medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>From: Pecia <[log in to unmask]>
>En Bretagne (in Britanny), Fingar est connu sous le nom de Guigner, ainsi
>célébré par le Missel du vice-chancelier Ynisan, daté de 1457 (diocèse de
>Vannes, Paris BnF Lat. Nlle Acq. Lat. 172). Il est peut-être aussi
>l'éponyme de Loc-Eguiner (avec Loc- : "lieu consacré à -") dans le diocèse
>de Léon.
>j. l. raphalen
AND
>
From: "Phyllis Jestice" <[log in to unmask]>
>Fingar and Piala (d. c. 455) An interesting tale of early Irish saints.
>According to legend, Fingar and Piala were brother and sister, the
children of an Irish king. After being converted by Patrick their father
drove them into exile. First they went to Brittany and were well-received,
but then went on to Cornwall, where they were martyred at the order of the
king of Dumnonia. Fingar's feast is celebrated in Brittany.
I'm puzzled by a number of details in this story. First, the names aren't
Irish: Fingar should be Findbarr or something like that, shouldn't it?
Initial "P" points to names or words imported from other languages (Patrick,
after all, was a Brythonic Celt, not a Goidelic one). Second, I have
problems with the idea that they were driven out of Ireland for converting
because that contradicts the notion that the Irish conversion to
Christianity occurred gradually without much to-do and almost no martyrdom.
In the Patrician stories, this is expressed by Patrick converting everyone
in sight by beating the local druids in an impressive display of superior
magic/miracles. Suggestion: the note about their being converted Patrick
was inserted later on, after the legend of Patrick being THE missionary to
Ireland became dominant. The dates for Fingar and Piala (455) probably
shouldn't be taken literally (the annals and other monastic records didn't
come into being until roughly 200 years later). I'd say the dates mainly
signify that these were very early figures, possibly* "baptized" deity
figures, or figures from earlier secular tales who were transferred to a
religious context. Also, why were they well received in Bretagne but not
Cornwall? Sounds to me like they were figures in a Christianized version of
a Cornish/Armorican tale similar to the branch of the Mabinogi about Bran
and Branwen, and tales of dynastic/territorial struggles were transformed
into Christian martyrdom.
Francine Nicholson
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