Bruids
Bruiden [ 'bruðʼen ] is the old Irish name for a festival hall. Their owners were either large farmers ( briuga ), the high for their generous hospitality reputation enjoyed or kings in which they (Irish the center of their residence dún , Raith ; Gallo dũnom , Ratis ; welsh din , caer ) were formed.
Say
In the story Scéla mucce Meic Dathó (“The story of Mac Dathó's pig”) it is reported that there were six such huge halls in all of Ireland , the owners of which were the large farmers Da Derga , Forgall Manach , Mac Dathó , Mac Da-Reo, Da- Choca and Blaí Briugu were. However, other such halls are mentioned in other sagas, such as in Fled Bricrenn ("Bricrius Fest") that of the briuga Bricriu Nemthenga.
The shape of such a festival hall is described by Thurneysen using the example of that of the bruid Da Derga as circular. Hundreds of warriors and a large number of servants could have been accommodated in it. In the middle of the room is the fireplace for cooking as well as the place of the host or the king, all around, divided into sectors, the dining tables for the guests staggered according to their rank. The hall stands in the middle of a crossroads and has seven gates, but only one on the windward side is locked - a sign of the owner's hospitality. Bricriu Nemthengas bruiden is said to have had a facade made of bronze with jewelery.
Archaeological finds
Archaeological finds, however, relativize this exaggerated description of legends. In the royal seat of Temair ( County Meath ), smaller buildings surrounded by ramparts were exposed, but no festival hall. It is doubtful whether the enclosure north of Ráth na Ríogh ("Royal Enclosure") was the king's hall sought, although this earthfill is now called the "Banquet Hall". In Cruachain , the legendary seat of Medb and Ailill mac Máta in Connacht , today Rathcroghan ( County Roscommon ), it is not much different. Only the seat of Conchobar mac Nessa , Emain Macha (today Navan Fort in County Armagh ) has such a hall, which was called cræbrúad ("red branch") (see Emain Macha # Archaeological Findings ). The name "Rotzweig" could be derived from the half-meter thick central pillar made of oak (according to dendrochronology from 94 BC), but this remains speculation.
See also
literature
- Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 2nd, corrected and enlarged edition. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , p. 58.