Keep names - Background

[Mas]

From Google:-

The literal translation of Tir na nOg (from Irish Gaelic) is "Land of the Young", and is used to refer to the afterlife.

David Chance sends on the following excerpt from a fictional work called Oisin in Tir na nOg by Eric Ferguson (1996):

Oisin in Tir na nOg is a tragedy based on ancient and medieval Irish legends about the mythical hero Oisin who went to Tir na nOg, which is sort of like an Irish Olympus or Valhalla. He meets with St. Patrick after Oisin has just turned into an old man. He proceeds to tell Patrick how he came into such a condition and where he has been the last few centuries, and his journey to Tir na nOg is then acted out. Oisin was part of a band of warriors guarding Ireland's shores, and when the group was dwindling he was offered a chance to go to paradise, but at the price of never being able to return. The offer was a marriage with the daughter of the king of Tir na nOg. On the journey he still has danger to face. While in Tir na nOg he can't help thinking of home. He resolves to go against his wife's pleadings. He finds that the home he knew is gone. Despite a warning that he must stay on his horse and never touch Irish ground, he tumbles off his horse and instantly the years catch up to him.

 

[Regen-]

Irish Myths and Legends Tir Na nOg and eternal youth

From the land of the living to a magical world, read the story of Oisin and enter the gateway to Tir Na nOg…..

The legend of Tir Na nOg, the land of youth, is one that every Irish person is familiar with and one that many of us wish was true! The quest for eternal youth has obsessed man through the ages and legends such as Tir Na nOg inspire us to dream.

Tir Na nOg was an enchanted land where the beautiful Tuatha de Danann lived. According to Celtic mythology, the Tuatha De Danann were the last generation of gods and goddesses to rule Ireland and they were possessed with magical abilities and great skills in the Arts. They were eventually conquered in battle but were allowed to stay in Ireland if they remained underground. From then on they became known as the Celtic fairies we read about in ancient myth.

The story of Tir Na nOg is closely linked to the story of Oisin, one of the great heroes and poets of ancient Ireland. Oisin was the son of Fionn Mac Cumhal and he became a member of Fionn’s band of legendary heroes, the Fianna. The Fianna possessed enormous courage, strength and skill in hunting and war and they also lived by a high moral code. One of the Fianna principles was to marry only for love - and not money!

Fionn and the Fianna were eventually defeated in battle but Oisin’s adventures were only beginning. One day while out hunting, a beautiful maiden approached him. Her name was Niamh of the Golden Hair, one of the Tuatha De Danann and the daughter of Manannan, the god of the sea. Niamh chose Oisin to be her lover and live with her in Tir Na nOg.

They travelled through many strange and wonderful lands on her magic white horse until eventually they reached Tir Na nOg. There they were married and lived a long and happy life together in this enchanted fairyland.

Nobody ever grew old or sick in Tir Na nOg and Oisin spent 300 years there without looking or feeling a day older! But even the land of eternal youth couldn’t banish memories and he began to miss his people and his home terribly. Niamh understood his need to visit the mortal world again and see his friends and she provided him with a fairy horse to take him there. She warned him however that he must not set foot on the earth – if he did, he would never be able to return.

Oisin arrived back in Ireland to see that much had changed over 300 years! Fionn and his men were long dead and the Fianna were by now the stuff of legends. Oisin didn’t like what he saw and decided to return to Tir Na nOg and his beloved Niamh. On his way back he came across some men trying to lift a heavy rock and bent down to help them. Tragedy struck when he slipped from the saddle and fell to the ground. Oisin fell on mortal soil and was instantly transformed into an old blind man.

He wandered Ireland for many years before St. Patrick took him into his house and tried to convert him to Christianity. Oisin told St. Patrick everything about Fionn and the warriors of ancient Ireland and Tir Na nOg. He eventually died without ever again setting eyes upon Niamh and Tir Na nOg.

And thus the story of Tir Na nOg ends with something that we all know well by now: Eternal youth is for fairies and not mortals - but that shouldn’t stop us dreaming!

Source: www.otherdays.com

 

[Dr_Evil]

(...)
BTW - whoever said there were no saxons in daoc? Thats the Mids ffs!!

pffffffff saxons have never been Vikings, and they never will be! Claiming a norseman to be a saxon, is like saying a briton is a spaniard.

 

[Cadiva]

I would expect them to be based on real places as everything in DaoC is richly based on myths and legends, even the housing zone villages are all named after real places - there's one named after where my Mum lives which is a tiny town between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales - I would imagine some soul at Mythic had a atlas for choosing village names

Hehe, most of the housing zone villages for Albion are places in the Yorkshire Dales.
The ones that aren't seem to be in Cumbria, the Cotswolds or Northumberland and there are some Scottish and Welsh ones thrown in too I think, as well as names of British counties.

Bet they had fun with an atlas

PS I work in Skipton, North Yorkshire, which appears in Rilan.

 

[Speedr]

at least the hib keeps called Dun <name> is sure based on celtic strongholds as they where called Dun <name> for sure was reading some celtic mythology stuff latly

This is partly true m8, Dun is the Irish word for Barracks, so Mythic got that one right

Also, Hib relics derive from none other than the mightiest of people.

The Cauldron of Dagda is said to be bottomless, can cook up enough food to feed an army. It is inscribed with an image of Cernunnos on one of it's nine plates and the Dagda on another. It has been discovered near Gundestrup in Himmerland, Denmark.

Lug's Spear of Lightning was the God Lug/Lugh's main weapon. He used this to great extent to destroy the enemies of Ireland. He was also known as Lugh Lamfhóta [ Lugh of the Long Hand ]. Lug is also the hero who killed Balor by using his slingshot to strike his one weakness, the eye in his forhead.


Taking from this, i could guess Dun Lamfhota is dedicated to Lug

 

[Cathos]

i hate to admit this but the last time i watched the Newer titantic there is an irish woman with 2 kids ( when the ship is sinking ) speaking to her kids trying to get them to sleep by telling a story about Tir Na Nog.

 

[Kalba]

On his way back he came across some men trying to lift a heavy rock and bent down to help them. Tragedy struck when he slipped from the saddle and fell to the ground. Oisin fell on mortal soil and was instantly transformed into an old blind man.

I think I saw an irish movie as a kid that was named tir na nog, where I at least remember this part of the story. But I always thought that it meant "a horse from the sea".

A lot of the names of the keeps and such can be found from edda's god poems or whatever they are in english, I at least remember a part where Odin sits high on nottmoor.

Also Vänern(?) is the biggest lake of sweden, this making out for Vanern Swamp.

most of things I knew have been explained here already though.

 

[Kaun_IA]

yep, i think all of the placeses ingame are taken from RL or the myths.

dont know much about hib(celtic) stuff but, but mids and albs have alot of places that are mentioned in poems, storys and such things

 

[Himse]

this thing are taken from the old stories of arthur and excalibur, with merlin and co. aparently celtic and norse invaders held some of the lands of his kingdom or something... what i heard

 

[tris-]

PS I work in Skipton, North Yorkshire, which appears in Rilan.

skipton, lol thats about 20 mins from me. i stopped there to go for a piss and every single person in the pub stared at me like an outcast.

 

[AngelHeal]

ROLEPLAYERS!!!!! MASSIVEEE AND ONLINE!!!

...mmorpg.. >< right i knew.

Banshee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


This article describes the banshee of Irish and Scottish mythology. For other uses, see Banshee (disambiguation). The banshee (pronounced /ˈbænʃiː/) is a creature in Irish mythology, the word being derived from the Old Irish ben síde, modern Irish bean sídhe or bean sí, "fairy woman" (bean, woman, and sidhe, being the tuiseal ginideach or possessive case of "fairy"). They are remnants of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Long ago, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a traditional lament or modern Irish caoineadh (pronounced kweenah) at his funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as "keeners." Traditionally, some great Irish families had a fairy woman associated with them, who would make an appearance after a death in the family to sing this lament. Tales recount how, when the family member had died far away then the appearance or, in some tales, the sound of the fairy keener, might be the first intimation of the death.
When these stories were first translated into English, a distinction between the "banshee" and other fairy folk was introduced which does not seem to exist in the original stories in modern Irish. Similarly, the funeral lament became a mournful cry or wail by which the death is heralded. In these tales, hearing the banshee's wail came to predict a death in the family and seeing the banshee portends one's own death.
Banshees are frequently dressed in white and often have long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths. Other stories portray them as dressed in green or black with a grey cloak.
Banshees were common in Irish and Scottish folk stories such as those written down by Herminie T. Kavanagh. They enjoy the same mythical status in Ireland as fairies and leprechauns.

 

[CorNokZ]

Google Earth?? :d

 

[Cadiva]

skipton, lol thats about 20 mins from me. i stopped there to go for a piss and every single person in the pub stared at me like an outcast.

Grin, I only work in Skipton, I live 25 mins down the valley towards Leeds

 

[tris-]

i didnt think there was anywhere to work down there. all i could see is pubs and a big chip shop (which is quite nice food actually).

i live in middlesbrough btw.

 

[Kasall]

Smoggy Eh