Is acher in gaíth in-nocht

"Is acher in gaíth in-nocht..." is an anonymous 9th-century poem in Old Irish.

The poem exists uniquely as a marginal entry in the Stiftsbibliothek MS 904 at the Abbey of St. Gallen in Switzerland, which is a copy of Priscian's Institutiones grammaticae, heavily glossed in Old Irish. It was most likely written in Ireland in the (mid-?) 9th century, when Viking attacks on Irish monasteries, schools and churches were a regular occurrence.

Irish singer and academic Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin arranged and recorded the poem in Copenhagen after visiting St. Gallen. It appears on her 2011 Songs of the Scribe studio album.

Text

The text of the poem is as follows:

Old Irish	Old Irish pronunciation	Modern Scottish Gaelic	English
Is acher in gáith in nocht	ɨs axʲər͉ ɨn͈ ɣai̯θ ɨˈn͈oxt	Is acar (geur) a' ghaoth a-nochd	Bitter is the wind to-night
fu·fúasna fairggae findfholt;	fʊˈfu͜asn͉ə far͈ʲɡʲɘ fʲin͈d.ol͈t	a' luasgadh na fairge fionn-fhuilt	it tosses the ocean’s white hair
ní·ágor réimm Mora Minn	n͈ʲiː aːɣʊr͉ r͉ʲeːm͈ʲ β͋or͉ə β͋ʲin͈ʲdʲ	chan eagal rèim (seòladh) na mara mìn	I fear not the coursing of a clear sea
dond láechraid lainn úa Lothlind	don͈d l͉ai̯xr͉ɨðʲ l͉ɑn͈ʲ u͜a l͉ɑθʲl͉ʲin͈ʲdʲ	den laochraidh loinn o Lochlainn	by the fierce heroes from Lothlend (Norway).

See also

• Early Medieval Ireland 800–1166

References

• Bruno Güterbock (1895), Aus irischen Handschriften in Turin und Rom, Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung, 33.
• R. Thurneysen (1949), Old Irish Reader 39, tr. D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin.
• David Dumville (1987), Three men in a boat ... Cambridge Medieval Studies, pp. 23–29.
• Donnchadh Ó Corráin (1998), Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century Perita 12, pp. 296–339.

External links

• CELT News
• Donnchadh Ó Corráin, "Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century"