Irish Mythology

From this week’s reading, I am left with the impression that Celtic mythology is much more lighthearted than tales from Greek and Norse mythology. Greek mythology seems to revolve more around the creation of the world and its inhabitants. Norse mythology contains a lot more violence, death, and inevitable destruction. Both are very blunt about the death, sexuality, etc. Irish myths are more cheerful yet still contain war and demise, though not to the detailed extent of past cultures we’ve learned about.

The jovial nature of Celtic myths allow them to be much more comparable to the fairy tales I heard growing up. They also contain similar aspects to fairy/folk tales such as the beautiful, young princess being locked away in a tower resembling the story of Rapunzel and Balor choosing to lock away his daughter to prevent a curse/premonition similar to the tale of Sleeping Beauty. Celtic mythology revolves more around stories lacking real meaning created in order to entertain and enjoy rather than explain our creation, just like fairy tales.

Hearing a myth is much different than simply hearing it. It’s so much more engaging than reading written words. When a myth is heard or performed, you really get a feel for the setting and vibe that the story takes place in. An accent, tone of voice, and the emphasis placed on certain words can make all the difference in how a myth is perceived.

Module 10

The Irish myths we read this week are a little different from the myths we’ve read in that they are remarkably similar to fairytales.  Midir fights to win the love of Etain, the Tuatha De Danaan battle to overthrow the Fir Blogs, and Eithlinn is put in a tower by her father.  These are just a few examples, but these myths are different from the other ones we’ve read.  The difference between Irish myths and the other ones lies in the purpose of the myths.  Other myths are about providing explanations for bad luck, natural phenomenon, encourage the worship of certain gods, and are “grander”.  Instead, Irish myths are simply stories that offer a source of entertainment.  These seem like the kinds of stories that would be told to children and shared around a fire in the evenings, much like our fairytales.

Wars break out constantly, there are fierce battles for control of lands, handsome princes fight to win a pretty girl’s heart, and there’s even a maiden who gets locked away in a tower. Irish myth contains all of the stereotypical elements of the fairytales we are familiar with.  Fairytales are stories told for pleasure, not necessarily for any other purpose.  The Native American myths did tell stories for entertainment, but they also usually had a lesson or other point to them.  Irish myths more closely follow the trend of fairytales than the other “grander” myths.

Listening to a myth rather than reading it was an interesting experience.  Since these myths are supposed to be stories that are passed down through the generations by word of mouth, it was interesting to hear the myth the way it was originally intended to be told.  The speaker immediately caught and held my attention, both through his accent and the rhythm with which he delivered the story.  I thought the music mixed in with the myth was a compelling way to set the scene of the myth.  The way that he incorporated a lot of different elements, along with interacting with the audience, heightened the feeling that this was a group experience.  I really enjoyed hearing a myth because it felt like I was experiencing the myth the way it was supposed to be told.

Irish Myths

From the readings of this week I have found that the stories are softer and were able to connect to people for who they are and not creations as a whole. When reading about “Balor of the Evil Eye” and how he could kill anyone that is eye saw reminded me of Medusa, how one look would set someone to stone. From Irish myths, there were many similarities between Norse Myths and the Irish Myths more for the concept of conquer and honor.
These stories are more like fairytales because they focus more on the people of that age and not of the world as a whole. Take the tale of “The Children of Lir” for example. It was a tale more about the wrong doing of Aoife when jealousy consumed her every pore. What the children of Lir had to go through to finish the wrong doing that was set upon them from Aoife. It is a tragic story but has a bittersweet ending that was spread throughout Ireland. This story is focused more on the children’s suffering and a lesson of what jealousy can do to everyone.
Hearing the myth of the Tuatha De Danaan and the Fir Bolgs was very interesting. There were things that Robin Williamson said that the book did not go into depth with. For example, Williamson went on to tell how Bres was born. The ring that would be given to Bres once he had enough power to get in touch with his father. It put in perspective everything that was left out of the book to make “The Mythological Cycle” make sense and tie everything together. When the battle of Moytura was about to begin there was a little piece that was missing and that was Dagda and the porridge that he had to eat and the woman that he lay with. There were side stories that were told from Williamson that were not told in the book. Those side stories were what helped form the whole story.

Module 10 Irish Mythology

In this weeks reading I found some similarities with the story related to the Norse myths that’s speak of war and conquer. But what I did notice is that Irish myths further explain how they would get to war versus what they did in the war. Almost explaining it to us as a guide to how we are to overcome obstacles in life and fight the fights that we know we can win. The patch that was over Bellar’s eye showed that anyone who looked at it will experience death. Its relation to greek mythology is that it is not always the villain that is the enemy, but the family member that has been casted to take over a kingdom or heaven.

Tricksters are also used in a way that they are given a riddle (Bress) and must solve it in order to continue to live. When asked what day would they reap, sow and rest, Bress replied Tuesday for all the days. This spared his life Bress was spared not only for solving the riddle, but because he was a powerful piece for a person to have in a time of war. Numbers also played a part, nine bones for nine nights.

Lastly I found Heaney’s performance interesting and kept me glued to the screen. His expressions to emphasize what were important parts in the story of Megalithumania and also include the audience to remember what were key points in the history of Northern Ireland kept the audience on edge. As he played his harp, he also hit notes that displayed a scene to leave you imagining what is occurring in that moment of history. I also found his version to be in detail of the history of the person and how they came to be notable in the story.

Module 10 rish Myths

The four stories within the Irish Mythological cycles, vary from the myths we have read earlier in the course. Unlike Native American myths, Irish myths don’t seem to teach valuable life lessons or rules, whereas Irish myths are more for imaginative thinking and pleasure. So in my opinion I would say that Irish myths have similar characteristics to the ones seen in fairy tales.

I would consider Irish Myths to be more like fairy tales and less like the “grander” myths of the old, because of the similarities between them. This is so because in each myth they are abundant with descriptions that give you mental images that promote imagination. Just like fairy tales these myths, stories, are more on the imaginative spectrum. Just like fairy tales, some Irish myths speak of strong powers and magic. To make a connection between the two, you could say that Sleeping Beauty has some similarities to Irish Myths based on the whole “magical” aspect.

Hearing a myth and reading a myth is on two completely different ends of the spectrum in my opinion. Hearing the myth helped me paint a better more detailed picture of that particular myth because of the music, tone, and proper pronunciation. The music that the narrator, Robin Williamson, played made me feel like I was actually there participating in the events that unfolded during the myth. Not only did the music help, but the pronunciation and accent also helped me to better grasp and understand the myth in a whole.

Module 10

The different stories from the Irish Mythological cycles are a little different from the myths we have read in the past. The Irish myths are similar to fairy tales. These myths do not have a valuable  life lesson like we have seen in some Native American myths. I think the Irish myths are for recreation, enjoyment, and to widen our imagination.

Irish Myths are more like fairy tales and less like the “grander” myths of old. These stories are more creative. They are full of descriptions to give you mental images, and full of imagination. Some Irish myth are big are powers and magic, like the fairy tales we know and love like Cinderella. I thought about Rapunzel when Balor locked his daughter in the tower.

Hearing the myth and reading the myth is completely different. The music that Robin Williamson played made you feel as if you were there in Ireland. Hearing the myth helped me paint a better and clearer picture of the myth. The accent he added as he told the myth made you feel as if you are really apart of the Irish culture.

The Irish

After reading the Irish myths, I found they were more on the softer side of all of the myths that we have had to read.  To me when I think of Irish, I think of amazing sounding accents, potatoes, amazing bar stories and of beautiful scenery. These myths allowed me to imagine what Ireland might have looked like back then and if it was just as beautiful as it is now. I do have to admit that I do also think of Chibs from sons of anarchy because I imagine him as being a true Irishman. If you don’t know who that is, look him up on youtube and you will know what I mean.

We were asked to give specific examples as to how these myths might be more “fairy tale”. One example I found that really pops out to me is “Ireland was a beautiful country, the coastline fringed with high mountains and below the wooded slopes lay deep valleys, fertile plains and marshy bogs” (50). I imagined these myths to be gruesome, to be very violent and graphic. Instead I see calmness and peace. It also is different because of how much detail is used to describe somethings, like the clothing used. ” His tunic was red silk that glowed like gold and was embroidered with golden thread”(30).

After watching the video, for me it further solidifies how different these myths might be from say, Greek or Nordic. When I read the myths, I was completely butchering the names and I think that stopped me from really getting a sense of the characters. Trying to use my imagination I thought of these people as very tough people and almost arrogant and full of themselves. But hearing a native reading, I found them to almost the complete opposite. They were soft and not as harsh as I had let myself believe. I also learn better when I have someone reading things and I think about what they are saying. I am able to process it better, so I was able to get some of the concepts better as well.

Paige

Irish Myths

The stories from the Irish Mythological cycles are a bit different than those we’ve read from the other cultures. These are, just as they are told, stories. They are written and told in the same ways that fairytales are told. There is so much more meaning to them when they are performed compared to when they are read. Yes, these stories have mythological aspects to them, but they are different in a couple ways. Firstly, they aren’t full of lessons and guidelines. These are just stories about origins written to entertain. Sure, they give some meaning to questions of “where does this come from?” and “how did this begin?” but they are unlike other myths because they do not teach as much as they entertain. Also, they are full of imagery and detail different from other myths. This is for the purpose of creating the story in your head and watching it come to life as it is told. Just as fairytales are full of imagery and detail to keep us entertained and imaginative, these stories are written and told in the same ways. Some of the parts of the story can even be loosely compared to our own culture’s fairytales. For example, Balor had only one child, a daughter. It was foretold that he would die by the hand of his grandson. “So he built another tower and shut the girl up in it with twelve women to guard her” (page 5). This can be compared to the story of Rapunzel, who spent the first half of her life locked in a tower.

It was so much different to watch the bardic performance than to read it. First of all, hearing the words and reading the words almost made it seem like two completely different stories! (It kind of sounds like Williamson says “two headed anan” instead of” Tuatha De Danaan”).Second of all, there is so much more feeling and meaning in the performance. When the stories are being performed, event details are left out, and imagery details are exaggerated. Tone of voice and actions change the perspective of the story and make it much more entertaining. Heaney goes into much more detail about events and sequences in her book than Williamson does in his performance. For example, Heaney tells of how Balor got his evil eye when he peeks into a high window in which magicians are practicing their spells and he sees nothing but fumes and gases. The smoke gets in his eye and he cannot open it. “When the druid saw what had happened to Balor, ‘That spell we were making was a spell of death and the fumes from it have brought the power of death to your eye. If you look on anyone with that evil eye it means they will die!’ And so Balor got his name” (page 4). Williamson barely even talks about the powers of Balor in his performance. The importance of events seems to be much different between storytelling by performance and storytelling by writing.

I think it’s really interesting how important performing the stories of these myths seems to be in the Irish culture. Because they are created more for entertainment and community, written accounts are less common than performance in passing the stories on through the generations. Irish people are very full of energy and detail, and hold great importance in getting together to tell their tales. It is kind of a stereotype I think. Often times, Irish and Scottish cultures are portrayed as storytelling cultures, and from the performance of this myth, I can definitely see why. It is so entertaining to hear the stories with energy and vocal application, and it holds much more value than reading them. Seeing how passionate and energetic a storyteller is in performing these myths makes me understand why these stories are still around and being passed on.

Sita – Module 9

These representations of the Ramayana were from two different approaches and represent dharma in different ways. In Paley’s video she puts little emphasis on dharma as a lesson, and uses the Ramayana to tell her story from Sita’s point of view. It does essentially tell her dharma though, that even though her husband left to a different country and eventually stopped loving her she still followed him, was faithful and still loved him to the bitter end, as a good and dutiful wife should. Narayan’s version focuses greatly on the dharma aspect of the Ramayana, actually mentioning it and using it to explain actions taken in the story.

To answer the question of what role these myths serve in Indian culture is the basic role of teaching someone to live by their dharma. It’s an example of life, and how the choices you make effect not just yourself but the world around you and the people in it.   Just how Rama’s belief that his duty was to his country was greater and he cast aside his faithful and loving wife, and the hurt that it brought to her. It’s a lesson in love and duty, and that one can even though thinking they are making the right choices may not actually be doing so.

Ramayana

It was interesting viewing the two representations of the Ramayana from Paley and Narayan. Both interpretations showed how women are viewed in society. There was a lot of religious stand points within the video. The video didnt focus on the dismissal of Raman as much as they did in the article. It was hard for me to recognize the dharma in Paley’s version of Ramayana because of the focus of Sita’s struggles.

The main focus was on the relationship of Raman and his wife. Their relationship showed how women were treated. In the video it is through Sita’s eyes. You get to go along with her journey and struggle. Since the video was through Sita’s point of view you were able to connect with her story better.

Many women can be stereotyped as being a homemaker and not a breadwinner. The video has a representation of how women are viewed. It shows how strong women are and how important their role is in society. Many women may relate to Sita because of her passion and will power to persuading the truth to her husband.