The Other World is widely described in Celtic stories as a wonderful land, Elsewhere is an island beyond the sea (or under the sea) located symbolically in the West. Although Elsewhere can only be achieved by death, some Celtic legends and poems tell of poets, semi-divine heroes or simple visitors who got there in life. (first part)
LAND OF YOUTH: OISIN & NIAMH
The story comes from Ireland and Oisín, poet and warrior of Fians (see) also known by the name of Ossian, will go with Niamh from the Golden Hair, daughter of Manannan (the God of the Irish Sea) to Tír na nÓg (The Land of Youth).
The fairy had fallen in love with Oisin and his poems and convinced him to join her to live happily ever after in a land beyond the sea.
OISIN IN THE LAND OF YOUTH
Here are the words pronounced by Niamh to convince Oisin to mount on her white horse: “Wilt thou go with me, Oisín, to my father’s land?”
| (from here) “Delightful is the land beyond all dreams, Fairer than anything your eyes have ever seen. There all the year the fruit is on the tree, And all the year the bloom is on the flower. “There with wild honey drip the forest trees; The stores of wine and mead shall never fail. Nor pain nor sickness knows the dweller there, Death and decay come near him never more. “The feast shall cloy not, nor the chase shall tire, Nor music cease for ever through the hall; The gold and jewels of the Land of Youth Outshine all splendors ever dreamed by man. |
“Thou shalt have horses of the fairy breed, Thou shalt have hounds that can outrun the wind; A hundred chiefs shall follow you in war, A hundred maidens sing thee to your sleep. “A crown of sovereignty your brow shall wear, And by thy side a magic blade shall hang, Thou shalt be lord of all the Land of Youth And lord of Niamh of the Head of Gold.” |
NOSTALGIA FOR HIS FIANS
After three years Oisin had the desire to return in visiting Ireland, his father and all his companions, his nostalgia represented an off-key note in that island of perfection because Oisin had lost his serenity; Niamh did not oppose his desire, but advised him never to come down from the horse that would bring him back to earth: a rather obscure ban whose danger was not fully seized by Oisin.
“This our steed,” she said, “will carry thee across the sea to the land where I found thee, and whithersoever thou wilt, and what folk are there thou shalt see, and what tale thou hast to tell can be told. But never for even a moment must thou alight from his back, for if thy foot once touch again the soil of earth, thou shalt never win to me and to the Land of Youth again. And sorely do I fear some evil chance. Was not the love of Niam of the Head of Gold enough to fill a mortal’s heart? But if thou must go, then go, and blessing and victory be thine.” (from here)
Back in his beloved Ireland the places he knew had vanished, his father had been dead for hundreds of years, the great fortresses of the Fians were in ruins.
On the way back, Oisin fell from his saddle and suddenly became old: the three years spent on the Land of Youth corresponded to three hundred years on earth!
According to a version of the story, Oisin did not die but magically survived until the arrival in Ireland of St. Patrick, to whom he was able to narrate the deeds of the Fianna.
So in 1889 Yeats imagines their dialogue in “The Wandering of Oisin”.
Land of Youth
In 1992 Máire Brennan and Tim Jarvis transposed the legend in the song called “Land of Youth”: the Irish Gaelic chorus is Niamh’s fairy voice who has ridden the waves of the sea on her magic horse.
Maire Brennan in Marie, 1992
CHORUS (1) Is gra geal mo chroi thu Fan liom i gconai Is gra geal mo chroi thu Beith mise dilis Is gra geal mo chroi thu Tusa mo mhuirin Is gra geal mo chroi thu Fan ag mo thaobh sa I Beauty and grace with golden hair Eyes like pearls Came from the sea Wherever you will go I will go Wherever you will turn I’ll follow so Take me to the Land of Youth Chorus Three hundred years (2) II Carried away on impulse Followed my heart to the Land of Youth (instrumental) Three hundred years and time stood still Campanions calling (3) There’s a warning III Three hundred years Fallen to earth (4) the thunder sound Years overtake him A grey old man |
NOTE 1) chorus in irish gaelic, english translation from here You are the bright love of my heart Stay with me always You are the bright love of my heart Be true to me You are the bright love of my heart You are my sweetheart You are the bright love of my heart Stay by my side 2) the 3 years on Elfland correspond to 300 on Earth 3) summarizing the story in a few lines Maire transforms the nostalgia of Oisin into a concern for his compagnions, the Fianna , Oisin fears that they are in danger and wants to return to Earth to help them 4) Legend tells that Oisin, in helping a group of peasants to move a large rock, falls off fairy horse and he is reached by the time |
Sources
http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/oisinyouth.htm
http://guide.supereva.it/musica_celtica_/interventi/2003/12/146119.shtml
https://www.celtic-weddingrings.com/celtic-mythology/tir-na-nog
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/tir-na-nog-legend-eternal-youth
