Oisín

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Oisín ( Old Irish , pronunciation [ ˈɔʃiːnʲ ], English : Ossian or Osheen ), German "deer", is in the Finn cycle of the Celtic mythology of Ireland , which deals with the saga of Fionn mac Cumhail , his son and father of Oscar . He is also described as a great poet.

mythology

According to an old story, Oisín is the son of Fionn and a hind , the fairy princess Sadhbh who has been transformed by a druid . Oisín and his son Oscar were members of the Fianna , the Young Warrior League, whose leader was Fionn mac Cumhail. Especially towards the end of the Fenian cycle, Oisin increasingly becomes the radiant youthful counterpart to the aging Fionn.

Fionn Oisín and his companion sent Diorraing to the Hochkönig Cormac mac Airt to bring his daughter Gráinne a marriage proposal. Since Gráinne believes that Oisín is courting her personally, she says yes, but only discovers her mistake at the wedding ceremony. The result is the tragic story of Diarmuid and Gráinne , in which Fionn, unlike his son and grandson, remains irreconcilable to the end. Since he refuses to help the fatally wounded Diarmuid , Oscar even wants to cut off his head and is only prevented from doing so by Oisín. Diarmuid's injured dog takes Oisín into his care and brings him to Gráinne with the news of his death.

The grave of Oisín is said to be in Glenalmond, Scotland ( Perth ). But also a megalithic cairn in County Antrim , called Oisín's Grave , claims this for itself.

Legendary conversations between Oisín and St. Patrick of Ireland , recorded later, have been narrated in the form of the "Fenier ballads". In the framework narration Acallam na Senórach (“The Conversation of Men from Ancient Times”) from the 12th century, it is reported how St. Patrick met some long-dead Fianna men, including Oisín, and from them on a journey through Ireland to hear anecdotes about all the places visited. Oisín tells of his stay in Tír na nÓg and his wife there, the elf Niamh .

“Ossian” by François Pascal Simon Gérard

"Ossian" by Macpherson

The Scot James Macpherson wrote down the alleged stories of Ossian and passed them off as a find from Celtic prehistoric times. In the 18th and 19th centuries they were believed to be real and influenced entire generations. The dispute about the authenticity lasted for a long time, but remained almost without echo from the readership.

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JG Campbell (Ed.): Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. The Fians, or, Stories, Poems, & Traditions of Fionn and his Warrior Band. London 1891, p. 78; and Carmina Gaedelica II , p. 22 f.
  2. ↑ 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. 702.
  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 , p. 232 ff.
  4. ↑ Myles Dillon, Nora Kershaw Chadwick: The Celts. From the prehistory to the Norman invasion . Kindler's cultural history, ISBN 3-89340-058-3 , p. 448.
  5. ↑ Barry Cunliffe: The Celts and Their History. 7th edition, Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2000, p. 204.