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In medieval Irish and Scottish
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
, Goídel Glas (Old Irish: �ɡoːi̯ðʲel ɡlas
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
ised as Gaithelus) is the creator of the
Goidelic languages The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...
and
eponymous ancestor An origin myth is a type of myth that explains the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. Creation myths are a type of origin myth narrating the formation of the universe. However, numerous cultures have stories that take place af ...
of the
Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...
. The tradition can be traced to the 11th-century ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...
''. A Scottish variant is recorded by
John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...
(d. 1384).


''Lebor Gabála Érenn''

The narrative in the ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...
'' is a
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
ary account of the origin of the Gaels as the descendants of the
Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...
prince Fénius Farsaid, one of seventy-two chieftains who built the
Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...
. In the tale, Goídel Glas is the son of Nel (son of Fénius) and Scota (daughter of a Pharaoh of Egypt). Goídel Glas is credited with creating the
Goidelic language The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isl ...
from the original seventy-two languages that arose at the time of the confusion of tongues. His descendants, the Goidels or Gaels, undergo a series of trials and tribulations resembling those of the Israelites in the Old Testament. They flourish in Egypt at the time of
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
and leave during the Exodus; they wander the world for 440 years before eventually settling in the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
. There, Goídel's descendant
Breogán Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gae ...
founds a city called Brigantia, and builds a tower from the top of which his son Íth glimpses Ireland. ''Brigantia'' likely refers to Corunna in Galicia (then known as ''Brigantium''), whilst Breogán's tower is likely based on the
Tower of Hercules The Tower of Hercules (, ) is the oldest known extant Roman lighthouse. Built in the 1st century, the tower is located on a peninsula about from the center of A Coruña, Galicia, in northwestern Spain. Until the 20th century, it was known as the ...
, which was built at Corunna by the Romans. An anecdote in the ''Lebor Gabála'' tells how Gaidel Glas, son of Nel (or Niul), was cured of a snakebite when
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
made fervent prayer and placed his staff on Gaidel's wound. An inserted verse in an earlier passage says of Gaidel: "green were his arms and his vesture".
Michael O'Clery Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
's redaction of the ''Lebor Gabála'' adds that the snakebite left a green ring on Gaidel from which he earned his nickname 'Glas' ("the green").
Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating (; – ) was an Irish historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became a Catholic priest and a poet. Biography It was generally believed unt ...
repeats this tale, although he prefaces it with another derivation of the nickname from the word for 'lock' (). Modern scholars believe that the tale is mostly an invention of medieval Irish Christian writers, who sought to link the Irish to people and events from the
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
. The names Goidel Glas, Scota and Fenius come from the names of the Gaels themselves, not the other way round.


''Historia Brittonum''

The earliest surviving version of the story is found in the 9th century ''
Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions ha ...
''. It describes an unnamed Scythian nobleman, driven from his kingdom and living with a great household in Egypt at the time of
the Crossing of the Red Sea ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
. He did not pursue the fleeing
Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
, and the Egyptians, fearful of his power now that so many of their troops had been killed, banished him. He travelled with his household across North Africa, then sailed to Iberia. They settled and lived there for around two thousand years, multiplying into a great nation, before travelling to Ireland, then
Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...
.


John of Fordun

A Scottish version of the tale of Goídel Glas and Scota was recorded by
John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...
. This is apparently not based on the main Irish ''Lebor Gabála'' account. Fordun refers to multiple sources, and his version is taken to be an attempt to synthesise these multiple accounts into a single history. In Fordun's version, Gaythelos, as he calls Goídel Glas, is the son of "a certain king of the countries of Greece, Neolus, or Heolaus, by name", who was exiled to Egypt and took service with the Pharaoh, marrying Pharaoh's daughter Scota. Various accounts of how Gaythelos came to be expelled from Egypt—by a revolt following the death of Pharaoh and his army in the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, pursuing
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
, or in terror from the
Plagues of Egypt In the Book of Exodus, the Plagues of Egypt () are ten disasters that the Hebrew God inflicts on the Biblical Egypt, Egyptians to convince Pharaohs in the Bible#In the Book of Exodus, the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of th ...
, or after an invasion by Ethiopians—are given, but the upshot is that Gaythelos and Scota are exiled together with Greek and Egyptian nobles, and they settle in
Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...
after wandering for many years. In the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
they settle in the land's northwest corner, at a place called Brigancia (the city of
A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...
, that the Romans knew as ''Brigantium''). Gaythelos was considered the founder of the Portuguese city of
Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
by some old authors. According to them, he landed in the Iberian Peninsula in a harbor that he named "Portus Gaythelos" (later named by the Romans
Portus Cale Portus Cale was an ancient town and port in present-day northern Portugal, in the area of today's Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The name of the town eventually influenced the name of the subsequent country of Portugal, from the 9th century onward ...
after the Callaici people), the town later giving its name to
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.Joseph Fr. Michaud, Louis Gabriel Michau
''Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, ou, Histoire par ordre alphabétique de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes qui se sont fait remarquer par leurs écrits, leurs actions, leurs talents, leurs vertus ou leurs crimes''
ouvrage entièrement neuf, Volume 54 Michaud, 1832 p. 312


See also

*
Mythological Cycle The Mythological Cycle is a conventional grouping within Irish mythology. It consists of tales and poems about the god-like Tuatha Dé Danann, who are based on Ireland's pagan deities, and other mythical races such as the Fomorians and the Fir ...
*
Shem Shem (; ''Šēm''; ) is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible ( Genesis 5–11 and 1 Chronicles 1:4). The children of Shem are Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, in addition to unnamed daughters. Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, Christ ...
(Eponymous ancestor of
Semites Semitic people or Semites is a term for an ethnic, cultural or racial groupHam Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...
(Eponymonous ancestor of
Hamites Hamites is the name formerly used for some Northern and Horn of Africa peoples in the context of a Scientific racism, now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races; this was developed originally by Europeans in support of coloni ...
) *
Japheth Japheth ( ''Yép̄eṯ'', in pausa ''Yā́p̄eṯ''; '; ; ') is one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in the story of Noah's drunkenness and the curse of Ham, and subsequently in the Table of Nation ...
(Eponymous ancestor of
Japhetites The term Japhetites (sometimes spelled Japhethites; in adjective form Japhetic or Japhethitic) refers to the descendants of Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis. The term was used in ethnological and linguistic writings ...
) *
Lech, Czech, and Rus Lech, Czech and Rus (, ) refers to a founding legend of three Slavic brothers who founded three Slavic peoples: the Poles, the Czechs, and the Rus' (Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns, and Ukrainians). The three legendary brothers appear together in ...
(Eponymous ancestors of
Lechites Lechites (, ), also known as the Lechitic tribes (, ), is a name given to certain West Slavs, West Slavic tribes who inhabited modern-day Poland and eastern Germany, and were speakers of the Lechitic languages. Distinct from the Czech–Slovak lan ...
,
Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...
, and
Rus' people The Rus, also known as Russes, were a people in early medieval Eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were originally Norsemen, mainly originating from present-day Sweden, who settled and ruled along the river-routes between t ...
) *
Angul Angul (also known as Anugul) is a city, municipality and the headquarters of Angul district in the state of Odisha, India. Angul has an average elevation of above sea level and total area of 6232 km2. Geography Angul is located at . I ...
(Eponymous ancestor of
Angles Angles most commonly refers to: *Angles (tribe), a Germanic-speaking people that took their name from the Angeln cultural region in Germany *Angle, a geometric figure formed by two rays meeting at a common point Angles may also refer to: Places ...
) * Asena (Eponymous ancestors of Turkic peoples) *
Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...
(Eponymous ancestors of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
) * Dan (Eponymous ancestor of
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
) *
Nór Nór (Old Norse Nórr) is according to the Orkneyinga Saga the eponymous founder of Norway. Icelandic accounts Source material Nór of Norway appears in “Fundinn Nóregr” (‘Norway Founded’), hereafter called F, which begins the ''Orkney ...
(Eponymous ancestor of
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
) * Ríg (Eponymous ancestor to
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
) *
Table of Nations The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or ''Origines Gentium'', is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after Genesis flood narrative ...


Footnotes


References

* Broun, Dauvit, ''The Irish Identity of the Kingdom of the Scots in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.'' Boydell, Woodbridge, 1999. * Ferguson, William, ''The Identity of the Scottish Nation: An historic quest.'' Edinburgh U.p, Edinburgh, 1998. *
Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating (; – ) was an Irish historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became a Catholic priest and a poet. Biography It was generally believed unt ...
, ''History of Ireland'', §16 ** eries: ITS Vols. 4, 8, 9, 15(ed. & tr.) *
John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...
, ''Chronicle of the Scottish Nation'', ed.
William Forbes Skene William Forbes Skene Writer to the Signet, WS FRSE Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA(Scot) Doctor of Civil Law, DCL Legum Doctor, LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary. He co-found ...
, tr. Felix J.H. Skene, 2 vols. Reprinted, Llanerch Press, Lampeter, 1993. * MacKillop, James, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.'' Oxford U.P., Oxford, 1998. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goidel Glas British traditional history Characters in Irish mythology Mythological Cycle Scottish mythology Portuguese mythology History of Porto