Guirmithir aigred a rosc...

Guirmithir aigred a rosc,
dergithir nua-partaing a bél,
gilithir frasa némann a dét,
áillithir snechta n-oenaidche a chorp

(as blue * as ice * his * eye
as red * as new Parthian leather * his * mouth
as bright * as showers * of pearls * his * teeth
as beautiful * as snow * of one night * his * body)

His eye as blue as ice, his mouth as red as new Parthian leather, his teeth as bright as showers of pearls, his body as beautiful as freshly fallen snow.

This run of similes, whose spelling I’ve normalized, is found in FDG (p. 64). All four images are clichés found repeatedly in early Irish tales. The only mystery in all this is the exact identity of “partaing”, which seems to refer to red-dyed leather. The term, although frequently used, is largely restricted to descriptions such as this. Compare “In folt amal in fíach” and “Ba fras de némannaib boí ina bélaib” in this collection.


Topics: Similes, Metaphors & Kennings