show notes s02 e06
Irish Mythology Podcast

Meitheamh 30, 2021

Episode 16

The Wooing of Étaín (Part 4): Midir and Étain

Thank you for listening to this episode!

Here you’ll find our notes, links to research and some personal highlights from your hosts. 

Welcome | fáilte 

In this episode we hear about Midir and Étain’s return to Brí Leith after their honeymoon and how Midir’s first wife, the powerful sorceress, Fuamnach reacts to the arrival. 

We ask:

• Was there polygamy in medieval Ireland?
• What kind of marriages were described in the Brehon law tracts?
• What was the story with Divorce?
• Who was Fuamnach and were here actions justified?
• What do flies represent in Mythology?
• What does the Tao te Ching say about water and what is Wu Wei?

It’s time for Midir to face the music. He and Étain have been enjoying an extended honeymoon at Brú na Bóinne as guests of Aengus, but now he must return to Brí Leith where Fuamnach, the wife he left behind waits. Did we mention that Fuamnach is a powerful sorceress?

Starring: Midir, Étain, Fuamnach.

Co-Starring Aengus, The Dagda, Ogma, Lugh.

We talk polygamy in early medieval Ireland, Brehon Law, sorcery , flies in mythology, story adaptation, and what the Tao te Ching has to say about water.

Oh, and you might want to listen to the very end.

A cautionary tale on why you should consult your first wife before bringing home a second one. 

Resources

• The Wooing of Étain 
• Ireland’s Immortals, A History of the Gods of Irish Myth – Mark Williams
• Fuamnach’s Rage – Ann Egan
• Fuamnach’s Pool – Ann Egan
• Tao te Ching – Lao Tzu (Ursula Le Guin translation)
• Claire Connolly Poetry 
• In the World of “WandaVision,” It Has Been Grief All Along
• A Guide to Early Irish Law – Fergus Kelly
• What’s this Tao all about?

credits

Written, presented and produced  by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiarnaigh. 

Music – Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 public licence 

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

All sounds cc licence from freesound.org 

Thank you for listening to this episode!

Here you’ll find our notes, links to research and some personal highlights from your hosts.

Welcome | fáilte

In this episode we hear about the Dagda and Boann’s dalliance, and the subsequent birth of the god Aengus, that thanks to divine magic, all occurs on the same day. Despite the title, Étain doesn’t appear in today’s story as she isn’t introduced until later in the Saga.   We ask:

• What was The Dagda’s role in myth and in the old pagan religion?
• Why is this story associated with the Winter Solstice?
• Does this story hint at the remnant of a pre-Celtic religious tradition?
• What was the significance of Newgrange for ancient astronomers?
• Could the Egyptian Book of the Dead help us interpret the importance of the Solstice at Newgrange for the dead?

The Dagda has got his groove back, but though his power is restored, he longs for Boann, goddess and wife of his steward, Elcmar. He makes use of his control of the Sun and time to not only make a tryst possible, but to hide the conception and birth of a son.

Despite the title, Étain doesn’t appear in today’s story as she isn’t introduced until later in the Saga

Resources

• The Wooing of Étain 
• Ireland’s Immortals, A History of the Gods of Irish Myth – Mark Williams
• Harp, Club and Cauldron, A Harvest of Knowledge (Lora O’Brien and Morpheus Ravenna ed)
• Solstice illumination at Newgrange Dec 20, 2020
• More info on Newgrange

credits

Written, presented and produced  by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiarnaigh.

Music – Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 public licence

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

All sounds cc licence from freesound.org

show notes s01 e04
Irish Mythology Podcast

Bealtaine 21, 2020

Episode 4

Dawning of the Dé (part 2): Maids of Mayhem

Thank you for listening to this episode!

Here you’ll find our notes, links to research and some personal highlights from your hosts. 

Welcome | fáilte 

In this episode we are introduced to the Morrigan, in her triple goddess form – The Badbh, Macha, and Nemhain and we ask:

• Why do the names of the three vary, depending on the story?
• Which one is most like The Morrigan as she appears in singular form.
• What is her role in Irish Mythology? 
• What powers and abilities does she posses?
• What divinities in other mythologies does she most resemble? 

We also talk a bit more about the Tuath Dé and continue the story of how they came to Ireland and fought the Fir Bolg. 

When Chief Eochaid Mac Eirc of the Fir Bolg ignores Sreng’s advice to compromise with the Tuath Dé, Chief Nuada calls on three powerful goddesses with a passion for pandemonium to give them some supernatural encouragement. 

Resources

• “The First Battle of Moytura.” Ériu 8 (1916): 1-63. Accessed May 13, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/30005394.
• Clark, Rosalind. “Aspects of the Morrígan in Early Irish Literature.” Irish University Review 17, no. 2 (1987): 223-36. Accessed May 13, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/25477680.
• Krappe, Alexander Haggerty. “The Valkyrie Episode in the Njals Saga.” Modern Language Notes 43, no. 7 (1928): 471-74. Accessed May 20, 2020. doi:10.2307/2914244. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2914244
• The Story of Burnt Njal/The Njalls Saga,1861 translation into English by George W. DaSent from the original Icelandic ‘Brennu-Njáls saga’. https://sagadb.org/brennu-njals_saga.en
• Williams, Mark. Ireland’s Immortals. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2018

credits

Presented by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiarnaiígh. 

Written by Marcas Ó hUiscín. 

Produced by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiíarnaiígh. 

Music – Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 public licence 

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

All sounds cc or attribution licence.

Sounds on attribution licence from freesound.org – 

• Miguetelo SINISTER ATMOSPHERE
• Joedeshon ADULTS GATHERING FOR A MEETING
• Juan FG – Never without my denture
• Melisapons – Wooshes
• Liezen3 – Choir Women Men and Mixed
• Setuniman – Cinematic Moments + cinematic intros
• Luis_audp – Celtic Tin Whistle in D
• Beast_Toil – Slow Mellow Suspense (They’re Going to Get You!)
• Piano Farm – Cows Attacking Red Tail Hawk
• Yap_Audio_Production – Medieval Combat
• Innominatus – Booms of Innominatus
• GregorQuendel – Cinematic Percussion Trailer + Cinematic Chanting / Throat Singing Percussion Trailer
• Jobro – Cinematic stings
• Vedas – frantic searching
• Robinhood76 – CROWD & MASSIVE EVENTS sound shots (Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

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_{Welcome | fáilte}

In this episode we talk about an often overlooked people of Irish Myth – The Fir Bolg; and we ask:

• Who were the Fir Bolg?
• Why are they overlooked?
• What is their place in Irish Mythology?
• Why is their story worth telling?

We also tell the story of Sreng, a mighty Fir Bolg warrior and envoy of his chief as he goes to investigate a mysterious new threat to his people.

When mysterious beings come from the sky and land on the mountains of connaught, the Fir Bolg of Ireland mobilise to oppose them.
Meet Sreng, greatest warrior of the Fir Bolg.
Then meet the one thing that strikes fear into very the fabric of his being.

Resources

Lebor Gabála Érenn

The Metrical Dindshenchas Poem 40 Carn Hui Neit 

Duchas, The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0102, Page 252 and 253

Credits

Presented by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiarnaigh.

Written and produced by Marcas Ó hUiscín.

Music by Music – Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 public licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

All sounds from freesound.org

Featured Image – Letterfrack, connemara national park.

Welcome | fáilte

In this episode we talk about the acts of defiance by divine femine figures that lead to the creation of rivers, hills, mountains and valleys.  Medieval and modern literature has created a pantheon of old Irish gods but we don’t really know how widespread worship of individual deities was.

Some seem intimately tied to place, and may not have been particularly well known beyond their locale. One such individual is the goddess Boann, who gives her name to the river Boyne which runs from near the village of Carberry in Co. Kildare, through Co. Meath to the sea at Baltray Co. Louth. 

Resources

BOAND I

BOAND II

PROSE TALES IN THE RENNES DINDSHENCHAS (#19)

VERSION IN THE NATIONAL FOLKLORE COLLECTION

THE EMERALD TABLET

If you’re lucky enough to be in the area where Boann lived, we’ve put together a map for you to visit and take in the route of the Boyne River. You can follow Boann’s course from Carbury to Baltray using this map. 

WARNING!!! If you happen upon any wells during your cycle, we strongly advise that you approach with caution, heed any warnings from individuals bearing cups at the well, and under no circumstances should you attempt to walk around the well in an anti-clockwise direction.

Credits

• Written, produced and presented by Marcas Ó hUiscín and Stephanie Ní Thiarnaigh. 
• Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 public licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode)
• Sounds from https://freesound.org/