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Editions

• J Fraser et al. eds, ‘Cormac and the Geilti Glinni’, Irish Texts. Fasciculus IV (London 1934) 16-7.

Manuscripts

• Edinburgh MS. V (Kilbride Collection, No.1), fol. 7b1

• The Book of Lecan, p. 166b2

• Egerton 92, fol. 16b2
  

Date

• Middle Irish
  

Characters

• Cormac mac Airt: king of Tara from Dál Cuinn (prehistoric Connachta and Uí Néill)

• in Máel: one of the geilti glinne

• in Éicen: one of the geilti glinne

Notes

• It is difficult to say exactly what a geilt glinne is, but to judge from this text, it seems that the term refers to a malevolent supernatural female entity.  Presumably, these creatures were thought to haunt the glens of Ireland and Scotland, but it is clear from this story that they are not restricted to those regions.  What relationship the geilti glinne bear to the similar geniti glinne is not clear.  For more information on the geniti glinne, see W. Sayers, ‘Airdrech, Sirite, and other early Irish Battlefield Spirits’, Éigse 25 (1991) 45-55.

Summary

One day, while Cormac is at Tara after sunset, he sees two very beautiful women coming towards him.  He asks them where they are from, and they tell him that they come from Scotland and that they belong to the race of the geilti glinne (do síl na geilti nglinne sinn féin).  Furthermore, they tell him that they are not welcome among the Otherworld beings (of Ireland?) and that they plan to cause great harm wherever they go.  They have already destroyed the twenty-nine chief families of Scotland, and now they have come to attack Tara and Cormac.  The king asks their names, and the one woman says she is called in Máel, and the other, in Éicen.

With that, the two sprites go on a rampage.  Those people unfortunate enough to get caught by the women suffer various indignities, including having their fingers and toes pulled off.  Their rampage lasts for seven years until they threaten to inflict the same disfigurement (aithis) on Cormac, unless he worships them.  The king, however, refuses and invokes the protection of the Christian God against them (Ar comairce in fírDia damsa romuibh).  The sprites tell him that his invocation was not an overreaction, for had he not put himself under God’s protection, idol worship would have pervaded Ireland for ever.  The text then breaks off abruptly with what appears to be the incipit of a poem (Am sruith do Dia már, ol Cormac, 7 rl).