Wake Rites: The Ancient Irish Rituals of Finnegans Wake (Florida James Joyce)

Many scholars of __Finnegans Wake__ have long suspected that a key to the __Wake__ lay deep within the core of Irish myth. George Gibson proposes a new interpretation of the novel, based upon a previously unrecognized paradigm from Irish mythology underlying the entirety of the work. This mythic structure derives from the ancient rituals and events collectively known as the __Teamhur Feis__ (the Rites of Tara), the most important religious festival conducted in pre-Christian Ireland. Gibson demonstrates that sources known and used by Joyce describe the Rites as a historical event with nationwide attendance, an extraordinary and complex array of Druidic ritual, mystical rites, historical reenactments, sacred drama, conclaves, assemblies, and ceremonies performed by a bizarre cast of characters ranging from representatives of Irish deities and personifications of abstract principles to Druids, magistrates, ritual functionaries, and reenactors of the mythic dead. In Irish tradition, the most significant performance of this pagan spectacle occurred in 433 A.D., when Saint Patrick arrived at Tara just as the Rites were reaching their climax. Gibson argues that this pivotal event is also the climax of __Finnegans Wake__. Demonstrating remarkable parallels between specific events and performers of the Rites and the episodes and characters comprising __Finnegans Wake__, Gibson shows that every event and performer at the Rites has a correlate in the novel, and all Wakean episodes and performers have their parallels in the Rites of Tara. Ultimately, he argues, Joyce structured his novel according to the __Teamhur Feis,__ and __Finnegans Wake__ is a calculated reenactment of the most important event in Irish paganism. Table of Contents 8 List of Figures viii 9 List of Tables ix 10 Foreword xi 12 Preface xiii 14 List of Abbreviations xv 16 1. Introduction 1 18 2. The Day of the Wake 25 42 3. The Sigla Group at the Teamhur Feis 35 52 4. The Fall of the All-Father 91 108 5. The Funeral Games at Valleytemple 134 151 6. The Return of Solsking the First 179 196 7. The Etiological Myths 209 226 8. The Recovery of the Dark Tongue 219 236 Coda: The Meta-Celtic Canon 237 254 Notes 239 256 Bibliography 249 266 Index 261 278 Many scholars of Finnegans Wake have long suspected that a key to the Wake lay deep within the core of Irish myth. George Gibson proposes a new interpretation of the novel, based upon a previously unrecognised paradigm from Irish mythology underlying the entirety of the work George Cinclair Gibson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [249]-259) And Index.