Úaithne figures as the name of Dagda's harper captured by theFomorians according to the narrativeCath Maige Tuired ("Second Battle of Mag Tuired").[4][5][a] After this battle, Dagda discovered his harp hanging on a wall, in a feasting-house whereinBres and his fatherElathan were also. The harp had two names,Daur Dá Bláo[b] ("Oak of Two Meadows"[8][10][c]) andCóir Cetharchair ("Four-Angled Music"[11] or perhaps rather "Four-sided Rectitude"[12][13]). On this harp, the Dagda bound the music so that it would not sound until he would call to it by its names. After he called to it, it sprang from the wall of its own accord, came to the Dagda, and killed nine men on its way.[5][9]
According to theTáin Bó Fraích [ga] ("The Cattle-Raid of Fraech"), Úaithne, the Dagda's harper, had three sons by theBóand of thesíthe, and the three sons became harpers themselves, each being named after Úaithne's musical strain, i.e., Goltraige ("weeping-strain"), Gentraige ("laughing-strain") and Súantraige ("sleeping-strain").[19][21]
TheTBF narrative further explains: "The time the woman (Bóand) was at the bearing of children it had a cry of sorrow with the soreness of the pangs at first: it was smile and joy it played in the middle for the pleasure of bringing forth the two sons: it was a sleep of soothingness played the last son, on account of the heaviness of the birth, so that it is from him that the third of the music has been named".[24]
Úaithne is glossed as "Orpheus" in the Irish Glossaries.[1] The word has multiple meanings beside Dagda's harp.[1]
Úaithne can also mean "concord in music"[1] and Philippe Jouët endorses the interpretation that Dagda's harp indeed means "concordance" or "harmoniousness", which would be consistent with interpreting the bynameCóir Cetharchair as "quadrangular harmony".[25] Jouët also notes that since Uaithne (Uaitniu) could mean "wood", "work", "pillar" or "harmony", those different meanings could be the consequence of successive metaphors.[26][page needed]
^Lady Gregory (1910) had "Uaitne" as Dagda's harp, which had two other names.[6] But O'Curry's lecture (1873) wrote Uaithne as "the Daghda's harper" in the main text, but "..is thecruit or harp, of the Dagdha" occurs in the margin.[7]
^eDIL s.v. "1 cruitt". "harper", example fromFraech: "Úaithne c.¤ in Dagdai"
^The eDIL under Úaithne(7) gives "The name of the Dagda's harp" (based on TBFr.),[1] but this conflicts with its etnry undercruitt "harper" (citingFraech).[2]
^A.C.L. Brown: "oak of two fields";[9] Stokes: "Oak of two greens[?]".[4]
^A.C.L. Brown and Stokes: "four-angled music";[9][4] Lady Gregory:"the Four Angled Music"
^Gray analyzed intocóir adj. 'proper, fitting, just, true' used as noun +Cetharchair 'four-sided, square, rectangular';[8]
^O'Curry's Lecture explainedcoir to mean "arrangement, adjustment", but when applied to the instrument, meant "proper tuning or harmonizing of harp".[7]
^abcMeid, Wolfgang[in German], ed. (2010) [1967],Táin Bó Fraích, Electronic edition compiled by Beatrix Färber, CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, §10, p. 4
^abCrowe, J. O'Beirne (1870)."Táin Bó Fraich" [The Spoil of the Cows of Froech].Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Irish MSS. series. 1, pt. 1. Irish, pp. 140, 142; English tr. pp. 141, 143.JSTOR20706388.
^"Tain Bo Fraich".Heroic Romances of Ireland. Vol. 2. Translated by Leahy, Arthur Herbert. London: David Nutt. 1906. p. 22.
^Text: Meid ed.[14] or Crowe ed.;[15] Translations: Crowe (1870)[14] and Leahy (1906)[16] interpret Úaithne as "harp", but Crowe admits the possibility of "harper".[17] Gantz (1981) gives "Úaithne, the Dagdae's harper".[18]
^The "-s" are dropped from Meid ed. "Goltraiges & Gentraiges & Súantraiges".[14] as according to commentaries.[20] Gantz renders as "Goltrade, Gentrade and Súantrade".[18] Crowe's endnote gives "Sorrow-strain", "Joy-strain" and "Sleep-strain".[17]
^"maryjones.us".www.maryjones.us. Retrieved30 November 2016.
^eDIL s.v. "lámnad". With example fromTBFr,: "in tan bóe in ben oc l.¤"
^Mary Jone's version,[22] unchanged from Leahy's translation, in turn revised from Crowe's.[15] Using Gantz's translation is cumbersome as it skips the phrase concerninglámnad "act of giving birth, parturition" occurring here.[23]
^Jouët, Philippe (2012).Dictionnaire de la mythologie et de la religion celtiques [Dictionary of Celtic mythology and religion] (in French). Yoran Embanner.ISBN9782914855921.
