Ogma & Ogam
The Ogma in my journeys these past few years is very much like the rendering above: champion strong, shining, and sagely learned. Of course, he often appears to me wearing plaid with his hair in a bun and is much more robust, but that is why the title of the artwork is “young Ogma” and so we will have to use our imaginations a bit to age him when we read of the many stories he is in.
The last few weeks, I have been told to “find my stories”, and so, it is here that I will attempt a list of a few I have found so far, along with some v important updates that will counter scholars who continue to use “honey-mouthed” as an incorrect epithet for Himself without any sources.
Who is Ogma?
Ogma is NOT Ogmios is NOT Hercules… so please, please, please stop misrepresenting.
if you find a depiction of someone in a lion skin — it isnt Ogma.
if you find a depiction of someone bald with chains attached to their tongue — it isnt Ogma.
if you find a depiction of someone holding a club — it isnt Ogma.
Irish deities and Otherworld Beings deserve their proper representation by Irish primary sources and folklore. They dont deserve clumsy universalisation or lumping (thats bad imperialist research going all the way back to Caesar).
In Irish tradition, Ogma uses a sword named Orna in the Do Cath Mag Tuired, never a club (that would be his brother An Dagda). In chapter 24 of the Táin Bó Cúailnge on p. 303, he is given the epithet Grianainech “sun-faced” or “shining, radiant countenance”. I suppose you could then infer it to also mean “smiley, beaming with joy”, but does not mean he is a sun deity! He is also referred as Grianainech on p.187 of Lebor Gabála Érenn.
Another epithet is Trenfher “Strongman” or “Champion” in sections 59 and162 of the Do Cath Mag Tuired (Second Battle of Moytura). And this is evidenced in the stories of his intense and very bloody strength. Which is why it is so important to know how Ogma was once a chief of the Tuatha de Danaan, who was imprisoned and reduced to collecting fire wood every day, travelling very malnourished over 200 kilometres from the Hill of Tara to Clew Bay for the oppressive & inhospitable king Bres. To have a champion still at the fortress but purposefully exploited and neglected and dishonoured without a champion’s rightful portion of food and drink every day is an ultimate insult. Which is why it is still so badass that he would complete the wretched task every day, even under such duress as a giant f*ck you to King Bres if you ask me!
A third epithet is Griain-éigis “Shining sage or learned man” in section 12 of Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (History of Ireland). What is interesting is that grian can also mean “foundational” or “sand or gravel” or “sea/lake/river bottom”. This for me connects us well with the foundational Otherworldly wisdom that Ogma continues to teach us through the ogam, which he created according to the Auraicept na n-éces, giving birth to an elite form of language that would influence the creation of draíocht ceoil, piseógs, and other spellcrafts. Not just divination.
What is Ogam?
Ogham is more about the landscapes than the trees.
Ogham is not “celtic” — it is Irish.
Ogham is not fixed in time, but continues to grow.Ogham is a series of script letters reflective of an Irish Gaeilge-speaking language and culture and has many purposes.
Ogham is not just on stone, but on beads and knives, spindles and combs, bone dice and wooden swords, metal bowls and brooches.
Ogham is about landscapes, wildflowers, herbs, plants, birds, animals, arts, foods, and fortresses; and so much more.
Ogham is inscribed, voiced, and embodied relationship.
Ogham is a poetic magic and is also beautifully mundane.
Ogham is not about rhyming, but rather alliteration.Ogham is not fixed in time, but continues to grow.
Ogham is not “celtic” — it is Irish.
Ogham is more about the landscapes than the trees.
Most people know ogam as the inscriptions found on standing stones, or as the Ogham 3D Project says: “Ogham stones are among Ireland’s most remarkable national treasures. These perpendicular cut stones bear inscriptions in the uniquely Irish Ogham alphabet, using a system of notches and horizontal or diagonal lines/scores to represent the sounds of an early form of the Irish language. The stones are inscribed with the names of prominent people and sometimes tribal affiliation or geographical areas. These inscriptions constitute the earliest recorded form of Irish and, as our earliest written records dating back at least as far as the 5th century AD, are a significant resource for historians, as well as linguists and archaeologists.”
But like the rosc I wrote above says: ogam is more than just stone inscriptions, and it is not about a made up “Celtic” Tree calendar fabricated by Robert Graves in the 1940s. Over the past year, I have been tracking down non-standing-stone ogam inscriptions in collections all over Ireland, Scotland, and even ones in the current possession of English colonisers. Below is a list I’ve compiled, but continues to grow with more detailed analysis and digging. Wikipedia, only shows five (so I really should suggest an edit soon).
For more ogham research, I highly recommend following the Og(h)am blog as it is an invaluable resource!
- Bac Mhic Connain whale-bone birthing? knife handle, North Uist, Scotland (400–800 CE) National Museums Scotland. Online ID: 000–100–038–797-C.
- Ballinderry Crannog №2 Sheep Bone Dice (early 400s CE) National Museum Ireland (NMI). E6: 720, 721. hand drawn sketch L494.
- Ballyspellan Silver penannular brooch (800–900 CE) NMI: R89.
- Broch of Burrian spindle whorl, North Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland (400–800 CE) National Museums Scotland Online ID: 000–100–038–187-C.
- Buckquoy chalk spindle-whorl, Orkney, Scotland (600–700 CE) Orkney Museum, Tankerness House Museum in Kirkwall: ref no 1976.56.
- Clonmacnoise antler knife handle, Co. Offaly (Date ?) NMI: E558; 3333.
- Dublin Castle crest bone comb, Dublin (1000–1100 CE) NMI: E3748: 54.
- Dunraven Collection Lunulae (early Bronze Age, inscription: early 1800s) NMI: Lost.
- Ennis Amber bead (400–600 CE) British Museum: 1888,0719.119
- Foshigarry bone disk (another spindle whorl?)North Uist, Scotland (600–800 CE) National Museums Scotland Online ID: 000–100–038–534-C.
- Gurness Broch bone birthing? knife handle (400–800 CE) National Museums Scotland Online ID: 000–100–103–299-C.
- Kilgulbin East Hanging Bowl, Co. Kerry (Early 400s CE) NMI: 1945:80 L1100, L1098.
- Littleton Bog wooden weaver’s sword (Late 900s CE) NMI: 1954:7.
- Moynagh Lough crannóg antler tine (Date ?) NMI: 1889:13.
- Tullycommon/ Cahercommaun Sheep Bone divination object (600–900 CE) NMI: E4:248, CIIC 52.
- Weeting red deer bone handle, Co. Norfolk, East England (600s CE) Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery ID# 1950.24
Back to Epithets
One epithet that needs to be put to bed however, is milbel or milbeol or “honey-mouthed” as in eloquent or soft-spoken. I searched for days to try to find references to Ogma in the manuscripts with this epithet, and none could be found. Plenty, however, for An Dagda’s son Cermait. With some help from the brilliant Morgan Daimler, we were able to trace the inaccuracy back to MacKillop.
It seems that in attempting to lump Ogma with the Gaul god of the dead Ogmios (who has a similar epithet of sweet worded supposedly), early scholars confused Cermait for Ogma in many places and so tacked on Cermait’s epithet onto Ogma — which is why it can be so dangerous to universalise and lump. Please just stop doing it, because it is incredibly difficult to sort decades or even hundreds of years later!
So, who is Ogma again?
Here is another rosc i wrote dedicated to Himself as an offering of right-relationship:
Ogma Mac Elatha
Grianainech
Trenfher
Griain-éigisSun-faced
Strongman
Shining sageSon of Elatha or Ethliu.
Brother of An Dagda, Alla, Bres, and Delbaeth.
Father of Cairbre and Tuireann.
Lover of Étan the poetess.Returner to Ireland
Chieftan Warrior
Scholar Champian of the Tuatha.
Who came from the north of the world in a cloud of mist and
magic showerto Share.
to Give Favours and Friendship
With compacts of peace, goodwill, and hospitality.
Unafraid Slayer of many Fir Bolg.
Maker of pools of crimson blood.
Pursuer of one-third of the Fomorians too.
A match for any king,
and 27 of their friends.
Great flag-stone hurler.
Tester of Lugh.
Collaborator. Strategist.
Battle Warrior and Champion.
Finder of Orna, sword of Tethra.
Sword cleanser and charmer.
Well skilled in speech and poetry.
Cave Sitter.**
Inventor and Father and Mother of Ogham.
Warning giver to Lugh. Seer.
Settler on the Hill of Rain in Brefne east Connacht ’Traveler to Mag Nia and
Black Hill, Sliabh Belgadain.
Retired to the fastness of Cenn Slebe,
To the sloping Glen of Blood, and to the Mound of Tears.
Swimmer from Clew Bay Island to the Hill of Tara.
Forced by King Bres to carry bundles of wood for the Fires of Tara.
Malnourished and weak until Lugh became King.
For four decades he lived grandly again until Lugh’s death and the return of the Milesians.
Disappeared into the hills to live thereafter in the Otherworld
at Síd Aircheltrai and Brecc.Ogma Mac Elatha
Grianainech
Trenfher
Griain-éigisSun-faced
Strongman
Shining sageSon of Elatha or Ethliu.
Brother of An Dagda, Alla, Bres, and Delbaeth.
Father of Cairbre and Tuireann.
Lover of Étan the poetess.Returner to Ireland
Chieftain Warrior
Scholar Champion of the Tuatha.
**Cave sitter is based from a sceal by Lora O’Brien.
Ogma in the Stories Sources
Manuscripts
- The Ogam Tract, Auraicept na n-éces (The Scholar’s Primer), p. 273.
Mythological Cycle
- Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Takings of Ireland or ‘The Book of Invasions’), several.
- Cath Mag Tuired Cunga (First Battle of Moytura), 4 mentions.
- Do Cath Mag Tuired An So/Loch Arrow (Second Battle of Moytura), 11 mentions.
- Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (History of Ireland), Section 11 and 12.
- Lebor Bretnach (Historia Britonum of Nennius) in Leabhar Baile an Mhota (Book of Ballymote), p. 47.
Ulster Cycle
- Tochmarc Étaíne (Wooing of Etaine), page 155.
- De Gabáil in tSída (Taking of the Sidhe Mound) in Lebor Laignech (Book of Leinster), 1 mention.
- Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley), p. 303.
Other Sources:
- Tales of Old Ireland: Retold: Ancient Irish Stories Retold for Today (Irish Folklore Series) by Lora O’Brien.
