Greetings,

Thanks for translating for us, it is much appreciated. I've been reading some Irish folklore lately, in particular the Fenian Cycle, and I came across this quote. "The truth was in our hearts and strength in our arms, and what we said, that we fulfilled." This is what I'd like translated. I have no preference of dialect and feel free to rephrase the quote to make translation easier.

To add some context, for whoever is interested, this is the response of Finn's friend, Keelta mac Ronan, when asked by St. Patrick how the Fianna became so great. I found the quote in the book The High Deeds of Finn and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland by Thomas William Rolleston (1911)

If it helps, I found this on another forum from 2006, from someone who wanted nearly the same quote. http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/tr ... 41753.html

Thank you.

-Brian

Hi Ol Salty,

The quote is taken from Acallamh na Senórach 'The Colloquy of the Ancients', a text which is dated to 1225 AD. Acallamh na Senórach is a frame tale, where Caoilte mac Ronáin (Finn's nephew) relates to Patrick various stories about the Fíanna (older: Fíana). It is the largest work associated with Fíanaigecht 'The Fenian Cycle'.

I can go one better step better and give you the actual quote as found in Stokes' edition; the quote you require comes from the Book of Lismore:

Page 4 [line 119-120]: http://www.archive.org/stream/irischete ... 4/mode/2up

fírinde inár [g]croidhedhaibh ┐ nertt inár lámhaibh ┐ comall inár tengthaibh

┐is an contraction of agus 'and'.

Irish Insular Script: fírinde inár gcroiḋeḋaiḃ ┐ nertt inár láṁaiḃ ┐ comall inár tengṫaiḃ


Here's the quote in the actual manuscript (column 2, line 7; under the large 'C'):

https://www.isos.dias.ie/resources/image.html

Cian

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Wow. That was far beyond anything I could have hoped for in a reply. I really appreciate the research. The manuscript link is, however, dysfunctional. After some googling, I found that University College Dublin MS4 is probably the one you linked me to although I still couldn't identify the quote. If you could tell me the page number of the Acallamh na Senórach manuscript I'd be doubly grateful; finding the quote in the Stokes book was more than sufficient for me though. The Irish Insular Script will look especially rad. Thanks again.

Glad I could help,

Your quote comes from the Book of Lismore.

Acallamh na Senórach has 6 witnesses that I'm aware of, i.e. found in six different MSs:


-Laud Misc. 610, ff. 123-146
-Rawlinson B 487, ff. 13a and following
-Book of Lismore, ff. 159-197
-Franciscan MS

All of the MSs are corrupt in some way, missing various parts; that's why editors have had to use a combination of all of them to create a cohesive edition.

Apologies about the link, I can't link it directly, so I'll give you some directions:

>Open up ISOS (Irish Script on Screen): https://www.isos.dias.ie/
>English
>Collections
>Chatsworth
>On the left hand side you will see, The Book of Lismore; click on that link.
>On the left hand side you will see a list of folio numbers; click on f. 198 v - f. 208 r
>Scroll down to f. 201v; Second column, line 7, directly under the C.

You're quotes starts about quarter of the way in with .fírinde ...

The MS is not the greatest example of Irish paleography. Lismore can be notoriously difficult, often being completely faded in parts. In our folio, the writing is quite squashed together - in order to conserve space - which can often make it difficult to read at times. Its also lacking any decoration. However, the hand is quite beautiful and legible. You can tell that the scribe has taken great care to plan out his writing; as all the lines are at the same level, there are the same amount of lines per column and each column is of the same width.

If you would like to read Acallamh na Senórach in English, I would highly recommend Ann Dooley and Harry Roe's book, Tales of the Elders of Ireland; its quite an accessible and enjoyable translation:

http://www.amazon.com/Elders-Ireland-Ox ... 0199549850

Cian

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