MythTickle by Justin Thompson for March 17, 2009

A re-run, but a nice one anyway.

Old Irish curse for the class: May you melt off the earth like snow off a ditch! ;p

An’ may ye’s all have itchin’ without benefit o’ scratchin’!

Justin: The greenboard is new. Let us know how that book is comming along.

I like Rhiannon’s stuffed pony! Cute. His attention & expressions mirror hers. Looks slightly related to Eeyore.   Oh! Please tell me that the great wild of Mythtickle land is just on the other side of the Hundred Acre Wood ..?! Y’know, just a bit left of Where the Wild Things Are?

The biggest problem for me with Celtic mythos is pronouncing all those names. Just look at the blackboard behind her! Cuchulainn? Oh my goodness, thats a mouthfull.

Reminds me of the story of the drunk Irishman that got tossed out of the bar and staggered home through the woods only to trip over a leprechaun stashing his pot of gold. The man exclaimed “Who th’ devil are you, and what y’ be doin’ tripping up travelers in woods, wee fella?” The little bearded man told him “I’m a leprechaun, and seein’ as you caught me with me pot o’gold, I’m bound to grant y’ three wishes”. The drunk man said, “I could sure use a drink, what can y do fer me”? “Try this!”, The tiny mythical creature said, “It’s a glass of beer that refills itself when you’re done”. The inebriated Irishman drank it down in one swallow, “Ahhh, that’s grand”! When he looked at the mug, it had refilled. He said “Glory be, What a fine thing ‘tis”! The leprechaun asked, “What’ll ya have for you’re other two wishes”? The Irishman replied, “Why I’ll have two more o’ those”!

Dypak: “Cuchulainn”. Pronounced Koo•kullin, accent on the second syllable. One of the Finn-Mac-coolest names ever.

The Irish language is perfectly phonetic. The problem for English-speakers is getting past the assumption that the letters are supposed to sound like they do in English. “Medb” is said “mev” because “db” is a “v”. All of the sounds in Irish exist in English with very minor exceptions, so once you know which letter combinations match which English sound, it’s easy!

BlueRaven, you hit the nail on the head. Native English speakers, especially Americans, assume that everyone pronounces all the letters the same. I’m a linguist by trade, but all my languages are Germanic or Slavic. The Celtic languages just astound me. I hope Justin continues to bring in a few more Celtic influences to further widen our world!

I do like Rhiannon’s ability to levitate. She should just start telling a tale or two, like Cuchulain’s epic 100 duels, or the battle of Lugh against the Fomorians. That might get their interest back!

That joke only works in print. It’s the Boston Seltics, but Keltic myth. . Time for a nice Uisge.

NebulousRikulau says:

Time for a nice Uisge.

Are yeh lookin’ for water or whiskey laddie? Whiskey is uisge-beatha (water of life). :)

I’d like to hear how whacking snakes on St Bride’s Day in Ireland morphed into molesting Groundhogs over here.

stpatme says:

I’d like to hear how whacking snakes on St Bride’s Day in Ireland morphed into molesting Groundhogs over here.

It didn’t. St. Brighid’s or Imbolc, coinside with German ritual. The German’s brought to Pennnsylvanaia a tradtion of reading badger entrails on the second of February. The entrails would give omens about the year ahead. The Germans would then eat the badger. Badgers being scarce in the part of Pennsylvania where they settled, the groundhog became the substitute. Slainte!

Rhiannon’s Birds are still in flight All thru the Day all thru the Night Hail to the Lady, one in Three Present is Past and Past is Thee!

– Celtic Circle Dance, W. J. Bethancourt III

@Burgundy2 not in my personal library, but then I’ve read hundreds of book from the Public Library.