“The House of Donn” and Otherworld Islands in Irish tradition
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2022-5-3-12-33
Abstract
In Irish Saga and Folklore Tradition there exist two types of tales telling us of magic islands housing the Other World (OW in the two meanings – OW as a world parallel to that existing on Earth and OW as a world after death). “Far-away islands” described in the focus of Christianized narrative are shown as a “promised land” which can be reached as a matter of chance or else through the supernatural help. The hero as a rule gets there while still alive and sometimes gets an opportunity to return. Islands of this type have no proper toponymical designations, instead they possess conventionally motivated names like The Land of Youth, The Land of Women, The Island of Apple-trees et al. Small islands (really existing off the Irish shores) are shown differently and presented as locoes of life after death. The article gives motivated reconstruction of the ways in which such tales come into being.
1. The correlation with Druids’ cult islands tradition (testified by archeology and classical data) as well as with neo-heathen practices of later periods.
2. The correlation with the tradition of leaving those accused of crimes on a small island as a kind of an execution.
3. The correlation with tales of vanishing islands (the projection of the region’s volcanic activity). Special attention is given to folklore tales of the so-called Donn’s House (Tech Duinn), an as it were existing island at the South-West of Ireland which is (1) described in the Middle Irish tradition as the burial site of Donn, one of Goidelic tribe’s ancestors killed in a battle for the island; (2) depicted in the folklore tradition as a kind of a “station” where the dead one’s soul, guided by his patron saint, has to expect the final direction for its last route. Separate attention is given to the tradition of contamination of Donn’s House and the magic hill which is at the same time the abode of Death as well as the home of Goddess Danu’s Tribe, and later of the fairies.
About the Author
T. A. Mikhailova
Institute of Linguistics RAN; Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies RSUH
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tatyana A. Mikhailova, Dr. of Sci. (Philology)
bld. 1, Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane, Moscow, 125009
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Review
For citations:
Mikhailova T.A. “The House of Donn” and Otherworld Islands in Irish tradition. Folklore: Structure, Typology, Semiotics. 2022;5(3):12-33. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2022-5-3-12-33
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