Macgnímartha Finn
Macgnímartha Finn [ 'makɣʴnʴiːvarθa fʴiN ] ("Fionn's youth deeds"), also Macgnímartha Find , is a collection of adventures by the young Fionn mac Cumhaill in the Finn cycle of Irish mythology . It has been handed down in a version (Laud 610: folio 118Rb-121Va) that the Celtologist Kuno Meyer dated to the 12th century in his 1881 edition for the Revue Celtique . This version ends with the story of Fionn visiting a Sídhe on the way to Tara - more episodes were added later.
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Fionn's father Cumhall mac Basna is killed in the battle of Castleknock ( County Dublin ) by Goll mac Morna on behalf of King Tadg mac Nuadat , the father of his wife Muirne , because he is against the warrior's connection with his daughter. But Muirne is already pregnant and gives birth to a son under the protection of Hochkönig Conn Cétchathach , whom she calls Demne ( * dam-niḭos , " little deer"). He is raised in a remote forest by his father Cumhall's sister, the druid Bodhmall , who is also known as Los Lurgann ("Schnellfuß"). She teaches him fast running, high jump, swimming and the weapons trade and gives him the name Fionn (“white”, “blond”, “beautiful”). He acquired his famous sword Mac an Luinn later with the help of his mother.
Since Goll's men seek Fionn's life, he wanders across Ireland . He is taught by the druid Finegas (also Fineces ). He has caught the “salmon of knowledge” ( eó fis ) and Fionn is supposed to roast it for his teacher, but he is forbidden to taste it. Since Fionn burns his thumb in the process, he reflexively licks it off, thereby gaining all the secret knowledge that Finegas wanted to acquire for himself. Later this knowledge is transferred to a tooth through the constant sucking on the thumb. With this “wisdom tooth” ( dét fis ) he always chews his thumb when he needs mythical knowledge, until he chews the thumb almost to the bone.
During his first visit to the royal castle of Tara, he was able to defeat the fire demon Aillén . This gives him the supreme command of the Fianna warrior troops, which his father once commanded and which up to this point had been led by Goll mac Morna. Goll has to swear allegiance to him on the orders of the Hochkönig.
The Wisdom obtaining Fionn can with the history Hanes Taliesin are compared, where the young Gwion Bach (Taliesin) obtained similarly magical knowledge.
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 .
- Helmut Birkhan: Post-ancient Celtic reception. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 .
- Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter, Düsseldorf et al. 1991, ISBN 3-530-70014-2 , pp. 290 ff. (2nd edition. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-491-69109-5 ).