Thursday, October 12, 2006
The Salmon of Knowledge
The University's International Education department ordered for all the study abroad students sweatshirts. They're actually really neat. They're heather grey with "The University of Limerick" embroidered in blue and outlined in red. On the left sleeve it has the harp with "Ollscoil Luimnigh," Irish for "The University of Limerick" and on the back it has the Salmon of Knowledge in front of an intricate celtic knot design.
Now I'm kind of a big nerd, but I really think the Salmon is cool. It comes from the Fenian Myth Cycle, as opposed to the Ulster Cycle of Cuchulainn. The Fenian cycle focuses on Fionn mac Cumhail (the name Flann O'Brien used to create Finn MacCool). Well Fionn studied under the poet Finneces, who had spent years trying to catch the Salmon of Knowledge who lived in the river Boyne. Whoever ate the Salmon would gain all the knowledge in the world. Well, finall he caught the Salmon and had Fionn cook it and, while cooking the fish, Fionn burned himself and instinctively put his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain. Doing so, he gained the salmon's wisdom. The resulting knowledge enabled Fionn to take control of the Fianna and thus enter into Folklore forever. Pretty cool, huh?
While we're on the topic of Irish Folklore, I want to talk about my Irish Folklore class. It's actually terribly fascinating. Today we studied Eibhlin Dubh ni Chonaill's keen for her husband Art O Laoghaire. It was absolutely heartwrenching. She cries, "Until Art O'Leary (the Anglicized form of the name) comes to me/my sorrow will not clear,/it weighs on my heart's core/shut up tight/like a locked trunk/when the key has been lost." What a beautiful and tragic keen. Now most of y'all won't know what a keen is. It is a lament that is sung or more shrieked out loud. It is part of the Irish tradition of the Wake, which is a three day period that allows for all the stages of grief. The keen is a beautiful form of a eulogy, but it sounds so harsh, like wailing. There are very few recordings of a keen because it was so intimately tied with death, but literature has preserved some. Lady Gregory's plays have some examples of keening.
Well I miss y'all and will definitely publish a post after I get back from Baille Atha Cliath (Dublin). Slan.
Now I'm kind of a big nerd, but I really think the Salmon is cool. It comes from the Fenian Myth Cycle, as opposed to the Ulster Cycle of Cuchulainn. The Fenian cycle focuses on Fionn mac Cumhail (the name Flann O'Brien used to create Finn MacCool). Well Fionn studied under the poet Finneces, who had spent years trying to catch the Salmon of Knowledge who lived in the river Boyne. Whoever ate the Salmon would gain all the knowledge in the world. Well, finall he caught the Salmon and had Fionn cook it and, while cooking the fish, Fionn burned himself and instinctively put his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain. Doing so, he gained the salmon's wisdom. The resulting knowledge enabled Fionn to take control of the Fianna and thus enter into Folklore forever. Pretty cool, huh?
While we're on the topic of Irish Folklore, I want to talk about my Irish Folklore class. It's actually terribly fascinating. Today we studied Eibhlin Dubh ni Chonaill's keen for her husband Art O Laoghaire. It was absolutely heartwrenching. She cries, "Until Art O'Leary (the Anglicized form of the name) comes to me/my sorrow will not clear,/it weighs on my heart's core/shut up tight/like a locked trunk/when the key has been lost." What a beautiful and tragic keen. Now most of y'all won't know what a keen is. It is a lament that is sung or more shrieked out loud. It is part of the Irish tradition of the Wake, which is a three day period that allows for all the stages of grief. The keen is a beautiful form of a eulogy, but it sounds so harsh, like wailing. There are very few recordings of a keen because it was so intimately tied with death, but literature has preserved some. Lady Gregory's plays have some examples of keening.
Well I miss y'all and will definitely publish a post after I get back from Baille Atha Cliath (Dublin). Slan.
# posted by Matt Reznicek @ 2:55 PM 
