THE LITERARY TRADITION AND *
THE AURAICEPT
THE BENEDICTINES ARRIVE IN IRELAND
When the Benedictine monks arrived from the continent,
they entered the thriving country of Ireland with its ancient civilization. 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 monks 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.
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 formerly sacred Ogam writing had already been
introduced to the Irish people by the Gnostic missionaries, 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.
SOME COMMENTS
CONCERNING 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.
A SERIOUS
PROBLEM WITH TRANSLATION
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.
in. ina inauguratu
to
open, to start
.si asi asipen basics
ipi ipi
ipini to supply, to give
it./ itu
itundu to be advised
era
era
eraz
according to
ike ike
ikerpen research
ep. epa epai decision
.t. atu
atutxa better world
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,
.na ona onartu
to approve
.n. ane anega
measure
e.i ehi ei
certainly
ige ige iges
egin
to flee
ez/ ez ezjakintasun illiteracy
.i.
aie aienatu
to disappear
era era eraz
according to
ike ike Ikerpen
research
ep. epa epai
decision
.t. atu atutxa
better world
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
u.a
uha uhaska
reservoir
a.i ahi ahitugaitz
untiring, enthusiastic
ir./
ira irakatsi
to educate
er./ eri erri
people
.ga ega egarri
strong desire
ak. aka akabu
superior
.h./ ahi ahitugarri ending, outcome
With an
enthusiastic reservoir of educated people who have a strong desire (to work
towards) a superior outcome.
taoiseach: aicicht , line 2261.
.ta ita itaundu to question
o.i ohi ohi
izan
in the habit of
ise ise isekatu
to criticize
ak. aka akastun
faulty
.h. aha ahalegin
attempt
a.i ahi ahituezin
constant
isi
isi isil
quiet
ik. ika ikasketa
study
.h. aha ahalguzti
Almighty
.t./
ate aterbe
protection
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
.do ido idoro
to discover
ono
ono onon
exquisite, superior
.i./
oia oialdu
to weave, to assemble
ik.
ika ikaskera
learning method
.h. aha ahalegina to attempt
.t.
ata ataurre
introduction
a.i ahi ai
I hope, I have a strong desire
isi/
isi isilik
quiet
ar./ are arrera
acceptance
is.
isu isurgarri
fluid,
smooth
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 monk who wrote:
Beithe-luis nin (lines 1057,
1134, 4013):
.be
obe obetoezin perfectly
ite/ ite itegun
work performed
lu
ludi
ludi
world
is./
isi
isilean hidden from
ni
ni
ninikatu to take root
in/
in inguru
vicinity
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)
.b. abo abonau
approve of
.ri
ori
oritzi
give advice
ar.
ara
arrazoiak
to explain
.ta
ata atalbako in simple manner
aro
aro arro
proud
ogam ogam Ogam Ogam script
I approve of,
give advice and explain in simple manner the proud Ogam script.
Goidelic. (2282 etc.)
According to Webster the word "goidelic" means: "the division of
the Celtic languages which includes Irish and Scottish Gaelic and Manx".
The translation of the word tells another story:
.go ego egokialdi good opportunity
ide ide ideiatu to
invent
eli
eli elizako
church
ik. ika ikasgo teachings
Good
opportunity to invent church teachings.
Berla Fene(1302).
.be obe obetoezin perfectly
er.
ere
ereduztatu
to adapt
.la
ela ela
word
af. afa
afa happy
ene ene
enetan
every time
A perfectly
adapted word (makes me) happy every time.
Iarmberla (1304).
i.a iha ihardun
to keep busy
ar. ara arazo
task
.m. amo amodiozko loving
.be obe obetu
to perfect
er. ere ereduztatu to adapt
.la ela ela
word
We keep busy
with the loving task of perfecting adapted words.
Berla na filed. (McManus 8.3).
.be obe obetuezin perfectly
er.
ere ereduztatu to adapt
.la
ela ela
word
ana
ana
anaidi
religious order
af. afa afa
joy
ile
ile ilezin
everlasting
ed.
ede
eder
satisfaction
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.
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.
og. ogu oguzi
yell out loud
u.a uha uhalde
deluge
a.i
ahi ai
grief
im./ imi imitazio reproduction/repeat
.do/ odo odolkeria butchery
.be abe aberezko
brutal
era era eraso
attack
it./
ito itotzaile
murderous
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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