All Topics  
Míl Espáine

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Míl Espáine
 
 
  Topics Míl Espáine Topic Home

In Goidelic mythology
Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology....
 Míl Espáine (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 Miles Hispaniae, "Soldier of Hispania
Hispania

Hispania was the name given by the Ancient Rome to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior....
"; later pseudo-Latinised as Milesius; also Miled/Miledh) is the ancestor of the final inhabitants of Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, the "sons of Míl" or Milesians
Milesians (Irish)

Milesians are a people figuring in Irish mythology. The descendants of M?l Esp?ine, they were the final inhabitants of Ireland, and were believed to represent the Goidelic Celts....
, who represent the Goidelic Celts.

His given name was Golam or Galamh. He served as a soldier in Scythia
Scythia

The Scythians or Scyths were an Eastern Iranian languages of Equestrianism nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity....
 and Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, before remembering a prophesy that his descendants would rule Ireland.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Míl Espáine'
Start a new discussion about 'Míl Espáine'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


In Goidelic mythology
Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology....
 Míl Espáine (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 Miles Hispaniae, "Soldier of Hispania
Hispania

Hispania was the name given by the Ancient Rome to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior....
"; later pseudo-Latinised as Milesius; also Miled/Miledh) is the ancestor of the final inhabitants of Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, the "sons of Míl" or Milesians
Milesians (Irish)

Milesians are a people figuring in Irish mythology. The descendants of M?l Esp?ine, they were the final inhabitants of Ireland, and were believed to represent the Goidelic Celts....
, who represent the Goidelic Celts.

His given name was Golam or Galamh. He served as a soldier in Scythia
Scythia

The Scythians or Scyths were an Eastern Iranian languages of Equestrianism nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity....
 and Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, before remembering a prophesy that his descendants would rule Ireland. He set off to the west, getting as far as Iberia
Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France....
 (the Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 Hispania
Hispania

Hispania was the name given by the Ancient Rome to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior....
) where he fought several battles before dying, never seeing Ireland himself.

His wife Scota
Scota

Scota, in Irish mythology, Scottish mythology, and pseudohistory, is the name given to two different mythological daughters of two different Ancient Egypt Pharaohs to whom the Gaels traced their ancestry, allegedly explaining the name Scoti, applied by the Roman Empire to Irish raiders, and later to the Irish invaders of Argyll and Caled...
 and his uncle Íth, who had spied Ireland from a tower, sailed to Ireland where Íth was killed by the Tuatha Dé Danann
Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha D? Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gab?la ?renn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
. When his body was brought back to Iberia, Míl's eight sons and Íth's nine brothers invaded Ireland and defeated the Tuatha Dé Danann.

He figures prominently in the genealogies of John O'Hart
John O'Hart

John O'Hart was an Ireland genealogy. He was born in Crossmolina, County Mayo, Ireland. Originally he planned to join the Catholic Church but instead spent 2 years as a police officer....
 being the common ancestor of all the Irish.

Milesius died in Iberia before he could reach the Isle of Destiny. His wife Scota went to Ireland with their eight sons. Due to some terrible storms (attributed to the magic of the Tuatha Dé Danann who already lived in Ireland) most of Milesius' sons died when they tried to land.

Controversy

Traditionally, the Latinisation has been interpreted by folklorists and academics as relating to the inhabitants of the city-state of Miletus
Miletus

Miletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria. Evidence of first settlement at the site has been made inaccessible by the rise of sea level and deposition of sediments from the Maeander....
 in Greece, commonly referred to as Milesians. Written mediaeval genealogies of the kings of Ireland were drawn back to the royal house of the city. The term Mìl Espàine was retained in the oral tradition in the north of Scotland, and scholars have latterly proposed that the Hellenic interpretation was a mediaeval fabrication created to support the notion of the divine right of kings
Divine Right of Kings

The Divine Right of Kings is a politics and religion doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God....
 by obscuring the origin of kingship in the ascent of individual warlords. As the crown of Scotland moved more to an Anglo-Norman culture in the early second millennium AD, the Celtic genealogy was not seen as important to the crown and no such justification was required in Scotland.

See also

  • Scota
    Scota

    Scota, in Irish mythology, Scottish mythology, and pseudohistory, is the name given to two different mythological daughters of two different Ancient Egypt Pharaohs to whom the Gaels traced their ancestry, allegedly explaining the name Scoti, applied by the Roman Empire to Irish raiders, and later to the Irish invaders of Argyll and Caled...
  • Lebor Gabála Érenn
    Lebor Gabála Érenn

    Lebor Gab?la ?renn is the Irish language title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages....
  • Celtiberians
    Celtiberians

    The Celtiberians were a Celtic languages-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BCE. The group originated when Celts migrated from Gaul and integrated with the local Pre-Indo-European populations of Iberia, in particular the Iberians....
  • Black Irish
    Black Irish

    Inspired by tales which claim the darker features to be of Iberians derivation, researchers have looked to science for answers, often citing genetic studies pertaining to those with Irish ancestry....


External links