Temora by James Macpherson (1765)
Temora, by James Macpherson, tells of the war in Ireland between Fingal, king of the Caledonians of Morven, and the Fir-bolg chiefs who have seized the Irish throne. Cairbar of Atha, son of Borbar-duthul, has murdered the young king Cormac, son of Artho, at Temora. Fingal crosses the sea to restore Cormac's line, since Cormac descends from Conar, the son of Trenmor. The story is told largely by Ossian, Fingal's son and bard, across four days of fighting. On the first day Cairbar hears from the scout Mor-annal that Fingal has landed. Foldath of Moma scorns the enemy, Malthos rebukes him, and Hidalla urges caution. Cairbar secretly plans to kill Oscar, Ossian's son. He sends the bard Olla to invite Oscar to a feast, then demands Oscar's spear, which was Cormac's gift. A fight breaks out. Oscar kills many, but Cairbar stabs him from behind a stone. Cairbar then falls to Oscar's blow, and Oscar is mortally wounded. Fingal arrives, the Irish flee, and the king mourns his grandson. He sends Ullin by ship to carry the body to Selma. That night the old man Althan tells how Cormac was killed in his own hall. Cairbar seized his hand and stabbed him, then shut up the bards, including Carril, until Cathmor, Cairbar's brother, freed them. Fingal sends his son Fillan to watch the enemy from the hill of Mora. In the second book Ossian mourns Oscar, then goes to Fillan, who hears Cathmor's host approaching. Ossian tells the old story of Conar, who came from Morven to rule Erin and was opposed by the southern chiefs of Bolga. He was saved by his brother Trathal and Trathal's son Colgar. Ossian lights a fire on Mora, and Cathmor halts his night attack. Cathmor rebukes Foldath for urging it. The bard Fonar tells of Crothar, an earlier king of Atha, who lost Alnecma to Conar. Cathmor then walks the camp and meets Ossian in the dark. They lower their spears. Cathmor gives Ossian his dagger, and Ossian promises that Cairbar will have a funeral song. At dawn Ossian meets Carril, who sets out to sing over Cairbar's tomb. On the second day Fingal gives the command to Gaul, son of Morni. Fingal and Ossian watch from the hill of Cormul. Gaul kills Tur-lathon. Foldath kills the old chief Connal of Dun-lora, and Gaul is wounded in the hand by a stray arrow. Fillan shields him and fights bravely. At the night feast Fingal misses Connal. Ossian tells how Connal's father Duth-caron died beside a stream after a lost battle, and how Connal kept watch at his tomb until a bard gave Duth-caron his fame. Carril goes to raise Connal's tomb. Fingal then tells of his own first voyage to Ireland, when he helped Cormac against Colc-ulla and won Cormac's daughter Ros-cranna. In Cathmor's camp, Sul-malla, daughter of Conmor of Inis-huna, follows him in disguise as a young warrior, and he does not know it. Foldath and Malthos quarrel again until Cathmor stops them. Cairbar's ghost comes to Cathmor in a dream and hints at coming doom. Cathmor wakes and finds Sul-malla asleep. On the third day Fillan leads the Caledonians with Gaul advising him. He kills Rothmar and Culmin. Foldath wounds Dermid and drives his wing back. Fillan then kills Foldath in single combat. Malthos stays by the dying man and promises him a tomb, and the Fir-bolg flee. Fingal sends Ossian to help Fillan as Cathmor comes down to rally his army. Cathmor fights Fillan until Ossian arrives, and night ends the fighting. Ossian finds Fillan dying. Fillan asks to be laid in a hollow rock with no stone over him, and Ossian lays him in a cave. Fingal learns his son is dead. Cathmor finds the dog Bran lying on Fillan's shield and refuses Malthos's offer of song. That night Fillan's ghost speaks to Fingal, who strikes the shield of Trenmor. Sul-malla wakes Cathmor and begs him to seek peace. He refuses and sends her to the old bard Clonmal in the valley of Lona. Cathmor's shield, with its seven bosses, is described, and Fonar sings of Larthon, who first brought the Fir-bolg to Ireland. On the fourth day Fingal sends Gaul, Dermid and Carril to bring Ferad-artho, son of Cairbar and last of Conar's line, from the valley of Cluna. Fingal passes Fillan's cave and grieves at the sight of Bran. In the great battle Fingal and Cathmor fight through a storm, and the Fir-bolg are routed. The two kings meet in a column of mist at Lubar. Cathmor falls, and Fingal offers to heal him. Cathmor asks only for a tomb by a rock near Atha. Fingal gives the spear of Trenmor to Ossian and raises a stone to mark the place. In Lona, Cathmor's spirit appears to Sul-malla and she learns that he has fallen. At evening the bards bring Ferad-artho to the feast, and Fingal bids Ossian lead him to the halls of Temora in the morning. He also says he will sail for Selma.
By James Macpherson · First published 1765 · Genre: Epic poetry, Heroic poetry, Elegiac poetry · 8 chapters · 31,924 words
First lines
Argument. Cairbar, the son of Borbar-duthul, lord of Atha, in Connaught, the most potent chief of the race of the Fir-bolg, having murdered, at Temora, the royal palace, Cormac, the son of Artho, the young king of Ireland, usurped the throne. Cormac was lineally descended from Conar, the son of Trenmor, the great-grandfather of Fingal, king of those Caledonians who inhabited the western coast of Scotland. Fingal resented the behavior of Cairbar, and resolved to pass over into Ireland with an army, to re-establish the royal family on the Irish throne. Early intelligence of his designs coming to Cairbar, he assembled some of his tribes in Ulster, and at the same time ordered his brother Cathmor to follow him speedily with an army from Temora. Such was the situation of affairs when the Caledonian invaders appeared on the coast of Ulster... The poem opens in the morning. Cairbar is represented as retired from the rest of the army, when one of his scouts brought him news of the landing of Fingal. He assembles a council of his chiefs. Foldath, the chief of Moma, haughtily despises the enemy; and is reprimanded warmly by Malthos. Cairbar, after hearing their debate, orders a feast to be prepared, to which, by his bard Olla, he invites Oscar, the son of Ossian; resolving to pick a quarrel with that hero, and so have some pretext for killing him. Oscar came to the feast; the quarrel happened; the followers of both fought, and Cairbar and Oscar fell by mutual wounds. The noise of the battle reached Fingal's army. The king came on to the relief of Oscar, and the Irish fell back to the army of Cathmor, who was advanced to the banks of the river Lubar, on the heath of Moi-lena. Fingal, after mourning over his grandson, ordered Ullin, the chief of his cards, to carry his body to Morven, to be there interred. Night coming on, Althan, the son of Conachar, relates to the king the particulars of the murder of Cormac. Fillan, the son of Fingal, is sent to observe the motions of Cathmor, by night, which concludes the action of the first day. The scene of this book is a plain, near the hill of Mora, which rose on the borders of the heath of Moi-lena in Ulster
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Genres
- Epic poetry — Temora is a book-length heroic epic, divided into numbered books with invocations, battle narratives, feasts, catalogues of chiefs and genealogies of kings, which is the defining form of the work.
- Heroic poetry — The poem centres on martial valour, the pursuit of fame through battle, and the ideal of the hero who dies young and renowned, which define its ethos and values.
- Elegiac poetry — Laments for Cormac, Cairbar, Oscar and Connal recur throughout, and funeral songs, tomb-raising rites and mourning for the dead shape the emotional arc of most books.
- Bardic and oral poetry — The text is framed as a bard's recitation to his harp, with bards singing songs within the narrative, and it presents itself as an oral tradition preserved in written form.
Tags
Ossianic poetry · Epic poetry · Celtic legend · Ancient Ireland · Ulster · Caledonian invasion · Civil war · Usurpation · Regicide · Revenge · Treachery at the feast · Heroic death
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Temora is listed on Textopian as a poem by James Macpherson, dated 1765 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: James Macpherson
- Date: 1765 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Epic poetry, Heroic poetry, Elegiac poetry, Bardic and oral poetry, Tragedy
- Length: 31,924 words
- Structure: 8 chapters, 280 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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- Work identity for Temora by James Macpherson
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