'Wading in Drumly Waters: placing rivers and river-names in Táin Bó Cúailnge' (original) (raw)

Abstract

The Ulster Scots adjective 'drumly', when applied to water, means 'troubled, turbid, muddy'. As such, it aptly captures the challenges attendant upon the identification of rivers and river-names in Táin Bó Cúailnge. This paper will assess the occurrence of river-names in the various recensions, evaluate identifications, and re-emphasise the value of a geographical approach in placename research. Rivers and streams play a significant role in the Táin. They occur most often circumstantially, providing the settings for confrontations and conflicts as well as offering topographical markers for the route followed by Queen Medb’s forces. Occasionally, they also assume foreground roles as when the Cronn and the Colptha rise up and engulf the Connacht troops as they attempt to ford these rivers. Within the texts of the Táin, river-names occur in a variety of contexts; as simple identifying labels, as ‘corroboration of incident’ names, and in lists. The manner of their occurrence and use in the narrative has led many modern scholars to view them merely as literary enrichments and/or narrative devices, ignoring their topographical value. The paper will seek to redress this imbalance and provide re-evaluations on some river identifications. Finally, the importance of a geographical approach to river and river-name recognition in the Táin will be outlined. Fictional though the Táin may be, its composers and redactors appear to have had a keen eye for scripting accurate topographical settings.

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