Elegies and death-tales

BDL has a very strong interest in poems relating the deaths of heroes; it provides a wide-ranging selection of death-tales, as well as elegies on, and lists of, deceased warriors.  There are also several poems which are markedly elegiac in their overall perspectives.

The sample, as we now see it, begins with a short poem which identifies the graves of the principal warriors of the Fian (Poem I). Four other poems consist of enumeration of departed heroes: Poem III is a retrospective piece put in Oisean's mouth; in Poem X, which takes the form of a debate between Oisean and Patrick, Oisean recounts the prominent warriors and families of the Fian.  In Poem XIX, the Ulster warrior Conall Cearnach identifies, for the benefit of Eimhear, the heads of the now deceased warriors who had contrived the death of her husband, Cú Chulainn.  Poem XVIII, by contrast with the sombre tone of the other pieces, strikes a note of jocularity and apparent parody, by intermingling the names of well-known warriors with more obscure examples, and by introducing some apparently humorous caricatures, such as Socach ('Snouty') and Fead ('Whistle').  The existence of self-parody of this kind reflects a tradition which is not entirely lacking in self-criticism.

The most conspicuous examples of the elegiac ethos in BDL are provided by no less than five poems which are directly concerned with the deaths of major heroes, Diarmaid (Poem XIII), Oscar (Poems XXI, XXII), Conlaoch (Poem XXIII) and Fraoch (XXVII).  Although Poem XXI is a fast-moving piece which describes the hero's dexterity, the other poems are carefully crafted narratives, characterised by dignity and pathos.  Poem XXII pays particular attention to the heroic qualities of Oscar as he dies on the battlefield of Gabhair, and appears to be an object-lesson in the medieval ars moriendi ('the skill of dying', i.e., in a manner consistent with the Christian hero). The attributes of Diarmaid and Fraoch are described in the concluding quatrains of their respective ballads in a manner reminiscent of bardic elegy, with a heightening of style and closer attention to the requirements of metre.  Poem XXIII, describing the death of Conlaoch by his own father, is presented as the apologue of a bardic poem, the preceding section of which is also contained in BDL, and ascribed to Giolla Coluim mac an Ollaimh.  Such evidence, both stylistic and ascriptional, indicates that some, at least, of the ballad genres came very close to the standards and expectations of the bardic schools.

The four poems describing the deaths of Diarmaid, Oscar, Conlaoch and Fraoch are perhaps the finest surviving examples of elegiac verse within the ballad tradition.  It is therefore of particular interest that in BDL their special significance seems to be underlined further by attributing them to non-legendary 'authors': Ailéin mac Ruaidhrí (XIII and XXII), Giolla Coluim mac an Ollaimh (XXIII) and An Caoch O Cluain (XXVII).  While the ascriptions other than that of Poem XXIII present problems of interpretation, they do at least seem to mark the distinctiveness of this genre in the eyes of the compilers of BDL.

Three poems in BDL have a marked yearning for bygone days, and reflect the long-standing retrospective dimensions of the Fian cycle as a whole.  Poems IV and VIII are placed in the mouth of Oisean, portrayed as a decrepit old man spending the last phase of his life in Oil Finn (Elphin, in Co. Roscommon).  Poem IV contrasts the tedium he now experiences as he drags stones for Patrick's church with the delight he once enjoyed as a member of the vibrant and active Fiana.  Poem XXIV is put into the mouth of Diarmaid, who reproaches Gráinne for having caused his alienation from the Fian.