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Immram introduction 'Immrama' is an old Irish word meaning 'voyages to islands', and many of these are odysseys to islands of the past, to ancient sites and into religion. journey, tracing lines of passage, following paths long travelled, echoed voices. journey to find meaning of immrama? where will it lead? what will I find? what does wikipedia say Immram An Immram (plural Immrama; Modern Irish: iomramh) is one of a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld (see Tír na nÓg and Mag Mell). Written in the Christian era and essentially Christian in aspect, they preserve elements of Irish mythology. "Immram" is usually translated as "Voyage". Medieval lists name seven immrama, three of which survive: The Voyage of Mael Dúin, The Voyage of the Uí Chorra, and The Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riagla. The Voyage of Bran is classified in these same lists as an Echtra, or "Adventure", though it also contains the essential elements of the immrama. The Latin Voyage of St. Brendan could also be called an immram. The immrama are identifiable by their focus on the exploits of the heroes during their search for the Otherworld, located in these cases in the islands far to the west of Ireland. The hero sets out on his voyage for the sake of adventure or to fulfill his destiny, and generally stops on other fantastic islands before reaching his destination. He may or may not be able to return home again. Máel Dúin Máel Dúin is the protagonist of Immram Maele Dúin or the Voyage of Máel Dúin, a Christian tale written in Old Irish around the end of the first millennium. He is the son of Ailill Edge-of-Battle, whose murder provides the initial impetus for the tale. In the story, the hero sets out on an immram, or voyage, to avenge his father's death at the hands of marauders from leicis (Old Irish fir leicis, "men from over the sea"). Máel Dúin seeks the advice of a druid who tells him how to get there and in what manner. Máel Dúin follows the druid's advice up to a point, except that he allows his foster brothers to join him, thus exceeding the number of people the druid tipulated should be allowed accompany him on his immram. Because of this Máel Dúin is blown off course and into a great voyage where he has a number of peculiar experiences both from within his boat, where generally he sees fantastic things, and on a series of islands he and his crewmen elect to visit. During his immram, Máel Dúin has a Christian conversion experience. He also loses his three foster brothers at different points along the way, allowing him to finally reach the marauders who killed his father and whom he initially set out to kill in revenge. However, as he has incorporated a new, Christian element into his personality he does not kill them but instead forgives them before returning home. The text exists in an 11th century redaction, by a certain Aed the Fair, described as the "chief sage of Ireland," but it may be gathered from internal evidence that the tale itself dates back to the 8th century. It belongs to the group of Irish romance, the Navigations (Imrama), the common type of which was possibly imitated from the classical tales of the wanderings of Jason, Ulysses, and Aeneas. Imram Curaig Mailduin is preserved, in each case imperfectly, in the Lebor na hUidre, a manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin; and in the Yellow Book of Lecan, MS. H. 216 in the Trinity College Library, Dublin; fragments are in Harleian MS. 5280 and Egerton MS. 1782 in the British Museum. There are translations by Patrick Joyce, Old Celtic Romances (1879), by Whitley Stokes (a more critical version, printed together with the text) in Revue celtique, vols. ix and x (1888-1889). See H. Zimmer, "Brendan's Meer-fahrt" in Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, vol. xxxiii (1889). Tennyson's Voyage of Maeldune, suggested by the Irish romance, borrows little more than its framework. The Immran Máel Dúin may be compared with a passage in the Rāma-ayana. The Voyage of Bran The Voyage of Bran (Irish: Immram Brain) is a tale of a man's journey across the sea to avenge his father's murder. The content derives from Irish Mythology, but was written in the 8th century. Some Old Irish storyteller's lists categorize the tale as an Echtra, or "Adventure", but it contains the essential elements of an Immram, or "Voyage". It may have influenced the story of Saint Brendan's voyage later on. Synopsis In Irish Mythology, Bran, son of Febal, embarks upon a quest to the Other World. One day while Bran is walking, he hears beautiful music, so beautiful, in fact, that it lulls him to sleep. Upon awakening, he sees a beautiful silver branch in front of him. He returns to his royal house, and while his company is there, a strange woman appears, and sings to him a poem about the land where the branch had grown. In this Otherworld, it is always summer, there is no want of food or water, and no sickness or despair ever touches the perfect people. She tells Bran to voyage to the Land of Women across the sea, and the next day he gathers a company of men to do so. After two days, he sees a man on a chariot speeding towards him. The man is Manannan mac Lir, and he tells Bran that he is not sailing upon the ocean, but upon a flowery plain. He also reveals to Bran that there are many men riding in chariots, but that they are invisible. He tells Bran of how he is to beget his son in Ireland, and that his son will become a great warrior. Bran leaves Manannan mac Lir, and comes to the Isle of Joy. All the people upon the Isle of Joy laugh and stare at him, but will not answer his calls. When Bran sends a man ashore to see what the matter is, the man starts to laugh and gape just like the others. Bran leaves him and sails farther. He then reaches the Land of Women, but is hesitant to go ashore. However, the leader of the women throws a magical clew at him which sticks to his hand. She then pulls the boat to shore, and each man pairs off with a woman, Bran with the leader. For what seemed to be one year, although it was in actuality many more, the men feasted happily in the Land of Women until Nechtan Mac Collbran felt homesickness stir within him. The leader of the women was reluctant to let them go, and warned them not to step upon the shores of Ireland. Bran and his company sailed back to Ireland. The people that had gathered on the shores to meet him did not recognize his name except in their legends. Nechtan Mac Collbran, upset, jumped off the boat onto the land. Immediately, Nechtan Mac Collbran turned to ashes. Bran and his company related the rest of their story to the Irish, and then sailed across the sea, never to be seen again. Historical Notes This poem was written down between AD 700 and 900, by Christian monks. These monks added a few stanzas to the poem that predicted the coming of Christ. External links
Echtra An Echtra or Echtrae (pl. Echtrai) is one of a category of Old Irish literature about a hero's adventures in the Otherworld (see Tír na nÓg and Mag Mell); the otherworldly setting is the distinctive trait of these tales. More generally, echtra was the Old Irish word for "adventure", the Modern Irish word is eachtra. The echtra was one of the most popular of Old Irish genres, so much so that the word later came to be used in the titles of any romance, regardless of otherworldly content. Earlier on, however, an echtra's emphasis was on the hero's time in the Otherworld, the journey to which served merely as a frame story. This distinguishes the echtrai from the Immrama, or "Voyages", which focus on the hero's journey rather than the otherworldly destination. The hero of the echtra is usually invited to the Otherworld by a beautiful maiden or a great warrior, and he must cross either the western ocean or a plain blanketed by a mystical fog. The host is revealed to be one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, or fairy folk, and Manannan or Lugh often figure into the tale. The hero's fate after his sojourn varies from tale to tale. Sometimes he stays among the sídhe forever, and sometimes he returns with knowledge and gifts for his people. Sometimes the hero discovers his visit has lasted for years or even centuries though he thought no time had passed. He is warned that if he ever touches his home soil again, he will surely perish. In the Voyage of Bran, the heroes describe their adventure to listeners shore, then sail off into oblivion. In a popular story from the Fenian Cycle, Oisín touches the ground and instantly ages hundreds of years. He tells his story to Saint Patrick and receives a Christian baptism before passing away. Journey to an island what is an island, Ireland at the edge of the world, did those traveling here have a vision of finding this island? poetry 1. Immrama by Catherine Fisher The Name Immrama Viking Is it like Vikingr? (In Old Norse, the word is spelled víkingr,[3] [4] "a man from the vik".[5] Viken was the old name of the region bordering on the Skagerrak, from where the first Norse merchant-warriors originated. The Swedish county bordering on the Skagerrak, which is now called Bohuslän, was, prior to the construction of the Bohus fortress, also called Vikland. Vikland was once a part of the Norse district of Viken. Later on, the term, Viking, became synonymous with "naval expedition" or "naval raid", and a víking was a member of such expeditions. A second etymology suggested that the term is derived from Old English, wíc, ie. "trading city" (cognate to Latin vicus, "village").) |