Sealladh Gàidhlig air Reul-bhad Ainmeil / A Gaelic interpretation of a familiar constellation

Tha na h-oidhcheannan dorcha a th’ againn an-dràsta a’ toirt deagh cothrom dhuinn sùil a thoirt air na speuran. Seo mar a bhios na Gàidheil a’ tuigsinn cruth is cumadh an reul-bhaid ris an canar Orion ann am Beurla. Nach toir sibh fhèin sùil air, agus e a’ gluasad bhon ear don iar anns an iarmailt. The current long dark nights make for a great time to look at the heavens. Here’s how the Gaels interpret the constellation known in English as Orion. Why not watch it tracking from east to west across the sky.

An Sealgair Mòr / Orion & Milky Way (copyright Sky Rings, Creative Commons)

Air Thòir an t-Sealgair air an Oidhche

’S dòcha nach bi e na iongnadh gu bheil na Gàidheil, mar a bhios luchd na Beurla (agus eile) a’ cur An Sealgair Mòr mar ainm air Orion oir bha fear dhen ainm sin na shealgair ann am faoinsgeulan na Grèige. ’S e An Crios no Crios an t-Sealgair a th’ againn air Orion’s Belt, trì rionnagan faisg air a chèile ann an sreath dìreach. ’S e A’ Bhiodag a th’ againn air Orion’s Sword (a tha ceangailte ri a Chrios) agus canaidh sinn An Sporan ris an neul-reultan air a bheil Horsehead Nebula ann am Beurla (a tha cuideachd ceangailte ri Crios an t-Sealgair). ’S iad an dà rionnaig as soilleire anns an reul-bhad An Spor Dearg (Betelgeuse) agus An Spor Liath (Rigel), agus na h-ainmean aca stèidhichte air an dathan. ’S dòcha gur e an t-ainm as Gàidhealaiche co-cheangailte ris an t-Sealgair na rionnagan a tha taobh a-muigh an Spuir Dheirg a tha cuid a’ faicinn mar bhall-airm air a thogail os cionn an duine. Do na Gàidheil, ’s e sin Am Breacan-Guailne, air a shèideadh le gaoth làidir suas agus air falbh bhon t-Sealgair – mar gur e gaisgeach Gàidhealach a th’ ann air monadh gaothach anns an t-seann aimsir.

Tracking ‘The Hunter’ at night

It’s probably of no great surprise that Gaelic shares with English (and other cultures) an interpretation of the constellation Orion as representing a hunter (Orion being a hunter in Greek mythology). The star-group is known in Gaelic as An Sealgair Mòr ‘the great hunter’.

Perhaps its most obvious feature – the line of three adjacent stars known as Orion’s Belt – is similarly An Crios ‘the belt’ or Crios an t-Sealgair ‘the hunter’s belt’. Orion’s Sword (sometimes interpreted as a scabbard), which is slung below his ‘belt’, is A’ Bhiodag ‘the dirk’ and the Horsehead Nebula, which is also suspended from the ‘belt’ is called An Sporan ‘the purse’. The two brightest stars in the group are named (for their colours) An Spor Dearg ‘the red spur’ (Betelgeuse) and An Spor Liath ‘the blue-white spur’ (Rigel).

Perhaps the most culturally unique aspect of the Gaelic view of Orion concerns the stars beyond Betelgeuse which some cultures interpret as a weapon held above the hunter’s head. To the Gaels, this is Am Breacan-Guailne ‘the shoulder plaid’ blowing upwards and outwards in the breeze – as if the Sealgair were a Highlander of old on a wind-blown mountainside.