Banshenchas

At Banshenchas ( medium-Irish [ at banˌhenxas ], literally "the woman tradition," neuirisch to Bansheanchas ) is a medieval text that brief descriptions of prominent women of Irish legend and history accumulated in short poetic stories. It can probably be assigned to a specific author and date. The poem's introduction states that Gilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside of Ard Brecáin in Meath wrote it in 1147.

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The banshenchas is set in a historical context that begins with Eve and other biblical women and carries on to the legendary women of Irish mythology such as Étaín and Emer , and eventually leads to characters that are almost certainly historical, including some women of the Hiberno-Norman aristocracy .

Manuscripts

Copies of the Banshencha are in the Book of Leinster , Leabhar Ua Maine, and the Great Book of Lecan . The poems are accompanied by comments, perhaps much later.

literature

• Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin: The Manuscript Tradition of the Banshenchas. Ériu. Vol. XXXIII (1982).
• Anne Connon: The "Banshenchas" the Ui Neill queens of Tara. in Seanchas: Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archeology, History and Literature in Honor of Francis John Byrne, ed. Alfred P. Smyth, pp. 98-108, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2000
• Anne Connon: A Prosopography of the Early Queens of Tara. in The Kingship and Landscape of Tara, ed. Edel Bhreathnach, pp. 225-360, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2005 Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia
• Banshenchus: The Lore of Women
• Margaret E. Dobbs in Revue celtique