Examining part of segment 2 of the Audacht Morainn sections 6-11

§6    Comath fírinni, cotn-ofathar.

§7    Turcbath fírinni, tan-uircéba.

§8    Ocbath trócairi cotn-océba

§9    Coicleth a thúatha, cot-céillfetar.

§10    Fairtheth a thúatha, fa rresat.

§11    Tálgeth a thúatha, tan-áilgebat.

§6    Let him preserve justice, it will preserve him. 

§7    Let him raise justice, it will raise him.

§8    Let him exalt mercy, it will exalt him.*

§9    Let him care for his tribes, they will care for him. 

§10    Let him help his tribes, they will help him. 

§11    Let him soothe his tribes, they will soothe him. 

In the "Audacht Morainn" (AM) segment 2 is generally identified as sections 6-11, but I think there is enough difference between §6-8 and §9-11 to consider their meaning separately. The first half is personal direction, the second is interpersonal. 

Let's look at the first half, and also what we might leave behind.

While there are no obvious Christian references in the AM, line 8 in this segment does not appear in the oldest versions and the linguist Fergus Kelly believed it was not contained in the now-lost original.  The concept of "mercy" as an exhortation to a ruler may show some Christian influence added in later copies of this work. If we remove this line, we have a pair of lines that set "fírinni" as the object of the phrase. So let us set aside §8 and dig into that pair.

The word "fírinni" which is here translated as "justice" has a literal meaning of "truth." But the concept of truth in the native Irish culture of this period was weightier and more dimensional than we may read it in our time. Truth wasn't relative in this context. Truth was given to be as real as anything tangible or measurable. Then, as in many oral cultures, the spoken word was given the same weight as we give the written word. To speak untruthfully was to condemn yourself. To declare something aloud was to bind yourself to it. A "poet" was required to create a treaty after battle and, if we think about that, we have to realize that a "poet" in that context wasn't a poet in the way we understand. A poet had the power to declare and a declaration was legally binding. Poets were lawyers, treaties were sung. Justice and truth were the same in the spoken word. 

Therefore to preserve and raise "truth," was to preserve and raise a system of authority, and any representative of that authority. This preserves the authority of the ruler within that system. The exhortation here isn't as simple as advising someone that telling the truth will work out for the best. It reminds the listener that they are a part of a complex cultural system and their legitimacy comes from within that. If a ruler destroys truth, they tear at the fabric of the reality that gives them their place within it.

This ancient system can seem so different from our own, but as I look around at all of the clashes and tensions of this time, it seems to me that tearing apart truthfulness and legitimacy has longterm and far reaching consequences. We have abused the notion of relativism, the idea that truth is not absolute but exists in relation to a context, and created an environment where truth is meaningless, popularity is authority, and feelings are the same as facts. We have always given more legal respect to the written word than to the spoken word, but even that respect appears to be crumbling. 

It may be hard for us to understand the reverence given to the spoken word. It challenges our ideas of permanence. But consider that researchers now agree that Australian Aboriginal stories describe landscape features that have been gone for thousands of years, and there are many other examples that show us that "a poem is a machine for remembering itself" (Don Patterson). Poetry is as old as being truly human. Poetry is firmer than steel, more enduring than any written word. We can invite it back into our lives at any time. 

Of course most of us will start with the written word, that's how we are built now. But that's okay. we can begin by reading poetry aloud and listening to the sounds as they fall around us. We can sing, vibrating the world we are standing in. We can find little ways to challenge ourselves to take poetry back, to welcome truth, to sing our own treaty with the day. We can listen to someone else singing, or reciting. And we can create a cushion where truth can land safely. That is what will happen in the long run when we begin to take our poetry back, we will create a landing zone for truth. We will listen for the exact right words to unite experience with ideas, and this will make us pickier about what we say and what we listen to. We will savor those phrases that are just right, and in savoring, we will preserve. In respecting we will raise. 

Let us preserve truth, it will preserve us. Let us raise truth, it will raise us. 

Peace of the mountains to you, 

Paulie Rainbow

founder: DCWC