Finn and Gráinne
Encyclopedia
Finn and Gráinne is a short, probably Middle Irish anecdote of the Finn Cycle about Finn mac Cumaill and his wooing of and eventual divorce from Gráinne
, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt
.
(RIA
), ff. 181a, 2. Although the spelling has been modernised, the text is thought to be very much earlier than the 14th/15th century, when the manuscript was compiled. Meyer suggests that the text was originally written in 10th or even the 9th century, while Gerard Murphy posits a somewhat later date, in the 11th or 10th century.
the "swift-footed" (coslúath), Finn's loyal companion, carries out the task for Finn and so Cormac has to give his daughter Gráinne in marriage to Finn. Gráinne detests her husband and the marriage proves to be an unhappy disaster. One time when the Feast of Tara is celebrated, with all the men of Ireland and the fiana present, Cormac observes the sad expression on his daughter's face. She whispers to him how the hatred for her husband has made her physically ill, thickening her blood and swelling her sinews. Overhearing Cormac's reaction to the sad news, Finn becomes aware of Gráinne's plight and announces their separation. The text ends with a number of difficult legal roscada exchanged between Cormac and Finn on the subject of divorce.
A sequel to the story of Gráinne's divorce is Tochmarc Ailbe ("The Wooing of Ailbe"), in which Finn comes to an arrangement with Cormac to marry one of his other daughters and chooses Ailbe. In the 17th-century Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne, Gráinne elopes with another lover.
Gráinne
Gráinne is the daughter of Cormac mac Airt in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. She is one of the central figures in the Middle Irish text Finn and Gráinne and most famously, in the 17th-century tale The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, which tells of her betrothal to Fionn mac Cumhaill, leader...
, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt , also known as Cormac ua Cuinn or Cormac Ulfada , was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...
.
Date and provenance
The text is preserved uniquely in the Great Book of LecanGreat Book of Lecan
The Book of Lecan is a medieval Irish manuscript written between 1397 and 1418. It is in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy....
(RIA
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...
), ff. 181a, 2. Although the spelling has been modernised, the text is thought to be very much earlier than the 14th/15th century, when the manuscript was compiled. Meyer suggests that the text was originally written in 10th or even the 9th century, while Gerard Murphy posits a somewhat later date, in the 11th or 10th century.
Synopsis
The story begins to relate how Finn úa Báiscni courts Gráinne, daughter of King Cormac mac Airt. Intending to shake off the warrior, whom she seriously dislikes, she comes up with a seemingly impossible demand as her bridal gift: "a couple of every wild animal that was in Ireland to be brought in one drove, until they were on the rampart of Tara". However, CáilteCaílte mac Rónáin
Caílte mac Rónáin was a nephew of Fionn mac Cumhail and a member of the fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He could run at remarkable speed and communicate with animals, and was a great storyteller...
the "swift-footed" (coslúath), Finn's loyal companion, carries out the task for Finn and so Cormac has to give his daughter Gráinne in marriage to Finn. Gráinne detests her husband and the marriage proves to be an unhappy disaster. One time when the Feast of Tara is celebrated, with all the men of Ireland and the fiana present, Cormac observes the sad expression on his daughter's face. She whispers to him how the hatred for her husband has made her physically ill, thickening her blood and swelling her sinews. Overhearing Cormac's reaction to the sad news, Finn becomes aware of Gráinne's plight and announces their separation. The text ends with a number of difficult legal roscada exchanged between Cormac and Finn on the subject of divorce.
A sequel to the story of Gráinne's divorce is Tochmarc Ailbe ("The Wooing of Ailbe"), in which Finn comes to an arrangement with Cormac to marry one of his other daughters and chooses Ailbe. In the 17th-century Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne, Gráinne elopes with another lover.
Sources
- Corthals, Johan. "Die Trennung von Finn und Gráinne." Zeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische PhilologieZeitschrift für celtische Philologie ' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was founded in 1896 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern and first appeared in 1897. It is the first journal devoted exclusively to Celtic languages and literature and the oldest...
49-50 (1997): 71-91. - Meyer, Kuno (intro, ed. and tr.). Fíanaigecht, being a Collection of Hitherto Unedited Irish Poems and Tales Relating to Finn and his Fiana, with an English Translation. Todd Lecture Series 16. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1910.
- Meyer, Kuno (ed. and tr.). "Finn and Grainne." Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 1 (1897): 458–61. Edition and translation available from CELT.
- Murphy, Gerard. Duanaire Finn. 3 vols: vol. 3. Dublin, 1953.