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Fingal
Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem, in Six Books: Together with Several Other Poems, Composed by Ossian, the Son of Fingal. Translated from the Galic Language, 1762, and Temora, an Ancient Epic Poem, in Eight Books (1763).
These epics, which purported to be translated from an ancient Gaelic original were in fact largely the work of J. Macpherson; the first was based loosely on various old ballads and fragments, the second was entirely invented. Macpherson transforms the legendary Irish hero Finn or Fionn into the Scottish Fingal, ignores various episodes and characters in the original Fenian and Ossianic stories and brings together Fingal and Cuthullin (the Irish Cuchulain) who according to legend were divided by centuries. Morven, Fingal's kingdom in the north-west of Scotland, is Macpherson's invention. The original Finn MacCoul, whether historical or mythical, is usually assigned to the 3rd cent. ad; he was the son of Comhal, and the father of Ossian the warrior bard; he was also leader of the Fianna or Fenians. Fingal is pictured by Macpherson as fighting both the Norwegians and the Romans under Caracalla—‘Caracul, King of the World’. The astonishing sway of Macpherson's version is indicated by the fact that even Gibbon took the trouble to discuss it; he writes (though with some irony) of ‘the tenderness, the elegant genius of Ossian’. The appeal of Fingal lay in its primitivism, its qualities of the sublime, and its sentiment. |
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Fingal." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Fingal." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Fingal.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Fingal." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Fingal.html |
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Fingal
Fingal a character in an epic poem by the Scottish poet James Macpherson (1736–96), based on the legendary Irish hero Finn mac Cool but fictionally transformed and depicted as fighting both the Norse invaders and the Romans (under Caracalla) from an invented kingdom in NW Scotland.
Fingal's Cave a cave on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides, noted for the clustered basaltic pillars that form its cliffs. It is said to have been the inspiration of Mendelssohn's overture The Hebrides (also known as Fingal's Cave), but in fact he noted down the principal theme before his visit to Staffa. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Fingal." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Fingal." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Fingal.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Fingal." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Fingal.html |
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fingal
fingal. Old Irish word for the wounding or slaying of a relative, conventionally used in the titles of narratives telling of such events, e.g. Fingal Rónáin [How Rónán Slew His Son].
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-fingal.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-fingal.html |
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Fingal
Fingal [cf. ScG fionn gall, fair foreigner]. Title character of James Macpherson's six-part prose ‘epic’ Fingal (1762), now considered a part of The Poems of Ossian. Clearly based on Fionn mac Cumhaill, despite Macpherson's denials, Fingal embodies many of the author's somewhat fey heroic ideals. He is the son of the giant Comhal, and king of Morven, the land of the north-west Caledonians. His wives are Roscrana, mother of Ossian, and Clatho, mother of Reyno, Fillean, and Bosmin, his only daughter. In Fingal, he travels to Ireland to aid Cuchulain against Swaran, the vicious Scandinavian king of Lochlin, who is invading Ireland. After much struggle, Fingal succeeds in subduing and capturing Swaran. This narrative is continued in Macpherson's Temora (1763), also included in The Poems of Ossian. Elsewhere in the Poems, Fingal is a righter of wrongs and a defender of the oppressed. He dies in a battle near the River Boyne.
Much as the name Fingal is associated with Macpherson, its use pre-dates the publication of Ossian by many centuries. A king named Fingal ruled the Isle of Man, 1070–7; ‘Fingal’ was used in Scottish contexts for the character now known as Fionn mac Cumhaill as early as the 14th century. After Macpherson, Scottish commentators commonly substituted ‘Fingal’ for ‘Fionn’. Distinguish from Finngoll, cited in some of Fionn's pedigrees. Bibliography See Derick S. Thomson , The Gaelic Sources of Macpherson's Ossian (Edinburgh, 1952); |
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Cite this article
JAMES MacKILLOP. "Fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "Fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Fingal.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "Fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Fingal.html |
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Fingal
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Fingal." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Fingal." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Fingal.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Fingal." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Fingal.html |
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Fingal
Fingal see Finn mac Cumhail . |
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"Fingal." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Fingal." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-Fingal.html "Fingal." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-Fingal.html |
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Fingal
Fingal [place]. See FINGALL.
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Cite this article
JAMES MacKILLOP. "Fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "Fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Fingal1.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "Fingal." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Fingal1.html |
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Fingal
Fingal
•draggle, gaggle, haggle, raggle-taggle, straggle, waggle
•algal
•angle, bangle, bespangle, dangle, entangle, fandangle, jangle, mangel, mangle, spangle, strangle, tangle, wangle, wide-angle, wrangle
•triangle • quadrangle • rectangle
•pentangle • right angle • gargle
•bagel, finagle, Hegel, inveigle, Schlegel
•beagle, eagle, illegal, legal, paralegal, regal, spread eagle, viceregal
•porbeagle
•giggle, higgle, jiggle, niggle, sniggle, squiggle, wiggle, wriggle
•commingle, cringle, dingle, Fingal, intermingle, jingle, mingle, shingle, single, swingle, tingle
•prodigal • madrigal • warrigal
•surcingle • Christingle
•boggle, goggle, joggle, synagogal, toggle, woggle
•diphthongal, Mongol, pongal
•hornswoggle
•bogle, mogul, ogle
•Bruegel
•bugle, frugal, fugal, google
•Dougal, Mughal
•Portugal • conjugal
•juggle, smuggle, snuggle, struggle
•bungle, fungal, jungle
•McGonagall • astragal
•burghal, burgle, Fergal, gurgle
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"Fingal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Fingal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Fingal.html "Fingal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Fingal.html |
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