Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Ihresalen, Språkvetenskapligt centrum, Engelska parken, Uppsala, Friday, June 12, 2009 at 10:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
This dissertation contains a critical edition of the early Irish tale "Aided Derbforgaill" "The violent death of Derbforgaill". It includes an introduction discussing the main thematic components of the tale as well as intertextuality, transmission and manuscript relationship. The edition is accompanied by transcripts from the three manuscript copies of the tale and textual notes.
"Aided Derbforgaill" is an Ulster Cycle tale and belongs to a category of tales describing the death of prominent heroes, rarely heroines, in early Irish literature. Arriving in the shape of a bird to mate with the greatest of all heroes, Cú Chulainn, Derbforgaill is refused by Cú Chulainn on account of him having sucked her blood. Forced to enter a urination competition between women, and upon winning this, Derbforgaill is mutilated by the other competitors. The tale ends with two poems lamenting the death of Derbforgaill. This very short tale is complex, not only in its subject matter, but in the elliptical language of the poetry. Thematically the tale is a combination of very common motifs found elsewhere in early Irish literature, such as the Otherworld, metamorphosis and the love of someone unseen, and some rare motifs that are almost unique to this tale, such as blood sucking and the urination competition. The text also have clear sexual overtones.
Author(s): Kicki Ingridsdotter (ed., transl.)
Publisher: Uppsala University
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 132
City: Uppsala
Acknowledgments vii
CHAPTER ONE: Literary context 11
1.1. Introduction 11
1.1.1 Background and outline of study
1.1.2 Previous work: editions, translations, textual and linguistic comments
1.1.3 Previous work: thematic discussions
1.2 'Aideda' 13
1.2.1 'Aideda' in early Irish literature
1.2.2 'Aideda' in the Ulster Cycle
1.2.3 'Aided Derbforgaill' as an example of the category 'aideda'
1.3 Thematic discussion 15
1.3.1 Introduction
1.3.2 Characters
1.3.3 Scandinavian influence
1.3.4 'Grád écmaise'
1.3.5 Bird symbolism
1.3.6 The Otherworld
1.3.7 Sexual themes
1.3.8 The subversiveness of the women
1.3.9 Suicide
1.3.10 Competition and status
1.3.11 Conclusion
1.4 Textual affinities 31
1.4.1 'Aided Derbforgaill' and 'Tochmarc Emire'
1.4.2 'Aided Derbforgaill' and 'Serglige Con Culainn'
1.4.3 'Aided Derbforgaill' and the 'Dindshenchas'
1.4.4 The verse in Rawl. B 502
1.4.5 'Leca Lugdach lis'
1.4.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER TWO: The compilation of 'Aided Derbforgaill' 47
2.1 Introduction 47
2.2 Manuscripts
2.3 Manuscript relationship
2.3.1 Introduction
2.3.2 Differences between the manuscripts
2.3.3 Better readings
2.4. Conclusion and stemma 55
CHAPTER THREE: Language, metrics and dating 57
3.1 Introduction 57
3.2 Linguistic analysis 57
3.2.1 Phonology and orthography
3.2.2 The verbal system
3.2.3 The nominal system
3.3 The poems of 'Aided Derbforgaill' 63
3.3.1 Metrical analysis
3.3.2 Stylistic features of the poems
3.4 Dating 64
3.4.1 Previous dating and dating criteria
3.4.2. Metalinguistic criteria
3.4.3 Linguistic dating criteria
3.4.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR: Edition 69
4.1 Editorial practice 69
4.1.1 Introduction
4.1.2 Editorial practice for the transcripts
4.1.3 Remarks on LL
4.1.4 Editorial practice for the edition
4.1.5 Remarks on the translation.
4.1.6 Remarks on the textual notes
4.2 Transcripts 72
4.2.1 Text of LL
4.2.2 Text of D
4.2.3 Text of H
4.3 Edited text and translation 82
4.4 Textual notes 88
Abbreviations 122
Bibliography 124
