Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER III: THE IRISH INVASION MYTHS 111I am a Salmon in the Water;I am a Lake in the plain;I am the Craft of the artificer;I am a Word of Science;I am the Spear-point that gives battle;I am the god that creates in the head of man the fire of thought.Who is it that enlightens the assembly upon the mountain,if notI?Who telleth the ages of the moon, if not I?“Who showeth the place where the sun goes to rest, if not I?De Jubainville, whose translation I have in the main followed,observes upon this strange utterance:“There is a lack of order in this composition, the ideas,fundamental and subordinate, are jumbled together withoutmethod; but there is no doubt as to the meaning: the filé[poet] is the Word of Science, he is the god who gives to man thefire of thought; and as science is not distinct from its object, asGod and Nature are but one, the being of the filé is mingled withthe winds and the waves, with the wild animals and the warrior's [135]arms.” 107Two other poems are attributed to Amergin, in which heinvokes the land and physical features of Ireland to aid him:“I invoke the land of Ireland,Shining, shining sea;Fertile, fertile Mountain;Gladed, gladed wood!Abundant river, abundant in water!Fish-abounding lake!” 108107 “Irish Mythological Cycle,” p. 138.108 I follow again de Jubainville's translation; but in connexion with this andthe previous poems see also Ossianic Society's “Transactions,” vol. v.