The Uladesky cycle ( English Ulster cycle , Ir. An Rúraíocht ) [1] - the designation of works of medieval Irish literature accepted in science, whose characters are King Konhobar, son of Ness , Cuhulain , Conall Kernach, Laare Buadah and other heroes associated with the Irish province Ulster (in the Middle Ages the Cold). The main location of the Ulad cycle saga is the residence of King Conhobar - Emain Mach (modern Navan in County Armagh, Northern Ireland). The largest saga of the Uladsk cycle is “ The abduction of the bull from Kualnge ”.
Magazine Emania is dedicated to the special Ulad cycle and the excavations of Navan. Conferences on the study of the saga of the Ulad cycle are held (Ulidia, 1994, 2005, 2009).
Tales of the Uladesk Cycle
Events unfold during the reign of King Konhobar Mac Ness , who rules Ulad from his capital, Emine Mach . One of the central heroes is Kuhulin , Konhobar's nephew. The enemy of Ulad most often are Queen Medb and King Ailille, ruling Connaught, and their ally Fergus , the former ruler of Ulad in exile. The longest and most important story of the cycle is the Abduction of a bull from Kualnge , in which Medb convenes a huge army to invade the Kualnge peninsula and lead away the best Ulad bull, Donn Kualnge. Only seventeen-year-old Cuchulin will have to resist. In the cycle there are similar scenes. In the tale of Táin Bó Flidhais, the object of discord is the white cow known as Maol. According to the plot, she was able to give enough milk for one milking to feed the whole army. Perhaps the most famous story in the cycle is the story of Deirdre , whose plot echoes the work of such playwrights as Sing and Yeats .
Other legends relate to births, courtship, deaths, and so forth of heroes, as well as various conflicts between them.
The texts of the legends are written in Old Irish and Middle Irish, mostly in prose with verse inserts. Although the legends have come down to us in manuscripts of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, in most cases they are much older: the language of the earliest stories can relate to the eighth century, and events and characters are found in poems of the seventh century [2] . Narratives are concise, there are scenes of violence, sometimes come across comic plots. In general, the authors are prone to realism, although sometimes it is broken by supernatural elements. Cuchulin, in particular, has superhuman fighting skills (due to his semi-divine origin). This is especially noticeable in the battles, when it falls into a state of combat madness (ríastrad). In this state, he becomes a real monster, unable to distinguish between an enemy and an ally.
Deities such as Meadow , Morrigan , Aengus, and Midir appear from time to time along the plot.
Unlike most early Irish sagas, in which ancient Ireland appears to be a fairly centralized country under the rule of the High King , the stories of the Ulades cycle portray a country with a weak central authority, divided into separate kingdoms, often at war with each other. Society is a pagan, rural population ruled by a military aristocracy. Relations between noble families fastened so-called. the exchange of children, when children from one family are brought up to another. Prosperity is based on herding. Wars often take the form of hijacking an enemy’s side or fighting between the strongest warriors. Sometimes the actions of the characters are limited by religious prohibitions, known as gaces .
Traditionally it is believed that the events of the cycle unfold around the time of Christ. In the legends about the birth and death of Konhobar, one can draw analogies with the birth and death of Christ [3] . According to the Book of Captures , the events of the kidnapping of a bull from Kualnge and the life of Cuchulin belong to the reign of High King Conaire the Great , who, according to the source, was a contemporary of the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) [4] . Nonetheless, some stories, including the Abduction, point to Cairbre Nia Fer as the king of Tara , implying that there was no High King at that time.
Literature
- Bondarenko G.V. Mythology of the space of ancient Ireland. - M .: Languages of Slavic culture, 2003. - 416 p. - (Language. Semiotics. Culture. Small series). - ISBN 5-94457-127-6
- Irish Sagas / Trans. with irl. A. A. Smirnova. - L .: Goslitizdat, 1961. - 3rd ed. - 298 s.
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- Curtin Jeremiah. Legends and Myths of Ireland / Trans. L. A. Igorevsky. - M .: CJSC "Tsentrpoligraf", 2008. - 224 p. - ISBN 978-5-9524-3878-1
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- Kidnapping the Bull from Kualnge / Trans. with irl. S. V. Shkunaeva , T. A. Mikhailova, V. I. Shvyryaeva. - M .: Science, 1985. - 496 p. - (Literary monuments).
- Legends and myths of medieval Ireland / Comp., Trans. S.V. Shkunayev . - M .: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1991. - 284 p. - (University Library). - ISBN 5-211-00885-5
- Rees Alvin, Rees Brinley. Heritage Celts. An ancient tradition in Ireland and Wales / Trans. from English T. A. Mikhailova. - M .: Enigma, 1999. - 480 p. - (History of spiritual culture). - ISBN 0-500-27039-2
- Rolleston Thomas. Myths, legends and traditions of the Celts / Trans. from English E. V. Glushko. - M .: CJSC "Tsentrpoligraf", 2004. - 349 p. - ISBN 5-9524-1063-4
- Saga about uladah / Per. with irl. T. A. Mikhailova, S. V. Shkunaeva , N. Yu. Chekhonadskaya, N. A. Nikolaeva . - M .: Agraf, 2004. - 640 p. - (Celtic heritage. Sources). - ISBN 5-7784-0270-8
- Stephens James. The five kingdoms of Ireland: the battle, the love and journey of Irish leaders and heroes / Trans. from English V. Firsova, S. Ermakova, L. Kolotushkina. - M .: Manager, 1998. - 224 p. - ISBN 5-87457-128-0
- Shirokova N.S. Myths of the Celtic Peoples - Moscow: Astrel, LLC AST Publishing House, Transitbook LLC, 2005. - 431 (1) p.: Ill. - (Myths of the peoples of the world). - ISBN 5-17-019444-7 (Publishing House AST LLC), ISBN 5-271-08709-3 (Astrel Publishing LLC LLC), ISBN 5-9578-0397-9 (Transit Book LLC).
- Aspects of the Táin / Ed. JP Mallory. Belfast, 1992
- Emania: Bulletin of the Navan research group. 1986 -
- Toner G. The Ulster Cycle: historiography or Fiction? // CMCS . Vol. 40. 2000. P. 1-20.
- Thurneysen R. Die irischen Helden- und Königsage bis zum siebzehnten Jahrhundert. Halle, 1921
- Ulidia: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Ulster Cycle of Tales, Belfast and Emain Macha, 8-12 April 1994 / Ed. by JP Mallory and Gerard Stockman. Belfast, 1994
Notes
- ↑ Rúraíocht & lang = 2 focal.ie (inaccessible link)
- ↑ Garret Olmsted, “The Earliest Narrative Version of the Táin : Seventh-century poetic references to Táin bó Cúailnge ”, Emania 10, 1992, pp. 5-17
- ↑ Kuno Meyer , “Anecdota from the Stowe MS. No 992, Revue Celtique 6, 1884, pp. 173-183; Kuno Meyer, The Death Tales of the Ulster Heroes , Todd Lecture Series, 1906, pp. 2-21
- ↑ RA Stewart Macalister, (ed & trans), Lebor Gabála Erenn: Irish Texts Society, 1956, p. 301