Metrical Dindshenchas
The
Metrical Dindshenchas, or
Lore of Places, is probably the major surviving monument of
Irish bardic verse. It is a great
onomastic anthology of naming legends of significant places in the Irish landscape and comprises about 176 poems in total.
As a national compilation, the Metrical Dindshenchas has come down to us in two different
recensions. The first recension is found in the twelfth century manuscript the
Book of Leinster with partial survivals in a number of other manuscript sources. The text shows signs of having been compiled from a number of provincial sources and the earliest poems date from at least the eleventh century.
The second recension survives more or less intact in thirteen different manuscripts, mostly dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This recension contains a number of poems composed after the Book of Leinster text. These may have been added by the compiler for completeness. Since many of the naming legends related in the poems concern the acts of mythological beings, the Metrical Dindshenchas is an important source for the study of
Irish mythology.
Knowledge of the real or putative history of local places formed an important part of the education of the elite in ancient Ireland. This formed part of the training of the military, for whom a knowledge of the landscape was essential. It was also essential knowledge for the bardic caste, who were expected to recite poems answering questions on place name origins as part of their professional duties. Consequently, the Dindshenchas may well have grown by accretion from local texts compiled in schools as a way of teaching about places in their area. The poems are accompanied in both recensions by an incomplete prose commentary, now known as the Prose Dindshenchas.
*Edward Gwynn:
The Metrical Dindshenchas (1991, reprint). This is the standard edition with text, translations, notes; includes a general introduction and glossary.
*
Some translated poems*
Volume 1 online at CELT (Irish original)*
Volume 1 online at CELT (English translation)*
Volume 2 online at CELT (Irish original)*
Volume 2 online at CELT (English translation)*
Volume 3 online at CELT (Irish original)*
Volume 3 online at CELT (English translation)*
Volume 4 online at CELT (Irish original)*
Volume 4 online at CELT (English translation)
