A friend sent the following to me looking for a translation. Any help would be appreciated.
Go n-aora do chuid naimhde thú.
~ Thornton
[ This Message was edited by: ThorntonRose on 2002-02-17 14:14 ]
~ Thornton
On 2002-02-17 14:14, ThorntonRose wrote:
A friend sent the following to me looking for a translation. Any help would be appreciated.Go n-aora do chuid naimhde thú.
~ Thornton[ This Message was edited by: ThorntonRose on 2002-02-17 14:14 ]
I don’t actually speak Gaelic much. But since no one else is even going to try…
The phrase has the same form of the old cliche:
go n-eirigh an bothar leat.
may rise the road with you or
may the road rise to meet you.
I looked in my dictionary and “naimhde” seems to mean malice or hostility. I couldn’t find “aora” in any dictionary but I found that “aom” means to bend. So here is my “wild guess”:
May bend (turn?) your things malicious to you
or
May your malicousness backfire on you!
But that really is just a guess.
If you find out, let me know how far off I was.
bye
Bill
The phrase
Go n-aora do chuid naimhde thú.
is actually ancient Irish which is why it is difficult to translate. It is part of a much longer Epic Poem called the Ghrah mSliebh Soch (pardon the absence of various diacriticals). If I remember correctly, the poem recounts the how the great Irish hero Fionn Mac Cumbh had a wee bit too much too drink one night and woke up with a headache and generally feeling awful. Neither vinegar, cold porridge nor farting to windward seem to help on this blustery day. As he continues to try to remedy his poor situation, he comes upon some enemies, whom he kills. Finally, he gives up and decides to have more drink. On his way back home he passes dead fowl which leads him to reflect on the sad and transitory nature of human existence.
The only English rendition of the epic that I am aware of comes form Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Redbridge, Essex, England. Here is an excerpt:
The dead swans lay in the stagnant pool
They lay, they rotted, they turned around occasionally
Bits of flesh dropped off them from time to time
and sank into the pool’s mire
they also smelt a great deal
Hope this helps.
\
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-02-19 09:21 ]
“Go n-aora do chuid naimhide thú”
Alright, This is as far as I know from a poem about Fionn MacChumhaill as Bloomfield pointed out. I never studied old Irish…for very good reason. I had a look in a dictionary for “aor” but it doesn’t seem to appear. It is the verb in the sentence, but the basic translation is:
“That your enemies will you”
Naimhide = enemies
N-aora = the verb aor, in the Modh Foshnaísch Láithearach
Go thú = That you.
Like I say, Useless without the verb. And to make things more complicated when it is a phrase in old Irish it is probably a “Shean Fhocail” or a proverb so the literal translation could be miles away from the meaning!!
So poetic and…and…full of dead animals disintegrating. Anyway, that sounds as a real Irish hero to me. All those deeds… ANYONE can kill monsters, but hey, waking up with a bad hangover, that’s the stuff legends are made of 
.
I have it…
aoradh is to worship or praise
So the sentence translates to:
“May your enemies worship you”
Like I say, probably a Shean Fhocail so look for deeper meaning!!!
Thanks!