|
For teaching purposes only; do not review, quote or
abstract. [References for
this review may be found at <Nyland>] |
[Note: All Basque words are in Italics and Bold-faced Green]
THE AURAICEPT
AND LANGUAGE *
[Contacts]
BENEDICTINE CLERGY IN IRELAND
When the Benedictine clerics arrived from the
continent, they entered the thriving country of Ireland with its ancient
civilization Nyland (2001). They also
found the Gnostic Christian church already firmly established and actively
spreading its Gospel. The level of education, the quality of the arts and the
vibrant energy of life was at a far higher level in Ireland than anything the
orthodox Christian monks had experienced on the continent. It was into this
happy and caring civilization that they had been ordered to introduce their
own more primitive brand of civilization and learning. This was an
embarrassing situation because the Benedictine monks at first had far more to
learn than to contribute. They started by establishing themselves in
monasteries such as the ones in Bangor (County Down) and Clonmacnoise (County
Offaly). Slowly they introduced the idea that this creative and
energetic civilization had been brought to Ireland by "Celtic
immigrants" from the mainland, some 600 or 700 years before. It didn't
matter that these Celts had only migrated as far as southern England and had
never set foot in Ireland or that the true Celtic culture on the continent
was in fact quite primitive compared to that of the Irish. Herodotus, who had
given the Celts their name "Keltoi", didn't speak highly of them
because the name translates to: "Worrisome, meat-eating savages"
from: .ke-el.-.to-o.i,
oke-eli-ito-ohi: okela (meat) elikatu (to nourish) itoaldi (worrisome) ohil (savage). Julius
Caesar, who was in close contact with the real Keltoi, supplied us with many
Keltic names in his book "Conquest of Gaul" and not a single one of
them can even remotely be considered related to Gaelic; they are all made up
with the use of the Ogam formula and all can be translated with the Basque
dictionary. In order to develop the respect they traditionally demanded, the
clerics somehow had to convince the Irish people that their North African
based culture had originally been inferior to what the Celts had brought from
the continent. In that untruth they succeeded beyond expectation because even
today many Irish proudly call themselves Celts, even though there is not one
shred of evidence anywhere that the Keltoi ever reached Ireland. IRISH LEGENDS
The Forfeda
additions to the original Ogam alphabet had helped to open the
way to the creation of the new "Celtic" language as described in
the Auraicept
na n'Eces. The formerly sacred Ogam writing had already been
introduced to the Irish people by the Gnostic missionaries, some 300 years
earlier as a monument script, and they used it to spread the Gospel. The
later arriving monks from Rome used the script at first for the same purpose
but quickly started work to replace the "iron" language with a new
language. When after several years of linguistic work the new
"Celtic" language was far enough developed to be used for literary
purposes, some Benedictine monks started to record the very large store of
Irish legends and popular wisdom, which had up to then been orally passed
from generation to generation. Any knowledge about the elaborate traditions and
festivities of the previous Ashera religion and culture, as well as memories
of the outstanding women who had guided this civilization, the fact that this
had been a peaceful, egalitarian and self sufficient society of communal
solidarity, all this was eliminated to be lost forever. What remained of the
ancient Irish treasure trove of memorized myths and legends, practical
knowledge and religious wisdom was sifted, scrubbed, mutilated, rewritten and
finally translated into the new fabricated "Celtic" language and
the final product was then collectively named "Celtic legends".
Conflict and glorification of war was introduced (on paper) as part of the
Irish heritage, a civilization which had neither weapons of destruction nor
defensive structures. A few names of remarkable women survived, such as Queen Medb and Derdriu, but they became portrayed
in a negative and abusive light. Male prowess in contest, defending helpless
maidens in distress, berating "unfaithful" wives, tales about ugly
witches, anything that helped to put women in subordinate or despicable
positions, it all made good grist for the monks' literary mill. Irish
mythology had become patterned by church authority and therefore no longer
emerged from that once glorious Irish civilization. However, memorized traditions are far more durable than
parchment and vellum and some Irish bards continued to tell the ancestral
legends to their children, the way they had been told before the coming of
Christianity. A few years ago in Conamara one of these men, with a treasure
of such legends in his head, was telling them to his cows as he lovingly
brushed them at night in the barn. His cows were the only audience he had
left until some knowledgeable person heard about him and captured on his tape
recorder the treasures the bard had to offer. In this way, some original
legends and songs have still survived the otherwise well-meaning but
misguided censors. ABOUT THE AURAICEPT
The Auraicept na n'Eces is an astonishing book. The meaning
of its name has been generally accepted as: "The Scholars' Primer".
Calder calls it the "Handbook of the Learned",
but ever since it was printed in 1917 the book has been subjected to a
variety of choice derogatory comments. Very few modern academics had anything
good to say about its contents. This was in stark contrast to the Middle Ages
when the book was being held in very high regard as a study book for monks,
it being required reading. Why the switch from being regaled to reviled? Did
the early teachers know something about the Auraicept that our modern linguists didn't, or didn't want to,
know? It certainly looked like it because, just like they did with the Ogam
inscriptions on stone, our university linguists had somehow decided among themselves
that the Auraicept was written in
Celtic, which it wasn't. Instead the Auraicept
is written in coded Basque, which may make it the oldest Basque language book
known. To substantiate this statement here follow some translations from the Auraicept
na n'Eces, using the Basque dictionary, starting with the name itself: AURAICEPT NA N'ECES Aura-ike-ep.-.t.-.na-ane-ese-ez:
Aura aura aurrea artu take the initiative! ike ike ikerpen research ep. epai epaiaulki tribunal .t. aito aitortu to declare .na ona anargarri acceptable ane ane anega measure ese ese esetsi to attack ez. ez ezjakintasun illiteracy Take the initiative! The research tribunal has declared acceptable the measures (needed) to attack illiteracy.
TRANSLATION
PROBLEMS
There are two versions of the Auraicept, the first one, starting
with line 1 in Calder's compilation, came from the Book of Ballymote. The second
version, starting at line 2260, was copied from the Yellow Book of
Lecan. Both originals are located at Trinity College in
Dublin. Version 1 starts with: (line 1) Incipit Auraicept na nEges .i. eraicept, ar er gach (2) toiseach. Cid
dianad toisseach seo? Ni ansa. Don tebi (3) rotebed isin Gardilg, uair is ed
toisseach arricht la Fenius (4) iar tiachtain din scoil...... This was translated by Calder as: "Incipit Primer of the
Poets, that is, eraicept, beginning of lessons, for every beginning is er. To
what is this a beginning? Not hard. To the selection that was selected in
Gaelic since this is the beginning which was invented by Fenius after the
coming of the school with the languages from abroad ....." Version 2 starts with: (line 2260) Incipit eraicept na n-Eiges
.i. eraicept, uair er gach (2261) taoiseach: aicicht dono .i. icht aici, ar
is i n-aici bios in (2262) deisgiopul agin maigister; no dono aicept, id est
acceptus, (2263) airiti cugad..... Calder provided no translation for
the second version. Edo Nyland tried
both and found that the second version makes good sense when translated with
the Basque dictionary. He had trouble with version one that may have been
written from memory. The "c" usually stands for "k", but
sometimes for "s". A slash (/) is inserted where the vowel linking
is interrupted. Version 2, line 2260: Insipit
eraikept.
I start with
giving you the basics. Be advised that according to the research this
decision (will lead) to a better world. na n-Eiges
.i. eraikept, The approved
measures (will) certainly (cause) illiteracy to flee and disappear. According
to the research this decision will (create) a better world. uair. er
gakh With an
enthusiastic reservoir of educated people who have a strong desire (to work
towards) a superior outcome. taoiseach: aicicht ,
line 2261. By being in the
habit of questioning, by criticizing faulty attempts, by constant quiet study
under the protection of the Almighty, dono .i. icht
aici, ar is By discovering
exquisitely assembled learning methods (with which) to attempt the
introduction, I have a strong desire for quiet and smooth acceptance. The difference between Calder's
and Nyland’s translation is rather startling. There is not a single word of
agreement, except that both are talking about language. There seems to be no
indication that the introduction of the new Celtic language was accepted
smoothly. The fact that the original tongue was still understood around 1800
A.D. (to be discussed later) probably means that there was substantial and
long-lasting resistance. However, there was no such doubt about acceptance in
the mind of the cleric who wrote: Beithe-luis nin (lines 1057,
1134, 4013): Work perfectly
performed, hidden from the world, will take root in the vicinity. The Auraicept probably started as an operations manual for the Benedictines,
written in the original language of the Irish people, which closely resembled
the Basque of today. When the monks began work on the creation of the new
language, they abbreviated words belonging to the indigenous language,
following the example in the Auraicept.
The letter combinations thus obtained were agglutinated into words, many
vowels were eliminated and then, to confuse things even more, unrelated
vowels and some consonants, mostly h's, were thrown in to make the new words
pronounceable and new meanings were invented for the product. When this
language had been sufficiently developed, it was given the name "Celtic Language".
No other language has been manipulated so effectively to hide its Basque
heritage as Celtic. The Auraicept was
retained in the simple abbreviated and agglutinated condition, without the
extra embellishments, which would have made it look and sound like
"Celtic". Thus the ancient book was turned into a challenge for the
testing of scholars and must have given Calder some sleepless nights. Many of the Basque sentences in
the original manual were condensed with the Ogam formula and retained as
names. Even the best Celtic scholars like E.C.Quiggin and Malcolm MacFarlane,
assisting George Calder in this difficult task, were often at a loss as to
the meaning of these names, many words, whole sentences and even pages. Yet,
they somehow managed to translate some of the books but their work will need
a thorough review, as these examples show. The care with which Calder ensured
the accurate reproduction of the original document, in spite of his doubts
about its accuracy, is applauded. It gave others a chance to do their share
in unraveling the puzzle he made available to us. Here are some sentences
which were agglutinated into names: Briartharogam.
.b.-.ri-ar.-.ta-aro-ogam (lines 47, 50, 5528 etc).(BR) I approve of, give
advice and explain in simple manner the proud Ogam script. Goidelic. (2282 etc.) .go ego egokialdi good opportunity
Berla Fene(1302). A perfectly
adapted word (makes me) happy every time. Iarmberla (1304). We keep busy
with the loving task of perfecting adapted words. Berla na filed. (McManus 8.3). Perfectly
adapted words are the religious order's joy and everlasting satisfaction. These remarks clearly indicate the concentrated effort that
went into the creation of the new language. As long as Celtic was still in
the developmental stage, the Benedictine linguists made good use of the writing
system of the pre-Christian clergy. VIKING ATTACKS
The monks doing this work were
often living and working among an uncooperative, even hostile, population
that did not hesitate to call upon relations and friends for help. That help eventually
came in the form of highly destructive Viking raids that devastated the
monasteries repeatedly. The aggressively advancing monk/missionaries, with
their religion-, culture- and language-destroying activities, were a threat
to the ancient civilization. This trend had to be stopped at all cost. With
the help of the Vikings, this full-scale religious war lasted for centuries.
The Vikings, themselves belonging to a caring and civilized society, never
attacked the common people but these didn't write the history. The monks,
however, did and in writing their own version gave themselves a
holier-than-thou [biased] image while making the Vikings the epitome of
brutality and savagery. The following is an example of the monks' style of
history writing in the Auraicept: og-uaim do-berait na filid
forsin filideacht trid, ar is fri fedaib toimsither Gaedelg icna filedaib
(5479-5481, p272), which Calder translates as: "oguaim, perfect
alliteration which the poets applied to poetry by means of it, for by letters
Gaelic is measured by the poets". How Calder came to translate the
sentence in this manner is not explained, however, it doesn't appear to make
much sense. A very different translation is obtained by using the VCV Formula. The event described in such
spiteful language probably took place in the 9th century but which monastery
was involved is not explained; it may have been Bangor, located near the
ocean, which we know was targeted several times. The translation also
indicates that this was a repeat attack.
With loud yells,
the deluge of grief was repeated with brutal butchery and murderous .na/ ana anaidi religious brothers .fi ibi ibili to be ili ili ilintitu set on fire ide/ ide -ide companions fo fo formal good or. oro orrolari scream .si osi osintsu piercing in./ ino inon any place, everywhere attack on the brothers who were set on fire with their good companions amid piercing screams everywhere. fi fi fite quickly ili ili ilinti firebrands ide ide idekidura opening ak. aka akabu death .h. aha ahapaldi injury .t. ato ator come! .t. oto otoikatu to pray .ri ori oriska yellow id./ ido idor cruel ar. ari arimagalduko ruthless is. isi isilume bastard .f. ifa ifar northern .ri ari arima soul .fe ife ifernu hell eda eda edaritxar poison ibi ibi ibili to be Fire brands were quickly (thrown into) the openings to cause death and injury; Come! We prayed that the souls of the yellow, cruel, ruthless northern bastards be poisoned in hell. .to ito itomen anguish imi imi imintzio gesture .si isi isilean silently it. iti itxi to abandon ihe ihe ihesleku shelter er. ere erre to burn .Ga ega egan egin to escape ede ede edegidura opening elg./ elga elgarrekin together ik. ika ikara izan to tremble .na/ ana anaidi brothers fi fi fidatu to trust ile ile ilezin forever eda eda edade judgment ib. ibe ibeni to place With anguished gestures the trembling brothers silently abandoned the burning shelter to escape together through an opening, placing trust in (His) judgment forever. |