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Fénius Farsaid (also Phoeniusa, Phenius, Féinius; Farsa, Farsaidh, many variant spellings) is a legendary king of Scythia who appears in different versions of Irish mythology. He was the son of Boath, a son of Magog. Other sources describe his lineage from the line of Gomer.[1] According to some traditions, he invented the Ogham alphabet and the Gaelic language.
According to recensions M and A of the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Fénius and his son Nél journeyed to the Tower of Babel (in recension B, it is Rifath Scot son of Gomer instead). Nél, who was trained in many languages, married Scota, daughter of Pharaoh Cingris of Egypt, producing their son Goidel Glas.
In the Lebor Gabála Érenn (11th century), he is said to be one of the 72 chieftains who built Nimrod's Tower of Babel, but travelled to Scythia after the tower collapsed.
According to the Auraicept na n-Éces, Fenius journeyed from Scythia together with Goídel mac Ethéoir, Íar mac Nema and a retinue of 72 scholars. They came to the plain of Shinar to study the confused languages at Nimrod's tower. Finding that the speakers had already dispersed, Fenius sent his scholars to study them, staying at the tower, coordinating the effort. After ten years, the investigations were complete, and Fenius created in Bérla tóbaide "the selected language", taking the best of each of the confused tongues, which he called Goídelc, Goidelic, after Goídel mac Ethéoir. He also created extensions, called Bérla Féne, after himself, Íarmberla, after Íar mac Nema, and others, and the Beithe-luis-nuin (the Ogham) as a perfected writing system for his languages, Béarla na bhFileadh - 'language of the poets'. The Secret Language of the Poets, Gnaith-bhearla, a common language and dialect of the illiterate majority, it later became Old and Middle Irish, and eventually Modern Irish.[2]
The Auraicept claims that Fenius Farsaidh discovered four alphabets, the Hebrew, Greek and Latin ones, and finally the Ogham, and portrays the Ogham as the most perfected because it was discovered last.
Referencesedit
^Carey, John (1990). (PDF). Celtica. 21: 104–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2010.
George Calder, Auraicept na n-éces: the scholars' primer; being the texts of the Ogham tract from the Book of Ballymote and the Yellow book of Lecan, and the text of the Trefhocul from the Book of Leinster, Edinburgh, J. Grant, 1917.
Further readingedit
Jaski, Bart (2003). "'We are of the Greeks in our origin': New Perspectives on the Irish Origin Legend". CMCS. 46: 1–53.
McLaughlin, Róisín (2009). "Fénius Farsaid and the Alphabets". Ériu. 59: 1–24. doi:10.1353/eri.2009.0002.
fénius, farsaid, this, article, relies, largely, entirely, single, source, relevant, discussion, found, talk, page, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, citations, additional, sources, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2018,. This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Fenius Farsaid news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2018 Fenius Farsaid also Phoeniusa Phenius Feinius Farsa Farsaidh many variant spellings is a legendary king of Scythia who appears in different versions of Irish mythology He was the son of Boath a son of Magog Other sources describe his lineage from the line of Gomer 1 According to some traditions he invented the Ogham alphabet and the Gaelic language According to recensions M and A of the Lebor Gabala Erenn Fenius and his son Nel journeyed to the Tower of Babel in recension B it is Rifath Scot son of Gomer instead Nel who was trained in many languages married Scota daughter of Pharaoh Cingris of Egypt producing their son Goidel Glas In the Lebor Gabala Erenn 11th century he is said to be one of the 72 chieftains who built Nimrod s Tower of Babel but travelled to Scythia after the tower collapsed According to the Auraicept na n Eces Fenius journeyed from Scythia together with Goidel mac Etheoir Iar mac Nema and a retinue of 72 scholars They came to the plain of Shinar to study the confused languages at Nimrod s tower Finding that the speakers had already dispersed Fenius sent his scholars to study them staying at the tower coordinating the effort After ten years the investigations were complete and Fenius created in Berla tobaide the selected language taking the best of each of the confused tongues which he called Goidelc Goidelic after Goidel mac Etheoir He also created extensions called Berla Fene after himself Iarmberla after Iar mac Nema and others and the Beithe luis nuin the Ogham as a perfected writing system for his languages Bearla na bhFileadh language of the poets The Secret Language of the Poets Gnaith bhearla a common language and dialect of the illiterate majority it later became Old and Middle Irish and eventually Modern Irish 2 The Auraicept claims that Fenius Farsaidh discovered four alphabets the Hebrew Greek and Latin ones and finally the Ogham and portrays the Ogham as the most perfected because it was discovered last References edit Carey John 1990 The Ancestry of Fenius Farsaid PDF Celtica 21 104 12 Archived from the original PDF on 5 July 2010 A Grammar of the Irish Language John O Donovan George Calder Auraicept na n eces the scholars primer being the texts of the Ogham tract from the Book of Ballymote and the Yellow book of Lecan and the text of the Trefhocul from the Book of Leinster Edinburgh J Grant 1917 Further reading editJaski Bart 2003 We are of the Greeks in our origin New Perspectives on the Irish Origin Legend CMCS 46 1 53 McLaughlin Roisin 2009 Fenius Farsaid and the Alphabets Eriu 59 1 24 doi 10 1353 eri 2009 0002 R A S Macalister ed Lebor Gabala Erenn The Book of the Taking of Ireland Dublin Irish Texts Society nbsp This article relating to a Celtic myth or legend is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fenius Farsaid amp oldid 1167436807, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
