Re: Kennings
Searles

Tue Aug 11 14:38:09 1998
Some of the other kennings in that work are more easily understood (at least on the physical level), but I'll make a first attempt at explaining this one.  The reference is to "Mac ind Oic's navel string."  In ancient times, the essence of one's self was thought to be tied to the umbilical cord.  This is alfterall, our first connection to life and it is also our connection directly to our mother until it is cut.  Off the top of my head, I recall that mothers would bury such strings beneath certain trees or they would wrap them in precious cloth and keep then in treasure boxes.  If we consider that Bo/ann was Mac ind Oic's mother then his navel string connected him to the Boyne river and the Brugh na Bo/inne itself.  How would the Young Son have been nurtured by the Mother?  Perhaps it would have been through a pathway of light (having the Sun and teh Moon for parents)?  Might it have been a stream that  flowed into the river Herself?  I know that the other parts of the tale, "The Colloquy of the Two Sages," contains references to parts of the Boyne river.  I suspectthat the navel string in this case would be where two streams join close to the Brugh itself.  *p*On a more esoteric level, I suspect that the navel string of Mac ind Oic is the thread of life that continues the seasons as the Sun is renewed each year on La/ Geimreadh.  It might well be the rituals that sustain us all through the longest nights of the year.*p*Searles*p**br*TopazOwl wrote,*br*: *br*: Searles wrote,*br*:*br*: : Perhaps we can find and discuss other kennings from the *br*: : poems and traditions?*br*:*br*:      Marvelous idea. The Colloquy of the Two Sages is filled *br*: with kennings, and I would like to discuss many of them. One *br*: that comes immediately to mind is  "Mac ind Oc's navel *br*: string."*br*:*br*:      What say you, O learned friend, of this kenning? *br*:*br*: Leigh*br*
Re: Kennings
TopazOwl
130
Sun Aug  9 08:06:28 1998