De Gabáil Maige Tuired

De Gabáil Maige Tuired (English: The Taking of Maige Tuired) is a prose tale written in Irish. The document is believed to have been written in around 1240, although the story it contains is widely believed to be far older, with the 1240 version simply being the only copy which survived.

It is held in the Druid archive at Y Trallwng (English: Welshpool), in modern Powys, Wales. It is believed that the copy was gifted to the King of Powys by an Irish Bishop in the 13th century.

The document is an alternate telling of the events of Cath Maige Tuired, part of the Irish Mythological Cycle. Unlike the Cath Maige Tuired, however, the battle portion contains a detailed description of a magical ritual used by the Morrigan to kill the Fomorian Giants. This ritual is the earliest known record of Loisthio Deipnon.

There has been considerable debate among Druids as to whether the document should be returned to Ireland, given it represents an important part of Irish history. However, the prevailing argument thus far has been that the ritual described is too dangerous to allow those without magic access to it.

There is only one known copy of the document, also currently held in the archives in Y Trallwung, a translation into Latin. The Latin is Ecclesiastical, making it's date certainly post Christian, however the Irish deities of the Tuatha De Dannan have been syncretised with Roman deities. Notable, the Morrigan has been replaced with Hekate in this version, and the Formorians with Titanes.

Type

Manuscript, Historical

Medium

Paper

Authoring Date

1240

Current Location
Druid Archives, Y Trallwng
Language
Irish (1 extant Latin copy also exists)