The Mythological Cycle is a conventional division within Irish mythology, concerning a set of tales about the godlike peoples said to have arrived in five migratory invasions into Ireland and principally recounting the doings of the Tuatha Dé Danann. It is one of the four major cycles of early Irish literary tradition, the others being the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Cycles of the Kings.
The term "Mythological Cycle" seems to have gained currency with Arbois de Jubainville, c. 1881–1883; usage predating this applies the term generically, e.g. to Norse mythology. In the opinion of Mackillop (1998), use of the term is "somewhat awkward today".
Overview[]
The characters appearing in the cycle are essentially gods from the pre-Christian pagan past in Ireland. Commentators exercising caution, however, qualify them as representing only "godlike" beings, and not gods. This is because the Christian scribes who composed the writings were generally (though not always) careful not to refer to the Tuatha Dé Danann and other beings explicitly as deities. The disguises are thinly veiled nonetheless, and these writings contain discernible vestiges of early Irish polytheistic cosmology.
Examples of works from the cycle include numerous prose tales, verse texts, as well as pseudo-historical chronicles (primarily the Lebor Gabála Érenn (LGE), commonly called The Book of Invasions) found in medieval vellum manuscripts or later copies. Some of the romances are of later composition and found only in paper manuscripts dating to near-modern times (Cath Maige Tuired and The Fate of the Children of Tuireann).
Near-modern histories such as the Annals of the Four Masters and Geoffrey Keating's History of Ireland (=Seathrún Céitinn, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn) are also sometimes considered viable sources, since they may offer additional insights with their annotated and interpolated reworkings of LGE accounts.
Orally transmitted folk-tales may also be, in a broad sense, considered mythological cycle material, notably, the folk-tales that describe Cian's tryst with Balor's daughter while attempting to recover the bountiful cow Glas Gaibhnenn.
The god-folk of the successive invasions are "euhemerised", i.e., described as having dwelt terrestrially and ruling over Ireland in kingship before the age of mortal men (the Milesians, or their descendants). Afterwards, the Tuatha Dé Danann are said to have retreated into the sídhe (fairy mounds), cloaking their presence by raising the féth fiada (fairy mist). Having disappeared but not died, the deities oftentimes make "guest appearances" in narratives categorised under other cycles. (e.g., Lugh's appearance as the divine father and Morrígan as nemesis to the Ulster hero Cuchulainn; encounters of Finnian characters with dwellers of the sidhe; Cormac mac Airt's, or his grandfather's visits to the otherworldly realms.)
Collected literature, while they do not belong to the cycle in entirety, nevertheless capture tidbits of lore about the deities.
Lists of literature[]
In the list that follows, citations are generally only given if the wiki page for that work is not developed. Otherwise, citations are deferred to the wiki article in question. See External links for additional titles.
History of the Mythological Cycle[]
The main source of mythology comes from The Book of Invasions or Lebor Gabala Erenn. It is an abridged compilation of both prose and poetry on the origins of Ireland and the extraordinary deities. The original was more expansive, but perished in what is to be assumed Viking raids or being claimed during wartime. A supplemental text is attributed to a chronicler that goes by the name Keating who published his book in the 17th century. He had access to materials that have yet been published. Nennius and Eochaid Ua Flainn, chroniclers who lived during the 10th century, recorded mythological Irish history by way of poetry. Though their contributions are short and semi-vague, they contain a lot of precious information on Ireland's spiritual beliefs of the time. The Tuatha De Danann can be linked to the same origins as the Gods in Greek mythology. Hesoid calls the Greek Gods the Golden Race, but similar attributes are seen in Celtic Gods.
In Irish mythology, Ireland was subject to 6 invasions. The first 5 were from otherworldy beings, and the last was from Milesians. The Tautha De Danaan were known to come from the heavens, but that may be from scribes not knowing how to execute their origin. So the scribes borrowed from past religions like the Greek, Roman and Eastern myth to create an origin story. The Gauls were thought to come from underneath the Earth. This information had been passed down from druids from Dispater, the God of the underworld. Earth was thought to be a woman at the time, so this was thought to be a metaphorical birth, not ascending from hell. The Earth, moon and sun were thought to be created by druids, much like how Brahmans boasted the same cosmogony story. Much like preceding myth, the Gauls believed the trees and mountains held up the sky. These stories stayed in the oral tradition because the Irish had not been invaded at the time like surrounding countries. In conjunction, the druidic schools wanted to maintain the stories in verbal form. This kept the stories in circulation to the culture and public. When Christian scribes came to Ireland, they wrote down the stories in Latin. Unfortunately, in succeeding centuries many of the texts were lost or destroyed during Viking raids. The remaining texts were rerecorded in manuscripts in the 11th and 12th century. Though previous manuscripts were are dated to 3-4 centuries earlier in the Irish language.
History of the Tuatha De Danaan[]
The Tuatha De Denann are semi-divine beings that came to Ireland by ships and inhabited the country before the native Irish. They came to Ireland to take the land from the Fir Bolgs that have already been residing in the north of Ireland at the time. The Tuatha were immediately perceived as gods for their superior skills: various arts of Druidry, magic, prophecy and history. Their leader was named Nuada. He led them to war against the Fir Bolgs around the west shore of Ireland, where the Tuatha had arrived by ship. Many of the Tuatha died in this war, but thousands of Fir Bolgs died. Including their leader, Eochai Mac Erc. They come from another world, but reside in Ireland until they were pushed out by war with a semi-demonic race called the Fomorians. Their king is known in the mythology as Balor. The Fomorians resided on the outskirts of Ireland. When the Tuatha were defeated in battle against the Milesians, they were forced to live underground in the Sidhes. The Sidhes were chambers under Ireland's surface. Though away from the mortal world, they still would come to surface on special days like Hallowe'en and May Day.
Prose tales[]
- Aislinge Óenguso ("Dream of Aengus") (remscél to TBC)
- Altram Tige Dá Medar ("The Fosterage of the House of Two [Milk-]Vessels") (Dobbs 1929; Called "Tale of Curchóg" by O'Curry).
- Cath Muige Tuired Cunga ("The [First] Battle of Mag Tuired of Cong ")
- Cath Maige Tuired ("The Second Battle of Mag Tuired")
- Ceithri cathracha i r-robadar Tuatha De Danand ("The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann")
- De Gabáil in t-Sída ("The Taking of the Fairy Mound") (remscél to TBC) (Vernam Hull 1933)
- Echtra Nera[i] ("The Adventures of Nera") (remscél to TBC)
- Eachtra Léithín ("The Adventures of Léithín") (mod. versions; Hyde 1915)
- "How the Dagda Got His Magic Staff." (Bergin, 1927)
- Oidheadh Chloinne Lir ("The Fate of the Children of Lir")
- Oidheadh Chloinne Tuirenn ("The Fate of the Children of Tuirenn") (late romance)
- Scél Tuáin meic Chairill ("The Story of Tuán son of Cairell")
- Tochomlod Nemid co hErin (?) ("The Invasion of Nemed")(frag.; Vernam Hull 1935)
- Tochomlod mac Miledh a hEspain i nErind. ("The Progress of the Sons of Mil from Spain to Ireland") (Dobbs 1937).
Verse texts[]
Besides independent verses, a number of poems are embedded in prose tales, etc. A number of them are also preserved in the pseudohistorical LGE, Keating, etc.
- Arsaidh sin a eóuin Accla ("Fintan and the Hawk of Aicill")
- Coire Érmai / Coire Goriath ("The Cauldron of Poesy")
Lore[]
Collected lore are not wholly of mythological content, but parts of it are. "The Fitness of Names" (#149–159, etc.) provides interesting explanations on names of Dian Cecht among others. Irish onomastica, the Dindshenchas, also include stories about deities such as Boann (under Inber Colptha), the Dagda (under Fidh nGaible), Brecan (Coire Brecain), often in developed narrative verse or prose tales. Genealogical tracts and the Roll of the Kings, various glosses (e.g. to the law treatise Senchus Mor) may also be culled for information.
- Banshenchas ("History of Women") Dobbs 1932
- Cóir Anmann ("The Fitness of Names"): Stokes 1897
- Dindsenchas ("Lore of Places")
- Sanas Cormaic ("Cormac's Glossary"): Nes[s] (Nescoit)
- Triads of Ireland: mention of the indeoin Dagdai, ox of Díl, etc.
Pseudohistory[]
- Chronicon Scotorum
- Lebor Gabála Érenn
Folktales[]
- Glas Gaibhnenn
Survey of prose tales[]
The euhemerised deities arrived in five sets of migrations (see Lebor Gabála Érenn), but none of the individual migrations tales (Irish: tochomlada; sing. tochomlod) survived intact. Remnants of the migration tales are the summarised accounts given in the LGE (Book of Invasions). Apart from these are the tale of Tuan mac Cairill, Fintan mac Bóchra colloquy. Tuan and Fintan are ancient beings from the Antediluvian past, who have reincarnated into different creatures, and are referred to in the LGE as well.
Of the battle tales (Irish: catha; sing. cath), the full narratives of the First and Second Battle of Moytura (Battles of Mag Tuired) survive in relatively late (16th century) manuscripts. Other important battle tales such as the Cath Tailten (Battle of Tailten) or Orgain Tuir Chonaind ("Massacre of Conan's Tower") are lost, though abstracted in the LGE.
The late romance of Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann ("The Fate of the Children of Tuireann") tells how Lugh fines the sons of Tuireann for his father Cian's murder, compelling them to collect a series of magical objects and weapons which will be useful in the second battle of Mag Tuired against the Fomorians. An earlier version of this is recorded in the LGE, with a somewhat different list of fines (eiric), with no indication the murder happened on the eve of the great battle.
In the Oidheadh Chloinne Lir ("The Fate of the Children of Lir"), the eponymous children are turned into swans by their jealous stepmother and live in swan form into Christian times, when they are converted, transformed back into human form, and die of extreme old age.
Tochmarc Étaíne ("The Wooing of Étaín") tells first of the conception of Aengus through the adultery of the Dagda and Boann, and how Aengus won the residence of the Brú na Bóinne from Boann's husband Elcmar. It goes on to tell of the various lives of Étaín, wife of Midir, who is turned into a fly and driven away by Midir's jealous first wife Fuamnach. She becomes the companion of Aengus in insect form before Fuamnach once again drives her away, and she is swallowed by a mortal woman and reborn as her daughter. Her beauty attracts the attention of the High King, Eochaid Airem, who marries her, but ultimately Midir wins her back by magic and trickery.
There is also a curious account regarding Goídel Glas, the legendary ancestor of the migratory races and eponymous creator of the Gaelic language, and how he was cured by Moses's rod from a snake bite, related to in the LGE, although Macalister is dismissive of it as a fiction invented by glossators.