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The Tuatha Dé Danann and Cath Maige Tuired
Riders
to The Sea is a play by John Millington Synge about his beloved land Ireland, surrounded by the sea, home for many ancient peoples: the Tuatha DeDanaan, the Celts, the Norse Vikings and Anglo
Saxons, all invaders.
Each group of people came to the island on the
highway of the sea, leaving their hereditary coinage, religion and politics, contributing to the mix of civilization.
All waves
of invaders left their genetic tithes with the previously established people until the land became a collection of conscious
memory.
The play itself, even though in written form, exemplifies the oral tradition with a multitude
of references to the Old Norse and Celtic gods in Riders to The Sea. Synge's
expectations seemed to be that his audience would recognize these allusions at various levels.
Even at its introduction, the title of the play evokes the image of the pagan invaders that arrived
by way of the sea.
These invaders were not considered the first to invade Ireland. Irish mythological
history is counted from the Biblical Noah and his family.
Irish legend traces the beginnings of the Irish people all the way back to the
Biblical Noah.
This is about the origins of the early invaders of Ireland:
"The earliest native 'origin' book is of course the Leabhar Gabhala in which the first invasions
are recounted...The first invader was Cesair, daughter of Bith who was the son of Noah of the Hebrew myth" (Ellis, 116).
"The stories are numerous as to how plains, mountains and other natural features
assumed their identity, particularly in the period of the second invasion led by Partholon, and the third invasion by Nemed.
Both Partholon and Nemed are descendants of Magog, son of Japhet... Both Partholon and Nemed are said to have invaded Ireland
seperately and found the Formorii there, the evil gods of the Irish myths, whose name means 'under-sea dwellers'" (Ellis,
117).
Later scholars thought the Formorians were sea pirates.There was also the thought of the
demonic and nightmare contained in the name. Later invaders thought of them as monstrous.
The Tuatha De Danaan also fought the Fomorians.
"We find that Danu, or rather her children, on arriving in Ireland, had to struggle against
their enemies, the evil Fomorii...The conflict is between the 'waters of heaven' and 'the world'" (Ellis,118-119).
Fomorians
Mythological Origins of the Irish Race video
At first, the invading people fought with the established people. After getting
a foothold in the new land, the former invaders began to stike deals, friendships, and marriages among the established people.
This happens in history over and over throughout all cultures. As Nonzero states:
"People are good at finding zones of mutual self-interest and striking deals
of mutual obligation" (Wright, 144).
While the Vikings were characterized as wild-eyed savages by the people they
invaded and attacked, eventually they came to strike deals of mutual interest and obligation in the form of marriage alliances,
land holdings, and borrowed language. This was true in Ireland for all the different groups of invaders.
Cross Cultural Communication
Often,
the historical narratives about the invasions by the Vikings and others draw on some dark themes. These themes are found in
other cultures and societies and often continue until our day, although their origins are usually obscure.
The boats
that the Vikings built helped them to be a seagoing people. The North Men were able to build seaworthy vessels. They
built knorr that transported colonists to their destinations.
The
longships that the Vikings built were well designed, but in a more aggressive and dangerous way than the knorr.
Their longships enabled them to sail all over the world. The largest of these longships were called drekar, meaning
dragon. They often contained "a menacing dragon head". The longships..."sported a continuous row of oars..." (Dersin,
88).
History
tells about the boats that brought the Viking invaders to Ireland. It was these longships that enabled them to travel great distances
from their homeland. Without them, Ireland's history would have been much different.
Viking Ireland
In The Last Apocalypse, a description of the Viking longships
is given. These long ships carried one kind of rider to the sea:
"The ships were a marvel of craftsmanship. The
sea stallions of kings could be thirty meters long, with sixty oar posts and a crew of one hundred warriors...they
rode high in the water so they could slip through the shoals and beach and just as quickly be launched again at the first
sign of danger. With the fleet came the cargo ships carrying the cavalry and its horses as well as the supplies for the entire
naval force" (Reston, 86).
In Riders to The Sea, Synge has alluded to
these pirates. Patch is the name of one of Maurya's sons. It might seem that Patch was an ordinary name in an ordinary setting, but it's far more likely
a clue to one of the many hidden characters in the play and also an allusion to Odin, the one-eyed Norse deity.
The influence
of the Vikings lingers to modern times. The photo below shows a 20th century Missouri farm house with a "dragon head" at the end of the roof peak.
Sea-Stallion-From-Glendalough video
The
dragon-headed ships of the Vikings are famous to this day. Although there are
no actual dragons in existence today, and it does not seem that there is fossil evidence of dragons, it is possible
that the image of horses may have played a part in the stylized carvings of the Vikings.
Is it a horse's head or a dragon's?
In legend, Odin,
a chief Norse God, was linked to the Viking marauders.
The
story goes that Odin traveled on an eight-legged horse. Whatever riddles this animal might imply, it could include
the allusion to the many oars on the side of a long ship.
Riders to The Sea and Odin
Death and
a subsequent funeral and burial are themes in the play.
The
Norse Vikings buried their high kings in a way that showed many similar features to the Odinic cult.
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