Celtic Studies 4/11/2017 2:07:00 PM

Poems of Blathmac
Clientship is a big thing, not in the Bible
o Reciprocity.
These poems belong to the Ceil De movement.
Represent an intermediary stage between
Monastery of Tallaght
o Early 8th century
Shouldnt be confused with late 8th century Martyrology of Tallaght.
Poems of Blathmac are 750-770
o Influenced by the Martyrology of Tallaght.
o Late 8th century
Martyrology of Oengus.
o Early 9th century.
Blathmac and Oengus used a version of the martyrology of Tallaght
as a primary source.
Blathmacs work was only discovered relatively recently.
o 17th century manuscript
o The text gets copied many times.
o Original poem may have had 3 sections.
How was the biblical narrative adapted into Celtic thinking.
Irishness
o A form of figura.
o Practice of caoine was a part of Irish life.
Blathmac is addressing this whole thing to the virgin Mary.
o Elements of the earth make a caoine
o Animals are a caoine
o Apostles are a caoine
o Egyptians
They suffer calamity in common because of the deaths
of their children.
o Blathmacs colleagues
o Men in general
o All of these together form a universal keen.
For jesus.
o Keens come in 2 types
The Complaint Keen
 Own suffering
Fundamental to clientship.
The suffering of a people could be so great
to merit a keening as though they are dead.
The lord provides a wide protection.
If the client is poor, the lord gives him
wealth.
If he is oppressed by enemies, the lord
gives him support (military)
If he is ill, the lord sends him a doctor.
The suffering is about the absence of
protection
If a lord defaults on his obligations, you
have no protections.
o If the client defaults, then the lord
withdraws.
How do you show how much you are
suffering?
o Screaming, being loud.
Death Keen
Central to the Blathmac poems
Widespread custom social obligation
Publicly mourn the death of someone. i.e. a loved
one
Universal keen
o Clientship
Any individual to whom the dead person as bound to a
contract (lord and a client)
Not feudalism because it was not the whole
lifetime.
Grief represents the grief by the contract being
terminated at death.
Anyone would be sad because it is death.
Final obligation is to mourn for that person.
Extent of a keen.
Status of the person who died.
 Social hierarchy.
Treb is the household.
Death of a king would be done by all his subjects
Universal keen.
No higher lord than Jesus Christ.
Blathmac felt Jesus had not yet been given a universal
keen.
He blames the Jews.
It was they who prevented their own household.
Blathmac says he is going to remedy this with his
own poems.
o Both Blathmac and Oengus are part of the Ceili De
movement.
What is the point of the Ceili De movement?
Protection from hell
They want a place in heaven.
The poet is asking the more important client for a
reciprocating favor.
The more powerful client for Blathmac is
Mary.
o Mary needs to intercede to make sure
Blathmac gets into heaven.
Oengus intermediary is all the martyrs.
The more important client will get the poet into
heaven.
The poet is a guarantor or a surety for the poets
intermediary.
He is a surety for the more powerful intermediary.
Blathmac says he will be a guarantor for Mary.
Blathmac is evoking all the martyrs to give
comfort to Mary (for the loss of her son)
Oengus read Blathmacs poems and found them
lacking.
Oengus is work is far more elegant, and more
elaborate.
 Blathmacs poems were more private, Oengus
more public/liturgical purposes.
Part of the keen procedure is to denounce the
enemy of the deceased responsible.
An unjust killing will be avenged.
Satan is held ultimately responsible for the death
of Jesuss clients.
Observations
Jesus was referred to as an abbot.
o Very Celtic
o
4/11/2017 2:07:00 PM
4/11/2017 2:07:00 PM