The writing of this part of the Audacht Morainn is old, some of the oldest words captured in writing in Ireland. The original manuscript copy is long lost, but referred to in other manuscripts, and their copies. The monastery where the words were first written is a memory with no trace left in the landscape. 

According to Fergus Kelly in his 1976 examination of the Audacht Morainn, segment three, §12 - 21 is a part of the oldest strata of the work, committed to a manuscript around the end of the seventh century. 

This was a turbulent and complicated time with the new religion gaining enough of a foothold to have monasteries for the creation of manuscripts, and old power structures crumbling in the aftermath of climate change and plague. The intellectual class was scattered and split and we have evidence that some of the Druid class aligned themselves with the new religion while those who upheld the old order were maligned and reviled. 

In the midst of this, the Audacht Morainn (AM) was committed to writing, and the concept of the fír, the truth or judgement, of the ruler, flathemon was saved for us to consider. 

• §12    Tell him, it is through the justice of the ruler that plagues, great lightnings are kept from the people.
• §13    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that he judges great tribes, great riches
• §14    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that he secures peace, tranquility, joy, ease, comfort.
• §15    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that he dispatches (great) battalions to the borders of hostile neighbours.
• §16    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that every heir plants his house-post in his fair inheritance.
• §17    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that the abundances of great tree-fruit of the great wood are tasted.
• §18    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that milk-yields of great cattle are maintained.
• §19    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that there is abundance of every high, tall (cereal grain).
• §20    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that abundance of fish swim in streams.
• §21    It is through the justice of the justice of the ruler that fair children are well begotten.

A different blogpost could be written on each of these concepts, they set out ideals of the best that life offered in that period of time and the many, many years before. It also offers glimpses into the fears of that time, and possibly our own. Not surprisingly the first warding is against plague, the force that had upended Irish society so dramatically, a force which has upended our own. 

In a way, the ancient words read like a universal prayer, let us be safe, great, rich, protected. Let the food be abundant, the land be healthy, the water be full of life. Let our brilliant children be loved. Human hopes and human vulnerabilities haven't changed much in tens of thousands of years. 

What makes this ancient wisdom interesting is that the instrument that is expected to deliver this: the truth or justice of the ruler, but it's more than the absence of lies, or the presence of laws and consequences. The fír in this context is a part of rightness and balance. It isn't a moment, it's a functioning system. Nothing less could deliver the promise of a world of peace and sustenance. 

Today the ruler for each of us is each of us. The protection that will deliver a fair and safe world is something we have to build and maintain out of our own integrity and willingness to live well in community. Truth is more than a moment. Truth is a way of living. In our path the triad of Truth is honest, noble, enduring. 

What truths can we learn and embrace today that lift us up? What difficult truths can we face that will make us more honest with ourselves? What values can we set out to live by that will, by default, leave behind a legacy worth inheriting? 

We are the vulnerable and the hopeful. We are the ruler and the ruled. We are the seeker of truth and its container. 

Peace of the mountains to you, 

Paulie Rainbow