The Sword of Light or (Old Irish; modern ) is a trope object that appears in a number of Irish and Scottish Gaelic folktales. The "Quest for sword of light" formula is catalogued as motif H1337.
The sword appears commonly as a quest object in the Irish folktale of a hero seeking "The One Story" (or the "Cause of the one story about women"), which culminates in the discovery of a "Tale of the Werewolf" (a man magically turned wolf by an unfaithful wife). However, the sword is uninvolved in the man-wolf portion, and only figures in the hero-adventure frame story.
The sword of light, according to a different commentator, is a fixture of an Irish tale group describable as a quasi-bridal-quest. This characterization is inspired by the formula where the hero gains a beautiful wife (and riches) by gambling against a gruagach wizard-champion, but suffers losses which makes him beholden to mount on a hopeless-seeming quest. Like the actual "giant's daughter" bridal quest tales, the sword of light hero often gains assistance of "helpful animals" in completing his tasks or ordeals.
The sword has been regarded as a legacy to the god-slaying weapons of Irish mythology by certain scholars, such as T. F. O'Rahilly, the analogues being the primeval Celtic deity's lightning-weapon, Lugh's sling that felled Balor, the hero Cú Chulainn's supernatural spear Gáe Bulg and his shining sword Cruaidín Catutchenn.
Forms
The spelling as appears in published Irish texts and scholastic commentary is Claidheamh Soluis alternatively (an) cloidheamh solais;, EIHM, p. 68; . but these are pre-reform spelling, and in modernized reformed spelling Claíomh Solais is used. The name has also been transliterated into Hiberno-English as chloive solais. The sword may be rendered in English as the "Sword of Light", or "Shining Sword".
Likewise, the Scottish Gaelic form is "glaive of light", or "White Glave of Light".
Overview The folk tales featuring the sword of light may be bridal quests, and the hero's would-be bride often becomes the hero's helper.
But also typically the story is a sort of quasi-bridal quest, where the hero wins a bride by wager, but then suffers a loss, becoming oath-bound (compelled by geis) to never come home until he has completed the quest for the sword (and other objectives). The opponent who tempts the hero with this gambling game is usually a gruagach ("wizard-champion" tr., p. 97, "wizard-champion", and endnote, p. 455 by Alfred Nutt, after P. W. Joyce.) or wizard/druid. and the sword's keeper is often a giant (, ) or hag (cailleach), or a sibling of the wizard.
The sword-keeper oftentimes must be defeated (killed), which is not possible except by some secret means. Thus the hero or helper may resort to the sword of light as the only effective weapon against this enemy. But often the sword is not enough, and the supernatural enemy has to be attacked on a single vulnerable spot. The weak spot, moreover, may be an external soul (motif index E710) concealed somewhere in the world at large (inside animals, etc.); or, as in the case of "The Young King Of Easaidh Ruadh", this external soul is encased within a nested series of animals."Separable soul, or external soul",
Typically bound up with the quest for the sword of light is the quest for the "One Story" (' truth about women'), namely, the story of the faithless wife who transforms her husband into a wolf.: "the cause of the one story about women".
The hero in some examples are compelled to perform (three) sets of tasks, aided by helpers, who may be the would-be bride, "helpful animals", or a supernatural being ("little green/red man").
Texts
Below are the lists of tales where the sword of light occurs. Kittredge's sigla (K J L C1 O'F H c m) are given in boldface:
Irish folktales
"The Story of the Sculloge's son from Muskerry (Sceal Vhic Scoloige)" () K (in-tale) "Fios Fath an aon Sceil" (perfect narrative of the unique story)" "Adventure of the Sgolog and the Red" (GruagachEachtra air an sgolóig agus air an ngruagach ruadh) (, Gaelic Journal) J "The Weaver's Son and the Giant of the White Hill", (, Myths and Folk-lore of Ireland). "The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin" ( Curtin, Myths) Leaduidhe na luaithe ("Ashypet" or "The Lazy Fellow") (Ó Fotharta/O'Foharty/O'Faherty (1892)) "Smallhead and the King's Sons" (Curtin (1892), repr. No. XXXIX) "Baranoir, son of a King in Erin, and the Daughter of King under the Wave" (Curtin (1893),Curtin, Jeremiah. "hero Tales of Ireland" In: The Sun (New York [N.Y.]), 28 May 1893. Part 2, page 13. . Lib. of Congress. repr. ed. Béaloideas 12 (1/2)) "Morraha; Brian More, son of the high-king of Erin, from the Well of Enchantments of Binn Edin" (; repr. ) L "Simon and Margaret" (Larminie) "Beauty of the World" (Larminie) "The King who had Twelve Sons" (Larminie) "Cud, Cad, and Micad", (, Hero-tales of Ireland). "Coldfeet and Queen of Lonesome Island", (Curtin, Hero-tales) "Art and Balor Beimenach", (Curtin, Hero-tales). C1 "The Shining Sword and the Knowledge of the Cause of the One Story about Women" (, ZCP 1)) O'F "The King of Ireland's Son (Mac Righ Eireann )" (, Beside the Fire) Mac Rígh Eireann agus Ceann Gruagach na g-Cleasann "The king's son of Ireland and the chief-magician's with his tricks" ( , No. XXIX, Annales de Bretagne ) H "The Snow, Crow, and the Blood" (). An untitled tale of Finn's three sons by the Queen of Italy collected at Glenties in Donegal () An Claidheamh Soluis: agus Fios-fátha-'n-aoin-scéil "The Sword of Light and the knowledge of the motive of the unique (?) tale" ( in Béaloideas 1). Mac Rí Chruacháin ( in Béaloideas 2 (1)). Séarlus, Mac Rí na Frainnce ( in Béaloideas 2 (2)).
Fios bhás an an-sgéalaidhe agus an Claidheamh Solais "Knowledge of death of the Ansgéalidhe (Storyteller) and the Sword of Light" ( in Béaloideas 4).
Scottish Gaelic folktales The publication of tales from the Highlands (, Popular Tales of the West Highlands) predate the Irish tales becoming available in print.
"The Young King Of Easaidh Ruadh" () (, No. 1) c "Widow's Son" (Campbell, No. 2, 2nd variant) "Tale of Conal Crovi" (Campbell, No. 6) "Tale of Connal" (Campbell, No. 7) "Maol a' Chliobain" (Campbell, No. 17) "The Widow and her Daughters" (Campbell, No. 41, 2nd variant) "Mac Iain Dìreach" (Campbell, No. 46) "An Sionnach, the Fox" (Campbell, No. 46, 4th variant;) "The Herding of Cruachan (Buachaillechd Chruachain)" (, No. 4.) m "The History of Kitty Ill-Pretts" (, No. 21)
Commentary
The sword of light (or glaive of light) is a trope artefact that occurs in a number of Gaelic tales., I, 24, "The sword of light is common in Gaelic stories;.." etc. It also occurs in Irish folktales also, as described below. The "Quest for sword of light" (H1337) motif is also listed in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature.
Grouping
One strand of the "sword of light" tale has been transmitted in French Canada as the tale of the "Sword of Wisdom",Roy, Carmen. La Littérature Orale En Gaspésie. Bulletin / [National Museum of Canada]. no. 13. Ottawa: 1955. pp. 200, 220. and assigned type 305A. However, the Irish cognate had not been catalogued as a tale type by Aarne-Thompson, though recognized in The Types of the Irish Folktale.
One Story and Werewolf's Tale The quest for the sword of light is an added layer,: "the frame-story is complicated by a quest for the Sword of Light". attached to the core tale of the quest for "the one story", which forms a frame story to the Irish versions of the medieval werewolf tale, according to George Lyman Kittredge's 1903 study.
"The one story" is actually shorthand, and Kittredge generally uses "the cause of the one story about women", as occurs in O'Foharta's version., and passim. Similar titles or sub-titles occur in Irish as well.The in-story, "Fios Fath an aon Sceil", The form "news of the death of Anshgayliacht" in "Morraha", is deemed to be a corruption.
The werewolf tale, recounted by a man who had once been magically transformed into a wolf by an unfaithful wife, is analyzed by Kittredge for its compound structure, but the in-tale generally does not concern the Sword of Light., p. 211, n2, n3.
It is pointed out that in the sword of light fails to occur in the Scottish version of the werewolf tale, replaced by the hero obtaining custody of the werewolf himself, by bartering his horse.
Quasi-bridal quest
Some tales fall into an actual bridal-quest pattern. In "The Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin", Sean Ruadh (actually the eldest prince) is assisted by the princess who is his would-be bride in slaying the urfeist (sea-serpent). And in the "Widow's Son", the hero promises marriage to the giant's daughter, who also becomes the hero's helper.
Josef Baudiš suggested a slightly different grouping, which similar to the bridal-quest type but distinguishably different: the hero wins a beautiful wife (and riches) as wager in a game played against a gruagach (wizard-champion) figure, but it is a trap, and when the hero suffers a loss, he is compelled to go on a quest, usually for the sword of light.
Helpful animals
Kittredge has recognized the presence of "helpful animals" assisting the hero in the tales, catalogued in the range of Types B300–590, "Helpful Animals" in Thompson's Motif-Index. Kittedge recognizes the Skilful Companions motif in the werewolf in-story, but that portion does not much concern the sword, as aforementioned.
In O'Foharta's Irish text (O'F) the helpers are a hawk, otter, and a fox ("Hawk of the Grey Wood", the "Otter of the Endless Tempests", and the "Fox of the Pleasant Crag"). In Campbell's Scottish The Young King of Easaidh Ruadh (c text), the helpers are a dog, hawk, and an otter ("slim dog of the greenwood", "hoary hawk of the grey rock", and "brown otter of the river"). In McInnes's Scottish version (m text) there are not three, but four animals.
It might be noted that Irish bridal quest of the "giant's daughter" type is recognized as an equivalent to folktale to the Six Go through the Whole World type (ATU 513A), and this type features "magical helpers" or "extraordinary helpers".
The secret about women
In the Irish folktale, the hero goes on quest for ' The Only Story' () which is thought to mean ' truth about women '. That meaning is illuminated in versions that provide a more fuller title, e. g., "The Shining Sword and the Knowledge of the Cause of the One Story about Women", This has been corrupted to "news of the death of Anshgayliacht" in the L (Larminie) version.
Kittredge considered the "secret about women" element to be an essential and original part of the Irish story, as seen in the stemma of texts given by him, even though the "woman" part of it has been lost in some variants, such as Kennedy's Fios Fath an aon Sceil ("perfect narrative of the unique story")Summary of I in:
A more familiar Arthurian tale perhaps than Arthur and Gorlagon which embeds the quest of "What is it that women most desire?" is The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle.
External soul motif The external soul motif in Sword of Light stories have been noted for example by Gerard Murphy.
The tale "The Young King Of Easaidh Ruadh" was also given as a typical example of "External soul" motif (E 710) by folklorist Katharine Mary Briggs. It has been pointed out that the Easaidh Ruadh refers to a place name in Ireland, probably the Assaroe Falls in Ballyshannon, County Donegal.
The AT 302 "The Giant Whose Heart Was In an Egg" that exhibits this external soul motif applies to some of the tales