The Legend of Tuan mac Carell
"The Legend of Tuan mac Carell" is a significant tale from early Irish literature, primarily found in the "Lebor na h-Uidre" (Book of the Dun Cow). The story follows Tuan, an old pagan warrior who recounts his extraordinary life filled with transformations. After being visited by Saint Finnen, Tuan shares his lineage and experiences, including surviving a plague that decimated his people and encountering several waves of settlers in Ireland. Tuan undergoes multiple metamorphoses, becoming a stag, a boar, an eagle, and finally a salmon, each transformation enriching his narrative and connection to the land. This legend embodies themes of transmigration of the soul, reflecting a unique aspect of Celtic belief wherein spirits endure through different forms while retaining their memories and identities. It highlights the intertwining of myth and history, illustrating the various groups that have inhabited Ireland over time. The tale serves not only as a reflection of past events but also as a testament to cultural resilience and continuity within Irish tradition.
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The Legend of Tuan mac Carell
Author: Traditional Celtic
Time Period: 501 CE–1000 CE; 1001 CE–1500 CE
Country or Culture: Ireland
Genre: Myth
PLOT SUMMARY
Tuan mac Carell (Cairill), an old pagan warrior, is one day visited by Saint Finnen, an Irish abbot. Tuan lives close to Finnen’s monastery in County Donegal, and the abbot decides to stop by and become acquainted with the old warrior. At first, Tuan refuses to let Finnen inside his home, so the abbot waits and fasts on Tuan’s doorstep for an entire Sunday. Finally, Tuan welcomes him in, and the two become friends.
Finnen returns to his monastery and tells his monks about Tuan and the stories of old Ireland the warrior has shared with them. Shortly after, Tuan visits the monastery, and the monks encourage him to tell them the history of Ireland. He begins by telling them about his lineage. He explains that he is Tuan, son of Carell, but that he was once son of Starn, the brother of an early settler of Ireland. This settler was named Partholan, and he and his people were wiped out by a horrible plague. Tuan was the only one to survive the pestilence. Alone, Tuan wandered through barren towns and sheltered in empty fortresses, constantly avoiding wolves. He states that he lived like this for twenty-two years until old age settled in.
New settlers known as Nemedians arrived in Ireland, led by Nemed, another brother of Starn. Tuan, now “decrepit” and “miserable” (Rolleston 99), avoided these new people. Then, one day, he awoke and found himself transformed into a young stag. This filled Tuan’s heart with joy, and he became the king of all the deer in Ireland. He then explains that during his time as a deer, he saw Nemed and all of his people inexplicably die. On his own once more, he grew old and became weak once again. Then one day, while standing at the mouth of the cave where he dwelled, Tuan found himself transformed into a young wild boar.
Tuan went on to become king of all of the boar herds of Ireland. He lived an active and plentiful life, roaming Ireland with other boars. One day, he sensed another transformation coming on. He returned to Ulster, where all of his other transformations had taken place. There, he waited until his body would be renewed once again. Old age settled in as it had before, and when Tuan transformed, he became “a great eagle of the sea” (Rolleston 100). Again, he had been rejuvenated with youthful vigor.
During this time, Tuan explains, Semion, son of Stariat, came to inhabit Ireland and gave rise to three tribes who thrived for many years. The Tuatha Dé Danann (race of the goddess Dana) also arrived around this time but were later conquered by the Milesians. Throughout these waves of settlers and conquerors, Tuan kept his eagle shape. When he finally felt another transformation coming on, he fasted for nine days. When he awoke on the tenth day, he had been changed into a salmon. Eventually, a fisherman caught him and gave him to the wife of Carell. She then ate Tuan, who passed through her womb and was born again as Tuan, son of Carell.
SIGNIFICANCE
The legend of Tuan mac Carell comes from Lebor na h-Uidre (Book of the Dun Cow), one of the oldest surviving manuscripts in Irish literature. The manuscript supposedly derives its unique name from the original vellum, made of the hide of a treasured cow at the monastery of Clonmacnoise, County Offaly. Scholars believe Irish monks at the monastery assembled the manuscript around 1100, compiling older manuscripts and oral lore, both factual and legendary. Its contents mainly date back to between the seventh and ninth centuries, although this particular legend takes place during the sixth.
The legend is used to communicate the waves of settlers and invaders that came to Ireland, dating back to pre-Christian times. Tuan’s recounting of these settlers begins with the people of Partholan, who were supposedly the first to arrive in Ireland following the biblical flood described in the book of Genesis. Earlier Irish texts state that the Partholanians, as well as the subsequent Nemedians, came from the cryptic realm of the dead. In later texts created following the Christianization of Ireland, these early peoples are said to be descendants of biblical figures from Spain or Scythia.
The legend contains the theme of the transmigration of the soul through different bodies (also known as metempsychosis), a frequent occurrence in Celtic mythology. Throughout the legend, Tuan transforms from human to animal and back again. Through each transformation, he maintains the intelligence, experiences, and memories from his past lives. The Welsh story of Taliesin is very similar to Tuan’s. He too transforms into different animals to survive, and during his last embodiment as a grain, he is eaten by a hen, who later gives birth to him in human form. Both of these stories reflect the Celtic belief that everyone and everything possesses a spirit, plants and animals included, and that mortals can undergo transformation.
The Celtic belief in the transmigration of the soul differs from other, more traditional concepts of reincarnation. Hindus, for example, believe that how a person lived life dictates the type of being of his or her next reincarnation, but all memory and experience is lost in the person’s new form. According to some classical authors, the druids of Gaul believed that the soul lives on after death and is sent into another being, although that being is not necessarily of this world. Just as in Tuan’s repeated transmigrations, all memory, experience, and intelligence would be maintained in the new being.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dooley, Ann, and Harry Roe, trans. Tales of the Elders of Ireland. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Celtic Myths and Legends. Philadelphia: Running, 2002. Print.
MacCulloch, John Arnott. The Religion of the Ancient Celts. Mineola: Dover, 2012. Print.
Rolleston, Thomas William. “The Legend of Tuan mac Carell.” Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race. London: Constable, 1911. 96–100. Print.
“The Story of Tuan mac Carell.” Eleusinianm. Richard Alan Scott-Robinson, 2011. Web. 28 May 2013.