Irish Literature

In the following Irish myths and tales from Norse mythology, although there are women present in the stories, they are only in the stories for a short period of time compared to the men. These tales show that although the women characters are scarce, it does not mean that they are not important. They all play a vital role in not only the main part of these pieces, but in the outcomes especially. They appear in the beginning of the stories and set in motion all of the following events that take place.

The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig, is about a man who is in a bind. There are people from two different kingdoms that are asking for his dog. By picking one group, though, he is surely going to offend the other. This makes Mac Da Thó extremely distraught. Mac Da Tho had fallen into a “black silence”. His wife watches as he is not eating, drinking or sleeping for three days and nights. Finally, she takes charge of the situation.

She asks her husband to tell her what is bothering him. At first he gets mad, and tells her that women have no place in these kinds of matters. He says that it is pointless for him to tell her. She convinces him to tell her what’s wrong, though after he does so she gives him her advice: to tell both kingdoms that he will give them the dog. He takes her advice, goes to talk to each group separately, and tells them each the same story about how they can have the dog, but they will have to come back for him.

Mac Da Thó’s wife showed her feelings after watching him suffer alone for those three days and nights. She eventually could not stand to see him suffering and starving. She also could not stand his restlessness at night, when he did not sleep it seemed to disturb her as well. She got to the point of anger when she finally confronted her husband.

She wanted him to open up because she felt that it is a good way to solve problems, and when she gives him advice, she seems very confident with it. She has a strong opinion and is not afraid to share it.

Mac Da Thó’s wife has coaxed him to opening up and talking about his problem. She wants to help him solve it, which shows she cares about her husband. After he spills out all of the details, he demands an solution from her, which he believes he deserves for telling her in the first place. But she does not seem deterred by this. She simply answers him.

What her husband had told her was something he viewed as a big secret. He did not want to share it with her at first. He does wind up trusting her to keep that secret, and opens up to her after first insulting her and getting angry. She is strong and because of that, she defends herself against his offensive words. She stands up for herself and every woman when she says that women are worthy of hearing about important things, just as much as men are.

It says in the text that she mocks him. So, she not only answers his question, but does so in an overly confident way. She is so sure of herself that she makes a mockery of him with her reply. Mac Da Thó's wife makes him look dumb. Before she even gives him a solution to his dilemma, she talks down to him, calling him a “block of wood” (Eickhoff 116). To her the answer is simple, and she does not hesitate to give it. She believes herself to be wise, and this, once again, shows her strong personality. She is a problem-solver. His wife shows that she thinks even the most difficult problems can be easily solved.

She is kind of careless, though, when she says it does not matter who gets the dog. She does not think ahead to the possible consequences that Mac Da Thó's decision will make. Although he does take his wife’s advice, Mac Da Thó acts like it was an easy choice to make in the end. He does not thank his wife, or give her credit for coming up with a solution. Her husband brushes her off, in a way, when he tells her that either way, things could not get any worse. He just lets her know this is a good neutral decision she has offered. He has the final word when he shouts at her before leaving the conversation.

This story is ironic because although the woman is given the biggest decision to make in the story, she is not in a seemingly important role. On one hand, Mac Da Thó treats his wife harshly. He speaks to her as if it is common that he always talks down to her. It is surprising that he takes her advice, too, because according to him, “Women, for they cannot keep The words to themselves” (Eickhoff 114). After they have their conversation, he shouts at her. Even though he constantly talks angrily towards her, his wife does not seem bothered or insulted by the way he communicates to her.

Mac Da Thó seems to want to protect his wife when he says that “men do not need to bring worries to their wives” (Eickhoff 114). He speaks like he cares, but does not show it with his actions. In reality, he is more concerned with the problem he is facing.

The woman doesn’t have a big role in the piece, but she plays a bigger role with her advice. This sets the stage for all of the events that occur thereafter. She makes the story what it is. Although not present throughout all of the drama that unfolds, she has cause a chain of events to occur.

The wife inadvertently causes a war between two kingdoms. There is anger, battles with bloodshed - all over her decision to make them share the dog. Had her husband made a decision on his own and would have probably chose one side to give the dog to, he would have made one side mad at him, which is what he was stressing over, but he would have walked away with the riches and him and his wife could have shared the spoils. His wife does not seem to run the place. Her husband seems to be in charge of everything.

Macha is the woman in The Twins of Macha. Crunnchu is a widower. She, and farmer that she goes to help him put his life back together. After a while, the relationship becomes intimate. She eventually winds up having an intimate relationship him. Later, Macha becomes pregnant with twins. When the widower leaves one day to go to the fair, she asks him to keep a secret of how fast she runs, and trusts him to do so.

Macha is put in a horrible position, later though, because he does not keep his word. He disrespects her by telling everyone of her talent. He even goes as far as to brag to the king of Ulster that she can outrun his horses. The king does not like this. He wants to make a Crunnchu look bad for speaking to the king in this manner. Crunnchu is taken as a prisoner, and Macha is told that she will need to race the horses. If Macha does not accept the challenge, or he will be killed. He has caused a horrible situation.

After Macha agrees to race the horses, she pleads to the king of Ulster to let her wait. She would like to at least give birth first before having to race. She is far into her pregnancy, “heavily pregnant”. Although Macha has such a great talent with running, she has to be thinking that it would be almost impossible to outrun the horses in the state she is in.

When Macha pleads with the king and other men present with him, she stands up for herself and reminds them that they had mothers, too. She begs them to consider her situation, and to give her a break because of it. She is desperate. Macha pleads, “For a mother bore each of you!” (Woodfield 55). Her cries are ignored though. The men have no sympathy for her. This shows how important woman were to them - not at all. The king and his men are not giving her the small amount of time she needs to give birth, so that she can perform as well as she usually would. To them, giving her the fairest of options is not going to happen. Either the do not have the patience, or they want to see her suffer. Macha, being a person of her word, keeps her promise. Although it will be a brutal ordeal, she agrees to go on with the race.

Macha is the only person with any honor in the story. She is not a king. She just cares so much for Crunnchu, that she is willing to possibly sacrifice her own life, and the lives of her unborn children, to save him. She does not want to see him die, but it should not be at the expense of her own life, or the children inside of her. She also does this despite the fact that he gave up her secret against her wishes. Crunnchu is not even a loyal partner. She had been nothing but kind and caring to him. He did not appreciate her, or he would have left her to rest in peace. Ideally he would have gone to do what he set out to get done, and come home to her. He should have been taking care of her, instead of putting her at risk. They could have had a family. She is the more respectful person for racing against the horses, and a strong woman as well. She needs to use every bit of strength that she has to complete this task, and she goes through with it.

After the race, which she wins, Macha does not get to celebrate. She does not get to see Crunnchu be freed. She falls and proceeds to give birth right then. She does not get to enjoy her children either. Macha dies from the exhaustive event, after suffering first. Before she dies, though, she puts a curse on the king of Ulster and his men. She wants them to suffer as she has. Macha demands that they “feel the pain of childbirth whenever their strength was most needed” (Woodfield 55). She goes on with her curse, and lets them know that childbirth is not easy.

The men do not know of the pain of bearing a child. Macha makes them understand with her words, even though they probably ignored anything she had to say. She makes it known that it is hard, and takes all of a woman’s strength to do. She knows that men take that for granted, and lets them know how shameful they are for not appreciating that. The men showed no kindness when they make her race. She was even being tortured in a way. Not only was she using all of her little energy to run, but after she does, when she is gives birth, she has even less energy and strength than it takes to bear a child. All of this took the life out of her. Her body could not even bear another breath. She dies exhausted.

Macha, who had made herself useful, and worked to help Crunnchu, is not appreciated in the end. The situation in which she had to give birth was horrible. There is nothing in the story that mentions her complaining in any way. She just does what is asked of her. She dies a miserable death. All of this is done in front of the kings men, which humiliated her even more. She is probably forgotten about later, with her children being the only reason she is mentioned again.

In The Voyage of Mael Duin, one of the women is a nun. The story is set in the Dark Ages and starts out with her meeting Ailill, who takes advantage of her. She gets pregnant from him and then gives birth to his son, Mael Duin. The nun gives her son to the queen. Mael Duin becomes the king and queen’s foster son. One day when he is older, the boy is told by another warrior boy that the people who he thinks are his real parents, the king and queen, are really not. He tells him in an insulting way, which makes Mael Duin angry. When he confronts his mother, she is honest with him.

When talking to her foster son, the queen tries to explain to him that it does not matter if she is his birth mother or not, that she loves him just the same. She is showing that she cares, and does not want him to be hurt by the situation. He did not know before because she may have been protecting him. The queen might have thought that he would feel as if he was not the same as everyone else.

Although the queen is telling Mael Duin the truth, it could also be because he threatens not to eat or drink until he learns the truth. He puts her in a position where she has no choice but to be honest. She is being sincere with him and tells Mael Duin, “ ‘The love of the people of the earth for their sons is no greater than the love I bear thee’ ” (Matthews and Matthews 125). To her, he is her son, and it is that simple. She does not look at him a foster son, he is her own to her.

Later, the queen gives the boy to his real mother, so the truth of the story of how he came to be could be told to him by her. His real mother tells him that his real father is dead. She explains, “ ‘Silly is what thou art doing, for if thou shouldst know thy father thou hast no good of him, and thou wilt not be the gladder, for he died long ago’ ” (Matthews and Matthews 126). Mael Duin’s birth mother does not seem to show any empathy for her son.

He is hurting and wants to know the truth, and instead of explaining to him in a kind way, and having a positive conversation about his situation, she mocks him in a way. When she calls him “silly”, she makes him feel foolish for wanting to know the truth, even though it is his right to do so. Mael Duin will already be upset from learning that his father is not even alive, but she is still cold when relaying this news, not concerning herself with how he will feel about it.

The women in these stories have a lot in common. Although their stories put them in different situations, they all have similar traits. The women are all strong-willed. In each piece, they have the most important tasks, but are mentioned in the stories so little. They affect the way other characters proceed with decisions, and with the women’s input, the stories could go in one direction or another.

They also seem to be harder on themselves and others. They speak harshly and with little words. They seem to want to get their point across clearly and firmly. It may be because they want to be taken seriously. The women might also speak this way because when they talk, because people would otherwise not listen. They want to be heard if they are going to say something or offer a piece of advice. When they do talk, they seem to have a more limited time to do so than the men do.

Honesty is also a something they have in common. They say what is on their mind. The women think and respond quickly. They waste little time in conversation. Smart decision making skills are apparent as well in these stories. The women are smart in general. They all have something great to contribute.

Works Cited

Eickhoff, Randy Lee. The red branch tales. New York: Forge, 2003. Print.

Matthews, John, and Caitlin Matthews.The encyclopaedia of Celtic myth and legend: a definitive sourcebook of magic, vision, and lore. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2004. Print.

Woodfield, Stephanie. Celtic lore & spellcraft of the dark Goddess: invoking the Morrigan. Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2011. Print.