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?

Improve this question
1
  • 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, 2017 at 23:45

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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!'

Improve this answer
9
  • 2
    Are you a native speaker? What is your source for this translation?
    – Gallifreyan
    Jun 13, 2017 at 18:58
  • 7
    It's in medieval Irish. I teach the language at university level.
    – user84740
    Jun 13, 2017 at 19:08
  • 5
    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, 2017 at 8:56
  • 11
    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, 2017 at 8:57
  • 15
    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, 2017 at 22:24
15

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!"

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Thanks! I will accept it, unless there will be other, contradicting translations.
    – Yasskier
    Jun 12, 2017 at 23:39

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.