Line 30. "High was he girt," ard chustal. The meaning of custal is
not known; it was used of some arrangement of the dress. See Ir.
Text., iii. 226; also L.U. 79a, 35, L.L. 97a, 40; 98a, 51; 253a, 30.
Line 31. "Eochaid arose," Atrigestar Eochaid. Strachan thinks it much
more likely that this is "Eochaid feared him," the verb coming from
atagur. It is, however, just possible that the word might be a
deponent form from atregaim, "I arise." Eochaid does not elsewhere
show any fear of Mider, the meaning given agrees better with the tone
of the story, and is grammatically possible.
PAGE 30
Line 1. "All things that seemed good, &c.," lit. "I have been
accustomed to get what seemed good to thee," adethaind ni bad maith.
Line 3. "Anger for anger," bara fri bure. Compare the word bura in
Meyer's Contributions.
Line 25. "In order that Eochaid should stand in his debt," lit. "that
there might be cause of reproach for him to Eochaid."
Line 32. "Forest that is over Breg." MS. fid dar bre, with mark of
abbreviation. This is read to be dar Breg. Professor Rhys (Arthurian
Legend, p. 28) renders "to cover Darbrech with trees."
Line 33. "As it is written in the book of Drom Snechta. "This is a
conjecture by Mrs. Hutton as a restoration of the words in L.U., which
is torn just here: the words appear to be amal atbert lebor drums.
PAGE 31
Line 1. This rhetoric is very obscure; much of it cannot be
translated. The text seems to be as follows, according to Strachan:
Cuisthe illand tochre illand airderg damrad trom inchoibden clunithar fír
ferdi buidni balc-thruim crandchuir forderg saire fedar sechuib
slimprib snithib scítha lama indrosc cloina fo bíth oen mna. Duib in dígail
duib in trom daim tairthim flatho fer ban fomnis fomnis in fer mbranie
cerpiae fomnis diad dergae fer arfeid soluig fria iss esslind fer bron
for-tí ertechta in de lamnado luachair for di Thethbi dílecud (? diclochud)
Midi in dracht coich les coich amles ? thocur ? dar c? moin.
Apparent rendering: "Place on the land, place close on the land, very
red oxen, heavy troop which hears, truly manlike ? troops, strong heavy
placing of trees, very red . . . is led past them with twisted wattles,
weary hands, the eye slants aside (squints) because of one woman. To
you the vengeance, to you the heavy ? oxen ? splendour of sovereignty
over white men, . . . man sorrow on thee . . . of childbirth, rushes
over Tethba, clearing of stones from Meath . . . where the benefit
where the evil, causeway over . . . moor." It seems that the oxen were
transformed people of Mider's race; this appears from fír-ferdi, which is
taken to mean "really men"; and duib in digail duib in trom-daim, which
is taken to mean "to you the vengeance, to you heavy oxen."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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