The Song of Amergin is the oldest Druid bardic poem that has survived to modernity. It was composed by Amergin (Amairgin, Amhergin, people spell it in different ways) White-knee, one of the sons of the Míl, a Celtic people from Iberia (Spain) who invaded Ireland and fought the Tuatha de Dannan (People of the Goddess Danu/the fae/faeries/fair folk/Gods of Ireland).
Ogham is ancient Celtic script, and so I am weaving in seed beads, in Irish (language), in ogham (script), the Song of Amergin.
This is an ongoing project, so I only have the first six lines done. ;) I am thinking I will border my cloak with the finished poem, but that highly depends on what the finished length is. 😅
Am fuaim mara (I am the noise of the sea)
Am tond trethan (I am an ocean wave)
Am dam secht ndírend (I am a stag of seven tines)
Am loch i m-maig (I am a lake upon a plain)
Am gaeth i m-muir (I am a wind over the sea)
Am dér gréne (I am a tear of the sun)
The rest of the poem (in English):
I am a hawk upon a cliff
I am a beautiful flower
I am a God who sets the head on fire
I am a keen spear that pours forth battle
I am a salmon in a pool
I am a hill of skilled ones
I am a boar in battle-frenzy
**
Who else clears the stones of the mountain?
Who is it who declaims the sun's arsing?
Who is it who tells where the sun sets?
Who brings cattle from the house of Tethra?
Upon whom do the cattle of Tethra smile?
Who is this ox?
Who is the weaving God who mends the thatch of wounds?
The incantation of a spear,
The incantation of wind.
An alternate translation of the ending is much shorter:
**
Who is it who throws light into the meeting on the mountain?
Who announces the ages of the moon?
Who teaches the place where couches the sun?
If not I.
(I am not yet sure how I am going to bead the ending)
I have plenty of time to decide, as each line takes hours to weave (and I haven't worked on it for a while, lol)!
This is what my bead loom looks like. Sorry I don't have any demonstrative how-to photos!
Thanks for reading! I will have to post again when it's complete!
Hi @phoenixwren! Ohhhh...you know that I have been waiting to see this one! Your work is so painstaking and incredible! Please do keep us updated on your progress and I simply cannot wait to see it on your cloak (but no pressure, Hee!) Very well done and Happy #NeedlworkMonday! Resteeming!
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Thank you so much! Happy #needleworkmonday ! 😊
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That's awesome @phoenixwren... I was just wondering how big (or long) it's going to be and am also very looking forward to seeing it when done.
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My cloak is a big, warm, full-length cloak, so I'm hoping it works. LOL. But we'll see what the measuring tape says when I'm done!
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I really love seeing bead work! This is definitely an interesting project you’ve got going! We would love to see the rest of the process as you move along. Looking forward to to seeing the end result. Thank you for sharing with us today!! 😊
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome ~ 😊
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This is such a cool project, thank you for sharing it!
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Thanks!
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Looking forward to seeing it when it is finished. The Song of Amergin is beautiful!
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It's my favorite poem. 😊
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Wow, I got goose bumps! I so love mythology and especially the Nordic stories. And I think weaving poetry is absolutely magical (ok, maybe I read to many fantasy books :-D ) If you use it for clothes (in my fantasies) it will perhaps keep you safe .... or make you a sorceress (ok, sorry, really too much books on my side)
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No such thing as too much books! 😁 And I legitimately have wards and charms all over my home. Catholics wear saint medals and scapulars, there are Tibetan prayer flags, mala beads (which are prayer/meditation beads but if you pop the string it means you worked off some karma), the string of tiny cloth chickens, a horseshoe on the wall ...charms are everywhere in the real world. ;)
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You are right, books are the best (but I always think I should read more serious and scientific things and then end up with the next fantasy book) And I really like symbolism, may it be in form of charms or words or art in every form. I hope you post the whole coat, when you are finished!
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So cool!
You always inspire me to embrace my Celtic and Viking roots more. And be more diligent about my paganism. And my crafts.
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I'm glad if I have inspired! 😊
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This is fascinating and the poem is beautiful. So is your work. If I had seen this beadwork without an explanation I wouldn't have realised it was language, so it gives me more appreciation for beadwork now.
I also ended up looking up ogham due to your post so learned something today. Thank you!
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Yay! I love when people are inspired to learn more. That's how I am, and that's what I hope to inspire with my novels (I write historical-mythological fiction).
Ogham is usually found on standing stones nowadays, and you'd think they were always important, gravestones or memorials, right, because that's essentially what our gravestones look like.
Nope. Most of the time it says something like "this is (person)'s field" or "the city is that way, and the river is that way" kind if stuff. Road signs. Tee hee.
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I should have added: the ogham (that is, how I am keeping track of the bead pattern):
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Do you do bead work for certain people... I have been looking for someone who had a contact with doin repair work for the Indians . I done it for awhile .. but have lost my contact.would love to get into it again.
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I'm afraid I haven't, sorry. Maybe look for FB groups or pages about regalia?
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