Texts

verse beg. Anbthine mór ar muig Lir

  • Middle Irish
  • verse
  • Early Irish poetry
First words (verse)
  • Anbthine mór ar muig Lir
“A great storm on Ler’s plain”
Author
Ascribed to: Ruman mac Colmáin
Ruman mac Colmáin
(d. c.747)
Ruman (Rumann) mac Colmáin

See more
Ruman mac Colmáin, an Ulster poet (d. c. 747). The ascription occurs in the [[Epilogue to Anbthine mór ar muig Lir |prose epilogue to the poem]], which tells why the poet composed it.
Manuscripts
ff. 9vb–10ra18
This is the only extant copy of the poem, although the sixth stanza is quoted in two of the metrical tracts edited by Thurneysen (Mittelirische Verslehren II, § 102, and III, § 100) and the glossary found in TCD 1337, p. 422.
Language
  • Middle Irish
Date
“on linguistic evidence no higher [earlier] age can be claimed for our poem than the eleventh century” (Meyer). Kenneth Jackson, on the other hand, points out that the quatrain on the wind quoted in the metrical tracts contains older forms.(1)n. 1 Kenneth H. Jackson, Studies in early Celtic nature poetry (1935): 46–47. Notes to poem XXXII.
Form
verse (primary)
Metre
  • laíd lúascach (7¹+7¹+7²+7²+7¹)
Length
Number of stanzas: 10
Textual relationships

Classification

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
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Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...

Sources

Notes

Kenneth H. Jackson, Studies in early Celtic nature poetry (1935): 46–47. Notes to poem XXXII.

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.] Meyer, Kuno [ed. and tr.], “Stories and songs from Irish manuscripts: IV. Song of the sea”, Otia Merseiana 2 (1900–1901): 76–83.
CELT – improved edition with apparatus: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
[ed.] [tr.] Lehmann, Ruth P. M. [ed. and tr.], Early Irish verse, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982.
15ff [id. 8.]
[ed.] [tr.] Greene, David, and Frank OʼConnor, “29: The tempest”, in: David Greene, and Frank OʼConnor [Michael O'Donovan], A golden treasury of Irish poetry, A.D. 600 to 1200, London: Macmillan, 1967. 126–129.

Secondary sources (select)

Ní Chatháin, Próinséas, “Some themes in early Irish lyric poetry”, Irish University Review 22 — Serving the word: essays and poems in honour of Maurice Harmon (1992): 3–12.
Turville-Petre, G., “On the poetry of the scalds and of the filid”, Ériu 22 (1971): 1–22.
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
June 2012, last updated: January 2024