Re: Kennings Searles Wed Aug 12 13:21:39 1998 I wanted to start with the easy ones because, those were most available to me in the following dindshenchas:*p*Boand*br*(from the Metrical Dindshenchas, Part III translation by Edward Gwynn)*p*Sid Nectain is the name that is on the mountain here,*br*the grave of the full-keen son of Labraid,*br*from which flows the stainless river*br*whose name is Boand ever-full.*p*Fifteen names, certainty of disputes,*br*given to this stream we enumerate,*br*from Sid Nectain away*br*till it reaches the paradise of Adam.*p*Segais was her name in the Sid*br*to be sung by thee in every land:*br*River of Segais is her name from that point*br*to the pool of Mochua the cleric.*p*From the well of righteous Mochua*br*to the bounds of Meath's wide plain,*br*the Arm of Nuada's Wife and her Leg*br*are the two noble and exalted names.*p*From the bounds of goodly Meath*br*till she reaches the sea's green floor*br*she is called the Great Silver Yoke*br*and the White Marrow of Fedlimid.*p*Stormy Wave from thence onward*br*unto branchy Cualnge;*br*River of the White Hazel from stern Cualnge*br*to the lough of Eochu Red-Brows.*p*Banna is her name from faultless Lough Neagh:*br*Roof of Ocean as far as Scotland:*br*Lunnand she is in blameless Scotland -*br*The name denotes her according to its meaning.*br*Severn is she called through the land of the sound Saxons,*br*Tiber in the Romans' keep:*br*River Jordan thereafter in the east*br*and vast River Euphrates.*p*River Tigris in enduring paradise,*br*long is she in the east, a time of wandering*br*from paradise back again hither*br*to the streams of this Sid.*p*-------*p**br*In another dindshenchas in the same volume, the place where the upper Boyne and the Blackwater river meet is called the Confluence of the Two Finds. It is also called Commar Mana. This hapens near Navan (Macha's elfmound? especially since it was probably also Emain Macha). The upper Boyne is called Find Lifi and the Blackwater is called Find Gaileo/in. Other names for the Blackwater are Mi/find, Bo/ Guairi and Banna.*p*It is in this poem that Bo/ann's encounter with the Well of Segais is also related.*p*The "land of the sun" must be the sun brugh at Brugh na Bo/inne. The resting place of the moon was a mystery to me until I saw a paper entitled "Neolithic Lunar Maps at Knowth and Baltinglas, Ireland," by Philip J. Stooke, an astronomer, wherein he likened the images at Knowth to the Mare Crisium feature on the Moon's face (almost a direct overlay in various phases). He also speculates that Brugh na Bo/inne may have been the "Hyperborean Temple of the Sun" referenced by Diodorus Siculus, rather than Stonehenge.*p*What we can see from these relationships and placenames is that every part of the landscape was sacred and that the telling of from whence a person had come was a journey in space, in time and in learning. The naming of the places in a particular sequence probably can also be explored for understanding. Perhaps in another post?*p*Searles*p**br*TopazOwl wrote,*br*: *br*: Searles wrote,*br*: : 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.*br*:*br*: Hmm, does that mean you'd rather start with the easy *br*: ones? Why?*br*:*br*: : I *br*: : suspect that the navel string in this case would be where two *br*: : streams join close to the Brugh itself. *br*: :*br*: : On a more esoteric level, I suspect that the navel string of *br*: : Mac ind Oic is the thread of life that continues the seasons *br*: : as the Sun is renewed each year on La/ Geimreadh. It might *br*: : well be the rituals that sustain us all through the longest *br*: : nights of the year.*br*:*br*: Thanks. That's what I was looking for, and, believe me, *br*: I do not find it hard to understand at all.*br*:*br*: That is part of where Ferchtne says he has come *br*: from..."down the columns of age, along the streams of *br*: Galion, from the elfmound of Nechtan's wife, down the *br*: forearm of Nuada's wife, from the land of the sun, from the *br*: dwelling place of the moon, along Mac ind Oic's navel *br*: string."*br*:*br*: Now, all of these things have meaning on more than one *br*: level, of course. Most of them I understand, but the other *br*: two that I find a bit obscure in this passage are the *br*: "elfmound of Nechtan's wife" and the "forearm *br*: of Nuada's wife."*br*:*br*: The "elfmound of Nechtan's wife" (Boann) can *br*: either refer in the physical to the Sídhe Nechtan, where the *br*: Well of Segais (or Connla's Well) stood, and which Boann *br*: walked around against the sun and the well rose to overcome *br*: her and formed the river Boyne. In that way, it could likely *br*: refer to the river Boyne itself, as the Well of Segais was *br*: its source. On the other hand, it could refer to the Brugh *br*: na Boyne, the "elfmound" near the river. I am *br*: thinking it is more likely a reference to Sídhe Nechtan and *br*: the source of the actual river Boyne. In fact, the usage of *br*: "Nechtan's wife" instead of just saying Boann *br*: seems to me to be deliberate to lead one to think of Sídhe *br*: Nechtan.*br*:*br*: So we are led on to think of the knowledge that comes *br*: from the Well of Segais, where the nine hazel trees around *br*: the well dropped the nuts of wisdom into the waters where *br*: the salmon ate them. And one of the salmon was supposed to *br*: be Fintan, and when the well rose, Fintan the salmon, who *br*: had eaten of the nuts of wisdom, was washed down the river *br*: Boyne and settled in a pool where eventually Finegas caught *br*: it and cooked it and where Fionn mac Cumhail burnt his thumb *br*: on it, thus obtaining knowledge.*br*:*br*: An entire teaching in one short line. :-)*br*:*br*: Nuada's wife was Macha. This reference is definately *br*: obscure for me. Was there a tract of land in Ireland known *br*: as the forearm of Macha, perhaps somewhere near Emain Macha?*br*:*br*: Leigh*br* Re: Kennings TopazOwl 133 Wed Aug 12 10:07:17 1998