Discover the MythCloud
Seven Ages: The Story of the Irish Stateis a landmark documentary series produced in 2000 by Araby Productions for RTĂ and BBC Northern Ireland. Directed by SeĂĄn Ă MĂłrdha, this influential seven-part series chronicles Ireland's evolution since its founding in 1921 through key political, social, and cultural moments in history.
The series offers a comprehensive exploration of how Ireland, as a new nation-state, evolved a collective identity over its first seven decades. The shared national narrative, initially framed by founding leaders, evolved through a dynamic interplay of internal and external socio-economic-cultural forces. It reveals the complex process through which societies construct and sustain their sense of collective self
Episode 1 examines the critical emergence of Irish national identity during the struggle for independence, revealing how new nations craft foundational myths to establish legitimacy. The narratives constructed during this period reflect a deliberate process of mythmaking essential to nation-building, with resistance and self-determination becoming central motifs in Ireland's emerging story of itself.
SeĂĄn Ă MĂłrdha's series presents Ireland's evolution as an intricate interplay between historical realities and collective self-perception, demonstrating how cultural narratives function as essential tools in national formation. The series brilliantly illustrates how societies construct meaningful narratives from historical raw material, selecting and emphasising certain elements while downplaying others to create a coherent national identity.
Each episode explores critical junctures that shaped modern Ireland's self-conception, showing how nations require not just political structures but also shared stories to bind citizens together in common purpose. The series is enriched by interviews with influential figures including former Presidents Patrick Hillery and Mary Robinson, and former Taoisigh who themselves participated in Ireland's evolving story.
By examining the dialectic between historical events and evolving national mythologies, the series offers a sophisticated understanding of how narratives serve both to reflect and to create social realities. First broadcast in 2000, Seven Ages remains a valuable resource for understanding how national identities are consciously crafted and unconsciously absorbed, showing that the stories we tell about our origins profoundly shape our understanding of who we are and what we might become.
This Baltic brass brooch, adorned with sun and plant motifs, exemplifies how material artefacts serve as repositories of cultural mythology. Inspired by archaeological findings from the Roman Iron Age, such decorative objects were never merely ornamental but functioned as wearable expressions of cosmological understanding and social identity.
The sun motif, prevalent throughout Baltic archaeological findings, represents one of humanity's most universal mythological symbols. Its prominence in Baltic decorative arts reflects not simply aesthetic preference but a sophisticated symbolic system connecting human experience to cosmic order. By wearing such symbols, individuals incorporated themselves into a larger narrative framework that explained natural cycles and affirmed cultural continuity.
Plant motifs, frequently paired with solar imagery, create a visual representation of the relationship between celestial influence and earthly fertilityâa fundamental pattern in agricultural mythologies worldwide. This symbolic pairing reflects pre-modern understanding of cosmic interconnection, where celestial movements directly influenced terrestrial prosperity.
Beyond their symbolic content, such brooches fulfilled multiple functions simultaneously: practical fasteners, indicators of social status, and protective talismans. This multi-functionality exemplifies how mythological thinking permeated everyday life in traditional societies, collapsing modern distinctions between practical, aesthetic, and spiritual domains. The craftsmanship evident in these pieces demonstrates that technical skill itself was understood within a mythological framework, with metalworking often associated with transformative or even magical properties. These brooches thus provide a tangible link to a world where material objects naturally expressed immaterial values and beliefs.
National Treasures is an innovative crowdsourced archive project that collects everyday objects and cultural stories to highlight Ireland's heritage throughout the past century. Developed by RTĂ, Ireland's national broadcaster, in collaboration with the National Museum of Ireland, this initiative represents a democratic approach to heritage documentation and preservation.
The project invites the public to submit objects representing significant moments and experiences, creating a digital archive that reflects Ireland's diverse narratives. Rather than focusing exclusively on items of monetary value or those associated with famous figures, National Treasures prioritises objects that carry personal and community significance, democratising the concept of what constitutes "treasure."
This approach emphasises how personal memories and seemingly mundane artefacts contribute to national history, demonstrating that even simple items can reveal profound social changes and cultural values. By involving ordinary citizens in the curation process, National Treasures honours individual stories while connecting viewers to shared Irish experiences, creating a more inclusive understanding of national identity.
The multi-platform campaign encompasses a website, roadshow events, a four-part television series, and a physical exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland. This comprehensive approach fosters broad participation and community engagement, allowing people from diverse backgrounds to see their experiences reflected in the national narrative.
By highlighting the importance of personal memory in shaping collective history, National Treasures strengthens the understanding of Irish identity for future generations while demonstrating how shared narratives emerge from individual experiences.
NaginÄs are traditional Baltic leather shoes that represent more than mere footwearâthey embody cultural identity, practical knowledge, and the relationship between Baltic peoples and their environment. These handcrafted shoes originated in the rural communities of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, serving as everyday wear for villagers across the region.
Crafted from soft, locally sourced leather, these shoes exemplify the resourcefulness of Baltic rural communities and their ability to create functional items from available materials. Their design prioritises simplicity, durability, and comfort for walking long distances across varied terrain, reflecting the predominantly agricultural lifestyle of historical Baltic societies.
The cultural significance of NaginÄs extends beyond their practical function. They represent a tangible link to traditional ways of life that have been largely displaced by industrialisation and modernisation. The knowledge of their construction and use constitutes an important element of intangible cultural heritage, preserving techniques and cultural practices that might otherwise be lost.
In contemporary Baltic societies, NaginÄs have experienced a revival as part of a broader movement to reclaim traditional crafts and cultural practices. Artisans in the region continue to produce these shoes, often adapting traditional designs for modern wearers, demonstrating how cultural artifacts can evolve while maintaining connections to their historical origins.
This resurgence of interest in traditional footwear reflects a wider pattern in which globalised societies seek to preserve distinctive cultural elements as counterpoints to homogenisation, using material culture as a means of maintaining and expressing cultural identity.
"Spotkanie z WarszawÄ " ("Meeting with Warsaw") represents contemporary Polish musician Monika Brodka's reinterpretation of a 1964 song originally performed by Irena Santor, a leading figure in Polish popular music of the post-war era. This musical reimagining, featured on Brodka's 2021 album BRUT, demonstrates how cultural narratives evolve through artistic reinterpretation across generations.
Brodka's adaptation maintains a connection to the original composition's melodic structure while transforming it through contemporary alternative sensibilities. The accompanying black-and-white video, which Brodka directed herself, features the artist in the symbolic role of the Warsaw Mermaid (Syrenka Warszawska)âthe emblematic figure that has represented Poland's capital since at least the 14th century and appears on the city's coat of arms.
Through this visual narrative, Brodka recounts Warsaw's tumultuous history, particularly focusing on the city's resilience and rebuilding after the devastation of World War II, when approximately 85% of the city was destroyed. This historical reference connects contemporary audiences with the collective memory of trauma and renewal that has shaped Warsaw's urban identity.
By embodying the mermaid figure, Brodka places herself within a lineage of cultural symbols that have helped define Warsaw's character through centuries of political upheaval. Her modern reinterpretation demonstrates how mythological figures can be reinvented to speak to contemporary concerns while maintaining their connection to historical narratives.
This project reflects the fluid nature of cultural mythology in contemporary artistic practice, showing how traditional symbols and narratives can be reimagined to create dialogue between past and present, continuity and innovation, in the ongoing construction of urban and national identities.
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), one of Belgium's premier cultural institutions, houses The Fall of Pegasus, Inventory No. 3322/1, a painting by Bill Orix that depicts a dramatic moment from Greek mythology rarely featured in artistic representation.
In classical mythology, Pegasus, the winged horse born from the blood of Medusa after her beheading by Perseus, is most commonly portrayed in his heroic aspectsâcarrying the thunderbolts of Zeus, helping Bellerophon defeat the Chimera, or creating the Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon with a strike of his hoof. However, the mythology also includes accounts of Pegasus's downfall, which appears to be the subject of Orix's painting.
According to some versions of the myth, Bellerophon, having successfully tamed Pegasus and accomplished various heroic feats with his aid, became arrogant and attempted to fly to Mount Olympus on the winged horse's back. This hubristic act angered Zeus, who sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, causing the horse to buck and throw Bellerophon to his death. Pegasus himself continued to Olympus, where he served Zeus by carrying his thunderbolts.
Alternatively, some accounts describe Pegasus eventually falling from the sky due to the intervention of the gods, perhaps as a consequence of his association with Bellerophon's pride or as part of a separate mythological episode. This fall represents the classic mythological theme of punishment for hubrisâthe dangerous pride that leads mortals or their allies to transgress divine boundaries.
Orix's painting captures this dramatic moment of divine intervention and consequent fall, illustrating how mythological narratives often served as vehicles for exploring themes of human limitation, divine power, and the consequences of overreaching ambition.
Peter Paul Rubens' woodcut for the title page of Pompa IntroĂŻtus Ferdinand exemplifies how Renaissance ceremonial culture deliberately deployed mythological imagery to create sophisticated political narratives. As visual documentation of Ferdinand's ceremonial entry into Antwerp, this title page frame adorned with mythological figures demonstrates how classical references served both aesthetic and political functions in early modern European courtly contexts.
The "joyous entry" tradition itself functioned as ritualised performance that established mutual obligations between rulers and cities through carefully choreographed symbolic actions. By documenting these ephemeral ceremonies in permanent form, publications like Pompa IntroĂŻtus Ferdinand transformed temporary spectacle into lasting record, allowing the symbolic frameworks established during the ceremony to circulate more widely and persist over time.
The integration of mythological figures into the frame creates visual rhetoric that positions contemporary political authority within established patterns of legitimate rule. Classical references provided Renaissance courts with sophisticated symbolic language for articulating political relationships and aspirations, creating continuity between ancient precedents and current power structures. This visual strategy exemplifies how early modern political culture relied heavily on mythological frameworks to legitimate authority and articulate political ideals.
The preservation of this woodcut reflects ongoing cultural interest in understanding how visual culture participated in establishing and maintaining political authority during this formative period of European state development. Rather than representing mere decoration, the mythological imagery constitutes an integral component of how political relationships were conceptualised and communicated during this period. The woodcut thus provides valuable evidence of how mythological frameworks shaped political imagination in early modern Europe, creating symbolic language through which power relationships could be articulated, negotiated, and maintained.
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) displays Pomona, Inventory No. 2232, a copper sculpture by Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967), a significant figure in 20th-century modernist sculpture. This piece offers a compelling modern interpretation of Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards.
In Roman mythology, Pomona was unique among the pantheon for her exclusive association with cultivation rather than wild nature. She was portrayed as a skilled gardener who preferred the cultivated countryside to the untamed forests, symbolising humanity's relationship with domesticated landscapes. Her myth most famously includes the story of her courtship by Vertumnus, god of seasons and change, who won her affection by disguising himself in various forms.
Zadkine, born in Russia but primarily active in France, was known for his dynamic and expressive sculptures that blended cubist influences with more traditional forms. His interpretation of Pomona likely incorporates his signature style, which often featured elongated, angular forms and textured surfaces that create a sense of movement and emotional intensity.
The sculpture reflects Zadkine's deep engagement with mythology and nature, exploring themes of growth, fertility, and the relationship between humanity and the natural world. His modern treatment of this classical subject demonstrates how ancient mythological figures continue to provide rich material for artistic exploration across changing aesthetic movements.
The inclusion of this work in KMSKA's collection highlights Zadkine's significance in 20th-century art history and demonstrates the museum's commitment to representing the evolution of mythological subjects through modern artistic interpretation.
The pencil sketch Various Mythological and Religious Scenes, Inventory No. 2138(II)/124, by Nicaise De Keyser (1813-1887), forms part of the prestigious collection at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium's leading art institution established in the early 19th century.
De Keyser, who served as director of the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts from 1855 to 1879, was known for his historical paintings and portraits in the Romantic style. This particular sketch illustrates his practice of combining mythological and religious themes, demonstrating the fluid boundaries between these narrative traditions in 19th-century European art.
The work offers insight into De Keyser's creative process, showcasing his narrative-driven approach and detailed draftsmanship. Through such sketches, we can observe how artists of this period drew parallels between classical and Christian traditions, using both as repositories of moral and philosophical meaning.
This combination of mythological and religious imagery reflects the 19th-century European tendency to view both traditions as complementary sources of cultural authority and symbolic meaning. De Keyser's work exemplifies the scholarly approach to narrative art during this period, when artists were expected to demonstrate familiarity with both classical mythology and biblical stories.
The preservation of preliminary sketches like this one in major museums provides valuable insights into artistic methodology and the intellectual frameworks that guided narrative art during this period, revealing how mythology continued to serve as a vital source of artistic inspiration alongside religious themes.
This Baltic brass brooch, featuring sun and plant motifs derived from archaeological findings, illustrates how material culture embodies cosmological understanding. The intricate designs are not merely decorative but represent a sophisticated visual language through which Baltic peoples expressed their relationship to cosmic order and natural cycles.
The sun symbol, central to Baltic iconography, functioned simultaneously as a representation of a physical celestial body and as a metaphysical concept embodying life, order, and regeneration. This dual referenceâmaterial and spiritualâcharacterises mythological thinking across cultures, where physical phenomena are understood as manifestations of deeper metaphysical principles.
Plant imagery, frequently paired with solar symbols in Baltic decorative arts, creates a visual narrative of cosmic influence on earthly fertility. This relationship between celestial forces and terrestrial growth reflects a fundamental mythological pattern found in agricultural societies worldwide, where human prosperity depends on correctly understanding and ritually acknowledging cosmic interdependencies.
Such brooches served multiple functions simultaneously: practical fasteners, markers of social identity, and potentially protective talismans. This multidimensionality reflects how pre-modern societies integrated practical, social, and spiritual concerns within unified symbolic systems rather than separating them into distinct domains as modern thinking tends to do. The craftsmanship evident in these pieces demonstrates that technical skill itself was understood within a mythological framework, with metalworking often associated with transformative or even magical properties in traditional European societies.
The Syrenka, or Mermaid of Warsaw, stands as one of Poland's most enduring and recognisable mythological symbols, serving as the official emblem of Poland's capital city since at least the 14th century. Featured prominently on Warsaw's coat of arms and commemorated in statues, murals, and other public artworks throughout the city, this half-woman, half-fish figure embodies Warsaw's identity, resilience, and historical experience.
According to various legends that developed over centuries, the mermaid originally swam from the Baltic Sea into the Vistula River, where she chose to remain, enchanted by the beauty of the landscape and the river's course. Different versions of the tale describe how she was initially captured by a merchant but freed by local fishermen, after which she promised to guard the city and its peopleâexplaining her traditional depiction with sword and shield, ready to defend Warsaw from threats.
The Syrenka's symbolic significance has evolved over time, particularly in the aftermath of World War II, when approximately 85% of Warsaw was systematically destroyed by Nazi forces. During the city's post-war reconstruction, the mermaid became a powerful symbol of Warsaw's indomitable spirit and capacity for renewal, its continuing presence representing historical continuity despite catastrophic destruction.
Today, the most famous physical representation of the Syrenka stands in Warsaw's Old Town Square, a bronze statue created by sculptor Konstanty Hegel in 1855. However, the symbol appears in countless variations throughout the city, from official municipal buildings to street art, consumer products, and corporate logos, demonstrating its flexible adaptability to different contexts while maintaining its essential character.
The enduring presence of the Warsaw Mermaid in the city's visual identity exemplifies how mythological figures can become integral to civic self-understanding, evolving over centuries while providing a sense of continuity and distinctiveness in the face of historical challenges.
Seven Ages: The Story of the Irish Stateis a landmark documentary series produced in 2000 by Araby Productions for RTĂ and BBC Northern Ireland. Directed by SeĂĄn Ă MĂłrdha, this influential seven-part series chronicles Ireland's evolution since its founding in 1921 through key political, social, and cultural moments in history.
The series offers a comprehensive exploration of how Ireland, as a new nation-state, evolved a collective identity over its first seven decades. The shared national narrative, initially framed by founding leaders, evolved through a dynamic interplay of internal and external socio-economic-cultural forces. It reveals the complex process through which societies construct and sustain their sense of collective self
Episode 7 analyses how economic hardship and political turmoil in 1980s Ireland catalysed a profound reassessment of national identity. The evolution toward a more nuanced understanding of Irishness demonstrates the adaptive capacity of collective mythology, revealing how societies reformulate their self-conceptions in response to crisis without abandoning core narrative continuity.
SeĂĄn Ă MĂłrdha's documentary series presents this period as a crucial moment of national introspection, illustrating how challenging times often prompt societies to revise overly simplistic narratives of national character. The series shows that effective national mythologies are not rigid constructs but flexible frameworks that can accommodate complexity and contradiction.
Each episode examines critical junctures in Ireland's evolution, revealing how national stories serve both to reflect and to shape collective responses to adversity. The documentary features insights from key political figures and cultural commentators who participated in this national reassessment, offering valuable perspective on how societies consciously and unconsciously revise their foundational narratives.
By analysing how Ireland maintained narrative coherence while acknowledging greater complexity in its self-understanding, the series provides a sophisticated framework for understanding the essential role of storytelling in social resilience. First broadcast in 2000, Seven Ages remains a valuable resource for examining how national mythologies evolve to incorporate even the most challenging circumstances, demonstrating that the most enduring collective narratives are those capable of accommodating growth and change.
The RTĂ documentary Luke, directed by Sinead O'Brien and first broadcast in 1999, explores the life and legacy of Luke Kelly, one of Ireland's most iconic folk singers and a founding member of The Dubliners.
The film chronicles Kelly's journey from inner-city Dublin to his untimely death at 44, highlighting his profound influence on Irish music and culture. Featuring archival footage and interviews with figures such as Bono, Christy Moore, and Shane MacGowan, it weaves Kelly's music with reflections on his passionate advocacy for social justice and cultural pride.
In the context of national identity, Luke serves as more than a biographical documentary. It demonstrates the power of folk music as a vessel for storytelling and cultural continuity, with Kelly's renditions of classics like 'Raglan Road' and 'The Auld Triangle' embodying Ireland's struggles and aspirations. His voice became a symbol of shared national mythology, connecting generations through emotional resonance and resistance against cultural erasure.
By examining Kelly's life and art, the documentary illuminates how individual artists shape the narrative of national cultural identity, transforming personal expression into collective memory.
This Lithuanian etiological legend about the creation of the Sun represents a classic example of how traditional societies developed narrative explanations for cosmic phenomena. The story of a blacksmith who forged a shiny piece of iron for six years before hurling it into the sky where it remains as the Sun demonstrates how mythological thinking connected natural phenomena to human activities and crafts, making the cosmic comprehensible through familiar frameworks.
The attribution of the Sun's creation to a blacksmith reflects the cultural significance of metalworking in traditional societies. The transformation of raw materials through fire and skill represented one of humanity's most profound technological achievements, naturally lending itself to mythological associations with cosmic creation. The six-year timeframe emphasises the extraordinary effort required, positioning this cosmic creation as the ultimate expression of human craft rather than instantaneous divine action.
The act of throwing the forged Sun into the sky creates a compelling visual image that bridges human and cosmic domains. This narrative element exemplifies how mythological thinking frequently creates connections between everyday human actions and cosmic processes, making the universe conceptually accessible through familiar frameworks. The simplicity and directness of this explanation demonstrates how mythological narratives often distill complex phenomena into comprehensible stories that connect human experience to larger cosmic patterns.
The preservation of this tale in Norbertas VÄlius's collection How the Earth Came to Be: Lithuanian Etiological Legends represents an important transition in how such narratives functionâfrom living explanatory frameworks to documented cultural heritage. This preservation process transforms oral traditions into textual artifacts, changing their social function while ensuring their survival beyond the communities that originally created them. The contemporary interest in such etiological legends reflects continuing fascination with how traditional societies created meaningful explanatory frameworks for understanding the natural world through narrative rather than scientific explanation.
BluirĂnĂ BĂ©aloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.
Fairy Forts
Across the Irish countryside, scattered through fields, valleys, and forgotten corners, lie countless earthwork mounds, cairns, and tumuliârelics of early human habitation dating back to prehistoric times. These ancient sites have acquired profound supernatural significance over centuries, regarded in folk tradition as the dwellings of Na Daoine Maithe (The Good People), a euphemistic term for fairies in Irish folklore.
Far removed from the whimsical fairies of Victorian imagination or contemporary popular culture, these beings were conceptualised as an ancient, otherworldly community that coexisted with humans within the natural landscape. Both feared and revered, they were believed to wield considerable influence over human lives, capable of bestowing both blessings and curses. Their ambiguous natureâneither entirely benevolent nor wholly maliciousâreflects the complex relationship between Irish rural communities and the unpredictable forces of nature.
In this edition of BlĂșirĂnĂ BĂ©aloidis from Ireland's National Folklore Collection, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon explore the rich history and intricate role of fairies in Irish tradition. Their discussion challenges popular misconceptions, uncovering the origins, habitats, and rituals associated with these enigmatic beings. By examining connections to fallen angels, pre-Christian deities, and nature spirits, the episode traces how various cultural and religious influences shaped beliefs about the fairy world.
The enduring belief in fairy forts and reluctance to disturb themâeven well into the 20th century and occasionally persisting todayâdemonstrates how mythological narratives can influence practical behaviour and land use over remarkable time spans. These sites became focal points where abstract beliefs manifested in concrete interactions with the landscape, creating spatially defined areas where ordinary rules were suspended.
This exploration reveals how mythological beliefs function not merely as entertaining stories but as frameworks for interpreting the environment, explaining misfortune, and maintaining connections to ancestral landscapes.
This collection of folk stories from Flanders and Brabant represents a significant preservation of oral traditions at a time when such cultural expressions were increasingly threatened by modernisation. Featuring tales like Simple John and The Boy Who Always Said the Wrong Thing, the collection offers valuable insights into the moral frameworks and imaginative patterns that shaped traditional Flemish culture.
The collection's emphasis on "simple, sometimes primitive characters" reflects the didactic function of folk narratives across cultures. By presenting protagonists who initially lack wisdom or sophistication but navigate challenging situations, these tales provide accessible models for moral development and practical problem-solving. Their "whimsical adventures" create engaging narrative frameworks for exploring the consequences of various choices and behaviours.
The comparison to nursery rhymes in other cultures acknowledges the multilayered functionality of folk narratives, which simultaneously entertain, instruct, and transmit cultural values. This combination of purposes distinguishes traditional storytelling from more specialised modern narrative forms, reflecting pre-modern integration of education, entertainment, and moral instruction rather than their separation into distinct domains.
The translation of these tales into English by M.C.O. Morris represents a significant cultural transition, transforming localised oral traditions into internationally accessible literary artefacts. This process, paralleled across Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries, fundamentally altered how folk narratives functionedâpreserving them while simultaneously changing their context and meaning. The illustrations by Jean de BosschĂšre further adapt these oral traditions to visual form, creating a multisensory experience that differs from traditional storytelling while making the narratives accessible to new audiences.
This traditional Lithuanian sakmÄ, or etiological legend, titled "The Sun, the Moon, and the Earth," offers a mythological explanation for the cycle of day and night through a narrative of cosmic family relations. The tale has been preserved and translated from How the Earth Came to Be: Lithuanian Etiological Legends (âKaip atsirado ĆŸemÄ: lietuviĆł etiologinÄs sakmÄsâ), a collection compiled by noted Lithuanian folklorist Norbertas VÄlius.
In this narrative, the Sun and the Moon are portrayed as cosmic parents who cherish their daughter, Earth. The harmony of this celestial family is disrupted when a dispute arises over who should have the responsibility of guarding their beloved daughter. The Sun claims exclusive right to this protective role, but the Moon disagrees with this arrangement, leading to a conflict that requires divine intervention.
The matter is brought before Judge Perkƫnas, the powerful thunder god in Baltic mythology, who must determine a fair solution. His ruling establishes cosmic order by acknowledging the distinctive qualities of each celestial being: the Sun, embodying maternal warmth, is assigned to watch over Earth during daylight hours, while the Moon, accompanied by his starry sisters, takes responsibility for the night watch. This judgment establishes the alternating cycle of day and night that continues to the present day.
This cosmological myth exemplifies how traditional societies used narrative to explain natural phenomena while simultaneously establishing models for social relationships and conflict resolution. The tale anthropomorphises celestial bodies, making their movements comprehensible through familiar family dynamics, while positioning key natural phenomena within an ordered, purposeful universe.
The narrative reflects the deep connection between Lithuanian mythology and the natural world, illustrating how cosmic order was understood through relational metaphors that created meaningful links between human experience and celestial patterns.
This Lithuanian sakmÄ about two mothers and their contrasting encounters with hags exemplifies how traditional narratives articulated moral principles through supernatural frameworks. The tale's structureâshowing parallel situations with dramatically different outcomes based on intentionâcreates powerful didactic framework that reinforces social values while acknowledging the mysterious forces believed to shape human experience.
The contrasting fates of the two childrenâone found carefully swaddled in silk, the other beheadedâestablishes clear moral distinction between genuine accident and deliberate negligence. The hags' different lullabies about the "forgotten one" versus the "purposely forgotten one" demonstrate sophisticated moral reasoning that distinguishes between similar actions based on underlying intention. This nuance reflects how traditional moral frameworks often recognised the importance of internal motivation rather than merely external action.
The supernatural beings in this tale function simultaneously as moral arbiters and representations of cosmic justice. Their ability to discern the mothers' true intentions demonstrates belief in forces beyond human perception that nonetheless respond to human moral quality. This integration of supernatural agency with moral consequence creates powerful framework for reinforcing social values by suggesting that unseen forces monitor and respond to human behaviour.
Compiled from Norbertas VÄlius's collection of Lithuanian etiological legends, this tale exemplifies how traditional narratives addressed complex ethical questions through accessible story formats. By portraying extreme consequences for calculated deception, the narrative reinforces community values of genuine care and responsibility while warning against manipulation of social systems. The tale's preservation transforms what was once living oral tradition into documented cultural heritage, changing its function while ensuring its survival beyond the communities that originally created it.
Eoin Cantwell's thesis on Hipster Republicanism and the Rebranding of Sinn FĂ©in examines Ireland's changing relationship with republican identity and how traditional political mythologies adapt to contemporary cultural, aesthetic and digital contexts.
By analysing Sinn FĂ©in's transformation from a political pariah associated with paramilitary violence to a mainstream political force, Cantwell illuminates how political movements respond to changing social and political circumstances by selectively reframing historical narratives while maintaining narrative continuity with established traditions.
Cantwell examines how a reemergence of young Irish republicanism offers a compelling case study in the evolution of political mythology through cultural and political adaptation. By blending modern sensibilities with romanticised notions of Irish republicanism, Sinn FĂ©in has created visual and narrative frameworks that appeal to younger demographics while maintaining connection to historical political traditions. This strategic repositioning exemplifies how political movements navigate the tension between historical authenticity and contemporary relevance.
Parallels with broader cultural phenomena illustrate how political mythologies operate across multiple domains simultaneously. Two patterns emerge: first, a resurgence of traditional Irish culture embraced by younger generations as relevant and authentic; second, the mainstreaming of previously polarizing Republican bands like the Wolfe Tones. These cultural expressions reveal national narratives as contested sites rather than neutral historical accounts. Contemporary political identities thus form through ongoing reinterpretation of shared historical references, not rigid ideological positions. Meanwhile, newer folk acts like Lankum and The Mary Wallopers adopt more apolitical stances while still drawing on and reinventing more traditional forms.
Sinn FĂ©in's sophisticated digital strategyâleveraging memes, merchandise, and social mediaâdemonstrates how traditional political narratives adapt to new media environments. By creating simplified, commodified versions of complex historical narratives, these approaches make political mythologies accessible to audiences without detailed historical knowledge. This strategic simplification exemplifies how contemporary political movements navigate tensions between historical complexity and the need for accessible messaging, often prioritising emotional resonance over historical nuance. The broader cultural moment shaped by Brexit, changing demographics, and evolving national identities creates context in which these reimagined republican symbols acquire new significance while maintaining connections to established political traditions.
This educational resource pack, developed by the National Library of Ireland, introduces secondary school students to the rich relationship between W.B. Yeats (1865-1939)âone of Ireland's most significant literary figuresâand the traditional folklore that profoundly influenced his poetic imagination. Drawing on the Library's extensive Yeats collection, it provides students with a structured approach to exploring how mythological narratives shaped literary expression in the Irish Revival period.
The lesson materials guide pupils through an examination of primary and secondary sources from the National Library's holdings, encouraging critical engagement with Yeats's creative process and his adaptation of folk motifs. By investigating how traditional fairytales and folklore informed Yeats's poetry, students gain insight into the dynamic relationship between oral tradition and literary innovation during a formative period in Ireland's cultural development.
W.B. Yeats's engagement with Irish folklore was not merely aesthetic but deeply political, emerging during a period of cultural nationalism when the recovery and celebration of indigenous traditions became integral to the assertion of Irish identity. Alongside figures like Lady Gregory and Douglas Hyde, Yeats participated in collecting and reinterpreting folk narratives, believing they contained spiritual and psychological truths essential to understanding the Irish character.
The featured illustration by Victor Brown, depicting an extract from Yeats's "The Song of Wandering Aengus," visually represents this synthesis of literary craft and mythological source material. This poem, with its references to the supernatural and its evocation of Ireland's mystical landscape, exemplifies how Yeats transformed traditional motifs into modern literary expression.
This educational resource demonstrates the continuing significance of examining how cultural memory is preserved, transmitted, and transformed through artistic expression, encouraging students to consider how traditional narratives maintain relevance through creative reinterpretation.
The series offers a comprehensive exploration of how Ireland, as a new nation-state, evolved a collective identity over its first seven decades. The shared national narrative, initially framed by founding leaders, evolved through a dynamic interplay of internal and external socio-economic-cultural forces. It reveals the complex process through which societies construct and sustain their sense of collective self
Episode 4 examines how economic challenges in 1950s Ireland catalysed a profound national reckoning with competing mythologies of identity. The clash between romantic pastoral ideals and modernisation imperatives reveals a universal pattern in how societies negotiate transitions through competing narratives of who they are and who they might become.
SeĂĄn Ă MĂłrdha's documentary series presents this period as a critical juncture where Ireland's self-conception was fundamentally contested, illustrating how economic necessities often force reconsideration of cherished national myths. The series demonstrates that moments of economic crisis frequently trigger not just policy debates but deeper existential questions about national character and purpose.
Each episode explores decisive moments in Ireland's evolution, revealing how national identities are constantly renegotiated through an ongoing dialogue between established narratives and emerging realities. The documentary features insights from key political figures and cultural commentators, offering multi-dimensional perspectives on Ireland's struggle to reconcile traditional self-conceptions with modern imperatives.
By examining the tension between idealised pasts and pragmatic futures, the series provides a sophisticated framework for understanding how societies adapt their foundational stories to accommodate changing circumstances. First broadcast in 2000, Seven Ages continues to offer valuable insights into how national mythologies function both as anchors to tradition and as adaptable frameworks that can accommodateâalbeit sometimes reluctantlyâthe inevitability of change.Seven Ages: The Story of the Irish Stateis a landmark documentary series produced in 2000 by Araby Productions for RTĂ and BBC Northern Ireland. Directed by SeĂĄn Ă MĂłrdha, this influential seven-part series chronicles Ireland's evolution since its founding in 1921 through key political, social, and cultural moments in history.
Yorgos Maraziotis' artistic research project Mythical Truths offers a sophisticated exploration of how contemporary institutions develop their own mythologies through the accumulation and circulation of personal narratives. By collecting stories from students at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and treating them as myths that oscillate between truth and fiction, Maraziotis demonstrates how mythological thinking continues to shape collective identity even in ostensibly rational modern contexts.
The project's recognition that personal belief, fact, fiction, and myth are intertwined within our understanding of the world challenges simplistic distinctions between objective and subjective knowledge. This approach reflects contemporary understandings of how social realities are constructed through shared narratives rather than existing as fixed, independent truths. By applying this framework to art education specifically, Maraziotis illuminates how artistic institutions develop distinct cultures through the accumulation and transmission of stories that shape participants' experiences and expectations.
Particularly significant is the project's attention to the Academy's 360-year history and its current international character, with students from over fifty countries engaging in critical self-reflection and artistic practice. This emphasis on diversity within a historically situated institution raises important questions about how cultural narratives evolve through contact with multiple traditions and perspectives. The project thus examines the dynamic interplay between institutional continuity and cultural evolution.
Maraziotis' questioning of whether memory is a fixed notion or a constantly evolving construct addresses fundamental issues in how mythological thinking operates in contemporary contexts. By exploring how an archive of everyday stories can facilitate institutional pluralism and inspire meaningful change, the project demonstrates how mythological frameworks continue to serve essential functions in modern societyâproviding flexible frameworks for understanding complex social realities while adapting to changing circumstances and diverse perspectives.
The iconography surrounding the 1981 hunger strikes in Northern Ireland demonstrates the powerful role of visual symbolism in political resistance movements. Emerging from the "Blanket Protest" that began in 1976 at the H-Blocks of the Maze Prison (Long Kesh), this visual language created enduring symbols that transcended their immediate context to shape broader narratives of political struggle.
The Blanket Protest itself began when prisoners refused to wear standard prison uniforms, seeing this as acceptance of criminal rather than political status. Instead, they wrapped themselves in blankets, creating a striking visual metaphor of dignified resistance against state categorisation. This imageâmen clothed only in blankets within stark cell environmentsâcommunicated their determination to maintain political identity despite physical deprivation and institutional pressure.
As the protest escalated into the hunger strikes of 1981, the visual representation of the strikers themselves became increasingly powerful. Photographs of the ten men who died, particularly Bobby Sands, underwent a transformation from documentary images to iconic symbols. Their gaunt faces, captured before imprisonment and then circulated alongside their political writings, created a narrative of sacrifice and principle that resonated well beyond Ireland, prompting international protests from New York to Tehran.
The use of simplified visual elementsâblankets, prison cells, and portraits of the hunger strikersâalongside slogans like "Give Us Our Rights" created an instantly recognisable visual language that communicated complex political demands through accessible imagery. These symbols transcended literacy and language barriers, allowing the republican cause to build international solidarity.
Decades later, this iconography continues to shape republican identity, demonstrating how visual elements can become repositories of collective memory that transmit historical experiences to new generations, maintaining continuity in political movements through shared visual references.
This woodblock, designed by Pieter van der Borcht I and carved by Antoni van Leest for Rembert Dodoens' influential botanical work Cruijdeboeck, exemplifies how Renaissance scientific publications incorporated mythological elements even as they advanced empirical understanding of the natural world. The integration of mythological figures in the design of a scientific text reflects the transitional nature of Renaissance thought, which blended emerging scientific methodologies with established symbolic frameworks.
The woodblock's intricate mythological imagery served multiple functions beyond mere decoration. By framing botanical knowledge within classical mythological references, the design positioned Dodoens' work within established intellectual traditions while simultaneously signalling its participation in Renaissance cultural innovations. The specific replacement of Maria of Hungary's heraldic shield with a floral vase in the 1563 edition demonstrates how such imagery adapted to changing political circumstances while maintaining visual continuity.
The technical execution of the woodblockâsigned by its creators and preserved through its acquisition in 1876ârepresents a material artifact of Renaissance printmaking practices. The collaborative process between designer and woodcarver exemplifies how knowledge transmission in this period required specialised technical skills alongside intellectual innovation. This collaboration mirrors the broader Renaissance integration of artistic and scientific pursuits, challenging modern disciplinary boundaries.
This woodblock thus stands at a significant historical juncture, participating in the transition from predominantly mythological frameworks for understanding nature toward more empirical approaches. Rather than representing a clean break with earlier modes of thought, it demonstrates how new scientific methodologies emerged gradually, incorporating elements of traditional symbolic thinking while developing increasingly systematic approaches to natural phenomena. The Plantin-Moretus Museum's preservation of this artifact reflects ongoing cultural interest in understanding this pivotal moment in European intellectual history.
Laima, deriving her name from the Lithuanian word laimÄ meaning "happiness" or "luck," is a central figure in Baltic mythology, revered as the goddess of fate and fortune.
Predominantly worshipped in Latvia and Lithuania, she plays a crucial role in the life cycle of individuals, from birth to death, marriage, and even the fate of crops and animals. Laima's influence permeates daily life, particularly in matters of fortune, well-being, and success.
Closely associated with the sacred linden tree, Laima often appears alongside Dievs, the sky god, and Saule, the sun goddess, forming a divine trio governing human destiny. Her presence is particularly significant during childbirth, when she pronounces each infant's destiny. She also arranges marriages, oversees weddings, and protects pregnant women, ensuring life's continuity and societal harmony.
In Latvian mythology, Laima sometimes forms part of a trinity of fate deities with her sisters KÄrta and DÄkla. While all three have similar functions, Laima governs luck and childbirth, DÄkla oversees children, and KÄrta influences adult life.
Her role extends to the natural world, influencing field fertility and animal well-being, particularly horses. This multifaceted role offers insight into Baltic cultural values, emphasising the interconnectedness of fate, nature, and human existence.
