De chophur in da muccida

De chophur in da muccida [ dʴe 'xofur in da' vukʴiða ] ("From the [ metamorphosis ?] Of the two swineherd") is the title of a Remscéla (narration) of the Táin Bó Cuailnge ("The cattle robbery of Cooley ") from Ulster -Cycle of Irish Mythology . Two different versions have survived, one of them in the Lebor Laignech ("The Book of Leinster"), the other in a manuscript from the 16th century (MS Egerton 1782, Egerton collection, British Library , London). However, literary scholars assume other (lost) versions, as one of the surviving versions is compiled and allusions to this can be found in the saga Togail Bruidne Da Derga ("The Destruction of the Hall Da Dergas").

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Friuch and Rucht, the swineherd of the elf kings of Connacht and Munster , have a magic contest over the acorn mast in the art of transformation. One after the other they transform into birds ( Ingen and Haste , "Claw" and "Wings"), sea monsters ( Bled and Blod ), deer, warriors ( Scáth and Sciath , "Shadow" and "Shield"), ghosts, dragons and Water worms ( Cruinniuc and Tuinniuc ). In this last form they are swallowed by two cows while they are drinking. The cows become pregnant and give birth to bull calves, which will become Ireland's two most famous bulls . These bulls, from Ulster the Donn Cuailnge and the Findbennach from Connacht, are the reason for the fight between the two provinces.

The shepherd, who at the beginning bears the name Friuch, takes over the name of his opponent Rucht at the end of the legend - from then on he calls himself Runce. The story does not reveal the reason for this name exchange.

etymology

Christine Dröge tries to establish a connection between the unused word chophur and the Sanskrit term saṃsāra ("painful cycle [of rebirth]"). The idea of a Celtic doctrine of reincarnation or the migration of souls, however, is not undisputed by other Celtologists . See also Scél Tuain meic Chairill ("The Metamorphoses of Túan mac Cairill ") and Fintan mac Bóchra .

literature

Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. Tosa Verlag, Vienna 2004.
Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .

Web link

Gearóid Mac Eoin: Germans, Celts and Irish: 150 years of German Celtology. Buske Verlag, 1990, p. 171 f.

Individual evidence

↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 870.
^ Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. Pp. 130, 282 f.
↑ Christine Dröge: An Irish saṃsāra? Reflections on the question of the "Celtic doctrine of the migration of souls". In: Journal of Celtic Philology. Vol. 39, 1982, ISSN 0084-5302 , p. 261 ff.
↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 914 f.

[1] Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 870.

[2] Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. Pp. 130, 282 f.

[3] Christine Dröge: An Irish saṃsāra? Reflections on the question of the "Celtic doctrine of the migration of souls". In: Journal of Celtic Philology. Vol. 39, 1982, ISSN 0084-5302 , p. 261 ff.

[4] Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 914 f.