Tionscadal na Nod
ceann faoi eite (also ceann fa eite or in an earlier form, cenn fo eitte)
Image:
1.
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7.
1.
Source: Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 E 25 (1229) = Lebor na hUidre [s. xi/xii], f. 5aFile:
2.
Source: Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1339 (H 2. 18, 1339) = Book of Leinster [s. xii2]File:
3.
Source: Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406], f. 71rFile:
4.
Source: Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS D ii 1 (1225) = Leabhar Uí Mhaine (The Book of Uí Maine) [1394], f. 3vbFile:
5.
Source: Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 1303 = Leabhar Í Eadhra (Book of O'Hara) [1597], p. 17File:
6.
Source: Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406], f. 167vaFile:
7.
Source: Rennes, Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, MS 598 [s. xv (?)], f. 78rFile:
Additional images:
» Represents in Irish:
(marks continuation of text from the line below)
In the scribe’s mind or in normalised spelling.
Appearance
Build type:
Component
Notational device:
Punctuation
Position:
Baseline
Type of symbol:
Punctuation
Meaning
Represents:
In Irish: (marks continuation of text from the line below)
Comments:
Literally head under wing, a symbol placed within a line of Irish writing to indicate that the sentence is completed and that the following words are a continuation of the line below. It was used to make efficient use of space on the vellum.
Context
Comments:
From Michelle P. Brown, The Book of Cerne: prayer, patronage, and power in ninth-century England (1996): 120-121:
- The practice of employing a zoomorphic symbol to mark places where the text of one line intrudes into the line above or below would appear to have been an Insular contribution to the repertoire of ornament of medieval manuscripts. It was generally used as a space-saving device and was especially useful in sections of verse, such as the Psalms. The feature is often referred to as the ceann fa eite or head-under-wing symbol, the term employed by Irish scribes during the Middle Ages [...] The feature is often assumed to have been of Irish derivation, owing to its frequent use in Irish manuscripts from the ninth century onwards [...] However, the earliest occurrences of the zoomorphic feature are in Southumbrian manuscripts of the second half of the eighth century [...] A further manuscript, the Book of Kells, needs to be taken into account. This work exhibits full mastery of the device. [...] The [...] popularity of the motif in Ireland may have owed a great deal to its introduction via Kells, the probable later medieval home of the manuscript [Book of Kells].
Sources
Secondary sources (select)
McLaughlin, Roisin, “Ornamental reader’s aids: a unique insight into illustrations”, Anne-Marie OʼBrien, and Pádraig Ó Macháin, Irish Script on Screen (ISOS) – Meamrám Páipéar Ríomhaire, Online: School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2023–. URL: <https://www.isos.dias.ie/articles/ornamental_readers.html>.
McLaughlin, Roisin, “Text run-over imagery and reader’s aids in Irish manuscripts”, Ériu 71 (2021): 69–115.
abstract:
The focus of scholarly comment on Irish manuscript illumination has been largely on letters. This paper examines the design and development of the text run-over symbol, a scribal device which has received relatively little analysis to date. It will be seen that the convention of using images to mark text run-overs, while not peculiar to Irish manuscripts (Brown 1996, 19, 192), persisted for a remarkably long time in the scribal tradition. Aspects of the wider manuscript context and function of marginal art, the use of reader’s aids and the relationship between text and image are also considered.
Brown, Michelle P., The Book of Cerne: prayer, patronage, and power in ninth-century England, The British Library Studies in Medieval Culture, London: British Library, 1996.
