Texts

verse beg. Oenach indiu luid in rí

  • Early Modern Irish, Middle Irish
  • verse
  • Duanaire Finn, Classical Irish poetry, Early Irish poetry, Finn Cycle
Poem relating the Fenian tale known as Finn and the phantoms
First words (verse)
  • Oenach indiu luid in rí
“Today the king went to a fair”
Context(s)The (textual) context(s) to which the present text belongs or in which it is cited in part or in whole.
Manuscripts
Transcript by Samual Bryson
ff. 12v line 29 (bottom)–14r line 16
Modernised version in the Duanaire Finn, beginning ‘Aónach so a Moigh Eala in rí’ (“This is a fair of Magh Eala of the king”). 44 quatrains.
Language
  • Early Modern Irish Middle Irish
  • The version in the Book of Leinster is Middle Irish. Gerard Murphy also dates the version in the Duanaire Finn to the Middle Irish period. John Carey, however, has shown that in its received form, the latter poem supports an Early Modern Irish date and lacks linguistic clues that an earlier poem from the Middle Irish period had been reworked. Without the existence of the LL copy, the poem could not “persuasively be dated earlier than the thirteenth century, and even a later date would be difficult to rule out”.(1)n. 1 John Carey, ‘Remarks on dating’ in Duanaire Finn... (2003): 16–18.

Date
11th century (Meyer).(2)n. 2 Kuno Meyer, Fianaigecht (1910): xxv (item xxxi).
Form
verse (primary)
Length
Number of stanzas: 54 or 44
The text in Stokes' edition numbers 54 quatrains. The Duanaire Finn version is 44 quatrains long.

Classification

Duanaire Finn
Duanaire Finn
id. 11031
Classical Irish poetryClassical Irish poetry
...

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...

Finn Cycle
Finn Cycle
id. 578

Sources

Notes

John Carey, ‘Remarks on dating’ in Duanaire Finn... (2003): 16–18.
Kuno Meyer, Fianaigecht (1910): xxv (item xxxi).

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.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “Find and the phantoms”, Revue Celtique 7 (1886): 289–307.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
[ed.] [tr.] MacNeill, Eoin [ed.], Duanaire Finn: The book of the lays of Fionn, 3 vols, vol. 1: Irish text, with translation into English, Irish Texts Society, 7, London: Irish Texts Society, 1908.
Foclóir na Nua-Ghaeilge – editions: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>
28–30; 127–130 Edition and translation of poem XIII (‘The headless phantoms’) in Duanaire Finn.

Secondary sources (select)

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>
24–29
Carey, John, “Remarks on dating”, in: John Carey (ed.), Duanaire Finn: reassessments, 13, London: Irish Texts Society, 2003. 1–18.
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
June 2011, last updated: January 2024