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Horniness,a romantic story, and jumping from high buildings.
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Brrrr!
After an unseasonal winter season (which is increasingly the new normal) it actually got cold enough tonight to light the fire. As a result, I'm sitting here in front of the 'Towering Inferno' in a mellow kinda mood so I'll spare you my usual intro and get straight into it.
Help yourself.
You know where the cups are..
Welcome to Vóg
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From last month's newsletter, you might recall the following test based on a conversation from the forthcoming Fionn 4:
As a test to make sure you're reading this, I'm not going to tell you what the Irish word 'teaspaí' means. You're going to have to work that one out for yourself!
First one to send me the correct translation gets an early copy of FIONN 4 when it comes out this later this year.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting a great response on this but, in the end, about twenty people replied and there were some interesting responses.
The Google Response:
The most common translation offered for 'teaspaí' was 'heat' which was an obvious 'Google Translate' result. Unfortunately, 'Google Translate' really is the bargain basement model when it comes to translation. Using it to translate Irish (and many other languages) is like asking an eight-year old child (with a mental disability) to do it for you. Although it's (kinda) okay to translate direct nouns (sometimes), what it tends to do is go for literal translations - it doesn't pick up conceptual difference or cultural differences (which means its pretty feckin useless).
Ironically, this week someone I know online had a beautiful handcarved piece of wood carved for his dad. Thoughtful person that he was, he wanted to have it inscribed 'Dear X' ( where 'X' was his Dad's name) and went to Google Translate for guidance. Now, that very valuable gift has the words "Expensive X' carved on it!
Just two hours ago, a non-Irish woman in our Grupa Comhra (our Irish speaking group here in Wellington), emailed me to ask for an 'elevator' to the next meeting.
You get the idea.
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But enough of the ramblings.
The Correct Response:
The correct answer, of course, is "horniness" (although officially it's "energy – in a mischievous or sexual sense").
The original word (which is very old) actually meant "tinder" for a fire. Over many years, it became a metaphor for arousal or horniness and even later again, it became a word meaning 'full of devilment!' Back home we often describe kids who get into trouble as being "full of taspy" (which is the anglicized form).
The first person to send in the correct answer was Andy Linton so eh gets first dibs at Fionn 4 but kudos goes to Barbara Harrison, Susan Bradley, Karen Hickey, Johnathon O'Mara, and C.Moore who were all in the ball park.
Vinita Hayes probably had my favourite interpretation of all. Not correct but very lovely. Thanks Vinita.
Meanwhile, my apologies for not responding to all entrants. Most of these came in while I was running for a plane to Oz (what the locals call 'Australia'). Given the interest, I'll pull up another quiz in the future and we can have another go.
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FIONN: Stranger at Mullán Bán
Another chapter down on this tale and looking forward to getting into the meatier action over the next two chapters.
This latest chapter (from the Liath Luachra POV) was an interesting one in that there was a lot of talk - mostly dialogue between Liath Luachra and Fiacail (and that's always going to be strained), Liath Luachra and Demne, and then some woman talk between her and the woman warrior Gnathad (who last appeared in FIONN: Traitor of Dun Baoiscne). I'm still planning to release this toward the end of 2019.
LIATH LUACHRA: The Seeking
I'm still working on a short story which will set the scene for the third Liath Luachra novel. At this stage, the wider plot is laid out and I've developed some unique protagonists but I've also decided to take an interesting slant that Irish mythology hasn't taken before. As a result, I'm champing at the bit to get into this and it's a struggle to pace myself so that can complete the other projects first. The Liath Luachra story should be out in a few months.
Project Scéalta:
Project Scéalta (a side-project based on FIONN: Defence of Ráth Bládhma) has so many components it's meant its been one of the more frustrating pieces of work I've done for a while (two steps forward, one step back). It's now sitting on the back burner for another three weeks but once my time frees up in August, I'll be almost at a point where I have a working model.
Below, you'll see the first conceptual image for the project. Some of you may recall that this initially started last year with the great line "It's raining and my arse aches".
As you can see that's changed a bit. Some might say, for the better!
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Project Tobar:
Project Tobar - a non-fiction, mythology based project - is going into design stage later this year. This is going to the biggest piece of work we've done to date and as it'll probably take up our full capacity, we don't intend to even start any development work until at least two of the other projects above are completed. Watch this space.
Celtic Mythology Collection 4
After a lot of consideration and redesign, we're finally ready to kick off a new Irish Imbas: Celtic Mythology Short Story Competition next year (all dependent on completing key elements of Project Tobar first, of course). There is some major irony here in that as recently as last month, I was still swearing I wouldn't be doing another one of these.
In any case, for the moment the plan is to launch the competition in September 2020. We'll be commissioning illustrations for that at the start of next year.
Beara 2 and Beara 3:
Probably the two most demanded books I regularly get asked about (following on from Beara: Dark Legends ). One day, I swear. One day.
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The Story of Bailé Binnbérlach
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I recently realised that it's been a wee while since I added some mythology/folklore to the newsletter so here's a little piece I put on the website last week.
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Most major topographical features in Ireland have a number of stories and folkloric tales associated with them, often in an attempt to explain the derivation of the placename. To be honest, much of the time, you really have to treat such stories with a serious dose of salts as most of them have been heavily romanticised or ‘fanticized’ by medieval writers (and subsequently messed up by Yeats, Lady Gregory and the rest of the Irish Twilight Gang), however there’s still some entertainment value to be eked out of them.
One of the more intriguing stories I’ve come across is that linked to the hill of Dún Ailinne (or ‘Knockaulin’ for the Gaelically challenged). This hilltop in Kildare actually has a number of different stories associated with it but the most interesting is certainly the story of Bailé Binnbérlach mac Búain (Bailé, the Sweet-Spoken son of Buan).
The story goes a bit like this.
Buan’s only son Bailé was loved and admired by everyone (both men and women) who ever heard him (or heard of him), predominantly because of the astounding stories he told. Bailé was particularly loved, however, by Aillinn, daughter of Lughaidh. This woman who had never met him had heard all his tales and through them had developed a deep affection unlike any she’d ever felt before.
Through shared messages, Bailé and Aillinn planned a tryst at Ros na Righ in Lann Maolduibh, on the south brink of the Bóinn (the Boyne) in Bregia. To reach this place, Bailé travelled from Ulster, leaving from Emain Macha and travelling south over Sliabh Fuaid and Muirtheimhne until he arrived at the long beach now known as Traigh Bailé (The Beach of Bailé – Dundalk).
Here, Bailé and his party unyoked their chariots, released their horses out to graze, and turned their thoughts to celebration. After amusing themselves for a time, they noticed a fearsome and spectral figure approaching swiftly from the south. The ferocious manner in which the figure closed on them, speeding over the landscape, was terrifying to behold for its swiftness was similar to that of a hawk darting down a cliff or to the west wind rising up off the green sea.
You can find the full article here: The story of Bailé Binnbérlach mac Búain
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Something Else you Might Like
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I realise I said I wouldn't be using Bookfunnel giveaways again but they've recently introduced a new format where you actually have to pay for a book and I'm trying that to see how it works.
In the past, most people on Bookfunnel giveaways were just signing up for newsletters with junk emails to grab a whole bunch of free books (which meant people like me were no longer interested in using it). This new approach is - I think - more honest in that you pay a minimal price of 99c if you really want the book and there's no newsletter subscription if that's not genuinely desired.
I'm not holding my breath but it'll be interesting to see. In any case, there are two 99c giveaways below (FIONN: Defence of Ráth Bládhma is included in both). As you can see, the pictures are lop-sided. I' hoping that's not prophetic.
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If you've just joined or forgotten why you joined in the first place: my name is Brian O'Sullivan. I'm an author, mythologist (yes, that sounds weird) and conceptual development consultant.
If you want to be sure of getting future editions of this newsletter please add in...@irishimbas.com to your address book.
Vóg comes out 10-11 times a year, usually at the end of the month. If you enjoy the newsletter, perhaps you'd like to infect your friends with it, by coercing them to http://irishimbasbooks.com/ and committing themselves to monthly attacks of vague Irish spam.
Trust me. They'll be endlessly grateful!
I do generally respond to emails though that can sometimes take 3-5 days.
Don't look at me like that! It's a time-zone thing.
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I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I do actually respond to emails. Just be aware, though that it can sometimes take up to three days. If there’s anything you would like me to cover in future newsletters please do feel free to let me know.
As always, feel free to pass this newsletter onto anyone you hate/love with a vengeance.
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With the freelance (non-publishing) work I do, I get to hang out in some pretty awesome buildings around Wellington city, usually different offices every few months or so. This is a picture out of the window from where I was working three weeks ago. I'm not exactly suicidal or depressed or anything (usually the opposite) but sometimes I'd actually look out there and think "I'm pretty sure I could get that middle car from here.'
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Yes, even I know that sounds a bit bizarre. It's all to do with symmetry of course and I should probably reserve this stuff for the 'quiet voice'.
Afterwards, I was walking around the 15th floor and came across this ('New World' is a supermarket, by the way).
The fifteenth floor!!!
And New World is miles away!!
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That's it from me this month. With my current work schedule (non-publishing related, unfortunately)
I'm going to be absent from all forms of social interaction for the better part of next month so prepare for the long silence of quiet industry.
And, of course, there's that trolley to drag home!
Until next month ...
Slán go fóill!
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