Grey Heron (by Daniel Trim)
A wierd thing in irish myths is translations say “Corr” is crane instead of Heron. We have Manannans crane bag, the poets crane stance and midhur and colm cilles guardian cranes. Thats wierd becauseHerons like the one in this pic are indigenous to Ireland. But cranes arent.
The reason for the seeming mistranslation is the motifs that features “corr” birds come from Greek myth so the animal described with the word isnt our Heron.
For example when the poet Cairpre satirises King Bres he uses the greek motif of cranes as the protectors of wronged poets. He invokes the crane as his protector by adopting a crane stance. Standing on one leg closing one eye and pointing with one arm.When midhir has his sanctuary at Bri Leith guarded by cranes its using pliny the elders story where cranes guard their homes by nominating one heron to hold a stone in one leg so if it slept the stone would fall and wake it up.
Its even more relevant to colm cilles crane guardians because he uses the same practice with the stone while meditating.
Its a wierd thing but a good example if how myths arent oral religious stories but a complex literature informed by wider european traditions as well as our own unique brand of literary genius.
via Tumblr http://ift.tt/1vX6Vaf
No comments:
Post a Comment