Social Status in the Old Irish Immrama

Abstract

The article attempts to identify the social status of some main characters of the Immrama, the old Irish texts about sea journeys. Mael Duin and Ua Corra brothers, with their young age and material disability, remind us a typical fer midboth - one of the lowest social categories in Early Ireland. The meanings of fuirseóir and crosán are also in the focus, since the former refers to jester or a mountebank, while later has a more widespread semantic range included some penitential aspects of an atonement. A context from the Old Irish Law texts, glossaries and narratives allows us to consider all these ranks and categories as the marginal ones. Constructing Immrama penitential and moral effect a medieval author found such marginals as a perfect role model for his narratives.