furore reverti non solent, et quod in se reversi, nihil horum omnium, qua ab his interim prolata sunt, ad memoriam revocabunt. (unde et, si forte super hoc iterum vel alio consulti dicere debeant, aliis omnino verbis et alienis enantiabunt ; ) forsan sicut per phanaticos et emergumenos spiritus interdum loquuntur, quanuam ignaros. Solent autem eis haec dona plerumque in somnis per visiones infundi. Quibusdam enim videtur, quod eis schedula inscripta ori imponatur. Et statim a somno erecti et conori effecti, se gratiam hanc suscepisse publice profitentur.'
'There are certain persons in Cambria...called Awenyddion, or people inspired; when consulted upon any doubtful event, they roar out violently, are rendered beside themselves, and become, as it where, possessed by a spirit. They do not deliver the answer to what is required in a coherent manner; but the person who skilfully observes them will find, after many preambles... The desired explanation conveyed in some turn of a word: They are then roused from their ecstasy, as from a deep sleep, and, as it where, by violence compelled to return to their proper senses. After having answered the questions, they do not recover until violently shaken by other people; nor can they remember the replies they have given...These gifts are usually conferred upon them in dreams: some seem to have sweet milk or honey poured on their lips; others fancy that a written schedule is applied to their lips, and on awakening they publicly declare that they have received this gift.'
It will be seen that the phenomenon of the Awenithion (or, more properly, Awenyddion) resembles that of the imbas forosnai as described for us in the Glossary, and as illustrated by the stories of Finn. The name is derived from the word awen or poetic (mantic) inspiration, and is generally conferred on a person in a mantic sleep. These people become rapt in an ecstasy (cf. 'imbas forosnai') in which they deliver themselves of speech which is not easily intelligible because the utterances are veiled (cf. the Irish rhetorics), and apparently contradictory and highly figurative. Often such people have to be shaken violently before they can recover their normal condition. We do not know the exact source of Giraldus' account. It may have been based on contemporary custom, as he himself avers ; or it may, as I suspect, be derived from literary (oral) tradition, like the entry in the Glossary. But whatever the source, there can be little doubt that in the time of Giraldus a practice similar to that of imbas forosnai was known in Wales, either as a living practice or a literary motif.
Talhaern, a poet of the Britons who is mentioned in the Historia Brittonum, as living in the time of Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd (548), is said to have been called Tataguen, i.e., 'father of awen or poetic (mantic) inspiration,' and to have been a contemporary of the poet Taliesin, who almost certainly lived in the middle of the sixth century. The similarity of the poetry traditionally ascribed to Taliesin, to that ascribed - also by tradition - to the poet Nede and to the fili Amargin has already been commented on. There can, indeed, be little doubt that early traditions in this country imply the existence at an early date of a phenomenon similar to imbas forosnai. We have seen that Irish tradition suggests that the art was in a more advanced condition in this country, since it was from this country that, according to the same tradition, the earliest exponents known to Irish legend derived their art.
The result of our study suggests the following conclusions. The passage on Imbas forosnai in Cormac's Glossary is a piece of antiquarian learning, based on literary evidence. It contains several technical terms, derived ultimately from mantic texts, but now extra-syntactical, and therefore not intended to be understood literally. The author of the passage was a Christian with no direct acquaintance with the phenomenon which he is describing, and which he apprehends imperfectly, whether through ignorance of the details of the traditions which he is following, or from the difficulty of reconciling variant versions. He gives us to believe that the imbas forosnai and the tenm laida are no longer practised, while certain other mantic phenomena, originally heathen, have been transmogrified under Christian influence. In this he appears to be right.
The phenomenon of imbas forosnai itself is well known in Irish tradition, alongside other mantic phenomena, some of which are also commented on in the Glossary. The imbas forosnai, in particular, is known to the earliest cycle of Irish saga, where we find an example of the mantic poetry associated with it. In these, the earliest cited examples, imbas forosnai appears to be a specifically female accomplishment, though later it is especially ascribed to Finn, and the male filid. The earliest Irish traditions represent it as acquired in this country. British tradition also knows the art in this country, apparently at an early date. On the whole, it would seem to be not improbable that Britain was a centre of prophetic poetry in the early centuries of our era, and we may suspect that it was in this country that the early Irish mantic poets acquired their imbas.
I am well aware that I have not succeeded in ascertaining the exact milieu to which the author of the colophon refers in his remarks on dicetal and aisneis di chennaib. It is impossible to avoid a suspicion that these expressions somehow contain a veiled allusion to the baile literature, such as the Baile in scail and the Echtra Cormaic, though so far as I am aware, 'heads' are not actually mentioned as playing a part in these stories. The redactor of the Echtra Cormaic is at pains in his colophon to bring the baile literature, and these two stories in particular, into the circle of Christian orthodoxy, and he tells us, in words which sound like an echo of the colophon to Imbas forosnai, that these experiences were brought about by divine means, and were not connected with 'demons.'
We need not suppose that the author of the colophon to Imbas forosnai is necessarily the same person as the author of the main entry. Indeed, the change of tense in itself would render it improbable that such was the case. The use of the present tense in the main entry is striking and unusual, most of the entries which embody individual stories being in the narrative (past) tense. The use of the present tense in our entry tends to confirm my suggestion that the entry itself has been composed as a synthesis. It is, however, by no means impossible that it represents a single version of a lost saga. If so, we must suppose that such a saga would have much in common with the stories of Finn referred to above. But whatever its precise origin, there can, I think, be little doubt that the material contained in the main portion of the entry is derived neither from contemporary custom nor from etymological speculation, but from oral narrative saga.
-Nora K. Chadwick 1935, Great Britain
Part One
Part Two
And I suggest you look for this article which takes a fresh look at some of the ideas presented here.
"Speckled Snake, Brother of Birch: Amanita Muscaria Motifs in Celtic Literature", by Erynn Rowan Laurie and Timothy White, Shaman's Drum #44, Mar/May 1997, pp 53-65
The article is not on the web, but you can
Email Shaman's Drum for information. Tell 'em I sent you! Also:
Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit, by Tom Cowan (Harper San Francisco, 1993, ISBN: 0062501747) (Click on the link to go directly to Amazon.com)
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