Matheson Collection > Early Irish reader

40 THE STORY OF MAC DATHÓ'S PIG
Thurneysen and Leahy understand it rather differently, taking lib, 'whom
you speak of,' 'Was sagt ihr denn dazu?' (Thurneysen); 'What sort of a
man was he whom you boast of?' (Leahy). More probably we should read
fir, lit. 'How is this true (or 'proper') in your eyes?' etc. For the use of
fir here and elsewhere in the saga cf. Revue Celtique, vol. xxiv, p. 121 ff.
a ehend...de, lit. 'his head to strike (i.e. for striking) from him.'
8. Immo-tarla...hErend. Windisch transl. immo-tarla (for imm-a-tarla)
(impers.) 'es kam ihnen dahin dass.' He thinks that the infixed or affixed
(cf. imma tarla) pron. 3rd sing. a(n-) is contained in such forms, often with
a sense of opposition (cf. Gloss, p. 515, col. 1). Thurneysen evidently thinks
the same, for he transl. 'So kamen sie schliesslich hart an einander, bis ein
Mann sich fiber die Manner Irlands erhob.' He evidently takes tarla in a.
more concrete sense than Windisch (cf. Windisch's Gloss, s.v.). Rawl. B. 512
is different here : Immátormailt each dib a chomrama a n-agaid araile, co
riacht fodeóid cusin oenfer robris for each, 'Each of them brought up his
exploits in the face of the other, till at last it came to one man who beat
everyone' (Meyer). For this passage and what follows see introduction,
p. 7 above. Such altercations are mentioned by Athenaeus as a recognised
accompaniment of the feast among the ancient Gauls, in t-oinfer. The def.
art. here, as frequently in E.Ir., suggests that the person indicated is going
to figure largely in what follows.
Matach. Other mss. here insert do Connachtaib.
Dofúargaib, etc., or possibly, 'Indeed he raised his weapons above him
higher than the weapons of the host,' a transl. which would account better
for fair. Rawl. B. 512 is simpler, Túarcaib side im[morro] a gaisced don
t-slúaig, 'He raised his prowess over the host.' H. 3. 18, difurgaib side
im[moro] a gaiscced uas gaiscedaib in tduaigh. Thurneysen transl. 'Der
hing seine Waffen hoher als die Waffen der Menge'; Leahy, 'He hung up
his weapons at a greater height than the weapons of anyone else who was
there.' Thurneysen considers this as a sign of preeminence in prowess. The
phrase occurs in Bricriu's Feast, ch. 68, where Henderson transl. 'Cuchul-
lain's valour to rank above that of everyone else.' I think that the phrase
refers to boasting, which is a universal accompaniment of heroic banquets.
tairismi, gen. of the verb. n. of tairissem (see vocab. and cf. ch. 17 note s.v.
laech a thairismi). Windisch suggests emend, to tairissem to supply the
subject to fagabar, and compares the phrase in comram do thairisem bens...
no in mucc do raind dam, ch. 1 1 f. He regards the verb. n. le'cud as supplying
a second subject to fagabar, which is improbable. The lit. meaning seems
to be : ' Let the men of Ireland maintain the contest ; otherwise (it will be
a case of) surrender of the pig for carving to me.' Thurneysen transl. ' Jetzt
soil sich ein irischer Mann finden,' sagte er, 'der den Wettstreit mit mir
aufnirnmt, oder man lasse mich das Schwein zerlegen.' Harl. 5280 supplies
oinfer (tairisme). Scarre's ed. of H. 3. 18 has cen (sic) fer tairisme comramae
frim-sai no legad na muici do roind damh. Bawl. B. 512, i Fogabar tra do