CCIV20070

*Traffic Light Red: Students are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in this module.*

This module draws on the languages and literatures of the Celtic languages to explore the role of the poet and the power of words, extending back to the earliest written evidence.

The first half of the module examines the organisation of the professional poets and their status in medieval Irish society (c. 600-1200), focusing on their primary functions of praise and satire. Literary sources, such as saga material and our earliest known praise poem, will be analysed to illustrate the social significance of praise poetry and the integral role played by the poet in medieval Irish society. Drawing on a corpus of legal and poetical material, we will also study the language of satire and in its many forms, from mockery, ridicule and name-calling to invectives and curses.

In the second half of the module, we examine the power of words as magical agents in verse and song, including the lament. The efficacy of the spoken and written word in prayers, charms and curses will also be analysed. The vital role of these phenomena will be placed in a framework of traditional life in Ireland and discussed in relation to vernacular life. The social status and role of the poet as found in Irish oral tradition will also be highlighted.

We will learn how to scan a medieval Irish poem, and trace the development of Irish metrics and styles through the centuries. We will examine the functions of poetry in its society, such as spells, curses, grammatical examples, law texts and historiography. The performance of poetry in various social settings tells us much about the lives of poets and the perception of the power of words. We will also discuss poetry as an arcane art that empowers subversion of time-space, hierarchy and gender roles in the forms of prophecy, keening and poetic duels, in which women play an important part.