Who was Mad Sweeny from American Gods, otherwise known as Buile Suibhne?

Рет қаралды 10,166

Күн бұрын

A friend of mine asked me who Mad Sweeny was, and so this is my response. He certainly isn't quite the character represented in American Gods, which mixes a number of Irish Mythology stories together. But was he Lugh? Why did he go mad? And was he really a leprechaun?
Chapter
--------------------------
0:00 Introduction
1:11 Was Mad Sweeny a real god, was he Buile Suibhne?
2:06 The story of Buile Suibhne and St Ronan's first curse
3:00 St Ronan's second curse
3:38 Suibhne goes mad
4:12 Finding Teach Molling
4:42 The deliverance of the curse
5:12 Who was Suibhne originally?
6:08 Where does history end and myth start?
7:25 American God's influence
8:09 Translations of the Irish Myth
8:39 Summarising and end

Пікірлер: 49

@Crecganford 3 жыл бұрын

Are there any other gods in American Gods you want to know about?

@carlthomaswilliamsjr.2995 2 жыл бұрын

Did you do one about the love goddess?

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

@@carlthomaswilliamsjr.2995 I did, Bilquis I think her name was… it will be on my channel close to this one date wise. :)

@carlthomaswilliamsjr.2995 2 жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford Ah thank you.

@jonnydracos8538 10 ай бұрын

Media... Just kidding. Awesome bit of history, or myth... Thank you

@vanessacox4730 Жыл бұрын

I really appreciate this video- I couldn’t find anyone else who gave a solid summary and insight into the character of Suibhne. This was brilliantly succinct, yet informative.

@shanegooding4839 10 ай бұрын

Irish mythical figures were often made into historical people in Irish literature, a good example of how prevalent this was in most cultures originally.

@freyaodinsdottir2207 3 жыл бұрын

I don't know if you have had the chance to play it or have heard about it, but the concept of geilts is a huge plot point in the game "Hellblade". When you mentioned that Sweeny was cursed to "fly", there is a character in this game that goes by the name of Druth, and hischaracter design incorporates that association with birds by feathers and bird skulls on him.

@samanthamorris5340 3 жыл бұрын

That was great and thank you for such a coherent layout. I like the 123 approach rather than the old jump around.

@Crecganford 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching :)

@BubbahBacon 3 жыл бұрын

my family has the last name Queen which was originally known as Mac Shuibhne we come from the ancient Dalriadan clans from the mountainous west coast of Scotland, me being born in Australia find it so fascinating to learn about my fathers home land

@Crecganford 3 жыл бұрын

I'm pleased you found it interesting, thanks for watching :)

@wolfgaenger Жыл бұрын

This is super well done, thank you!

@Crecganford Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much.

@1revwilly 3 жыл бұрын

I just discovered you from your chat with Derek Lambert and just subscribed to your channel. I'm looking forward to your content, I'm sure all of it is as awesome as this video is! :-)

@Crecganford 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Wilfred, I really appreciate that. I hope you enjoy some of the videos and I do try and answer all questions in the comments personally, so if you want to ask anything, or want to know more about anything then let me know :)

@montoyiaalsup3421 2 жыл бұрын

Sweeney definitely one of my favorite characters

@nottydread 3 жыл бұрын

Good job, nice to know some of the background/origins of of sweeney. Thanks. Have you done any vids on the voodoo gods?

@Crecganford 3 жыл бұрын

I haven't touched Voodoo yet, although I am researching "Nancy" who may have links, but I'll put that on my list of religions to find out more about as to be honest I know little about Voodoo

@voluptuosidadeslapalabra 2 жыл бұрын

I think Mad Sweeny is a mistake from Neil Gaiman, because is Lugh, the spanish version of Odin.

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

Certainly Gaiman's version is not an accurate representation of the mythological version. And there are connections with some of the Norse gods, we see this with Baldr too.

@Survivethejive 2 жыл бұрын

Cohen has compared Suibhne to Starkad in line with Dumezil who compares Starkad with Hercules and Shishupala so Suibhne goes back to Indo-European myth and may well have been a god

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

I'll have a read of Cohen then, as that would be an interesting link, thank you

@thebaneking4787 Жыл бұрын

I like this.

@sirloin869 7 ай бұрын

in one word, failure - is his greatest attribute...

@NebMunb Жыл бұрын

I thought Shadow killed him with a spear? 😂😂😂

@LionFische 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. I feel it would be worth studying pronunciation in Gaeilge for this presentation. It makes quite a difference and is part of the understanding. Go raibh maith agat. Áed.

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

I would love to be able to pronounce Gaelic properly, but I'm still learning Russian, PIE, and German, and Old Norse... it is quite different to these, but I will try and improve :)

@4D4plus4is4D8 2 жыл бұрын

Today I learned (to my great surprise) that Mad Sweeney is played by the guy who played Nick Sabotka on season 2 of The Wire.

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

I just learnt that too! :) thank you

@purrfectlywicked7087 2 жыл бұрын

I would love to hear more about the Zorya, also called Zoria or Zaria (The Auroras). The 3 sisters one of which is tasked with guarding Simargl, a winged lion or dog, trapped in the Ursa Minor (Little Bear) constellation by an iron chain attached to the star Polaris. This task was of cosmic importance, for if Simargl ended up freeing himself, it would cause the end of the world. I know they're originally Slovic but the author added some Norse etc with prediction powers. I believe I read that Neil made up the sky watching maidan character but I'm more curious about any myths pertaining to a beast chained in a constellation that would end the world if freed. If that is even a real myth lol ty! excellent channel with excellent info!

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching, and suggesting that story. I do have a number of myths based on constellations to research and so will add this to the list. Thank you.

@johndanielharold3633 2 жыл бұрын

So the Irish didn´t have much in the way of myths until the Vikings arrived at the end of the 8th century and then their stories evolved from "older" Norse ones. A novel theory. Can you support your arguments?

@Crecganford 2 жыл бұрын

It’s not that they didn’t have myths, it is just there is no record of them. That’s easy to prove because you won’t be able to find any records of them!

@johndanielharold3633 2 жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford The earliest extant records are from the 11th century but they are copies of copies, many of whose archaic written elements go back to the early 7th century, and indeed they contain other linguistic elements and content that highlight the centuries of oral transmission prior to that date. Similar in effect to the Brehon Laws, which can be dated linguistically as far back as the 5th century but whose accumulated body of law stretches much further back into oral antiquity. They coincide uncannily in style and content with many elements in The Laws of Manu, which would point to a divergence of 3500 - 4000 years. The greater part of Norse mythology was set down in Iceland in the 13th century. I´m sure similar arguments could be made for their antiquity and I have no doubt the Vikings and the Irish influenced each other but I do think you made much too broad a claim. In any case, keep up the good work!

@jerex_rilles 3 жыл бұрын

dont

@boggiemanx Жыл бұрын

wrong

@Crecganford Жыл бұрын

That was so well argued, your points are exceptional, the academic references unquestionable. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

@boggiemanx Жыл бұрын

@@Crecganford your welcome

@liammcsweeney2616 20 күн бұрын

My family from my mom side are Sweeney I didn't get the last name Sweeney which upsets me but was named after my father anyway I love how my ancestors get love and some of it's history is brought to light I'm really interested in learning about the Sweeney side of my family but definitely more a Sweeney than a Fowler. I even look like my grandfather who full blooded Sweeney