I
1
FateinEarlyIrish
Texts'
JacquelineBorsje
Abstract.
WhenwritingabouttheconceptofFateinearlyIrishtextsin1910,EdwardGwynnmadeadistinctionbetweenthepassiveandtheactivenotionofFate.Thelexicalapproachtothissubject,whichhesuggestedbutwasunabletoapply,iscarriedoutinthepresentstudy,anditbringsthepredominanceofthepassivenotiontothesurface.
An
explanationforthispredominanceisofferedhere,whichtakestheproblemsandpossibilitiesofthereconstructionofthepre-christianpastbythechristiancomposersofearlyIrishliteratureintoaccount.
Keywords:
fate,destiny,charms,lot-casting,sorcery,supernaturalbeings,Moirai,Furies,Latinlit-erature,earlyIrishliterature(OldandMiddleIrish),sagas,annals,hagiography,dindshenchas,
Pharsalia
(Lucan),
Thebaid
(Statius),Old-IrishcharmfromCodexSancriPauli,
Cetnadn-aise,AislingeOenguso,TochmarcElaine,BaileinScai/,Intengabithnua,ScelaCanomeicGartnain,
CompertConchobuir,BethaAdamndin,
'ThemiracleofSaintCiaranshand',
Acallamna
senorach,TochmarcLuaineocusaidedAthaime,
Sed
BailiBinnberlaig,TogailnaTebe,Incathcatharda..JacquelineBorsjeFaculteitderLetteren,UniversiteitUtrecht,KrommeNieuwegracht
29,
NL-35i2
16(2002)214-31ISBN2-503-51289-52
NatsolongagotherewasaconversationbetweentwomenontheDutchradio.Theyweremakingfunofseveralphenomenaassociatedwithreligion,astypicalrepre-sentativesofDutchsecularisedsocietyoftendo.Then,suddenly,oneofthembecameserious.Hestartedtotellaboutthefeelinghehadwhendrivingtoworkinthemorning.
It
washisviewthatthe
day
aheadwouldbegoodandsuccessfulforhimifalltrafficlightsweregreen.Thehabitofthismanmaybedescribedasoneofexaminingempiricalfactsformessagesaboutthefutureorthingshidden.
In
otherwords,wemaydefinewhathewasdoingasdivination.Ifaskedwhoorwhatputthosetrafficlightsongreen,hewouldcertainlynotanswer'God'or'thegods'.ButwhatofFate?Fateissovagueandelusiveaconceptthatthereisroomforitinboth
theistic
andsecularisedsociety.
In
1910,EdwardGwynnpublishedhispioneeringarticleonFateinwhichhedis-tinguished'twoprincipalnotions':
1.
An
earlierversionofthispaperwasreadon23November2002attheTionoloftheSchoolofCelticStudies(oftheDublinInstituteforAdvancedStudies).IwouldliketothankJohnCarey,Micheal
6
Ceaniil,JanPlatvoet,TomSjoblomandGregoryTonerfortheirhelpfulcommentsonthisearlierdraft.
It
shouldbenotedthatthecontentsofthispaperarepartofalargerprojectofastudyofFateinearlyIrishliterature,whichisstillworkinprogress,butwhichIhope
to
publishintheformofamonographentitled
Signsofdoom:supernaturalattendantsofFateinearlyIrishtexts
atsomestageinthefuture.Translationsinthispaperaremine,unlessstatedotherwise.
Fate
215
Thereisthe
passive
usage,inwhichwemeanbyaman's'fate'thatcourseoflifewhichismarkedoutforhim,andwhichconductshimtoacertainpre-determinedgoal.Andthereisthe
active
usage,whichweemploywhenwethinkofFateasapower,independentofman'swill,whichmarksoutthiscourseforhimanddetermineshisgoal.
2
IfweapplythisdistinctiontotheexamplewithwhichIstartedthispaper,thenweseethepassivenotionclearly:thegreentrafficlightsserveasamarkerofwhatthemanbelievesisinstoreforhim,agood,successfulday.ThequestionIformulatedafterwardshastodowiththesecondnotion:istherealsoabeliefinasupernaturalentitythattakescareofthesemarkersanddeterminesthecourseoftheday?Mycon-cernhereis,ofcourse,notwhatthemanontheradiobelievedbutwhatwecanfmdinearlyIrishtexts.Gwynnwasmostlyinterestedin'thenotionofactiveFateasaguidingordrivingpower,apartfromthehumanwill'
,3
becauseofitsrelationtoreli-giousandmoralconcepts.Thefirstnotion,however,isalsoareligiousconcept,becausethewholeideaofacertainpredeterminedpatterntolifeisahumaninter-pretation,whichweusuallyclassifyas'religious'.Thesubject'Fate'canandshouldbeapproachedinmanyways,"foritisacomplexconcept,rangingfromideasaboutchancetonotionsofpredestination.Asaresult,beliefinFateisexpressedinmanydifferentforms,fromintuitiveideastoelaboratephilosophicalsystems.OnewaytoinvestigatetheconceptofFateis,forinstance,tostudyhowpeoplewhowerereputedtohaveinsightintothefuture(suchasdruids,seers,prophets,saints,andsoon)weredescribedintheliteratureandwhatmethods(e.g.divination,prophecy)theyweresaidtohaveapplied.Gwynnstartedhisstudywithalexicalapproach,butafteraninitialattemptheabandonedthismethod."TheIrishwordsforFatethathefoundinthethenexistingdictionarieseitherdidnotexpressthe'metaphysicalnotion'
(I
presumehemeanstheactivenotionhere),orwerelateformsordidnotdesignateFateatall.Gwynnonlyacceptedtheterm
tru
asavaliddescriptivewordfor'someonewhoisunderthesentenceoffate'.
6
Fortunately,wenowhavetheDictionaryoftheIrishLanguage,whichwasnotavailabletoGwynn.ThereappeartobeseveraltermsconnectedwithFate.There-
2.E.
J.
Gwynn,'OntheideaoffateinIrishliterature',
J
IvernianSoc
2
(1910)152-65:152.3.
ibid.4.ForotherpreliminarystudiesofFateinearlyIrishtexts,seeA.G.vanHamel,'TheconceptionofFateinearlyTeutonicandCelticreligion',
Saga-BookoftheVikingSocietyforNorthernResearch
10(1936)202-14;J.
Borsje,
Fromchaostoenemy:encounterswithmonstersinearlyIrishtexts:aninvestigationrelatedtotheprocessofchristianizationandtheconceptofevil,
InstrumentaPatristica
29
(Tumhout
1996)66-86;
TomSjoblom,
EarlyIrishtaboos:astudyincognitivehistory,
ComparativeReligion5(Helsinki
2000)97-107,
andtheliteraturecitedintheseworks.'
5.Gwynn,
152.
6.ibid.
152-54.
Theideaofsomeonebeing
tm,
'doomed,fey',istobeclassifiedasanexpress-ionofthepassivenotionofFate:itreferstosomeone'spersonalfate--thatwhichisinstoreforthe
216
BorsjeFate
217fore,itisnowpossibletoapplyGwynn'slexicalapproach,whichisalegitimateone.
By
lookingforexamplesofIrishwordsrelatedtoFate,wemayobtainacollectionofearlyIrishtextsrepresentingmedievalIrishviewson
Fate."
OtherthanGwynn,ItaketheviewthatalltheseexamplesfaUwithinthecategory'metaphysical'(asdefinedabove),althoughthedegreetowhichthisisso,maydiffer.Ontheotherhand,IhavebecomeintriguedbyGwynn'sdistinctionbetweenthepassiveandactivenotionofFate.HavingconstructedacorpusoftextsaboutFatefromnumerousreferencesIcollectedonthebasisofrelevantentriesfromDIL,IfoundthatGwynn'sdistinctionisausefulinstrumentforgettingadeeperinsightintothewayshowtheconceptofFatewasemployedbycomposersofearlyIrishliterature.Thispaperattemptstogiveaselectiveand,onehopes,representativesurveyofthewaysinwhichFateisliterallyreferredtoinearlyIrishliterature.Moreover,apreliminarytheorywillbeofferedaboutthewayinwhichtheconceptofFatewasusedbysomeoftheauthorsofearlyIrishtexts.'Iwishforthewood(woodenboard?)ofnotice(?)andofsilverraven(chief?)betweenfireandwall.Iwishforthethreethinboars.MayafairyattendmyencounterwithcerealanddairyproduceofwhateverImoveitfor.
If
Ibegrantedgoodluckheremay
it
becerealanddairyproducethatIsee.IfIbenotgrantedgoodluckletitbewolves(lit."wilddogs")anddeerandtraversingofmountainsandyoungwarriorsofthe
flan
thatIsee'.
11
AnothertranslationandinterpretationisgivenbyJohnCarey:
Adguisiufidnallabrach
7
arggatbrainetirtenid
7
fraig.Adguisiunatriturcutercu.tairisiabairmochondailconitl:
7
mlicht
neicb
arindchuiriur,maromthoicthersainsoroptth
7
mlichtadcearmanimrothcaitherropatchoinaltai
7
ois
7
imthechtslebe
7
oaicfeneadcearP
'Idesirethewoodof
allabair
and
argatbran,
betweenfireandwall.1desirethethreeleanboars.MayaphantomcometomeetmewiththegrainandmilkofwhoeveritisonwhomIcastit.Ifthisisdestinedforme;letitbegrainandmilkthat1see.Ifitisnotdestinedforme,letitbewolvesandstagsandwanderingonthemountainandyoungwarriorsthatIsee'
.12
Thisisthemostcomplicatedtextamongmyexamples,butitisclearatleastthatthesentencewhichgivesthepassivepresentsubjunctive(3rdsg.)of
"tocaid
referstodivination.
It
is
uncertain"
whetherthecharmisaformoflot-casting,whichinter-pretationisgivenbyKimMcCone,orwhetheritisa
spell,"
whichviewisvoiced
by
I.
PASSIVEFORMS
ThefirstgroupofreferencestoFatetobediscussedareverbalformsofeither
*tocaiJil
or
cinnid.
ThefirstexampleisanOld-IrishcharmfromCodexSanctiPauli,amanuscriptfromtheninthcentury:"
personwhois
tm-and
nottotheentitythatlaysthedoomuponthepersoninvolved.7.Ifweuse,forinstance,TomPeeteCross's
Motif-indexofearlyIrishliterature
(BloomingtonIN1952),thereferencestoFatearemainlybaseduponamodemviewofFateasappliedbythecompilersoftheindex.Moreover,asGWynn(154andfurther)pointedout,theideaofapredeterminedfateofsomemainprotagonistsofthetalesisalsotobefoundinthe
texts
intheabsenceofanyexplicitmentionofatermforFate(althoughtheword
tnt
maybeamarkerthatFateisatwork).Theanalysisofsuchtextsisneeded,asareotherapproachestoFatebutitseemsthatthelexicalapproachbringsustotheheartofthematter,viz.whatearlyIrishcomposersoftheliter-atureassociatedwith,andunderstoodby,Fate.
It
goeswithoutsayingthatthislexicalstudyshouldbecomplementedbytheapproachesmentionedhereandbyastudyoftermsforFateinHiberno-Latintexts.Thesearebeyondthescopeofthispaper.8.Oftheverb
"tocaid
onlypassiveformsareextant.Onthereconstruction
"tucaid
seeStefanSchumacher,'OldIrish
"tucaid,
toead
andMiddleWelsh
tynghof
tynghet
re-examin:d',
Eriu46
(1995)49-57:50.9.Notethatsomepoemsinthismanuscriptareconsiderablyearlier(TP
ii,
p.xxxiii),10.TP
ii
293.11.KimMcCone,
PaganpastandchristianpresentinearlyIrishliterature,
MaynoothMono-graphs3(Maynooth1990)207.McCone('Werewolves,cyclopes,
dlberga,
andfianna:
juveniledelinquencyinearlyIreland',
Camb
Mediev
CeltStud
12(1986)1-22:12)translatedthelatterpartofthecharmpreviouslyasfollows:'Letaphantomcornetomywolf-trystwithcerealanddairyproducefromeverythingforwhichIcastit.
If
thisisdestinedforme,letitbecerealanddairypro-ducethatIsee.Ifitbenotdestinedforme,letitbewolvesanddeerandmountain-wanderingandyouthsofthe
fian
thatIsee',butowingtohislaterinterpretationofthecharmasconnectedwithaboardgame,thepresenttranslationwasgiven(seefurtherMcCone,
Pagan
past,
207-09).
12.JohnCarey,"TeacsannadraiochtainEirinnsamheanaois!uath',
Breisfaoinarnduchassptoradalta,
LeachtaiCholmCille30(Maynooth2000)98-117:115.IamquotingfromtheunpublishedEnglishversion('MagicaltextsinearlymedievalIreland',18),whichJohl}Careykindlysenttome.SeealsoHansOskamp,'TheIrishmaterialinthe
st.
PaulIrishcodex',
Eigse
17(1978)385-91,andDaibhi
6
Croinin,
EarlymedievalIreland
400-1200
(London
&
NewYork1995)88,99.13.The
wordfid
inthefirstlinecan
be
connectedwithboth.
It
means'tree,wood',andisinthatsenseasynonymof
crann,
whichmayalsodesignate'awoodenpiece(usedincastinglots),(DIL,
s,v,
crann
(dj),
Fid
isusedinthissenseintheword
fidlann,
meaning'apieceofwoodusedindivination',or'thedivination'itself.
Fid
isalsopartofthecompounds
fidba,
'somekindofmaleficspe1lorsorcery
(?)'
(seeDILs.
v.
2.fidba)and
fithnaisie),
'somekindofsorceryormaleficmagic'.14.ComparetheWelshphrase
miadynghafdynghet,
'Idestineadestiny',whichfunctionsasa
spell
(seeSchumacher,'OldIrish
"tucaid';
and
T.
M.Charles-Edwards,
'Mi
a
dynghaf
dynghed
andrelatedproblems',inJosephF.Eska,R.GeraintGruffydd
&
NicolasJacobs(ed),
Hispano-
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Fate in Early Irish Texts
"Fate in Early Irish Texts" by Jacqueline Borsje, appearing in Peritia, Vol.16, 2002
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