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August 1, 2023 43 mins
David is back and kicking off with some Irish mythical artifacts! The rich mythology of the Emerald Isle has many Irish mythical artifacts supplementing its heroes and legends, and Flora brings you 15 to discuss! Not only from Ireland, but the rest of the British Isles as well. Swords, cauldrons, harps, stones - there's a little bit of everything! David breaks down three types of artifacts and talks about five different objects in each section. There are objects of war, objects of benevolence, and objects of nobility. It's a fun list episode of Blurry Photos to kick off season 12!

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:14):
Hey everyone, Welcome to Blurry Photos. I'm your host, David Flora.
Welcome. This is I guess,the official kickoff to season twelve super Late,
and we usually start as this traditionwith a slurry photos a drinking episode
where I have some guinness and Jamison, we talk about fun topic of Irish

(00:38):
lore, and that's what we're doing, except well, I didn't make it
through the slurry photos portion. Iwill have what I did at the end
of this episode, after everything's saidand done, so if you'd like to
hear the slurry photos that almost wasstick around to the very very end after
the music and everything. That's becauseI was in a very toasty spot with

(01:00):
it. And then about halfway throughthe episode I got hit with about of
hiccups that no joke lasted about halfan hour, and by then I was
so worn out I basically just passedout. It spiraled from there, let's
just say, super annoying, unfortunate. It's taken me forever to write this

(01:23):
episode and get it recorded and thenyou know all that, and then since
then, I've been sick. There'sa wildfire near us, so the air
quality has been crap. My voicehas been crap. This episode might be
cursed. I don't know, butanyways, I'll get back to the scripted
hand. We're doing some Irish mythologicalartifacts in this one. It's not going

(01:46):
to go as deep as the Devilepisode did. It's just a fun list
and we're going to go through somemythology from our Irish, Celtic and Scottish
friends. Maybe some Welsh thrown inthere too, we'll see, but we'll
mainly be talking about artifacts, weapons, instruments and items that figure into stories
and legends of the Emerald Dial andbeyond. We'll get you started shortly.

(02:08):
Let me update you with what's goingon in the Blurry Photos world. I've
slowed down my production of episodes.As you can tell, I'm not dead,
but I have paused my Patreon becauseI'm not putting out as much content
now. If you did still wantto support my creative endeavors, please join
the patreon quiz Quizbang Bang, thetrivia show I do with my wife Hanny.

(02:29):
That's a great way to support CoffeeKofi dot com, Slash Blurry Photos
or slash Quizbang Pod. That'd bea great way to help, and I'm
excited to announce I've started a newpodcast I didn't have enough to do,
in collaboration with author Tom Lyons,for whom I narrate audiobooks, and this

(02:50):
new podcast is five Minute Frights,short weekly episodes of frightening encounters compiled and
edited by Tom and narrated and producedby So please subscribe to it, leave
me a five star review. Allthat good stuff. I think you guys
will enjoy it. They're really justlittle bite size things. It's all narrative,
storytelling, narration. Again, that'sfive minute Frights. It might do

(03:14):
better in the search if you typein the number five and then minute frights.
Secondly, one reason I've been sobusy lately is I've started a new
theater company here in beautiful and weirdCrested Butte, Colorado. It's called Firebird
Theater Company, and I will beproducing and directing Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the

(03:34):
beginning of September. I'm very excitedfor this, and if you'll be around
the area at that time, pleasedrop me a line and find out more
info. You can also go toFIREBIRDSCB dot com to check out what we're
doing and follow us on the socials. We've got links at the bottom of
the page for that that'll help thetheater get going. So that's fun.

(03:55):
And one more thing, Sorry thisis taking so long. There's a lot
of new I haven't talked to youguys in a while. So the film
shadows in the desert, high strangenessin the Brego Triangle. The film is
premiering on August seventeenth in Idlewild,California. We are awaiting the word of

(04:15):
when this is going to stream,and by that we're thinking Amazon to be
those kinds of channels. I don'tknow if Hulus on there, but not
Netflix about everything else really, andwe've been told the fall maybe October,
maybe sooner, but the streaming isjust a couple months away. You guys

(04:39):
will finally get to see what hastaken up the last four years of work
in life, and we're very excitedabout that. The film will also be
in Crested Butte at the Movie Theaterhere on September sixteenth. If you're around,
please come see it then. Andit is going to be in Joplin,
Missouri, at the Joplin Theater,running for a week starting September eighth.

(05:03):
We are also working on trying toget it into more little indie theaters
anywhere. If you guys have anyconnections or know of any that we should
reach out to or anything like that, please drop me a line. Let
me know. Probably the best placeto do that would be either Facebook,
Messenger, email, and I'll tryand check the contact form in the next

(05:27):
week or two. So exciting stuffall around, super busy stuff. Everything
is just tied me up. Buthere we are. Let's get into this
episode, and again apologies for voicequality and not being super slurry. Now.
Mythologies around the world are rife withheroes, monsters, and fantastical lands,

(05:48):
but none of that would shine quiteas brightly without the accoutrement that help
heroes slay the monsters, travel thelands, and perform supernatural acts. Zeus
had thunderbolts forged by the giants withone eye. The cyclopeas plural as imagined
by the poet Hesiod. Thor hadhis hammer mulenier. King Arthur had excalibur.

(06:13):
The mythology of the British Isles hasmany objects of power and wonder,
including the aforementioned excalibur. We'll discussthree types of mythical objects. Objects of
war, objects of benevolence, andobjects of nobility, And for the interest
of time, I'll only do fivefrom each of those categories, because I
have found many, especially weapons,and we'd be here all night if I

(06:33):
did them all, plus it wouldtake forever to write out, and I'm
already so far behind. We'll focusmainly on Ireland and throwing some Scottish,
maybe some Welsh stuff in there ifthere's time. We'll discuss several weapons and
artifacts, what they did, whowielded them, and just have a fun
time reveling in mythology. So let'sget to it. Translated as the Sword

(07:03):
of Light, the Clive Soulish wasa mystical weapon said to possess the power
to defeat evil and bring victory toits wielder. In Irish and Gaelic folk
tales, it's both associated with deitiesand featured in tales of heroic quests,
it being the prize sought after Thethirteenth Son of the King of Erin and

(07:25):
Widow's Son are both tales that featurea hero who needs to find the sword
as part of a marriage agreement.There have also been arguments made of it
being a type of grail object intails something quested for and or an object
of great significance and symbolism. Butthe most entertaining descriptions of the Clive Soulish
involve its inclusion as one of thefour treasures of the Tuaya da Dana,

(07:49):
early deities of Irish mythology brought withthem in their conquest of Ireland. The
four treasures are magical items, whichI'll be discussing as we go along here.
The first up is this one,the sword of Light from the city
of Phineas associated with the first kingof the Twyddanon, Nuada. It was

(08:09):
said no one ever escaped from itonce it was drawn from its sheath,
and no one could resist. Itwas also described as Nuada's connell or Nuda's
torch. Now, there are somany swords in Irish mythology we could do
a whole episode on just them,but for now I'll leave you with just
one more. Orna was the fearsome, magical sword of the Fomorian king Tehra.

(08:33):
The Fomorians were the evil race ofbeings defeated by the Twyddanon, and
Tehra was thought as the Femorians generallywere to be associated with the sea.
His sword Orna translated as little green, probably due to its color, and
while formidable as a weapon wielded bya formidable warrior, nonetheless came into the

(08:54):
possession of the god Ogma after Tethrawas defeated at the Second Battle of moy
Torah. Upon being unsheathed, Ornabegan to speak and told of all the
deeds it had accomplished in its lifetime. I'm just guessing that a ton of
D and D magical items and ideascame from mythologies just like this one.

(09:20):
You have sentient swords, swords thatcan talk, albeit telepathically, flaming swords,
all kinds. It's just fun.One of the most famous implements used
by the warrior deity Lou was thegay Assail aka the Lightning Spear. It
was an amazing weapon wielded by Louin his many battles, and it was

(09:41):
considered one of the Four Treasures,like the Sword of Light, and was
said to be forged in the cityof Gorrius. According to folklorist Whitley Stokes,
out of Gorrius was brought the spearthat Lou had. No battle was
ever won against it or him whoheld it. In his hand. It
was said to have a shaft ofyou would and never missed its mark.

(10:05):
With a word of command, itcould also return to its owner's hand,
and according to folklore's Charles Squire,the spear had such a thirst for blood
its tip had to be kept ina draft of poppy leaves to keep it
sleepy. Once unleashed in battle,fire flashed from it, and it never
tired of slaying. I just lovethat there's a spear that you had to

(10:28):
basically knock out with heroin and itjust spends all day chase in the dragon
in the form of just killing dudes. Swords and spears were but some of
the trappings of magical war items.How about protective stuff? Oken was a
magical shield of Connor mcnessa, aking in the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology,

(10:48):
translated as Moner and sometimes ear ofBeauty. Oken had four gold borders
and was said to moan aloud whenits wielder was in danger. Ohmer clank
honor. When the previous king ofUlster, Fergus, had been tricked out

(11:09):
of his kingship by Connor, Fergusmet him in battle. According to the
tale quote therewith, Fergus gave threestout blows on the oaken of Connor,
so that Connor's shield cried aloud onhim, and the three chief waves of
Erin gave answer. Whenever Connor's shieldcried out, the shields of all the
Ulsterman cried out. However great thestrength and power with which Fergus smote Connor

(11:33):
on the shield, So great alsowas the might and valor wherewith Connor held
the shield, so that the earof the shield did not even touch the
ear of Connor. Quote. Thelast item of war weaponry is basically the
horn of gondor, a circular hornof magical effect. It was found by

(11:54):
Finn mccool's son Ocean, after atrip to the fabled land of tyrnan Ogue.
Under a great stone in a fielddid Ocean find the horn, which
circled round like a seashell. Andit was the rule that when any of
the Finians of Erin blew the Boriboo, the other mythical warriors of Ireland would
assemble at once from whatever part ofthe country they might be in at the

(12:16):
time. No word on whether ornot four of those warriors were hobbits moving
along to objects of benevolence, theseare things that weren't meant specifically for war,
but instead for the good of manyand sometimes individuals. Here and there,

(12:39):
we'll start with another horn. TheHorn of Bran comes from Welsh tradition,
and like the Spear of Loo andsort of Light are part of the
four Treasures of the Tui da Dana, this horn is part of a bigger
collection. The Thirteen of the Islandof Britain are a set of items from

(13:01):
late medieval Welsh folklore and included utensils, weapons, clothes, and various other
kuchiman, all with some kind ofmagical power. We could probably do an
episode on them some day as well, but for now we'll focus on one
in particular, the Horn of Bran. Galad Brand the stingy Brand from Cumbria,

(13:22):
who is a separate character from thatof Brand the Blessed, the Giant
Welsh King of Britain. Brand Gladwas the owner of a horn that was
pretty much a cornucopia, for itwas described that quote the drink and food
that one asked one received in itwhen one desired end quote. Some sources

(13:43):
say it was only drink that wasfurnished, but any drink one desired.
One legend has ties to the WelshBardic hero Merthin, a figure later parlayed
into the Arthurian Merlin. Merthin triedto gather the thirteen treasures together for say
keeping, and was told that hecould have twelve of them if he could
obtain the horn from Brand Gilead.Such was Brand's infamy for stinginess. Somehow

(14:11):
Merdan accomplished the task and took allthe treasures to the quote unquote glass house,
where they remained to this day.Some writers of the tales about the
horn traced its origin to Hercules inRoman myth, saying it was removed from
a centaur slain by the hero beforeHercules himself was slain by the centaur's wife.

(14:33):
Following up this well shared effect witha similar Irish one, and our
third treasure of the twy d Danon, we have the Koreansic the cauldron of
the Dagda. This one's pretty straightforward. The Dagda was the chief god of
the twy d Danon, representing fertility, wisdom, and life and death.
His cauldron, brought from the cityof Murius, never ran empty, and

(14:56):
none that attended gatherings and were servedfrom it, ever went away unsatisfied.
The Dagda had other goodies in hisbag of tricks, one of which was
a harp called Ugya. This harpwas said to control seasons and emotions of
people who heard it from the bookGods and Fighting Men by folklorist Lady Gregory.

(15:18):
After the second Battle of Moytura,Lou and the Dagda and Ogma followed
after the from war, for theyhad brought away the Dagdas harp with them,
that was called the Uuya. Andthey came to a feasting house,
and in it they found Brez andhis father elephant, and there was the
harp hanging on the wall. Andit was in that harp the Dagda had

(15:39):
bound the music so that it wouldnot sound until he would call to it.
And sometimes it was called dr deBlah the Oak of two glosses,
and sometimes kor kathar Kun the fourangled music. And when he saw it
hanging on the wall, this iswhat he said, come summer, come
winter from the mouth of harps andbags and pipes. Then the harps sprang

(16:03):
from the wall and came to theDakta and had killed nine men on its
way. And then he played forthem the three things harpers understand, the
sleepy tune, and the laughing tune, and the crying tube. And when
he played the crying tune, theirtearful women cried. And then he played
the laughing tube till their women andchildren laughed. And then he played the

(16:25):
sleepy tune, and all the hostsfell asleep, and through that sleep the
three went away through the famor thatwould have been glad to harm them.
Next on the list is the fetefiata, a magical mist veil or cloak
used to shield the wielder from humaneyes. It's a literal cloak of invisibility

(16:48):
and was said to have been usedby the Toy de Dana and also the
warrior king of the Other world,Mananon McLear, to conceal the she from
humans. McLear, and the toy, it seems, could use this cloak
individually or to hide whole islands Menanoncloaks the Isle of Man in particular.
Now it's debated whether or not hisname was taken from the island's name or

(17:12):
vice versa fun fact, but thecloak he used protected the island by keeping
it from being seen and thus safefrom outside influence, invaders and such.
The cloak also had the amazing powerto erase memory. Menanon had his wife
stolen by the Irish warrior Kukolan,but was able to get her back by

(17:33):
placing the cloak between his wife andKuklan, which erased their memory of each
other. Pretty powerful little artifact.Now here's a little different offering for the
artifact. List a fish that heldthe knowledge of the world. The salmon
of knowledge comes to us from theFinian cycle of Irish mythology, that is,

(17:56):
the stories of the mythical hero FionMcCool. The story goes that a
normal run of the mill salmon onceate nine hazel nuts that had fallen from
nine hazel trees surrounding the Well ofWisdom, the mythical source of the River
Shannon. This granted the salmon allthe world's knowledge, which meant anyone who

(18:18):
were to eat the salmon would thenthemselves gain that knowledge. The legendary poet
and teacher of Fiann finn Echis soughtthis salmon for himself and spent seven years
fishing for it, and one dayhe caught it tired from fishing so much
that day, he gave it toFionn to cook up for him, with

(18:40):
the explicit instruction to not taste ofit. First. Fion cooked the fish,
but while it was cooking, asmall bubble rose just under its skin,
which Fian poked with his finger.The bubble burst, scalding him,
and he quickly stuck his thumb inhis mouth to ease the pain. Suddenly
the knowledge of the world was openedto him. When the fish was done,

(19:03):
he gave it to Finn to eat, but Finn noticed the shine in
Fionn's eyes, and after Fion explainedwhat had happened, Finn knew the boy
had received the wisdom of the fishand gave him the rest to eat.
From then on, Fion needed onlyto bite his thumb to gain insight about
a particular topic. The Salmon ofKnowledge has also been linked to a couple

(19:25):
of fellas by the name of Fintonmcbocra the Wyse and Tuan McCarroll in a
more christianized telling of the story,with lots of shape shifting and a hawk.
Our last section for this episode dealswith objects of nobility. There have

(19:49):
been many items and artifacts of loreand reality connected to Irish kings and queens.
Here are five. The Leah Fallor Stone of Fall is a still
standing monolith located on the Hill ofTera in County Meath. The Hill of
Terra is the traditional place of inaugurationand seat of the High Kings of Ireland.

(20:11):
It's a place where ancient ceremonial ritesand burials were performed, with many
monuments, mounds and tombs, andthe Lea Fall is there at the top.
Also known as the Stone of Destinyand the Speaking Stone, the Lea
Fall is said to have been broughtto Ireland from the city of Thallius by
the Toua da Danon as the lastof the four Treasures. There are conflicting

(20:34):
accounts that say it's the same thingas the Stone of Schoon, a big
block of red sandstone that Kings ofScotland and England sat upon while being crowned.
Those accounts, rich in tales ofstealing the stone back and forth between
Ireland and Scotland, aren't quite asfantastical as the Tuia stories. But seeing

(20:55):
as how the Stone of Schoon isin England just used by King Charles,
and the Leaphal is on the Hillof Tera. It's probably a good chance
that they're two separate stones. Well, Leaphal has said to roar and joy
when the rightful King of Ireland puthis feet upon it, and also granted

(21:17):
him a long reign. Some accountssay it shrieks a number of times that
correspond to the number of descendants whowould be king as well. Associated with
the sovereignty of Irish kings was theCup of Sovereignty. It was believed that
the rightful king or queen could drinkfrom the cup and receive divine blessings and

(21:37):
legitimacy. It appears in a taleabout the hero Khan of the Hundred Battles.
Lost in a mist, a riderappeared and guided Khan to a beautiful
castle. There he met the lordof the castle, who had a beautiful
maiden beside him on a crystal throne. She filled a golden cup with mead
and asked the lord to whom shallthis cup be given to which the replied

(22:00):
Khan of the Hundred Battles, therebyconferring kingship to him. The lord of
the castle was actually the god louand the maiden the Goddess of Sovereignty.
The next item did not confer sovereigntyor grant long reign. Instead, it
foretold the end of a king's timein this world. Ibel's harp was a

(22:25):
shimmering gold instrument played by the fairyguardian and sometimes goddess of love and loss.
Ibel. Her playing was lovely andhaunting, but ultimately a harbinger of
death. Whoever heard it would dieshortly after she played it for Brian Boru
on the eve of his death andthe Battle of Clontarf. She played it

(22:45):
before the hero Kuklan fell in battle. Ibel's harp is banshee like in its
foretelling of doom. We get alittle more esoteric with the silver branch or
silver bow featured in the tale imrum Brand Voyage of Bran. It's a

(23:06):
tree branch of white apple blossoms thatis given to the King Bran mcfabele by
a mysterious old woman. She sangof her magical homeland and then parted ways,
with the tree branch magically flying backto her hand. Brand set off
to find this land called the Landof Women, where it's always spring and
without disease or despair, and let'sbe honest, probably the land where shit

(23:30):
gets done. The tale is aclassic voyage tale, wherein the hero sets
off discovers a way into the fairyrealm, time passes in the human realm,
magic sailing off, etc. Thebranch parallels other myths of being an
object given to a king or heroin order for them to be admitted into

(23:51):
the other world. A similar storyinvolves the legendary king Cormac McCart, who
was given a silver branch by Mannanonmcclear. This branch had three golden apples,
which in some accounts created music tosoothe pains and illness, and in
others caused people to forget their woes. Finally, we end on a weapon

(24:12):
again, but one of king laysignificance kalidvolg This was the legendary sword of
the King of Fergus Mcroch in theUlster cycle. There are a couple of
magical properties associated with it, likea connection to lightning, having an arc
as big as a rainbow, andit's use by Fergus to cut off the

(24:33):
three bald top hills of County Meathnear the Hill of Terra. Arguably the
most interesting aspect of this item,however, is its connection to a much
more famous sword that is associated withthe rightful sovereignty of Britain, Excalibur.
The name Excalibur derives from the Welshname Kalidfulch, and some, though not

(24:57):
all, scholars think that name couldeither be derived from or have roots in
the name kalid Vogue, caled Volks, kalid Vogue. It's pretty close,
and we'll leave the different ways.Arthur came by the famous blade for a
re Listen to episode ninety nine wherewe gotta find King alf So, My

(25:25):
lords and ladies. There you go, a list of mythological items of Celtic
flavor in a not as tipsy lethalmusical nutshell and now the object that groans
in agony when touched puns. There'sa pub that summons all the great drinkers

(25:51):
and dive bar regulars nightly. I'mguessing once you open the door, it
sends out a blast to them all, and that is the boy or a
brew. There's another one you canuse for two scoops of raisins and cereal
that will feed everyone for breakfast andbring an Irish army to your aid after

(26:12):
eating it. The Horn of Raisinbrand. All right, I wrote these
whilst drunk, Sorry and thanks formaking it this far. You guys are
great. Thank you. Please keepup to date with what's going on by
checking out the Facebook page and makesure to subscribe to all the shows,

(26:34):
Play your Photos, Quiz, QuizbangBang, Hysteria fifty one and five Minute
Frights. Again, thank you forlistening. I really appreciate it. Now
after this, if you want tohear how the show probably should have gone
or almost went before I got attackedby hiccups and just getting too drunk,

(26:57):
stick around after the music for thisepisode of Blurry Photos. I've been David.
I literally spelled my name wrong becauseI was drunk when I wrote this.
Flora, don't stop blurriding. Helloand welcome to the twelfth season of

(27:42):
Blurry Photos. We did it abutcher's doesn't, which which is just like
everybody everyone else's doesn't. Hey,I'm David, Florida. Welcome, and
let me explain our season kickoff isalways celebrated with a drinking episode and a

(28:06):
fun topic of Irish mythology, asis the custom since season two back in
twenty thirteen, ten years ago.Can believe it. Good grief. So
I've been in and I've been inbibingJamison and Guinness today, And if you're

(28:27):
not driving or dog sitting, Iinvite you to raise a glass with me
and toast to another year of podcastmadness slauncha. And if you're new to
listening, I only do a drinkingepisode once a year, so rest assured.
This is not the norm. Listento some other things. Don't start

(28:52):
with this anyway. The episode won'tbe as deep a dive as Say the
Devil was. Rather, it's gonnabe more a a fun list list of
stuff and explaining a bit of mythology. It's more going through a fun list

(29:14):
of explaining a bit of mythology fromour Irish, Celtic and Scottish friends.
Maybe some Welsh thrown in there aswell. We'll see. We'll be talking
about mainly Irish mythological artifacts and weapons, instruments, items that figure into stories
and legends of the Emerald Isle andbeyond onto the topic. Mythologies around the

(29:41):
world are rife with heroes, monstersand fantastical lands, but none of that
would shine quite as brightly without theaccoutrema that help heroes slay the monsters,
travel lands and performs pernatural acts.Think about it. Zeus had his thunderbolts

(30:03):
forged by the giants with one eye. The Cyclops or a Cyclopes as imagined
by the poet Hesiod. Thor hadhis hammer Muelner. King Arthur had Excalibur.
Oh, keep that on the backburn. The mythology of the British Isles

(30:25):
has many objects of power and wonder, including the aforementioned excalibur. We'll discuss
three types of mythological mythical objects,objects of war, objects of benevolence,
and objects of nobility. And forthe interest of time Jesus, I'll only

(30:48):
do five from each of those categories, because well, I've found many and
especially weapons, and we'd be hereall night if I did them all.
We're already gonna be here all night. Jeez. Yeah, this episode is
supposed to come out of March.What am I doing. We'll focus on
mainly Ireland, throwing some Scottish,maybe some Welsh stuff here and there.

(31:11):
If it's time, we'll discuss severalartifacts and weapons and what they did,
who wielded them. You know,we'll just have a fun time reveling in
mythology, right, boy, Ihaven't been this drunk from a season kickoff
episode in a while. I thankyou for sticking with this. There's gonna

(31:32):
be fun information. Bear with me. You're great, thank you. Let's
get to this. Start with theobjects objects of war, all right,
we'll begin with objects of war.Clive Soulish translated as the Sword of Light.
This mystic weapon was said to possessa power to defeat evil and bring

(31:56):
victory to its wielder man. That'spretty hand pretty and in Irish and gay
like folk tales. It's both associatedwith deities and featured in tales of heroic
quests, it being the prize soughtafter. The thirteenth Son of the King
of Erin and Widow's Son are bothtales that feature a hero who needs to

(32:22):
find the sword as a part ofa marriage agreement. There have also been
arguments made of it being a typeof Grail object in tales, something quested
for and or an object of greatsignificance and symbolism. A side note,

(32:43):
as this is off script. Ifound a lot of these. There's a
lot of things that are associated withthe Holy Grail, things of that nature
that are so exalted. That's that'sa word I just thought of with my
brain. But it's it's pretty interestingthing that things that people quested for quested

(33:07):
for the most entertaining descriptions of theClive Soulish. The most entertaining involved its
inclusion as one of the four Treasuresof Tuaiddanon twa early deities of Irish mythology
brought with them in the conquest ofIreland. The four treasures are magical items

(33:30):
which I'll be describing as we goalong here and the first stop is this
the sword of light from the cityof Phineas, associated with the first king
of the Twyaddanon, whose name wasNuada. It was said no one ever
escaped from it the sword once itwas drawn from its sheath, and no

(33:53):
one could resist it. It wasalso described as nuit as connell or nuitous
torch. Think of it as asword. You draw it, it springs
to life and light. Fiery,h it'll, it'll f the up.

(34:13):
Pooh, this is the Clive Soulish. Awesome. There's so much else the
detail wise to do this word hitwhat is this? Fifteen fifteen things fast
and loose? Here, next oneis orna. There are so many swords,
are so many swords in Irish mythology. We could do a whole episode

(34:35):
on them, but for now,I'll leave you with just one more sword.
Well, yeah, there's some morecoming up for now. Orna was
the fearsome, magical sword of theFomorian king Tethra. The Fomorians were a
and the It's an evil race ofbeings defeated by the Twya Didna, and

(35:00):
Tethera was thought as the Fomorians generallywere to be associated with the sea.
His sword Orna translated as little green, probably due to its color. Was
it copper? Did it get oxidized? What did the green copper did?

(35:21):
And while formidable as a weapon wieldedby a formidable warrior, it nonetheless came
into the possession of the god Ogmaafter Tethera was defeated at the Second Battle
of Moytura. Upon being unsheathed,Orna began to speak and told of all
the deeds it had accomplished in itslifetime. So it was a talking sword

(35:46):
telling about everybody it had killed.Basically, wow, how do you shut
that up? Next? One oneof the most famous implements used by the
warrior deity Lou Lou has come upbefore. If you're familiar with our past
Irish episodes. Lou of the LongArm, a god one of the twi

(36:07):
a a enon the Gay Assail akathe Lightning Spear, was an amazing weapon
wielded by Lou in his many battles. It was considered again one of the
Four Treasures, like the Sword ofLight, and was forged in the city
of Gorias. We'll be coming back. I'm going to hit all the four

(36:29):
treasures. Don't worry. Don't youfret? Maybe, According to folklorist Whitley
Stokes, out of Gorrius was broughtthe spear that Lou had. No battle
was ever won against it or himwho held it in his hand. It
was said to have a shaft ofyou would and never missed its mark.

(36:51):
With a word of command, itcould also return to his owner's hand,
and according to folkloris Charles Squire,the spear had such a thirst for blood
its tip had to be kept ina draft of poppy leaves to keep it
sleepy. Once unleashed and battle,the fire flashed from it, and it
never tired of slaying. Man.What a weapon you had. Basically you

(37:20):
had to keep it addicted to heroinuntil you're ready to use it and then
it just it couldn't get enough ofkilling. Wow. The next up swords
and spears were but some of thetrappings of magical war items. Hey,
how about protective stuff. Okan wasa magical shield of Connor mcnessa, a

(37:43):
king in the Ulcra cycle of Irishmythology, translated as Moner and sometimes ear
of beauty. Oken had four goldborders and was said to moan aloud when
it's wielder was in danger. Whenthe previous king of Ulster named Fergus had

(38:05):
been tricked out of his kingship byConnor, Fergus met him in battle.
According to the tail quote, therewithFergus gave three stout blows on the Okan
of Connor, so that Connor shieldcried aloud on him, and the three
chief waves of Aaron gave answer.Whenever Connor shield cried out, the shields

(38:27):
of all the ulsterman crowd out.However great the strength and power with which
Fergus smote Connor on the shield.So great also was the might and valor
wherewith Connor held the shield, sothat the ear of the shield did not
even touch the ear of Connor.It was a good shield and when it

(38:51):
was hit, it cried out andsummoned people to the fight. That's what
you need to know. That's okanthorn o'kenshield. Right next one we got
the last item of weaponry. Isis basically the horn of gondor a circular
horn of magical effect. It wasit's called Boraboo, was found by Finn

(39:16):
mccool's son Ocean, after a tripto the fabled land of Tiernanogue. I
don't know if we've ever covered tiernanogon blurry photos could be its own episode.
I bet Tiernanogue under a great stonein a field did Ocean find the
horn, which circled round like aseashell. And it was the rule that

(39:38):
when any of the Finnians of Aaronblew the Boraboo, the other mythical warriors
of Ireland would assembol at once fromwhatever part of the country there might be
in at the time. No wordon whether or not four of those warriors
were hobbits. Horn of horn ofGondo, Boraboo, horn that summoned warriors

(40:04):
to fight. Boy oh boy cool. Moving along to objects of benevolence,
these are things that weren't meant specificallyfor war. But instead for the good
of many sometimes individuals here and there. So let's start with another horn.
We just ended with one. Let'slet's go all right on into another.

(40:25):
Horn of Brand comes from Welsh tradition, and like the Spear of Loo and
the sort of Light are part ofthe four Treasures of the Tuya Dadanan,
this horn is a part of abigger collection. It's interesting. The Thirteen

(40:45):
Treasures of the Island of Britain area set of items from late medieval Welsh
folklore and include utensils, weapons,clothes, various other kutuma, all with
some kind of magical power. Andyou know, we could probably do a
whole episode on them someday as wellThirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain,

(41:10):
but for now we'll focus on thisone in particular, the horn of Bran
Galad Brand the stingy Brand from Cumbria, who has a separate character from that
of Brand the Blessed, the giantWelsh King of Britain. Don't get them
twisted. Brand Galad was the ownerof a horn that was pretty much a

(41:36):
cornucopia, for it was described thatquote, the drink and food that one
asked one received in it when onedesired end quote. Some sources say it
was only drink that was furnished,but any drink that one desired. Hey,

(41:57):
you wanna Mohito, ask the hornof Brand. Man. You want
a can of Milwaukee's best, gofor it. Bro. One legend has
ties to the Welsh Bardic hero Mrthin, a figure later Parlett parlayed into the
Arthurian Merlin. Hello, go backto episode. I don't know what thirteen

(42:22):
or something for that whatever. Merthintried to gather the thirteen Treasures of Great
Britain together for safekeeping, and wastold that he could have twelve of them
if he could obtain the horn fromBrand Galad, such was his infamy for

(42:42):
stinginess Brand. Somehow Merdin accomplished thetask and took all the treasures to the
quote unquote glass house, where theyremained to this day. Some writers at
the tales about the horn traced itsorigin get thus two Hercules in Roman myth,

(43:04):
saying it was removed from a centaurslain by the hero before Hercules himself
was slain by the centaur's wife.What a pedigree, jeez, oh, why why
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