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''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (''The Book of the Taking of Ireland'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives that purports to be a history of Ireland and the Irish from the creation of the world to the Middle Ages. There are a number of versions, the earliest of which was compiled by an anonymous writer in the 11th century. It synthesized narratives that had been developing over the foregoing centuries. The ''Lebor Gabála'' tells of Ireland being settled (or 'taken') six times by six groups of people: the people of Cessair, the people of Partholón, the people of Nemed, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the Milesians. The first four groups are wiped out or forced to abandon the island, the fifth group represent Ireland's pagan gods, while the final group represent the Irish people (the Gaels). Today, most scholars regard the ''Lebor Gabála'' as primarily myth rather than history.〔Carey, John. (''The Irish National Origin-Legend: Synthetic Pseudohistory'' ). University of Cambridge, 1994. pp.1–4〕 It appears to be mostly based on medieval Christian pseudo-histories,〔〔Koch, John T.. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO, 2006. p.1132〕 but it also incorporates some of Ireland's native pagan mythology.〔 Scholars believe the goal of its writers was to provide an epic history for Ireland that could compare to that of the Israelites or the Romans, and which reconciled native myth with the Christian view of history.〔Carey, pp.1–4, 24〕〔Koch, p.1130〕 It is suggested, for example, that there are six 'takings' to match the "Six Ages of the World".〔Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise (1949). ''Celtic Gods and Heroes''. Dover Publications, 2000. p.3〕 The ''Lebor Gabála'' became one of the most popular and influential works of early Irish literature. It is usually known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'' or ''The Book of Conquests'', and in Modern Irish as ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'' or ''Leabhar Gabhála na hÉireann''. ==Origins== Purporting to be a history of Ireland and the Irish, ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (hereinafter abbreviated as ''LGE'') may be seen as an attempt to provide the Irish with a written history comparable to that which the Israelites provided for themselves in the Old Testament. Drawing upon the pagan myths of Gaelic Ireland but reinterpreting them in the light of Judeo-Christian theology and historiography, it describes how the island was settled six times by six groups of people. Biblical paradigms provided the mythologers with ready-made stories which could be adapted to their purpose. Thus we find the ancestors of the Irish enslaved in a foreign land, or fleeing into exile, or wandering in the wilderness, or sighting the "Promised Land" from afar. Four Christian works in particular seem to have had a significant bearing on the formation of LGE: *St Augustine's ''De Civitate Dei'', The City of God, (413–426 AD) *Orosius's ''Historiae adversum paganos'', "Histories," (417) *Eusebius's ''Chronicon'', translated into Latin by St Jerome as the ''Temporum liber'' (379) *Isidore of Seville's ''Etymologiae'' ("Etymologies"), or ''Origines'' ("Origins") (early 7th century) The pre-Christian elements, however, were never entirely effaced. One of the poems in LGE, for instance, recounts how goddesses from among the Tuatha Dé Danann took Gaelic husbands when the Gael invaded and colonised Ireland. Furthermore, the pattern of successive invasions which LGE preserves is curiously reminiscent of Timagenes of Alexandria's account of the origins of another Celtic people, the Gauls of continental Europe. Cited by the 4th-century historian Ammianus Marcellinus, Timagenes (1st century BC) describes how the ancestors of the Gauls were driven from their native lands in eastern Europe by a succession of wars and floods.〔Ammianus Marcellinus, (''Res Gestae'' 15:9 )〕 Numerous fragments of Irish pseudohistory are scattered throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, but the earliest extant account is to be found in the ''Historia Brittonum'' or "History of the Britons," considered by some to have been written by the Welsh priest Nennius in 829–830. This text gives two separate accounts of early Irish history. The first consists of a series of successive colonisations from Iberia by the pre-Gaelic races of Ireland, all of which found their way into LGE. The second recounts the origins of the Gael themselves, and tells how they in turn came to be the masters of the country and the ancestors of all the Irish. These two stories continued to be enriched and elaborated upon by Irish bards throughout the 9th century. In the 10th and 11th centuries, several long historical poems were written that were later incorporated into the scheme of LGE. However, most of the poems on which the original version of LGE was based were written by the following four poets: *Eochaidh Ua Floinn (936–1004) from Armagh – Poems 30, 41, 53, 65, 98, 109, 111 *Flann Mainistrech mac Echthigrin (died 1056), lector and historian of Monasterboice Abbey – Poems ?42, 56, 67, ?82 *Tanaide (died ''c.'' 1075) – Poems 47, 54, 86 *Gilla Cómáin mac Gilla Samthainde (''fl.'' 1072) – Poems 13, 96, 115 It was late in the 11th century that a single anonymous scholar appears to have brought together these and numerous other poems and fitted them into an elaborate prose framework – partly of his own composition and partly drawn from older, no longer extant sources – which paraphrased and enlarged upon the verse. The result was the earliest version of LGE. It was written in Middle Irish, a form of Irish Gaelic used between 900 and 1200. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lebor Gabála Érenn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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