[Note: All Basque words are in Italics and Bold-faced Green]
THE
AURAICEPT AND LANGUAGE 1
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BENEDICTINE CLERGY
IN IRELAND
When the
Benedictine clerics arrived from the continent, they entered the thriving
country of Ireland with its ancient civilization Nyland (2001). They also found the Gnostic
Christian church already firmly established and actively spreading its
Gospel. The level of education, the quality of the arts and the vibrant
energy of life was at a far higher level in Ireland than anything the
orthodox Christian monks had experienced on the continent. It was into this
happy and caring civilization that they had been ordered to introduce their
own more primitive brand of civilization and learning. This was an
embarrassing situation because the Benedictine monks at first had far more to
learn than to contribute. They started by establishing themselves in
monasteries such as the ones in Bangor (County Down) and Clonmacnoise (County
Offaly). Slowly they
introduced the idea that this creative and energetic civilization had been
brought to Ireland by "Celtic immigrants" from the mainland, some
600 or 700 years before. It didn't matter that these Celts had only migrated
as far as southern England and had never set foot in Ireland or that the true
Celtic culture on the continent was in fact quite primitive compared to that
of the Irish. Herodotus, who had given the Celts their name
"Keltoi", didn't speak highly of them because the name translates to:
"Worrisome, meat-eating savages" from: .ke-el.-.to-o.i, oke-eli-ito-ohi: okela (meat) elikatu (to nourish) itoaldi (worrisome) ohil (savage). Julius Caesar, who was in
close contact with the real Keltoi, supplied us with many Keltic names in his
book "Conquest of Gaul," and not a single one of them can
even remotely be considered related to Gaelic; they are all made up with the
use of the Ogam formula and all can be translated with the Basque dictionary.
In order to develop the respect they traditionally demanded, the clerics
somehow had to convince the Irish people that their North African based
culture had originally been inferior to what the Celts had brought from the
continent. In that untruth they succeeded beyond expectation because even
today many Irish proudly call themselves Celts, even though there is not one
shred of evidence anywhere that the Keltoi ever reached Ireland. IRISH LEGENDS
The Forfeda additions to the original Ogam alphabet
had helped to open the way to the creation of the new "Celtic"
language as described in the Auraicept na n'Eces. The Gnostic
missionaries had already introduced the formerly sacred Ogam writing to the
Irish people some 300 years earlier as a monument script, and they used it to
spread the Gospel. The later arriving monks from Rome used the script at
first for the same purpose but quickly started work to replace the
"iron" language with a new language. When after several years of
linguistic work the new "Celtic" language was far enough developed
to be used for literary purposes, some Benedictine monks started to record
the very large store of Irish legends and popular wisdom, which had up to
then been orally passed from generation to generation. Any knowledge about
the elaborate traditions and festivities of the previous Ashera religion and
culture, as well as memories of the outstanding women who had guided this
civilization, the fact that this had been a peaceful, egalitarian and self
sufficient society of communal solidarity, all this was eliminated to be lost
forever. What remained of the ancient Irish treasure trove of memorized myths
and legends, practical knowledge and religious wisdom was sifted, scrubbed,
mutilated, rewritten and finally translated into the new fabricated
"Celtic" language and the final product was then collectively named
"Celtic legends". Conflict and glorification of war was introduced
(on paper) as part of the Irish heritage, a civilization which had neither
weapons of destruction nor defensive structures. A few names of remarkable
women survived, such as Queen
Medb and Derdriu,
but they became portrayed in a negative and abusive light. Male prowess in contest,
defending helpless maidens in distress, berating "unfaithful"
wives, tales about ugly witches, anything that helped to put women in
subordinate or despicable positions, it all made good grist for the monks'
literary mill. Irish mythology had become patterned by church authority and
therefore no longer emerged from that once glorious Irish civilization. However,
memorized traditions are far more durable than parchment and vellum and some
Irish bards continued to tell the ancestral legends to their children, the
way they had been told before the coming of Christianity. A few years ago in
Conamara one of these men, with a treasure of such legends in his head, was
telling them to his cows as he lovingly brushed them at night in the barn. His
cows were the only audience he had left until some knowledgeable person heard
about him and captured on his tape recorder the treasures the bard had to
offer. In this way, some original legends and songs have still survived the
otherwise well-meaning but misguided censors. ABOUT THE AURAICEPT
The Auraicept na n'Eces is an astonishing book. The meaning of
its name has been generally accepted as: "The Scholars' Primer". Calder calls
it the "Handbook
of the Learned", but ever since it was printed in 1917
the book has been subjected to a variety of choice derogatory comments. Very
few modern academics had anything good to say about its contents. This was in
stark contrast to the Middle Ages when the book was being held in very high
regard as a study book for monks, it being required reading. Why the switch
from being regaled to reviled? Did the early teachers know something about
the Auraicept that our modern
linguists didn't, or didn't want to, know? It certainly looked like it
because, just like they did with the Ogam inscriptions on stone, our
university linguists had somehow decided among themselves that the Auraicept was written in Celtic, which
it wasn't. Instead the Auraicept is
written in coded Basque, which may make it the oldest Basque language book
known. To substantiate this statement here follow some translations from the Auraicept
na n'Eces, using the Basque dictionary, starting with the name itself: AURAICEPT NA N'ECES Aura-ike-ep.-.t.-.na-ane-ese-ez: Aura aura aurrea artu take the initiative! ike ike ikerpen research ep. epai epaiaulki tribunal .t. aito aitortu to declare .na ona anargarri acceptable ane ane anega measure ese ese esetsi to attack ez. ez ezjakintasun illiteracy Take the initiative! The research tribunal has declared acceptable the measures (needed) to attack illiteracy.
TRANSLATION PROBLEMS
There are two versions
of the Auraicept, the first one,
starting with line 1 in Calder's compilation, came from the Book of Ballymote.
The second version, starting at line 2260, was copied from the Yellow Book of
Lecan. Both originals are located at Trinity College in Dublin.
Version 1 starts with: (line 1) Incipit Auraicept na nEges .i. eraicept, ar er
gach (2) toiseach. Cid dianad toisseach seo? Ni ansa. Don tebi (3) rotebed
isin Gardilg, uair is ed toisseach arricht la Fenius (4) iar tiachtain din
scoil...... This was
translated by Calder as: "Incipit
Primer of the Poets, that is, eraicept, beginning of lessons, for every
beginning is er. To what is this a beginning? Not hard. To the selection that
was selected in Gaelic since this is the beginning which was invented by
Fenius after the coming of the school with the languages from abroad
....." Version 2 starts
with: (line 2260) Incipit eraicept na n-Eiges .i.
eraicept, uair er gach (2261) taoiseach: aicicht dono .i. icht aici, ar is i
n-aici bios in (2262) deisgiopul agin maigister; no dono aicept, id est
acceptus, (2263) airiti cugad..... Calder provided
no translation for the second version. Edo Nyland tried both and found that
the second version makes good sense when translated with the Basque
dictionary. He had trouble with version one that may have been written from
memory. The "c" usually stands for "k", but sometimes for
"s". A slash (/) is inserted where the vowel linking is
interrupted. Version 2, line 2260: Insipit eraikept.
I start with giving you the basics. Be advised that according to
the research this decision (will lead) to a better world.
na n-Eiges .i. eraikept, The approved measures (will) certainly (cause) illiteracy to flee
and disappear. According to the research this decision will (create) a better
world.
uair. er gakh With an enthusiastic reservoir of educated people who have a
strong desire (to work towards) a superior outcome. taoiseach: aicicht , line 2261. By being in the habit of questioning, by criticizing faulty
attempts, by constant quiet study under the protection of the Almighty,
dono .i. icht aici, ar is By discovering exquisitely assembled learning methods (with
which) to attempt the introduction, I have a strong desire for quiet and
smooth acceptance. The difference
between Calder's and Nyland’s translation is rather startling. There is not a
single word of agreement, except that both are talking about language. There
seems to be no indication that the introduction of the new Celtic language
was accepted smoothly. The fact that the original tongue was still understood
around 1800 A.D. (to be discussed later) probably means that there was
substantial and long-lasting resistance. However, there was no such doubt
about acceptance in the mind of the cleric who wrote: Beithe-luis
nin (lines 1057, 1134, 4013): Work perfectly performed, hidden from the world, will take root
in the vicinity. The Auraicept probably started as an
operations manual for the Benedictines, written in the original language of the
Irish people, which closely resembled the Basque of today. When the monks
began work on the creation of the new language, they abbreviated words
belonging to the indigenous language, following the example in the Auraicept. The letter combinations
thus obtained were agglutinated into words, many vowels were eliminated and
then, to confuse things even more, unrelated vowels and some consonants,
mostly h's, were thrown in to make the new words pronounceable and new
meanings were invented for the product. When this language had been
sufficiently developed, it was given the name "Celtic Language". No other
language has been manipulated so effectively to hide its Basque heritage as
Celtic. The Auraicept was retained
in the simple abbreviated and agglutinated condition, without the extra
embellishments, which would have made it look and sound like
"Celtic". Thus the ancient book was turned into a challenge for the
testing of scholars and must have given Calder some sleepless nights. Many of the
Basque sentences in the original manual were condensed with the Ogam formula
and retained as names. Even the best Celtic scholars like E.C.Quiggin and
Malcolm MacFarlane, assisting George Calder in this difficult task, were
often at a loss as to the meaning of these names, many words, whole sentences
and even pages. Yet, they somehow managed to translate some of the books but
their work will need a thorough review, as these examples show. The care with
which Calder ensured the accurate reproduction of the original document, in
spite of his doubts about its accuracy, is applauded. It gave others a chance
to do their share in unraveling the puzzle he made available to us. Here are
some sentences which were agglutinated into names: Briartharogam. .b.-.ri-ar.-.ta-aro-ogam
(lines 47, 50, 5528 etc).(BR) I approve of, give advice and explain in simple manner the proud
Ogam script. Goidelic. (2282 etc.) .go ego egokialdi good
opportunity
Berla Fene(1302). A perfectly adapted word (makes me) happy every time. Iarmberla (1304). We keep busy with the loving task of perfecting adapted words. Berla na filed. (McManus 8.3). Perfectly adapted words are the religious order's joy and
everlasting satisfaction. These remarks
clearly indicate the concentrated effort that went into the creation of the
new language. As long as Celtic was still in the developmental stage, the Benedictine
linguists made good use of the writing system of the pre-Christian clergy. VIKING ATTACKS
The monks doing
this work were often living and working among an uncooperative, even hostile,
population that did not hesitate to call upon relations and friends for help.
That help eventually came in the form of highly destructive Viking raids that
devastated the monasteries repeatedly. The aggressively advancing
monk/missionaries, with their religion-, culture- and language-destroying
activities, were a threat to the ancient civilization. This trend had to be
stopped at all cost. With the help of the Vikings, this full-scale religious
war lasted for centuries. The Vikings, themselves belonging to a caring and
civilized society, never attacked the common people but these didn't write
the history. The monks, however, did and in writing their own version gave
themselves a holier-than-thou [biased] image while making the Vikings the
epitome of brutality and savagery. The following is an example of the monks'
style of history writing in the Auraicept:
og-uaim
do-berait na filid forsin filideacht trid, ar is fri fedaib toimsither
Gaedelg icna filedaib (5479-5481, p272), which Calder translates as: "oguaim,
perfect alliteration which the poets applied to poetry by means of it, for by
letters Gaelic is measured by the poets". How Calder came
to translate the sentence in this manner is not explained, however, it
doesn't appear to make much sense. A very different translation is obtained
by using the VCV Formula. The event
described in such spiteful language probably took place in the 9th century
but which monastery was involved is not explained; it may have been Bangor,
located near the ocean, which we know was targeted several times. The
translation also indicates that this was a repeat attack.
With loud yells, the deluge of grief was repeated with brutal
butchery and murderous .na/ ana anaidi religious brothers .fi ibi ibili to be ili ili ilintitu set on fire ide/ ide -ide companions fo fo formal good or. oro orrolari scream .si osi osintsu piercing in./ ino inon any place, everywhere attack on the brothers who were set on fire with their good companions amid piercing screams everywhere. fi fi fite quickly ili ili ilinti firebrands ide ide idekidura opening ak. aka akabu death .h. aha ahapaldi injury .t. ato ator come! .t. oto otoikatu to pray .ri ori oriska yellow id./ ido idor cruel ar. ari arimagalduko ruthless is. isi isilume bastard .f. ifa ifar northern .ri ari arima soul .fe ife ifernu hell eda eda edaritxar poison ibi ibi ibili to be Fire brands were quickly (thrown into) the openings to cause death and injury; Come! We prayed that the souls of the yellow, cruel, ruthless northern bastards be poisoned in hell. .to ito itomen anguish imi imi imintzio gesture .si isi isilean silently it. iti itxi to abandon ihe ihe ihesleku shelter er. ere erre to burn .Ga ega egan egin to escape ede ede edegidura opening elg./ elga elgarrekin together ik. ika ikara izan to tremble .na/ ana anaidi brothers fi fi fidatu to trust ile ile ilezin forever eda eda edade judgment ib. ibe ibeni to place With anguished gestures the trembling brothers silently abandoned the burning shelter to escape together through an opening, placing trust in (His) judgment forever.
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