Random books from MaelBrigde's library
Irish Folkways by E. Estyn Evans
Essays on the Origin, Doctrines and Discipline of the Early Irish Church (1864) by Patrick Francis Moran
Celtic Myths (Legendary Past Series) by Miranda Jane Green
Language / 30 : Irish , Gaeilge. Phrase Dictionary and Study Guide by Educational Services Corp.
Wild Irish Roses: Tales of Brigits, Kathleens, and Warrior Queens by Trina Robbins
Navan Fort: The Ancient Capital of Ulster by J. P. Mallory
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Member: MaelBrigde
CollectionsYour library (130), Wishlist (15), To read (2), All collections (146)
Reviews5 reviews
TagsCelts (69), Ireland (48), Pagan Celts (17), (13), Mythology (10), Irish Mythology (9), Saint Brigid (8), Women (8), Religion (8), Celtic Christianity (8) — see all tags
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GroupsDruidry, From Avalon to Tir Na Nog, Irish & Celtic Studies, Irish Mythology
About meI am a member of the Daughters of the Flame, with whom I do a regular shift tending the perpetual flame of Brigit. The order was created in late 1992 in order to address the need for a perpetual Brigit's flame. A number of years later I learned that the Irish Brigidine sisters of Solas Bhride relit the perpetual flame in Kildare, Ireland, on the same day--Imbolc 1993. Flame-tending groups continue to arise, in many forms and guises, giving people around the world the opportunity to actively participate in Brigit's service.
I maintain Brigit's Sparkling Flame, a blog which features links, books, music, etc. related to Brigit as goddess or saint. If you have any links or materials you can suggest to feature on the blog, or are interested in joining the Daughters of the Flame, please drop me a note.
http://www.obsidianmagazine.com/Daughter...
About my libraryI would like to build here a virtual library of books of use to Brigit scholars, devotees, enthusiasts, etc. and secondarily to those interested in the Celtic Reconstructionist movement. If you have recommendations of books please let me know.
Thus far the books in my virtual library are mostly in my bricks and mortar library. As time goes on I will be adding more books I would love to have, but don't yet have access to.
About my tags: When I tag a book "Brigit" this doesn't mean that the book is all about Brigit, but simply that there is material about her in the book. I haven't been consistent with this tag, so there are books with references to her that haven't been tagged as such, but ah, well. This is life.
For more information on Celtic Reconstructionism please see the CR FAQ: http://www.paganachd.com/faq/
Homepagehttp://brigitssparklingflame.blogspot.com/
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Had revelation a few days ago. I would never have thought of the Northern Red-Shafted Flicker as being white, black and red - it's a speckled brown bird with orangey under-wings. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/North...
But they're having their autumn moult, and the secondary wing feather I picked up under the feeder is barred black and white, with the underside a clear salmon-red.
I think I found another brid-bird, hiding in my own yard. :-)
--R
posted by Rowntree at 5:25 pm (EST) on Sep 15, 2009
Just a quick note - recently got another one, 'The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs' by Kevin Danaher which has some good folkloric info.
in some haste, (workload's going up)
R
posted by Rowntree at 12:51 pm (EST) on Jul 8, 2009
No, no LiveJournal (etc) - (as I said, computer access only at work, and while they don't mind a bit of moderate surfing, we're not supposed to access anything that might have to download.) I do lurk sometimes on some of the CR related yahoo groups, but haven't been by much recently.
(All right, amend that - I poked my nose in the yahoo groups this morning, but hadn't for weeks.)
I put my back out yesterday while watering the roses, so I'm a bit dim today....
posted by Rowntree at 2:27 pm (EST) on Jun 22, 2009
Oh, right - what I was delving into were *Scottish* Gaelic dictionaries (this being largely what I have; might check the Welsh ones, too, just to see. Regional variation, indeed. ;-)
Illustrated Gaelic to English Dictionary / Faclar Gaidhlig gu Beurla, Edward Dwelly, is the one with the 'gille-Bridhge' reference. It's a good bit older, and has some folkloric bits tucked in. It's also Gaelic to English only, not the other way around.
A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language. Malcolm MacLennan, a much newer source. Both had the 'brid-eun' ref.
Things are a bit zooi-sh at work today, and I still do not have computer access at home - makes checking refs so much fun...
posted by Rowntree at 2:28 pm (EST) on Jun 19, 2009
Thanks for the fox-tale (tail?) I think I had met that story, now that you mention it.
Two of my large Gaelic dictionaries, translate the oystercatcher (bird) as 'brid-eun'; one of the (Dwelly's, I'm thinking, but I'll have to go look again) says another Gaelic name for that bird is 'gille-Bridhge' or Brigid's servant. (Why, the dictionary did not say.) I'll see what I can find.
posted by Rowntree at 6:54 pm (EST) on Jun 17, 2009
Cited sources - I'll see what I come up with. I have more Scottish material than Irish; probably some good obscure bits in there. (I remember when I was tracking the history of the bean-nighe (washer-at-the-ford) and ended up bouncing from Scottish sources to Irish ones and back again.)
The anthology sounds really interesting.
Have you ever encountered any reliable references connecting Brigid and foxes? I ran into one, but didn't trust the book, and it seems a little ...unlikely... to me.
posted by Rowntree at 5:52 pm (EST) on Jun 12, 2009
posted by Rowntree at 5:24 pm (EST) on Jun 12, 2009
posted by Rowntree at 5:23 pm (EST) on Jun 12, 2009
Right, the seal-research is a paper. I didn’t really have publication in mind, just started out of my own interest, and kept going. Though I suppose I might find a place for it – when I gave a lecture on the topic at an event last November, I was scheduled in the afternoon of the last day; I expected perhaps three or four people to turn up, and got about twenty (and there were only about ninety people at the whole conference, including the folk putting it on.)
Your red-eared kitty sounds like a cutie. No problem with cat-sharing – I have lots of tales about my babies, too. Actually it’s my impression that red-point Siamese do have tabby-stripes in their points. The seal-point (ha!) Siamese I had as a child certainly had tabby marks buried deep in his dark brown points, and he was a pure-bred, so….
I seem to recall seeing the bird-attributions in more than one source, probably while doing the seal-research, but I’ll have to go poking around. (I entirely understand a desire for cited sources. Footnotes are our friends.) Did you also want attributions for the black/white/red as being otherworld critters? I'll probably find them in the same place/s.
posted by Rowntree at 1:24 pm (EST) on Jun 12, 2009
Er, yes, 'dipping' into seal lore... ;-) Let's see - here's a bit from my lecture notes (I gave a talk on this at an event last fall.)
Following some discussion of various terms for seals in the relevant languages, it continues, "the earliest references specifying the shape-shifting sort [of seals] seem to have (at least in translation) used ‘seal-men’; a translation from the Gaelic would be that almost exactly.
In fact, I have not found any use of a term specifically meaning a shape-changing, magical sort of seal, prior to the late 19th – early 20th century. It seems that the terms for seal-people, ròn, selkyn, selchis (whatever spelling) etc., were used interchangeably for “regular” seals – the swim in the harbor, eat fish, chew holes in your nets sort – and the shape-changing ones up until the folklore collectors got involved. Likewise, the [previously discussed] origin theories cover both. In fact, until the folklorists got to messing about, there seems to have been very little concern as to which sort of seal one was dealing with. Large seals, the Atlantic grey seals in particular, probably changed shape when they felt like it. The smaller varieties probably didn’t, though one couldn’t really be certain of that.
I feel this is an important point. Seals - all seals - were uncanny; creatures that lived between the worlds. As with any other human / otherworld interaction, there is a barrier, a boundary which must be crossed. The edge of the sea to the shore is a powerful boundary."
And so forth. I'm still working on things. (Ten pages of notes, & two of bibliography so far.)
A white, red-eared kitty - nice. Maybe a little red-point Siamese bloodline? At any rate, white, red-eared critters are all special. (Scottish lore also says that creatures which are naturally black, white and red are otherworldly beasties; such as the oystercatcher bird, also called brid-eun, or 'Brid's bird.' Which you probably knew. ;-)
posted by Rowntree at 12:43 pm (EST) on Jun 8, 2009