In Irish mythology, the place of rest to which the valiant and the
good go in death is "Flath Innis" (sometimes spelled Fla'innis,
Flathanas, Flaitheas, Flaitheanas, or Flathas). There are other Irish
Gaelic words for the afterlife, but Flath Innis is the closest in
concept to the Norse Valhalla.
"Then there was Flath-innis, the Island of the Good, which word is
still the Irish for Heaven. An old Gaelic poem had this description of
it--
The Isle spread large before him like a pleasing dream of the soul,
where distance fades not on the sight, where nearness fatigues not the
eye. It had its gently sloping hills of green, nor did they wholly
want their clouds. But the clouds were bright and transparent, and
each involved in its bosom the source of a stream; a beauteous stream,
which, wandering down the steep, was like the faint notes of the
half-touched harp to the distant ears. The valleys were open and free
to the ocean; trees, laden with leaves, which scarcely waved to the
slight breeze, were scattered on the green declivities and rising
ground. The rude winds walked not on the mountains; no storm took its
course through the sky. All was calm and bright. The pure sun of
autumn shone from his blue sky on the fields. He hastened not to the
West for repose, nor was he seen to rise from the East. He sits in his
middle height, and looks obliquely on the noble Isle. In each valley
is its slow, moving stream. The pure waters swell over the banks, yet
abstain from the fields. The showers disturb them not, nor are they
lessened by the heats of the sun. On the rising hills are the halls of
the departed--the high-roofed dwellings of the heroes of old."
THE FUTURE LIFE, OR LAND OF THE WEST
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/idr/idr34.htm
"Flath Innis, 'The Isle of Heroes,' the heaven of Celtic Mythology.
Here the souls of the brave (none other were deserving), went for
enternal and blissful repose, at the end of their warrior-careers.
Cowardice was deemed a sin that barred the guilty from entering that
coveted place. The other place, in those days, was not the
brimstone-fueled fire of later beliefs, but a desolated area of ice
and snow; cold, not heat, was the meted punishment."
Gaelic Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/seanfhaclan/MacDonald.txt
"Fla'innis, Flath Innis - Heaven, the afterlife: the Island of the
Good, the Island of Heroes."
Celtic Pantheon: Gods and Legendary Beings
http://pantheon.nuit.ca/celtic/f.html
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "flath innis" heaven
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22flath+innis%22+heaven
I hope this is helpful! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
