Gráinne (legendary figure)

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Gráinne [ ˈgrɒːnʲə ] ( Irish : grain, grain ) is a legendary figure in the Celtic mythology of Ireland , the main female character in the story " Diarmuid and Gráinne ". She is the daughter of the High King Cormac mac Airt and Fionn mac Cumhail promised to marry.

etymology

Birkhan assumes that Gráinne is derived from the old Celtic * grann-ia . Via the god Grannus, there would then be a connection to his female counterpart Sirona (for example "big calf"). This can also be a derivation of pre-Celtic * greina , Old Irish grían , Gen. gréne ("sun"), or from grond, gronn ("fire blight "), which in turn leads directly to the etymology of Grannus.

A character with a name coming from the same root is Grían, Áine's sister and foster daughter of Manannan mac Lir . Grian is also associated with macha . The hill Cnoc Gréine ( County Limerick ), which is her place of residence, is named after her .

mythology

The story "Diarmuid and Grainne" is part of the Southern Irish Finn cycle around Fionn mac Cumhail. Although she has been promised to be Fionn's wife, Gráinne gives the young and beautiful Fianna warrior Diarmuid a geis that he must kidnap her before the wedding. Diarmuid cannot escape this and escapes with Gráinne, with his brothers at his side. Fionn pursues the small band with his warriors and repeatedly forces them to fight. Since Diarmuid, out of allegiance, has not touched Gráinne for a long time, she mocks him when drops of water splash on her thigh while crossing a river:

"This drop is braver than you!"

In the grove of the holy mountain ash trees, where they find refuge, Gráinne von Diarmuid becomes pregnant. When she discovers Fionn there too, Diarmuid's divine foster father helps Oengus and makes peace between the opponents. The couple then moved to Rath Gráinne in North Connacht , where they lived undisturbed for several years. Gráinne has a total of five children, a daughter and four sons from Diarmuid. But then the still vengeful Fionn succeeds in luring Diarmuid into a trap; in a fight with a boar that he has brought about, his rival dies. Gráinne learns what happened from Fionn's son Oisín and she distributes her husband's weapons among his sons so that they can one day avenge their father's death.

Some dolmens (barrows) in Ireland still bear the name Leapthacha Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne ("Beds of Diarmuid and Gráinne"). St. Cronán's church from the 10th century is one of the oldest still used churches in Ireland and is located in the village of Tuamgraney ( Tuaim Gréine , "Gráinne's Tomb") in the east of County Clare . Gráinne is said to be buried in this church.

Gráinne is the predecessor of Isolde and in her fate almost identical to Deirdre from the Northern Irish saga.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ translation of Gráinne in the FOCAL database
  2. ↑ a b 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 , p. 454 f.
  3. ↑ 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 , p. 621.
  4. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag 1991, ppb edition Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 , p. 231 f.