CELTIC MYTHOLOGY
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                       THE ISLAND OF MANY WONDERS
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  "Delightful is the land beyond all dreams
  Fairer than ought thine eyes have ever seen.
  There all the year the fruit is on the tree
  And all the year the bloom is on the flower.

  There with wild honey drip the forest trees,
  The stores of wine and mead never fail,
  Nor pain nor sickness knows the dweller there,
  Death and decay come near him never more... "

  In 'The People of the Mounds' (SIDHE2.TXT) I looked at the fairy kings
  and queens of both Ireland and Scotland who are dwellers in the 'Hollow
  Hills', those hidden Otherworld duns into which the Tuatha De Danaan
  retreated after their defeat by the sons of Mil.

  But not all the Gods went 'underground'. Some amongst them chose to make
  their homes in the mystical islands that lie over the Western sea,
  beyond the ninth wave, where no mortals save the chosen few may follow.

  Yet there is a deep yearning within the Celtic soul to reach these
  islands. For some this is only ever a dreamland, to remain far removed
  from their waking lives until the day comes when they must pass through
  the Great Gateway.

  But there are those among us who still walk in these lands, in the
  shadow of the Immortals, just as the legends recount of brave men and
  women who journeyed there long ago. For these lands are timeless - they
  are as close, or as far, as you can imagine them to be. The storytellers
  of old were masters of their art. In weaving the legends to life they
  were able to transcend the boundaries of this temporal world, allowing
  the invisible dimensions to become as real to us as any other.

  There are many tales of strange islands in the Western seas that
  mysteriously appear from time to time and then disappear. In Highland
  folklore there exists beyond the boundaries of this world a mythical
  island called "an t-Eilean Uaine an iomall an Domhan Toir", the green
  island at the extremity of the world, or simply "Innis Uaine". It is a
  floating, shifting island which lies beneath the waves of the sea, but
  occasionally rises to the surface and can be sighted off the west coasts
  of Ireland and Scotland. According to legend, if any piece of stone or
  lump of earth from this world had ever been thrown or taken onto the
  island, the enchantment would immediately be broken and the island would
  sink to the bottom of the sea.

  The journey to this island could not take place by any ordinary means,
  for it could only be reached by magic and with the aid of an Otherworld
  ally. In the tales of 'The Son of the King of Ireland' (Campbell, 1891,
  Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition) our hero reached the island with
  the help of a mermaid who gave him safe passage there on her back. They
  had to travel through a sea of mist and the lad was given strict
  instructions not to turn his head nor be distracted by anything, but to
  keep in mind at all times where he was going, for great dangers lay in
  this sea of mist.

  In the twelfth century, Giraldus Cambrensis mentioned an island which
  appeared west of Ireland, while Martin in his 'Description of the
  Western Isles' (1665) referred to an island ninety miles south west of
  Islay. This would seem to be the legendary Hy Breasil, which has been
  found plotted on old maps and from which the explorers to the New World
  took the name of Brazil.

  The existence of islands such as these is a concept that is deeply
  embedded in the Celtic tradition. They signify the Celtic Elysium, an
  Earthly paradise without death, sickness or sorrow. It is known by many
  names - Avallon to the Britons, Emhain Abhlach to the Gaels. It is also
  known as Magh Mell, the Happy Plain, Tir nan Og, the Land of Youth,
  and Tir nam Beo, the Land of the Living, for it is the living who travel
  there. The island is usually inhabited by a beneficent woman, who
  welcomes the traveller, knowing him by name. In the popular tales of
  'The Lad of the Skin Coverings' the boy is the son of the lady of the
  Green Isle. Everything on the island is magical - water restores to
  life; its apples can cure, transform or render immortal; it is perpetual
  summer and the trees are always laden with fruit.

  In the legend of Bran, son of Febal, a sidhe woman tells him that there
  are "three times fifty far islands in the ocean to the west, and every
  one of them twice or three times more than Ireland". It is obvious that
  the sidhe woman is not referring to the physical size of the islands,
  for many of them are little more than rocky outcrops in the Atlantic.
  Yet of the legends of the Immrama, or wonder voyages, that have
  survived, we find the most graphic and detailed descriptions of
  journeys made to these islands. From the Book of the Dun Cow (circa
  1100) comes The Voyage of Maeldun, a fantastic journey in which 31
  strange islands are visited, and the adventures that take place on them
  are described. We encounter the island of the great birds, the island of
  the giant horses, the island of the wondrous beast, the island of the
  giant cattle, the island of the glass bridge, the island of the
  miraculous fountain and many others. Edited and translated by Dr.
  Whitley Stokes for the Revue Celtique in 1888, and now reprinted in
  Rolleston's 'Celtic Myths and Legends', it is worth taking the trouble
  to read this wonderful tale, for it is a comprehensive bardic teaching
  of the stages through which the Celtic spirit passes on its journey to
  the Summerlands.

  It would be impossible to point out on a map where such fantastic
  islands as these are to be found, for clearly the voyage is one of
  dimension, of crossing the boundaries between many worlds contained
  within a multi-dimensional cosmos (the quantum physicists are now
  discovering the reality of these other dimensions). Where is this
  Otherworld? To ask this is to miss the point entirely, for a world that
  goes beyond the boundaries of our ordinary, perceived reality cannot be
  analysed, explained or defined within the limitations of 'rational
  common sense'. The Otherworld defies both Time and Space, which is why
  they are referred to as 'wonder voyages'. The native person who hears
  these stories of incredible feats, strange creatures and colourful
  lands, does not ask if such tales are 'true' or 'not true', for they do
  not think in such a defined, linear manner. Neither did our ancestors.

  In the legend of Oissin in the Land of Youth, we are shown how time can
  be so different in these lands. Oissin, homesick for his friends and
  the dearly loved land of Ireland, returns to find that three hundred
  years have since elapsed, and the tales of the Fianna have passed into
  legend. We find a similar incident in the voyage of Bran, who returns to
  the shores of Ireland to discover that his own voyage has long been
  recounted in folk tales.

  The sidhe can often cause mortals to lose their bearings, known as being
  'led astray'. Yet it is during this period of wandering seemingly
  aimlessly that you are most likely to stumble upon an entrance into the
  Otherworld. The strange paradox is that in Celtic folk tales it is
  exactly when you are going nowhere that you arrive at your destination.
  In the wonder voyages, it is when the travellers have lost their course
  on the seas that they arrive at the wondrous islands.

  Some of the islands do, however, exist as such in this world. Off the
  coast of Mayo, on the tiny island of Innis Glora, lives the 'Lonely
  Crane of Inniskea', guarding a sacred well which is said to be one of
  the great wonders of the world. The mythical Isle of Falga, the
  stronghold of the god Midir, is said to be the Isle of Man. Here it was
  that Midir kept three magical cows, a cauldron and the "three cranes of
  churlishness and denial". Manannan is also associated with this island;
  local tales say that he was the first inhabitant who kept invaders away
  by magically concealing the island in mist. The use of mist occurs
  frequently in folk tales to shield a place from unwanted intrusion, or
  to lead the unwary traveller astray. The sidhe realms are governed by
  different rules entirely. It is customary to be required to make a
  bargain of some kind for your safe passage to and from the island, and
  you must honour these bargains.

  The Skellig rocks are also important in Celtic mythology, for it was off
  the Dingle coast that Donn, son of Mil, is said to have drowned. Until
  recent times pilgrimages were made to these islands and offerings left
  for the House of Donn and those on their way to the Land of Youth.

  Sometimes real countries are mentioned in the legends, but which are
  clearly euphemisms for Otherworld islands. In the quest of the Sons of
  Turenn, a magical pig skin was sought from 'the king of Greece'; a
  magical spear from 'the king of Persia', two horses and a chariot from
  'the king of Sicily' and many other magical items from different lands.
  However, the three brothers needed a special kind of boat for their
  journey - they took the Ocean Sweeper, the magical curragh of the god
  Manannan, which travelled over both land and sea alike, and thus could
  steer them through the Otherworld lands.

  One of the most famous immramma is the seventh century poem of the
  Voyage of Bran, son of Febal (translated by Kuno Meyer in 1895). It
  describes how the Irish king Bran journeys in his boat to Manannan's
  lands. As he was walking near his palace one day, he heard sweet music
  which lulled him to sleep. On waking, he discovered a branch of silver
  with apple blossom on it at his side. A strange woman comes then, and
  sings to him of the wonders and delights of the worlds beyond the sea.
  The next day Bran sets sail with twenty seven followers. After two days
  and two nights he meets Manannan riding in his chariot across the sea.
  He tells Bran he will reach the Land of Women before sunset.

  Their first arrival was to the Island of Joy where a large crowd of
  people were all laughing aloud. Before long they reach the Land of
  Women, where one woman says:

  "Come hither on land, O Bran son of Febal. Welcome is your coming."

  She throws a ball of thread out to the boat and with this she pulls the
  boat ashore. They go into a large house, where food is always plentiful.
  It seemed as though only a year had passed in the world they had left.
  Nevertheless, they decide to head for home. However, the woman warns
  them (just as Niamh warned Oissin) not to let their feet touch the
  ground. When they reach the shores of Ireland, they remain out in the
  boat, but Bran tells the people gathered on the shore of his lineage,
  and they in turn tell him that the voyages of Bran are recounted in
  their legends. One man then crosses to the shore, but as he touches land
  he crumbles into a heap of ashes. As for Bran himself, he sets off again
  and we do not know of his voyages after that.

  Some of the travellers do return safely to this world in order to relate
  their experiences. A geis was laid upon Art, son of Conn, by Becuma from
  the Land of Promise. He must search for Delbchaem of the Fair Shape,
  daughter of Morgan, who dwells on an isle in the sea. He travels in a
  coracle from island to island until he arrives at a strange isle full of
  apple trees and birds and beautiful women who dwell in a house with a
  crystal bower thatched with bird feathers. This is the Land of Wonders,
  in which he is given a splendid mantle by a woman there, who warns him
  of the perils that face him ahead on his quest for the maiden:

  "There is a great dark ocean between you, and deadly and hostile is the
  way there" (Rees, Celtic Heritage). She describes the path in detail. He
  crosses a sea full of monsters, a forest where evil hags lurk, an icy
  mountain, a forked glen full of toads, a mountain full of lions and a
  narrow bridge. He overcomes the doorkeeper of the stronghold where
  Delbchaem is housed and takes her back to Tara.

  Tadg, son of Cian, also went to the Land of the Ever Living Ones and
  came back again. Some of the islands that Tadg and his company visited,
  of giant sheep and strange birds, bear remarkable resemblances to those
  that are described in the voyage of Maeldun. On this voyage Tadg is
  taken to see three great duns, one of white marble, of the royal line of
  the kings of Ireland, one of walls of gold where they meet Cessair, she
  who has knowledge of the history of the world, and a third dun of silver
  walls, for the kings who are yet to rule Ireland. On leaving the island
  they look back to discover that it has become hidden from sight by a
  Druid mist.

  It is interesting to note that the wife of Tadg was taken away by
  'foreigners' to these lands, which prompted Tadg to travel to them. Her
  name is Liban, the sister of Fand, wife of Manannan mac Lir. Once again
  we see how the Otherworld woman is instrumental in initiating a voyage
  that transcends the worlds.





             [Copyright - L. MacDonald DALRIADA MAGAZINE 1993]


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