[Page 173.] The word translated “hellebore” is “dææhooh.”
[Page 174.] This little tale has a close parallel in Grimm, which is why I have printed it. There is also a version in Kennedy.
[Page 179.] The end of the story is like Kennedy’s “Twelve Wild Geese,” and it has also a close parallel in Grimm. But all the earlier portion has no parallel in either.
[Page 187.] The names of the three brothers are a little puzzling, as “Inn” seems to be only the aspirated form—the vocative of Fionn which means fair, white; while Glégil means Clear-Bright.
[Page 188.] This touching tale has a curious far-away resemblance to certain classic legends. A good deal must be lost, and in consequence the long struggle of the young man with the devil has much that requires explanation. It is unique among Celtic stories.
[Page 196.] “The Djachwi.” I am not sure that this word is anything more than “deachmhadh,” a tithe, which has been turned into a person, the meaning being forgotten. After the briefly told Andromeda episode the story takes a quite novel turn. Its resemblance in structure, as is the case also with some of the other stories, to many a modern novel is very apparent.
[Page 203.] “The skin of the wild pig.” The Irish of the two last words is “mwike tuusjke.” I am doubtful as to the translation which was given by M’Ginty. In the story of the “Fate of the Children of Tuireann,” one of the tasks imposed on the three brothers is to obtain the skin of a pig having marvellous qualities, which has to be taken from the King of Greece, whose name is Tuis. There appears to be some connection.
[Page 211.] “The Red Pony.” The word translated pony is, in this tale, “klebisjtjïn”; in the preceding tale it is “plebisjtjïn.” Wonderful “horse-beasts” thus occur four times in this volume. In two stories it will be noted that they are merely human beings, enchanted; in the other two this is apparently not the case. The word rendered “healing water” is, in this, as in all the other stories in which it occurs, “ïqlæntj” (Donegal pron.), which literally means, “cure-health.”
[Page 219.] “The Nine-legged Steed.” The opening resembles a story of Curtin’s, in which, however, the stepmother acts from the motive of hate instead of, as here, from affection. The words translated “transforming caps” are “qahal” (cochal), which also means a cloak, and “qantræltje,” the translation of which is a guess. It must be inferred that of the three maidens, who came as swans, one was the nine-legged steed, another the lady in the greenawn. The third is not accounted for. “Greenawn” (grïănaan) means “sunny chamber.” In Irish tales the ladies are generally described as occupying such apartments; a more general use of the word is found on [page 179].
THE END.