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Cath Maige Tuired ‘The battle of Mag Tuired’

  • Middle Irish
  • prose
  • Mythological Cycle
Title
Cath Maige Tuired
‘The battle of Mag Tuired’
The text is often referred to as The second battle of Mag Tuired, distinguishing the main battle of the tale from an earlier battle in which the Tuatha Dé defeated the Fir Bolg and took the kingship of Ireland.
Manuscripts
Language
  • Middle Irish
Date
According to Gerard Murphy, the text is “the product of an eleventh or twelfth-century redactor working mainly upon ninth-century material”.(1)n. 1 Gerard Murphy, ‘Notes on Cath Maige Tuired’, Éigse 7 (1953–1955): 195.
Form
prose (primary)
verse (secondary)
Textual relationships
The story is alluded to in the poem beginning ‘Innid scél scaílter n-airich’ and in Sanas Cormaic.
Related: Cath Muighe TuireadhCath Muighe Tuireadh
Associated items
Cen cholt for crib cernineCen cholt for crib cernineA quatrain of verse purporting to represent the first satire in Ireland.In dáil n-asdadhaIn dáil n-asdadhaThe four jewels of the Tuatha Dé DanannThe four jewels of the Tuatha Dé DanannShort text about the original homes of the Tuatha Dé Danann, their instruction in magical arts, and four magical instruments that they are said to have introduced into Ireland.Ní accus bith na mbéoNí accus bith na mbéo

A phophetic rosc attributed to the Morrígan about the unhappy end of the world. It occurs at the very end of the Middle Irish text Cath Maige Tuired, following a rosc attributed to the same deity about wealth and prosperity.

Sith co nem. Nem co domanSith co nem. Nem co doman

A prophecy in rosc found in Cath Maige Tuired, where it is attributed to the Morrígan. It seems to predict a time of great prosperity, while the next roscad prophecy, beginning ‘Ní accus bith na mbéo’, speaks instead of social disaster and the end of the world.

Classification

Mythological CycleMythological Cycle
...

Subjects

BalorBalor
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more BresBres
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more The Dagda
The Dagda
No short description available
See more Lug
Lug
Prominent member of the Túatha Dé Danann in Irish literature, a king and warrior whose all-round mastery of many skills and disciplines earns him the epithet Samildánach. Through his mother, he is descended from the Fomoire and his maternal uncle Balor is the one-eyed leader of the Fomoire whom he kills in the battle of Mag Tuired.
See more The Morrígan
The Morrígan
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle, Túatha Dé Danann)
deity or supernatural figure in medieval Irish literature, frequently associated with war and destruction; she sometimes appears as part of a triad with Macha and the Badb; also associated with Nemain.
See more Núadu Argatlám
Núadu Argatlám
(time-frame ass. with Túatha Dé Danann)
Núadu Argatlám (‘of the Silver Hand’), ruler of the Túatha Dé Danann in Irish literature
See more

Sources

Notes

1.
Gerard Murphy, ‘Notes on Cath Maige Tuired’, Éigse 7 (1953–1955): 195.

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.] Gray, Elizabeth A., Cath Maige Tuired: The second battle of Mag Tuired, Irish Texts Society, 52, Kildare: Irish Texts Society, 1982.  
comments: Edition, with translation, introduction, notes and indexes, of the tale Cath Maige Tuired
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link>
Edition, with a translation of most of the text. Passages that are left untranslated occur in e.g. §§ 83, 84, 166 (the Morrígan's first rosc), 167 (the Morrígan's second rosc, cf. Carey below).
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “The second battle of Moytura”, Revue Celtique 12 (1891): 52–130, 306–308.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
[ed.] Thurneysen, Rudolf, “Zu irischen Texten”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 12 (1918): 398–407.  
Contents: Athirne von seiner Ungastlichkeit geheilt -- Aislingi Oengusai -- Cath Maige Tuired -- Nachträge.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
400–406 Edition of the retoirics omitted by Stokes.
[ed.] [tr.] Carey, John, “Myth and mythography in Cath Maige Tuired”, Studia Celtica 24–25 (1989–1990): 53–69.
66–69 Edition and translation of the rosc attributed to the Morrígan on the end of the world.

Secondary sources (select)

Carey, John, “Myth and mythography in Cath Maige Tuired”, Studia Celtica 24–25 (1989–1990): 53–69.
Gray, Elizabeth A., “Cath Maige Tuired: myth and structure (1-24)”, Éigse 18 (1981): 183–209.
Gray, Elizabeth A., “Cath Maige Tuired: myth and structure (24-120)”, Éigse 19:1 (1982): 1–35.
Gray, Elizabeth A., “Cath Maige Tuired: myth and structure (84-93, 120-67)”, Éigse 19:2 (1983): 230–262.
Gray, Elizabeth A., “Lug and Cú Chulainn: king and warrior”, Studia Celtica 24–25 (1989–1990): 38–52.
Murphy, Gerard, “Notes on Cath Maige Tuired”, Éigse 7 (1953–1955): 191–198.
Ó Cathasaigh, Tomás, “Cath Maige Tuired as exemplary myth”, in: Pádraig de Brún, Seán Ó Coileáin, and Pádraig Ó Riain (eds), Folia Gadelica: essays presented by former students to R. A. Breatnach on the occasion of his retirement from the professorship of Irish language and literature at University College, Cork, Cork: Cork University Press, 1983. 1–19.
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen, Julie Le Blanc
Page created
November 2010, last updated: January 2024
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