Home > Archive > Volume 51, No. 2 > This paper
Reconstruction of Pagan Ritual and Ancient Irish Language from Lebor Gabála Érenn
David A. Hutchison
Published: 2010/12/01
Abstract
This article uncovers links to pagan Irish springtime rites which can be deduced from the Irish epic, Lebor Gabála Érenn, as presented in the 12th-century Book of Leinster (Lebor na Núachongbála). Specifically, we analyze poems LXIX & LXX, both attributed to Amairgin, archdruid of the invading Milesians, but likely composed during the O. Ir. period, 800-1200 A.D. Both of these poems contain embedded lists which, when rendered in an early preapocope form of the Irish language (here called Primitive Irish), yield poetry in this language exhibiting grammatical & prosodic features in common with Gaulish inscriptions datable to c. 0-300 A.D. discovered in France at Chamalières & Rom. The Primitive Irish dialect of the poetry reconstructed below will be shown to date to the second century of the Common Era.
Download PDF