Immacallam in dá Thuarad

Immacallam in dá Thuarad [ 'imagaLav in daː'θuarað ] ("The Conversation of the Two Wise Men") is the title of a story from the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology . Created around 800, it has been handed down in 11 manuscripts, some fragmentary from the 12th to the 16th century ( Leabhar Buidhe Leacáin ).

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The two poets ( filid ) Nédé and Ferchertne , the court poet of King Cú Roí , both claim the title of the highest poet of Ireland ( ollam ) after the death of the previous owner. At the royal court they compete in the dark, difficult to understand language of old Irish poetry. There were namely five levels of poetic language ( íambérla ), which differed by increasing degree of darkness and prescribed metrics (see also Auraicept na nÉces , "Guide for the learned poet"). They give and answer questions, especially about their person and origin, in the form of puzzles . At the end, Nédé describes the future as the “Golden Age” with general happiness and prosperity. Ferchertne contrasts this with the vision of a "terrible time" in which he prophesies the raids of the Vikings and the appearance of the Antichrist and which will only come to an end with the Last Judgment . Thereupon Nédé kneels before him and praises him as the new ollam of Ireland.

See also

• Myths and legends from Ireland
• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures

literature

Editions and translations

• Whitley Stokes : The Colloquy of the Two Sages, “Immacallam in Dá Thuarad”. In: Revue celtique 26, 1905 pp. 4-64 .

Research 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 .
• Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
• Rudolf Thurneysen : The Irish hero and king legend up to the seventeenth century . 2 vols., Halle / S., Max Niemeyer 1921.

Web links

• Paragraph Immacallam in dá Thuarad in the article Chief Ollam of Ireland in the English language Wikipedia
• John Minahane: The Christian druids: on the filid or philosopher-poets of Ireland. Howth Free Press, 2008, p. 67 f.
• The conversation of the two lay laymen's translation of the Immacallam in dá Thuarad into German (German forum).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 937.