Filí

For other uses, seeFili (disambiguation).

<fili> (plural:filid,filidh).
... "Member of a privileged
powerful caste of poets,
divinersandseersin early Ireland.
To be distinguished from the
lower-statusbardand thebrehon...

—James MacKillop

Thefili(orfilè)(Old Irish pronunciation:[/ˈfʲilʲi/]), pluralfilid,filidh(or filès), was a member of an elite class of poets inIreland,and laterScotland,up until theRenaissance.The filid were believed to have the power ofdivination,and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events.

In an early society where most people were illiterate – including its hierarchy of chieftains, sub-kings and kings – theoral traditionwas an important means of communicating current news and historical events.As both a poet andstoryteller,the fili would hope to gain a professional reputation for the authenticity and reliability of their information.

See also wiktionary:

1. Old Irish<fili>... "poet,seer".
2. Old Irish <filidecht>... "poetry,divination".
3. Modern Irish<file>... "poet".
4. Modern Irish <filí>...plural offile.

Etymology

The termfililikely derives fromprimitive Irishᚃᚓᚂᚔᚈᚐᚄ]VELITAS]; fromProto-Celtic*weleti ( "to see" ); andProto-Indo-European*wel- ( "to see, perceive" ). An etymology from PIEwelo-is offered by Matasović. He notes: "The semantic development of Olr.fil was from 'Lo, behold' (lmpv. of*wel-o-'see') to 'there is'. Olr.file [d m] 'poet' is a derivative from this root (cf. Ogam Gen. sg. VELITAS). The original meaning was 'seer', PCelt.*wel-et-."

The word "fili" is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic*widluios,meaning "seer, one who sees" (attested on theGaulishinscription from Larzac as "uidluias", which is the feminine genitive singular form), derived ultimately from the verb*widlu-,"to see".

Highest orders

Ollam

Main article:Ollam

There were seven orders offili,the highest order being theollam,which required at least 12 years of training.The ollam were required to commit to memory 250 major tales and 350 minor ones.

Ollamh Érenn(Ireland)

Main article:Ollamh Érenn

TheOllamh Érennwas the master poet ofGaelic Ireland(the whole of Ireland "beyondThe Pale"). There was a hierarchy of master poets:

1. Eachtúath(tribal territory) had its own ollam.
2. Each province had a head ollam above the túath ollams.
3. TheOllamh Érennwas the head ollam above all others.

An Ollaimh Righat the coronation ofAlexander IIIasKing of Scots,1249.

Ollamh rig Alban(Scotland)

Inmedieval ScotlandtheOllamh rig Alban– 'Master poet of Scotland' – was an important member of the kings court. Whenever a new king wasinaugurated,it was necessary for the Ollamh rig to recite the future kingsgenealogy,in order to verify his legitimate right to succeed.

Phrase	English	Scottish Gaelic
Ollamh rig Alban	Master poet of Scotland	<Alba> Scotland
An Ollaimh Righ	The master poet of the king	<rìgh> king
Do gairm rig	Proclamation of the king	<gairm>proclamation

Footprint used in king-making ceremonies,Dunadd

Do gairm rig(Dal Riata)

The ancient traditions of theinaugurationceremony atSconebeside theRiver Tayin Scotland, including the recital of the future kings ancestry, probably originated from theHill of TarainCounty Meath,Ireland.

Those traditions were introduced into ScottishDal Riata– from Irish Dal Riata – where the ceremony was known asdo gairm rig... "Proclamation of the king".The Dal Riata community later moved east to thePerthshireregion of Scotland, followingVikingattacks on the west coast in the 9th century.

Kenneth MacAlpin

Viking attacks on the north east coast of Pictland resulted in a power vacuum, and an opportunity forKenneth MacAlpinto become the first leader of both Dal Riata and Pictland.A new royal power base andinaugurationsite was created at Sconebeside theRiver Tay.

Seanchaí

Main article:Seanchaí

The termpoetis misleading, because the filid were alsoseanchaí– historians – who advised chieftains and kings on political matters.The filid were believed to have the power ofdivination,and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events.

See also wiktionary:

1. Irish <seanchaí>... "Historian, storyteller".
2. Scottish Gaelic <seanchaidh>... "storyteller".
3. Old Irish<filidecht>... "poetry,divination".

Fear of satire

The termpoetis misleading, because the filid had extraordinary power and influence over the kings and political leaders who sponsored them. It was important for leaders to treat the filid with respect, and to reward them handsomely, in order to get good quality information on current affairs. The filid had the ability to portray their sponsors in a positive or negative way, and to influence neighbouring leaders.

At the darker and more extreme end of the scale – if leaders failed to treat the filid with due respect – they ran the risk of satire – a kind of blackmail – whereby the filid mightridiculethem in front of neighbouring leaders.

The filid were believed to have the power ofdivination,and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events. It was also feared that they might have the power toinfluence future events.

Classification

Irish storytelling

The tales regaled by thefilidwere classified as:

Old Irish	English
togla	destructions
tana	cattle raids
tochmarca	wooings
catha	battles
uatha	terrors
immrama	voyages
aite	deaths
fessa	feasts
forbassa	sieges
echtrae	adventure journeys
aitheda	elopements
airgne	plunderings

Irish poetry

See also:Irish poetryandEarly Irish literature

Bérla na filed

Bérla na filed– "language of the poets" – was possibly an esoteric mix of:

1. Latin
2. Hebrew
3. English
4. Irish

History (Ireland)

See also:Gaelic IrelandandEarly Irish literature

Elite scholars

According to theTextbook of Irish Literature,byEleanor Hull:

Thefileis to be regarded as in the earliest times as combining in his person the functions of magician, lawgiver, judge, counsellor to the chief, and poet. Later, but still at a very early time, the offices seem to have been divided, thebrehonsdevoting themselves to the study of law, and the giving of legal decisions, the druids arrogating to themselves the supernatural functions, with the addition, possibly of some priestly offices, and thefilíthemselves being henceforth principally as poets and philosophers. The division seems to have already existed in Ireland at the time of St Patrick, whose preaching brought him into constant opposition with the druids, who were evidently, at that time, regarded as the religious leaders of the nation, though there does not seem to be much sign that they were, as they undoubtedly were, even at an earlier age in Britain and Gaul, sacrificing priests.

Oral tradition

The fili maintained anoral traditionthat predated theChristianisationof Ireland. In this tradition, poetic and musical forms are important not only foraesthetics,but also for theirmnemonicvalue. The tradition allowed plenty of room for improvisation and personal expression, especially in regard to creativehyperboleand cleverkenning.However, the culture placed great importance on the fili's ability to pass stories and information down through the generations without making changes in those elements that were considered factual rather than embellishment.

In this manner, a significant corpus of pre-Christianmyth and epic literatureremained largely intact many centuries into the Christian era. Much of it was first recorded in writing by scholarly Christianmonks.The synergy between the rich and ancient indigenous oral literary tradition and the classical tradition resulted in an explosion of monastic literature that included epics of war, love stories, nature poetry,saint talesand so forth which collectively resulted in the largest corpus of non-Latin literature seen in Europe sinceAncient Greece.

Decline

The ultimate accommodation of Christianity within Irish Gaelic society resulted in a strain on the resources of the Chiefs and in that they were required to provide land and titles for both fili and bishop alike. Consequently, a decision was made in the 6th century to limit the number of fili to certain families who were respected and believed to be poets as a birthright. The greatest of these families included theÓ Dálaigh(O'Daly), several of whom were accorded the rank of 'chiefollamhof poetry of all Ireland,' andÓ hUiginn(O'Higgins) who were hereditary filí in more than one Gaelic house such as O'Conor Slighit, The MacDermotts, The McDonagh and O'Doherty. TheÓ Cobhthaigh(Coffey's) were known as the fili of Uisneach.

TheÓ Maol Chonairewere chieflyOllamhsof theSíol Muireadhaigh,theÓ Conchubhair Donnand theMacDermotofMoylurg,although this family was also associated with Ulster and spread from Connacht into the courts of Munster and Leinster. Finally theÓ Cléirighswho served the O'Donnel chieftains of Tír Connell.

The hereditary poets that were a fixture of court life inmedieval Irelandserving as entertainers, advisors andgenealogistsmaintained practices of and enjoyed a similar status as the pre-Christian fili. But from the 12th century onwards,Anglo-Normanelements had increasing influence on Irish society. AsGaelicculture waned, these folk became increasingly involved with written literature and such non-native traditions asheraldry.Nonetheless in Gaelic society the chief filí of the province, orOllamh,was seen as equal status to the Ard-rí, or High King. This high social status existed right intoElizabethantimes, when English nobility were horrified to see the Gaelic chieftains not just eating at the same table as their poets, but often from the same dish. Eventuallyclassical literatureand theRomantic literaturethat grew from thetroubadourtradition of thelangue d'ocsuperseded the material that would have been familiar to the ancient fili.

Legacy

Many manuscripts preserving the tales once transmitted by the fili have survived. This literature contributes much to the modern understanding ofdruids,Celtic religionand theCeltic worldin general.

Besides its value to historians, this canon has contributed a great deal to modern literature beginning with retellings byWilliam Butler Yeatsand other authors involved with theCeltic Revival.Soon after,James Joycedrew from material less explicitly. Nowfantasy literatureandartdraws heavily from these tales and characters such asCúchulainn,Finn McCooland theTuatha Dé Danannare relatively familiar.

Through such traditional musicians asTurlough O'Carolan(who died in 1738 and is often lauded as "the last of the bards" ) and countless of his less-known or anonymous colleagues, the musical tradition of the fili has made its way to contemporary ears via artists such asPlanxty,The Chieftains,andThe Dubliners.

In their subject matter and techniques, theseanachieare considered the inheritors of the ancient Irish tradition of oral literature.

The modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic words for "poet" are derived fromfili.

• Old Irish:fili,pluralfilid
• Modern Irish:file,pluralfilí
• Scottish Gaelic:filidh,pluralfilidhean
• Manx Gaelic:feelee

Finally, practitioners ofCeltic Reconstructionist Paganismare working to reconstruct trance and visionary techniques that were used by thefilid,such asimbas forosnaiand aspects of thetarbhfeisritual.

See also

• Bard
• Contention of the bards
• Druid
• Early Irish literature
• Gorsedd
• Rhapsode
• Seanachie
• Skald
• Vates

Sources

• Coleman, Keith (2022).Áedán of the Gaels: King of the Scots.Pen and Sword Books.ISBN978-1526794901.

• Foster, Sally M. (2014).Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland.Edinburgh:Birlinn.ISBN978-1780271910.

• MacKillop, James(2004).Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-860967-1.

• Moffat, Alistair(2017).Scotland, A History from Earliest Times.Birlinn.ISBN978-1780274386.

• Noble, Gordon; Evans, Nicholas (2022).The Picts: Scourge of Rome, Rulers of the North.Birlinn.ISBN978-1780277783.

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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Hyde, Douglas(1913). "Irish Literature".Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 8.

• This article incorporates text fromDwelly's[Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary(1911).(Filidh)