Finn cycle
The Finn cycle , also called Fionn cycle or Ossian cycle , Irish an Fhiannaíocht , is a summary of the prose stories and poems about Fionn mac Cumhaill and his companions from Irish mythology . These stories are all set in Ireland at the time of King Cormac mac Airt at the beginning of the 3rd century . The cycle was collected from the 7th century and new additions have been added to this day.
Main characters and stories (extracts)
The main characters of the individual works include Fionn mac Cumhaill, his son Oisín , his grandson Oscar , the High Kings Cormac mac Airt and Conn Cétchathach , King Tadg mac Nuadat , the warriors of Fianna , z. B. Diarmuid , Caílte mac Rónáin , Goll mac Morna and Lugaid Lága , Fionn's servant Abarta , his opponent Aillén , as well as Fionn's mother Muirne , his wife Sadhbh and his fiancée Gráinne .
Well-known stories are Diarmuid and Gráinne , Cath Finntrágha , as well as the extensive compilations Macgnímartha Finn , Duanaire Finn and the Acallam na Senórach , which combines a few Fionn episodes in one framework.
"Ossian"
James Macpherson (1736–1796) used the sagas from the Finn cycle for his allegedly original Scottish Gaelic epic poems, actually composed by him between 1760 and 1765 , which are famous under the title Works of Ossian (German title "Ossians Gesänge") were. All over Europe these stories were celebrated as real works and they contributed to the development of the Sturm und Drang period in Germany in the second half of the 18th century.
See also
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 .
- Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag 1991, ppb edition Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 .
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
- Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-48234-1 .