Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - History Other Early Irish Myths Sagas Early Irish Myths Sagas The Penguin Classic Early Irish Myths And Sagas exhibits a great cross-section of the many examples of the stories told by Iron Age Celts. These stories revolve around the customs, battles, gods, and heroes of the ancient Celts. It is said that a great deal can be learned from Irish tales about the clothing, weapons, houses, and other aspects of the material culture of the Iron Age Celts 1 and that the stories are more valuable for scholars of society than scholars of religion 2. The question if these stories are a good 'window' on the Iron Age is a difficult one. Firstly historians can not even confirm what happened in the time of the Iron Age Celts, secondly, without much primary information on place names or on the deities and their function. This makes it hard to analyze the stories and gain extra information. All these discrepancies make it even harder to answer such a question as whether or not these myths and sagas are a very reliable insight to the happenings of the Iron Age Celtic Peoples. However, after more reading and research it is easy to say that, yes, these myths and sagas can be seen as 'a window on the Iron Age'. But the problem is that these are the only kind of stories written about the ancient Celtic people and these stories are only myth. With all their super natural components it is easy to tell that they are only fiction and probably not to be taken literally. In the story "The Wooing of Etain" from Early Irish Myths And Sagas the character Etain changed forms from a human shape, to different bodies of water, to a worm, and than to a scarlet fly. This fly was the size of the head of the handsomest man in the land, and the sound of its voice and the beating of its wings were sweeter than pipes and harps and horns 3. Many of the other characters are also deities who posses super natural powers. The character Cu Chulaind could grow to abnormal sizes to defeat enemies like in the first story of " The Boy hood Deeds of Cu Chulaind" where he fought and proved himself to all "three fifties" of the young boys. Then in the second story he is conquering enemies at the age of six to save his people and their name. These stories even have supernatural pigs. The pig in "The Tale of Macc Da Tho's Pig" was so big that 40 oxen had laid across it and its stomach was enough for a meal for nine men. 4 Beside these logical impossibilities historians have also found mistakes in the historical interpretations of these stories. The research in Ronald Hutton's book "The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles" tells of many errors in the in the references in association with the proposed time line. The archeology suggests that the earliest literature was not a window on the Iron Age but on the early Middle Ages in which it was composed. In many of the stories they speak of gathering in Halls, fighting with swords which came about in the Viking age, and riding in chariots from the Christian times 5. The real Iron Age Celts had a simpler way of living than the higher class they are portrayed to have enjoyed living in. The stories in the book "Early Irish Myths And Sagas" can tell us a great deal about the Celtic Peoples praying to more than one god. Some of the stories tell us who their gods were, what their certain purpose was, and the amount of power they had. The Good God's name (after many changes) is Dagdae. He is first shown in the story of "The Wooing of Etain" and is said to perform miracles and take care of the weather and harvest. We learn of Medb who was once a fertility goddess and the Tuatha de Danann family of deities that included Furamach from the story "The Wooing of Etain". The stories tell about social and military acts. One of the main things we see in the stories is the importance of honor. In the Iron Ages the warriors fought for the people but mostly for the name of themselves and their family. In "The Tale of Macc Da Tho's Pig" the men all state their victories in order to have the privilege of receiving the best portion of meat. These men go so far as explain the defeats of fathers as well as those involved and to fight to the death if no conclusion can be reached. They tell of the importance of winning and boasting of such honors. This is shown in many of the stories when they speak of taking peoples heads. When men would conquer their enemy they would take their head for a trophy. Within many of the stories in Early Irish Myths And Sagas the hero Cu Chulaind takes many heads and also the hero Conall from "The Tale of Macc Da Tho's Pig". In this story it is written that Conell said;"…since I first took a spear in hand, there has not been a single day that I have not killed a Connachta warrior, not a single night I have not destroyed with fire, and I have never slept without a Connachta head under my knee ."6 And only a few lines later it says he takes a head of his enemy out of his pouch or wallet. This is a very interesting habit of the Ancient Celts. Having the heads or brains of your enemies meant you had their soul and power. Heroes of that time are said to have not only to have cut heads off but also to collect them like souvenirs. The custom of brain balls is also mentioned in the stories. Brain Balls were made out of the brains of the warrior's favorite enemy. The head would be cleaned of all the brains and mixed in a solution of lime. The balls would be hard and supposedly hard enough to knock a man out. In Professor Kenneth Jackson's paper he writes about many of the Ulster Tales and argues both sides of the question. In his paper he mentions the similarties of Greek and Roman Literature to that of the stories about the Ulster Cycle. He mentions that the gods and places may be the same as in other ancient literatre but with different names. Bibliography: Word Count: 1080
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.