Amairgin mac Ecit Salaig

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Amairgin mac Ecit Salaig [ 'avarʴɣʴinʴ mak' egʴid 'salɣʴ ], also Amergin , Amorgen , Aimhirghin , is the name of a poet at the court of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster cycle of the Celtic mythology of Ireland . His wife is Finncháem , a sister of Conchobar mac Nessa, his famous son Conall Cernach .

mythology

Amairgin mac Ecit Salaig is the son of the blacksmith Ecit Salaig ("Ecit the Dirty") and, thanks to his talent, makes him a celebrated poet ( fili ). In the Lebor Laignech ("Book of Leinster") it is said that the poet Aithirne tried to kill Amairgin because he was jealous of him. When he orders a new ax in the smithy of Ecit Salaig, his unwashed son, who has never spoken before, greets him with a poem in dark poetic language. When Aithirne then tries to kill him with the ax he has just acquired, Ecit Salaig uses a trick to prevent this. As a punishment, Aithirne is forced by the kids to teach the young competitor as a student. Soon afterwards, he was appointed ollam , the chief poet of Ireland , in place of his teacher .

In a more recent version of the story Compert Con Chulainn ("Cú Chulainn's conception"), Amairgin and Finncháem are the foster parents of the boy Sétanta mac Sualtaim, who then became Ulster's most famous hero under the name of Cú Chulainn . That is why Cú Chulainn and Conall Cernach are foster brothers whose rivalries are described in Remscélas ("Pre-stories") to the Táin Bó Cuailnge ("The cattle robbery of Cooley"). One example is Fled Bricrenn ("Bricrius' Fest"). In Aided Chon Culainn ("The Death of Cú Chulainn") Conall finally avenges the death of his foster brother.

In the legend Cath Maige Mucrama ("The Battle of Mag Mucrama") Amairgin kills the three-headed monster Ellén Trechend , who lives in the cave of Cruachain ( Rathcroghan , County Roscommon ) and from there devastates all of Ireland. At the beginning of the battle between Ulster and Connacht , he is also said to have fought a duel with giant stones with the Connacht hero Cú Roí , which they finally had to break off on the orders of Queen Medb .

Another legendary figure is Amergin , the druid and bard of the Milesians , who supports his people with magic spells when they land in Ireland and in the fight against the Túatha Dé Danann .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture ., P. 17.
  2. ^ John Carey, Tales from the Ulster Cycle, The Celtic Heroic Age. (Edition John T. Koch & John Carey) 1997, p. 48 ff.
  3. ↑ RIBest / MAO'Brien (ed.): Book of Leinster Vol. 5, S, 1251 f.
  4. ↑ Cecile O'Rahilly: Táin Bó Cúalnge from the Book of Leinster , Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 1967, p. 244 f.