Electronic edition compiled by Beatrix Färber
Funded by University College, Cork and
Professor Marianne McDonald via the CELT Project
2. Second draft
Extent of text: 2185 words
Distributed by CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
Text ID Number: G100041
Availability [RESTRICTED]
Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
The present text represents pages 134–137 of the printed edition.
Text has been checked and proofread twice. All corrections and supplied text are tagged.
The electronic text represents the edited text. Initial h and n following eclipsis have been hyphenated off; infixed pronouns and notae augentes were hyphenated off; ro was written separately; characters with overdot were rendered character+h. Text supplied by the editor has been marked sup resp="KM", expansions ex resp="KM".
Direct speech has been tagged q.
div0=the saga; div1=the section of the Irish text and English translation; page-breaks are marked pb n="".
Personal, collective and place names have been tagged.
This text uses the DIV1 element to represent the section.
Created: By an unknown author. Date range: 700–900?.
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Julianne Nyhan (ed.)
Peter Flynn (ed.)
Benjamin Hazard (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Staff at the CURIA Project (ed.)
Eochu & Fælan dá mac Muredaig maic Oengusa maic Fedeilmid maic Enna maic Labrada maic Bresail Belaig maic Fiachach Baccida maic Cathair. Ro brog tra inti Fælan in n-Eochaid o thír dar muir i n-Albain, co m-bæ la Gabran mac nh-Domongairt maic Fergusa Moir maic Eircc maic Echach Muinremair.
Bæ dano a ben i fail Echach .i. Feidelm ingen Fhedelmid Findleith maic Cobthaich maic Crimthaind maic Nathi maic Fiachrach. Torrach dano ben Echach & ba h-ed ben Gabrain. Maccach dano ben Echach & ingenach ben Gabhrain. Astuidet i n-oenaidchi. Da mac la mnai Echach & dí ingin la mnai Gabrain.
‘Cid rucais, a ben Echach?’ ar ben Gabrain. ‘Failet da mac limm isunna’, ar ben Echach. ‘Failet lim-sa isunna dano di ingein, mar nach annom’, ar ben Gabrain. ‘No-m-thesaircg-se & tuc dam indara mac & beir h-uaim indara n-ingin. Mo mind oir & mo fhail, mo delgc & mo dechelt duit.’
‘Atetha ani-sin’, ar Feidelm. Ocus ro adnacht Feidelm grainne n-oir fo slinnen & do bert uaidi am-mac & do bert ingin uaidi, co m-ba mac & ingen la cechtar n-æ.
Baistiteir na maic ar thus & in da ingin iarum. Ocus at-bert in drui triasin mh-baithis: ‘Na bad nar lib-si, a mná, h-it emuin in da mac sa & it h-emuin in di ingin’. Ocus do bert Aed & Brandub foraib.
Ro chomailit iarum h-i comaltus, cotoracht Eochaid mac Muiredaig dia thír & a mac leis & ro gab in mac sin rigi Lagen iar tain. Ro gab Aedan immorro rige n-Alban.
Ba mor uall & borrfad Aidain. Do luid for sluagod i nh-Erinn do chosnam rige h-Érenn. Ar ba toich do .i. o senathair, o Chairpre Rigfhota mac Conaire Moir maic Etarsceoil maic Eogain maic Ailella Ain maic h-Ieir maic Dedaid maic Sin.
Amlaid do thæt Aedan .i. co n-Albain & Bretnu & Saxsanu leis do inriud for h-Érind. Ocus do thæt co Laigniu do chuingid giall co Brandub. A mathair beo h-ifus ar a chind. Ocus do chuaid do chuingid chairdde co Aedán.
Ocus as-bert si: ‘Orddan & tocad duit, a maic Gabrain! Ba coir dún fáilti frit fo daig t'athar & do mathar. Ocus in ticfa ar leth do immacallaim frim-sa?’ ‘Can don mnai?’ ar cach. ‘Mathair Branduib in sin’, ar Aedan. ‘Ar is caillech mo mathair-se,’ ar Aedan, ‘regma do acallaim na caillige aile’.
‘In béo do máthair?’ ar si. ‘Béo écin’, ar Aedan. ‘Is bennachda dún. Dia ar a bethaid!’ ol sisi. ‘Cid co-ndn-uige, a chaillech?’ ‘Cairdde frim mac din chaur sa ar daig for cairddessa. Ar is Eochaid mac Muiredaig do athair & missi do máthair & Brandub do derbrathair. Ar ni bered ben Gabrain acht ingena & ni berind-se acht macco. Ocus ro chloechloichsem mac & ingen. Ocus fail uaim-si comartha innut .i. grainne óir bæ h-i cind mo deilge graiph fail fot slinnen chlé-su’. Ocus topacht in grainne ass & ro lín a lepaid isin deilgc.
Do thæt Brandub do acallaim Aedain & fo gnit a cairddes do derbad. Comraichne & imairchissecht eturru ond uair sin.
At-berat araili co m-bæ Aedan i l-Laignib, co n-dechas uad co h-Albain do imchomarcc a mathar & co ro-innissetar in da mnai do feib do rola a cairddes & amail ro chlaimchaiset chlainn .i. mac & ingen cechtar n-ai.
Eochu and Fælán were two sons of Muredach, son of Oengus, son of Fedelmid, son of Énna, son of Labraid, son of Bresal Bélach, son of Fiachu Baccid, son of Catháir. Now this Fælán expelled Eochu from his land over the sea into Scotland, where he was with Gabrán son of Domongart, son of Fergus the Great, son of Ercc, son of Eochu the Stout-necked.
Eochu had his wife with him, even Feidelm, daughter of Fedelmid Findliath, son of Cobthach, son of Crimthand, son of Nathi, son of Fiachru. Then Eochu's wife was pregnant, and so was the wife of Gabrán. Eochu's wife was pregnant with a boy, Gabrán's wife with a girl. On the same night they are brought to bed, Eochu's wife with two sons, and Gabrán's wife with two daughters.
‘What hast thou brought forth?’ said Gabrán's wife. ‘I have here two sons’, said Eochu's wife. ‘And I have two daughters, as is not rare’, said Gabrán's wife. ‘Save me, and give me one boy, and take one girl from me. Thou shalt have my diadem of gold and my arm-ring, my brooch and my dress.’
‘Take that’, said Feidelm. And she put a grain of gold under his shoulderblade, and gave her son away and took the girl from her, so that each had a boy and a girl.
The boys are baptised first, and the two girls afterwards. And at the baptism the druid said: ‘Be ye not ashamed, oh women. These boys are twins, and the two girls are twins.’ And to the boys he gave the names Aed and Brandub.
Thereupon they were reared together in fostership until Eochu son of Muredach went to his country, and his son with him. And that son afterwards took the kingship of Leinster. Aedán however, took the kingship of Scotland.
Great was the pride and arrogance of Aedán. He went on a hosting into Ireland to contest the kingship of Ireland. For he had a claim to it from his grandfather Cairpre Longwrist, son of Conaire the Great, son of Etarscél, son of Eogan, son of Ailill Án, son of Hier, son of Dedad, son of Sen.
Thus did Aedán go, with (the men of) Scotland and Britons and Saxons to invade Ireland. And he came to Leinster
And she said: ‘Honour and luck to thee, O son of Gabrán! For thy father's and thy mother's sake it behoves us to rejoice at thy coming. And wilt thou come aside to converse with me?’ ‘Whence is the woman?’ said all. ‘That is Brandub's mother’, said Aedán. ‘And since my own mother is an old woman’, said Aedán, ‘we will go to converse with the other old woman.’
‘Is thy mother alive?’ said she. ‘Alive indeed’, said Aedán. ‘That is blessed (news) to us. God preserve her life!’1 said she. ‘What dost thou ask, old woman?’ ‘A truce with my son this time, for the sake of your kinship. For Eochaid son of Muredach is thy father, and I am thy mother, and Brandub is thy brother. For Gabrán's wife bore but daughters, and I bore but sons, and we exchanged a son and a daughter. And there is a token from me in thee, viz. a grain of gold, which was in the head of my writing-style, is under thy left shoulderblade.’ And the grain was cut out, and it filled its socket in the style.
Brandub went to converse with Aedán and they proceed to confirm their kinship. From that hour there were good will2 and mutual forbearance between them.
Others say that when Aedán was in Leinster he sent to Scotland for his mother, and that the two women told him how their kinship had happened and how they exchanged their children, a boy and a girl, each of them.
Liverpool,