14

In the "Prayer for Mad Sweeney" episode, the car accident throws Laura through the window and rips the golden coin from her body.

Mad Sweeney picks it up and he is ready to walk away from the dead Laura's body, but then he changes his mind - he screams something in Gaelic (I believe that at least...) to the surrounding forest, and after placing a few missing bits back into Laura's chest, he gives her back his special coin.

What was he saying?

Bonus question: What fell off from Laura's body?

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  • I'm Canadian and don't speak a clean word of Irish. My cousin in Dublin teaches it and I could fire it off to her if there's some discrepancy in the above translations. I'll check back. The translations so far seem to match, and the situation in the story seems to warrant it. "Man of the mounds" is "Banshee". – Boulder Frog Jun 15 '17 at 23:45
23

VERY literally: 'What-is-it from-which this shit has befallen to me? Is it not a sufficiency I have suffered/endured? It's a sufficiency besides. I'm not evil! I'm not!'

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  • 1
    Are you a native speaker? What is your source for this translation? – Gallifreyan Jun 13 '17 at 18:58
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    It's in medieval Irish. I teach the language at university level. – user84740 Jun 13 '17 at 19:08
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    The word is lór, 'enough, sufficient', an adjective often used (as here) as a noun 'enough, a sufficiency'---there's no really distinction of meaning, I was just being very literal. In more colloquial English: 'Why does this shit happen to me? Haven't I suffered enough? It's enough besides. I'm not evil. I'm not.' – user84740 Jun 14 '17 at 8:56
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    What I want to know is which of my colleagues translated this...it's grammatically perfect medieval Irish, and there are probably only about 100 people in the world who could have done it. – user84740 Jun 14 '17 at 8:57
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    The answer to User84740's question, "Who translated this?" is Tadhg Morris, a PhD candidate at the Centre for Medieval Studies in Toronto, who, though competent in Middle Irish, actually specializes in Classical Gaelic bardic verse. – Tadhg Morris Jun 16 '17 at 22:24
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This site sources fluent Gaelic speakers as translating the speech more-or-less as:

"“Haven’t I believed enough in your bullshit? Haven’t I suffered enough? Isn’t that enough itself? I’m not evil! I’m not!”

(or, in the original tongue)

""Créd as co tarlaid an cac-sa-dam? Nach lór rofhulangas? Is lór chena, níam olc! Níam!"

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  • 1
    Thanks! I will accept it, unless there will be other, contradicting translations. – Yasskier Jun 12 '17 at 23:39

protected by Community♦ Apr 14 at 14:33

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