Story Archaeology

In exploring the Dindshenchas of Inber Ailbine, we looked at the poem Nuall Fer Fio, "Fer Fio's Cry", to gain some understanding of the nine daughters of the sea in their bronze boats.  In the episode, I incorrectly attributed the translation to Dr. John Carey.  This is because I first read about the poem in his excellent article, ‘Téacsanna draíochta in Éirinn sa mheánaois luath’ [‘Magical texts in early medieval Ireland’] (translated into Irish by Pádraig Ó Fiannachta), Léachtaí Cholm Cille 30 (2000) 98-117; presented at Léachtaí Cholm Cille, Dingle, 10 April 1999.  It is also in this article that I read about the charms calling for the help of Goibniu and Dían Cécht, which I discussed in "How to Get Help from a Craftsman". Carey points out that Nuall Fer Fio is cited in a medieval text as an example of a cétnad, "hundred-poem"; a quasi-metrical verse form containing 100 stressed syllables.  He also cites Liam Breathnach's observation that the poem contains those hundred syllables if the Latin coda is omit