A Tale Of Two Scribes: A discussion, transcription and analysis of selected poems and sections within Agallamh na Senórach with a focus on the interrelatedness and possible external sources of origin of the prose and poetry.

Abstract

The following thesis belongs in the field of philological studies with a focus on the Irish language, particularly that of the 1200-1400s and the text known as Agallamh na Senórach. This is a thirteenth-century prosimetrical work containing a number of larger poems demonstrated by other scholars to be extracted from external sources rather than written by the author of the main text. It has also been stated, as is discussed in detail in this thesis, that the smaller, single-stanza poems were compositions of the scribe of the prose. In light of this knowledge, this thesis shall observe the orthography, language usage and context of transcribed episodes from the earliest two manuscripts with the aim of establishing the relationship between the prose and small poems found in selected episodes of the work. Transcriptions and translations of the poems are provided by the author of this thesis and these will be used to discuss the possible origins of the poetry through a detailed analysis. This in turn has implications for the construction and purpose of the text itself within the corpus of Middle Irish literature, opening up numerous questions as to the reasons behind the composition of the text in the manner that it appears to have been created. Where this is a preliminary work on the topic, it aims at forming a base upon which further related work may build and discuss the tradition in more detail.