Character in Celtic mythology
Oisin
(
Irish pronunciation:
[???iːn?,
???iːn?]
),
Osian
,
Ossian
(
OSH
-?n
), or anglicized as
Osheen
(
UH
-sheen
) was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, a warrior of the
Fianna
in the Ossianic or
Fenian Cycle
of
Irish mythology
.
[1]
He is the
demigod
son of
Fionn mac Cumhaill
and of
Sadhbh
(daughter of
Bodb Dearg
), and is the narrator of much of the cycle and composition of the poems are attributed to him.
[2]
Legends
[
edit
]
His name literally means "young deer" or fawn, and the story is told that his mother, Sadhbh, was turned into a deer by a
druid
,
Fear Doirche
(or Fer Doirich). A young hunter named Fionn caught Sadhbh, but did not kill her, and she returned to human form. Fionn gave up hunting and fighting to settle down with Sadhbh, and she was soon pregnant, but Fer Doirich turned her back into a deer and she returned to the wild. Seven years later Fionn found his child, naked, on
Benbulbin
.
[3]
Other stories have Oisin meet Fionn for the first time as an adult and contend over a roasting pig before they recognise each other.
In
Oisin in Tir na nOg
, his most famous
echtra
or adventure tale, he is visited by a
fairy
woman called
Niamh Chinn Oir
(Niamh of the Golden Hair or Head, one of the daughters of
Manannan mac Lir
, a god of the sea). Niamh's father turned her head into a pig's head because of a prophecy. She tells this to Oisin and informs him she would return to her original form if he marries her. He agrees and they return to
Tir na nOg
("the land of the young", also referred to as Tir Tairngire, "the land of promise") where Oisin becomes king.
[4]
Their union produces Oisin's famous son,
Oscar
, and a daughter,
Plor na mBan
("Flower of Women"), as well as a second son, Finn. After what seems to him to be three years but in fact was 300 years, Oisin decides to return to Ireland to see his old comrades the Fianna. One tale describes him coming to Ballinskelligs Bay, not far from Ballaghisheen, where he fell off his horse while trying to help move a large stone. Niamh had given him her white horse
Embarr
and warned him not to dismount because if his feet touched the ground, those 300 years would catch up with him and he would become old and withered. Another legend has Oisin returning to the hill of
Almu
, Fionn's home, abandoned and in disrepair. Later, while trying to help some men who were building a road in
Gleann na Smol
lift a stone out of the way onto a wagon, his girth breaks and he falls to the ground, becoming an old man just as Niamh had forewarned. The horse returns to Tir na nOg. In some versions of the story, just before he dies Oisin is visited by
Saint Patrick
. Oisin tells Saint Patrick the stories of the Fianna and shortly after he dies.
[5]
The interaction between St. Patrick and Oisin has also been said to be more complicated. It is said that they were both angered by their differences. St. Patrick attempted to convert Oisin, but Oisin hated St. Patrick's teachings. One of the stories of the two involves Oisin fighting a bull for St. Patrick. Oisin kills the bull and when St. Patrick comes to see how the results of the fight,
[
clarification needed
]
Oisin is asleep in the bull's hide. In return for killing the bull, Oisin asks to be buried facing the east on Slieve Gullion, Co. Armagh. It is said that he was buried in the bull's hide on Curran Mountain near Manorhamiltion.
[6]
In the tale
Acallam na Senorach
(
Tales of the Elders
), Oisin and his comrade
Cailte mac Ronain
survived to the time of Saint Patrick and told the saint the stories of the Fianna.
[7]
This is the source of
William Butler Yeats
's poem
The Wanderings of Oisin
. In different versions of the story Oisin either defends the Druid faith, or converts to Christianity.
The location of the grave site of Oisin is disputed. It is rumoured to be in
Glenalmond
in Perth, Scotland.
Wordsworth
wrote a poem on the subject entitled "Glen-Almain, the Narrow Glen". Others say it is located in the Nine Glens of Antrim at a site that has been known for generations as "Oisin's Grave". The
megalithic
court cairn
is located on a hillside in Lubitavish, near the Glenann River, outside the village of
Cushendall
on the North Antrim Coast, and is believed to be the ancient burial place of Oisin.
Macpherson's Ossian
[
edit
]
Ossian
, the narrator and purported author of a series of poems published by
James Macpherson
in the 1760s, is based on Oisin. Macpherson claimed to have translated his poems from ancient sources in the
Scottish Gaelic language
. Macpherson's poems had widespread influence on many writers including
Goethe
and the young
Walter Scott
,
[8]
although their authenticity was widely disputed. Modern scholars have demonstrated that Macpherson based his poems on authentic Gaelic ballads, but had adapted them to contemporary sensibilities by altering the original characters and ideas and introduced a great deal of his own.
[9]
Cultural references
[
edit
]
- Oisin is a minor character in
The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne
from the
Fenian cycle
of stories.
- The poem "Ogum i llia lia uas lecht" in the
Book of Leinster
is ascribed to Oisin.
- Oisin, along with St. Patrick, is the main character of William Butler Yeats's epic poem
The Wanderings of Oisin
. He is also mentioned in Yeats's poem
The Circus Animals' Desertion
.
- Tir na nOg is the name given to a large white horse in the
Mike Newell
film
Into the West
. In the story, Grandfather Reilly is followed to
Dublin
by this white horse, and gives it to his grandsons, Ossie (Oisin) and Tito. Grandfather tells them the horse is called "Tir na nOg" and relates a version of the story of Oisin going to Tir na nOg, the mythical
Otherworld
. As the family are
Irish Travellers
, Oisin is referred to in the grandfather's account as "the most handsome traveller who ever lived" rather than as the fenian character of legend.
- In
Shadowmagic
, a novel and podiobook by
John Lenahan
, Oisin is the king of Tir na nOg and the father of Connor, the lead character.
- Oisin is a mentor of the main character that appears in the "David Sullivan series" of modern fantasy novels written by
Tom Deitz
.
- Oisin appears in Italian comic books fighting alongside Zagor.
- The 1981 animated short film
Faeries
, directed by Lee Mishkin with animation direction by Fred Hellmich, is a retelling of the Oisin myth, incorporating elements from the 1978 book
Faeries
, described and illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee.
- The song "Pearl" by Sounds From the Ground contains vocals of an Irish girl recounting the old Irish myth of Oisin.
[
citation needed
]
- The Japanese tactical role-playing game
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
has a character named Osian that serves under a troupe called the Fiana Freeblades.
- The short story "Patrick of the Bells" by Irish-American author
Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
features a retelling of the legendary meeting of Oisin (here spelled "Ossian" as in Macpherson's writings) and St. Patrick, first published in
McClure's
magazine's December 1907 issue and later included in her 1926 collection of stories
The Ashes of Old Wishes and Other Darby O'Gill Tales
.
[10]
Here, after a series of unsuccessful attempts to convert Ossian, who is still devoted to the long-dead Fianna even after being told they aren't in Heaven, St. Patrick turns to prayer and learns that Heaven was conquered by Ossian's undying loyalty for his comrades. As a result, the souls of the Fianna are brought back temporarily so St. Patrick can baptize them and save them from damnation, and this finally converts Ossian, who passes away just in time for his soul to be baptized as well and is thereafter buried by St. Patrick.
[11]
Use in genetics
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Beresford Ellis, Peter: "A Dictionary of Irish Mythology", page 189. Constable, London, 1987.
ISBN
0-09-467540-6
- ^
Frehan, Padraic (2012).
Education and Celtic myth : national self-image and schoolbooks in 20th century Ireland
. Rodopi.
ISBN
9789042035904
.
OCLC
819379953
.
- ^
Gregory, Lady: "Gods and Fighting Men", page 149. Colin Smythe, 1987.
ISBN
0-901072-37-0
- ^
Tatar, Maria (ed.).
Beauty and the beast : classic tales about animal brides and grooms from around the world
.
ISBN
9780143111696
.
OCLC
952384463
.
- ^
Heaney, Marie: "Over Nine Waves", page 214. Faber and Faber Ltd., London, 1994.
ISBN
0-571-14231-1
- ^
Smyth, Daragh (1996).
A guide to Irish mythology
(2nd ed.). Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Irish Academic Press.
ISBN
0716526123
.
OCLC
36338076
.
- ^
Murphy, Gerard:
The Ossianic Lore and Romantic Tales of Medieval Ireland
, page 24. Colm O Lochlainn (for the Cultural Relations Committee of Ireland), 1955.
- ^
Beresford Ellis, Peter: "A Dictionary of Irish Mythology", page 159. Constable, London, 1987.
ISBN
0-09-467540-6
- ^
Thomson, Derick:
The Gaelic Sources of Macpherson's "Ossian"
, 1952.
- ^
"Title: Patrick of the Bells"
.
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database
. Retrieved
20 August
2023
.
- ^
Kavanagh, Herminie Templeton (2009).
The Adventures of Darby O'Gill and Other Tales of Supernatural Ireland
. Coachwhip Publications. pp. 343?366.
ISBN
1-930585-88-8
.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Supernatural figures
| |
---|
Fianna
| |
---|
Others
| |
---|
Creatures
| |
---|
Symbols
| |
---|
Locations
| |
---|
Texts
| |
---|
|
|
---|
Kindreds
and septs
| |
---|
Personalities
| |
---|
Places
| |
---|
Battles
| |
---|
Related
articles
| |
---|