Dian Cecht and Miach

[mattyg7]

Hey all,

I was reading through this old thread ( http://cr-r.livejournal.com/301593.html), and I had a little spark of inspiration that I thought I'd run by you. Is it possible that the loss of Nuada's arm would bee seen as a type of sacrifice in service to the Tuatha De? If so, could we interpret Miach's crime as undoing an act of sacrifice

Comments

[alfrecht]

Interesting thought...

However, we have no precedent for the sacrifice of body parts, for the most part, in any Celtic culture. Sure, they get lost rather frequently, especially for people who are within what Dumezilians refer to as the "second function" (i.e. warriors), but that's not quite the same as a deliberate sacrificial offering.

And, since the new arm that Miach grew for him was not the same old arm that got lost, that also would put a damper on this interpretation. Just as one could offer one's grain harvest to the deities, but then grow another one the next year, or for some other use, and not fall into disfavor because of it, so too this arm, I suspect.

Still, an intriguing suggestion. ;)

[alfrecht]

I have Gray's edition in front of me, and the phrase is Atréracht-sin dom láim, which Gray translates as "He went to the hand." The translation is a bit odd, as there is no definite article, and dom is the preposition do plus a first person singular ending, which would be "to me," as far as I can tell...unless there is a mistake for don, which would be a preposition plus a definite article. There is no textual note on it by Gray, in any case...

Without a definite article, or with some more definite indication of it being "the same hand," it's hard to interpret that, I think.

Certainly, I may have mis-spoken; on further investigation, though, the passage itself isn't entirely clear on the matter.

[finnchuill]

And then there are later traditions that the bird of Achill consumed the original hand....

[morgan_lairbhan]

My personal theory - take it for what its worth