The Book of Irish Verse
Irish Poetry From The Sixth Century To The Present
edited by John Montague
published by Bristol Park Books, New York, 1998

OLD MYTHOLOGIES

The poem CORMAC MAC AIRT PRESIDING AT TARA, version by Douglas Hyde, describes an ideal king. “Beautiful was the appearance in that assembly. Flowing and slightly curling was his golden hair.”

This first sentence is followed by a long passage describing the appearance and dress of Cormac in that assembly. The description of his appearance is followed by a last sentence telling why he was considered beautiful, “ And he was himself, besides, symmetrical and beautiful of form, without blemish or reproach” (Montague, 50).

Symmetry was the defining quality of beauty. The importance of symmetry and balance is a point I make in parts of my research essay about John Millington Synge's play Riders to The Sea.

Not only does the passage in CORMAC MAC AIRT PRESIDING AT TARA give a description about the subject of symmetry, but the written form of the passage is symmetrical in that the first and last sentences balance each other, with a lavish description in between.

Another example of balance and symmetry in Irish poetry is found in THE ALPHABET CALENDAR OF AMERGIN, version by Robert Graves. The poem, in three stanzas, begins with “I am” in every line, followed by a noun, separated from the description by a colon. For example:

“I am a stag: of seven tines.” The right side, after the first line, can be read as a continuous flow, “I am a stag of seven tines across a plain on a deep lake the Sun lets fall, above the cliff beneath the nail among flowers, who but I Sets the cool head aflame with smoke? (Montague, 45).

The form of this poem is perfectly balanced, with the colon acting as a fulcrum between the two sides. It also hints that each side of the equation might contain its own story and logic apart from each other, just as the human brain has two hemispheres that work in unison but also contain their own separate left brain – right brain functions.

The poem THE PLAIN OF ADORATION, version by John Montague, describes a vile idol once worshiped in pagan Ireland. It is a poem of seven stanzas, the first being “Here was raised/ a high idol of cruel fights:/ the Cromm Cruaich-/ The King Idol of Ireland.”

The poem goes on to tell: “He was their Molech,/ this withered hump of mists,/ dominating every harbour,/ denying the eternal kingdom.” Calling to mind stone circles like Stonehenge, The third verse says, “In a circle stood/ four times three idols of stone:/ to bitterly enslave his people,/ the pivot figure was gold.”

The ancient festival of Samhain is brought to mind with these words, “In dark November/ when the two worlds near each other,/ he glittered among his subjects,/ blood-crusted, insatiable.”
The fifth verse states that “To him without glory,/ would they sacrifice their firstborn;/ with wailing and danger/ pouring new blood for the Stooped One.”

The sixth verse is this, “Under his shadow/ they cried and mutilated their bodies;/ from this worship of dolour/ it is called the Plain of Adoration.”

The final verse compares the two halves of the Irish belief system. “From the rule of Eremon/ well bred and graceful Goidels/ worshipped such stones until/ the coming of good Patrick to Armagh” (Montague, 48-49).

In my research essay Riders to The Sea, I discuss the festival of Samhain in connection with the character Maurya who talks about the dark days of Samhain. There is also a brief statement about the struggle between the old religion and Christianity. The stones were apparently symbolic of the King who was symbolically compared to the god Molech. It was to this idol that human sacrifices were offered, particularly the sacrifice of the first newborn child of the adherents. The Old Testament of the Bible contains laws stating the proscribed sacrifices of herd and crops. The “first fruits”, the best of everything, were to be offered to God through the Levitical priesthood. The Bible specifically denounces the human sacrifices to Molech, who is mentioned specifically.

In Leviticus 18:21 it states: “You will not allow any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, thus profaning the name of your God. I am Yahweh” (The New Jerusalem Bible or NJ version).

Leviticus 20:2 repeats the command, “Anyone, be he Israelite or alien resident in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech, will be put to death...” (NJ). 1 Kings 11:7 states, “Then it was that Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain to the east of Jerusalem, and to Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites (NJ).

Footnote b of that page explains “'Milcom' Gk; “Molech” Hebr.”, or in other words, Milcom was another designation for Molech. Jeremiah 32:34-35 shows the reason why Molech was a debased god, “Instead, they set up their horrors in the Temple that bears my name to defile it, and built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters alive in honour of Molech: a thing I have never ordered, that had never entered their thoughts- that they would cause Judah to sin by anything so loathsome" (NJ).

Although the poem THE PLAIN OF ADORATION is listed under the section called Old Mythologies, it is clear from Biblical history that the Israelites faced the same set of circumstances in opposing the worship of Molech as did the new religion, Christianity, when Saint Patrick forbade converts to continue sacrificing their children to Cromm Cruaich.

THE HAG OF BEARE is a poem from the ninth century. This poem gives good examples used in ancient times as motifs and archetypes. One example was the Hag motif. In mythology, the Hag could appear at any stage of life. In spring she was a beautiful maiden. In winter she was old and ragged. She typified the agricultural year that was linked to various fertility gods and their rites. She was also an archetype of mother and goddess. The poem is twenty-nine verses in length.

The poem describes life from an old woman's viewpoint. She discusses her youth and how things were better in the “good old days”. There are several correlating points to my essay about Riders to The Sea. In the play, Maurya is an old woman who recalls the days when her husband and sons were all alive and providing for the family as fishermen. After their deaths she speaks of the poverty facing her and her daughters.

In THE HAG OF BEARE, the speaker introduces herself in the second stanza, “I am the hag of Beare/ Fine petticoats I used to wear/ Today, gaunt with poverty,/ I hunt for rags to cover me” (Montague, 71).

Toward the end of the play Riders to The Sea, a group of woman mourners come to Maurya's cottage wearing red petticoats, a garment common on the Island where Synge lived for a time.
The speaker in THE HAG OF BEARE states another motif that could be linked to Odin, “And my right eye has been taken away/ As down-payment on heaven's estate...”

An integral part of the mythology of Odin is the belief that he lost an eye as the price of learning sacred secrets. This woman may have lost an eye after a lifetime, but it is more likely an allusion to the worship of Odin. Since Odin was a trickster and shape-shifter, the poem also inherently asks the question if he might have also been a cross-dresser in one of his disguises.

THE WARP-SPASM, version by Thomas Kinsella, contains a long description of the physical changes Cuchulain experienced when he grew angry with battle furor. “He sucked one eye so deep in to his head that a wild crane couldn't probe it on to his cheek out of the depths of his skull; the other eye fell out along his cheek (Montague, 78).

Unlike Odin and more like The Incredible Hulk, Cuchulain returned to his normal form after he recuperated from the effects of his anger.