Midir

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Midir [ 'mʴiðʴirʴ ], also Midhir , is the name of a legendary figure from the mythological cycle of the Celtic mythology of Ireland .

mythology

Midir is considered the son of Dagda from the people of the Túatha Dé Danann and is the prince of Mag Mor (the Great Plain ), also known as the ruler of Brí Léith ("Hill of Gray", Slieve Callory near Ardagh in County Longford ). He is the servant and messenger of the Dagda and constant traveler between the world of the Sidhe and the mortal, the father of several great heroes of the Irish, e. B. von Oengus , who knocks out an eye in an argument. Oicnis and Bláthnat are considered to be his daughters .

In the legend Tochmarc Étaíne ("The courtship for Étaín") his lover Étaín is pursued with hatred by his wife Fuamnach, married by King Eochaid Airem and won by Midir in a duel. Midir's weapon is a multi-pointed lance reminiscent of the Gae Bolga of the hero Cú Chulainn .

He [Eochaid Airem] suddenly saw a young alien warrior [Midir] standing by his side on the hill. The warrior's tunic was purple, his hair golden yellow and so long that it reached down to his shoulders. The eyes were gray and flashed. In one hand he held a spear with five points, in the other a shield with a white hump in the middle and gold decorations […].

According to Thurneysen , the insulting poet Aithirne is said to have forced through fasting and Glám dícenn Midir to give him the "three cranes of stinginess" ( corr diúltada ). The first one keeps shouting “Don't come!” , The second “Go away!” And the third “Past the house!” . Anyone who even looked at these three cranes could not survive a fight that day.

In the first version of Lebor Gabála Érenn ("The Book of the Lands of Ireland") Midir is called by Brí Léith the "son of Induí, the son of Échtach, the son of Etarlam"; in another version, Neit is the son of Induí. It is unclear whether it is the same person in each case. Etarlam may be Bresal Etarlam .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Pp. 688, 842 f.
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 670.
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 1136.
  4. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 , p. 539.
  5. ^ Rudolf Thurneysen: On Irish texts. Journal of Celtic Philosophy, 1918.
  6. ^ Sylvia & Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology , Tosa Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 9783854928461 , p. 351 f.