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Again, golo.com.

1:45

Hey everyone, welcome to Blurry

1:47

Photos.

1:48

I'm your host, David Flora. Welcome.

1:52

This is, I guess, the official kickoff

1:54

to Season 12. Super

1:56

late. And we usually start,

1:59

as is tradition... with a slurry photos,

2:01

a drink an episode, where I have some

2:04

Guinness and Jameson. We talk about

2:07

fun topic of Irish lore and

2:09

that's what we're doing except well

2:12

I didn't make it through the slurry photos portion.

2:15

I will have what I did at

2:17

the end of this episode after everything said and done.

2:20

So if you'd like to hear the slurry photos

2:22

that almost was stick around to the

2:24

very very end after the music and everything

2:27

that's because I

2:28

was in a very toasty

2:31

spot with it and then about halfway

2:33

through the episode I got hit

2:35

with a bout of hiccups that no joke

2:38

lasted about half an hour

2:40

and by then I was so worn out

2:42

I basically just passed out. It

2:45

spiraled from there let's just say. Super

2:49

annoying unfortunate it's

2:51

taken me forever to write this episode

2:54

and get it recorded and

2:56

then you know all that and then since then

2:58

I've been sick

3:00

there's a wildfire nearest so the air quality's

3:02

been crap my voice has been crap. This

3:05

episode might be cursed I don't know but

3:07

anyways I'll get

3:09

back to the scripted

3:12

hand. We're doing some Irish mythological

3:14

artifacts in this one.

3:16

It's not gonna go as deep as the devil episode

3:19

did. It's

3:20

just a fun list and we're gonna

3:22

go through some mythology from our Irish

3:25

Celtic and Scottish friends maybe some

3:27

Welsh thrown in there too we'll see but

3:30

we'll mainly be talking about artifacts

3:32

weapons instruments and items

3:34

that figure into stories and legends of the

3:36

Emerald Isle and beyond. We'll

3:38

get you started shortly let me update you with what's

3:41

going on in the blurry photos world. I've

3:43

slowed down my production of episodes

3:45

as you can tell I'm not dead but

3:47

I have paused my patreon because I'm I'm

3:49

not putting out as much content. Now

3:52

if you did still want to support my creative endeavors

3:54

please join the patreon for quiz quiz bang

3:56

bang the trivia show I do with

3:59

my wife Annie That's a great way to

4:01

support. Coffee ko dash

4:03

F I dot com slash blurry photos or

4:05

slash quiz bang pod. That'd be a great way

4:07

to help.

4:08

And I'm excited to announce

4:10

I've started a new podcast.

4:13

I didn't have enough to do in collaboration

4:16

with author Tom Lyons for

4:18

whom I narrate audio books.

4:20

And this new podcast is five minute frights,

4:23

short weekly episodes of frightening encounters

4:26

compiled and edited by Tom and

4:28

narrated and produced by moi.

4:31

So please subscribe to it. Leave me a five star review,

4:33

all that good stuff.

4:35

I think you guys will enjoy it. They're really

4:37

just little bite-sized things. It's all narrative

4:40

storytelling narration. Again,

4:42

that's five minute frights. It might

4:44

do better in the search. If you type

4:47

in the number five and then minute frights.

4:49

Secondly, one reason I've been so busy

4:52

lately is I've started a new theater

4:54

company here in a beautiful

4:56

and weird crested boot, Colorado. It's

4:58

called Firebird theater company.

5:01

And I will be producing and directing

5:03

Shakespeare's 12th night at the beginning

5:05

of September.

5:06

I'm very excited for this. And if you'll

5:09

be around the area at that time, please drop

5:11

me a line and find out more info.

5:13

You can also go to Firebird cb.com

5:16

to check out what we're doing and

5:19

follow us on the socials. We've got links at the

5:21

bottom of the page for that. That'll help

5:23

the theater get going. So

5:25

that's fun. And, uh, one

5:28

more thing. Sorry, this is taking so long. There's a lot

5:30

of news. I haven't talked to you guys in a while. So the

5:33

film shadows in the desert, high strangeness

5:36

in the Borrego triangle.

5:37

The film is premiering on

5:39

August 17th in Idlewild, California.

5:43

We are awaiting the,

5:45

the word of when this is going

5:47

to stream. And by

5:49

that we're thinking Amazon to be,

5:52

um, those kinds of channels.

5:54

I don't know who lose on there, but, um, not

5:57

Netflix. Every bad about

5:59

everything else.

5:59

else really and we've been told the fall,

6:02

maybe October,

6:04

maybe sooner, but the

6:06

streaming is just a couple months

6:08

away. You guys will finally get to

6:10

see what what has taken up the last four years

6:13

of work and life. And

6:16

we're very excited about that. The

6:18

film will also be in Crested

6:21

Butte at the movie theater here on

6:23

September 16. If

6:25

you're around, please come see it then. And it

6:27

is going to be in Joplin, Missouri

6:30

at

6:30

the Joplin Theater running for a week

6:33

starting September 8. We

6:35

are also working on trying to get it into

6:37

more little indie theaters anywhere.

6:40

If you guys have any connections or know of any

6:42

that we should reach out to or anything

6:44

like that, please drop me a line. Let me know. Probably

6:47

the

6:49

best place to do that would be either Facebook

6:51

messenger email, and

6:54

I'll try and check the contact

6:56

form in the next week or two.

6:59

So exciting stuff all around super

7:01

busy stuff. Everything is just tied

7:03

me up. But here we are. Let's

7:06

get into this episode. And

7:08

again, apologies for voice

7:11

quality and not being super

7:13

slurry. Now mythologies around

7:15

the world are rife with heroes, monsters

7:18

and fantastical lands, but none

7:20

of that would shine quite as brightly without the accoutrement

7:23

that help heroes slay the monsters,

7:26

travel the lands and perform

7:28

supernatural acts. Zeus had

7:30

his thunderbolts forged by the giants

7:32

with one eye the cyclopes, plural,

7:35

as imagined by the poet Hesiod. Thor

7:38

had his hammer Mjolnir.

7:41

King Arthur had Excalibur.

7:43

The mythology of the British Isles has many

7:45

objects of power and wonder, including the aforementioned

7:48

Excalibur. We'll discuss three types

7:50

of mythical objects, objects of war,

7:52

objects of benevolence and objects of

7:55

nobility. And for the interest of

7:57

time, I'll only do five from

7:59

each of those categories. stories, because I have found many,

8:02

especially weapons, and we'd be here

8:04

all night if I did

8:05

them all. Plus it would take forever to write out, and I

8:07

am already so far behind. We'll focus

8:10

mainly on Ireland, throwing

8:12

some Scottish, maybe some Welsh stuff in there if

8:14

there's time. We'll discuss several

8:16

weapons and artifacts, what they did, who wielded

8:18

them, and just have a fun time reveling in

8:21

mythology. So let's get to it!

8:31

The Sword of Light

8:33

Translated as the Sword of Light, the

8:36

Clive Solish was

8:38

a mystical weapon said to possess the power

8:41

to defeat evil and bring victory to its

8:43

wielder.

8:44

In Irish and Gaelic folk tales, it's both

8:47

associated with deities and featured

8:49

in tales of heroic quests, it

8:51

being the prize sought after.

8:54

The 13th son of the King of Arryn and

8:56

Widow's son are both tales that

8:58

feature a hero who needs to find the sword

9:00

as part of a marriage agreement. There

9:03

have also been arguments made of it being a type

9:05

of grail object in tales, something quested

9:08

for and or an object of

9:10

great significance and symbolism. But

9:12

the most entertaining descriptions of the Clive

9:15

Solish

9:16

involve its inclusion as one of the Four

9:18

Treasures of the Tuia de Dannan,

9:20

early deities of Irish mythology.

9:23

Brought with them in their conquest of Ireland,

9:26

the Four Treasures are magical items which

9:28

I'll be discussing as we go along here. And

9:30

the first up is this one, the Sword

9:32

of Light from the City of Phineas. Associated

9:36

with the first king of the Tuia de Dannan, Núaidh,

9:39

it was said no one ever escaped from it

9:41

once it was drawn from its sheath and no

9:44

one could resist it. It was also

9:46

described as Núaidh's Khanal

9:49

or Núaidh's Torch.

9:52

Now there

9:52

are so many swords in Irish mythology

9:54

we could do a whole episode on just them,

9:57

but for now I'll leave you with just one more.

9:59

Orna was the fearsome magical

10:02

sword of the formuarion king Tethra.

10:05

The formuarions were the evil race of

10:07

beings defeated by the Tuai D'Dannon, and

10:10

Tethra was thought, as the formuarions

10:12

generally were, to be associated

10:14

with the sea. His sword,

10:16

Orna, translated as Little

10:18

Green, probably due to its color,

10:21

and while formidable as a weapon wielded

10:23

by a formidable warrior, it nonetheless

10:25

came into the possession of the god Agma

10:28

after Tethra was defeated

10:30

at the second battle of Moi Tora.

10:33

Upon being unsheathed, Orna

10:35

began to speak and told of all

10:38

the deeds it had accomplished in

10:40

its lifetime.

10:41

I'm just guessing that a ton

10:44

of D&D magical items

10:46

and ideas came from mythologies

10:49

just like this one. You have sentient

10:52

swords, swords that can talk albeit

10:54

telepathically, flaming swords,

10:57

all kinds of things. One

11:00

of the most famous implements used by

11:02

the warrior deity Lu was

11:05

the Gay Assail, aka the lightning

11:07

spear. It was an amazing weapon

11:09

wielded by Lu in his many battles, and

11:12

it was considered one of the four treasures like

11:14

the Sword of Light, and was said to be forged

11:17

in the city of Gorius. According

11:20

to folklorist

11:21

Whitley Stokes, out of

11:23

Gorius was brought the spear that Lu had.

11:26

No battle was ever won against it or

11:28

him who held it in his hand.

11:31

It was said to have a shaft of you would and

11:33

never missed its mark.

11:36

With a word of command, it could also return

11:38

to its owner's hand, and according

11:40

to folklorist Charles Squire, the

11:42

spear had such a thirst for blood its tip

11:45

had to be kept in a draft of poppy leaves

11:47

to keep it sleepy. As

11:49

unleashed in battle, fire flashed from it

11:51

and it never tired of slaying.

11:55

basically

12:00

knock out with heroin and it just

12:02

spends all day chasing the dragon in the form

12:05

of just killing dudes.

12:07

Swords and spears were but some of the trappings

12:09

of magical war items. How about protective

12:12

stuff?

12:13

Okun was a magical shield of

12:15

Connor McNessa, a king in the Ulster

12:18

cycle of Irish mythology.

12:20

Translated as Moaner and

12:22

sometimes Ear of Beauty, Okun

12:25

had four gold borders and was said to

12:27

moan aloud when its wielder

12:29

was in danger. Oh

12:31

man. Clank,

12:34

clank,

12:35

oh no. When

12:37

the previous king of Ulster, Fergus,

12:39

had been tricked out of his kingship by Connor, Fergus

12:42

met him in battle. According to the tale,

12:45

quote, Therewith Fergus gave

12:47

three stout blows on the oaken

12:49

of Connor, so that Connor's shield

12:51

cried aloud on him and the three chief

12:54

waves of Aaron gave answer.

12:56

Whenever Connor's shield cried out, the

12:58

shields of all the Ulstermen cried out. However,

13:01

great the strength and power with which Fergus

13:04

smote Connor on the shield, so

13:06

great also was the might

13:08

and valor wherewith Connor held the shield,

13:10

so that the ear of the shield did not even touch

13:13

the ear of Connor.

13:15

End quote.

13:17

The last item of war weaponry is basically

13:20

the Horn of Gondor.

13:22

A circular horn of magical effect, it was

13:24

found by Finn McCool's son

13:26

Ocean after a trip to

13:28

the fabled land of Tirna Nogue. Under

13:32

a great stone in a field did Ocean

13:34

find the horn, which circled round like

13:36

a seashell, and it was the rule that

13:38

when any of the Finnians of Aaron blew

13:41

the Boroboo, the other mythical warriors

13:43

of Ireland would assemble at once from whatever

13:45

part of the country they might be in at the time.

13:48

No word on whether or not four of those

13:51

warriors were hobbits.

14:00

Moving along to objects of benevolence.

14:03

These are things that weren't meant specifically for

14:05

war, but instead for the good of many, and

14:08

sometimes individuals here and there.

14:10

We'll start with another horn.

14:16

The Horn of Bran comes

14:19

from Welsh tradition, and like

14:21

the Spear of Lu and Sword of Light are

14:23

part of the four treasures of the Tuai D'Dannon,

14:26

this horn is part of a bigger collection.

14:29

The thirteen treasures of the island

14:31

of Britain are a set of items from late

14:33

medieval Welsh folklore and included

14:36

utensils, weapons, clothes,

14:38

and various other mccuchamon, all

14:41

with some kind of magical power.

14:43

We could probably do an episode on them someday

14:45

as well, but for now we'll focus on one in particular.

14:48

The Horn of Bran Galed,

14:51

Bran the Stingy, Bran from Cumbria,

14:54

who is a separate character from that

14:56

of Bran the Blessed, the giant Welsh

14:58

King of Britain.

15:00

Bran Galed was the owner of a horn

15:03

that was pretty much a cornucopia, for

15:05

it was described that, quote, the drink

15:07

and food that one asked, one received

15:10

in it when one desired, end quote.

15:13

Some sources say it was only

15:16

drink that was furnished, but

15:18

any drink one desired. One

15:20

legend has ties to the Welsh bardic hero

15:22

Mirthyn, a figure later parlayed

15:25

into the Arthurian Merlin. Mirthyn

15:28

tried to gather the thirteen treasures together for

15:30

safekeeping and was told that he

15:32

could have twelve of them if he could obtain

15:35

the horn from Bran Galed, such

15:37

was Bran's infamy for stinginess.

15:40

Somehow Mirthyn accomplished the task

15:43

and took all the treasures to the quote unquote

15:45

glass house where they remain

15:47

to this day. Some writers

15:50

of the tales about the horn traced its origin

15:52

to Hercules in Roman myth, saying

15:55

it was removed from a centaur slain

15:57

by the hero, before Hercules

15:59

himself was

15:59

slain by the centaur's wife.

16:03

Following up this Welsh artifact with a similar

16:06

Irish one and our third treasure

16:08

of the Tuaididanan, we have the

16:10

Koraeansic, the Cauldron

16:12

of the Dagda.

16:14

This one's pretty straightforward. The Dagda

16:16

was the chief god of the Tuaididanan, representing

16:19

fertility, wisdom, and life and death. His

16:23

cauldron, brought from the city of Murias,

16:25

never ran empty and none that attended

16:27

gatherings and were served from it ever

16:30

went away unsatisfied.

16:32

The Dagda had other goodies in his

16:34

bag of tricks, one of which was a harp

16:37

called Uanya. This

16:39

harp was said to control seasons and

16:42

emotions of people who heard it.

16:44

From the book Gods and Fighting Man by folklorist

16:47

Lady Gregory,

16:49

After the second battle of Muay Turum, Lew

16:51

and the Dagda and Agma followed

16:53

after the war, for they had brought

16:56

away the Dagda's harp with them, that

16:58

was called the Uanya, and

17:00

they came to a feasting house, and in

17:02

it they found Bres and his father, Elathun,

17:05

and there was the harp hanging on the wall, and

17:07

it was in that harp that Dagda

17:10

had bound the music, so that it would not

17:12

sound until he would call to it.

17:15

And sometimes it was called Dure de

17:17

Bla, the Oak of Two Blosses,

17:19

and sometimes Kor

17:21

Ketharkun, the Four-Anchled Music.

17:24

And when he saw it hanging on the wall, this

17:26

is what he said, Come summer,

17:28

come winter, from the mouth of harps and

17:31

bags and pipes. Then

17:33

the harp sprang from the wall and came to

17:35

the Dagda, and it killed nine men on

17:37

its way. And then he played

17:39

for them the three things harpers understand,

17:42

the sleepy-tooth, and the laughing-tooth,

17:44

and the crying-tooth. And when he played

17:47

the crying-tooth, their tearful women

17:49

cried, and then he played the laughing-tooth

17:52

till their women and children laughed. And

17:54

then he played the sleepy-tooth, and all

17:57

the hosts fell asleep.

17:59

Through that sleep the three went away through

18:02

the femur that would have been glad

18:04

to harm them.

18:08

Next on the list is the Fethiada, a magical

18:10

mist, veil or cloak used

18:13

to shield the wielder from human eyes.

18:16

It's a literal cloak of invisibility

18:19

and was said to have been used by the Tuoyah D'Dannan

18:21

and also the warrior king of the other world, Mananan

18:24

Maclear, to conceal the she from

18:26

humans.

18:28

Maclear and the Tuoyah, it seems, could

18:30

use this cloak individually or

18:33

to hide whole islands. Mananan

18:36

cloaks the Isle of Man in particular.

18:39

Now it's debated whether or not his

18:41

name was taken from the island's name or

18:43

vice versa. Fun fact. But

18:46

the cloak he used protected the island

18:48

by keeping it from being seen and

18:51

thus safe from outside influence.

18:55

The cloak also had the amazing power to

18:58

erase memory.

18:59

Mananan had his wife stolen by the

19:01

Irish warrior Kuklun but was

19:04

able to get her back by placing the cloak between

19:06

his wife and Kuklun which erased

19:09

their memory of each other.

19:11

Pretty powerful little artifact.

19:15

Now here's a little different offering

19:17

for the artifact list.

19:19

A fish that held the knowledge

19:21

of the world.

19:23

The salmon of knowledge comes to us from

19:25

the Finian cycle of Irish mythology,

19:27

that is the stories of the mythical

19:30

hero, Fion Macool.

19:32

The story goes that a normal, run-of-the-mill

19:35

salmon once ate nine hazelnuts

19:38

that had fallen from nine hazel trees

19:40

surrounding the well of wisdom, the

19:42

mythical source of the River Shannon.

19:45

This granted the salmon all the world's

19:48

knowledge, which meant anyone who

19:50

were to eat the salmon would then themselves

19:53

gain that knowledge.

19:55

A legendary poet and teacher of Fion,

19:57

Finn Echis, sought this salmon for the world.

19:59

for himself and spent seven years fishing

20:02

for it,

20:03

and one day he caught it. Tired

20:06

from fishing so much that day, he gave

20:08

it to Fionn to cook up for him with the

20:10

explicit instruction to not

20:13

taste of it first.

20:14

Fionn cooked the fish,

20:16

but while it was cooking a small bubble rose

20:18

just under its skin, which

20:20

Fionn poked with his finger.

20:23

The bubble burst, scalding him, and he quickly

20:25

stuck his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain.

20:28

Finally the knowledge of the world was

20:31

open to him.

20:32

When the fish was done, he gave it to Fionn to

20:34

eat, but Fionn noticed the shine

20:37

in Fionn's eyes, and after Fionn

20:39

explained what had happened, Fionn knew

20:41

the boy had received the wisdom of

20:43

the fish and gave him the rest to

20:46

eat.

20:47

From then on, Fionn needed only to bite

20:49

his thumb to gain insight about

20:51

a particular topic. The

20:54

salmon of knowledge has also been linked to a couple

20:56

of fellas by the name of Fintan McBokra,

20:59

the Wise,

21:00

and Tuin McCarroll

21:02

in a more Christianized telling of the story

21:04

with lots of shapeshifting and

21:06

a hawk.

21:12

Are you struggling to lose weight and keep it

21:15

off? Tired of wasting time and money on

21:17

starvation diets that lead to more frustration

21:19

and stress? If there was a weight loss solution

21:21

that could actually work for you, would you try

21:23

it? Then head to golo.com.

21:25

I'm Steve. I've lost 138 pounds

21:28

in nine months on Golo.

21:29

I'm Amber. I've lost 128 pounds with Golo. If

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Our last section for this episode deals with objects

23:18

of nobility.

23:22

There have been many items and artifacts

23:24

of lore and reality connected to

23:27

Irish kings and queens.

23:28

Here are five. The

23:30

Leofal, or Stone of Fall, is

23:33

a still-standing monolith located on

23:35

the Hill of Tarra in County Meath.

23:38

The Hill of Tarra is the traditional place of inauguration

23:41

and seat of the High Kings of Ireland.

23:44

It's a place where ancient ceremonial rites

23:46

and burials were performed, with many monuments,

23:49

mounds, and tombs, and the Leofal

23:52

is there at the top.

23:54

Also known as the Stone of Destiny and

23:56

the Speaking Stone, the Leofal is said to have been

23:58

brought to Ireland by the High Kings of Ireland.

23:59

Ireland from the city of Phalias by

24:02

the Tuoy de Dannan

24:03

as the last of the four treasures.

24:07

There are conflicting accounts that say

24:09

it's the same thing as the Stone of

24:11

Scune,

24:12

a big block of red sandstone that Kings

24:15

of Scotland and England sat upon while being

24:17

crowned.

24:18

Those accounts, rich in tales of

24:20

stealing the stone back and forth between Ireland

24:23

and Scotland, aren't quite as fantastical

24:25

as the Tuoyah stories.

24:27

But seeing as how the Stone

24:30

of Scune is in England,

24:33

just used by King Charles,

24:35

and the Leofol is on the

24:38

Hill of Terra, it's probably a good

24:40

chance that they're two separate

24:42

stones. Leofol

24:44

is said to roar in joy when the rightful King

24:46

of Ireland put his feet upon it and

24:48

also granted him a long reign.

24:51

Some accounts say it shrieks a number of

24:53

times that correspond to the number of descendants

24:56

who would be king as well.

24:59

Associated with the sovereignty of Irish

25:01

Kings was the Cup of Sovere.

25:04

It was believed that the rightful king or queen

25:06

could drink from the cup and receive divine

25:09

blessings and legitimacy.

25:11

It appears in a tale about the hero Khan

25:13

of the Hundred Battles.

25:15

Lost in a mist, a rider appeared

25:17

and guided Khan to a beautiful castle.

25:20

There he met the Lord of the Castle, who had a

25:22

beautiful maiden beside him on a crystal throne.

25:26

She filled a golden cup with mead and

25:28

asked the Lord, to whom shall this cup

25:30

be given?

25:31

To which the Lord replied, Khan of the Hundred

25:34

Battles,

25:35

thereby conferring kingship to him.

25:38

The Lord of the Castle was actually the god Lu,

25:40

and the maiden, the goddess of sovereignty.

25:46

The next item did not confer sovereignty

25:48

or grant long reign. Instead,

25:51

it foretold the end of a king's

25:53

time in this world. Ibel's

25:56

harp was a shimmering gold

25:59

instrument.

25:59

played by the fairy guardian and sometimes

26:02

goddess of love and loss, Ibel.

26:05

Her playing was lovely and haunting,

26:07

but ultimately a harbinger of death.

26:10

Whoever heard it would die shortly after.

26:14

She played it for Brian Baru on the eve

26:16

of his death in the Battle of Klontarf. She

26:18

played it before the hero Kuklan fell in

26:20

battle. Ibel's harp

26:23

is banshee-like in its foretelling

26:25

of Doom.

26:28

You get a little more esoteric with the

26:31

Silver Branch or Silver Bow

26:33

featured in the tale Imram Bran,

26:36

Voyage of Bran. It's

26:39

a tree branch of white apple blossoms

26:41

that is given to the king Bran Macfable

26:43

by mysterious old woman. She

26:46

sang of her magical homeland and then

26:48

parted ways with the tree branch

26:50

magically flying back to her hand.

26:53

Bran set off to find this land called

26:55

the Land of Women where it's always

26:58

spring and without disease or despair.

27:01

And let's be honest, probably the land where shit

27:03

gets done.

27:05

The tale is a classic voyage tale wherein

27:08

the hero sets off, discovers a

27:10

way into the fairy realm, time

27:12

passes in the human realm, magic,

27:14

sailing off, etc.

27:17

The branch parallels other myths of

27:19

being an object given to a king or

27:21

hero in order for them to be admitted

27:23

into the other world. A

27:25

similar story involves the legendary king Cormac

27:28

McCart who was given a silver branch

27:30

by Manonon Maclear.

27:32

This branch had three golden apples which

27:35

in some accounts created music to soothe

27:37

pains and illness and in others caused

27:40

people to forget their woes.

27:44

Finally we end on a weapon

27:46

again but one of kingly

27:48

significance, Kaladvog.

27:51

This was the legendary sword of

27:53

the king Fergus Macroek in

27:56

the Ulster Cycle. There

27:58

are a couple magical properties

27:59

associated with it like a connection to lightning,

28:02

having an arc as big as a rainbow, and

28:05

its use by Fergus to cut off the three

28:07

bald top hills of County Meath near

28:10

the Hill of Terra.

28:12

Arguably, the most interesting

28:14

aspect to this item however is its

28:16

connection to a much more famous sword

28:19

that is associated with the rightful sovereignty

28:21

of Britain,

28:23

Excalibur.

28:25

The name Excalibur derives from

28:27

the Welsh name Caelidfulch,

28:29

and some, though not all, scholars

28:32

think that name could either be derived

28:34

from or have roots in the

28:36

name Caelidvold.

28:38

Caelidvoldch, Caelidvoldg, it's

28:41

pretty close.

28:42

We'll leave the different ways Arthur came

28:45

by the famous blade for a re-listen to episode 99

28:48

where we gotta find King Arthur.

28:57

So, my lords and ladies, there

28:59

you go, a list of mythological items

29:01

of Celtic Flavour in a

29:04

not as tipsy, lethal,

29:07

musical nutshell.

29:09

And now the object that groans in agony when touched.

29:12

Puns!

29:21

There's a pub that summons all the great drinkers

29:24

and dive bar regulars nightly.

29:27

I'm guessing once you open the door it sends out

29:29

a blast to them all, and

29:31

that is the Borabru.

29:39

There's another one you can use for

29:41

two scoops of raisins and cereal that will feed

29:43

everyone for breakfast and bring an Irish army

29:45

to your aid after eating it,

29:47

the Horn of Raisin Bran.

29:51

Alright, I wrote these whilst drunk.

29:54

Sorry. And

29:55

thanks for making it this far. You guys

29:58

are great, thank you.

30:00

Please keep up to date with what's going on by

30:02

checking out the Facebook page and

30:04

make sure to subscribe to all

30:07

the shows,

30:08

blur photos, quiz quiz bang bang,

30:10

hysteria 51 and 5 minute frights.

30:14

Again thank you for listening I really appreciate it.

30:17

Now after this if you want to hear how the show

30:19

probably should have gone

30:22

or almost went before

30:24

I got attacked by hiccups and

30:26

just getting too drunk.

30:29

Stick

30:31

around after the music. For

30:34

this episode of blurry photos I've been David. I

30:36

literally spelled my name wrong because

30:38

I was drunk when I wrote this. Flora.

30:42

Don't stop blur-ing. Hello

30:56

and welcome to

30:59

the 12th season of

31:01

blurry photos.

31:13

We

31:18

did it! A butcher's dozen.

31:20

It's

31:23

just like everyone else's

31:25

dozen. Hey I'm

31:28

David Flora. Welcome and

31:31

let me explain. Our season

31:34

kick off is always celebrated

31:36

with a drinking episode and

31:39

a fun topic of Irish mythology

31:42

as is the custom since season 2

31:44

back in 2013.

31:47

Ten years ago. Can you

31:49

believe it?

31:51

Good grief. So

31:53

I've been

31:55

imbibing Jameson

31:58

and Guinness today.

31:59

And if you're not driving or

32:02

dog sitting, I invite you

32:04

to raise a glass with me and toast

32:06

to another year of podcast

32:09

madness. Sláinte!

32:12

And if you're new to listening, I

32:15

only do a drinking episode once a year,

32:17

so rest assured, this is not

32:19

the norm. Listen

32:22

to some other things. Don't

32:25

start with this. Anyway, the

32:28

episode won't be as deep a dive

32:30

as say the devil was.

32:33

Rather, it's gonna be more a

32:36

fun list of stuff

32:39

and explaining

32:41

a bit of mythology.

32:43

It's more going

32:45

through a fun list of

32:47

explaining a bit of mythology from our Irish,

32:51

Celtic, and Scottish friends. Maybe

32:54

some Welsh thrown in there as well. We'll

32:57

be talking about mainly

33:00

Irish

33:01

mythological artifacts, and weapons,

33:04

instruments, items that

33:06

figure into stories and legends of

33:08

the Emerald Isle and beyond.

33:10

Onto the topic. Mythologies

33:14

around the world are rife with

33:16

heroes, monsters, and fantastical

33:19

lands. But none of

33:21

that would shine quite as

33:23

brightly without the accoutrement

33:26

that help heroes slay the monsters,

33:30

travel the lands, and perform

33:32

supernatural acts. Think

33:34

about it. Zeus had his thunderbolts

33:37

forged by the giants with one eye,

33:39

the cyclops, or a cyclopes.

33:42

As imagined by the poet Hesiod, Thor

33:46

had his hammer, Mjolnir.

33:48

King Arthur had Excalibur,

33:51

uh-oh, keep

33:53

that on the backburn. The mythology

33:55

of the British Isles has many

33:58

objects of power and wonder.

33:59

including the aforementioned Excalibur.

34:05

We'll discuss

34:06

three types of mythological,

34:09

mythical objects. Objects

34:11

of war,

34:12

objects of benevolence, and objects

34:15

of nobility.

34:17

And for the interest of time, Jesus,

34:20

I'll only do five from each

34:22

of those categories because,

34:25

well, I found many. Especially

34:29

weapons. And we'd be here all night

34:31

if I did them all. We're already going to be here all

34:33

night.

34:34

Uh, jeez. This episode is

34:36

supposed to come out of March. What am I doing? We'll

34:38

focus on, uh, mainly Ireland,

34:41

throw in some Scottish, maybe some Welsh stuff

34:44

here and there if it's time. We'll

34:46

discuss several artifacts and weapons

34:49

and what they did, who wielded them. You

34:51

know, we'll just have a fun time reveling in mythology.

34:54

Right?

34:55

Boy, I haven't been this drunk from a

34:58

season kickoff episode in a while.

35:02

Um, I thank you for sticking

35:04

with this. There's going to be fun information.

35:06

Um, bear with me. You're

35:09

great. Thank you. Let's get

35:12

to this. I start with the

35:14

objects, objects of war. All

35:16

right. Well, we'll begin with objects of war

35:18

Clive Solish translated

35:22

as the sword of light. This mystical

35:24

weapon was said to possess a power

35:26

to defeat evil and bring victory

35:29

to its wielder. Man, that's pretty

35:31

handy. Pretty handy. In Irish

35:33

and Gaelic folk tales, it's both

35:36

associated with deities and featured

35:38

in tales of heroic quests.

35:41

It being the prize sought after.

35:43

Uh, the,

35:45

the

35:46

13th son of the king

35:48

of Aaron and widow's

35:50

son are both tails that

35:53

feature a hero who needs to find the

35:55

sword as a part of a marriage agreement.

35:58

There have also been a.

36:01

arguments made of it being

36:03

a type of grail object

36:06

entails something quested

36:08

for and or an object

36:11

of great significance and symbolism

36:13

a side note as

36:17

this is off script I I

36:19

found a lot of these there's a lot of things

36:22

that are associated with

36:25

the holy grail things of

36:28

that nature that are so exalted

36:31

that's that's a word I just

36:33

thought of with my brain but

36:36

it's it's pretty interesting things that people

36:38

have quested for quested

36:41

for the most entertaining descriptions

36:44

of the Clive soulish

36:46

the most entertaining evolved its inclusion

36:49

is one of the four treasures of

36:51

Tuai D'Danin Tuai

36:53

Tuath Tuai Tuai early

36:56

deities of Irish mythology

36:59

brought with them in the conquest of Ireland

37:01

the four treasures are magical items

37:04

which I'll be describing as we go

37:06

along here and the first stop

37:08

is this the sword of light from the city

37:11

of Phineas associated

37:13

with the first king of the Tuai D'Danin

37:16

whose name was Nuda

37:19

it was said no one ever

37:21

escaped from it the sword

37:24

once it was drawn from its sheath and no

37:26

one could resist it

37:28

it was also described as new it is Connell

37:32

or new it is torch

37:35

think of it as a sword you draw

37:37

it it springs to life in

37:39

light fiery

37:43

it'll it'll eff you up

37:46

whoo this is the Clive

37:49

soulish awesome so

37:51

much else

37:54

detail wise to do this word hit

37:57

what is this 15 15 things

38:00

Fast and loose here. Next one is Orna.

38:03

There are so many

38:05

swords in Irish mythology. We could do

38:07

a whole episode on them, but for now

38:09

I'll leave you with just one more sword.

38:12

Well,

38:13

there's

38:16

some more coming up. For now, Orna

38:19

was the fearsome magical

38:21

sword of the Fomorian King Tethra.

38:24

The Fomorians were an

38:28

evil race of beings defeated

38:31

by the Tuya de Dannan. Tethra

38:34

was thought, as the Fomorians

38:36

generally were, to be associated

38:38

with the sea.

38:40

His sword, Orna,

38:42

translated as little

38:44

green, probably due to its color.

38:47

Was it copper?

38:48

Did it get oxidized? What

38:51

is it? Green copper? And

38:54

while formidable as a weapon wielded

38:57

by a formidable warrior, it

38:59

nonetheless came into possession

39:01

of the god Ogma after

39:04

Tethra was defeated at the second battle

39:06

of Moitura.

39:08

Upon being unsheathed, Orna

39:11

began to speak and told

39:13

of all the deeds it had accomplished

39:15

in its lifetime.

39:17

So it was a talking sword, telling

39:20

about everybody it had killed, basically.

39:23

Wow, how do you shut that up?

39:25

Next one, one of the most famous

39:28

implements used by the warrior deity

39:30

Lu.

39:31

Lu has come up before, if

39:33

you're familiar with our past Irish episodes.

39:36

Lu of the Long Arm, a god,

39:39

one of the Tuya de Dannan. The Gay

39:42

Assail, aka the

39:44

Lightning Spear, was an amazing

39:46

weapon wielded by Lu in

39:49

his many battles. Lu was

39:51

considered

39:51

one of the four treasures,

39:54

like the Sword of Light,

39:56

and was forged in the city

39:58

of Gorius.

39:59

back. I'm gonna hit all

40:01

the four treasures don't worry don't

40:03

don't you fret baby. According

40:05

to folklorist Whitley Stokes

40:08

out of goryus was brought the spear

40:11

that Lou had

40:12

no battle was ever won against it

40:15

or him who held it in his hand.

40:18

It was said to have a shaft of you

40:20

would and never missed its mark

40:23

with a word of command it could also

40:26

return to his owners hand and

40:28

according to folklorist Charles Squire

40:31

the spear had such a thirst for

40:33

blood its tip had

40:35

to be kept in a draft of poppy

40:37

leaves to keep it sleepy.

40:40

Once unleashed in battle the fire

40:42

flashed from it and it never tired

40:45

of slaying. Man

40:48

what a weapon you had basically

40:52

you had to keep it addicted to heroin

40:55

until you're ready to use it and then it just

40:58

it couldn't get enough of killing.

41:00

Wow.

41:02

Next up swords and spears were

41:04

but some of the trappings of magical war

41:06

items. Hey how about protective

41:09

stuff?

41:10

Okan was a magical shield

41:13

of Connor McNessa a

41:16

king of the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology

41:19

translated as moner and

41:22

sometimes ear of beauty.

41:25

Okan had four gold board borders

41:28

and was said to mow aloud

41:30

when its wielder was in danger.

41:34

When the previous king of Ulster

41:36

named Fergus had been tricked

41:38

out of his kingship by Connor Fergus

41:41

met him in battle.

41:42

According to the tale

41:44

quote

41:45

therewith Fergus gave three stout

41:48

blows on the oaken of Connor

41:51

so that Connor shield cried aloud on

41:53

him and the three chief waves

41:55

of Aaron gave answer whenever

41:57

Connor shield cried out the

41:59

shields of all the Osterman cried

42:02

out.

42:03

However great the strength and power with

42:05

which Fergus smote Connor

42:07

on the shield so great also

42:10

was the might and valor wherewith Connor

42:13

held the shield so that the ear

42:15

of the shield did not even touch the

42:17

ear of Connor.

42:19

It was a good shield and when

42:22

it was hit it

42:25

cried out and summoned people

42:27

to the fight.

42:29

That's what you need to know.

42:32

Next

42:36

we got the last item

42:38

of weaponry

42:40

is basically the

42:42

Horn of Gondor. A circular

42:44

horn of magical effect is called

42:48

Borobu. It was found by Finn

42:50

McCool's son Ocean after

42:52

a trip to the fabled land of Tir

42:54

N'Nog. I don't

42:56

know if we've ever covered Tir N'Nog on

42:59

blurry photos. It could be its own

43:01

episode I bet. Tir N'Nog. Under

43:04

a great stone in a field did Ocean

43:06

find the horn which circled

43:09

round like a seashell and it was

43:11

the rule that when any of the Finnians

43:13

of Arran blew the Borobu the

43:16

other mythical warriors of Ireland

43:18

would assemble at once from

43:20

whatever part of the country they might be in at

43:23

the time.

43:24

No word

43:27

on whether or not four of those

43:29

warriors were hobbits. Horn of Gondor.

43:32

Borobu. A horn that

43:35

summoned warriors to fight.

43:37

Boy oh boy. Moving

43:40

along to objects of benevolence.

43:43

These are things that weren't

43:45

meant specifically for war but

43:47

instead for the good of

43:49

many. These individuals

43:52

here and there.

43:53

So let's start with another horn. We

43:56

just ended with one. Let's just go right out

43:58

into another horn of Bran. tradition

44:01

comes from Welsh tradition and

44:03

like the spear of loo and the sword

44:05

of light are

44:06

part of the four treasures of

44:08

the Tuia de Dannan.

44:10

This horn is a part of a bigger collection.

44:14

It

44:15

is interesting, the thirteen

44:18

treasures of the island of Britain are

44:21

a set of items from late

44:23

medieval Welsh folklore

44:26

and include utensils, weapons,

44:28

clothes, various other kuchima,

44:32

all with some kind of magical power.

44:35

And you know, we could probably

44:37

do a whole episode on them someday

44:39

as well. Thirteen treasures

44:42

of the island of Britain. But

44:44

for now, we'll focus on this one

44:46

in particular, the horn of Bran Gallad,

44:50

Bran the Stengy, and from

44:52

Cumbria, who is a separate character

44:55

from that of Bran the Blessed, the giant

44:58

Welsh king of Britain. Don't

45:00

get them twisted. Bran

45:03

Gallad was the owner of a horn

45:05

that was pretty much a

45:09

cornucopia

45:10

for it was described that

45:12

quote, the drink and

45:14

food that one asked, one

45:17

received in it when one

45:20

desired, end quote, some

45:22

sources say it was only drink

45:25

that was furnished, but any

45:27

drink that

45:28

one desired. Hey, you want to

45:31

mojito ask the horn of Bran,

45:33

man.

45:35

You want a can of Milwaukee's

45:38

best, go for it, bro. One

45:41

legend has ties to the

45:43

Welsh bardic hero Mirthan, a

45:46

figure later parlayed

45:48

into the Arthurian

45:50

Merlin. Hello, go back to

45:53

episode, I don't know what 13

45:54

or something for that. Whatever.

45:58

Mirthan tried to.

46:00

gather the 13 treasures

46:02

of great Britain together

46:04

for safekeeping and was told that he

46:07

could have 12 of them. If

46:10

he could obtain the horn from

46:12

brand galette such was his infamy

46:15

for stinginess brand. Somehow

46:17

more than accomplish the task and

46:20

took all the treasures

46:22

to the quote unquote glass house

46:25

where they remain to this day.

46:28

Some writers of the tales about the horn

46:31

traced its origin.

46:32

Get this to Hercules in

46:35

Roman myth saying it was removed

46:37

from a centaur slain by the hero

46:40

before Hercules himself was slain by

46:42

the centaurs wife.

46:44

What a pedigree. Geez.

46:50

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47:20

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