Newgrange
in the eerie early morning mist that rolls up from the River Boyne. Four
of the stones of the Great Circle are visible,
as are several of the post holes from the later neolithic timber
henge beside Newgrange. |
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'As he spoke, he paused before a great mound grown over with trees, and around it silver clear in the moonlight were immense stones piled, the remains of an original circle, and there was a dark, low, narrow entrance leading therein. "This was my palace. In days past many a one plucked ere the purple flower of magic and the fruit of the tree of life. . ." And even as he spoke, a light began to glow and to pervade the cave, and to obliterate the stone walls and the antique hieroglyphics engraven thereon, and to melt the earthen floor into itself like a fiery sun suddenly uprisen within the world, and there was everywhere a wandering ecstasy of sound: light and sound were one; light had a voice, and the music hung glittering in the air . . . "I am Aengus; men call me the Young. I am the sunlight in the heart, the moonlight in the mind; I am the light at the end of every dream, the voice for ever calling to come away; I am desire beyond joy or tears. Come with me, come with me: I will make you immortal; for my palace opens into the Gardens of the Sun, and there are the fire-fountains which quench the heart's desire in rapture."' A. E. The story of the original owners of Newgrange is lost in Ireland's misty pre-history. It is quite a famous place in medieval Irish mythology, and is mentioned many times in various texts and annals. It seems to have been more a famous site than Knowth or Dowth, though Newgrange escaped the plunderings by the Norsemen the other two mounds suffered as mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters. The mythological stories we have today come from medieval manuscripts compiled by Irish monks and scholars a thousand years ago. The myths are though by some to be the remenants of the iron age religoous or spiritual beliefs. The first mythological owner of the Mansion on the Boyne was Elcmar the Druid, the husband of the Boann, the Goddess of the River Boyne. The Dagda, a fiesty, earthy god desired the beautiful Boann and he sent Elcmar was away on an errand. Then the Dagda appeared and courted Boann, and they slept together and concieved a child. So that her husband would not know about their affair, the Dagda, a marvellous magician, caused nine months to pass in one day, or the sun to stand still for nine months, and so Aongus Og, the Young God was born on the same day that he was concieved.
'Dagda and the Woman of Uinshin' by Jim Fitzpatrick, this is a variation of the mythology at Newgrange set in the river Uinshinn at Lough Arrow in Connaught close by the massive cairn at Heapstown. Here the Dagda seduces the Morrigan as she washes her hair in the river. Below, Boann, the goddess of the River Boyne also by Jim Fitzpatrick.
Newgrange is mentioned in several Celtic sagas; in one three sons of kings are advised to go to the Brú and fast for three days, after which they are rewarded with land, wives and wealth. It is the place where the Ulster hero, Cuchulain was concieved in a tale from the Ulster cycle; and it is interesting to note that in the early mythology the mound/womb is a place of conception and birth. The assocations with death and funerals tend come from later Christain and antiquarian writings. When Cormac mac Art, the glorious High King of the Celtic Golden Age died, he could not be buiried at Newgrange, as the River Boyne rose up against the funeral procession. It is thought that this may be early political writing by the hand of a rival clan.
The Entrance Stone at Newgrange, with Calire O'Kelly's rubbing added to the image in Photoshop, gives an idea of patterns of energy engraved into the stone as suggested by Michael Poynder. The symbolism of Newgrange fits in with Christian lore from a much later time as well: a magical child is born in the middle of winter, who later spends three days in a stone tomb and emerges reborn: these symbols may well be a part of the original rituals of the site. |
View
of Newgrange from the river Boyne, about 1 km to the south. Newgrange
is located on the highest part of the hill, 61 meters above sea level. |
Then
the Dagda took possession of the mound from Elcmar and lived there for
many years, presumably with Boann, the nearby river Boyne. Aongus grew
up to become the god of love of the Túatha Dé Danann. He
is always associated with birds, especially swans. During the Dagda's
reign at Brú na Boinne, which means the Palace on the Boyne, the
mound was always associated with magic and wonder. It is the most mentioned
monument in ancient manuscripts, and was called by many names such as
'yonder Bru of the many coloured Chequered Lights'.
One
day Aongus went to his father and asked for possession of the mound for
a day and a night, to which the Dagda agreed. When he came back the next
day, his son informed him that since all eternity is made up of day and
night, the Dagda had given Aongus the mound for ever. And so it became
the Brú of Aongus Og.
