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Donn, The Lord of the Dead by Iain MacAnTsaoir Donn, whose very name means 'dusky one, dark one' [16] is the Lord of the Dead in the Gaelic pantheon [17]. He should not be confused with the Don of Welsh myth, who is the counterpart of Danu in Gaelic mythology. The abode of Donn is called Tech Duinn, which literally means "the House of Donn" [18]. It is at the House of Donn where the spirits of the dead assemble before departing to OtherWorld [19]. According to the 9th century poet Maél Muru of Othan, Tech Duinn is the assembly place of the dead. According to Maél Muru, Donn himself proclaimed: "A Stone cairn was raised across the broad sea for his people, A long-standing ancient house, which is named the House of Donn after him. And this was his mighty testament for his hundredfold offspring: 'You shall all come to me, to my house, after your death.'"[20] This would seem to be all that would be necessary for an introduction to Donn, however, I would be remiss if I were to leave things here. The Roman ideas about Dispater being the father of the Celts, as well as the propensity for many in modern 'Celtic' studies to afix everything into the Hindu patterns, dictates a further treatment of Donn. This is because the Gaelic and other reflexes of the basic Indo-European mythos diverged radically from the typical [21]. The following shall not simply be a matter of histrionics, but shall serve to establish traits in the Gaelic worldview that are not understood otherwise. The typical expression of the basic mythos of the Indo-Europeans is found in the Vedic materials of the Hindu and is fleshed out by comparison with Iranian mythology [22]. In this mythos, there are twins. One is a priest, 'Mano', and the other is assigned the title of 'Yama' (King), by which he is known, and which signifies his status before and after his death. The death of Yama comes at the hands of his brother Manu in an act of sacrifice which Yama accepted freely. It is this sacrifice, through the dismemberment of Yama that established the cosmos [23]. Yama did not however, end his career there, but went himself to establish the Land of the Dead. This brings us to the Gaelic materials. When the Milesians came to invade Ireland, amongst the sons of Mil were his chief son, Donn, a king, as well as Amairgen the poet [24]. At their first attempt to make landfall they were repulsed by the magic of the Tuatha Dé Danann. At the second attempt, Donn climbed to the top of the mast of His ship. From there he espied Eriu, just before taking the full force another of the magical blasts conjured by the Tuatha Dé Danann (25). He fell dead into the sea, and it was proclaimed by Amairgen that the spot would thereafter be the place where the children of Mil would go when they died [26]. Presumably it was later when Donn Himself made the proclamation quoted by Maél Muru. Though the creation of the cosmos aspects are missing, in this telling we see the King who certainly became the Lord of the Dead willingly giving himself up. Donn was a veritable sacrifice enacted by His own doing and not through his life being taken by another (Amairgen). We also see Donn as an ancestor deity, the head of the family so to speak, of the Milesians, hence a Dispater-like deity. We also see the place where the dead would go being pointed out. The implications are in this story, that the realm of Donn is underwater. This would denote the House of Donn as "the land beneath the waves" and other euphemisms for OtherWorld. These lands or cities beneath the waves, where lives the spirits of the departed, are known throughout Celtic lands [27]. This would seem to cause there to be a question about the very physical island that lies to the Southwest of Ireland that was called Tech Duinn (now called Bull Rock). This need not cause a question because there still extant vestiges of Donn's veneration and these establish three sites for Tech Duinn. One of these is where Donn fell into the sea (Bull Rock), and the others are Cnoc Fírinne, a hill in Co Limerick, and the great sand-dunes at Dunbeg on the western coast of Ireland [28]. While the Bull Rock site is also in some places referred to as a cairn, so does the hill at Cnoc Fírinne fit the bill as a Si. This is because folklore states that people were brought to the hill to "be with Donn" when they died, as a the entrance to Donn's palace was believed to have been through a cavity near the summit of the hill [29]. This is fully in keeping with the general belief, as reported by Squires, that the cairns and Si (mounds) were portals to OtherWorld [30]. This would seem to be all that would be necessary in the recounting. However, there is another old tale that gives more information on the beliefs surrounding Donn. This is in the well known cattle raid portrayed in Taín Bó Cuailnge. Both Dr. Lincoln and Dr. OhOgain state that the battle between the Brown Bull (Donn) and the White Bull (Findbennach or Find) is another myth in which the ancient IE mythos is being played out [31]. The finale of this tale is when Donn (the Brown Bull) shreds the White Bull (Find), and creates or recreates the Irish landscape. As Lincoln points out there is a shift here from the basic IE mythos, in that the King becomes the sacrificer [32]. Lincoln explains the shift this way: Such a transformation may be understood, I believe, if we perceive the way in which the Irish reinterpreted the P-I-E cosmogonic materials they inherited. Thus it is crucial to see that what was originally a myth of creation through sacrifice became for them a myth of creation through combat. Within the context of sacrifice, the figure who stands out as most admirable is the victim - he who permits the ritual to be enacted upon his body for the sake of the world that comes into being as a result. Within the context of combat, however, the vanquished attains no such eminence, and it is the victor alone whose stature is noble. if one is to be elevated after death, it must be the conqueror, not the conquered, and the myth is adjusted accordingly. Thus we are told that Donn died shortly after the Findbennach Aí, suffering a broken heart and giving his body to create the Irish landscape. Donn thus comes to play the role of *Yemo as well as of *Manu. With regard to P-I-E myth, he occupies the position of sacrificer and sacrificed alike, while within the Irish myth he is only the victor. Insofar as he assumes *Yemo's role, however, and insofar as he is infinitely more admirable than the fallen Findbennach Ai/, it is he who becomes the lore of the dead." [33] Through this we have established that Donn is the Lord of the Dead, that His abode is a Tech Duinn, and that Tech Duinn is the place where the spirits of the dead gather before continuing their journey to Tir na Nog. In addition we have presented Him in the worldview of the Gael, as a victor in combat, as well as sacrificer of self for His people. Hopefully, in addition, the errors of simply inserting piecemeal, Gaelic or other Celtic symbols or deities, into Hindu or other Indo-European patterns, has been demonstrated. Contributed by Iain MacAnTsaoir as part of a larger work on "An Exploration Of Death In The Gaelic Paradigm of the Classical Age" Sources |
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