#borderless myth

Okay, so a while ago I came across this weird story: 

From The Metrical Dindshenchas, poem 13

“Berba

The Barrow, enduring its silence, that flows through the folk of old Ailbe; a labour it is to learn the cause whence is called Barrow, flower of all famous names. No motion in it made the ashes of Mechi the strongly smitten: the stream made sodden and silent past recovery  the fell filth of the old serpent. Three turns the serpent made; it sought out the soldier to consume him; it would have wasted by its nature all the kine of the indolent hosts of ancient Erin. Therefore Diancecht slew it: there was rude reason for clean destroying it, for preventing it for ever from wasting above every resort, from consuming utterly. Known to me is its grave where he cast it, a tomb without walls or roof-tree; its evil ashes,–no ornament to the region found silent burial in noble Barrow.”

And from this, was quoted a different version: 

“Into this river were flung the three snakes that were (found) in the heart of the Morrìgan's son Méiche after he was slain by Diancécht on Magh Méichi: which plain's name at the first was Magh Fertaige. The three hearts that were in Méiche bore the shape of three serpents' heads and, had not the killing of him come to pass, those snakes would have grown in his belly and eventually left no animals alive in Ireland. When he had slain Méiche Dian Cécht burned the snakes and their ashes he committed to that current, with the effect that it seethed and digested (i.e. boiled to rags) all living things that therein were.

Méiche’s hearts, hard the wound Have been drowned in the Barrow; Their ashes, after being burnt by you, Mac Cécht, slayer of a hundred, cast in.”

So this is all very weird, because a) the Morrigan has a son? and b) where on earth did this end-of-the-world thing come from? Irish myth doesn’t really have the sense of future doom as say, Norse mythology does. And it’s just...a cool little story here with the doctor-hero fighting a guy made of snakes. And it’s been driving me crazy because I don’t know quite what to make of it. 

Same paper quoted above (which tries to do the weird all myths-are-connected-look-at-these-far-fetched-connections thing) points out the discrepancy between whether it’s Dian Cécht or his son who kills Méiche, but Dian Cécht is more likely. It then goes on to talk about the Morrigan (Morrígu), Méiche’s mother, essentially distilling her name to “Ghost Queen” (note: I’ve also seen her name described as “Great Queen” so take that with a grain of salt) and linking her with destruction and the underworld (referencing her prophesy after the second battle of Moytura, meeting the Dagda on Samain, etc...). 

For the record, the Morrigan’s prophecy about the end of the world in Cath Maige Tuired, the Second Battle of Moytura, is given after she announces that there will be peace. So it really feels like something spoken about the future, implying that the peace at the end of the battle is only temporary, and will be broken again:

"I shall not see a world Which will be dear to me: Summer without blossoms, Cattle will be without milk, Women without modesty, Men without valor. Conquests without a king . . . Woods without mast. Sea without produce. . . . False judgements of old men. False precedents of lawyers, Every man a betrayer. Every son a reaver. The son will go to the bed of his father, The father will go to the bed of his son. Each his brother's brother-in-law. He will not seek any woman outside his house. . . . An evil time, Son will deceive his father, Daughter will deceive . . ."

Still no mention of any evil world-destroying snake sons, though. 

From the texts we’ve got that Mechi/Méiche was killed by probably Dian Cécht and thrown into the river, and he’s associated with serpents (either is a serpent or has three hearts containing serpents). Dude also seems to have been likely to destroy everything alive in Ireland, so it’s probably good he’s dead. 

What I’m interested in, though, is where this Méiche-destroying-eveyrthing comes from. He’s not mentioned in other texts, outside of a few different versions of the same story. And there’s really never much mention of world-destroying anyway, so why is he here? 

The Children of Tuireann retrieve magical apples from a guarded garden by turning into birds. Likewise, Loki retrieves Idun and her apples in bird-form. Where fire-breathing shows up in the CoT, in Norse myth, the pursuing Thjazi is deterred when the Aesir set his feathers on fire from the walls of Asgard. Both these tales seem linked to the Greek Hesperides/dragon guardians of the golden apples. 

This is really a stretch, but name similarities for characters with echoing roles: Lugh, hero in Irish myth and associated with light, is kinda sorta like Loki, who is occasionally and possibly incorrectly associated with flame? Not a whole lot on its own, but there’s also Lugh’s grandfather and nemesis Balor (Baldr?) who Lugh slays in most versions with a shot to the eye. 

Magical boats and horses. Manannan has Scuabtuinne (Wave-Sweeper) and the horse Enbarr. Compare to Sleipnir and Skidbladnir.

Leprechaun-like creatures (luchorpain) appear in the story of Fergus mac Leti when they try to carry the sleeping king underwater. Leprechauns, of course, later become associated with wealth and treasure. Kinda like the dwarf Andvari living under a waterfall.

Trios of craftsmen. Creidne Cerd, Luchta and Goibniur in Irish myth, trios of dwarves in Norse myth.

Sometimes the Fomoire seem kinda giant-like, and their relationship to the Tuatha de Danann is similar to the Aesir/Jotun dynamic in Norse myth. And don’t forget the time Balor threatened to drag all of Ireland north to freeze the de Danann. 

Bricriu’s Feast. Bricriu plays a very Loki-like role in this tale. Only instead of simply party-crashing to cause trouble, Bricriu builds an entire building to host his own feast and mischief-making opportunities.