franc 91 wrote:
I've managed to get hold of Scéalta Sí by no less than Sinéad de Valera (ISBN 978 0 9535 8368 3). But I'm very disappointed to find that she wrote her stories in English and that this a translation back into Irish. Not only that, in the Irish version, they haven't said which stories in the original they have translated - what's more is that most of her books are out of print, unavailable and the few that are available, are up for sale at prices much too high.
Well that's kinda shit, Excusez mon français (excuse my awful French)
.
Why would someone want to translate folklore that's in English into Irish when there is an absolute treasure trove of folkloric materials in Irish? You are never going to capture the unique turn-of-phrase that the Irish-speaking story teller - or any original language of the story teller for that matter - in translation.
Franc, since you are interested in Munster Irish and story-telling, I would highly recommend getting - if you haven't gotten them already - either
Seanachas ó Chairbre I or
Leabhar Stiofáin Uí Ealaoire. Those two books are wonderful for their stories. For instance in Stiofáin Ó Ealaoire's tale
Baiste Fhínn, a story describing Finn's childhood, how he gained his
fios and became leader of the Fíanna. The story pattern itself roughly follows the 12th/11th century composition
Macgnímartha Finn. It blends Greek and Irish mythology seamlessly. However, there are elements of the story - such as Finn and his foster mother living in the hollow of a tree in order to escape Finn's enemies who are trying to kill him - to be found in a 14th poem which is another version of the
Macgnímartha type.
This sounds weird and sad, but I like to listen to recordings of Stiofáin Ó hEalaoire (hEilíre) first on Doegen, to get the rhythm and sound of his voice in my head; and then I turn to his book with a nice drink and imagine that Stiofán himself is telling me the stories.
franc 91 wrote:
What are the English titles of - Cailleach an Aitinn and An Garraíodóir Aisteach ? Would these English titles that I've translated into Irish be as follows ?
Cailleach an Aitinn 'The Hag of the Furze' (Furze = type of bush)
Garraíodóir Aisteach 'The Strange Gardener'
franc 91 wrote:
The Magic Girdle - An Crios Draíochta
The Miser's Gold - Ór an Sprionlóra
franc 91 wrote:
The Stolen Child - An Páiste Goidte
This tale type is usually referred as:
An páiste/ Leanbh a f(h)úadaíog (
fuadaíodh)
fuadaíodh = fuadaig:
http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/fuadaigh Quote:
The Four-Leaved Shamrock - in the dictionary this is given as Seamar Mhuire, does that mean that it's in the plural ? so with the definite article, is it - An tSeamar Mhuire or Na Seamar Mhuire ?
An tSeamar Mhuire, I think you may be confusing the English plural with the Irish singular:
http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/seamairQuote:
The Well at the End of the World - Tobar ar dheireadh an Domhain
I would have said
Tobar ag Deireadh an Domhain, but sometimes
ag and
ar can be interchangeable, so I'm not sure about
ar D(h)eireadh.
Cian
_________________
Is Fearr súil romhainn ná ḋá ṡúil inár ndiaiḋ
(Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin)
Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice
I'm familiar with Munster Irish/ Gaolainn na Mumhan (GM) and the Official Standard/an Caighdeán Oifigiúil (CO)