Conclusion: Origin Legends and Local History

Summary

The growth of origin narratives throughout a wide swath of literary and historical genres demonstrates their important role in constructing a particular vision of the present by linking it to a carefully constructed narrative of the past during the medieval period. It also underscores the intellectual connections that this book argues were widespread in the early medieval insular region. Such textual connections were not limited to the more comprehensive historical works which have formed the focus of this study. Local origin stories also drew on the same narrative patterns and motifs. The conclusion examines four brief dynastic origin legends that incorporate some of the themes explored in this book: the brief genealogical treatise of the Dál Riata known as Senchus Fer n-Alban / Míniugud Senchusa Fher n-Alban; the legendary piece of Uí Néill dynastic propaganda known as Echtra mac nEchach Muigmedóin; the legend of ancestral figure Cunedda and his sons expelling the Irish from Gwynedd which is embedded in the Historia Brittonum; and the story of legendary Danish ancestor Scyld Scefing from the opening lines of Beowulf. These narratives underscore the importance of movement within the corpus of insular origin material, even on a local level.